A/N: Thanks for all the encouraging reviews! woodshark, hnwhitlock2000, Hazel08, JordanGoombette, earley1991, silverose29, Stacy Vorosco, HPFanGirl01, Startled Boris, Inez Stringos, Wild-eyes99, Petite Mule, Lover of Fantasy, WaterbendingBabe, moviemeister76, vampirela69, Katzenpfote, MoonGirl1840, CarnivorousOak, SK7786 -thanks for the defense! - melonka, Angelwells, Sev01, joanna-archer, Mel, DedicatedReader, Marble Meadow, Hey, Dontcallmesweetie, Mrs Shelley Black, memorieslost05, and KittyPimms...you are all awesome!
I didn't get quite as far as I meant to in this chapter, but it just kept writing itself... damn creative musings.
Bound to Him
Chapter 26
Severus sighed as he took a sip of his coffee during breakfast. He raked his eyes over each inhabitant of the Slytherin table, looking for any outward signs of disturbance, treachery, or horse-play. Upon seeing none, he allowed himself a satisfied smirk and then glanced challengingly towards Minerva.
The elder witch sat stiffly, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes as she scrutinized her own house table. He followed her gaze towards a group of fourth-year boys who were conspicuously glancing about the Great Hall and passing something beneath the table. He shook his head at the blatantly obvious behavior of the Gryffindor students, and then narrowed his stare in an attempt to discern the nature of the contraband.
Almost immediately he became aware of a female voice in his head expressing the same concern. His eyes travelled instantly towards Miss Granger's form rising from the table. Out of the corner of his eye, he witnessed McGonagall relaxing somewhat as the girl confidently strode towards the offending students. His interest suddenly piqued, he tuned out the conversation Lupin and Vector were holding around him and focused most of his attention on the information coming in through the connection with the girl.
"Good morning, Henry," she said cheerfully, squishing herself between two of the boys. "Michael, Reynold, Parker."
The four boys mumbled greetings in return, and Snape could see two of them drop their gaze to the table.
"It's such a lovely day, isn't it?" she asked in a sugary sweet voice that he could not quite believe belonged to her. When the boys answered in the affirmative, her tone suddenly became much harsher. "I would hate to have to ruin it by taking away points, but I will do what I must if you don't hand over whatever Weasley product you're hiding under there."
Eyes widened as the boys scrambled to supply a defense.
"Perhaps you misunderstood," Hermione smiled with a glance to the rest of the table, who appeared blissfully unaware of the true nature of the interaction. "I wasn't offering you a choice to not turn it in. What I am offering is the chance to turn it in without further consequence. However, should you opt against this, I will forcibly remove it from you, strip you each of five points, report you to Professor McGonagall, and then send a do-not-sell order with the four of your names to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. And believe you me, they will comply."
Severus snickered as he watched their jaws dropped and then as they quickly scrambled to produce a small assortment of miniature Whiz-bangs on top of the table.
Hermione smiled and banished the items to the large pocket of her robe. She stood up from the bench and sighed. "Thank you, gentlemen. Enjoy the rest of your day."
A proud sniffing noise drew Snape's attention back to the Head Table. Minerva was leaning back in her seat looking visibly pleased.
"I heard you had to sack one of your prefects," he quietly taunted, interrupting the witch's good mood. "I must say I was most surprised to hear of it."
Minerva snapped her head in his direction, glaring at him over Lupin's lowered head. "I have not sacked anyone, Severus – merely suspended his duties temporarily."
"Only a matter of time," he smirked, taking another sip of coffee.
The witch coldly shook her head. "Well at least I hold my prefects to a certain code of conduct."
Snape understood perfectly as she gestured with her eyes in the direction of Draco Malfoy, but feigned ignorance and returned his attention to the rest of the Great Hall. After checking once again on his house table, he found his eyes drifting back towards the Gryffindor side. With a soft sigh, he subtly scrutinized Miss Granger as she sat amongst her friends.
She was sitting perfectly still, a neutral expression on her face as she gracefully picked up a piece of toast. To the rest of the world, she looked calm, but the inside of her head was mess. She was foremost concerned with keeping up appearances, evidenced by the fact she kept replaying yesterday's Potions lesson through her mind. She had taken his message to heart, fully participating in the remainder of her classes that day, if only to avoid the further trauma of having him control her again. She was not nearly as accepting of his treatment of her as she had pretended to be in front of him, and Severus knew he had once again damaged her trust in him. However, she seemed resolved to struggle on in spite of it.
