AN: Disclaimer, as always, in the Prologue - I know there's a bit of fluff
in the beginning but I don't write it, I sit down at the keyboard and let
my fingers do all the work, LOL. I did take the idea of the flames being
in Slytherin colours and having serpents in them from a different story, I
don't remember the title at the moment. It was a brilliant idea, many
kudos to the author.
I would also like to thank all who reviewed, especially those of you who added some constructive criticism; as one who happens to give flames about half the time (but tries to sugar-coat it) and also one who likes to improve her work through those flames, I have to say that when you guys tell me what you thought about how it was written, inconsistencies in the story and things that seemed OOC, it helps me a lot. I can take flames, please don't hesitate to tell me the truth. I promise I won't cry, so long as you aren't mean for no reason.
As to the Valeria character, I would like to say in response to a review, that I have at this point no intentions of making her any type of Mary Sue. I wanted to pay a small homage to JKR, and apparently from what I've heard, I've succeeded, and I wanted a character whose past was not as well known, who had good connections and could ultimately bend either way, so that she was there if I needed her and there if I didn't. She will not be a completely minor character, I do have small plans for her, but I don't think I'm even going to give her a love interest at this point (unless you count Ron lusting after her, LOL). And without giving anything, really, away - if you don't want anything at ALL given away, it's a bit late but skip to the actual chapter now anyway - I'm just going to say that I am going to give Valeria the job of bailing characters out when they need it, but it's going to be unclear exactly whose side she's on, because I *ADORE* characters like that.
Now, without any further ado, onto the story.
MOURIR
Chapter Two
"Aptitude"
Hermione's magical timer went off and she hurriedly sprinkled the pinch of ground starflower seed into the potion brewing in her cauldron. It hissed, turning a deep hunter green and clogging their sense of smell with a nauseating, cloying smell.
Ron, standing next to Hermione, nearly gagged as she grabbed the ladle to scoop the potion into the phials. "Hold the phials, would you?" she snapped, irritated already by his lack of assistance during the brewing process as well as Snape's horrible (more so than usual) demeanor during class.
"'Ermione," Ron complained, picking up the phials with an obviously (purposely) held nose. Hermione rolled her eyes and waved her wand over his nose.
"Breathe, Ron," she said, exasperated and just a tad amused. Ron thanked her profusely for blocking his sense of smell as he held the phials for her to fill. Hermione dumped a ladle of the potion into each one and then pointed her wand at the labels of the small crystal containers.
Each of their names appeared, scrawled neatly over the labels, and Hermione smiled with satisfaction. Next to Ron and Hermione, however, Neville and Harry were not having such good luck; their potion was a bright pink, nowhere near the colour it was supposed to be.
"Hermione!" Neville hissed, and she looked at him with a gaze that demanded to know when he was going to stop needing her help.
She sighed and shook her head with a surreptitious glance at Snape, who was sitting at his desk, obviously grading papers. Waving her wand over her own cauldron - which was allowed - Hermione cleaned it out with a well- placed charm. The sickly-sweet smelling potion disappeared, for which even Hermione was thankful. "Finite Incantatem!" she said then, waving her wand at Ron's nose, and it cleared up as well.
"The bell is about to ring," Snape announced suddenly; the first word he'd spoken in ten minutes (which was rare). "Bring your phials to my desk and my detentions will test them."
"I'll take the phials," Hermione said to Ron, Harry and a very chagrined Neville. "Go on, I'll catch up."
Harry's eyebrows lifted, but he said nothing, simply looked at Ron and Neville as if he knew something, and left. Ron followed closely, with Neville tagging along afterwards, but not without a somewhat confused look.
Hermione waited until everyone else had gone, and then approached Snape's desk cautiously.
He didn't look up. "What do you want, Miss Granger?"
She suddenly became very nervous, placing the phials she held down on his desk and quieting. Only the scratching of Snape's quill as he coated the papers he was grading in red filled the silence that fell between them.
"Miss Granger, I lack the time to allow you to stand there and stare at me, not speaking. If you have something to say, say it. If not, please leave because I have much better things to do than this." Snape continued grading the papers, his eyes not leaving the words scrawled only semi-neatly over the parchment.
