All Bad Forgotten
Chapter One
Hermione woke up with a strange chill running continuously up from her head to her toes. She turned to her side and pulled the comforter higher up to cover her naked shoulders...
What!? Naked? I don't sleep naked! Not even during summer! Hermione sat up with a start, eyes opened wide. The comforter was slipping slowly down her exposed chest and she quickly reached down to grab it before holding it high up to her neck. What happened?
She scanned the entire room that was decorated with red and gold veils. Nothing was amiss...
A dull ache attacked her temples out of the blue and Hermione found her fists tightening from the pain. "Ugh…" She pounded her head lightly while she was reaching for her wand with her hand.
Holding her wand tightly, she muttered a spell through her clenched teeth and it instantly soothed the throbbing. Feeling much, much better, Hermione closed her eyes and dropped her head into her cropped-up knees. What happened?
Normally, when she asked herself what happened, her mind would immediately pop up flashbacks of what happened. However, this time round, there wasn't much popping and bubbling in her head. Instead, her head felt a little lighter and emptier than usual. WHAT HAPPENED? She screamed inwardly at herself for the umpteenth time.
A piece of yesterday floated into her thoughts. It was a party. To celebrate or commemorate something, she guessed. Something so significant and happy, it deserved a full additional week to the year-end holiday from the school.
And that was all. No more details of what wild things (or lack thereof) she did at the party, no information of what the hell was going on… at all. Maybe she had too much alcohol? But, um, wasn't alcohol banned from school? Anyway, she would go and check with Harry and Ron. Something is seriously wrong with my porous head.
Feeling frustrated and infinitely stupid, Hermione finally decided to get out of bed and bathe before breakfast was served in the Great Hall.
Just the simple act of dragging herself out of the bed was tough. Well, of course it was tough, given the sensation of having a pair of legs that weigh as much as sacks of cement.
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Stepping out of the attached bathroom, the refreshed Granger threw on some dull-coloured clothes and school robes before skipping out of her room.
Once she was out of her room, Hermione shivered. There wasn't any weird wind or whatever but something just felt strange. She looked at the gold-and-red and silver-and-green decorations put up all over the room. The significant decors were the two great tapestries hung on the beige walls on either sides of the entrance to the dormitory.
One had a picture of a fierce, intimidating lion in red and sun-yellow, with shiny golden letters spelling 'Gryffindor' under it. It was her house. The other showed a cunning, poisonous serpent in green and silvery white outlines; the metallic green letters below spelt 'Slytherin'. What the hell's Slytherin? Is it another house? But... Why do I remember Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor but not it? Had this house been newly added because of the special something that happened yesterday? Why… I can't remember! Somehow, she felt obliged to remember Slytherin. But there didn't seem to be anything worth remembering. Slytherin felt so in her life and out of it at the same time. Merlin, this is no good…
As Hermione stood there studying the details of the puzzling 'Slytherin' logo, a tall, young boy entered the shared living room (A/N: sorry to interrupt, but is it right to say that it's a living room? Or is it a common room?). After walking briskly to the large velvety couch, he dropped noisily onto the couch. This got Hermione's attention as she turned around to face the unfamiliar-looking blond.
"Sorry?" She said politely with a shy, cautious smile one always use when approaching a stranger for help. The boy tilted his head up to face her.
"What, Granger?" He asked coldly, then he turned back to his book.
He knows me. And I don't. Seeing his curt response, Hermione decided to just cut to the topic, "Do you, by any chance, know what this, um, 'Slytherin' means?" She pointed to the green themed tapestry.
The boy made no reply as he closed his book and put it on the empty space beside him. He got up and came closer to Hermione, who was still wearing a polite smile. Although this odd boy was wearing a sneer, he was actually handsome, Hermione noticed. He had pale skin and hair of fairly pale yellow. His eyes were the most enchanting feature on his face. They were deep and had swirling streaks of grey and gentle hints of ice blue. "Granger, look, I appreciate your attempt to talk to me but I am not free. I cannot entertain all of your silly questions, got it?"
Hermione stared at him. Maybe he just didn't have politeness in him. Hermione's smile did not waver at his rudeness. "Um… I understand if you do not get my question – maybe you didn't hear me clearly. I was asking –"
"Oh, I heard what you were asking all right." The boy cut her off and sighed, bowing his head and resigning to the fact that the talk was inevitable. "Fine. The definition of Slytherin is me. If that's okay, I've to go and get ready for lessons."
Before he could even move, Hermione reached out and grabbed his elbow. Hermione could feel his body stiffening under her hand. His icy gaze fell onto Hermione's hand and his arm. Dramatically, she followed his line of vision and saw their physical contact. Hermione quickly withdrew her hand as if she just realized that she was feeling fire. Just as quickly, Hermione sensed her face heating up… she flustered. Calm down. Merlin, he's just a boy. Just get to the point and ask what you want to know! "I'm sorry. But can you at least elaborate more on what 'Slytherin' is? It is a new house, right?"
