Disclaimer: The characters, settings, etc. of the Harry Potter series are not mine. I just play with them.
Regarding Time Travel
Four
Hermione spent an hour and a half after her meeting with the headmaster and Snape pacing the floor in front of her fireplace, wringing her hands, and trying her best to calm down. But it was impossible. She was ecstatic that she was going to be able to conduct her experiment, but she was slightly frightened as well. The one other person who had time traveled by potions had never returned to his year of origin. What if not returning hadn't been Michelson's choice as Scott had written? What if he had been trapped or killed or God knew what else?
Was this a risk she was willing to take? Was she willing to forsake her life and chance that she may be forced to spend the rest of her life stuck in another period of time with Severus Snape?
Hermione shook her head. Of course she was willing. This was research, this was the pursuit of knowledge, and this was what she lived for. She couldn't let one or two silly, little, insignificant fears get in the way of her learning!
Suddenly, Hermione stopped her pacing and scurried over to the desk. She picked up her book bag and set it on top, peering inside. She would bring the bag with her because, firstly, she brought it everywhere with her and, secondly, it would be useful for carrying the vials of the various potions they would be bringing along, as well as Michelson's notes, and the token and notes Dumbledore would be sending along in case of the worst.
Hermione took the book she'd been reading out of the bag and set it atop the desk. It would still be here when she returned. She reorganized her copy of Michelson's notes neatly in her bag, tucked the bag of vials safely inside beside the notes, and left room for all of Dumbledore's additions.
And with that, she was finished. Hermione Granger was packed and ready to go into the past. Or the future, maybe. She wasn't certain which direction the potion would take her, but she was ready nonetheless.
She glanced down at her watch, and saw that it was just after noon. The Great Hall would just be serving lunch, and she still had twenty two hours before she and Snape began the experiment.
Sighing as she realized that she had a great deal of time to kill, Hermione decided to go down to the hall for lunch. Maybe Minerva could distract her by prattling about more eligible bachelors for awhile.
-
"Hermione!" Minerva exclaimed as the young woman seated herself beside her friend at the head table. "You've not gone back to London?"
"Oh no," Hermione said, shaking her head. "Didn't the headmaster tell you? I'll be conducting my experiment here. With Professor Snape."
Minerva's eyes widened slightly. "Will you now?" she asked, looking down at her plate in an effort to conceal her smile. "How lovely."
"Unlovely, you mean," Hermione said, as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice. "I get a feeling Professor Snape will try to leave me behind when he returns."
"Why would he do that?" Minerva asked, looking slightly appalled.
"As Harry once put it, Snape hates me with the passion of one thousand very hot and fiery suns," Hermione explained.
"Oh," Minerva said, frowning and shaking her head. "I don't know about that."
Hermione laughed shortly. "You should have seen his face when Dumbledore said that he was to go with me! I thought his head was going to explode!"
"Oh, I don't think that's possible," Minerva replied. "Without the application of an outside force, at least."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Minerva, you could at least pretend to be concerned for me."
Minevra offered her a tight lipped smile. "Have you written your supervisor about the plan? Oh and Harry as well?"
"No, I haven't," Hermione said. "I hadn't thought of that either. Thank you. I should probably tell my neighbor that I will likely need him to feed Crookshanks for a couple more evenings."
"Oh yes," her friend said, "Crookshanks would be very upset if he was forced to go without food for a few days."
"Mmm," Hermione said as she brought a spoonful of the stew they were having to her mouth. "Minerva," she continued after she'd swallowed, "how long had you known Professor Snape before you began calling him by his first name?"
"Oh," she replied, pursing her lips as she paused to think about her answer, "a little over twenty years, I think."
"Twenty?" Hermione echoed.
"Yes," Minerva replied, "he'd been teacher here for quite some time before he finally gave me permission to call him Severus."
"Permission?" Hermione said, her eyes widening slightly.
"Yes, permission," Minerva confirmed, nodding.
"He's, um, a bit difficult to work with?" Hermione asked.
"Well, yes a bit," her friend replied. "But he's basically a good man, Hermione. A rude and fairly caustic one, but he knows what's right."
"Right," said Hermione, unable to stop herself from shaking her head in disbelief. "Basically good."
"You know, he does think of you as one of his brightest students," Minerva said. "He respects you, Hermione, and that's something, isn't it?"
"Mmm," said Hermione as she looked down at her stew. "It's something."
"Severus doesn't respect many people, you know," Minerva went on. "Only those he truly sees as his equal in some way. I'm sure he sees you as his equal in intellect. Which is rather flattering when one considers just how brilliant he is."
Hermione nodded. It was rather pleasing when she thought of it that way. "But wouldn't you try to treat the people you respect at least a little bit kindly?"
"Well, I certainly would," her friend answered. "But I am not Severus. I can't begin to explain why he is the way he is, Hermione. I do know, though, that he has always had a poor disposition and that he was almost as surly as a child as he is now."