The corners of his eyes pinched as he realized he should not know all of this. Hermione deserved the privacy of her own mind, and he wished he could give her that. Not only for her benefit, but for his as well. He currently knew way too much about the goings-on of Gryffindor Tower, and was now painfully aware of just how much everyone expected of the girl.
Not only was she preoccupied by their convoluted relationship, but she was also worried about several of her peers. Obviously, she had been affected by the weekend's Weasley meltdown, and was annoyingly concerned over each of the participants. The girl was also anxious about the possibility of Potter's and Weasley's friendship becoming strained. Apparently The-Boy-Who-Lived was more focused on winning the Quidditch Cup than keeping his friend happy. More so than that, he was lusting after the boy's sister, whose resemblance to Lily was almost uncanny.
Beyond that, though, the girl was troubled about the Weasley brat's apparent regards for her, and was desperately trying to think of a way to let him down gently without damaging his feelings or their friendship. What seemed to make it more difficult for her was that had circumstances been different, Miss Granger would have willingly accepted his affections, and would have likely returned them.
Severus blew out a breath and then took another slow sip of coffee. She had just as many secrets swimming around in her head as he had in his, and yet she generally managed to hold her temper and keep everyone else from exploding at each other. How she could do that all and still receive top marks was astounding.
Suddenly, Miss Granger seemed to become aware that she was being watched, and began glancing about the room. As her eyes met his, she startled almost imperceptibly and immediately dropped her gaze to the table.
Snape grimaced and then averted his eyes from her figure. He scanned the room diligently, and could not help but feel a small sense of gratitude to Potter for not picking out a worse individual to befriend. The giggling, brainless Lavender Brown, for instance, or even worse - Luna Lovegood. If he were facing a lifetime full of gnargles and bollywockers and other such nonsense, he surely would be hard-pressed to find a reason not to march straight up to Voldemort and declare loudly that the Dark Lord's face looked like something a cat had coughed up, re-eaten, and shat back out again.
Besides, he greatly doubted that any other girl under his tutelage would have held up half as well. Or developed her own method of Occlumency, for that matter. Smirking, he thought back to how she had done it – somehow she had focused her mind and had used it almost as if it were a wand. If she had been able to utilize it to hide away her memories, he wondered what else could be done with it.
He had previously considered the possibility of simply willing her side of the connection to be inaudible, but all attempts to do so had failed. If he could attempt her method, however, maybe it could work. If he could manipulate his mind to direct his magic, perhaps he could silence her thoughts.
What am I supposed to do? Simply pretend my brain is a wand and launch a silencing spell at her? Severus snorted, and rubbed his forehead. Shifting in his chair, he realized that Minerva was watching him with a curious eye. He glared coldly until she rolled her eyes and looked away, and then refocused his mind on his task.
Closing his eyes, he slowed his breathing somewhat and retreated into his mental-scape. He could sense that his Occlumency shields were on full alert, waiting to spring into place at the slightest hint of intrusion. Glancing about the dark space, he could see where her inner monologue was streaming in from some invisible source. At one desperate moment, he had even attempted to block the leak by shoving a bunch of imaginary rocks into the hole, but the strong flow had instantly burst through it. He had then tried covering the space with his hands, only to find the surge slipping through the cracks between his fingers.
Now, as he watched the energy swirling around him, he contemplated the fact that, unless he intentionally focused on her thoughts, he could not see images as he had at first. He had managed after a great deal of time to occlude those, but unfortunately that protection had not extended to sound – or perceived sound, as it were.
Thinking again of Granger's method, he sighed and began shutting out all of his own thoughts. It's worth a shot, at least.
With intense focus, he attempted to find the edges of his mental magic and pull them together. After a few seconds' worth of attempts, it did appear to be working, and he could feel the power condensing within his grasp. Astounded, he turned to focus his own energy on the invading stream, and steadied himself.
He swallowed nervously before mentally shouting, 'Silencio!'
There was an intense shaking as magical energy shot forth from his hands and collided with the torrent of her thoughts. As the vibrations died away, he released his hold on his magic, and watched in amazement as it began to dissipate back across the space.
Well, that was at least interesting, even if it didn't work. His mental image shrugged and decided it was time to head back to reality, when suddenly he realized his voice was alone in his own head. Spinning, he turned to look at Hermione's stream of consciousness – it was still as vibrant as ever….but it was silent.
Jumping back in surprise, Severus found himself spiraling out of his head and back into his seat. He jerked noticeably as his eyes flew open, and then cursed as he spilled the rest of his hot coffee down the back of his hand.
"Severus, are you alright?" McGonagall questioned, while Lupin and Vector both stared at him in amused concern.
