"Good morning? GOOD MORNING?" Ron's face turned beet red as he gasped for breath.
"You can't be serious, Hermione! You come to breakfast as if nothing happened. But you do know we had plans last night, and I didn't see or hear from you for a full five hours, right?" Ron snapped at Hermione.
"Where on earth were you all that time? I've been looking for you everywhere!"
"I'm sorry, Ron, really. I had tutoring with Snape," Hermione tried to calm him in a quiet voice.
"Five hours?" Ron twisted his face as if he'd bitten into a piece of rotten melon.
"We completely lost track of time. He showed me how he made Nagini's serpent serum and the wound balm. We recreated every single attempt. It was indescribably exciting." Hermione's eyes sparkled and the words poured out of her like a waterfall. "It's incredible how many changes Snape made until he…"
"Hermione, stop it. I don't care one bit what you did with the bat. Do you even have a shred of guilt? Damn it, we had plans!" He shouted so loudly that students at other tables turned to listen, and Draco couldn't help but grin maliciously. Hermione also noticed a few glances from the teachers' table. Just what she needed — Snape finding out she was arguing with Ron.
"Not so loud, Ron," she shot back. "I already said I'm sorry." Her eyes were turning into those of a predator.
"Don't take it personally. You know how I react when I get the chance to learn something special. Snape totally got me hooked on this topic. Besides, he originally only wanted to teach for one hour. It wasn't planned. It just happened."
"I just can't believe you'd rather be with Snape than with me," Ron said again, this time at a normal volume but with a good dose of bitterness in his voice. "I mean, we're talking about a cellar bug…"
"He's intelligent and still the best teacher we've ever had—at least professionally. Besides, he's slowly starting to trust me. He's different than in class, believe me."
"Oh, wonderful," Ron got worked up again, "now you even find him acceptable as a person. I might as well just get lost!"
"Ron, are you jealous?" Hermione burst out. She thought the whole situation was becoming childish.
"Hermione, use your brain cells for some math once in a while. Maybe then you'll realize that yesterday you spent more time with him than with me the entire week!" Ron stated. Then he threw his napkin demonstratively on the table and disappeared from the Great Hall.
For a moment, Hermione stared at her still full breakfast plate. Ron's words slowly sank into her consciousness. Of course, he was right. Every single word—almost every one. No, Snape was not a bat and certainly not a cellar bug! But otherwise? Indeed, she did not feel an ounce of guilt. The hours with Snape in his office and lab had been wonderful. When had she last learned so much, and when had a teacher ever given her such professional attention? Yes, Ron was right—and so was Snape. This realization hit her like a slap in the face. As Snape had predicted, Ron could not possibly understand why this knowledge meant so much to her. Ron had simply interrupted her when she tried to share her joy.
Snape seemed to know much more about her than she did about herself. And she knew more about Snape than he did about himself. What a chaotic connection existed here between her and the potion master?
Suddenly, she looked at her hand, still wearing the wooden ring from the day before. She stroked it tenderly. A goosebump ran over her entire body again, caused by guilt in its purest form. She looked up to the teachers' table and for a fleeting moment their eyes met. She could not hold his black eyes; it was as if Snape could see right through her like glass. She was sure that Snape would immediately recognize the wooden ring as a book—despite all the distance between them. The thought was absurd, of course, but she had to undo the spell as soon as possible. Besides, she wanted to start working through the book today.
oOoOo
Back in her room, she looked at the five-hundred-page tome she had just transformed back. What a magnificent specimen, thought Hermione. It contained many clues to practical examples and experiments.
She would have to put some of the theoretical experiments into practice. A flutter in her stomach told her that fear and anticipation would wage a fierce battle within her.
Enjoyingly, yet with subtle pangs of guilt, she absorbed the words word by word. She had enchanted the book's cover to bear the boring title "Transformations Yesterday—Today—Tomorrow." She hoped it was dull enough to keep everyone, including teachers, from taking a closer look if they saw her carrying it around. In truth, Hermione guarded this book like the apple of her eye. Even at night, she kept it under her pillow, not wanting to take any risks. Snape and the book's topic were simply too important.
Again and again, she felt miserable that she was even able to use a book on Dark Magic to solve her problems. Wasn't she always the one who warned Harry against such things, including Tom Riddle's diary? The title of a Muggle book she had read last summer came to mind—"The Physicists" by Dürrenmatt. It was about how everything ever invented would inevitably be used by people, no matter how dangerous it was for humans themselves.
The example in the book was the development of nuclear fission and the invention of the atomic bomb in the Muggle world.
She paused for a moment. That was exactly it. It was a fact that Dark Magic existed. Hundreds of books existed on the topic and thus the knowledge too. It would always be applied, for better or worse. The key was to apply this knowledge positively—and that was more than her intention. This explanation sufficed for the moment to continue delving into the book.
.
---
END OF CHAPTER
The story is over on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/c/caesar20/posts
You could copy it from bio