The only author's note I'll settle for is thanking each and everyone one of the people who have reviewed so far: Kedi, Watch Tale Neith, Aindel S. Druida, someone28, dama-de- tinieblas, KDarkMaiden, piper, Electryone, A Rose By Any Other Name, Romm, SemiCHarmed, RebelRikki, Green Sea Turtle, Voldie On Varsity Track, carmilla, Tracey Claybon, sweetevangeline, Seducing Severus, Winter Solstice1, Mariteri, Marston Chicklet, Walking Enigma, Lilith, and SenshiofTerrah. Thank you sooo much!!! This chapter is for you guys!

Hermione awoke slightly disoriented. Where--Why was she-- oh yes. She smiled vaguely. Professor Snape was back. Her smile changed to a grimace when she remembered the rest of the night. She put a hand to her head. It swam horribly.

How could she have let that happen? Ugh, too many questions. The sun appeared to drizzle through the window, filtered by the hordes of dust particles. Rising, she took her sleeve in hand and cleared a small portion to see through. It looked about…seven thirty. She should probably go down to breakfast. Transfiguring her robes to be fresh and clean, she changed her bedding into the original items and made her way to the hall.

Students milled about the halls socializing, still in denial that they must go to classes today. This proved it a bit difficult for her to escape the side corridor, but the minute she did, Harry and Ron swooped down on her.

"Hey, Hermione!" Ron draped an arm over her shoulder as a casual gesture.

"Where were you last night? We didn't see you come back to bed. We had to go to sleep before you got back." Harry inquisitive face forced itself into her view.

Hermione had learned to lie quickly. "I returned from the library much later than I'd planned." Suddenly her face turned apprehensive. "I almost got caught by Mrs. Norris."

Ron whistled. "Hermione, you need to start going to bed like a normal person."

"And your staying up talking about quidditch is normal?"

"To the teenage boy, yes."

"I study-- that's normal."

"Only for you…"

"Stop!" Harry stepped between his two best friends. He didn't want any wars until after he had food in his belly. "Argue after breakfast, okay?"

They gave in easily, both being famished.

The Great Hall buzzed with its usual chatter. An abnormal amount of open newspapers dotted the Ravenclaw table, the Hufflepuffs appeared the most calm, and Draco Malfoy was entertaining his entire house with some witty tale. Hermione figured if Draco Malfoy didn't come back for his seventh year, the whole Slytherin house would shut down 'til he returned. She slowly shook her head at the new level of pathetic some people could reach and took a seat at her own table.

"So why weren't you in the common room?"

"When?" Hermione asked Harry.

"This morning."

"I had to complete the bit of research I couldn't finish last night, so I woke early."

Ron scoffed. "What can possibly keep a person hauled up with books for that long?"

"I don't have to tell you everything, Ronald Weasley!" At Hermione's tone, Harry decided not to push the subject.

Mail delivery came and went with its usual vigor. Before the students could leave the hall, Dumbledore stood and cleared his throat. The Hall quieted immediately. The Headmaster smiled. How many Muggle teachers did he know of who wanted that kind of control over their students? But Dumbledore knew they obeyed out of respect.

"Students," his voice rang clear through the spacious room, "an exciting event has been planned to break the monotony of classes."

Excited whispers bounced around each table. A ball? A foreign exchange? Some of the more daring students guessed at an overnight survival trip in the Forbidden forest. Others thought this completely ludicrous.

Dumbledore raised a hand and whispers stopped.

"I and I alone have planned a mystery game. Yes," he said to the looks of shock from the rest of the staff, "teachers will play too. Six items have been hidden throughout the castle. I will not tell you what they are. You will receive clues every week. You must put these clues together to discover the object and its location. Each item, much like the food in this Hall, is available in unlimited supply. However, everything is placed under an invisibility charm and can only be seen by the person who figures out what it is and where. Everyone will get a notebook."

At these words, small leather bound journals appeared in front each teachers and student. The owner's name and house was engraved on the front cover.

"You are to write clues, ideas, theories, extra notes, in these books. What you write can only be seen by the author when the book is open. Cheating," an imperceptible glance to the Slytherin table, "is futile. Clues will appear to you in these every week. In one week's time you will begin to work in pairs. The first pair to return to me all six items and notebooks with their steps to solving the puzzle will receive two hundred galleons to split between the two."

Gasps echoed throughout the hall.

"You are dismissed."

A mountain troll could not have stopped the whispers, shouts, and excited conversations.

"Hermione, you have to be my partner!" Ron's face looked pained. Hermione was tempted to laugh.

"Ron, you know I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because that wouldn't be fair to Harry. Why don't you two work together and I'll find another partner." Their expressions mirrored those of lost men. "Come now, you've each got a head on your shoulders. I'm sure you can figure this out."

Ron shook has head sadly, saying, "Not in time to win the prize money. Hermione, I don't know if Dumbledore himself knows more than you about the rooms at Hogwarts."

She sighed, but could not hold back a smile. "Yes, but you two have the maurader's map-- a very useful tool."

"Yah!" Realization hit them in unison. Hermione left them in their enlightened states, needing to gather her books for her morning classes. Mm, wow, this will be nice…

First class, Double Potions.

*`*`*

He could not believe Albus was making them play this stupid child's game. Snape let out a soft grunt. He didn't need the prize money-- he came from a rich pure blood family-- but the challenge was simply too much. His mind yearned and screamed to solve this puzzle.

