It Started With an Insult (Hermione x Pansy Parkinson)

Alohomora Always Works (part 1)

Ashwinder eggs, and peppermint. Those would be easy for me to obtain. The rose thorns and rose petals I already had. It was the pearl dust and powdered moonstone that caused me to pull at my hair in frustration. I was sitting at a table in the Library, uncharacteristically studying. I had missed my nightly study session with Granger the night before, because how could I face her after she had nearly witnessed me cry? Although I was glad I hadn't shown up last night, a small bit of me almost regretted not doing so. I was paying for my absence now, because I was finding it difficult to remember the exact amounts of each ingredient needed for the potion.

I slammed the thick book I had pulled from the library shelves shut in frustration. I had hoped it would give me more information on where to find the bloody moonstone powder. At least I had some idea of where to get the pearl dust. I knew that my parents kept it in their own personal stores, but even if I had the courage to ask them to send some they would only ask me what I would use it for. How could I explain to them that I was attempting to brew a love potion to prove myself to a muggle born? They'd surely get the wrong idea.

I sighed and slid down further in my chair. Why had I agreed to this? I could've easily just told her to shove off, and to leave me alone. I should've told her to leave me alone. I stood up abruptly in frustration, not even bothering to put the book I had borrowed back where it belonged. I left the library, and choosing to be as productive as possible in the few hours I had to myself until dinner. I began to walk in the direction of Professor Snape's office, with the intent to ask about where to find the ingredients to Amortentia as inconspicuously as possible.

It was a Friday, and my classes had ended earlier, giving me some free time. Normally I would've spent this time wandering the Hogwarts grounds with Draco and Blaise, searching for Gryffindor first years to give un- warrented detention to. Draco had sought me out after our classes and invited me to do exactly that, but I had managed to shrug him off and mention that I had been assigned more homework than usual and escaped to the library. I found myself internally cringing at the thought of Draco and Blaise scouring the halls to find first years to torment, which surprised me, because last year I would've felt perfectly at peace joining them. There was something about it that felt so... immature. Childish, almost. Even primal.

I came to a halt as I realized I stood outside of Professor Snape's office. I knocked on the wooden door, hoping I hadn't caught him while he was in a bad mood. While it was true that he saved most of his quiet temper for the Gryffindor house, it didn't mean that us Slytherins were immune.

"Come in," Snape drawled in his usual quiet tone. It was so quiet, in fact, that I could barely hear it through the thick door. I pushed the door open and entered his dark office. This wasn't the first time I'd seen it, Snape had invited the Slytherin prefects inside in early September, to give us a short lesson on the rules of being a prefect and how to use our prefect badges. The office hadn't changed since I'd last been inside. The walls surrounding his dark wooden desk were covered in shelves, and on those shelves sat all sorts of pickled specimens, random bottles of potion ingredients, and a few jars full of what I could only guess were eye balls. I shivered, contemplating if the eyeballs were human or not. His office was somehow colder than the rest of the Hogwarts dungeons, more foreboding. The lighting in the office seemed to have a green tint, which only caused Snape's hair to look more greasy, if it was possible.

"Ms. Parkinson... to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" He muttered, his voice quiet. Snape was sitting at his desk, and setting down a quill he had been holding next to a long scroll of parchment. He gestured towards a seemingly rickety chair that sat in front of his desk, and although I was fearful the thing would collapse underneath me, I sat. Trying to put as little weight on the chair as possible, I answered his question.