A/N: Chapter Warnings – Sexual situations, bad language, discussions of rape, suicide and cutting
Chapter 21: Hogsmeade, Intoxication, and Detention
Harry, Ron, and Hermione had spent the morning looking around Hogsmeade and Hermione stocked up on her sweets and guilty pleasures. She was running low already. The boys then said they wanted a drink, and so they set off looking for a place where underage students could possibly get served.
The trio had tried to sneak into the three broomsticks but were caught and immediately sent away from the pub. So instead, they found themselves in a filthy, run down, completely empty little pub called 'The Hog's Head', they were able to get served whatever drink they wanted.
The cups in which the drinks were served were disgusting so Hermione cast a few thorough cleansing charms on the three cups.
Hermione was sat happily with her Butterbeer and watched amused, as her friends' attempt to drink fire whiskey.
After about 3 glasses, they dared Hermione to try some. Alcohol was not something that bothered Hermione, she never really had a desire to get drunk, or play drinking games, and especially now that she knew that alcohol could turn men into pigs, she was a little reluctant to let her guard down.
Mind you, Hermione had been feeling slightly feverish lately. She had spent the last two days sneezing, and feeling slightly blocked up, and she could tell she was getting sick, probably a cold or flu virus due to falling asleep in the rain the other day. She remembered that she had been told by her grandfather once that the best way to keep colds and flus away, was to have a few sips of whiskey when the weather started to get colder.
Hermione decided she would have a couple of sips, hoping to ward off illness, and that would satisfy the boys, hopefully stop her getting sick and wouldn't do any harm. She accepted the cup from Ron and took a couple of sips.
She swallowed a decent amount and immediately began coughing and spluttering, it was practically burning her throat and eyes.
After the coughing fit, Hermione realised that although she had only had a small amount, the drink still made her feel slightly lightheaded and tipsy. It was truly some strong liquid.
She made a disgusted face at the drink and went back to her own Butterbeer as the boys laughed at her expense.
"That was repulsive!" Hermione exclaimed.
"How can you drink that stuff?" She asked.
"It is brutal stuff but its hilarious watching people try to drink it down" Harry laughed.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
'Typical boys' she thought to herself, she could already feel a headache coming on and sighed, she really should not have mixed her drinks.
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A short time later, the three finished their drinks, and left the pub. They were all feeling the effects of the alcohol already, Ron looked like he was about to throw up. He had the same expression on his face that he had when he was in second year and had accidentally cursed himself, instead of Draco, to throw up slugs. Harry didn't look like he was fairing any better.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Three Gryffindor students, silently walking together with purpose back towards the school. If that's not suspicious, I don't know what is" the voice of Professor Snape rang out from what appeared to be nowhere.
Hermione cringed, they had all clearly been drinking, they all had red eyes from the slight intoxication and they had all been drinking underage.
The trio all knew this and they also were saying their prayers because they knew that their Professor was not going to be merciful about this.
They all turned to look at their Professor, and tried to look as normal as they possibly could.
The potions Professor stalked over to the trio, knowing full well what they had been up to, even as the boys tried to hide it.
"Good afternoon sir, we were all just heading back to the castle. We are all slightly exhausted, hence the silence" Harry said politely, trying to keep up the innocent facade whilst also trying not to slur his words.
"And the fact that the three of you smell to the heavens like a brewery has absolutely nothing to do with it?" Severus questioned them, one eyebrow raised, arms crossed, whilst sneering. He was in full teacher mode now and had to deal with the situation according to the rules.
He was also slightly surprised, not by the two boys; obviously, he had expected such stupidity from those two imbeciles, but not from Hermione. However, there she was, as he looked at her he could see the slightly glazed over look in her red eyes as she tried to stand straight, without swaying. He voiced his thoughts.
"I expected such folly from Potter and Weasley, but never from you Miss Granger, I believed you were smarter than that. Oh, how I can't wait to see the face of your head of house when I tell her that the golden trio are intoxicated. All punishments will be overseen by me of course, you're not going to get away with this lightly" Severus grinned, thinking of all the nasty, awful things he could task Potter and Weasley with. He would also have to punish his Hermione, something menial and easy to do he should think, he was trying not to show his concern for her in front of others. But was she really alright?
Harry was indignant, and immediately jumped to try and defend himself and his friends.
"Professor, no offence, but there are probably students currently in a worse state than we are. At least we know when to say 'when', why don't you go and punish those who are a potential danger to themselves and others?" Harry told him firmly; confident that he was right and also trying not to show he was intimidated by the professor.
"It was you three that got caught Mr Potter. There are students who are probably worse than you right now but even in their teenage drunkenness, they are not stupid enough to get caught. Are they?" Severus shot back.
Harry paled; he did not see that backfiring at all. Hermione mentally face-palmed at the fact Harry had not seen that response coming.
