A/N: This is not a romance.
-THE CURSED POSITION
CHAPTER SIX - Joining forces
Hermione fidgeted in her seat while Snape bore his piercing gaze on her. She suddenly noticed it was a lot harder telling him than it was to tell Harry and Ron. But that was pretty obvious why.
"Well, Miss Granger, I'm waiting. Is it possible to put to work that brain you 'claim' to have and start talking?", Snape said scowling.
Hermione looked at him a little hurt, but decided to go on. She related everything, since the first class, and her feelings about her.
"I can't put my finger on it, but there's something fishy about her... and nobody seems to notice it!"
"I could see that, in fact you are the first person to notice it, I thought I was the only one... and the time-turner...", Snape was rubbing the bridge of his nose while he took in the information.
"what do you think she wants from your office, Sir?", Hermione ventured to ask, even though she knew he could snap at her at any moment.
"I don't know Miss Granger... I just hope that the next time you decide to do your little detective game, you have the sense to tell me first!", he said looking right into her eyes, "I don't want you walking around the school after curfew or following that woman on your own. Anything you see out of the ordinary, you come straight to me! Are we clear?"
"Y-Yes Sir!"
"I have too much trouble on my hands as it is, to have my job on the line, because I put a student in danger!", he stood up abruptly, "Even if I will surely regret this,I have only you to count on... investigating this woman, so be careful!"
Going in the direction of the door, he said as he opened it, "You can go, Miss Granger!"
Hermione thankfully left the dungeon and the sight of Snape. She wasn't sure if this was a good idea, Snape gave her the creeps and to have to report to him every time she saw something unusual wasn't something she looked forward to.
"At least if he didn't insult me at every two words he speaks!", she said under her breath while climbing the stairs to her dormitory. It was already too late to go have dinner and she had lost her appetite anyway.
....................................................................
It was already past midnight when Snape left his office, he had been trying to understand why that Kali woman needed a time-turner but before he could get more clues, that information alone wasn't going to take him anywhere.
He sighed when he thought his only ally on this, was know-it-all Miss Granger...
"At least she is intelligent enough!", he thought, "Not that I'll ever admit that to her!"
Knowing that he would not be able to sleep anytime soon, he decided to patrol the halls, it usually helped him think better.
"Can't sleep again Professor?", a cold deep voice asked and he immediately knew who it was. Used to walk around during the night, he always met the Bloody Baron on the way.
"Some things never change...", Snape answered almost without noticing.
"Indeed, still worried about the new professor?"
Snape turned on his heels to eye the Bloody Baron, "Why? Did you see anything unusual?"
"Not more than what you have. But I can assure you that her influence is only among the living. I find it curious that she couldn't fool you or the young Gryffindor...", said the Baron solemnly.
"Her influence?"
"You are an intelligent man Professor, I'm sure you must have noticed that everyone seems to trust her more than they should...", the Baron replied.
Before he could ask anything else, the Baron had already floated away through a wall.
...........................................................................
In the morning, Snape went in a hurry to the Great Hall to find Dumbledore.
"Good morning, Severus, you seem tired, have you been sleeping at all?"
"I was up late last night... working.", said Snape trying to change the subject in a way, the Headmaster wouldn't suspect, "Uh... I don't remember seeing Professor Nox at Hogwarts in my school days... has she gone to a different school?"
"No, she told me she was a Hogwarts student, a Ravenclaw!"
"Do you actually remember her?", asked Snape incredulous.
"Well... no but I am over 140 years old after all, some things are bound to escape my mind!", the old man chuckled.
"I thought you said you remembered every student that ever set foot at the school!", Snape could see this whole thing was very wrong.
"What is this Severus, are you trying to discredit the poor woman again?, Dumbledore replied annoyed.
"No sir, just curiosity.", Snape decided he was going to play nice or he would make things even more difficult.
Professor Nox was happily conversing with McGonagall, but every once in a while she glanced to where Snape was sitting.
