The Raven

Disclaimer: I do not own HP though I wish I had a Snape of my very own, but until that time ill barrow hers! LOL

The Raven

By: Bree McGregor

Chapter 10

Hermione didn’t stay in the common room very long. It was crowded and noisy with people laughing and talking, when all she wanted to do was to sit and think about everything she had seen. She wished she could talk to someone about what she was going through, but Dumbledore’s warning rang in her ear. She would not betray his trust in her by talking to her friends.

She was so deep in thought she didn’t hear the tapping on her window. Once she became aware of it, she opened the window, wondering why was she getting mail this time of night.

The bird flew in and made a circle around the room. It wasn’t until he landed on the table in front of her that she recognized him.

“Mistoffelees!” Hermione would have hugged the bird if she didn’t think she would hurt him. She had to remind herself that he wasn’t sturdy like Crookshanks, so she took to kissing him the top of his head instead. “Oh, I’m so glad you came back!”

‘She kissed me!?’ he thought dizzily.

A bit dazed the bird looked out the window to make sure it was still open.

“This is only a visit, I take it?”

The bird squawked an affirmative answer. This made Hermione laugh; she had always loved how intelligent the bird was.

“Well, I’m so glad you came to visit, especially now, when I have no one to talk to.” Hermione sat back down on her bed, falling backward so she was lying on the bed looking up at the ceiling, then looked back at her feathered friend as she patted the mattress beside her. The bird glided gracefully to her side, then looked up at the girl before him wondering what was really on her mind.

“Shhh, don’t tell anyone, Mistoffelees. I can’t talk to my friends. Dumbledore warned me not to say anything to anyone, but I can’t just keep it all inside. I’m even wondering if I should talk to you. Silly, I know, but it’s just a feeling I have. Well, I guess if I only told you the gist of it, maybe it will be alright and I would not feel too guilty.” Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth — but nothing came out.

“Nope, this feeling is too strong. Not that I know what this feeling is or where it is coming from.”

Snape was shocked that on some subconscious level she recognized him as not being what she saw. Even though she has not been trained yet to tell the difference, it did show she had enough strong sense of herself to listen to what most people would just brush off as some crazy thought. ‘Perhaps there is hope for the young know-it-all yet,’ he thought.

“Hmm, I guess I could just talk about Professor Snape with you. I’m sure that would be alright,” she said pensively.

His head snapped toward her at these words. ‘Oh gods, am I ready for this?’ he thought to himself.

“Well, when I was in the Headmasters office tonight, I was remembering something that happened to me when I was eight. Two cousins tricked me into going exploring with them into a cave, and they ditched me there. They left me in the dark with only a tiny flashlight. Anyway, I got over my fear and tried to find my way out. That’s when I found the most beautiful cavern you can possibly imagine.”

Snape’s small eyes locked with hers as she spoke, and in his mind’s eye he saw an image of the cavern clearly in her head. For a brief moment, he wondered how he could do Legilimency when he was in his Animagus form, but pushed it toward the back of his mind to think about later.

“When Professor Snape put his hand on my shoulder, I felt this extensive amount of heat from him. Funny, as one would think his skin would be cold. Anyway, I looked into his eyes, and all I saw was the deep darkness like when I was lost in the cave. I know I said that I no longer feared him, and it’s true that I don’t, but I never saw that deep into him before. Well, now the two images have somehow merged together. Every time I think of that cavern, I will think of Professor Snape’s eyes, just as every time I look into his eyes I will see that cavern and remember everything is not what it seems. I know there is beauty inside of him; I always felt it, but tonight for the first time I saw it.”

She looked over at the raven that now perched closer to her. She smiled at him, stroked his back affectionately, and shook her head.

“You probably think I’m crazy. I know I sure think that a lot!” she laughed at herself as the bird tilted his head to look at her.

The bird only looked at her without blinking. ‘Did she really mean that? Did she look into my soul as she did the mirror?’

“That’s not all, either. He warned me about getting lost within myself, and not to make decisions without seeing all the angles. He said that there are consequences seen and unseen, and that not only my life but my soul may be in danger as his once was.”

‘And still is,’ he thought gloomily to himself. ‘But at least she listened to me.’

“It was like he was trying to protect me, that he truly was concerned with my welfare. If it was anyone else I would understand, but he had been so closed for so long I wonder if he knew what he was doing — that he was showing a caring side of himself.”

Too many thoughts ran around his head to make any sense of what was happening between them, but one thought stood out the most. Did he really show that much emotion that she could pick up on it so easily?

A soft knock at her door startled the two of them, making them break eye contact.
“Who is it?” she called out.

“It’s me, Harry. I was wondering if you wanted to say goodbye to Ron before we send him to his doom.”

