Hermione nibbled at her lips as she studied the parchment before her. It
was the most complex potion, besides the Polyjuice, that she had ever
attempted to make before, and the fact that she was making it 'illegally'
in Snape's dungeon compounded the difficulty. "How can I add the Unicorn
hair, the Dragonsblood and the stoat all at the same time? I haven't three
hands!" She blew upwards in frustration causing her bushy hair to shift
slightly over her amber eyes.
She had balanced the stoat on the edge of the cauldron and held both the Unicorn hair and the beaker of Dragonsblood in her hands, the heel of her palm resting on the back of the stoat. She pulled her bottom lip through her teeth and abruptly released it with another gust of breath. "Okay," she murmured to herself, "here it goes. One, two." She heard the patter of footsteps, that of two people if she wasn't mistaken, and it sounded rather like they were headed for the potions room. She froze.
The footsteps grew closer and she heard a pair of voices speaking in cacophony. "But Professor Snape! You know who my father is." The first voice was definitely masculine and petulant. "Draco, do you think I care who your father is? You messed up big this time. Detention is definitely in order." Draco interjected, "but it's not fair Professor." "Life isn't particularly fair now is it? 20 points from Slytherin for being argumentative. You can consider this conversation over." The heavier set of footsteps continued and Hermione unfroze at the imminent danger.
"Shit," she swore, retracting her ingredients from where they were poised over the pewter cauldron. She hurriedly grabbed up her ingredients and stuffed them into the desk that her experiment was on. She picked up the glass bottle that she was using to store the experiment in and a funnel. She picked up the cauldron, prepared to tip in all of the bubbling liquid. "Damn!" she swore again loudly, the hot pewter had burnt her fingers through the dragons hide gloves that she wore. She heard the creaking of a rusty key in the potions room door and grew desperate.
She quickly juggled the bottle, the funnel and the cauldron and shut the fire on her burner. She ducked her body under the desk, breathing hard. The hinges on the door grated awfully, flakes of oxidized metal falling on the floor. She quickly inhaled and began to hold her breath.
Professor Snape swept in slowly, first his beaky nose becoming visible, then his sallow face and last his dark cape that settled around his legs in swirls. The bane of her existence puffed in after him, his cheeks pink with exertion.
I guess mocking people and doing Pansy aren't exerting enough for him, she thought. That mottled pink shade doesn't do much for him. "Professor Snape, it was a total accident! I never meant to demean you in any way!" "The fact remains that you did demean me,"
Snape's voice resonated in the small space, sending tremors down her spine. "I'm sure that I can devise a fit punishment for you. In the meantime, next time you need to make yourself look good to Ms. Parkinson, try bragging about Daddy's mansion as usual. Insulting teachers does not become you."
Draco hung his head and glanced at the floor. Good! He looks embarrassed. It's about time Snape needled that prat. He's been obnoxious for years! Draco's face suddenly twitched. What had he spotted??? She panicked. He began to walk over to the desk where she was situated. She pulled the uniform black robe over her head. Perhaps he hadn't seen her after all? He stopped right in front of 'her' desk. "I'm sorry Professor," his voice was remorseful, his actions were not, as he kicked a leg backwards and into Hermione.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are Granger," he drawled mockingly. "Excuse me Mr. Malfoy?" Snape quirked an eyebrow at him. "Did you say something?" Hermione fervently whispered prayers under her breath. "Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, our kingdom." "Yes, I believe if you look under the desk behind me." ".come, thy will be done." "You will find Ms. Granger clutching a cauldron."
Shit. She closed her eyes and banged her forehead lightly against the cauldron she held in her lap. "Ms. Granger?" Snape imperiously inquired. "Would you mind crawling out of that space? You rather resemble a larvae curled up like that." She slid to her knees and stepped out of the crawl space, stretching her legs out.
"If you wouldn't mind removing your robe from your face? I don't particularly want to see your face, however, I would like to see your face as you attempt to lie yourself out of this situation. Should be rather amusing, indeed."
She placed her cauldron down on the desk with a thud and slid trembling hands back over her robe, pushing it back down to her shoulders. She bit her bottom lip and looked over at Malfoy. He smirked at her. She had never felt as much animosity towards a facial expression from a single individual. "Yes?" Snape nodded towards her. "I'm waiting to see what fiction you manage to mastermind." "Well, see, uh, I was um, trying to um, clean up the materials I had left out during class?" She stumbled over words. Tears of mortification stung her eyes. For HER to be caught at something like this. Her reputation was going to suffer irrevocable damage! The blot would go on her permanent record! She would never get into a good wizarding college! She would never get to be Minister-Of-Magic now! My life is over!!!
