Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the universe in which the story is based. Uhh, i own the plot though, however much that's worth ^_^;;
Also, just a note, Harry and company are friends with Draco now, so don't think it's all weird that they're acting kinda buddy/buddy in later chapters...he's not actually 'in' this chapter, but there are references to him blah blah blah...blah
Ah, also, I keep forgetting @.@ Credits to my beta, Alexiel! thank her for all the capped i's and extra commas ^_^
~~~~~~~
Severus had woken up quite late the next day. Before he'd gone to sleep, the only thing in his mind was his mother. No matter how hard he'd tried to remember even having a mother, there was a gentle voice telling him not to try so hard, just to relax and be peaceful. He'd tried over and over to recall anything about the missing pieces in his life, but there was no sudden understanding...and so he'd eventually given up.
Finally, tired of staying in bed doing nothing, me looked at his clock. '...Missed breakfast two mornings in a row..'
After taking a quick shower and getting dressed, he summoned a house elf for coffee and toast. Waiting for the elf to come back with his food, he sat in a chair in his living room, looking up to the ceiling with arms on each of the armrests. He forced himself yet again to think about his mother and the bizzare events taking place as of late. He could think of nothing relating himself to Hermione Granger, yet everytime one of these catastrophes had happened, she was always close at hand. After Severus thought about that for a while, he realized that he didn't remember much of anything about the detention she'd supposedly served two days ago. 'I will interrogate her if I have to...What is her role in this?' he thought maliciously.
The especially small house elf came back with a rather large cup of coffee in one hand and a tray of rainbow colored toast. She explained to him, "It is only magic, sir! The toast will taste normal." and she disappeared with a pop.
Frowning at the eccentric colors of the toast, he quickly ate it and drained his coffee. With this, he felt less hungry, but somehow more tired. But instead of going back to sleep as his body begged of him, he left his quarters and climbed the stairs to his classroom to prepare the sixth year double potions lesson. He cringed, 'Gryffindors.' Severus figured the day's project was not difficult, and he and his class would get by without too much explaining.
Placing the specified materials in the ingredient cabinet, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, the small blue book lying on the floor next to his desk. He picked it up and placed it in the pocket on the inside of his robes. 'This..to present my case to that Granger girl. That Granger girl...'
He was completely and utterly wrong about his not having to worry about the class. Neville Longbottom had only managed to explode his potion and set fire to several others. Hermione was able to salvage hers, but it bubbled violently and gave off a disgusting smell. Severus deducted 33 points for the mess Neville had made. Not surprisingly, this was the difference of house points between Gryffindor and Slytherin.
He'd dismissed the class early save Hermione, deeming the Gryffindors as 'helpless dunderheads'.
"Yes, Professor?" She asked timidly, not quite sure if he remembered the uncomfortable moment in front of the Gryffindor common room the previous morning.
"Did you drop this?" He said, pulling out the book she left in his bedroom.
"Oh!" she sighed, "I was looking for that everywhere!" Hermione extended her hand to take back the book, but he was not yet ready to return it to her.
"Why, exactly, did you check this particular book out of the library?"
"It..It seemed interesting..." She didn't finish, as she had a bad feeling of where this conversation was leading to.
"And have you read the entire book?" He seemed determined when he asked this, proving Hermione's inclination was correct.
"No, sir." She knew he'd read about his mental condition, and was probably calculating if she'd known as much. "But..." She didn't look at him when she said this next part, "I did happen to find the information about you, sir."
"I see..." He was contemplating what exactly he wanted to know next. "Tell me what happened on the night of your detention...and of yesterday morning."
She sighed again, and at a loss for what to say, she told the truth. "I came to detention on time. Before I opened the door to the classroom though, I heard yelling and shattering glass from inside. I hurried to help anybody that might have been in trouble, and perhaps defend them, but when I entered the room, there was only you. The moment you saw me, you practically ran up to me and threw me across the room...I blacked out after you screamed something I can't quite remember..." She left out the fact that she was wounded by a large piece of glass, as it would only have made the situation worse. "I..woke up in your bedroom," She paused for a moment. "Your head was on my lap, and you were sleeping before I jumped off the bed..." she finished, quite depressed with the memory.
Though he was surprised by her reply, he could only ask, "And in the morning?"
Hermione coughed and tried to find a way to steer the conversation somewhere else, or even end it altogether, but finding none, she resumed her explanation of the events.
"I was on my way to breakfast when I came out of the portrait hole, but you were standing there, I think... waiting for me. And when you saw me, you hugged me..." She looked up at him. "And you called me 'Mother.'"
He was horrified with this news and sharply dismissed her. Hermione was distressed at his dismissal, and she loooked sadly up at him. "I wouldn't mind...being your mother," she lied, and with that, she left.
