Secrets

Hermione had gotten ready as best she could with only one hand. She tried using the glove, but it tended to leave a smudges of dirt on her clothes and in her hair. She had changed and cast a freshening charm on herself, but she still felt dirty. And her hair was a mess. Not only did it have bits of dirt clinging to it, it was frizzy and greasy from having not been washed. She had tried putting it up but had given up after thirty minutes of trying.

She walked into Professor Snape's classroom after his classes were over for the day. He had set up a cauldron and several ingredients were sitting next to it. Hermione felt a small thrill because she knew they would be brewing today. She couldn't wait to learn his methods and techniques. She had been looking forward to this for weeks.

"Come over here, Miss Granger. Before we begin, I need to address some things," he said imperiously. "Learning about potions from me will be quite different than learning about potions from a book. Yes, I taught you the fundamentals when you were a student here, but this is much different. To become a true master of the art of potions, one must be intuitive and think quickly. One cannot learn everything from books," he said, looking at her pointedly, "so I expect your full attention." He paused.
Hermione felt offended that he would even think that she wouldn't listen to him, but instead said, "Yes sir," tersely.
"And," he continued, "I expect you to be willing to use your full range of knowledge and intuition."

"Intuition, sir?" she questioned.

"Yes, it can come in quite handy in potions. It isn't all about reading the directions, Miss Granger. The directions can be wrong."

Books had never failed her before, but she simply nodded. She was eager to get to work.


"Alright, today we are going to brew the Draught of Living Death," he said, gliding over to the cauldron.

"Sir, I remember brewing that potion in my sixth year. This isn't new to me."

"I'm well aware of that, Miss Granger," Snape snapped at her, "and if you don't mind, I'm trying to prove my point. So, get started."

Hermione shrugged inwardly and bent down to examine the instructions on brewing the potion. She finished with the valerian roots, the potion the proper shade of black. She had followed the instructions to the letter and everything had been fine so far, she noticed smugly. Next, the book instructed her to cut up the sopophorous beans. She started cutting, but found they didn't really like to be cut, and instead squished in on themselves. She almost had to saw the knife back and forth just to cut a few up. She sighed and pushed her unruly hair out of her face for the millionth time that afternoon. For the first time since she began the potion, Professor Snape spoke.

"Tell me, Miss Granger, why do we add the sopophorous bean to the potion?"

"For the juice inside, sir, it's highly potent," she said, happy to know this.

"Correct. So perhaps it would be better to find another method of extracting the juice," he said with a slight hint of sarcasm.

"But the book says-" she began, before Snape cut her off.
"As I said before, Miss Granger, the directions are not always right! Trust yourself, not books!"

Hermione stood for a second, wondering what she could do. She tried squeezing the bean, but nothing happened. It was extremely firm, yet had a slight give, as if spongy on the inside. She put the bean back on the work table and picked up her silver knife. This time she put the flat side of the knife against it, and pushed down firmly with both hands. Juice squirted everywhere, and she let out a quick, "Oh!" in surprise. She took another bean, conjured a shallow bowl to put it in, and squished it again, this time with more control, and poured the juice into the potion. It instantly turned the proper shade of lilac as described, and Hermione looked at Professor Snape, astonished. She pushed her hair out of her eyes again.

She looked at the next step: Stir counterclockwise until a pale shade of pink, almost clear.

Hermione began stirring, quite pleased that she had figured out the trick with the beans. Maybe brewing was about intuition. She looked down, and noticed her potion was actually turning a sickly shade of yellow. She looked up at Snape and asked, "It this normal?"

"No," he said, "and since this isn't working, shouldn't you think of something else to do to fix it? *Think* Miss Granger."

She stopped stirring, trying to recall everything she knew about the Draught of Living Death, while absentmindedly pushing hair out of her face with her gloved hand. Dirt streaked across her cheek, yet she only looked more serious as she thought. If one was to drink it, it put the drinker into the deepest sleep imaginable. The victim's heart rate, brain activity- everything, actually, would slow down. It was impossible to awaken from unless given the specific antidote. It was quite a nasty potion, actually, if taken. Still, she couldn't come up with anything.
Her potion was starting to congeal.

