Disclaimer: The characters, settings, etc. of the Harry Potter series are not mine. I just play with them.
A Summer at 12 Grimmauld Place
Part Two
Hermione awoke the next morning a little after eight, and was amazed to find that she felt extremely well rested. She opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling of her room. Like the rest of Grimmauld place, the bedroom dubbed by Harry as, simply, "'Mione's Room" had been scrubbed clean and restored to make it seem a bit more homely. Hermione had been pleased with the results.
Of course, the wallpaper was still peeling off of the walls in some spots, there was that oddly shaped watermark on the ceiling above her, and the wooden floors were so scuffed that no number of polishings would ever make them shine again, but the place no longer gave off an aura of death and decay. Now it just seemed to have a pleasantly worn feel, like the quilt on her bed at home. It was breaking down, but it was only because of overuse and most certainly not neglect.
Hermione stretched in her bed, luxuriating in the feeling of the muscles in her back lengthening. She sat up, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and padded her way over to the door.
Opening her door and walking into the hallway, Hermione was surprised to find the scent of coffee already wafting through the air. This meant that Ron and Harry had already woken up. As she passed by their rooms, she looked through their open doors. Both of their rooms were indeed empty, Ron's bed looking very slept in but very vacant and Harry's bed neatly made but also vacant.
Hermione wondered what would have taken them from their beds at such an early hour, but did not give it much thought. She was distracted by the scent of coffee that was growing stronger as she made her way down the stairs and towards the kitchen.
She entered the kitchen a few seconds later with a smile plastered on her face in anticipation of her caffeine consumption. When her eyes landed on the table, however, she nearly screamed.
Severus Snape sat before it, her pink monogrammed 'Hermione' mug in one hand and The Daily Prophet in the other. Harry and Ron were nowhere to be seen.
Hermione cleared her throat and regained her composure as she took another step into the kitchen. "Good morning, Professor," she said, willing herself not to scream at him for using her mug.
"Good Morning, Miss Granger," he replied, not taking his eyes off of the Prophet and bringing her mug to his lips to take a noisy slurp of coffee.
Hermione ground her teeth together. She hated slurpers. Harry had slurped at one point in time, but she broke him of that habit the first summer she spent at the Burrow with him and Ron. She had patience for many things, but she had absolutely no patience for those who slurped their drink.
"Do you have to do that, sir?" she asked through clenched teeth as she took another step into the kitchen.
His eyes flickered from the paper to her face, and she noticed that they widened as they did. "Goodness, Granger. Do you always look like you've been run over by a Hippogriff in the morning?"
Hermione was fairly certain the vein in her neck was bulging now. He was doing this on purpose; he had to be. He was attempting to drive her mad on purpose. He knew it would annoy her to use her mug. He must have known, somehow, that she hated slurpers, and then he had gone and insulted her appearance. Well, she just wouldn't give him the satisfaction. He would not know that he was bothering her.
Though, she could tell from the very prominent smirk on his face that he knew damn well he was getting to her.
"Do you know where Harry and Ron are, sir?" she asked as she strode purposefully over to the counter where the coffee pot was. She took down Ron's yellow monogrammed mug from the cabinet where they were kept and poured her coffee into it.
"They were summoned by Albus this morning," he replied.
"I see," Hermione said as she picked up her mug and made her way back to the table from the counter. She sat down on the bench opposite Severus, who sat reading again, and took a large sip from her mug. Ingesting coffee was something that truly brought her pleasure. There was nothing like coffee first thing in the morning. Nothing.
"Professor," Hermione began when she realized something didn't fit. His continued presence there didn't fit. "Why didn't you go back to Hogwarts with Ron and Harry?"
Hermione was pleased to see his jaw clench. So something was the matter. She imagined, then, that he was just taking his problems out on her by slurping, stealing her mug, and making comments about her appearance.
"I've been ordered to stay here for the present time," Snape replied, not raising his eyes from the paper, "while the situation is reevaluated."
"I see," said Hermione. "So approximately how long will that be?"
