Chapter 84

Hermione couldn't think of anything else but how she could get the interest. Her current boyfriend seemed to have vanished from her mind and all she wanted now was to look as pretty as possible. She didn't even wonder why she suddenly had such strong feelings for Snape. She only wanted to be close to him. How fortunate she was that she had detention tonight. She made a mental note to thank Neville properly tomorrow.

When she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, she absentmindedly mumbled the password. Her mind was occupied with thoughts what she would wear under her school robes. What a pity that she didn't own any fancy clothes, but maybe she could transfigure one of her sweaters into something nice. She raced up the steps into her dormitory and started to browse through her clothes. Hermione knew she didn't have much time. She had to be in the dungeons in just an hour. Finally she grabbed a purple sweater and tapped it with her wand.

Very pleased she pulled her new garment over her head and checked her image in the mirror. The now lacy, purple blouse covered her curves quite nicely. The girl started posing in front of the mirror and admired the way her brown hair sparkled in the candlelight.

"My hair!" she gasped and grabbed the bushy mess on her head with both hands. "Oh my god... I can't go down there looking like that"

She had no time for Sleakeasy's, so she tried her best with a smoothing charm and pulled her hair up in lose bun. Putting her robes on, she glanced at the hourglass and shrieked. Only 15 minutes to go; she had to hurry. Hermione looked in the mirror one last time and quickly she opened the two top buttons of her blouse, revealing quite a bit of her milky skin.

She smiled brightly, pleased with what she saw and hurried out of her room. When she stepped out of the portrait hole, the Fat Lady glared at her and chided "I doubt that is the proper attire for a detention"

Hermione paid her no mind, but pulled her robes tightly around her. She didn't want to display what should be for her potion master's eyes only. Quickly she ran down the corridor and down several staircases, when she heard someone calling her name behind her. She spun around and recognized Ron and Harry staring at her.

"Hermione, where are you going?"

Ron was shocked about what he saw. His girlfriend's face was flushed and the way she was dressed didn't leave too much to the imagination.

"You now I have detention with Snape tonight. I have to go now, I don't want to be late" she said coolly and walked of.

Harry and Ron looked at each other in disbelief. With just a few strides, they had caught up with her and followed her along the corridor that led to the marble staircase.

"I can't believe you're going to detention with the greasy git, looking like THAT" Ron bellowed and grabbed her arm.

"I can dress the way I like Ron Weasley. You're not my father to determine how I'm supposed to look like. I want to look stunning for him tonight and I hope he will return my advances"

She freed her arm from his grip and started running again.

"Hermione!" Harry called out sharply and the sound of his voice made Hermione stop again.

"Harry, Just leave me be" she said before she turned towards Ron.

"I am sorry, but I'm in love with Snape. Tonight I'm going to tell him, so please leave me alone"

The two boys watched her hurry of in a very Snape like manner and couldn't believe what they had just heard.

"She's leaving me for the oversized bat?" Ron gasped aghast.

His hands were shaking with fury and his face had turned as red as his hair. "This ugly, old bastard! What has he done to my Hermione" he yelled and darted down the corridor.

Harry however knew he could not let his friend confront Snape in the dungeons. Shortly before the marble staircase he jumped at Ron's back from behind and slammed him on the floor. Pinning his arms down with his own, he said suspiciously "Ron, be reasonable. I doubt that Snape has something to do with it, or Hermione. They can't stand each other. There's something very fishy about it and we have to figure out what"

Ron's furious features calmed slightly and Harry released him.

"You're right. She didn't look like herself either" the redhead said thoughtfully. "What are we going to do now?"

"We're going to get the invisibility cloak and follow her. Maybe the person that put her in this misery will come to watch the show."

They hurried back into the common room, not paying attention to Dudley, who was sobbing loudly into a speckled handkerchief.

--------------------

Snape was sitting in his office, trying to concentrate on the papers he was trying to grade, but it was useless. The conversation with Dumbledore right before dinner was still on his mind. He had told the old wizard about Malfoy's transformation although it had dreaded him to do so. Albus was a meddling old fool and he rather wanted him out of his business, but this time he had no other choice if he didn't want to end up in Azkaban.

