A/N: Not my best or longest chapter, but I like it and I'm really trying to get my momentum for this story going. I'm sorry it took so long for me to get another chapter up, please forgive me. Much Love- Bookworm
She was early to the Leaky Cauldron, she was upset with Ron and Harry, and didn't want to be in the same house as them at the moment. She had told them that morning after breakfast what she would be doing instead of auror training. It was safe to say that they did not take her news very well.
Ron had gone a deep red color all over his face and neck, and had started yelling incoherently. Harry had stared at her for a moment before plainly walking out of the room. Hermione had let Ron yell himself hoarse, not saying a word. She had looked at him, one eyebrow raised, and he had turned away and walked the same way Harry had. She knew where they had gone, and had given them a good five minutes before she went to them.
She had found them where she thought she would, next to the broom cupboard. This is where they both went when they were upset, especially when they were upset with Hermione. She had walked up to them, and interrupted their whispering.
"You should both be ashamed of yourselves. I have been next to you for over seven years. You should be happy for me." She said, before turning on her heel and walking away from them. That was why she was now sitting alone, in a dark corner of the pub nursing a steaming cup of tea. She was fidgeting nervously, speaking of a prospective job with her former potions master had not been her plan if you had asked her just a few weeks ago what she would be doing.
She blew on her tea, attempting to cool it some before she began to drink. She was also thinking, an apprenticeship typically lasted around five years, or longer if the master deemed in necessary. Five years of living with Snape, as that what was usually expected of apprentices. On the plus side of this, it also meant five years of shadowing a teacher, since that is most likely what she would end up doing after her apprenticeship was complete. As she contemplated her decision and her near future, she missed seeing Snape standing a few feet away, watching her.
He was tired, and completely unsure why he had agreed to this whole ordeal, having Granger as his apprentice would surely be the death of him. He let out an angry sigh, and pushed his wet hair out of his face. It had been raining for the past week, why had he not thought of grabbing his umbrella? Or better yet, he knew that he could have just apparated to the closest point near the Leakey Cauldron, yet he had chosen to walk from his home to the place they had agreed to meet.
He pushed his dripping hair once more out of his face before glancing around to make sure nobody was watching him, a habit he had developed over the last seventeen years of being a spy. He took a deep breath before pushing the creaky wooden door open and stepping inside the pub that was only lit by the fireplace opposite the bar. Luckily for him, the fire was roaring and after only a cursory glance around, he had noticed the bushy haired girl he had come to meet. He deftly made his way across the room and stopped short of her table when he realized that she had not yet noticed him.
He took a moment to look over her, she looked worn down, though he supposed that being on the run and in hiding for a year would do that to a person. It was obvious that she had lost weight, not that she hadn't been slender before, but now she looked almost sickly. He watched her as she blew on her tea, she hadn't been waiting long then, as it was still too hot for her to drink it. He cleared his throat gently, and was startled when her head snapped up, and suddenly her wand was in her hand, and pointed at him.
"Oh I'm so sorry professor." She said as she realized who had made the noise. She hastily shoved her wand back into her pocket and glanced around the pub, making sure that nobody had noticed what had just transpired. "I'm so sorry, I have been so on edge lately. Please, sit." She said, gesturing to the seat across from where she was. As she watched him sit, she couldn't help but notice that he had an almost apprehensive look on his face.
"Good afternoon Miss Granger." He said, and Hermione bit back a smile, his voice was actually… silky, when he wasn't using it to be harsh to his students. She nodded slightly to him, taking her tea back into her hands.
"Thank you for meeting with me Professor. As you already know what its about, why don't we skip the formalities and get down to details?" She asked, thinking that this would be the best course of action.
She did not miss the split second that the professor across from her looked surprised. He pulled his wand out and with a slight wave, a small stack of papers were sitting in front of each of them.
