The War Within Chapter 8
By emie554
Hermione had been sitting down in the basement lab waiting for Professor Snape to show up and tell her what she needed to do. She was somewhat frustrated when Snape had informed her that she needed to brew several potions for him today. He had told her to hurry. However, here she was sitting around and generally being bored. He could have at least told her what she needed to do. That way, she would have been able to start without him.
'It's not like he is the only one that has other things he could be doing,' she thought angrily. 'I still want to find out more about the fluxweed and there is still much research to be done into what effects Voldemort's genetic mutations might cause on different potions.'
She had been excited when she had entered into to the library after her shower, and found the books that she had ordered arrived. It seemed like it had taken forever for the Muggle liaison at Flourish and Blotts to find, and receive the books she had ordered on genetics. Even then, they were not quite what she wanted. However, they were probably as close as they were going to find.
Many Muggle scientists were actively combining different plants together to make hybrid vegetables and new flowers, yet there was a huge difference between that and splitting human DNA. There just seemed to be so many unknowns in relation to living genes to go around trying to change things. Yet, that is what Voldemort had done, only, he used magic.
Hermione had spent several years in the Wizarding community by now, and had learned that magic does not follow the rules of science. Could that make a difference in whether or not this plan would work? In reality, there should now be weaknesses in the genetic stability and those weaknesses could help lead to Voldemort's downfall… If only they could find out exactly what they were, then they could find out how to exploit them.
'Oh,' she thought, 'if I had known that he was going to take this long, I would have brought my new books to read.'
She was so deep in thought that she did not notice when Snape waked into the lab. He walked over to where she was sitting and watched her for a few moments. If anyone else were around to see it at that moment, they would have seen a slight softening of his eyes, as he watched her lost in thought.
Hermione jumped slightly when Snape cleared his throat. Her eyes jumped from where they focused on the shiny potions bench that was sitting in front of her. She saw that he looked a bit tired. But that seemed odd to her, for it had been only about an hour since she had last seen him and he did not look noticeably tired then. What could have happened in such a short time that seemed to have such a huge effect on this man?
"Yes, Professor Snape," she said.
"I know that I told you that we were going to be brewing several potions today. However, something has been brought to my attention during a meeting with the Headmaster that we need to discuss first," Snape began. "I am well aware that this is going to be your final year and that you were slated to be Head Girl…"
"What do you mean, was? You should not be able to take my Head Girl status, just because of this morning—I already told you it wasn't what it looked like," she yelled.
"Oh, don't be daft, you silly girl. This has nothing to do with this morning. And there are more important thing going on than worrying over being Head Girl."
"I am sorry, Sir. Please, tell me why?"
"Albus has decided to assign all the teachers' apprentices in order to explain why you will no longer be a student, but instead working with me full time. This potion is too important not to develop, and having me teaching a full class load and you attend classes would put a serious dampener on the amount of time we could spend researching."
"What about my N.E.W.T.s?" she questioned.
"You are to sit your tests one week from today."
But…bBut that's not enough time for me to be ready. I will never have enough time…" she trailed off.
Snape shook his head slightly and said, "Miss Granger, I am sure you are ready. Even with all the research you have been doing, I am sure you have found time to read your new textbooks, right?"
"Well, of course, but that is not the same as practicing," she replied.
"You are over seventeen, the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery doesn't apply, so what is to stop you from practicing spells now? I will only require you to help me brew potions today; you will have the rest of the week to study."
"Can't I have just a little more time? The N.E.W.T.s are so important."
"Miss Granger that is enough whining, please behave like an adult or I will have to change my opinion about whether you are qualified to assist me or not. Make no mistake, I have never taken on an apprentice before, and even if you think that Dumbledore is making me do this—realize, quickly, that even he can't make me agree to this. I am sure there are many people that would like to become Potions masters or mistresses."
Hermione's eyes shot up to the Potion master's face. Did he just admit that he wanted her to apprentice under him? He had to think, then, that she was qualified to become a Potions mistress. She was almost speechless. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she managed to say, "Sorry, sir. What potions do we need to brew today?"
"We need to brew several different types of healing potions, Skele-Gro, burn-healing paste, Sleeping Draught, and Pepperup Potion. So, as you can see, that is a full day's worth of brewing. Go gather your ingredients for the Skele-Gro and I will start on the Sleeping Draught."
"Yes, sir," Hermione replied quickly. She got up from her chair, headed over to the supply cabinets, and gathered the ingredients she needed.
Harry fumed up the stairs, the nerve of that man thinking that he knew all about him… However, he did not know anything about Harry. He was not some spoiled rotten kid that did things only to be in the limelight. All he really wanted was for Voldemort to be gone. How could they say that they needed to wait? Harry did know that he wasn't really ready to face Voldemort, but that hadn't mattered before. He had managed to defeat that rat bastard every single time that they had met.
