—————A—————

Aurora stomped up to the hospital wing after supper without a single care about who saw or what they had to say about it. She could feel her curls sparking and growing tighter, nearly a copy of Hermione Granger's curls when she wasn't angry. Aurora's eyes were narrowed, the deep brown growing black like her father's. And the scowl on her face was such a perfect combination of both her parents that even seventh years stepped aside as she passed.

Without hesitating, she entered the infirmary and marched straight to Draco's bed. The prat was awake, a book opened on his lap, one leg propped up to help keep it open. He was angled in such a way that he couldn't see who was coming in.

"It's about time dinner got here," he started to say with that Malfoy sneer. "You wait until I tell my father—"

He never finished the sentence. The very instant he turned his head, Aurora threw a punch hard enough that Draco went tumbling over the other side of the bed.

"You stupid, arrogant prat," she spat, and Draco scrambled as best he could with one arm, pain mingling with surprise as he did his best to face her. "Do you realize what you've done? Has your head been jammed so far up your arse that you really have no common sense, no human decency left?"

"What are you talking about, Rory?" Draco asked, finally managing to get to his feet. It had been the first time he'd referred to her in a familiar manner since Colin Creevey's Petrification the year before. It had been Snape or Aurora until that moment.

"I'm talking about your belief that you're superior to everyone and everything because you're a bloody Malfoy. I know you know how to bow to a Hippogriff because of that time we ran into one in the wild. Remember? With Mum? And I know she warned you very, very thoroughly the kind of damage it can do if you don't show it the respect it deserves. But no. No, the mighty Draco Malfoy had to risk his neck, which Buckbeak easily could have ripped open, all to show up Harry Potter. Or maybe show off for him, because frankly I'm beginning to wonder." Draco paled at the implication, and while it registered, Aurora continued, "And bragging to your imbecilic housemates about how you could get Hagrid fired—"

"What do you care about the bloody oaf?" Draco demanded.

"I care because Hagrid has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember! I spent the first five years of my life living at Hogwarts. I've walked these grounds more than any seventh year, and Hagrid is practically an uncle to me."

"He's a half-blood," Malfoy sneered, spitting the words.

"So am I!" Aurora shouted.

It felt like all air left her lungs and her heart stopped. She hadn't meant to say it. She'd known her blood status since she was four years old and had heard the dreaded 'M' word tossed around by Uncle Lu when he hadn't realized she could hear.

Her father had noticed, though. He'd spotted her in the shadows of the hallway heading to the washrooms from the playroom down the hall. He acted like nothing had happened, not giving even the slightest hint she was there. He had explained afterwards what that word meant. "It's a terrible word for people like your mother," he said. "Muggle-borns. The people that use that word are typically of only wizarding blood and believe that they are better for it. Daddy has to pretend to like them and agree with them. But I do not."

"Why do you have to pretend to hate mummy?" she asked, confused and a little hurt.

"I don't," he said, tapping her nose. "Mummy pretends she has only magical parents, so no one tries to hurt her. But we must not tell. Remember what I told you about secrets?" Aurora nodded. "I am a half-blood."

"Because of Nana?"

"Yes. My father was a Muggle. Mummy's mother and father were both Muggle. She is Muggle-born, and you are a half-blood, because you have magical and Muggle blood," he explained. "But we must not tell."

She never had to say she was a pureblood, it had always been assumed. It hadn't really even occurred to her that her blood status mattered until last year, and she intended to keep it a secret.

But now she'd blurted it out.

Draco was utterly confused, stuttering and stammering as Aurora shook with fear and adrenaline.

"How?" Draco finally asked. "I know Uncle is a half-blood, but he renounced his filthy Muggle heritage. And besides, to be a half-blood, Aunt H. would have to be ...." The pieces finally fell into place. "She's a Mudblood."

"Is she?" Aurora asked with a shaky voice. "Is she really? Because until two minutes ago she was your pure-blood aunt with a great family heritage. A witch you looked up to and admired." Draco frowned, looking away as if trying to reconcile the idea as much as he was trying to separate his aunt into two people. "I'll leave you that to think about," she said in a clipped tone as she tried to hold herself together.

