So here's chapter eight. I hope you like it. :-D
Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
"You lost track of time… I wonder how is that possible." He said with a frown and he lowered his head to look directly into her eyes, his nose almost bumping into hers in that process. Then he felt it. He was right. "Maybe the alcohol had something to do with it?" he smirked triumphant.
Hermione froze at his question. She struggled to find an answer that would not get her into trouble even more, but nothing came to her mind. Instead, she payed attention to the man in front of her. He was standing tall, his demeanor almost intimidating her. "Almost..." she thought amused and she let out a snort.
"Can you tell me what is it that you find so bloody amusing?" He asked irritated by her reaction.
The Gryffindor just leaned back against the wall and she watched quietly how he straightened himself even more, uncomfortably under her gaze."Nothing" She replied eventually and saw how his frown deepened.
"Truly, Miss Granger, you surprise me... you are the last person I expected to see...drunk." he said, amusement in his voice.
Hermione jumped in her defense at that "I am not drunk!" She told him as she stepped away from the wall, but regretted doing so when she almost fell on her back from the sudden loss of balance. She was lucky Snape caught her elbow before she could find herself on the cold floor.
"Obviously you are." He replied in his low voice as he tightened the grip on her elbow to make her acknowledge the situation she was in.
She tried to get away from him, but he held her effortlessly. She then opened her mouth to protest, but stopped when she felt something in the pit of her stomach. "Oh no" she managed to say, but before he even opened his mouth to ask, the contents of her stomach were on his shoes.
When Hermione raised her head from the floor, she faced a furious Snape. He looked like he was going to cast an Unforgivable on her, but he didn't open his mouth. He just waved his wand to clean his shoes, and then grabbed her elbow again, dragging her into the empty Potions classroom and seating her onto the chair across his desk.
He stood in front of her; arms folded at his chest, and watched her with a scowl. After a minute of awkward silence, Hermione decided to do something about it. "Sir, I am so, so sorry, I didn't mean to… throw up on you…" she tried embarrassed. She still couldn't believe that she just threw up on her teacher. It was only his shoes, but still… she got up from her chair to do something, to make him say something. She could do with an angry verbal Snape, but she didn't know how to deal with a quiet one. Again, the dizziness got her as she sat up, and she fall back onto the chair. At that, Snape reacted at last.
"I would suggest you stay there if you don't want to embarrass yourself even more." He told her and then walked to the ingredients cupboard. When he returned to Hermione, he was holding a small vial filled with green liquid. He held it to her, but he seemed to change his mind and placed it on his desk. Hermione raised a brow in suspicion.
"That is a potion for your… condition. You may not need it now, but tomorrow you will…" he explained.
"Thank you, Sir, I appreciate it" The drunken Gryffindor thanked him.
"You do not need to thank me as you will not be receiving the potion." He said as he crossed his arms at his chest.
"Oh…" Hermione started confused "but I thought…" she continued but was interrupted by Snape.
"I changed my mind. You see, Miss Granger, your behavior was unacceptable for a Hogwarts student, even more intolerable for the Head Girl of Hogwarts. And I presume that you are not the only one in this state. Is that correct?" he inquired and Hermione only lowered her eyes at that. "I take that as a 'yes'. I do not care who the others are as they were not found outside their room and throwing up on their teachers." He emphasized the last world and Hermione lowered her head even more, blushing furiously. "As I said, your behavior has been undesirable and for that reason you do not deserve that potion. No. Tomorrow, you will feel the consequences of your actions and I expect to see you in every class. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Sir." Hermione replied, still ashamed.
Snape went to his chair behind the desk and sat down. "Now, I need to speak with your Head of the House and settle for a proper castigation, but before that, thirty points from Gryffindor! And let's not forget that you still have detention. Tomorrow at seven pm sharp. I expect you to be here on time, Miss Granger, and no alcohol this time. Please do your best to oblige"he told her with a scowl.
"Yes, Sir, I understand. I will be here"she promised.
