Chapter Nine

The Accomplice

The week passed by quickly with all the usual happenings. Monday went by without a hitch, except when Crabbe and Goyle cornered Neville on his way to the loo. They shoved him in the girl's restroom, where he was hit by numerous hexes that ended him up at the infirmary.  He was out cold for a few hours.  Hermione noticed Malfoy still had not found out about the incident Saturday night, which was a definite plus sign on her behalf.

She had been meeting up every night with Snape for the entire week, since Sunday night.  She would sneak down at about midnight every night, and Snape, after a few sarcastic comments and disdainful expressions, would let her in.

They would talk all night, and discuss Death Eaters and possible questions they might ask her.  He informed her on how she should behave around them.  They conferred any news that showed up in the Daily Prophet or bits they might have picked up elsewhere with each other.  They also talked about complex Potions and the various effects they had if brewed a second too early, or an ingredient too late, and suchlike.

"So an ocular potion that contains too much dwayberry wouldn't do any more damage to the eyes than if I had poured a whole ounce of fluxweed in there?"

"Dilation of the pupils is an effect, belladonna will always have on the eyes.  This does not mean that it is its only effect.  You forget, Miss Granger that Hyoscyamine is a poisonous crystalline alkaloid.  Too much Atropine will not only damage the eyes but poison you as well.

"Ah, right.  I forgot about that."

"What is there to forget?   These two belladonna alkaloids are what make this plant so valuable: It's used as a mydriatic, anodyne, and if taken internally—a narcotic, sedative, and diuretic.  This is a very valuable plant if not for its many uses then for its rarity.  It's hard to find now days and you should have learned all this by now.


"But we don't cover all that in our lessons," Hermione exclaimed half disappointed and half awed.  She thought her Potions Master's knowledge only went so far as Potions-making and the various ingredients it required.  She had no idea he was so learned in the chemical properties of the plants and its effects. 

"Of course, we don't cover it in the lessons.  It would take weeks just to cover the basics and with students like Longbottom, Potter, and that Weasley, I wouldn't count on any of them to remember the lesson after they leave my class."

"But this is valuable information for those who want to become Potions Master or Mistress, or even nurses--

"Miss Granger, I have already written up a study-plan to cover this field of information.  The Ministry does not approve of it.  It would take up too much time and leave little for other 'important' lessons that the students should be learning."

"That's not fair," Hermione whispered.

"And you've only just figured that out.  Life isn't fair, Miss Granger.  Nothing ever is.  But for those who are lucky, well, we learn to deal with it, and get on with our lives."

Hermione could not believe what she was hearing.  Snape, giving her his opinion on life?  This was certainly a shock for her.  She stared at him for a moment to see if he realized what he had just let out.

Snape looked up to catch her scrutinizing him, but he did not seem to care.  They both remained silent for a moment, before either spoke again.

"Can, I ask you something?"

"Would it make a difference if I said, no?"

"No."

"Then ask away."

"How do you know so much about Chemistry?  Hyoscyamine—I recognize this as a Muggle term."

"Just because it is a Muggle-term does not mean that the Belladonna plants we have in our Wizarding world excludes the property."

"Well, yes I realize that--

 "We have our own terms for these Chemical properties.  I took the liberty to learn both the Muggle and Wizarding-terms.  It is very useful when you depend on Muggle pharmacies for some of them."

"I didn't know you ordered from the Muggle world as well."

"It's useful when are very own supplies are scarce."

  It seemed as if Severus and Hermione were old colleagues from the depth in which they dove into their discussions: Politics, potions, muggles, differences between the wizarding governments and the muggles, and so forth.  Amazingly they got along without much cursing or hexing when their conversations were more complex than Quidditch, the school poltergeist, or the lake squid.  Hermione's respect for the Potions Master grew immensely as she took advantage of the opportunity to pick at his brain. She loved the way his mind worked and it seemed, sometimes that she kept going down to his dungeons every night to make love to his mind rather than for her usual instructions.

They never admitted it out loud, but they were getting along just fine.


Come Wednesday morning, Snape called Hermione to stay after class.  He told her that he had received the invitation to Lucius' Ball earlier that morning.

"Now, I need you to come back tonight so we can discuss your instructions for the ball."

"What do you mean, 'instructions for the ball'?"

"I mean you are going to escort me to the ball Friday night or questions will be raised about your absence."