Hermione watched as Snape scribbled, "Penmanship" on the paper in his angular, but neat, handwriting. "I...that is, erm, Professor Dumbledore told me...that you were quite proficient in wandless magic, and I was just wondering - that is, of course, if you have the time..."
"Just spit it out, Miss Granger. I don't have all day, despite what you might think."
"Well, sir, I was wondering if you could give me lessons in wandless magic. I studied it over the summer and it's quite fascinating, I think..."
Finally, Snape looked up, and Hermione cut herself off where she was as he said, "I don't need the story of your life, Miss Granger, interesting though you may think it is," he snapped. "I am aware that you studied wandless magic at Oxford University this past summer, and I am also aware that a certain Runes Mistress is pushing me very hard to accept you as a pupil."
Snape glanced significantly at the doorway. Hermione's head whipped around to see Valeria standing there, waiting to speak with Snape.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Hermione said quietly, "I wasn't aware that you had an appointment."
"Neither was I," Snape said coldly. "Miss Granger, if you display an...aptitude...for the art of wandless magic, I may be persuaded to accept you as a student in an extracurricular programme. Understand that this is difficult work and I will not tolerate any display of discontent. If you complain or, God forbid, burst into tears, you will leave and not return. I will expect you here tomorrow after dinner. Do not bring your wand."
Amazed, it was all Hermione could do to say, "Thank you, Professor," gather her books and hurry out. As she left, she could hear Valeria beginning to speak and silently wished her luck.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"...git," Ron was saying as Hermione scrambled through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor Common Room. "Why do you suppose he was in such a bad mood today?"
Harry, now by far the more serious of the "Dynamic Duo", as Hermione had taken to calling the two, shook his head with amusement and looked towards her as she entered. "Herms!" he called. "Ron was just complaining about Snape, again," said Harry to Hermione.
She laughed. "What are you talking about, Ron? You didn't do anything during class. All you did was hold the phials and make me charm your nose!"
"So you really did charm his nose?" Neville asked curiously; he was nothing like the disaster he had been in Potions, but still could not brew anything to save his life. He simply managed not to explode the Potions laboratory on a daily basis. "Yours actually smelled good compared to ours. I wish I had a pensieve so I could show you."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm glad you don't. Yes, I charmed his nose."
"Which charm was it?"
She shrugged, trying to hide her newfound talent; with small things like charms (but not in Charms class), she tended to use a wand just to cover it up when people were around, but there was no incantation for this charm. "Oh, nothing," she said nonchalantly.
"No, really, Hermione, tell us," Ron said. "So next time I won't need you to do it for me when we make a really vile-smelling potion."
"It's nothing," Hermione insisted. Even Harry raised an eyebrow at this.
"How can it be nothing?"
"Oh, alright," Hermione conceded, leaning in. "Can you keep a secret? I don't really want everyone to know."
"Of course!" Ron exclaimed, rather loudly. Hermione shot him a 'what did I say?' look, and Ron looked down, blushing.
"Over the summer," Hermione said confidentially, voice low, "I learned wandless magic, which really doesn't even take an incantation. Sometimes you can make things up, too, so I sort of made up a charm for Ron."
"Ohh," marveled Neville, awed.
"It's an old art," explained Hermione, quietly.
Comprehension dawned across Harry's face. "Is that it? When Snape said in the beginning of first year that there would be no 'silly wand-waving'? Is that why you had to talk to him?"
Hermione blinked. Sometimes Harry amazed her with his logic, and it surprised her even more that this time, she had not been the one to come up with it first. But then...Dumbledore had to have known when he spoke to her in her room. The only question left was, why wouldn't he tell her then?
He must have forgotten, Hermione thought to herself. That's it, he forgot.
"Yes, that's why I had to talk with him. I need him to help me further my studies, he's the only teacher here who knows it."
Suddenly, she caught a glance at her wristwatch. "We have to go to lunch!" she exclaimed. "Come on, we'll be late!"
