Secrets

The next morning, Hermione almost fell out of her chair when Snape banged so loudly on the door it visibly shook, startling her awake. She got up, careful to keep her hand away from her body. She didn't want to accidentally ignite anything, especially her clothes. She opened the door and decided to say nothing. Snape looked down his nose at her as he said, "I hope you do not think a minor injury will get you out of another day of work. I expect you in my classroom this afternoon prompt and ready to work." Hermione's eyes narrowed.

"Minor? You call *this* minor? By simply touching something, I could cause it to spontaneously combust. I can't even wash my hair!" she screamed. "And, may I remind you, I *did* come to work yesterday."

Snape sneered at her. "I gave you the day off. What you chose to do with your day is of no concern to me now. Besides, you can work. Here." He thrust a small box into Hermione's good hand. She eyed him suspiciously for a second before taking the box over to her desk and opening it with her good hand. She looked up at him slowly, her expression blank. She had no idea what this was supposed to mean.

"Don't these usually come in pairs?" she asked, giving him a sneer to rival his own.
"Don't be dense," he shot back. "It's a glove transfigured out of the soil that the Sunset Lilly that burned you was grown in. It will contain the...'outbursts' until your hand heals." Secretly, Hermione was in awe. She knew what a tricky piece of magic this must have been. Fresh soil was loose and damp- something extremely difficult to transfigure into a solid (and make it stay). She put the glove on; it felt warm and...well, like she had stuck her hand in a pot of soil.
"I feel like Micheal Jackson..." she muttered to herself.
"What was that?" he asked harshly.
"Nothing..." she said. She was fascinated with how it felt. She put it up to her face and smiled. Nothing had ignited.

"Thank you, Professor." Snape nodded slightly, his face emotionless.
"So, you may work today, but your hair will have to wait...unfortunately." Hermione brought her good hand up to her hair and rolled her eyes at how frizzy it felt. It would take her an hour to fix it, and that was with two good hands. "Water will wash the soil away," he told her.

He went to leave, but stopped when Hermione said, "Um, Professor?"
He turned toward her, a severe look on his face. "How long do you think it'll take to heal?" Snape smirked down at her said nastily, "probably a week."
He turned and walked out.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N- So I intended this chapter to be longer but it's getting really late here, so I'll just leave it at that. More tomorrow, though, I promise.

Thanks for reading, and please review. :)