Chapter Four

"But I…I love it when you read to me"

- Peter Gabriel

Hermione's first night back in Hogwarts was slightly torturous due to the fact that her roommates spent half the night talking about their summers, unfortunately Lavender's seemed to be filled with various sexapades so she had to listen to those slightly scarring stories. She laid her uniform out for the next day and settled into her bed. She had missed the luxurious bed over the summer. Her bed at home was decent but the Hogwarts beds were like clouds and she quickly fell asleep.

The next morning she dressed in her uniform and headed down to breakfast. She prepared her tea and filled her plate with pancakes and eggs. The Great Hall slowly filled with half asleep students and she saw Harry and Ron wander in. They joined her at the table and dug in.

The call of owls brought their attention to the ceiling and hundreds of the birds swooped in. A tawny brown owl dropped a small envelope in front of Hermione. Curious. She never got mail by owl. She opened it and found a note.

Dear Hermione,

I have obviously accepted you Apprenticeship. We will meet Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in the afternoon and as you learn I may find the need to call on you in the night to assist me with any issues that may arise. I look forward to meeting with you tomorrow

Signed;

Madame Pomfrey

"Who wrote you, 'Mione?" Ron asked around a mouthful of sausage. Hermione shook her head at him, "Madame Pomfrey, she was giving me the times for our meetings." She responded as she folded her note and resumed her breakfast. She silently asked the house elves below for Raspberry tea with lemon and a second later it appeared in front of her with a 'Pop!', She had mended her relationship with the elves after realizing that most of them really did just want to serve, but they agreed not to refer to it as serving around her.

She sipped her tea as Professor McGonagall rounded the room and handed out schedules to the students. Hermione's read hers and immediately started planning in her head;

Monday: {9 A.M. Charms} {10:30 A.M. Potions} {12 P.M. Lunch} {2 P.M. Break} {3 P.M. Care of Magical Creatures}

Tuesday: {9 A.M. Transfiguration} {10:30 A.M. Herbology} {12 P.M. Lunch} {2 P.M. Break} {3 P.M. Apprenticeship}

Wednesday: {9 A.M. Potions} {10:30 A.M. Charms} {12 P.M. Lunch} {2 P.M. Break} {3 P.M. Apprenticeship} {8 P.M. Astronomy}

Thursday: {9 A.M. Transfiguration} {10:30 A.M. Herbology} {12 P.M. Lunch} {2 P.M. Break} {3 P.M. Apprenticeship}

Friday: {9 A.M. Potions} {10:30 A.M. Potions} {12 P.M. Lunch} {2 P.M. Break} {3 P.M. Ancient Runes}

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered "We have the greasy git double on Friday."

"At least we get to hang out with professor Lupin three nights." Harry responded. All the students started gathering their things to head to their first classes of the day. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw sixth years headed to Charms while Slytherins and Hufflepuffs headed to Herbology.

Severus Snape exited his chambers and briskly walked towards his classroom. He left it open for his students, mostly because he loved making a dramatic entrance. He forcefully threw the large oak doors open and strode too his desk. It was his sixth year class so he knew they were used to it by now. He turned and faced the mix of Slytherins and Gryffindors. He was slightly disappointed to see that nobody had chosen to change seating arrangements at the start of the year. Quickly planning in his head he decided that it needed to change, 2 Gryffindors and 2 Slytherins to one table. Making sure to not put anyone to votiale next each other I.E. Weasly and Draco. He also decided to separate Draco and Pansy, as he sincerely hoped that Draco would find his own way and step out of his father's shadow. At one table he sat Dean Thomas, Tracey Davis, Parvarti Patil, His godson, and Seamus Finnigan. At table two he sat Weasly, Pansy Parkison, Lavender Brown, and Gregory Goyle. At table three was Potter, Millicent Bulstrode, Fay Dunbar, Vincent Crabbe, and Theodore Nott. At table four was the disaster waiting to happen Neville Longbottom, Daphne Greengrass, Blaise Zabini, and the know it all Hermione Granger.

He went easy on them on their first day back. Only having them write down their assignments for the first half of the year and listening to him explain how to stay safe when working with stronger potions, as they would be working with stronger ingredients that needed precise measurements. He preferred doing this on their first day, that way he didn't have to deal with any possible explosions.

The class past relatively quickly and soon the sixth years were exiting his classroom and he made his way back to his chambers for his break. He did not feel like attending lunch and instead took to his guilty pleasure. He stepped into his large study and immediately sighed as a wave of calmness washed over him. He stepped up to the large piece in the middle of the room. His fingers stroked the ivory keys and his muscles slowly relaxed as he sat on the bench and let his fingers roam the instrument as the music slowly over came the room. A small smile graced his lips as he continued to play.