Chapter 8
Hermione chose not to dwell on the memories that rushed immediately into her head when she awoke the next morning. Crookshanks was snuggled next to her shoulder, and she reached out to pet him. She tried to focus on what needed to be done this morning. She needed to get up, shower, dress, eat breakfast, and then attend her arithmancy class. Sighing, Hermione pulled the covers up a little higher around her chin, a drowsy floating feeling coming over her; the day could wait, right now she just wanted to lay in bed and think.
The words floated into her mind as if she were submerged in water.
Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and bane of her existence.
Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy.
Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts.
Severus Snape, Potions Master.
Severus Snape.
Severus.
Severus.
Severus.
That was actually a rather distinguished and sexy name if you said it like that, Hermione thought as she rolled to her side and scratched her kitty once more. Her fingertips slid through silky fine fur, her short but manicured nails, scratching idly; her blue eyes were dark as midnight and half closed in a waking dream.
Severus.
Her eyes drifted shut as her mind swam. He'd looked so damn yummy in her parent's entranceway. Those jeans, that tee shirt, that leather jacket. She sighed, and those sun glasses.
Warmth flooded her body, a feeling that centered around her stomach and radiated until it reached the tips of her toes; she flexed them on instinct. Drawing her hand from Crookshanks fur, Hermione brought her fingertips to her neck, flexing them over her own flesh, feeling the rise of goosebumps and that sensation that comes right before you shiver. A soft, secretive smile stole over her lips and as she leaned back down across the bed, she sighed once more.
Severus.
She smiled as the fingers at her neck slowly traced down the center of her body. Her breaths coming a little faster.
Severus.
Idly her fingertips traced the edge of her tank top; the accidental touch of flesh to flesh making her skin vibrate.
Beside her, Crookshanks bolted up and turned sharp eyes to his mistress.
"Severus." She whispered softly, testing the name out loud as her hand slipped under the fabric of her shirt. Her warm, moist palm pressed against her taunt and quivering stomach. Her shoulders rolled, her back arching just a fraction of an inch at the contact. She folded her hand, her knuckles brushing the underside of her ample breasts.
"Severus."
The jolt was powerful, a sizzling down her spine. Her eyes flew open, and like a whip crack, she was sitting up, panting, her eyes wide and frightened as she came out of her daze. She couldn't explain the feeling, the tingling awareness of something in the back of her mind. Her hand fluttered to her throat, and beside her Crookshanks stretched into her lap, sliding against her to ask for another petting.
Heart beating wildly, Hermione struggled to slow her breathing as she stared into the vanity mirror across from her. She looked ghastly pale around the flush of her cheeks.
Flush of her.
"Oh. My. God!" With a flick of her wrist, Hermione sent the covers and Crookshanks flying off her as she tore out of the bed and into the bathroom. Heart beating at an even more outrageous rhythm than before, Hermione raced to the shower and twisted the taps to a driving water pressure.
"No, no, no, no, no," she whispered to herself as she tore at her bed clothes, her wild eyes catching her reflection in the mirror even as she saw Crookshanks enter with indignation. Naked, she rounded on him. "I thought you were supposed to be a magical kitty, you're supposed to know what's going on!" She nearly yelled, throwing an accusing look at him. For his part, the cat looked almost smugly at her.
With a roar, Hermione rounded on the shower, threw open the crystal door and stepping into the beating pound of the scalding water. She found the soap immediately, scrubbing it over every inch of her body before she attacked her hair as if it were a nest of serpents. Nothing was gentle, nothing was sacred as she finished with her hair and then grabbed the bar of soap and attacked her bright red skin.
Twisting the water off, she threw open the door and walked back to the sink, her eyes examining her reflection in the mirror. Her skin was nearly scalded, but not nearly enough. Shaping her right hand like a claw, she raked it across her abdomen, leaving bright white lines that slowly rose into welts. Raising her eyes she looked deeply into those of her reflection.
"Are you listening to me, brain? I hope you're paying attention, because I mean every word I'm about to say, so listen up!" She stepped back, and traced a water droplet as it skimmed over her collar bone, down her taunt stomach, past the four welts and disappeared at the junction of her thighs. She looked up at her own face. "I don't care how desperate we are over Viktor, I don't care how hard up we EVER get for the rest of our lives, we are never, ever, EVER, going to attempt what we were just about to do, while Crookshanks is in the room! Do you understand!? That's just..just, WRONG!"
And with a nod of determination, Hermione Granger exited the bathroom and began her day.
In the corner of the small bathroom, Crookshanks looked a tad disappointed.
* * *
"Hermione!" Morganna called as she rounded the bottom of the Gryffindor staircase and entered the common room. Beside her, Harry stood, while Ron ended his conversation with Dean. She smiled at them all and offered a good morning as she moved to hug Morganna--because she knew that's what the girl needed--before sitting down in one of the large winged back chairs.
Harry was the first to recover, and he sat down, his eyes fixed on hers. "Hermione, you alright? After yesterday--"
Smiling she waved him off. "I'm fine Harry, thank you for asking. After the curse I was a little out of sorts, but Professor Snape managed to help me without killing me." She sighed. "Though he did give me another week's worth of detention for participating in an unauthorized duel, the bloody git; no offence Morganna." She smiled at her friend who only nodded, half stunned at Hermione's calm demeanor. "Anyway, I get the better end of the deal because Snape knew I wasn't at fault, and he's going to let me brew some of the medical potions during my detention, so while I still have detention, it won't be so bad."
Morganna was about to say something when Ron let out a great booming laugh. "Hermione, leave it to you to think brewing potions for a week with Snape was worth all those nasty little spiders crawling all over your--"
"Ron," she interrupted, and her best friend stopped mid sentence to look up at her. "Let's not talk about that anymore, ok? I just kind of want to forget about it. It was.scary, and I'd rather not remember it, alright?"
