Hermione had no problem getting through all the lessons the next day. The N.E.W.T. level wasn't really difficult for her, now that she had real dueling experience; but there was always something new to learn about magic.
Professor McGonagall herself was teaching Transfiguration this year because no new teacher had been appointed for that subject. DADA had become almost too easy, all the students knew about the attacking and defensive spells, almost everyone had practiced them last year. Charms was being taught by Professor Flitwick who considered Hermione to be his favourite student; she was the only student to have scored a hundred and twenty percent on his test.
What Hermione was eagerly waiting for, was the last lesson of the day, Potions; since they hadn't done anything regarding the subject last year. She hoped her potion brewing skills hadn't rusted yet.
She wasn't surprised to find the dungeons back to the way it had been in their fifth year, dark and cold. For the last two years, Professor Slughorn had been filling in for Potions, but he had retired now and was happy to live out the rest of his life in peace.
Hermione sat on a table with Ginny like she had during the rest of the classes. Soon after they had settled their cauldrons, a boy named Colin Creevy approached her. He was the biggest admirer of Harry Potter ever since he had landed at Hogwarts. He was very much excited as he asked, "Hermione, can I please sit with you?"
Seeing the desperate look in his eyes and knowing how much disappointed he will be if she refused, she said, "Okay, I guess."
Colin had the expression of the boy whose every wish had been fulfilled as he put his cauldron on the table and sat beside Hermione.
She looked at Ginny who was sitting opposite her too late, her head was shaking vehemently, as she mouthed to her, "What have you done? He is rubbish at Potions. You'll see."
Professor Snape entered gliding through the classroom, his black cape sweeping on the floor behind him. He was dressed in black as usual, and his long black hair was shining in the light of the candles which were the only source of light in the classroom. His expression was blank as ever while his eyes swept through the students. The whole class fell silent immediately.
Professor Snape started his class by taking the roll call, he paused at Hermione's name.
"At least someone had the sense to come back and complete their studies." he grumbled to the silent class, giving Hermione a glare.
"That was almost a compliment. Well done, Hermione!" came Ginny's remark from the opposite site of the table. Hermione gave her a weak smile. At least, Professor Snape had started acknowledging her presence in the classroom.
"Now, I know that last year your class was mostly interrupted by the… um, certain unfortunate events, but that won't excuse you if you perform poorly in my class." Snape began. "As most of you would remember, I don't tolerate slackers and trouble-makers in my class."
"Unfortunately, because Professor Slughorn used to accept an 'Exceeds Expectation' O.W.L. grade for his N.E.W.T. class, I'll have to deal with this mediocre batch for the year. N.E.W.T. level requires more advanced potions and hopefully, you will work hard not to disappoint me too much." He was eyeing Colin Creevy now, who had hidden himself behind Hermione to escape his murderous stare.
Every student was listening intently to Professor Snape, not just because they were afraid to lose house points or get detentions; but because of the new-found respect for the bravery their teacher had shown in playing his part to hoodwink the most dangerous wizard of all time. Even Snape seemed to become aware of the change by the end of his speech. Hermione thought she saw some Slytherin girls even drooling over him.
Severus Snape did not enjoy this change of attitude in his students, he had always felt it easier when they feared and despised him; their faces filled with admiration did not please him that much.
"Today, you are going to start making the Polyjuice Potion. Now, I assume you have heard about it. Who can tell me what it is?" Snape asked.
A few hands went up in the air. Hermione didn't bother raising her hand this time; Snape had never let her answer any question in his class willingly.
Snape's black eyes roved over their upturned faces, lingering for a fraction of a second longer on Hermione's than anyone else's.
"Miss Granger?" he said, much to Hermione's surprise.
Hermione took a minute to compose herself before blurting out, "The Polyjuice Potion, which is a complex and time-consuming concoction, enables the consumer to assume the physical appearance of another person, as long as they have first procured part of that individual's body to add to the brew; this may be anything - toenail clippings, dandruff or worse - but it is most usual to use hair."
