-LOST IN OWL POSTS

CHAPTER 3

""" Ms Hermione Granger,

I'm pleased to learn that my assistance was helpful and I trust your Professor didn't cause you any problems this time.

I find it, however, very unsettling to learn the sort of Professors hired to teach University level students these days. Your University is one of the best in Europe and to have an incompetent teaching students, who earned their way into that establishment by hard work and intense study, is outrageous.

Having said that, I took the liberty of investigating this matter a bit further, and if you wish me to, I will inform you of my findings soon.

Sincerely,

""" Mr. M. """

Dropping the letter slowly on the bed, she stared nowhere in particular, in deep thought. There was so much going on in her mind... so many unanswered questions. Well, at least now she was sure it was a 'He' judging by the title. It was strange though, that he wouldn't sign his name but only an initial.

Hermione gazed at the letter sitting over her quilt and frowned. He actually paid attention to her rambling about her Professor... curious. It meant a lot to her that someone believed and wanted to help her.

She smiled.

It was even exciting, if she thought about the mystery behind this letter. He knew her but she didn't know him... he wouldn't, for reasons unknown to her, identify himself and yet, he was willing to help her. He certainly wasn't an uncultured idiot; she could tell this much by the curt flare of the letter. And gods, she needed that, some other challenging mind to talk to, even if by their limited communication methods. Hermione could easily express herself through writing, she was very good at that, but nothing could beat a face to face conversation.

Come to think of it, she couldn't remember one instance in which she had this kind of exhilarating and mind-challenging conversation with anyone. Her dear friends, now long distance ones, were wonderful but they lacked the depth she so craved.

She chuckled sadly. "The man sends me a short letter, and here I am, musing over challenging, mind blowing conversations that haven't even happened yet."

'That you don't even know if you're going to have,' came the voice in the back of her head.

Conflicted with the notion of excitement and wariness, she gradually drifted into sleep.

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Sunday brought a scowling Severus to the nearest bakery where he decided to stop and have some coffee with rolls.

He wasn't sure if he had done the right thing by meddling in that girl's business. What was he thinking, sending her another letter? And with his middle initial signed at the bottom. The girl was frighteningly smart, what if she found out? No... No one knew his middle name was Mathew, it was a Muggle name, he hated it, but his spirituous mother though it would make him more 'unique'. Like he needed any more of that!

But to give away even a hint of his true identity was still risky. He had debated whether to sign just 'Friend' as before, but the girl had signed her name, and it didn't feel right to leave her in the dark.

He groaned, running one hand trough his dark lanky hair. Since when did he care?

Those questions were unpleasantly interrupted by two men trying to speak some crude version of the Portuguese language to one of the waitress behind the counter.

Severus tried to ignore the idiotic young men and sipped his coffee without so much as a side glance.

"Me querer informa... informacion..." the first young man said, while the other whispered, "I think that's 'information' in Spanish, not Portuguese!"

"Oh... so how do you suggest I pronounce this?" the first one asked, obviously showing a translating book to the other.

"How the hell should I know? You're the one who said Portuguese couldn't be so hard!"

"Well, if you could read a Muggle map as you said you could, we wouldn't have to ask!" the first one said walking around. "Maybe we should ask someone else."

Then what Severus most dreaded happened, the two men moved closer and addressed him. When he neglected to answer, one of them touched his shoulder, making him flinch. 'Damn tourists!' he thought, turning around to face the two dunderheads who dared disturb his morning coffee.

He was ready to put on his most intimidating face and scare them out of his sight when he stopped mid turn, jaw dropping in complete disbelief. 'No, no, no, it can't be! This is a nightmare!' Severus thought, closing his eyes.

He was disappointed at his inability to recognize their voices. It had been so long and their voices had somewhat matured. 'Even if their brains hadn't.'

To say both men were equally surprised was an understatement. He could see their faces going from shocked to scared and finally to angry. Severus took the opportunity to regain his dignity and put on his cold mask.

"Mr. Potter and his sidekick... still struggling to follow simple directions?" he asked pleased to see the effect his words were having on them. That, however, wasn't enough to make him feel better about the fact he had been found out by Miss Granger's loyal little friends.

Surely they were there to visit with her, and once they found their way to her flat, the first thing they would mention would be running into the 'greasy old bat'.

Thoughts of Obliviating them crossed his mind, but he remembered he was in a Muggle bakery. There was no way he could go about Obliviating the entire crowd without having the Ministry on his tail by the end of the day.

