Weeks went by with Hermione dutifully brewing side by side with Professor Snape. To her surprise, she didn't find him difficult to work with. He was certainly not among the friendliest of people, but she didn't mind much. Snape managed to be funny if you could look past his caustic remarks. He still snapped at her sometimes, but she appreciated his attempts at being courteous. Working with such an obviously brilliant man made Hermione feel that it was worth it to endure his sarcasm.

To Snape's irritation, Professor McGonagall found it highly entertaining that he was getting along so well with Hermione. She made it a point to smile sweetly at the potions master and mention how nice it was to see him and the head girl working so well together at least a few times during the week. He would quickly excuse the matter by saying that Dumbledore had made him promise to be kind to the girl. That of course was true, but Snape did take some interest in Hermione Granger. She seemed to really respect him and she showed maturity well beyond that of most of her peers. He grudgingly admitted to himself that she was truly brilliant and struggled to not call her a know-it-all when they were working together.

The students soon found Halloween upon them. Much to the delight of the students, the house elves saw fit to add plenty of sweets to the menu. At dinner, Ron looked gleefully at the table to see the usual items for dinner along with many dishes that were laden with chocolate frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and cockroach clusters. Needless to say, most of the students had a difficult time sleeping that night because of all the sugar they had consumed.

The next morning, Hermione sat down next to Harry at the Gryffindor table. She had avoided most of the sweets the night before. To her surprise, there were more sugary items on the table along with the breakfast foods. She once again passed on the sweets and put some toast on her plate. Harry, on the other hand gladly helped himself to a few chocolate frogs to go with his toast and eggs. Ron appeared a few minutes later followed by his sister Ginny. They sat down across from Harry and Hermione, smiling at the array of treats that were part of breakfast.

"More sweets!" Ron explaimed with a ridiculously big grin. "This is great."

"Yes," Hermione said with a frown. "The house-elves must be feeling extra generous."

"You're not having any?" Ginny asked trying to tempt her with a cockroach cluster.

"No," Hermione said loftily. "My parents are dentists. I've never had many sweets."

After a few minutes, Harry, Ron and Ginny were nearly giddy due to the extra sugar in their diet recently. Hermione noticed that even some of the teachers seemed a bit jittery. I guess Ron's not the only one with a sweet tooth, she thought with a smile.

"Still working ok with Snape?" Ginny asked looking at her. Hermione smiled. Her friends had a tendency to ask her about it frequently as if they thought it was only a matter of time before Snape did something absolutely horrible.

"It's just fine," Hermione replied with a reassuring smile.

Harry grinned suddenly and had a sudden impulse to do a sugar induced impression of a muggle news reporter. He seized his spoon and spoke into it as if it were a microphone. "Miss Granger, could you please tell us what it's like to work with Count Dracula?" He promptly thrust the spoon into Hermione's face, causing her to jump back slightly.

Hermione struggled to maintain a serious expression and voice. "Well, Harry," she began, "He's been moderately polite this whole time. He's even let me make potions independently without breathing down my neck. Snape has even offered me tea while we were taking a break. Overall, it's been a positive experience." She raised an eyebrow at Harry in amusement.

"Fascinating," Harry said in his exaggerated news reporter voice, once again holding his "microphone" up to his own mouth. "And do you think that he will suck out your blood when he's finished using you for his evil potion making purposes?"

He held the spoon out to Hermione again, but she went into a fit of giggles. Harry could no longer contain himself, and he laughed as well. The spoon fell out of his hand and landed with a clatter on his plate.

Ron and Ginny just stared at the other two. Their expressions were utterly bewildered. They, of course, knew nothing of microphones. "What the bloody hell was that?" Ron said incredulously.

"Nutters," Ginny mumbled.

Severus Snape sat at the staff table watching Hermione Granger and Harry Potter with interest. He nudged Professor McGonagall and said "Well, Minerva, it seems that Potter has lost his marbles." At her questioning look, he added "He's talking to his spoon."

Minerva looked over to where Harry was sitting. She looked back at Severus to retort, but his eyes widened slightly and he pointed at the Gryffindor table. Minerva whirled around to look when he said "Potter just nearly shoved that spoon up Granger's nose!" He was struggling not to look amused.

Minerva looked completely perplexed. "What on earth?" she muttered. At this point, several other professors had noticed Severus's uncharacteristic interest in the Gryffindor table, and were now watching Harry and Hermione with mingled confusion and amusement. Dumbledore was smiling widely.

Severus's lips twitched involuntarily when Hermione's peals of laughter drifted up to the staff table. "And, now they're laughing like lunatics," he said quietly to Minerva. He smirked smugly when she scowled at him. His smirk disappeared when Minerva suddenly smiled.

"Now Severus, why is it that you were watching the Gryffindor table in the first place?" she said raising an eyebrow slyly. "Keeping an eye on your little apprentice?"

Severus glared at her for a moment. "Well, it was very odd behavior," he returned smoothly. "It certainly would be difficult not to notice a student conversing with his silverware."

"Oh, of course Severus," Minerva said in a syrupy voice and smirking at him.

"My goodness, they seem to be having a good time," Dumbledore said cheerfully observing the two chuckling Gryffindors. "Miss Granger will be a thrill to work with tonight," he said grinning at Professor Snape.

"It's Potter's fault," Severus replied dismissively. "He's the one that been gorging himself with sweets. Miss Granger hasn't been eating any of it."

"And you know this how?" Minerva said smiling wickedly.

"I... just noticed," he said with a shrug. Dumbledore and Minerva exchange conspiratorial smiles. "I have to make sure that my apprentice hasn't been consuming too many sweets, as she would be more unbearable than usual," he snapped. This just earned him more grins from the other two.

Harry and Hermione gradually calmed down. Their faces were flushed from their laughter. "Harry you are in a strange mood today," Hermione said grinning. "What possessed you to attack me with your spoon?"

Before Harry could respond, Ron said "Yeah, what was that? I don't get why you were talking to your spoon."

"It's a muggle thing," Hermione and Harry said at the same time. They looked at each other and grinned again. Ron and Ginny looked at each other and shrugged.

Later that day, Hermione was asked to stay after class for a moment by Professor Snape. Her friends looked at her curiously but she said "It's ok. I'll see you all at dinner." Harry and Ron left her, and Hermione tentatively headed toward the potions master's desk.

"Miss Granger, I want to know why Mr. Potter attempted to assault you with his silverware at breakfast," he said stiffly.

Hermione smiled slightly. I bet he's been wondering about that this whole time, she thought. He's trying to sound annoyed rather than curious. She gave Professor Snape a brief explanation of Harry's muggle news reporter bit. Professor Snape listened with an expression that suggested that he was sorry that he even asked. Hermione smiled a bit sheepishly. "Harry was being a bit silly, which is out of character for him," she said in embarassment.

"Indeed," Snape said, managing to keep his face neutral. "You may go. I will see you tonight." He sat down at his desk.

"Yes, Professor," Hermione said politely. She left quietly, but before she closed the door behind her, she heard a silky voice chuckle from inside the room. She smiled to herself and hurried to her next class.