2
The Brightest Witch of Her Age
Hermione's heart began to beat harder and faster every step she took leading her closer to the dungeons. She had mixed feelings about potions class. More truthfully, she had mixed feelings about her potions professor. He could be such an asshole; yet, he had a mysterious allure to him that she could not ignore. She entered the classroom and made a B-line to her usual desk in the back of the room. As she sat down she took in her surroundings, alert to any noise. Professor Snape had a way of sneaking upon unwary students. And if he startled her, she didn't know what would happen.
Lately, she had caught him giving her more than a passing glance. She hoped she was just dreaming, but when he continued to gaze at her, she knew it was not a hallucination; he was looking at her longer than he should. Hermione's mind began to wander. She had trouble with the idea that he may have feelings for her. She was snapped out of her reverie by his silky voice describing today's lesson.
"Today we will be going over the properties of moonstones….." Snape said, his eyes wandering to her.
"Thank gods, if I had to listen to another word about moonstones, I would have burst." quipped Ron
"I hear you," replied Harry
"It's good review," Hermione said automatically. The truth was she couldn't believe he was paying her so much attention, even though nobody else knew about it. In fact she was so deep in thought in class that she didn't pay much attention to her potion and didn't realize that he was standing right next to her, watching her make these mistakes until he spoke up.
"Miss Granger, if you insist on daydreaming, please do so outside of this classroom." remarked Snape.
"Yes professor. I'm sorry, my mind was somewhere else," Hermione said quietly, looking up into his face. And what she saw surprised her. She could swear she saw a brief glimmer in his eye. But no, because the next minute he was spitting sarcasm at her again.
"That is apparent, Miss Granger. It seems that you are not as studious as you put on" he replied. "Ten points from Gryffindor for not paying attention" he said, sweeping towards his desk. "You are required to write a fourteen inch essay on the properties of moonstone and on how moonstone can be used in potions. These assignments are due next Thursday. Class dismissed."