Snape glanced at the deputy headmistress, then quickly in the direction of the Gryffindor table where Hermione seemed to be blissfully unaware of anything having happened. Clearing his throat, he raised his brow and pushed his chair back from the table.
"Indeed," he muttered as he stood, pulling his injured hand into his sleeve. "Merely forgot to slip the poison into Lupin's monthly smoothie."
A number of snorts erupted from those within hearing distance, and Minerva shook her head. "If I didn't know any better, Severus, I'd think you actually enjoy Remus's company."
Glaring at the pleased look on the Defense instructor's face, he rolled his eyes and shuddered. "I think you need your head examined, Minerva. You're becoming nearly as senile as our most fearless leader."
"Bite your tongue, young man!" she shouted after him as he stepped down from the dais, and stalked down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables.
Snape ignored the deputy headmistress's outburst, choosing instead to focus his attention on Miss Granger as he passed where she was sitting. From the corner of his eye, he could see her gaze briefly flicker towards him and then immediately snap back to Potter. She laughed at something the boy said, and then offered a gentle chastisement in response.
Over the chatter of the room, he could not make out exactly what had been said, but it mattered little to him. He could not hear her in his head, and it had not affected her ability to speak in the least. He did not know how long the effect would last, but for now he would count it as a victory.
And as a celebration, he was going to stop by his quarters and apply burn salve to his hand.
X x x x x x x x X x x x x x x x X
"Perhaps he really has gone to poison me," Remus sighed, watching as Snape slammed the door against the wall and disappeared around the corner.
"Nonsense," Minerva clucked, taking a sip of her tea. "He enjoys verbally abusing you too much."
He chuckled softly and shook his head. "He has seemed in bit of a mood lately, though. I suspect he's still bitter over losing the Defense position to me…again."
The witch took in a deep breath, glancing briefly in Hermione's direction, before turning her attention back to the man beside her.
Remus noticed she wore a sobered expression and cocked his head. "Something the matter, Minerva?"
McGonagall tightened her lips, shrugged, and then lowered her voice. "I don't think he actually wants the position, you know. At least not until circumstances are different."
The man raised his eyebrows in surprise and frowned. "But why does he keep applying for it then, if he doesn't want it?"
"Think about it, Remus," she said sternly with a pointed stare.
A puzzled look crossed his countenance as he turned back to his plate. He mulled her words over as he slowly chewed his last piece of bacon. As he swallowed, the light of realization appeared in his eyes. "Certain people expect it of him, don't they?"
She gave a solemn dip of her head as her eyes scanned the hall.
Lupin cleared his throat and rested his chin on his hands. "It would make the line that much harder to walk, wouldn't it?"
"Indeed it would," she nodded, tossing her cloth napkin onto the table and pushing her chair back from the table.
"Leaving already?" he asked.
Minerva sighed and gestured towards the Gryffindor table. "I thought I would have a word with Miss Granger before she makes her way to your class."
Remus suddenly glanced out at the girl. "She certainly seems better adjusted today. I would have assumed you had already spoken with her."
The witch shook her head. "I had meant to, certainly. Unfortunately, though, I was busy most of yesterday trying to smooth things over with Mr. Thomas's parents. His mother and step-father were quite understandably upset over the owl they received over the weekend."
"I would have thought Dumbledore would handle that."
McGonagall snorted and peeked up at the Headmaster with a shake of her head. She looked back at Lupin and smiled. "One would assume."
The man chuckled again, smiling. "I've always assumed you were the one actually running things around here."
Her eyes widened in amusement as she stood from her chair. "Don't let the secret out."
X x x x x x x x X x x x x x x x X
"What the -" Ron suddenly sputtered, dropping his toast to his plate. "Tell me you all just saw that."
Harry and Hermione exchanged strange looks and then glanced at their friend, who had until then had been quietly sulking.
"See what, Ron?" Harry asked.
The redhead gestured towards the Head Table where Snape had just stood. "Snape! He just -"
"Professor Snape," she corrected.
"Okay, Professor Snape, then," he adjusted with a smirk, "I think he just fell asleep! His eyes were closed, and then all of a sudden he came to with a start and spilled something on himself."
Hermione could tell the dark-robed wizard was walking in their direction, and as he strode past their table, she summoned the courage to look at him.
"Maybe he had a nightmare that he was teaching Potions, dressed like Neville's grandmother," Harry snickered.
She fearfully pulled her attention back to the boy across from her, worried that the Slytherin Head would be upset over their conversation, and take it out on them later that afternoon.
"That would give anyone a start," Neville muttered mournfully from beside Harry.
"'Specially the hat," Ron agreed.
