The long and winding road to love

Chapter 2: Detention in the dungeons





A/N: Well… first of all, thanks for
your awesome reviews. I never thought you would like my first chapter so much.
So far, I’ve written till chapter 7 (chapter 8; work in progress) and please…
let me know if you like where this is going. Anyhow… thanks again… and…

 

Here it is; chapter 2. Enjoy.

 

Chapter 2: Detention, Reflection,
Conversation.

 

Running was the easy way out of it. Running away from
things, from problems, in most cases is the easy way. An. And so, she wildly
ran through the castle’s most narrow corridors; corridors which lead to magical
rooms found only at Hogwarts.

 

She wasn’t reflecting on anything in particular while
escaping from Snape… but thinking about it twice, she should have realized that
most Hogwarts professors knew every existing shortcut in the castle.

 

“Miss Granger…,” the same deep voice whispered from
the end of the candle lit corridor, “…where do you think you are going? You
were not excused; our conversation was not over,” he said, his arms wrapped
across his chest.

 

A very lame “Sorry, professor,” was all Hermione
managed to mumble.

 

“Very well, Miss Granger, now which kind of venom would
you be looking for?” he asked mockingly, an evil grin on his face.

 

“Professor, I…,” she started to say, but once again he
interrupted her.

 

“For both our sakes, Miss Granger, do not finish that
sentence. If you have made up your mind about killing yourself, I suggest you
to talk to the headmaster. It is most probable that he will come up with a
solution,” he advised, staring at her with his black beady eyes. “Personally, I
couldn’t care less about your being suicidal, Miss Granger. In fact, I support
your every decision and please, feel free to come to me if looking for poisons.
I fancy them quite a lot,” he said sarcastically, an evil grin plastered on his
face.

 

“Thanks professor,” she said under her breath,
blushing like a tomato. She was so embarrassed about everything that had
happened that night. Why was it always her?

 

“Your welcome, Miss Granger…,” he said, quickly adding,
‘and due to your previous runaway, 20 points will be taken from Gryffindor and
you will serve a weeks worth of detention.”

 

With that final comment, he turned right, leaving
Hermione both ashamed and angry.

 

---*---*---

 

“That awful, awful man,” she thought to herself later
that night. “He thought I was suicidal… how could he?” she reflected on her own
memories about the library incident.

 

Snape knew perfectly well what Miss Granger was
feeling, having suffered from similar pains while he was going through puberty.
Scholars, or in other words, intellectuals, who always seem to think of no one
but themselves, and maybe the dead voices from the past which communicate with
them through books, experience loneliness. That’s why they spend so much time
on activities such as reading books or visiting art galleries. It’s alright if
you OCASSIONALLY read “A tale of two cities” but reading it 49 times in order
to capture Dickens true essence makes you an outcast from society.

 

No wonder Hermione was so afraid of the future; what
would life bring her in a world were books are not as important as living?

 

Hermione was brilliant and being above average had
always been the problem. Her interests had always been different… her worries
had reached another level; a higher, most profound level inaccessible for
others.

 

In other words, Harry and Ron, though her best
friends, were unable to fulfil her deep side. She loved them and they loved her
back, but something about not sharing EVERYTHING had made Hermione’s nights
hell. She had always thought friends were forever but things were changing.

 

And she knew it; Harry knew it …even Ron knew it. But
it was taking time for them to accept it.

 

Sadly, Snape knew it as well. Dumbledore, being
headmaster at the time, had helped him a great deal when coping with that
painful period in his adolescence. Maybe he would be able to help Miss Granger
as well.

 

“I couldn’t care less,” he said to himself while still
wrapped in his black, silk sheets. He turned around, closed his eyes, and yawning
loudly he fell asleep.

 

What he did not know, however, was that several floors
above his very own head, a very bushy haired Head Girl had fallen asleep as
well…

 

...thinking about his own words: “In fact, I support
your every decision and please, feel free to come to me if looking for poisons.
I fancy them quite a lot”.

 

Maybe, just maybe, a talk with Dumbledore would suit
her fine.

 

--*--*--

 

Severus Snape awoke late that morning. Very late. He had only time a q a quick shower and a small
breakfast.

 

“Damned that silly little Gryffindor girl… storming
the library in the middle of the night,” he thought to himself while soaping
his armpit. “I shouldn’t have followed her,” he said out loud while turning the
taps off and wrapping a towel around his slender waist. Reality was that he
didn’t resist the urge to follow her. He knew she was hiding something and he
was going to find out everything about it. And perhaps, deduct some points from
Gryffindor.

 

He was about to finish buttoning his shirt when a well
wrinkled, pale head popped into his fireplace. It was Albus Dumbledore,
Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the greatest
wizard in the world.

 

“ mor morning, Severus,” he said greeting the Head of
Slytherin House, “Miss Granger… a lovely student of yours is in my office under
your personal advice, would you care to explain the circumstances, professor?” he
asked with a smile on his face.

 

“Certainly, Headmaster…I,” he stated to say, but he
was interrupted by the elder wizard.

 

“No, my boy, not by Floo Powder. Step into my office,” he ordered, still with a wide grin on his face.

 

“Of course,” Snape said loyally, mentally cursing
himself for attempting to help Miss Granger. He had done a poor job in closing
his mouth.

 

He took a handful of Floo Powder from a small pouch
hanging beside the fireplace and shouting: “Dumbledore’s office” he was
transported into an office he knew as well as his own.

 

“Very well, Miss Granger, now that we are all here…
would you care to continue with your explanation?” he kindly asked. But
Hermione was speechless; she had momentarily lost the ability to talk.

 

“Professor Dumbledore, I don’t want to sound rude, but
is it really necessary for professor Snape to be here?” she asked, a look of
consternation on her face.

 

“Yes, Miss Granger. I’m afraid it is necessary,” he
said firmly, “but please… continue with your explanation.”

 

She swallowed hard and without looking Snape’s way she
carried on with her description.

 

“I feel empty, professor… I feel life has lost its
meaning; I feel so lonely without my friends sharing what I love… and yesterday
while talking to Professor Snape in the library I felt the urge to kill myself,”
she tried to continue, but Dumbledore interrupted her. He had heard enough.

 

“Very well, Miss Granger, very well. I’ve head that
you earned a week worth of detention with Professor Snape, am I mistaken?” he
asked, melancholically looking through the window.

 

“I have, Headmaster,” she said timidly. Snape released
a nasty little laugh. All eyes, including the eyes that belonged to the
paintings hanging in the room, turned to face Snape.

 

“Severus…,” Dumbledore was the first to speak. “I know
you are working on a new potion and I am sure you wouldn’t mind having an
assistant who is as efficient as Miss Granger, or would you, Severus?” he asked
from under his half moon spectacles.

 

It was Snape’s turn to swallow hard.

 

“No, Headmaster, I wouldn’t mind at all,” he lied,
hate burning in his eyes.

 

“Professor Dumbledore, I never intended Pssorssor
Snape to sacrifice…,” Hermione started to say. She did not like the idea of
spending extra time with Snape. Not even brewing a complicated potion.

 

“Miss Granger, I can assure you that you are not a
burden for Professor Snape. In fact, I think that this project will suit the
both of you nicely,” Dumbledore said wisely.

 

Neither Snape nor Hermione said a word after that.
They were both too angry and too irritated to speak. They left the room without
even talking to each other because they knew that they would need all the
strength they had for that night’s detention.

 

They’ll need all the stamina in the world to stand
each other.