"Is that the best you can do Ms. Granger? I must say, I am disappointed with your lying talents. I would have thought that my best and brightest (at this Draco raised his eyebrow) student could have come up with a better excuse." His oily countenance and the fact that it was he that held her future in his hands caused tears to prick at the back of her eyelids. No! I can't cry now. Not in front of Malfoy. No. To her shame tears began to run down her nose.
"P-professor Snape. I-I-I've never done anything like this before. I apologize. If you could just not mention this to anyone I would do anything, absolutely anything. I am so incredibly sorry. Nothing like this will ever happen again," she choked out, raising the back of her hand to her face, tears mixing with the ink that had smudged stubbornly on her cheek earlier in the day.
"Ms. Granger, if you think that I'm going to let you go just because you are in running for Head Girl, you have another thing coming." Hermione gasped at this piece of information. She didn't know that she was in the running for Head Girl. "Yes, yes Ms. Granger. Don't act so surprised. Feigned modesty does not become you." She flushed red at this.
"Mr. Malfoy! Where exactly do you think you're going?" They both turned their heads towards the boy that was slinking steadily towards the door. "Do you think that I am going to excuse you just because you discovered a hide-a-way for me?" Malfoy opened his mouth to protest. Snape quickly walked over to him and shut his jaw with a snap.
"Nuh-nuh-nuh.shhh! Don't speak, Mr. Malfoy. You and Ms. Granger will be cleaning this dungeon from now until lights out.with these toothbrushes." He produced two scummy looking toothbrushes from a fold in his robes. "I believe that these belong to Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle. Return them to them when you're done. They shan't notice the difference."
With that Snape tossed the toothbrushes on a desk, swirled and walked towards the door, robes billowing. Suddenly he spun on his heels. "Well? Why aren't you started yet? Oh by the way- Mr. Malfoy you have 3 weeks detention as do you Ms. Granger. I will speak to Professor McGonnagall about arranging both of your punishments. Don't stand there gawping! Get to work!" He spun again and thundered towards the door, opening it and slamming it shut in one motion.
Hermione waited for two beats before tearing into Draco. "God Malfoy! What is your problem? I was perfectly fine under that desk. I wasn't going to get caught. Jeez- It's not like I've done anything to you recently. Well? What justification could you possibly have for getting me in trouble?"
A smirk came over Draco's face. "You're a mudblood. That's enough justification for me to do anything I want with you. Besides, if I was getting in it for 3 weeks of detention, I might as well drag you down with me."
Hermione flushed in anger. "My blood is as purer than that filth that runs around in your veins! At least I wouldn't have ratted you out if it had been you under that desk. Us 'mudbloods' at least have some concept of honor. Even if I am a mudblood, that's still no justification for getting me in trouble and getting me three weeks of detention. This will go on my permanent record you know!"
"Your permanent record. Ah yes, the perfection that is your grades. Well, that's too bad. I suppose they are marred forever. I have honor. I have plenty of honor. Malfoys abide by a code of honor. If you would be too stupid to rat me out when I was a sitting duck under that desk, well then, I suppose you aren't as intelligent as you like to make out.
It's not my fault that you were sitting huddled under that desk. If you could have hidden that brown bush under your robe, I wouldn't have known you were there anyway. So if you want to blame anyone for getting you in trouble, blame your ugly hedge of hair." He turned around and sauntered towards the desk with the toothbrushes and picked up the least dirty of them.
"It's impossible to reason with one whos intelligence is as lacking as yours happens to be. Just shut up and let's try to make this tolerable for both of us okay?" Without waiting for an answer she too walked over to the desk holding the remaining toothbrush. "Ewwww," she grumbled, disgusted with the toothbrush that appeared to be soaked in grime with mold growing on the handle.
She crouched and began to scrub the dank floor of the cauldron when she felt eyes on her back. "Malfoy, if you could refrain from checking out my ass. it would be much appreciated."
"Why would I check your ass out? I'm just wondering how something as ugly as you could have been created. Your mother must put a paper bag on your head before kissing you goodnight. Are your teeth doing better by the way?" His sardonic voice grated on her nerves as did the reminder of her former teeth.
"Whatever Malfoy." She resumed scrubbing. She scrubbed until her arms ached and her thighs burned. God, this is a better work out that Buns of Steel! I wonder if they make wizard exercise tapes? She turned around to see how Malfoy was progressing on his half of the room. He was sitting in a chair with his feet up on a desk sleeping.
