Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me. But oh, how I wish they did……
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Hermoine awoke from a dreamless slumber on Friday morning, refreshed and ready to begin the day, until she remembered the details of the day before.
She had been assigned to be Professor Snape's… er…. Severus' new apprentice. She had also been informed that she would be sharing his living quarters for the next two years.
After the meeting was over between the two of them the night before, Hermoine had returned to the Gryffindor common room. In the reconstruction of the castle the rooms had been relocated. They where now on the third floor. However, the fat lady was still there, guarding the entrance, and she was comforted by that fact. She and the painting carried on a small conversation before she entered the common room. The red and gold still flourished around the room, another comforting sight.
Upon entering she learned that all of the new instructors, as well as Lupin, where there, and they talked the night away. They discussed their coming plans for the students that year, and they where shocked when Hermoine informed them of her situation.
Harry had been livid when he learned of her sleeping arrangements. "It isn't proper. The old bat just wants to put some moves on you. I'm surprised the Headmistress agreed to this. I won't stand for it! I knew that greasy old git was up to something!"
Hermoine calmed him down by explaining that while she had felt uncomfortable herself, at first, she now understood the point of the arrangements. She explained how much easier it would be on her, due to the long hours she would be working, to sleep as close as possible to the lab, especially as some potions had to have constant vigilance. She assured Harry that nothing 'improper' was on anyone's mind.
However, she did not tell Harry, or anyone else, about certain parts of the meeting. Such as how easily she had relaxed while she and the professor had ate together, nor did she mention how comfortable she had felt when the professor had sat so close to her on the footstool while they had talked. She did not tell anyone how Severus had kissed her hand and the end of the night. She did not mention that her hand still tingled where his lips had touched her skin.
Once Harry had calmed down to a low boil, Hermoine pleaded exhaustion and went off to the girls' dormitory. A few minutes later, Luna joined her. The other instructors would be getting their room assignments the next day as well. Thankfully, Luna did not ask any questions, so Hermoine was able to fall asleep quickly.
xxx
Hermoine rose from the bed, and collected some clothing, before heading to the girls' bath. She used the toilet, brushed her teeth, and then stepped into the shower and began to think.
The move to Snape's quarters really was a smart decision, yet, it was a tad improper. She was surprised that Headmistress McGonagall had allowed it. However, no one but the staff would know. The student's never cared for where their instructors had lived. Besides, nothing could possibly ever happen between the two of them. Yet, she kept remembering how it felt when his lips had touched her hand. She thought about how her stomach had fluttered, in a nice way, as he said her name. His rich, velvety voice seemed to caress her name as it escaped his lips.
Hermoine finished her shower, dressed and went down to breakfast. She paused for a moment, to gaze at the mural in the entranceway. She missed those people an awful lot, even Grawp. Most especially, she missed the Weasley clan.
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Ginny had been her best friend. She had spent much of her time, out of school, at the Burrow. She had even dated Ron for a while. They never took their relationship very far, just a few awkward kisses and an occasional even more awkward grope. There was never any spark. Thankfully, they both realized it and ended amicability.
She had been at the Burrow the night her friends had died. They were having a party. Bill and Fleur had given birth to a beautiful baby girl, Jolie, only two weeks before. Neville and Luna had also just announced their engagement.
Hermoine had taken the baby into a back room for a feeding, in order to give Fleur a chance to visit everyone, when she heard the front door open.
She heard Neville call out, "Hello, Percy!" and the she heard Luna scream, and then everyone started screaming. She put the baby back into its crib and ran to the door, her wand out and ready. She was just in time to see Fred send a petrifying spell at Percy.
Percy had immediately started firing curses at people as soon as he had walked into the doorway, the worse kind of curses, unforgivable curses. Due to the shock from his actions, it was several seconds before anyone took a stand against him. They later learned, at the trial, that Percy had been working under Lord Voldermort.
Fed up with being poor, Percy had always sought for a more powerful role in life. He thought that it was his families 'Muggle loving' side that was holding them back. He felt that Lord Voldermort could give him wealth and glory.
That night was to have been Percy's initiation into the Death Eaters. Instead he was captured and sent to Azkaban prison to spend the rest of his life in a miserable existence. Meanwhile, his mother had to spend several weeks at St. Mungo's hospital, in order to cope with the grief from having witnessed so many of her family dying at one time.
xxx
With a sigh, Hermoine left the entrance hall and headed towards the staff entrance to the Great Hall, her mind still on Mrs. Weasley.
