—Miss Granger, what's that supposed to mean? — the man raised an eyebrow, examining a teacher turning pale in front of her eyes, while a donkey standing next to her moo at his entire office.

Admittedly, this morning went too well not to be spoiled somewhere in the middle. Having spent quite a quiet lesson for the fourth year Slytherin and Gryffindor, Professor Snape was already waiting for some kind of trick in his office, and he did not take long to wait. And why wasn't he even surprised that it was the young one who became the troublemaker A transfiguration teacher? Maybe because he's generally not good at it. I wasn't waiting.

— Professor, I'm afraid I need your advice on how.. as a specialist in dark charms, — Miss Granger hesitated, interrupted by the moo of the donkey, distracted from her colleague and whispering something in a hurried tone to his pet. It took Snape a few seconds to get tired of her company.

— Miss Granger, could you have a conversation with your interlocutor somewhere in the another, more appropriate place. For example, in the barnyard, — the man's grin She was interrupted by another bellow, this time louder and even more furious. Severus He looked at the donkey in disbelief. And that's what he's come to, what's already besieging him An animal?

— If you haven't forgotten, animals are not my profile. Have you tried to apply pet care for Hagrid? And tell him to shut up bent down to the donkey again, saying something guiltily as it continued to mumble briefly and very indignantly.

—I'm afraid Hagrid is still not in the right competence for this issue, —she straightened up. She stroked the animal's head absently, almost immediately pulling her hand away.

— This is Ron., Professor. He turned into a donkey last night.

— Yes? — the man even stood up from his seat, meticulously examining the dissatisfied the animal, then returned back and continued with a completely neutral face. — I don't see much difference.

— Mr. Snape! — the young voice mingled with an animal lowing.

— Mr. Weasley, just don't use my office as a toilet., — the wizard grimaced, stroked the wand through the fabric of his clothes and still moved towards the source problems. And the first diagnostic charms gave very interesting results. — Mr. Weasley, could you tell us the details?

The donkey looked at him with blue eyes with a red tint and characteristic horizontal pupils, receiving in response a completely ironic curve of bushy eyebrows.

— And you are not talkative today, sir, — the professor's lips twisted nastily.

— Professor, aren't you tired of it yet?

The smile disappeared, replaced by the displeased expression of a man who had something nasty shoved under his nose. A dark gaze collided with Karim, very unhappy, ready to scold him as an unreasonable child.

—Miss Granger,— sarcasm was on the tip of his tongue, and he looked at her displeased pursed lips, eyebrows drawn together and aggressively folded arms, and mentally retreated, "could you tell me the details?"

Hermione pushed back her hair, averting her gaze, and began to look suspiciously distant answer.

— There are none. I found him like this in the morning.

— And do you often recognize your friends in donkeys?

— Well, if they are in our shared bedroom, then yes! — the professor flared up, for a moment losing his composure and turning pale, casting a brief incomprehensible glance at his colleague. He saw, How it took her a few seconds to pull herself together and accept some semblance a calm expression. — So can you restore it to its previous state?

Snape looked at her while his hand went over the wand hidden in his pocket out of habit. the sleeve of the mantle. The minutes of silence made her mad, and he got some kind of sadistic the pleasure of watching the cold mask crack, exposing something wounded. It only remained to figure out exactly where it was bleeding from.

— Granger, do you know what I see? — the man's robe fluttered, coming into motion together with him. He loomed over her, entering her personal space and putting the squeeze on the remnants of self-control that she had left. — I see that Mr. Weasley has been recently Very strong enchantments were used. And the nature of magic is clearly identical to yours.

Hermione pursed her lips, looking away, neither denying nor agreeing. But inclined the position of the ladies' shoulders spoke for itself.

— Although maybe you don't want to disenchant your companion so much, since you're hiding it Most of the information comes from me,— the professor straightened up and stood expectantly, waiting for her reaction, but she remained silent. — Turn your companion into a donkey.. You're a terrible woman, Miss Granger.