Fury overcame her as she had been working hard for over an hour and a half while the lazy prat had slept away. She walked over to Draco, wrenched his mouth open and shoved Crabbe/Goyle's toothbrush into it, jamming it to the back of his mouth. He awoke sputtering and gasping for breath. He blinked once and spat out the toothbrush, once the full force of the taste hit him.
"Uck! That's vile. Why would you DO that to me? That's just plain cruel." He began to spit the taste out of his mouth, specks of his saliva landing on the desk. Hermione backed off, not wanting to be part of his impromptu showering. He finished spitting and jumped up to face her, hands crossed over his chest.
"You're nothing but a good for-nothing waste of oxygen that I have the misfortune to go to school with. Your blood contaminates the school and all of wizard kind. You're Harry Potter's wench, a pitiful position that somehow makes you feel gratified. Your hair takes up miles and miles of space that could otherwise be used for better things, like growing Flobberworms. If you actually bothered to brush your hair, you would likely find larvae and insects and perhaps small rodents nested in it. Your teeth.I won't even go there."
"Malfoy I hate you, you prick! You are a pureblooded snob and a half with a major stick up his ass. Wait, oh sorry, was that Crabbe's hand? Your only friends are your henchmen and those that want to get close to you for daddy's money. The only reason that you ever made the Quidditch team is that daddy bought your house brooms. You buy your way into everything. If I saw you actually receive an honor that you hadn't bought, I'd die from shock.
You are nothing, absolutely nothing without your money. You are better looking as a ferret than as a human! You talk about my hair? Well let's take a look at yours. You're not exactly going to be put onto People's 50 Most Beautiful People of the Year list."(He looked confused at this) "It's so shellacked with varnish or that substance you call gel that you would have to scrape it off with a spatula did you ever want to see the real surface. Although I can't think of any reason you would. You are a waste of any and all resources that have ever been spent on you." She stalked towards the door.
"Granger!" She turned. "This is far from finished you bucktoothed beaver."
"Fine!" she spat out. "If a feud is what you want, that's what you're going to get! We'll see who wins Malfoy. But I just know that it's going to be me. Your puny brain can't think up anymore insults. After all, you've been using the same one for me for 6 years. God, poor poor Malfoy. Can't think up anything more original that 'mudblood'. Well I have news for you. Hermione Granger is pissed. And I'm going to bring out the big guns."
"Fine!" he spat back. "You want a fight you've got it. You can go screw off. Wait- who would screw you? I can't think of anyone, not even that mangy haired follower, Weasel."
"Bring it on Malfoy," She walked out of the door, pausing for effect. "You're going to wish you had never been born."
She had balanced the stoat on the edge of the cauldron and held both the Unicorn hair and the beaker of Dragonsblood in her hands, the heel of her palm resting on the back of the stoat. She pulled her bottom lip through her teeth and abruptly released it with another gust of breath. "Okay," she murmured to herself, "here it goes. One, two." She heard the patter of footsteps, that of two people if she wasn't mistaken, and it sounded rather like they were headed for the potions room. She froze.
The footsteps grew closer and she heard a pair of voices speaking in cacophony. "But Professor Snape! You know who my father is." The first voice was definitely masculine and petulant. "Draco, do you think I care who your father is? You messed up big this time. Detention is definitely in order." Draco interjected, "but it's not fair Professor." "Life isn't particularly fair now is it? 20 points from Slytherin for being argumentative. You can consider this conversation over." The heavier set of footsteps continued and Hermione unfroze at the imminent danger.
"Shit," she swore, retracting her ingredients from where they were poised over the pewter cauldron. She hurriedly grabbed up her ingredients and stuffed them into the desk that her experiment was on. She picked up the glass bottle that she was using to store the experiment in and a funnel. She picked up the cauldron, prepared to tip in all of the bubbling liquid. "Damn!" she swore again loudly, the hot pewter had burnt her fingers through the dragons hide gloves that she wore. She heard the creaking of a rusty key in the potions room door and grew desperate.
She quickly juggled the bottle, the funnel and the cauldron and shut the fire on her burner. She ducked her body under the desk, breathing hard. The hinges on the door grated awfully, flakes of oxidized metal falling on the floor. She quickly inhaled and began to hold her breath.
Professor Snape swept in slowly, first his beaky nose becoming visible, then his sallow face and last his dark cape that settled around his legs in swirls. The bane of her existence puffed in after him, his cheeks pink with exertion.
I guess mocking people and doing Pansy aren't exerting enough for him, she thought. That mottled pink shade doesn't do much for him. "Professor Snape, it was a total accident! I never meant to demean you in any way!" "The fact remains that you did demean me,"
Snape's voice resonated in the small space, sending tremors down her spine. "I'm sure that I can devise a fit punishment for you. In the meantime, next time you need to make yourself look good to Ms. Parkinson, try bragging about Daddy's mansion as usual. Insulting teachers does not become you."
