Disclaimer: I own nothing. JKR owns everything.

Chapter Two – Sweet Awakening

Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in the library. The boys were doing the homework that had been assigned over the holidays – Hermione had finished it eons ago – and Hermione was researching special soul-transfer charms. The books that were stacked on the table in meter- high piles, made her look, like she hid herself in her very own castle.

There has to be a charm somewhere. she thought frustrated as she laid the book on one of the stacks and took another one.

Hermione had been absolutely furious about the insults she had had to take from that someone. So – her thirst for knowledge and her desire for revenge kicking in – she had instantly started to read everything that could be remotely connected to the diary incident. But somehow she couldn't find anything at all. No reference as to what spell Tom Riddle could have used when he created his diary or what spell could identify who had insulted her.

Maybe all the good books are in the Restricted Section, again. This means asking Harry for his Invisibility Cloak. she smirked inwardly.

Then she sighed, this time throwing the book she was holding on the stack for 'completely useless books'.

"What is it, Hermione?" Harry asked, looking up from his Divination assignment.

"Well, I can't find any useful information in these books."

With an incredulous look on his face, Ron said, "You mean you've looked through all these books and haven't found anything? Surely there must be some useful information on that many sheets of parchment."

"No, completely useless." Hermione said.

"I always knew books were useless." Ron smiled a cheeky grin.

Swatting him on the arm, Hermione fought the urge to sneer at him. Leaning towards Harry she whispered, "Can I borrow your cloak tonight?"

"Sure." Harry whispered back, "I'll bring it to your room after dinner."

"Thanks." Hermione smiled, taking a book from the 'not yet inspected' stack on her left.

In the dungeons Snape brewed some potions that Mme. Pomfrey had requested. The infirmary supply at that time of the year was always lacking pepper-up potions or other draughts against headache and flue.

When will those dunderheads learn to dress according to the weather and spare me the boredom of brewing fourth year potions? he growled. He was Potions Master and not some overeager assistant in some tiny apothecary. What would he give for an opportunity to brew Veritaserum. Even the monthly Wolfsbane potion for – he sneered – Lupin was better than that. He couldn't even remember the last time he had brewed a potion worth his skill and knowledge.

After he had stirred the softly simmering potion two times counter clockwise, he extinguished the flame from under the cauldron and filled the small infirmary bottles.

Ten minutes later he sat in his green chair, 'Moste Potente Potions' lying in his lap. He had wanted to look for a challenging, not banned or illegal potion he could brew sometime in the future, but found that his eyes and his mind more often than not wandered to the diary that lay on his table. Sighing he exchanged his potions book for the diary. She hadn't written anything since their 'encounter' four days ago.

Well, I wouldn't write my thoughts into a book, where I knew that someone was reading them, either. he admitted grudgingly. But it WAS fun insulting that girl.

Smirking at nothing in particular he grabbed his quill and turned the pages of the booklet until he reached the one that contained their argument.

Maybe I could cause a reaction...

Hermione slipped out of the Common Room, the Invisibility Cloak thrown over her small form, the portrait of the Fat Lady closing the entrance behind her. This wasn't the first time she was sneaking off after curfew to do some research in the Restricted Section, but she still felt the butterflies in her stomach wreaking havoc. There was always the possibility of getting caught and she really didn't want to spend the rest of her holidays in detention.

Reaching the library she stood still for a few moments, listening into the darkness. Nothing. Slowly she opened the heavy oak door and slipped in. She headed straight for the Restricted Section and only after she had reached the part dedicated to advanced Charms books, she got rid of the cloak. Conjuring a softly flickering blue flame with her wand she searched the rows of books until she found what she had been looking for.

"'The Theory of Soul Projection.'" she whispered.

Carefully she removed the heavy tome from the shelf and sat down with it at the nearby table. Skipping some chapters she reached the right page: Chapter 5 – How to preserve your current identity in inanimate objects.

That's it! She grinned to herself.

This very old technique of preserving one's state of mind in inanimate objects has officially been banned by the Ministry of Magic in 1753, because of the dangers that are connected with it. The casting of this charm not only preserves the projection of one's present identity, but embeds a part of your very soul in the chosen object. The size of this part varies with the type of projection that is desired.
The most powerful type of projection not only contains one's thoughts and memories, but also an image of one's physical appearance.

Suddenly Hermione heard footsteps and the sound of the door of the library closing. Hurriedly she shoved the book under her robes, extinguished the flame and hid herself under the cloak. Barely daring to breath she crawled under the table, she had been sitting at. Not three seconds later she heard the iron door of the Restricted Section fall close.

Snape.

Her Potions professor swiftly hurried past the Charms section, no doubt heading for the Potions section.

If I'm lucky he's off again in a few minutes. she thought, adrenaline coursing through her blood.

Then she heard a chair creak against the stone floor and a deep sigh as Snape sat down. Maybe she would have to wait a little longer than just a few minutes.

Snape slowly opened '1000 Potions containing Powdered Dragon Scales', oblivious of the girl sitting under the table just a few rows of bookshelves down. Reading through the contents he immediately found what he had looked for.

Soul Searcher
This potion, if brewed correctly, will uncover the identity of every person, who is emotionally attached to a certain item. Three drops spilt on this item will cause the desired reaction and the image of the person will be seen.
The process of brewing will take two weeks, but has to be started on the first day of the month.

The potion will have to wait for a few weeks, then. Snape scowled. Looking at the bottom of the page he noticed the warning in great red letters: ILLEGAL, BANNED IN 1896. He decided to politely ignore this particular piece of information. He took out a piece of parchment and his wand and after muttering the right spell the parchment was the exact copy of the page of the book.

Suddenly he heard a soft 'thud' a few rows down the Restricted Section. Holding his wand more tightly than usual, Snape cautiously went from bookshelf to bookshelf, looking for the source of the noise.

In the Charms section he finally found said source. In the shadows, half under the table, half lying in front of it was Hermione Granger, know-it-all extraordinaire, fast asleep with her arms tightly clutching a book.

Snorting Snape lowered his wand and stepped closer until he was standing in front of the sleeping girl. Muttering "Lumos." he took a closer look at the sleeping form, finding that strangely her legs seemed to be missing. Kneeling down beside her, he moved his hands where her legs should be and suddenly felt the fine cloth of the Invisibility Cloak. He lifted it slowly and found her legs had reappeared.

Where did she get that? An Invisibility Cloak is something extremely rare.

Taking the cloak and folding it neatly, he decided to have some fun and wake her up. Loudly he cleared his throat and when she stirred he whispered in his most fear-provoking voice into her ear.

"Miss Granger, why exactly are you sleeping on the floor of the library? In the Restricted Section no less?"

Hermione awoke at the sound of someone whispering into her ear. Slowly she opened her eyes and found herself face to face with no other than Severus Snape.

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A/N: Thank you for all the reviews. :)