Oh goodness! I'm so so so so so SO sorry that it took me so long to get this out. I know I don't have a decent excuse but my first year at college has been harder than I thought. Anyway I hope you enjoy. OH! And just as a warning, there is a character death in this chapter.
It took her longer than expected to get through memorizing the four books that Snape had given her. They weren't exceptionally long books, but she found that it was necessary to put them down every few chapters. Everything that she was reading could earn her a one way ticket to Azkaban and compared to the books that she had been given, Snape's journal looked like a cookbook from the Burrow. She was equally intrigued and repulsed with what she was being forced to learn. These potions were meant for dark deeds. They were meant to kill, distort, torture, and mutilate.
But then again they were fascinating. There were ingredients in the potions that Hermione had never heard of before and she couldn't wait to see them and work with them. After all Snape had alluded to their eventual making of some of them once he was back from whatever mission the Dark Lord had sent him on.
She looked at the clock in the sitting area. He should be back any moment. It had been strange living in his house for a few days while he was gone. She hated to admit it, but she had become accustomed to being around him. While she liked the fact that now that he had left, the house had seemed a bit brighter, it didn't seem normal.
Besides, without having Snape around to pester her and keep her on edge she had too much time to dwell on what had happened at the Burrow. She should never have left, especially now that she realized that Snape probably had wards around his house that alerted him whenever someone came in or stepped out.
Twelve times she had started a letter to Ron but hadn't been able to finish one. She was so furious with him she didn't know what to say. How could he have said such a thing to her, how could he have called her such a foul name, knowing how much it hurt her? Hot tears began to form in her eyes and she wiped them on her sleeve. She shouldn't be crying, not again. Hadn't she done that enough in the past two days? How on earth could there even be tears left to cry? But like all the other times they just wouldn't stop.
She pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her head on her knees as she wept once more. Normally she would never have been so emotional but her visit the previous day from mother nature had changed things considerably.
What a sight she must have been to her Potions Master when he came through the door only minutes later. She could hardly hear his footsteps through the sobs and was scared out of her skin when he addressed her.
"Granger! What in Merlin's name do you think you are doing?" He screamed at her when she lifted her head.
Her nose was running and she knew that she looked a mess but there was nothing she could do. There was nothing that she could say to excuse herself so she just looked at him, half frozen in horror and half still taken by sorrow.
"Go to your room before you ruin my couch." He sneered as he stalked up to her and took her by the collar.
He heaved her up to her feet and pushed her none to lightly in the direction of the stairs. She was a bit weak on her feet but managed to make it up to her room without falling all over herself. The books downstairs were forgotten as she curled up into the bed, which thankfully was beginning to smell less like a coffin and more like a bed that a girl slept in, and finished her crying.
Fifteen minutes and three looks in the mirror later, Hermione walked back downstairs. It was about lunch time and she was getting hungry, but apparently Snape had other things in mind. He was sitting on the couch flipping through one of the books that he gave her, when he stopped on one page and asked her without even looking up, "What potion requires three drops of vampire blood and the skin of a werewolf taken on the first full moon?"
"I believe it's called the organ grinding potion, Sir." She replied almost automatically.
Only the small nod of his head and the soft sound of the book closing told her that she had been right. "So you did study while you were gone," He said as he stood up and began to walk towards the lab.
She followed him as she always did, mentally kicking herself for being so stupid. Of course he had wards that alerted him whenever someone came or went, he would be stupid not to! Especially now that she was living in his house.
"I'm sorry Sir, I-"
He held up his hand, signaling her to shut up. "I do not want excuses Miss Granger, only explanations. Where did you go?"
"The Burrow."
She wasn't sure but it almost seemed as though the moment the words left her mouth, the temperature of the room dropped twenty degrees. "I thought I told you that you were not to leave this house under any circumstances." He hissed as he began to set the lab up.
He pointed to her own work station and barked out a list of ingredients that she was to get out, along with the tools that she would need. Apparently he was going to make her create the potion he had just questioned her about and she prayed that he wouldn't make her test it as well.
