A/N: Thanks for being patient y'all!
Disclaimer: Some parts are lifted from J. K. Rowling's Half Blood Prince. I don't own anything.
Chapter Three
"What's your first class?" Lily asked. They had finally received their schedules. Hermione felt a twinge of guilt. The professors probably had to reorganize everyone's timetables just to fit her in at the last minute.
"Double Advanced Potions with the Slytherins," Hermione read from her timetable. "You?"
"Me too!" Lily exclaimed. "Maybe we could—"
"Oi, Lily!" James called over from his side of the table. "Wanna be partners for Potions?" He shot her a winning smile.
Lily blushed. "Sure!" Turning back to Hermione, her eyes immediately widened. "Oh! I'm so sorry!"
Hermione grinned good-naturedly. "Don't worry. I'm sure I could be partners with…" She trailed off. Remus was already partnering with Sirius, and Peter… Hermione gave a shiver of disgust. She still could barely contain the feelings of hatred and revulsion every time she looked at the small, watery-eyed boy. It was too late to attempt to change him; Hermione could almost see the selfishness rolling off the boy in waves. He caught her gaze and smiled hopefully. Hermione immediately turned back to Lily. "I'll find someone," she reassured the redhead.
As the two girls trooped down to the dungeons for their class, Hermione felt eyes watching her. Glancing over her shoulder quickly, Hermione spied a tall, lanky boy with dark black hair hanging limply over his face. Snape.
"Who are you looking at?" Lily asked. She turned and caught Hermione's line of sight. "Oh." Her tone had dropped significantly, and Hermione heard the contempt lacing her tone.
"That's Severus Snape," Lily's lip curled. "He's just another no-good, Slytherin, pureblood fanatic, who's obsessed with the Dark Arts."
"Is he…?"
"A Death Eater? Probably." Lily had no room for forgiveness in her tone. "Even though he seems nice and awkward, he's just like the rest of them."
"That sounds a bit harsh."
"Well, he is!" Lily's eyes took on a wounded expression. "I knew him before. He used to be my best friend." Lily's eyes met Hermione's imploringly, "You have to understand. I tried so hard to get him to change, but he kept hanging out with Avery and Mulciber and all those evil Death Eaters. I guess it rubbed off, and he stopped seeing me as a friend and more like the scum they make us out for."
"I'm sorry."
They had reached the Potions classroom. For a wild moment, despite having just been talking about the young Severus Snape, Hermione expected to see Professor Snape's classroom, full of strange bubbling potions and jars of pickled animals. The walls would be crammed full of potion books and books on the many uses of potion ingredients and the like, and the blackboard would have his neat handwriting scrawled over it, all capital letters.
But instead, the classroom she was greeted to was much different. There still were the shelves full of glass jars with potion ingredients, but there were four large cauldrons already filled with bubbling and steaming potions, a collection of fine wines, colorful and cheerful posters on the walls, and there were a significantly smaller collection of books. In fact, upon entering the classroom, Hermione was given a serious case of déjà vu.
"Good morning, class!" Horace Slughorn boomed with a jolly smile. He was still as rotund as ever, wearing his signature tweed robes with its brass buttons threatening to pop off. He had less wrinkles and his hair was a grey color with streaks of straw blonde.
"Now then," said Slughorn, inflating his already bulging chest, the poor buttons on his waistcoat straining to stay attached as he gestured to the four cauldrons on display. "I've prepared a few potions for you to have a look at. These are the main potions you will be studying this year. By the end of the term, I expect you all to be able to brew every one of these complex potions." He smiled genially. "Now, I'm sure each of you have already heard of these potions, which of you can tell me about this first one here?" He gestured to a cauldron with what seemed to be ordinary, boiling water.
Hermione's hand shot up immediately, her mouth opening as she prepared to speak.
"It's Veritaserum, sir," drawled out her partner. Hermione gave a quick double-take as she realized she was not alone. It was Snape.
Hermione's competitiveness got the best of her as she spoke up, "It's a colorless, odorless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth."
"Excellent!" Slughorn praised them both.
But it had seemed like Snape was not finished either, "Despite being one of the strongest Truth Potions in the world, very talented Occlumens can be able to lessen the effects."
Hermione gave him a sidelong look, her mind whirling as she processed his words. Was he an Occlumens already?
"Very good, very good!" said Slughorn happily. "Now," he continued, oblivious to the two's competitive tension. He pointed out another cauldron, the contents looking like a mud-like substance that was slowly boiling. One of the large bubbles popped on the surface.
Hermione's hand was fastest once more. "It's Polyjuice Potion, sir," she said before Snape could interrupt her.
"Excellent, excellent! Now, this one here… Yes, my dear?" said Slughorn, now looking bemused as Hermione's hand punched the air again.
"It's Amortentia," Snape lazily cut in. Hermione glowered at him, to which he responded with a self-satisfied smirk.
"It is indeed. It seems almost foolish to ask," said Slughorn, who was looking mightily impressed by the both of them, "but I assume you two know what it does?"
"It's the most powerful love potion in the world!" said Hermione quickly.
"Quite right! You recognized it, I suppose, by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?"
"And the steam rising in characteristic spirals," Snape added, "and it's supposed to smell differently to each of us, according to what attracts us."
"Wonderful!" Slughorn beamed. "Take twenty points each to Gryffindor and Slytherin!"
