Professor
Minerva McGonagall sat quietly on her chair waiting for students to pour in.
Usually, at this time, she'd grade papers and find the materials she needed for
her class. But today she dazed as if she was a little girl.
Maybe someone knows…no…that can't
be it…Dumbledore would have known by then and someone would have told. But some
things are so obvious I can't believe Dumbledore didn't say anything. Maybe
he's waiting. Where did it come from anyway? Oh I'm going to be in so much
trouble.
"Professor?"
Dean Thomas waved a hand over McGonagall's eyes. " Yoo hooooo."
Professor
McGonagall woke up from here little trance.
"You
may take your set Dean." She replied quietly.
Hermione,
Harry, and Ron sat next to eachother gradually whispering to eachother what
they had seen.
"Obvious
Ginny knows something we don't. Or McGonagall does." Ron said in the corner of
his mouth.
"Finish…later…Professor…looking…at
us." Harry said quietly to the two.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remus
Lupin stared at the reports he gave the children to do.
"You'd
expect they knew how to write on their 3rd year…all they did was add
a lot of fluff." Lupin scrawled unpleasantly.
Just
then a knock at the door disrupted his work.
"Who
is it?" Remus yelled.
The
knob turned. Remus looked up.
"Why
hello Severus." Remus said with a bit of surprise.
"Hello
Remus. I just thought I'd drop by. I wanted to apologize for some things."
Snape shifted uncertainly.
"Make
it quick I have things to do." Lupin Said without looking at him.
"Well,
first of all I'd like to apologize for all the times I was mean to you. It was
wrong and I shrugged you off. That was rude. And I'd also like to say that…I
always envied you, James, and Sirius. You all were so popular and great at everything.
I….I'm sorry…for everything. Friends?"
Snape
held out his hand for Lupin to shake. Lupin looked at it and sneered.
"I
gave you enough chances. This time it's your turn to be rejected." Lupin went
back to his paper work.
Snape
retracted his hand…hurt. He walked away slowly without a word.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione
gave Harry a worried look.
"Look
Harry I really don't think this will
work."
"Snape's
like, a nice guy now he wont mind!"
"But
Harry…" Hermione whined.
"Don't
worry about it! I've defeated Voldemort two times already, Snape can't be as
bad."
Hermione
sighed. Somehow Harry had always found a way to make everything seem good.
Hermione knocked on the dungeon door where they usually had potion's class.
"Professor
Snape?" Hermione squeaked.
Professor
Snape looked up from his work.
"What
are you three doing? Why aren't you at Hogsmade?"
"Well
something was on our minds…and we were hoping that you could clear it up
because you're so…wise…uh yeah." Ron barley finished.
"Well
sure thing." Snape said smiling.
Ron
had to shove Harry to get him to speak.
"Well
uh-"
Snape
interrupted.
"You
look so much like your father. He would have been proud."
Harry
looked at Hermione. Hermione, eyes as wide as plates, shrugged.
"Th-thank
you Sir-er-Severus…" Harry tried to start again. "Anyway as I was saying, we
have had…heard stories about some strange things going on in Hogwarts. Are they
true?"
"What
kind of stories Harry?" Snape said kindly.
"Well
stupid things, like Dumbledore losing his powers, Professor Lupin switching
personalities with you…"
"Me
and Lupin doing what?"
"We'll
it's just a stupid rumor."
"No…Harry
I think you got something there…Lupin did seem really mean…maybe he just got a
mean spell. I don't see how anything like that could do anything with me Harry.
Run along now, I got work to do." Snape smiled.
Ron
and Harry exchanged looks. Hermione almost laughed.
"Well
uh…Severus…then do you remember anything unusual happening to you?" Ron choked.
"Well…I
do remember waking up to two strange voices and the last time I heard them was
when I pasted out. That's it. And Professor McGonagall looks really tense for
some reason. Hey Harry, did you ever hear the one about the chicken? It's a
hoot."
"Come
on!" Hermione yelled as she grabbed Harry and Ron's arm. "I think I know what
we're looking for."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hermione
why the heck are we looking in prank books for? Why can't we just ask my
brothers who these people are?" Ron questioned.
"Because,"
Hermione started. "That's why." She pointed to Fred and George…but they were
dressed…like prefects.
"Percy
leave us alone. Take your childish pranks and leave, we're prefects now and we
don't need to be seen around you." Fred scrawled at their older brother.
"Oh
George may I kiss your feet? Or maybe I should ask Colon Cravey to take a
picture so that you can sign it." Percy was a real…jokester. He had bags full
of things from Zonoko's.
