5. Part 2: Start of the School Year (1/2)

part 2: start of the school year

all chapters in part 2 are from snape's pov

the new school year was the start of a shift between them.

september 10th

severus snape was in a foul mood as he walked down towards the alcove on the third floor. checking the halls for any students out past curfew. well, he was in a fouler mood than usual. normally his disdain would have been drawn from having to return to teaching idiotic students after the long absence during the summer. which only accounted for half of his anger. but this summer had also left him in an unexplainable conundrum that has left him with the other half.

it all had to do with hermione granger. she was to blame for the predicament he found himself in. bloody gryffindors.

he planned on spending the summer on his own in his lab unless summoned by the headmaster or the dark lord. he was quite upset when dumbledore informed him otherwise. that was an understatement. looking back he was in a rage and ended up ranting to the headmaster for at least an hour while wearing a hole in the ground as he paced. he didn't need to be babysitting the female member of the golden trio and having to handhold her as he worked through his extended to do list. he was lucky enough that it was her compared to her companions. she at least knew to hold her tongue and follow his instructions unlike the other two. at least for the most part. he would be able to work in silence as he had planned.

he had been annoyed at her at first and grew increasingly frustrated by her presence. he kept her at arm's distance leaving her to complete the menial task of the easier

ews. she kept to herself at first. he didn't need to worry about her distracting him or getting in his way. and he assumed that was how the summer would go.

but he was wrong. he didn't take one thing into account

humans by nature are social individuals. they are not meant to be alone. despite his attempt for otherwise. even when in the company of others he preferred to remain silent. years as a spy taught him to quietly observe rather than to participate. he always kept his guard up regardless of the situation or whose company he was in. to be frank most of the time he didn't even like those that tempted him in conversation. their apparent loudness and dunderheadness always lacked the stimulation he required to maintain a conversation.

however, human nature had run its course and the two began to willingly converse. it was no wonder with such a private setting. it was to be expected after all if he thought about it. they spent almost every day for two months together in the basement at headquarters. they would spend countless hours with only each other's company. he is to blame for part of it. he did indulge her and gave her more liberty than what was expected of him. he simply couldn't resist. as a teacher, he never had the opportunity to truly speak with a student one on one. focusing on individual needs long enough to prevent a cauldron from exploding. then dismissing them on the hour, he spent as little time necessary in their presence. often opting out of overseeing the detention he assigned them.

but with this summer's arrangement, he had the opportunity to not only speak one on one but freely as well. their subject matter extended past the course curriculum onto subjects that very few masters dare to tread. despite his initial disdain, he couldn't help but admit that she had been of some use and pulled her weight admirably. though he would never admit it out loud. it was a nice change. to have someone to willingly converse with who was not only as passionate about the subject matter as he was but who also understood it at such a high degree of difficulty.

he knew she was intelligent, marking her excessively long essays over the years proved that. her

ewing was never anything special though. she completed each

ew with success. but compared to her classmates who lacked basic retention and the inability to follow simple instructions, she looked like a master. but working outside of the classroom he became more aware of the roundaboutness of her intelligence. she didn't simply memorize the material in the textbook but fully understood the concepts and the mechanics of potioneering. what her hands-on application lacked she made up for by her extensive knowledge. it appears that she had an exceptional memory though she denied being photographic. her mind worked in ways that fascinated him. coming to conclusions that he too has found. a rare occurrence. not even the headmaster could always follow along with him while in his element of potions. she kept up well and better than he anticipated. her skill in arithmancy did come in handy. though skillful in the subject himself he often omitted the tedious task of equations by heading straight to the cauldron. completing the necessary calculations mentally when needed. it did save time and money trying to track down some of the ingredients only to find with her calculations that they would fail.

ewing the potions anyway became useless when his results always matched up to her answers. some ingredients had to be used without arithmancy though unknown magical properties can be tricky at the best of times and often unpredictable. none of them ended up working anyway.

so as the summer went on he found that her little annoyances no longer seemed to bother him. and so why was he angry one might ask.

because when he returned to teaching back in a classroom setting he found himself annoyed that she was once again his student. he found himself missing what had transpired throughout the summer.

when walking in front of the seventh-year class he couldn't help but feel aggravated the first time she raised her hand in order to speak with him. especially to answer such trivial questions that they both knew she knew the answer to. she always acted above the classwork. he always thought that it was arrogance but this summer proved that it was simply not challenging enough for her analytical mind. during the summer they were able to talk freely to one another. he couldn't help but take notice of her more when back at school. she seemed more sullen than the normal student dreading potions class. she may have missed the challenge of their work compared to the relative ease of the syllabus just as much as he had. she was lost in her thoughts and distracted. something he pointed out with a sneer. it bothered him that despite having the same routine while teaching for 16 years, all of that seemed to have changed after one summer of working together with hermione granger.

