Author's Note: This chapter isn't as long as I would have liked, but it does move the story along a little bit. I used the prompt Sneaky and Slytherin for this, more the former than the latter. I'll have the next chapter up by the 21st. Edit, 22 Feb 2014: I'm slowing going through this story making edits (mostly SpaG) but adding bits and pieces, changing things as needed, blah blah. Once I catch up (in the coming days), I'll hopefully get the next chapter up.
Edit, 21 Mar 2014: Oops. I started editing the next chapter but then I messed up with the whole Terminator movie. It came out in 1991. But Hermione turned 11 in 1990. And I'm OCD enough to really be bothered by that fact. So I went through this chapter again to fix that and add a little more details. I'll try and have the next chapter fix up this weekend. But my brain has been held hostage by another plot bunny so I make no promises.
HGatGG
Hermione knew that her mother would be angry with her when she got home. Yes, she technically did not let a stranger inside, but working with a loophole or no, she still went against the spirit of the rule. Which was ridiculous and only something new that her mother had started to lecture her on. But no matter, the "spirit" rule was fairly new (like less than a month), and it was Hermione's birthday, after all.
Hopefully all would be well. And maybe, she wouldn't be punished. She was sure of it. Probably.
She had left the weird man in the garden while she went inside to return her costume (if she kept the play/guest room clean, it would make the eventual trouble less, she crossed her fingers) and grab her books from the living room. She knew that if she didn't complete her revision when her mother returned, it wouldn't matter what loopholes Hermione could find, she'd be in big trouble.
Holding her workbook and a reference book close to her chest, she stepped out onto the garden through the hallway.
"What do you have there?" The dour man drawled. He was standing in the middle of the yard, critically scanning the surroundings.
"My studies. I am almost done, so let me finish my assignment and then you can explain yourself." Hermione dismissively responded. She walked to where he stood in the middle of the garden and sat down on the grass. With her legs crossed, workbook in her lap, she hunched over and began working on the last four problems for maths.
It was difficult for Hermione to focus on her arithmetic. The man hadn't budged and was standing there, looking down his nose at her. She eyed his pocket where he had placed his wand. Did every magician have a wand? Or were they person specific? If she grabbed it, would it work for her? What kinds of... spells could one cast? Could you only change the specific parameters of something that existed? Could you make something appear out of thin air?
"I don't think you'll get much revision done if you keep thinking about magic." He sighed, finally seating himself across from her.
"You're right." She nodded, closing her workbook using her biro as a bookmark. "Now, talk."
The man rolled his eyes, but began speaking nevertheless. "I am Professor Snape, the potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You, Miss Granger, have been invited to attend." He pulled out a tarnished looking envelope and handed it to her.
Hermione's eyes bulged and her jaw dropped. This was positively unreal. A school to study magic? And she was invited? Ha! Take that Elizabeth! Hermione just knew that the snobby brat in her class wouldn't be following her to this new school. And that was going to be wonderful!
She grabbed the thick envelope from the professor, flipping it over and tracing the red wax seal that held it closed. Bringing it closer to her face so that she could admire the design, she tried to make out what it was. The wax was imprinted with a somewhat small sigil. She could only really tell that it was made up of four quadrants. Giving up, she mouthed the words, then read it out loud, "Hogwarts," was written rather larger above the sigil, and just below the four quadrants was written, in smaller text: "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus."
"Don't... something... a sleeping dragon?" She glanced back the professor, wanting to know what the one word meant. She had only been studying Latin for the past year and a half, so it was exciting when the opportunity to use her knowledge, and add to it, even, was always worth it. Especially adding to it. Her mother would be proud.
"Tickle," he replied. He raised an eyebrow at her waiting for the scoff at the slogan. Hermione avowed to learn how to make the same gesture.
"Don't tickle the sleeping dragon," she whispered, committing it to memory. Her new professor watched her closely as her eyes brightened. "Are dragons real, too?"
He nodded.
"And unicorns? Fairies? Elves? Centaurs?" Hermione started counting down all the mythical creatures she could think of on each of her fingers. "Mermaids? Vampires? Were-"
"Yes, yes, they're all real." He interrupted.
Hermione was too excited to pout. One, she was used to being interrupted when she unknowingly showed off her knowledge. Two, and more importantly, all those things were real!
