Two finals down, a wedding and one more final to go. Here's a slightly longer chapter for your reading pleasures! Chapter 7 is brewing and will be up within a week I promise!
Chapter 6. Detention
Hermione was sitting in her bed, reading over the book her professor had lent her the previous evening, determined to return it to him by the end of the week. She hated when people held her books longer than a week, she would begin to worry about the person's care of her property and if the spine would be returned to her intact. Books were her favourite possessions, that and her orange ball of fur that was curled up next to her toes. She was thankful for the warmth he provided as the castle got frigid at night and socks did little to trap the heat in.
Lost in a paragraph, her attention was stirred when her cat jumped from the bed and ran out the door she'd clumsily left open. With a huff, the young witch put down the book, making a mental note of the page she had left at, and chased after him. "Crookshanks!" She whispered forcefully, trying to get him to slow down as he ran through their common area. He sat by the entrance, giving her hope to catch him, but a couple of seventh years pushed open the portrait and Crookshanks scurried past them. "Oh no," Hermione whined as she took off after him, pushing past the students to whom she apologized briefly.
Running through the halls, she followed him down the empty corridor and down a large flight of steps. The young witch nearly slipped on the smooth floor with her fuzzy socks but maintained her grip on the railings. "Oh Crooks, please slow down." She groaned, watching him take a tight corner into the dungeons. Trailing after him, she took the corner too quickly and slammed full force into a large dark figure.
"Good evening, Miss Granger." His severe tone gave away his identity nearly instantly, as the frazzled witch composed herself and stood up. "Pray tell, what are you doing out of bed at this hour?" He seethed, making her blush. Her mind swirled with thoughts of how to explain her breach of the rules but her mouth refused to voice any of them as she shrunk below him. Shaking her anxiety away, Hermione bent to look past him at her cat, who had stopped to clean himself only a few feet away from where they stood.
"Crookshanks, sir, my cat. He ran out of the Gryffindor tower and I thought I ought to catch him, you know with-" She paused, noticing his unwavering glare down at her. She suddenly remembered she was wearing her pyjamas, which consisted of an oversized jumper, a pair of Gryffindor shorts she had acquired in support of her Quidditch team, and her burgundy and gold slipper-socks. "I'll just go grab him." Almost shuffling on the floor to avoid slipping, she passed her professor and took a hold of her feline who seemed all too pleased with himself. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again." She bowed her head and moved to walk past him, thanking Merlin that he hadn't removed any points from her yet.
"Detention, Miss Granger, tomorrow night in my lab." He said dryly. When she moved to protest, he raised an eyebrow, almost as if he was challenging her to say more. "You're lucky I don't take points away as well, Miss Granger. Now get back to your House." She hugged her cat tightly and moved to make her way back up the staircase. "It is not safe to wander the halls at night, Miss Granger, don't let your furry friend escape again." She paused to heed his warning before nodding and continuing up the steps.
Her brows were permanently furrowed as she grumbled, clutching her relaxed feline to her chest. Hermione was furious at both herself for letting Crookshanks escape and the professor for giving her detention. She hadn't even noticed that she'd reached her House until she stood nose to nose with the fat lady. The young witch grumbled the password, then with a bitter snark from the painting, she stepped through the threshold and marched straight to her room.
Hermione huffed as she placed her cat on the bed, rushing to close the door to her dormitories, pressing to avoid waking up the other students. Detention, she frowned, getting under the covers with a short exhale, I haven't received a detention since first year and that wasn't even my fault! Too angry to sleep, she grabbed her wand and cast Lumos to light the pages so she could continue reading the book he lent her. She was determined to finish the fictional novel about murder and intrigue before her detention so she no longer held ties to the professor. Except for the fact that he is your tutor and you asked him to be such, what would you do without him? Her rational voice criticised her earlier emotional thinking but she quickly silenced it and narrowed her focus on the novel in front of her. She had to admit the plot was fascinating and more strings were beginning to come together as she neared the end. Enthralled by how she was still so clueless about who could possibly be killing all these muggles in a single hotel, Hermione flipped through the pages eager to know the ending without missing a single detail.
-x-
Hermione had fallen asleep just before finishing the final chapter, well into the early morning. Her eyes refused to open as she heard the rustling of her bunkmates preparing for the morning. "Hermione wake up! You'll miss potions!" The voice of her good friend roused her enough that she managed to tear open her eyes. She was still exhausted and her entire body ached from her poor night's sleep. The young witch didn't even want to stretch out her tense muscles as she adjusted to the morning light streaming in through the tower's windows. She yawned, wishing she had a free period in the mornings so she would be afforded a proper lie-in.
