Potions. No Snape. Thank the great divine powers above. Or maybe it was sheer dumb luck. Whatever it was, she might finally get some recognition. The new professor, Slughorn, asked for them to name the contents of each cauldron set out. Easy peasy. Hand up. He scans the classroom, has to pick her. Haha! Triumph.
"It's Veritaserum, a colorless, odorless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth."
Praise. Not snide comments. Not a punishment for knowing. Just praise. Second time. Hand up in a flash. Touch down!
"Polyjuice Potion, sir"
Then the praise. Finally. Praise for doing it right and for knowing it. Thank gosh. Thank gosh. Next cauldron. Going to be a snap. Hand up. Hermione again. Score!
"Amortentia!"
Slughorn looks pleased while saying, "It seems almost foolish to ask but I assume you know what it does?"
Of course, she knows what it means! Of course! All he had to do was ask. All anyone ever has to do is ask.
"It's the most powerful love potion in the world!"
He's suggesting that she recognized it by it's shiny shimmer that makes it look like someone managed to melt a pearl in their cauldron. Of course. That and the steaming spirals, and the attractive smell. Mowed grass reminding her of her father. New parchment like at school. Hermione almost blurted out fresh cookies like her mother makes along with a million other smells, before she realized that she was in a class room. A little blush crept into her cheeks.
"May I ask your name, my dear?" Slughorn smiled at her as, a flash of joy in his eyes before it melted away to a simple twinkle.
"Hermione Granger, sir."
He repeats the name, mulling over it. Yes, she said Granger, but does he have to repeat it like it's part of a riddle he's in the middle of solving?
"Can you possibly be related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, who founded the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?" He asked, trying to find a reason for her brilliance.
"No, I don't think so, sir," Hermione nearly has to hold an eye roll back as she says this, "I'm Muggle-born, you see."
Just because she is smart does not mean that she is pureblood. Just because she knows things does not mean that she has any connection to a pureblood wizard. Just because she's smarter then anyone in that classroom did not mean she had any connections whatsoever. Yes, she was aware that Malfoy was whispering something about her to that Nott kid. Yes, she knew that he wasn't the only one. No, she didn't care. She didn't care at all. Let them giggle. Gosh knows they don't have anything else to brighten up their life with except the half-witted cliche remarks about her parents. Well laugh it up boys!
Before Hermione had any real time to fume about it, Professor Slughorn looked to Harry and said, "Oh! 'One of my best friends is Muggle-born, and she's the best in our year!' I'm assuming this is the very friend of whom you spoke, Harry?"
Best in the year. Wow. Wow. Wow! Hermione's cheeks burned. Her best friend thought she was the best in her year and he had yelled it to a full grown potions master. Well, it was true that she was the top of the class. Slughorn gave her twenty points. Points in potions be awarded to her. Who would have thought? Hermione didn't even need to turn around to know that Malfoy looked dumbstruck and in a few moments he'd be slightly seething at what had happened. Haha! Laugh it up boys. Laugh it up.
Hermione gushed, "Did you really tell him I'm the best in the year? Oh, Harry!"
She wanted to hug that boy right then and there. Ron whispered something about it being the truth and if Slughorn had only asked he could have told him that. Radiating with pride and happiness, Hermione had to reprimand herself mentally and remember they were in class. She shushed the boys and turned back to the teacher, not knowing the look that Ron shot her and Harry as her full attention turned back to the class. Today she would be the best and finally get what she deserved for it.
"It is probably the most dangerous and powerful potion in this room- oh yes," Slughorn was talking about the Amortentia potion, "When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love."
Macmillan asked about the small cauldron on Slughorn's desk. Hermione didn't need to be told that the bubbling liquid sunshine was really a potion of pure luck, Felix Felicis. And she gladly answered his question of it's purpose. The class leapt to attention. It was really sickening that nothing was really important to anyone until it offered something to gain. Ten more points though. That's what mattered. Rack up the points now. They'd lose a few in DADA. Not that they'd lose as much as they did the years before in Potions since most of them did know more about the subject then the Sylterins, thanks to Harry's DA.
Slughorn began saying, "It's a little funny potion, Felix Felicis. Desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, as this has been..."
Hermione knew everything he said before he said it. She had known everything Snape had said before it hit her ears, too. They both knew it. Both Professors knew she didn't need the lecture like the other students. Only one of them cared enough to let her know that they knew.
"...highly toxic in large quantities. But taken sparingly, and very occasionally..."
Corner cut in with a rather stupid question indeed, "Have you ever taken it, sir?"
"Twice in my life..."
Yes, of course if he took the time to brew it he would drink it! Does the class need to know about a teacher's personal life? Get on with the lesson. Let Hermione prove herself again. Let her make a potion and for the first time be told how amazing it is instead of barely scraping by. Slughorn, concluded his speech with an announcement that it would be the prize for brewing their next potion correctly. 12 hours of luck. Yes, yes. Fine indeed. But that wasn't why Hermione wanted to win. Hermione turned to page 10, looking over the instructions to Draught of Living Death. She worked swiftly, yet with the most care she could manage for any task.
