Lessons In Love

Chapter 10: The Lesson

Snape had kept his word with Madame Pomfrey about keeping Hermione off her feet and not keeping her too late but that didn't mean that she didn't have almost the same amount of work to get done. While he had finally left the task of cleaning the classroom to the house elves, Hermione was still scrubbing cauldrons and he had demoted her from the job of grading essays… or any assignment for that matter. She had to remain silent just as before, only during class, but she was under so much more stress. Snape had returned to his former self once more and all the walls that she had been able to break down that night with him were built back up and much stronger. The Potions Master made a point to scrutinize everything she did and insulted her even more so than when she was his Gryffindor student through the years. He was cold and showed hardly any emotion to her… even the students were suffering from his demeanor… their grades could prove it.

Hermione had taken to tutoring only Ginny, without Snape's knowledge, in her own quarters so he would not see but they could still be close enough for supplies and ingredients. Once Snape had returned to his class from his absence, all extra credit assignments and tutoring were done away with and Hermione never heard the end of it from her Professor about how she should never have been allowed to teach his class and that she would never become a suitable Potions teacher, for she could never become a Master in Snape's opinion. And of course, her days of crying had resumed like normal once more and Hermione was becoming exhausted. She couldn't understand how someone could be so cold… and yes she knew about his life and everything that he had gone through, but that was no excuse for his bad manners and behavior directed at her and his students. It was extremely hard to watch how polite and respectful he was to all the other staff members during meals and teacher conferences only to have it turned on her as soon as they were alone.

She was fed up with his attitude but did not dare make a scene like she had before. She knew if she did, that Snape wouldn't even bother arguing with her and would just terminate the apprenticeship. So Hermione put up with his antics and games for a solid month and a half. Ron had failed to visit her in weeks and Hermione was beginning to fall… her happy disposition that she would put on, even in front of Snape, had been faltering. Ginny had told her that Ron had stopped writing her as well and had Harry just add in a quick 'love you' for him when he would send letters. Hermione thought she couldn't have been happier when Ron agreed to continue their relationship but she couldn't believe how miserable she was without him or Harry around… she felt like crawling into a hole and never coming out. The damage that Snape was doing was tearing into her heart and breaking it down. She started to care less and less about her appearance as he ripped almost every last shred of dignity left from her.

Taking more interest in reading than interaction, she had resigned herself to her bedroom over the weekends when Snape didn't have any remedial chores he wanted her to do and she would just read her way into another world… letting herself take on the book as her own life. It was the only way, she figured, for her to get her own sense of worth and something to look forward to every night before she had to relive her hell that was Snape each day. Once Halloween had hit, Snape's disposition had turned for the worse because of all the students getting a sugar rush throughout class when they would sneak candy in and munch. Even the rest of the staff was tired of all the hyper first years running around and all the 'scary' pranks that the students would pull on each other and even on the teachers. This made her cheer up somewhat, reminding her of Fred and George, and all their years of mischief and pranks pulled on the staff and one of their favorite targets, Filch. But after everyone had started to relax again, Snape seemed to simmer down, only a fraction of course, but Hermione saw more relief coming from the Potions Master than she had seen in a while because the worst holiday in Hogwarts, or so he thought, was finally over.

A knock at Hermione's door had gotten her attention away from her latest book. She stood up and answered it looking out and not seeing anyone until she felt a small tug on her jeans. Hermione looked down to find a familiar house elf smiling shyly at her.