Snape gave a nod and continued his question, "And its effects are?"
Hermione didn't waste a second this time and answered, "The effect of the potion is only temporary, and depending on how well it has been brewed, may last anything from between ten minutes and twelve hours. You can change age, sex and race by taking the Polyjuice Potion, but not species."
"Precisely. An answer copied almost word for word from 'Moste Potente Potions'. None the less, ten points for Gryffindor. Now open your books; turn to page 394 and start with it. Do proceed with caution; it is a potion that many adult witches and wizards fear to attempt. " Snape said to the class.
Hermione was surprised at Snape's less hostile behavior this year. She was confident about the potion though, she had successfully brewed it in her second year itself. As the whole class had gotten to their feet wanting to impress the professor on their first day; Hermione too opened her book and started with the potion.
Snape spent the entire class, wandering among the students, making corrections. When he reached their table, he couldn't find anything wrong with Hermione's cauldron; filling her with pride when he moved over to Colin's potion without any comment on hers.
Colin however was not so comfortable with Snape being in such close proximity with him. He was supposed to put the knotgrass one by one into the potion next; he had already cut them in proper square shapes they were supposed to be cut. But, with Snape breathing down his neck, in his excitement he had accidently put the whole bunch of knotgrass into Hermione's cauldron instead.
"Foolish Boy!" Snape muttered as he quickly pushed Hermione out of the way and emptied her cauldron with his wand.
"Sorry sir! Sorry Hermione!" Colin looked extremely apologetic.
"You could've created an explosion here. Potion brewing does not go well with excitement, Mr. Creevy." Snape glared at him.
"I'm afraid, you'll have to start from the beginning again, Miss Granger." Snape said to Hermione.
Since Snape had been in a good mood today, Hermione said, "No problem, professor."
When Snape was gone, Colin offered Hermione his help, but she thought she was better off without it. Ginny was giving her a I-told-you-so look.
When the two hours of the Potions class were over, all the students except Hermione, had finished their brewing. They were told to keep their potions to stew in the adjacent room.
When all the students had submitted their potions, Snape called the class to an end.
Hermione however, wanted to stay back and finish her potion brewing, so she went to the professor's desk to ask Snape's permission.
Snape decided to come over to the table she was working on, took a quick look over her cauldron and said, "It will require another hour of work. You may stay here and finish your work if you like, if you don't mind missing an hour of your evening free time. When you are finished, inform me. I'll be in my office." Without a second glance at her, he strode away.
Ginny was packing her bags, eager to get out of the Dungeons, she asked, "Hermione, you really want to finish up, huh?"
"Yeah, I'll be all right. You go on and enjoy. I'll meet you in the common room later." Hermione said.
Ginny had been with her ever since the morning and Hermione wanted to give her a chance to be with her other friends and enjoy her last year like she wanted to.
Ignoring Colin's apologies as he too finally left from the classroom, Hermione continued to work on her potion in silence.
When her work was completed, in about fifty minutes, she put her potion carefully into a flask. She took the flask and hurried off to Snape's office which was next to the potions classroom itself.
When she knocked on the door, Snape called, "Come in."
She found him sitting in his desk, reading Daily Prophet, a cup of strong smelling tea in his hand. A small stack of unopened letters lay forgotten at the side of the table while almost all of it was covered with notes and parchments.
Severus Snape looked up from his newspaper. Hermione Granger was standing before him with a flask of half-completed potion in her hands. He glanced at his clock, she was ten minutes earlier than he had expected. She must have messed up the potion in her hurry, he thought irritably.
He put his newspaper and cup down and took out his right hand, "Hand me the flask, Miss Granger." She did that without any question.
Snape examined her potion, it was remarkably perfect. The color and the bubbling was exactly of textbook quality. It was by far, the best Polyjuice Potion he had ever seen a student make before. He was sure that every other specimen he had received today was flawed to a degree and will not deliver the required effect to the potion after stewing. But this solution was perfect.
