A/N: This is in response to the "Really Into a Book" challenge by Lilly Rae on WIKTT. I'm going to give this a try and see if it ends up decently or not. Forgive me any mistakes I will probably make when I, as an American, am taking British characters and placing them in an American environment, no less in the late 19th Century. I totally made up the part about the Wolfsbane potion. I needed something and it was the best I had at the time, lol.
Disclaimer: I don't own JK Rowling's Harry Potter or Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind.
Hermione Granger sat in the teacher's lounge on a peaceful Sunday evening fully engrossed in a Muggle classic, Gone with the Wind. Surprisingly, she had never read it, seen the movie, or had any clue as to the plot of the story other than the setting of Georgia before, during, and after the American Civil War. She had just started the book and wasn't very far at all, but still very captivated.As usual, she was highly oblivious to everything else around her while reading and didn't notice the Potions Master enter quietly.
He made no notice of her, but rather went straight to the table farthest away from her. He looked around and finally found what he was looking for – a rather thick book. He wasted no time and immediately sat down to open it and begin reading. After a few moments he took out a piece of parchment and began furiously scribbling notes to himself over what he was reading. The constant scratch of the quill caused Hermione to look up.
"Oh, good evening, Severus. I didn't hear you come in," she said casually.
"I hardly expected you too, Ms. Granger. You never notice the slightest things when you're reading a book."
"Severus, could you please call me Hermione now? I'm not your student anymore," she replied, obviously slightly irritated. It had been over a year since she began teaching at Hogwarts and he still refused to call her by her given first name. "Prick," she thought to herself.
He quit writing and shifted in his seat. "Nevertheless, I still prefer to call you Ms. Granger, and it shall stay that way."
She sighed. "If you insist." She almost went back to her book, but her attention was caught by the only other book in the room. "Severus! Surely that isn't 50 Dangerous and Poisonous Potions! I heard there were only so many of those printed! Wherever did you find one?"
Severus grimaced. He had been hoping she wouldn't notice so he could take the notes he needed from it and leave it here for Dumbledore to pick up the next day without having to explain everything to her. But, alas, it was not to be. "Albus managed a copy when he found out about the research I was doing."
And before he could conclude the conversation, she asked another blasted question. "What research are you doing?"
He sighed. He decided it would be best to simply explain all of it in on go so there were no questions left for her to ask. "I am working on an improvement to the Wolfsbane potion. I believe there is a way to decrease a Werewolf's transformations throughout a year, much like female Muggle contraception. However, some of the ingredients that are added to decrease the number of transformations have nullified the effects of the ingredients to eliminate the violence." He thought for certain this would satisfy her questions, but he was sadly mistaken.
"That's so thrilling! Can I observe your work?"
Severus scowled. Albus had given the faculty strict orders to allow Hermione to continue her education through observation of all the professors from time to time. He knew he couldn't deny her or he would hear about it from Albus. "If you must, Ms. Granger. But you must stay silent and out of the way."
"Of course."
"I'm going back right now to my laboratory if the time is convenient."
She stood up quickly, put on her cloak, picked up her book, and was ready to go. Snape led her downstairs to the dungeons. Not a word passed between them and they were soon in the laboratory. Hermione found a seat far out of the way of Snape's working area. He wasted no time but went straight to his work. He went to his storage cabinets after checking his notes and came back with an armful of random ingredients. Hermione opened her mouth, "What are you adding?"
"Silence, Ms. Granger!"
Hermione opened her mouth again to mumble an apology but thought better of it and just sat still. Snape began chopping, splicing, and measuring the ingredients. He noticed Hermione sitting on the edge of her seat trying to get a better look, so he decided to talk her through what he was doing.
Hermione listened carefully, soaking in every word he said. Finally he was ready to add the ingredients and invited her to come closer to watch. She hopped up quickly taking her book with her out of habit. They hovered over the cauldron. Snape added the ingredients. There was a flash of white light, a loud explosion, and Hermione and Snape lost consciousness.