"Oh," said Hermione, frowning, "I always sort of assumed he'd just grown bitter over the years because of Voldemort and all that."
"Oh no," Minerva clucked, shaking her head. "No one wizard could make such an angry and bitter man. No, Voldemort is no more to blame for Severus's disposition than you or I. It is simply just the way Severus is. Eventually you will learn to understand and accept him as he is. We all do."
Hermione held back a snort of disbelief. "I guess that we'll see soon enough."
"Don't worry," Minerva said, reaching over to pat Hermione's hand lightly with her own. "You'll be fine."
-
After lunch, Hermione tried to pass the afternoon by reading the book she had brought with her. Her mind kept straying, though, to the experiment and Snape. Eventually, the afternoon passed into the evening. Hermione went down to the Great Hall for supper where she was reminded by Minerva that she needed to write Gerald and Harry and was given the silent treatment by Snape.
After supper, she returned to her rooms. Hermione had a long soak in the large, marble bathtub that was located in the bathroom to her rooms. Afterwards, she changed into her nightie, throwing on the blue terrycloth bathrobe the elves had provided over it. She brushed her teeth, braided her hair, and washed her face. Then deciding that she was ready for bed, Hermione left her bathroom for the main chamber, knowing she had one more thing to do before she got some rest.
Crossing the room to the corner beside the fireplace, she seated herself at her desk. She pulled three leafs of parchment, a pot of ink, and a new quill from its top drawer and began to write.
She dated the first parchment and addressed it to Gerald's office. 'Dear Gerald,' she began the letter, 'Though Professor Dumbledore may have already informed you, I have decided to conduct the experiment here at Hogwarts with Professor Snape. And before you ask, no, nothing has come of the meeting with him. It will be a professional collaboration. So you may stop any line of thought that would lead you to other conclusions this instant.
'I promise to floo you the moment we return, and I will have a comprehensive report on your desk the following Monday. In the mean time, please hold down the fort for me and make sure Frank doesn't blow his head off when he's working with the reactive time turners.' Adding a sincerely and her signature to the bottom of the parchment, Hermione folded the letter in thirds and placed it on the side of her desk.
The next parchment was dated and addressed to her neighbor. 'Dear Tim,' she wrote, 'Will be doing some work here in Scotland for awhile. Do me a favor and look after Crooks until I get back? Please? I'll make you dinner for a week when I return! Thanks in advance!' She signed that note, folded it neatly, and set it aside with Gerald's.
The third sheet of parchment she addressed to Harry's flat in London. 'Dear Harry,' she began it, '(and Ron, as well, if you could pass this along), I'm going to conduct my experiment on time travel potions here at Hogwarts. Dumbledore and Snape decided that such an experiment was too dangerous for me to conduct on my own. Dumbledore is making Snape perform the experiment with me.
'Anyway, I am writing to tell you that I might not be coming back. The last person who experimented with these potions didn't return, and while some have conjectured it was a result of a choice made by the wizard, no one can say for certain. So, on the chance that I do not come back, I'd like to ask one of you to take care Crookshanks. And, I want you to know that I love you both. You both mean the world to me. Oh, and you can have any of my stuff you'd like, just be gentle with the books.' Hermione added a love and her signature to the bottom of this letter, and like the others, folded it in thirds.
Rising from her seat, Hermione gathered up her letters and stuck them in the terrycloth pockets of her robe. She moved away from her desk, crossed her rooms, and out of her door, into the hall.
As Hermione traversed the dark corridors, she decided it was very difficult to navigate her way to the owlery in the dark when she hadn't done it in at least three years. She held the lighted end of her wand out before her, wishing that it shone more brightly.
She walked through the castle quickly, hoping that she would come to the owlery soon. She had just crossed onto the floor in which its doorways were when a tall, dark figure stepped out of the shadows and said, "Twenty points from…oh."
Hermione froze on spot as the light from her wand helped her make out the identity of the person before her. "Good evening, Professor," she said, tilting her chin up defiantly. Just as Gerald had said, he couldn't take house points from her. There was nothing to fear.
"Miss Granger," Snape sneered. "Out after curfew?"
"Yes," she replied. "Obviously."
"Hmph," said Snape. "And what are you doing roaming the hallways in the dark?"
"I'm not in the dark," Hermione retorted. "I'm using my wand for light, as you can see."
"Fine," he snapped. "What are you doing roaming the hallways in the near dark, Miss Granger?"
"Though it's none of your business," Hermione said, "I'm bringing a few letters to the owlery."
"What letters?" Snape asked, his eyes narrowed.
"It's hardly your concern!" Hermione exclaimed.
Snape said nothing, but watched her carefully.
Sighing, Hermione took a few steps forward and made to move past him. "If you'll excuse me," she began, but stopped when Snape suddenly stepped in front of her, barring her path.
