A/N: I'm so sorry that this took me so long to get up. I swear it will never happen again…maybe. So here is the next chapter. Hope you like it. Not mine.
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"Hermione!" Severus roared from the kitchen and I buried my head under my pillow. "Get down here and control your cat!"
I sighed and rolled out of bed. "Can't you wait until 11 to start making trouble?" I grumbled to no one in particular as I stumbled sleepily out into the hallway. "Voldie!" I yelled down the stairs. The tiny grey kitten refused to respond to anything other than that and it was really starting to take a toll on Severus. The constant day to day reminder of his past mistakes.
A ball of grey fur came flying up the stairs and attached itself to my leg. I walked back to my room before ripping the claws out of my pajama pants and slamming my door shut before he could run out again. "You've made enough trouble for one day." I scolded the kitten. I threw a toy at its head. "Entertain yourself while I get dressed."
I closed myself in my closet and got ready for the long night ahead of me. Severus said that he was going to start home schooling me in potions today even though school didn't start for another week.
An owl tapped at my window as I straightened my shirt and with a flick of my wand the glass disappeared. I sighed and took the letter from the owl.
Hermione
Fred and George are coming over for breakfast tomorrow and I was hoping you'd be able to make it. I'm not sure I'll be able to handle the two of them on my own. Hope to see you tomorrow, Charlie
I laughed at the letter and quickly wrote that I'd be there on the back of his note. "Be safe." I told the owl as I let him go, noticing that the stars were starting to disappear behind clouds. With the glass back in place and a mental note to practice the spell I traipsed downstairs.
"You ready for your lesson today?" Severus asked, engrossed in the newspaper as he always was.
"Yes, Sev. I've read through the text a million times. I think I'm ready." I stood on tiptoes and stretched my arm to take a glass out of the cupboard. "Anything interesting in the news today?"
"Not much. There was another raid at the Ministry last night but the Death Eaters were apprehended. Apparently they were searching for the…for Voldemort." He winced slightly as he uttered the name. "According to them he's gone missing and no one can find him after the last time he dueled with Harry at the end of the school year." He set down the paper. "The Ministry is still denying that he's even back."
"Idiots." I mumbled grumpily.
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"Wrong." Sev said as he looked into my cauldron. "The potion should be black not midnight."
"What?" I exclaimed angrily. "I did everything the book told me to." I scanned the text in front of me and looked back to my potion.
The black haired man shook his head. "Well obviously you messed up somewhere and I'm guessing you didn't put enough black rose root in."
"How do you know? I measured that perfectly." I objected.
He bent down momentarily and when he straightened he was holding a piece of the root in his hands. "But it seems that one fell to the floor as you carelessly dumped them in."
I sighed and sat down heavily on the wooden chair behind me. Severus left the room and I vanished the contents of my cauldron.
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"Ugh." I grunted as I fell out of the Floo Network in Charlie's flat the next morning.
"I take it something's bothering you." The red head called from the kitchen as I dragged myself to the table and sat down.
"Voldie woke me up at three in the afternoon." I sighed. "I'm just about ready to lock him up in my closet and let him starve."
Charlie chuckled and set a tall glass down in front of me. "Why don't you sell him to Magical Menagerie and buy a different cat."
"Because I love him!" I gasped, offended at the idea.
My statement caused Charlie to laugh harder. "You do realize that you just contradicted yourself, right?"
I paused. "So what? I'm tired. My brain's not yet working properly." I took a sip of the beverage in front of me. "So where are Fred and George?"
"Right here!" Two voices called in unison from the connected room. Fred and George came walking in the room. I looked up at them and glared. They were far too happy for this early in the evening. "Fred," George said, backing away slowly, "I think we oughta stay off of her bad side."
"See, I knew it would be a good idea to have you here." Charlie said as he set out two plates for the twins. "You can keep them in line."
"I should just leave if that's the only reason that I'm here." I said, standing. Getting up so early on top of Sev's criticism yesterday had really put me in a bad mood.
"No!" Charlie said quickly, putting a hand on my shoulder but quickly retracting it when I looked at him. "Stay, please. I don't want you to leave."
"Yes, stay!" The twins chorused. "We haven't seen you in so long. Why don't you ever come to our shop?"
"Say one more word to me," I hissed, eyeing the twins dangerously, "and I will come find you and rip your throats out as you sleep." Charlie opened his mouth to comment and I turned on him. "Same goes for you Dragon Boy." I sat back down and took a long draw from the glass in front of me.
The three redheads sat awkwardly and silently started to eat as I glared at the wall opposite me. After I had finished my drink I found my bad mood ebbing away. I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. Before I knew it I was standing in the middle of a long hallway I had never seen before.
The floor was made of white marble and the ceiling seemed to be light years away. Upon the walls were beautiful paintings. A beautiful woman appeared at the end of the hallway and started walking towards me slowly.
As she came closer I found myself stunned by her beauty. Her lips looked as if they had been dusted by the palest of rose petals. Black hair fell to her waist and seemed to float about her as she walked. The skin that was stretched upon her petite body was so pale that it literally glowed in the dim light. Silver eyes shone from beneath thick lashes.
Behind her suddenly were five other women just as beautiful as she was. "Hermione Snape." The first acknowledged.
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A/n: So what's with the pretty ladies? That was one of my longish chapters and I'll try to make them longer as the story gets deeper into the plotline. Here's voting so far (didn't change much):
Charlie: 7 (wow, still winning)
Bill: 5 (tied for second)
Twins: 2 (last….unfortunately)
Draco: 5 (tied for second)