Groaning, she reached for her wand which was still producing a faint light and whispered Nox, then forced her legs over the side of the bed. She rolled her shoulders and rubbed her eyes, a dull pain developing at the forefront of her skull. Releasing her eye sockets from her assault, she saw Lavender and Parvati staring at her, along with Ginny who was impatiently waiting by the door to guide her down to breakfast. Feeling their judgemental gazes, she frowned and sat up straighter. "What? I stayed up. Stop looking at me like that." Self-consciously, Hermione ran her hands over her wild hair to flatten it a little and adjusted her jumper.
"Uh Hermione, you've got… Uh…" Ginny motioned to her cheek. Hermione instinctively reached for the same spot on her own face, where she felt dried up saliva from drooling the few hours of sleep she had managed. She brushed it away, but her friend just shook her head. "Check yourself in the mirror."
Hermione stood and rushed to the mirror where she saw black ink in scattered words and phrases on her cheek where the drool had been. She quickly rubbed it away with some water and the sleeve of her jumper until her cheek was a harsh shade of pink from the friction. She sighed in defeat and returned to her cot where she summoned her robes and quickly dressed.
The girls went down to breakfast, which was nearly over and her male counterparts were nowhere to be seen. This sent lavender into a bit of a fit as she was supposed to have breakfast with Won-Won. Hermione was almost glad she didn't have to be subjected to the inane chatter the boys would come up with regarding Quidditch or Harry's latest discovery from the Half-Blood Prince. The girl finished her eggs and toast quickly before she took off, almost running down to her potions lecture with Slughorn.
Harry was already waiting by his cauldron, which was unusual for the wizard as he and their best friend tended to be late for nearly everything. He was bruised a bit, a cut on his cheek, but nothing as bad as she'd seen on him before. Especially nothing compared to what he'd had after the Tri-Wizard Tournament, the young witch lamented. She sent a sympathetic glance at her friend before taking up her cauldron by Lavender who had rushed in behind her. Naturally, the vain witch was flirting with Ron from across the room before the professor came into the class.
"Good morning everyone, shall we begin?" Slughorn spoke in a nearly sing-song tone, looking around the room, paying special attention to Harry who was beaming proudly back at him. Hermione sighed, but she felt more prepared for the advanced potion they would brew today with the notes she had taken from her lessons with Snape. "Veritaserum," Professor Slughorn started. "Can anyone tell me a bit about it?" Hermione's hand shot up, her confidence radiating through her before she could force herself to remain calm. It was not unlike her to be over excited about answering queries in class, but she was starting to feel as though her know-it-all-ness bothered Slughorn just as much as it did Snape, and that was a blow to her confidence. Slughorn feigned an interested smile while glancing at Harry to see if he too had his hand up. But when she was the only one producing an answer, he sighed. "Yes, Miss Granger?"
"It's a very powerful truth-telling serum. When administered, whoever drinks it must tell the truth no matter what they are asked." Slughorn started to nod his head in agreement, opening his mouth to continue his lesson, but she interrupted him as she further divulged what she'd learned. "It is powerful, but it can be fooled. The person drinking the potion can tell their version of the truth, which is highly subjective. In addition, people can use occlumency to force themselves to lie which is why it cannot be used in court." Satisfied that she had shared all that she knew, she stepped back subconsciously.
"Very good, Miss Granger, ten points to Gryffindor." Slughorn continued on with his lesson. In her excitement to add to the class, she had been unaware of her growing weariness. Hermione's eyelids were extremely heavy, and it took all her power to last through the lecture on the potion she already knew so much about. She cursed herself that she had decided the first time to stay up this semester was before a practical class in which they were to be brewing a terribly precise potion. The full impact of her poor decision came when it proved nearly impossible to keep alert as she attempted to focus on the tedious exercise of monitoring the correct number of clockwise rotations it took to finish the brew.
She thanked Merlin when her professor came to look over her shoulder, nearing the end of class and nodded in approval. "Fantastic work Miss Granger, I daresay that is the best Veritaserum I've ever seen brewed by a student, barring Mister Potter of course." He chuckled, looking over at Harry who was happily reading his worn-out book and stirring his potion. Hermione huffed, blowing a curl away from her face and stifling a yawn as she finished the last stir.
When the class was dismissed, she rushed out ahead of her classmates and immediately made her way to the Gryffindor House. Muttering the passphrase to the Fat Lady's portrait, she was let in and stormed up to her bed. She had a ten-minute break before Arithmancy and she was determined to take a nap for at least that long. Setting a quick charm to alert her when it was time to rush back to her class, which luckily was also on the seventh floor. Just in a different tower is all, she thought to herself, snuggling under the covers.
