Hermione was seething. First, that prat of a professor had ignored Malfoy calling her Mudblood. Then, he just leaves and expects her to follow him, without even having the decency to tell her where they're going. Then when he decides she's not walking fast enough for his liking, he grips her arm and pulls her along behind him. Her arm was beginning to tingle. He was squeezing so tightly that she expected it only to be a matter of time before she lost feeling. All of a sudden, they reached the castle doors. He released her arm, and began waving his wand in intricate patterns to unlock the wards. The bolt snapped open, and he replaced his wand inside his robes. "Come, Miss Granger." He said tersely.
Grumbling to herself about his rudeness, Hermione followed. Couldn't he at least pretend to be a human being?
As if hearing her thoughts, Snape turned to her and sneered. "I have no time for dallying, Miss Granger. We need to get there and get back. I have things that need attending to."
"I'm visiting my parents, whom I haven't seen in over a year! I know it might be hard for you to understand, seeing as you've never cared for anyone or anything in your pathetic, miserable little life, but I miss them, and I'm really looking forward to seeing them!" Hermione snapped.
Snape sneered. "You want to watch your tone, Granger, or it'll be detention for you. And don't think I'll assign you to Hagrid. You'll be cleaning up the messes my first years make, with no magic."
With that, the potions professor strode off ahead of Hermione. She hurried after him. It would not do to get lost or separated from her protection now, no. There was a reason he was the one escorting her; a reason she hadn't seen her parents in so long. Lord Voldemort had put a price on her head. For some unfathomable reason, he didn't want the brains of the trio around when it came down to preparing for the final battle. Hermione scoffed at the thought. Voldie was scared that an ickle Mudblood would help Harry so much that he would be defeated, so he wanted Hermione out of the way before it came to that. Any Order members would have given adequate protection, had it not been for the possibility of Death Eaters stationed on the road between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. Snape was the only one they wouldn't hesitate to attack. Of course, Hermione was aware that Voldemort had to know what was going on tonight. Snape would have to tell him – this was exactly the sort of information he was "spying" for. Voldemort couldn't be happy that Dumbledore had thwarted his plans to have Hermione taken care of during the walk to the public apparition point.
This meant she had to go with Snape, thus ruining the whole mood of the evening. Hermione breathed deeply as she felt her nerves threatening to break through her careful calm. Her parents. Her parents were the reason she was doing this, the reason she was giving up an evening of relaxing with Harry and Ron to travel with Professor Snape. Her parents.
Since the knowledge Lord Voldemort wanted her dead was known to the Order, Mr. and Mrs. Granger had been placed under protections and taken to a safe house. Dumbledore was afraid that Voldemort would find her parent and use them to lure her out. This had happened nearly six months after Hermione had last seen them, and another six months had passed since then. All in all, a year had passed since Hermione had seen her parents, and she missed them like crazy. Dumbledore had finally decided it was safe enough for her to visit, provided she was escorted by Snape. Hermione wasn't going to turn the opportunity down, even if it meant an evening with the dour professor.
"We're nearly there," Snape said flatly. "You can see the point from just around the next bend."
"Oh, thank goodness. I'm getting quite cold, aren't you?" Hermione replied, hoping for some pleasant conversation.
"No, I am not. You see, I have a brain, and said brain allows me to realize that I possess a wand and the ability to perform magic with it. When I become cold, I merely cast a warming charm on myself. It's first year magic, really."
Damn snarky bastard. He didn't need to be so nasty and unfeeling.
He had a point though. Hermione had a knack for forgetting there was something she could do about her predicaments. She blamed her Muggle upbringing. No warming charms there.
Quietly, so he didn't hear and mock her, she cast a warming charm on her robes. They warmed instantly, taking away her chill.
In all her seventeen years, Hermione had never met someone as unwanting of human interaction as Severus Snape. He never spoke to anyone unless he had a purpose, he never needed social contact, he never used or responded to humour. He wasn't like Harry or Ron.
Ron. Hermione wasn't sure what to think of their relationship. They'd been together for seven months now, and it seemed to be the thing everyone had been rooting for since they became friends. However, Hermione always felt there was something missing with him. Could she really be happy with someone who has so different to her? Ron was crude, noisy, didn't care about intellect or academics and was obsessed with Quidditch. This had only caused minor problems so far, but Hermione was sure she wanted to get too tied down to someone who had such different interests.
Still, she loved him. The problem was, she had difficulty discerning whether she loved him in a romantic way or in the same way she loved Harry – as a brother. She and Ron had never gotten past kissing and occasionally petting, because every time it seemed like they would go further she began feeling extremely guilty, as if this was wrong, taboo.
A gravelly voice broke into her thoughts. "We're here."
Hermione jumped, startled. She had been so lost in her own mind that she had almost forgotten she was not alone. Professor Snape was staring at her in a condescending manner, probably wondering if she were hiding insanity.
He held out his arm for her to take. She gripped it tightly, and instantly felt the familiar yet thoroughly unpleasant sensations of apparition.
