Anyone But Me

Chapter Forty-Four

She was woken the next morning to the dorm room door being slammed shut, she groaned loudly and pulled the blanket over her head. A lazy attempt to keep the sun from nudging her eyes open before she remembered what she had to look forward to that day. Made all the worse because her prediction for a lack of sleep had proven correct. Another long groan expressed her displeasure at the now-empty lodgings.

She had stayed up for hours thinking each gust of wind against the window was someone coming to summon her for questioning. And once she had calmed enough to fall asleep it was broken by nightmares where she was wandering in the dark looking for something... Anything to give a hint to where she was, but it never came. She would wake only to be shrouded in the same inky stillness of night which would just intensify her anxiety, causing her to have to start the calming process all over again.

With one last groan she pulled the blanket back down and opened her eyes to the day...

Wishing she didn't have to make the trek all the way down to the Great Hall for caffeine...

-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-

Hermione stood outside of Snape's classroom door at the predetermined time of nine o'clock. She'd had hopes that she would be shipped off to be someone else's responsibility (preferably Hagrid's) but they were instantly dashed when she had gotten the summons while sipping her third cup of coffee. There was not going to be an easy out for her today... Snape would probably have her grading papers or working on some other monotonous task for hours on end.

At the very least, her worries over Draco's plans seemed to be for nothing. Nott had shown up looking tired but normal at breakfast. He didn't look to be experiencing any of the side effects of an Obliviation spell. There were no signs of disorientation or weakness... Just a crabby look that was quickly fought off with food, tea and jokes among friends.

Her musings were halted when Snape turned the corner and made his way down to meet her, with Draco closely at his heels. They both wore looks of extreme annoyance on their faces which she probably would have found comical if she wasn't about to spend an extended amount of time with them.

Snape flung open the door and gestured for her and Draco to enter. They quickly followed the unspoken command obediently. She stepped into the room and waited a few feet from the door to be told what to do while Draco made his way to the closest table and sat down. Their perpetually sullen professor slammed the door shut behind them and made his way up the aisle to his desk before finally turning and addressing her. "Are you going to stand there all day Miss Granger?"

"No sir..." She responded instantly and went to the table and seat she used during class out of habit. She kept her eyes down, sensing the man was in no mood for any type of insubordination- imagined or otherwise.

"You will be grading First Year essays until lunch Draco..." With a flick of his wand Snape sent a stack of parchments across the room that landed on the table along with a quill and inkwell. She kept her eyes forward but could hear Draco shuffling for a moment before settling down. Once the older wizard was adequately mollified that his instructions were being followed he returned his attention to her. His pitch black eyes narrowed menacingly before he turned around to the chalkboard behind him, which moved out of his way with another silent wave of his wand. Allowing her a view of a table which held a simmering cauldron. "And you are going to start by completing Part Two: Step One of the Polyjuice Potion. I am fully expecting a perfect batch to give to Professor Slughorn. Am I wrong in assuming this will not be a problem considering your history with it?"

She could feel the blush that worked its way into her cheeks at the obvious hinting at what had transpired during Second Year. "I... No. It will not be a problem, sir."