-x-
Ten minutes passed far too quickly, and her hair was even more of a mess of curls when she woke up. Throwing herself from the cot, the unsatisfying kip made it harder to rush to her class than it normally would. Somehow the young witch managed to make it to class before her chronically late professor, Septima Vector. Though this was her favourite subject, above potions, Hermione found it even harder to keep her eyes open than she had in prior to her brief slumber.
"Miss Granger," her name made her snap back to attention and notice her professor staring at her worriedly. "Are you quite all right? You seem to be dosing off periodically." The other students began to gossip at the professor's comment in hushed tones as they all studied her. Naturally, there were few students taking the difficult elective with her, but she felt as though a hundred eyes were suddenly glued to her. A flush fell over her face and she looked down at her hands which were fiddling with the quill she had barely used that class.
"Yes, professor, I was just up late last night reading is all." She justified, bowing her head. The professor grumbled something of acceptance then continued on revising the material that would be required to complete a project coming up. The young witch felt as her eyes began to droop once more, but she willed herself to stay conscious by peeking around at her peers who still glanced at her periodically with a hint of scepticism in their eyes. She felt the embarrassment pooling in her chest as she battled to keep herself transfixed on the board.
Finally, at lunch, Hermione was able to quickly eat to calm her rumbling stomach, before heading up to her room to get some much-needed rest. Upon falling into her mattress, the young witch noticed the book she had borrowed from Snape was squished against the wall. Pulling it out, she remarked that the page the witch had been reading before her exhaustion took over early that morning, was torn and crinkled from the drool she'd likely let loose on it. Groaning in frustration, she picked up the bundle of parchment and tried to straighten out the page. Unfortunately, the ink she had woken up with on her cheek had been transferred from the pages of the book, leaving it permanently damaged. She did what she could with drying charms and flattening the pages to make it look as good as new, but she recognised that she had done what she hated most about lending books. With the guilt weighing on her, she tried to get in at least some sleep before her next courses. The witch curled up under her covers and sighed heavily, now having to force her eyes to stay shut.
-x-
She woke with a start, her heart pounding as she realised she had forgotten to set a charm to wake her up when lunch was over. Throwing herself out of bed, the young witch cast a tempus charm only to figure out she'd slept through all of her afternoon classes and dinner. Cursing, Hermione nearly ran from her dormitories in hopes that at least she wouldn't be late for detention.
Hermione rounded the corner to the hall before her professor's office, and seeing Snape glide into his office, she picked up her pace to follow closely behind him. "I hope I'm not late, professor, I-" she hesitated, trying to quietly catch her breath. "I overslept." She reasoned quietly.
"You are early in fact; however, you missed your Defence Against the Dark Arts lecture as well as your Transfiguration lesson with no clue as to your whereabouts." He paused, sitting down in his desk chair, looking up at her with shadows under his eyes. "20 points from Gryffindor." Hermione's face fell as she took her seat across from him. 20 points is a bit ridiculous given my perfect record, she thought, avoiding his stare. She didn't dare complain, knowing that more points would likely be removed at her defiance.
There was a moment of silence between them as if he was waiting for the actual time of the detention to start, where Hermione was staring intently as a knot in the dark grain of the professor's desk. She began to wonder what exactly the professor had in mind for her detention. Until that moment she hadn't given it any thought, and the silence was beginning to worry her. Thankfully, he broke the tension by clearing his throat, forcing her to look up into his dark, piercing eyes. "Shall we begin?" Hermione nodded, holding his gaze as he gestured to his lab. A smile threatened to spread across her lips, but she held it back as she decidedly followed him into the adjoining room.
"You'll be brewing a batch of Dreamless Sleep," Snape started, setting up a larger cauldron with a flick of his wand. Hermione hurried over to the spot as he levitated ingredients over to her. She moved to help him but he spun on his heel to face her when the container of lavender hit the desk. "That is all you will need, Miss Granger, please begin." He moved to sit across from her in a chair that looked far less than comfortable and called over a thick tome. He stuck his overly large nose in the pages and left her to begin brewing on her own. Hermione looked around for the potions textbook he normally set up for her but there was nothing, not even a parchment with instructions.
"Erm, Sir? Where are the brewing instructions? I can go grab my textbook if…" Her voice trailed off as she watched him glance over the top ridge of his book to meet her gaze. His eyebrow raised in a challenge as he looked at her expectantly, but he remained silent. "Sir, where do I start?" She asked, her voice nearly dripping with nervous energy.
