Disclaimers: I do not own anything from the books of Harry Potter and I'm certainly not making any money from this story. Everything you might recognise belongs to J K Rowling, her editor and Warner Bros. (Though as far as I know, the plot, and some minor characters, are mine.)
Summary: One usually says that "bright minds think the same", but do they listen to their hearts – especially when the minds are as stubborn as those of Severus Snape and Hermione Granger?
Author's notes: Amazing, all of you agreed on my opinion on Anaconda. It would seem that Latin is a far more common subject in other parts of the world. We were six people taking the course at my school and we had to go to another school to do so. I'm also very glad that you seem to appreciate the fact that it takes time for them to come to terms with there changed opinion of each other. Oh, and thanks again for you reviews. They are getting longer and I'm getting happier.
Fleur-de-Lis – Thanks for your review. It's awesome, isn't it? I spent a month there doing practical work experience and I miss it every day.
Natsuyori – Thank you for the review.
Prin69 – That's true romance isn't it – giving up your toys to someone else? (lol) I think it's your time to explain something this time; "we have like this cult at school where all the girls who take Latin iafre in it." What is 'iafre in it'?
Portkeys Miss-Mione – Thanks for the advice (and your comment on Severus). The Latin thing, as far as I know now, has its largest part in this chapter, so no need to worry (I hope). I loved my Latin studies as well, but you've studied it far longer than me.
Bright Minds Think the Same
Chapter seven – A Hard Decision
The next morning Snape was standing on the rotating stair on his way to the headmaster. He couldn't quite explain it, but he knew that he had to talk to Dumbledore about something. The situation couldn't continue like this. It was not right. He wasn't particularly happy about his decision, he wouldn't do anything like this under normal circumstances, but in this case he knew he had to do it, he owed it to her. He knocked on the door to Dumbledore's office and when told, he entered.
"Headmaster, there is something I need to discuss with you." he greeted.
"Good morning, Severus. That sounds interesting, go on." Dumbledore's eyes beamed and he smiled at the much younger man.
"I want you to release Miss Granger from Potions classes. There is no point in letting her continue. Yesterday I told her to assist me when I was to brew the Wolfsbane potion and she managed it on her own, with hardly any instructions. She is far beyond NEWT-level."
If Dumbledore was surprised he hid it well. "Interesting you should say so. The other teachers have told me the same for quite some time now, especially Minerva." He paused a little before he continued. "However, this is an issue the entire staff has to agree on and most felt that there was no point in asking you, but now the situation is different. We'll discuss this further at the staff meeting this afternoon." Knowing what it had taken him to come in such an errand, Dumbledore then allowed Snape to leave.
Later that day the teachers of Hogwarts were seated in the armchairs in the staffroom. Snape listened to his colleagues' chatter. He hated meetings and he hated chattering colleagues, who tried to involve him in their conversation and somehow these things always seemed to combine. He found himself wishing he was down in his rooms, reading a book and listening to Hermione's analysis. 'What? I most certainly do not want to have her in my rooms. She is only there because it reduces her number of annoying questions.' he thought, but deep down, however reluctant he was to admit it, he doubted that.
"Good evening and thank you for coming. If no one objects I would like to hear your opinions on Miss Granger. It seems that most of you feel that she would be better off if she could study on her own." Albus Dumbledore said to his staff.
"She could have gotten Outstanding on her NEWT-Transfiguration-exam at the same time as she did in her OWLs." Professor McGonagall said. "Hermione is one of the brightest students Hogwarts has ever seen."
"The same applies to my subject." Professor Flitwick said.
"And mine." Professors Binns, Vector, Hagrid, Sprout and Sinastra said in turns while the rest nodded their agreement. Snape sat in silence, his face in shadow.
"It sounds like we can agree on this, but I think we shall wait until the meeting on Thursday before we make the final decision. Now, however, we must decide what she shall do instead, if she wishes to go through with this." At Dumbledore's words Snape spoke.
"The only reasonable thing to do would be to let her go to most of her classes as usual, but letting her do her own work instead. Besides this she should have meetings with the teachers on a regular basis to get private tutoring if she needs it. I believe all of us have kept our books and notes from university so that should not be a problem and reduce the amount of work to a minimum." He worked really hard to get his voice to sound uninterested and bored. - Why did he have to try? He was not interested in anything concerning her, was he? - "Perhaps she could also choose a couple of subjects she would like to specialise in and have private lessons with the concerned teachers."
"Excellent idea, Severus." the headmaster said.
"But when will she do her NEWTs, now or with her classmates?" McGonagall asked.
"She will not like it, but I think it would be better for her to be done with them or otherwise she will work herself to death, don't you think so Minerva?" Dumbledore decided.
