The room into which he had strode was shrouded in muted light given off by the many candles that seemed to line the walls. Blue, red, black, white…every color she could imagine with as many different tinted flames. The combination of the lights seemed to be a brilliant gold, which washed over the glimmering hair of her captor and slid down to a large cauldron that was seated on the floor before him.
"What…what is all…?"
"I've been observing you lately, Miss Granger, and I must say that I find many of your instructional methods lacking. I have brought you to my private chambers in order to instruct you. As you so generously pointed out a moment ago, the students of this school need me. And they are hardly finding a suitable replacement in yourself."
Hermione bristled a bit. "Well, excuse me, but when I came here as Assistant Medi-Witch, I hardly expected to end up as resident Potions Mistress, stalking through the dungeons like some walking nightmare in place of yourself!"
His expression hardened slightly. "I may not be your professor anymore, but under these circumstances, I expect you to treat me with respect."
"What do you mean under these circumstances?" she said, her voice rising slightly. "I've hardly agreed to receive instruction from you!"
He was motionless as he surveyed her. "Then you will remain my prisoner until you agree."
Hermione staggered a bit, feeling as though she'd had the wind knocked out of her. The full reality of the situation came hurtling back at her like a semi-truck. And the reality was that she was being held captive by this man before her. And, apparently, he had already set terms on how she had to buy her freedom.
"I…you're insane," she said softly.
A small smirked betrayed him by tugging at the corner of his lips. "Perhaps. But that is a moot point. So, do you agree now? Or must I leave you alone for a few days longer so you can make up your mind?"
Hermione quickly found that swallowing her pride felt a lot like swallowing a bag of stones.
"I…fine," she managed to ground out.
Severus watched her for a moment, and it was clear to her that he was deliberating whether or not to make her repeat herself.
Obviously, deciding not to push the issue, Snape raised a single hand and beckoned her forward.
Hermione, grinding her teeth slightly, stalked farther into the chamber. However, her anger was quickly evaporating as she surveyed the shelves around her, which she could now clearly see.
Never in her life had she seen so many potions ingredients. Vials upon vials, stacked on weathered shelves crammed with random jars and old leather-bound books. The sight of the amount of knowledge she had yet to ingest was breath-taking.
She approached the cauldron before Snape, her eyes glued to the numerous shelves on the wall beside her.
"Ah, there we are. Lesson number one. Pay attention to what you are doing."
Hermione snapped out of her daze and turned to face him. "Sorry," she murmured. "It's just…I've never seen…"
"It doesn't matter how impressive my stores may seem," Snape dismissed. "You must always have your mind on your immediate work. Attention to detail is critical."
"But walking over here without my eyes strictly in front of me didn't cause any damage, did it?" she bit off as a reply, crossing her arms over her chest.
"On the contrary…" Snape said quietly, letting his eyes slide down her body with something almost akin to amusement.
Confused, Hermione followed his gaze…
"Oh Merlin!" she cried.
When she was walking, she hadn't noticed that she had begun to step in some sort of pink-ish potion that was spilled on the floor. Now, however, it was not only encasing her shoes, but had begun to creep up her legs as well.
Some quick mental referencing told her all she needed to know.
"You pervert!" she shrieked, bending down to quickly scrape off as much of the gunk as she could. She was very perturbed to find that as soon as she had one patch of her leg cleared, the potion spread to completely recover it. "Aaargh! Do something right now before it eats through all of my clothes!"
Snape chuckled softly, extracting his wand.
"Evanesco!" he said, holding it up.
Instantly, Hermione felt the goo disappear, leaving her barefoot on the cold stone floor. Glancing down, she saw that the hem of her skirt had been dissolved, and her legs were now bare to her mid-thigh.
"Stop laughing at me!" she spat, blushing crimson when she realized that Snape had, indeed, turned his face away from her slightly and was trying to mask his laughter in a cough.
"I apologize, Miss Granger," he conceded, turning back to watch her as his face slid back into his signature smirk. "I could think of no other way to enforce my point that attention is critical."
"I hardly believe that," she replied acidly. "You could have set up an experiment…or…something!" Her embarrassment and fury were beginning to make her feel slightly light-headed.
"I believe I just did set up an experiment," he said softly.
Hermione, feeling extremely wrong-footed and frustrated at having no reply, merely huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, looking away.
"Take this," Snape said suddenly, and she suddenly felt him standing beside her.
Grumpy, perturbed, but beginning to feel the chill of the stone floor she was standing on, she ripped the robes he was offering her out of his hands.
Snape moved back around to stand behind the cauldron. "Remember what I said earlier," he said dangerously, after she had not moved for a moment, "you do not leave until you receive my instruction."
Closing her eyes, Hermione slid the robe on. It was far too large for her, and smelled vaguely of pine. She looked down and saw the characteristic embroidery of the Potion Master's robes along the cuffs. Fabulous, she thought bitterly. I'm stuck in the dungeons, wearing Snape's old robes, being held hostage until I consent to have this stupid git teach me about potions I already know how to make. Just fabulous. Fan-bloody-tastic.
Gritting her teeth, she stepped around to stand beside Snape.
He looked down at her. "Are you quite ready?"
"Teach away," she murmured bitterly, staring at the pitch black bottom of the empty cauldron before her.
A/N :shuffles feet, looking at the ground: um…can I just say how incredibly sorry I am?
My muse abandoned me. Various projects have been consuming my life. And I'm just a terrible terrible person for not updating this. I'm so very very sorry. I swear, I will not abandon this story. I love it too much. It's just soooo time consuming and I will absolutely not post anything less than my best for you guys. Forgive me?
No, Wood is not a stick – you're my favorite reviewer/fellow writer in the whole wide world :)