He groaned, flicking his wand to call forth the textbook and place it beside her. "Miss Granger, I would expect you to be advanced enough in potions to manage such a simple brew without instructions." Her stomach dropped as she digested the backhanded compliment. "I guess I was wrong." The silence returned as she pursed her lips to keep from whimpering like a child. I am perfectly capable of brewing any potion so long as I am given instructions, don't doubt my abilities, you greasy dungeon bat, her thoughts seethed as she opened her textbook. Needing instruction is NOT a mark against me, you bloody prat. Hermione was beginning to feel her face twist with anger so she moved to settle herself, breathing deeply as she found the page with the Dreamless Sleep brewing instructions.
-x-
When she finished the brew for Saint Mungos, Hermione sat back and watch him pour the solution into their vials. Her anger had subsided with the calming motions of brewing, and she had challenged herself to begin guessing the next steps before she moved on with nearly complete accuracy. Maybe I don't need instructions, she pondered. Her thoughts wavered to the novel she had left on her bedside table and decided she ought to confess this to him. At least if I did it now, he might be willing to forgive me, since I told him early enough, the witch justified as anxious energy darted around her stomach She waited, this time, until he had put the cauldron down before she spoke up. Her heart pounding in her ear she quietly admitted, "I fell asleep on your book and kind of... erm..." She paused, trying to come up with the right words to describe the atrocity she'd committed to his property. "I may have wrecked a couple pages. I left it, in my room, but I'll pay for it. I'm so sorry. I know books are so precious and I'm-" Her voice cracked as she apologized quickly, looking up to see his reaction, no emotion was visible on his face.
"That is perfectly all right, Miss Granger. I was going to let you keep the novel anyway." The relief flooded her face as she nearly collapsed into herself. His nicety was far from expected and it was a nice change from his normal attitude. "There is no need to reimburse me either, it was terribly inexpensive." He continued. She nodded in acceptance and whispered a "thank you" before she moved to leave. As she did such, her professor seemed to follow her, walking her out. She noticed him glance around the surrounding corridor before shutting the door behind her.
Hermione stared for a minute at the closed door and thought back fondly to the time when they had shared tea and book recommendations. She quietly hoped she hadn't ruined any future possibilities of them repeating that ritual by destroying his novel as she turned to continue up to the common room.
Upon reaching the fat lady, the witch was deep in thought about what book she might have recommended to Professor Snape had he asked. Muttering the password, she stepped through the threshold for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, mentally scanning her bookshelf at home for something she felt he would enjoy. Maybe a muggle classic? She pondered, trying to come up with a recommendation that held both intrigue and passionate writing so that he could lose himself in the plot as she had lost herself in his choice.
"Hermione!" Her name pulled her from her thoughts just before she reached the staircase up to her bedroom. Flicking her gaze to the Chesterfield from which the voice originated, she saw Ron sitting alone. For a moment, she questioned why Lavender wasn't wrapped around his torso, but she quickly allowed herself to be thankful for the quiet.
"Good evening Ronald." Hermione cleared her voice as her greeting came out in a sort of croaked whisper. His face twisted at the formality and motioned for her to sit with him. She obliged, taking up a seat on the couch opposite him.
"Where were you at dinner? And for Defense? Snape was a bloody right git without you answering all his stupid questions." Ron complained, looking away from her at the Quidditch magazine that was on the coffee table. She sighed, knowing he was likely just thinking about the game and had all but forgotten his question to her. She wondered if she should even bother replying but she resigned herself to the pointless conversation.
"I overslept, I was up late reading." He nodded, his pupils darting back and forth at the glossy cover photo of his once praised seeker. Jealousy was not an attractive feature on him, and she had quickly recognized his inability to keep up with her in any regard. The crush had been one of convenience more than actual attraction, as her friend had so astutely pointed out. Holding in a grunt of disapproval, she stood. "I'm really quite tired, Ron, so I think I'll be going to sleep. I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow." He made a noise in agreeance as she returned to her journey towards her dormitories.
Parvati and Lavender were both tucked into their beds and sleeping soundly, which was odd, especially for the blonde, but Hermione paid it no mind as she grabbed the novel from her nightstand. Opening it to the page she had ruined, she silently thanked Merlin she had already finished that passage before drooling all over it. It took her only a few minutes to read to the end and she was left extraordinarily unsatisfied. Had she not been so exhausted, it might have caused her another night wide awake. I cannot believe I read that entire novel for it to end like that, her mind swirled as she wondered what he thought of the ending.