Finishing his coffee, Snape gazed over the students in the Great Hall, stopping his eyes on the Gryffindor table and saw that Hermione was gazing back. With a slight gesture, he pointed to the front door and stood up.
Understanding the command Hermione left the table saying she had to take a quick look at a book in the library, before the first class. Ron and Harry just shook their heads imagining how she could start her day already in the library.
Snape left first, both he and Hermione oblivious to Professor Nox's stare.
When Hermione came out in the hall, she found Snape pacing impatiently.
"Professor?"
"Come to my office, I don't think it's safe to be talking about this here!"
Hermione followed him to the dungeon, of course, running to keep up with him and she wondered if he knew that, and did it on purpose.
"Probably!", she said.
"What was that, Miss Granger?"
"Nothing, Sir!", she said.
"Enter and sit down!"
"Yes, Professor."
"It came to my attention that Professor Nox was a student here at Hogwarts, but I can't recall seeing her here. Since she seems to be around my age, I find it difficult to not have spotted her before!"
"Do you think she's lying?"
"That's what I can come up with now, however, I want to be sure of that. I have classes non-stop all day and detention afterwards. I was wondering if you could check the students who attended Hogwarts in the 70's and 80's at the library?", he spoke in a tone that was more like a command than a question.
"I can do that. After my last class, I was planning to go there anyway."
"Good, there's one more thing... I was thinking about this hold she's got over apparently everyone, except for you and I. It's not something known to many, but I've heard of mind control before, unlike the Imperious curse, it holds more than one subjects under control for a great period of time."
"I can look for that, but I'm afraid it's more likely for it to be found on the restricted section..."
"I'll give you a pass, I trust you will look only for that and I hope you are responsible enough to not take Potter and Weasley with you!"
"Are you mad?I wouldn't be that stupid!", she involuntarily brought one hand to her mouth, having spoken before thinking.
"Don't be impertinent, Miss Granger!
"I'm sorry Sir...I..", she started stuttering, making Snape even more annoyed.
"I'm going to let it pass this time, but I want to make it clear that just because I'm stuck with you to help me, it doesn't mean I will tolerate any of your cheeky remarks!"
"It's not like I asked to be here!"
His glare was so terrifying it made Hermione flinch.
"Get out of my sight, before I start taking points from Gryffindor all the way until tomorrow!", it was clear he was making a lot of effort to control himself not to, "And report to my office tonight after 8 O'clock!"
"Yes Professor.", she left with her head bowed, afraid to look back at him.
It wasn't like her to retort to any Professor, but she was under a lot of pressure working with Snape, he wasn't easy to deal with and she had a lot in her mind already, concerning that woman.
............................................................................ .
Hermione ate her food faster than usual, so she could leave the Great Hall before everyone else and not be seen, going to Snape's office.
She had no problem leaving without being noticed. She ran to the dungeon thinking she had been very successful in her research, at least the part of the "mind control" thing. As for Professor Nox being a student at Hogwarts, it was a complete lie. She wasn't really surprised though. Now the difficult part was to find out where she came from and to find what?
It was at this point that her arm was pulled with such force she lost her balance, not flying to the floor only because whoever pulled her, was still holding her arm.
"What are you two playing at?", Professor Nox was glaring at her, her voice wasn't as sweet as it used to be in front of the others.
"Let go of my arm!", Hermione pulled her arm back rubbing it where Nox's death grip had been.
"I've been watching you two acting very strange lately and I want an explanation! I suppose the Headmaster won't be too happy to know that you and a Professor have been having these out-of-class encounters...", Nox said with a smirk.
"I don't know what you're implying, but...", Hermione face was flushing with anger.
"Shut up! You have no idea what I am capable of, and if I find that you two are plotting against me in any way, I..."
"What are you going to do?", Snape was between the two women in less then a minute.
He was advancing towards Nox, and towering her in his most intimidating way, as she stumbled back. Looking at the two of them facing each other like that, it was like a duel was about to start. She didn't seem intimidated, but surprised.
