A/N- Wow, that was a lot of reviews for such a short amount of time. Stares at them in disbelief Well, if that was meant to motivate me, it did, because here is your next chapter in record time. And not ONLY in record time, but in record length for this story as well. I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer- holds up a sign that reads 'Property of J. K. Rowling, Need not sue'
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Chapter 9- Secrets UncoveredSeverus quickly went to his private rooms and paced. He couldn't believe that he had done that- leave the stupid girl without food. He knew that there was a kitchen, and that the last time he was in there was months ago. It had been stocked then of course, otherwise he would have thought of it sooner. Then again, he had forgotten that those bloody elves always took things upon themselves to 'clean' everything. He had lost his private stores of comfort food three times to that, damn them. How else was he to get his chocolate covered cherries? Bloody muggle candy, addicting, no good…
He took a deep breath. He couldn't very well just waltz into the library after locking her in there a day short of a week; she would more or less kill him. Not that it mattered to him really, but he still had nearly a full four years left to torture the little chit, and he wasn't about to give it up. No, he would send one of the elves in his stead, maybe with a note. A sudden grin formed on his face as another thought came to mind. Yes, she would be furious with him, but did he really care?
No, not really. He quickly got out a parchment and a pen and began to write his little note to Granger. Was he going to apologize? Ha! As if he would apologize to his apprentice. It was laughable, but he wasn't about to let her know that he had forgotten either. As soon as he had finished, he summoned the first elf that he could think of. Dobby. Not long after he called for the ragged annoying creature, it popped up.
"W…what can D-Dobby do for Professor Snape, s-sir?" The stupid thing wrung its bony hands together, and it shook as if it were about to bolt if Snape even breathed harshly in the things direction.
He found it simply amusing, the creature had feared him ever since it met him. It was funny really, how everything feared him. Though, he supposed there was a basis for that concern, considering some of the things he had done, and were still capable of. Not that he had any intentions of doing any of them- at least not in the least bit intentionally. He finally decided that he had tired of watching the creature flinch at him for the last minute or two as he regarded it. He held out the note. "Take this to my private library, elf, and give it to Miss Hermione Granger. Also, I would like you to restock the fridge there, I would believe that the girl will be most grateful."
It quickly took the note. "Is there any thing else Dobby can do for Professor Snape, s-sir?"
He smirked and crossed his arms. "It would please me if you left, and did as you were told." And as he quirked one of his eyebrows, there was a squeak that emanated from the creature, and it was gone. Yes, he still had the power to make animals flee.
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Hermione had lost all track of her normal logical thought process. She had determined this fact nearly a half-hour ago, and currently sat with a not so blank anymore piece of parchment, drawing pictures of food, or stick figure comics on how she would kill Snape. Maybe she should write a book after this. Title it One Hundred and One Ways to Kill Your Surly Potions Master- by a Starving Apprentice. She was sure it would sell quite well; after all she would have read it…
She sighed and leaned back into the chair, and picked up the knife that she had tossed to the side a while back, and idly began to play with it, doing stupid little tricks as standing it up on its tip and making the thing spin around. It was amusing; at least when you had nothing better to do and your mind wouldn't concentrate on work. She did this for a while, and then she heard it. A scattering. The mouse. She picked up the knife and slowly stalked to where she had heard the noise. "Here mouse… Here little mouse… I won't hurt you, come to your Aunt Hermione," she whispered as she moved slowly towards the noise.
A clanging sound came from her left. She jerked herself towards the sound quickly, and grinned wildly. Towards the kitchen then… "So that is where you're hiding…" She moved stealthily through the hallway, trying to make no sound what so ever as she pressed herself firmly against the wall. To make the kill, one had to be inconspicuous; otherwise the entire effort would be wasted.
Finally, she reached the doorway to the kitchen, when she heard the noise again. She could tell exactly where it was coming from. She readied her knife, raised her hand back, quickly rounded the corner and tossed it before she could decide otherwise.
