Hermione woke with a start at 5:30 am. She had charmed her knitting needles to give her a poke around 5:45, but now that was not even necessary. As expected, there was little delight at the prospect of spending the next few days with Snape, and Hermione resolved to stay in bed forever. She pulled her covers over her head and listened to the soothing sound of her own breathing in the cocoon like atmosphere this created, up until the moment her knitting needles began to poke at her. With a muffled groan she got up, brushed her teeth, pulled on black leggings and a blue sweater, and stuffed her feet into a pair of hiking boots. So sexy right now, she thought glumly, not even bothering with her hair, just tying it up into a ponytail. I doubt there will be many dating opportunities on this trip anyway. She swung her backpack over her shoulder, wincing as the bag echoed like a cargo hold as several items rolled around. She glanced around at her sleeping classmates. Not a care in the world, she thought angrily, and stomped out of her dormitory to meet Snape at Hagrid's.
Her breath clouded in the frigid morning air, letting her know that winter was not quite over yet. It was late February, and things would not start warming up for a while. She walked quickly, grateful for her thick sweater and coat to keep her warm. Down the stairs, and out the door she went, walking down the familiar path that led to Hagrids. His hut was dark, he was clearly still asleep, but a tall broad and dark figure stood next to the trees of the Forbidden Forest. Ah, my lovely companion. Three galleons he will not say good morning. She walked towards him, resolving to take advantage of all opportunities to annoy him. "Good Morning, sir!" She chirped brightly at him, and he narrowed his eyes at her dangerously. Instead of answering her he thrust a roll of parchment at her.
"This is what the spies reported about the group of dark wizards. We will be using it to decide where to start. According to the coordinates, they were last seen around the Peak District National Park, close to Chesterfield. Therefore I suggest we apparate there." He turned swiftly, still intimidating even without his billowing black robes, and strode off towards Hogwarts apparation point, which lay half a kilometer away from the castle, on the road to Hogsmeade. Hermione followed him, fuming. He hadn't even really asked for her opinion, just made the decision by himself. Dumbledore wanted us to be partners. While walking she scanned the parchment he had given her, confirming Snape's idea about where to start. Dammit he's right about starting in Chesterfield.
They reached the apparation point without exchanging a single word. Hermione was feeling even more discouraged. Snape obviously thought her beneath his notice and didn't seem at all interested in her input. He offered her his arm, which she ignored, turning on the spot and disappearing with a pop. She missed the brief twitch of Snape's lips before he followed suit. They appeared almost simultaneously on the exact location described by the spies in the notes given to them by Dumbledore. Hermione shivered; the temperature had dropped by two degrees and frost still covered the bare earth beneath her boots. It was silent all around except for her and Snape's low breaths, the trees stood around them ominously, tall and dark firs. Kind of like my partner, tall and dark. Banishing all thoughts of this nature, Hermione took another look at the scroll, beating Snape to it. "We need to go a little bit towards the east to reach Chesterfield. I figure once we get there we can have breakfast, then question the magical residents to see if they have some clues. On the way there we can look for any trail. Any group of dark magicians leaves dark magic traces in the soil and the plants." She said, turning to look at Snape. His thin mouth was pulled into a smirk. "Of course little miss know it all had to steal some books from the restricted section for this one. Let's go then. Keep your eyes open, I will be performing a spell to detect dark magic in the area while you look for visual clues. " The darkness of the woods made him appear even taller, almost looming over her. He blended into the background here, all in black. His dark hair was the only thing shining in the moonlight. Merlin, no more analyzing, his hairstyle is none of your damm business, she told herself angrily, hastily turning away to begin her visual sweep of the area.
"Vita Nocte," he murmured, flicking his wand. He repeated the spell several times, pointing it at bushes, trees, and the earth in turn. Hermione moved in front of him, stopping every now and then to examine the ground. She found all manner of footprints, human, dog, various wildlife, but nothing that pointed towards wizards. After a few minutes of silence, she decided that since they were working together, she might as well try to find out more about Snape. "Who will be covering your classes, sir?" She asked. "A Defense teacher from a school in Ireland," he answered curtly. 'Dumbledore knows him personally and said he owed him a favour." "I see," Hermione said, and they both lapsed back into silence, doing their tasks.
"Ms. Granger are you being thorough enough? I think we ought to have found something by now, we know they were here." He sounded annoyed. "Like Death Eaters don't know how to cover their tracks," she shot back, "its not going to be that easy." He frowned, obviously surprised she had retaliated, even though his stoic face gave nothing away. "Careful, girl, I am still your professor and you will address me with respect," he growled, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Don't blame me when things go wrong then," she said. He glared and she added "sir". He didn't speak another word to her for quite some time.
They entered a clearing, and branched out along the edges, trying to find clues. She was beginning to think they had interpreted the coordinates wrong when Snape suddenly stopped and hissed "Come here Ms Granger." She walked over to him. He was standing inf ront of a patch of bare earth over stone, where no plants grew. A black pulsating orb was hanging over it. They had found it. Dark Magic.