A.N.: Hello, my friends. Here is the next chapter for you. I hope you like it. Let me know if you do. ;-)

Chapter 20: Of learning lessons

"I'm going to take Miss Granger to Diagon Alley tomorrow," Severus stated while calmly sipping the tea the old man had offered him in a way too small porcelain cup.

"Are you indeed?" Albus Dumbledore replied, his blue eyes looking at him with an amused twinkle.

Severus did not let the man's behaviour unsettle him so he simply nodded coolly. "The girl needs new school supplies and after our extensive brewing sessions, I need to restock my supply of potion ingredients. It is only logical to combine both endeavours. Or have you already arranged a guard for Ms Granger?"

"I thought about possibly asking Hadrid to take her shopping for school supplies," Albus said while calmly sipping from his own cup.

"Hagrid? Really?" Severus replied, unable to hide the sneer in his voice. "I know you have a soft spot for him. But even though his heritage makes him quite resistant to spells, there is only so much he could do to protect Ms Granger from a group of Death Eaters without being able to use a wand. I don't see Bellatrix engaging in a fistfight, do you?"

Albus' lips twitched. "I guess you are right," the old man admitted. "But you are possibly one of the most sought-after wizards of Britain right now. I surmised you would not want to leave the castle under these circumstances.

Severus huffed in annoyance. "I won't let myself be locked up like Sirius Black, not after finally freeing myself from the Dark Lord. And it's not like I am a reckless Gryffindor, Albus. Of course, I and Ms Granger will go in disguise."

"Very well, my boy," Albus finally agreed with a nod. "I trust, you will protect the girl to the best of your abilities. Especially now that you finally started spending more time with her again. Or did you think I would not realize the two of you have been missing for breakfast?"

"I don't know what you are implying, Albus," Severus said coldly. "I did not touch the girl if that is what you are thinking."

He received a knowing smile as an answer. "Of course not my boy. I was merely referring to the fact that your arm seems to have regrown just fine last night, which might have led me to hope that the girl assisted you in some way. Or wasn't she alerted of your pain?"

"She was," Severus admitted coolly. "And surprisingly her mere presence indeed dulled the pain. Were you aware such a thing was possible, Albus?"

The man looked at him in evident surprise. "I was not. Your condition is not very well documented, as you are aware by now. But after what you just told me, I once more envy you for what you have found in Ms Granger."

Severus assumed he was referring to the increased healing abilities and considering the old man had recently regrown his wand arm too, Severus could very much understand.

ssssssss

Breakfast in the Great Hall was mostly a silent affair ever since her parents had left the castle. Now it was just the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, Hagrid, Madame Pomphrey and Mr Filch and even though one of them sometimes tried to make polite conversation with her, meals were usually done without much talking. But today she had barely sat down when the Headmaster suddenly addressed her with a kind smile: "I asked Professor Snape to take you to Diagon Alley today, Miss Granger."

Hermione looked at the man in surprise. "Thank you, Sir. But I haven't even received my list of school supplies, yet."

The Headmaster looked at her with a twinkle, before he handed her a sealed envelope with a knowing smile. "The owls will be sent out today, Miss Granger. But I do have your list here."

She took the envelope and opened it with a smile on her face. A trip to Diagon Alley was exactly what she needed! She'd finally be able to start reading her new schoolbooks and with Professor Snape taking her there, she had nothing to be afraid of, right? Because if there was someone she trusted with her life, it was him.

Sssssssss

"Merlin, those colours are really eye-cancer inducing," Severus growled as he looked at the absurdity the Weasley twin called a shop. He wasn't sure how those two had managed it, but there was a big queue if one wanted to enter the shop, indicating some level of success for the Weasley's terrible two.

"I find the look refreshing," Miss Granger told him while brushing her now straight black hair behind her ear.

Severus had decided it was best to transfigure them. Luckily he had a certain degree of talent for transfigurations so that they were now totally unrecognizable to the world. Miss Granger sprouted black straight hair and stunning blue eyes, while he had gone for brown, wavy hair and caramel brown eyes himself. One could think they had pretty much switched roles, which in his case might even be true, considering that he had thought of Miss Granger when transfiguring his face in front of the mirror.

"Refreshing like taking a bite from a lemon, maybe," he grumbled, but it only caused the girl to chuckle.

Miss Granger strode into the store with bouncing steps, while he followed her with a bit of distance. He'd never been much into pranking and joke items and he had thought Miss Granger wasn't either. It was, of course, possible he had been wrong about her, but it was more likely that it was just her curiosity leading her here.

The Weasley-pests pranced around the store like they were on a stage, advertising and demonstrating their products like this was all some kind of game or a big joke. Still, one look at them told him that his spell was still in place, even though none of them seemed to be overly bothered by the new situation they found themselves in. He shook his head in irritation.

Miss Granger must have seen the change too, as she looked at them with furrowed brows, before hesitantly continuing to inspect the different products: Love potions, fireworks, daydream charms… Merlin, the next school year promised to be a hard one, considering the variety of banned products one could buy at that shop.

"How can I be of service to you, lovely?" he suddenly heard a voice in front of him, and when he focussed back at Miss Granger, he saw that one of the redheads had found her, leaning against one of the shelves with a winning smile. "Such a pretty bird like you surely isn't in need of a love potion. But what about one of these daydream charms? Or maybe one of our Pygmy Puffs?"

Severus saw the girl go rigid and for a moment he considered intervening, pulling her away from that shameless redhead. But before he could even move a finger, he heard her chuckle. "Are you trying to make me buy something by flirting with me, Fred?" she asked, her voice sounding amused. "I'm afraid this is not going to work."