Snape had been, since she arrived Hogwarts, a little uneasy around her. He wasn't afraid but up until now he hadn't been able to face her like he was doing. Although neither himself or Hermione had been affected by her control, they always felt somewhat threatened by her.
Probably the sight of her hurting a student trigged his anger to higher depths.
They were both holding their wands at each other, eyes not moving. Hermione wanted to do something, but she just froze on the spot.
"Tell me, were you just threatening a student?", Snape asked.
"I know what you're up to, you are wasting your time, no one is going to listen to either of you!"
"I'll find other ways don't you worry!", he said, moving further without taking his eyes off of her, "Now Professor, if you want to go on with this, I'm not afraid to use more 'drastic' spells. You know, I have nothing to lose..."
Snape's silky voice didn't change in any way, the intimidating effect that it was causing.
Professor Nox shot a furious look at Snape and Hermione and left.
Hermione sighed and let herself fall back to the wall. Snape was quiet evidently controlling his emotions.
"Are you alright, Miss Granger?"
"I'm Ok."
"I don't know if this is a good idea..."
"What is?"
"You helping with this... I am endangering your life. It is obvious that this woman we're dealing with, is a lot more dangerous than I thought!"
"But Professor, I can help a lot, and you have no one else to count on!"
"I have been able to get through things without a student's help before!", he said sarcastically.
"Don't you at least want to hear what I have found in the library?", she asked hoping he wouldn't push her away now. It was too far for her to turn back.
He looked at her visibly debating what to do. Finally shaking his head, he said, "Let's see what you've found so far..."
She followed him to his office, wishing she could talk about this with Ron and Harry, but at this point she knew it was out of question.
**************************************************************************** ***********
A/N : I want to thank everyone who reviewed so far.
To Keika no Kaiyou : I'm gonna say this again, this fic is NOT a romance. No I'm not pairing Snape to Hermione nor Kali Nox. This is a mystery story. Probably the only thing that will happen is Hermione developing a better Professor/student relationship w/Snape.
I'll reveal more next chapter, I'll leave you guys hanging on this one.
-THE CURSED POSITION
CHAPTER SIX - Joining forces
Hermione fidgeted in her seat while Snape bore his piercing gaze on her. She suddenly noticed it was a lot harder telling him than it was to tell Harry and Ron. But that was pretty obvious why.
"Well, Miss Granger, I'm waiting. Is it possible to put to work that brain you 'claim' to have and start talking?", Snape said scowling.
Hermione looked at him a little hurt, but decided to go on. She related everything, since the first class, and her feelings about her.
"I can't put my finger on it, but there's something fishy about her... and nobody seems to notice it!"
"I could see that, in fact you are the first person to notice it, I thought I was the only one... and the time-turner...", Snape was rubbing the bridge of his nose while he took in the information.
"what do you think she wants from your office, Sir?", Hermione ventured to ask, even though she knew he could snap at her at any moment.
"I don't know Miss Granger... I just hope that the next time you decide to do your little detective game, you have the sense to tell me first!", he said looking right into her eyes, "I don't want you walking around the school after curfew or following that woman on your own. Anything you see out of the ordinary, you come straight to me! Are we clear?"
"Y-Yes Sir!"
"I have too much trouble on my hands as it is, to have my job on the line, because I put a student in danger!", he stood up abruptly, "Even if I will surely regret this,I have only you to count on... investigating this woman, so be careful!"
Going in the direction of the door, he said as he opened it, "You can go, Miss Granger!"
Hermione thankfully left the dungeon and the sight of Snape. She wasn't sure if this was a good idea, Snape gave her the creeps and to have to report to him every time she saw something unusual wasn't something she looked forward to.
"At least if he didn't insult me at every two words he speaks!", she said under her breath while climbing the stairs to her dormitory. It was already too late to go have dinner and she had lost her appetite anyway.
....................................................................
It was already past midnight when Snape left his office, he had been trying to understand why that Kali woman needed a time-turner but before he could get more clues, that information alone wasn't going to take him anywhere.
