The Last Time

Calliope

Story Summary:
When Harry wants to stop the pain he suffers from re-occurring dreams about the death of his parents, it is only the bond he shares with Ron and Hermione that saves his life. The bond proves to be the only thing that saves them all as they face the unimaginable… [written pre-OotP, but partially OotP-compatible]

Chapter 03

Chapter Summary:
When Harry wants to stop the pain he suffers from re-occurring dreams about the death of his parents, it is only the bond he shares with Ron and Hermione that saves his life. The bond proves to be the only thing that saves them all as they face the unimaginable… (Rated PG-13- R/Hr, H/Hr...)
Posted:
12/31/2002
Hits:
3,613
Author's Note:
The Last Time was originally written pre-OotP and then was edited to comply with the new canon. There are still some small things that don’t quite reconcile with OotP but I had to take a bit of artistic license with them, such as the inability of boys to go into the girls’ dormitories, the layout of St. Mungo’s, how people are selected to be Aurors, and a few other small things. I felt that changing them to be totally compatible with OotP would require totally taking the story apart and reworking it.


Chapter 3

"We had a bet going, you know."

Hermione looked up from her work to see Ron leaning against the nearest bookshelf. "Who had a bet, and what about?" she said, irritated at being interrupted. She dipped her quill into her inkpot and continued to write.

"Harry and I had a bet to see how long it would take before you made it to the library this year," he answered, sitting down beside her. "He said you'd be here the first day of class. I said it would take you at least three days to make it down here."

"Well, hope you didn't lose too much money in that little bet," she said. "You should know me better by now." She tried to look indignant that her best friends would bet on her in such a way, but totally failed to hide the small smile that seemed to appear whenever she saw Ron.

"Just a round of butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks," answered Ron. He glanced down at the parchment she was writing on. "What are you doing?"

"Advanced Arithmancy," she answered.

"Looks dreadful." He peered over her shoulder. "Better you than me."

Hermione laid down her quill. "Okay, Ron, what do you really want?" she asked. She hoped Ron wasn't going to do the stop-by-to-chat-and-then-tell-a-really-important-secret routine that Harry pulled on her the night before.

"You know those glass ball thingies you gave Harry and me at the Leaky Cauldron?" he asked.

"You mean the Harmonial Spheres?"

"Yeah, that's it. Anyway, I was messing around with mine today, and I still don't hear anything but a bunch of noise. It turned colours and stuff like it's supposed to, but I don't hear music. Are you sure it's working?"

Hermione huffed. "Of course it's working! D'you think I'd give you a broken present? I heard it just fine, and so did Harry." She thought for a moment. "Did you say you just heard some noise?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, I did. Almost like mumbling, but no words. I don't get it."

"When Harry's was playing, did you hear music or noise?" she asked.

"Noise," Ron said with a frown.

"That's odd," said Hermione. "Do you think something's wrong with your hearing?"

Ron shrugged. "I don't know, I mean, I hear you just fine right now. I never really listen to music anyway, so it's really not important."

"I guess not." She had never heard of someone who couldn't hear music before. It just didn't make any sense. "I guess we better be off to Potions," she said with a grimace.

"Why do we have to take Potions for the Auror track?" said Ron as he and Hermione left the library. "D'you think we'd need to stop and brew a potion in the middle of a Death Eater raid? I doubt it...bloody waste of time if you ask me...the best thing about this being our last year is it's the last year Snape gets to torture us. Who's he going to pick on when we leave? Maybe he'll retire out of the sheer dullness of not having us around to make miserable. Let's hope we don't have it with the Slytherins this year, it'd be nice to have a class with the Ravenclaws for a change, wouldn't it...."

Hermione only half-listened to him, nodding and saying "mm-hmm" at what she hoped were the appropriate pauses in Ron's tirade, as they made their way to the dungeon where Snape's Potions class was held. She hated Snape as much as Ron and Harry did, but talking about it didn't help, in fact it just made her dread it even more. She loved school and studying more than anything else, and raising her hand and answering questions in class seemed as normal as breathing. Snape had called her an "insufferable know-it-all" and a "silly girl" on several occasions just for daring to raise her hand in his class. At first it had made her cry and hurt her feelings terribly, but in the past few years she'd developed quite a thick skin and was actually finding it more and more difficult to keep from telling him off.

