A/N: I'm sorry the chapter took longer than expected. I've been working on
a research paper and piles and piles of other stuff. I HATE HOMEWORK!!!
This chapter is more suspenseful than laugh out loud funny. I hope everyone likes it!
Thanks to La Pamplemousse, Snapecharmer, coolcat411, Mary Snape, fragglerox, Brittany Malfoy, AllStarChaser20, Turelie Telcontar, CAH, Romm, thegoldenphoenix8620, Professor Farfie, sweeTpI, Nu, and HIEIhotsause for the wonderful reviews!
~MESSAGES~
fragglerox: Thank you for the zit cream idea! I used it in this chapter, actually. :)
Brittany Malfoy: Thanks for putting me on your favorites!
AllStarChaser20: Thank you for that wonderful praise! I would love to read the story where you put him in the ballerina outfit if you still have it.
CAH: I completely agree with you, and his revenge starts very soon.
HIEIhotsause: Thanks for putting me on your favorites and for the fudge! What reward do I get for this chapter? :) Thanks for giving me permission to use your idea. I will try my hardest to work it into the story.
Big hug to my beta, Lissie! Isn't she the best?
Disclaimer: I own nothing; J. K. Rowling owns everything. So what's new?
*****************
Chapter 6-'Phase Five'
Snape remained thirteen for an entire week. He actually seemed happy to be alive for once, despite the fact that he was covered with pimples and growing rapidly. After the humiliating mock Quidditch match, he was practically skipping through the halls acting like neither a thirteen-year- old nor the dignified, withdrawn professor he usually was. He was, in fact, acting much, much younger. He would laugh joyfully whenever someone added the wrong ingredient or caused a small explosion in the middle of class. Hermione began doing small things on purpose just to analyze his reaction. Once, Snape grinned for an hour after Hermione added too much powered bicorn horn and her potion began whistling like a kettle. She even got the entire class to leave one hundred tubes of extra strength zit cream on his desk one day. Even this didn't cause Snape to blow up! He actually sent everyone a personal thank you note for the zit cream.
After that, the trio followed him around Hogwarts, watching how he acted toward the other professors and students. Maybe not giving a student detention for stepping on his robe wasn't such a drastic change in attitude, but Hermione nearly fainted when they watched Snape laugh at one of Flitwick's jokes. The near-heart attack came when they walked around a corner and all three of them were suddenly touching the ground with their noses. Upon looking up, Hermione, Harry, and Ron had discovered a beaming Severus Snape with wand in hand. He had laughed like a mad-man as he walked away from the three still lying on the floor from shock.
Regardless of the outward appearance of enjoying himself, Severus had been absolutely seething on the inside. He still hadn't been able to find any evidence whatsoever that pointed to Hermione Granger being the culprit. As the back-to-normal Snape paced in his rooms one night, wringing his hands together, he thought about the troublesome three. You never saw one without the other two close by anymore. It was like they were trying to protect each other. Still pacing, Snape smiled suddenly. 'They're protecting each other from me,' he thought. After a few more minutes of pacing, Snape came to an abrupt halt. His eyes narrowed as he thought over all that had happened to him since the start of the year. Hermione had been first and foremost in his mind, but what if it was all three of them instead? 'No,' he finally decided. Potter and Weasley were fairly intelligent, but Hermione surpassed them both with sickening ease. Hermione was definitely the brains behind the whole thing, but what role did Potter and Weasley play? 'Well,' Snape thought, 'all that changes is that I'll get to expel three bothersome brats instead of one.'
Unbeknownst to Snape, Hermione was also pacing back and forth, back and forth in the Room of Requirement. She would stop every so often to jot something down on the piece of parchment before her. Harry and Ron were sitting at the table, watching Hermione pace. After ten more minutes of this, Ron broke the silence.
"Well," he said, "what are we waiting for? I thought we were going to get started tonight." "We are," Hermione said, distracted. She was again writing on the parchment. Harry craned his neck forward slightly.
"What do you keep writing, 'Mione?" She put the quill down and slid everything toward Harry. As he took the parchment from her, Hermione picked up the Marauders Map and began to study it. Harry looked down at the paper before him. It had words on it like homemade bread, smelly feet, onions/garlic...The second to last word made Harry stop.
"Vomit?" he asked. He looked up at Hermione. Ron's eyes grew wide as he looked up at Hermione, too. "Where...?" Harry began, but Hermione cut him off.
"In the dungeons," she said. She stopped staring at the map and looked at the boys, slightly fearful of their reaction. Even though they had been more than willing to help her a week ago, it was possible they had changed their minds. Her fears melted away completely when Harry smiled at her.
"That's brilliant Hermione," Harry said. Ron, eyes still wide with awe, grinned and nodded his agreement. Hermione's cheeks turned slightly red from the praise.
