Author's Note: Well, I'd like to thank all of those who've reviewed. To tell the truth, I wasn't really expecting a lot in the first place. And to answer Rain's Excalibur, the whole Snape bit will be explained, especially since he's one of the two main characters.
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Chapter 2
August 13, 1997: Hogwarts
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Severus Snape woke up to greet...well, growl, at the morning.
'God, I hate mornings. Why in hell's fire did I let Dumbledore convince me to put windows in here?' Snape mentally grumbled, as he lifted his hand to block the morning rays until he could escape into his bathroom.
Closing the door behind him, he murmured Lumos to light the candles that let off a soft glow. Removing his sleeping garments, Snape still half- asleep clambered into the shower. With another murmured word, the showerhead started, causing water at the perfect temperature to cascade down onto the suddenly awaked Potions Professor. Scrubbing absent mindedly, Severus Snape thought back to the past week, thinking it had probably been the most exhausting and tiring week yet. And that even included a week full of dunderheads blowing up cauldrons left and right. Just thinking about the incompetent idiots gave him a shudder. Rubbing his hair with the shampoo, his mind drifted again to the week that had started to wear down all the emotional barriers that he'd set up to keep himself from breaking down under the stress.
Dumbledore looked towards Hogwarts' current Potions Master, who was currently Glaring down at his breakfast meal as though it were responsible for all the troubles in the world. The Headmaster merely smiled, behind his glass of pumpkin juice.
Severus on the other hand was glowering. It hadn't been his idea to come up and join the rest of the staff for breakfast. Dumbledore in his unerring wisdom (scoffs) thought it a good idea for him to come up from the dungeons and 'mingle'. The very word made Snape want to scowl harder.
Suddenly, the cry of an owl disrupted the quiet chatter of teachers, which then picked up again. The lull of voices came again, when the rare eagle owl swept and landed in front of Snape. Looking up from his breakfast, Snape looked at the bird suspiciously before pulling the letter from its leg. Giving the bird a bit of toast while glancing at the envelope, Snape froze when he recognized the handwriting. Only moving after the eagle owl had nipped his empty fingers, Snape quickly opened the letter and scanned its contents quickly after making sure that he could be the only one to read it. Seeing a date and time a week from now, Snape hid the envelope into one of his many pockets, and stood abruptly from the table.
"Headmaster, I will be leaving in a weeks time. I'll be back by the beginning of term." Snape said, his mind racing with ideas of why Demerius would write to him, and only coming up with one explanation.
"Severus?" Dumbldore said, wondering what could have upset his Potions Professor to have to leave so abruptly.
"May I speak with you in private then, if you must know now?" Severus responded impatiently, knowing that he had to take his leave soon.
"Of course, in my office then." Dumbldore said, taking the teachers' passageway behind the staff table.
'The beginning of probably the crappiest, and anxious filled week of my life' Snape thought sourly, snapping out of his reverie, shutting off the shower at the same time.
Climbing out, and wrapping a towel around his waist, Snape went to stand in front of the sink, rifling around the cabinet to find the shaving blade. Noticing the blood stains around the sink drain, Severus turned the faucet on to run the water and blood down the drain. Looking up at his reflection in the mirror, he glanced down again down at the blade in his hand.
Giving another sigh, he began the tedious task of shaving, knowing that he'd be going to rendezvous that day with someone he hadn't wanted to see again, at least for a long, long time.
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"Bye mum, I'll see you on one of the breaks. I'll owl you telling you when," Hermione said, giving her mom a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Fine, fine. Even though you know those birds sweeping in disturb me."
"I know, but there isn't really any other way unless you mind installing a fireplace." Hermione joked, pulling back from the hug.
"No thanks, I'll take disturbed wife over large bill." Aaron said, smiling, pulling his daughter into his own tight hug.
Hermione laughed as Julia feigned anger and smacked her husband lightly on the arm.
"Well, call, owl, whatever. We'll see you on the next break you can tear yourself away from that library of theirs." Julia smiled, stepping back, giving her daughter room to go through the barrier.
"I will mom. Love you." Hermione called, setting a brisk pace towards the barrier.
