Chapter Two – Fights And Danger (Or Not?)
It was not long after lunch and Ginny began to worry. She hadn't seen Hermione since her rather hasty exit at breakfast. She knew Hermione would probably be sitting somewhere in Snape's laboratory and stir a potion or prepare some ingredients, but she was worried nonetheless. Hermione had not only looked pale but white in the face.
"Hey, Gin, what are you doing?" Harry asked, coming into the Gryffindor Common Room and seeing her sitting by the fire.
"Worrying about Hermione," Ginny answered gloomily.
"She's fine," Harry assured her. Ginny raised an eyebrow as if to say 'And how would you know that?'. "I met her in the corridor leading towards the kitchen," he explained. "She was on her way to get something to eat. She was hurrying because of that potion. Needs to be stirred every ten minutes or something." He shrugged and sat beside her. She nuzzled close to him and he put his arm around her shoulders.
"Where's Ron?" Ginny asked. Except for two second years and a fourth year, Harry, Hermione and herself were the only ones from Gryffindor to stay over the Christmas Holidays. Normally, she and Ron would have gone home – inviting Harry to come along – but her dad had won some money in the lottery and promised her mum to take her to Paris. Something like a late honeymoon – they hadn't been able to afford it back in the time when they married.
Ginny could imagine worse than spending Christmas at Hogwarts. Like being dragged along to Paris with her parents and be the third wheel while her parents tried to enjoy their holiday – they'd always been overprotective and she'd got the 'You are too young for that'-speech far more often than any of her brothers. And ever since that incident in her second year, her parents had always wanted her to come home on holidays.
'No use to think about that now,' she decided and concentrated on what Harry was trying to tell her. After the Halloween Ball he had become less nervous in her presence and actually managed to ask her out on a Hogsmeade weekend.
"…so I told him not to be such a baby and he went off. I think he's outside freezing his arse off," Harry finished.
"So you two had a fight?" Ginny looked up at her boyfriend trying to guess what he'd just said.
"Yes, that's what I was talking about." He eyes her suspiciously. "But you weren't listening," he stated and sighed. "How much did you get?" He was used to that by now. When Ginny was deep in thought she didn't hear a thing. One could shot every curse at her and she wouldn't even notice. But she just had to smile and he couldn't be angry anymore.
"Just the last bit about the freezing," she said, smiling apologetically.
Trying to appear angry, Harry scowled at her. "Ginny, you have to work on that. What if you are in class and don't hear a word of what the teacher says?"
"Oh, that happened once," Ginny said. "It was in my first year. We were having Defence against the Dark Arts and I was thinking about… something." She'd caught herself in time. In her first year, Gilderoy Lockhart had been her Professor. And she hadn't been immune to his good looks and his winning smile…
"Hey, wait, your first year? Wasn't Lockhart the DADA teacher then? Oh, Ginny, tell me you weren't dreaming about him?" Harry looked slightly pained.
"I wasn't dreaming… I said thinking, okay?"
Harry snorted. She could read in his face like in an open book.
"Harry," she said in a low voice. "You do know that I love you and only you and don't care for anyone else, right?" She waited for him to look her in the eyes. When he did so, she could see him grin slyly.
"Of course I know that. How could you not?" he said.
She poked him in the ribs and giggled. "Idiot," she said jokingly and kissed him.
After a few kisses, she leaned back and said, "Now tell me about that fight you two had."
+~*#
Hermione hurried back towards Severus' private lab, balancing a tray of food and a bottle of water. Fortunately, she didn't meet anyone. Except for Harry, who had been furious about Ron. He'd said something about a fight and used some words on Ron that weren't particularly nice. Obviously, Ron had talked all day about her being in the dungeons, and naturally, he had been getting on Harry's nerves by lunch. Now, Ron was outside throwing snowballs at trees and the giant squid and Harry was in the Common Room.
Hermione shook her head. They were so immature – especially Ron. He liked her – maybe even more – but never said anything, or showed her how he felt. And he knew perfectly well that she wasn't in love with him. After the little disaster at Halloween, she'd made that clear. She never wanted to go through that again should she ever meet a boy she liked.