For a moment Fred Weasley gaped at her like a fish, before his brown eyes focussed more intensely on her, taking her features in with concentration. "How could you tell I was…" he mumbled before he furrowed his brows and whispered: "Hermione? Is that you?"

Merlin, he hoped the girl was not stupid enough to outrightly answer that question.

"Where would be the fun if I told you that?" she replied a moment later, making him think what an unusual answer it was for her. "Anyway, I love what you did here. Some of those products are really extraordinary pieces of magic."

"Thank you, stranger," Fred Weasley said, winking at her.

Miss Granger did not seem impressed. "Did you two do product testing again? Or why are you walking around the shop with one tentacle, instead of an arm? And why does George have a lizard's arm? Or is this some way to advertise your stuff?"

"Do you like our new look?" the boy asked with a grin.

The girl shook her head, sending her long black hair flying. At that, the boy sighed. "Well, pity that," he said with a lopsided grin. "Because as it looks, George and I are going to keep it for a while longer. Still looking for a cure, you know?"

"So you did test your products on yourself again," Miss Granger grumbled, shaking her head in disapproval. "Why don't you go to St Mungo's? I'm sure they could help to undo this."

Mr Weasley shook his head. "No, this is us being pranked. Snape did this to us, after we made a bit of fun at the last Order meeting. I guess Georgie and I kind of deserved it, at least that's what mum told us afterwards."

"Professor Snape did this? He hexed you?"

The boy nodded with a lopsided grin. "Yeah. We've tried to undo it for a while now, but as it looks the man is pretty skilled in hexing people. So it might take us a while longer to come up with something. Mum and dad refuse to help, as does Bill."

Miss Granger shook her head. "Have you tried apologizing to him?"

Fred Weasley shook his head. "Nope. First, we wanted to try getting rid of this ourselves. Not that we had any success, mind you. But we learned a lot through it, that much is for sure."

"See? Even now, that you are out of Hogwarts, he can still give you detention," the girl said, turning around to him with a smile. "I have to go now, Fred," she said, walking towards him with an unreadable expression on her face. "But think about what I suggested. Go and apologize."

Fred Weasley followed her with an amused look, Severus realized, while he led the girl out of the colourful story. She hadn't bought anything, he realized, much to his satisfaction.

Sssssssss

"Where do you want to go next?" Professor Snape asked her lowly after they exited the bookstore an hour later. Once more the man had proved what a patient companion he was when it came to browsing bookshelves, sampling way more books than was strictly necessary. Sometimes she found him looking over her shoulder mumbling his opinion of the book, if she was lucky. Hermione found that she enjoyed his recommendations when he gave them.

Now, she had spent way too much money on books but there was one last stop on her list.

"I'd like to go to the pet store," she said, already walking into the right direction. "Then I'm ready to go."

"What do you want there? Cat treats?" he asked, making her shake her head with a smile.

"No, Sir. Actually, I'm looking for an owl or maybe another type of messenger bird. Now that my parents are in Germany, I need a way to write to them and I don't want to afflict such long distances on the school owls. There should be other owl breeds more suitable for such long journeys."

The Professor nodded in understanding. "In this case, the pet shop might not be the right place for you. But there is another store about 15 minutes from here. They're selling all kinds of messenger pets and artefacts."

Hermione looked at the man with a thankful smile. "Is this where you bought your raven, Sir?"

"No," Professor Snape replied without looking at her. "But I'm still positive they will have what you are looking for. Do you want me to take you there?"

"Absolutely!" she said enthusiastically.

Half an hour later Hermione had spent way too much money on a pair of two way mirrors the Professor had encouraged her to buy. They weren't as fancy as the one Harry had gotten from Sirius, as they were lacking any kinds of decorations on the frame. They were exactly what she needed. Hermione did not mind it in the least because she had been able to afford them even though she would have to be canny with her money for the rest of the year. But being able to actually talk to her parents and even show them things, was totally worth it.

"Was that everything you needed?" the Professor's deep voice pulled her out of her thoughts and Hermione found herself nodding.

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. I'll have to make another stop on my own. Do you mind accompanying me to a shop in muggle London?" he asked, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. It was strange seeing him with that new face especially, as his expressions were still pretty much the same.

"To muggle London? What are you looking for, Sir?" she asked, unable to hide her curiosity. She grimaced internally at her blatant questioning of her Professor. 'Mom was right, I need to stop being so intrusive.'

At that, Professor Snape smiled before saying: "A microscope, of course."

Ssssssss

Time of exposure: 3 hours, 20 minutes, 35 seconds

Physical contact: two times 5 seconds (side-along-apparation)

Observations:

Today, I was finally able to purchase a microscope. Going by Miss Granger's enthusiasm at the shop, the girl can not wait for us to modify the device, making it work at the castle. The microscope project will be beneficial to me in many ways. I do have several ideas for suitable spells, but I will talk them through with her first before ruining the thing. Still, I cannot wait to use the device as it will open a whole new perspective on several potion ingredients and their potential uses.

The girl has been most adamant about questioning the shopkeeper about several messenger birds. Of course, she had to inquire about ravens and it took all my stealth to confound the shopkeeper and redirect her to the artefacts instead. Luckily, she forgot the idea of a messenger raven soon after, sparing me the awkward questions that would have followed, once she realized, that ravens are usually not used for such purposes as delivering letters. Those animals are way too stubborn to do a wizard's bidding. I should have never used my animagus form to meet her in the first place. I'll refrain from using it in her presence in the future and hopefully, with time, she forgets about it altogether.