She screamed. Before her stood the house elf Dobby whimpering and staring at her as if she were completely mad. Not that she blamed him, seeing as she had just thrown a knife at him and had it land right between his feet. She was expecting a mouse, not an elf after all. "In the bloody name of Merlin!" She ran to him. "Are you OK Dobby, I am so sorry, I thought you might have been that mouse…"
"Miss Granger apologizes to Dobby?" His big eyes started to water. "Dobby deserves no apology from a witch, Dobby is only here to serve Miss Granger…" He started to cry and she patted his shoulder.
"Of course you deserve it Dobby, I shouldn't have thrown the knife at you, it was highly improper of me." She continued to pat his shoulder.
He got out his handkerchief and blew his nose, looked up to Hermione and was about to say something when his face became blank and he turned his head away. He looked back to her. "Dobby must go Miss Granger, there is a note from Professor Snape on the counter, and your fridge is now full. Forgive Dobby. Dobby left a bell on the counter if you need him."
Bell? Maybe that was why none of the house elves came when she called them. Wait a moment… Food? Did he just say there was food? She ran to the refrigerator and threw back the door and screamed in excitement. FOOD! Dobby had left her food! If he were there, she would have kissed him. She grabbed a few pieces of something (of what she could care less about at that moment), and stuffed them into her mouth. She was so hungry. As soon as her initial appetite was tamed, she cooked herself a large meal, and gorged the entire thing down, forcing herself towards the end of it. Damn it all, she had food, and she was going to take advantage of it.
For some reason, she felt tired as soon as she was done, and decided that it would be a good time to go to bed. After all, she only had two more books to go, and another three foot of parchment.
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Day 7
When Hermione woke up, she immediately went to the kitchen for breakfast, beaming at the fact that she now had a full stock of food available to her. As she was preparing breakfast she noticed something lying upon the counter. Wait a moment… Didn't Dobby say something about there being a note from Snape?
She picked it up carefully and judged whether or not he would have put something in there that would explode or something similar to that effect when opened. After what he had just done to her, she wasn't about to trust him again. After deeming it readable she opened it slowly, and when she was completely satisfied nothing was going to come out and bite her, she started to read it.
Dear Miss Granger,
I hope you are finding your stay within my library adequate for your purposes. Just in case you are currently wondering as to where it is that I might be, I assure you that I have more pertinent issues than to baby-sit a temperamental child. Speaking of which, I believe that my punishment for you has gone on long enough to make my point clear. The elf restocked your refrigerator, do not make me regret not making your punishment any longer that it was, Miss Granger, it would not be of your convenience. In another simple reminder, you belong to me for the next four years, and I can do to you as I see fit. Which would mean if I so chose to leave you locked in a dark one roomed cellar with no food or water for a full month, it would be my choice to do so. Oh, and one more thing, I have added another seven books, and three more feet of parchment to your assignment. I will come when I believe that you might actually be done. I have already made the mistake of assuming how long it would take you for an assignment once, I do not wish for it to happen again.
Sincerely,
S.S.
After reading the note, she crumpled it up, and threw it against the wall, and then she screamed.
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Day 9
Not long after she had gotten up, she had finished her homework. She was absolutely positive that he would not find error with it, she had finished every blasted book he had given her to read, and had trouble filling the parchment. The opposite way, she had been positive for a while that she would have run out of room, and knowing Snape, considering he had reprimanded her for doing it before, going over the designated amount was not a very good thing to do. So, with some very wonderful squashing techniques, she had done it. And so, seeing that her work was done, Hermione had taken it upon herself to wander around in the other parts of the library. She had only currently explored the two back corners, and those were only half-hazard at best. She marveled at the artwork that donned the walls, but what she found most intriguing was the fact that as far as she could tell, every single one of them was muggle. It was odd really, having such mundane, muggle things in the most magical place she had ever been to. Not once had she seen a muggle painting within the building before… Anywhere. That was, until now. She had never known that Snape would even have anything to do with muggle things, let alone paintings. Though, she could see why, they would be more peaceful, and he wouldn't have to dim the lights if he were to stay up later than the portraits wished him to.