"But tonight, Professor, it's my detention with Malfoy."

"Yes, I haven't forgotten Miss Granger.  You'll work out your punishment and before you two leave, spill your potion and I'll ask you to stay behind to clean it up. That should be subtle enough to get the point across."

Hermione thought about it for a while before agreeing that it was a pretty good plan, though not out loud. All she needed to do now was wait for double Transfiguration after lunch with the Slytherins, for Malfoy to push her buttons, and then cause the scene she's waited six years to do.


During class Hermione waited and expected Malfoy to pick on her as usual, but for some odd reason he did not look at her throughout the whole class.

She did not think it wise to look at him, because she wouldn't normally sneak glances towards him during class.  It puzzled her as to why today of all days when she needed him to be the asshole he usually was, he was completely mute. So she purposely raised her hand to every question McGonagall asked – which was a bit out of the ordinary, because she had mellowed out a bit in her last years at school.  She only answered questions no one else knew the answers to. She had hoped her annoying habit would set Malfoy off, but nothing she did seemed to get his attention.

"What the hell is he doing," she mumbled to herself.

She had a few minutes left to class to get him to pick on her before she ran out of ideas, but she failed miserably.

The bell rang and instantly she thought of what Snape would say to her failed attempt at such a simple task.  She was disappointed in herself and started panicking at the idea of his reaction when she told him she could not even make Malfoy look at her. 

While on her way out, Hermione was surprised by a lean figure that bumped into her and brushed her side gently, forcing her to the side of the wall just outside class. Hermione, staring back at a grinning Malfoy, was pinned between his hands and the brick wall.

"What do you want?"

Malfoy's genuinely demonic smile suited his flaxen hair which was partially obscuring his face.  He looked at her with an unusual gleam in his eyes as he brushed his lips against the side of her hair and whispered in her ear.

"You know, I heard the funniest thing today Granger."

"Really?" she said coolly, not deigning to be phased by his attempts to intimidate her.

"Yeah, see father told me you were giving Snape information on a certain someone in exchange to get banged up against the dungeon walls every night.  Is that right?  Are you betraying Potter to screw the Potions Master, Granger?"

"And how is that any of your business, Malfoy?"

"Well, you see, that's why I told father that there's no way in hell you'd even screw Snape let alone fall in love with him.  So he made it my business to find out what you're really up to.  Tell me!  What are you playing at?  I mean it doesn't take a Longbottom to see that you and the Professor despise each other."

"Yes, that's right," she whispered back into his ear.  "Because, if I was to start drooling all over Severus in front of the entire school, Harry and Ron would not suspect a thing, right?  I mean how else am I supposed to fool them that I'm not the slut your father thinks I am.  And how then would Daddy receive the valuable information on Harry that I've been giving Severus for the past three months?"

Malfoy was surprised that she had referred to the Potions Master on a first name basis.  But before he could respond, he was yanked from the back by someone with extreme force that he flew across the hallway colliding with the opposite wall.  Ron had walked out of class with Neville to see Hermione pinned by Malfoy and it set the redhead off instantly.

"Get the hell off her, you piece of shit."

Crabbe, who came up behind him, pulled his head back in a headlock.  Neville jumped on top of him and started pounding his head with his fat fists before he socked him in the ribs. Goyle ran right in to them with full force and tackled them down in hopes Neville would fly off Goyle, which he did unfortunately on Malfoy who got up and kicked him in the shins. Neville bellowed out loud and Ron slammed Malfoy into the wall from behind nearly cracking his skull. The five of them were entangled in a fistfight that would've ended up nasty if McGonagall hadn't run out of her classroom.

"What on earth is going on here?  Stop it!  Stop it this instant!  The boys were so enraged with each other that none of them paid any heed to McGonagall, until Snape came.

Snape, who heard the commotion from down the hall on his way to his office, came over to see what was going on.  And seeing Hermione at the corner, watching the tangled knot, knew right away what had happened.

He clasped his hand tightly behind Ron's cloak and with amazing force lifted him off his feet and set him down on his side.  He then bent over to pick Malfoy off the hard floor, who was seconds away from being sat on by a large enraged Neville. 

Hermione watched Snape break up the fight and couldn't fight the urge of feeling quite turned on by his physical strength.