Hermione found herself laughing in spite of her fear as she remembered the image of the boggart Snape. She quickly shook her head, though, and sighed at her friends. "Honestly, Harry – you shouldn't poke fun at him. He is a professor, after all."
"A professor who doesn't hesitate to rip us to shreds, though," Ron supplied.
She grimaced almost imperceptibly, but otherwise pretended to ignore the redhead.
"It's not like he's going to hear us, anyway," Harry added. "If he had, we would be paying for it already."
"You still shouldn't," she sighed, looking at her plate. After a few moments, she shrugged. "Besides, he probably doesn't get much sleep."
"Guess that could explain why he's a foul git all the time."
Hermione rolled her eyes as Harry and Neville laughed at Ron's comment. As she fiddled with her fork, she silently willed an apology towards the professor. She had just begun to contemplate whether or not he would actually respond when a gentle throat clearing caught her attention.
"Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall greeted her with a smile. "Thank you for handling the little incident this morning. I trust you'll keep the items safe."
The girl smiled and nodded. "Do you want them now?"
"No, no," the elder witch shook her head. "You can drop them by my office later. Thursday night would be fine, if you have no objections."
"Erm, no," Hermione answered, with a look of slight confusion.
"Good. I've been meaning to have a chat with you," Minerva nodded, patting the girl on the shoulder while glancing sternly at the three boys who were staring at them. "I'll see all of you in class this afternoon. Longbottom, Potter, Weasley – do behave yourselves."
As the deputy headmistress calmly strode away, Ron blushed and sank in his seat. "She hates me."
Hermione shook her head. "She doesn't hate you, Ronald – and neither does Ginny. Though, I think they both would appreciate it if you don't assault any more of Ginny's boyfriends."
"I suppose you're right," he sighed, before narrowing his eyes in a panic. "Hold on! What do you mean 'any more of Ginny's boyfriends'? Just how many boyfriends does she have?"
She sighed, shooting a meaningful glance towards Harry, who had suddenly become interested in arranging his silverware. She then gave Ron a disapproving look. "I didn't mean she had more than one now. I just meant she may not always be going out with Dean."
"Bloody hell," he muttered angrily.
"Oh, grow up, Ronald," she groaned. "She went out with Michael Corner last year, and you didn't beat him up."
"Yeah, well, that was different," he grumbled. "I thought Dean was my friend, til I caught him snogging my sister. He betrayed my trust, dinnit he?"
She let out a frustrated hiss, and understood perfectly when Harry suddenly stood up from the table and made to leave.
"Oi," Ron called out to him. "What's with you?"
Harry sighed and answered without turning around. "Forgot my Defense book."
"Oh."
Hermione waited until Harry was out of earshot before rounding on the boy beside her. "You are being completely ridiculous!"
"You just don't get it, 'Mione," he responded. "You don't have a sister, and you're not a guy."
"And thank goodness for that!" she hissed, standing up and grabbing her bookbag.
"Where are you going?" he asked in surprise.
"To class!" she answered, whirling around and beginning to walk away.
"But Remus hasn't even left yet!" Ron cried, gesturing towards the Head Table.
"Then I won't be late!"
X x x x x x x x X x x x x x x x X
Severus sighed as the last fourth-year Hufflepuff slipped out of his classroom and sent the door slamming shut before collapsing in his chair. He glanced at the clock and gave a small grunt. There were still twenty-three minutes before he had to open the door for the sixth years. Twenty-three minutes of time to himself.
Twenty-three minutes to get rid of this massive headache. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he pulled out the top drawer of his desk and blindly felt around for a flask of headache-relief potion. Finally succeeding, he popped off the cap, not caring where it landed, and quickly downed the pea-green liquid. He grimaced slightly at the aftertaste and banished the empty vial back to his personal lab.
"You brought this on yourself, you know," he muttered bitterly as he massaged his temple. Messing with your head all day long. Idiot.
Since his apparent success at breakfast, Snape had spent any free time he had practicing how to silence and un-silence Granger's thoughts. He had become quite good at it, as a result, being able to send a mental 'Silencio' or 'Finite Incantetum' within a matter of a few seconds. It was actually fascinating to witness just how well it worked. He had absolute order in his head for the first time since August, and, for once, he could set his entire mind to his lessons. He had been able to pick up on a few more instances of improper technique and misbehavior that had previously gone unnoticed, and, in his morning classes at least, he had felt less inclined to fly into a rage.
This did not hold true for the afternoon session of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw fourth-years, for by then his head had become a virtual pressure cooker. He had not felt this much mental strain since he had first started teaching himself Occlumency. Like an amateur, he had tried to take on too much and had overtaxed his mind. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head against the back of his chair and attempted to get a few minutes' rest.