This Morganna could handle. "Yeah, Hermione, you're absolutely right. Let's just pretend that yesterday never happened! Not Hermione's bug incident, and not Professor Lupin yelling at me for whispering in class. I mean honestly, it's not as if he was saying anything important at the time anyway, just some lecture on safety precautions in a potions lab, geesh!" And Morganna continued her tirade about the injustices of the faculty interrupting her quality time with her friends, at which point she latched onto Harry's arm and didn't let go until they got down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
As they were all climbing out of the portrait however, Ron tugged her a half step behind Harry and Morganna. "Honestly Hermione, you alright? I mean, Snape looked ready to kill something when he saw you in the hallway. Then when Harry snuck out with the invisibility cloak to see Sirius to ask him what Snape had done after he'd made us all go back to class, Lupin made Harry leave without an answer. We were all bloody terrified for you until McGonnagall told us you were fine. I mean, I thought--"
Leaning forward, Hermione kissed his cheek and smiled at him. "Thank you Ron, for everything. I'm fine, really. I don't remember much anyway, just basically waking up, getting yelled at, and then sent back to the tower, that's all that happened, really."
Basically.
But Ron nodded dumbly, a strange expression crossed his face, then wrapped his arm about Hermione's shoulder, and walked her down to breakfast.
* * *
Bubbles rubbed its aching nose as it ambled into the living room and sat down heavily in a small, comfortable little chair. It was grumbling quite nicely about I-Told-You-So's when Spike whined, both paws clutching at its nose as it moaned. "Mean ol'Bubbles, had to say, 'I told you so' to Severus. That wasn't nice at all. Mean words get mean actions, and now our noses hurts. Bubbles is bad, bad, bad!"
"Oh do be quite Spike!" Came Bubble's irritated reply. "I did tell him so. I told him he was a fool for playing with magic he didn't understand. I told him that years ago and he didn't listen, and I told him again, and now look what happened!"
Spike sniffled pathetically as it gingerly tested its throbbing nose. "Bubble's knows that Severus doesn't like I-Told-You-So's, he doesn't like them one bit. Now we have an achy nose, and Severus is in an icky mood, and Spike doesn't think a huggle will help any.maybe not even two huggles!" It moaned again, this time, covering its teddy bear face with both paws as it sat rocking in the little chair.
Bubbles sat up then, glaring deathly at the fireplace as if it were Spike. "Will you shut up about your blasted huggles. Those haven't worked on Severus for years. Why do you insist on talking about them day in and day out?!"
Spike slumped back against the chair suddenly in resigned misery. The change was so sudden and strange that even Bubbles became instantly concerned. "Spike?"
But Spike just rubbed one of its little button eyes and stared into the fireplace, ignoring Bubble's concern. "Bubbles should be nicer to Severus. Bubbles knows what its creator said about Severus and the pretty lady. Bubbles and Spike have to help Severus, we have too! Severus, Bubbles, and Spike have been alone for a long, long, long time. No more Mellisson, no more babies, just Severus, Bubbles, and Spike. But Spike wants the pretty lady to stay; Spike likes Hermione. Bubbles knows that Severus likes the pretty lady too, so we have to be extra special good now so that Severus will keep the pretty lady and make her stay with us forever."
Bubbles touched the side of its cheek, and for just a second, he was touching the side of Spike's cheek. "Spike, I know you miss the baby, but that girl can only break his heart. She's too young, too different from us, and Severus has gone about this all the wrong way. A body bond," it scoffed, "already he's coming to understand just how foolish what he's done is. You saw him this morning, the way he woke up, the magic feeds on them both and eventually, it will bring them only misery."
But Spike shook his head. "No, Bubbles is wrong. Severus was startled, but not mad, Bubbles made him mad this morning by saying 'I told you so', that's why Severus slammed the bathroom door into our noses. Severus likes the pretty lady. And Spike remembers, Spike remembers good, that Severus smiled more with Mellisson and the baby, and that he's smiled more with the pretty lady than in a whole long, long, long time. So Spike doesn't care if Bubbles doesn't like the pretty lady, or thinks Severus is being silly, as long as Severus keeps smiling, Spike is going to keep liking the pretty lady, Hermione." And the small bear crossed his little teddy bear paws.
After a long moment of thoughts, and painful memories Bubbles sighed. "Fine Spike, you win. I'll do my best to refrain from saying 'I told you so' to Severus any longer, but you mark my words, this won't be anything like Severus's courtship with Mellisson, she was his soul mate, and this girl is nothing but just that, a girl." And then Bubbles too crossed its little paws and stared silently into the fire.
Five minutes later Spike reemerged and with a sound that could only be considered a giggle, it squeezed itself around the middle tightly as it fluctuated between itself and Bubbles. "Thank you Bubbles. It's good to be animated with you."
And as the teddy bear changed back to Bubbles for the last time, a cute rosy blush spread across the pink fur as Bubbles offered its self its own little squeeze before saying, "You too, Spike."
* * *
Wednesday was upon them before any of the students could blink, and it was with a heavy heart that Hermione walked into the dungeons. To her left Ron squeezed her hand, while to her right, Harry's tall frame offered her warmth and a strong sense of protection. Walking backwards in front of her, Morganna was talking happily, trying her hardest to lighten the otherwise somber mood of going to potions class.
"Anyway Hermione, you should be happy, I mean tonight's our first tutoring session, right? I'm actually looking forward to learning stuff with you. Ron says you're a pain in the ass teacher, but I still think it'll be fun to learn from you." Morganna smiled brightly, while Ron offered a sheepish grin when Hermione turned to glare at him. "So, what subjects are we going to do tonight?"
Hermione sighed, trying very hard not to shiver as they rounded the corner and she caught sight of the place where she'd been struck by Parkenson's cures. "I guess we'll start with Defense Against the Dark Arts, and then do Care of Magical Creatures, those are two of your better subjects so they should be the easiest to tackle first."
Morganna nodded as she spun around and fell into step beside Harry, batting her eyelashes when he looked down and smiled at her. "Sounds good. Maybe we could get straight to the vampire and werewolves section though, those are the most fascinating."
Hermione nodded absently as she felt Ron suddenly pull more tightly against her. She glanced up at him, and then down the left corridor where he was looking. Her heart nearly stopped in her chest when she saw Draco and the other Slytherin fifth years walking towards them. With a shift of her right hand, she felt for the butt of her wand, tucked safely into the sleeve of her robes, where she kept it now at all times.
But surprisingly, as Draco's gang stopped five feet in front of them, and Harry extricated his wand arm from Morganna's grip, it was Neville that saved them all.
