Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything having to do with it and I make no money from this.
There were three things that made Hermione Granger pull her wand on Professor Snape that morning in the Great Hall in front of everyone, the first being simply to shut him up. It's a rare and gratifying day when anyone can put that distinct look of shock and indignation on his face. Seeing the look of betrayal that was swiftly hidden behind his façade though almost had Hermione faltering in her steps before reminding herself that this was for his own good. The professor probably hadn't had to worry about a wand being drawn on him since the war had ended and it was undoubtedly a shock to him that she was doing so after they had so recently declared a tentative truce. The second reason she pulled her wand on the professor was because if she didn't, she's pretty sure one of her colleagues would. There's only so much a reasonable person can be expected to handle and the rest of the staff had clearly reached their threshold if the wrath upon their faces was anything to go by. The third reason was to finally stop the magic that had gotten them into this mess in the first place.
It had all started three days ago at breakfast when a third year student, Roger Quinnen, had approached the head table and asked in a voice that carried over the whole hall, "Professor Snape, if you had to choose between snogging Professor Trelawney and snogging Professor McGonagall, who would you pick?"
Severus opened his mouth to verbally eviscerate the student for daring to ask such an absurd question, but what came out instead was "I wouldn't touch Sybill with a ten-foot pole but rumor has it Minerva is one hell of a liplocker." Snape's eyes grew wide the moment the words left his mouth, apparently flabbergasted by what he'd said. Clearly he wasn't the only one either, if the simultaneous gasps up and down the head table and throughout the Great Hall were anything to go by.
Roger rushed back to his table, eager to get away before the professors could deduct points, and loudly declaring to his friends, "It worked! Did you hear that?! It worked!"
Snape sat still in utter shock for a full minute, inwardly cringing at the outraged whispers and girlish giggling going on around him. He grabbed his cup of coffee and stood up, swiftly making his way to the faculty exit closest to him. In the two minutes it took him to make it back to his office his fury had mounted to an incredible state, culminating in his slamming the door behind him and banging his coffee cup onto his desk. The hot contents splashed over the side, burning his hand and staining the half-graded homework papers littering the desk. No matter, all he needed was a few drops for testing.
The nerve of that brat! Roger Quinnen will be sorry he ever decided to mess with a Potions Master! Detention for the entire semester would just be the start of his punishment! Better yet, he would have the student expelled! How was he ever going to live this down? Him, a Potions Master, clearly dosed with Veritaserum!
Taking a few deep breaths to calm his rage, he strode over to his personal cabinets, unlocking them with a simple wave of his hand. It took a few minutes to find the needed vial as he hadn't had use for it in a long time. This little gem was a potion he had discovered during the war in an old book in the Malfoy library. All he had to do was add 3 drops of the coffee to the potion, give it a shake, and cast a complicated Revealing spell and a gold chart would hover in the air listing all the ingredients found in whatever substance was added, in this case the coffee and undoubtedly the Veritaserum.
Snape pulled a dropper out of a desk drawer and used it to add precisely 3 drops of the coffee to the potion. Stoppering it, he jiggled the vial and waited impatiently for his proof. When the chart finally appeared, he was astounded, and then certain that something had gone wrong. All that was listed was coffee grinds and water. Impossible! There's no way he would have said what he said if he weren't under some kind of influence.
Setting the vial upon his desk, he took to pacing his office back and forth. His mind was spinning with the possibilities. Maybe it wasn't in his coffee. But what else could it have been in? He would have noticed if a liquid had been poured on his breakfast of toast and peanut butter. How did Quinnen even slip the potion to him? He wouldn't have had the time in the short window he was at the head table, and the average duration of a dose of Veritaserum is less than 30 minutes so there's no other time it could have been slipped to him. So what else could it be? He didn't know of anything else that could force someone to tell the truth. A knock upon his office door startled him out of his contemplation.
"What?" He growled at the intruder, throwing open the door. Just as quickly he tried to shut it again, but the Headmistress' foot blocked him from doing so.
"Don't take that tone with me Severus. I'm not the one spouting improper things about my coworkers this morning, or the one who spiked your coffee with Veritaserum. I am assuming that's what it was, wasn't it?"
Severus' cheeks tinged pink at the mention of the things he had said this morning, and about the woman standing in front of him no less. He scrubbed a hand down his face, heartily wishing he had never gotten out of bed this morning, while stepping back and allowing her entrance. She took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk, while he went around seating himself behind it.
"You should be happy to know that Roger Quinnen has been given a week's worth of detentions for asking such an inappropriate question and further discipline is pending, dependent on proof that he illegally used Veritaserum to drug a professor."
"A week?! That's not nearly sufficient, Minerva," Severus growled out. "At any rate, I don't have proof. I tested my coffee and there's nothing in it but coffee grinds and water."
Minerva sat forward in disbelief and stared at him, contemplating what he'd just told her. "Well, what can it be then? I haven't heard of anything else with similar effects."
"If I knew that, I wouldn't be sitting here, would I? I'd be doing whatever I needed to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Alright, well I'll see what I can get out of Mr. Quinnen and if that doesn't work I'll ask Albus' portrait and see if he knows of anything. Or maybe one of the other Headmasters will know something."
She stood to leave and headed for the door. She was nearly out into the hallway before Severus spoke up again. "My apologies for this morning Minerva. I didn't mean anything by it."
"Oh don't apologize to me Severus, it was quite complimentary," she said with a smirk. "Sybill on the other hand, is quite worked up about it." Severus shrugged as she left. Frankly, he couldn't give a damn what Sybill thought or felt.
Severus reluctantly got up and followed her out the door. He had a class to teach, Veritaserum or no, and he'd be damned if he let some little third year prank him into cancelling classes.
A/N: This will probably be a fairly short story, maybe 3 or 4 chapters long. I haven't finished writing it yet. Please let me know what you think; I would appreciate it.