"We will see about that. You are dismissed, Miss Granger, and please try not to get into trouble on your way."
She rose to her feet at his dismissal and had to support herself on the desk so she wouldn't lose balance. Snape let out an exasperated breath at that and he also rose to his feet. "Come, I will escort you to your dorm. I can't trust you to get there without harming herself."
"Thank you, Sir…" she expressed her gratitude.
"Yes, now let's go, I don't have all night." He cut her short and he led her to the door.
Hermione followed him out the door and started walking to her dorm. All the way, he stayed behind her, as to catch her if she would fall. For Hermione, it was maddening. It was like he wanted her to trip and fall and then turn it against her. Luckily, for her, she only tripped twice and she steadied herself before he barged in and played the hero. Hermione was angry at that man, but she knew that it was the butterbeer and firewhiskey talking and it was her fault. After what seemed like an eternity, she could finally see the familiar portrait outside her chambers and she turned to Snape. "Well, here we are. Thank you, Sir" she thanked him and she went to whisper the password to the portrait. Before she stepped in, she turned her head to where Snape sat just a minute ago and she was surprised to see him still standing there, watching her. She shook her head and she walked in and closed the door behind her.
When Hermione entered the common room she expected it to be empty, but it was just like she left it, but now Neville sat on the couch next to Ginny and Luna was the one playing chess with Malfoy.
"Hermione!" Neville exclaimed when he saw her and he rose to his feet to greet her. "I was worried about you. What happened? You were gone for an hour. Was Snape furious? Are you ok?" he asked breathlessly and only stopped when Hermione raised her hand to bring his questions to an end.
Instead of answering, she went to her place on the couch and let herself fall onto it with a loud sigh.
"What happened?" Ginny asked.
Hermione thought for a second before summarizing it in a five words "I threw up on Snape."
At that, everyone turned to look at her.
"You what?" Neville and Draco asked at the same time, only the tone of their voices was different. Malfoy seemed amused by the situation while Neville, being Neville, was horrified.
"I threw up on Snape's shoes." She repeated.
"And how did he react?" Ginny asked concerned and amused at the same time.
"I don't think he enjoyed that…" Luna answered for Hermione in her calm and dreamy voice.
"He didn't." Hermione affirmed.
"How much did we lose?" Ginny asked curious.
"Thirty." Hermione answered.
"Looks like this year is ours" Draco joked and he earned three angry looks from the Gryffindors. "Just kidding" he defended himself and they looked away. "Although…" he started again amused and he was hit by Ginny's and Hermione's pillows. "Sorry" he laughed and he returned to his game.
They sat in silence for about five minutes and then Ginny spoke. "So, Hermione, Harry told me that he will be at the Three Broomsticks Inn this weekend. You will come, right?"
"Sure. I will certainly be there, Ginny." She reassured the redhead.
"Umm… Ron will also be there." Ginny told Hermione and she watched carefully for her reaction.
"Ron? Oh, I missed him so much…"
"Hermione…" Ginny started, but the other girl cut her off.
"I know, Ginny, but I really missed him. I miss him as a friend." She smiled. She really did miss Ron.
"Checkmate!" Luna's happy voice interrupted Hermione's thoughts.
"What? How is that even possible?" Malfoy asked surprised and everybody started laughing, him included.
"Ok, guys, I think it's time to go to sleep. It's almost midnight and we all have classes in the morning. "Hermione said as she got up from the couch still a little dizzy.
"Hermione is right." Neville retorted.
"So who is escorting Luna back to the Ravenclaw Tower?" Hermione questioned. She didn't want to face Snape again so she wasn't going to take that risk.
"I can go back alone, thank you, Hermione" Luna assured the Gryffindor.
"Yes, I know, Luna, but someone still needs to accompany you." Hermione replied.
Neville took a step forward and opened his mouth to say something when Draco started "I will go with her if that's ok." He said as he turned to look at Luna for her permission and the girl only nodded. "Gryffindor lost enough points today. If my godfather or someone else catches one of them… It's best for you two to go straight to your tower." He continued.
