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Haftungsausschluss: Ich besitze kein Harry Potter, das gehort alles J.K. Rowling.
The sleeping potion worked wonders and by the time Hermione woke up she felt well rested, perhaps too much so. Unfortunately the potion worked well enough that she slept in again, only now she didn't have Lily to wake her up. Instead she was woken up by a charmed paper airplane with a message inside:
You should probably get an alarm clock. ~Remus
Hermione smiled despite the annoying awakening; so far it seemed she made a good choice trusting Remus.
By the time she got down stairs, the Great Hall was emptying and Hermione had to go directly to her N.E.W.T.S Herbology class. When she arrived at the green house she asked the young teacher known as Professor Sprout for the necessary equipment today. Hermione tried not to think about why she needed to borrow supplies or about the fact that Sprout just seemed too young according to her 'intuition.' Instead she observed her surroundings, the greenhouse was much warmer than Scotland in September should be and a bit humid. On all of the tables were tropical looking bushes with bright red fruit growing on them.
Professor Sprout handed Hermione a pair of dragon-hide gloves and protective goggles. Hermione said her thanks and turned to see Lily and some girls entering the green house with Pettigrew following behind. Hermione ignored the redhead and went to stand by herself in a back corner much like Severus Snape had done in the opposite corner.
"Now everyone, settle down. Now, as you can see I have set up stations for all of you. These bushes produce adena berries; can anyone explain where they are from?"
One hand shot up followed closely by a second and then a few more hesitant ones. Professor Sprout called on the first person with their hand up. "Miss Jean?"
"They are tropical, Professor, and are most commonly found around the equator. They are related to and are the magical equivalent of the spicy peppers also found in the region."
"Very good Miss Jean, five points to Gryffindor for the answer and another five for the extra information. Now Mr. Snape can you tell me what makes the adena berries unique and how they are used?"
"They burn your skin much like their relatives burn your mouth," Severus sneered in reference to Hermione's show off answer. "And they are used in a variety of potions all having something to do with heat."
Professor Sprout nodded, "Five points to Slytherin. Now everyone to a station, I want you to pick as many of the berries as you can. Remember to use your gloves and goggles and do not allow the juices to escape, they are valuable, very potent, and the fumes can damage your eyes even with the goggles on. The best way to accomplish this is to grip the stem firmly. The four students who pick the most without allowing the juices out will win a prize. There are some bottles of cooling potion if you end up burning yourselves or your eyes. Now, begin!" The students scrambled to make sure they got seats next to their friends leaving three chairs for the last two students: Hermione and Severus. Two were next to each other while the third was next to Pettigrew. Hermione, trusting her intuition that said stay away, went to take a chair away from the pudgy Gryffindor and was almost surprised to see Severus sit next to her. Almost, until she remembered how he seemed to hate the Marauders.
The berries honestly weren't that hard to pick it was obvious that Professor Sprout wanted to give them a simple that wasn't a blow off assignment.
"So…" Hermione began to break the silence between herself and her neighbor, "Do you think Professor Rowan will make us finish those questions?" Severus looked up at her in surprise and suspicion. "What? Am I only allowed to talk to you when we are partnered?"
"No." he answered curtly, Hermione wasn't sure to which question he was referring too. "I do not believe she will make us finish that inane assignment. You will not be forced to converse with me anymore."
"Forced? You refused to talk to me and I didn't feel like forcing someone who didn't want to talk to me to talk to me."
"So what are you doing right now?" Severus sneered.
Hermione looked him dead in the eye. "You are intelligent, well spoken, mature, and you don't seem all that bad. You don't dislike me as much as you pretend to; you can't because I haven't done anything."
Severus thought for a moment and said, "Rival houses," as if that answered everything.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Oh please, that is a horrible reason to judge someone. At least wait until I offend you before you begin to hate me."
"I never said I hated you," Severus drawled, "I just find you very annoying."
Hermione surprised him once again and giggled, "Sorry about that. Okay before any more conversation happens I need to know something. Should I call you Snape or Severus or what?"
The dark Slytherin turned back to his bush which he had begun to neglect and thought about his answer. Just about everyone here called him Snape or some rude name. Lily used to call him Sev but he always hated the nickname. It was just a name but it might be nice for someone to call him Severus when they weren't trying to get him to do something for them like homework. Not that he ever fell for their ploys but Slytherins could be very persistent. He brought his mind back to the question and gave Hermione the answer she had been waiting for, "You may call me Severus."
Hermione gave him a friendly smile. "Okay then you'll have to call me Hermione. Oh and if you try calling me 'Herms' I will have to hurt you," she responded playfully.
Severus raised an eyebrow, "Herms? Who came up with that?"
"Some of the younger students in the Gryffindor tower," Hermione explained.
"Ha!" Severus barked, "Only a Gryffindor could come up with a name like that."
"Hmph, I happen to take offense to that."
"My apologies," he said sarcastically, "and I must correct myself, a Hufflepuff could easily come up with something as bad if not worse."
"Must you always insult people?"
Severus smirked, "Only when they deserve it."
"Okay students, time is up! Everyone, look up front," Professor Sprout called. Hermione took in the state of her classmates and saw that many people had used the cooling potion and only a few, herself and Severus included, still even qualified for the prize. "Now, the prize for today's task is a chance at extra credit," she announced to many groaning students and few interested ones. "So let's see who won shall we?" Professor Sprout went around the room inspecting the buckets of berries, ignoring those who had used the potion. After inspecting each bucket, and congratulating Hermione and Severus on their nearly full load, she went up to the front to announce the winners. "Severus Snape, Hermione Jean. Lily Evans, and Peter Pettigrew." The first three names were obvious but the last one shocked Hermione.
"How on Earth did he not mess up?" Severus asked.
"Well the stupid ones are normally the best at manual labor," Hermione said, her 'intuition' really did not like Pettigrew. (AN: I really don't think that way, I hope I didn't offend anyone)
"Who do realize you just indirectly insulted us as well?" Severus remarked smirking once more, it must be a Slytherin thing. Hermione had noticed that expression on many Slytherin faces.
"Sorry, I'm not good at this insulting thing," Hermione defended.
"Obviously not, now let's see what task our dear Professor wants us to complete." The rest of the class was then dismissed as the four winners went up to the front.
"Congratulations, now your extra credit is to accompany myself and Professor Slughorn into the Forbidden Forest to gather certain plants for his potion supplies this weekend."
'Great,' Hermione thought, 'Going into the forest with the bitchy Head Girl and that creepy Pettigrew. This will be fun.'
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