Hermione slowly and quietly backed away from the door to the classroom.
For obvious reasons, not wanting to disturb the two men.
'Oh Gods!' She thought. 'Someone is trying to take me to Voldemort?!?' As she got to the dungeon steps, she began to wonder what they wanted her for. When she approached the Great Hall, she didn't care anymore. All she knew was that she didn't want to be walking around the school alone, and she didn't want to be alone with Snape. Even though she knew of his status as a spy, she didn't want to risk seeing what he would do to keep up the charade.
It was a very worried Hermione that returned to the lunch table.
"What's wrong 'Mione?" Ron asked.
Hermione just sat and picked at the food on her plate.
"'Mione?" Harry called.
"'Mione! What did Snape do?" Hermione shot her head up at hearing Snape's name.
"Nothing." She replied quietly. She looked over and saw the trademark swish of black robes to announce the Potion's Master's presence. She watched him from the corner of her eye as he approached the Head table and took his place. She was so distracted by this that it took a few seconds too long to realize that she was being called again.
"'Mione, something is wrong. Why won't you tell us?" Harry asked. He was getting very worried.
"I'm fine, Harry." She replied, weakly. He gave her an 'I don't believe you' look. "We'll talk after classes."
Harry conceded, and turned back to his food. Hermione couldn't eat much. She was afraid of what could happen. The note she wrote to Snape was already sent this morning. He would probably reply soon.
As if that thought prompted it to do so, an owl swooped down and dropped the Professor's reply in front of her. Hermione looked at it a moment before reaching out and taking it.
Miss Granger
If you would like to meet in my office prior to your detention, you may ask your questions than.
SS
'Damn it!' She thought. 'I don't think it's safe to be alone with him.' She looked over at Harry and Ron. They wouldn't want to be in Snape's presence anymore than they needed to be, but a little persuasion is in order. After overhearing what she did earlier, she decided to ask them when classes were done. At least than they could see the reasoning.
The three got up from the table to head off to their next classes. Only problem was, Harry and Ron had Divination, which was across the school from her Arithmancy class.
~@~
Professor Snape kept an eye on the Gryffindor student as he entered the Great Hall. Just as he suspected, she seemed rather apprehensive. He could see that she was watching him through the corner of her eye. Almost imperceptible, but he could tell. Now he knew for certain that she had overheard his conversation with Malfoy. 'Damn!' He thought, as he took his seat at the Head table.
It was unusual for him to eat lunch with the school, but he needed his suspicions confirmed before his meeting with Granger. It was going to be a little more difficult now. She would probably have those two friends of hers along as well, underneath Potter's invisibility cloak that is.
'Well,' he thought. 'At least she will be a little more cautious in school.'
All through lunch, he kept an eye on the trio and gazed over the students to see if he could make out a guilty face. He couldn't. Voldemort's man must be good. At the end of lunch, he saw the three Gryffindors stand up and head for the doors. Unfortunately, it looked like Granger was going off by herself.
'Stupid girl! After overhearing what she did, she still does not take care!' With that thought, he turned to the Headmaster.
"Albus. What class does Miss Granger have now?" He asked, quietly.
"I believe it's Arithmancy, Severus. Why do you ask?" The Headmaster replied.
"No reason." The Headmaster finished his own lunch, slightly amused by the apparent concern for Miss Granger's welfare. It didn't seem to appear to be concern to Snape, but it probably was. He watched as the Potions Master got up and made his way out of the Great Hall.
~@~
Hermione was becoming more apprehensive with each step she took. She never noticed how empty the halls seemed when she was on her way to Arithmancy. She wished more than anything for a group of any of the younger years to take a similar path so she would not be so alone. Alone and isolated.
She rounded a corner, and nearly hit the ceiling (pretty impressive, considering the average height of the ceilings in the castle) when she nearly ran into a statue.
'Oh Merlin!' She thought, as she tried to catch her breath.
"Miss Granger," said a voice from behind, and she jumped once again, her heart pounding and her lungs in her throat.
"A bit jumpy, are we?" The silky voice drawled. Snape could see the girl visibly pale at the sight of him. Usually, he enjoyed seeing the students cower before him; however, it was counter productive at the moment. "Did you get my reply?"
She couldn't trust herself to speak, so she simply nodded.
"Since your detention begins at 8, I will be expecting you in my office by 7:30." He continued. She simply nodded again. "Is something troubling you, Miss Granger?" He knew perfectly well there was.
"No, sir." She replied, shakily.
"Than continue on to your class. I highly doubt you wish for any additional detention." Snape turned on his heel and left, she was near the class; she would be fine for now.
