CH 3 – First Day of School
Author's Note: I totally forgot the fact Dobby died in DH until after I got the idea for this chapter, so I'm just blatantly ignoring it XD
Disclaimer – I don't own Harry Potter, the universe it takes place in, or any of the characters and I'm not making any money from this.
On September 1st Hermione woke with a groan. She was lying on her bead, still in her clothes with her arm clutched around a book. Bloody hell, she thought, she must have fallen asleep while reading, again. Since Snape had returned what she had believed to be one of her best essays ever covered with scathing red remarks she had become more motivated than ever.
She spent all of each day researching ways to alter the polyjuice potion. She would stop briefly for meals so that Snape would not have an excuse to fire her and she stayed up late into the night reading until exhaustion overtook her and she fell asleep.
She rolled out of bed and looked over her appearance. Lack of sleep was starting to catch up to her and her eyes were rimmed with dark shadows and her skin was pale. She looked awful.
After doing her best to make it look as though she had gotten more than 4 hours of sleep the previous night, she made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast. As this was the last day before classes started teachers generally relaxed and prepared the castle for the arrival of the first years.
Snape was already at breakfast when she slid into her assigned seat between him and Hagrid. Hagrid greeted her happily and expressed concern about the amount of sleep she was getting. After assuring him that she would try to sleep more she began to eat.
"Granger," Snape began (he had dropped the Miss a few days ago and she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign), "what I said about meals also applies to sleeping. You will go to sleep before midnight every school night and before 2:00 am every weekend, or I will fire you immediately."
"Er, alright Professor," Hermione said, "but how do you know when I've been going to sleep?"
"There is a certain house elf, Dobby I believe his name is, who is very concerned about your health and he has been telling me the exact time you go to sleep every day, and he tells me twice in one day if you went to sleep after 3:30. Therefore you will stop staying up so late even if it's just to keep that insufferable house elf from bothering me."
"Yes Professor, I'll make sure that Dobby has no reason to bother you anymore," Hermione said. Now she knew why Harry was so upset whenever Dobby tried to "help" him.
"Good," Snape said, "and since tomorrow is the first day of classes and your work load will be increasing I'll give you the rest of the day off. Take a nap or something. I don't want students writing home to their parents that I'm abusing my apprentice."
"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said, stunned that he would give her the day off for her health's sake.
"It's not for you," he said coldly, "I really don't care if you fall sick from lack of sleep. But because of the special project I'm working on I can't afford a Ministry inquiry, which is what would happen if enough people reported me for abusing you."
After breakfast Hermione headed back to their quarters. Snape had gone to his office to finalize his lesson plans for the next day. She looked around the sitting room, it was relieving to see this place Snape-free. Realizing that Snape's absence meant she could finally sprawl out on the very comfortable love seat, she retrieved one of the books she had borrowed from the library and sat down on the love seat. Even though Snape had forbid her from doing work today a little reading couldn't hurt could it?
Hermione stretched out on the love seat and after reading only a few paragraphs fell comfortably into sleep.
Snape walked back to the great hall after revising all of his lessons. Generally he used the same lessons every year but there were always small things to change, a sentence or two he could throw into his speech for the first years to make it more intimidating. He would have Granger just observe classes for the first few days but after that maybe he'd let her do some of the teaching. At the very least she could grade for him, which would be one big load he'd be glad to get off his shoulders.
He wished he had some excuse so that he would not have to sit through the endless tediousness of the welcome feast. Seeing all those moronic students he would be stuck with for the rest of the year smiling and in a good mood never failed to put him in a bad one. He let his mind wander throughout the endless stream of students coming to sit on the stool to be sorted, doing his best to remember to clap every time a student was announced for Slytherin.
Halfway through the sorting Miss Granger's seat, which was to his right, was still empty. Minerva, who was seated on his left, leaned down, "Severus, where on earth is your apprentice? I need to announce that she is joining our staff and I would like her to be here when I do."
"How should I know where my dear apprentice chooses to while away her hours? She probably has her nose stuck in some book and was unable to wrench herself free to attend this amazingly engaging feast," Severus replied dryly.
"I do not appreciate your attitude Severus," Minerva replied, "she is your apprentice after all, and I expect that you provide her with a little more respect. She is the brightest student Hogwarts has seen in many years, perhaps the brightest since you and you know it. You should show her that you do occasionally or she will persist in throwing away every moment of her time in the hopes that she might be able to impress you."
"In that case she will be very busy indeed because there is no way she will ever manage to impress me. It's not a reflection on her though, but she and you should both have realized by now that no one impresses me."
