A Very Horrible Idea?

"Are you still angry with us?" Ron asked.

Hermione finished her breakfast slowly, then nodded, "Yes, actually."

"Why?" He gave her a funny look, "I would give anything to get out of a few lessons! There's so much work; anybody would think that failing our N.E.W.T's means immediate death, or something!"

"If you hate lessons that much, why don't you just skip a few?" Seamus asked from next to Ron.

The red head glared at Hermione, "She'd tell on us, wouldn't she."

Hermione shook her head, "Not tell, necessarily. But if a teacher asked, I wouldn't lie."

"See!" Ron shook his head, looking disgusted, "Bloody traitor. Not everyone's as good as you, you know! Not everyone can keep up with all of the things we're meant to be remembering!"

"Well," Hermione scowled, "My hand was fine yesterday. There was no reason for me to see Madam Pomfrey and no reason for me to miss any lessons!"

Ron opened his mouth, but Harry spoke quickly, "Don't even bother, Ron. You know what she's like. She trusts him, doesn't she."

"I have no reason to distrust him! He fixed a huge hole in my hand and, quite honestly, he did a good job! Look -" Hermione said, thrusting her hand out angrily, "No scar!" She turned to Ron, "And as for your idea of him using poison -" She stood up, "Does it look like there's anything wrong with me?"

As she left the Great Hall, Ron shook his head, "Where did her parents go wrong?"

""""""""""""""""""""

Severus watched her leave. He wondered whether she had noticed that her earrings were missing; she didn't seem to. That just annoyed Severus.

Thinking of the day before, Severus looked over to the Slytherin table, but Malfoy wasn't there. He was probably in the common room sulking. Either that, or he was formulating a plan for revenge. Personally, Severus hoped for the former, but knew that it was more likely for it to be the latter.

He also hoped that Malfoy was not going to attempt any sort of revenge on Hermione - as he had now, reluctantly, permitted himself to call her. Last night, after having time to think deeply -too deeply, in his opinion - on the matter, Severus had found himself indescribably angry at the thought of somebody hurting her.

He was starting to feel strangely protective of her; something that had never happened with any of his former obsessions. It made him feel sick to think of anything happening to her. If she was not around to interest him, he would probably have gone mad by now.

But sometimes, he felt as if he was going mad. He spent every minute of the day thinking about her, wondering what she was doing - in fact, it was lucky that he could multi-task, otherwise his classes really would be in trouble.

""""""""""""""""""""

The day was filled with teachers giving her sympathetic looks and taking points from Slytherin for no reason, other than the fact that Draco Malfoy had injured their favorite student. The Seventh Years didn't have Potions that day, so there was no respite for the Blonde Slytherin, no Professor Snape to favor him.

Hermione had never really been angry with Harry and Ron, just annoyed at their childish ways. Would they ever understand the concept of 'Snape-may-be-a-vicious-unfair-and-generally-unpleasent-man-but-he-isn't-trying-to-kill-us!'?

He had never tried to kill them, but the boys just couldn't let go of the impression that Snape gave them in their first year. In fact, most of the time, he had been trying to make sure they were safe.

Sort of like tough love, Hermione thought. Well, it was more like tough hate-but-i'm-a-Professor-and-have-to-look-after-you-even-though-i-would-rather-chop-you-up-and-put-you-in-a-potion. Harry and Ron seemed to see Malfoy as a miniature Snape, but Hermione disagreed, mainly because Snape - unlike Malfoy - had never tried to cause them any serious harm. Yes, he had said - and was still saying - some pretty horrible things, but sticks and stones and so on...

That night, Hermione finished her Charms essay and helped Harry and Ron with theirs. She had just finished checking them when Ginny slumped down in the chair beside her.

"Do any of you have one of those quills that does spell-checks? I can't remember how to spell most of the things that Snape wants in this essay." She said miserably, waving a piece of parchment.

Ron looked up, "I have one... but I think the spell's wearing off."

Hermione picked up her essay and books, and stood up, "I've got one."

Ginny sighed with relief, "Thanks Hermione."

Hermione hurried up to her room and piled the books and pieces of parchment on her desk. She pulled open one of the draws and pushed some stuff around. Usually she was very organized, but Crookshanks had taken a fancy to a few of her quills - including the one she was looking for - and other various items, so she had started to just throw them into any draw that she could, to keep him away from them.

"Crooks?" She called, shutting the draw roughly, and turning to look for the cat, "Crooks, have you got it again? Crookshanks!"

She hadn't seen him at all today, not even in the common room, which was a little strange. Hermione looked over to the bed and noticed a large, cat-sized lump under the covers. Shaking her head, she reached out and...

""""""""""""""""""""

Everyone in the common room looked up, alarmed. Harry glanced at Ron, "Hermione!"

Ginny got up and ran to the stairs of the girl’s dormitories and the Head Girls room. She heard Harry and Ron following her and shouted over her shoulder, "Stay here!"

The boys stopped, but then there was another scream and Ron argued, "Why!"

"Because you can't physically get up there!" She yelled back, already hurrying up the stairs. As she got to the very top, she pushed open the door to Hermione’s rooms and ran straight over to her friend, who was crying and shaking. One look at the bed told Ginny why. She put her arm around Hermione and turned them away from the sight, "Okay... Okay... Let's get out of here. Come on, Hermione..."

""""""""""""""""""""

Severus was just leaving his office when he met Albus.

"Severus," He said quietly, "I was just coming to see you, but obviously you are going somewhere. Could we walk and talk, perhaps?"

Severus nodded, "Of course,"

They started up towards the entrance hall, "I have, at last, come to a decision on what to do about Draco Malfoy. It was very difficult; you know I am a great believer in second chances -"

"Albus!" Minerva was hurrying towards them, "Albus! Severus! You are needed! Immediately!"