"Very well. Our contract, as you can see, is quite standard. You will work with me and assist me on what I am working on. As I am a teacher, you will also assist me in the classroom. On top of this, you will research and brew a potion every week of your choosing. Turning in your results to me along with a short essay on its uses. If the potion you choose needs more than a week to mature, I simply require a sample of it at the end of the week. Our lab will be cleaned thoroughly every other Sunday, unless it is further warranted. Furthermore, I will require that you research and by the end of your apprenticeship, you will turn in a potion that you have either made adjustments to, to make it better, or fabricate a whole new potion that gives you the results you will look for." Hermione nodded as he spoke, all of this was things that she had expected as part of an apprenticeship. She flipped through the pages of the contract, and he waited for her to speak. She came across one that made her pause. She would live at Hogwarts while the school year was in session, and when the professors moved back to the castle. And outside of the school year, she would stay at Spinner's end, with the man sitting across from her. She knew this was normal, but she couldn't help but think that Harry and Ron, and maybe a few other people, would be upset about this part of her contract.
She continued to flip through the pages, pausing every now and then to read a different stipulation. When she was finished flipping through the pages, she summoned a quill and signed her name on a line on the last page, she flipped the stack of papers around to the man sitting across from her, and she watched him as he hunched down slightly and signed his name.
He looked tired, she noted. Her gaze slipped from his face down to his neck, which was covered even now by the same kind of robes he wore during school, the ones that buttoned all the way up his neck. Even so, she caught a glimpse of the purple scar on his neck peeking over the black cloth.
She sucked in a small breath, the action making her old professor glance up at her. She met his gaze for only a moment before looking down at her teacup, and noticing that it was no longer steaming, picking it up and taking a long gulp.
It was only a little while longer, when they were walking out of the pub, when he turned to her.
"As school starts soon, I would think you should move to the castle at your earliest convenience. Your quarters will be down in the dungeons, near the potions lab. Just come down to my office when you get there, and I will show you the way to your chambers." He said, though his face was the ever stoic mask, she thought maybe he sounded slightly embarrassed to be talking about her chambers.
"Thank you sir." She said. "I will gather my things tonight and head for the castle tomorrow as soon as I can." She said, and he nodded. He turned away from her, and suddenly she felt the need to say something else.
"Sir?" She asked, and He turned his head back to face her, one eyebrow faced. "Thank you very much." She said, and he nodded once before turning once more. She watched his cloak billow behind him as he walked swiftly away from her, and she couldn't bring herself to look away until he had rounded a corner. She herself turned on the spot, and apparated away.
She stumbled a little when she landed, and looked up at where she was, the newly reconstructed Burrow loomed over her, casting a long shadow on the ground. She took a deep breath, knowing that now she was going to have to explain herself to her two best friends.
She made her way inside, and made her way up to the room that she currently shared with Ginny, though more often then not, she would come downstairs so that her screams didn't wake Ginny. She had been having nightmares all summer, and thought she could cast a silencing charm, Ginny always took it down, saying she would rather know when Hermione needed her. She opened the door and looked around at the room. It was different after they had rebuilt the house, the room was bigger, and Ginny had more quidditch on the walls now instead of wizarding bands. Hermione went over to the cot she slept on and pulled her trunk out from under it. She flipped it open and started placing what few things she had in the room into the trunk. Just as she was finishing up, the door opened, and she turned to see Harry. He looked around the room, confused.
"Hermione, what are you doing?" He asked, staring at her.
"Packing." She said simply, waving her wand, closing the trunk and turning to look at Harry.
"Why?" He asked, and she sat down on the cot with a sigh.
"Harry… he accepted me as his apprentice. We signed the contract today." She told him, and he nodded slightly.
"Figured that you would." He said, and she smiled slightly at him. "But that doesn't explain why you are packing." He said, and she looked down.
"Harry…" She looked up at him, and he looked back at her, expectantly. "Part of the contract is I have to live there, at the castle." She said, and she held her breath as she watched him realize what she had just said.