She was amazed by how many there were, the different frames, different artists, yet mostly because every one had been breathtakingly beautiful- except one. The frame had caught her attention first, and she couldn't help but stop to look at it. But there was something wrong; it held nothing but a blank canvas.
She stood and stared at the blank frame in front of her. It seemed so odd to her, the way that the frame interweaved around and within itself in an intricate display of woodcarving, and yet… And yet there was nothing in it but a simple white canvas. How very strange. After staring at it for a good five minutes, she tore her gaze away from the mesmerizing frame. Snape simply must not have found a painting eloquent enough to match the frame's beauty.
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Day 10
It was starting to near two complete weeks of being locked up in this library. Not that she really minded being locked in a library, but she was starting to desire some fresh air. Or company. She had only called Dobby once, but he simply wasn't a very good conversationalist. Not to mention she couldn't take her attentions from the frame. There was just something about it, something that made her stare at it, something that drew her there, as if there was some sort of secret behind it, but what?
She sighed, and continued to read the latest book that she had picked out, Potions- A Guideline to Apprenticeships of the Last Century. It was actually rather intriguing, and yet, disturbing. She had found a common trend that only one third of apprenticeships ended in a Mastery, one third ended in the apprentice meeting some sort of accident before they reached Mastery, and the other third finished, but simply was not verified to attain Mastery. Could it really have been so hard?
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Day 12
She made an interesting discovery. Snape was in the book she was reading- Severus S. Snape, current Professor and Master of Potions for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was rather certain that she had the right man there. In a way it disturbed her, because they did not name him for his apprentices. It mentioned that he had never taken any, and though that fact surprised her, it was the article that went with it that made her flesh crawl.
Master Diggory McCarthy, worlds most renowned Potions Master was found dead at his home. His apprentice, who had just received his Mastery the night before, found him in the morning to report it. It has been deemed that it was a simple mishap; a residue of a potion had remained upon his hands, until he consumed his meal, thus poisoning him. It is unfortunate accident that will reside within the magical community surely for decades. Only his apprentice, Severus S. Snape, survives McCarthy in his death, and it has been determined that he shall be sole inheritor.
Day 14
That was it; she couldn't take it anymore. There simply HAD to be something on the other side of that canvas, and in the name of Merlin himself, she was going to find out what it was. She got up from her chair and marched up to the frame in question and moved to take it down. Instead, the thing decided to fight back and cut her hand in the process, leaving a small pool of blood at the bottom of the frame as she quickly withdrew her hand to cradle it.
She would have paid more attention to it, had something strange not just happened then. As she had withdrawn her hand, she noticed that her blood had unnaturally started to the top of the frame, and she became mesmerized by it. After a few moments, the blood had connected again at the top of the frame and started to drip upon the canvas. Instead of just being red, it transformed it slowly into letters. As soon as it seemed to be done, she pursed her brows. A riddle? How fascinating…
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Severus had waited two weeks, and honestly, his patience was starting to wear thin. He knew the girl had to have finished by then, but he wasn't about to make a liar out of himself, now was he? He had told her he would wait, so damn it, he waited. Now, he actually knew what potion to start the girl off with, and blast it, he was going to teach the little know it all, even if she WASN'T done with the bloody assignment yet.
He quickly made his way to his library, and after several minutes of de-warding the doors (after all he had to make sure the stupid girl would actually stay in there), he made his way in. He went to her corner, and then to the kitchen, and then he looked in both bedrooms located in the library, as well as knocked on the bathroom. Where was she? He checked the few smaller corridors that were part of the actual library, and then he froze. He found her, but not in a place he wished her to be. Quietly he moved behind her, and felt his blood run cold as he read a familiar riddle in blood.
To that in which I amLiving amongst the human race
Albeit human I am not
I wear shame upon my face
Though pride existing in my mind
From within me comes a monster
Who consumes my eyes liquid life?
To be concise I am a demon
For in the antithesis of clear
The flocks pay my highest price
As so that I might thrive
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A/N- I hope that this was long enough for all of you that have been asking for longer chapters, and that you liked what you read. And as always, please review, it is always appreciated, and ever the motivator.