This story was written at the request of my friend known as Lady Midian. It is my first ship fic and was originally started as a one shot/one chapterfic. I couldn't seem to contain it to one chapter though (obviously) and it took me a period of days to write this the way I wanted it. It may be a little "feel good" or however you want to classify it, but especially considering it's my first ship fic and also my first completed story, I feel quite proud of it.
I still like reviews. :grins:
The sun gleamed off the lake, while the squid slowly sank beneath the cool, rippling water. However, the only other movement outside was a slight warm breeze. The students of Hogwarts could instead be seen inside the castle, staring longingly out the window to watch the lazy day go by.
Inside the dungeon classroom for Potions, however, there was no such scene. There were no windows for the students to stare out of. There was no warmth for the students sitting in the classroom. And there was no time for laziness, as the students were working on a Potions test. In one corner, a group of Slytherins could be seen slightly clowning around and not completely focusing on their potions. Across the room, a dark-haired boy and a redhead could be seen glaring between the Slytherins and the Potions teacher who refused to discipline them. At one point they caught the eye of a bushy haired girl working at a different cauldron, then proceeded to continue working on their test.
"I hope, Miss Granger, that you are not attempting to help your friends actually pass a test," Professor Snape warned. "I would be forced to give all four of you a zero if you were."
Hermione shook her head before answering, "No, Professor. I didn't say a word to them."
"Ten points from Gryffindor," was the curt reply to her statement. "Even if you weren't helping them, you needn't check on their progress." Snape turned around and walked back up to his desk at the front of the room, his long dark cape billowing out behind him.
The students continued working with fervor, rushing to finish their potion in time. A crash of glass was suddenly heard, followed by Neville apologizing to his partner.
"You keep working and I'll clean this up," he mumbled, hoping it would save time on making the potion.
"No, Mr. Longbottom, your partner will not keep working on the potion. Both of you must clean this up without magic before you can continue your potion or you will receive a zero for your grade." Snape sneered at the two as they hurriedly cleaned up. "However, you two don't have much time left." He glanced at the area of the room where a certain group of Gryffindors sat. He could see Potter and Weasley exchange looks before continuing to work on their potion in silence. What Snape failed to see, however, was Hermione gulping and hurrying to add her final ingredients to the potion.
Hermione carefully added her last ingredient, and the potion turned from brown to purple. She sighed and leaned back, relieved to have finished it correctly. Snape did, however, see this and decided to take advantage of it.
"I hope you aren't trying to impress us with your superiority, Miss Granger. I'm sure there are things you could be doing right now besides basking in your glory at having finished your potion first yet again." Snape's sneer turned into a snide smile, but inside he was irritated at having to make an example of her again.
I always have to make an example of her, Snape thought. He hated picking on Granger; she was actually a brilliant student and a perfect example of what he thought a witch should be. She pushed herself to excel in everything, and she did. Snape sneered again. However, he reminded himself, she always had to make it known that she was good at everything. No one is good at everything, he reminded himself. No one can be good at everything. They just couldn't. Here, he smiled again. Not even the Potter boy was perfect, even if he did try to act just like his father.
He scowled as he looked at Potter then looked around the room to avoid the appearance of singling Harry out. Snape still despised James Potter to this day, and it was blatantly clear to him that Harry would follow his footsteps. Too bad the Granger girl went along with him and Weasley. She'd do so much better if she had that time to study and focus more on her classes. Hermione Granger would be almost perfect then. He shook himself before standing up from his chair.
"Time is up. No doubt most of you will receive bad marks again." Snape again glanced around the room at the students before catching the eye of a young blood in his house. Draco Malfoy paused what he was doing to grin. Snape forced himself to smile back, while his insides groaned again. He despised the Malfoys. Even in school he had hated Lucius, but it had been far better to be a friend of a Malfoy than to stand alone. Besides, he needed the Malfoys' connections right now. Lucius was one of the Death Eaters that was closest to the Dark Lord. Severus broke his eye contact with the young Malfoy to start grading his students' potions. He didn't have to go far to find a passing mark in the Gryffindors. Hermione sat with tension on her face as he looked at her potion. Needing to find something wrong with it, Snape said, "It should be a brighter purple." He walked off, hating how he needed to find a fault. He let his guilt go at the thought that she'd at least appreciate the fact that she had passed. While he was busy coming up with any excuse he could to give Potter and Weasley failing marks, Hermione's face tried to hide her dejection at not having done the potion completely right. No matter how much she studied or how many potions she made, it was never just right. Something was always wrong; the texture, the tint, the smell. Once he even said the taste was a bit off and that she should make sure she had only fresh ingredients for her potions.
After class, she listened as Ron and Harry took turns to describe Snape in unfavorable words. She even forced herself to smile and agree to some of them. Deep down inside, though, she hated herself for her actions against her favorite teacher.