The boy's face still betrayed no emotion. But she could sense that he wasn't exactly pleased with her keeping him back for more questions. "Actually," he began, "yes. Slytherin is a new house that was just formed yesterday. I was previously from Gryffindor but the Sorting Hat was used yesterday to re-sort people into houses – to see if students would get sorted into this new Slytherin or remain in their current house. It was a sad thing, really. I didn't want to leave the great, big Gryffindor family…"
Hermione couldn't believe that she hadn't spotted him in all her years in Gryffindor! I mean, he looks unique and there's just this air of… a noble around him. What a sad thing that he actually got sorted out of his comfortable house and into the new one.
But there was something wrong and suspicious about his tone. He was being sarcastic. Make it very sarcastic. But Hermione did not notice. She thought his story flowed logically and nodded slowly. "Right… So I'm still in Gryffindor, right?"
He stood there, arms crossed on his broad chest. His nose was held high up into the air.
She took it as a yes. "Um, okay. Then… are you the Head Boy this year? That's why you are here with me in the Heads Dorm?" She felt really stupid. It was so helpless, letting others help her fill in the blanks in her brain. What exactly happened? She pressed her brain for the answers.
"Yeah, yeah. Can I go now?" He replied with a 'duh' look and started to turn away from her.
"Thanks for your help – and it was nice meeting you." Hermione added.
The handsome boy grumbled a 'whatever' and started to take his leave.
Looking at his retreating form, she asked, "Hey, what's your name?"
"Severus Snape." He answered before slamming the silver painted door behind him.
(A/N: Sorry if you all are confused even up till this point. I can't say more… The knot of confusion will be untangled later on in the story. Hope you'll have the interest to carry on reading till then.)
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Hermione hurried into the Great Hall to meet her friends. She didn't want to miss them. With much difficulty, she finally found Harry and Ron among the long lines of students sitting at the Gryffindor table. Hermione stepped up to her two best friends and greeted, "Hi, people!"
"Morning, Hermione." Harry returned with a pleasant smile. "Have a seat." He patted the space next to him.
While settling into the seat, Hermione saw that Ron was fairly busy trying to swallow the giant amount of food he had been chewing on. "Are you okay, Ron? It's not Halloween yet, don't scare me with that disgusting… gesture…"
Finally, Ron stopped chewing. He'd decided to give up on trying to swallow the amount of food and spat the heap of slimy thing onto the empty plate before him. Hermione, sitting right across from him, took on a ghastly shade of green. "Ew."
Harry looked at Ron with a mocking smirk and said, "Merlin, Ron! You sure know how to impress people… in a very prominent way, pal. No wonder people are shunning you."
The red-head downed the remains of the bits in his mouth with a gobletful of pumpkin juice. "No, they aren't. They still like me as much as they always have."
"Oh stop being such an air-head, Ron." Hermione dismissed while helping herself a bowl of chicken salad.
Harry laughed beside her and commented, "Hermione, you don't know half of it."
Hermione snorted, "Yeah, right, I don't."
"Yesterday, there was a period of time where Ron seemed to have disappeared as I couldn't find him. He was actually out there, by the lake, boasting about his role in the Last Battle to some girls from other houses. He even added in details that could easily go into a superhero movie! Ha, I caught him in the act and then – Hermione, you look lost… are you?" Harry stopped his verbal diarrhea.
Hermione stared at him blankly, and turned to Ron, then back to him as Ron was starting on another pile of food – he was trying hard to ignore Harry's comments. "Why wasn't I there yesterday?"
"You forgot? Well, never mind. You see, you had to see Dumbledore for some instructions or whatever… You know, you're the Head Girl and everything's to be taken care of by you."
Hermione nodded along, thinking that what Harry said might just be right although she could not remember any thing of it. Quietly, she asked, "Uh… This might sound funny but, Harry, did I drink some rule-breaking Firewhiskey yesterday?" Right after she asked, she felt a sudden rush of embarrassment wash over her. It'd be okay if she did not drink them, but if she did… and Harry was going to tell her so… Well, she didn't know what to think.
"Yes. And you even ordered an army of elves to massage your back." Harry replied with a straight face.
Hermione wasn't too pleased with his 'joke'. She thought that elves matters were serious matters. She frowned sternly at him.
Harry saw her reaction and coughed slightly into his fist, adjusting himself, "Sorry. I was a bit cranky just now… Okay, so on with the drinking issue. No. You didn't and we didn't. The three of us did not even touch a drop of it! You forbidden us from taking it remember? When Fred offered it to us yesterday?"
"Wait. The twins were here yesterday?" Hermione questioned.
"Yes, Hermione. What's the matter with you? You don't seem right." Harry frowned - he probably didn't think that Hermione was acting sane.
Right now, she felt more confused than ever. "Okay, now, can you tell me what yesterday's party was about? Why did we have it? Why were Fred and George even allowed to come back into the castle? What's so special about the celebration?!"