Sighing, she put the tray down on one of the tables and started to stir the potion – exactly five times counter-clockwise. Then she let the potion rest for twenty minutes and ate her lunch. Maybe she wasn't ill after all. Her stomach felt perfectly well. 'Maybe just ate something wrong,' she assumed and shrugged. 'No use to worry about it now.'
She'd just finished her meal and began stirring again, when a noise from the window caught her attention. She finished stirring the potion and went over to the next window.
Ron was standing outside, throwing snowballs at the walls of the castle. He couldn't see the windows from where he stood – at least unless she opened them.
"Ron," she called. "What are you doing?"
He turned around and came nearer. "'Mione? What are you doing there?"
"I told you: I'm working on a potion!"
Ron shrugged. "And I'm throwing snowballs."
"Don't be such an idiot. Harry told me about your fight," she said, shivering in the cold winter air. "You should apologise."
Ron's face, already pink from the cold, turned even darker. He shook his head. "No," he said, standing directly under the window. "I was right and I won't apologise."
"But-"
"No buts. I don't see why you have to spend so much time with Snape and I don't see why you didn't want to take Transfigurations as your – what did you call it – 'additional study'. It's just… I don't see why someone would spend time with Snape, that bastard, voluntarily. It's just plain wrong." Ron began to pace.
Hermione sighed. Ron wouldn't understand. And he didn't seem to want to. She'd tried to explain it to him, but he stopped listening as soon as the words 'Professor Snape' left her mouth. He seemed to hate him more with every day that passed. "Ron, I've told you that Potions are a lot more challenging. In Transfiguration you don't learn new things or can develop anything new. You can't change and improve much. But you can change and discover new potions every day. The research is most exciting and Professor Snape-" She saw his face fall and become brooding. "-is an excellent teacher. He's a Potions Master and if you had seen him work, you'd see why. When he works on a potion, it's real magic. He-"
"Hermione," Ron interrupted her with an icy voice. "If this is gonna be another 'Let-me-tell-you-how-great-Snape-is'-speech, then I don't want to hear it."
Hermione felt anger rise inside her. How could he be so… annoying? He didn't even know Severus. And still he tried to judge him by what he thought he knew. He was so ignorant and childish. She shook her head. He should know better than that.
"You shouldn't be so prejudiced," she said. "If you remember our first year, what did you think of me?" She didn't wait for an answer. "You didn't like me. And I didn't like you, or Harry. But we became friends. Right?"
Ron didn't say a thing. He didn't even acknowledge that he'd listened to her.
"Right?" she repeated with an edge to her voice. She was nearly shouting.
Ron nodded. "Yeah."
"Right," she stated. "Then maybe you should think about your childish behaviour, or we will live our last half year like the first!" She shut the window close and walked back to the cauldron.
She didn't need to go to the window to know that Ron was still standing there.
+~*#
Severus Snape was sitting in the Leaky Cauldron, waiting for Tom to bring his lunch. He had spent the whole morning in the Apothecary – after a short stop at Gringotts – looking through the newest delivery and deciding what to buy. Around noon he'd finally left the shop, boxes over boxes with ingredients inside his pockets – of course minimized by a spell. He'd felt hungry – after all, he hadn't had any breakfast – so he decided to go back to the Leaky Cauldron before going to Flourish & Blotts.
He let his gaze wander over the room. There were many witches and wizards crammed inside and he'd been lucky to get a table to himself. The noise level was inconceivable.
He overheard the two old witches at the table next to his complain about Madam Malkin's shop – too expensive in their opinion. On his other side was a young witch arguing with her little son about eating vegetables. The boy didn't want to eat his peas and his mother tried to persuade him. She promised to buy him sweets later – the boy whined. She tried to threaten him with not buying any sweets – the boy cried and shot peas across the room with his spoon. The mother then tried to stop him from throwing the peas and persuade him of eating them instead – the boy didn't stop but added smashed potatoes to his 'to-throw'-list. And all the time the young father just sat there, reading his paper.
Severus tried to ignore the cries of the boy and the pleading voice of the mother. He focussed on his shopping list, mentally ticking everything he already had. Ignoring everyone else worked pretty well, at least until he was hit with a spoonful of peas that went down his collar and into his robes. He closed his eyes for a second and forced himself to calm down. Then he stood up and turned around, scowling at the boy. He went still immediately and stared at him, a frightful expression on his face.