She thought she saw his jaw tighten a bit more. "As long as necessary. The headmaster will contact me when I am able to return." He paused. "Though I rather suspect that I'll be able to return after Weasley and Potter have their meeting with the headmaster.
"But if you can't, then you'll be here for an indeterminate period of time?"
Snape frowned and turned the page of the paper with a bit more vigor than was absolutely necessary. "Obviously."
"Well," said Hermione, as she set Ron's mug down with a clunk. "That's exciting."
Snape's eyes met hers a second later. "Well, I do apologize for the inconvenience, Miss Granger," he spat angrily. "Pardon me for interrupting your kinky little ménage a trois holiday."
Hermione laughed. "If that was what we were up to, Professor, I am sure we'd invite you in on it." She paused to raise an eyebrow. "Would you like that? A lovely ménage a quatre with three of your favorite former students?" Good lord, ménage a quatre? What the hell was she on about? Was there even such a thing?
To her surprise, Snape just blushed and turned back to his paper.
They spent the next few minutes seated silently at the table as he read and they drank their coffee. Eventually, Hermione sighed absently.
"What?" Snape snapped, raising his eyes from the paper to glare at her.
"Nothing," Hermione said, surprised his sudden questioning. "I didn't say anything."
"No, but that sigh spoke volumes. What's the matter?" Snape asked.
"Oh, nothing, I suppose." Hermione replied. "Bored, I guess. This is fairly boring in comparison to my other mornings."
Snape raised an eyebrow in response. "How so?"
"Well, usually by now Ron and Harry are ambling in. Then after sitting at the table and arguing for a few moments, one or both of them attempt to make breakfast," she smiled thinking about the particular morning Ron had set his pajama bottoms on fire, screaming like a girl as he danced around the kitchen in an effort to put out the flames.
"Pandemonium ensues?" Snape offered.
"Yes," Hermione replied, glancing over to him. "Usually."
"I see," said Snape. "Well, I apologize for being so boring, Miss Granger. I'll make a better effort next time."
"Gracious," Hermione sighed as she took a sip of her coffee. "Is there any time of day when you're not a terribly sarcastic bastard?"
He snorted and shook the paper in reply.
They again sat silently, sipping their coffee. This time, however, it was he who broke the silence. "The headmaster told me you contacted him last night and reported on my whereabouts."
"Well, he lied then," Hermione said, not thinking that she was probably interrupting him. "His head was waiting in my hearth when I went up to bed."
"Nonetheless, thanks are in order," Snape continued, looking at her meaningfully. Hermione imagined he was hoping she would catch on without making him say the actual words. She wasn't going to let him off that easy.
"Yes?" she said, leaning forward slightly.
She was surprised to see him blush once more. "Thank you," he said gruffly, directing his gaze back to the paper.
Again there was silence, but not for long. Seconds after Snape had turned back to his paper, there were two very loud popping sounds, and Ron and Harry appeared in the middle of the kitchen.
"Really wish Dumbledore wasn't so keen on calling us up to Hogwarts at six in the bloody morning," Ron said as he collapsed on to the bench next to Hermione. "Hey, you're using my mug."
"Yes, good morning to you, too," she replied. "What did the Headmaster want?"
"Oh, you know," said Ron, grinning at her and Snape. "Reminisce about old times. Have a nice cup of tea. The usual."
"Weasley," Snape growled. "When do I get to leave this hell hole?"
"Careful, Professor, or I may begin to think of you as an ungrateful houseguest," Harry said from where he stood rummaging through the refrigerator. He pulled out a carton of eggs and brought it over to the stovetop. "Ron, do you think you could work on making some toast?"
Ron had leapt up from his seat at Harry's request and was currently busying himself with the toast preparation while Harry was putting the skillet on the stove. "So when does the Professor get to leave?" Hermione asked, knowing her friends had very limited short term memories.