"We have to remain silent. Until Voldemort is defeated and the ministry is free of his followers we can not reveal the whereabouts of Lucius Malfoy. We can't risk getting you charged with murder and this is exactly what's going to happen when Cornelius finds out." Dumbledore had told him.

He would have to contact Narcissa and tell her to report Lucius missing tomorrow. She wouldn't be happy about it, but there was no way in the world they could tell the Magical Law Enforcement that Lucius was now a pot plant. Fortunately Narcissa's reputation was impeccable, at least as his devoted wife, so they wouldn't put her under Verita serum.

He was a bit more worried about himself though. They wouldn't have problems to put him under Verita serum if they expect something fishy, so he had to keep his conversation with Narcissa as short as possible. The Dark Lord would question him soon, but he wasn't afraid of that. He had jeopardized the attempts of the Dark Lord to enter his mind so often in the past years that he was well guarded. Finally he pushed the papers in the top drawer and sighed. A glance at the hourglass told him that it was close to seven. The insufferable know-it-all would shortly arrive for her detention and he wanted to be prepared.

He could barely believe that he heard her saying that she couldn't wait for her detention. This girl definitely had no life besides her studies; otherwise she would never enjoy detention. A malicious grin crept on his face when he thought about the look on her face, when he would tell her what to do. Just then he heard a knock at the door to the potions classroom and he exited his office.

"Enter" he growled and the door opened.

He had the sudden urge to rub his eyes when he recognized the person in front of him. Snape was sure that nobody had ever seen Miss Granger like that. Her robes were hanging loosely around her curvy frame.

Curvy? Since when had she been curvy? He had never seen her wearing something as tight as this. Her regular school robes and muggle clothes were rather baggy, but this was not totally different. Her tight purple blouse was half unbuttoned and it seemed to him that she had magically shortened her skirt as well. He had no idea what she was playing at, but he wanted to make sure that she got the right impression. He totally ignored her provocative outfit and made sure that his eyes did not wander.

"Well Miss Granger; you can get right to work. Clean those cauldrons over there and when you're done with that, you can start with my private lab" he said briskly and sat down at his desk.

Hermione nodded eagerly and mumbled "private lab" under her breath.

"Hurry up, we don't have all night" he bellowed and pointed at the cabinet where the cleaning supplies were stored.

"I wish we had" Hermione sighed and rushed over to the cabinet to get started.

Harry and Ron had slowly crept into the classroom right before Hermione had closed the door behind her. The dark haired wizard had decided that it would be safest to stay as far away from Snape as possible, so they moved carefully over to the next corner and watched Hermione carefully. Ron couldn't believe how his girl friend displayed her so called affection to Snape. He shuddered inwardly when he thought about what Snape could do to her in this state.

Hermione started scrubbing the first cauldron, but her school robes were in the way. Her sleeves were soaked and water was dripping on her shoes. A sly smile crept on her face when she looked at the potion master, who was busy reading the Daily Prophet. Quickly she took her school robes off and bent over the sink, pushing her rear back, in, what she hoped a seductive manner.

Snape however paid no attention to his student as long as he heard her working. He focused on the article about Umbridge's trial. She had been sentenced to 5 years of labour in the Magical Beast Asylum in London. He had nearly chuckled at the thought of Miss Dolores Umbridge shovelling dragon manure and hippogriff droppings for the ministry. Then he recognized that something was amiss. Immediately he was aware that he no longer could hea the water splashing in the sink and looked up.

Hermione had been tired of cleaning cauldrons, without him even recognizing her obvious attempts to seduce him, so she wanted to take matters in her own hands. Silently she had walked up next to his desk and waited for him to realize she wasn't working anymore. She knew he would yell at her, but she didn't care as long as he was talking to her at all. When he looked into her eyes, she had to suppress the sudden urge to wrap her arms around him and kiss him senseless.