Draco hung his head and glanced at the floor. Good! He looks embarrassed. It's about time Snape needled that prat. He's been obnoxious for years! Draco's face suddenly twitched. What had he spotted??? She panicked. He began to walk over to the desk where she was situated. She pulled the uniform black robe over her head. Perhaps he hadn't seen her after all? He stopped right in front of 'her' desk. "I'm sorry Professor," his voice was remorseful, his actions were not, as he kicked a leg backwards and into Hermione.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are Granger," he drawled mockingly. "Excuse me Mr. Malfoy?" Snape quirked an eyebrow at him. "Did you say something?" Hermione fervently whispered prayers under her breath. "Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, our kingdom." "Yes, I believe if you look under the desk behind me." ".come, thy will be done." "You will find Ms. Granger clutching a cauldron."
Shit. She closed her eyes and banged her forehead lightly against the cauldron she held in her lap. "Ms. Granger?" Snape imperiously inquired. "Would you mind crawling out of that space? You rather resemble a larvae curled up like that." She slid to her knees and stepped out of the crawl space, stretching her legs out.
"If you wouldn't mind removing your robe from your face? I don't particularly want to see your face, however, I would like to see your face as you attempt to lie yourself out of this situation. Should be rather amusing, indeed."
She placed her cauldron down on the desk with a thud and slid trembling hands back over her robe, pushing it back down to her shoulders. She bit her bottom lip and looked over at Malfoy. He smirked at her. She had never felt as much animosity towards a facial expression from a single individual. "Yes?" Snape nodded towards her. "I'm waiting to see what fiction you manage to mastermind." "Well, see, uh, I was um, trying to um, clean up the materials I had left out during class?" She stumbled over words. Tears of mortification stung her eyes. For HER to be caught at something like this. Her reputation was going to suffer irrevocable damage! The blot would go on her permanent record! She would never get into a good wizarding college! She would never get to be Minister-Of-Magic now! My life is over!!!
"Is that the best you can do Ms. Granger? I must say, I am disappointed with your lying talents. I would have thought that my best and brightest (at this Draco raised his eyebrow) student could have come up with a better excuse." His oily countenance and the fact that it was he that held her future in his hands caused tears to prick at the back of her eyelids. No! I can't cry now. Not in front of Malfoy. No. To her shame tears began to run down her nose.
"P-professor Snape. I-I-I've never done anything like this before. I apologize. If you could just not mention this to anyone I would do anything, absolutely anything. I am so incredibly sorry. Nothing like this will ever happen again," she choked out, raising the back of her hand to her face, tears mixing with the ink that had smudged stubbornly on her cheek earlier in the day.
"Ms. Granger, if you think that I'm going to let you go just because you are in running for Head Girl, you have another thing coming." Hermione gasped at this piece of information. She didn't know that she was in the running for Head Girl. "Yes, yes Ms. Granger. Don't act so surprised. Feigned modesty does not become you." She flushed red at this.
"Mr. Malfoy! Where exactly do you think you're going?" They both turned their heads towards the boy that was slinking steadily towards the door. "Do you think that I am going to excuse you just because you discovered a hide-a-way for me?" Malfoy opened his mouth to protest. Snape quickly walked over to him and shut his jaw with a snap.
"Nuh-nuh-nuh.shhh! Don't speak, Mr. Malfoy. You and Ms. Granger will be cleaning this dungeon from now until lights out.with these toothbrushes." He produced two scummy looking toothbrushes from a fold in his robes. "I believe that these belong to Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle. Return them to them when you're done. They shan't notice the difference."
With that Snape tossed the toothbrushes on a desk, swirled and walked towards the door, robes billowing. Suddenly he spun on his heels. "Well? Why aren't you started yet? Oh by the way- Mr. Malfoy you have 3 weeks detention as do you Ms. Granger. I will speak to Professor McGonnagall about arranging both of your punishments. Don't stand there gawping! Get to work!" He spun again and thundered towards the door, opening it and slamming it shut in one motion.
Hermione waited for two beats before tearing into Draco. "God Malfoy! What is your problem? I was perfectly fine under that desk. I wasn't going to get caught. Jeez- It's not like I've done anything to you recently. Well? What justification could you possibly have for getting me in trouble?"
A smirk came over Draco's face. "You're a mudblood. That's enough justification for me to do anything I want with you. Besides, if I was getting in it for 3 weeks of detention, I might as well drag you down with me."
