There were three people sitting on Hermione's bed. And none of them was Hermione.
It was the 3rd of January and classes were about to begin soon…soon as in about an hour. Ron, Harry and Ginny had not had their breakfast yet; they were waiting for Hermione, who was still in the washroom. The trio sat together in silence, wondering what was taking her so long.
Finally, Ginny spoke up. "Have either of you noticed how weird Hermione's been acting lately?"
Ron and Harry looked up, their eyes revealing that they had not noticed how weird Hermione had been acting lately.
"Well," said Ginny. "Ever since Christmas, she seems to be very uneasy about something but I don't know what."
"Probably the Malfoy incident," said Harry wisely. "It must have been quite a traumatic experience for her. But she did seem happy when I told her that he had detention for a week."
"No," Ginny shook her head. "It's something else."
"Like what?" asked Ron.
"On New Year's Eve, I was walking down the corridor, looking for Snape because Dumbledore wanted to speak with him. And I came upon Hermione and I asked her if she'd seen him. And then she went all uncomfortable, glaring at me and she cried, 'Why do you think I've seen Snape? You know, sometimes, I don't even like Snape!' And she strode past me without another word."
"She must still be upset," Ron said sympathetically. "I mean, Snape did behave like a jerk when he went all easy on Malfoy. He ruined Christmas for her."
Just then, Hermione entered the room, dressed in her robes and school uniform, her hair unruly as usual. She drew her robes protectively around her and flashed them a little smile. She scooped up her books in her bag and looked at them questioningly.
"What are you looking at?" she inquired suspiciously.
"Nothing," they replied in unison.
She kept looking at them, not quite believing their answer. "Hmmm," she said.
They all went down for breakfast.
* * *
Snape stood in front of the mirror in his bedroom, taking one good look at his appearance. He was dressed in his usual black, which was his favorite color and he'd left his shirt collar unbuttoned. He tried to look relaxed when in fact he was not.
Today there would be the first Potions class since Christmas. And he was nervous as hell. How would he be able to face Hermione again? He had not seen or talked to her since that fateful night and he honestly had no idea what he would or should do when he would be in her presence again.
He'd eaten his breakfast and lunch in his apartment, refusing to go to the Great Hall for fear of coming upon his beloved again.
He took a deep breath and straightened his shirt collar. "Relax, Severus," he murmured to himself, "you can pull this off."
Or maybe Remus had been right. Maybe he should try doing the Obliviate spell.
If Adrienne had been here, she could have advised him on what to do under these circumstances. But he hadn't spoken to her in almost five years and he hoped she was happy with her girlfriend…wherever she was.
Snape had even considered resigning but thankfully, he'd decided against it. Nothing would happen unless anyone else knew about his little 'indiscretion'.
It was almost time for the double Potions class now and truthfully, he was looking a bit forward to seeing his beloved again after what seemed to him like centuries, though he wouldn't admit it.
Taking a final look at himself and another deep breath, he straightened up and left for the dungeons, his black robes billowing behind him.