She wouldn't have to pretend to have adventures anymore. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. He was her professor and her mother always taught her to mind her elders. Plus, it wouldn't be wise to show off how excited she was about all this. All her classmates and neighbors thought her weird for her exuberance; it wouldn't do if she somehow unknowingly offended or convinced her new professor she was insufferable.
"Great," she said with an even tone, attempting to hide her giddiness. "So when do I go to this school? Won't I need magical things?" She knew there were more questions she should be asking, but she also knew that it would be better to just let him explain as much as possible. More than likely, her questions would be answered before she could even voice them. She folded her hands together into her lap, leaned forward slightly, and waited for a response.
"Well, Miss Granger. The first of September after your birthday."
Hermione gaped. She would have to wait a whole year to learn magic. No. That just wouldn't do. At all.
There was no way she could go back to pretending all those things didn't exist. Her play adventures would be meaningless. She shook her head, there had to be way to at least get more information. Learn something. A whole year. That was preposterous.
"What can I do in the meantime to..." she paused to ponder the best way to get something out of him, "ease my transition into this school?" Hermione asked. She needed to know as much as possible before jumping to any decisions. Her mother always taught her that, and she was nothing if not her mother's daughter. Plus, if she could practice magic before school, even better.
"Well," Professor Snape pursed his lips.
Hermione accusingly squinted her eyes; she would not have it, if he withheld information from her. Or prevented her from furthering her advent- no, education.
"This," he gestured around them, "is what we consider the Muggle world. There are little communities and places throughout the UK that normal Muggles cannot see. Those are all a part of the Wizarding world. Granted, some wizards do live near Muggles and also have businesses in the Muggle World. But for the most part, the Wizarding World is exclusive to Muggles."
Hermione tried to think if there would be any place near their home in Bath that could be considered not part of the Muggle world. "The Stonehenge. You can feel it and I know I saw something there," she pouted. "All my classmates tried to pass it off as me trying to get attention."
A nine year-old Hermione kept staring off in the distance, past the standing stones. There was something - several small blue beings, perhaps? - just there, milling about, not being bothersome, but floating from the ground and such. She wanted to figure out what it was.
Before she could step any closer, her teacher called her back to the group. In her musing, she had separated from her classmates. Looking back to where she had been staring, she noticed the blue beings were gone.
"Imagining you have friends, Granger?" The children mocked as she rushed back to the class.
Her lip quivered at the memory but she forced her tears to stay at bay. She would not cry in front of this man. Or any man in fact. There was no reason to cry. Not anymore. And the joke was on them, anyway. She was special. She reminded herself of this fact and bucked up, putting on her stoic face on. "Please continue."
HGatGG
Severus was impressed by the young girl. After her memory of being bullied, she had calmed herself admirably. He had explained Diagon Alley (its in the middle of London, where you will go to get your supplies. And yes, there's a bookstore), Hogsmeade (the small village near Hogwarts. No, you don't get to really visit it until your third year), the Hogwarts Castle itself (yes, its an actual castle), Houses (its your family at school), and school subjects (they're nothing like what you would learn at a Muggle Secondary School, and no, we don't offer any of those classes either).
The girl asked for a demonstration of each of the main subjects before deciding she would really enjoy Arithmancy. Of course, she was put out upon learning that she would have to wait until third year to actually partake in the subject, but a quick mention that she could always read ahead brought a smile back to her face. Not that he cared, of course.
She asked him to explain how a student was sorted and became fascinated with the idea of the Sorting Hat. After a lengthy discussion on the characteristics of each House, she had decided she would do best in Ravenclaw. She wanted to be in Slytherin - which made Severus quite content, if he was honest with himself - but when he explained the views on blood purity in the Wizarding World, and in particular with most Slytherins, she opted that Ravenclaw would perhaps be safer but still allow for her personality to shine through. Apparently, the girl decided she could still be ambitious on her quest for knowledge. Which was really what mattered most to her. So Ravenclaw, really would be best. He couldn't help but agree.
She asked intelligent questions, looked at every angle, then surmised an opinion. As she reread her acceptance letter and reviewed the shopping list, he looked through her maths workbook. He could find no flaws in the equations she had written to explain her answers. She was thorough in her explanations both in the workbook and during their conversation. Plus, she had a basic grasp of latin, if her understanding and translating most of the school slogan earlier was anything to go by.