~@~
Hermione was extremely glad for the distraction. She put her usual classroom face on and got through the lesson and assignments. It wasn't until one of her classmates, Nora from Ravenclaw, nudged her that she noticed that class was now over. She quickly packed up, glad that they all were headed in the same direction.
On the way to the Great Hall for dinner, she wondered what Snape was going to do. It seemed highly unlikely, now that she had time to think about it, that he would help snatch her from the school and deliver her to Voldemort. The problem was, someone in the school would. 'He will obtain his goal.' Usually the words were a good sign; a determination of spirit. But in this context, it sent a shiver down her spine that she found hard to suppress.
When she got the Great Hall, she again joined up with Harry and Ron. They began their dinner and she was filled in on some of the 'predictions' the duo made. Apparently, in about a week, Harry was going to be dragged to the lake by a wild hyena and drown, but not before his foot was chewed up by a piranha. If Trelawny was not trying to correct them in these 'predictions', than maybe she should have her Inner Eye adjusted. All that Divination stuff was just crap. If it wasn't, Hermione would eat her potions homework and blame it on a dog.
The trio quickly finished their dinner, and made their way to the common room. They had a little time before their detention with Snape.
"Alright, 'Mione. What was wrong with you at lunch?" Harry asked.
"Not here, guys." She responded, and led them up to her room. Once the door was closed, and the two boys were seated, she began to tell them about what she overheard. When she was done, they were gaping at her.
"The slimy bastard!" Ron finally said.
"Ron, we all know what Snape does for our side." Harry said, trying to calm down the red-faced redhead.
"I know. But he couldn't have pulled her aside and WARNED her about this?" He nearly yelled, but was quickly shushed by both Harry and Hermione.
"He didn't really get a chance. Besides, do you honestly think that would have been a smart thing for him to do? That would practically scream it out that he was a spy." Hermione responded, after thinking about it a moment. They still didn't know about the attack as far as she knew.
"Anyway, I have to get going. I need to talk to him before detention." She said, knowing how they would respond.
"You're going down there, BY YOURSELF, after what you overheard?" Harry said. "I don't think so! I'm getting my Dad's cloak, and we're coming in after you." He turned and walked out the door to his own rooms. When he got back, the two boys hid underneath. Hermione smiled at them, "Thank you." She said.
With that, the three headed towards the dungeons.
'Oh Gods!' She thought. 'Someone is trying to take me to Voldemort?!?' As she got to the dungeon steps, she began to wonder what they wanted her for. When she approached the Great Hall, she didn't care anymore. All she knew was that she didn't want to be walking around the school alone, and she didn't want to be alone with Snape. Even though she knew of his status as a spy, she didn't want to risk seeing what he would do to keep up the charade.
It was a very worried Hermione that returned to the lunch table.
"What's wrong 'Mione?" Ron asked.
Hermione just sat and picked at the food on her plate.
"'Mione?" Harry called.
"'Mione! What did Snape do?" Hermione shot her head up at hearing Snape's name.
"Nothing." She replied quietly. She looked over and saw the trademark swish of black robes to announce the Potion's Master's presence. She watched him from the corner of her eye as he approached the Head table and took his place. She was so distracted by this that it took a few seconds too long to realize that she was being called again.
"'Mione, something is wrong. Why won't you tell us?" Harry asked. He was getting very worried.
"I'm fine, Harry." She replied, weakly. He gave her an 'I don't believe you' look. "We'll talk after classes."
Harry conceded, and turned back to his food. Hermione couldn't eat much. She was afraid of what could happen. The note she wrote to Snape was already sent this morning. He would probably reply soon.
As if that thought prompted it to do so, an owl swooped down and dropped the Professor's reply in front of her. Hermione looked at it a moment before reaching out and taking it.
Miss Granger
If you would like to meet in my office prior to your detention, you may ask your questions than.
SS
'Damn it!' She thought. 'I don't think it's safe to be alone with him.' She looked over at Harry and Ron. They wouldn't want to be in Snape's presence anymore than they needed to be, but a little persuasion is in order. After overhearing what she did earlier, she decided to ask them when classes were done. At least than they could see the reasoning.
The three got up from the table to head off to their next classes. Only problem was, Harry and Ron had Divination, which was across the school from her Arithmancy class.
~@~
Professor Snape kept an eye on the Gryffindor student as he entered the Great Hall. Just as he suspected, she seemed rather apprehensive. He could see that she was watching him through the corner of her eye. Almost imperceptible, but he could tell. Now he knew for certain that she had overheard his conversation with Malfoy. 'Damn!' He thought, as he took his seat at the Head table.
