I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter Seventeen — Holding a Grudge

Hermione was still mad at Harry late in November. She was going to hold the grudge until he admitted to pranking the Slytherins. But it wasn't just Harry that was on a pranking rampage. It was all of the Gryffindor First Year boys. It was as though they formed some sort of gang with each other.

After Harry, Ron was the worst. He had the experience of being on the receiving so many times that he knew exactly when and where to prank someone. Sometimes he had the help of the twins but most of the time he was on his own. A few days ago, Percy was seen with orange skin. It clashed horribly with his red hair. It could only have been Ron who could do something so... stupid.

Dean and Seamus always worked together or with Harry and Ron's help. You never see one without the other. It was as though they were attached to the hip. Seamus was extremely but always looked sick. He avoided large crowds whenever he could. Dean respected this and tried to figure out why. Dean was loud and obnoxious in a very annoying way.

She could get along with Neville because he was even quieter than Seamus was. But he was always tagging along with Harry and Ron. So, that meant she had to keep away from him if she didn't want to have anything to do with the other two.

But Harry, Harry was the pain of her existence. It was as though he had nothing better to than follow her whenever he wasn't out planning his next big prank. He was always staring at her, which made it harder for her to concentrate on her studies. She really wished he would give it up. She guessed she could of have dealt with the staring if he weren't such a arrogant prat who couldn't get a clue if his life depended on it. Nevertheless, that wasn't destined to be. She hated it. The things he thought and did were outlandish.

It didn't help that they had all of their classes together and he always sat near her. It as if the whole House was against her because they always left the desk behind her empty for Harry and Ron. They also left the one next to that one empty so Dean and Seamus could sit next to them. That left Neville with her, which put her in danger of getting in the way of one of his accidents. She blamed this all on Harry of course who could get the entire House to do his bidding.

"Hey Granger!"

Hermione groaned at hearing Harry's voice. She tried to avoid the boys but they were everywhere that she went.

"Go away Potter. I don't have time for one of your pranks today." She turned to leave but found Ron in her way.

"We only wanted to know it you want to study with us for Friday's Potions' exam. It's going to cover everything that we learned so far. And since Harry was out for so long he really needs to study or he'll fail it."

Hermione rolled her eyes, a gesture that was unlike her in the past. "Potter has the four... well three," she eyed Neville carefully, "of you to help him catch up. You don't need my help. Besides, if Snape weren't such a prat, Potter would be at the top of his class."

Hermione was finally able to walk away. Those boys were so irritating. She thought that Harry wasn't like that when she first meet him. He was so kind and helpful. Why did he change? Or was he always like that and she was blind to because she was desperate for a friend like her.

Right now, she knew that she absolutely hated Harry Potter and his gang of friends. She never liked troublemakers and she wasn't about to start any time soon.

Harry was confused. He thought Granger liked him. He hadn't done any thing that would make her hate him. He was nice to her. Help her when she needed it. Explained why a lot of people were going to hate her because of her blood. Was she really that made over one experiment?

There was something special about Hermione Granger. He knew that she was smart, cunning, sweet, kind, and an all around good person. There was nothing about her he couldn't like. He knew it. He had a huge crush on her... not that he would ever admit to that. After all, he was only eleven and is considered to not emotionally ready for such feelings.

That night Harry and his friends spent their time studying... or rather helping Neville study because he was still hopeless at potions without someone's help. And since Snape was cruel under every circumstance, Neville would have to take the exam alone.

"Come on Nev, you know this. Potions is just an extension to Herbology. You just need to know the properties of what you are working with to know how to add them." Harry tried to encourage him.

"Herbology is nothing like Potions. All those calculations and measurements are confusing. Plus, you also use animal parts in Potions. Let's just face it; I'm never going to pass Snape's class. He's just won't leave me alone."

"That's the problem; your fear of Snape. If he weren't breathing down your neck all the time, them you would be able to concentrate," Dean said cheerfully... almost too cheerfully.

Then Seamus began the questioning. "In what potion do you use asphodel in an infusion of wormwood?"

"I don't know." The reply was very weak.

Ron asked the next question. "What's the best way to treat a Billywig sting?

"Rub bezoar essence over it."

"Wrong. A Billywig sting is non-poisonous. You just to wait out the effects... which are?"

"Giddiness and Levitation. Gran won't let me eat Fizzing Wizbees because there's Billywigs in them. I actually don't care what's in them because they're so good."

"Right. Well, I'm never going to eat those ever again," said Ron. The others, not including Neville, nodded in agreement. They really didn't relish in the idea of eating magical insects.

After a moment to digest what they just learned, Harry asked the next question. "When do you add porcupine quills in a boil cure potion?

