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A Lesson in Loyalty	By : llorolalluvia Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 5572 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the characters from it and I am not making any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
…*~*J*~*…
Severus leaned back in his chair and tried—in vain—to get comfortable. It was the first staff meeting of the year and he was already bored just watching the casual chitchat of the other professors waiting for Dumbledore to call the meeting to attention. Slughorn—odious man—slapped the new Defense teacher on the shoulder in good humor and practically shouted in his colleague’s face.
“Severus, my boy!” he began, causing Snape to grimace. “You never told me Harry Potter was such a natural at Potions!”
…What?
Ah, surely he was cheating off of the Granger girl.
“If that boy is a natural at Potions, then Mrs Norris is a chaser for Gryffindor.” He replied drily. Then he caught Minerva’s eye and added, “Not entirely implausible.” Her scowl brought a sneer to his face.
“Oh, but he is!” Slughorn insisted. Severus’s good humor was quickly deteriorating.
“Horace,” he began roughly, “that boy has no more skill with Potions than I do with embroidery. If he’s done well in your class it’s because he’s copying off of his bushy haired companion.” Slughorn gawked at him stupidly. Severus sighed. Must he spell everything out for these imbeciles? “Hermione Granger.”
“What? Granger? Don’t be ridiculous, Severus! She doesn’t even sit with him!” Severus rolled his eyes. Not my class. Not my problem. “And besides, Harry could beat her at Potions any day!” At that, Severus let out a bark of laughter. The old fool couldn’t honestly believe that.
“Potter and Weasley have only ever scraped through my classes and only because of Miss Granger’s help. Their Calming Draughts would kill a horse. I refuse to believe he is suddenly a prodigy.”
“Oh Willoby is a sad case true enough, but you should have seen Harry’s batch of Draught of Living Death! I haven’t seen a more perfect batch since you were a student!” Snape stared at him. Something was very, very wrong. And he was going to find out what.
Dumbledore stood up at that moment and the meeting began, but at least now Severus had something to occupy his mind while they strategized about teaching the next generations of wizards. It wasn’t until mention of the upcoming trip to Hogsmeade that Severus’s attention was finally caught.
“Filius, Horace and Severus will chaperone…” he heard the old fart declare.
“What?” he protested angrily. Albus knew he absolutely loathed chaperoning these damned ventures.
“Oh Severus, don’t start.” Replied Dumbledore cheerfully. “Everyone is going to get a turn this year. You won’t be able to weasel your way out. And besides, I believe you are in need of a trip to the Apothecary. Am I right?” Severus glowered, but otherwise said nothing. The Headmaster had a point. Besides, this way he could introduce Granger to the owner, so that she could make any futures runs for him. Resigned, Severus returned to his speculation on the sudden improvement in Potter’s Potions proficiency.

…*~*J*~*…
The next morning as Harry, Ron and Hermione headed down to breakfast, they were suddenly stopped by an eager looking Cormac McLaggen (although it may be said that he never didn’t look eager).
“Good morning!” he began cheerfully. “Boys, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like a word with your friend here.” Hermione shot them both stern glances that told them they had better not leave her alone with him.
“Oh well we were on our way down to breakfast, so I’m sure whatever you want to say you can just say in front of them.” Hermione attempted to walk past him, but he stepped in front of her, nearly making her collide with his solid mass.
“Ah, well, I had only hoped to ask you if you might accompany me to Hogsmeade this weekend,” he said smoothly. Hermione stared blankly at him. She couldn’t come up with an excuse for the life of her.
“Hermione’s already promised to go with us!” Ron interjected. She was surprised at the vehemence behind his words. But then, he was not exactly part of the McLaggen fan club.
“Oh, come now, surely you can part with her for a few hours?” McLaggen persuaded.
“No. We really can’t.” replied Ron in a tone of finality. Hermione could see that his face was flushed with anger and she suddenly felt very uncomfortable. “Come on, Hermione.” Ron grabbed Hermione’s wrist and began to drag her past a confused McLaggen as Harry followed behind them.
As they neared the Great Hall, Ron’s angry stomping was assuaged by the heavenly smell of his breakfast waiting for him. When at last they rounded the corner into the Hall the three of them practically collided with Professor Snape. The boys quickly slipped around him and ran off toward the Gryffindor table, but Hermione hesitated and mumbled a word of apology before attempting to do the same.
Snape’s hand shot out and grabbed her shoulder—rather roughly—to detain her. “A word, Miss Granger,” he commanded before releasing her. She backed up and he stepped to the side of the entryway. “In lieu of our lesson this Saturday, I was hoping you might accompany me to Hogsmeade.”
Hermione blinked. After McLaggen’s offer, she was rather taken aback by having the same proposal from her professor. At her hesitation, Snape seemed to blanch and she could feel her cheeks heating with shame at her own stupidity. But surprisingly, he did not react with sarcasm or scorn. In fact, he cleared his throat awkwardly and she could have sworn there was a teensy tinge of color on his cheeks.
“I have been given the… privilege… to chaperone this particular weekend and I wanted to use the opportunity to show you the apothecary.” He explained.
“Oh! Of course! That would be fine, Professor. I would love to see the apothecary!” She exclaimed. He seemed rather taken aback by her enthusiasm and awkwardly shifted on his feet before responding.
“Fine.” He said simply. Then, “I will expect you to have thoroughly dissected that text I lent you by then.”
“Yes, sir.” She agreed emphatically. He shifted again, then swept past her on his way toward the dungeons.