"Hey," Ron said suddenly, as they all clambered out of the portrait hole. "Hermione, when do we have Runes? That new Runes Mistress is really pretty!"
Sighing with unmasked amusement, Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron. Boys will be boys, she thought.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Hermione sat, idly picking at her food.
"Hermione, what's the matter?" Harry asked, turning to her with a concerned look.
She shook her head. "It's nothing, I'm just a bit...nervous about the test Professor Snape's going to give me."
"You'll do fine." Harry looked skeptical. "When have you ever passed a test with anything under a hundred?"
The Head Girl shrugged. "I don't know, Harry, it's just...different, you know?"
"I'm sure you'll do fine, 'Mione," Ron said, mouth stuffed full on the other side of Harry. "You DID charm my nose with a made-up charm."
Hermione smiled, slightly reassured. "Thanks, guys."
Dinner was over far too quickly for Hermione's taste, and she ate little to no food.
"Good luck, Hermione," Ron said, "though I'm sure you won't need it."
"Yeah, good luck," Harry agreed.
"Thank you. I'll see you in a bit - oh, and could you take my wand for me? Professor Snape told me not to bring it." Hermione handed the slim wooden wand to Harry, who nodded. "See you later," said Hermione brightly, and headed off in the opposite direction as Harry and Ron.
"And where are we off to, Little Miss Mudblood?" asked a cold voice behind Hermione as she approached the corner that marked the Potions Corridor. She whipped around, startled, her hand plunging into her robes for her wand.
"Malfoy," she hissed. "Ten points from Slytherin for disrespect and derogatory terms regarding heritage."
He chuckled, a menacing sound. "Is that all you can do, WITHOUT YOUR WAND?"
Hermione sighed, realising why she had not yet found the wand, and withdrew her hand from her robes; apparently he'd seen her giving her wand to Harry. "No, it's not," she retorted, carefully watching Malfoy pull out his own wand.
"Then let's see what you can do without magic, shall we?"
"TWENTY points for attempting to provoke me," Hermione said coolly.
He raised his wand, pointing it at Hermione. "Petrifi..." he began to shout the full Body Bind.
She simply raised her eyebrows and looked at him. "Expelliarmus," she muttered, and his wand flew out of his hand just as he finished saying "totalis". "Accio wand!" Hermione raised her hand and the wand flew into it. "Another twenty FIVE points for attacking me, or trying to. You may pick this up from Professor Snape first thing tomorrow morning. Good evening, Mr. Malfoy," Hermione added, as she turned and stalked away in the direction of the Potions classroom, which was still a good distance away.
As Hermione rounded the corner into the Potions Corridor, she was surprised to see Professor Snape waiting for her, outside the classroom door.
"Miss Granger, I thought I told you not to bring your wand?"
"It's not mine, sir," Hermione responded evenly. "Draco Malfoy attempted to cast the full Body Bind on me, and I disarmed him. If you could return it to him first thing tomorrow morning, I told him that that was when he could retrieve it." She extended the hand with the wand in it.
"I trust you took the appropriate number of House Points?"
"I took fifty five, sir, ten for calling me a Mudblood, twenty for attempting to provoke me into a duel and twenty five for attacking me."
"Good." Snape took the wand and put it into one of the pockets of his robe. "Now, if you would kindly unlock and unward the door for me, I was told that you were capable of doing that."
"Yes, sir," Hermione said, and waved a hand across the door. "Would you like me also to identify the wards, sir?"
Snape glowered at her. "If you can."
"There are four elemental wards, sir, one for each natural element; fire, earth, water and air. There is one standard ward and one that seems unique to you - did you develop it yourself?"
"Yes," he admitted grudgingly. "Very good."
"Thank you, sir." Hermione pointed at the door and muttered something under her breath, unwarding the door. "Alohomora!" she added, in case there was a conventional lock on it. The door swung open without so much as a creak.
"Now, the fire, if you please, Miss Granger."
Hermoine pointed her fore and pinky fingers, much as she had done upon her arrival in her new quarters. "Incendio!" Flames leapt up, in the Slytherin colours, and Snape nodded at that as well, then continued to instruct Hermoine as to what he wanted to see.