"Why are you not working Miss Granger?" he growled. "Do I need to deduct even more points from Gryffindor?"

"I truly apologize, sir, but I can't help myself. To be in the very room with you, takes my breath away. I can't stop thinking about all the things I could do to you."

Snape arched his eyebrow suspiciously and looked for any sign of mocking in her face, but couldn't find any.

"Has the thin air in Gryffindor tower made you delusional" he sneered and her gaze dropped.

"I'm not delusional, Professor. I'm in love" she said meekly and Snape could see her face turning crimson.

"Miss Granger! I'm not listening to this childish nonsense. You will return to your work immediately or I will report you to the headmaster"

Hermione's eyes were blazing with fury, just like Ron's who was still watching her. It took all of Harry's strength to keep him hidden under the invisibility cloak.

"It is not my fault that I love you so much. You are the sexiest man that I have ever seen and I want to be yours. This is the truth and I'm not ashamed about it" she said firmly, cupping his face with her hands, raising it to make sure his gaze met hers.

Snape was ready to explode. In his point of view that was all a stupid Gryffindor prank and he was just waiting to hear someone snicker. Then he recognized that something was wrong. His hands came to rest on her shoulders and he turned her towards the candle. When the light fell on her face, he saw her glassy eyes with pupils big as saucers.

She looked drugged and he was sure that exactly that had happened.

"Do you think he's going to kiss her?" Pansy snickered quietly while she watched the whole procedure from outside the door. Draco had magically enlarged the keyhole so that the both had a good view. Crabbe and Goyle were positioned down the hallway to alert them if anyone should show up.

The Slytherin prefect looked at his friend and sneered. "I doubt it. No way in the world is he going to kiss a filthy little mudblood."

They thought he was mistaken when Snape turned Hermione around slightly and lowered his face to hers.

"Have you been drinking or eating anything besides the meals in the Great Hall?" Severus asked the girl, who swayed slightly.

"No sir", she whispered. Feeling intoxicated by the fact that his face was so close to hers.

"Has anything strange happened during dinner?" he questioned her further but she shook her head, moving it slowly closer to him.

Harry stifled a scream as he felt Ron's teeth sink into his fingers, which covered his mouth. Not knowing what else to do, he cast a full body-bind on his friend and leaned him against the wall. He couldn't risk getting them all in trouble. Snape obviously was on to something.

Severus was trying very hard not to yell or throw her out of the room this very minute. It was obvious to him that the girl had been set up and had no idea what was happening. The only person that came to his mind that was capable of doing something like that was Malfoy. His eyes were scanning the room for any sign of him, but couldn't find anything.

Hermione however took the chance that was presented to her by the momentary distraction of her teacher, and kissed him slightly. The sudden feel of her lips on his brought him back to his immediate attention.

"You shouldn't have done that!" he chided her and regretted his harsh behaviour immediately when he saw tears welling up in her eyes.

He cursed the fact of having to deal with two emotional teenagers in such a short period of time. Although he didn't particularly like the Gryffindor prefect, he couldn't leave her like that. It was absolutely intolerable letting her running around in the castle lusting after him.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but I just couldn't withstand. I love you and I want to be close to you" she sobbed in her hands.

Snape, who firmly held her on arms length, looked at her and asked "When did you first have these feelings for me?"

Hermione shrugged. "The first time I was really aware of them was after dinner, when you told me at what time I would be having detention."

Well, that cleared at least the time when the potion was administered.

Someone had given it to her during dinner. He searched his mind if he had seen anything unusual at the Gryffindor table that evening, but he couldn't remember. Even under the best circumstances, he had enough to do with keeping the Slytherins in check to worry about the other students. First of all he would have to find out what potion had been used. Obviously it had been a love potion, but he had never seen one that had such a strong effect on the person. He was seriously concerned about the way it affected her and the quick change of color in her face and the large pupils added to his worry. It was certain that he had to find a way to cancel the effect quickly or it might cause a lifelong damage or even worse.

