Disclaimer: Hey, what do you know? I still don't own it.

A/N: There will definitely be some humor in this installment.

Hermione's eyes flew open. Her ability to become fully awake the moment her eyes opened had been born from too many incidents when she could have gotten away, yet was too groggy to do so. Now, she considered it a useful trait, mornings were the best time to think for her. She often woke much earlier than those that surrounded her, so she had time, only an hour at the most, to think and to sort things out before she had to keep up the daily façade of the life in which she lived.

She stretched, startled to find that she was in bed. The last thing she'd remembered was sitting in the old spindly chair wondering who it was that had figured out her secret. Her mind snapped to attention. She'd never really solved that mystery. She was going to have to discretely ask questions in order to find the person, and then she'd have to plead with whoever it was, and implore them not to tell anyone.

She hated to beg. No matter what her father did, she never begged him to stop after the first few times. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing how much his betrayal hurt.

She glanced around the room once more, trying to see if the person who'd left her the book and potions had left something else, a clue as to who they were. When her eyes fell on the book, she picked it up and flipped through a few of the pages. She set it down despairingly and began to get dressed.. I don't even want to attempt any of these. I can't trust my magic enough right now. The worst thing would be if it somehow hurt someone. I just can't risk it, nor can I risk the questions that would follow.

Hermione walked quietly down the hallway until she reached the bathroom door. She pushed it softly and it swung open. Casting a glance all around her, she closed the door and once again lifted her shirt to inspect the bruises. It was amazing how different they looked now. They had faded from the deep purple to the sickly yellow of healing and when she tentatively pressed a finger to them, they did not hurt as badly. She hadn't felt this good in ages.

Much more cheerful, she made her way to the library. There were still some books that she hadn't yet read. She paced around the bookcases and saw a book that she thought may be interesting. The only problem was its position. It was on the top shelf. As she reached as high as she could to try to grab the book, she once again cursed her height. She hopped slightly to give herself a little more reach, ignoring the fact that she would look ridiculous to anyone who saw her because she did not believe anyone was yet up.

Severus Snape cocked a brow when he saw Hermione Granger hopping up and down with her arm stretched out. She looked completely undignified and he almost laughed when she jumped higher and fell. The unladylike string of curses was the most amusing part.

He took several strides forward and reached above her hand.

"Ah, here's the book I needed." He commented, taking the book he knew she wanted and strode off without saying another word.

He was surprised when it took more than a few moments before he heard her voice.

"Hey, I was trying to reach that book! I wanted it first."

"Well, I'm older and taller, so too bad." He informed her, a smirk on his face.

"That's not fair!"

"Life," he said, turning slowly to face her, "Ms. Granger, is rarely fair. I'm sure you already realized that. You shouldn't be jumping around in your current condition anyway."

He spun around and made his dramatic exit with a smile. If she wanted it, she'd have to convince him to let her have it, and there was nothing more amusing to do at this disgusting place than deny the Gryffindor goddess her book. Aside from that, it would mean she would have to come see him, and the long sleepless night had convinced him that he was going to have to spend more time around her if he wanted to alleviate the guilt, which he hated to admit, tore at him.

Hermione watched him leave, mouth agape. It was he? Well, I suppose you won't have to worry about the person telling anyone, he's not exactly the world's biggest talker.

A/N I guess parts of it could be considered slightly amusing. Hmmm.

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