"Uh, um, Hermione?" Came the boys characteristically halting voice. She turned to look at him, offering a weak and very stressed smile. "Um, I was wondering if we could still be potions partners like you said on Monday?"
Malfoy's bright blue eyes were staring directly at Hermione as she deliberately turned her body away from him to address Neville. "Of course we are Neville. In fact, come on everyone, let's go inside and claim our benches."
Ron scoffed. "Yeah, nothing out here to worry about." He said, staring directly at Malfoy, who turned his icy gaze on him.
"I'd be careful if I were you, Wesley. It's never a good idea to taunt a serpent while still in his den." And with that, Draco swept past them and entered the potions classroom. A second later, the rest of his Slytherin entourage followed.
"Wow, is it just me, or is that boy totally creepy?" Asked Morganna, once again claiming Harry's arm.
Harry smiled down at her. "Don't worry about Malfoy, he's always been like that."
"Yeah," Ron interjected. "A prat if I ever saw one."
Morganna and Harry laughed with Ron, but Hermione stood silently thinking. There was something very different about Draco Malfoy this year, something darker. For a brief moment she considered that Draco had already joined the Death Eaters, but just then the final bell tolled and the five of them raced inside to claim their benches.
They made it just in time, because as Hermione looked up, Professor Snape entered from the side storage room.
Tall and thin, with greasy black hair that hung to his shoulders in half formed curls, Professor Snape walked to the podium and immediately began his lecture on a eraser potion they would be working on that day. He looked pale, nearly gaunt, with a hooked nose and dingy yellow teeth that flashed whenever he pronounced the letter "E". She watched him turn to the chalkboard and begin to write the ingredients they'd all be needing for today's potion. He was wearing his customary all black robe, which hung down to brush the ground, just millimeters short enough not to trip him when he walked. The line of his back was straight with force, as if he were being held by a taunt string attached to the stone ceiling. In all he looked positively grotesque.
And then she remembered what he'd looked like in his rooms.
And she shivered.
Up at the board, Professor Snape broke the piece of chalk he was writing with. For a long second he paused, until the entire classroom began to fidget as his suddenly stoic silence. Then with a grace that only he possessed, Snape picked up another piece of chalk and continued with the lesson.
"Uncle Severus doesn't look good, does he?" Morganna whispered from Hermione's left, where she sat at the same cauldron as herself and Neville. She was watching her uncle intensely, and for a moment, Hermione forgot about Snape and reached over to squeeze her friend's knee. She stole a glance behind her and caught Ron and Harry watching them. Harry mouthed if Morganna was all right, and she nodded her head before turning back to the lesson.
When it was time to brew the potion, Hermione sent Morganna off to get the tools they'd need, and Neville off to gather their ingredients, while she stoked the fire and created a little rain cloud to fill their cauldron with water. She looked up in time to see Snape shake his head to a still concerned looking Morganna before ushering her off to finish her task. Hermione couldn't help but smile a little, he really was good with Morganna. As if hearing her thoughts, Snape looked up then, meeting her eyes dead on. For a long moment they stared at one another, and then Hermione looked away, the intensity of his gaze too much. When she hazarded another look, he'd moved on to examine some of the other preparations.
Morganna and Neville returned, and Hermione quickly realized that Morganna was not only good at Potions, she was fantastic. Her hands seemed to know exactly how much was too much or not enough, her eyes, how long to boil and when to cool. She was amazing, and it was with a bit of good natured annoyance that Hermione realized Morganna was even better than she was.
Neville remained as always. He sat to the left of the prepared ingredients, passing the girls the things they asked for. Morganna held out her hand, "I'll take the four Ogling eyes now." Hermione turned as she always did, to make sure Neville grabbed the right ingredients.
"Bloody.Hermione?" She turned at the sound of Harry's voice. "Can you look at this and tell us if we're doing it right. I think Ron stirred too fast and now the bubbles have turned purple instead of green." Hermione sighed, mumbling about Ron's impatient stirring tactics as she stood up on her tiptoes and peered up the riser and into their cauldron.
Behind her, she heard Neville ask Morganna which set of eyes she wanted again, there were four different sets of eyes going into today's potion. Hermione smiled sweetly to Harry and then told him to add a bit more water to the mix, that would cool the temperature and allow the two boys to stir again, this time slower, and she glared at Ron.
She heard it before she saw it. She'd heard it so many times over the last five years she knew the sound by heart. It was the sound of Neville Longbottom tripping over his own feet, followed quickly by the sound of a tipping chair, and then the sound of their wood cutting board hitting the floor with a resounding smack. Hermione drew a deep breath to calm herself before she turned around. What happened next stunned her, and everyone else in the room.
On his knees, Neville was just starting to get up when the first hissing sounds came from the cauldron. There was a bubbling sickly squishy sound that followed, and then suddenly, the sides began to warp and then drip like candle wax. There was a fizzling popping sound, and then the base of the cauldron gave out, and the potion they'd been brewing for the last forty-five minutes cascaded onto the floor before sliding down their riser to ooze onto the floor below them.
But this was no big surprise. Hermione had often been confronted with Neville and melting cauldrons, and it was with a depressed and knowing face that Neville stood and looked regretfully at Hermione who shook her head, already calculating how long they'd have to spend after class today to do it over again.
Unfortunately, Morganna was not at all used to working with Neville-- not at all. In a voice that rose steadily in rage, Morganna bore down on Neville. "What did you think you were doing?! You ruined it! Oh my god! Look at this, just look!" She kicked the squishy mass of cauldron. "How in the nine hells do you melt an iron cauldron?! What are you, brain dead? I asked for the Ogling eyes, and you dump the whole tray in! You-you-you, idiot!" Her face was red with rage, and her hands fisted at her sides as she took another menacing step towards Neville who was already backing away.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught the movement of swirling black cloth, but she ignored it, instead, stepping between Morganna and Neville. "Morganna, calm down! We'll fix it; we'll just do it again. It's fine--"
"It's not fine, Hermione! That idiot," and she pointed her finger accusingly at Neville. "Totally demolished our cauldron!"
Hermione raced forward, ignoring the silence in the room as everyone listened to Morganna's tirade. "We'll get another one. This happens all the time, it's fine."
Morganna's eyes got huge. "All the time?" She asked.
