One Magic Moment
by Alaynthe
Chapter Six: Words, Words, Words
Hermione grinned as she pushed open the doors to the library. It felt like ages since she'd been here! She loved the smell of the books, the faded ink on dusty paper in leather bound tomes. It was true- the library was like a second home for her. She went to the library to study, of course, but also whenever she had problems with Ron and Harry. She missed them so much! She wondered what they were doing and if they missed her.
As she headed to her favorite table, she was pleased to notice that the library was still mostly empty. She knew why, however; there were only about twenty minutes before the next class, which for her was Double Potions, and with Slytherin, no less! When she reached her table, a tall, lean, dark-haired boy was sitting there already, bent over what seemed to be a battered copy of Moste Potente Potions. Unwilling to make a scene, she started to move towards the tables she knew were at the other corner of the library. Her shoe squeaked on the heavily polished floor, and the boy looked up at her.
Hermione instantly recognized those dark eyes, which were so full of sadness: it was Professor (Can't go around calling him a professor, can we, Hermione?) Severus Snape. In her seven years at Hogwarts, she had never been able to understand the reticent Potions professor. He had always seemed to hate her, and she had simply held it to be because she was a friend of the famous Harry Potter. But now that she was here, she saw that perhaps it was something different. Perhaps she, by falling into this time, had already changed the future--Snape's opinion of her. As she gathered her courage to speak to him, he spoke.
"Are you going to explain what you're doing here or just stand gaping at me like a fish?" He said coldly.
How dare he?
"I believe I have the same right to be in the library as you do," she snapped, still surprised at the sight of Snape.
"Yes, however, you have no
right to interrupt my studies," he replied shortly. She noticed he had already perfected his sneer.
"I clearly
didn't intend to do that, so please," she said condescendingly, "do
forgive my intrusion. I don't mean to
take any more of your precious time."
And with that, she turned
sharply on her heel, and strode out of the library. As she pulled the heavy wooden doors open, she nearly ran into
Remus for the second time in as many days.
"Hi, Hermione!" He said. "Where are you off to?"
"Anywhere but here," she
replied testily, "I just had the
immense pleasure of meeting Severus Snape…"
"Slytherin
House's resident grouch," he laughed.
"Yes, yes, we've all had our little run-ins with him. For some reason, he doesn't get along with
Sirius and James at all. Headed to
Potions?" She nodded, trying to not
laugh at the mention of Snape's friendship with James and Sirius. "Good, I'll walk with you."
"Alright," she said, careful
not to turn automatically to the dungeons but to wait for Remus to show the
way. She was inwardly thankful for his
friendly chatter through the corridors.
"Professor Kelly's
not terribly bad…Hufflepuff, you see, and he spends so much of his time trying
to be everyone's friend, we don't actually get much Potions-making done, which
makes Peter happy, believe me." She
laughed, and he continued. "The only
unpleasant thing about the class (besides some of the ingredients, of course)
is that it's with the Slytherins."
"What do they do that's so
bad?" She asked, still learning the
ropes of House Relationships.
"If it's nasty, they do
it. They especially like picking on
Hufflepuffs, and Peter. The Ravenclaws
mostly get left alone… Ignored, as Sirius puts it. In Potions, they like to "help" you with your potion. Dungbombs are the usual assistants. But it was worse five or so years ago, when
Lucius Malfoy was still going here. He
was sort of their ringleader, and since he graduated, their pranks have been…"
he paused and changed from disinterested storyteller to the prankster she knew
him to be, "pathetic."
Then, as if remembering where he
was, and to whom he was talking, he changed topics.
"So, Hermione, want to share a
cauldron with me?" He grinned at her,
and she instantly recognized the older, sadder Professor Lupin behind his
smile. She smiled back, not yet sure
which one she preferred.
"Sure."
They pulled open the door and
went to their benches, magically oblivious to the stares of the other
Gryffindors, the shock of the Slytherins, and Professor Kelly's overly-cheerful
smile.
~
Author's Note:
Guess what?
Harry Potter is STILL the
property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. And I STILL intend no
copyright infringement.
Oh, and the chapter title is taken from Hamlet, Chapter Five's title was from Batman (obviously).