For an eleven year-old, she was quite the child. He found her amusing, to say the least. He also mentally smirked at how she got around her mother's rules. Exploiting loopholes. Too bad the girl was a Muggle. He would have appreciated having her in his House. She would have made a good addition to Slytherin.
At one point she went inside to grab some tea. She had come back with a blanket and a full tea set. He watched as she expertly served him and then herself. Most pure-bloods couldn't serve tea as well. Lastly, she pulled some packets of biscuits from her pockets to share.
The pair continued their conversation about magic versus Muggle, and it was interesting to hear her fresh perspective. She had questioned things that he had never really thought about, or had forgotten to. Like when he had transfigured a broken tree branch into a large sun umbrella. She was amazed at the transformation but then said "One shouldn't become lazy because they have magic to aid them. I could very well have gone into the garage and retrieved us one."
He wanted to balk at that, but it was true. After awhile (a couple hours later, really), she became bored and decided she had enough distraction from her studies. It was also a quarter after two and apparently her mother was due to arrive soon. As she continued with her revision, their conversation turned towards the girl herself, in particular her birthday plans.
"Oh, my mum will be making my favourites for dinner, and we'll probably go out to the cinema to see the new Die Hard film."
Assuming the look that he gave her was sceptical - it was not, Severus hadn't realised a sequel had came out - she continued, "I know it's a bit late, having come out in July, but it has taken me this long to convince mum that I'll be able to handle any violence and the such."
Shaking his head, he let her prattle on about the recent films she had seen and how science fiction and fantasy were her absolute favourites. "And to find out that some of what I've read is actually, real. It's all very wonderful, sir." He was amused to note how she barely managed to contain a squeal at the statement.
Severus figured he could admire the parents of such a girl. Hermione Granger reminded him of himself at the age, minus the parental abuse, of course. This girl didn't seem to know what a harsh hand was. She was hardworking and studios, and loved her mother very much. However, unlike him, it didn't seem she had any friends to speak of though. It was the girl's birthday and all she had to look forward to was some time with her mum.
A part of him felt sad for the girl. At least he had Lily when he was that age. He had a best friend to turn to when things got bad. He could always count on -
"Hermione, what are you doing out here? Who is this man?" A petite woman dressed in purple scrubs - at least he assumed that was what they were called, they reminded him of the Mediwitch and Healer robes of St. Mungo's - with riotous sandy blonde curls that could rival Hermione's had stepped out from a sliding door from the home.
Hermione closed her workbook and jumped up from her spot. Plastering the largest smile on her face before turning to look at their intruder, she casually introduced him. "Hello mum! This is Professor Snape. He's here to speak to us about my choice of secondary schools next year."
Standing up, he stepped forward to the woman with his arms outstretched to show that he meant no harm. When he stood just in front of her, she barely reached the tip of his nose. He noticed she had the same honey coloured eyes as her daughter as well.
"Pleasure to meet you, Professor Snape. I am Hermione's mother, Romy Wolfe." She stretched her well manicured, but callused hand forward for him to shake.
Severus had to remind himself to temper his questioning gaze. Her last name was Wolfe. As casually as possible, he glanced at her left hand and noted that there was no ring there - let alone a tan line signifying there had been one for a lengthy period of time. That made things a little more interesting to say the least.
Not that it mattered, though.
"Please. Call me Severus," he drawled, taking her proffered hand and raising it to his lips for a subtle kiss to her knuckles. It was just the standard protocol for a wizard when first meeting a lady, or so he told himself.
He smirked as he listened to Hermione giggle into her hand. When he looked at Romy, she was flushed from the root of her hairs to the little bit of collarbone that peaked from her shirt.
"Well, Severus, please join us inside. I will have to get started on Hermione's birthday dinner, but you can talk to me about this school during."
HGatGG
Hermione was sitting on the bench against the wall in their breakfast room again. Professor Snape sat across from her, but with his chair angled so that he could speak with her but still see into the kitchen where her mother was making them dinner.
"You're not going to believe this," Hermione grinned, "but he has an explanation for all the weird things that has happened around me. And maybe even you, as well!" She was excited. All day she was trying to not think about it but to finally get to share something this monumental with her mother, she could fly at the thought. Could witches and wizards fly, she wondered. Her eyes widened at the thought, the possibilities were simply endless and she was excited to get to explore this new world. First on the agenda was to get to Diagon Alley and purchase some books. She was not going to let the fact that she grew up a Muggle hinder her progress at school the following year. No, siree.