Granger's mind will be yearning too.

Snape gave that voice a sharp mental kick. That would be the last thought about Miss Granger today. He had classes to teach, one, his first, with her in it. Switching into teacher mode, not that he was ever out of it to the naked eye, he swiftly strode into his classroom.

Half the students were talking softly, the rest reading, studying, writing a note, or waiting patiently for class to begin. Snape rolled his eyes. Miss Granger was the only student waiting. She didn't smile; she really had nothing to smile about. But her hands were folded neatly on top of the desk and her face was passive, her expression one of controlled concentration. Damnation to the Gryffindors.

The professor clicked his heels smartly together, much like the SS or Gestapo, bringing silence to the room.

"Healing potions prove challenging because the smallest mistake can produce the most toxic results. That is why only the potions from select students will be tested at the end. You will be testing them on members of your House." As much as he would like to see Potter or Weasley choke, he did not want a student's death on his hands. The paperwork and politics in the aftermath would be too much for one man to handle.

"You will brew one vial of arrête necronim. What does this do?"

One hand took to the air, then a few timid followers.

"Mr. Finnigan."

"Clots the blood?"

"No. Miss Parkinson."

"Stops tooth decay," she declared proudly.

"Wrong. Mr. Malfoy."

Draco stumbled for an answer for a second. Then, "Stops cancerous growths."

His house was composed of imbeciles. "No. Miss Granger."

"Arrête necronim stops necrosis of the skin. This necrosis can result from a bite from a brown recluse spider, or various species of cobra."

"Correct," he sneered. "Begin now and you will be finished when your time is up."

For three hours (each of their periods lasted an hour and a half) the students labored over their cauldrons. Snape monitored their progress from his desk. Longbottom would fail. Weasley had just added an ingredient too late, and though Potter was doing it right so far, he knew the boy would screw up. He would test Malfoy's…and Parkinson's. He didn't think anyone would go to the hospital wing for that. Perhaps he would use Thomas' and Patil's. He would not, however, give Miss Granger the satisfaction of success. He could not stand for her ego to get out of hand.

Dean Thomas added the entirely wrong ingredient. Snape would use Finnigan's instead. At least he was half positive there would be no deaths.

Test subjects? Goyle, Bullstrode, Weasley, and Granger.

*`*`*

"Time. Who is done?" Most of the hands in class went up. It didn't matter much-- he knew whose he would test, and they were completed. "I want the potions of Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Finnigan, Miss Parkinson and Miss Patil."

Obediently the students walked their vials to his desk.

"Figures!" Hermione hissed.

Professor Snape flashed her a deadly glare signaling he could hear her. She had the decency to flush, but would not break her defiant stare back.

Potions collected, Snape resumed instructions, "Test subjects are Mr. Goyle, Mr. Weasley, Miss Bullstrode, and Miss Granger. Come to the front."

Ron's face visibly blanched. The Slytherins looked only slightly hesitant, knowing their Head of House wouldn't hurt them purposely. Ron nearly had to be kicked by Hermione to get going as she strode confidently down the aisle. Although she was quite sure she would end up in the hospital wing for the remainder of the day, she'd be damned if she let Snape know that.

"To test these potions, we must first begin necrosis." The four students froze at these words. "If your potion does not work, there is a fresh supply at hand. Would anyone care chance a guess at how we will initiate necrosis?"

Hermione's hand went to the air half-heartedly. Snape looked her way, his signal to speak.

"Injections of cobra venom?" Her voice was barely audible to the rest of the room.

"Yes. Monacle cobra venom."

Potions class had become dangerous. Snape opened a top desk drawer and removed four syringes filled with clear liquid. With all the acquired skill and grace of a doctor, he readied the injections. He directed each student to roll up their sleeve. A flick of his wand sterilized the skin, and his long fingers administered the envenomation. In less than a minute they collapsed on the floor under the influence of the neurotoxins. Snape took from his pocket bottles of antivenom and administered approximately a dozen bottles per student. Hermione had never felt like this in her life. She hoped she never would again. When each test subject had normal vitals, which actually took quite a while, but thanks to magical advances, the process was quickened, they were able to begin testing the potions.

He passed one vial to each subject. Hermione noted she received Seamus`.

"Uncork them." Little 'pops' followed. "Drink."

She brought the bottle to her lips and let the liquid slide down her throat without tasting a drop. Thanks to her many nights in the hospital wing, she'd perfected the art of potion drinking. It hit her stomach like a brick. Her head ached as if she'd been hit by a train. Looking to the black spot on her left arm where the venom had been injected, she saw it slowly recede and fade away.

"Necrosis should be gone within two minutes."

Hermione looked at the clock. Three minutes and counting…The mark was not gone and now she was retching her breakfast on to the floor. Snape scowled at the stench.

"Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Thomas, take the sick to the hospital wing." The two boys led Hermione, Goyle, and Ron to see Madame Pomfrey. Millicent smiled. Draco's potion had worked beautifully.

*`*`*

I hope this is longer than the previous chapters. Did I catch anyone by surprise? No one expecting something like THIS to happen? ::smiles:: I had quite a lot of fun giving the characters injections. If it were me up there, I would have been crying through the whole ordeal. . Even in front of Snape…Anyway, please review.

`Talon