Severus overslept. He was finally awaken by the hooting of his owl,
Rhysenn. She was a pretty owl, by owl standards. She was mostly black,
except for some small hidden patches of white. She was a good-sized one,
too. She got his packages to the recipients on time, never got lost, and
could always carry his post.
She had the morning's Daily Prophet in her beak and was awaiting her payment. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanks, Rhysenn," he said groggily, placing a Knut in a little pouch attached to her leg. She rubbed his arm with her head before taking off, and he watched her away until she disappeared into the morning light.
He was up late last night working on his syllabus for the sixth year NEWT classes. He had meant to finish it sooner, however, Dumbledore had summoned him to his office for a few words. The headmaster had a few pieces of advice for him, seeing as Snape's safety really was in jeopardy. The Dark Lord had been suspicious of his Death Eaters lately, he was positive that there was an unfaithful person amongst them. And because he thought that the traitor most definitely wasn't going to allude to his guiltiness by being retarded and breaking out a guitar and singing "Kumbaya" at the next Death Eater revel, he thought it best to test their loyalty. This "test" was unexplained as of now, but Snape and Dumbledore doubted that it was anything easy.
But Snape had a schedule to stick to, and right now, he was late for breakfast.
******
"Good morning, Hermione, darling!" said a mock-cheerful voice from inside of the oven. Mrs. Weasley had obviously had another of her manic rages that drove her to bake and cook anything and everything that could possibly fit in the kitchen. Hermione suspected that she's been up late brooding over Percy again, which was a regular occurrence lately. Lucky for the rest of them, they were never lacking something to eat. "G'morning, Mrs. Weasley. You alright?"
She set down the newly baked pound cake on the counter and sighed. "Oh, yes, dear, of course. Just felt like cooking, that's all." As Hermione looked at her, she noticed that her eyes were red and her face was a little blotchy-the telltale signs of recent crying. Her hair was hastily put up in a clip, with tendrils of fading flames escaping their holder. She had always reminded Hermione of exactly how one thinks of a mother: always paranoid, worrying, loving, kind, gentle, caring. The kind that will always be waiting for you at home when you get back from school with a plate of cookies and milk. The kind that would always be doing something: laundry, cleaning, polishing, vacuuming, cooking. She was a great mother. But Mrs. Weasley always seemed to find that she needed to do more, be better, and wasn't doing her best. "Anything I can help with? Cleaning or something?" she asked. "Oh, no, thank you, hun." Hermione knew that she'd refuse. She just asked to make herself sound helpful. But she still wanted food. "May I please." "Oh, yes, your breakfast. You can have whatever you like. I'll get you some bacon and eggs. Your favorite!" "Thank you very much." "You're always welcome."
Hermione fixed them some tea and ate with Mrs. Weasley, chatting about school and girly things. When the clock struck nine, they heard the others stirring upstairs. Ginny was the first to descend.
"Up early again, I see. It's not like the library's gonna move if we don't get there early," she said, rubbing her eyes. "Mum, the kitchen smells great," she peered into the nearest pot. "Bouillabaisse, Mum?"
"Well, I thought I might try a few new things. Nothing wrong with that."
The next one down was Harry, looking as though he'd needed the sleep he got.
"Hey, girls. Good morning Mrs. Weasley. Breakfast smells great!" He smiled his always warming smile, the kind that always provoked the recipient to smile back. "Hermione, are you going to the library again today? I might go with you today."
"Yeah, Harry, I am. I'd love to have some company. You think Ron would come?"
"Come where?" Ron's tall, lanky torso was appearing at the stairs followed by an unkempt head of fire. He needed a haircut, but Hermione had heard Lavender talking about how much she loved guys with shaggy hair last year. Ron had apparently overheard. Harry, however, didn't even need to try to get his hair shaggy.
"To your favorite place in the world, Ron!" replied Hermione.
"Oh, God, not a library!" Ron groaned.
"Not just a library, you dork! The library. The St. David's Wizarding Library of Ancient and Modern Texts. Besides, you don't have to go." She glared at him with mock-hatred.
"Yeah, Ron, we can get a good start on our summer homework. Snape's got us doing so much bloody work, I'll probably still be working on it when we graduate. Plus, maybe there are a few things that we might find interesting. I heard that Malfoy's dad contributed a lot to the Dark Arts section. Of course, you have to have a really good reason to get into there." Harry said.
"Why the bloody hell would we wanna read that?" Ron was lost.
"I'll tell you when we get there," Harry whispered through his clenched teeth.
"Wh.ohh. Okay. Mum, can we go to St. David's?" asked Ron.
Mrs. Weasley hadn't really been paying attention.she was yet again on the verge of tears.
"What? Oh, why, yes dear of course. Just take Ginny with you."
"But, Mum!! Why do I.?" Ginny protested.
"You will go with your brother. How are you all getting there?"
"Floo Powder." Hermione replied.
"Okay, just pop back in if you'll be late for supper."
"Yes, ma'm." they all replied. ********
Snape arrived in the Great Hall at about nine and was greeted by many of his colleagues. This is why he hated being late to breakfast. He liked to eat alone. He would probably be offered some pastry by Albus, engaged in an attempt at conversation by Flitwick, and be asked to pass the salt at least twice. Severus personally thought that these people should be monitoring their sodium intake, but no one ever cared.