Lips pursed on a pale face, brown eyes dark with emotion doused him with a mixture of anger and something else. Less aggressive, but brighter. Severus breathed these feelings, It was as if they were ozone in a pre-thunderstorm moment.

— Can you convert him?

The muffled voice might not have reached his ears, but fortunately Snape was a wonderful listener. And just a terrible conversationalist. Walking around a colleague, he He stopped in the distance so that he could see both guests at once, resting his back hips to the edge of the table. And when there were only a few seconds left before the outraged breakdown, he finally he spoke, not forgetting to ironically lift the corners of his lips.

— I can, — the girl sniffed, looking at him with brown eyes with noticeable redness. Maybe you have are wreaths swollen with anger hiding under her collar? — The question is, why can't you?

He liked to answer a question with a question and stall for time when his own questions and they were ignored. The bastard glanced at the donkey, then at the door behind them, assessing, How many minutes of free time will he have left if they keep playing questions to the question. Running his hand over his chin, Severus looked back at his colleague, who seemed to be frozen in a kind of suspended animation and was completely not going to continue the conversation.

—Miss, I'm not going to waste my personal time on you anymore, — he said, unafraid. her burning, burning gaze, almost automatically hiding her consciousness. Even if his colleague did not even possess the rudiments of legimentation. — You are either talking about the case, or go away to solve problems on your own, like an adult. Instead of standing here with the offended face of an insufferable know-it-all.

The next thing that sounded in this office was the slam of the door and the lowing of the donkey, which they almost pinched their tail with such a rapid departure. Left alone, Snape he cleansed the air with magic, feeling the ephemeral scent of the animal, and then settled down at the table a workplace, continuing the verification of student work that was started earlier.

And somewhere in in between a gross and extremely gross mistake, he suddenly grinned, bringing up There is a fat "troll" at the end of the leaflet:"God forbid the man you choose as your mate, Miss Granger. This world is not I'm ready for a henpecked man of this magnitude."

/

— Have you heard yet? — the interlocutor leaned towards Snape as if she wanted to take away those the leftovers of lunch that were hiding on his plate. The man frowned at the amateur to speak at the meal, wishing Trelawney a good choke, and continued Devour your vegetable casserole.

— What exactly, did you see in your vision the resurrection of universal evil again? — dark tired eyes stared impenetrably at the hesitant colleague until she pulled away up to an acceptable distance. Personal boundaries, damn it, are they so hard to keep?— Then leave me without your gossip.

— Mr. Weasley was turned into a donkey today, I think such news usually pleases you, Severus,— McGonagall took a sip from her glass, frowned, looked at the glass again and I put it back.

— What makes you think that I'm even interested in anything related to redheads representatives of large families? — although, admittedly, the news could really be his to please him if he hadn't already spent his personal twenty minutes on her this morning.

— I've been predicting this for a long time, Director,— Trelawney twirled between her fingers beads hanging from her hair, switching to her semi-delusional tone of a fortune teller. Snape rolled his eyes and quietly moved a little further away, turning sideways to the woman. — I told Miss Granger that her love was dangerous. Even in the classroom, it was predicted how strong she will punish her lover, if he succumbs to temptation and changes.

The fork with a large piece of vegetable casserole froze and slowly continued on its way, almost without attracting attention.

— Yes, what is it, really, — Minerva shook her head in displeasure, looking for through the eyes of an empty place of a young teacher. Snape involuntarily repeated it a gesture, stopping at a lone chair standing among a lively dining crowd.

— Hermione deserves much more, however, — the director's gaze turned to the gloomy one a wizard washing down his lunch with compote, just like all of us. — Severus, could you Should I take a look at Mr. Weasley? I'm afraid we don't have a replacement for his position yet, I wouldn't like to losing a flight professor in the middle of the year.

— Please leave me without details, — rising from his seat, he frowned at the women, barely bending his head in a farewell gesture for a split second, and then left, waving his mantle.