You have to admit, Snape thought, watching the serpents in the flames dance around out of the corner of his eye, it WAS a nice touch.
I would also like to thank all who reviewed, especially those of you who added some constructive criticism; as one who happens to give flames about half the time (but tries to sugar-coat it) and also one who likes to improve her work through those flames, I have to say that when you guys tell me what you thought about how it was written, inconsistencies in the story and things that seemed OOC, it helps me a lot. I can take flames, please don't hesitate to tell me the truth. I promise I won't cry, so long as you aren't mean for no reason.
As to the Valeria character, I would like to say in response to a review, that I have at this point no intentions of making her any type of Mary Sue. I wanted to pay a small homage to JKR, and apparently from what I've heard, I've succeeded, and I wanted a character whose past was not as well known, who had good connections and could ultimately bend either way, so that she was there if I needed her and there if I didn't. She will not be a completely minor character, I do have small plans for her, but I don't think I'm even going to give her a love interest at this point (unless you count Ron lusting after her, LOL). And without giving anything, really, away - if you don't want anything at ALL given away, it's a bit late but skip to the actual chapter now anyway - I'm just going to say that I am going to give Valeria the job of bailing characters out when they need it, but it's going to be unclear exactly whose side she's on, because I *ADORE* characters like that.
Now, without any further ado, onto the story.
MOURIR
Chapter Two
"Aptitude"
Hermione's magical timer went off and she hurriedly sprinkled the pinch of ground starflower seed into the potion brewing in her cauldron. It hissed, turning a deep hunter green and clogging their sense of smell with a nauseating, cloying smell.
Ron, standing next to Hermione, nearly gagged as she grabbed the ladle to scoop the potion into the phials. "Hold the phials, would you?" she snapped, irritated already by his lack of assistance during the brewing process as well as Snape's horrible (more so than usual) demeanor during class.
"'Ermione," Ron complained, picking up the phials with an obviously (purposely) held nose. Hermione rolled her eyes and waved her wand over his nose.
"Breathe, Ron," she said, exasperated and just a tad amused. Ron thanked her profusely for blocking his sense of smell as he held the phials for her to fill. Hermione dumped a ladle of the potion into each one and then pointed her wand at the labels of the small crystal containers.
Each of their names appeared, scrawled neatly over the labels, and Hermione smiled with satisfaction. Next to Ron and Hermione, however, Neville and Harry were not having such good luck; their potion was a bright pink, nowhere near the colour it was supposed to be.
"Hermione!" Neville hissed, and she looked at him with a gaze that demanded to know when he was going to stop needing her help.
She sighed and shook her head with a surreptitious glance at Snape, who was sitting at his desk, obviously grading papers. Waving her wand over her own cauldron - which was allowed - Hermione cleaned it out with a well- placed charm. The sickly-sweet smelling potion disappeared, for which even Hermione was thankful. "Finite Incantatem!" she said then, waving her wand at Ron's nose, and it cleared up as well.
"The bell is about to ring," Snape announced suddenly; the first word he'd spoken in ten minutes (which was rare). "Bring your phials to my desk and my detentions will test them."
"I'll take the phials," Hermione said to Ron, Harry and a very chagrined Neville. "Go on, I'll catch up."
Harry's eyebrows lifted, but he said nothing, simply looked at Ron and Neville as if he knew something, and left. Ron followed closely, with Neville tagging along afterwards, but not without a somewhat confused look.
Hermione waited until everyone else had gone, and then approached Snape's desk cautiously.
He didn't look up. "What do you want, Miss Granger?"
She suddenly became very nervous, placing the phials she held down on his desk and quieting. Only the scratching of Snape's quill as he coated the papers he was grading in red filled the silence that fell between them.
"Miss Granger, I lack the time to allow you to stand there and stare at me, not speaking. If you have something to say, say it. If not, please leave because I have much better things to do than this." Snape continued grading the papers, his eyes not leaving the words scrawled only semi-neatly over the parchment.
