Chapter Four
Upon entering the dungeon Ron and Paige saw their fellow students including Harry, Hermione, and Draco. Paige began to panic as she saw Draco begin to walk towards them. "Hey Ron…," she whispered so only he could hear her. "Do you think we have to sit by house?" Ron shrugged and replied that he didn't think so. As soon as he answered she grabbed his arm and sat at the end of one of the empty rows and pulled him down next to her. When Draco sent a glare at her she simply smiled and shrugged. With a scowl on his face he stomped off to sit somewhere else.
Realizing she still was holding his arm Paige let go and a blush crept across her cheeks. "Sorry about that…," she said shyly. "I just…I can't stand him! You can sit somewhere else if you want to…"
In the single moment where there was no answer Paige felt as if she were going to go crazy. Finally Ron found his voice and was able to reply. "Oh it's fine, I don't have a problem sitting here," he replied smiling. However, a slight feeling of dread rushed over him for as he was pulling out his books and supplies he caught Hermione's eyes which were no directly on him. Her eyes seemed to be burning a hole through his very being. Beside her was Harry who was simply smiling. Seconds later Harry took the now vacant seat on the other side of Paige and Hermione sat beside Harry, still wishing she were next to Ron.
Just as Ron was about to properly introduce his other friends to Paige the classroom door slammed shut behind them and silence swept over the room in a flash. As the young daughter of the potions master glanced around she noticed the looks of dread on many of the Gryffindor students and a surprisingly pleasant look on many of the Slytherin students' faces. Personally she was neither looking forward to or dreading class. She knew for a fact that however her father was about to act was just that, an act, but on the other hand she had learned so much from her father already. 'Then again…I guess a review is always good," she thought as she brushed back a stray piece of her black hair and smiled to herself.
Professor Snape stormed to the front of the room wearing the very familiar scowl that his students had witnessed many times during the past 4 years. Even with his daughter in the class he could not show the slightest bit of care or change in attitude. Besides, it wasn't entirely an act…he truly did hate some of the students who was forced to see everyday for most of the year. It just happened to be students that were least expected.
Suddenly he made an abrupt 180 degree turn and wore and expression which demanded attention. "As I'm sure you all have heard, this year you will have your O.W.L.'s to take. Luckily, for myself and some of you, this will be your last year in this potions class for I demand no less then an outstanding on your test to enter my N.E.W.T. class. I'm sure not everyone will be able to achieve those high standards," he said with a smirk. "Now, pass up your summer assignment and pair up to get to work. Instructions are on the board…I'm sure you can follow them."
The potions master then turned and took a seat at his desk in the front of the class. After taking a moment to shake of the feeling of dread he scanned over the room filled with Slytherin and Gryffindor students, however his eyes froze at the sight of Paige, who was sitting with none other than the famous Gryffindor trio. For a moment it would have seemed as if the Professor's eyes were going to pop right out of his head leaving him with nothing but empty sockets where his eyes had once been. 'What is she doing????' he thought as he slowly averted his gaze to elsewhere. 'Why isn't she with her own house peers?' Professor Snape took in a deep breathe and then glanced one last time at his only daughter who was currently conversing with Ronald Weasley. 'This is going to be an interesting year…,' he concluded as he glanced over at Draco who kept throwing death glares at Paige and Ron.
After having all of his students' work passed in he watched as most worked diligently on the potion that had been assigned to them. Although teaching was not one of his favorite things to do the professor did not hate it. Another wave of shock over took him as Paige partnered with Ronald. 'How am I supposed to grade them?' he thought in exasperation. 'I always, ALWAYS grade them harshly but now he's paired up with my Paige, who is also a Slytherin. Why couldn't she work with Draco or someone to make my life easier? I can't even tell her to work with someone else because of course there just HAD to be an odd number of Slytherins and Gryffindors. I've got to appear to completely favor the Slytherins and she's not making it easy!'
As Professor Snape tried to keep his mind off of the trials and tribulations of having his daughter as a student Ron and Paige worked on creating the potion that had been assigned to them. "Let's see….," Paige said as she looked over the list of ingredients. "This is actually pretty simple, as long as you can take exact measurements. This potion depends on that. The rest is a piece of cake."
Ron smiled as he began to measure out the first ingredient. "That's good to hear, because potions has to be my worst subject," he informed her.
The raven haired girl smiled and began to measure other ingredients. "Well…then why not try this? We'll each do half of the measuring," she suggested. "if you want me to double check anything you can just ask. Then we'll take turns adding the ingredients." The pair then looked at each other, nodded at the idea and set off to work. They worked quickly yet perfectly, making no mistakes along the way.
When Ron had partnered up with Paige, Hermione was left to work with Harry. She had nothing against him though, he was one of her best friends after all…yet, she simply preferred to work with Ron. It was quite obvious to most everyone except Ron that she really liked him. Along the way, Hermione was making some ridiculous mistakes, considering she was most always right on track in class. "Hermione…what's wrong?" Harry asked. "It's definitely obvious something's bothering you. Is it Ron?"
At the very mention of his name her head shot up and her hair whipped back. "What are you talking about?" she stammered. "Why on earth would I be bothered by Ron? I mean…so what if I like him and he's hanging all over that new girl, who happens to be the daughter of the teacher he despises." After this she began mumbling to herself.
Harry sighed and continued working on measuring out the ingredients for Hermione to add to the potion. "You know…I think you're kind of overreacting. I mean, he's only known her for two days. They're just developing a friendship, so what? It's not that big of a deal. Besides, you should just tell him how you feel."
As Hermione began to listen to Harry she kept glancing over at Ron and Paige who appeared to be done with their assignment. This proved to be a very bad idea for moments later she added the wrong ingredient, and suddenly there was a loud explosion from their cauldron. The pair was covered in bluish liquid.
Everyone in the class jumped at the sound and quickly turned to its source. Gasps came from everywhere in the room when it was realized that it had in fact been Hermione Grangers potion that was ruined. Her face was bright red and her face red with embarrassment. Harry simply stared at the now empty cauldron, still in shock as of what had just occurred. Hermione….messed up.
Professor Snape now towered over the two Gryffindors with anger written all over his face. "That's a zero for you Ms. Granger, and I must say I'm quite surprised," he said in a low voice. "The same applies to you Mr. Potter. Now clean this mess up immediately!".
After a minute passed by Ron and Paige quickly placed their potion in a vile with their names printed on it and handed it in. Paige gave the professor a slightly disapproving look as she walked by him which he instantaneously took notice to. His look was one of annoyance which made the girl smile and let out a small laugh before heading back to her desk. Sweeping up her books she joined Ron and left the classroom, leaving behind an annoyed teacher and confused father.