Severus was trying to get the message through that it was not safe for them to be in their current state and be wandering around, in broad daylight, out of the school's protective wards, with the present threat that was troubling their world.
However, all of that was completely forgotten about as the focus was directed at Ron, who had been silent throughout the whole encounter.
Ron had hunched over and begun vomiting, quite impressively, all over his Professor's left shoe, which happened to be in Ron's firing range.
Hermione and Harry grimaced in sympathy, as their Professor's face changed to one of fury and disgust as the boy spewed up the questionable contents of his stomach.
"That will be extra points from your house" Severus glared at the ginger boy once he had finished vomiting.
Severus wordlessly cleansed his shoes and he led the three of them back up to the castle and straight to McGonagall's office.
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Minerva was slightly surprised when her office door flew open and in walked an irate potions master and three of her students.
'Dear Merlin! It's always those three!" She exclaimed silently to herself as Severus told her what had happened.
She was speechless that the golden trio, that were supposed to be the keys in taking down Voldemort, had all got ridiculously and foolishly drunk. She docked points from each of them and handed them all over to the mercy of Severus for punishment, she knew full well that he would deliver a severe detention to the three troublemakers. She then dismissed them all from her office and poured a small glass of wine for herself. She was getting too old for this shit.
Outside McGonagall's office Severus Snape was handing out detentions to the golden trio.
"Potter, you come to my office after dinner tonight at 5pm. Weasley, you will come to my office tonight at 7pm. Granger, you will come by my office at 9pm tonight. No exceptions, no discussions now all of you, get out of my sight" he glared at them, with a slightly softened expression at Hermione, and he stalked off back towards the dungeons, leaving the trio in the corridor.
"The golden trio all given detention, how interesting. What did you do this time? Piss in his Pumpkin Juice" sounded the mocking voice of Draco Malfoy.
Hermione tried not to laugh, Draco was clearly joking and she would not rise to the bait.
"Fuck off Malfoy" Ron sneered at him.
"Not that it's any business of yours Weasley, but I'm here for Granger. We have a project to do, and I have just the strength to stomach the presence of such filth without ruining my lunch. So, you need to bugger off" Malfoy sneered back, feeling guilty at his racial slur towards his new friend.
Harry suddenly remembered what Hermione had told him earlier that morning and how he had promised to keep their friendship secret. So, he tried to get Ron to back off and give Hermione the space she had wanted with her unlikely friend.
"Come on Ron, the sooner we let her go, the sooner she can come back" Harry said.
It worked and Ron backed down, but still wore a look of disgust towards Malfoy on his face.
"You hurt her Malfoy, one tear sheds from her eye and it's because of you, I will kill you" Ron turned round and started heading back towards to common room.
Draco glared at the retreating redhead, and then looked back to Harry.
"Look after her Malfoy" Harry said civilly, shocking the hell out of Draco.
Hermione smiled. Harry was keeping his promise to her and he was trying his best and was doing well at it.
Harry nodded at Draco in a mutual sort of agreement, and Draco found himself nodding back.
Harry then smiled at Hermione and hugged her.
"See you later sis" he said to her before following Ron down the hall.
Once the two boys were out of sight, Hermione and Draco headed towards their secret room that they had found in the dungeons. They used this room privately and had never seen anyone else in or near the room; it had been covered in dust and clearly not used in years. It was their secret getaway, their sanctuary.
"What was that with Potter?" Draco asked once they had sat down.
"Harry knows about our friendship, he won't tell anyone about it but he has promised to be more civil towards you" Hermione answered him.
"How the hell did you manage that?" Draco asked and then frowned as he saw his friends face drop.
"After I told Harry about what had happened to me, he went to Dumbledore. Dumbledore called me into his office to tell me off again. I shouted back and got upset so I ran outside, it was pouring with rain and I just passed out. Next thing I know is I'm waking up in the hospital wing. Once discharged, I went back to my room and couldn't sleep. Harry also couldn't sleep and we both found ourselves awake at 5am in the common room and decided to clear the air there and then. He apologised and said he would do anything to help me. I told him he could start by accepting our friendship, I said that you guys didn't have to like each other but just be civil when no one is looking" Hermione told him.
Draco nodded.
"I saw you, you know" he said to her.
Hermione looked at him confused for a moment before he elaborated.
"While you were in the infirmary, Severus told me, so I snuck in when it was clear to see you, you were so pale. You had all of us worried, especially Severus. He barely left your side apart from classes; you've got him wrapped around your little finger, haven't you?" Draco said teasingly.
Hermione blushed, she knew Severus had sat with her while she was out but she didn't quite believe what Madame Pompfrey had told her, until now.
Hermione stuck her tongue out at him childishly and he returned the gesture.
"Anyway, enough about me and my drama...I'm moving on. What about you? Is everything alright?" She asked him.