"After you take in off the fire."

"Right."

They asked Neville question after question until all of the information was drilled into his head. All he had to do now was take the test.

"A five! How could I have got a five on a hundred question exam? That's worse than failing!" Neville cried as he neared the Gryffindor Tower.

"At least you didn't get a two," Harry sighed. "I'm going to the headmaster and see if he would look over my exam. I know that I did better than this. I have nearly the whole texts memorized."

"Maybe we should pull from his class and get a private tutor. It'd be better than suffering in Snape's class for the next seven years," Ron added before he said the password.

"That's assuming that we are going to pass out Potions O.W.L.'s. With Snape as a teacher the most we'd learn is the order of a potion and not why it has to be that way." Seamus led the way to their dorm to drop off their bags.

"I don't think I want to take it after O.W.L.'s. No career is worth that kind of torture." Neville looked down sadly. "But many Herbology jobs require Potions. It's just not fair."

"We'll go to Dumbledore during dinner. The other teachers can't know about this until we approach the headmaster. We should ask the girls to join us. Brown and Patil will help us but Granger got a perfect score so she won't be much help." Dean finally spoke up. "Snape was just using her to 'prove' that he wasn't bias against Gryffindor."

"We might also be able to get the Hufflepuffs to help. I know Abbot didn't get the score she deserved. I think she got an eighteen. Grab your papers and let's go. We have a mission to accomplish."

Ron was the last one to finish eating. While he was eating, Harry, Dean, Seamus, Parvati, and Lavender went to the First Year Hufflepuffs to recruit them. Only two of them were happy with their grades. Harry had them and the majority of the Ravenclaws sign a petition that he was going to show the headmaster.

Unfortunately, Hermione had other plans for her classmates.

"What are you doing, Potter?"

"I'm disputing the grade that I got in Potions. Snape is being unfair to his students and I want it to stop. I'm going to do this with or without your support. Either way, you won't be affected by this petition."

"You can't do this. I may not like Professor Snape but he won't fail someone on purpose. That would be completely immoral."

"Get out of my way, Granger. Stay out of things that don't affect you. You'll do everyone a favor." Harry hated how cold he sounded but he had no choice. He, and the others, had to do this. Snape's behavior was wrong.

Fortunately, Snape wasn't in the Great Hall as the group of fourteen approached Dumbledore. Harry had the petition in his hands that was signed by 95 of the First Year students who weren't in Slytherin. He looked into the professor's eyes as he spoke.

"Professor, we want you to look at our Potions exams and remark them. We feel as though Snape is still abusing his power against us. If Snape's behavior continues, we will send a petition to the School Governors.

"In a class of seventeen, only three were happy with their marks. Only one got a perfect score. Eight had a mark under fifty. Out of those eight, three have a score under ten. I am one of the three."

"Alright, I'll look at them tonight and will get them back to you tomorrow during lunch. I must go, seeing that I have papers to correct. And Harry, its Professor Snape." Dumbledore sighed as he looked at how many exams he had to correct. It was going to be a long night.

For the second time in two months Dumbledore was furious with Severus Snape. He looked at all of the exams and saw that all of them were marked incorrectly. Neville's five should have been a sixty-nine. That was still a fail but it was enough for him to continue to the Second Year if it was the final exam. Hannah Abbot's eighteen was an eighty-one. And Harry's two was a hundred. It was a perfect score. It was the most detailed paper he had ever seen.

"Can you tell me what this is?" Dumbledore asked in a would-be-calm voice.

"It looks like the exams that I gave to my First Years this week." Snape looked a bit nervous about where the conversation was going.

"That, in fact, is Mr. Potter's exam. I remarked it. May I ask why you gave him a two when that is the most complete paper I have ever seen from a First Year much less a Seventh Year."

"The answers are sloppy. He used incorrect terminology. His grammar is atrocious. He uses too many fragments." He knew that his excuses were lame.

"Is that all you have to say? You failed him because of grammar. He's an eleven-year-old child. He isn't going to know everything about grammar. This grudge of yours must end or you could lose your job. Harry and his friends have a petition in circulation. If you continue to persecute him and his friends, he will send it to the School Governors. And there is nothing I can or will do to stop him.

"Give me all of your grade books and the copies of all the essays and tests. I have a long weekend ahead of me auditing your performance as a teacher. I gave you a warning. I give you one more chance then I'll be forced to terminate your employment. If you lose this job, it will be very difficult for you to find another. I will have to explain to all of your potential employers why you were fired."

Dumbledore left the office with his arms full of books and papers. He really had to recruit some of his other professors to help him or he would never get done.