Third Continuation for all stories!

Author's Note: Yes, I'm picking this story up again after
leaving it unfinished for months. :-)

Disclaimer: THIS IS S-L-A-S-H! And this is where it starts to
show up, not all that physically quite yet, but if that sort
of thing offends you for whatever bigoted reason you may have,
then go read something else. Please. Otherwise, read on, and
I'd love to hear from anyone with similar tastes :-)


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Ron glared at Snape, angered by the accusation. He'd spent hours
trying to find a cure for Lockhart, hours that should have gone
towards Quidditch or romance or even homework-- and now Snape
had the nerve to accuse him of being indifferent to Lockhart's
plight! Rage rose in him, and rage made him bold. "I know this
is a man's mind we're dealing with-- but it's you who needs my
help, not the other way around. I've put hours into Lockhart's
care, and I will continue to do so for his sake, so don't you
*dare* accuse me of betraying him, or you, again!"

Professor Snape's eyebrow raised, the only visible sign of his
suprise. Well, well, he thought, so the Weasley has a backbone
after all. The stress of watching Lockhart recover, only to watch
him deteriorate again, had made him unreasonable. Whether he
wanted to face it or not, Snape was dependent on Ron now, for in
Ron's hands alone lay the ability to restore Lockhart's memories.

"Forgive me, Mr. Weasley." The words were spoken with all of
Snape's bitterness behind them, but at least he had managed to
force them out. "I hope- I know- that you are just as concerned
for Gild... for Mr. Lockhart as I. This last evening events
forced me to come to term with the fact that Lockhart's condition
might in some way be my... fault. I cannot risk brewing the
potion for him again. If you would consent to be my lab assistant...
at least for the next month... then perhaps there is hope for him."

Ron's anger relented some, for he was only too familiar with
pride, and the pain of having to relinquish it to ask for help.
Snape's offer was more of a concession than he would have expected-
professors rarely tapped a student to be an assistant, and when they
did, it was normally a seventh year or at least a prefect. If
Snape gave him that honor, he wouldn't have to worry about being
caught out of bounds after "light's out" or any such infractions...
it would be the perfect cover to help Lockhart. And even if Lockhart
had been an insufferable git before, even he didn't deserve to
continue like this. But working with Snape... Ron had certainly
never expected to be in that position. "I would be honored, then,
to work with you."

Snape smiled, knowing very well that Ron could think of many more
enticing ways to spend his free hours then working with Hogwarts'
most loathed professor. "Very well then, I will file the necessary
paperwork with Dumbledore. I'll expect you by tonight after dinner
to work on the potion?"

Ron nodded, encouraged by Snape's apparent good humor, and hastened
to add, "Yes, I'll be there.. and there's something else, too, last
night I did some research into the potion... I have a few ideas for
how to speed up its effect."

Snape doubted that a student could have uncovered anything that he
hadn't noticed, but decided to indulge him nonetheless, "Bring your
research with you then. But for now, I believe there's a potion in
the other room awaiting your attention." He opened the door to the
classroom and ushered Ron in before him.

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When Ron returned to the cauldron where Hermione was working furiously,
she barely acknowleged his approach. Ron watched her actions confused,
for the ingredients she had out, not to mention the order she was
adding them, didn't seem to follow the recipe in the textbook.

"Err... Hermione? Are you sure that's right?"

She finally glanced up at him, and began speaking rapidly, "Well, I'm
not sure it's right... but you see, the original recipe called for
phoenix feathers and that didn't seem logical because that would
actually dilute the effects of the toad's feet so instead I'm adding
swan feathers to keep the essence fundamentally in the element of
water but then..."

Ron raised his hand, cutting her off with a laugh, "You lost me a
long time ago, 'Mione. I'm sure whatever you're doing will work fine."

With a shrug, Hermione returned to her potion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Far more interested in Ron and Professor Snape's return were Draco and
Neville, who watched them eagerly as they looked for signs of a proper
resolution to their bet. When they saw Ron had just a hint of a smile
on his face, and Snape didn't even look as angry as he had when he'd
left, Draco grinned in triumph. "See? I told you they'd be happy. You
owe me dinner."

Neville sighed, acknowledging the loss. "That's still a little creepy..
I mean... *Snape*?"

Draco smirked, "Well, even professors need to get laid."

Neville shuddered, squeaking slightly at the image.

Footsteps behind them stopped any further conversation. "Are you finished
yet, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Longbottom?"

Draco turned to Snape with an eager nod. "Oh of course, we were finished
*ages* ago."

Snape looked at the potion quickly, checking for consistency and color.
Finally he nodded. "Creative as always, Mr. Malfoy. 5 points to Slytherin."

At Malfoy's pointed look, Snape sighed. "And much improved, Mr. Longbottom.
Mr. Malfoy has been a good influence on you, it seems. 5 points to...
Gryffindor. You two might as well leave early, I don't expect any of the
rest of these bunglers to be done any time soon."

Draco and Neville were quick to exit, amid the glowers of jealous
classmates still slaving over their cauldrons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A half an hour later, Snape was making his final rounds checking potions
and dismissing students when he reached Ron and Hermione. He already
knew what to expect, a by the book potion that took no talent to produce,
no knowledge, just pure and bland memorization.

So it was with suprise and perhaps even pleasure that Snape regarded
the potion, noting it's slightly darker color and the assortment of odd
ingredients around the table.

Hermione was flushed with pleasure as she paused in her stirring and
waited for Snape's appraisal.

"Swan feathers, Ms. Granger?" Snape finally asked, a hint of a smirk
on his lips.

Hermione swallowed. "To replace the phoenix feathers."

"Did you consider the ramifications to the overall consistency?"

"I tried to compensate with ginseng, which should have been neutral
to the overall effect..."

"Unless there was mandrake present for it to react with, which in this
case there was. Note the colour."

Hermione groaned, realizing she'd completely overlooked that.

"Still... a reasonable effort. Full marks, but next time consider the
full ramifications of any ingredients you add." With that, Snape moved
on to the next pair.

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Harry and Pansy had long ago lost interest in their potion, which had
been completed halfheartedly and pronounced by Pansy suitable. They were
now far more intent on their discussion of their classmates, and the
apparent twists of personality and friendships that had marked the
beginning of the year.

"... and now Draco's been hanging around with *Longbottom* of all people,
and completely ignoring me."

"...Hermione's disappeared into the library, she won't even talk to me. And
Ron seems more interested in seeking her out then bothering with me any
more."

There was almost a feeling of kinship between them, though their chatter was
interrupted by Snape's approach. He glanced at their potion, sighed, and
pronounced it "Barely satisfactory." With that, he marched out, leaving
the few remaining students to gather their belongings and rush out with all
the speed they could manage.

Harry lingered, watching Pansy as she carefully packed her notes into a
green and black shoulder bag. When she finally looked up at them, they stood
in silence for an uncomfortable moment. "So..." Harry finally said.

Seeing that Harry, for all his fame, was incapable of taking any initiative,
Pansy inquired, "You have any plans for lunch?"

Harry shook his head, but didn't speak.

Sighing in exhasperation, Pansy asked pointedly, "Would you care to join me,
then?"

She finally got through to him, and he smiled. "I'd love to."

Hand in hand, they headed to the Great Hall.

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