Hermione nodded, watching as Snape came up behind his niece, his eyes hard and angry at the disruption. Knowing that she had to defuse the situation before he did, Hermione nodded to Morganna, before turning back to Neville. "Go get us a new cauldron from the closet, Neville, I'll get the supplies." At the boy's nod, he turned to race for the closet, but Morganna's words stopped him in his tracks.
"I'm not working with him ever again! I'd rather die than share a cauldron with that idiot! He can just work with someone else. I'm not losing points in my best class because we're partners with him, Hermione." And she crossed her arms and stared expectantly at her friend.
Hermione had always been taught to help those less fortunate than herself. She'd partnered with Neville in the first place in the hopes that some of her skills would rub off on him; the best student and the worst student, hoping somehow Neville would balance out in the middle. But here was Morganna, honestly the best potions student in the class, refusing to help Neville because he'd made a silly little mistake. For one very long moment, Hermione Granger looked at her newest friend and saw red.
Then with a crossing of her arms and a withering look, Hermione spoke clearly, enunciating every word. "Neville is my partner, Morganna, and if you don't like it, then you can find yourself another bench to work at." Behind her, Neville gasped, but Hermione wasn't going to back down. He'd been her partner for four years, and if she had her way, he'd be her partner for three more.
In front of her, Morganna's face seemed to fall for the briefest of seconds before she straightened her shoulders. "Fine Hermione, you keep him, and good luck, you'll need it!" Then with a dramatic turn, she marched past her uncle, turned to her left, took the two stairs to the next riser and planted her perky little butt right next to Harry and offered him a sweet smile. "Guess we're going to be partners this year, Harry."
As she turned her eyes back forward, Hermione once again caught Snape's. His look was unreadable.
Behind her, Neville spoke. "Hermione, you-you don't have too--"
Turning around she uncrossed her arms. "Neville, we're wasting time; go get the cauldron and set it up." With nothing more than a nod she walked past his stunned form and went to gather their ingredients.
An hour later as she and Neville packed up the last of their potions equipment in the empty classroom, her partner paused and put a hand over her own. Startled, Hermione looked up. Neville's eyes were moist as he smiled at her. "That was the nicest thing anyone's every done for me, Hermione." And then, without another word, Neville left.
Hermione watched him leave before she turned around and sat down on the bench, laying her head on the desk. The reality of the situation hit her hard then, and she squeezed her eyes against the forming tears.
She absolutely couldn't stand to see Neville treated that way, but Morganna was her friend, and now she'd just ruined that budding friendship. She didn't regret what she'd done, only that it had come to that; and under the surface bubbled anger at the way Morganna had treated Neville.
A sudden slamming of the supply closet door had her bolting from the desk, and for the third time that day, she locked eyes with Snape. But something was different about him again, the hard lines of his back were gone, the cold chill too, he was just a man now, nothing more, and nothing less; she felt herself begin to relax.
He didn't smile, but his eyes softened, and when he spoke there was no iron to his voice, just that smooth velvety timber. "If you have concerns with my niece's reaction to your choice, Miss Granger, I would urge you to dismiss them. Morganna is known for many things, including a fiery temper; but as is with most cases of this personality trait, she burns hot and fast. I imagine she'll have forgotten the entire episode by tomorrow morning." And with that, Snape exited via a door to the left-hand side of the podium without another look back.
But he'd been wrong.
When Hermione's brain had started working again, she exited the classroom and was nearly knocked off her feet by the sight of Morganna leaning against a wall joking happily with Neville, who himself seemed to be in rather good spirits. Morganna's eyes lit up at seeing Hermione, before ducking in shame and then returning. She whispered something to Neville, and then said goodbye before walking over and taking Hermione's potions book.
"I wanted to apologize to Neville about the things I said today." She said, a note of self-anger in her voice. "He seemed to take it alright. I explained that since my uncle teaches the class I really had to show that I was good in the subject. I told him," she paused and drew in a deep breath, "I told him that Uncle Severus is the closest thing to a dad I've got, and I just had to prove that I could be good in potions too. I know I'm not really smart, not like you or my uncle, but potions is the one thing I'm good at, the one thing--well besides singing--and I just had to do my very best. But I did say that that wasn't an excuse for the things I'd said to him.and.called him, and that I'd make it up to him." She beamed suddenly, her eyes aglow with absolution. "I told him I'd give him a signed copy of my American CD, and that I'd give him two tickets to my first summer concert. Then I asked him if he wanted to play a game of wizard's chess with me later tonight. He's really actually kind of nice-- for a geek." She smiled again and shrugged. "So I guess that only leaves you, hu?"
Hermione shook her head. "What you did today, Morganna--"
"I know! It was stupid and childish, and just plain mean! I can't really explain it any better than I already have, Hermione. My aunt says I have a wicked temper and it's totally true, I try and control it, but sometimes, it's hard, especially when I think my uncle is watching. I mean, you wouldn't want to look stupid in front of your parents, now would you? Of course not, and I don't want to look stupid in front of mine--er, uncle that is.
"I'm going to try really hard not to let my diva side get the better of me, promise Hermione. I just, I just need to know that we're ok. That- that you don't hate me or anything." And then all the confidence that Morganna had, from her own inner strength, to what she'd build over the course of her musical career melted away to show that of an unsure fifteen year old girl. It was a sight Hermione had seen before, when she looked into a mirror on those rare occasions when her own self-confidence had disappeared. She couldn't help but relent.
"If you promise, never, ever to treat Neville the way you did today, I can forgive you. He's had it so rough Morganna, you have absolutely no possible idea."
Curiosity warred in Morganna's eyes for a moment before she nodded. "I won't Hermione, I promise. And now that I know Neville's a good friend of yours, I'm going to try and become his friend too. I feel absolutely horrible about what happened, and I'm going to make it up to him." She smiled brightly and looped her arm through Hermione's. "So are we ok now?" With a sigh, Hermione nodded and offered a weak smile. "Good! Now, let's go grab some lunch and then hit the books, as I recall I've got a tutoring session with you, and then a chess match to get too." Her eyes twinkled suddenly, "And then after that, it's back to my diabolical plan of making Harry Potter my boyfriend!"
Hermione couldn't help it, she smiled.