"OK
that is soooo wrong." Ron started to rise from his seat. "First my sister being
chased by Malfoy now Fred and George are living Percy's. I can't even stand one
how will I live with two!?!"
"Calm
down Ron all will be back to normal in a few…uh…years…"Hermione looked at a
page in the book A History of Troublesome
Pranksters.
"A
couple of WHAT!?!" Ron screamed.
The
librarian looked like she could kill.
"Good
news Ron, I found what we're looking for." Hermione said.
"Then
why do you sound so down…?" Ron asked.
"Um…well…truthfully
it's one of the hardest things to catch in the world." Hermione looked up. "Things may be like this forever…"
Harry
looked at Hermione.
"Well…what
do we need to do?" Harry asked quietly.
"Remember
when Snape said that he heard two voices before he pasted out? Well that was
them." Hermione read the page:
"Back in the 1860's pranks were one of the
most popular entertainment around. Wizards often had contests on who could make
up the best and funniest prank. One particular wizard (Harold Margaven) won 15
times for his two 'trouble markers' also known as a 'Dream hunters' because
they can only perform magic when the attacked is asleep or fainted. One of the
hardest pranksters to catch in the world, it could take years."
Ron's
mouth hung open.
"All
of this happened because of a stupid prank contest?" Ron sounded like he could
explode.
"So
where is this Harold Margaven?" Harry asked.
"He
turned evil and joined You-Know-Who" Hermione continued. "Says here that the
two 'Dream hunters' were stashed in a box and was buried somewhere."
"How
do you catch Dream hunters?" Ron asked anxiously.
"Doesn't
say. Just says that they were hard to catch." Hermione said turning the page
looking for more information.
"I
bet you it's in the restricted section. That's where Fred and George got all
the good pranks." Ron said lightly.
They
both looked at Ron. Who would be that thick to let Fred and George in the
restricted section? Ron noticed their expressions.
"It
was Lockheart." He said as if reading their minds. There was a chorus of
Ohhhhhh's.
"Maybe
we could get permission from Snape…to say that we're studying advanced
potions…" Harry began.
"Yeah
good idea then he'll ask us to perform one that's over our grade level. Real
good idea Harry." Ron was not in the best of moods.
"Well…let's
just see what we can do, Ron." Hermione scolded. "Unless you like the idea of
two more head boy's in your family."
"Let's
go."
They
all headed out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Snape
was smiling cheerfully. It was his day off. He placed a new plant on his desk
and watered it.
"There.
Not so gloomy anymore." He said talking to himself.
He
heard a knock on his door.
Wonder who that could be. Snape thought as he turned
the knob.
Remus
Lupin stepped in the dungeon.
"Hello
Remus. Want some tea?" Snape began.
Remus
cut the chitchat. "Full moon tonight. Do you have the potion?"
"Yes
I'm brewing it now. Sit. You have time."
Snape and Remus sat down.
"How
are you?" Snape asked politely.
"I'd
be better if it weren't so close to a full moon, Severus." Remus frowned.
Snape
was getting tired of this. He hated the way Remus talked to him and hated the
way he treated his students. Snape silently vowed never to act like Lupin.
"Well
it's your fault you got bitten Remus."
Remus
stared. Severus Snape had offended him.
"Well
Severus I was a little boy and didn't know better." Remus snapped back.
"I
think I'll go see if the potion's done." Snape got up. What was he thinking?
Did he just lose control of his anger? What he said was rude. He walked back
potion in hand.
"Here
drink it all at once." Snape said giving the bubbly potion to Lupin. He drank
it quickly.
"Nasty
stuff." Gagged Lupin.
Snape
smiled. No thank you? Not even a smile? All he commented on was the stupid
taste?
"I
try." Snape smiled.
Lupin
looked at him coldly.
"I
must go, I came to get what I wanted."
Just
then there was another knock on the door.
"Come
in." Snape said lazily.
Harry,
Hermione, and Ron emerged from the slowly opening door. Lupin stared at them,
almost sneering, but didn't say anything.
"O-oh
we're sorry we didn't know that you and Lupin were visiting…"Hermione started.
"Don't
worry about it he was just leaving." Snape said in an almost sarcastic voice.
"Not
quite." Lupin sat down and gave an evil smile.
Lupin's going to ruin it.
He'll know what we're up to. Harry thought shakily.
"Well
um, here's the thing. We need a teacher to sign a slip for us to uh, go to one
part of the restricted section to study an advanced potion. So we were wondering-"
Lupin cut in. "Why do what to study an
advanced potion? You said that you hate potions and you don't want to do more
then you have to."