Mrs. Weasley now resided at Grimmauld. It was too hard on her, returning to the Borrow without Arthur and her children. Harry had thought of her often times as a surrogate mother, so he had very little trouble talking her into moving into his home. She now spent most of her days cleaning, and checking up on her 'boys', and tending to Jolie, while Bill worked. Having the baby in her life seemed to help her the most. The two had a very special bond between them.
Upon entering the Great Hall, Hermoine looked for her seat. She learned that she would be sitting between Professor's Snape and Luna.
Luna was almost finished eating and the two chatted while Hermoine ate. Luna was not as dreamy as she had once been during their younger years. The death of her fiancé and the destruction of the war had caused her to loose much of her nativity. Thankfully, she still had retained just a little, as she remained sweet and loving, instead of bitter and some would have under the circumstances.
Towards the end of her meal, Fred and Harry appeared. Not wanting to rehash any of Harry's objections from the night before, Hermoine rose from her seat and quickly slipped out through the door.
She went back to the girls' dormitory and collected her things. She then transfigured her trunks into a necklace, which she placed around her neck for safe keeping, and then sought out her new quarters.
As she walked down the corridor she marveled at the idea behind Snape's quarters. It really was an ingenious idea, the only way into Severus' tower being through the dungeons.
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As she entered the quarters, she noted Severus rising from the table. "Forgive me, Hermoine. I did not feel it would be wise to run into Mr. Potter until he had time to get used to your rooming situation. I thought it best to eat here, alone. I take it he had some objections."
Hermoine only shook her head in acknowledgement, instead of voicing Harry's opinion. Snape understood and rose from the table, showing her three doors along the wall.
"The first door leads to the master suite." Opening the second door, "This room is the guest suite."
Like the living room, the far wall of the guest suite was a large glass window. The rest of the room held a bed, a wardrobe, and a bookcase. The background of the room was a floral print, the accent of the room being rose. The room was more feminine then Hermoine would ever had imagined Professor Snape's rooms to be.
"Minerva decorated this room," Severus revealed. "I find it to…'womanly' for my taste."
"Oh, no, sir. It's beautiful. I'm sure it will be just fine."
"Your bath is through here." He motioned to an open door on the side of the room. Hermoine looked past him and took note of the claw foot tub inside.
Walking out of the room, Hermoine motioned towards the third door. "The lab?"
"Yes, follow me." Snape opened the door and they walked down a small flight of stairs. The end of the stairs opened into a large, round, windowless, stone room.
Along the walls where ceiling to floor shelves full of bottles and boxes, each neatly labeled with their ingredients. Four tables ran the length of the room, each holding two caldrons of different sizes and materials. It was the cleanest, most organized lab Hermoine had ever been inside.
"There is an additional closet here," Severus mentioned, " It contains baskets for collecting plants and herbs, cutting materials, additional cauldrons, more bottles and storage containers and several water supplies. There is several types of water available, including tap water, distilled water, rain water, fresh water, glacier water, and salt water."
Hermoine looked around the room, her arms by her sides. She continued to circle, raising her hands towards her face, before she gushed, "Wow!"
The professor smirked, " I see I have rendered you speechless, maybe I should have brought you here years ago."
Hermoine looked at the man, seeing that he was teasing her, she laughed. "When do we start?"
"You will begin immediately. I have a meeting to attend in a few moments. Please begin on the pepper-up potion for the infirmary. We need a total of twenty four bottles to replenish the stock before the start of term." He then motioned towards a blackboard next to them, and an inventory list appeared.
" We will also need more Veritaserum for the gatekeepers. I will look over your work once I return. I hope to be back in time for dinner. There is a lot to do before term begins. The students will be arriving Sunday; classes begin the next day. That leaves us only two days. You will be working around the clock until Sunday evening. You will be eating all of your meals here, as it is more convenient. For the next two days, you will have very little personal time. I hope that you are truly up to this, Ms. Granger."
Hermoine was used to him berating her in class, but she was an adult now.
"Have no worries, Severus, I know exactly what I am capable of. Now, get going to your meeting. I can handle things here." She shooed him towards the door. "Oh, and Severus, that's Hermoine to you, not Ms. Granger."