This wasn't a very good turn of events and he would have to make every effort to make it seem he didn't know of her presence there. He couldn't lie and pretend to be only passing through because knowing Miss Granger, he was sure she would go after him and find out why he was here and where he worked in no time at all.

But most importantly, he could not let her think he was the one writing the letters. That would only make the troublesome girl think he entertained the idea of pursuing a relationship with her. The word 'relationship' brought a disgusted expression to his face, giving the two ex-students in front of him the impression it was because of them. And that wasn't too far from the truth.

Weasley squared his shoulders and addressed him with more animosity than his comment could bring, making the Potion Master wonder if the red head was still intimidated by him. "What are you doing here, Snape?"

"As difficult as it may be for your tiny brain to grasp, Mr. Weasley, this is a public place and I hate to break this news to you, but what I do is none of your business. Granted I could ask the same thing to you, but I won't because I don't care." He paused standing up and making for the entrance. "I find it infinitely disappointing to see the poor excuse for customers they let in here these days."

With that, he escaped before Potter could retort or neither of them could ask him questions.

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Hermione slept until it was mid morning, waking up with an entirely different disposition than the previous day. Sunday was usually a lazy day for her; she always ended up doing most of her homework on Saturday. Sunday was used to catch up with her sleep and try to take it easy to have a clear mind on Monday.

After going through her morning rituals, she went to her tiny kitchen and prepared herself a cup of coffee. The rap on the door startled her. Who would be knocking at her door on a Sunday morning?

She cautiously walked to the door and checked the peephole. Her face lit up with a broad smile, and she immediately unlocked the door.

"Harry, Ron! I'm so glad to see you two!" She dived into a tight hug on both of her best friends. "Why did you not owl me before you came? I could have prepared! The flat is a mess and I don't have any meal done yet..."

"Hermione you're rambling," Harry said playfully.

"Besides we wanted to surprise you," Ron added with a smile.

Hermione brought the two young men to her small living room and after offering some coffee, all three of them sat happily chatting.

"So, anything new?" she asked absently adding some sugar to her second cup.

"Not much really, I suppose I told you all of it when I last owled you. We just came back from Hogwarts; Harry wanted to see Dumbledore and... That reminds me," Ron said leaning back in his chair and making himself more comfortable. "You won't believe who we ran into just a block away from your flat..."

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The University's grounds were practically deserted on Sundays. The students who lived in the building's dormitory were probably out or studying.

Severus didn't have any problems finding the way to the Headmaster's office. The castle was very similar to Hogwarts in many ways and Phillip had given him an idea of its location.

He knocked firmly at the door.

"Come in." The man, an old wizard with long red hair, meshed with white, and a long beard of the same color, was seated behind his desk sipping tea and feeding an owl, while he went through his mail.

"Ah, Mr. Snape! Phillip has told me all about you, and it's really an honor to meet a war hero and accomplished Potions master such as yourself." The old man's hazel eyes twinkled madly, as he extended a hand to greet Severus, who had an odd sense of Deja vu.

Severus nodded stiffly, not used to that kind of compliment. "Professor Drumond."

"Please, call me Albert," the Headmaster said warmly.

The two men talked for good part of the afternoon and when Severus left, the Headmaster had assured him he hadn't had any complaints from students or parents, but he would make sure to find out what was wrong with his Potions Professor and send him an owl the next day.

Severus noticed he seemed to be reticent when questioned about the Professor's history. For a moment there, it seemed he couldn't remember a thing about the man in question. If the red headed Professor didn't remember, he did not disclose that information. It wasn't a wise thing for a Headmaster, to let people know he was turning senile. In any case, Severus decided to wait for the old man's owl and see what would happen from there.

When the owl didn't arrive the next day, nor the next, Severus decided to pay the man another visit. This time though he chose to floo his office.

When Severus head appeared in the fireplace, he found the old man, quietly humming and gazing through the window. The noise at the hearth caught his attention and he smiled at Severus.

"Mr. Snape, what do I own the pleasure of your visit?"

"How do you do, Professor Drumond? I was wondering if you had any lucky in finding out about your Potions Professor's classes." Severus saw the man's blank expression and had a bad feeling about it.

Drumond slowly sat in front of the fire staring at Severus with his brows furrowed.

Seeing that the man was still lost, Severus pushed. "The conversation we had about your Potions Professor's lack of skills."

"Conversation? What conversation?" the older man asked.

Severus sighed. This was not good, and for some reason, he knew the man wasn't senile.

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A/N: Thanks to Shauna for beta-reading and everybody for your kind reviews ;-)