"Er, well Professor," Ron began, turning away from the toaster. "Dumbledore thinks it would be best if you just remained here for awhile. Harry and I have to go back to Hogwarts after breakfast, you see. And if you'd just give us a list, we'd be more than happy to bring back anything you'd need…"
Looking at Snape, Hermione could see why Ron had suddenly trailed off. The man was staring at Ron as if he had just told him that he'd blown up his entire Potions lab. "Weasley," Snape growled again, "are you telling me I am under some sort of house arrest?"
"Er, yes," said Ron, "Yes, I'm afraid that I am."
Watching as Snape's face grew redder and redder, Hermione suddenly became very worried. What if his blood pressure was already high? For such an angry individual, it did not seem improbable. It definitely would not be good if the Potions Professor went and died over his morning cup of coffee. "Professor," she began in a pleading tone, "keep calm. You don't want to become, um, ill."
He turned his head to glare at her. "And when exactly did you become a mediwitch, Miss Granger?"
"Professor!" Hermione said, standing from her seat. She supposed she'd had enough of his attitude. "It does not take a mediwitch to see that you are overreacting and at your age it could be dangerous to your health to get too worked up…"
"My age!?" Snape roared as he too stood to glower down at her. "Miss Granger, you will not treat me as though I am a decrepit geriatric! I am in the prime of my life, and contrary to the implications of your words, I am most certainly not beating down death's door!"
Hermione was not pleased to see her two best friends simply gawking at her and Snape instead of doing something to help. "Professor," she said softly. "I think you need to calm down."
He stood there, crossed his arms, and glared at her. "Apologize."
She could not stop her jaw from dropping. "For what exactly?"
"For insulting me. You called me old," he said, nearly pouting. For goodness' sake, the man was nearly pouting!
"Is that all it takes to insult you!? Pointing out the obvious?" Hermione asked.
"Well, it certainly seems to work on you," Snape snapped. "You all but started crying when I said that you looked like hell."
"Ooh, you take that back, Severus Snape! You know I did no such thing!"
"Then you take back what you said! I am no old man, Hermione!"
"Sheesh," said Ron, reminding both Snape and Hermione of their present company. "Get a room, will you?"
Hermione was temporarily distracted from screaming at Snape by the pressing need to glare at Ron. She was not surprised to Snape doing the same.
"What Ron means to say," said Harry, seeing the possibility of the slaughter of a certain male Weasley, "is that you two really shouldn't fight considering that it's very likely you'll be spending a lot of time together over the next few weeks."
Snape snorted but did not say anything, and Hermione merely sighed. When had Harry become the resident peace keeper?
"So," continued Harry, breaking the silence that had descended upon the group as he turned back towards the skillet, "who else likes their eggs over easy?"
"I do!" Ron responded cheerfully, as if the events of the last few minutes had never happened.
"I prefer mine sunny side up," Snape said, "but over easy will do."
Hermione suddenly thought she was going to explode. She thought the very least Harry and Ron could have done would be to defend her. "I'm going to shower," she said, turning from where she stood, stepping over the bench, and walking across the kitchen to the doorway.
"All right," Ron called after her as she went out into the hallway, "but your eggs will be cold!"
Hermione was slightly surprised to see Albus Dumbledore's head again floating in her fireplace when she emerged from her shower. She knew she should be embarrassed that the headmaster was seeing her wrapped in a towel while she looked somewhat reminiscent of a drowned rat, but she was only slightly irked. The appearance of Dumbledore's head only reminded her of the fact that she was going to be spending quite a bit of time in the company of yet another member of Hogwarts' staff.
"Good morning, Headmaster," Hermione said to the floating head. She crossed her arms over her chest in an effort to make it known that she was less than pleased about the current situation and too make sure her towel did not slip.
"Miss Granger," Dumbledore said in a terribly cheery tone. "You are looking well this morning."
"Er," said Hermione. "Thank you."
"Miss Granger," Dumbledore began again, the cheer in his voice replaced with something much graver. "I think we need to have a discussion regarding the current situation with Professor Snape."
"All right," Hermione said as she perched herself on the edge of her bed. "What about it?"
"Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter have informed me that you and the Professor were fighting this morning," Dumbledore said, and Hermione swore she thought she saw a hint of a smile on his face.
"We had a slight disagreement, yes," Hermione acknowledged.
"Indeed," said Dumbledore. "Miss Granger, you are a member of the Order, are you not?"
"Um," said Hermione, "Yes, sir."
Dumbledore smiled. "And I believe Professor Snape is as well?"
"Yes," Hermione nodded.
"That would make the two of you colleagues of sorts, would it not?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, I suppose it would," Hermione admitted.
"And would create the expectation of the appropriate conduct between the two of you, I imagine," concluded Dumbledore.
Hermione blushed at his words.
"Would you bicker with any other Order members in that fashion, Miss Granger?"
Hermione thought for a moment before responding. "Yes, sir, I would. I believe I would bicker with Harry and Ron in that manner."
The Headmaster's smile grew. "Harry and Ron aside, Miss Granger?"
Hermione frowned. "No, sir, I would not."
"Then please, Miss Granger, will you refrain from bickering with Severus in that manner?"
Hermione looked down at the floor, feeling very much like a scolded first year. "Yes, sir."
"Excellent. Now, onto the next bit of business. Harry and Ron will be retrieving some of Professor Snape's personal effects and bringing them to him this evening. Tomorrow, Harry and Ron will leave headquarters to do some work for the Order. I am afraid, Miss Granger, that I must ask you to stay behind."
Hermione raised her head quickly to look at the Headmaster's. "Stay behind, sir?"
"Yes," Dumbledore said, his tone very serious. "I need you to stay with Professor Snape."
She felt she was going to start whining in a few moments. "But sir, why do I need to stay with the Professor?"
"Do you recall what happened the last time we left one of our Order members alone in the headquarters, Hermione?" Dumbledore asked, raising an eyebrow.
Hermione sighed. "I'll stay with Professor Snape, then." She did not add that she was less than thrilled at the prospect of spending the next few weeks baby sitting her Potions Professor, but she supposed the frown on her face conveyed the message well enough.
"Fabulous," Dumbledore said smiling. "I thank you, Miss Granger. Now, Severus will not take kindly to this house arrest. He will probably be quite, well…" he paused, seemingly searching for the right words, "I imagine he'll be fairly cranky. But I doubt he's nothing you can't handle. You always seemed to have lovely people skills."
Hermione blushed and muttered, "Thank you, Headmaster."
"Certainly, Miss Granger, certainly. Well, I must be getting back to work. I hope you have a lovely day." He paused and smiled.
Hermione smiled back. "Thank you, Headmaster. I hope you have a nice day, as well."
Dumbledore nodded, and his head vanished from the fireplace a few seconds later.
Hermione seated herself on her bed, stared at the empty fireplace, and sulked. Harry and Ron were going to spend the next few weeks doing some sort of important work for the Order that would end up being terribly interesting and fun, she just knew it. And what was she going to be doing? She was going to be cooped up in Order headquarters with a very nasty, middle aged bachelor.
Hermione sighed, thinking of the day she and her two best friends had been admitted into the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore had called them assets to the war on Voldemort. He'd said their individual talents would be highly useful to the group, and that they would be called upon to use them frequently. He'd said he knew they would perform admirably.
Hermione wasn't dense. She knew she was the one with the brains in her little trio. She knew that she might never get to see much action with the Order, but she hoped at least she'd be able to partake in the planning of missions and such. Defensive and offensive strategies maybe, or research into different weapons and spells that could be used to fight.
Instead, her first mission with the Order was to baby sit her former Potions Professor.
Hermione sighed again. It was karma, she supposed. Sometime in her past she had done something awful to someone else. Maybe it was that Petrificus Totalus she'd put on Neville in her first year. Or maybe it was something else. Lighting Snape on fire, perhaps? Yes, that made more sense.
She'd lit the man on fire, and now she was paying for it.
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Author's Note: Thank you for reading, and thanks to those of you have been kind enough to review.