Hermione watched as Snape scribbled, "Penmanship" on the paper in his angular, but neat, handwriting. "I...that is, erm, Professor Dumbledore told me...that you were quite proficient in wandless magic, and I was just wondering - that is, of course, if you have the time..."
"Just spit it out, Miss Granger. I don't have all day, despite what you might think."
"Well, sir, I was wondering if you could give me lessons in wandless magic. I studied it over the summer and it's quite fascinating, I think..."
Finally, Snape looked up, and Hermione cut herself off where she was as he said, "I don't need the story of your life, Miss Granger, interesting though you may think it is," he snapped. "I am aware that you studied wandless magic at Oxford University this past summer, and I am also aware that a certain Runes Mistress is pushing me very hard to accept you as a pupil."
Snape glanced significantly at the doorway. Hermione's head whipped around to see Valeria standing there, waiting to speak with Snape.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Hermione said quietly, "I wasn't aware that you had an appointment."
"Neither was I," Snape said coldly. "Miss Granger, if you display an...aptitude...for the art of wandless magic, I may be persuaded to accept you as a student in an extracurricular programme. Understand that this is difficult work and I will not tolerate any display of discontent. If you complain or, God forbid, burst into tears, you will leave and not return. I will expect you here tomorrow after dinner. Do not bring your wand."
Amazed, it was all Hermione could do to say, "Thank you, Professor," gather her books and hurry out. As she left, she could hear Valeria beginning to speak and silently wished her luck.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"...git," Ron was saying as Hermione scrambled through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor Common Room. "Why do you suppose he was in such a bad mood today?"
Harry, now by far the more serious of the "Dynamic Duo", as Hermione had taken to calling the two, shook his head with amusement and looked towards her as she entered. "Herms!" he called. "Ron was just complaining about Snape, again," said Harry to Hermione.
She laughed. "What are you talking about, Ron? You didn't do anything during class. All you did was hold the phials and make me charm your nose!"
"So you really did charm his nose?" Neville asked curiously; he was nothing like the disaster he had been in Potions, but still could not brew anything to save his life. He simply managed not to explode the Potions laboratory on a daily basis. "Yours actually smelled good compared to ours. I wish I had a pensieve so I could show you."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm glad you don't. Yes, I charmed his nose."
"Which charm was it?"
She shrugged, trying to hide her newfound talent; with small things like charms (but not in Charms class), she tended to use a wand just to cover it up when people were around, but there was no incantation for this charm. "Oh, nothing," she said nonchalantly.
"No, really, Hermione, tell us," Ron said. "So next time I won't need you to do it for me when we make a really vile-smelling potion."
"It's nothing," Hermione insisted. Even Harry raised an eyebrow at this.
"How can it be nothing?"
"Oh, alright," Hermione conceded, leaning in. "Can you keep a secret? I don't really want everyone to know."
"Of course!" Ron exclaimed, rather loudly. Hermione shot him a 'what did I say?' look, and Ron looked down, blushing.
"Over the summer," Hermione said confidentially, voice low, "I learned wandless magic, which really doesn't even take an incantation. Sometimes you can make things up, too, so I sort of made up a charm for Ron."
"Ohh," marveled Neville, awed.
"It's an old art," explained Hermione, quietly.
Comprehension dawned across Harry's face. "Is that it? When Snape said in the beginning of first year that there would be no 'silly wand-waving'? Is that why you had to talk to him?"
Hermione blinked. Sometimes Harry amazed her with his logic, and it surprised her even more that this time, she had not been the one to come up with it first. But then...Dumbledore had to have known when he spoke to her in her room. The only question left was, why wouldn't he tell her then?
He must have forgotten, Hermione thought to herself. That's it, he forgot.
"Yes, that's why I had to talk with him. I need him to help me further my studies, he's the only teacher here who knows it."
Suddenly, she caught a glance at her wristwatch. "We have to go to lunch!" she exclaimed. "Come on, we'll be late!"
"Hey," Ron said suddenly, as they all clambered out of the portrait hole. "Hermione, when do we have Runes? That new Runes Mistress is really pretty!"