He frowned. Hermione instantly knew that something was wrong. Draco sighed.
"I've had a letter from my father. The Dark Lord is making plans, he's not acting yet but he will do soon. After the prison breakout, his next moves are going to be put into effect around Christmas. There was a meeting, Severus knows about it because he was there but, there's something else" Draco paused, wondering if to tell her the whole truth or not.
Hermione grabbed his arm and encouraged him to continue. Draco took a deep breath.
"My father and the Dark Lord want me to take the mark when I become of age. I don't want to do it but it will literally be a matter of life and death if I don't" Draco told her miserably.
Hermione's heart lurched at her friends anguish. The poor boy had been dealt an awful hand. It would be the dark mark or death. At least he had another year and a half before he became of age; hopefully it wouldn't come to it.
Hermione and Draco sat in a comforting embrace for a while before Draco broke the tension once more.
"And why does the golden girl have detention with the dreaded potions master?" He asked her teasingly.
Hermione flushed and mumbled her response.
"Didn't quite catch that sweetie" he said.
"I said, he caught Harry, Ron and I whilst we were intoxicated and practically served us to Professor McGonagall on a silver platter" Hermione said sheepishly.
Draco whistled.
"Damn, you really know how to attract attention to yourself don't you?" He stated rhetorically.
"Also, what were you doing drinking? Didn't think you had it in you" he commented.
Hermione grimaced.
"I think I'm getting sick and an old muggle tradition says that if you have a small amount of whiskey, it keeps sickness away" she told him.
"So muggles are absolutely off their nut?" Draco remarked jokingly.
That earned a half-hearted slap from Hermione as she laughed at him.
"Are you feeling alright though?" He asked her, genuinely concerned.
"I felt dizzy from the alcohol earlier, but that's passed now. I still feel like I'm getting a cold or the flu though" she muttered miserably. She hated being ill and missing her classes.
"Well if that's the case, I also heard a muggle expression once. 'Feed a cold, starve a fever' and it looks like its dinnertime. So, let's go and get some warm food in you, besides you have a detention later with lover boy" he mocked, making a slight kissing face.
Hermione's jaw dropped and she flushed a brilliant shade of red before muttering expletives at him, in good jest, as they parted and walked separately to the dinner hall.
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"How was the project Mione? Did Malfoy do anything to hurt you?" Ron asked, already standing up, before she had barely sat down.
"Simmer down Ron! No, he was perfectly civil, we did the work, we didn't speak and we came here, end of" she stated firmly.
Ron relaxed slightly and turned his attention back to his food.
"Looking forward to detention Harry?" She asked.
Harry grimaced
"I dread to imagine what he's going to make me do" he said shivering.
"Speaking of, I'd better head there now. I will see you guys on the other side" he said and he headed towards the dungeons.
Harry knocked on the door at exactly 5pm and it opened. As he walked in, he saw a massive stack of papers and instantly regretted coming to detention. This was going to be painful.
"As you can see Potter, these papers need to be sorted into the correct year, the correct house and then ordered alphabetically. If you complete that in the first two hours, I have something else planned for you. Do not let me see you slacking, your behaviour today was unacceptable and you must be punished for it. Do not let it happen again" Severus warned his student.
The boy nodded and headed towards the stack of papers, but paused for a moment. He turned back towards his professor, who was looking at him expectantly with an eyebrow raised.
"Professor, may I say something? It's completely off record, of course, but I feel it's something that needs to be said" Harry asked hesitantly.
Severus prepared for whatever insult the boy was going to throw at him and nodded his acceptance of the boy's request.
"Thank you" Harry said sincerely.
Severus was now confused, it must've shown on his face because Harry continued.
"Thank you for everything you've done for Hermione. If it hadn't have been for you, I doubt she would still be here" Harry said, boldly looking into the professors eyes.
Severus said nothing and Harry turned to do his work.
"If you had been there for her in the first place, we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we Potter? Remember that" the potions professor replied in a neutral tone.
Harry's face turned to one of guilt as he nodded and continued his task.
'Maybe the boy was finally growing up' Severus thought to himself.
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Hermione Granger was making her way towards the dungeons for detention. She was feeling awful. She was now coughing, sneezing and her throat had begun to hurt. Her eyes were stinging and her head was throbbing. She felt exhausted and weak and on the verge of collapse.
As she approached Severus' office, she knocked on the door and when given the command, she entered.
The first thing she came across was her Professor's apologetic expression, she frowned in confusion until she realised what was going on. She noticed that there was someone else in the room.
Hermione looked at the pink toad of the castle, and felt her heart stop at the smug grin on her face.
"Miss Granger, I am sure you are familiar with Professor Umbridge. Now, let's begin detention" Severus said, whilst silently begging that her Gryffindor impulsiveness did not cause any trouble tonight.