"Now," she said, all business once more, "Mrs. Norris is on the third floor and Filch is lurking around the Trophy Room." She was silent for a second, watching the moving dots on the page. She tapped the page suddenly, a triumphant look in her eyes. "And Snape has just left his rooms!" Hermione folded up the map and tucked it inside her robes. She pulled out her wand and reached for the Invisibility Cloak.
"Well, I guess I'll see you later," she said as she walked toward the door.
"Hold it, Hermione," Ron said as he and Harry walked toward her. She stopped and looked back at them.
"We want to be a bigger part of this, remember?" Ron said.
"Yeah," said Harry, "so that means we're coming with you." Hermione looked from one to the other, surprise written plainly on her face.
"But there's only one cloak. You'll both get caught!" Harry smiled and pulled out his wand.
"We don't need the cloak," he said as he tapped Ron on the head. Ron looked like he was shivering slightly before he disappeared completely. Hermione's jaw dropped as she watched Harry do the same thing to himself.
"A Disillusionment Charm?" she asked. "Harry, that's brilliant!" She was sure that if she could have seen Harry, he would have been smiling at her.
"Okay, what I want you two to do is..." She quickly told each of them what she needed them to do.
"Ready?" she asked the air.
"Yes," came the two different replies from right in front of her.
"That's going to take some getting used to..." she mumbled as she checked the map once more before throwing the cloak over herself.
"Let's go," she whispered before stepping out into the darkened corridor.
~
Hermione walked through the corridors, holding the cloak slightly away from her face and breathing as quietly as possible. She was looking for a tall man dressed from head to foot in black with cold eyes and a piercing gaze. She had already taken care of the Great Hall and the dungeons. Ron's task had been the easiest; all he had to do was go to places where Snape might be during the day and cast random Smell Spells. Harry's task was harder than Ron's (he had to track down both Filch and Mrs. Norris), but Hermione's was definitely the hardest. She had to find Professor Snape and cast the final part of the spell without him knowing she had ever been there.
Hermione rounded a corner and had to stifle a screech of surprise. There was Snape, walking along the corridor with hands behind his back. Taking a deep, calming (quiet) breath, Hermione slid backward so the corner was hiding her slightly but so she could still see Snape's back. Hermione stuck her wand out from under the cloak slightly, muttered the incantation, and watched as the silvery substance touched Snape. She pulled her wand back and leaned against the wall just as Snape whipped around. His eyes narrowed as he looked from one wall to the other, trying to spot the foul thing that had disturbed the silence. Hardly breathing, Hermione took a tiny step away from the wall and began walking in the opposite direction. To her horror, Snape decided to walk the exact same way. He rounded the corner and walked slightly past Hermione before stopping, still searching the corridors. His back went ramrod straight the next second while his eyes grew wide with sudden realization. He turned around slowly, following the wall with his eyes.
"Miss Granger?" he whispered somewhat dangerously. Hermione could no longer breathe. It seemed her throat had closed in on itself. "Under that blasted cloak, no doubt," he said, still talking in a whisper. "If that is you, Miss Granger, this will be your only warning. You and your friends need to back away before you get burned." With that, he turned and continued walking down the corridor. A second later, he was gone. Hermione let go of the breath she had been holding and slumped over from relief-weak knees. Once her heart had slowed down considerably, she straightened and returned to the dorm.
~
"Isn't the first one supposed to be this morning?" Ron asked as the trio took their usual seats as the Gryffindor table.
"Yep," Hermione said. "The first one isn't going to be that bad, though, but the smells will get worse later in the day." Harry and Ron smiled at the thought of how the smells would progress. The best thing about it was that Hermione said the spells would last for at least 48 hours. So, to add insult to injury, Hermione had something else planned for the dearest professor for the next day. The boy's dreamy smiles disappeared when Snape walked into the Great Hall. He stopped just inside the doors and stared at the Gryffindor table. Harry and Ron seemed to shrink a little under his gaze, but Hermione sat up straighter and smiled at him proudly. Snape narrowed his eyes at her but otherwise didn't move. Hermione realized immediately that this had become a contest, and she stared back unflinchingly. Snape suddenly became aware of the questioning stares from his colleagues already seated at the head table. His face suddenly took on a little more color; first from anger at having to concede this round to the Granger girl and second from embarrassment at being caught in a staring contest with the brat. He looked away from her and continued on to the table, completely ignoring the other professors. Thoughts of what Hermione was up to this time disappeared completely as breakfast appeared before him.
