Amour

DECEPTION

"Sorry to bother you so late in the night Severus,but maybe I'm turning old,and probably would forget about it in the morning,but that won't do."Slughorn said,making himself so small that it was clear he found it intimidating to stand in Snape's office doorway.Snape had been about to go to bed but put on a dressing gown when he heard a knock on the door."What is it Horace?"he asked,a little curious."What happened is that Ms.Granger came to me asking about any potion that could help her stay underwater for an hour,you know,for the next task and after she left,I was rummaging through my ingredients and found that I've run out of lacewing flies,leeches,knotgrass,powdered bicorn horn,fluxweed amd shredded boomslang skin.Maybe I am turning really old but I think I had refilled them just a couple of days ago..I don't know what happened to them.I went down to the Hogwarts storeroom,but there also was not a single drop of these left.Frankly it looked as if someone had dusted them clean.I need these for making different potions tomorrow morning,and I've already ordered them from Diagon Alley but they won't arrive by that time.So I was wondering,do you have some stored away somewhere?"Slughorn narrated.Snape furrowed his brow.Those are the exact ingredients for brewing polyjuice potion.That can't be a coincidence,could it?And the ingredients dissappeared right after Hermione came to visit him?That's odd.Is she up to something?And someone has even emptied the storeroom?How long has she been doing this?He nodded at him and went over to his cabinet and started sifting through the articles before finally taking the right vials out but he saw that he had very little left.That is not possible,I had them filled to the top after I stored them away when I came over from Potions to the DADA job.He handed what he had left to Slughorn and bid him goodnight.But he stood there thinking,with the cabinet door open.Suddenly his eyes focused on a single blonde hair stuck at the hinges.He pulled it out and hung it in front of his eyes.Oh,this is definitely Hermione's.Now that I think of it,she had let herself in once before.I hate to admit it but she's stealing ingredients for potion-making.But why?He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't realise he had left his office door open and now he saw that Madame Malkin had slunk in."Oh,I'm so glad that I found you alone.I've been meaning to do this for so long now..."she said with a wicked grin.Snape raised his eyebrows at her and she replied,"I told you I wanted to get to know you.And finally I've got my chance!"She clapped her hands together but Snape raised his,backing away,"Look,Madame.This is not a good time...it's quite late and I'm tired...""Oh hush,Severus.This is perfect for what I have in mind."she said flirtatiously coming closer.He was baffled,"What are you talking about-"but he stopped,his mouth dropping open as Madame Malkin opened the front of her gown to reveal her naked body underneath.She tried to approach him but he quickly went behind his desk."What the hell do you think you're doing?"he shouted.She instead climbed on the top of his desk and sat sexily in front of him,"Oh,come on,Severus.I know you want this.That little girl is nothing!I'm sure she is too shy to do anything.Let me show you what it feels to be with a real woman."Snape was beyond himself."Do you know what you are talking about?Who gave you the right to talk about her like that?I love her!"She sat up frustrated,"What do you see in her anyway?She's just a girl.What does she have that I don't?"Snape composed himself before looking her straight in the eye and saying,"You have answered that question yourself."Then he raised his eyes as he saw something move at the front of the room and to his horror,Hermione was standing with her mouth formed in an 'O', staring dumbfounded at the scene in front of her."Get out!"Snape yelled at Malkin before turning apologetically at Hermione.Malkin,extremely ashamed,covered herself up and shoved past Hermione,who stood there for some time more,unable to form her words and then started walking away,close to tears.Snape jogged behind her,down the corridor,"Hermione, stop.Please listen...it's not what it looks like."He stopped her by the arm,"Hermione,please believe me.Nothing happened between us."Hermione looked up at him and said,"I do believe you."Snape was surprised.You do?Hermione continued angrily,"I trust you.It's her I don't trust.I'm sure she was trying to seduce you.I know you're not like that.I'm sorry I was too shocked to say anything...it's that...I..I couldn't picture you with someone else."She covered her face with her hands.Snape pulled her hands away and looked her deep in the eyes and said,"There is no one else.There can't be anyone else.It's only you."He kissed her forehead and she looked contented.But then he went back to his previous suspicion."Might I ask,why did you come to my office at this time of the night,in the first place,Hermione?"She took some time to form her words before replying,"I made contact with Sirius through floo-powder and made him aware of the situation here.I also asked about how he was doing and I was just so excited that I wanted to tell you right away."Hermione was still shaken by what had happened so that she had taken some time to say these words but Snape thought she had taken the time to come up with a lie.He hadn't really been convinced but chose not to tell anything.Hermione,I really wish you would tell me what you are doing....