Hermione chose not to dwell on the memories that rushed immediately into her head when she awoke the next morning. Crookshanks was snuggled next to her shoulder, and she reached out to pet him. She tried to focus on what needed to be done this morning. She needed to get up, shower, dress, eat breakfast, and then attend her arithmancy class. Sighing, Hermione pulled the covers up a little higher around her chin, a drowsy floating feeling coming over her; the day could wait, right now she just wanted to lay in bed and think.
The words floated into her mind as if she were submerged in water.
Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and bane of her existence.
Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy.
Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts.
Severus Snape, Potions Master.
Severus Snape.
Severus.
Severus.
Severus.
That was actually a rather distinguished and sexy name if you said it like that, Hermione thought as she rolled to her side and scratched her kitty once more. Her fingertips slid through silky fine fur, her short but manicured nails, scratching idly; her blue eyes were dark as midnight and half closed in a waking dream.
Severus.
Her eyes drifted shut as her mind swam. He'd looked so damn yummy in her parent's entranceway. Those jeans, that tee shirt, that leather jacket. She sighed, and those sun glasses.
Warmth flooded her body, a feeling that centered around her stomach and radiated until it reached the tips of her toes; she flexed them on instinct. Drawing her hand from Crookshanks fur, Hermione brought her fingertips to her neck, flexing them over her own flesh, feeling the rise of goosebumps and that sensation that comes right before you shiver. A soft, secretive smile stole over her lips and as she leaned back down across the bed, she sighed once more.
Severus.
She smiled as the fingers at her neck slowly traced down the center of her body. Her breaths coming a little faster.
Severus.
Idly her fingertips traced the edge of her tank top; the accidental touch of flesh to flesh making her skin vibrate.
Beside her, Crookshanks bolted up and turned sharp eyes to his mistress.
"Severus." She whispered softly, testing the name out loud as her hand slipped under the fabric of her shirt. Her warm, moist palm pressed against her taunt and quivering stomach. Her shoulders rolled, her back arching just a fraction of an inch at the contact. She folded her hand, her knuckles brushing the underside of her ample breasts.
"Severus."
The jolt was powerful, a sizzling down her spine. Her eyes flew open, and like a whip crack, she was sitting up, panting, her eyes wide and frightened as she came out of her daze. She couldn't explain the feeling, the tingling awareness of something in the back of her mind. Her hand fluttered to her throat, and beside her Crookshanks stretched into her lap, sliding against her to ask for another petting.
Heart beating wildly, Hermione struggled to slow her breathing as she stared into the vanity mirror across from her. She looked ghastly pale around the flush of her cheeks.
Flush of her.
"Oh. My. God!" With a flick of her wrist, Hermione sent the covers and Crookshanks flying off her as she tore out of the bed and into the bathroom. Heart beating at an even more outrageous rhythm than before, Hermione raced to the shower and twisted the taps to a driving water pressure.
"No, no, no, no, no," she whispered to herself as she tore at her bed clothes, her wild eyes catching her reflection in the mirror even as she saw Crookshanks enter with indignation. Naked, she rounded on him. "I thought you were supposed to be a magical kitty, you're supposed to know what's going on!" She nearly yelled, throwing an accusing look at him. For his part, the cat looked almost smugly at her.
With a roar, Hermione rounded on the shower, threw open the crystal door and stepping into the beating pound of the scalding water. She found the soap immediately, scrubbing it over every inch of her body before she attacked her hair as if it were a nest of serpents. Nothing was gentle, nothing was sacred as she finished with her hair and then grabbed the bar of soap and attacked her bright red skin.
Twisting the water off, she threw open the door and walked back to the sink, her eyes examining her reflection in the mirror. Her skin was nearly scalded, but not nearly enough. Shaping her right hand like a claw, she raked it across her abdomen, leaving bright white lines that slowly rose into welts. Raising her eyes she looked deeply into those of her reflection.
"Are you listening to me, brain? I hope you're paying attention, because I mean every word I'm about to say, so listen up!" She stepped back, and traced a water droplet as it skimmed over her collar bone, down her taunt stomach, past the four welts and disappeared at the junction of her thighs. She looked up at her own face. "I don't care how desperate we are over Viktor, I don't care how hard up we EVER get for the rest of our lives, we are never, ever, EVER, going to attempt what we were just about to do, while Crookshanks is in the room! Do you understand!? That's just..just, WRONG!"
And with a nod of determination, Hermione Granger exited the bathroom and began her day.
In the corner of the small bathroom, Crookshanks looked a tad disappointed.
* * *
"Hermione!" Morganna called as she rounded the bottom of the Gryffindor staircase and entered the common room. Beside her, Harry stood, while Ron ended his conversation with Dean. She smiled at them all and offered a good morning as she moved to hug Morganna--because she knew that's what the girl needed--before sitting down in one of the large winged back chairs.
Harry was the first to recover, and he sat down, his eyes fixed on hers. "Hermione, you alright? After yesterday--"
Smiling she waved him off. "I'm fine Harry, thank you for asking. After the curse I was a little out of sorts, but Professor Snape managed to help me without killing me." She sighed. "Though he did give me another week's worth of detention for participating in an unauthorized duel, the bloody git; no offence Morganna." She smiled at her friend who only nodded, half stunned at Hermione's calm demeanor. "Anyway, I get the better end of the deal because Snape knew I wasn't at fault, and he's going to let me brew some of the medical potions during my detention, so while I still have detention, it won't be so bad."
Morganna was about to say something when Ron let out a great booming laugh. "Hermione, leave it to you to think brewing potions for a week with Snape was worth all those nasty little spiders crawling all over your--"
"Ron," she interrupted, and her best friend stopped mid sentence to look up at her. "Let's not talk about that anymore, ok? I just kind of want to forget about it. It was.scary, and I'd rather not remember it, alright?"