By the time the chimes on his desk softly announced that it was nearly time to begin the next practical session, the potion had only managed to take the edge off of the pain. As such, his scowl was deeper than usual as he stalked towards the classroom door and yanked it open.
Without needing to be told, the collection of fourteen students filed past him into the room. Each of them knew his moods well enough not to look him in the eye, though Granger did chance a hesitant glance at his face. At seeing the fearful expression upon her countenance, he sighed and made a silent vow not to lose his temper as he had done in the last class.
"Turn to page eighty-seven, where you'll find the instructions for today's potion," he barked. "And clearly if you're in this class, you're intelligent enough to know where to find the ingredients."
He inwardly groaned when a number of students stared up at him in mild surprise instead of setting into work. "There will be no questions today, so you can set aside your hopes of receiving any points, and I expect silence from each of you while you are brewing. If you prove incapable of this, there will be consequences. Begin!"
Severus had noticed that Miss Granger had nearly sagged with relief at his proclamation of not asking questions, and now there was a look of pure determination on her face as she set off towards the storeroom for supplies, falling into line behind Ernie Macmillan. That was one worry gone from his mind; the only other one was –
"Watch it, Potter!" Draco hissed as he shoved the dark-haired boy against the doorframe.
Harry scowled and made a move for his wand.
"Harry, don't," Hermione whispered harshly, pulling his arm towards her. "Let it go."
"Ooh, listen to the mudblood, Potter," the blonde cooed. "Remind you of your mum, does she?"
For fuck's sake, Snape grimaced as Harry yanked his arm out of the girl's grasp and produced his wand. Immediately, the Potions Master crossed the distance and grabbed the boy by the back of his collar.
"Ten points from Gryffindor for brandishing your wand in my classroom, Potter!" he shouted, yanking the boy out of the storeroom and sending him in the direction of his table.
Severus spun back around in time to see the taunting smirk on Draco's face. "Ten points from Slytherin."
Draco's jaw dropped as he pointed towards Harry. "But, sir – he threatened me!"
"I clearly expressed that there was to be silence in this classroom," he responded with a cool glare. "Take your seat, Mr. Malfoy – before I make it fifteen points! And if I ever hear that word in my classroom again, it will be a detention!"
The blonde's mouth slammed shut as he stormed back to his seat amongst a classroom full of whispers. The sound died away, however, as soon as Snape faced the students with a murderous snarl, and several heads dropped back to focus on the work before them. Potter, though, stood by his table, devoid of any ingredients and glaring angrily at him.
Severus swallowed back a nasty retort and glanced back at the storeroom where Hermione still stood, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. "Miss Granger, deliver the necessary supplies to Misters Malfoy and Potter, since they are obviously too incompetent to procure anything for themselves."
The girl schooled her features and nodded as she set to gathering enough ingredients for three brews. She cast a hesitant glance in the professor's direction before striding over towards the Slytherin students with her head held high. Ignoring the disgusted look on their faces as she deposited the items in front of Draco, she coolly made a quick retreat to the table she shared with Harry and carefully set down their collection of ingredients. With a piercing stare at the boy next to her, she yanked on his sleeve and enthusiastically motioned towards his cauldron.
Snape watched with a sneer as Potter let out an angry huff, picked up his knife, and began violently hacking away at a pile of ginger roots. With one more warning look sent towards Draco, he slipped into the storeroom under the pretense of straightening up the shelves. When he noticed that somebody had already seen to that – Granger, more than likely – he let out a deep breath and wiped his hand across his face.
X x x x x x x x X x x x x x x x X
Hermione stared at the open storeroom door with a perplexed look on her face as she began heating the base of her cauldron. She could practically feel the rage radiating from Harry and knew from the way he was mangling the ginger root that he was imagining either Snape or Draco – or both, probably – beneath his blade. Rolling her eyes, she turned her attention away from him and caught a glimpse of Draco. He was standing as proud as he ever had, and she could imagine the self-satisfied smirk on his face. Her gut suddenly clenched with worry that Snape's outburst at the boy would cast suspicion on the spy.
As she slipped her own precisely-sliced ginger into the warm water, she chanced another glance in the blonde's direction. For a moment he had turned enough so she could see his face, and Hermione was startled by the absence of his usual smug expression. He instead seemed to be concentrating solely on his work, though, when Professor Snape reappeared in the classroom, she saw a flicker of fear cross his features. She frowned at that and looked up with a questioning gaze aimed at the man who had just emerged from the storeroom.