The Aurora Snape that made her way from the hospital wing to her father's rooms was a much less terrorizing one. No one paid her any mind as she went down to the dungeons.

She opened the door to her father's office, finding it empty but the door to his rooms appeared and opened a crack. Laughter was coming through it, but the sound didn't register as she approached the door and pushed it open. It led immediately into the sitting room.

Her brain told her she should be surprised to see Professor Lupin sitting in the armchair, an empty plate near him on the coffee table and a goblet of wine in his hand. She also realized she should be surprised her mother was on the couch next to her father; she never visited this early in the year. She vaguely registered Leo reading in the corner.

"Rory?" her father's deep voice cut her reverie, and seeing his gentle, questioning gaze on her and the concern on her mother's face, made Aurora's own visage crumple.

"I made a terrible mistake," she choked out as the tears sprang free.

"What happened, poppet?" her mother asked gently, and she saw the blurred image of her mother approaching through her tears. "Anything that happened, you can say in front of Remus," her mother said gently as she wrapped her arms around Aurora's shaking form. "He's a friend, and he knows I'm here at Hogwarts as a student. I'm sure it's fine for him to hear as well."

So Aurora told them, as much as she could between sobs. And while it wasn't a long story by any means, it felt as if it were.

"I'm s-so s-s-sorry," she hiccupped. "I d-d-didn't mean ... it's just ..."

"Calm, Aurora," her father said, sternly but not unkindly. Aurora tried to take a deep breath that turned into a shudder. "Hermione, I think it's time that we ...."

"Why don't you tell her, love," her mother suggested. "She should hear it from you without us."

"I can leave if this is a family matter," Professor Lupin offered.

"Stay. You and H. have a lot to catch up on, I'm sure. And I'm afraid Leonidas is still too young to hear this."

"I'm eight!" Leo declared indignantly.

"And your sister is older, and this is the first time she's hearing it," her mother chided with a hint of amusement, while Aurora felt her father put his arm around her shoulders and guide her to the lab.

He shut the door behind them and guided her to a stool. Her father sat beside her, facing her. The first thing he did was produce a handkerchief, handing it over so she could dry her eyes.

With a resigned sigh, he placed his left arm on the workbench with the palm of his hand facing up. He opened first his frock coat and then the cuff of the shirt beneath. She knew what was coming as he rolled up his sleeve, but she still flinched at the sight of the skull on his skin.

"You are a very smart, brave girl," he said. "But much like your mother, your emotions get the best of you. It's human. It's normal. You, I believe, do have some of my innate ability to hold things in, but even I erupt once in a while, so do not blame yourself for what happened.

"But now it is more important than ever that you have a full understanding of why your mother hid her Muggle heritage when she fell through time, why it's still necessary for you to pretend you are pure-blood, and why you should really attempt to sway Draco's opinions while he is away from his father's influence, and before Hermione Granger disappears from Hogwarts."

"What's that got to do with your tattoo?" Aurora asked in a small, quiet voice.

"It's the Dark Mark, Rory. It is the symbol of the Dark Lord, and a sign that I am one of his most valued Death Eaters and a member of his inner circle. It is the mark of a man who believed in blood supremacy and Dark Magic."

"So why do you have it?"

"Because I was—am—a spy. Because when I was only a few years older than you, I caught the attention of all the wrong people, and someone sought to use that for the greater good. I was sorely tempted to join them, just so I could have a place to belong, very early on in my fourth year. It's not all good, but it's not all bad. Are you ready?"

Aurora nodded.

—————H—————

"Snape, Granger, stay back a moment," Moody barked as the class began to pack up after class.

Lily frowned briefly before her lips curled into a smile. "Picnic by the tree," she said, touching Severus' arm briefly before giving Hermione a wave and following the rest of the class out the door. Moody watched them until the last one hurried out of the room, then a flick of his wrist slammed the door shut.

"You read the book?" he asked in his typically snappy tone. Hermione and Severus both nodded. "Good. We meet after dinner, seventh floor corridor."