A very pleasant smell had just tickled his nose, and Snape was looking up and down the table for the source of the tantalizing aroma. He hadn't smelled homemade bread like that in years. Finding none, he piled eggs onto his plate and plunged his fork into them but chewed unenthusiastically and swallowed without tasting them. His mouth was watering for that bread, wherever it was hiding. The fact that the smell got stronger as the meal went on didn't help matters. Snape was in a very sour mood as he left the Great Hall. Filch calling out to him only nursed that bad mood.
"Professor!" he called, limping toward Snape in his stooped over way. Snape mentally rolled his eyes as he turned around to face the Caretaker. His nostrils flared as a very pungent smell slammed into him. Gone was the sweet smell of bread, and in its place was the almost overwhelming smell of ammonia. Snape's eyes flicked toward the gaggle of second years passing by. They were smiling and talking happily. The smell didn't seem to be bothering them. They either couldn't smell anything at all (improbable), didn't want to be mean and point it out to Filch (impossible), or Snape's sense of smell was very acute that morning and it wasn't affecting everyone else nearly as bad. He returned his attention to Filch and thus didn't notice the Gryffindor trio walk by, all biting the insides of their cheeks to keep from laughing at Snape's flared nose and disapproving eyes. The Potions Master struggled to regain control over his features by breathing through his mouth.
"Yes, Mr. Filch?" he asked.
"I just wanted to let you know that I'm giving that Oliver boy another detention tonight," Filch heaved. Snape became desperate to get away from the smell.
"Very well, very well," he said before turning on his heel and walking quickly toward the dungeons. He could no longer smell the strong disinfectant once he reached the bottom of the stairs. Snape released a grateful sigh for being away from the noisy students and once again in his quiet lair. He wasn't due to teach a class for a couple of hours, but he still liked to work during his free time. With no talking chatter boxes to muffle the noise, Snape's clip-clop steps echoed throughout the corridor. It was just the way he liked it; the dungeons were quiet and dark and there were no overpowering smells attacking your senses. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.
'I've spoken too soon,' he thought as a new smell wafted toward him. It wasn't strong enough to really tell what it was. He steeled himself for the worst as he continued to his office. By the time Snape stopped in front of the secret passage to his office, he was pinching his nose together to ward off the smell of dead fish as much as possible. Snape looked up and down the corridor, trying to find the cause. A mewing sound rose up to his ears from somewhere around his feet, and Snape looked down to find Mrs. Norris staring up at him with bright red eyes. Snape furrowed his brow at her before taping the wall and entering his office.
"Stupid cat probably got into something that oaf Hagrid left out," he mumbled as the wall closed behind him. Snape stopped in the middle of his office before inhaling deeply. It smelled musty (as all closed in spaces do), but above that smell was the smoky scent of oak firewood and the rich, sweet smell of tobacco from the pipes of the generations of professors past. Finding that everything smelled as it should in his sanctuary, Snape continued on to the classroom. He walked in and looked around before he repeated the process of inhaling deeply. There was...something. Snape breathed deeply again. Whatever it was, there wasn't much of it. He dismissed it as one of the smells that goes along with brewing multiple potions daily. Snape went about preparing the lessons and getting the student cupboard ready for the day's activities. He turned to go back to his office when he caught a whiff of something that shouldn't have been there. Snape faced the room once more and mentally braced himself. He breathed deeply and immediately began coughing and gagging slightly from the smell.
"Oh no," he whispered once the coughing fit had ended.
~
"Are you sure we have to go in there?" Harry asked, looking pointedly at the classroom door.
"We don't have much choice," Hermione said, about to enter the classroom. She stopped and looked around. Seeing no one, she pulled out her wand and cast a quick spell on all three of them that would help block out the smell.
"Let's wait for someone else to go in first to see how they react," Hermione said, leading the boys away from the door. Two Ravenclaw students rounded the corner and pushed the door open. The smell was only into its first few hours and was already apparently really strong. The two Ravenclaws looked like they were going to be sick before covering their mouths and noses with their hands and entering the room.
"What did you say it smells like again, Hermione?" Ron asked once the students disappeared inside.
"Vomit," she said before faking a disgusted look and walking into the room. Harry and Ron followed suit. Everyone in the classroom looked sick to their stomachs from the stench of the place. Snape, however, was nowhere to be found. Hermione was beginning to wonder if he was going to show at all when a door in the corner opened and the man in question emerged. Hermione turned around to look at him but immediately turned back, afraid she would start laughing and wouldn't be able to stop. Snape was giving the entire class the most menacing look he could muster with a huge clothes pin on his nose. Hermione had cast a combination of two spells on him the night he had nearly caught her. One spell was the final part of the Smell Spell and the other was one that prevented him from being able to cast a spell that would block most of the smells (like the one Hermione had cast on herself, Harry, and Ron). Even though Snape was the only one who could smell most of the things the trio had cast spells on, Hermione wanted everyone to be able to smell the Potion's classroom.