"Love you too." The last thing that Hermione heard from her parents before walking through the seemingly solid column that actually led to the platform of 9 3/4.
"You know, that still looks odd, no matter how many times I see it. I always expect her to smack into the wall or something." Julia said to her husband, who was looking at the wall where his daughter disappeared.
"I know exactly what you mean honey. I know exactly what you mean." Aaron said, shaking his head, then guiding his wife to the entrance.
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Clearing the barrier, the sight of the Hogwarts Express was a calming one, with the deep chug of the engine and the puffs of gray smoke that rose from the top of the train. Hauling her trunk behind her, she dragged the heavy luggage to the open compartment.
Boarding the train, she headed to the back of the train as she had been instructed to in her letter that she received during the middle of the summer.
Dear Miss Granger,
It is my hope that you are enjoying a pleasant summer and I hope that this letter finds you well. I find it to be my honor to announce that along with your Prefect duties, which you are to be this year's Head Girl.
Congratulations on earning your new title, and I trust that you shall uphold the responsibilities that come with it. On September 1st, you shall have to arrive at Platform 9 3/4 one hour earlier than normal. As Head Girl, you shall be seated with the Head Boy, as well as the returning teachers taking the train back to Hogwarts. Again, congratulations, and I wish you well until I see you again for the upcoming term.
Sincerely Your Head of House,
Minerva McGonagall
On receiving her letter, she promptly had begun to bounce up and down, startling her parents until she was able to tell them, which then they joined her in her celebration. After the adrenaline had gone, her father and mother had taken her out to treat her to whatever she wanted for the day to celebrate.
Now she found herself somewhat nervous and wondering what she would have to do for her new Head Girl duties. She all ready knew the regular Prefect duties, seeing as how she had been one for two years previously, not counting the current one.
Juggling Crookshanks' carrier into her other hand, she reached to open the door of the last compartment reserved for the Head Boy and Girl, and of course the returning teachers.
Suddenly, the door swung open, nearly startling her enough to drop Crookshanks. Hissing could be heard from the carrier, as she looked up into the obsidian eyes of her Potions Professor, Severus Snape.
"Well, what are you waiting for, you silly girl, get in." He snapped, spinning around quickly in the other direction to gracefully sit down in a plush chair.
Shaking off the sudden paralysis that had taken over her, she even more nervously walked in, looking around the compartment. It was much more spacious than that of the other compartments. It was far larger than one should be, (magic of course) and the seats were separate and looked suspiciously like recliners. Two of said chairs were occupied, one by the glowering Potions Master, the other by, who she assumed was Head Boy, Terry Boot who was currently rather pale and sitting ramrod straight. Probably nervous because of the close proximity to the snarky Snape.
That thought nearly gave her a set of giggles, which she promptly shut up with a glare from the irritated-looking teacher. Taking the nearest seat to Terry, she placed Crookshanks onto one of the small side tables that decorated the room. Smiling reassuringly at Terry, who gave a shaky smile back, she settled into her seat. Rather uncomfortable and silent moments passed, until Hermione couldn't stand it anymore. The train hadn't even started its way onto Hogwarts and they were all ready being cowed by the mere presence of Snape.
"So, Terry, I guess that I should congratulate you on earning the Head Boy title, seeing as how you're here?" Hermione asked politely, trying to strike up some sort of conversation in the strained atmosphere.
"Oh, uh, u-um yes, and I suppose y-you're the new H-Head Girl?" Terry asked nervously, shooting glances towards Snape.
"Yes, I'm a little nervous actually. I mean, I've been a Prefect, but I've been wondering what the added duties for Head Girl would be." Hermione replied, wondering if Snape would just ignore them, or quietly in that disquieting voice of his to kindly shut up.
Her answer came quickly to her discomfort. "Well, Miss Granger, would you hold onto that curiosity of yours and wait so that you may find out at another time?" Professor Snape sneered, not even looking up from the article that he was reading out of Ars Alchemica.
Noticing the title of the acclaimed Potions Journal, Hermione didn't even notice as Terry got up and slipped out of the cabin, leaving Snape and her alone.