Hermione could feel her heart beat faster and faster with every minute. The urge to kiss him and feel him close to her got so strong that she couldn't hold back any longer. In a not very gracious movement, she threw her arms around the potion master's next and wrapped her legs around his waist. Her hands grabbed his hair and pulled his face closer to hers.

Harry was totally shocked. Fortunately Ron didn't witness any of this, but he was sure that he could hear her moaning and squeaking. Just then he heard somebody giggle outside and his mind started racing. Whoever had done this to Hermione was obviously out there, enjoying the show. A wave of fury flowed through his body and he dashed towards the door.

Snape caught a quick movement from the corner of his eye, but it was impossible to detach him from her, without getting physically violent; an option that seemed more favourable with each passing moment.

Harry was still covered with the invisibility cloak as he pulled the door open and saw Parkinson and Malfoy falling to his feet. They obviously had been spying on Hermione and Snape. Their flushed faces and tears on their cheeks showed how much they must have enjoyed it. Without considering what would be the best way to deal with them, Harry decided that he would do what he liked best. Before Malfoy could fully stand up, Harry had launched himself on him and pinned his body to the floor. Blow after blow landed on Malfoy's face, which caused his nose to bleed and his eye was black and swollen shut just a few moments later. Pansy had managed to get up from the floor and was now screaming deafeningly, while Harry continued pummelling Draco.

Snape heard the commotion in the hallway and sighed heavily. This truly was not his day, or week or year. He truly wished it wouldn't even be his life!

Without further ado, he grabbed Hermione's arms roughly and squeezed her wrist until he heard a muffled yelp of pain against his neck.She immediately let go and he dropped her on the floor with a thud. Just a few seconds later, he was at the door and stared at the view in front of him. The head of Harry Potter was hovering over Draco Malfoy, while his fists were pounding into the face of the Slytherin, the rest of his body seemed to be covered by the invisibility cloak.

"Shut up Miss Parkinson!" he roared and grabbed Harry's neck, pulling him off his victim.

"Crabbe, Goyle! Take Mr Malfoy here to the hospital wing. I will be there shortly."

"Parkinson! Common room!" he bellowed and pulled Harry inside the classroom by his collar.

"Can anybody tell me what's going on here?" Harry called out, while he stumbled along after Snape.

"This was the question I just wanted to ask you, Potter" Snape growled and dropped Harry unceremoniously on a chair in the front row.

The boy's eyes immediately fell on Hermione again, who was rolling on the floor, with closed eyes, moaning and sighing.

"What's wrong with her? She said she's in love with you" Harry all but spat, what earned him a sharp glare from his teacher.

"I noticed that Potter. I have the opinion that she has been drugged; a love potion most likely. Now would you please tell me why you basted Malfoy out there?"

Harry quickly explained what had happened after dinner and how they had assumed that something was fishy.

"So you decided to spy on her" Snape asked questioningly, arching his eyebrow.

Harry, who wasn't able to tear his eyes off Hermione, nodded. "We just wanted to make sure that she's ok."

"Well, I will inform Professor Lupin about your abysmal behaviour. He will give out your punishment"

"What about Malfoy?" Harry spat, glaring at Snape with utter fury.

"Don't worry about him. He's not your business."

"Are you going to help her now, or will you leave her like that for your entertainment?"

Snape gave him his patented death glare and moved up to him. Lowering his face until they were on the same eye level, the potion master growled dangerously low "I certainly do not find it entertaining to have an insufferable Gryffindor know-it-all lolling on my floor. I can't think that she is such good company that I would keep her here any longer than I necessarily have to. Now take your sidekick and go back to your dormitory, before I take all the points Gryffindor could score so far"

Harry swallowed the nasty reply that was on his lips, because he knew that this wasn't an empty threadHis eyes darted towards Hermione again and he gasped.

"Professor! Hermione isn't moving anymore"

Snape's head spun around and they both rushed over to her.

Lowering his face to her chest he bellowed "She has no heartbeat"