Snape
got angry. "Well, Remus, there is such thing as change and how come you're
always so mean to your students!?! Have you no conscience?!?"
Remus
looked at Harry and his friends. They were all very pale and frightened by now.
He cringed.
"You
want me to be nice Severus?!? HERE I'LL SIGN THEIR STUPID SLIPS!"
Remus
grabbed all three slips and scribbled his name on them without even reading
what it said and gave them back to Harry.
"Thank
you Professor Lupin." Ron said rather dryly.
Snape
smiled. I shouldn't judge Lupin to
harshly. He could be a nice guy.
"I
must go I have work to do." Remus said slamming the door.
Hermione
thanked Snape for his time and pulled Ron and Harry aside. Their faces smiled.
"That
was all just plain dumb luck." Ron snickered.
They
all laughed. But stopped. Someone was speaking in the next room.
"Hogwarts
was better than I remembered it was 10 years ago."
"I
think someone's on to us."
"Why
would you say that?"
"I
saw one of the prank books open on a table in the library last night. It was a
page on 'Dream hunters'."
"Could
be coincidence."
"No
I think that woman knew what we where when she released us."
"She
looks rather familiar for some reason…"
Harry,
Hermione, and Ron looked at eachother and knew instantly whom they were talking
about. Professor McGonagall released the dream hunters…but how?
"Forget
about it, no one can catch us. We've got Voldemort on our side. Harold said
so."
Ron
couldn't help it. He sneezed. Hermione and Harry looked at Ron in horror. There was udder silence. Think they forgot it? Hermione mouthed
Harry. Let's look. Harry mouthed
back. All three heads popped around the corner were the talking had been.
Hermione gasped. They were gone…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Snape
returned to his office, strangely, Professor McGonagall and Professor Lupin
were waiting for him.
"May
I, uh, help you?" Snape mumbled.
"We
were thinking you suffered from a spell called the 'Personality switch' and
Dumbledore gave me orders to see that you two turn back to normal." McGonagall
stated.
"I
don't think I'm suffering from anything personally. He's the one that's putting
flowers on his desk." Lupin sneered.
Snape
slightly blushed.
"Well
you aren't your old self Remus whether you know it or not so sit down while I
perform a spell." McGonagall was apparently moody today.
They
both sat down. Professor McGonagall whispered a few words and a green glow
surrounded them both.
"Oh
my head…"Snape said face between hands.
"I
feel like I just transformed." Remus said doing the same.
"Well
since you two look back to normal then I guess I'll go. Good bye gentleman."
McGonagall whisked past the door in a hurry.
Snape
raised his eyebrows looking at the flowerpot.
"I
never knew you liked daisy's Remus."
It
was Lupin's turn to blush.
"Well
I never knew you could be so mean without noticing it."
Just
then Snape had a flashback. Him…holding out his hand, waiting for Lupin to say
he was his friend.
"Go
away Remus." Snape snarled.
Lupin
frowned. He knew what Snape was thinking. He knew what it was like to be Severus
Snape.
"Fine.
I will. And…I forgive you." Remus walked out of the door, not looking back
once.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It
was a new day. Harry, Hermione, and Ron agreed not to go looking for the dream
hunters until then knew how to actually
catch one.
"Hey
look, potion's class first." Hermione showed Ron and Harry her planner. "Wonder
if Snape's going to get all buddy-buddy with us. I don't think I can stand it
much longer."
"At
least we didn't get homework all week." Ron smiled. Harry and Hermione stared.
"What?"
"Nothing.
Let's go." Harry walked into potion class with Hermione and Ron at his side.
Snape
paid no attention. He was having problems of his own…with Malfoy.
"Apologies
to you and your family Malfoy I was not myself."
"You
have a flowerpot on your desk, sir."
Snape
turned rather red with embarrassment.
"I
will make sure that you get an A Malfoy. You may take your seat."
Harry
saw Snape put (or throw) the flowerpot in a small desk drawer. Harry smiled.
Snape must have seen him because he went for the kill.
"Mr.
Potter. I believe you haven't been doing your potion's homework lately. Why,
may I ask, did you not do it? Do you think you should get off because you think
you're "special"?
Many
people gasped in surprise. Snape was the nicest teacher in the school! Some
people actually looked forward to class. Professor Severus Snape, was back to
normal.
"Well
uh you never assigned me any…or anyone for that matter…" Harry said shakily.
"That's
no excuse I was ill. You should have known better. 10 points off for not doing
homework…" There was a terrible smile creeping through his thin lips.
