I do not own Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, or any of the others that go along with the Harry Potter series. They belong to J. K. Rowling. I have written this fanfiction for fun, not profit. I don't have any money. =P
Return to Hogwarts
Chapter 02
"I once had a professor who was obsessed with constant vigilance. Perhaps you don't need to be always on the alert, but keep your eyes and ears open. You learn a lot that way," Hermione wrapped up her class. A few months into the school year had made a huge difference not only in the way she was treated, but in the way she looked at her students. By this time she had learned their names, not to mention who hated who, who was dating who, and most importantly, who cared about their grades. Christmas was coming, unstoppable, and all that she had done to immerse herself in her work was soon going to be slammed into a brick wall.
Christmas: the most wonderful time of the year. Or, in her mind, the most contrived, greedy holiday of the year. She still went through the motions, because that's what everyone did. She went shopping. She sang Christmas songs. She even gave out a quiz before holidays because that's what being a teacher was all about. But she did not once enjoy the thought of going home for the holidays.
Her owl, Ceres, kept a close eye on the proceedings. She had delivered a few notes earlier, and Hermione had looked at all three and tossed them aside. "Oh, Ceres, what am I going to do?" Hermione murmured while smoothing down the gray colored feathers absently. "I don't want to go home, but what would Christmas be here?"
Hermione's eyes swept over the letters. The top one was from Harry. One was from her parents. And the last one was from him. It was he-who-must-not-be-named, she thought with an ironic smile. Though, of course, he would take offense to her comparing him with Voldemort. Then again, he took offense to everything she said or did.
"Miss Granger, are you in there?" a thick voice came from the other side of her classroom door. She sighed.
"Come in, Severus." He still insisted upon calling her Miss Granger. He couldn't even bring himself to call her professor, not even after three and a half months.
"Miss Granger, really. Must you keep that thing in here?" Snape inquired, his black eyes passing over Ceres. He shut the door behind him. "I have come to talk to you about Barus."
"Luke? What has he done?"
"More specifically, Miss Granger, it's what he hasn't done," Snape replied irritably. He shrugged off her offer to sit down. "Your class has so many students spending so much time on this blasted class that they haven't time for anything else."
Hermione frowned. It wasn't the first time that they had had this conversation, and she doubted it would be the last. "Do you want me to go easy on them?"
"I would like it if you didn't overload them. Imagine, they didn't even know the ingredients that go into simple potions that you learned your first year."
"I was, by no means, an ordinary student," she pointed out.
"These are third years," he snapped with a sneer.
"Perhaps you are too lax on your students," Hermione suggested, her eyes turning hard. The last thing she wanted right now was a confrontation with Severus Snape. "So, I suggest that instead of blaming me, look instead to yourself."
He sniffed disdainfully. "I'd rather hoped that you, Miss Granger, would understand the situation properly. Instead, I again see that you are too stubborn for your own good."
"Is that a threat, Severus?" she inquired mildly. Her voice was much calmer than she felt right now, but she would never let him know that.
"Consider it an observation," replied he. A strand of his black hair fell into his face, the contrast between it and his skin startling. "I am offering a suggestion to you, colleague to colleague."
"And what would that be?" Hermione asked, her fear making way for the irritation that was quickly shoving it out of the way.
"Don't make enemies with your peers. It was hard enough as a student, but professors..." he trailed off.
"Professors have to stick together and be happy and jolly?" she finished for him. "Really, Snape. I would have hoped that you could speak to me as Professor Hermione Granger, rather than Hermione Granger the student. But apparently I have overestimated you." Her words were almost brash; they slipped out before she could stop them. As she watched Snape turn an interesting shade of mottled red and then finally settle back into his normal, pale color, her heart leapt many different ways. Instead of letting him see the blush that was threatening, however, she bent her head over the tests she had just collected and started grading.
"As always, you have a rather... plain way of expressing yourself," he remarked, putting the emphasis on plain.