This Morganna could handle. "Yeah, Hermione, you're absolutely right. Let's just pretend that yesterday never happened! Not Hermione's bug incident, and not Professor Lupin yelling at me for whispering in class. I mean honestly, it's not as if he was saying anything important at the time anyway, just some lecture on safety precautions in a potions lab, geesh!" And Morganna continued her tirade about the injustices of the faculty interrupting her quality time with her friends, at which point she latched onto Harry's arm and didn't let go until they got down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
As they were all climbing out of the portrait however, Ron tugged her a half step behind Harry and Morganna. "Honestly Hermione, you alright? I mean, Snape looked ready to kill something when he saw you in the hallway. Then when Harry snuck out with the invisibility cloak to see Sirius to ask him what Snape had done after he'd made us all go back to class, Lupin made Harry leave without an answer. We were all bloody terrified for you until McGonnagall told us you were fine. I mean, I thought--"
Leaning forward, Hermione kissed his cheek and smiled at him. "Thank you Ron, for everything. I'm fine, really. I don't remember much anyway, just basically waking up, getting yelled at, and then sent back to the tower, that's all that happened, really."
Basically.
But Ron nodded dumbly, a strange expression crossed his face, then wrapped his arm about Hermione's shoulder, and walked her down to breakfast.
* * *
Bubbles rubbed its aching nose as it ambled into the living room and sat down heavily in a small, comfortable little chair. It was grumbling quite nicely about I-Told-You-So's when Spike whined, both paws clutching at its nose as it moaned. "Mean ol'Bubbles, had to say, 'I told you so' to Severus. That wasn't nice at all. Mean words get mean actions, and now our noses hurts. Bubbles is bad, bad, bad!"
"Oh do be quite Spike!" Came Bubble's irritated reply. "I did tell him so. I told him he was a fool for playing with magic he didn't understand. I told him that years ago and he didn't listen, and I told him again, and now look what happened!"
Spike sniffled pathetically as it gingerly tested its throbbing nose. "Bubble's knows that Severus doesn't like I-Told-You-So's, he doesn't like them one bit. Now we have an achy nose, and Severus is in an icky mood, and Spike doesn't think a huggle will help any.maybe not even two huggles!" It moaned again, this time, covering its teddy bear face with both paws as it sat rocking in the little chair.
Bubbles sat up then, glaring deathly at the fireplace as if it were Spike. "Will you shut up about your blasted huggles. Those haven't worked on Severus for years. Why do you insist on talking about them day in and day out?!"
Spike slumped back against the chair suddenly in resigned misery. The change was so sudden and strange that even Bubbles became instantly concerned. "Spike?"
But Spike just rubbed one of its little button eyes and stared into the fireplace, ignoring Bubble's concern. "Bubbles should be nicer to Severus. Bubbles knows what its creator said about Severus and the pretty lady. Bubbles and Spike have to help Severus, we have too! Severus, Bubbles, and Spike have been alone for a long, long, long time. No more Mellisson, no more babies, just Severus, Bubbles, and Spike. But Spike wants the pretty lady to stay; Spike likes Hermione. Bubbles knows that Severus likes the pretty lady too, so we have to be extra special good now so that Severus will keep the pretty lady and make her stay with us forever."
Bubbles touched the side of its cheek, and for just a second, he was touching the side of Spike's cheek. "Spike, I know you miss the baby, but that girl can only break his heart. She's too young, too different from us, and Severus has gone about this all the wrong way. A body bond," it scoffed, "already he's coming to understand just how foolish what he's done is. You saw him this morning, the way he woke up, the magic feeds on them both and eventually, it will bring them only misery."
But Spike shook his head. "No, Bubbles is wrong. Severus was startled, but not mad, Bubbles made him mad this morning by saying 'I told you so', that's why Severus slammed the bathroom door into our noses. Severus likes the pretty lady. And Spike remembers, Spike remembers good, that Severus smiled more with Mellisson and the baby, and that he's smiled more with the pretty lady than in a whole long, long, long time. So Spike doesn't care if Bubbles doesn't like the pretty lady, or thinks Severus is being silly, as long as Severus keeps smiling, Spike is going to keep liking the pretty lady, Hermione." And the small bear crossed his little teddy bear paws.
After a long moment of thoughts, and painful memories Bubbles sighed. "Fine Spike, you win. I'll do my best to refrain from saying 'I told you so' to Severus any longer, but you mark my words, this won't be anything like Severus's courtship with Mellisson, she was his soul mate, and this girl is nothing but just that, a girl." And then Bubbles too crossed its little paws and stared silently into the fire.
Five minutes later Spike reemerged and with a sound that could only be considered a giggle, it squeezed itself around the middle tightly as it fluctuated between itself and Bubbles. "Thank you Bubbles. It's good to be animated with you."
And as the teddy bear changed back to Bubbles for the last time, a cute rosy blush spread across the pink fur as Bubbles offered its self its own little squeeze before saying, "You too, Spike."
* * *
Wednesday was upon them before any of the students could blink, and it was with a heavy heart that Hermione walked into the dungeons. To her left Ron squeezed her hand, while to her right, Harry's tall frame offered her warmth and a strong sense of protection. Walking backwards in front of her, Morganna was talking happily, trying her hardest to lighten the otherwise somber mood of going to potions class.
"Anyway Hermione, you should be happy, I mean tonight's our first tutoring session, right? I'm actually looking forward to learning stuff with you. Ron says you're a pain in the ass teacher, but I still think it'll be fun to learn from you." Morganna smiled brightly, while Ron offered a sheepish grin when Hermione turned to glare at him. "So, what subjects are we going to do tonight?"
Hermione sighed, trying very hard not to shiver as they rounded the corner and she caught sight of the place where she'd been struck by Parkenson's cures. "I guess we'll start with Defense Against the Dark Arts, and then do Care of Magical Creatures, those are two of your better subjects so they should be the easiest to tackle first."
Morganna nodded as she spun around and fell into step beside Harry, batting her eyelashes when he looked down and smiled at her. "Sounds good. Maybe we could get straight to the vampire and werewolves section though, those are the most fascinating."
Hermione nodded absently as she felt Ron suddenly pull more tightly against her. She glanced up at him, and then down the left corridor where he was looking. Her heart nearly stopped in her chest when she saw Draco and the other Slytherin fifth years walking towards them. With a shift of her right hand, she felt for the butt of her wand, tucked safely into the sleeve of her robes, where she kept it now at all times.
But surprisingly, as Draco's gang stopped five feet in front of them, and Harry extricated his wand arm from Morganna's grip, it was Neville that saved them all.
