Chapter Nine—Potions and Charms

The conspirators decided amongst themselves that over the Christmas holiday would be the best time to put their plan in action. So, the adults monitored the children to make sure the plan wouldn't be given away; and the children watched Hermione and Severus to see if something further had blossomed. Ariadne had been watching her parents on the weekends when she would spend time with them. While they were out in public, her parents were nothing short of professional; however, once they adjourned to their quarters, she caught them looking longingly at each other.

For Hermione, she was glad to have someone to rant to when cauldrons blew up and pandemonium would break out. She started to adopt Severus's high-handed approach to teaching Potions, her students catching hell when they didn't follow directions to the letter. Her nieces and nephews quickly spread the word that she was not one to mess with, which the seventh year Slytherins learned one day.

A puff of smoke wafted through the room as a Mr Davies placed a newt tail in his potion several minutes before it was supposed to be. Hermione quickly cast a Bubble-head Charm on each of her students and cast charms to dissipate the fumes. She cast stasis charms on all the cauldrons before turning to the student. "Mr Davies, what went wrong?" When the arrogant boy said nothing, she very quietly said, "You will answer me, or you will serve a detention with me."

Davies struck a pose—his hands on his hips and his nose in the air—and said, If you didn't have chicken scratch for writing, I might be able to tell you what went wrong."

Hermione's mouth formed a straight line and turned to Josie. "Miss Tremont, is my writing illegible?" When Josie answered in the negative, Hermione turned to a Slytherin prefect in the rear of the room and asked, "Miss Gardener, is my handwriting illegible?" When Gardener answered in the negative, Hermione turned to Davies and said, "Two esteemed members of the classroom seem to have no trouble reading my handwriting. I must draw the conclusion that you thought it was acceptable to cause a disturbance in my classroom."

She strode over to her desk and heard Davies mumble under his breath, "Yes, Professor Snape."

A few gasps and giggles could be heard after his statement. Hermione turned and grinned at the class at large something Josie knew wasn't a good thing after getting to know Hermione away from class and said, "Glad to know I can entertain you all." She vanished the contents of the board and said, "Since a few of you seem to find this funny, two feet on the dangers of adding newt tails too soon." She dismissed the class and as they were leaving she added, "By the way, eighty points from Slytherin for class endangerment, cheek toward a professor, and for inappropriate behavior in a serious setting."

As Miss Gardener passed, Hermione quietly said, "Ten points to Slytherin for honesty, Miss Gardener." She then turned to Josie and said, "Ten points to Ravenclaw for honesty, Miss Tremont."

By the next morning, word had quickly spread of Professor Granger's intolerance of stupid behavior as well as her penchant to reward good behavior. Word also spread of how livid the new Head of Slytherin house was at the massive point loss; she made the Headmaster look like a pushover.

By that evening, Severus and Hermione settled into chairs and discussed the day s events. Severus chuckled as Hermione told him of Ariadne's relief not to be a Slytherin at hearing of the Head's temper. "She told me, 'Thank goodness that the hat knew what it was doing!' I had to fight to keep a straight face." She gave a small chuckle. She took a sip of the tea Severus seemed to keep close at hand these days and said, "I'm still going to keep an eye on her. She still has far too many Slytherin qualities to ignore."

It was Severus's turn to smile. He took a sip of his tea and stared at the fire. He had heard about how well she had been handling her classes from the Slytherin Head of House as well as from the professors who would pass through her classroom. For the first time in years, he knew his school would run smoothly; inter-house rivalries were now of the good-natured variety. For the first time in a long time, the winner of the House Cup last year had been Hufflepuff. He turned to Hermione and asked, "When are we going to finish what you started?"

Hermione blushed and was glad Ariadne was sleeping in Ravenclaw Tower. She turned to him and said, "I think this summer would be a good time."

Severus reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed the back of her hand and said, "I can't wait." He leaned over the arm of his chair and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. He could feel her slowly melt into him and wished that the summer could come faster.

Hermione pulled away from him, a little breathless from the kiss. She gave him a small glare and said, "You promised. We were going to wait."

Severus smirked and said, "You never said small gestures of affection weren't a part of the promise. I don't see how anyone could find out about it."

Hermione gave him a look and said, "We are taking our time to see where this goes; behaving like regular adults." Severus opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "I know that regular adults don't live together or have nosey children together, but we just have to make do." She smiled at him and had to stifle the urge to giggle at the face he was making at her.

He turned back toward the fire and said, "As much as I dislike it, I have to admit that you are right." He let a small sigh pass his lips and said, "Especially with a child like ours and friends like yours."

She reached for his hand and gave it a small squeeze. She softly said, "As hard as this will be, it will make us sure of our feelings for each other."

Somewhere near the edge of the grounds, Ron and Reyna sat on a blanket looking at the stars. He had been watching her, waiting for her to come out of her trance. He watched her eyes clear and said, "What did you see, Rey?"

Reyna just smirked and said, "We will all be surprised when Christmas comes."

Author's Note:
This was originally a plot bunny I borrowed from emmakitty over at WIKTT. I saw it and decided that it would be fun. Her attempt is over at titled "Both Your Houses"

Another Note:
Don't know where the ending came from only that the Muse demanded it. Next chapter will show more of the family settling into a pattern. :)