Chapter Three: Missing?

The next morning, Hermione was in the arms of Severus Snape. She could not believe it. When she looked up, his face was calm and he looked younger. He doesn't look that old Hermione thought, if you look closely, he actually looks kind of cute. Wait a minute! Did I just call my professor cute? I definitely need to get back to my own body. However, he does look happier now… I don't know what to do. At first, I was excited to be a dog, and not have to worry about NEWTS, but, now, I don't know. She was confused as to what to do.

ooOOoo

In the Gryffindor common room, Harry and Ron were waiting for Hermione to come out from her room.

"Geez, what is taking that girl so long?" Ron complained. "She doesn't usually take this long to get ready." He impatiently tapped his foot. Harry shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea, Ron, but we're going to be late for breakfast," the bespectacled boy said, and Ron nodded his head, nudging him to come along.

"Maybe she doesn't feel well," Harry continued reassuringly. "We'll probably end up seeing her during potions this morning." He motioned Ron to come with him to the great hall. The boys left the common room, and trekked through the awe-inspiring halls of Hogwarts, eventually coming to the Grand Staircase, which led them to the Great Hall. When Harry and Ron arrived, they sat by Neville Longbottom, an interestingly timid boy in their year. He was curious as to why Hermione was not with them.

"Hey, Harry, where's Hermione?" Neville asked as the two boys sitting opposite of him gathered food on their plates.

"She's probably sleeping in till class starts," Harry answered. "Ron did kind of made her do his potions homework. So, she might still be tired." Neville looked over to Ron and glared at him, sighing in an exasperated manner.

"Ron..." Neville said, shaking his head in disappointment. Ron looked up and shrugged his shoulders.

"What?" the redhead exclaimed, prepared to defend himself. "We had a busy weekend; there's a Quidditch match against Gryffindor and Slytherin that's coming up, in case you've forgotten. That greasy, old bat's Potions homework was the last thing on my mind." Neville rolled his eyes, but did not say another word on the subject.

ooOOoo.

Up at the teachers' table, Severus looked mighty pleased with himself. There weren't many dogs in the magical word. Very few families owned them. He'd left the little puppy in his rooms so that she would not get lost in the giant castle. Once Severus found the puppy, he immediately felt attached to her. He wasn't much of a pet person, but he had a soft spot for German Shepherds.

Albus looked over to Severus knowing that he was daydreaming. He knew Severus Snape did not daydream.

"Severus, are you quite alright?" Albus asked. Severus snapped out of his thoughts and turned his head towards Albus.

"Yes Albus, I'm fine. I was simply thinking," Severus replied. Albus shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat his breakfast, glancing toward the Potions Master occasionally.

Severus looked over towards the Gryffindor table. He caught sight of Weasley and Potter. He immediately noticed that one-third of the Golden Trio was missing. Where is Miss Granger? Severus thought. Surely, the little know-it-all chatterbox can't be sleeping in. Well, she had better be in potions today.

ooOOoo

When breakfast was over, the students went to their first class of the day. For Harry and Ron, it was double Potions with the Slytherins. When the boys sat down at their respective desks, they realized that Hermione was not there either.

"Where in the hell is Hermione?" Ron asked Harry, quietly.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I have no clue, mate. Maybe she isn't feeling well." It was unlike Hermione to skip class. There had to be a good reason, but he knew at the end of the day, if she had not come out of her room, he would have to go ask Professor Dumbledore. He did not want to resort to that. Suddenly, the door slammed open and Professor Snape came walking into the classroom with his dark robes billowing around him. As he approached the front, he did an about face and scanned the classroom. He noticed someone was missing.

"Does anybody have an idea why Miss Granger is not here?" the man drawled. "Mr. Potter? Mr. Weasley?" Professor Snape eyed them. Both boys shrugged their shoulders.

"We don't know Professor, she didn't come out of her room this morning, nor did she attend breakfast. Maybe she isn't feeling well." Harry replied. Professor Snape cocked an eyebrow.

"The next time you see her," Professor Snape replied, "tell her that, as a result of her absence, she has detention with me this Wednesday night at 7:00. Ten points from Gryffindor due to lack of punctuality." He smirked as he saw youngest Weasley boy ready to spout curses off at him. "Now, turn to page 567 in your Potions textbook and follow the instructions. You have one hour to brew the Draught of Peace. If you do not finish, then you will have earned yourself a T for this class session." Instead of jumping right to it, the class gaped at him as if he'd lost his marbles.

"Well?" Professor Snape barked. "What are you waiting for? Begin!" He went to his desk to mark first year essays, a process he did not enjoy in the slightest.

Surprisingly enough, no one in the class blew up their cauldron or melted the desks, and everyone finished their potion on time. Harry and Ron were relieved when they were done with class. As they continued on throughout the day, many teachers asked them where Hermione could be. Sadly enough, the boys did not know the answer to their question.

When dinner arrived, Hermione still did not show herself. The teachers were beginning to worry, with the exception of one – Professor Snape. He could care less about the girl. He decided to pay a little visit to his new puppy back in his rooms. When he arrived to his chambers, he found the puppy sitting in his favorite green arm chair, fast asleep. Severus almost cracked a smile at the sight. He walked up slowly towards the puppy and gently stroked her head. She twitched a little bit before she opened her eyes. She came face to face with Severus Snape.

"What the heck? Professor, I was sleeping!" Hermione said, but it came out as a small whimper instead.

"How are you, little one?" Severus asked. "Sorry to disturb you, but I just wanted to see how you were doing." If Hermione could smile, she would. Although she was upset that Professor Snape had woken her from such a wonderful nap, she appreciated the fact that he came and did a check up on her.

"Are you hungry?" Severus asked her. Hermione knew that she was, so she barked for her answer.

"I'll take that as a yes, then," Severus smirked. "Come on, let's gets you something to eat." He got back up and walked towards his kitchen to grab some dog food. Hermione followed him as she trotted towards her dog bowl. This is so strange, eating out of a dog bowl, Hermione thought to herself. I would have never thought I'd do this. Severus poured some dog food into her bowl and she began to eat. He then poured fresh, cool water into the bowl next to the food bowl.

"There you go, my puppy," Severus said. "Eat up." Hermione need not have been told twice. As she was eating, Severus began to talk to her.

"Miss. Granger did not show up for class today, which was very strange indeed. Potter told me that she wasn't feeling well," Severus thought for a moment. "Possibly, the brat is lying. All three of those blasted Gryffindors are rule-breakers. Though, she wouldn't skip if she wasn't ill. Ah, well, I suppose I'll find out on Wednesday. She has detention with me. Mark my words, puppy, I will find out." At that point, Hermione had stopped eating and was staring intently at the dark man who was so deep in thought.

Oh no… Hermione thought. I totally forgot about that. I'm not usually this forgetful. How very unusual. Maybe it's because of the fact that I'm a dog that's making me forgetful. I have no clue. I need to somehow tell him that who he is talking to is in fact me – Hermione Jean Granger. Not the puppy. But, how?

"What's the matter puppy, not hungry anymore?" Severus asked. Hermione shook her head no.

"Not anymore. You've made me lose my appetite. Thanks a bunch," Hermione sighed but, once again, her words came out as a bark.