Beneath the Surface

A/N: Just f.y.i., spartparts of this chapter will deal with the canon of the Trio\'s suspicion that Snape was after the Sorcerer\'s Stone (as this part of my story is set in their first year at Hogwarts). I trust most of you (if not all) who come across this story have read the Harry Potter books, and already know how these suspicions arose, how they knew of the Stone in the first place, and, well, anything having to do with that subplot. I will not elaborate on those things here (as I hate repeating things I\'ve already readXP, and it doesn\'t seem necessary because we all know what happens anyway and it\'s boring to read another\'s version of it, in my opinion), so it may often seem that certain conversations and occurrences having to do with the Sorcerer\'s Stone come out of nowhere, but that\'s really because I am expecting that you all already know what occurs from having read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer\'s Stone by J.K. Rowling (who continues to own the entire HP universe and its characters).
Okay, that was long and convoluted, but I think you get my point^^;. Okay, on with the story:

Beneath the Surface

Chapter the fourthe: Sparks of Suspicion, Parte the Firste


Though she would have preferred to do her work in the quiet confines of her dorm (there was hardly anyone there before nightfall, as the majority of the girls preferred to roam the castle or lounge in the Common Room before curfew), she tolerated the constant noind and activity of the Common Room to spend time with her friends.

It was in this room that Harry had voiced his growing suspicion that Professor Snape was after the Sorcerer\'s Stone. For what reason, he did not yet know; but he did know that his scar had burned painfully when he\'d first set eyes on the malevolent Professor, and the man\'s surly demeanor and air of mystery did nothing to make an innocent of him.

Ron, for his part, was more than eager to side with Harry, despite his lack of evidence. Anyone who favored Malfoy over his kind, honorable friends could not be a good person in*his* opinion.

Hermione had ignored their accusations at first, being unwilling to ever doubt the integrity of a teacher. She didn\'t think that anyone whose job it was to teach them the ways of the world could or *should* ever be disputed or doubted. Although some of the things that Harry said made sense, there just wasn\'t enough evidence to prove that Snape had his eye on the Stone.

But each time she witnessed her Potions Professor darting narrowed eyes about or peering behind his back when he thought no one was looking, her distrust in him grew a notch higher.

But such suspicions had not yet conquered her ingrained sense of loyalty to her academic superiors. Not yet.

\"Poor Hermione\", Ron cooed sympathetically, releasing her from her academic stupor.She sighed in annoyance, yet a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

\"Yes, poor, poor Hermione,\" Harry agreed somberly.

\"I wouldn\'t start in, Harry,\" Hermione admonished. \"Don\'t forget, *you* have detention with Filch.\"

Ron guffawed loudly and pointed his finger at Harry as if Hermione had just made a splendid joke at his expense. \"She\'s right, mate. You\'ll be cleaning the toilets with a toothbrush until Winter break!\"
Ron\'s laughter was suddenly cut off as Harry\'s shoulder rammed into his gut. Ron responded to this by pushing Harry roughly to the floor, where they proceeded to wrestle like little boys; all in good fun. Hermione rolled her eyes at their childish behavior and returned to her reading.

The three friends had settled into the Gryffindor Common Room after classes, as they and many of their peers often did, to catch up with their friends and work on homework together. Though in the case of Hermione, Harry and Ron, it was mainly the former who did the homework and the latter two who did the catching up.

The familiar scenario was playing itself out yet again as Hermione struggled to concentrate on researching the belladonna plant for her Potions parchment, despite the ruckus from the two on the floor. She intended to have every inch of the three feet required of them accounted for on her parchment, and all of it meaningful and on topic. She had learnt from experience that Professor Snape did not appreciate obscure factual rambling going on for an extra foot or so, and would criticize her incisively for it in sprawling black script across her essays.

It was clear that Professor Snape wanted precisely what he asked for and not a bit more; he brought new meaning to the term ‘exacting\'. She took this as another hard lesson to be learned, and was determined not to disappoint him in any measure *this* time.