"I should kick you out, you know, for breaking the rules." He continued as he gathered his own set of ingredients and tools. "However you seemed to have picked the opportune time to do so. As it is, I cannot let you leave this house after what I had you learn. You could too easily run to the Ministry and turn me in, which is why I am going to make you as guilty as I am. I sure hope you studied Miss Granger for you are going to create the potion without the aide of a book."
Her eyes went wide and she almost dropped the bottle of blood that she was carrying. Surely he wasn't serious. "But Sir, if I make one mistake then I could blow this entire neighborhood up!"
"Which is why I hope you studied. Especially since you will be testing out your final product on Wormtail." He relished in the horrified look on her face and sneered. "Consider this punishment for sneaking out with Potter and Weasley."
"I didn't leave to see them," she answered before she knew the words were out of her mouth.
Snape didn't respond and for some reason she took that as a sign to keep going. "I went to see Ginny. I had no idea that they would be there. Of course they showed up and asked if I had been sacked and then Ron and I got into an argument and he called me a mudblood so I left and came back here and that's why you found me on your couch sobbing, which I am sorry for by the way."
There was a long pause in which Hermione briefly considered speaking again but decided that there was nothing more that she could, or for that matter should, say. But Snape soon filled the silence. "Miss Granger I had hoped that these months had quelled your incessant need to chatter. I suggest that instead of filling me in on your less than interesting social life, you focus on gathering your ingredients and beginning your potion."
She was sent back to the situation at hand and tried her best to recall the specifics of the potion while he continued to bark out directions at her. "Keep in mind that, if you fail you will have killed my housekeeper. I will be making the proper antidote which will be rendered useless if your's turns out to be any less than perfect, and I expect you to finish before I do."
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Severus watched as she stared down hard at the wooden table as though she was searching for the answers. He was still furious that she had left his house and disobeyed his orders but could not have been happier at the turn of events. Now that Potter and Wesley were out of the way he could truly begin his task. So much depended on her, including his well being but he was still at a loss as to how he was going to accomplish this. He had an idea but it was completely out of character for him and, if handled wrong, would kill any chances he would have down the line.
But whatever he was going to do, he had to do it soon. Term was coming up and there would be little time to be spent around her. And then she would be joining him there eventually and she would be back in the world of the living, surrounded by positive influences once more, by people who could sway her in the other direction and he couldn't have that.
Perhaps he should have taken up Lucius' offer.
He would have to start speaking to her soon. After she finished the potion would be the ideal time. Disturbing her now would only screw her up and he needed her to be perfect. He couldn't kick her out now, she would go running back to those two dunderheads and all would be forgiven once she uttered a foul word or five about him and all would be lost. He needed her to despise them, even possibly hate them, so deeply that her thoughts were consumed with doing anything possible to destroy them.
He watched her carefully over the next few hours as his hands went through the familiar motions. The antidote in his cauldron was a potion he had made hundreds of times so there was little reason for him to pay attention to what he was doing if his attention was needed elsewhere. She was being extremely careful with her measurements and preparation which pleased him. Pausing for only a brief moment to double check the next step, he watched as she continued on with surprising speed. So far there was nothing for him to berate her on.
She was improving, he was extremely pleased.
Two more hours and she was putting her potion into vials. She had made few errors and they were of little consequence. With the antidote Wormtail should live, emphasis on should. Even if he did die it wouldn't be important. Hermione may feel guilt but he was sure she would also feel relieved to finally be rid of the man that destroyed the life of her best friend. Perhaps she would even feel a bit proud.
A new plan formed in his mind as he began to pour his own potion into already labeled jars. Killing Wormtail would not only rid him of a very annoying house guest, but would also help his mission with Hermione. Yes the Dark Lord wouldn't be pleased but his death would be easy to explain.
He allowed her to sit in an uncomfortable silence while he placed his jars into his storage cabinet and searched for a docile potion that would do nothing to save his life and had the same color and consistency as the antidote he just made. No doubt her meticulous eye would catch any sort of difference in the potions.
"Make sure to leave one of those bottles out for Wormtail." He called out as he walked back into the room.
The look on her face told him that she had thought he was kidding about his earlier threat. "Don't tell me you thought I was joking."
"I-I didn't think you were serious." She answered with a stutter.
"I never joke, Miss Granger, surely you should know that."