— You know, Director, I'm almost sure that he is internally happy about the case with Hermione, — The soothsayer turned her head, causing the beads to ring, diluting the overall the cacophony. — Given their constant arguments, is it so difficult to outgrow your own A faculty confrontation?

"Maybe you're right," the headmistress replied distantly, more interested looking at overeating children, rather than continuing the conversation. Right, She was already beginning to get bored with gossiping in this circle.

/

— ..Still, I don't think it's any of your business at all. Sir! — Hermione tried to walk fast, but Snape somehow managed to chase her and look unhurried at the same time. The wonders of long legs, damn it.

— It's not for you to decide, Granger, I had a direct order from the leadership. Do you think I should Does it give my pleasure to run after you all over Hogwarts? "

— You and I have already discussed everything in the morning, and you gave me a choice, — she stopped abruptly, waving her hair and turning to him disheveled, slightly out of breath, but with a very determined look. Admittedly, he was even impressed by how resolute she was in her resentment. — And I chose. Don't worry, I'll talk to the headmistress on my own, I'm sure there are many ways to solve this problem without wasting your time.

Snape breathed angrily, looking down at his colleague, already feeling dissatisfaction rising in his throat. He's been running around with his colleagues and their stupid affair since morning, and now he has to beg someone to accept his services?

— So either that, Miss Granger, or you show me Mr. Weasley immediately, — he said. She pressed her lips together, dismembering him with her brown eyes. The professor bent down to her, bringing their faces together and grinning so nastily that Hermione literally felt sick. — Either I I find your Weasley myself, turn a four-legged donkey into a two-legged one, and then slowly and with I delight in penetrating his thoughts.

— You dare threaten me? — the sorceress had such expressive nasolabial the creases when she was almost growling, ready to snap at a colleague.

He couldn't help but notice the glitter her forehead was damp with sweat, probably caused by their walking. The dark look said, "I dare and threaten, Miss Insufferable Know-it-all."

She stared at him for a long, long time, while her whole gut was bubbling like a potion, in the most active of its stages. It seemed that with every bubble floating on the surface, some kind of solution appears to her, but as soon as she approaches it, somehow it bursts, giving way to another. Finally, she looked away, without losing her indignation the cell of his body, transmitting the entire palette through the language is cruel.

— Do as you like, — she turned sideways to him and continued walking in the old way the route. Is that all? Snape grinned, showing the woman's back slightly yellowish fangs.

— You have been thinking about three words for so long, as if you have problems with mental activity.

— What else are you want...— the professor screamed sharply, switching to an unusual high—pitched tone. The man saw her put her hands to her face, quickly wiping it, and then he succeeded to examine the profile with a quivering lower lip, —.. do you want me to?! Do what you want You know, Merlin damn you, just leave me alone for a while.

He had a moment to examine the small tremor that enveloped the thin female shoulders, before they were completely petrified. Standing there, he missed the moment when his own The grin finally disappeared from his face.

— Miss Granger, could you please stop being hysterical in the hallway for now.. — the voice sounded distantly, while the words came out of old habit. And yet the thought of whatthis topic to say Definitely shouldn't have, it occurred to him too late.

The girl waved her wand, casting a spell on the professor in the most brazen of all ways silence, and hurriedly left, leaving him in the hallway in the company of his indignation. And they both knew that such a liberty would definitely be revenged on her in the future.

/

At the evening hour, the transfiguration teacher was sitting in her room without light, leaving the room illuminated only by swirling thoughts. People were flying around her small, very pale birds, periodically crashing into it. One of the brave ones The flyer tried to pull her hair, but unsuccessfully went through, however, the bird was very worried, continuing the flight with her sisters.

"Why?"

Wiping away tears of pity for her fate, Granger stared into space, whispering to hearing those phrases that you could say in the morning when you found your chosen one in the company an old school whore. Who knew that a request to just stay could mean this kind of hospitality.