"Professor?" Hermione asked, face crinkling in confusion.

"And make sure no one sees ya," he said briskly, then gestured toward the door. "Go."

They left.

"Why does the seventh-floor corridor ring a bell?" Hermione asked, speaking to herself and asking Severus.

"I'm sure at some point you read something about it. Now that mental index of yours is running through the library you've no doubt absorbed and retained, trying to find the answer." Severus glanced at her, a slight twitch of his lips.

Hermione grinned back at him, about to say something equally backhanded when she found herself suddenly falling to the ground. Her bag, open without her realizing, launched her books across the stone floor, her ink pots and quills following suit.

She felt magic surround her just a moment before she felt Severus' hand on her shoulder. Turning her head and shifting slightly, she noticed he had his wand out, pointed in such a way that it made her think of holding an arm out in defense. She was about to ask what he was doing when a flash of light dispersed in front of Severus as if ....

"A shield," she whispered, shifting around and finding her legs stuck together. Pulling out her wand, she whispered the counter-curse before getting on her knees beside Severus. "Where are they?"

He indicated in the direction they came from just before another blast of light flashed at them.

"Snivellus is being a bloody coward," Peter laughed. "Hiding behind a shield.

"Come on, Snivellus. We know you're just itching to fight back," Sirius taunted.

"Oh no, he's gone soft." James jumped in on the taunting, all of them still unseen. "New robes, actually clean hair? I think he's trying to assimilate into human society."

Hermione shot her wand out, sending the first hex that came to mind in the direction of James' voice. It hit the wall, making a loud cracking sound on impact.

"What's going on here?" Remus' voice came from behind them, and Hermione glanced over her shoulder to see his confusion as he looked at where she and Severus were crouched.

"Ah! Moony!" Sirius cheered. "Just in time to join the fun."

Remus' confusion vanished, replaced by shame as he came forward and stood in front of Severus.

"What sort of fun were you thinking of, Padfoot?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking around the corridor.

Seeing an opening to leave, Hermione reached for Severus' hand and tugged it lightly. Eyes still trained on where Remus and the other Marauders were, he nodded once. They got to their feet slowly, walking backward a couple steps before turning.

"Remus, they're getting away!" Peter whined.

"Good," Remus said, and then added just before they turned the corner, "Wait for me outside class. I'll explain to Professor Babbling why you were held up."

Once out of sight from the Marauders, Hermione hissed in pain. Adrenaline and being on the ground had prevented her from realizing how hard she hit her left knee when the Leg-Lock Jinx hit. Now, trying to walk on it, she limped painfully.

Without a word, Severus shifted his messenger bag to reach in and grab something. Hermione took it.

"I don't think I need your extra-strength pain reliever," she replied.

"You're tugging my hand violently with every step. Weak as your knee may actually be, you won't limp quite so badly if there is no pain," he said, gesturing to the bottle. "Take it."

Reluctantly letting go of his hand, Hermione paused and leaned against the wall so she could uncover the potion and swallow it. Like so many potions, it tasted vile.

"Tweaked the formula but couldn't make it more palatable?" she asked through a grimace.

"Adding anything to make it taste better would compromise its effectiveness," he replied, taking back the bottle. "Bob never complained."

Hermione snorted, about to retort, when Remus rounded the corner. He took in the scene, glancing between Severus and Hermione, then to the bottle in Severus' hand, and the way Hermione was holding her leg.

Hands balling into fists, Remus said, "I should have done more than take away points."

Severus snorted. "Yes, well, I don't think there's that much power behind a prefect badge," he sneered, offering his arm to Hermione so they could get to Runes. She took it, ignoring the happy lurch her heart made when she slipped her hand into his elbow.

"I should talk to them," Remus said, falling into step with them. "Tell them they need to stop. And not just with you, with everyone. But especially you."

"That may have been helpful five years ago," Severus said. "But you were too busy silently following them and getting in a pot shot or two."

Remus didn't have time to answer, since they arrived at the classroom door at that moment.