Perhaps he had underestimated her abilities. She certainly had the makings of a potioneer; which was a rare thing in its own. He glanced at her through the glass flask. Her messy brown hair was hastily tied up in a bun; her shirt was half-dangling out of her skirt. Her school uniform was now a bit short for her; he hardly blamed her for overlooking to buy new set of uniform in the aftermath of the war. The sweat, a clear evidence of her hard work, had made her shirt semi-transparent; revealing the size of her full breasts. Also, her skirt was short enough to reveal her long toned legs. Stop ogling your student. ~Snape chided himself. She looked tired and was expectantly looking at him with her brown eyes waiting for his remarks. Even in this state, she looked a stunning young woman.
Wait, did I just call her stunning? ~Snape thought.
Putting the flask carefully on his desk, he turned to her.
"Have a seat, Miss Granger!" he told her. He did not want his eyes to go back to her tempting breasts again. What is wrong with me? ~Snape thought angrily.
Hermione was anxious now; Snape would never have told her to sit without any reason. Why had he taken so long examining her flask? What is wrong? Did I do any mistake with the potion? She had made the exact potion in her second year; but had her skills failed her this time?
Putting her misery to end, Snape said, "You have done a remarkable job with this potion, Miss Granger. I see that you have followed the recipe from 'Moste Potente Potions'."
Oh, so this was the problem then. Hermione had remembered the procedure from the book she had referred in second year and followed it instead of their coursebook. She was amazed that Snape could tell the difference.
"Yes, sir. I remembered the procedure."
"I am surprised you are reading that book. I never took you to be so interested in Potions before. Where did you get that book's reference?" Snape asked, looking into her eyes.
"From you, sir. You mentioned it once in class back in our second year." Hermione answered truthfully; it was difficult to lie looking into those black eyes.
"So, you are saying you referred it in second year. That book belongs to the restricted section of the library. I hope you didn't proceed to attempt any potion from the book in your second year." Snape said.
Hermione tore away from his gaze and stared at her hands. That was exactly what she had done, but she could not admit that to her professor. She kept her eyes on her hands as she said, "No, sir."
Snape had a doubt that Hermione was hiding something. But that did not hide the fact that she was very good at potion making. So he offered, "You have a remarkable talent at Potions, Miss Granger. I have never seen a more promising student before. That's why I am offering you a proposition; if you want you can work on a Potions project with me."
Hermione looked up in surprise. What had happened to the professor Snape who barely used to even look at her? He was now praising her and even offering her a project?
Her surprise was so evident in her eyes that Snape had to ask, "Any problem, Miss Granger?"
Her reply was quick, "I would be honored to do a project under your guidance, sir. But, I don't understand. I always thought that you…er, hated me?"
Snape considered her question for a minute, before answering, "Hate is a strong word, Miss Granger. I don't think I've ever even disliked you."
Seeing the disbelief in her eyes, he added, "I don't think my role as a Death Eater spy would allow praising a Muggle-born witch such as yourself, however talented you could be. Given that the whole wizarding world knows you as 'the brightest witch of your age', you would hardly need my approval too. I really hope you live up to your title in our project too, Miss Granger."
Of course. That is why he had always ignored her. How could she not think about this? Aloud she said, "I'll try my best, sir."
"Take your time. Pick your topic; and inform me when you have decided. I'll keep this flask." Snape told her, pointing at her flask.
Nodding, Hermione got up and exited Snape's office.
Watching Hermione's retreating back, Snape marveled at her curvy figure. Damn, now I am lusting after a student. Too young, too young, he chanted to himself.
This wasn't the first time Hermione Granger had been in his presence, what was the reason she was having this effect on him now? he thought. Well, you had never really noticed her before, also she wasn't grown up to have the well-endowed body she has right now ~a small voice said inside his head.
Author's Notes:
Thank you to everyone who liked and appreciated the story. I am really grateful. I hope you keep telling me about your thoughts in reviews.
