Chapter One
It
was dark as pitch that evening as I took a spontaneious stroll around
the lakeside, smoking down my cigarette and glancing up at the cloudy
skyscape. It was mid-april and though the night was slightly brisk,
the breeze chilly, and the stars were in short supply, I found it
tolerable.
The feeling that I didn't find tolerable was an
odd churning in my stomach. I'd felt unjust all night, like something
was going to happen and it wasn't going to be good.
I tossed
the butt to the ground and after exhaling the toxins in my lungs, I
gave a heavy sigh. That is, until something caught my eye at the edge
of the Forbidden Forest.
I paused and squinted, then, folding
my hands behind my back despite the numbing feeling in my fingers, I
began over, swift and silent. As I drew closer, a smug smile crossed
my lips as I made out the figures. Three of them.
Yes, my
favorite students, of course. Harry Potter, whom was crouched beside
Ron Weasley who looked to be unconcious, and Hermione Granger who had
her hands in her hair and was repeating the same thing over again,
quite frantically. 'I told you so, I told you so, I told you so.."
I
stood there for a moment, then finally, cleared my throat.
Granger
and Potter's heads snapped up and the look in their eyes was nothing
short of terrific surprise.
"Professor Snape..."
Granger said breathlessly. "Ron...Got bit by a spider, conked
out.."
"Well." I started. "If a few choice
students weren't roaming the strictly forbidden forest at all hours
of the night, I imagine this never would of occured..." I paused
and looked from her to Potter, then back again. "Correct?"
She
didn't say anything at first, her lip was trembling and she looked at
the ground. She finally gathered herself and looked up to me. "Ron's
hurt, Professor."
It took every fiber of my being not to
just turn and walk away, but I found myself knelt beside Ron,
checking his neck for a pulse. "Well, he's alive." I
stated. "Potter, get him to the infirmary... Granger, You can,
while accompanying me to my classroom, where I'll give you detention
until the end of this term, tell me exactly what you and your friends
were doing in the forest at 10 o' clock."
She hung her
head as she walked beside me and told me a fabricated story. Of
course she didn't say it wasn't the truth, You could always tell when
Hermione Granger was telling a lie. For as long as I'd had
her...grace me with her presence, the past 6 years, her cheeks turned
bright pink. Of course, every time a patch of light shone down, I
could see a definite rosy tint to her cheeks.
Not that I
constantly examined the girl or anything, Its just after 6 years of
having stories made up to keep herself out of trouble and possibly
expulsion, you tended to notice certain things.
"You see,
Professor..." She began, her voice shaking. "My
cat...Crookshanks...got away from me while we were walking near the
lake earlier..."
"Before curfew, I imagine?" I
drawled boredly.
She nodded. "And he ran to the forest
and me and Ron, and Harry of course..We've all been looking for
Crookshanks all day.."
I let out a brief chuckle as I
opened the door for her. "Interesting. Why do you take your cat
on walks around the lake?"
"Because...everyone needs
excercise Professor.." She told me, stumbling over her words as
she walked in. "He's been getting a bit chubby lately
and.."
"Please Miss Granger, I'd rather not hear the
rest of the story.." I saw her hang her head again.
I
wondered why I got such enjoyment out of making the girl miserable as
I sat at my office desk and wrote her a detention slip. I tore it
from the pad and stuffed it into her hand. "I expect you
tommorow night at 9 o' clock sharp, and every night after that."
"Yes, Professor.." She murmered.
"Don't
be in your sunday best either.." I informed her.
"Yes,
Professor.."
"I'll deal with Weasley and Potter
tommorow and you may tell them that." I examined her face and
then looked back down to the papers before me and began scribbling on
them. "You are dismissed."
Pausing from my writing,
I watched her leave and looked at the closed door, as if transfixed.
I shook my head and brought my attention to the stack of student
papers.
To be honest, I didn't feel like doing anything
besides sleep. It was a monday and mondays were always the worst day
of the week. Of course though, there was work to be done and that
would require pulling an all nighter.
So thus began my
tedious work. I checked paper after paper and when my eyes began to
faulter, I glanced at the clock hung on my wall, and it was just
about 3 in the morning.
I began to drift and soon enough, I
found myself caught up in a dream.
I recognized the
surroundings as my childhood home in Brasildon, but it was mine again
for some reason. There was a knock at the door, and I stood and
answered it to see Hermione standing there, eyes filled with
tears.
"You forgot to say goodbye.." She told me
quietly.
I told her I was sorry and she took me into a hug,
then kissed me once softly.