As Severus escorted Hermione to their seats, Remus made good on his word to explain to Professor Babbling what had happened. What was more, his annoyance hadn't faded from his tone as he spoke, causing a murmur of interest through the fifth-year class. It wasn't just Gryffindors and Slytherins, but Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws as well. And with the Marauders having picked on people from all the houses, one breaking rank earned some attention.

—————H—————

While James, Peter, and Sirius were still busy interrogating Remus over his perceived faux pas earlier in the day, Hermione and Severus slipped out of the Great Hall and made their way to the seventh-floor corridor.

"How's your knee?" he asked her as they climbed the stairs at a pace that was probably slower than he'd like.

"Well, I'm still not feeling any pain," she replied with a wry smile. "But I can feel it's weakened and bruised."

"And you haven't gone to Pomfrey because ...?"

"Exactly when would I have? Our day is not exactly leisurely. Runes, Potions, and Transfiguration after lunch. Though I suppose I could have gone up to the hospital wing during that break, it's not like Lily would have missed me."

"No, I don't believe she would have," Severus replied, and Hermione could not tell from his tone if he was pleased or annoyed by that.

They continued up the stairs, and the silence continued comfortably until they reached the seventh floor. They paused and looked around before advancing a bit further.

"I don't see Moody anywhere," Severus noted. "And I doubt he wants us to do these 'lessons' in the open, as it were."

"I swear I know something about the seventh-floor corridor!" Hermione said, annoyed at her own brain for not pulling forth the information she wanted when it mattered.

"As we established earlier," Severus said, looking up and examining the tapestries. He did so with a scrutinizing gaze. Hermione turned away as best she could, pounding her forehead with her fist in a pathetic attempt to bring the knowledge to the forefront. She paced, slowly, and only for a short time as her knee felt like buckling.

She looked up and saw a door that hadn't been there before.

"Severus," she called, gazing at the door as a smile pulled on her lips and the answer came tumbling to the front of her mind. "How could I have been so stupid?" she asked with a shake of her head as he came up beside her. " Hogwarts: A History. I've read it more times than I can count, and I still forgot about the Come and Go Room."

"The what?"

"The Come and Go Room," she repeated. "Also known as the Room of Requirement. The room is supposed to pop up where it's needed most and provide the person or persons in need exactly what they require. A bedroom if exhausted, a medical room if injured."

"A loo when one has too much pumpkin juice at breakfast," Severus added in a slightly mocking tone. "Can you explain anything without sounding like an utter swot?"

"Insufferable know-it-all, remember?"

His smirk made her chest tighten. "You make it impossible to forget." He turned his attention back to the door. "So, do you think Moody is behind this door, or do you think the room has simply decided we need something?"

"I say we find out," Hermione said, reaching for the door.

"Yes, let's just walk right into a room that popped out of nowhere, and could reappear somewhere else entirely, if it reappears at all," Severus grumbled.

"Don't want to be stuck in a room alone with me, Severus?" Hermione said without thinking. Her hand was on the doorknob, twisting and pushing the door open before her words sank in, and she blushed horribly as she realized how it could be misinterpreted. She was incredibly thankful, then, that Severus did not reply when they saw Professor Moody, looking quite annoyed.

"Took you long enough," he said gruffly.

"It was a bit hard to locate a room that apparently pops up where it wants to," Severus replied, stilted but not completely disrespectful.

"That's a myth," he said, and Hermione's face crumpled. "The Room of Requirement is always right here, on the seventh floor. While we're here, no one can find us unless we want them to. We're undetectable." He then pointed to two chairs that appeared, each turned to face Moody. "Sit." He gestured, and both did so. "You read the book, I don't need to tell you the particulars of the 'what' or 'why.'"

"Actually, Professor Moody, I would quite like to know the why," Severus interrupted smoothly. "Hermione has reason. But why teach me such a skill?"

"You're a natural. Would be stupid to waste. And you're friends with her, she trusts you. You can help her if she gets stuck," Moody replied casually. "Now, both of ya, clear your mind. Picture a wall. Don't let me break it."

Without warning, Moody flicked his wrist and his stare bore down on Hermione.