Snape paused a minute when he caught her stare, but responded only with a raise of his eyebrows. Hermione dropped her eyes back to the salmon-grass she was dicing and contemplated what she had seen. She had always understood that Snape had to maintain his cover in front of his Slytherins – Malfoy, especially – lest someone begin to suspect his true loyalties. Draco was a direct link to his father, who in turn was a direct link to Voldemort. Today, though, the only one who appeared to be worried about anything was the Malfoy heir.
Strange, she thought, glancing up at Snape as he walked past her to examine the progress being made by the class. Looking at the far side of the room, she witnessed Draco look nervously towards the professor and then rub the sleeve of his left arm.
"I hate him," Harry whispered heatedly, chucking his ginger root into his cauldron.
Hermione whipped her head back around in his direction, and then checked to see that Snape was still near the Slytherins. "Don't say that, Harry."
The boy raised his angry eyes to meet hers. "You heard what Draco said, and yet Snape punished me."
She scrunched her nose up in distaste as she quickly whispered, "They were just words. You pulled out your wand to attack him. McGonagall would have given you detention for that. Even I would have taken more points from you than he did, and Malfoy lost just as many points as you."
"Yeah, for not being quiet," he hissed. "Not for what he actually said to me."
"Were you even listening?" she responded hotly. "I swear, Harry, some days you can be really thick."
"He let Sirius die, Hermione!" Harry answered in a louder tone.
Hermione grimaced as Snape's eyes immediately locked onto the pair of them.
"Potter – five points from Gryffindor," he drawled almost nonchalantly as he glanced over their cauldrons. He gave no expression over hers, but sneered disdainfully at Harry's.
Hermione gave the professor an apologetic look, which he blatantly ignored as he stalked on to the next table. She waited a few minutes before sighing. By now the entire classroom was filled with the sound of bubbling potions, and she could be sure that none of the students could hear them. "No, he didn't."
"I tried to warn him about Sirius," Harry whispered again, "and he did nothing."
"Oh, and the Order just magically appeared when we needed them? Are you that dense?"
The boy narrowed his glare even further. "Stop defending him, Hermione!"
"Then stop accusing him unnecessarily," she hissed back.
"Unnecessarily?" he snapped under his breath. "You don't get it. He's not a nice guy, Hermione, and some day he's going to do something even you can't forgive him for."
Hermione felt her cheeks grow hot as she slammed a jar of beetle wings on the tabletop, catching Snape's attention from the front of the room. He gave her an obvious warning look, and she nodded once as she returned to her brewing. Choosing to focus solely on her work for the remainder of the time, she turned her body slightly so that the back of her shoulder faced Harry.
"After your shrivelfigs have properly dissolved," Snape called out half an hour later, "leave your potions under stasis, and resume working first thing tomorrow morning. Any of you who are dunderheaded enough to blunder your stasis charms shall receive a zero for both days' work and will be required to demonstrate the proper charm during Monday's lecture."
As everyone else returned their eyes to their potions, Hermione covertly watched the Potions master while she calmly stirred counterclockwise. She chewed on her lip as she glimpsed him pinching the bridge of his nose and wincing as though his head were aching. As she worked and tried to ignore the tension at her table, she would periodically peek at him through her bangs. Something seemed off, but she frowned when she could not decide what exactly was different.
"Hermione, you do realize your potion is ready, don't you?" Harry interrupted her musings a few minutes later.
She gave a slight start and glanced down at her cauldron. The potion was, in fact, the murky green color described in the text, and was more than ready to be placed under stasis. She was not quite ready to leave, though.
"Oh, erm," she stammered, "I wasn't quite sure if the color was drab enough. It still seems rather olive-toned to me."
Harry rolled his eyes as he started applying the charm to his own brew. "It's fine, Hermione."
Seeing that Snape was only a few steps away, she seized an opportunity and tossed her hand in the air. "Professor, is this the correct shade of green?"
The Slytherin Head raised an eyebrow in surprise.
When he was close enough to her, she mouthed, "Are you alright?"
He blinked once in shock, and then slowly peered into her cauldron. He cleared his throat and then answered, "It's fine."
"Are – are you sure?" she asked, meaningfully staring at him.
Snape took a step back from her and kept his face blank of emotion. "Do not bother me any more today, Miss Granger."
As he stalked away again, Hermione let out a frustrated sigh and began whispering the stasis spell.
"Perfect as usual," Harry intoned derisively as he began to clear away his excess materials.