He sighed when he thought his only ally on this, was know-it-all Miss Granger...
"At least she is intelligent enough!", he thought, "Not that I'll ever admit that to her!"
Knowing that he would not be able to sleep anytime soon, he decided to patrol the halls, it usually helped him think better.
"Can't sleep again Professor?", a cold deep voice asked and he immediately knew who it was. Used to walk around during the night, he always met the Bloody Baron on the way.
"Some things never change...", Snape answered almost without noticing.
"Indeed, still worried about the new professor?"
Snape turned on his heels to eye the Bloody Baron, "Why? Did you see anything unusual?"
"Not more than what you have. But I can assure you that her influence is only among the living. I find it curious that she couldn't fool you or the young Gryffindor...", said the Baron solemnly.
"Her influence?"
"You are an intelligent man Professor, I'm sure you must have noticed that everyone seems to trust her more than they should...", the Baron replied.
Before he could ask anything else, the Baron had already floated away through a wall.
...........................................................................
In the morning, Snape went in a hurry to the Great Hall to find Dumbledore.
"Good morning, Severus, you seem tired, have you been sleeping at all?"
"I was up late last night... working.", said Snape trying to change the subject in a way, the Headmaster wouldn't suspect, "Uh... I don't remember seeing Professor Nox at Hogwarts in my school days... has she gone to a different school?"
"No, she told me she was a Hogwarts student, a Ravenclaw!"
"Do you actually remember her?", asked Snape incredulous.
"Well... no but I am over 140 years old after all, some things are bound to escape my mind!", the old man chuckled.
"I thought you said you remembered every student that ever set foot at the school!", Snape could see this whole thing was very wrong.
"What is this Severus, are you trying to discredit the poor woman again?, Dumbledore replied annoyed.
"No sir, just curiosity.", Snape decided he was going to play nice or he would make things even more difficult.
Professor Nox was happily conversing with McGonagall, but every once in a while she glanced to where Snape was sitting.
Finishing his coffee, Snape gazed over the students in the Great Hall, stopping his eyes on the Gryffindor table and saw that Hermione was gazing back. With a slight gesture, he pointed to the front door and stood up.
Understanding the command Hermione left the table saying she had to take a quick look at a book in the library, before the first class. Ron and Harry just shook their heads imagining how she could start her day already in the library.
Snape left first, both he and Hermione oblivious to Professor Nox's stare.
When Hermione came out in the hall, she found Snape pacing impatiently.
"Professor?"
"Come to my office, I don't think it's safe to be talking about this here!"
Hermione followed him to the dungeon, of course, running to keep up with him and she wondered if he knew that, and did it on purpose.
"Probably!", she said.
"What was that, Miss Granger?"
"Nothing, Sir!", she said.
"Enter and sit down!"
"Yes, Professor."
"It came to my attention that Professor Nox was a student here at Hogwarts, but I can't recall seeing her here. Since she seems to be around my age, I find it difficult to not have spotted her before!"
"Do you think she's lying?"
"That's what I can come up with now, however, I want to be sure of that. I have classes non-stop all day and detention afterwards. I was wondering if you could check the students who attended Hogwarts in the 70's and 80's at the library?", he spoke in a tone that was more like a command than a question.
"I can do that. After my last class, I was planning to go there anyway."
"Good, there's one more thing... I was thinking about this hold she's got over apparently everyone, except for you and I. It's not something known to many, but I've heard of mind control before, unlike the Imperious curse, it holds more than one subjects under control for a great period of time."
"I can look for that, but I'm afraid it's more likely for it to be found on the restricted section..."
"I'll give you a pass, I trust you will look only for that and I hope you are responsible enough to not take Potter and Weasley with you!"
"Are you mad?I wouldn't be that stupid!", she involuntarily brought one hand to her mouth, having spoken before thinking.
"Don't be impertinent, Miss Granger!
"I'm sorry Sir...I..", she started stuttering, making Snape even more annoyed.
"I'm going to let it pass this time, but I want to make it clear that just because I'm stuck with you to help me, it doesn't mean I will tolerate any of your cheeky remarks!"
