Through the Looking Glass ~ COMPLETED

Chapter 54 ~ Hermione Does Her Homework

A week after giving Hermione her assignment of clandestinely gathering information that would assist him in setting up and getting his apothecary shop off the ground, Snape received a rather light, stuttering knock on his office door. It was Friday evening, and he was finishing marking the usual dismal offerings of his Potions class. He looked up, frowning.

”Who is it?” he snarled, irritated at being interrupted.

”It’s Hermione Granger, professor,” Hermione’s muffled voice responded.

”Well, come in then,” he said, putting down his quill and frowning at the door.

“I can’t.”

”What do you mean you can’t? Simply turn the knob. The door isn’t locked or warded.”

”I can’t.”

Snape sighed, stood up, stalked around his desk and ripped the door open.

Hermione stood there, balancing an armload of books that formed a loose stack and teetered precariously. Snape blinked at her.

”I suppose a minimizing spell didn’t cross your mind, Miss Granger,” he said to the witch.

Hermione tottered through the door. She was so excited, she hadn’t even thought about it. She loved lugging books around. She found the weight of them comforting, as if she could just feel the ton of knowledge each tome contained. She was a strange little witch.

Normally, she’d be on her Head girl rounds, but she pawned them off on a prefect. She was in charge of them, so asserted her authority and right to skive off. She’d been doing that a lot lately.

Hermione set the books on Snape’s desk with a clunk, covering up the parchments he was marking as they toppled over, sliding across his desk and spilling his ink bottle in his good swivel chair.

”Oops, sorry about that, professor,” she said sheepishly, quickly separating the books into proper piles according to topic.

Snape rolled his eyes. Good help was so hard to find. He walked back around his desk; Scourgified the mess, then looked down at the books as Hermione dusted off her hands and said, “There.”

“There? What is this, Miss Granger? Are you starting a library?”

She nodded.

“A business library. This is some light reading for you to do, professor. This pile is about the laws of buying and selling potions ingredients in wizarding England. Which ones are illegal and which are not, the penalties involved, that sort of thing—this pile is about writing a feasible business plan to acquire funding for your business—“

Snape scowled at her.

”I don’t need to acquire funding. I am rich, Miss Granger,” he told her pointedly.

”I know you are, professor, but you want to establish credit. You can’t do that if you just use your own money. Running a business requires more than just emptying your vaults. There’s a proper way to go about it. Let the banks finance you. They will, because you have money. And if you have losses, there’s ways to avoid paying it all back so you don’t lose your own money. It’s just good business, sir.”

Snape blinked at her.

”And you’re going to have to incorporate. It’s all in there,” she added. “You’re going to need a solicitor to handle the business aspects. I have a list of good ones for you to look over. Now, these books are directories for potions suppliers. I’ve researched a lot of them. The larger suppliers will have cheaper ingredients, but the potency and quality will vary. The smaller suppliers and farmers are more expensive, but the quality of the ingredients are better. I have directories for those that provide specialized ingredients in animal, mineral and plant forms. Spores and Fungus too. The ones that sound promising are highlighted in yellow in each directory.”

Snape just listened to her babble on, staring at all the books.

”This pile lists of all the new suppliers for apothecary shops. Not just ingredient suppliers, but ones who provide cauldrons, mortars, distilleries, items of that type. Many of them are looking for investors. I’ve checked out the growth of the best ones and highlighted them as well. You might want to invest in some of these businesses—not only could you make money but more than likely you will be able to purchase supplies at a discount. You should sell items like these in your shop as well to offer your customers a variety of potions related items, not just potions.”

Snape couldn’t help but notice the excited flush on the witch’s face. She was really into this. He cocked his head at her as she fanned out a stack of magazines. Hermione blathered on.

”These are ‘Apothecary Weekly’ magazines. They tell of the latest potions developments, what ingredients and potions are most in demand in today’s market and feature the best apothecary shops in the wizarding world today. I figured we could peruse their setups and emulate the best ones, combining the best features of each. Some have cold rooms for example, to keep perishable ingredients longer. And these books are about keeping inventory. It’s not much, but it’s a start. You should find them very helpful.”

She pulled a pink folder out from the bottom of one of the piles and handed it to the professor.

”That’s just a summary I put together describing the steps you need to take to set up the shop, and an alphabetized listing of the books according to subject matter with a little summary of each. I even put in the magazine articles to pay attention to the most.”

Snape opened the folder, frowning at its color. The summary had a preface, table of contents and pages of neatly handwritten text consisting mostly of outlines. There had to be at least eighty pages. He looked at her incredulously.

”How in the world did you find time to do all of this in a week? This is your last year, Miss Granger. You have NEWTs at the end of term, which isn’t that far off. While your zeal for your assignment is—commendable to say the least, you must attend to your studies.”

Snape was thunderstruck actually. He had seen no decline in her homework, and he gave quite a bit of it to his seventh years in preparation for the NEWTs, the final examination given at Hogwarts. It was administered by the Wizarding Examination Authority and was tantamount to students getting into their chosen fields. Actually, seventh years had a plethora of assignments from all their professors and Hermione had nothing but classes. Not even a study period this quarter.

“Oh, don’t worry, professor. My studies aren’t suffering in the least. When you gave me access to your account, I didn’t only purchase books—“

Hermione reached under her robes and produced a necklace on which hung an item that looked a bit like a gyroscope. Snape’s eyes widened.

”A Time Turner?” he asked. Time Turners were pricey, and she hadn’t asked his permission. Maybe he should rethink giving her access to his accounts. She might buy diamonds next.