Minerva sighed, "You are incorrigible Severus. But I expect you to find your apprentice and bring her here before the sorting is over."
Severus sighed and stood. At least this was an excuse to miss the latter half of the sorting and the endless applause that accompanied it. He made his way out of the Great Hall and down towards the dungeons, he had last seen his wayward apprentice on her way to his – no unfortunately their – quarters.
He entered his sitting room and saw her, curled up on that despicable love seat he had never wanted, a book on altering potions clutched to her chest. She looked extremely peaceful in her sleep and Severus took time to be pleased that she was not, for once, asking endless questions or scrambling about in her vain attempts to please him. But unfortunately, he could not just leave her here. He bent over her, smirking, until his face was hovering only centimeters above hers.
"You must make yourself presentable and be in the great hall within the next two minutes or you're fired," he whispered in what he hoped was his most sinister voice, before withdrawing and sweeping from the room, not waiting to see if she hand woken up. The ball was in her court now and if she couldn't make it to Great Hall he would be perfectly justified in firing her.
Hermione woke with a start and saw Snape sweeping from the room. She threw the book aside and sat up. It took her about a minute and a half on average to walk to the great hall, which meant she didn't have much time.
She looked down at her robes. They were slightly wrinkled so she cast a spell to straighten them out a bit. Her hair was even more tangled than it usually was, but it would just have to do. She ran from the room and sprinted to the Great Hall; arriving 1 minute and 45 seconds after Snape had awoken her.
She sat down in her usual chair, her breath coming in little gasps. The sorting was nearly at an end. "How nice of you to join us Miss Granger," Snape said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye with a smirk plastered on his face, "it seems you are rather short of breath. Perhaps you should consider occasional exercise as it is plain that you are extremely out of shape."
Hermione glared at him, true she wasn't the most athletic, but she was thin and healthy and that had always been enough for her.
"Sir, I must admit I'm rather perplexed by you –" she began.
"Well that's hardly surprising," Snape cut in.
"I'm rather perplexed," she continued, ignoring his comment, "that first you tell me that I'm not eating enough and now you tell me that I'm not exercising enough - those two things seem contradictory to me."
"Hardly, Granger," he said, his voice a bored drawl, "you seem to have your weight confused with your physical fitness. While you weight is appropriate, if maybe a little on the low side, your physical fitness is absolutely unacceptable. I'm surprised you were able to survive the final battle. Physical fitness is of the utmost importance in a duel, you can't get caught short of breath or it is nearly impossible to focus on casting spells."
"Well, as I recall I left the final battle more unscathed than you, sir," she replied smugly, surprised at her own audacity.
"Alright that's it," Snape said, his eyes burning with anger, "Miss Granger you're fi-"
"Ahem," McGonagall coughed, "will the two of you please be quiet for the duration of the sorting ceremony. You are being very disrespectful to the students."
Snape sent McGonagall a glare, but did not continue. Hermione hung her head, hoping he would forget the incident and not fire her later.
The rest of dinner passed without further incident. Hermione was a bit embarrassed when McGonagall announced her new position to the school and everyone (except the Slyterins, of course) clapped. Snape did not speak to her and Hermione was content just to talk to Hagrid about the new creatures he was raising this term.
When the feast was over, Hermione walked back to the dungeons with Snape. He said nothing. Hermione hoped that meant he had reconsidered firing her.
After they entered their sitting room, Hermione retrieved her abandoned book and walked towards her bed room.
"No reading tonight, Granger," Snape said, "you will go straight to bed. You will sit in on all of my classes tomorrow I can't have my own apprentice falling asleep in class, you will set a good example for my students."
"But how did you know I was going to read?" Hermione asked; frustrated that he always seemed to know what it was that she was going to do next.
"Do you think me completely daft Granger?" Snape asked, "You read every night, therefore I would be quite surprised if you did not do so tonight as well."
"Ah, yes, of course, sir," Hermione said, blushing slightly at how stupid she had just sounded.
She turned back towards her door. "Oh, and Granger," Snape said again, and Hermione froze, what was it this time? "If you disobey me I will know, it will be written on your face as soon as you see me tomorrow, that is all, good night"
"G-good night, Professor," Hermione stammered. How had she known she had been thinking about disobeying him? Had he secretly used Legilimency or was she just that transparent to him? They hadn't had eye contact so it was probably just that she was that transparent, she sighed, she would have to learn to hide her thoughts better or this would be an extremely long year.