Hermione rolled her eyes at the overly dramatic way the boys dealt with Professor Snape. A sound behind her caught her attention. As she turned toward it, she saw out of the corner of her eye the flash of black feathers as Mistoffelees took flight out of her window. ‘Great, Harry scared him away,’ she thought as she took a deep breath. ‘Might as well go down and see the dunderhead off.’

~~~~~

Snape flew back into his rooms, where he donned his teaching robes back on and gathered the necessities he would need for the evening’s detention. Smiling evilly at his thoughts — ‘Yes, let the punishment fit the crime’ — he knew that this time of year was perfect for what he had planned. ‘As they say, killing two birds with one stone’ Snape physically cringed as the pun skipped across his mind.

Exactly at 9:01, a knock sounded at the door.

“Enter!”

Mr. Ronald Weasley came timidly through his door looking like a little frightened field mouse being caught by the farmer’s cat.

“You are late, Mr. Weasley. Sixty points from Gryffindor.”

“Sixty!!”

“Yes, one point for every second you were late. Now shut up and listen, or it will very easily become more!” Snape knew he was being extremely unfair, but the thought of this boy touching Hermione did something to him that brought out his darker side.

“Follow me,” he said, and with that he led the frightened boy out of the castle though the front doors, across the lawn, and into the Forbidden Forest. He never once looked back to see if the boy was following him. Snape knew he was there, though. He could hear the scuffling of the boy’s feet, and the chattering of his teeth.

Neither said a word as they made their way deeper into the forest. Ron’s teeth started chattering even more, for he recognized the area leading to Aragog’s lair. ‘Surely Snape isn’t going there? He’s not going to sacrifice me to the spider?!’
he thought fearfully.

“Having a problem, Mr. Weasley?” Snape’s cold voice ran out into the night in front of him.

“Wh-where are we going, s-sir?” asked Ron, as he looked around him in a paranoid state to see if any spiders were lurking nearby.

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid, Mr. Weasley. Not after all the daring adventures the golden trio has had to date.”

“Well, s-sir, we are close to Aragog’s lair, aren’t we?”

“Yes, we are, but never fear, as they will not come to this part of the forest.”

Even though the words should have sounded comforting, Ron couldn’t help but feel uneasy with the almost evil tone that he heard in the Professor’s voice.

“W-why is that?”

The Professor didn’t answer his question at first, until they entered a rather large field that spread out before them. “This is why not. The acromantulas will never get close to this field.” And with that he stepped into the field, looking around looking pleased with himself.

Snape took out a pair of gloves and a bandana, and handed them to the boy. He was quite tempted to not even give them to him, but he knew what Albus would do to him if he didn’t at least offer them to the boy.

“Here, put on the gloves and wrap the bandana around your mouth.”

“Why? Are the plants dangerous?”

“No, they’re not. They are used in a medicinal potion that I make for Madam Pomfrey. It numbs the nerves so that the patient feels little or no pain while under extensive treatment.”

“Why do I need these, then?” Ron asked as he pointed at the gloves and bandana.

“Safety procedures. You are a student and not a very good one at that, Mr. Weasley. So for your own good, take them, BOY.” Snape had taught all the Weasley children, and he knew each one of their buttons. He knew what was going through the boy’s mind, and the boy reacted exactly as Snape wanted him to.

“I’m as much as a man as you are!”

“No, little boy, YOU are NOT. Now take them!”

“No, thank you. If it’s not going to kill me, then why use them!”

“Have it your way,” Snape said with an air of indifference. If Ron was a bit smarter, he would have thought twice about his actions just by Snape’s indifference alone. But as it was, he refused the gloves and bandana, and set to work via Snape’s instructions on how to harvest the herbs.

At first, Ron felt a numbing in his fingertips, then down his hands and up his arms. He called over to Snape to ask if this is normal.

“You dunderhead!” Snape retorted. “Did I not tell you it was used for numbing a patent when injured! Of course, it is natural! Now get to work. We don’t have all night!”

For the first hour, Ron gathered enough herbs to satisfy Snape’s need. Snape thought the boy was such a dunce because he never even asked what herb he was gathering — not that Snape would tell him. Hiding an evil yet satisfied smirk, he led the boy back to his classroom for the second part of his detention.

“Now what you need to do is wash every one of the herbs. Get all the dirt and debris off of them GENTLY! Do not harm the herb itself. Then place them evenly on the racks to dry. They should dry quickly, so by the time you are done washing them, the first batch will be ready for you to ground and put into those marked containers on that table. Now I have papers to grade!” With that Snape turned his back and walked up to his desk. He sat down dramatically and began to grade papers, while watching Mr. Weasley from out of the corner of his eye.

Ron finished washing and grinding the herbs around midnight. He was angry that Snape had to check everything over five times before he allowed him to return to bed. The numbness had not bothered him for hours, and he could see why Madam Pomfrey wanted it so badly. This stuff would be great when you were hurt, you wouldn’t feel a thing!

Snape, on the other hand, was laughing deep inside. ‘Oh, that was too smooth! The stupid boy has no idea of what the side affects of that particular herb will do to him. His reputation with the ladies is about to come to a crashing halt!’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: there you go June!!! I put in what you wanted most! She kissed the little birdie LOL! Thanks everyone for your wonderful reviews. I think I’m going to try to finish Ravens before I start again on Twin Link. But that depends on how long this may go. I have no idea... And thanks again to my wonderful Beta extraordinaire June!!!!