At the half-way mark, Hermione's was perfect. A beautiful black currant color. She handed her knife to Harry at his request, only barely registering what she was doing. Her eyes were trained to her potion. Why wasn't it lilac? Stupid purple. Stupid purple. What went wrong? What did she miss. Please. Please. Please let hers be the best. One glance around the room. Yes, she was coming the closest. Wait! Harry's potion was lilac! Stupid lilac! Stupid lilac! It turned pink. Hermione had watched him from the corner of her eyes. That couldn't be right. He wasn't stirring it right. Stupid pink...stupid purple! Why was her potion still purple?
"How are you doing that?" Hermione hissed at him, growing more and more frustrated.
"Add a clockwise stir-"
"No! No, the book says counterclockwise!" Hermione was fuming.
She was very nearly the color of her potion-plum purple. Stupid stirring. She watched him from the corner of her eye. Yes, yes he was stirring it the wrong way, but it was just getting lighter and lighter like it should have. Well...Hermione picked up her spoon and imitated Harry. Seven counterclockwise, one clockwise. Immediately her potion began to change. She almost had it the color it should be...almost...stupid time. Stupid time! Slughorn told them to stop stirring. Hermione's was a pale pink. Harry's was at least three shades lighter. How did he know to do that? How? Stupid Harry. Stupid stirring. Stupid. Stupid. How could she have been so stupid? Well, at least she and Harry were the only ones that had pink potions. Slughorn smiled at hers and nodded in an approving way. Then the moment she knew was coming. If...If only she could use her time turner. No. That really was pushing it. She'd just have to deal with what Slughorn declared.
She really was a twit. A half-wit. She was so stupid. She was the most brilliant witch of their day.
To anyone with half a brain they could see that with her in the class room, it was like watching a dance. Watching a battle. The teacher would ask a question, offer a challenge. Her hand would raise, accepting and sending the challenge back as if it weren't good enough. Then the teacher would send it back, daring her to answer. Daring her to be smarter then any others in her class. It was beautiful to watch. Question. Hand up. Permission. Answer. Praise. Then it would begin again. Again. Again. If only he could do that.
Freshly cut grass. And new parchment. And... what else?
What a pretty pink color.
Slughorn asked for her name. How dare he not know her name. How could anyone not know her name? Even...even he knew her name. Even he knew who Hermione Granger was and he'd never even met her. He'd never sat in class with her. He'd never had to put up with her day after day. But he knew her well enough to ask this of another. To ask him to hurt her. Smart move, if only you don't want to be alive later. If only you don't want to be under her glaring eyes afterwards. It's best not to meet Miss. Granger when you plan on hurting her.
Slughorn asked her if she was related to a potions master. A pureblood potions master. His heart skipped a beat. Please. Please. Please say...she answered no. She blushed as she said she was simply a muggle-born. It's okay really. He is going to hurt her so it doesn't matter. He has to, because if he doesn't everything that he does have will be gone from him. And when he hurts her to save everything he thinks he has, it won't matter if there had been a chance or not. But why? Why couldn't she?
He leans over to whisper to his friend, "Now that Slughorn knows that she's a mudblood it'll be like having class with Snape."
He knows she heard them snigger. Sorry. No. No, he's not. He can't want anymore then he already has, because if he does he'll lose more. He'll lose it all. How could he do that? Stupid blood. Stupid blood. Stupid blood! What? Slughorn congratulated her? Draco's face contorts into half rage, half...no not joy. More like relief. Draco smirked inwardly, remembering that his muscles twitched this way when she had slapped him. Stop. Stop. STOP! Do not have those feelings. Have feelings that can't be returned, because soon he'd lose them anyway.
Draco sent a skeptical look towards his teacher, nearly laughing out loud as he said that out of everything in the room, Amortentia was the most dangerous.
"When you have seen as much life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love..."
Zone out. Whatever. Stupid potions. Stupid time. Go faster. Draco sat smirking thinking about DADA. If only it would come faster he could spend his least favorite class with his favorite teacher. Well until, that teacher began prying into his business. Already he was been prodded and poked by Snape, who wanted to know what the Dark Lord had assigned for him to do. What he was going to do. What was he going to do really? Hurt her. Hurt them all. But it was so he didn't lose anything. It was so he kept everything he ever had. He couldn't lose her. He never had her. He never would. The Dark Lord didn't know, but getting rid of this one person was only going to fuel the other side. Because she was on it. She was the most brilliant witch of their day and hurting her would only make her come after them. Stupid Gyrffindors. "It makes you lucky!" Hermione nearly screamed it.
Sit up straight. Listen, Draco, old boy. Listen, son.
