Chapter 4: Inconceivable Choices
Hermione woke up with a smile that Tuesday morning. It had been so nice to sleep in one of Hogwarts' big, comfy beds again. After years of fighting against the forces of evil, the young witch finally felt somewhat at peace and was looking forward to being able to focus solely on her education for her final year of schooling.
Sitting up, she took a look around her new room. After being appointed as the new Head Girl, she'd been moved from Gryffindor Tower to a smaller private one, from which she could see the Great Lake. Instead of having to share a single room with several other girls, she now had her own suite composed of a cosy bedroom, a luxurious bathroom and a small but sufficient study.
Slipping out from underneath the warm covers of her bed, Hermione wrapped herself in a silky cream-coloured robe before grabbing her treasured Muggle watch from the nightstand; she'd gotten it as a birthday gift from her parents almost two years ago and it'd been her loyal companion ever since. A quick look at it told her that she had woken up almost an hour earlier than usual. Not wanting to go back to sleep, she decided to instead treat herself with a long, hot shower.
After washing her body and giving her messy curls a deep clean, the teenager then used her vine wood wand to swiftly dry both her hair and skin. Afterwards, she picked up a decently sized lime green toiletry bag with big purple dots on it and unzipped it to reveal an assortment of Muggle beauty products, which she'd collected during the summers spent at her parents' home. Making use of the extra time, she fished out a thick, moisturising body butter with a slight peach smell and applied it to her entire body. Next, she moved on to makeup and applied brown mascara, a bit of light pink blush as well as some tinted lip balm to give her face a fresh look. Continuing with her hair, she struggled with taming the wild locks on her head but eventually managed to put them into a cute messy bun. After putting on her beloved uniform – of course, making sure to add her new shiny Head Girl badge – and even using a little magic to make it look absolutely impeccable, she applied some floral-scented perfume as the final step. Grabbing her well-loved school bag stuffed with all sorts of books as always, she then made her way to the first breakfast of her final year at Hogwarts.
"Morning, Hermione," Ron munched just a few minutes later as he stuffed two pork sausages at once into his large mouth.
The girl smiled as she sat down next to her friends at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. While she had never been an admirer of Ronald Weasley's table manners (or lack thereof), she was in too good of a mood today to attempt to correct him. Instead, she gave him a friendly pad on the shoulder before greeting everyone else as well. As she helped herself to some toast with scrambled eggs, Professor McGonagall was fulfilling her duties as Head of House by distributing the individual timetables to each Gryffindor student. Taking a small sip of pumpkin juice, Hermione took a look at hers and saw that it didn't entail any surprises.
"Let's see … Monday starts off with Charms and Potions, then History of Magic and DADA in the afternoon." Her heart skipped a beat, however, when she noticed what her very first period of the year would be: She was scheduled to have an apprenticeship lesson with Professor Snape!
Her look darted to the outer end of the High Table and she instantly wished she'd much rather kept her head down. Because the Potions Master was staring at her with such intensity that his dark eyes seemed to bore right into her soul. His already thin lips were pressed together so tightly that they were barely even visible anymore and that gave Hermione an awfully painful lump in her throat. She had of course known that he wouldn't be ecstatic about the prospect of working so closely with her when she'd first signed up for the apprenticeship programme at the beginning of the summer holidays – but she surely hadn't expected to get such a look of complete and utter hatred from her teacher.
"Perhaps I should have gone with Professor Vector after all," she thought anxiously. Just at that moment, Snape stood up and abruptly turned around to leave the Great Hall, his long black robes whirling around his slim figure almost ferociously.
"Unbelievable! It's the first day of term and the snake is already in a bad mood," said Harry before chewing off another piece of fried bacon.
"Did you really expect anything else from him? He is and will always be an old wanker," Ginny responded, not noticing Hermione's glare at her use of a curse word. "Anyway, what about your timetables? I'm starting off with a double lesson of Charms."
"Harry and I both have a free period. Not bad for the first day!" her brother laughed.
The Muggle-born frowned. "Ron, you should really take your education more seriously. This is your final year, after all! You are aware of the fact that the N.E.W.T.s will be harder than any exam we've ever taken, aren't you?" But the freckled boy only rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to his breakfast.
"I would also have a free period if it wasn't for my apprenticeship," Neville stuttered shyly. "I don't mind that, though. I really enjoy taking care of the plants with Professor Sprout. What about you, Hermione? Did you also apply for an apprenticeship?"
Hermione gulped. She knew that her friends weren't going to be exactly thrilled about the news of their most hated teacher being her new mentor. "Well, Neville, I will indeed train under someone. As it happens, I'm also starting next period," she said, trying to avoid the inevitable.
"Did anybody here seriously even consider the possibility that she wouldn't sign up for the programme? I mean, it's practically made for her! I bet she would work with every single professor if she could," giggled Ginny before turning to her friend who was like the big sister she'd never had. "So, which of them has the honour of tutoring you? It's Babbling, isn't it?"
"Ancient Runes is truly a very interesting subject; but no, I didn't choose Professor Babbling to study under," Hermione said seemingly nonchalantly as she focused her attention on the incoming morning owl post in an attempt to dodge her friend's curious look.
"Who is it then? Burbage? Vector? Oh, don't tell me you chose Binns!" The group of teenagers collectively erupted into laughter.
The brunette sighed. "No, it isn't Professor Binns. As a matter of fact, I –" She took a deep breath. "I have chosen to work with Professor Snape."
"WHAT?!" Even though she'd expected his outcry, Hermione still flinched at Ron's loud exclamation. Every single head in the Great Hall immediately turned to him. "You chose Snape? That greasy git?! Hermione, you can't be serious!"
Harry also had a look of disbelieve on his face. "You do know that you will have to work with him for the entire school year, right? How could you do this to yourself? I know that you're interested in Potions, but it's still Snape!"
"Professor Snape is not only a highly intelligent man and excellent teacher –" She purposefully ignored the revolted looks on her peers' faces. "But he is also an extremely skilled Potions Master. In fact, he is one of the best in his field. Getting the chance to work with him is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – one that I'm not going to miss out on just because of your dislike of him as a person."
Her best friend shook her ginger head of hair in disbelief. "I know your thirst for knowledge is unquenchable, but I still think you shouldn't have gone with the Dungeon Bat. You know as well as we do that he will treat you poorly just because he has the power to do so! Have you really learnt nothing in the six years you've had to endure his spleen?"
Hermione gave her a slight smile. "I appreciate your concern, Gin, but don't worry! I know Professor Snape can be a bit of a handful at times, but I'm sure that everything will work out just fine. He can't be that bad, can he?" While saying this, however, she still had the image of the dark wizard's furious look in her mind.