A New Life
Summary : Hermione wonders how her life would have turned out that way. Little did she know that she would get a second chance… Completely AU ! (Lame summary, I know, but read and see !)
Most of the story will be about Hermione and Snape. This is NOT a romantic pairing (it will become obvious in the third chapter I guess).
Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter or any other character from the saga. I only write for my own pleasure (and hopefully for my readers'). I am not a native English speaker, so please forgive the mistakes you might find :)
Chapter 1 : Unexpected thoughts
Detention...
The dungeon bat gave her detention. She had been unconscious in the hospital wing for days. She had just lost her parents and one of her best friends in a Death Eater attack. She was of course devastated, but she insisted on going back to school as soon as possible. She was Hermione after all... She knew, deep down, that it was probably a bad idea, but she wanted to forget everything. She wanted her mind to be as busy as possible. So, she nagged Poppy as hard as she could, and finally, she was able to go back to class.
Everyone was acting strange around her. Except Harry and Ginny, who had visited her every day during her recovery time, people were awkward around her, and she hated it. People kept staring, in a way they believed to be subtle, and whispering things about her. Teachers seemed more discreet. They did their best to teach their classes as usual although they didn't push her as they normally would have.
Hermione hadn't been allowed to do any homework in the hospital wing, and since Madam Pomfrey didn't release her until the exact morning she was starting classes again, she didn't have any of the essays that their class was supposed to hand in. Flitwick didn't mind the slightest. Hermione, even with several weeks of absence, was ahead of most of the class. McGonagall understood too of course, but she still asked Hermione to hand the essay by the end of the week. Snape on the other hand didn't care for excuses... He knew why she hadn't been able to do the essay, but he gave her detention anyway. She knew that teacher was unfair but not that much... She also knew that trying to get another teacher to reason him was pointless, so she didn't even try. Therefore, she went to the dungeons, as ordered. As she came close to the Potions Master office, the voice of Professor McGonagall pestering Snape was getting clearer and clearer.
'For Merlin's sake Severus, you cannot be serious... Surely you know what happened to the girl...' McGonagall's stern voice was easily recognizable.
'I do not see why she should get any preferential treatment... Never have I exempted a student from doing his homework. Even a Slytherin.' He added the last part to make sure Minerva wouldn't use his legendary inequity as an argument.
'You know that she hasn't been allowed by Poppy to do any homework. And if she hadn't been so insistent about it she wouldn't even had been released yet !'
'Exactly. She chose to come back even though she was not ready. Now she will face consequences.'
McGonagall sighed.
'Severus, she has enough to think about right now. Not only has she lost her parents and one of her dearest friends, but she is now behind in every class. Giving her detentions far from what she needs...'
'She needs things to be normal. She wants to be treated as any other student. She wouldn't have requested to come back otherwise. And she will now serve detention as any other students would if they hadn't done their homework in time.'
Again, McGonagall sighed, only this time, she didn't argue.
'Very well… It does make some sense. But please, be careful, she is still grieving, even if she tries hard not to show it…'
Then, Hermione heard footsteps. She backed away from the door, and made it seem like she had just arrived into the corridor as McGonagall came out. They both nodded to acknowledge each other, and Hermione knocked on Snape's door.
'Enter.' As she did, he didn't even wait for her to speak, and told her what her assignment was. 'Miss Granger, you will brew a full batch of Blood Replenishing Potion, and another of Pepper Up Potion for the hospital wing.'
She nodded and got to work. She normally would have been furious. Brewing potions for the hospital wings was supposed to be his job. Giving unfair detentions to get rid of his own assignments would have usually seemed outrageous to her… But she had others things on her mind. He actually gave her detentions because he thought that was best for her… Or was that just an excuse ? Well, it was what she wanted anyway. She wanted things to be normal, and Snape had been the only one treat her normally. In fact, she didn't really care why Snape acted like that. The point was that he did, and she was grateful for it. So, she brewed what he asked her to, and then came back to her dormitory for the night.
A.N. : I know this was small, and didn't give much clue for what's coming next, but I'll update soon, I promise ! I always welcome reviews (just don't be too mean :p)