Time in a Bottle

TIME IN A BOTTLE

CHAPTER 5

~*~

If I had a box just for wishes

And dreams that had never come true

The box would be empty except for the memories

Of how they were answered by you

~*~

"This is pointless, I'll never get it!"

Hermione shared an amused glance with Harry over Ron's shoulder.

"That's nonsense, Ron; you are quite capable of doing this. You just have to try harder," Hermione soothed while trying to hide her smile.

Ron gave a flick of his wand while muttering the incantation.

Again, nothing happened.

Groaning, Ron threw his hands up in the air. "That's it! I quit!"

"Now, Ron, just try to focus your energy into the spell," Remus Lupin offered up, even though he, too, was suppressing an amused smile.

"No, it's pointless; I'm a dunderhead and I'm completely useless!" Ron bemoaned.

"As much as I would like to agree with you, Mr. Weasley," the smooth voice of Severus Snape expertly captured the attention of everyone in the room, "might I suggest you simply try the same incantation again, but this time keep your elbow from jabbing out as you wave your wand."

Ron eyed Snape distrustfully, narrowing his eyes slightly when Snape merely arched a brow in return. Grumbling to himself, Ron turned and did as instructed.

That time, the spell worked perfectly.

After a long day of classes and well wishes from several students, Hermione found herself in a room along with Harry and Ron, all three being given defensive training by Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, and the Head of Gryffindor house, Minerva McGonagall.

The rest of the group had been quite surprised when Hermione had arrived in the company of a fairly civil Potions Master, who merely explained his presence by stating, 'I have nothing better to do presently than to make sure you foolish Gryffindors don't get yourselves killed'.

With curious looks from the two teachers, a suspicious one from Ron, and a slightly knowing one from Harry, the Head of Slytherin house simply went to the closest chair and sat himself down in an air of indifference.

And with that, the lessons had begun.

"Err, uh, thanks," Ron stuttered uncomfortably.

Severus merely gave a stiff nod of his head from the chair he still occupied.

"Well, then, now that that spell has been mastered, I'd say it's safe to have you guys practice dueling," Remus timidly offered. "We'll start with you, Hermione."

Hermione's smile was immediately replaced by a nervous expression, "Oh, Professor Lupin, I don't think that's such a good idea, you see-"

"Nonsense, Hermione, you have nothing to fear," he cut off with a small, reassuring smile.

"Well, err, that's not the problem," Hermione muttered, suddenly finding the floor to be quite interesting.

"What seems to be the problem, then?" Remus asked, slightly concerned.

Hermione blushed, but couldn't bring herself to answer.

Luckily, Minerva McGonagall was there to reply, "Remus, Mya has already been quite thoroughly trained in dueling arts."

"I'm not following," he asked, confusion written on his face.

"You see, sir," Hermione began, looking anywhere but at the other five occupants in the room, "Thomas and I constantly got into fights, and it wasn't really considered normal if we did not get into at least one duel a week. So, I paid attention and studied the hexes and curses Thomas used. And, well, let's just say Thomas lost his fair share of duels to me."

"I see, perhaps then, it would be best if one of us partnered you, Miss Granger. Severus, you are the resident duelist here; would you care to partner Hermione?" Remus asked expectantly.

Snape looked at Remus, and then looked at Hermione, who seemed to convey no objections.

Lifting one shoulder in a lazy, indifferent shrug, Severus gracefully rose to his feet, saying, each word positively dripping in sarcasm, "I would be honored, Lupin."

Hermione hid the smirk that was itching to cross her face, knowing that her friends would find it very odd indeed if she suddenly went smirking around with Snape as if they shared some kind of secret, inside joke.

Severus strolled to the center of the room, whereas everyone else moved back a safe distance. He towered over Hermione, smoothly reaching up into his left sleeve with his right hand, pulling out his smooth, dark wand. Holding the wand out in front of him, Snape gave another smirk and lifted it up in salute.

With a matching smirk that only Snape could see, Hermione lifted her wand, both of them turning in unison and marching eight paces away.

"Now, on the count of three," Remus said into the pregnant air. "One."