Sighing with unmasked amusement, Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron. Boys will be boys, she thought.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Hermione sat, idly picking at her food.
"Hermione, what's the matter?" Harry asked, turning to her with a concerned look.
She shook her head. "It's nothing, I'm just a bit...nervous about the test Professor Snape's going to give me."
"You'll do fine." Harry looked skeptical. "When have you ever passed a test with anything under a hundred?"
The Head Girl shrugged. "I don't know, Harry, it's just...different, you know?"
"I'm sure you'll do fine, 'Mione," Ron said, mouth stuffed full on the other side of Harry. "You DID charm my nose with a made-up charm."
Hermione smiled, slightly reassured. "Thanks, guys."
Dinner was over far too quickly for Hermione's taste, and she ate little to no food.
"Good luck, Hermione," Ron said, "though I'm sure you won't need it."
"Yeah, good luck," Harry agreed.
"Thank you. I'll see you in a bit - oh, and could you take my wand for me? Professor Snape told me not to bring it." Hermione handed the slim wooden wand to Harry, who nodded. "See you later," said Hermione brightly, and headed off in the opposite direction as Harry and Ron.
"And where are we off to, Little Miss Mudblood?" asked a cold voice behind Hermione as she approached the corner that marked the Potions Corridor. She whipped around, startled, her hand plunging into her robes for her wand.
"Malfoy," she hissed. "Ten points from Slytherin for disrespect and derogatory terms regarding heritage."
He chuckled, a menacing sound. "Is that all you can do, WITHOUT YOUR WAND?"
Hermione sighed, realising why she had not yet found the wand, and withdrew her hand from her robes; apparently he'd seen her giving her wand to Harry. "No, it's not," she retorted, carefully watching Malfoy pull out his own wand.
"Then let's see what you can do without magic, shall we?"
"TWENTY points for attempting to provoke me," Hermione said coolly.
He raised his wand, pointing it at Hermione. "Petrifi..." he began to shout the full Body Bind.
She simply raised her eyebrows and looked at him. "Expelliarmus," she muttered, and his wand flew out of his hand just as he finished saying "totalis". "Accio wand!" Hermione raised her hand and the wand flew into it. "Another twenty FIVE points for attacking me, or trying to. You may pick this up from Professor Snape first thing tomorrow morning. Good evening, Mr. Malfoy," Hermione added, as she turned and stalked away in the direction of the Potions classroom, which was still a good distance away.
As Hermione rounded the corner into the Potions Corridor, she was surprised to see Professor Snape waiting for her, outside the classroom door.
"Miss Granger, I thought I told you not to bring your wand?"
"It's not mine, sir," Hermione responded evenly. "Draco Malfoy attempted to cast the full Body Bind on me, and I disarmed him. If you could return it to him first thing tomorrow morning, I told him that that was when he could retrieve it." She extended the hand with the wand in it.
"I trust you took the appropriate number of House Points?"
"I took fifty five, sir, ten for calling me a Mudblood, twenty for attempting to provoke me into a duel and twenty five for attacking me."
"Good." Snape took the wand and put it into one of the pockets of his robe. "Now, if you would kindly unlock and unward the door for me, I was told that you were capable of doing that."
"Yes, sir," Hermione said, and waved a hand across the door. "Would you like me also to identify the wards, sir?"
Snape glowered at her. "If you can."
"There are four elemental wards, sir, one for each natural element; fire, earth, water and air. There is one standard ward and one that seems unique to you - did you develop it yourself?"
"Yes," he admitted grudgingly. "Very good."
"Thank you, sir." Hermione pointed at the door and muttered something under her breath, unwarding the door. "Alohomora!" she added, in case there was a conventional lock on it. The door swung open without so much as a creak.
"Now, the fire, if you please, Miss Granger."
Hermoine pointed her fore and pinky fingers, much as she had done upon her arrival in her new quarters. "Incendio!" Flames leapt up, in the Slytherin colours, and Snape nodded at that as well, then continued to instruct Hermoine as to what he wanted to see.
You have to admit, Snape thought, watching the serpents in the flames dance around out of the corner of his eye, it WAS a nice touch.