Hermione nodded, but quickly added, “But it’s an inexpensive one. It has a twelve hour limit on it. I can’t go back in time a full day, so I have to schedule carefully in order to use it.”

Still, Snape scowled at her.

”Next time, I expect you to consult me before making any outside purchases,” Snape griped, sitting down now and looking at the books again.

”This is not an outside purchase,” Hermione said indignantly. Snape’s black eyes glittered at her perceived insubordination. “I needed it in order to do the best job I could do for you. When I’m done, I’ll—I’ll give it back!”

Snape didn’t reply. Fine, give it back. He looked at the piles of books. Hermione was right. They were required reading, but with the NEWTs coming up, how would he find time to do this and handle his classes?

”I appreciate what you’ve done so far, Miss Granger, but I really don’t have the time to study all this,” the Potions master said.

Hermione slowly reached into her pocket and pulled something out. She let it dangle. It was another Time Turner, a more expensive one.

”I got this for you,” she said hesitatingly. “It goes back a week maximum.”

She nervously handed the necklace to Snape, who studied it for a moment before looking up at the witch She held her breath, ready for another cutting remark about her spending his money recklessly.

”You really are a wonder, Hermione Granger,” Snape said softly.

Hermione flushed with pleasure at his praise. Professor Snape rarely gave it out.

”Just be careful about paradox, especially when you first use it. There are stories about wizards wiping themselves out when they walk in on each other. They usually duel, believing the other to be an imposter. You might want to wait a week before using it, that way, if you do walk in on yourself, you’ll have knowledge of the Turner and won’t go into attack mode.”

”I’ll keep that in mind, Miss Granger,” Snape said, slipping the Time Turner over his neck and tucking it under his robes.

Hermione yawned and sat down in the rickety chair before his desk. The Potions master noticed now that she looked very tired.

He studied Hermione as she rubbed her eyes and blinked, the brown orbs resting on him. She had continued to wear make-up, but not much of it. She had grown up a bit because of her experience in the alternate world and made some effort to look more attractive. There was nothing wrong with it after all. She wasn’t glamorous, but it was a noticeable change.

The young wizards at Hogwarts noticed the change as well as the witches. Draco became brooding every time he saw her, although he’d learned his lesson about harassing her. But, Hermione was even worse than before as far as her focus went. Harry and Ron were totally left out in the cold now as she worked on both her class studies and Snape’s assignments. But she still took out the time to give them weekly study schedules that always made them groan. Hermione hadn’t told them about the Time Turner either, and the wizards were often startled to find her someplace else in the castle when they had just left her in another area. When they tried to ask her about it, she’d reply, “Too busy to talk now. Things to do,” and run off, a bunch of books in her arms.

”I don’t know how she bloody does it,” Ron would say with a low whistle. “She’s everywhere.”

Harry would just blink after her, swearing Hermione’s brain was just going to blow up one day like an overworked Muggle engine. But, no matter how much her appearance had changed, Hermione was still an untouchable as far as asking her out. She had no time and no inclination to spend any time with anyone . . . the exception being one dungeon-dwelling wizard twice her age with a dream.

”You look tired, Miss Granger. I would normally suggest a bit of Pepper-up potion, but in your case, I think sleep is in order,” Snape said curtly. “You should go.”

”Could I just sit here and rest my eyes for a moment?” she asked him.

Before encountering her counterpart, Snape would have booted Hermione out of his office without hesitation. Whether it was because of the alternate Hermione, or all the work she had done for him, Snape let her sit there.

”For a minute or two, Miss Granger,” he replied, picking up his quill and starting in on the parchments. “Then you must return to Gryffindor tower.”

He became absorbed in his marking. After about twenty minutes, a little snore startled him and he looked up to see Hermione slumped in the chair, her head tilted back, completely and unequivocally asleep.

”Oh good gravy,” the wizard swore, looking at the witch, his nose wrinkled. “Miss Granger. Miss Granger! Wake up!”

Hermione didn’t respond. Snape set his quill down in exasperation. How tired was the witch that she didn’t respond to him? He stood up, walked around the desk, studied the sleeping witch then grasped her shoulder, shaking her.

She snurfled, her head rocking back and forth before she flailed her hands at him.

”Five more minutes, mum,” she breathed, then snored again.

Now she was leaning dangerously in the chair, about to fall off it. Snape thought about letting her fall. He could Ennervate her, but it was a horrible spell to use on someone who was truly asleep. It was meant to bring someone out of unconsciousness. Terrible headaches could result rousing a body that didn’t want to be roused.

Snape sighed and looked at the clock. It was twenty to ten. He must have been very absorbed in his marking. He looked back at Hermione, his dark eyes drifting over her robes and the curves beneath them. He felt a small response, most likely because of her counterpart. But still, what was he to do with her? He couldn’t just leave her in his office.

Snape stared down at the witch, then sighed again. He walked over to the wall that opened on his private rooms and pulled a torch. It slid open. He turned back to Hermione, walked over and carefully lifted the witch out of the chair, one arm supporting her thighs, the other supporting her back and shoulder. Hermione sighed and shifted in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and snuggling into him like a sleeping child. He stood there a moment as she nestled against him with a sigh and continued to sleep. She seemed quite comfortable this way, her warm breath curling against his throat. She must have eaten peppermint.

“I must be insane,” the wizard said to himself, carrying the witch into his quarters and letting the wall close behind them.

”Totally insane.”

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A/N: Thanks for reading.