Snape took his stance, a pose Hermione vaguely recalled him using in her second year during the dueling club.

"Two," Remus went on.

Hermione positioned herself in a stance she had adopted from Thomas, noticing that Snape's eyes seemed to widen a bit as if he recognized it right before Remus said, "Three!"

And off they went.

Snape had shouted a disarming spell, going for the quick and easy win, but what he had not counted on was for Hermione to physically get into the duel.

She had quite easily ducked out of the way, at the same time waving her wand and shouting the distracting charm.

Luckily, it was one that Severus easily deflected and immediately countered with a mild stunning curse.

Hermione, he noticed throughout the duel, saved time by effortlessly dodging his curses instead of trying to counter them. This allowed her to easily retaliate almost right after the curse left his mouth.

Twirling and barely missing another stunning charm, Hermione aimed a particularly nasty hex at Snape.

Barely able to counter it in time, Severus decided that he was not doing her a favor by trying to go easy, and that she was quite capable of keeping her own against him.

So, Severus stepped it up a bit and countered with a slightly nastier hex.

But Hermione had youth and agility on her side. She jumped the curse aimed at her knees, and retaliated with a mildly dark hex before her feet had even returned to the ground.

This convinced Snape that it would be safe to step it up a bit more.

Soon enough, the two were completely absorbed in their duel and did not even hear the furious shouts of the other occupants in the room.

"Expelliarmus!" two voices simultaneously rang out.

Quite suddenly they found their wands out of there hands. Huffing and puffing, Hermione turned to see Minerva McGonagall clutching her wand, and Remus Lupin holding Snape's.

"Hermione Jessica Granger," Minerva began, fury underlying those three simple words.

That brought back memories.

"Hermione Jessica Granger!"

Hermione gulped guiltily, "Hey there, Min. How were your classes today?"

Minerva McGonagall, Head Girl and Hermione's good friend, narrowed her eyes, "Don't try to change the subject!"

"I was unaware of there even being a subject," Hermione muttered to herself.

But Minerva, who had the hearing of a cat, heard her anyway. "You got into a fight during class!" she accused.

Seeing as how Minerva had been seating a row away from her, Hermione thought it best not to deny it. "Just a little one," she offered.

"You dueled!" she screeched, startling a few nearby first years, "And with the Head Boy, no less!"

"Really, he started it, Min," Hermione assured her, suddenly feeling very childish. "And I don't even see what the big deal is; I mean, it was during Defense Against the Dark Arts, so Flutey just thought we were demonstrating how to block certain unfriendly curses."

"That is beside the point!" she huffed.

"Minerva, if you really want to fuss over this, might I suggest you focus on how he nearly beat me! I should have known that Tom Riddle would have had an abundance of nasty hexes and curses catalogued in that perverted little mind of his," Hermione furiously said, the last part mostly to herself.

"You know, there is a way we can rectify that problem..."

Hermione looked over at her friend, smiling when she saw Minerva smirking.

Hermione gave a feeble laugh, still trying to catch her breath, "Now, Min, let's not get overly upset."

"Overly upset! You were using severely dark curses and completely ignored my order to stop, Mya." Suddenly, she rounded on a slightly befuddled Snape. "And you!" If possible, her tone was even more furious, "You likewise were using several dark curses, and against a student, no less!"

Snape still had the presence of mind to snap, "You'll notice how each and every one failed to hit her."

"Well, yes, but that-"

"-Then," he cut her off, "I fail to see what the problem is, and I also fail to see why she," he turned and gestured to Hermione, "needs to take lessons to protect herself. She's obviously quite capable of it."

Feeling somehow pleased at the backhanded compliment, Hermione put on her most convincing smile. "Come on, Min; it was nothing, and you know it. In fact, you were the one who helped me learn all of those 'severely dark curses', remember?"

Were his eyes deceiving him, or was Minerva McGonagall blushing?

"See? There was no harm done," Hermione continued in a placating voice.

"You could have been seriously injured," she miffed.

"Could have, but she wasn't," Severus interjected.

"Hermione, where did you learn to duel like that?" Remus decided to steer the conversation away from dangerous grounds.

