Becoming Beta

Chapter 21

A/N: All of the beta love goes to brownlark42. She's like the smell of freshly cut grass.

The day after the Hogsmeade meeting, Draco knocked on the Slytherin Head of House's office door. He had received a terse note at breakfast, asking Draco to stop by. He wondered what Snape wanted. It wasn't often that he was called to his Head of House's office, unless he had been into some trouble. Draco thought back over the week - he didn't think he was in trouble for anything.

"Come in, Draco," Snape drawled as his office door popped open. Draco entered the office and noted it was the same as always. The same disgusting pickled potions ingredients lining the walls and the same gloomy lighting. Snape was sitting at his desk - there was nothing on top of it but a thick book. His hands were steepled in front of him and his elbows were resting on the desk. Snape also looked the same as always, lank black hair curtained his face. His skin was sallow and pale, and his hooked nose dominated his facial features.

"Sit," Snape hissed, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. Draco slipped into it and sat ramrod straight, awaiting his Head of House to speak.

"How is your task coming along?" Snape asked, quirking an eyebrow. Draco sighed and closed his eyes. He hadn't thought about either of his tasks in the last few weeks he'd spent plotting with Hermione. He couldn't tell Snape anything about that. Draco was thankful once again for being a werewolf and immune to Legilimency. Snape's prowess in Legilimency was legendary among the Death Eaters.

"Which one?" Draco hedged, opening his eyes to see that his professor had pushed the book closer to him.

"Greyback's," Snape replied, gesturing to the book. Draco picked it up and read the title Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes by Eldon Thaddeus Fleming. He quirked his own eyebrow at Snape.

"It should help with the cabinet you are attempting to restore," Snape snapped. When Draco didn't respond, he went on. "Use your head boy, don't make me spell it out for you."

Draco nodded in response. As much as he wanted to trust Snape, he knew that he couldn't. Not with the most important things, like how he was planning to betray the Dark Lord. Snape couldn't know anything about that. But Snape was helping Draco. He was visiting Draco's mother, which eased Draco's heart more than he had imagined possible. Thinking about that made Draco trust Snape, a little bit. Enough to accept the book and actually want to read it.

"Anything else?" Draco asked. He was in a hurry to get to the Room of Hidden Things and read through what the book had on vanishing cabinets. Snape dismissed him with a flick of his hand and Draco rushed up to the seventh floor of the castle.

Upon reaching the Room of Hidden Things, Draco sat next to the vanishing cabinet and flipped through the book. It was written in runes. Of course it was. He flipped to the index and dug his Ancient Runes textbook out of his bag and began translating. It was long and painstaking work, but he finally had the index translated an hour later. Nothing in the index said anything about vanishing cabinets. What a dud, Draco thought to himself as he tossed the book aside. He had been sitting with his back to the cabinet and banged his head backward a couple of times. What am I going to do? How am I going to fix this damned cabinet?

The door to the room banged open. Draco was grateful he was sitting on the floor and out of eyesight of the front of the room. He quietly began packing up his books, when Hermione rounded the corner. She was beautiful. It took his breath away every time he saw her again.

"Oh, thank gods, it's you," he said as he stood and wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"I'm glad I found you here," she replied returning his hug. As she stepped away, she kicked the book Snape had given him.