Snape gave the class their assignment before taking a seat behind his desk, practically daring anyone to complain about the smell. Hermione also got the hidden message behind the way he stalked to his desk and looked at her after he sat down. He was telling her that it wasn't going to be that easy to drive him out of his domain. Hermione completed the potion without meeting his eyes once. She thought Snape was actually going to let her off the hook when the end of class came. However, Snape called to her just as she reached the door.
"Stay behind, Miss Granger," he said. Hermione pulled her bag higher on her shoulder as she backtracked to stand in front of him. Snape remained seated, studying her for a moment before speaking.
"Did I or did I not warn you about your behavior?" he asked. Hermione jutted her chin forward.
"I don't know what you're talking about, sir," she said.
"Don't play games with me, you silly girl," he yelled, standing suddenly. He startled Hermione with his sudden outburst, and she took a step back. Snape visibly (and with much effort) calmed down before speaking again.
"You are the one responsible for this," he said, waving at the classroom in general, "and I'm assuming you were in the corridor the other night to complete whatever plan you have now." Snape rounded the desk suddenly and stood in front of Hermione.
"I won't lie down and take it this time, Miss Granger. You and your two friends had better start watching each other's backs a lot more carefully." Snape pointed his wand at the classroom door, which flew open and slammed into the wall behind.
"Get out," he said. Hermione turned and ran from the room. Snape watched her disappear from sight before he sat behind his desk and began plotting his own revenge against Gryffindor House's golden three.
~
"Hermione, you can't be serious!" Harry yelled.
"Oh, yes I can be," Hermione responded, already reaching for the cloak. Harry stood up and walked to her, putting his hand on the cloak to prevent her from picking it up.
"After what he said to you," Ron said, walking around the table to join Harry and Hermione, "you're still going to cast another spell on him? You have to be joking! Do you have any idea what he would do to you if he caught you again?"
"What do you mean 'again'?" Hermione asked, rounding on Ron. "He didn't catch me the last time. He only thought I was there."
"Yeah," Harry said, "and he was right. He's not stupid, Hermione. He let you go then, but he won't next time."
"He's got it coming to him," she said, jerking on the cloak that Harry held. "Besides, I can handle myself. Now let me GO!" Reluctantly, Harry released the cloak and watched as she threw it over herself and disappeared into the darkened castle.
"We can't let her go alone," Ron said. Harry nodded his agreement and, for the second time in two days, cast the Disillusionment Charm on Ron and himself.
~
'Where is he?' Hermione thought, looking up and down every corridor. 'Where is he?' She finally found him on the second floor, walking very slowly and listening for the slightest sound. There were no convenient corners to hide behind, and it seemed that he had planned it this way. He would walk a few feet in one direction before turning and walking the other way. It was like he was waiting for her to show up. Hermione, hiding in the shadows, clenched her teeth together in a determined way before taking a step closer and pulling out her wand. She had just drawn a breath to say the spell when Snape whipped around and pointed his wand at the shadows, yelling something Hermione didn't quite catch because of the shock she was feeling. The cloak was blown away, exposing her entirely to Snape. She was frozen in place, unable to move even though her mind was screaming at her to run.
Snape had just started casting another spell when someone yelled and someone else muttered a counter curse. Harry and Ron appeared on either side of Hermione, both of their wands pointed at Snape. Ron sent a tickling spell at Snape, but he moved sideways at just the right moment so the spell missed him. Snape in turn sent a stunning spell at Harry, but he also missed. Hermione's brain began working again, and she cast the spell she had intended to cast from the beginning. This time, a spell finally hit its mark. This caused Snape's attention to focus on Hermione. Both Harry and Ron threw spells at him at the same time, but he ducked them both and threw one of his own. It hit Hermione square in the chest. Ron threw another spell at Snape, which he easily ducked, but wasn't quite so fortunate with Harry's spell. It was similar to the body-binding spell, but it instead froze the person for thirty minutes. Hermione, Harry, and Ron ran all the way back to the Room of Requirement. Hermione walked in first and set the cloak on the table.
"Thank you," she whispered. "I don't know what I would have done if you two hadn't shown up."
"Just promise us something," said Ron.
"Anything," said Hermione, looking from one to the other.
"Don't ever refuse our help like that again," said Harry. Hermione smiled before nodding.
"Okay." They gathered their stuff before leaving the Room of Requirement and sneaking back to the Common Room.
Once the portrait closed behind them, Ron said, "Hermione, what spell did Snape hit you with?" Hermione shrugged.
"I don't know," she said, heading to the girls' dorm, "but I guess we'll find out soon enough."
****************
Please review and let me know what you think! I'm open to any kind of feedback, suggestions...Whatever you feel like telling me.