Granted, he always had help, but he knew that Dumbledore would not send him in to face the Dark Lord without any backup. What could they possibly be waiting for? Could it be, that Snape just wanted to send him off to some desolate area just to get him out of the way? Yes, that had to be it the greasy git just wanted him out of the way, so that he could help Voldemort win. Well, he wasn't going to let that happen. He was going to have to come up with a way, in under a day, to stop Snape's evil plan.
Maybe he could get Hermione to help him. She was always going on and on about how Snape was a good and respectable teacher, but maybe, just maybe he could convince her that Snape was trying to get him out of the way. He would just lay out to her what he knew of the current plan and she would have to face the truth.
He decided that it was a shame that Ron and Ginny were not here, for it really wouldn't take anything at all to persuade them. Ron would have be the easiest, because be harboured the same hatred for the professor as Harry did and well, Ginny would be easy because she fancied him and would do anything for the boy she loved.
Harry knew that he should feel slightly guilty about wanting to manipulate his friends into doing what he wanted them to do, but he rationalized it in his mind by pointing out to himself that he was doing it for the greater good of the entire Wizarding world. Besides, isn't that what Sirius and his parents would want him to do? To take on his problems face on… Right now, that greasy git Severus Snape was his number one problem; one that was going to be taken care of before he even faced Voldemort.
He started to wonder if involving Hermione in his plotting was such a good idea. Harry wasn't too sure that she would go along with getting rid of Snape. She was always such a swot, never wanted to break the rules unless something important was at stake and he was not sure he could come up with a good enough reason to get her involved. Nevertheless, he wanted her involved even if it was only because she was good at planning things out and stayed calm in almost any situation.
Then he remembered that this morning, Snape had threatened Hermione with expulsion. Maybe, he could cultivate that anger enough for her to agree with him.
Severus and Hermione had been working on the needed potions for almost four hours, when Severus heard Hermione's stomach growling loudly. He took a quick look at the clock and realized that it was already two o'clock in the afternoon. He knew that she had not had breakfast because he was in the kitchen until the time he had met her in the lab.
He walked over and looked at the potion she was making; it was one of the simple yet very effective healing potions. He knew by looking at its light blue colouring that it was almost complete. He watched as she added the last ingredient and began to stir the potion in slow figure eight motions. This particular potion needed to be stirred for another eight minutes, so he knew he had time to order lunch.
He strode over to his desk and snapped his finger for the house-elf. Dobby appeared with a pop and he quickly gave an order for sandwiches, chips, and juice.
Snape was glad that he had made the request that a house-elf be stationed at the headquarters. After Kreacher had been taken out of the picture, at the end of last year, the Order members were taking care of the household chores themselves. But with the increase of hostilities, such inane responsibilities took time away from their work.
While he would not trust just any house-elf, Dobby, for all his failings, was unfailingly loyal to both Potter and Dumbledore. They truly could not ask for a better thing-for the loyalty of a house-elf that was freely given was powerful magic indeed.
He was slightly startled when the food popped onto his desk. He looked up at Hermione and noticed she was just now stopping the stirring of the potion.
"Miss Granger, please finish bottling that potion and come and have some lunch. I can't imagine what my life would be like if McGonagall found out that I let you pass out from hunger," he said snidely.
"Yes, Professor. I will be there in just a moment," she replied.
He watched her as she bottled the healing potion, her movements sure and graceful. It seemed surprising that someone so young could have managed to attain such poise. Sure, she had a lot of growing up left to do; however, she was miles ahead of her counterparts.
It was a good thing that she was not going to be in school this next year, he could think of much better things that could be done with her mind then lessons in things she already knew. The possible research that they could conduct together, the possibilities were endless.
They just needed to figure out this potion and somehow manage to destroy the Dark Lord. He had never felt as optimistic about their chances as he did right now. Snape had always assumed that he would die in the battle to bring down Voldemort, but this potion, if it worked, could change all that.
He wondered if he could justify the dosing of all the Death Eaters. Just think of how easy the final battle would go if not only Voldemort had lost his powers, but all his followers as well. The death toll for the Order could be almost zero and these wizards and witches would never again threaten the world.
"Professor," Miss Granger stated, interrupting his plotting. "I am finished."
"Here," he said, as he handed her a plate of food and a glass of pumpkin juice. "Sit down and eat."
Hermione took her plate and sat down on the other side of his desk. As she began eating, she realized exactly how hungry she was. She looked up, noticed the time, and was amazed at how much time had passed. She mentally calculated how many of the potions she had completed and wondered how many they had left to complete.
She allowed her mind, for the first time, to think about the list of potions that they were brewing. They all had to do with healing, and she wondered again if something was going to happen shortly.
Her eyes moved to examine Professor Snape and she ventured to ask a question, "Sir, I noticed all the healing potions we are brewing. Is something going to happen soon?"