It had seemed that the dispute on the carpet had at last been resolved, and Harry and Ron were dusting off their robes and straightening their hair. Harry pushed his glasses up higher on his nose, and through them he saw that Hermione was still slaving away at her Potions parchment, an intensely focused expression etched over her delicate features.

\"Hermione, you\'ve been at it for hours,\" Harry sighed, shaking his head in amusement. \"Why don\'t you take a break and we\'ll play chess or something?\"

\"Harry.\" She turned from her work and favored him with a stern expression. \"I think the last thing you two should be doing right now is playing around. You haven\'t done any of your work for tonight, and we have a test in Herbology tomorrow!\" The two boys rolled their eyes at her playfully.

\"Yes, but we\'re not discussing us, are we? We\'re discussing you! You shouldn\'t be working so hard all of the time. Goodness knows you don\'t need to!\"

Hermione blinked once sharply. Although she was sure he\'d said that more to change the subject from himself and Ron than out of genuine concern for her well-being, she was flattered all the same. A warm feeling spread through her torso and a blush heated her cheeks. She shifted in her seat and looked away in an attempt to cover up her reaction to the simple sentence.

\"Well, thank you for your concern, but I\'m fine, really. I just want to get a perfect score in Potions for once, and that\'s going to take a lot of work.\"

\"I can\'t believe you actually care what Professor Snape thinks of you!\" Ron exclaimed angrily, more at Snape than at his friend. \"You know that if you were in Slytherin you\'d be his favorite student!\" Hermione pursed her lips and regarded him with a skeptical expression.

\"Well, you should!\" he shouted in exasperation. \"Everyone else does. Even the Slytherins, I\'ll bet! Anyway, hasn\'t he already gotten enough out of you as it is? You barely have time to finish dinner tonight before you have to report to his dungeons!\"

\"Calm down, Ron,\" Harry said, putting a hand on Ron\'s shoulder in an attempt to placate him. \"I\'m sure she knows.\" He turned to Hermione with a serious expression. \"But he does have a point. I mean, you remember what I told you about Snape-
\
\"*Professor* Snape,\" she corrected.

\"...Sure. But doesn\'t it make you wonder about him, even a little? If it were me, I wouldn\'t be so eager to work this hard for a possible thief!\"

\"You never have, Harry,\" Hermione scolded tonelessly, her arms crossed. She shook her head and shrugged. \"I\'m sorry, but I just can\'t judge a person–not even a person, a Professor!–based on supposition and hearsay. It just isn\'t fair.\"

\"But it all makes perfect sense!\" Ron said, throwing up his hands to illustrate his point. \"Sure, we don\'t know that Snape--\"

\"*Professor* Snape.\"

\"Whatever! We don\'t know for certain that he\'s going to try and steal the Stone, but we do know that someone is causing a lot of strange things to happen around here, and he\'s the most likely suspect! I mean, look at him!–He\'s practically admitted his guilt just by existing!!\"

\"Ron! That\'s a very closed-minded, not to mention silly, thing to say! You should know better than to judge someone based on their appearance,\" Hermione insisted, having risen and placed her hands on her hips. Two pairs of confused, round eyes were the only answer she received.

Realizing how hard she was fighting to prove Professor Snape\'s innocence–something even *she* wasn\'t quite certain of–she grew embarrassed and knew that the only way out of this little situation was going to be by changing the subject, using her superior powers of intellectual persuasion. She raised her watch to her eyes.

\"My, but time seems to fly faster and faster lately. It\'s already time for dinner!\"

Their entire conversation forgotten, she was rewarded with a clean slate with the boys as they grinned wildly and began to rush towards the portrait hole. As Harry began to climb out of the room, Ron whipped his head around to look at her, a goofy grin plastered on his face.

\"Come on, Hermione! This is the best period of the day!\"

She laughed at their boyish excitement over such a simple thing as eating. After turning to quickly close and lock her notes with a spell, she rushed off to join them, doing her best to work up an appetite before a long detention with Professor Snape in the cold, dark and lonely dungeons beneath the ca.6¨ .