When the meeting was over Snape rose and tried to get out of the staffroom, but found his way blocked by Minerva McGonagall. "I guess I should thank you, Severus." she said, "This will really be much better for her, but I would like to know what made you change your mind."
"There is no need to thank me. I hold no interest in Miss Granger's education. You should thank the headmaster. He always gets his will through, have you not noticed?" He then swept by her and with his robes billowing behind him he strode towards the dungeons.
Next Friday morning Hermione was escorted to Dumbledore's office by Professor McGonagall and although her Head of House seemed to be in a quite good mood, she couldn't help but feel her stomach clench with fright. She had no reason she knew of to dread the meeting, but she was till nervous. The professor left her outside the headmaster's office with a thin-lipped smile.
"Come in, come in, Miss Granger. Please sit down, I have something I need to discuss with you," She obeyed him, but turned down his offer of tea. "The teachers think it's a shame to keep you studying with your classmates. They, and I completely agree with them, feel that it had been better if you took your NEWTs now and then continued with higher studies."
"But, I'm not ready. There is so much more I need to learn." Hermione intervened, both relieved and worried.
"You are absolutely right that there are more to learn, Hermione, there always are, but you most certainly are ready to sit your NEWTs, at this moment if you have to. You need to consider this very deeply before you make your decision, but before you do, you need to know what awaits you if you agree." Dumbledore smiled reassuringly to her before he told her about the plan the teachers had agreed on.
"As I said before, consider this well before you make your decision. I want your answer no later than Sunday morning. The password is Ton Tongue Toffee. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask."
"Thank you, Headmaster. I will give you my answer as soon as possible." Hermione said before she said goodbye and left the office to join her classmates for the day's lessons.
"Why would they want to take you from classes?" Ron said when Hermione told her friends what Dumbledore had said. "And what should we do if you don't take notes?"
"Take your own?" Hermione suggested sardonically.
"I'm sure you'll do fine, but it will be boring if you're not around as much as you usually are." Harry said with a disappointed smile. "And the Gryffindors will do much worse if you can't control that they have done their homework."
"I haven't made up my mind yet." Hermione informed them. "It's such a hard decision to make; on one hand it would be great, on the other terrifying."
"Let's talk about something else." Ron intervened. "It's Friday evening and we have the whole weekend to ourselves. What should we do? I wish it was a Hogsmead weekend – I could do with some more broom polishing wax and a couple of Chocolate frogs."
"First of all, we are not free. Don't you remember? We are to write an essay for Professor McGonagall, draw sketches of Magical creatures for Hagrid and answer Professor Snape's questions. Secondly, you bought so many Chocolate frogs last time we were in Hogsmead that I fail to understand how you've managed to eat them all. Thirdly, are you interested in anything that isn't connected to food and broomsticks? What could possibly be so interesting about them?" Hermione lectured him.
"Calm down, Hermione. Let's go down to the kitchens and visit Dobby. I know you had to give up SPEW because the house elves asked you to, but you could always help them clean the dishes and Ron and I could accept their offerings of sweets and cakes."
"You two will never grow up, do you know that? Alright, let's go then, but we have to be back before curfew. I don't want any more detentions." and they left Gryffindor common room.
That night Hermione found it impossible to sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about the headmaster's proposition. Her feelings were in such confusion that she thought she never would be able to make up her mind, something that wasn't usual when it came to Hermione Granger. At two o'clock she finally gave up and rose from her bed. She put on her dressing gown and a pair of slippers. She decided that she should get out into the common room. As Head girl she had a rather special room. She had it to her own and as she was a Gryffindor it was placed at the end of the hallway leading to the girls' dormitories in Gryffindor tower. Had she been in another house the room had had the same position, but in that house instead. The most special about the room, however, was the door. Since all students had to have access to her if something happened, there was one door in each common room and one in the staffroom (which she rarely used) as well as the one in the girls' corridor and when she put her hand on the doorknob she simply decided where the door was to open. The idea was simple, but very effective.
Hermione opened the portrait of the Fat Lady and started to walk through the corridors. She had no idea where she was heading, but she needed to think. The library was locked as were the classrooms and the Astronomy tower. She decided that she should simply go for a walk, but she hadn't gone far before Mrs Norris came and started to follow her, Afraid that she would call Filch, she headed down to Snape's library. The teacher would probably be asleep or patrolling the school so she would be left alone there. She uttered 'Docendo discimus' and entered. She sat down in what she had started to think of as 'her' armchair. She didn't dare to light the fire, but she did light the candles placed on the mantelpiece.