BTW, I'm going to explain why Snape hasn't gone straight to Dumbledore yet in the next chapter.
This chapter is more suspenseful than laugh out loud funny. I hope everyone likes it!
Thanks to La Pamplemousse, Snapecharmer, coolcat411, Mary Snape, fragglerox, Brittany Malfoy, AllStarChaser20, Turelie Telcontar, CAH, Romm, thegoldenphoenix8620, Professor Farfie, sweeTpI, Nu, and HIEIhotsause for the wonderful reviews!
~MESSAGES~
fragglerox: Thank you for the zit cream idea! I used it in this chapter, actually. :)
Brittany Malfoy: Thanks for putting me on your favorites!
AllStarChaser20: Thank you for that wonderful praise! I would love to read the story where you put him in the ballerina outfit if you still have it.
CAH: I completely agree with you, and his revenge starts very soon.
HIEIhotsause: Thanks for putting me on your favorites and for the fudge! What reward do I get for this chapter? :) Thanks for giving me permission to use your idea. I will try my hardest to work it into the story.
Big hug to my beta, Lissie! Isn't she the best?
Disclaimer: I own nothing; J. K. Rowling owns everything. So what's new?
*****************
Chapter 6-'Phase Five'
Snape remained thirteen for an entire week. He actually seemed happy to be alive for once, despite the fact that he was covered with pimples and growing rapidly. After the humiliating mock Quidditch match, he was practically skipping through the halls acting like neither a thirteen-year- old nor the dignified, withdrawn professor he usually was. He was, in fact, acting much, much younger. He would laugh joyfully whenever someone added the wrong ingredient or caused a small explosion in the middle of class. Hermione began doing small things on purpose just to analyze his reaction. Once, Snape grinned for an hour after Hermione added too much powered bicorn horn and her potion began whistling like a kettle. She even got the entire class to leave one hundred tubes of extra strength zit cream on his desk one day. Even this didn't cause Snape to blow up! He actually sent everyone a personal thank you note for the zit cream.
After that, the trio followed him around Hogwarts, watching how he acted toward the other professors and students. Maybe not giving a student detention for stepping on his robe wasn't such a drastic change in attitude, but Hermione nearly fainted when they watched Snape laugh at one of Flitwick's jokes. The near-heart attack came when they walked around a corner and all three of them were suddenly touching the ground with their noses. Upon looking up, Hermione, Harry, and Ron had discovered a beaming Severus Snape with wand in hand. He had laughed like a mad-man as he walked away from the three still lying on the floor from shock.
Regardless of the outward appearance of enjoying himself, Severus had been absolutely seething on the inside. He still hadn't been able to find any evidence whatsoever that pointed to Hermione Granger being the culprit. As the back-to-normal Snape paced in his rooms one night, wringing his hands together, he thought about the troublesome three. You never saw one without the other two close by anymore. It was like they were trying to protect each other. Still pacing, Snape smiled suddenly. 'They're protecting each other from me,' he thought. After a few more minutes of pacing, Snape came to an abrupt halt. His eyes narrowed as he thought over all that had happened to him since the start of the year. Hermione had been first and foremost in his mind, but what if it was all three of them instead? 'No,' he finally decided. Potter and Weasley were fairly intelligent, but Hermione surpassed them both with sickening ease. Hermione was definitely the brains behind the whole thing, but what role did Potter and Weasley play? 'Well,' Snape thought, 'all that changes is that I'll get to expel three bothersome brats instead of one.'
Unbeknownst to Snape, Hermione was also pacing back and forth, back and forth in the Room of Requirement. She would stop every so often to jot something down on the piece of parchment before her. Harry and Ron were sitting at the table, watching Hermione pace. After ten more minutes of this, Ron broke the silence.
"Well," he said, "what are we waiting for? I thought we were going to get started tonight." "We are," Hermione said, distracted. She was again writing on the parchment. Harry craned his neck forward slightly.
"What do you keep writing, 'Mione?" She put the quill down and slid everything toward Harry. As he took the parchment from her, Hermione picked up the Marauders Map and began to study it. Harry looked down at the paper before him. It had words on it like homemade bread, smelly feet, onions/garlic...The second to last word made Harry stop.
"Vomit?" he asked. He looked up at Hermione. Ron's eyes grew wide as he looked up at Hermione, too. "Where...?" Harry began, but Hermione cut him off.
"In the dungeons," she said. She stopped staring at the map and looked at the boys, slightly fearful of their reaction. Even though they had been more than willing to help her a week ago, it was possible they had changed their minds. Her fears melted away completely when Harry smiled at her.
"That's brilliant Hermione," Harry said. Ron, eyes still wide with awe, grinned and nodded his agreement. Hermione's cheeks turned slightly red from the praise.