She had to lie, Dumbledore's request had to be carried out, and there was simply no way she would actually not mind being Snape's mother. 'Of all people, couldn't it be one who's pleasant to be around?'
~~~~~~~~~
Hermione was on her way to the Gryffindor dorms to drop off her things, but she spotted Harry waiting for her in the common room and stopped by...and she remembered her dream.
"What did Snape do to you this time?" he said, openly annoyed at the thought of their potions master.
"Oh, nothing really, we were just discussing why and how my potion went wrong." She felt horrible for having to lie so much in just a few minutes.
"That was Neville's fault! ...Oh well, he gets blamed enough for things as it is... at least Snape didn't yell at you." He paused for a while, as if thinking of what to say next, and if he should say it. "Hermione, I was thinking... There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."
She looked at him strangly at his remark. "Yes?"
"Ron and I were talking with Draco a little bit ago."
'How long ago was a little bit?' she thought, but was listening again to Harry.
"We knew that his father was trying to get rid of muggles and muggle-borns for a long time now, but Draco told us the plans were going to start soon. That if we were going to do anything, we should start soon, before something...bad...happens." He said, sounding so solemn that Hermione found herself listening intently. "You were in the library studying at the time, and after talking with Draco, Ron and I knew we had to act soon, before Lucius Malfoy goes on a killing spree.
"The ministry of magic proved themselves useless years ago...We've decided there's nothing to do but form our own justice against Voldemort and his death eaters. Hermione, we can defeat him, but we need you."
Though she nodded at him, she wasn't agreeing to help just yet, only signifying that she knew the circumstances. "Harry, what's to happen if Voldemort learns of this new 'group' going out against him? He'll kill all of us if he gets wind of these plans!" and in her head she thought, 'So...this is what they've been hiding..why has it been such a big secret with him up till now? In my dream...In my dream they were talking about...making the plans sound pleasant..what could be wrong with this?' She pondered over this for quite a while, making Harry impatient.
"Well? Are you going to help or not?" he seemed demanding.
Not wanting to anger him, she decided she could agree for now and think about it later. "Al-alright. I'll help with your..plan. What am I supposed to do?"
Upon hearing her answer, he hugged her tightly and said "Nothing for now...We still need more recruits. At the moment, we don't even know where Voldemort is...I'm going to try and convince Draco to join. For now, lets just go to lunch and we'll talk about this later, when there's nobo..nothing to distract us, alright?" He smiled at her, "By the way, Draco says he misses you."
She laughed and they headed towards the Great Hall, forgetting their worries for a while.
Also, just a note, Harry and company are friends with Draco now, so don't think it's all weird that they're acting kinda buddy/buddy in later chapters...he's not actually 'in' this chapter, but there are references to him blah blah blah...blah
Ah, also, I keep forgetting @.@ Credits to my beta, Alexiel! thank her for all the capped i's and extra commas ^_^
~~~~~~~
Severus had woken up quite late the next day. Before he'd gone to sleep, the only thing in his mind was his mother. No matter how hard he'd tried to remember even having a mother, there was a gentle voice telling him not to try so hard, just to relax and be peaceful. He'd tried over and over to recall anything about the missing pieces in his life, but there was no sudden understanding...and so he'd eventually given up.
Finally, tired of staying in bed doing nothing, me looked at his clock. '...Missed breakfast two mornings in a row..'
After taking a quick shower and getting dressed, he summoned a house elf for coffee and toast. Waiting for the elf to come back with his food, he sat in a chair in his living room, looking up to the ceiling with arms on each of the armrests. He forced himself yet again to think about his mother and the bizzare events taking place as of late. He could think of nothing relating himself to Hermione Granger, yet everytime one of these catastrophes had happened, she was always close at hand. After Severus thought about that for a while, he realized that he didn't remember much of anything about the detention she'd supposedly served two days ago. 'I will interrogate her if I have to...What is her role in this?' he thought maliciously.
The especially small house elf came back with a rather large cup of coffee in one hand and a tray of rainbow colored toast. She explained to him, "It is only magic, sir! The toast will taste normal." and she disappeared with a pop.
Frowning at the eccentric colors of the toast, he quickly ate it and drained his coffee. With this, he felt less hungry, but somehow more tired. But instead of going back to sleep as his body begged of him, he left his quarters and climbed the stairs to his classroom to prepare the sixth year double potions lesson. He cringed, 'Gryffindors.' Severus figured the day's project was not difficult, and he and his class would get by without too much explaining.
Placing the specified materials in the ingredient cabinet, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, the small blue book lying on the floor next to his desk. He picked it up and placed it in the pocket on the inside of his robes. 'This..to present my case to that Granger girl. That Granger girl...'
He was completely and utterly wrong about his not having to worry about the class. Neville Longbottom had only managed to explode his potion and set fire to several others. Hermione was able to salvage hers, but it bubbled violently and gave off a disgusting smell. Severus deducted 33 points for the mess Neville had made. Not surprisingly, this was the difference of house points between Gryffindor and Slytherin.