He enjoyed seeing the fear in her eyes as her hands began to shake. "Go get Wormtail," he ordered and watched as her face went pale and her legs gave out slightly as she walked up the stairs and began calling out to the little rat. Grabbing a vial of her potion, he walked back into the cabinet and grabbed the potion posing as the antidote. He was going to enjoy this very much. Rarely was he ever able to see the effects of such a potion, the Dark Lord had seen to that, and so today was going to be an extra special treat.
By the time she walked back down with a quivering Wormtail in tow he had poured each potion into a different glass and had them sitting on the table.
"W-w-what are you g-g-going to d-do to me S-s-snape?" Whined the little rat behind Granger.
He was wringing his hands as he always did when called out to test a new potion. He was stammering like a fool and it was a miracle anyone could understood the words coming out of his mouth.
"It seems I have a need to test Miss Granger's skill, now drink that." He responded, pointing to the cup with Granger's potion.
"Sir-"
He lifted a finger to silence her as she took her place standing next to him. "Go on Wormtail," he said in the silkiest voice possible for him. It was hard to contain the excitement boiling in his stomach. So many days he had wished for a valid reason to rid his house of that vermin and here it was staring him right in the face.
It took a few more minutes of prodding, and a few more silencing Granger, for the rat to finally drink his potion, and drink the cup of useless sludge right next to it. In five minutes the potion would take effect and Wormtail would begin the long, slow, dying process.
The potion would begin first with the stomach, tearing through the walls and turning the organ into goo. It would then move to his intestines, liver, kidneys, and all other lower organs. After that, the potion attacks the brain, putting it through a veritable cheese grader. What little was left would begin to come out through his ears while the last remaining organ, his heart, went through the same process. He would already be on the floor, twitching wildly, screaming in pain while blood seemed through every orifice.
Severus was especially excited to see the blood pouring from the eyes.
Three minutes later, both Hermione and Wormtail were looking relieved and Severus was trying not to look smug. "So does this mean that I was perfect?" She asked in a much too cheerful tone.
"It takes five minutes to take full effect." He answered as he continued to stare at the rodent. "If in two minutes he begins to scream, then it means that you failed and he is going to die."
Wormtail looked as though he was about to faint as he clutched the side of the table for dear life. His body began to shake and Severus began to notice signs of the potion working. Another minute passed before Wormtail fell to the floor. Hermione shrieked and covered her horrified mouth with her hands.
"Perhaps you should have studied harder, Miss Granger," Severus remarked dryly right before a shrill cry began to echo in the small room. The potion had begun to work.
Granger had begun to move to help the writhing rat but Severus grabbed her by the arm and held her back. "There's nothing we can do."
"We can't let him die!" She screamed over the dying man.
"There is nothing else we can do!" He answered sharply, raising his voice and tightening his grip. He was looking her straight in the eye and she was looking back at him with equal fury. Was she going to blame him for this? Try to pass the guilt onto him for making her try it out? Well she could try, but he certainly wasn't going to allow it.
"I suggest you take this as a learning opportunity and see, firsthand, what your potion does to its victim." He hissed before looking away and watching with morbid fascination the man on the floor. The blood was pouring from his eyes and ears and making a huge mess on the floor. As punishment for her mucked potion he should make her clean it up without the aide of magic.
The screams were like music to his ears as he watched with delight. He would need to ask the Dark Lord for more test subjects at the next revel, so as to further Miss Granger's education of course.
It took ten minutes for Wormtail to die, by which time Granger had started to sob. A good number of tears and fallen on his hand and once he was sure she wouldn't run to the body, he wiped his hand on the sleeve of her robes and started to leave the room. It was difficult to walk over Wormtail without getting a bit of blood or organ mush on his shoes or robes and before he went up the stairs, issued one final instruction.
"Clean him up."
Ok so in all fairness I never expected to kill Wormtail. Ever. But when Snape thought about it, I knew I had to do it. The chapter would have taken so much longer to get out if I hadn't. Hopefully now that things are starting to calm down again I'll be able to post more often. I mean I just started knitting some HP stuff so I'm getting more in the HP mood so that's good. I promise I won't take eight months to update next time. Anyway I hope you enjoy and please review and tell me what you think!