"It's not like I asked to be here!"
His glare was so terrifying it made Hermione flinch.
"Get out of my sight, before I start taking points from Gryffindor all the way until tomorrow!", it was clear he was making a lot of effort to control himself not to, "And report to my office tonight after 8 O'clock!"
"Yes Professor.", she left with her head bowed, afraid to look back at him.
It wasn't like her to retort to any Professor, but she was under a lot of pressure working with Snape, he wasn't easy to deal with and she had a lot in her mind already, concerning that woman.
............................................................................ .
Hermione ate her food faster than usual, so she could leave the Great Hall before everyone else and not be seen, going to Snape's office.
She had no problem leaving without being noticed. She ran to the dungeon thinking she had been very successful in her research, at least the part of the "mind control" thing. As for Professor Nox being a student at Hogwarts, it was a complete lie. She wasn't really surprised though. Now the difficult part was to find out where she came from and to find what?
It was at this point that her arm was pulled with such force she lost her balance, not flying to the floor only because whoever pulled her, was still holding her arm.
"What are you two playing at?", Professor Nox was glaring at her, her voice wasn't as sweet as it used to be in front of the others.
"Let go of my arm!", Hermione pulled her arm back rubbing it where Nox's death grip had been.
"I've been watching you two acting very strange lately and I want an explanation! I suppose the Headmaster won't be too happy to know that you and a Professor have been having these out-of-class encounters...", Nox said with a smirk.
"I don't know what you're implying, but...", Hermione face was flushing with anger.
"Shut up! You have no idea what I am capable of, and if I find that you two are plotting against me in any way, I..."
"What are you going to do?", Snape was between the two women in less then a minute.
He was advancing towards Nox, and towering her in his most intimidating way, as she stumbled back. Looking at the two of them facing each other like that, it was like a duel was about to start. She didn't seem intimidated, but surprised.
Snape had been, since she arrived Hogwarts, a little uneasy around her. He wasn't afraid but up until now he hadn't been able to face her like he was doing. Although neither himself or Hermione had been affected by her control, they always felt somewhat threatened by her.
Probably the sight of her hurting a student trigged his anger to higher depths.
They were both holding their wands at each other, eyes not moving. Hermione wanted to do something, but she just froze on the spot.
"Tell me, were you just threatening a student?", Snape asked.
"I know what you're up to, you are wasting your time, no one is going to listen to either of you!"
"I'll find other ways don't you worry!", he said, moving further without taking his eyes off of her, "Now Professor, if you want to go on with this, I'm not afraid to use more 'drastic' spells. You know, I have nothing to lose..."
Snape's silky voice didn't change in any way, the intimidating effect that it was causing.
Professor Nox shot a furious look at Snape and Hermione and left.
Hermione sighed and let herself fall back to the wall. Snape was quiet evidently controlling his emotions.
"Are you alright, Miss Granger?"
"I'm Ok."
"I don't know if this is a good idea..."
"What is?"
"You helping with this... I am endangering your life. It is obvious that this woman we're dealing with, is a lot more dangerous than I thought!"
"But Professor, I can help a lot, and you have no one else to count on!"
"I have been able to get through things without a student's help before!", he said sarcastically.
"Don't you at least want to hear what I have found in the library?", she asked hoping he wouldn't push her away now. It was too far for her to turn back.
He looked at her visibly debating what to do. Finally shaking his head, he said, "Let's see what you've found so far..."
She followed him to his office, wishing she could talk about this with Ron and Harry, but at this point she knew it was out of question.
**************************************************************************** ***********
A/N : I want to thank everyone who reviewed so far.
To Keika no Kaiyou : I'm gonna say this again, this fic is NOT a romance. No I'm not pairing Snape to Hermione nor Kali Nox. This is a mystery story. Probably the only thing that will happen is Hermione developing a better Professor/student relationship w/Snape.
I'll reveal more next chapter, I'll leave you guys hanging on this one.