The Tale of Two Enemies

Chapter Two

Snape gazed out across the classroom, he had just tasked his students with an assignment, now here in lied the fun part of making sure they did it. He sat down at his desk, silently exhaling as he took in the peace and quiet that emanated from the focused students.

There was however, one noise he simply couldn't ignore.

The Incessant giggling from the Granger girl and the new blonde one next to her.

His eyes darted up before locking on the two unsuspecting targets. His stare was intent as he tried to figure out what was so funny about the effects of mixing unicorn mane with dreamless sleep potion.

Granger appeared to be scribbling down notes, a lot of notes, even for her. The potions professor leaned further over his desk, as if doing so would gain him a better vantage point.

What was she writing?

His eyesight seemed to be failing even his keen eyes.

He would need to get closer.

The professor rose from his desk, the act inadvertently summoning the attention of students in the front row, namely Potter and Weasley. The two gazed up at him, their eyes like saucers as fear flashed across them. Though the apprehension was far more prevalent in Weasley's eyes, as if he was trying to prepare himself for something bad, only he didn't know what or how.

Snape deliberately held an intimidating stare before whisking past the two. Only wondering in that moment why Granger wasn't sitting with them. He would soon find out, though he would have to be stealthy about it. He strode past the two before adopting a stance one row back from them.

Longbottom and another Gryffindor that he couldn't be bothered recalling the name of, cowered in front of him. He chose to ignore them as he watched Granger's activities unrelentingly.

Were Granger and the strange blonde passing notes? Snape narrowed his gaze.

No.

If that were the case then they would both be writing, not just Granger.

Why did he feel the need to be so nosey? Why did he even care about such childish non-sense?

No.

He cared because it clearly wasn't class related.

"Detention Miss Granger." Snape drawled, severing the silence and summoning the students attention onto Hermione.

The young witch gasped before instinctively covering the notebook with her potions book.

"And I want to see that notebook on my desk at the end of class, until then, I don't want to see it at all."

Snape made no effort to hide the smug smile lining his lips as he strode back toward the front of the class.

*~*~*

Hermione felt a droplet of sweat run down her forehead, what was she going to do? This was her worst secret and who worse to discover it than Professor Snape himself? Perhaps she should just erase the contents with a spell? But that would mean loosing all her hours of work. A sigh escaped her lips as she realised she didn't exactly have a choice.

She would have to wait for an opportune time as she wracked her brain for a spell that would do exactly what she was after.

She could still feel the eyes of everyone on her, it was a sensation she would ordinarily revel in, though in this particular scenario, it was just plain humiliating.

*~*~*

Snape sat behind his desk as he watched all of his students pile out the door. It was finally the end of the lesson as his eyes fell on one student and one student only. He observed carefully as Granger bundled her books and stationery into a pile before sliding them into her bag. She had deliberately left the notebook out on her desk.

"I never thought I'd see the day." Ron chuckled as he offered his friend a sympathetic smile.

"We'll wait outside." Harry whispered, giving his friend a reassuring nod before nudging Ron and filing for the door.

Hermione tossed her bag over her shoulder before picking up the ill fated notebook. She staggered toward Snape's desk, she had never been afraid of him per say, but then again, she had never truly been at his mercy like she was now.

"Thank you Miss Granger." Snape nodded as the witch reluctantly handed over the book. She nodded before turning her back toward the teacher.

Snape watched as the brunette traipsed toward the door, soon reuniting with her friends before disappearing from view.

He wasted no time as he pried open the pages, only to discover they were blank.

Damn it.

It was a tell-tale sign that a spell had been used if he had ever seen it.

Never the matter, like veritaserum, there was a way to divulge the truth from the pages before him. The professor tapped the blank pages with the tip of his wand, mumbling a serious of inaudible words before finally stalling.

Snape ran his eyes over the words taking form before his eyes.

What is this?

His name?

Is this about him?

Its probably just some whinging about his lessons and how much he needed to wash his hair. Snape instinctively gritted his teeth at the thought before starting from the beginning. His eyes widened as the words before him developed into a work of fiction.

What on Earth?

Was this...

A love story?

*~*~*

Hermione took her usual seat in the dining hall, she was flustered, yet strangely seemed incapable of hiding it. This wasn't like her, she always had a plan, always had everything under control, no matter how dire the situation seemed. Though, this had to be the worst yet, she truly had really gone and done it this time.

Ron looked up from his dinner, though half of it was dangling off of his plate and onto the table.

"It's not like you to be so panicky Hermione."

The witch subconsciously rolled her eyes, it must be bad if even he noticed.

"Does this have to do with the notebook Professor Snape confiscated in class?" Harry piped up, a mixture of concern and curiosity lingered within his eyes.

"What was so bad about that anyway?"

"It was," Hermione began, realising it would not be wise to tell her friends everything in this particular scenario.

"It was what?" Ron insisted, chewing through a plate full of mashed potato while not bothering to close his mouth in the process.

"It was a romance story I was writing, that's all."

Harry burst into a fit of laughter, an act soon adopted by Ron.

"What's so funny?"

"Snape, reading a romance story?" Harry reiterated, as though the answer were obvious.

"Its probably the only action he's ever going to get." Ron added as bits of potato flew across the table.

Hermione cringed at her best friends words, neglecting to mention that Harry was also part of the soon to be infamous story.

"I wiped it with a spell, so I somewhat doubt he will ever get the chance to read it."

"This is Snape we are talking about here, that man has a spell for everything."

Hermione's heart pounded at the dreaded thought, it wasn't one she had neglected, just one she hadn't wished to indulge.

"That's hardly the worst of it, I don't think I've ever had to serve out a detention by myself before." Hermione muttered, she would much rather sit through her toughest exam ten times over than sit through what was guaranteed to be a humiliating and invasive detention.