Disclaimer: Just as everyone else, I own nothing that belongs to J.K. But Rouge and Lilith are characters of my own creation.
Note to readers: Here's the chapter I owe you. It's been sitting on my desktop for about a week. 'Hope it came out quickly enough for y'all. I'm really tired, so I won't say too much. Lemme sum-up: You won't be getting another chapter for awhile, probably not for two weeks or so. I'm gonna release chapter eight and nine at the same time, so sit tight and read summit else 'til then. But read, review, and enjoy this one for now. I could go into another long speech of how disappointed I am with it, but I'm tired, so I won't. I love all my reviews. Here are some more personal thank yous:
Ashley malmstrom ) - Congrats on being the first reviewer of chapter six. I don't know why I said that, I just felt like it. I don't wish to be hurt by Mr. Vipertooth the basilisk, so here's the more writing as requested. I'm gonna continue writing this fanfic, I don't think I could stop now without all you reviewer people coming after me with torches and pitchforks.
Skade - I like angsty messed-up Harry Potter. That's the way he should be, don'tcha think? I didn't realize I had a wonderful grip on my characters. I hope that's good. You'll be seeing more of Lilith's bitterness, not to mention her revenge-y-ness. Hermione will be snoopier, oh yes. She'll reach her snoopy climax at about chapter nine… eight if we're lucky. I like "last lines". Last lines are fun. But I doubt this last line (If you can call it a last line) is as perfect. WRITE MORE RAIN!!! I WANT MORE RAIN!!! Rain is good…
CloudChick - That was an interesting review… "awesome"… "terrific"… "gr8"… good adjectives. :P I'll keep it up. I don't think I can stop now that I've gotten so far, now can I? Write more of "An Addition to the Group". You're doing such a good job with that.
Feather – Are you saying the first chapter wasn't good?! - Just kidding. You know I love your reviews. I've even noticed that my writing's improved a bit since I started writing this. I guess this fic expresses how my talent is growing (right along with my ego). Scary thought isn't it? You can still whine… As long as it's for new chapters or cliffies or whatever comes along in this fic. You just can't whine that it's a bad fic… Oh, nooooooooooooo… You'd be banned from whining for that. -
Gen Osbourne (ozzyroxiluvhim) ) – I'm glad you think this keeps getting better and better. It gives me hope that the next chapter will be good. You won't have to wait any longer for this chapter, but I'm afraid you might have to wait quite a while for chapter eight… That'll take a while to write. So you are forewarned. Don't post any pointless reviews, they don't help. They just make me get mad at you. :P Just kidding. See you 'round the message boards!
LittleMaggie – I liked your review. Short and to the point. Here's your more, more, more. But you'll have to wait a while for the next chapter…
Kiota – 'Sorry I left you and all the other readers waiting and waiting. I hope I got this chapter posted quickly enough for your satisfaction. And, no. I've been called a terrific writer before. looks at reviews Uh… well… Maybe I have…
Thanks for all the reviews, everyone! I've gotten 40 and counting! Please post more. I love getting reviews. But now I'm sure you don't want to hear me ramble, so here's the story…
Chapter 7: Petty Thoughts and Comments
Hermione woke up the next morning earlier than Lavender or Parvati, and all they did was complain after what Hermione thought was right considerate attempts to wake them up, swatting her away and barricading themselves beneath layers of blankets. Hermione left them alone in disgust. But when Hermione went over to the last bed she found it already empty and neatly made. After a few minutes of wondering, Hermione decided that there was no Beauxbatons transfer student named Rouge and meeting her was just an unpleasant dream. Hermione left the dormitory in a somewhat better mood.
She came down to the common room early enough to be the only one there, have a quick reread of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Five, wait impatiently for Ron and Harry for longer than she thought was reasonable, then leave the common room alone feeling annoyed. When Hermione got to the Great Hall she saw only a few early-rising teachers and tired-looking students scattered sparsely about the hall. But as she walked over to the Gryffindor table she met her unpleasant dream. Rouge was sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table, placidly reading one of the textbooks.