"I...I don't know, sir," she said quietly.

"But it is in the text book, Miss Granger, surely the answer lies there," he said snidely.

She pushed another strand away, sighing, "Sir, what should I do?"

"Think, Miss Granger. This is a Draught of Living Death potion. Which way are you stirring?"

She looked up at him, confused, yet answered, "Counterclockwise, sir."

"Are you not aware that the counterclockwise motion is used for banishing things, to rid oneself of something? It makes sense, in a potion such as this, as it rids the drinker of all normal body function, slowing down everything, to either fool an enemy into thinking you are dead, or to get rid of one. However, Miss Granger, it is the Draught of *Living* Death..." Snape waited, a light in his eyes she had never seen before. Suddenly she exclaimed, "It doesn't actually kill you! You don't need all that counterclockwise stirring, because the intent of the potion isn't to fully kill the person, just slow the person's body down. So, I should add a few clockwise motions to enable the 'living' part! It's Potions 101, I can't believe I didn't think of it before. Everyone knows clockwise stirring will bring about something, while counterclockwise will banish something! Thats it!"

Hermione was elated. She began stirring enthusiastly again, pushing her hair out of her face wildly, and on the tenth turn, added a clockwise motion. The potion went back to the lovely shade of lilac it was to begin with. She repeated another ten turns, and stirred clockwise again. It turned pinker, but she couldn't seem to get it the clear shade that was called for, and it was still thicker than normal.
She kept stirring, getting more and more frustrated.

She finally threw the ladle down, spilling potion everywhere.
"That certainly is not the right attitude to have for brewing," Snape said, a bit surprised at her outburst. She had gotten the hardest part of the potion, and he had only helped her remember something she already knew.
"Miss Granger, would you mind explaining yourself...immediately?" he said, glaring at her.

"I just...ugh! My hair keeps getting in my face, I have dirt everywhere from this glove, and I really want to work hard and show you I'm ready to learn, but the stupid potion won't even come out right. I'm just so...frustrated!" She let out a cry of anger and annoyance as she pushed a stubborn piece of hair back with such force, a few strands came out in her hands.

"Oh, let me!" Snape growled, unable to believe her utter loss of control from simple frustration. He quickly pulled her hair into a ponytail, conjuring a thin black ribbon and tying it back for her. His fingers were just as nimble and delicate with her as when he brewed potions. For the short amount of time his fingers gathered up her hair, it felt amazing. She meant to say thank you, but only looked at him, puzzled.
"Miss Granger, your work with the potion was as can be expected. You figured out something that most others could not have. The reason it did not turn out perfectly is due to you waiting too long to continue stirring, and I have found that every seven turns is better to stir clockwise, not ten. It is simply trial and error. So stop your tantrum simply because it could not be perfect."
Hermione's face grew stern- she knew she had been acting like a child, but she didn't take well to feeling like a failure, or being scolded. However, Snape had almost complimented her. It was the closest he had ever gotten to complimenting her work, and she felt a little better.

"Miss Granger, if your hair is so troublesome to you, why did you not put it up before coming to work?" Snape said, as if it was an obvious oversight.

"I tried, but with this glove, my hair kept slipping through the soil, and the more I tried, the dirtier it got. See?" she said, pointing to her head. It was rather dirty.

"I can put it up for you again tomorrow. Today was actually quite productive, and I'd rather not have another set of robes ruined because of your silly temper," he said, looking down at his front.
She looked down at his chest, unaware that she had splashed any on him when she threw the ladle down. There were stains of a sickening pink color on the front of his robes, and she blushed slightly, feeling ashamed of her actions.

"I apologize, Professor Snape. I was just irritated, and-"
"Your apology will suffice, do not attempt to explain yourself to me. No excuses are needed. You may go," he said, and walked out of the classroom. She heard the door to his rooms shut further down the corridor, and began to clean up.

This was going to be a long week.

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A/N- I got the idea for this chapter from Chapter Nine in HBP, and the potion is taken almost verbatim. I figured this would be a good thing for Snape to teach Hermione since Snape had figured it out on his own so many years ago.
I just needed a good reason why the directions Snape used would be better than the text book.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Thanks for reading, and please review.