Hermione\'s Revenge

Chapter 4

During the next Double Potions class, Hermione, Harry, and Ron were ready to get revenge on Draco. The Slytherins walked in first because the Gryffindors were purposely delaying their entrance until Draco and his goons were seated. Hermione, Harry, and Ron followed the rest of the Gryffindors into the classroom only to be exposed to a pungent odor. Everyone was pinching their noses as Snape came storming in. His lip immediately curled from the odor. He made his way to the front of the room and saw a pile of ferret droppings on his desk.

Looking directly at Hermione, he hissed, “WHO THE HELL PUT FERRET SHIT ON MY DESK!”

Still pinching her nose, she answered, “It was Draco Malfoy sir!”

Snape glared at her when Harry abruptly stood up and said, “I saw him do it! It was Draco!”

Looking around the classroom, he saw all of the Gryffindors nodding in agreement and then he stared at Draco in disbelief. He knew Draco had not done it, but he was impressed with the Gryffindor’s method of extracting revenge or at least with what he knew of Draco this had to be revenge for something he had done. Snape owed Hermione for the salve, but after this, he was back to ignoring her.

“CLEAN IT UP MISTER MALFOY!” he hissed.

“What? But Professor Snape, I didn’t do it!” he protested.

“CLEAN THE SHIT OFF MY DESK OR I WILL TURN YOU BACK INTO A FERRET!” he growled, daring him to protest again.

Draco got up and tried to use his wand to clean it, but Hermione had charmed it so that magic could not be used to clean it. Poor Draco found a trashcan and carefully guided it into the trashcan with his wand. The class was laughing so hard that they had tears in their eyes. Snape waved his wand to dissolve the lingering odor as Draco removed the trashcan from the classroom.

Class continued as normal. Snape only slightly ignored Hermione and Draco glared at her, Harry, and Ron. She knew to keep her guard up around Draco since the war had been declared.

~*~*~*~*~*~

During the next Double Potions class, the Gryffindors and Slytherins filed into the classroom for another exciting day of potio Her Hermione, Harry, and Ron immediately noticed that Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle were not in class.

Outside the classroom, Draco was hiding around the corner waiting till Snape was coming from the opposite direction. On cue, Crabbe and Goyle both bumped into Snape, distracting him so that Draco, who stayed hidden, could draw his wand and place a charm on Snape without him knowing it.

“Watch where you are going!” he hissed inwardly flinching from the pain. His body was becoming more sensitive to touch. “Get to class!” he yelled.

The three hurried to class and quickly found their seats when Professor Snape came storming in. Facing the class, he began his lecture, but the students began to laugh as they pointed at him. He stood there; trying to comprehend what today’s entertainment was when he saw Miss Parkinsointiinting to her own forehead. Quickly he went to his desk, conjured a mirror and looked into it. In the middle of his forehead was an identical lightening bolt scar, the same as Harry’s. The class burst into louder laughter as Snape glared at Hermione and then Harry.

“I didn’t do it!” protested Harry before Snape could verbally accuse him. “Honestly sir!”

“Potter did it alright!” shouted Draco, “I overheard him, Granger, and Weasley planning it this morning!” he sneered.

“YOU THREE WILL SERVE A WEEKS DETENTION WITH MISTER FILCH!” boomed Snape.

“I can prove we did not do it!” said Hermione as she got out of her seat and ran to the front of the room. She grabbed Draco and threw him to the ground and searched him.

“What are you doing Granger?” yelled Draco, but Hermione did not say a word. Finally she found his wand.

Holding it up to Snape, she said, “Prior Incantatem!” and the wand revealed the charm for placing a lightening bolt tattoo.

Snape grabbed his wand, snapped it into two pieces and hissed, “One week with Mister Flich!”

“Damn, why didn’t I think of that when she put the ferret shit on your desk?” moaned Draco.

“Because,” Snape said in a silky drawl, “Stupidity is a dominant trait that runs in the Malfoy blood line, now SHUT UP!”

Draco turned to Crabbe and Goyle and whispered, “You know what this means?”