"Quite right!" Slughorn throwing praise at her. At least he can do it for the rest of us. At least her can do it for him. "Take another ten points for Gryffindor," he says beaming, before he continued, "Yes, it's a funny little potion, Felix Felicis. Desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, as this has been, you will find that all your endeavors tend to succeed...at least until the effects wear off."
The Boot kid asked, "Why don't people drink it all the time, sir?"
Now why don't they? Why don't we all just stay lucky? Why don't we all just drink it and never have to worry again?
Slughorn said seriously which in its self is surprising, "Because if taken in excess, it causes giddiness, recklessness, and dangerous overconfidence."
Draco smirked slightly. It seems he found out one of Potty's secrets. Stupid Potter. Stupid Potty. Stupid scar.
"Too much of a good thing, you know...highly toxic in large quantities. But taken sparingly, and very occasionally..."
Corner asked if the professor has ever taken it. Well, yes. Yes. Yes! Obviously. The question should be what happened when he drank it.
Slughorn replied to the stupidity with a dreamy look on his face, "Twice in my life. Once when I was twenty-four, once when I was fifty-seven. Two tablespoonfuls taken with breakfast. Two perfect days."
Two perfect days. Only one. That's all he needs is one. One perfect day. And here is his window of opportunity! A bottle. 12 hours of luck. If only he can brew the potion right. Please. Please. Please stupid mudblood mess up! Draco flipped through the pages to the Draught of the Living Death. Please. Please. Please make this right, Draco. Make this right, son. Draco didn't look up the entire time. He cut and measured and stirred. The only time he said anything was when he was trying to smooth talk Slughorn.
"Sir," he started sweetly, "I think you knew my grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy?"
Professor Slughorn didn't look up as he said, "Yes, I was sorry to hear that he died, although of course it wasn't unexpected, dragon pox at his age..."
He just walked away. This meant Draco's only choice was to out brew Hermione Granger. He didn't look at her cauldron, knowing that if he did he would just about give up to see her progress compared to his. It was nearly the end of class and he was just now getting it to turn lilac. Too late. Slughorn called time. Draco put his spoon down and turned his head just slightly so that he could see out of the corner of his eye Hermione's work. It was a pretty light shade of pink. Like the pink she was when she was talking about the love potion. Talking about grass and parchment and...what else was she going to say?
He knew Slughorn would pass him. What he didn't know was that he'd pass Hermione, too. He followed Slughorn's path to...what a shocker. Since when did he have any brains?
"The clear winner!"
Blah. Blah. Stupid blah. Lily's talents. Bull. This is the first time Harry's ever done better then Hermione. The first time! Later at the table, Hermione found out it was because of someone else's work. Someone else's notes. With those notes should could have done just as well as Harry. With those notes she could have done even better.
"It wasn't really your work, was it?" Hermione sniffed, reprimanding him, but already secretly devising a plan to slowly but surly get those notes without anyone ever knowing.
Ron was saying something. Ginny walked up though. She glared at Harry. Hermione didn't blame her. Books and Ginny didn't get along too well.
"Ginny's got a point," Hermione said excited that getting those notes would be easier done then what she had first thought, "We ought to check that there's nothing odd about it. I mean all those funny instructions, who knows?"
Harry tried to protest as Hermione pulled out the potions book. She turned her back to Harry to keep him from grabbing it. Or so he thought. As he reached around, trying to grab the book, she muttered one spell. Nothing seemed to happen but inside Hermione was celebrating. She turned around to glare at Harry.
"Will you let me just see if anything is wrong with it?" Hermione snapped at him with such force he stepped back and nodded his head without another word.
"Specialis Revelio!" Hermione tapped the book with her wand, hoping against hope that nothing would happen.
It just laid in her hands as book like as ever.
"It seems all right," Hermione said as she handed it back to Harry.
Hahahahahahaha! Score! Score! Score! Oh stupid score! Hermione had to force herself not to smile to herself as she made an excuse to use the bathroom. Hermione locked herself in a stall, making sure that Moaning Myrtle was no where in sight. She pulled out her potions book and with a flick of her wrist, spidery scribble began forming on the page around the text already there.
A/N: Nice long chapter. Yes this is SNAPE and Hermione. Even though he hasn't been in the story much, he will be. Lots of snape actually in the next chapter. Also don't expect many different points of view. I'll only do that when I feel that it will speed up the story or in some rare cases make it more drawn out. I basically stole a scene straight from HBP and wrote it to fit my story. Expect a lot of that as this is going to go through her second year, though I'll be condensing and skipping things and then we've got trips to India and a whole section where she runs into trouble and then the big scene. You don't know what the scene is yet, but you will. In about...ummm...I guess around chapter 15 you'll be able to guess the big scene if we don't come to it before then.
Thanks to my reviewers. All of you. I only need nine more before chapter ten. If I don't get them I'm stopping the story.