…*~*J*~*…
Saturday morning was considerably less warm than the previous weekend had been, but the student body was nevertheless excited to leave the castle. The first hogsmeade trip of the year promised to be a grand escape from the confines of the castle grounds and the students were practically salivating as they went through the line to have their permission forms checked.
The slobbering imbeciles.
Severus Snape had been given the honor of standing at the gate and looking over every…single…bloody fucking…permission form! But he repaid that kindness by savoring the way his threatening scowl dampened the moods of the students, if only a little. When the Granger girl stepped up to him she had the nerve to give him a shy smile as he looked over her papers. Foolish chit. It’s as if she thinks we’re in some sort of club together now. Like we’re… friends, he thought with disgust. He made sure to give her an especially dark scowl as she passed and her mask slipped to show the anxiety she was apparently feeling about this venture.
As she passed on through the gates, he could sense her hanging back, and it occurred to him that he had not discussed when exactly they would head off to the apothecary together. He prayed she wasn’t going to try to walk the whole way to Hogsmeade with him. Severus shuddered.
Instead, Severus found himself walking as slow as humanly possible all the way down the long road that led to the village. Granger was walking alone at the end of the long stream of students, letting each one pass by her as they went. By her equally slow pace it was painfully evident that she was waiting for him to catch up to her. Bloody stupid girl! And he was going to have to put up with her today, Severus groaned. He could already feel a headache forming and rolled his shoulders in an effort to relieve the tension.
Granger looked pretty tense too, and he couldn’t blame her. After all, she had agreed to spend her Hogsmeade trip with the most hated person at Hogwarts. By the clumsy way she was walking he knew she was very aware of his eyes on her back. Perhaps she thought he was lagging behind just so he could watch her walk. No. She’s not so vain.
It was pretty ridiculous to imagine that he was ogling her skinny backside. Although… he had to admit, it’s not so skinny. It was true. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but Hermione Granger was certainly not the stick of a girl she once was. There was a definite curve from her slender waist to the gentle swell of her hips. And those muggle jeans certainly showed off her newly acquired bum. Even with her clumsily awkward steps, her hips swayed sweetly and her jeans pinched her little ass, alternating sides with each step.
A stirring in his trousers brought Severus back to present and he felt a wave of guilt as he realized where his wandering mind had taken him. That guilt somehow translated to anger at the Granger girl for being such a nuisance. It was improper for him to think about any student in such a way, but especially the bushy-haired, buck-toothed, insufferable know-it-all who lived to keep precious Potter and his idiot ginger from killing themselves. And he was going to have to deal with her soon.
When they reached Hogsmeade, the girl stopped and stood facing the shops, trying to act as if she were not waiting. Severus scowled as he approached, unsure just what scathing remark would be best to humiliate her for putting him in this position.
Instead, he opted for striding right past her. As he did, his cloak reached out just enough to brush her legs and he heard her little gasp of surprise.
A sneer spread across his greasy countenance. Your move, Granger. He chuckled. See how she deals with that.
But when he looked back a short while later to see how she had taken it, she was gone. That brought him to an abrupt stop as he looked around for signs of the girl. He was caught between anger and laughter as he considered what to do next. He could head on to the apothecary, but it wouldn’t do to return with her later.
Instead, Severus slipped inside The Three Broomsticks and made his way through the crowded pub to the bar. Deciding he deserved a firewhisky, Severus set himself up with a view of the door and sipped on a glass of the amber liquid, no longer worried about the outcome of the day. He was certain that Granger was feeling anxious enough for the two of them, wherever she was.
A little while later, he recognized her wild tangle of hair through the window and watched her make her way to the pub’s door. Grinning, Severus waited until she saw him before draining his glass and making his way toward her.
She was frozen to the spot as her professor approached, guilt written eloquently across her face. “Well, Miss Granger, if you’re quite through wasting my time, I think you remember we have a lot to do.” He said silkily. He watched her flush and then, to his surprise, she scowled.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen that expression on her face, Severus mused. And he had to admit, he kind of liked it.
“Very well, Professor,” she replied. “I’m perfectly ready whenever you’re through indulging yourself.”
There was a moment of shock between the both of them. Severus could not quite believe what she had said. And from the looks of it, neither could she.
“Ten points from Gryffindor.” He said simply, when he’d recovered. And he swept through the door, leaving her to follow him obediently. He had no doubt she would do so.