"You should have expected no less from me." She ignored the hint that she was plain, not just her way of speaking.
"Indeed. I shall keep that in mind." He stood over her desk, casting a light on her students' papers. He stood there for several moments until she looked up at him.
"Is there something else, Severus?"
He smiled at her, and inwardly her stomach turned at the sight of his crooked and blackened teeth. Rather like the smile: crooked and dark. "Hermione Granger the student was always flanked by her posse. Professor Granger, however, is alone. I wonder why."
Before she could hide it, her face flushed and sparks fairly shot from her eyes. She opened her mouth to reply, but he had turned and swept out of the room. She banged her fist on the desk, startling Ceres. "Damn the man," she muttered through gritted teeth.
Unbidden, her eyes drifted to the letters she had received. Sighing, she opened the one from her parents first. Her mother's neat handwriting greeting her eyes.
"Hermione,
"Are you coming home for Christmas? You haven't written us much since the term started, but we understand that you are busy. We still miss our little girl, though! Our business is doing well, and some of the "changes" that you have made to our equipment are working out excellently. I won't go into details, as I remember how much you hate hearing about some of the gorier details, but suffice it to say that everything is going as planned.
"We are worried about you, Hermione. We have received some letters from you-know-who, and he sounds genuinely sorry. I know that I can't change your mind, but I can ask you to at least think about it.
"Please let us know if you are coming home! We will make a large ham or turkey, or whatever it is that you want!
With love,
Your mother and father."
Hermione sighed. They would ask her about that. She made a mental note to write them back later, and opened Harry's letter.
"Hey, Mione!
How are you? How is the teaching going? You haven't really said much on it, but I understand. If I had to work with a git like Snape, I wouldn't want to talk about it, either."
Hermione had to smile at this. She continued reading.
"Everything is going the same as always. Being an Auror has it's ups and downs, of course, but more ups than downs lately. Since there is no way that Voldemort is coming back, most of the crimes that we are handling have to do with petty offenses. The worst was some idiot like Lockhart. He was actually trying to be like the smiling dolt, can you believe it? Unfortunately for him, fortunately for us, he was terrible at any type of magic, including memory charms.
"Anyway, to warn you, you're going to be getting a letter from him soon. He misses you, Hermione. We both do. Please write me back, at least.
Love,
Harry."
Hermione's eyes lingered on the last letter. She sighed, reached for it, and pulled back. The bold, black lettering could only belong to one person. Bless Harry for trying to warn her, but it was too little, too late. Finally, her hand clasped over the envelope. She was almost surprised that it didn't burn or that she didn't suffer some agitation, other than the emotional kind.
"Dear Hermione,
"Hello. I, uh, don't really know what to say."
I bet not, you bastard, she thought savagely.
"I bet you're surprised to hear from me. I hope you are reading this, and not currently shredding it and setting fire to each piece."
Now, there was an idea for Hermione to explore. Her curiosity had taken hold, though, and she continued to read the letter with an almost morbid curiosity.
"I know what I did was wrong. I'll admit it. There's no point in lying anymore. I can't pretend that nothing happened anymore. It's too hard. I miss you too much."
Hermione noted the drops on the paper, almost as if someone was crying while writing it. Interesting.
"I don't know if I can do this right, or wrong, or whatever, but I'm writing to ask for your forgiveness. If nothing else, please, let me explain myself. There aren't any excuses, but I want you to hear the whole story, not just bits and pieces and what you saw. I love you, Hermione. I don't know what I'm doing without you.
Ron."
~~
Author's note: Hello there. To answer if this is going to be a Hermione/Draco fic, maybe, maybe not. I don't have a plan yet as to where this is going, because this is going so far mostly about Hermione and I'm writing it as I go along. I also don't like to give away secrets, so you'll just have to read and find out. ;) If you enjoy it, or if you think this is garbage, please leave me a comment and let me know! I'm dying to hear what people think, and of course, reviews are the fuel for writers. ^_^