"Tom Riddle," Severus answered for her, pinning her with a piercing stare. "I'd recognize the technique anywhere. It's exactly how he used to fight in his old days, and now, for that matter, since he has taken the age-defying potion. The same stance and maneuvers," he completed.

Hermione only focused on one part of his speech, though.

"Age-defying potion?" she questioned.

Snape looked immediately regretful of his words, but bravely plunged on, "Albus had come up with the idea of me making the age-defying potion so as to redeem my worthiness in the Dark Lord's eyes. I fear that he is now, for all intents and purposes, about thirty-one years old."

Hermione bit her lip, not exactly happy to hear that little tidbit, but also knowing that it was good that she knew.

An uncomfortable silence blanketed the room.

"The Ball is tomorrow night," Harry tentatively offered up to the silence.

"Has your scar been hurting you lately?" Remus asked in concern.

Harry looked a bit sheepish as he admitted, "It twinges here and there, but it seared the night Hermione came back."

Snape narrowed his eyes, hissing, "You insolent boy, why did you not say anything?"

Harry lifted his chin, defiantly saying, "I was just happy that Hermione was back, and I didn't want to spoil it for everyone."

"What's done is done," Remus mediated, "all we can do is focus on what is about to come."

"What do you think he'll want, Hermione," Ron asked in a horrified curiosity.

Hermione sighed, looking away from the group. "It's difficult to say, really. He'll embarrass me, taunt me. We'll have a nice verbal spar, and then I'll negotiate with him."

"Negotiate?" Remus asked doubtfully.

"Perhaps that's not the best term. I'll strike a deal with him of some sort. I'll do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of those at Hogwarts; if he decides to take Hogwarts, I'll be able to talk him out of it at any cost," she vowed.

"And what if the cost is your life, Miss Granger?" Snape asked, finding that he truly needed to know the answer.

Hermione caught his gaze, and he instantly knew what her response was going to be.

"That's a price I am prepared, and even willing, to pay, Professor Snape."

Never breaking eye-contact with her, Snape's voice growled, "That is pure, Gryffindor stupidity, if you ask me."

"Well, I say, it's a good thing that I didn't ask you then, isn't it?" she retorted, that smirk Snape was getting quite used to, crossing her lips.

"If he gets it in him to take Hogwarts, you won't be able to talk him out of it," Snape sneered at her earlier words.

"You will find, sir, that I can be very persuasive when the occasion warrants it."

Her voice, so calm, so self-assured, reminded him of the Dark Lord.

"You sound like him," Severus said, somewhere between wonder and horror.

Hermione looked as if she had been slapped. Quite suddenly, she was all too aware of the changes she was forced to go through, and how different she now was because of them.

She looked over at Remus, who was staring at her with an expression of hurt as if she had betrayed them all somehow.

Remus Lupin, the last and only true Marauder, she thought to herself in growing sadness. Remus Lupin, who had been given a lifeline to save himself, given a friend that knew and understood exactly how he felt because that friend was feeling the same pains of betrayal. Remus Lupin, who had that lifeline brutally ripped away from him, and was now sputtering in a sea of loneliness and despair.

She couldn't bear the sadness and slight regret in his eyes. She tore her gaze away from him and happened to catch Harry's gaze.

Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived and the Boy Destined to Defeat Darkness. He was looking at her solemnly, the disappointment he was trying so hard to hide from her radiating off him in waves.

Gods, did it hurt to disappoint those that meant the most to her.

"Merlin, I-I'm so sorry; I didn't ask for this- I didn't ask for any of it," she whispered, tears filling her eyes while she gasped for the air that had come so easily to her only moments before, but now seemed to have trouble making its way past the lump forming in her throat.

Minerva took a small step towards her, stopping abruptly when Hermione flinched away.

She felt tainted. She didn't deserve their compassion. She no longer belonged in their world of black and white; she was gray, a mocking shadow of her former self.

And suddenly, she had a sneaking suspicion that she now knew how it truly felt to be Severus Snape.

"I-I have to go," she faintly said, purposefully avoiding Snape's gaze even though she knew he was trying to catch hers.

And Hermione Granger ran away from the only person that could ever understand her in her first act of cowardice.