…*~*J*~*…
Hermione watched the dark billowing folds of her professor’s robes as he led her to their destination. She didn’t know what had possessed her to say such a thing to him, but was quite sure she may well have ruined everything.
She had just been so mad at him for making her feel so foolish earlier. After all, he had been the one to ask her to accompany him today. Not the other way around. She felt a little better because she was pretty sure he couldn’t actually deduct points outside of Hogwarts, but she knew he was going to make her pay for her rudeness.
When they reached the apothecary, he didn’t even bother to hold the door for her. When she entered, he was already at the counter, speaking to the owner. Hermione lifted her chin and strode over to the two men. She was not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her hesitation and anxiety. No, he already had far too much power over her.
“Ah, as you can see my assistant has finally decided to join us,” Snape told the man behind the counter. The comment had the opposite effect than he’d intended, however, because Hermione was thrilled to be called his ‘assistant’.
“Hermione Granger,” she said boldly, thrusting her hand out to the old man and making it seem as if her professor had forgotten his manners. Indeed, the man seemed rather taken aback, much to her satisfaction.
“Pleased to meet you,” he finally said, accepting her hand awkwardly. “I’m Lysander Pudge.”
“It’s very nice to meet you too, Mr. Pudge.” Hermione gave the man an enthusiastic smile.
“I’m sure,” Snape grunted offhandedly. “Now if you’ll kindly let go of the man, so he can fill our order.” Mr. Pudge jumped to attention, dropping Hermione’s hand to scan the list of ingredients Snape had handed to him. He summoned a gangly boy—whom he neglected to introduce—and thrust the list of ingredients into his hand, returning his full attention to Hermione, much to her dismay. She began to study the many shelves of jars behind the counter, many of which she had never seen before. She wondered idly how many of these things were never used for potions at Hogwarts. And if so, who did buy them? And what could they possibly be brewing that would never be brewed at Hogwarts?

…*~*J*~*…
Severus’s patience was wearing thin with Pudge. The man was ogling his student! From the moment the stupid chit had walked into the shop and thrust her dainty little hand into that of the old apothecary, he had been watching her every move with an ugly leer. Severus only looked on with growing distaste.
Miss Granger seemed completely oblivious to the unwanted attention as she gazed in fascination at their surroundings. For some strange reason he found himself pleased to have shown her the place. If only the damn shop owner would stop staring at her snug top! He felt a surge of revulsion at the reminder that he had been ogling her too. He was no better. But damn, as her professor, he felt responsible for the girl; and strangely protective.
When the boy had managed to locate all of the items on his list, Severus turned to Pudge again. “Put it on the Hogwarts account. Also, I may have Miss Granger run my errands from now on. You may put any orders she gives you on the Hogwarts account as well.”
Severus wanted to smack the shocked look off of the girl’s face as he led her to the door. She seemed as reluctant to leave as Pudge was to let them, but Severus managed to tear her attention from the shelves of herbs long enough to get her outside.
“I’ve never seen so many different potions ingredients!” She exclaimed as they headed away from the shop.
“Yes,” he replied drily, “one generally sees a good deal of potions ingredients in an apothecary.” The girl had the nerve to giggle at that and Severus had the impulse to knock her over the head. The little fool was so blind to her surroundings that she didn’t even know when someone was ogling or patronizing her!
“I know, but it’s just amazing to see how many there are! I mean, we never use half of those ingredients at Hogwarts!”
“You never use half of them, Granger. Who’s to say whether or not I have used them?”
“Well, I haven’t seen them in the storeroom.” Severus sneered.
“Just because I do not keep everything on hand does not mean I do not occasionally use them. Do you always have every different kind of food you’ve ever eaten in your pantry?” Granger seemed to consider this.
“I never thought of it like that,” she said dreamily.
When Severus returned to the castle after the last of the stragglers had finally gotten their asses back to Hogwarts, he was greeted with an urgent summons to the Headmaster’s office. Apparently Miss Bell had had an unfortunate accident involving a familiar cursed necklace. Studying the piece, he was amazed she had survived the incident at all. But he immediately knew exactly what had happened. And he knew he had been neglecting something very important.
Draco.

…*~*J*~*…
- 5
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- 7
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A Lesson in Loyalty