white liar

The next morning, Hermione went to the Infirmary with a story about running into a door. Madam Pomfrey looked like she didn\'t believe a word, but had her healed in under a minute.

Dumbledore wasn\'t in his office, and Hermione was bored. Malfoy was teaching, her own classes were over for the day, and her syllabus was so organized it was disgusting. Maybe she could test out her theory and see if paintings could be Obliviated. She found a portrait of a gloomy looking witch who looked like she wouldn\'t mind loosing couple of memories. \"Excuse me! I\'m sorry, could you look over here? Thank you...\" Hermione\'s voice trailed off as she studied the ebony wand in her hand. This was definitely not hers. No, this looked like Snape\'s. And if she had Snape\'s wand, he had hers.
Why, Gods, why? Hermione was sure that whatever she had done, it wasn\'t bad enough to deserve two violent encounters with Snape in the same twenty four hours.

Remembering the last time she had tried to sneak past Snape\'s wards, Hermione made sure to announce herself before approaching the disguised door to knock. It didn\'t throw her back five feet, but it did give her a rather nasty tingle.
\"Whoever you are, go away!\" that would be Snape, but something was different about his voice.
\"I\'m afraid I can\'t. Come on, Professor!\" Hermione pounded on the door. \"I won\'t go away until you let me in!\" Actually, she really did need her wand. Malfoy\'s last class would end soon, and she couldn\'t access the magic that held the peephole open without it. Nothing suspicious was going on yet, but it would be stupid to miss a check, regardless. \"Professor!\"
She heard shuffling footsteps and the noise of an unlocking spell. After a minute, the door opened, and Snape stood silhuetted in the doorway wearing nothing but pants and a pained expression.

Snape was so drunk it wasn\'t even funny. Why couldn\'t he be left alone just this once? All this pounding on the door was making his head hurt like the blazes. Resigned, Snape barely remembered to pull on some pants before opening the door. He felt his lip automatically curl: what did SHE want? And why the hell was she staring at him like that? She was looking pretty silly with her mouth half open, and for a moment, Snape wondered what she would do if he kissed her. Punch him again, probably.

Hermione didn\'t shock easily, but this time she was completely blown out of the water. Who would have thought Snape had that kind of body? Too bad that nasty personality went with the package, or she would have considered him attractive. His skin was incredibly pale, marked by a few curse scars and the Dark Mark, and his hair looked like spilled ink. She could see a fist shaped bruise under his ribcage. The glow from his rooms highlighted the curve of muscle as he leaned against the door.
\"What do you want? Or did you come down here merely to irritate me?\" His harsh voice jerked Hermione out of her reverie, and she handed him his wand.
\"We must have accidentally grabbed each other\'s wands last night, and I was just returning yours. I\'d, um, like mine back, too.\" Snape took the offered wand, but didn\'t make a move to get hers. \"I need it now, Snape.\" She said, rapidly loosing patience. She really, really didn\'t want to get caught hanging around his quarters any longer than absolutely possible, nice body or not.
\"Well then, you\'re in trouble, because i have no idea where it is.\"
\"What?\" gasped Hermione. \"Well, let me in! I\'m going to look for it!\" Could she manage a locator spell with an unfamiliar wand? Maybe. Would she kill Snape if she couldn\'t? Definately.

Snape was starting to see two Hermiones in front of him, and had only the faintest idea of what she was talking about. She had shoved a wand into his hands, and was now demanding to be let inside to look for... something. Well, whatever. He\'d just deny he knew anything about it. He should have known it wouldn\'t work with her. She just shoved past him and into his rooms. \"Granger, get out or I\'ll hex you into next week!\" Pathetic, but under the circumstances, the best he could do. Actually, right now standing up was starting to be too much. He barely made it to a chair before his knees buckled and his vision went black.

Hermione looked up in time to see Snape collapse on a chair. Pocketing her wand, which had been lying on a stack of books in plain sight, she walked over to check that he was still breathing. Snape was alive, unconscious, and obviously completely smashed. He was going to have one hell of a hangover when he woke up. Hermione sighed and levitated him down the hall to his room. Looking at Snape asleep, Hermione fought the urge to grab a mirror and hold it under his nose to see if it fogged. Honestly, the man slept like the dead. Hermione walked out, shutting the door carefully behind her.

***

If it wasn\'t for the owl, Hermione would have started to doubt Dumbledore\'s sincerity in hiering her. So far, Malfoy had done nothing but teach, eat, and sleep. And open his window to an unfamiliar owl every night. Hermione was sure he wasn\'t communicating anything of importance, because there simply wasn\'t anything to report. Hogwarts was as unusual as ever, but not in any way that would interest Malfoy. Peeves had pulled a few pranks, including locking Filch in a broomcloset for a night, and the Bloody Baron and Nearly Headless Nick had gotten into an argument which resulted in silvery blood coating a good deal of the Slytherin dungeons. The Bloody Baron hadn\'t been seen since, and Nearly Headless Nick and the other ghosts denied any knowlege of his wherabouts. Not exactly Dark stuff, so what could Malfoy possibly be scribbling so much about that the owl had to return nightly?
She would mention it to Dumbledore at the Order meeting next week. She was looking forward to seeing Harry and Ron again, not to mention Tonks and Lupin. It felt strange being at Hogwarts without her two best friends. She really should invite them up one weekend. It would be interesting to see the Malfoy as a ferret again.