She narrowed her eyes, staring holes in the back of his head as she followed him to the storeroom. After he haphazardly set the materials on the shelves, she sighed impatiently and began straightening them. She waited a few seconds after Harry had left, and took a deep breath to steady herself. When she felt calm enough, she strode back out into the classroom and scooped up her bag. As she turned to leave, she paused at the sight of something under the table. Checking to see that no one was watching her, she bent down to retrieve the black vial stopper. As she rolled it around in her fingers, she looked again to make sure she was unmonitored by any students and then casually flicked it in the direction of Harry's cauldron. A nasty smirk played across her face as she heard the soft plunk of the cap breaking the stasis spell and sinking into the brew.
Quietly, she slipped out of the classroom and headed towards Gryffindor Tower to ready herself for supper.
X x x x x x x x X x x x x x x x X
As Thursday's evening meal drew to a close, Hermione covered her face with her hands as Harry once again complained about his potion being ruined.
"It was Snape," he spat bitterly. "I don't care what you say, Hermione. It had to be him. He was only too happy to throw me out of the classroom yesterday."
"And maybe you just did the charm improperly," she muttered from behind her hands.
"No. I didn't."
Ron looked between the two of them with a strange expression on his face, and shrugged. "Coulda been Malfoy."
Harry suddenly lost the redness from his face as he considered the suggestion.
"I mean, he was being his usual charming self, right?" Ron prodded. "And instead of just getting you in trouble, you both got the same punishment – and from Snape, even. He probably had more reason to mess with it than Snape did – even though the slimy git probably enjoyed the outcome."
"Yeah, I guess."
Hermione peeked between her fingers and saw that the boy's anger had deflated. The smile that she had been hiding earlier had been replaced with a look of slight shock at Ron's assessment. Granted, he was still highly off-base, but it was a reasonable assumption given what information he had.
Since he doesn't know I'm petty enough to resort to sabotage over an argument. She dropped her hands and sighed. Glancing up at the Head Table she noticed that Snape was staring at her peculiarly, and that McGonagall had already left. Since the Gryffindor Head had not given a specific time for their meeting, Hermione decided that after supper was as good of a time as any.
Plus, she did not know how much longer she could keep a straight face with Harry lamenting about his upcoming presentation in Potions. With a terse good-bye, she stood up from the bench and quickly made her way out of the Great Hall. As she walked towards McGonagall's office, she began to reconsider her act of potion-tampering.
She knew full well that it had been mean and spiteful for her to do that, yet only a small part of her regretted her actions. Harry was still hurting over Sirius's death – that she understood – and he was incapable of seeing reason regarding it. It angered her that he was throwing around accusations unjustly, and it had made her blood boil when he spoke of things he could not possibly comprehend. Harry was not the only one who had faced Voldemort; he was not the only one to have been tortured; he was not the only one to have control taken away from him; he was not the only one to lose his family to the Death Eaters. She had wanted to scream all of those things at him – thoroughly admonish him – and could not do so.
Instead, she took what little satisfaction she could find in the blackened sludge of Harry's potion. She realized she had cost him two sessions' worth of points and had felt sorry for that, until a voice in her head reminded her of all the homework points she had earned for him over the years. By her account, they were not even close to equal.
And what are a few zeros in Potions anyway? Not really that important when you look at the grand scheme of things. Hermione frowned as she halted before the deputy headmistress's office. With a sigh, she pushed Harry from her thoughts and knocked on the door. When a voice bade her entrance, she forced a smile onto her face and stepped into the room.
"Oh, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall greeted, standing from her desk. "I hadn't expected you quite this early."
"Sorry," she winced, gesturing towards the door. "If this is a bad time, I could come back later."
"No, no," the woman stated quickly, nervously touching her neck while gesturing with her other arm towards an armchair. "Do take a seat. I'm sure it'll be a fine time."
Hermione raised an eyebrow in confusion as she sank into the chair. Suddenly remembering the reason she had come, she pulled a small sack out of her pocket and set it on the desk. "The whiz-bangs from Tuesday, Professor."
"Thank you," the elder witch replied, snatching up the bag and carrying it over towards a small cabinet. A variety of other Weasley products could be seen as she opened the door and deposited the sack inside. At seeing Hermione's face, the woman shrugged, "Argus Filch is not the only one with a contraband collection. And after dealing with that deplorable woman, I feel it never hurts to be prepared."
The girl let out a small laugh and gave a genuine grin.
"Now," Minerva stated, reclaiming her seat and pushing a stack of essays out of her way. "How are you, Hermione?"
"About as well as can be expected, I suppose," she answered quietly.
The woman gave a hesitant nod. "I suppose so, yes. Are you adjusting to classes? I've noticed you seem to be handling yourself well this week."
