On Monday morning, Hermione, Harry and Ron were once again eating breakfast at the Gryffindor table. Hermione's eyes scanned the staff table and was glad to see the potions master back in his usual seat. He looked up at her briefly before turning his gaze elsewhere.
The fluttering of many wings caught everyone's attention. "Mail's here," Ron said, stating the obvious.
A very large brown barn owl, landed in front of Harry's plate. She blinked and attempted to hoot at him, but the sound was muffled by the letter in her beak. Harry took the letter and offered the owl a strip of bacon. The owl accepted the bacon gratefully and flew away.
Harry opened the letter curiously and read through it. He scowled and then looked across the table at Hermione, handing the note to her. "Our old friend Rita Skeeter is requesting an interview," he said with a frown.
Hermione read the letter and smirked. "Having a difficult time finding work I suppose. I mean, she did just stop working entirely for a year," she said with a grin. Of course, that had been because Hermione had forced her to, or else Hermione would report Rita as being an unregistered animagus.
"An interview about what exactly?" Ron asked taking the letter from Hermione.
"It doesn't say," Harry said shrugging.
Ron read through the letter and made a disgusted face. "How pathetic," he muttered. Holding the letter out to Harry he said "This just screams desperation.."
Harry took that letter back, grinning. "No, it just screams," he said. He began to shred the parchment in a theatrical sort of way. He was wearing a pained expression and making screaming noises with each rip of the paper. Hermione and Ron watched for a brief moment before they were overcome with laughter.
Several of the staff members once again had their attention drawn to the Gryffindor table. Snape was managing to appear only mildly interested in the antics of Harry Potter. "Imbecile," Snape thought scathingly. To his irritation, it was Hermione's laughter that had caught his attention in the first place.
"Never a dull moment at the Gryffindor table," Dumbledore said looking very amused.
"So, it would seem," Professor McGonagall replied fighting back a smile. "I suppose I should be glad they're not busy making up some plot to figure out what Voldemort's doing…. Even if Potter's being ridiculous." She then looked over at Professor Snape. "Mr. Potter may have something in common with you after all Severus. That looks like something you'd do," she said smiling slightly.
"Hardly," Snape replied with a smirk, glaring in the direction of the muffled screams where Harry was violently ripping up the piece of parchment and making grotesque faces. "I would have put a charm on the parchment rather than sitting there shrieking like an idiot," he said grimacing at the idea.
Dumbledore chuckled. "That would be a tad out of character for Severus," Dumbledore said with a grin.
McGonagall looked back at Snape. "Speaking of being out of character," she said seriously. "I hear you awarded Gryffindor twenty points for Miss Granger."
"Yes, well I will think twice about ever doing that again," Snape replied, glaring in Hermione's direction.
"Oh, calm down Severus," Professor McGonagall said dismissively. "She wasn't running about telling everyone about it. I questioned her because I saw her coming from your chambers looking quite pleased." She looked at him curious. "What were the points actually for?"
Snape was looking slightly ruffled. "Miss Granger brewed a reasonably decent truth potion. And her attentiveness to my health was… satisfactory," he added gruffly.
Professor McGonagall smiled slightly. "You really should thank her Severus," she said gently. "She gave up a lot of free time to keep an eye on you. She never complained and she went out of her way to be kind, even when you were a grouch." Snape scowled but made no comment.
Classes went relatively well that afternoon. After arithmancy, Hermione went outside to enjoy the crisp fall weather. She found Harry and Ron stretched out on the grass under a huge tree. "Don't you two have homework?" she asked them crossing her arms over her chest.
"Oh come on Hermione," Ron said, giving her a pleading look. "We're just having a bit of a break. I promise we'll do it before we go to bed," he said with a smile.
Hermione rolled her eyes, but smiled. She then noticed a strange look on Harry's face. "What is it Harry?" she asked, concerned.
"Snape," Harry said simply. She turned around to see Professor Snape approaching them. Harry's body tensed and Ron pressed his back against the tree as if he was desperate to put more distance between himself and the professor.
"Miss Granger," Snape said silkily, stopping in front of her. "Potter; Weasley," he said nodding to them stiffly. Harry and Ron nodded back grudgingly. Turning back to Hermione, Snape said "Meet me in my lab at 7:30. We have a potion to work on." At her puzzled look he said "I will not be in the Great Hall for dinner, so I decided to tell you beforehand. I will be gathering necessary ingredients."
Hermione nodded politely and Snape turned to walk away. He whirled back around when his sensitive ears heard someone mutter the incantation to a vaguely familiar spell. His eyes widened when he realized that Hermione had been hit by the spell.
Hermione swayed for a moment looking dazed and then stumbled into Professor Snape. Instinctively, he reached out to catch her before she fell. Snape swore softly under his breath. "What?" Hermione asked in alarm. She balanced herself and tried to back away from the professor. She was startled to see that her hand refused to move away from his arm. She looked up at Snape fearfully.
"That was a temporary sticking charm," Snape said sneering. He quickly looked around for the person who cast the spell, but he could see no one. He sighed. "The spell caused whatever it hits to be bound to whatever it's closest to."
Ron stood up, confused. "I've only ever heard of the permanent sticking charm," he said looking up at Snape.
"This one is very similar," Snape said impatiently. "Except for the fact that the effects are temporary," he said sneering.
"Right," Ron said blushing slightly.
"We'll have to go see the headmaster," Snape said in annoyance. Harry stood up quickly and reached into his back pocket. Suddenly his face looked startled and he began searching the pockets of his robes frantically. "What is it now?" Snape said glaring at him.
"My wand!" Harry said. "I left it in my pocket and it's not there. I know that I brought it out here."
Harry and Ron quickly began searching all around them. Hermione and Snape walked over to search as well, letting their arms touch. Harry was looking frustrated when he walked around the huge tree and saw it lying on the ground. Noticing when Harry picked it up, Ron said "Oh there it is." He patted Harry on the back as his anxious expression faded. "It's always in the last place that you look, mate."
Hermione snorted at this comment. "Ron, what an utterly ridiculous thing to say." Ron looked at her surprised. "Of course, it's in the last place that you look. Why the bloody hell would you continue to look once you've found it?" The three Gryffindors didn't notice when Snape bit his lip to prevent himself from laughing.
"It's just an expression," Ron muttered.
"Rather stupid expression," Hermione retorted. Ron looked sheepish and Harry was chuckling. Hermione looked up at Professor Snape and saw that he was looking down at her thoughtfully. "What?" she asked nervously.
"I was just curious," Snape said slowly, "as to why Potter's wand would be found in a place that he had obviously not put it." He thought for a moment and then shook his head. "Come along," he said sternly, seizing Hermione's forearm and bringing her along with him. He saw her wince at his tight grip, and he loosened his hold on her. Harry and Ron followed them into the castle hoping that Dumbledore would be able to release Hermione from the sticking charm. Snape would definitely not be very pleasant if Dumbledore couldn't fix it.
The group arrived in front of the stone gargoyle that blocked the entrance to Dumbledore's office. Snape growled the password at it, and the gargoyle jumped out of the way. Snape led the three Gryffindors into the office and stopped abruptly in front of the headmaster's desk. Dumbledore looked up in surprise to see Professor Snape and Hermione standing suspiciously close to one another with Harry and Ron eyeing them warily. "Well, what have we here?" Dumbledore asked curiously. From the look on Snape's face, it would be a very interesting story indeed.
