This one is pretty short...

Thanks to Trancos and Dragonwing for reviewing and for the first one, such a surprise que sepas español! Thanks also to Endilwen for beta-reading this stuff!.

* * *

Snape wasn't very happy with himself. He was still feeling bad about the meeting with Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and now he had to look after Hermione Granger for a couple of hours; not just now, he reminded himself, but for the rest of the week. He should have thought of a way to punish her without punishing himself in the process. He wasn't exactly looking forward to spending his evenings with the infamous Gryffindor know-it-all.

There was a knock on the door, and Hermione came in.

"Good evening, Professor Snape."

"Not very good, now. Come with me"

They both went into the private little room where Snape carried out his own experiments; a couple of cauldrons had something boiling inside them. He gave the girl a handful of ingredients. She looked at them trying to recall what potion would they provide when mixed, but couldn't come up with an answer.

"Well, Miss Granger" he said, with a cruel tone. "Surely for now you have already guessed that you are to develop Veritaserum potion. "

She damned her slow mind, and blamed the after effects of the weekend for it.

"But, Professor…"

"Yes?" his tone didn't allow room for discussion, so she just put her head down and began working. This was a very complicated potion that required complete attention and concentration, so she soon forgot that she was in detention, sharing the classroom with Snape.

Snape hardly looked at her, he was too busy checking his experiments closely and reading. In the end, she had a pleasant afternoon, enjoying the processes of mixing the ingredients in at the correct time, cutting them precisely, and watching the difficult potion beginning to appear.

Snape shot her a glance. Well, he had to recognize the girl was bright. He allowed himself a moment of pure joy watching the accuracy with which she cut and mixed the ingredients, everything cleanly and in the right moment. So different from that Longbottom, and just too unfair that it has her who was given the detentions. But he wasn't known for being fair, and therefore he didn't feel guilty about it.

She found it hard to believe that two hours had passed when Snape dismissed her. If he could always be... well, so absent in his classes, they would be more enjoyable. She ran to the library to do her homework. She was very behind with it already, and she was going to lose another eight hours that week with her detentions.

* * *

"Veritaserum?" Ron and Harry asked at the same time.

She nodded.

"And then he made you try it and asked you about Harry, eh?" Only Ron could ask such a question. They all knew that the use of Veritaserum was strictly controlled.

"Well, Ron, maybe he is a little bit cruel, but he's still teaching at Hogwarts" she laughed.

"I see you are in a better mood now, Hermione" Harry stated.

"Yes... it really wasn't so bad" she ignored Ron's eyes full-opened in astonishment. "I've not been sleeping too well lately"

"Nightmares?"

"Yes"

She tried not to be ashamed of her fears, knowing all Harry had been through. Even he had nightmares, didn't he? But somehow she felt it was pointless telling them. She looked at the tables, now full with students, and realized that Malfoy and his friends were speaking about her. Supressing a grimace, she began eating her food.