Hermione flushed in anger. "My blood is as purer than that filth that runs around in your veins! At least I wouldn't have ratted you out if it had been you under that desk. Us 'mudbloods' at least have some concept of honor. Even if I am a mudblood, that's still no justification for getting me in trouble and getting me three weeks of detention. This will go on my permanent record you know!"
"Your permanent record. Ah yes, the perfection that is your grades. Well, that's too bad. I suppose they are marred forever. I have honor. I have plenty of honor. Malfoys abide by a code of honor. If you would be too stupid to rat me out when I was a sitting duck under that desk, well then, I suppose you aren't as intelligent as you like to make out.
It's not my fault that you were sitting huddled under that desk. If you could have hidden that brown bush under your robe, I wouldn't have known you were there anyway. So if you want to blame anyone for getting you in trouble, blame your ugly hedge of hair." He turned around and sauntered towards the desk with the toothbrushes and picked up the least dirty of them.
"It's impossible to reason with one whos intelligence is as lacking as yours happens to be. Just shut up and let's try to make this tolerable for both of us okay?" Without waiting for an answer she too walked over to the desk holding the remaining toothbrush. "Ewwww," she grumbled, disgusted with the toothbrush that appeared to be soaked in grime with mold growing on the handle.
She crouched and began to scrub the dank floor of the cauldron when she felt eyes on her back. "Malfoy, if you could refrain from checking out my ass. it would be much appreciated."
"Why would I check your ass out? I'm just wondering how something as ugly as you could have been created. Your mother must put a paper bag on your head before kissing you goodnight. Are your teeth doing better by the way?" His sardonic voice grated on her nerves as did the reminder of her former teeth.
"Whatever Malfoy." She resumed scrubbing. She scrubbed until her arms ached and her thighs burned. God, this is a better work out that Buns of Steel! I wonder if they make wizard exercise tapes? She turned around to see how Malfoy was progressing on his half of the room. He was sitting in a chair with his feet up on a desk sleeping.
Fury overcame her as she had been working hard for over an hour and a half while the lazy prat had slept away. She walked over to Draco, wrenched his mouth open and shoved Crabbe/Goyle's toothbrush into it, jamming it to the back of his mouth. He awoke sputtering and gasping for breath. He blinked once and spat out the toothbrush, once the full force of the taste hit him.
"Uck! That's vile. Why would you DO that to me? That's just plain cruel." He began to spit the taste out of his mouth, specks of his saliva landing on the desk. Hermione backed off, not wanting to be part of his impromptu showering. He finished spitting and jumped up to face her, hands crossed over his chest.
"You're nothing but a good for-nothing waste of oxygen that I have the misfortune to go to school with. Your blood contaminates the school and all of wizard kind. You're Harry Potter's wench, a pitiful position that somehow makes you feel gratified. Your hair takes up miles and miles of space that could otherwise be used for better things, like growing Flobberworms. If you actually bothered to brush your hair, you would likely find larvae and insects and perhaps small rodents nested in it. Your teeth.I won't even go there."
"Malfoy I hate you, you prick! You are a pureblooded snob and a half with a major stick up his ass. Wait, oh sorry, was that Crabbe's hand? Your only friends are your henchmen and those that want to get close to you for daddy's money. The only reason that you ever made the Quidditch team is that daddy bought your house brooms. You buy your way into everything. If I saw you actually receive an honor that you hadn't bought, I'd die from shock.
You are nothing, absolutely nothing without your money. You are better looking as a ferret than as a human! You talk about my hair? Well let's take a look at yours. You're not exactly going to be put onto People's 50 Most Beautiful People of the Year list."(He looked confused at this) "It's so shellacked with varnish or that substance you call gel that you would have to scrape it off with a spatula did you ever want to see the real surface. Although I can't think of any reason you would. You are a waste of any and all resources that have ever been spent on you." She stalked towards the door.
"Granger!" She turned. "This is far from finished you bucktoothed beaver."
"Fine!" she spat out. "If a feud is what you want, that's what you're going to get! We'll see who wins Malfoy. But I just know that it's going to be me. Your puny brain can't think up anymore insults. After all, you've been using the same one for me for 6 years. God, poor poor Malfoy. Can't think up anything more original that 'mudblood'. Well I have news for you. Hermione Granger is pissed. And I'm going to bring out the big guns."
"Fine!" he spat back. "You want a fight you've got it. You can go screw off. Wait- who would screw you? I can't think of anyone, not even that mangy haired follower, Weasel."
"Bring it on Malfoy," She walked out of the door, pausing for effect. "You're going to wish you had never been born."