"I HAVE NEVER, EVER, SEEN SUCH A DESPICABLE DISPLAY IN MY LIFE," a vexed McGonagall fumed.  Her face nearly gave off steam from her rage.  "After I am through with the five of you, you are going to wish you had considered Durmstrang before setting foot in this school, which I will remind you is a learning institution for students, not a wrestling ring for hounds," she hissed.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with you, Professor," Snape added.  "Of all the idiotic things to do in your last year here, you've decided to show the entire underclassmen how pathetically inane you all are."

"I am not even going to ask what happened," McGonagall cut in, "because nothing, and I mean nothing can excuse your behaviors.  Now, I don't know whether I should suspend the five of you, or call your parents in.  And I'm seriously considering both. So until Professor Snape and I decide your fates, you will serve detention with Filch tonight and the rest of the week.  Is that understood?"

Neville and Ron nodded while the other three simply glared back at the raging Professor. 

McGonagall zoomed forward in a flash and grabbed the three of them by their cloaks so quickly that it startled them.  "IS THAT UNDERSTOOD, I SAID?" They quickly nodded and she let go of them, shaking her head in disgust.

"If I may Professor," Snape interrupted.  "I think I'll take over their detention for tonight in my dungeons," he said indignantly.


"Fine, but I want them punished.  Extremely!"

If I could hang them by their feet and feed them to the thestrals, I would.  But, unfortunately, they're still students."

The boys stood incredulously before Snape as if they had just been caught with their pants down.

"Well then, I'll see the six of you in my dungeons tonight and I expect all of you to be there," Snape continued.

"Wait!" said Ron, making his first contribution to the lecture.  What do you mean six?" he inquired.

"I mean six as in you, Mr. Malfoy, Longbottom, Crabbe, Goyle, and Miss Granger.  Can you not count, Mr. Weasley?"

"But she didn't--"

"Unless you want to serve detention with me—alone, Mr. Weasley for the next month, you will hold your tongue and hope I don't dismiss the others, and have you serve out their detentions tonight, alone."

Ron's face was a plump cherry, ready to explode, but he reluctantly held his tongue and refrained from getting himself into any more trouble.

"Good. Now get out of here, before I extend your detentions to Christmas."

The crowd dissolved quickly and everyone there turned to leave for their classes.

Draco noticed that Snape had walked up to Hermione and whispered something in her ear. And Severus, who did this intentionally, hoping Malfoy would see him, wasn't aware that Ron, fuming at the corner of the hall, had seen it also.


________________

The crowded hall emptied out quickly after the sudden brawl when Snape showed up.

Snape quite enjoyed the way his students quivered at the very sight of him.  The terror that swept quickly across their faces when his very name was uttered or thought was something he could not help but feel proud of.

His cold presence was more than a reason to run for it, and it was an advantage in situations such as this.  The students had left [ran] for their classes, and McGonagall, muttering mutely to herself, went back into her classroom. 

Snape walked up to Hermione and whispered softly into her ear.

"Meet me in my office, now!"

Severus knew that Malfoy, standing down the hall, pretending like he was not there, had seen his close brush with Miss Granger.  Snape hoped it would add to his suspicions.  But Ron, standing just down the opposite hall, fuming feverishly at the Potions Master, had also seen the sick display.

Whether Snape had sneered vile threats or scornful comments into Hermione's ear, it did not matter much to him.  The simple thought of that sarcastic fuck leaning into Hermione like that was too intimate to be ignored.  Ron's suspicions were raised as well.


Harry, who had left Transfiguration early on a trip to the loo, came back to an empty class to collect his supplies.  He could not believe that Ron and Hermione had not waited for him.  His trip to the restroom had delayed him a lot longer than he had expected: it was Hot Tamale Wednesday.

Harry left the class and headed straight for Astronomy, which he had next and was already late for about six minutes.  When Harry got there he was surprised again to see that neither Hermione nor Ron was there.

'What the hell is going on,' he thought.  Harry turned to Neville to ask him if he knew where Ron or Hermione was and was only too surprised to see that his desk was empty as well.

'What the fuck?'  Harry threw his hand in the air, and Professor Sinistra who had been watching him the entire time raised her elegantly styled eyebrow slightly to the side.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes Professor, I'm not feeling so good and I was wondering if I could go to the restroom please."  Professor Sinistra, who seemed a lot paler than usual, Harry thought, simply nodded in reply.