"You're right. I would come too, but I really had enough for one day. Anyway, you should all be careful. Snape could very well be patrolling the corridors. "Hermione informed.
"We'll be careful." Ginny promised and they all left.
Hermione retreated to her room and she changed in her comfortable night-clothes. A minute later, she was soundly asleep in her bed.
"Granger! Granger!" Draco almost shouted at the girl the next morning. It was almost eight o'clock and she was still sleeping. "Wake up! We're gonna be late for classes! HERMIONE!" he yelled.
"What?" she finally woke up, confused that Malfoy was in her room and she cringed at the headache she discovered she had. "What's wrong? What time is it?" she asked still confused and she turned her head to the window. Light. She turned her head back to Malfoy. Dressed in uniform. "What time is it, exactly?" she asked as she got up from the bed.
"It's almost eight. We have… seven minutes to get to Potions." He answered.
"Merlin! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
"Because I woke up five minutes ago… and I thought you were already up. Hurry up or else we will be really late" he excused himself and he walked to the door.
"You should go. You still have time to get there on time." She told him.
"I should…" he answered and he got out of the room, leaving the girl to get ready for class.
When Hermione opened the door to the common room, two minutes later, she was surprised to find Draco on the couch, waiting for her. "I thought you left…" She told him.
"I didn't. Now let's go, we still got five minutes to get there."
They jogged through the castle's corridors and five minutes later they were standing outside the Potions classroom, almost panting. Draco opened the door and Hermione entered the room, Malfoy following her right away. They went to their places on each side of the room, Hermione next to Neville and Draco next to Pansy and they sat, waiting for the teacher to come.
Hermione was relieved for make it on time to the Potions classroom. She didn't want to get into even more trouble with Snape. She glanced at the door and then at the watch. It was past eight and he was not present. Odd.
"Really, Minerva, I'm telling you, she was not the right choice for the position. Merlin, she got drunk! Forget that she is in your house and the bloody Gryffindor Princess and acknowledge the situation. If she was any other student, I'm sure she would have been chastised. Even more if she was in my house…" Snape told Minerva.
"Oh, do relax, Severus. So she got a little drunk on her birthday. I'm sure she is not the only one to get drunk in this castle over the years. It's true, it was not a good example for the other students, but since nobody saw her, besides you, I'd say that nobody can take her example…" the woman defended her beloved student.
"Well, then, let's go and drink since nobody can see us… Minerva, do you even hear yourself? Stop defending the bloody Gryffindors! " Snape asked incredulous. The woman was maddening. She would defend her bloody Gryffindors to the end.
Minerva sighed. "So what do you want to do?"
Fifteen minutes have passed and there was still no sign of Snape in the Potions classroom, but Hermione was thankful that he wasn't there. She couldn't concentrate on a potion with that headache anyway. She leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes and massaging her temples as to ease the pain but it didn't work. She just wanted to go back to her room and sleep. She was nearly asleep when the door opened and hit the wall with a loud bang, making Hermione jump in her seat.
"Paperwork! The Polyjuice Potion." the teacher shouted, making Hermione cringe. Apparently the noise and the shouting weren't good for the headache. She rubbed her temples again in an attempt to make it go away, but nothing changed. She exhaled frustrated. "At least I don't need to concentrate on brewing a potion." She thought.
"All you need to do is to write down the brewing instructions for that potion. If you don't know the brewing instructions, you must write the ingredients, but I hope that's not the case. Begin." The teacher commanded and they all started to write.
Snape searched the room for any cheaters, but he didn't notice anything suspect, except for the Insufferable-Know-It-All that wasn't writing. She appeared to have a headache for she massaged her temples with her eyes closed shut. He smirked as he remembered his last encounter with the girl. Her behavior would cost her… he cleared his throat loudly and she was startled. He started pacing through the room and he stopped behind a Hufflepuff student who apparently didn't know the brewing instructions and he wrote some of the ingredients. He puffed in frustration and walked past the Hufflepuff student. He then stopped behind Hermione and was a bit surprised to find that she almost finished writing the brewing instructions. He walked away once more and this time he stopped at his desk.