"Is that the latest copy?" Hermione asked, testing the waters. Snape merely ignored her, intent on his reading. Mustering up the famous Gryffindor courage, she charged straight ahead, not even bothering to think about exactly whom she was talking to.
"Did you read that rubbish in the experimental section in the last issue? The idiot was trying to modify the potion by adding an increased amount of jobberknoll feathers and adding belladonna and alihotsy. That would increase the affects of the hysteria that the belladonna would induce, and the person ingesting it would probably be driven mad permanently. Anyone with a brain would...have..." Hermione trailed off into the silence that followed her last word. Her courage seemed to give a fat plop, as she seemed to deflate.
Severus however had stopped reading at the mention of the modified potion. He himself had caught the same mistake of the writer. Instead of leaving her hanging, as he normally would have, he took up the viewpoint of the author, and asked, "but what about the increased amount of jobberknoll? Wouldn't that reduce the hysteria affects of the belladonna while using the essence of the ingredient to enhance the potion?"
Startled, Hermione hadn't been expecting his voice. At least this slightly less-than-normal sneering one. Shyly glancing up to look at Snape's face, she found his eyes still glued to the paper, though they had stopped moving along the words. Looking at a glance, he seemed as though he was still reading, but at further inspection, he seemed to actually be somewhat...interested?
"Well, in my readings, I've found that the alihotsy besides increasing the potency of all aspects in belladonna, it also decreases the affects of the feathers, since alihotsy is poisonous to..."
"Jobberknolls, yes, yes I know." Snape said, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. He eyed the Hermione who was sitting almost directly across from him. Very good. Very good indeed. Severus Snape was not one so easily impressed. Yet this girl-or young woman- had done just that, impressed him. The work that had been published had been done by a graduate student, in his mind should be kicked out of the university that he was studying at the idiot. Snape himself had taken a cursory look at his work, and had found several mistakes in the first paragraph.
Any other 7th year, he wouldn't have expected to even know the differences between the alihotsy plant and the poisonous cousin of it, belladonna, let alone know why the ingredient would affect the potion if added. He should have known however that the Granger girl would have known. She was a voracious reader who almost matched himself in his appetite of all things in written.
Setting his paper down, he looked Granger in the eye. He saw a flash of doubt and fear that was quickly covered and pushed aside by her determination and confidence. Not many people that young were so confident in themselves. To understand what they know, and have the confidence to back it up. Impressive. Very impressive.
After almost 5 complete minutes of scrutinizing, Hermione began to feel more self-conscious and began to fidget in her seat a bit. Leaning back into his seat, he snapped at the girl, "stop fidgeting Granger." Instantly, she sat up straight, giving her utter attention like she normally would in his class.
"Well, if you believe yourself to know most of the intricacies of Potion making, why don't you tell me your point of view on this particular potion?"
'Well, that was a broad question. And I think a little insulting too. Dammit.' "Well sir..." The two continued on, neither noticing when the train began to start to move, nor the absence of the Head Boy.
When the Hogwarts Express came to a halting stop, Hermione looked up from the argument she had just been about to deliver to look around confused.
"If you hadn't noticed, we've arrived." Snape said, in a low voice. He had even been surprised, not noticing the time flying by so quickly. Realizing that the girl had stayed with him of her own free will. "I'll leave you to get into your school robes then." Standing up from his seat, the copy of Ars Alchemica disappearing into his robes, he headed towards the door. "Oh, and Miss Granger, don't think that you've earned any special treatment." Snape sneered, not quite as maliciously as he could of though, Hermione noticed. With that parting statement, Snape closed the door with a snap.
Exhaling, Hermione got up from her seat as well, taking out her robes and un-shrinking them with her wand, she changed quickly into her school robes. Pinning her Head Girl badge onto her robe, Hermione took another deep breath. Realizing something had occurred between her and the Potions Master, she realized that she had to go out and help the Prefects direct the younger classmen.
As though reacting to her thoughts, Terry Boot opened the cabin door and stuck his head in. After a cursory look, Terry looked to Hermione. "You ready? You can leave your familiar here, the House Elves will get him. We've got to go."
"All right, let's go." Working a kink out of her back from sitting too long, she stretched a bit as Terry waited for her.