Harry got up from his desk and left class to wander the lower halls in hopes of bumping into Hermione, Ron, or Neville, only to bump into Peeves, who somehow managed to adjust a broken metal armor to hold up around his plump translucent body, which nearly threw Harry back when he gonged right into it.

"How's it feel like to be a bell?" he cackled.

"Leave me alone, you annoying pest."

"Well, that's not a nice thing to say to a knight, you rug head. When was the last time you combed that thing anyhow?" he teased while floating annoyingly behind Harry who was trying to ignore him. 

While following Harry, Peeves broke out into a ridiculous song while purposefully bumping into him with his metal armor.

"You know it's such a funny coincidence that you're following me, Peeves", Harry interrupted, "seeing as how I'm actually on my way to see the Bloody Baron to discuss some important issues on the school ghosts and a certain POLTERGEIST."

"You lie," the poltergeist spat with just a hint of fear in his voice."

"What do you think is just around the corner Peeves? The entrance to the floor the Bloody Baron's stationed at, you intrusive nut-wraith."  In an instant, Peeves shot straight through the roof and was never seen again by Harry till his sudden encounter with him again the following night.

Harry had thanked all the powers of being that it was a mere coincidence the Bloody Baron was stationed just up ahead.  He started panicking at the very idea that something had happened to his friends when he bumped into Neville.

"You all right Harry?" Neville asked.  Harry found him holding a portable ice pack against his neck.

"Neville, where the hell have you been?  Where's Ron and Hermione?  Did something happen to them?  What's wrong with your neck?  And why the hell are you limping?"  Harry rolled the questions out of his mouth like it was moldy spinach.

"Oh, it's a long story, Harry," said Neville painfully.  "I was up at the infirmary getting patched up by Ol' Mad Pop (they usually called her, when they came filing in with such ridiculous needs for mending) and I have no idea where Ron and Hermione are.  Ron and I got into a fight with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle after Transfiguration.  We--"

"What?" Harry exclaimed.  What happened?"

"C'mon," said Neville.  "Let's go somewhere we won't get caught.

Harry and Neville walked around the corner and down two flights of stairs to get to the deserted restroom on the second floor. Thank Godric, Moaning Myrtle wasn't there. 

Neville told Harry what had happened when he and Ron had walked out of class, the fight that broke out, Snape showing up and their detention later on that night.

"That mother fucker," was Harry's response.   "I wonder what he said to Hermione," he said to himself.  "So you all got detention tonight with Snape?"

"Yup."

"I need to find Ron," Harry said as he walked out the restroom.
____



Hermione went to see Snape after he had practically demanded her to after the fight broke up.  She saw him standing behind his desk with papers in his hands, reading quietly to himself when she walked into his office.  He did not even bother to look up when she walked in. She stood before him and stared at him, purposely ignoring her presence. She thought about clearing her throat to let him know she was there, but decided against it.

'I'm tired of this shit,' she thought angrily to herself.  He knew she was there and she was not going to put up with his attitude. He told her to meet him in his office, and she did, yet here they were, back at square one again: he pretended she wasn't there while she waited eagerly for some signs of life from the ignorant piece of shit.  So she stood there and watched him read to himself.

Hermione remained still for a moment.  At first, she simply stood there and pondered about the unusual silence.  This kept her distracted from the deafening silence that pervaded the room.  When she thought about Snape and his ignoring her, she realized that she had been standing still and quiet for nearly a minute.

 
SLAM!  Hermione slammed her hand down hard on his desk and felt it scream with pain.  She did not let it get to her.  She noticed that it had startled Snape, and in a fleeting instant, she saw a vulnerable look pass quickly across his face before it turned into a menacing one.

"Don't you dare, say a word," she hissed before he had the chance to rip her down.  "I'm fed up with this shit, Professor.  You specifically told me to meet you in your office and now that I'm here, you ignore my very presence as if I did not exist in the first place.  I don't have time to play cat and mouse with you.  It's ridiculous and I will not endure it any longer. For Godric's sake, grow up, damn it."  Hermione's head could have grown horns if she had lashed out a bit longer.  "And have you forgotten, Professor, that I am already ten minutes late to Astronomy?"

Snape, who at first planned on being slightly lenient with the girl, changed his mind quickly.  A reprimand from a student was something he was not going to tolerate. 