The meal passed as normal as could be, with Albus not only offering a blueberry scone, but a bear claw as well. He could've sworn the old man mumbled something about "keeping that girlish figure," but Severus pushed that aside. Sure enough, Flitwick wanted to discuss topics of the day: modern sciences, politics, the weather. Snape would rather Crucio himself first. And the salt was requested three times. He protested the third, saying that they could just Accio the damn thing if they wanted it.
After breakfast and refusing to go to the Three Broomsticks with the other teachers, Snape decided to alter his schedule and do a bit of end of vacation drinking. After all, drunkenness can soothe, he thought. He searched his personal store and dug up some muggle '98 Stag's Leap and a few Harp Lagers. He had a high tolerance for the stuff but he just wanted to drink. He wanted to forget his nightmare of last night. Life really sucks, he thought.
After a few hours' drinking and many an attempt to start the seventh years' syllabus, he finally decided to summon some soup and a hogey (Author's Note: it's a sub, y'know, a hogey! I just HAD to write it! I HAD to, you understand.). While Snape ate his hogey, he read his Daily Prophet from that morning. Apparently, they still weren't done apologizing to Potter, they were now doing them daily. His picture covered the paper, pictures of him doing everything (HARRY POTTER BRUSHES TEETH!! In circles! See pictures! Amazing!!). And while at the Post Office in Hogsmeade, Severus could've sworn that he saw a magazine with a special on the Harry Pott-Head-How to Get Harry Potter-esque Hair!! Severus could've died. He felt that he needed a haircut named after him, but Grease-us Slime-ape didn't quite have that ring to it. Shucks, he thought.
As he got into bed, Snape saw his watch again, with its inscription on the back: Love You, Live for You, Die for You, True to You-Always and forever, Molly Duncan.
He didn't sleep easy.
Author's Notes: Hey y'all! Hope y'all like the Kumbaya thing. And the Hogey. And the Grease-us Slime-ape. Random, random me. This is a first fic for me, so please review. If you can't tell, I'm going somewhere with the Molly Duncan thing. And there's a darn good reason hermione's in here. Please e-mail if you have any suggestions for my plot. I could use 'em. And remember, even sex gods can be prude---it's a Draco thing. He'll be big in here, as will Lucius. Might I also suggest a Superdy Duperdy good fic on www.schnoogle.com by Cassandra Claire. Actually, 'tis a trilogy. Read Draco Dormiens, then Draco Sinister, then Draco Veritas. They're AMAZING!!! Thanks~~~SuperDuperSpecialSarah
She had the morning's Daily Prophet in her beak and was awaiting her payment. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanks, Rhysenn," he said groggily, placing a Knut in a little pouch attached to her leg. She rubbed his arm with her head before taking off, and he watched her away until she disappeared into the morning light.
He was up late last night working on his syllabus for the sixth year NEWT classes. He had meant to finish it sooner, however, Dumbledore had summoned him to his office for a few words. The headmaster had a few pieces of advice for him, seeing as Snape's safety really was in jeopardy. The Dark Lord had been suspicious of his Death Eaters lately, he was positive that there was an unfaithful person amongst them. And because he thought that the traitor most definitely wasn't going to allude to his guiltiness by being retarded and breaking out a guitar and singing "Kumbaya" at the next Death Eater revel, he thought it best to test their loyalty. This "test" was unexplained as of now, but Snape and Dumbledore doubted that it was anything easy.
But Snape had a schedule to stick to, and right now, he was late for breakfast.
******
"Good morning, Hermione, darling!" said a mock-cheerful voice from inside of the oven. Mrs. Weasley had obviously had another of her manic rages that drove her to bake and cook anything and everything that could possibly fit in the kitchen. Hermione suspected that she's been up late brooding over Percy again, which was a regular occurrence lately. Lucky for the rest of them, they were never lacking something to eat. "G'morning, Mrs. Weasley. You alright?"
She set down the newly baked pound cake on the counter and sighed. "Oh, yes, dear, of course. Just felt like cooking, that's all." As Hermione looked at her, she noticed that her eyes were red and her face was a little blotchy-the telltale signs of recent crying. Her hair was hastily put up in a clip, with tendrils of fading flames escaping their holder. She had always reminded Hermione of exactly how one thinks of a mother: always paranoid, worrying, loving, kind, gentle, caring. The kind that will always be waiting for you at home when you get back from school with a plate of cookies and milk. The kind that would always be doing something: laundry, cleaning, polishing, vacuuming, cooking. She was a great mother. But Mrs. Weasley always seemed to find that she needed to do more, be better, and wasn't doing her best. "Anything I can help with? Cleaning or something?" she asked. "Oh, no, thank you, hun." Hermione knew that she'd refuse. She just asked to make herself sound helpful. But she still wanted food. "May I please." "Oh, yes, your breakfast. You can have whatever you like. I'll get you some bacon and eggs. Your favorite!" "Thank you very much." "You're always welcome."