"The last cauldron is Felix Felicis," Snape drawled. "It's a highly dangerous potion to take in large quantities, but it makes the drinker lucky."
"Indeed, indeed," Slughorn looked slightly putout. Hermione nearly sniggered when she recalled his dramatic effect when he so purposefully forgot about the golden potion back in her Sixth Year. "It takes six months to brew—"
"Only if you're an average potion master," Snape interrupted bluntly. The class tittered.
Slughorn only gave him a patient smile, "Yes, yes. It is also banned from many sporting events and other competitions." Giving the class a meaningful look, he said, "Now, the partners who can produce the best Elixir to Induce Euphoria will receive a small dose of Felix Felicis! Begin!"
Hermione had to give it to him. Although his teaching style was childish, he did know how to challenge students. Brewing a complex potion was hard enough, but to do it in pairs?
She slowly began to make her way towards the potions cupboard, when suddenly she caught the scent of the Amortentia. She closed her eyes, a tranquil smile on her face as she inhaled the familiar scents she so loved: freshly mown grass, new parchment, and… Tears pricked her eyes as she inhaled a faint scent of Ron's hair. Why was it so faint? She inhaled longer and deeper this time, trying to draw in his smell, but it was somehow not has pungent as it was in her sixth year…
"Now if you weren't busy woolgathering, I have collected the ingredients," Snape snapped, drawing Hermione back to reality. She was standing a few paces from her desk, leaning towards the cauldron containing the Love Potion.
Hermione blushed. "Sorry."
Muttering what sounded like 'imbecile' under his breath, he started the potion. Hermione helped slice some of the ingredients, and Snape grudgingly approved of her work. They worked in silence, offering no words unless it was to ask for a certain ingredient. Hermione was pleasantly surprised with her old potions professor's subtle warmth, as he would wordlessly pass her tools and ingredients before she needed to ask. Thus, Hermione's eyes were practically glued to the workspace before her, the utensils needed only a few mere inches away.
So when Hermione finally teared her eyes away to check up on how the potion was faring, her eyes widened. "What are you doing?" Hermione snapped, worry and shock clouding her mind, "There's no peppermint in the potion!"
"I'm fixing it," he muttered, scribbling something in his textbook.
And then Hermione remembered: Snape was the Half-Blood Prince. She eyed him curiously now, "How do you do that?"
Snape quirked an eyebrow, opening his mouth to speak.
"Excellent, excellent!" Slughorn interrupted, peering at their cauldron. "And what's that I smell? Mmmmm… You've added just a sprig of peppermint, haven't you? Unorthodox, but what a stroke of inspiration! Of course that would tend to counter-balance the occasional side effects of excessive singing and nose-tweaking…"
"That was all Snape—erm—Severus' idea, sir," Hermione spoke. "I just helped, honestly."
Snape just gave her an intrigued look.
After class, with two small bottles of Felix Felicis awarded to them, and Hermione received an invitation to the Slug Club—Snape was already a member by then—the future Potions Master spoke, "You're strange. Different, I mean."
Hermione stopped short, "Excuse me?"
"I originally pegged you as a bookish know-it-all. Like the Ravenclaws," he continued, oblivious of the fact that his words had caused Hermione fear. "But Ravenclaws generally have not much creativity and adhere to the instructions steadfastly. But you," he stared at her with genuine curiosity through his greasy-looking hair, "you accepted and trusted me quickly."
"Oh, now you're making me out as a Hufflepuff?" Hermione said coolly, trying not to show her anxiety. Did he know?
"You remind me of someone," Snape furrowed his brow in concentration. "I can't quite put my finger on it…"
A new thought dawned on him and he quickly relayed his observations, "You didn't side-up on my inventions. The Marauders certainly would have." He didn't bother to disguise his sneer.
"Really?"
"There is this jinx that's popular, 'Levicorpus,' " Snape explained bitterly, "Potter got the credit for it, but I invented it."
"They aren't terrible, you know," Hermione tried to smooth things over. "I find them quite charming and funny."
"Oh, they are, when they want to be," he replied, his gaze shifting to the end of the corridor, where Lily was laughing with a group of friends. "But actually, they are vicious bullies. The lot of them. You should be careful."
"Frankly, I could say the same to you," Hermione replied bluntly. "Lily tells me you're just another Death Eater fanatic."
"I…" he stuttered.
A small part of Hermione gaped. She had managed to make the formidable Potions Master speechless.
"They're my friends," Snape said lamely.
And in that moment, Hermione felt a tugging need in her gut to save him. She didn't want to see this bashful awkward teenaged Severus become the cold and bitter man he was in her time.
"Severus, I'm not one to tell people who to hang out with, but those are bad people," Hermione tried to reason with him. "Those are the type of people who go around torturing people to death. Innocent lives, Severus!" Hermione pulled up her left sleeve, showing him her 'Mudblood' scar. "This is the kind of things they do to people!"
Severus winced and looked away. "It's too late," he murmured.
"There's always another choice," Hermione persisted. "It's you who have to find it."
Severus gave her a wistful look, ignoring her persuasive words. "I figured it out. Who you remind me of."
"Who?" Hermione asked before she could stop herself.
"Lily."
Before Hermione could reply, Severus had gone, leaving her alone in front of her next class.