“That you need to owl your dad and tell him you need another wand because Snape snapped it into two pieces again?” asked Crabbe.

“No you idiot,” Draco gaim aim a dirty look. “This means war,” and he gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione an evil glare.

The Gryffindors along with a few Slytherins were laughing so hard that they could not stop. Snape knew it was hopeless, especially since he was not feeling well today. He charmed the tattoo off of his forehead and sent them to the library to do some independent research.

Going back to his rooms, he kept thinking about the salve Hermione made for him. The level of complexity the salve required to be brewed was one only a Potion Master could achieve, yet Hermione accomplished this. Then, today when Draco should have gotten the best of her, she was clever enough to turn the tables on him without the slightest hesitation. Snape was beginning to see her in a new light, but quickly rid his mind of the thoughts because he needed to concentrate on his potion.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione continued to work on the potion and made some progress but not enough. She knew if she had someone to discuss her theories with, maybe they could sort through them, but the only person capable of this was Snape. She was going to have to admit to him that she was also working on the potion, but how? Deciding that there was no good way to do it except to be honest, she took her notes, her vial of Brown Gunk In A Bottle and left to the Dungeons.

Snape reluctantly let her in. “What do you want Miss Granger?”

“Sir, I need to tell you somethingt wit will make you really mad, but I need to tell you,” she said in a small voice.

“Go ahead,” he said as he crossed his arms, looking sternly at her. Her hair was frizzy and pulled back showing that she had been busy with other things.

“I have been watching you brew that potion since the first day you gave me detention and I have become very fascinated with it,” she paused to see his reaction, which was a more intense glare. “I became so fascinated with it that I stole your notes and tried to help you by creating it on my own.” She winced as the last words came out, fearing what his initial reaction was going to be.

“How dare you Miss Granger? I will have you expelled for stealing!” he roared.

Hermione handed him her most recent Brown Gunk In A Bottle along with her notes.

“READ THEM!” she yelled in such a demanding tone that Snape was dumbfounded. He snatched them from her hands and walked back to his desk. Glancing at her notes, he became immediately interested in her theories and read them word for word.

“You have some interesting theories here Miss Granger, but what do you want from me?” he asked suspiciously.

“I want to help you brew the potion that will successfully restore your nerves,” she said.

“No. It is none of your business. Leave!” he hissed.

“No, I am not going anywhere!” she said, raising her voice.

“It would be wise to leave now!”

“If you do not let me help, I will make your life hell,” her voice took on a serious tone.

“My life is already hell, if you have not noticed,” he growled at her before leaving the room. Normally he would have belittled her down to tears, but he just did not have the energy.

“Well, it’s about to get worse,” she mumbled, but before she left, she charmed every picture, book cover, cauldron, parchment and anything else she could think of into the Gryffindor colors with the Gryffindor insignia. Satisfied, she left.

After a while, Snape came back out to his lab to work on the potion and almost had a stroke when he saw the Gryffindor insignia everywhere. He placed a few charms to remove them, but became even more frustrated when he realized she had used a different charm for each item and finally gave up - for now.

While working on his potions, Albus came in to visit him.

“Hello Severus,” said Albus, “Is Miss Granger going to help you?”

“What do you think?” he snapped.

“I think you are a fool not to let her help. She is a very intelligent and clever witch who, I might add, knows how to decorate,” Albus said as he looked around, admiring the Gryffindor insignia.

“I should have expelled her for stealing,” he hissed.

“If you really wanted her expelled, you would have done that when you realized she took the ingredients out of your private supplies to brew the pain-killer salve. No, Severus, I believe that you appreciate Miss Granger as much as the rest of the staff, you are just too stubborn and thickheaded to admit it.”

“Are you finished?” hissed Snape.

“No, just one more thing. This is the calm before the storm. You will not be allowed to take points from her or assign her detention until you agree to accept her offer to help you. Goodnight Severus,” Albus said smoothly before leaving.

Severus knew that he should let her help because together, they would have a better chance of finding a cure, but he was too head-strong to allow her, Little-Miss-Know-It-All, to help him, even though he was becoming fascinated by her talent and capabilities.