Ron continued with his rant as they turned the corner. "...I mean, honestly, how can one man be so sad and pathetic that he has to pick on students for his jollies? I suppose if I had long greasy hair and a nose like a hippogriff, I'd be pathetic and miserable too, but still..."

"And exactly who do you consider to be sad and pathetic, Mister Weasley?" said a thick and oily voice. "Please enlighten me."

Hermione froze in her tracks with Ron as Professor Snape stepped in front of them with a swish of black robes. His face bore an expression of glee - as gleeful as it was possible for Snape to look. He's probably excited to be able to take points from Gryffindor on the very first day, thought Hermione. I'm sick of this! Rolling her eyes, she grabbed Ron by the arm and dragged him towards the classroom door, turning their backs on Snape.

"Where do you think you're going, walking away from a teacher?" snarled Snape. "I asked you a question."

Ron's eyes were huge as Hermione turned around, face flushed and hair flying. "Since you hate all Gryffindors anyway, especially us, you'll probably take fifty points from us just for breathing, so there's no point in answering your question! Take all the points you want, you're going to do it no matter what we say - it doesn't mean we have to stand here and listen to you treat us like scum!" She shoved Ron (whose eyes were nearly ready to explode) into the classroom before Snape had a chance to retaliate. She spotted Harry near the back of the room and sat down beside him, noticing that yes, they were stuck with the Slytherins again as she almost knocked a shell-shocked Millicent Bulstrode over in the process.

"Did you see her, Harry? She was brilliant!" whispered Ron as he sat down. "She let old Snape have it! Of course he'll probably be even more foul than ever, but it was worth it to see the look on his face!"

Harry didn't get a chance to reply, for at that moment Snape swept into the room, looking particularly murderous.

"SILENCE!" he barked, glaring at the class. "Turn to page 314 and assemble the ingredients for an Persistimus Potion. I expect you to have everything ready in 5 minutes. NOW!" He banged his fist on the table beside him, making everyone jump, even the Slytherins.

Hermione whispered to Harry and Ron. "Here, let's divide it up so we can work faster. I'll chop up our dandelion roots. Harry, you measure the sulphur and the dried rosemary, and Ron, you take care of the beetle eyes and salamander toenails. Hurry up!"

They quickly divided the ingredients and got to work. Hermione was very surprised to see that Snape didn't even glance in their direction. She'd expected him to berate them for working together, but he seemed to be so furious that he wasn't paying attention to the class. He was staring off into space and muttering under his breath.

"Probably getting ready to hex us into oblivion," muttered Harry.

"I wonder how many points he's going to take from Gryffindor for what I said," Hermione whispered, dividing the chopped dandelion roots into three portions and scraping them into their cauldrons.

"A hundred, I bet," said Ron under his breath, "and you'll probably get a detention too. But I so enjoyed the look on his face! I'm going to file that one in the memory banks with Malfoy the Amazing Bouncing Ferret."

Hermione squelched a laugh, remembering when their fourth year Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher had transfigured Malfoy into a white ferret and made him bounce up and down as punishment in front of a whole crowd of people. That moment had been one of the few times Malfoy had been put in his place, and they thoroughly enjoyed it.

"Stop!" bellowed Snape. "Now, prepare the potion exactly as described. I will tolerate no mistakes! NOW!" He began to walk around the room, criticizing and humiliating, ("Did you or did you not read the directions, Mister Longbottom!" "That's totally unacceptable Miss Brown, the texture should be much thicker!"), leaving enraged students in his wake. He did not, however, come to the back of the room where Hermione, Ron, and Harry sat.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," whispered Hermione. "You'd think he'd want to torture us even more than usual, but he's totally ignoring us!"

"What, you want him to come back here and bother us?" hissed Harry. "I'm glad he's ignoring us!"

After a few more minutes, Snape said, "Now, I believe it's time to test these potions. Who here can tell me the function of the Persistimus Potion?"

No one raised a hand. Hermione was sure everyone knew the answer; it was printed right there on page 314, but no one dared speak up. She didn't raise hers either. She sat there with an innocent expression on her face, hands folded in her lap.

"No one knows?" Snape surveyed the room. "Miss Granger? Don't tell me you don't know?" he said icily.