"Now," she said, all business once more, "Mrs. Norris is on the third floor and Filch is lurking around the Trophy Room." She was silent for a second, watching the moving dots on the page. She tapped the page suddenly, a triumphant look in her eyes. "And Snape has just left his rooms!" Hermione folded up the map and tucked it inside her robes. She pulled out her wand and reached for the Invisibility Cloak.
"Well, I guess I'll see you later," she said as she walked toward the door.
"Hold it, Hermione," Ron said as he and Harry walked toward her. She stopped and looked back at them.
"We want to be a bigger part of this, remember?" Ron said.
"Yeah," said Harry, "so that means we're coming with you." Hermione looked from one to the other, surprise written plainly on her face.
"But there's only one cloak. You'll both get caught!" Harry smiled and pulled out his wand.
"We don't need the cloak," he said as he tapped Ron on the head. Ron looked like he was shivering slightly before he disappeared completely. Hermione's jaw dropped as she watched Harry do the same thing to himself.
"A Disillusionment Charm?" she asked. "Harry, that's brilliant!" She was sure that if she could have seen Harry, he would have been smiling at her.
"Okay, what I want you two to do is..." She quickly told each of them what she needed them to do.
"Ready?" she asked the air.
"Yes," came the two different replies from right in front of her.
"That's going to take some getting used to..." she mumbled as she checked the map once more before throwing the cloak over herself.
"Let's go," she whispered before stepping out into the darkened corridor.
~
Hermione walked through the corridors, holding the cloak slightly away from her face and breathing as quietly as possible. She was looking for a tall man dressed from head to foot in black with cold eyes and a piercing gaze. She had already taken care of the Great Hall and the dungeons. Ron's task had been the easiest; all he had to do was go to places where Snape might be during the day and cast random Smell Spells. Harry's task was harder than Ron's (he had to track down both Filch and Mrs. Norris), but Hermione's was definitely the hardest. She had to find Professor Snape and cast the final part of the spell without him knowing she had ever been there.
Hermione rounded a corner and had to stifle a screech of surprise. There was Snape, walking along the corridor with hands behind his back. Taking a deep, calming (quiet) breath, Hermione slid backward so the corner was hiding her slightly but so she could still see Snape's back. Hermione stuck her wand out from under the cloak slightly, muttered the incantation, and watched as the silvery substance touched Snape. She pulled her wand back and leaned against the wall just as Snape whipped around. His eyes narrowed as he looked from one wall to the other, trying to spot the foul thing that had disturbed the silence. Hardly breathing, Hermione took a tiny step away from the wall and began walking in the opposite direction. To her horror, Snape decided to walk the exact same way. He rounded the corner and walked slightly past Hermione before stopping, still searching the corridors. His back went ramrod straight the next second while his eyes grew wide with sudden realization. He turned around slowly, following the wall with his eyes.
"Miss Granger?" he whispered somewhat dangerously. Hermione could no longer breathe. It seemed her throat had closed in on itself. "Under that blasted cloak, no doubt," he said, still talking in a whisper. "If that is you, Miss Granger, this will be your only warning. You and your friends need to back away before you get burned." With that, he turned and continued walking down the corridor. A second later, he was gone. Hermione let go of the breath she had been holding and slumped over from relief-weak knees. Once her heart had slowed down considerably, she straightened and returned to the dorm.
~
"Isn't the first one supposed to be this morning?" Ron asked as the trio took their usual seats as the Gryffindor table.
"Yep," Hermione said. "The first one isn't going to be that bad, though, but the smells will get worse later in the day." Harry and Ron smiled at the thought of how the smells would progress. The best thing about it was that Hermione said the spells would last for at least 48 hours. So, to add insult to injury, Hermione had something else planned for the dearest professor for the next day. The boy's dreamy smiles disappeared when Snape walked into the Great Hall. He stopped just inside the doors and stared at the Gryffindor table. Harry and Ron seemed to shrink a little under his gaze, but Hermione sat up straighter and smiled at him proudly. Snape narrowed his eyes at her but otherwise didn't move. Hermione realized immediately that this had become a contest, and she stared back unflinchingly. Snape suddenly became aware of the questioning stares from his colleagues already seated at the head table. His face suddenly took on a little more color; first from anger at having to concede this round to the Granger girl and second from embarrassment at being caught in a staring contest with the brat. He looked away from her and continued on to the table, completely ignoring the other professors. Thoughts of what Hermione was up to this time disappeared completely as breakfast appeared before him.
A very pleasant smell had just tickled his nose, and Snape was looking up and down the table for the source of the tantalizing aroma. He hadn't smelled homemade bread like that in years. Finding none, he piled eggs onto his plate and plunged his fork into them but chewed unenthusiastically and swallowed without tasting them. His mouth was watering for that bread, wherever it was hiding. The fact that the smell got stronger as the meal went on didn't help matters. Snape was in a very sour mood as he left the Great Hall. Filch calling out to him only nursed that bad mood.