Looking at her incredulously, he looked at her through narrowed eyes. "Did you stay in there the whole ride?"
"Yes, why? I thought we were supposed to stay here." Hermione asked bewildered, as they got off the train.
"It wasn't mandatory. You could have just left your luggage and gone and sat with your friends. Don't tell me you actually sat with the greasy bat of the dungeons?" Terry asked, his tone half joking, half mortified.
"Well, I couldn't very well have just left him there, I mean, that would have been impolite." Hermione asked, going around, looking for Harry and Ron.
"Whatever. Well, I'll see you at the Prefects meeting I guess." Terry said, waving a little as he blended into a group of Ravenclaws.
Calling out to them, Hermione yelled, "Harry! Ron!"
"Hermione!"
"'Mione!"
"Hey it's good to see you guys again. Come on, we can talk on the carriage." Skirting around the black Thestrals, (ever since she could see them, she found them utterly disconcerting) Hermione climbed into the carriage, followed by Harry and Ron.
"How have you guys been? I didn't get that many owls from you this summer." Hermione said, looking between the two boys.
"Well, Dumbldore said to cut down on the owls. With Voldemort so close to rising, he didn't want to take any chances." Ron replied, looking sheepish.
"Oh, I understand." Hermione said, fingering her Head Girl's badge.
Noticing the badge, Harry was quick to speak up. "Congratulations on being Head Girl. Though everyone knew that you would be." Harry teased, giving Hermione a small smile, his jade eyes twinkling slightly with amounts of amusement and sadness.
Wanting to avoid any tenseness, Hermione responded. "Yea, like I said in my letter, my parents went nuts and we went celebrating after I got my letter."
"Yea, about that, why didn't you come to Headquarters?" Ron blurted. Harry elbowed him in the ribs, getting a 'what?' in response.
Rolling her eyes at her best friends, sometimes she wished they were just a bit different. But then, they wouldn't be them. "You guys know I wanted to spend some time with my parents. This is my final year at Hogwarts, and I probably will be going to university once the summer after the year is over. I want to spend as much time as I possibly can with them." Hermione said, addressing both boys, seeing the curiosity in Harry's eyes as well.
"Well, I guess I can understand that." Ron said. 'He probably didn't', Hermione thought, thinking about how different their situations were. Ron's family was so big, he could probably fall back on any one of his siblings for help and all of them were rooted into the wizarding world. She on the other hand, was from a completely muggle background, and had no connections to the wizard world besides her studies and friends. Even Harry was The Boy Who Lived, and probably couldn't disappear from this magical world even if he wanted to.
"So has there been any news on You-Kno- I mean Voldemort?" Hermione asked. She had been trying to get over using the silly replacement for the Dark Lord's name. It still bothered Ron, as Hermione saw him cringe. Harry however just sat calmly in his seat, albeit a bit more stone-faced than a second before.
"No, I haven't really heard anything. We eavesdropped a bit in the meetings at Grimmauld, but we couldn't really get much. All that I could gather was that Voldemort is trying to find this weapon or some such." Harry answered, his voice a degree or two chillier whenever he spoke of Voldemort.
There was an uncomfortable silence that lasted until the carriage stopped with a jerk. Harry snapped out of his mood, the light coming back into his green eyes.
"I guess we better get going then. They aren't going to wait for us to start the feast!" Harry said, getting up to exit the carriage.
"You said it!" Ron said, eager to get to the food that was probably waiting to appear with a clap from Dumbledore.
Hermione just rolled her eyes at her two friends insatiable appetites. Climbing out of the carriage after them, she looked up at the magical castle that was Hogwarts. That odd feeling of anxiousness overcame her again, and Hermione just knew that this was the year something was going to change everything, and for some reason, she couldn't wait.
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Author's Note2: Mainly, just wanted to tell you guys if you saw something completely wrong with my 'Potion's Talk', it's because I don't know a wit about Potions. I just bluffed my way through it. Potions isn't really the main idea of this story, so it's not really that important anyway. Oh, and the Ars Alchemica journal was made up, I think. I read it somewhere in a fanfic. Not really sure which at this point though. So, whoever came up with that, well, I credit them. Till next time I update then.
-ja matta ne