A Certain Amount of Sense

Chapter 15

The next morning saw a weak, though much improved Hermione sitting at the breakfast table. The reactions of her fellow Gryffindors were varied. Lavender and Parvati stopped in their tracks, muttered greetings and felicitations for her recovery, and then proceeded to sit at the other end of the table. She heard them muttering something about the communicability period of dragon pox as they passed by her. When Ginny saw her, she squealed with delight and ran to give her a hug. Ron and Harry were just as pleased but more hesitant in their approach. After she had peeled Ginny away from her, she looked at the two boys and gave them a subdued grin.

“Hi Harry. Hi Ron. Um, thanks for all the Chocolate Frogs, guys. Madam Pomfrey said she’s never seen anyone recover so quickly from malnourishment before.” Ron’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You didn’t eat all of them, did you?” Hermione couldn’t help but laugh. It felt good to laugh again.

“No, do you honestly think I’d be here right now if I had? I’d probably still be in the hospital wing, throwing up all over the place.”

“It’s good to see you back, Hermione,” said Harry.

“Thanks. Look, I’m sorry for making you all worry so much about me. There were just…some things I had to get through.” Well if that wasn’t about the biggest understatement ever uttered by a Gryffindor….

No one else was sitting close to them, so the three sixth years were reduced to looking at each other in awkward silence. Although all three were aware that the other two knew about the incident, no one wanted to be the first to bring it up. Yet what had happened was too significant to just ignore. Eventually, Ginny relieved the tension by asking a question that only peripherally touched upon the events of the last few days.

“What was it you wanted to speak to Professor Snape about?”

“Oh, um, it was nothing.” At their continued stares, she relented. “I had a theory about something and wanted to ask him about it. That’s all.”

“Huh, leave it to Hermione to summon that bat out of his dungeons just to ask him a question about Potions,” said Ron.

“Did he actually go?” asked Ginny.

“Actually, he did. But I was wrong. About the theory.”

“Oh.”

Just then, the owl post came and everyone’s attentions were momentarily diverted. Hermione took the moment to glance up at the head table and caught Snape looking her way. Instead of turning away immediately as she expected him to, he casually arched one eyebrow and nodded as he raised his goblet to her before turning to speak to Professor Flitwick. Both motions were performed so quickly and tightly that no one else would have noticed them unless they were also staring straight at him.

A warmth suffused Hermione’s stomach that had nothing to do with the hot tea she was drinking. Professor Snape had actually saluted her! In front of everybody! She could almost imagine him giving her another point for Gryffindor. Almost.

It was much different seeing him in this setting, with her friends around her and with the other teachers around him. Not only were they separated by so much physical space, but also by the bounds of student and teacher, Gryffindor and Slytherin. She briefly wondered if the closeness she was starting to feel when she thought of him was only one-sided, or worse, imagined, especially now that she had no more reason to speak with him.

Wait, that wasn’t true. She still had her scheduled appointment with him tomorrow, for the Occlumency lessons. Without knowing it, she smiled at the thought.

Ron couldn’t help noticing her smile and followed her gaze to the front of the room. Snape. What was going on between the two of them? Though he assumed that their former hostilities were to be cast aside under the terms of their strange truce, it didn’t mean that he was prepared for Hermione and Snape to be acting so chummy all of a sudden. He had wondered about what purposes the professor had for soliciting his help in paying back Draco. Sure, he was a teacher and a member of the Order, but he was also a Slytherin and had always seemed to favor the young Malfoy. Ron was starting to suspect that the reason may have been a more personal one…with regards to Hermione. And that was something he most definitely was not going to sit back and allow to happen, no matter how cooperative the professor was acting these days. He felt sickened by the mere thought of it. How very Slytherin it would be of Snape to rescue Hermione, only to seduce her. He made a note of it to keep a much more careful eye on the two of them from now on.

***

The next evening Hermione attempted to sneak out of the Gryffindor common room. Her “honor guard” (as she had come to think of them as they had followed her everywhere the last two days; the two boys had even followed her into the bathroom once before she shooed them out) was currently preoccupied. Ginny was studying with her classmates, and Harry, Ron, Dean, and Seamus were busy playing Exploding Snaps. All she had to do was cross the room without anyone noticing her.