"Professor!" he called, limping toward Snape in his stooped over way. Snape mentally rolled his eyes as he turned around to face the Caretaker. His nostrils flared as a very pungent smell slammed into him. Gone was the sweet smell of bread, and in its place was the almost overwhelming smell of ammonia. Snape's eyes flicked toward the gaggle of second years passing by. They were smiling and talking happily. The smell didn't seem to be bothering them. They either couldn't smell anything at all (improbable), didn't want to be mean and point it out to Filch (impossible), or Snape's sense of smell was very acute that morning and it wasn't affecting everyone else nearly as bad. He returned his attention to Filch and thus didn't notice the Gryffindor trio walk by, all biting the insides of their cheeks to keep from laughing at Snape's flared nose and disapproving eyes. The Potions Master struggled to regain control over his features by breathing through his mouth.
"Yes, Mr. Filch?" he asked.
"I just wanted to let you know that I'm giving that Oliver boy another detention tonight," Filch heaved. Snape became desperate to get away from the smell.
"Very well, very well," he said before turning on his heel and walking quickly toward the dungeons. He could no longer smell the strong disinfectant once he reached the bottom of the stairs. Snape released a grateful sigh for being away from the noisy students and once again in his quiet lair. He wasn't due to teach a class for a couple of hours, but he still liked to work during his free time. With no talking chatter boxes to muffle the noise, Snape's clip-clop steps echoed throughout the corridor. It was just the way he liked it; the dungeons were quiet and dark and there were no overpowering smells attacking your senses. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.
'I've spoken too soon,' he thought as a new smell wafted toward him. It wasn't strong enough to really tell what it was. He steeled himself for the worst as he continued to his office. By the time Snape stopped in front of the secret passage to his office, he was pinching his nose together to ward off the smell of dead fish as much as possible. Snape looked up and down the corridor, trying to find the cause. A mewing sound rose up to his ears from somewhere around his feet, and Snape looked down to find Mrs. Norris staring up at him with bright red eyes. Snape furrowed his brow at her before taping the wall and entering his office.
"Stupid cat probably got into something that oaf Hagrid left out," he mumbled as the wall closed behind him. Snape stopped in the middle of his office before inhaling deeply. It smelled musty (as all closed in spaces do), but above that smell was the smoky scent of oak firewood and the rich, sweet smell of tobacco from the pipes of the generations of professors past. Finding that everything smelled as it should in his sanctuary, Snape continued on to the classroom. He walked in and looked around before he repeated the process of inhaling deeply. There was...something. Snape breathed deeply again. Whatever it was, there wasn't much of it. He dismissed it as one of the smells that goes along with brewing multiple potions daily. Snape went about preparing the lessons and getting the student cupboard ready for the day's activities. He turned to go back to his office when he caught a whiff of something that shouldn't have been there. Snape faced the room once more and mentally braced himself. He breathed deeply and immediately began coughing and gagging slightly from the smell.
"Oh no," he whispered once the coughing fit had ended.
~
"Are you sure we have to go in there?" Harry asked, looking pointedly at the classroom door.
"We don't have much choice," Hermione said, about to enter the classroom. She stopped and looked around. Seeing no one, she pulled out her wand and cast a quick spell on all three of them that would help block out the smell.
"Let's wait for someone else to go in first to see how they react," Hermione said, leading the boys away from the door. Two Ravenclaw students rounded the corner and pushed the door open. The smell was only into its first few hours and was already apparently really strong. The two Ravenclaws looked like they were going to be sick before covering their mouths and noses with their hands and entering the room.
"What did you say it smells like again, Hermione?" Ron asked once the students disappeared inside.
"Vomit," she said before faking a disgusted look and walking into the room. Harry and Ron followed suit. Everyone in the classroom looked sick to their stomachs from the stench of the place. Snape, however, was nowhere to be found. Hermione was beginning to wonder if he was going to show at all when a door in the corner opened and the man in question emerged. Hermione turned around to look at him but immediately turned back, afraid she would start laughing and wouldn't be able to stop. Snape was giving the entire class the most menacing look he could muster with a huge clothes pin on his nose. Hermione had cast a combination of two spells on him the night he had nearly caught her. One spell was the final part of the Smell Spell and the other was one that prevented him from being able to cast a spell that would block most of the smells (like the one Hermione had cast on herself, Harry, and Ron). Even though Snape was the only one who could smell most of the things the trio had cast spells on, Hermione wanted everyone to be able to smell the Potion's classroom.