Hermione fixed them some tea and ate with Mrs. Weasley, chatting about school and girly things. When the clock struck nine, they heard the others stirring upstairs. Ginny was the first to descend.
"Up early again, I see. It's not like the library's gonna move if we don't get there early," she said, rubbing her eyes. "Mum, the kitchen smells great," she peered into the nearest pot. "Bouillabaisse, Mum?"
"Well, I thought I might try a few new things. Nothing wrong with that."
The next one down was Harry, looking as though he'd needed the sleep he got.
"Hey, girls. Good morning Mrs. Weasley. Breakfast smells great!" He smiled his always warming smile, the kind that always provoked the recipient to smile back. "Hermione, are you going to the library again today? I might go with you today."
"Yeah, Harry, I am. I'd love to have some company. You think Ron would come?"
"Come where?" Ron's tall, lanky torso was appearing at the stairs followed by an unkempt head of fire. He needed a haircut, but Hermione had heard Lavender talking about how much she loved guys with shaggy hair last year. Ron had apparently overheard. Harry, however, didn't even need to try to get his hair shaggy.
"To your favorite place in the world, Ron!" replied Hermione.
"Oh, God, not a library!" Ron groaned.
"Not just a library, you dork! The library. The St. David's Wizarding Library of Ancient and Modern Texts. Besides, you don't have to go." She glared at him with mock-hatred.
"Yeah, Ron, we can get a good start on our summer homework. Snape's got us doing so much bloody work, I'll probably still be working on it when we graduate. Plus, maybe there are a few things that we might find interesting. I heard that Malfoy's dad contributed a lot to the Dark Arts section. Of course, you have to have a really good reason to get into there." Harry said.
"Why the bloody hell would we wanna read that?" Ron was lost.
"I'll tell you when we get there," Harry whispered through his clenched teeth.
"Wh.ohh. Okay. Mum, can we go to St. David's?" asked Ron.
Mrs. Weasley hadn't really been paying attention.she was yet again on the verge of tears.
"What? Oh, why, yes dear of course. Just take Ginny with you."
"But, Mum!! Why do I.?" Ginny protested.
"You will go with your brother. How are you all getting there?"
"Floo Powder." Hermione replied.
"Okay, just pop back in if you'll be late for supper."
"Yes, ma'm." they all replied. ********
Snape arrived in the Great Hall at about nine and was greeted by many of his colleagues. This is why he hated being late to breakfast. He liked to eat alone. He would probably be offered some pastry by Albus, engaged in an attempt at conversation by Flitwick, and be asked to pass the salt at least twice. Severus personally thought that these people should be monitoring their sodium intake, but no one ever cared.
The meal passed as normal as could be, with Albus not only offering a blueberry scone, but a bear claw as well. He could've sworn the old man mumbled something about "keeping that girlish figure," but Severus pushed that aside. Sure enough, Flitwick wanted to discuss topics of the day: modern sciences, politics, the weather. Snape would rather Crucio himself first. And the salt was requested three times. He protested the third, saying that they could just Accio the damn thing if they wanted it.
After breakfast and refusing to go to the Three Broomsticks with the other teachers, Snape decided to alter his schedule and do a bit of end of vacation drinking. After all, drunkenness can soothe, he thought. He searched his personal store and dug up some muggle '98 Stag's Leap and a few Harp Lagers. He had a high tolerance for the stuff but he just wanted to drink. He wanted to forget his nightmare of last night. Life really sucks, he thought.
After a few hours' drinking and many an attempt to start the seventh years' syllabus, he finally decided to summon some soup and a hogey (Author's Note: it's a sub, y'know, a hogey! I just HAD to write it! I HAD to, you understand.). While Snape ate his hogey, he read his Daily Prophet from that morning. Apparently, they still weren't done apologizing to Potter, they were now doing them daily. His picture covered the paper, pictures of him doing everything (HARRY POTTER BRUSHES TEETH!! In circles! See pictures! Amazing!!). And while at the Post Office in Hogsmeade, Severus could've sworn that he saw a magazine with a special on the Harry Pott-Head-How to Get Harry Potter-esque Hair!! Severus could've died. He felt that he needed a haircut named after him, but Grease-us Slime-ape didn't quite have that ring to it. Shucks, he thought.
As he got into bed, Snape saw his watch again, with its inscription on the back: Love You, Live for You, Die for You, True to You-Always and forever, Molly Duncan.
He didn't sleep easy.
Author's Notes: Hey y'all! Hope y'all like the Kumbaya thing. And the Hogey. And the Grease-us Slime-ape. Random, random me. This is a first fic for me, so please review. If you can't tell, I'm going somewhere with the Molly Duncan thing. And there's a darn good reason hermione's in here. Please e-mail if you have any suggestions for my plot. I could use 'em. And remember, even sex gods can be prude---it's a Draco thing. He'll be big in here, as will Lucius. Might I also suggest a Superdy Duperdy good fic on www.schnoogle.com by Cassandra Claire. Actually, 'tis a trilogy. Read Draco Dormiens, then Draco Sinister, then Draco Veritas. They're AMAZING!!! Thanks~~~SuperDuperSpecialSarah