"Listen to me, boy," he said in a low and dangerous voice that no one except for the family could hear. "You will stop throwing your food at people – especially me – and you will stop whining. If you don't-" Severus stopped and held out his hand, palm up, and removed the peas from under his robes, conjuring them in his palm. "-I will put these up your nose and in your ears. I believe it won't be a happy experience if the Mediwitch discovers she can't remove them magically but has to do it the muggle way – with a set of long and pointy pliers."
The boy swallowed.
Severus dropped the peas onto the boy's plate and the boy picked up his fork and began to eat silently, not looking up.
The mother looked a bit shocked, but also relieved. She mouthed 'thank you' and smiled at him. The father hadn't moved at all.
He scowled at the woman in reply and sat back down. 'Poor woman,' he thought. She didn't seem to have an easy life. But what did he care? He didn't even know her.
He was glad when Tom finally brought his meal and he could concentrate on eating.
+~*#
Lucius Malfoy, hidden under an Invisibility Cloak, stood in a corner of the Leaky Cauldron and watched Severus Snape.
He gritted his teeth at the mere thought of his betrayal. If it had only been the Dark Lord Severus had betrayed, Lucius could have understood. The Dark Lord hadn't been likable and everyone had hated him – not only his enemies, but most Death Eaters as well. They hadn't followed him because of his striking personality or his friendly manners – Voldemort had promised power, and that was it they had wanted – and in Lucius' case still wanted. But Severus had betrayed him, too, and that he could not understand, let alone forgive. He wanted revenge and he would get it, that much was sure. He'd even managed to escape from Azkaban. After the Dementors had been replaced with witches and wizards – because they had allied with the Dark Lord –, it was a lot easier to escape. He'd heard of seven escapes in the last year and even more attempts. He himself had been the last to escape. And judging by the atmosphere inside the Leaky Cauldron, no one knew about it yet. He'd… persuaded someone to get him a wand and worked some nice little spell on a few people, including his guard.
In a few days, when the spell would wear off, they'd discover his bed empty – except for the body of his guard. And until then he could start his plan and hide. He had friends – those who hadn't been arrested – and he knew of places on his grounds even Narcissa didn't know existed.
'Narcissa,' he thought venomously. She was worst of all who had betrayed him. She'd mocked him and insulted him and then she'd testified against him. He'd cursed himself for not Obliviating her every time. Luckily she didn't even know half of his deeds, and therefore couldn't tell, but it had been enough to sent him to that dreadful place. And she's even had the nerve to visit him every month! The only good thing about that was, that she brought Draco along. She maybe thought it would save him, to see his father so weak. But he wasn't weak and he would get his revenge.
He was so deep in thought about what he would do to Narcissa, that he almost didn't notice when Severus left the pub. Quickly, he made his way through the people – avoiding to touch anyone – and followed his prey outside.
+~*#
Severus went to Flourish & Blotts and quickly bought everything he needed. He had the odd feeling of being watched and didn't like it. Only because he didn't see anyone didn't mean there wasn't. As a Death Eater – and especially a treacherous Death Eater – he'd learned to develop a certain sense for danger.
He felt as if someone followed him close by, but he could see anyone suspicious. He didn't even see anyone he knew, only strangers. But he checked everyone he saw and looked out for possible weapons and wands.
Shaking his head, he went out of the shop. 'You are being foolish,' he chided himself. 'Hermione's paranoia seems to rub off on me.' He chuckled. Sometimes she was just like his mother: She could be seriously mad at him when he didn't eat regularly and didn't sleep enough due to a potion he was brewing. One time, Hermione had actually threatened to get Dumbledore if he didn't eat anything.
Still very amused by the thought, he didn't notice someone letting slip a little package into his bag. And not a second to late, because Severus shrunk the bag and placed it inside his robes.
Making his way back to the Leaky Cauldron to Apparate to Hogwarts, Severus thought about Hermione and their 'relationship'.
It all started Halloween, of course. And even if the potion didn't work any more, he still liked her. Strangely enough, but he enjoyed her company and their discussions about various subjects, most of all potions. She knew far more about it than any other student and she craved to learn more. From him. And she seemed to enjoy their work and research as well.