Snape gave the class their assignment before taking a seat behind his desk, practically daring anyone to complain about the smell. Hermione also got the hidden message behind the way he stalked to his desk and looked at her after he sat down. He was telling her that it wasn't going to be that easy to drive him out of his domain. Hermione completed the potion without meeting his eyes once. She thought Snape was actually going to let her off the hook when the end of class came. However, Snape called to her just as she reached the door.
"Stay behind, Miss Granger," he said. Hermione pulled her bag higher on her shoulder as she backtracked to stand in front of him. Snape remained seated, studying her for a moment before speaking.
"Did I or did I not warn you about your behavior?" he asked. Hermione jutted her chin forward.
"I don't know what you're talking about, sir," she said.
"Don't play games with me, you silly girl," he yelled, standing suddenly. He startled Hermione with his sudden outburst, and she took a step back. Snape visibly (and with much effort) calmed down before speaking again.
"You are the one responsible for this," he said, waving at the classroom in general, "and I'm assuming you were in the corridor the other night to complete whatever plan you have now." Snape rounded the desk suddenly and stood in front of Hermione.
"I won't lie down and take it this time, Miss Granger. You and your two friends had better start watching each other's backs a lot more carefully." Snape pointed his wand at the classroom door, which flew open and slammed into the wall behind.
"Get out," he said. Hermione turned and ran from the room. Snape watched her disappear from sight before he sat behind his desk and began plotting his own revenge against Gryffindor House's golden three.
~
"Hermione, you can't be serious!" Harry yelled.
"Oh, yes I can be," Hermione responded, already reaching for the cloak. Harry stood up and walked to her, putting his hand on the cloak to prevent her from picking it up.
"After what he said to you," Ron said, walking around the table to join Harry and Hermione, "you're still going to cast another spell on him? You have to be joking! Do you have any idea what he would do to you if he caught you again?"
"What do you mean 'again'?" Hermione asked, rounding on Ron. "He didn't catch me the last time. He only thought I was there."
"Yeah," Harry said, "and he was right. He's not stupid, Hermione. He let you go then, but he won't next time."
"He's got it coming to him," she said, jerking on the cloak that Harry held. "Besides, I can handle myself. Now let me GO!" Reluctantly, Harry released the cloak and watched as she threw it over herself and disappeared into the darkened castle.
"We can't let her go alone," Ron said. Harry nodded his agreement and, for the second time in two days, cast the Disillusionment Charm on Ron and himself.
~
'Where is he?' Hermione thought, looking up and down every corridor. 'Where is he?' She finally found him on the second floor, walking very slowly and listening for the slightest sound. There were no convenient corners to hide behind, and it seemed that he had planned it this way. He would walk a few feet in one direction before turning and walking the other way. It was like he was waiting for her to show up. Hermione, hiding in the shadows, clenched her teeth together in a determined way before taking a step closer and pulling out her wand. She had just drawn a breath to say the spell when Snape whipped around and pointed his wand at the shadows, yelling something Hermione didn't quite catch because of the shock she was feeling. The cloak was blown away, exposing her entirely to Snape. She was frozen in place, unable to move even though her mind was screaming at her to run.
Snape had just started casting another spell when someone yelled and someone else muttered a counter curse. Harry and Ron appeared on either side of Hermione, both of their wands pointed at Snape. Ron sent a tickling spell at Snape, but he moved sideways at just the right moment so the spell missed him. Snape in turn sent a stunning spell at Harry, but he also missed. Hermione's brain began working again, and she cast the spell she had intended to cast from the beginning. This time, a spell finally hit its mark. This caused Snape's attention to focus on Hermione. Both Harry and Ron threw spells at him at the same time, but he ducked them both and threw one of his own. It hit Hermione square in the chest. Ron threw another spell at Snape, which he easily ducked, but wasn't quite so fortunate with Harry's spell. It was similar to the body-binding spell, but it instead froze the person for thirty minutes. Hermione, Harry, and Ron ran all the way back to the Room of Requirement. Hermione walked in first and set the cloak on the table.
"Thank you," she whispered. "I don't know what I would have done if you two hadn't shown up."
"Just promise us something," said Ron.
"Anything," said Hermione, looking from one to the other.
"Don't ever refuse our help like that again," said Harry. Hermione smiled before nodding.
"Okay." They gathered their stuff before leaving the Room of Requirement and sneaking back to the Common Room.
Once the portrait closed behind them, Ron said, "Hermione, what spell did Snape hit you with?" Hermione shrugged.
"I don't know," she said, heading to the girls' dorm, "but I guess we'll find out soon enough."
****************
Please review and let me know what you think! I'm open to any kind of feedback, suggestions...Whatever you feel like telling me.
BTW, I'm going to explain why Snape hasn't gone straight to Dumbledore yet in the next chapter.