being a teacher was never an aspiration for him. being a public servant was adding a lot to his plate when he was already surviving two masters. though he loved potions he could honestly say that he hated children. he only remained a teacher as a favour to dumbledore. if it wasn't for him he would probably be locked up in azkaban. he used to dream of owning his own potion mail service or conducting his own experiments. not teaching a bunch of 12-year-olds. though hogwarts was his home, he often felt caged.

he expected the same to be felt while at black's house. luckily his presence was limited with what remained of the marauders. despite being tied down to two masters he did have some freedom with his work. though not always what he preferred to be working on, he still enjoyed the experimentation.

remembering back to the summer. some of their discussions deviated from the matter at hand. one evening they were having a philosophical debate over one of the ingredients they considered using. he couldn't help but have a sense of kinship with her as they talked.

"blood of a foe. now would that mean harry since he used some of his blood in his resurrection? or even the headmaster?" miss granger asked when musing over the next ingredient on their list. they had already crossed off african salt and moondew. now they were debating whether or not the blood of a foe would be of any use. unfortunately, they were met with the trouble of identifying who would classify as his foe. "unless," she said trailing off as she began to pace back and forth mumbling occasionally under her

eath.

"unless what? severus asked from his seat. "do you care to share with the rest of the class?" he had been working with her for several weeks now and they seem to have settled into a routine. he was beginning to see how she operated. how her focus was sharp like nails but her mind was often cluttered with various pieces of information. she had amazing ideas but it took her a bit to vocalize her thoughts. often losing things in translation. he learned it was best to let her simply figure out what she was trying to solve then to communicate. despite sometimes being neurotic in her need to solve everything, he didn't mind it, especially when her ideas proved to be of contribution. in a way he found himself resonating with her.

ignoring him for the moment to concentrate. she grabbed the quill in his hand to start writing her thoughts down. any idea they thought could be relevant to the potion, they wrote down in a notebook despite the ideas being unconnected. they currently had three notebooks already filled out. they had a second sheet of paper where they would cross off the names. when grabbing the quill from his hand a shock ran through him at the contact. his skin was often cold to the touch due to severe nerve damage over the years. but, hers were warm. the feeling one gets when watching a cat basking in the sunlight. it sent a jolt through him when they connected but it wasn't necessarily unpleasant. he quickly removed his hand and sat back into his chair as he attempted to give her more space as she leaned over him. he wasn't thrilled over her invading his private sphere but he quickly got used to her presence. her lean body was often weighed down by her books. making her appear shorter than she already was. the way her hair curled and almost seemed to come alive with electricity. once she finished she sat back in her chair, which she had been moved from the opposite head of the table to his left side. "lily potter. despite harry being the one whom his curse rebounded off of. she was the one that cast the protection charm. her spell killed him. the first time around. if you could classify him as being killed."

"well unless you want to ask potter to decimate his mother's grave for something that will most likely fail then be my guess," they both knew that the idea was completely out there and most likely a lost cause.

"who said that we would need to tell him?" resulting in his eyes narrowing at her. he was surprised that she was willing to walk over her friend's toes. it was a testament to the impact the growing war has had on her. it was something he would have, well not suggested but done on his own. it truly bothered him how white collared the members of the order were. he attributed it to them being mostly gryffindors. he was beginning to appreciate how that wasn't always the case with her. the instance of the polyjuice potion coming to mind.

"careful you're getting careless."

"well i am a gryffindor," she said using her house as her defence.

"i am fully aware of that fact."

"i could have been in ravenclaw," she pointed out. reminding him of her other traits and qualities that weren't strictly associated with gryffindor.

"why weren't you?" looking at her, especially amidst their current state of work, it was obvious that she was intelligent. there was no doubt about it. yes, she may be courageous and outspoken but her intelligence does often outshine her other qualities. "there was an outrage over your sorting for your first two years."

"i don't really know," returning back to her seat across from him she pulled her knees up to her chest. she still held the quill in her hand and twirled it impulsively. "i mean every person has traits that resonate with each house. both positive and negative. i am intelligent like ravenclaw but not necessarily creative. i'm hard working but that isn't necessarily my dominant trait. i'm

ave when the situation calls for it. and i am ambitious. i guess the sorting hat saw more of my potential rather than what trait stood out the most." it was apparent that she had given this much thought.

"i have a theory," he said, stopping her mid-twirl.

"really what's that?" she asked intrigued. it was rare that he would offer his opinion out loud. but he couldn't help but comment on the matter.