"Uh, um, Hermione?" Came the boys characteristically halting voice. She turned to look at him, offering a weak and very stressed smile. "Um, I was wondering if we could still be potions partners like you said on Monday?"
Malfoy's bright blue eyes were staring directly at Hermione as she deliberately turned her body away from him to address Neville. "Of course we are Neville. In fact, come on everyone, let's go inside and claim our benches."
Ron scoffed. "Yeah, nothing out here to worry about." He said, staring directly at Malfoy, who turned his icy gaze on him.
"I'd be careful if I were you, Wesley. It's never a good idea to taunt a serpent while still in his den." And with that, Draco swept past them and entered the potions classroom. A second later, the rest of his Slytherin entourage followed.
"Wow, is it just me, or is that boy totally creepy?" Asked Morganna, once again claiming Harry's arm.
Harry smiled down at her. "Don't worry about Malfoy, he's always been like that."
"Yeah," Ron interjected. "A prat if I ever saw one."
Morganna and Harry laughed with Ron, but Hermione stood silently thinking. There was something very different about Draco Malfoy this year, something darker. For a brief moment she considered that Draco had already joined the Death Eaters, but just then the final bell tolled and the five of them raced inside to claim their benches.
They made it just in time, because as Hermione looked up, Professor Snape entered from the side storage room.
Tall and thin, with greasy black hair that hung to his shoulders in half formed curls, Professor Snape walked to the podium and immediately began his lecture on a eraser potion they would be working on that day. He looked pale, nearly gaunt, with a hooked nose and dingy yellow teeth that flashed whenever he pronounced the letter "E". She watched him turn to the chalkboard and begin to write the ingredients they'd all be needing for today's potion. He was wearing his customary all black robe, which hung down to brush the ground, just millimeters short enough not to trip him when he walked. The line of his back was straight with force, as if he were being held by a taunt string attached to the stone ceiling. In all he looked positively grotesque.
And then she remembered what he'd looked like in his rooms.
And she shivered.
Up at the board, Professor Snape broke the piece of chalk he was writing with. For a long second he paused, until the entire classroom began to fidget as his suddenly stoic silence. Then with a grace that only he possessed, Snape picked up another piece of chalk and continued with the lesson.
"Uncle Severus doesn't look good, does he?" Morganna whispered from Hermione's left, where she sat at the same cauldron as herself and Neville. She was watching her uncle intensely, and for a moment, Hermione forgot about Snape and reached over to squeeze her friend's knee. She stole a glance behind her and caught Ron and Harry watching them. Harry mouthed if Morganna was all right, and she nodded her head before turning back to the lesson.
When it was time to brew the potion, Hermione sent Morganna off to get the tools they'd need, and Neville off to gather their ingredients, while she stoked the fire and created a little rain cloud to fill their cauldron with water. She looked up in time to see Snape shake his head to a still concerned looking Morganna before ushering her off to finish her task. Hermione couldn't help but smile a little, he really was good with Morganna. As if hearing her thoughts, Snape looked up then, meeting her eyes dead on. For a long moment they stared at one another, and then Hermione looked away, the intensity of his gaze too much. When she hazarded another look, he'd moved on to examine some of the other preparations.
Morganna and Neville returned, and Hermione quickly realized that Morganna was not only good at Potions, she was fantastic. Her hands seemed to know exactly how much was too much or not enough, her eyes, how long to boil and when to cool. She was amazing, and it was with a bit of good natured annoyance that Hermione realized Morganna was even better than she was.
Neville remained as always. He sat to the left of the prepared ingredients, passing the girls the things they asked for. Morganna held out her hand, "I'll take the four Ogling eyes now." Hermione turned as she always did, to make sure Neville grabbed the right ingredients.
"Bloody.Hermione?" She turned at the sound of Harry's voice. "Can you look at this and tell us if we're doing it right. I think Ron stirred too fast and now the bubbles have turned purple instead of green." Hermione sighed, mumbling about Ron's impatient stirring tactics as she stood up on her tiptoes and peered up the riser and into their cauldron.
Behind her, she heard Neville ask Morganna which set of eyes she wanted again, there were four different sets of eyes going into today's potion. Hermione smiled sweetly to Harry and then told him to add a bit more water to the mix, that would cool the temperature and allow the two boys to stir again, this time slower, and she glared at Ron.
She heard it before she saw it. She'd heard it so many times over the last five years she knew the sound by heart. It was the sound of Neville Longbottom tripping over his own feet, followed quickly by the sound of a tipping chair, and then the sound of their wood cutting board hitting the floor with a resounding smack. Hermione drew a deep breath to calm herself before she turned around. What happened next stunned her, and everyone else in the room.
On his knees, Neville was just starting to get up when the first hissing sounds came from the cauldron. There was a bubbling sickly squishy sound that followed, and then suddenly, the sides began to warp and then drip like candle wax. There was a fizzling popping sound, and then the base of the cauldron gave out, and the potion they'd been brewing for the last forty-five minutes cascaded onto the floor before sliding down their riser to ooze onto the floor below them.
But this was no big surprise. Hermione had often been confronted with Neville and melting cauldrons, and it was with a depressed and knowing face that Neville stood and looked regretfully at Hermione who shook her head, already calculating how long they'd have to spend after class today to do it over again.
Unfortunately, Morganna was not at all used to working with Neville-- not at all. In a voice that rose steadily in rage, Morganna bore down on Neville. "What did you think you were doing?! You ruined it! Oh my god! Look at this, just look!" She kicked the squishy mass of cauldron. "How in the nine hells do you melt an iron cauldron?! What are you, brain dead? I asked for the Ogling eyes, and you dump the whole tray in! You-you-you, idiot!" Her face was red with rage, and her hands fisted at her sides as she took another menacing step towards Neville who was already backing away.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught the movement of swirling black cloth, but she ignored it, instead, stepping between Morganna and Neville. "Morganna, calm down! We'll fix it; we'll just do it again. It's fine--"
"It's not fine, Hermione! That idiot," and she pointed her finger accusingly at Neville. "Totally demolished our cauldron!"
Hermione raced forward, ignoring the silence in the room as everyone listened to Morganna's tirade. "We'll get another one. This happens all the time, it's fine."
Morganna's eyes got huge. "All the time?" She asked.