"Normally, I would not answer that. However, since you are to be my apprentice, you need to have a little more information. We have something planned for tomorrow, but I expect no casualties. Your friend Potter will be going to learn more defence skills. We need to put on a slight show… To make his leaving believable."
"If it is just a show, then why are we brewing all these potions?"
"Please, use that brain of yours. Things do not always go as planned. Besides, even if we don't need these potions for tomorrow, we are at war, so having healing potions on hand is a good thing. Also, some of these are going to go to Madam Pomfrey. You dunderheads at Hogwarts always manage to go through copious amounts of healing draughts."
"Where is Harry going?"
"I am sending him to an old friend, who is a defence expert… We all know that Potter needs as much help as he can get. You haven't had what I would call competent Defence teachers," he replied with a sneer.
"No, we haven't," she agreed. "Have you told him? I imagine that went over like a cold bucket of sick."
To Hermione's shock Professor Snape actually chuckled, "Your powers of deduction are as good as ever-it seems that Mr. Potter is under the impression that he should face the Dark Lord now. He thinks that because he has always escaped, his almost unbelievable lucky streak will continue indefinitely."
Hermione could not believe how open her professor was being. It was as if he was treating her as his equal. She decided to trust him, with the worries that she had been feeling about Harry. During the talk the two of them had shared last night, Harry had shared some of his feelings about trying to defeat Voldemort on his own, and she had gotten the feeling that Harry did not want to wait.
"Sir, I am worried about Harry… I…I think he might try to go face Voldemort by himself." She watched his face for a reaction to her words.
He favoured her with a hard look and a scowl formed on his face as he spat out, "What did he say?"
"Um, nothing too specific, just that he was frustrated waiting. Thought that we are not doing anything to try and defeat Voldemort. I told him to wait and see what you had planned, but if he didn't like your idea… I worry that he might try to do something on his own."
"He will only be here until tomorrow. I am not sure what he might be able to do in that little amount of time, but tell me if he confides his plans with you."
"Yes, sir, I will."
"I will speak with Albus, but I think it might be wise if I stay here tonight," he sneered. "Miss Granger, please continue brewing those potions. I believe I will speak to the Headmaster right now."
"Yes, sir," she replied.
She watched as he stood quickly and stormed from the lab.
It seemed like it had been hours since Snape had left her to continue their work. Of course, that could have been that this particular potion needed to be stirred in a counter clockwise motion for forty-five minutes straight.
She looked up at the clock and sighed, she was only fifteen minutes into the marathon stirring and her back was already beginning to ache. She wondered if she should have taken a small break before she started on this healing draught. Well, there was just nothing to it, she just needed to buck up and finish it.
She felt the air move slightly around her, and she jumped slightly. The movement caused the potion to splash up the sides of her cauldron and almost spilled over.
"Careful… Careful, Miss Granger, you wouldn't want your potion to spill. You might have to start over," a silky voice said right behind her.
Her breathing hitched slightly, she could sense his closeness, smell his soft cologne. Flashes of her dreams jumped before her eyes. Her hands shook slightly at the thoughts of him touching her, of him whispering erotic thoughts into her ears.
She jumped as his hand closed over hers. "Careful," he said, as he guided her hand slowly around the cauldron. "What is wrong? You don't want to start over… Do you?"
"No," she replied shakily.
'No, it couldn't be,' he thought. It just wasn't possible that she was attracted to him. Never in his wildest imagination did he ever think that she could possibly return his affections. He decided to test his theory, and placed his other hand lightly on her waist.
He felt her sigh and unconsciously move a step closer to him. He smiled to himself at her reaction. He was now almost certain, that she too felt something between them.
He leaned forward somewhat and purred, "What's wrong, Hermione?"
'Oh my God,' she thought. 'I must be dreaming.'
There is no way Professor Snape would be touching her and whispering into her ear. She cleared her throat and stated, "I… There is nothing wrong."
Snape stood there for several minutes relishing the feel of having his hands on her and the smell of her clean hair as it tickled his nose.
A small buzzing notified them that the potion had been stirred for the correct amount of time. He took his hand off hers and waved it over the cauldron making the fire go out.
He kept his hand on her waist and took a small step closer to her, "Hermione," he whispered.
She turned her head and looked into his eyes. "Yes," she said as she held his gaze.
His free hand came up and cupped her cheek as he lowered his mouth to hers in a light kiss. He was surprised when she did not slap him, but instead turned further into him.
The door at the top of the stairs banged loudly causing them to jump apart in surprise.
"Hermione, Mrs. Weasley said it's dinner time," Harry yelled.
Her eyes stayed locked with Severus as she called back, "I'll be up in a minute."
Author's note: I am going to try to have another chapter up on Tuesday; I already have about 8 pages of it written, so it shouldn't be to hard. My betas are usually good about getting it back quickly.
I want to thank my beta's GingerGurl and Alexandria for there wonderful work, for without them this story would not the same.
Please, take a moment and review. Let me know if you like it or not, remember a review could make the authors day. :)