And she almost made it too, except that Ron had looked up at the last second to see her foot disappear behind the swinging portrait door. He threw down his cards and got up.

“Sorry, mates. I forgot, prefect’s meeting tonight.” Dean and Seamus protested, but Harry just gave him a knowing look and did nothing to stop him from leaving.

Ron waited for a minute before following Hermione out the door. Although he couldn’t see her, he suspected he knew which way she was headed and made towards the dungeons. His suspicion proved correct when he caught up with her in the hallway of the Potions classroom.

“Hermione,” he called, reaching for her arm. Except that she had already spun around with her wand ready and shouted “Expelliarmus!” The force of the spell sent Ron flying backwards several feet before he hit the wall behind him and fell. It took Hermione a few moments to regain her composure. Her heart was pounding and she was having a hard time catching her breath. Finally, she recognized the red headed boy for who he was.

“Sod it, Ron! What are you doing here? I could have….”

“Ow…. Hermione, why’d you have to go and do that?” He rubbed the back of his head that had hit the wall. Hermione went over to him and knelt down beside him.

“I’m sorry, Ron. Are you all right? It’s just that…you gave me such a fright! I thought…I thought you were Draco at first.” At her words, he felt disgusted with himself. He hadn’t thought about…hadn’t realized that this was where….

“Oh God, Hermione, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have….. I just wanted to see where you were going. You left without telling anyone.”

“Oh Ron. You know you can’t keep following me everywhere. I mean, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but there are some things I have to do alone.”

“Like this? What are you doing down here anyways? I know you don’t have Potions anymore, so you can’t be down here for that.”

Truth or lie, truth or lie? Hermione saw the suspicion in his eyes as he waited for her to answer. Truth, then.

“I’m here to start my Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape.”

“Uh huh. I’ve heard that one already. How thick do you think I am? What are you really doing here?”

“What are you talking about? It’s the truth,” she said desperately. She needed to get him out of here soon, or she would be late for her appointment.

“Then why did you sneak off like this? You could have told Harry or me. We would have walked down with you.”

“You know how Harry feels about Snape. It wouldn’t be fair of me to ask him. And I…I didn’t think you would approve.”

“Well, you’re right, I don’t. What’s come over you recently? I saw the way you looked at Snape at breakfast yesterday. If I didn’t know any better….” Hermione was angry now. She stood up with her hands on her hips so that she was staring down at him.

“Are you accusing me of…of liking Professor Snape?!” Ron blanched. Her voice had become amazingly similar to his mother’s Howlers. He got up too, so that now he had the height advantage.

“Well what else am I supposed to think? You ask for him to visit you in the hospital wing, and the next morning you’re all better, and then I catch you making moon eyes at him. I mean, it’s not like it’s the first time you’ve liked a professor.”

“That is by far the dumbest thing you have ever said to me, Ronald Weasley.”

“Fine, just tell me what you’re really doing down here then.”

“I told you already. I’m here for Occlumency lessons with Snape.”

“Oh no you’re not. You’re coming back with me with right now. You’re not spending any more time with that greasy git.” He grabbed her arm and was about to pull her along with him, but she yanked herself out of his grip and raised her wand at him again. She was furious now; the hand holding her wand was even shaking a little.

“Don’t you ever touch me like that again! You…you…! Argh, just leave, Ron. Now. Before I hex you.” He stared at the wand pointed at him and then at the girl holding it. She was serious.

“Fine. I’m gone.” He held his hands up to show surrender. “If you’re not back by curfew though, I’m telling Professor McGonagall.”

“Fine. Now leave.” He walked backwards a few steps with his hands in the same position before turning around and storming out of sight. Slowly, she lowered her wand. Bloody hell, how was she supposed to start her lessons in Occlumency like this? She was way too agitated, but if she didn’t go, she would lose her chance. She checked the time. Damn it! I’m late already. Smoothing back her hair, she forced herself to take a few deep breaths. It’ll be all right. Just breathe. Breathe. Finally, when she felt her heartbeat return to normal, she made her way to Snape’s office. She raised a fist to the door and knocked. From the other side, she heard a voice say, “Come in.”