"You have two more minutes." He informed the class and everyone started writing faster. "Please bring the papers to my desk." He raised his voice when the two minutes have passed and each student went and put the paper onto his desk.
"Can I have a word with you after class, Miss Granger?" Snape told Hermione as she put her own piece onto the pile of papers.
"Yes, Sir, of course." She answered back, but she knew that his question was just a formality and she really didn't have a choice.
"Next week assignment: The value of fluxweed in the Polyjuice Potion. Class dismissed." He informed and then dismissed them all. All except one, he reminded himself.
Hermione sat down on the chair in front of Snape's desk and waited for him to say something. She knew why she was there and she wanted to him to finally tell her what will her sentence be, but he said nothing. He only watched her with his well-known scowl.
"As I said yesterday, I spoke with your Head of the House about your… conduct" he eventually broke the silence and watched as she tensed up. "You must know, Miss Granger, that my intention was to remove you from your position as the Head Girl of Hogwarts, but luckily for you, Minerva opposed and you are still on that position." He informed her and her expression changed to relief, but he didn't let that settle in "However, you still need to be penalized and that's why you can't take part on any field trips for a month. That means no Hogsmeade or anything else for a month. Also, you have two weeks of detention with me, and sometimes you might be needed elsewhere with Minerva or Hagrid for example. Oh, and one more thing… no library for a week."
Hermione frowned at the last one. "But Sir, how am I supposed to study or do my homework if I can't go to the library?" She asked him concerned. He knew that not being able to visit the library would be the most upsetting and that's why he proposed it.
"I'm sure you will think of something, Miss Granger." He assured her with a smirk. Yes, she will certainly think of something. "Now, you can accept on all of the above, or you can do something that will allow you to visit the library and you'll have to spend just one week at detention and one week away from field trips." He proposed.
At that, Hermione raised her brow in question. It sounded very good, so she wanted to hear what she had to do. "Yes, go on… What do I have to do?" she asked.
He smirked. "You have to tell me who else participated on those activities with you."
Hermione leaned back in the chair. She knew she couldn't do it. She wouldn't do it so she smirked.
"Can you tell me what is it that you find so amusing?" he questioned.
"Well, Sir, you got it all wrong… nobody else participated on 'those activities'. I drink alone." She lied.
"You… drink alone?" he repeated, his brow raised high in doubt. He knew that she was lying. "I told you that you are a bad liar… I know when someone lies to me, Granger." He tried to make her change her mind, but she did nothing of a kind. She didn't even bulge at his attempt. "Very well, then. See you at detention. You are dismissed." He let her go.
"Yes, thank you, Professor." She replied and she got out of the room and hurried to her next class, Transfiguration.
"Hermione, dear, can you stay for a minute?" her Head of the House asked her when the class was over and everyone was exiting the room.
"Sure, professor." She answered and waited for the woman to say something, but she didn't have to wait too long.
"First of, let me just wish you 'Happy Birthday.', I'm sure Severus… forgot." She said and she shared a warm smile which Hermione returned.
"Thank you, professor. And I'm sure professor Snape had other important issues in his mind. He is just a well-mannered person, I can't think of any other reason…" she replied ironically and the both women started laughing.
"I'm sorry for your punishment, but Severus was right in that matter. That kind of behavior isn't accepted at Hogwarts. You should have been more careful, dear."
"Its ok; professor and I know I deserve that…" Hermione assured the older woman.
"Oh, and don't worry about the library, dear, I'm sure your friends can help you by retrieving the books you need. If not, I am always here for your help."
"Thank you, professor, I appreciate it, but I think that I will be just fine even without the library" she told McGonnagal and they started laughing once more.