The Chocolate Frog Cards of Love

The positioning of the card was perfect. It had been relatively easy to move the card from under the desk into the lab. A bit of slight of hand if you will. Now, I had a wonderful overlook of the lab from near the ceiling.

I only visited on nights when Ms. Granger was going to be brewing. Severus had to have some privacy after all didn\'t he? So far, it was turning out to be as entertaining as I had imagined.

I watched the door open and Hermione walk in. She went about her usual rituals; setting up her cauldron, gathering her ingredients, shedding her outer robes and pulling up her hair to work.

I continued to glance at the door as I watched her, because I knew it was only a matter of time before Severus arrived. For all his groaning and complaining about her, I knew the truth.

He liked her.

That was a truly childish way to put it, but it was the truth. He enjoyed the fact that she could challenge him. He liked that she threw herself into her work, no matter what it was. He was amazed that someone like her read the types of books he did. I had heard him say this on more than on occasion. I mean, what was the fun of being able to visit Chocolate Frog cards if you couldn\'t discover information to use against someone? How do you think I appear so omnipotent?

Soon enough, the door was opened and Severus came into the room. Hermione didn\'t even look up from what she was doing. \"What brings you here tonight?\"

He lay the papers he was carrying on the table. \"If you must know, though I don\'t know why I have to explain myself since this is MY lab, I enjoy marking essays in here.\"

She snorted. \"Very weak excuse, Severus. Very weak, but I\'ll accept it this time. Please try to stay out of my way. I have work to do.\"

I almost laughed out loud. She was actually calling him on his lie. He glared at her back, then turned to his papers.

The next few hours were boring. Hermione worked and Severus marked. I went to other cards in the downtime, but I always came back because I knew the fireworks would start eventually.

As soon as he finished marking essays, Severus stood and walked to her work station. \"Exactly what are you trying to concoct?\"

She glared at him. \"I don\'t feel the need to explain to you, Severus. If you\'ll excuse me...\" She pushed past him to consult a text.

He stared at the ingredients and then at the potion. \"It won\'t work.\"

I knew what was coming.

\"What do you mean it won\'t work? How do you know? You don\'t even know what I\'m trying to do!\"

\"The mandrake will cancel out the moonstone.\"

She stopped writing and looked at him.

He shrugged. \"I\'m just trying to save you the trouble and the ingredients.\"

Hermione came over and looked into her cauldron. \"My calculations say that if you add them at different times, the effects of each aren\'t lost.\"

What was happening? They were suppose to be fighting with each other. I sighed. This was a little boring. I didn\'t want to listen to them discuss potion theories all night. I left the frame and them to their discussion.

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Thanks again to everyone for reading! Enjoy.