Hermione could feel contempt bubble inside her. She didn't like this Rouge girl. There was just something... wrong about her, she knew there was, she was sure of it, and Hermione didn't like it. She sat down at the other end of the table and read one of her own textbooks while waiting for Harry and Ron.
When said two boys finally came down to the Great Hall almost the entire school was already up, and Harry was practically dragging a barely conscious Ron. They found seats across from Hermione and they sleepily dished themselves breakfast.
"What do we have first, Hermione?" Harry asked, leaning so far over with tiredness that his glasses had slipped down his nose, threatening to fall right into his plate.
"Potions with the Slytherins," Hermione recited flatly as she turned a page of her textbook. Ron groaned and let his head fall into his scrambled eggs.
"What a wonderful way to start term," Harry muttered sarcastically and viciously took a bite out of a piece of toast.
"Oh, cheer up. At least it's not double potions," Hermione said almost brightly. "That's not until Thursday."
Harry and Ron groaned in unison.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Come on, we don't want to be late. Not for Snape on the first day back."
Harry and Ron grunted replies that vividly reminded Hermione of speaking Troll, and they walked out of the Great Hall and down, down, down towards the dungeons.
After a few minutes the Gryffindors and Slytherins crowded into the dungeon classroom, finding desks with their friends. As Harry, Ron and Hermione found seats together, Harry saw something out of the corner of his eye. To his horror, he saw a girl in Gryffindor robes walking over to Draco Malfoy. And to his shocked amazement, he talked to her for a moment before Pansy Parkinson brutally pushed her away from Draco, sending the girl falling to the floor. As she fell Harry saw her face and all pity he just had for her was forgotten. He looked away quickly, avoiding the girl's cobalt blue eyes.
No one helped her up nor helped her collect the spilled contents of her bag. Not a single Gryffindor helped her, fellow Gryffindor or not, in prideful disgust that she talked to a Slytherin on friendly terms. No Slytherins helped her, which was no surprise to anyone. So she got up, collected her things herself, and walked quietly over to an empty table in the back. No one sat beside her.
Snape entered the dungeon just before the bell rang and his presence didn't go unnoticed. He strongly resembled something dangerous lying in wait, such as a dormant disease or a bomb waiting to be set off by a careless student. But this was not considered odd by anyone, and the class fell silent within seconds.
Snape had no greeting for the class, striding with a purposeful gait straight to the blackboard in the front and immediately began writing. In upper-case letters across the top of the board, he wrote "DITTANY" and beneath it, in lower-case, "dictamnus albus".
"Dittany," he said aloud, turning to the class, stone-faced. "Native to Crete, it grows in abundance on Mount Dicte. It's a non-poisonous, perennial, flowering herb with foliage that has a lemony, balsamic scent, so feel free to smell it, though be very careful not to touch it directly; put on your dragon hide gloves when handling the plant. The whole plant is rich in volatile oil, which can be set alight as it evaporates, leaving the foliage intact and undamaged, though you may not be granted such mercy, so keep them away from the burners." There was a momentary scramble as most of the class quickly moved their supply of the herb away from their cauldrons. "A common folk name for the plant is 'burning bush' for obvious reasons. ...Why aren't all of you writing this down?" Yet another scramble, this time for parchment and quills as Snape continued, "It's a commonly used herb, and we've touched on it since your first year here, so this all ought to be review for you. Let's see if it is... Who can name any of the potions it's used in?"
Hermione's hand shot into the air while everyone else's remained where it was.
"Anyone?" Snape asked airily, blatantly ignoring Hermione's hand. "Anyone at all?"
But Hermione would not be denied. She was now straining so hard to force her hand higher to be noticed that she was biting her lip and sitting on the edge of her seat. Snape sighed.
"Miss Granger?" he called out coldly.
