The following morning Ron and Harry found themselves, rather reluctantly, getting dressed, packing their school book-bags, and heading down to the Great Hall unsure of what they might encounter with their first encounter with Snape since the...hrm...accidental encounter the night before.

"D'you reckon it's safe to eat breakfast?" Ron asked Harry on their mournful, end-of-days kind of march to the Great Hall.

"Do YOU reckon it's safe to go anywhere in this castle when the most evil teacher is wandering around probably plotting ways to kill you?"

"No..."

"Okay, then. We'll just have to see what happens...and try and avoid him if he's in the Hall."

"But we've got Potions today! There's no way we're going to be able to avoid him there!"

"I know, I know..."

But to the two delinquents great surprise and good fortune, Snape wasn't in the Great Hall.

"Where do you think he is? You don't think he's waiting for us to come out of the Hall, do you? You know," Ron's ears went pink and he lowered his voice, "to do us in?"

"No, he couldn't kill us right under Dumbledore's nose..."

"Well then where -"

"I have no idea..."

And Ron stopped asking Harry and instead began thinking of ways that Snape might "do them in" and looking into his porridge, clearly not enjoying it as much as he usually does, as though it was his last bowl.

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When they reached the Potions they were taken by even more surprise when they found that Snape was not there.

"What the -" Lavender Brown said as they saw a notice on the classroom door giving the students a free period because they did not have a teacher.

"What the -" pretty much summed it all up in Harry's opinion, seeing as how Snape was known to never miss a lesson, sick or healthy. Ron gulped beside him. This was definitely a bit dodgy...

"Why're you two so worried?" Hermione asked them while walking back to Gryffindor Tower, "I was sure you two would be the two most excited about the news."

"You mean you knew Snape wasn't going to be here?" Ron was suspicious.

"Well..." Hermione flushed,"no...of course I didn't! I mean, how would I know?" she gave Harry and Ron piercing looks, as though trying to prove she couldn't've known that bit of information and was rather annoyed that they would accuse her of such a thing.

Ron shrugged with the same skeptical look on his face.

"And you should talk! Running around in the middle of the night in the dungeons -" Hermione blurted out.

"Hang on!" Harry interrupted her, "How did you know about that? I don't remember Ron and I telling you about that!"

Hermione flushed even more, "Well I...I..."

"Well?" Ron egged her on.

"I'm going to the library to get ready for my next lesson," and she left, with Ron and Harry staring blankly and shocked after her.

"