He was on their bed, on the sheet that Mrs. Weasley had given them and that the girl I changed it just a few days ago. For some reason, it seemed to her that this was especially important when The mistress, caught off guard, began to pull her duvet cover over her chest and spill wine with careless movements.

— Just an accident? Let me guess, she was walking after a shower and slipped on our carpet in The bedroom? — the whisper was interrupted by a sob, the birds swirled more aggressively in the air, lighting up unexpected corners of it with their flashes. — Or what, it was too cold and Ron kindly offered to keep warm?

The sorceress still had a headache in her temples, and her fingers trembled when she remembered that An endless stream of anger, despair and magic that burst out of her without any reason sticks. A flash that flashed before my eyes and absolute darkness, which for a moment made me feel It's scary, and after that it's just moo. Merlin, it was the first time she was so out of control at that moment, but what else scares her Moreover, the magic couldn't be controlled after that. The cancellation spells didn't work, nothing it didn't work, and the hand with the wand dropped as soon as it was pointed at the gray woolly body.

"Why don't you disenchant it yourself, Miss Granger?" Why not, Mr. Snape? Because I can't? Because I don't have enough energy after my own spell?

She wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand, brushing her wet lips casually, spewing resentment.

— Or maybe I want to be selfish and not help a person, who betrayed me?

/

Climbing onto a chair with her feet, the girl ran her fingers through her hair, slightly squeezing them at the roots. And what should she do now? She also had prospects for them, had a home and a goal to build at least some kind of family. And now she has nothing but a position, small savings and thirty years of age flashing in the near future. And what does she do now? Becoming a lonely miser like Filch with his cat? Or, I'm Sorry God, to be obsessed with your own disgust, like Snape?

Hermione dug her fingers into the cat's fur, maybe a little roughly squeezing the undercoat.

— Yes, Crookshanks? Human men are just terrible, we We can live with you without them, okay?

An ephemeral bird glided past the flattened muzzle, briefly attracting predator's attention. But after that, he was completely absorbed in the process of scratching.

— Maybe, — the girl laughed nervously, clearly being at some stage of hysteria, — we and Are we going to turn Mr. Snape into a donkey? I'm sure it will be the most grumpy and stinking beast In the world.

Cat all over the stretched, straightening his paws and substituting a half-combed section of his breast under deft fingers, leaving the hostess's offer unanswered.

In the morning, after crying a lot and feeling sorry for herself inside and out, Miss Granger found strength come to breakfast and sit with a variation of a neutral facial expression, spreading disgusting butter, on a disgusting piece of bread. Food at Hogwarts has never been served before caused so much disgust while the sorceress was looking at the chair next to her. Weasley, which was miraculously empty, but was about to fill up with his own a master.

And the fact that Mr. Snape fulfilled his promise to find-to disenchant-to interrogate Ron, She didn't doubt it at all.

— I think Mr. Weasley will be away for a while,— the professor sat down on the an empty chair next to Granger, noticing how the tired face contorted in displeasure.

— Don't Enjoy my company too much, I'm only here to avoid listening to Miss Trelawny's chatter. I hope the food on your side of the table is at least somewhat similar to human food, considering, how much Weasley manages to eat..

The girl pointedly turned sideways to him, scraping the tines of the fork on the bottom plates. Finally putting aside the dismembered casserole with raisins, the teacher She began to drink her cold coffee. And while she was debating whether to heat it up, with soft sounds of eating began to come from the man's side.

Wow, it turns out that if she's not talking to him, they may well be in each other's company for more than a few minutes. After thinking about it, the sorceress shook her head and She took a sip, casting a brief glance at her colleague, correlating his manner of eating breakfast and the little information that was known about his character.

Grandma often said how a person's behavior at the table could betray the secrets of his personalities. Maybe Hermione should have listened to her lecture more instead of running off with a book to A garden? At least for now, watching Mr. Snape eat, slowly but clearly sending in mouth each of the measured pieces, the girl might have understood at least something about this an incomprehensible person. It's true, how many years she had known him, but he always managed to find a new detail in himself, which would not leave her indifferent. Although for the most part it was exactly negative associations.