Hermione let her hand fall. "Dictamnus albus is used in such potions as Solomon's Opiate, Eau Generale, Hyacinth Mixture, and Guttète Powder."
Snape seemed to wait for a moment, then prompted steely with a sharp gesture, "...And?"
Hermione faltered, suddenly seeming unsure of herself. "...And, sir?" she echoed.
"I would like all the potions, Miss Granger."
"Oh! And...and Balm of Fioraventi and...and... and Orvieton," she finished hurriedly.
"Correct," Snape said in a particularly drawling voice that made it seem as though saying it was very, very difficult. "It is these potions that we will be preparing over the next few weeks. You all ought to know the well-known properties of dittany by now, or you shouldn't have passed your first year exams, but now it's high time you actually applied this knowledge."
Not too long later as the wreaths of steam drifted from the students' cauldrons, Snape was walking down the rows, barking directions at random students. He had just finished giving Neville a good yelling because, while powdering his roots, a burst of flame ignited near the burner of his cauldron, a great fireball that singed his sleeves because the discarded leaves of his supply of dittany had been left too close. A chorus of shrieks followed the appearance of the flame, as well as a long string of shouts including such phrases as "I told you lot to keep the foliage away from the burners, you asinine idiot!" from the professor. After peace was restored and Snape continued his rounds about the desks, he gave Harry the loathing glare he saved just for him and criticized his potion for no particular reason at all. Then his cold black eyes fell upon a girl working alone in the back row, fingering the racemes of white flowers from her dittany sample as her potion simmered. He slowly approached the girl and she looked up at him. Snape suddenly stopped.
At first he wasn't able to process what he was seeing, but it slowly sank in and he stared at her in denying shock. She stared back at him in a polite and not really surprised gaze. Snape slowly, unbelievingly shook his head, furrowing his brow as though trying to see her better, and they both stared at each other in silence. As though Snape realized how dramatic and uncharacteristic his reaction was, he brought back his sneering glare.
"Who are you?" he demanded curtly.
"Rouge Magie, sir," Rouge replied as though she were answering a child's ignorant question, though still managed to keep her tone polite. She was starting to wonder how many times she would be asked this question and how many times she would force herself to politely answer it.
"Magie?" Snape repeated the name with a raised eyebrow as though it were a pointless joke.
"Yes, sir. I'm a new transf-"
Snape cut her short. "Just try to keep up with the rest of the class, Miss Magie." He kept his skeptical tone as he said her name.
"Yes, sir."
The rest of class went by miserably slow, finishing with Neville being given detention for the night. And to Snape's satisfaction, Neville gave no resistance, merely sat at his desk, whimpering at the thought of having to collect Bundimun secretion for Mr. Filch. And to the class's great pleasure the bell rang announcing the end of class. The class quickly packed up their things and hurried out of the dungeon, except for Rouge. She walked up to Snape's desk where he sat with his grade book, making sure Neville failed worse than usual.
Rouge waited for a moment then cleared her throat, but Snape made no acknowledgement of her presence.
"It's nice to see you again, Severus," Rouge said with no emotion in her tone or on her face. "Though you made quite a spectacle of yourself-" She paused to make sure no one else was in the dungeon, "-claiming your loyalty over the summer with the suspicions of treason about you. Very bold of you, indeed," she added with a faint smirk.
"Get to class, Rouge," Snape said without looking up, "and don't bother me with your petty comments."
Satisfied with Snape's annoyance, Rouge gave Snape one last smirk, turned with a swish of her robes, and exited the dungeon classroom.
Note to readers: Just one of those chapters that has no particular significance to the plot, but must be written just more the story along. I think I rushed this chapter a little too much. I need to work on that. Not quite the "last line" I wanted, but close enough. Hope y'all enjoyed it. I'll get started on chapter eight and nine, but I can guarantee they won't come out as quickly as this one did. So preoccupy yourself with some other reading material, such as any of the fanfics on the long list in my profile. And since you're all the way down here you might as well review! Thanks for reading!