And that wasn't all. She also seemed to care about him. And he was – as he had to admit grudgingly – quite possessive of her. He hated to see her with Ron Weasley, knowing that the boy had a crush on her. He just hoped she wouldn't fall for someone that… average. She deserved someone who could match her in everything and let's face it – Weasley wasn't even half as smart as Hermione. She would get bored in no time. She just couldn't spend the rest of her life talking about Quidditch and nothing else. Wasn't that the reason she'd split up with Krum?
And Potter… well, Potter was decent enough, but he had only eyes for Weasley's sister. Ginny Weasley was the only Gryffindor besides Hermione he could stand. She wasn't as annoying and righteous as Potter or her brother. She definitely had a Slytherin side. Smiling despite himself, he remembered a certain Potions lesson.
It had been in Miss Weasley's fifth year and the Gryffindors had had Potions with the Slytherins of their year. Naturally, those two groups didn't bode well together. There had been verbal and occasionally physical fights between them. But Miss Weasley had surely topped them all.
That one day, a Slytherin girl named Victoria Godswrath said some very unpleasant things about Miss Weasley's hair and the financial situation of her family. But instead of giving it right back to her, she just nodded and agreed with Miss Godswrath. After all, her family was poor and she had red hair.
Miss Weasley was quiet and worked concentrated on her potion; and then Miss Godswrath's skin turned pink, her nose changed into a pig's nose and she grew a pig's tail. Miss Weasley only looked up shortly, and smiled slightly, before turning back to her potion. He'd noticed – of course – and knew that she'd added something to Miss Godswrath's potion, presumably powdered pigs' bones and the skin of a grass snake.
A true Gryffindor wouldn't try something so – potentially – dangerous (she could have added something wrong, and she couldn't possibly know that there weren't any after effects), but it earned her some respect from Severus. He'd smiled inwardly and deducted points from Miss Godswrath for brewing her potion incorrectly. Then he'd sent her to the Infirmary.
Of course he'd had to punish Miss Weasley, but he'd let her off easy. She had to serve one detention with Filch and he took ten points from Gryffindor. Not even as much as he deducted from Miss Godswrath.
'Yes, there is hope for Gryffindor,' he mused as he Apparated to the Hogwarts gates.
He was still thinking about Miss Weasley, when he made his way up to the side entrance that would lead him right into his quarters.
Suddenly, he stopped. He'd heard something. A voice.
"-research is most exciting and Professor Snape is an excellent teacher," he heard Hermione's voice. She had to be in his private lab, judging by the direction the voice was coming from.
"He's a Potions Master and if you had seen him work, you'd see why. When he works on a potion, it's real magic. He-"
He felt his face redden. She's just paid him the best compliment of all – not that he received compliments often.
"Hermione," Mr. Weasley's voice interrupted her. "If this is gonna be another 'Let-me-tell-you-how-great-Snape-is'-speech, then I don't want to hear it."
'What?' Severus thought. She bragged about his skills in potion-making?
"You shouldn't be so prejudiced," she said. "If you remember our first year, what did you think of me? You didn't like me. And I didn't like you, or Harry. But we became friends. Right?"
Was she defending him from one of her friends?
"Right?"Severus knew this voice. It was her angry voice. She was definitely annoyed to no end. And impatient. 'Uh-oh, Weasley, watch out', he thought. But he felt somewhat honoured that she was fighting with one of her friends because of him.
"Yeah," he heard Weasley reply hesitantly.
"Right," Hermione stated. "Then maybe you should think about your childish behaviour, or we will live or last half year like the first!"
Hermione shut the window loudly.
Severus didn't even try to hide his grin. He'd love to see Weasley's face right now, but if he moved around the corner, he'd see him. And he didn't want the boy to hate him even more, for Hermione's sake. Personally, he didn't mind being hated – he lived with it every day – but Hermione had to listen to the git's wailing about it.
Quickly, he performed the Opening Charm and stepped inside, still grinning.
A/N: So, I hope you liked this chapter. The real plot will start next chapter. I'm not sure when I'll be able to post it, but I hope to get it out before Saturday (I'm moving to another town Saturday morning and I don't know when I'll be online again).