"But
that's not fair! Slytherin never did any homework either!" Ron yelled.
"Oh
yes they did. I gave it to them at lunch. They finished hours before you even
started. I expect you Gryffindors to give me all your potions homework by
tomorrow morning. If someone from your house so much as misses a paper, then 30
points will be deducted."
The
Gryffindors looked at eachother. Mouth's hanging open. Snape smiled. It was
truly good to be back to his cold self.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione, Harry, and Ron anxiously eyed the
clock. One more minute till we get to the library…
"Harry,
Hermione, Ron? Are you ok? You don't look like you're paying attention." Lupin
frowned. He had always tried to make his lessons interesting for his class. He
even went through the trouble to ask Dumbledore to use some of the dark
creatures for them.
"Oh
uh sorry Professor Lupin. We were uh, just wondering." Hermione saw the
disappointment in Lupin's face.
"Well
pay attention please."
"Yes
Professor." They all mumbled.
"Maybe
a 5 minute rest will do us better. Everyone lye down for a minute." It was good
thing too, Professor Lupin had transformed the previous night and a rest would do
him lots of good Harry thought. Professor R. J. Lupin fell into a deep sleep.
He started to snore. Lots of the girls giggled. Finally an egg timer told them
that their rest was over. He got up and smiled. Ahhh rest!
Lupin
started to right on the chalkboard. Suddenly he stopped writing in the middle
of the word.
"Do
any of you think it's getting dark in here?"
Many
people looked at eachother like 'Huh?'
Dean
spoke up. "Of course not. It's perfectly fine. Why?"
"I
was afraid of that. Someone get Nurse Pomfrey. I just went blind."
Many
people gasped. Hermione and Harry stood up. Ron was in his chair shocked.
"Professor
Lupin we'll take you." Hermione spoke up.
Lupin
dropped the chalk. It cracked on the floor.
"Thank-you."
He barely whispered. Everyone could tell that there was a lump in his throat.
Hermione and Harry walked over and grabbed Lupin's two arms. Lupin stumbled on
to both of them in the hallway.
"Oh-no."
Hermione groaned.
"What's
wrong?" Lupin said in a rather masculine voice.
"Snape."
Sure
enough Snape was walking down the hall with papers in his hand obviously
reading them. He didn't even look up.
"Just
ignore him. The sooner we get to Nurse Pomfrey the better." Lupin said closing
his eyes.
"Right."
Harry answered back.
Lupin
walked upright trying to look as normal as possible.
Harry
whispered to Lupin if he wanted any help.
"No.
Let go. I don't want Severus to know."
Harry
had to admit Lupin had his pride. But he also hated to see others feel sorry
for him.
Not that Snape would. Harry thought sharply.
"Good
evening Lupin, I thought you had class today."
Lupin
stopped as he was addressed.
"Well
Severus I had to delay because of…difficulties…"
Snape
smiled evilly.
"Can't
handle your own animals Lupin? Tut tut."
"No
Severus now if you'll excuse me-"
*~WACK~*
Lupin ran right into a chair standing still in the hall. Snape gave a somewhat
puzzled expression. Hermione tried to cover up by giving Lupin a hand.
"Here.
Yeah ok lets go." Harry grabbed Lupin's other arm to lead him away from Snape.
"No
thanks I'm fine. Really."
Hermione
and Harry looked at eachother.
"Well…ok…"
Harry gave Lupin a look.
Lupin
stepped forward. Then did it again. He looked like he was doing some sort of
dance-step when out of the blue- WAM!
"WHAT'S
WRONG WITH YOU REMUS YOU RAN STRAIGHT INTO ME!"
"Well
Severus, to tell you the truth, something is wrong. I-I'm quite blind." Lupin
almost choked.
Snape
was in deep shock and anger.
"AND
YOU LET THOSE TWO DUNDERHEADS TAKE YOU TO THE NURSE? ARE YOU INSAINE? NO WONDER
YOU'VE BEEN RUNNING INTO THINGS! COME HERE!"
" I
don't know where you are!" said Lupin waving arms in the air violently.
Snape
did something very surprising. He picked Lupin up over his shoulder and started
to walk to the nurse's office. Hermione thought it rather…touching…
"
Uh, tell the class that they may go to their next class for me!" Lupin yelled.
"Ok!"
Hermione yelled back. She turned to Harry. "Wasn't that the sweetest thing?"
"Hermione,
he insulted us."
"Oh
shut up, what would you know?" Hermione snapped back. Harry smiled. It was
rather interesting though…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~