"Yes, well, Professor Snape made it abundantly clear that I am to carry on as normal." Hermione let out a sigh. "Guess the lesson stuck."
"Oh?" she quirked an eyebrow. When silence was all that met her question, she leaned forward onto her elbows. "Hermione, did he do something to make you feel uncomfortable?"
"What does it matter?" the girl shrugged apathetically. "The whole thing makes me uncomfortable. Better uncomfortable, though, than dead, right?"
McGonagall pinched her lips together in concern. "You're certainly starting to sound like him."
Hermione let out a mournful breath and sagged against the back of her seat. "You have no idea, Professor."
"Everything matters, Miss Granger," she instructed. "Your safety is vital, yes, but isn't the only important thing. Don't forget that."
The young witch nodded slowly, and then paused when she noticed McGonagall was not looking at her, but instead was deliberately staring over her head. Spinning quickly in her seat, she froze momentarily when she saw Snape standing rigidly near the door.
"Severus," Minerva addressed him tersely. "I see you're still suffering from an inability to knock. I do hope it isn't terminal."
The man rolled his eyes and folded his arms against his chest.
"I take it he's here to collect you," the deputy headmistress explained, catching Hermione's attention again. "We figured it might be easier to arrange your lessons with Professor Snape under the pretense of meeting with me – at least for the time being. It may draw less attention from the rest of the staff."
Hermione's eyes snapped to Snape as the man uttered a cough that sounded suspiciously like 'Lupin.'
"But if there's anything you would like to talk about, he's agreed to bugger off and leave the two of us be," McGonagall continued. "So if there is anything you wish to discuss now, I can ask him to leave."
Not like he wouldn't hear it anyway. The girl shook her head and stood from her chair. "I'm alright, Professor. Thank you."
She crossed over to the fireplace where Snape was waiting and flashed the woman an appreciative smile. The man beside her gave a dip of his head as he threw in a pinch of floo powder and set Hermione spinning into his own office. As he made to follow her through the green flames, the Gryffindor Head called out to him.
"Oh, and Severus – if your plan is to fail Potter so that he loses the Quidditch captaincy and improves Slytherin's chances at the Cup, you have another thing coming!"
The Potions Master snorted and disappeared into the fireplace.
X x x x x x x x X x x x x x x x X
"Imagine my surprise, Miss Granger," he drawled a short while later, "to discover that not only are you a thief, but also a budding saboteur."
Hermione grimaced and dropped her eyes to the floor, waiting for the inevitable shouting or point loss. Frankly, she was surprised he had managed to go two whole days without punishing her.
"A word of caution for any future endeavors in the subject – consider your location carefully."
She raised her head at that and stared at him quizzically.
"Had I not been in close enough proximity when Mr. Potter's potion blew, yours would have undoubtedly blown as well," he explained. "As it was, I was able to reapply the stasis charm before it reached a critical stage."
Hermione widened her eyes in surprise. "You saved my potion? Why? You could've given me a zero along with Harry."
"And discourage your apparent Slytherin tendencies? I think not." He crossed over towards his desk and perched on the edge. "It seemed a decent enough exercise in its own right. If you could lie to Potter and escape any and all suspicion, it would be a step in the right direction. That being said, the Boy Wonder is an exceptionally dense individual. Do not expect to tell the Dark Lord a bald-faced lie and survive by hiding behind your hands."
Unsure of what to say, she simply nodded and shifted in her seat.
Severus sighed and crossed his arms. "I take it Potter believes that I was the one to ruin his pathetic attempts."
"Well, either you or Malfoy."
"Predictable," he snorted.
She shrugged in agreement, and then bit her lip. "Speaking of Malfoy – Professor, aren't you worried about having punished him? It's not exactly the first time he's called me a mud – "
"I said I didn't want to hear the word from anyone," he spat quickly. "You are no exception, Miss Granger. And Draco would not risk it over a trivial classroom dispute."
"Risk what, exactly?" she pressed.
A few moments passed in tense silence, before Snape cleared his throat. "Angering the Dark Lord further. After what happened at the Ministry, his father has fallen out of favor. There is a pecking order amongst Death Eaters, and for once, I outrank him. I assume that to be part of the reason you -"
He trailed off suddenly and pushed away from his desk.
"Part of the reason what?"
"Leave it be, Miss Granger," he cautioned.
Hermione frowned as she closed her mouth. Her eyes widened as she realized what he meant. Part of the reason I was given to him.
She shuddered slightly, and was nearly caught off-guard when he suddenly spun and shouted, "Legilimens!"