"Hermione, Harry," Ron interrupted, looking a little paler than when he was downing food. "Double Advanced Potions begins in ten minutes. Let's go before that slime ball deducts hundred points from Gryffindor for being a second late."
"But –"
"What's the problem, Hermione? You are always against the idea of being late for classes! We've to get our book bags now, right? See you there!" Ron blurted and hurried off in the direction of the Gryffindor Tower, dragging an innocent-looking Harry Potter along with him.
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After gathering the books needed for the day, Hermione hung the bag on her shoulder and exited the dormitory. She met Severus Snape in the corridor leading to their rooms and greeted him hi. "Are you having Potions later?" She asked civilly.
"Why must I tell you?" He said, stopping to sneer at her.
"It. Was. Just. A. Question." Hermione answered, not pleased with his response.
Snape inhaled sharply and said, "Remember our deal? We should just leave each other alone, Granger. It's all over, the Dark Lord and my parents… so go away and give me my space and I'll let you be too. That's what we agreed on when we were told to share a dorm, right?"
"I… I didn't know…" She stumbled on the few words that she managed out of her mouth.
Snape sighed, exasperated, then, he raised his voice higher by some decibels, "I'm tired of the Dark times. And I still need time to cope with what you know has happened to me. Leave. Me. Alone, darling." He scowled and rushed off with his book bag slung on a shoulder.
Dark times… Dark Lord… it's all over… What?
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The professor had not yet arrived when Hermione arrived and settled in her seat.
"Where's Professor…" She was suddenly stricken with an alarming thought. Oh no, who's the Potions professor? She couldn't believe she would actually forget something like this!
Hermione turned to the tables behind her. Ron and Harry were settled there, checking and double-checking their potions essay while they chatted about Harry's hurting scar. "Hey, who's –"
"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed when he saw her. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's here!"
Instantly, the heavy dungeon door slammed to a shut as a black-robed man whose black swishing cloak matched his charcoal hair entered the room. Silence fell instantaneously on the class.
A cloud of confusion clogged her thoughts. So this man is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? And is he our Potions teacher? Seeing that the man bewitched potions instructions onto the blackboard, Hermione decided that he was their Potions teacher – He-Who-Must-Not-Be Named. What a long name he had… And a weird one, come to that.
"Class, today, we'll be brewing the Temporary Memory Enhancement Potions. Follow the instructions on the board. Please pair yourselves up with another member from a different house before proceeding to concoct the potions. This is to promote house unity, which is deemed important by the Headmaster. But do NOT make a mess of the potion." Professor He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named instructed.
None of the people groaned or made a noise at the last piece of instruction. They didn't want the professor to deduct their house points. However, inside them, they were cursing and swearing at the arrangement.
When no one was making a move, Professor He-How-Must-Not-Be-Named added, "You will need exactly one hour and twenty one minutes to do the potion if your potion is correct. You are now left with, at most, four minutes to decide who you want to partner with. I need some time to collect some assignments after your potions are done later."
Hermione panicked. She did not want to fail the potion for she knew that each and every thing they did in class would be graded and recorded. She searched the room with her alert eyes and saw that the only other house with the Gryffindors was Slytherin. She wondered if Snape took Advanced Potions…
A rude tap came from her table. Hermione turned to the noise-maker and saw a bored-looking Snape standing before her. "Since we are the Heads, we should set an example."
Professor He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named heard this and commented, "Good! Pupils, that's the spirit! Ten points to Slytherin!"
Snape smirked, lifting the corner of his thin lips ever so slightly. "Do you want to start now, or not?"
Hermione glared at the blond. If she had spotted him earlier, she would have done the exact thing. Unfair! "Fine. I'll get the ingredients while you heat the cauldron."
She turned away from Snape and went to gather the ingredients. Harry tapped at her shoulder and said, "Hermione, careful, ok? Don't drink the potion before him."
She nodded and started to walk away when Harry pulled her back, "And what Ron said just now – don't take it to heart. Voldemort's not back. He's dead for good." With that, Harry went to the cupboard and got the ingredients for his partner (Blaise Zabini) and him. Hermione stood rooted to the ground. What did he just say? What's Voldemort?
God, the gaps in her memories are surfacing again! So many things that she still didn't know about. Were Voldemort, Slytherins, Professor He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the celebration, the sleeping naked parts all things that she was supposed to know about but didn't?
What's all this about?
A/N: Just in case some of you are wondering, yes, I did post this up before but I was rather displeased with the plot and took it down. Now, I feel like doing this again, so here this fic is! But just a note of caution I am a slow worker, which means I am a slow updater too!
This story has a plot… which is rather rare in my little collection of stories so I'd appreciate it if you would be so kind as to leave a little review if you read.
NO flames please. I don't think I can take it.
Love, LameyDovey
PS This story is written in chronological order, unless it's otherwise stated.