"I'm sorry." She said,
parting from me slightly. "But this has to be done." Then
swiftly, she stabbed a switchblade into my side. She gave me one last
kiss as I fell to my knees, and she walked away, slamming the door
shut.
With a start I awoke, looking around. My office. I'd
fallen asleep at my desk.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and
heaved myself up, stretching my tired limbs. Looking at the clock, I
froze. It was 5 minutes until classes began.
I quickly strode
to a door in the back of my office, and scratched my head.
"Er...Atrociandium?"
The door swung open and I
walked in, shutting it behind me. I pulled the latch lock closed and
glanced about the surroundings of my chambers. I shrugged out of my
robe, slightly unnerved by the dream, and decided against a shower,
pulling on a new set of robes and quickly doing all things hygenic.
I strode into my classroom just as soon as the 6th year
Gryffindor and Slytherin classes was scrambling in with the 8 o'
clock bell. Breathing a sigh of relief, I sat behind my classroom
desk that resided in the front of the room and thumbed through papers
to retrieve a stack of essays on anti-allergy draft that the 6th
years had turned in a few days before.
I caught Hermione's eye
accidently and felt my stomach flip flop. Why was I feeling this way?
I felt like I was afraid of the girl, awkward in her presence. I
didn't like it, not at all.
I cleared my throat and got up
from my seat, still flipping through the stack of tests. "I must
say, the grades on the essays you turned in...Well, they weren't as
pathetic as usual, but I won't say I'm extremely..." I searched
for the word. "Pleased."
The room lacked the usual
low echo of groans that would have occured after my overall judgement
on the work, and still feeling tired, I sat on the edge of my desk.
"Would someone like to pass these out?"
A few hands
shot up, but I frowned, looking at those who didn't raise their hands
to volunteer. I saw Hermione scribbling on a note pad, not paying the
least attention and I figured starting her day off badly might be a
good wake up. "Miss Granger." I said, a certain tone of
amusement obvious in my voice. "Why didn't you jump for the
chance to pass back papers?"
She looked up at me, an
defiant expression upon her tired face. "Well Professor, if
you'd like me to be honest, Even when I do want to run an errand,
answer a question, go to the bathroom.." She said quite boredly.
"You never acknowledge me, So I figure, why even fight a losing
battle?"
I was slightly taken aback by her reply, biting
the inside of my lip when she finished with a certain spite at the
end of her sentence. "Well..." I said, softly, then
coughed. "Pass these out, Granger..."
Almost with a
sort of arrogance, she walked up and locked her fingers around the
papers, my grip still tight on them. She looked at me, right in the
eyes and I felt a chill. They were so full of so many emotions, it
was hard to decipher whether she was embarrassed, hurt, or just flat
out didn't care. "You have to let go Professor."
A
few low giggles rang through the class.
Giving half of a
surprised though mostly unamused smile at her new attitude, I
released the papers and watched her as she proceeded to pass out the
papers. "Today..." I began, finally drawing my eyes away
from Hermione, and looking around the class. "We'll be studying
the art of making solutions to repair open wounds out of
ordinary...everyday..." I saw Malfoy stick out his foot as
Hermione was about to pass and when she nearly toppled over, I caught
her, much to her surprise. "Leaves and Grasses..."
I
released her and returned to the front of the class. "I'd like
for you all to turn to page 413 in your text books and read silently
over that chapter...or better yet..." I smirked. "After
Miss Granger finishes turning out the rest of the essays, she will
stand before the class and read the chapter to you lot."
I
saw her turn to me in what could only be described as complete
horror, and she opened her mouth to protest, but obviously decided
against it because she retrieved her text book and stood before my
desk, reading aloud the chapter.
Taking my seat behind my
desk, I gave an inaudible chuckle and began writing up the lesson for
the next day.
"Why do you have to embarass me constantly, Professor?" She asked, a bit loud. "Why do you have to live to make me miserable at every chance you get?"
I set my quill down and folded my hands infront of me, looking up to her. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, Miss Granger.." I drawled.
"Don't you understand I have feelings?" She said, her voice trembling. "I just can't take the abuse anymore, Professor.."
I found myself chewing the inside of my lip again as I watched a tear fall from her eye. "I...like you."
She paused, nearly staring. Then, she heaved her bag up on her shoulder and nearly sprinted out of the room.
I leaned forward and hit my forehead on the desk twice. That had come out of nowhere. No thought involved. What was I doing? What was I saying? What was I thinking?
Get yourself together, Severus, Get yourself together..