"Of course I know, Professor Snape," Hermione said, in a voice that was sweeter than the entire inventory of Honeydukes, "but I decided an insufferable know-it-all like myself should give other students a chance to answer. I'm sure Malfoy's dying to tell you." She flashed him a brilliant, toothy smile, and she heard snickers from around the room, even from a few of the Slytherins. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Malfoy scowling.

"What's gotten into you?" whispered Harry. "I've never heard you speak to a teacher like this, not even Professor Trelawney! Be quiet!"

Hermione kicked under the table, shutting him up, and continued to give Snape the huge, fake smile. She thought her face might crack with the effort, and her stomach was in knots, but in for a penny, in for a pound she thought. I'm going to be in loads of trouble anyway, so I might as well enjoy it.

"Please enlighten us, Miss Granger," Snape said through clenched teeth.

She sat up straighter in her chair and read straight from the textbook in the most saccharine voice she could muster without gagging. "'The Persistimus Potion is used to help the drinker withstand extreme physical pain and harsh conditions. The drinker will be unable to feel pain, cold, heat, or hunger for one hour after administration. The potion should not be taken more than once per day for a maximum of two weeks. There is no reversal potion or spell; it must wear off on it's own. The side effects include...'"

"That will do, Miss Granger," said Snape irritably, over a wave of giggles from the class. He was standing by Malfoy's cauldron with a tall, thin glass. "Well, Mister Malfoy, let's see what we have here, shall we?" he said, filling the glass from Malfoy's cauldron.

"What!" screeched Malfoy, his voice jumping an octave. "You want me to drink that stuff? It smells like rotten eggs! You must be mad!"

Snape thrust the glass into Malfoy's hand. "Do it now, Mister Malfoy."

Malfoy winced at the taste as he drank the Persistimus Potion he'd concocted, but he drank every drop, and slammed the glass down on the desk. "Now what, Professor?"

"Go and kick that wall over there," said Snape, "and do it hard. You shouldn't feel a thing, if you've followed the instructions to the letter."

Malfoy walked to the side of the room, took a deep breath, and kicked the stone wall as hard as he could.

"OUCH!" he yelped, hopping up and down and waving his injured foot around. "What the bloody hell happened? I thought this potion was supposed to keep me from feeling anything!" He hopped one-footed back to his seat, waving off Goyle's attempts to help.

"Apparently," Snape sneered, "you didn't follow the instructions correctly. Ten points from Slytherin for your lack of attention to this class." With that, he turned and left the room. "Class dismissed," he snapped, before slamming the door.

There was an unearthly silence as Snape's words sunk into the class. Every student wore identical expressions of complete and utter shock - the Gryffindors because they'd managed to go a whole Potions class without losing points, and the Slytherins because Snape had taken points from them. Soon, everyone in the class was laughing - even the Slytherins - except for Malfoy (Crabbe and Goyle had started to laugh with everyone else but quickly stopped when Malfoy glared at them).

"I'll ask you again, Hermione, what got into you?" laughed Harry as they hurried away from the dungeons. "That was the most fun I've had in Potions since I threw that Filibuster Firework in Goyle's cauldron and got Swelling Solution all over everyone!"

"I can't believe he didn't take any points from us. He must be going mental or something," said Ron breathlessly. He'd laughed so much he was almost crying, and he had to stop and wipe his eyes with the sleeve of his robes.

"I don't know," said Hermione, leaning against a wall to catch her breath. "These words just started coming out of my mouth - I could hear myself saying them and at the same time I couldn't believe it was me! It's like my mouth had a mind of it's own!" She clapped her hands to her face and said, "I'm going to be in so much trouble! I can't believe I said that to a teacher...what if Snape goes to McGonagall or Dumbledore and I get expelled from school? They wouldn't do that, do you think? Oh, no..." The elation she'd felt from having stood up to Snape was being quickly replaced with an icy cold dread that settled in the pit of her stomach.

Harry and Ron each draped an arm over her shoulders as they walked back to Gryffindor Tower. "Aw, Hermione, Snape won't go running to tell on you," said Harry. "He'd be far too humiliated to admit that he got put in his place by a girl!"

Ron ruffled her hair clumsily. "He's right, you know. Besides, look at all the trouble Harry and I have been in, and look, we're still here aren't we? We should have been expelled years ago. If he couldn't get us kicked out over the whole Whomping Willow thing, he definitely can't get us kicked out over this. You're going to have to get in loads more trouble than that if you want to meet our standards of mischief-making!"