— And what makes you think he's going to be late? — Hermione asked unobtrusively, handing over further down the table is some kind of sauce pan. — Just don't lie to me that you never found him.

Snape quickly wiped his mouth with a napkin, setting aside a plate that was a third full. Perhaps this was the first time in history that there was not a woman standing next to Ron's place. emptied dishes.

— Why? — the man leaned back, lazily looking at the Ravenclaw table, — leaving the donkey in Hagrid's care was logical, I immediately offered it to you. Although, I must admit, I expected you to be more sentimental.

While the colleague was looking the other way, the girl shyly lowered her eyes, feeling yesterday's self, as a separate, emotionally unbalanced person, unlike the real one. Although, on the other hand, about ten minutes ago she was scolding bread and butter.

— So you are.. Did you disenchant him? — did you read his mind?

— Yes, — he did not even hesitate, did not give her the opportunity to suffer, just knocking out the air a short answer. And without giving a break, he continued, — and I didn't see anything new, which is so It struck you yesterday.

The sorceress raised her head, frowning at the interlocutor, forgetting about her goal sit with your back to him all through breakfast. She still didn't understand what he meant, and The distant expression on someone else's face didn't help at all. Although who is she kidding? This is Professor Snape, his words have always been hidden there are so many subtexts of selected shit and poison that no one would have collected a specific collector.

— I've always considered Mr. Weasley to be a narrow—minded person. If you want to ask about your If there was a quarrel, then I didn't go into details. Although he was clearly mistaken when he said "cold" and "prim" by in relation to you. You have so much energy,— the latter was said with a special snide in a tone hinting rather at the silly activity of a chicken running around the yard without a head, rather than the healthy vigor of a young body.

— Sir, leave me without comment, you are not in the cinema, — maybe louder than you would like, The cup was placed on the table, barely missing the edge of the plate. Hermione was catching it again thinking that starting at least some kind of conversation with Snape in the morning is equivalent to a meeting with a dementor. There is no pleasure, the appetite is spoiled, and the desire to transgress where It was becoming more relevant than ever. The only difference is that this dementor couldn't be driven away with a simple patronus. She maight get a counter-spell to the back of her head.

— Let me guess, Mr. Weasley was so shocked to see you that he decided to stay on sick leave for a few more days? — she crossed eyes with someone A junior from the Slytherin faculty, and they played peek-a-boo for a few seconds, before the girl looked away first.

— You've always been bad at divination, Miss Granger, — the girl no longer reacted at his banter, finishing my coffee neutrally, thinking about my own and nothing in particular.

— No, he's He cannot join the dinners because it is extremely inconvenient to hold a fork with his hooves. Although it is unlikely that he would be embarrassed by devouring food directly from a plate.

He watched her closely, noticing in time how the distant face was transformed into confused with notes of light, but so familiar gloating. Even if she is depressed.

— But you said you had disenchanted him.

—Do I have any reason to lie to you, Granger? — The question hovered in the void, somewhere between her his eyes were wide open in confusion and his attentive, inquisitive dark gaze. On For a moment, a grin crept into the corners of the man's lips, spreading all over the lower part of his face. — I just turned him back.

— You turned Ron into a donkey,— the girl repeated softly, not believing, looking at him with such a dumbfounded, which even made him uncomfortable.

— And don't accuse me of imitation, this spell will fall off "by itself" in a couple of days, — she continued to look with brown, moist and slightly red eyes from lack of sleep.

He could have sworn that her was having a fit of hysteria was just one of many over the past day. "Cold"? The woman who dared to throw Selenzio at him definitely couldn't be cold. Rather more insane. And before a colleague had time to ask him a logical, but such an undesirable question for him "Why?", he was already getting up from his/someone else's place, throwing the last one at the girl, almost benevolent of his views.

— And yes, try to turn your next lover into something less overall, since I have to disenchant them. Have a nice day, Miss Granger.