Years as a Deatheater and then as a spy made Snape wake up as Hermione entered his chambers. She walked almost noiselessly, but her movements and breathing was enough for him to hear her. Wondering what she would be doing in his library at two in the morning, Snape rose from the bed, put on his slippers and then a black dressing gown on top of his nightshirt and left his bedroom. He had deeply considered putting on his clothes, but decided against it as he wanted to confront her before she decided to leave.
When he entered the room it became clear that she had no immediate plans of leaving. Her slippers lay on the floor as her feet were tucked in under her body and she looked out into nowhere, so deep in thought that she didn't hear him enter. "What are you doing her, Miss Granger? Students are supposed to be in bed at this early hour, but of course, these rules have never applied to Harry Potter and his friends." Despite his comment, Snape's voice was quite warm, at least by his standards, and the fact that he hadn't taken any points yet, reassured Hermione.
"I'm so sorry, Sir. I didn't mean to wake you. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a walk because I needed to sort out my thoughts, but Mrs Norris kept following me." she explained.
"Dumbledore's proposition?" he asked as he lit the fire and sat down in the other armchair.
"Yes, but I should leave now. I never meant to disturb you."
"That harm is already done, Miss Granger. Now tell me what the problem is." he demanded.
Hermione smiled warmly towards him, grateful that he had asked, even though the tone in which he had asked hadn't been very helpful nor very kind, before she spoke. "I have no idea what to do. I'm sure I would do much better in my NEWTs if I took them next spring…"
"You would not. There is nothing more to teach you at that level and you know that. Tell me what the real problem is." Snape intervened.
"It would be wonderful to be allowed to study on a higher level, but I feel like I would let my friends down if I accepted. As Ron said, who would take notes in History of Magic? And who would keep Neville's nerves under control in Potions? It would be so selfish of me to do something like this." Hermione told him, for the first time speaking her mind.
"Gryffindors!" he sighed. "Why would it be selfish to study? You will never let you friends down. You will still be in most classes with them, so do not worry, you will still be able to prevent Longbottom from killing anyone in my classes and even if you were not to go to classes with them I am perfectly convinced that you would still make them do their homework and tutor those who need it and some who does not. You will not let your friends down by studying – you will help them by knowing even more, but if you still are not convinced, I advice you to listen to your brain as you seem to believe that it holds every answer, Miss Know-it-all." He said with what really only was a half-hearted sneer.
"You are right, Sir. I never saw it from that angle. Thank you for your advice."
"So, Miss Granger, have you thought about which subjects you should specialize in?" he asked, the previous matter closed.
"It was you, wasn't it? You came up with this idea."
"Does it matter if I did? I believe Minerva and most of my colleagues raised this request long before I did. I simply came up with a solution to a problem."
"I thank you even so, Professor, and to answer your question – no, I haven't really given it any thought, but yes, I have a few undeveloped ideas." She then became silent.
"Go on, it would be nice to get some sleep this night." he said as he thought 'God, why is it so hard to say these things to her? I normally have no trouble making this kind of comments. And why do I take such an interest in her decision?'
"I love all of my subjects. Ancient Runes is fascinating, Arithmancy so interesting and such a challenge. Potions, Sir, is such a noble" she smiled "and powerful art, Transfiguration and Charms highly useful and thrilling, Care of Magical Creatures appealing, Astronomy wonderful, Herbology exciting and History of Magic so…"
"Deadly boring?" Snape asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not quite the words I'd chosen, but you are right. Alright, not History of Magic then." she said with a smile.
"Your secret is safe with me. I too have been taught by Binns and the only time I miss it is when I can not sleep." He found himself smiling back at her and shook his head slightly. "Since you hold such emotions for your education I suggest you think logically instead, never mind you educators' feelings, they will understand."
"Okay, if I think logically there really only is one solution. You probably won't believe it, but this is it. I've already said that Transfiguration and Charms are useful so they are natural choices, as is Potions. I also think that three subject is enough given that I'll still take my other subjects as well.
Snape let out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. "Minerva will be pleased. She finally gets someone she can teach Animagi."
They continued to talk until Hermione fell asleep at half past four. Thinking that she needed to sleep, Snape decided to let her stay as the next day was a Saturday and the students would sleep longer than usual. He conjured a thick blanket and tucked it around her. Then he seated himself in the other winged chair and watched her sleep until his own eyes dropped.
Author's notes: Okay, I realise that this perhaps is slightly out of character for Snape, but even if he doesn't realise it, he does care for Hermione and he is rather sleepy. (I know that he's a night person, but I think he's entitled to be sleepy, by the way, what an adjective for Severus Snape, since he's just been woken at two o'clock in the morning.)
Another thing; I hope this chapter explained how it was possible for Harry to knock on Hermione's door, otherwise you'll have to mail me and I'll try to explain it better.