It was unusual for him to eat lunch with the school, but he needed his suspicions confirmed before his meeting with Granger. It was going to be a little more difficult now. She would probably have those two friends of hers along as well, underneath Potter's invisibility cloak that is.
'Well,' he thought. 'At least she will be a little more cautious in school.'
All through lunch, he kept an eye on the trio and gazed over the students to see if he could make out a guilty face. He couldn't. Voldemort's man must be good. At the end of lunch, he saw the three Gryffindors stand up and head for the doors. Unfortunately, it looked like Granger was going off by herself.
'Stupid girl! After overhearing what she did, she still does not take care!' With that thought, he turned to the Headmaster.
"Albus. What class does Miss Granger have now?" He asked, quietly.
"I believe it's Arithmancy, Severus. Why do you ask?" The Headmaster replied.
"No reason." The Headmaster finished his own lunch, slightly amused by the apparent concern for Miss Granger's welfare. It didn't seem to appear to be concern to Snape, but it probably was. He watched as the Potions Master got up and made his way out of the Great Hall.
~@~
Hermione was becoming more apprehensive with each step she took. She never noticed how empty the halls seemed when she was on her way to Arithmancy. She wished more than anything for a group of any of the younger years to take a similar path so she would not be so alone. Alone and isolated.
She rounded a corner, and nearly hit the ceiling (pretty impressive, considering the average height of the ceilings in the castle) when she nearly ran into a statue.
'Oh Merlin!' She thought, as she tried to catch her breath.
"Miss Granger," said a voice from behind, and she jumped once again, her heart pounding and her lungs in her throat.
"A bit jumpy, are we?" The silky voice drawled. Snape could see the girl visibly pale at the sight of him. Usually, he enjoyed seeing the students cower before him; however, it was counter productive at the moment. "Did you get my reply?"
She couldn't trust herself to speak, so she simply nodded.
"Since your detention begins at 8, I will be expecting you in my office by 7:30." He continued. She simply nodded again. "Is something troubling you, Miss Granger?" He knew perfectly well there was.
"No, sir." She replied, shakily.
"Than continue on to your class. I highly doubt you wish for any additional detention." Snape turned on his heel and left, she was near the class; she would be fine for now.
~@~
Hermione was extremely glad for the distraction. She put her usual classroom face on and got through the lesson and assignments. It wasn't until one of her classmates, Nora from Ravenclaw, nudged her that she noticed that class was now over. She quickly packed up, glad that they all were headed in the same direction.
On the way to the Great Hall for dinner, she wondered what Snape was going to do. It seemed highly unlikely, now that she had time to think about it, that he would help snatch her from the school and deliver her to Voldemort. The problem was, someone in the school would. 'He will obtain his goal.' Usually the words were a good sign; a determination of spirit. But in this context, it sent a shiver down her spine that she found hard to suppress.
When she got the Great Hall, she again joined up with Harry and Ron. They began their dinner and she was filled in on some of the 'predictions' the duo made. Apparently, in about a week, Harry was going to be dragged to the lake by a wild hyena and drown, but not before his foot was chewed up by a piranha. If Trelawny was not trying to correct them in these 'predictions', than maybe she should have her Inner Eye adjusted. All that Divination stuff was just crap. If it wasn't, Hermione would eat her potions homework and blame it on a dog.
The trio quickly finished their dinner, and made their way to the common room. They had a little time before their detention with Snape.
"Alright, 'Mione. What was wrong with you at lunch?" Harry asked.
"Not here, guys." She responded, and led them up to her room. Once the door was closed, and the two boys were seated, she began to tell them about what she overheard. When she was done, they were gaping at her.
"The slimy bastard!" Ron finally said.
"Ron, we all know what Snape does for our side." Harry said, trying to calm down the red-faced redhead.
"I know. But he couldn't have pulled her aside and WARNED her about this?" He nearly yelled, but was quickly shushed by both Harry and Hermione.
"He didn't really get a chance. Besides, do you honestly think that would have been a smart thing for him to do? That would practically scream it out that he was a spy." Hermione responded, after thinking about it a moment. They still didn't know about the attack as far as she knew.
"Anyway, I have to get going. I need to talk to him before detention." She said, knowing how they would respond.
"You're going down there, BY YOURSELF, after what you overheard?" Harry said. "I don't think so! I'm getting my Dad's cloak, and we're coming in after you." He turned and walked out the door to his own rooms. When he got back, the two boys hid underneath. Hermione smiled at them, "Thank you." She said.
With that, the three headed towards the dungeons.