He'd dismissed the class early save Hermione, deeming the Gryffindors as 'helpless dunderheads'.
"Yes, Professor?" She asked timidly, not quite sure if he remembered the uncomfortable moment in front of the Gryffindor common room the previous morning.
"Did you drop this?" He said, pulling out the book she left in his bedroom.
"Oh!" she sighed, "I was looking for that everywhere!" Hermione extended her hand to take back the book, but he was not yet ready to return it to her.
"Why, exactly, did you check this particular book out of the library?"
"It..It seemed interesting..." She didn't finish, as she had a bad feeling of where this conversation was leading to.
"And have you read the entire book?" He seemed determined when he asked this, proving Hermione's inclination was correct.
"No, sir." She knew he'd read about his mental condition, and was probably calculating if she'd known as much. "But..." She didn't look at him when she said this next part, "I did happen to find the information about you, sir."
"I see..." He was contemplating what exactly he wanted to know next. "Tell me what happened on the night of your detention...and of yesterday morning."
She sighed again, and at a loss for what to say, she told the truth. "I came to detention on time. Before I opened the door to the classroom though, I heard yelling and shattering glass from inside. I hurried to help anybody that might have been in trouble, and perhaps defend them, but when I entered the room, there was only you. The moment you saw me, you practically ran up to me and threw me across the room...I blacked out after you screamed something I can't quite remember..." She left out the fact that she was wounded by a large piece of glass, as it would only have made the situation worse. "I..woke up in your bedroom," She paused for a moment. "Your head was on my lap, and you were sleeping before I jumped off the bed..." she finished, quite depressed with the memory.
Though he was surprised by her reply, he could only ask, "And in the morning?"
Hermione coughed and tried to find a way to steer the conversation somewhere else, or even end it altogether, but finding none, she resumed her explanation of the events.
"I was on my way to breakfast when I came out of the portrait hole, but you were standing there, I think... waiting for me. And when you saw me, you hugged me..." She looked up at him. "And you called me 'Mother.'"
He was horrified with this news and sharply dismissed her. Hermione was distressed at his dismissal, and she loooked sadly up at him. "I wouldn't mind...being your mother," she lied, and with that, she left.
She had to lie, Dumbledore's request had to be carried out, and there was simply no way she would actually not mind being Snape's mother. 'Of all people, couldn't it be one who's pleasant to be around?'
~~~~~~~~~
Hermione was on her way to the Gryffindor dorms to drop off her things, but she spotted Harry waiting for her in the common room and stopped by...and she remembered her dream.
"What did Snape do to you this time?" he said, openly annoyed at the thought of their potions master.
"Oh, nothing really, we were just discussing why and how my potion went wrong." She felt horrible for having to lie so much in just a few minutes.
"That was Neville's fault! ...Oh well, he gets blamed enough for things as it is... at least Snape didn't yell at you." He paused for a while, as if thinking of what to say next, and if he should say it. "Hermione, I was thinking... There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."
She looked at him strangly at his remark. "Yes?"
"Ron and I were talking with Draco a little bit ago."
'How long ago was a little bit?' she thought, but was listening again to Harry.
"We knew that his father was trying to get rid of muggles and muggle-borns for a long time now, but Draco told us the plans were going to start soon. That if we were going to do anything, we should start soon, before something...bad...happens." He said, sounding so solemn that Hermione found herself listening intently. "You were in the library studying at the time, and after talking with Draco, Ron and I knew we had to act soon, before Lucius Malfoy goes on a killing spree.
"The ministry of magic proved themselves useless years ago...We've decided there's nothing to do but form our own justice against Voldemort and his death eaters. Hermione, we can defeat him, but we need you."
Though she nodded at him, she wasn't agreeing to help just yet, only signifying that she knew the circumstances. "Harry, what's to happen if Voldemort learns of this new 'group' going out against him? He'll kill all of us if he gets wind of these plans!" and in her head she thought, 'So...this is what they've been hiding..why has it been such a big secret with him up till now? In my dream...In my dream they were talking about...making the plans sound pleasant..what could be wrong with this?' She pondered over this for quite a while, making Harry impatient.
"Well? Are you going to help or not?" he seemed demanding.
Not wanting to anger him, she decided she could agree for now and think about it later. "Al-alright. I'll help with your..plan. What am I supposed to do?"
Upon hearing her answer, he hugged her tightly and said "Nothing for now...We still need more recruits. At the moment, we don't even know where Voldemort is...I'm going to try and convince Draco to join. For now, lets just go to lunch and we'll talk about this later, when there's nobo..nothing to distract us, alright?" He smiled at her, "By the way, Draco says he misses you."
She laughed and they headed towards the Great Hall, forgetting their worries for a while.