"Tell me, Miss Granger!  Am I your inferior that you talk to me like a dog?  Who is the professor and who is the student?  Ten points for disrespecting a professor, and I will not be so lenient the next time you insult me.  And did you not specifically say that your plan was to get Malfoy and yourself in detention or were you planning on having an inferno in my dungeons tonight, Miss Granger.  You have not only managed to put one but four additional students in detention tonight because of your lack of consideration and desperate need for attention," he sneered viciously.

"It wasn't my fault, Ron decided he wanted to fling Malfoy across the hall," she spat angrily suppressing the need to scream.  "And nobody asked those two overgrown idiots to back Malfoy up when his tools were of no use," she growled with her hands flat on his desk and her head stretched out across it. 

"I will not have everything I have worked hard for, jeopardized in one day because you could not keep your love tangle in control, Miss Granger.  Find Weasley a leash or he'll be following you to the ball Friday night.  If you can't control him, get rid of him!" he demanded in a peremptory tone.

Hermione stared lividly at the Professor, stunned at what he had just demanded her to do. She could not decide if she wanted to scream in his face that he had no right to tell her who she could and could not be with, or if she should just tell him that it was already over.  Either way, he was not going to be happy.  The thought of Ron still being dramatically overprotective of her even after they were broken up would bring up so many problems, and Snape would definitely make sure to point them all out.

"First of all," she said calmly yet still on edge, "you don't have the right to tell me whom I can and can't be with.  And second," her voice faltered as she tried to avoid his eyes (she couldn't believe she was talking about her relationships with the last person on earth she would've thought to). "It's been over Professor-- a few months ago, yet I can't get rid of him. I've known Ron for half my life and he's like family, and I can't see him as anything more," she continued, unaware of the professor's stunned expression, "I mean, Ron and I are still friends and all, but he feels like there's still a chance that--"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, woman, spare me the details," he hissed.  "I can barely breathe when you're in the room, don't suffocate me with your love confessions for the bloody idiot."

Hermione stared back at Snape and smiled half heartedly not sure if it would set him off or not, but it was more because he had just said that he could not breathe when she was in the room, and she wondered if he meant that in a good way, or, well, the other way.  She was secretly considering the former, though not admitting to it herself.

She stared at him while thinking this, and he, the same, when he realized that he had just told her he could not breathe when she was in the room.  He wondered if she thought that he had meant that in a revolting way, or, well, the other way. He was hoping she had thought the former, though a tiny voice in his head kept whispering: liar.

Hermione filed the thought away, cleared her throat, and took a seat.  She decided her professor's usual disregard for her was not worth torpedoing empty threats towards him.  She secretly thanked Merlin that Snape had not sacked and bagged her yet and sent her off as donated food for the orphan hippogriffs at the Hogsoot Vet.

"Look; Malfoy cornered me after class today and told me that he knows about us." she said much calmly.  "He doesn't believe it at all.  I guess his father must've told him this morning because he definitely didn't know about it yesterday."

Snape placed the papers he was holding back into the drawers before taking a seat.  "What else did he say?"

"Nothing; just that he told his father it was impossible that the two of us could be…well…you know?"

"No, I don't, Miss Granger," he lied.  He saw her blushing from one ear to the other.  Hermione quickly averted her eyes from his when he said this.  Her innocence was a disturbing, yet an appealing aspect to their current situation though he quite enjoyed meddling with her emotions.  It was probably the only bit of amusement he had lately.

Hermione stopped flushing before turning to the secretly smirking Professor.

"Don't toy with me, Professor.  You know very well what I meant." 

Severus simply rolled his eyes and told her to go on.

Hermione started popping her knuckles like she usually did out of habit.  This distracted if not annoyed Severus.  'Merlin, how many annoying habits does this girl have,' he thought.


"Malfoy said that his father asked him to find out what we were up to, although it was quite stupid of him to tell me, because now we know.  I mean honestly, where the hell does he get his brains from?"

"Narcissa," Snape replied assertively.

Hermione looked up at Snape and laughed at the way he had spat that out.  "You're joking right?"

Snape curled his lip and raised his brow as if the very comment of him joking was as revolting as saying her name.

"Sorry," Hermione smiled.

"What are we going to do about tonight," he continued.  "How exactly are you planning on pulling this off without raising everyone else's suspicions?"

"Oh, I don't know," she shrugged.  "But I'm sure I'll think of something, Professor."

Snape looked at her suspiciously and remembered what had happened the last time she had said that.

_____