Hermione nodded, watching as Snape came up behind his niece, his eyes hard and angry at the disruption. Knowing that she had to defuse the situation before he did, Hermione nodded to Morganna, before turning back to Neville. "Go get us a new cauldron from the closet, Neville, I'll get the supplies." At the boy's nod, he turned to race for the closet, but Morganna's words stopped him in his tracks.
"I'm not working with him ever again! I'd rather die than share a cauldron with that idiot! He can just work with someone else. I'm not losing points in my best class because we're partners with him, Hermione." And she crossed her arms and stared expectantly at her friend.
Hermione had always been taught to help those less fortunate than herself. She'd partnered with Neville in the first place in the hopes that some of her skills would rub off on him; the best student and the worst student, hoping somehow Neville would balance out in the middle. But here was Morganna, honestly the best potions student in the class, refusing to help Neville because he'd made a silly little mistake. For one very long moment, Hermione Granger looked at her newest friend and saw red.
Then with a crossing of her arms and a withering look, Hermione spoke clearly, enunciating every word. "Neville is my partner, Morganna, and if you don't like it, then you can find yourself another bench to work at." Behind her, Neville gasped, but Hermione wasn't going to back down. He'd been her partner for four years, and if she had her way, he'd be her partner for three more.
In front of her, Morganna's face seemed to fall for the briefest of seconds before she straightened her shoulders. "Fine Hermione, you keep him, and good luck, you'll need it!" Then with a dramatic turn, she marched past her uncle, turned to her left, took the two stairs to the next riser and planted her perky little butt right next to Harry and offered him a sweet smile. "Guess we're going to be partners this year, Harry."
As she turned her eyes back forward, Hermione once again caught Snape's. His look was unreadable.
Behind her, Neville spoke. "Hermione, you-you don't have too--"
Turning around she uncrossed her arms. "Neville, we're wasting time; go get the cauldron and set it up." With nothing more than a nod she walked past his stunned form and went to gather their ingredients.
An hour later as she and Neville packed up the last of their potions equipment in the empty classroom, her partner paused and put a hand over her own. Startled, Hermione looked up. Neville's eyes were moist as he smiled at her. "That was the nicest thing anyone's every done for me, Hermione." And then, without another word, Neville left.
Hermione watched him leave before she turned around and sat down on the bench, laying her head on the desk. The reality of the situation hit her hard then, and she squeezed her eyes against the forming tears.
She absolutely couldn't stand to see Neville treated that way, but Morganna was her friend, and now she'd just ruined that budding friendship. She didn't regret what she'd done, only that it had come to that; and under the surface bubbled anger at the way Morganna had treated Neville.
A sudden slamming of the supply closet door had her bolting from the desk, and for the third time that day, she locked eyes with Snape. But something was different about him again, the hard lines of his back were gone, the cold chill too, he was just a man now, nothing more, and nothing less; she felt herself begin to relax.
He didn't smile, but his eyes softened, and when he spoke there was no iron to his voice, just that smooth velvety timber. "If you have concerns with my niece's reaction to your choice, Miss Granger, I would urge you to dismiss them. Morganna is known for many things, including a fiery temper; but as is with most cases of this personality trait, she burns hot and fast. I imagine she'll have forgotten the entire episode by tomorrow morning." And with that, Snape exited via a door to the left-hand side of the podium without another look back.
But he'd been wrong.
When Hermione's brain had started working again, she exited the classroom and was nearly knocked off her feet by the sight of Morganna leaning against a wall joking happily with Neville, who himself seemed to be in rather good spirits. Morganna's eyes lit up at seeing Hermione, before ducking in shame and then returning. She whispered something to Neville, and then said goodbye before walking over and taking Hermione's potions book.
"I wanted to apologize to Neville about the things I said today." She said, a note of self-anger in her voice. "He seemed to take it alright. I explained that since my uncle teaches the class I really had to show that I was good in the subject. I told him," she paused and drew in a deep breath, "I told him that Uncle Severus is the closest thing to a dad I've got, and I just had to prove that I could be good in potions too. I know I'm not really smart, not like you or my uncle, but potions is the one thing I'm good at, the one thing--well besides singing--and I just had to do my very best. But I did say that that wasn't an excuse for the things I'd said to him.and.called him, and that I'd make it up to him." She beamed suddenly, her eyes aglow with absolution. "I told him I'd give him a signed copy of my American CD, and that I'd give him two tickets to my first summer concert. Then I asked him if he wanted to play a game of wizard's chess with me later tonight. He's really actually kind of nice-- for a geek." She smiled again and shrugged. "So I guess that only leaves you, hu?"
Hermione shook her head. "What you did today, Morganna--"
"I know! It was stupid and childish, and just plain mean! I can't really explain it any better than I already have, Hermione. My aunt says I have a wicked temper and it's totally true, I try and control it, but sometimes, it's hard, especially when I think my uncle is watching. I mean, you wouldn't want to look stupid in front of your parents, now would you? Of course not, and I don't want to look stupid in front of mine--er, uncle that is.
"I'm going to try really hard not to let my diva side get the better of me, promise Hermione. I just, I just need to know that we're ok. That- that you don't hate me or anything." And then all the confidence that Morganna had, from her own inner strength, to what she'd build over the course of her musical career melted away to show that of an unsure fifteen year old girl. It was a sight Hermione had seen before, when she looked into a mirror on those rare occasions when her own self-confidence had disappeared. She couldn't help but relent.
"If you promise, never, ever to treat Neville the way you did today, I can forgive you. He's had it so rough Morganna, you have absolutely no possible idea."
Curiosity warred in Morganna's eyes for a moment before she nodded. "I won't Hermione, I promise. And now that I know Neville's a good friend of yours, I'm going to try and become his friend too. I feel absolutely horrible about what happened, and I'm going to make it up to him." She smiled brightly and looped her arm through Hermione's. "So are we ok now?" With a sigh, Hermione nodded and offered a weak smile. "Good! Now, let's go grab some lunch and then hit the books, as I recall I've got a tutoring session with you, and then a chess match to get too." Her eyes twinkled suddenly, "And then after that, it's back to my diabolical plan of making Harry Potter my boyfriend!"
Hermione couldn't help it, she smiled.