"I didn't intend to go with you, Miss Granger," he snarled, narrowing his eyes as he peered down at her face.
Hermione was slightly taken aback by the expression of shyness that seemed to overtake his face. However, she supposed it might just be the play of shadows against his features, for it was highly unlikely that Severus Snape could ever feel awkward or shy around her. "And I didn't intend to bring you with me, Professor Snape," she replied. "But the headmaster apparently had other ideas."
"My intentions," Snape continued, as though he had not heard her, "were to simply watch over you as you took the potion, to make sure it did not react poorly with your system."
"Yes, you mentioned that earlier," Hermione said, "But, I suppose you won't be able to do that now, will you?"
"I am not pleased with this, Granger," he growled, leaning over her imposingly.
"I didn't think you were, Snape," she retorted, "but I'm not exactly dancing with joy, either, so why don't we just try to make the best out of a poor situation, all right?"
Snape said nothing and stared at her silently for a few moments. Eventually, though, he nodded quickly and stepped aside so that she might pass.
Hermione shook her head confusedly as she scurried away him and continued hurriedly in the direction of the owelry. Once she got there, she commissioned three owls to deliver her letters and sent them on their way. When she got back to the hallway, she was pleased to find that Snape had moved on.
She returned quickly to her rooms. Once there, she took off her bathrobe and tossed it onto the floor beside her bed. She placed her wand on her nightstand before climbing into the bed. She lay down, snuggling into the soft sheets, and sighed.
Snape certainly wasn't pleasant, but he was brilliant. And just as he had said, this was a unique opportunity for the both of them. She resolved then not to let him get the best of her. Hermione muttered, "nox," and flooded the room with darkness.
She closed her eyes and willed herself to fall asleep. She had a sneaking suspicion she was going to need her energy the following day.
-
Hermione took her time at breakfast the next day, spending as much time as possible saying good bye to Minerva and promising her to tell her all about the journey when she got back. Before she knew it, though, clocks throughout the castle struck ten, and Hermione made her way to the Room of Requirement.
When she got there, the first thing she noticed was that the floor of the Room of Requirement was cushioned. The second was that Dumbledore and Snape were waiting for her. The older of the two stood with a cheerful expression fixed upon his face and the younger stood scowling down at the padded floors. That the floor was covered in a cushioning material made her slightly nervous, but that Snape could only look at it with disdain was, in her opinion, fairly amusing.
"Right on time, Miss Granger! Perfect! Now to business," Dumbledore said, grinning at she and Snape in turn. "Here are your letters of recommendation. I imagine you want to keep them in your bag, Miss Granger?"
"Yes sir," Hermione said, taking the two sealed envelopes from the headmaster and sticking them in her book bag.
"And this," Dumbledore said, pulling something out of his pocket, "is the token you are to use to validate your story."
"It's a paperweight," Snape said, pulling his gaze from the floor to look at the object cradled in Dumbledore's hand.
Hermione inspected the bronze item in Dumbledore's palm. Sure enough, it was a paperweight, and it bore the Hogwarts crest.
"Yes," Dumbledore said, nodding. "But it's one of a kind and belongs in one very specific spot!"
"The desk of the headmaster of Hogwarts?" Snape asked, sneering.
"Exactly!" the elderly man exclaimed. "So here you are, my dear," he said, handing the item to Hermione. "Put it in your bag. Oh and Severus, give her the Beautification Potions as well."
Hermione stuck the paperweight into her bag as Snape reached into his robes' pocket and pulled out three, large vials all containing a shimmering, pink potion. He wordlessly handed them to Hermione who plucked them from his grasp and placed them inside her bag beside the other potions.
"Well," Hermione said as she fastened her bag closed and laced her arms through the straps. "I think that's all."
"Yes," Dumbledore said. "All you two have to do now is take the potion and go on your way."
"Erm," said Snape, glancing at Hermione quickly before directing his attention to Dumbledore. "A word, if you will, Headmaster."
"Of course!" Dumbledore replied, and the two of them stepped towards the door to speak in private.
Hermione did her very best to ignore anything they might be saying, keeping her attention on her fingernails. Though she managed to tune out their words, she could not help but identify the urgent tones of Snape's voice and the placating, soothing sounds of Dumbledore's words. Eventually, though, they fell into silence and Hermione looked in their direction to see they were once again approaching her.
"Well," Dumbledore said, "I believe it is time."
Hermione nodded and reached into her pocket to pull forth the two vials of the green potion she had placed there before leaving her rooms that morning. She handed one of them to Snape and kept one for herself. Unstopping the vial, Hermione lifted it in a salute to both of the Professors.
"See you," she said, giving them a small smile. And tossing the vial's contents back, she downed it all in one shot.
-
Note: Thanks for reading and thanks to those of you who have reviewed! Sorry that it has taken so long to update, but I have been without an internet connection for awhile. I will try to update more regularly now. Until next time!