The First Day

Chapter 3: The First Day

Hermione ran a hand over the top of her head, making sure there were no stray hairs to detract from her professional appearance. She had taken extra care to arrive a few minutes early and in a fresh set of robes that would allow her movement without showing stains from any ingredients that may find their way on her during the course of the day. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun at the nape of her neck to prevent it from hanging over the cauldrons. The first day at a new job was always exhilarating and nerve-racking. She wanted to do well, especially since it was Snape she needed to impress.

When she lifted a hand to knock, his front door swung open of its own accord. There was no one in the entryway and no one in the living room or dining room. She suspected that the door had been spelled to open. She hesitantly made her way down the hall and stuck her head into the potion laboratory.

Professor Snape was standing before a bubbling cauldron, his hair falling across both sides of his face, and a pale hand poised over the potion. "Don't just stand there, Miss Granger. I'm paying you, am I not?" His voice was low, and he sounded slightly annoyed. "There is a list of potions you will be brewing today on the counter along the back wall. You may use the cauldrons there."

"Yes, sir," she said, walking around him to find the list. All of the potions were simple ones she had made in class with him years ago. Hermione almost spoke up and asked him if he didn't have something more challenging, but stopped herself. It would be rude, and he was paying her to help him. From the bottom up, Hermione, she told herself. You've got to start at the bottom and work your way up, just like everyone else. This will be good for you. It builds character. She nearly laughed at herself and her silly thoughts; instead, she spread out the five cauldrons and looked over the list again.

While the potions were simple ones, the quantities were large. One batch of each wouldn't do. She would have to do several batches to fill the orders. "Professor, where may I find..."

Snape cut off her question with a sneer in his voice. "The commonly used ingredients are on the shelves along the walls. The remaining ingredients are in the storage closet to your left. All are in alphabetical order. I suggest you get started."

Hermione clamped her teeth together. "Yes, sir," she said softly.

The ingredients were meticulously labeled and organized. Everything she needed was found on the shelves along the walls, just as he said. Within a few minutes she had the majority of the ingredients for the first potion prepared and laying in front of all five cauldrons. Hermione had decided it would be best to work her way through the potions one at a time and use all five cauldrons at once. It would be more efficient and would give her the high volume that was listed on the paper in Snape's oddly neat, yet rather severe handwriting.

She set the first five batches to brewing and turned to look at Snape. His back was to her as he busied himself with his own two cauldrons sitting on the island. It was doubtful that he'd turn to face her so she spoke to his back instead. "Sir, I would just like to thank you for this opportunity to work with you. It really is a privilege, and I want you to know that I appreciate––"

"Flattery gets you nowhere in life, Miss Granger. Silence is much better," Snape said without looking away from his work.

Hermione was stunned. She had expected him to brush off any compliments, but she didn't expect him to be so cold. "I –– I'm sorry, sir," she mumbled before turning back to her work.

She watched the five identical cauldrons as the liquid turned from dark green to yellow. The first cauldron she set to boiling was nearly complete, and she carefully took it off the flame. After a quiet stasis charm, she moved on to the next and repeated her work. As she was bottling the fruits of her labor, she tried to rouse Snape into a discussion.

"How long have you been in business, Professor? I've seen the Terminus Est line in the apothecaries for nearly a year, but I was unaware that you were the Potions Master behind it."

"Long enough," Snape said as he dropped a handful of black powder into his cauldron. A puff of smoke billowed up from the brew and dissipated quickly in the air. Hermione watched his movements from behind because he still wouldn't turn to acknowledge her.

"What are you making? It looks very interesting."

"What I am making, Miss Granger, is none of your business. I suggest you return to your work and cease these incessant questions. I prefer not to discuss my art with an amateur."

Hermione's stomach dropped to her feet, and she spun around. She placed shaky hands on the countertop and took a deep breath. If she was going to continue to work with him, then she would have to get used to his little outbursts. She would also have to get used to the silence if he was bent on not speaking to her while they were brewing. Who am I kidding? Hermione thought. He doesn't want to talk to me at all, not just when he's brewing a potion.

The nervousness and dismay quickly turned to indignity and anger over his rudeness and disregard for her abilities. She knew that she had a knack for potions, yet he treated her as if she knew nothing. It made her cheeks burn with outrage. She finished bottling the first potion and cleaned the cauldrons with jerky movements. The second and third potions could be made together, two cauldrons being used for the second and three cauldrons for the third.

She snatched up the proper ingredients and began to prepare them. Her mind was half on her work and half on her situation as Snape's new employee. She couldn't go running back to the Ministry and Ron's father now. She'd have to stick this out and ignore him when he said hurtful things to her. I shouldn't even take it seriously. He's just a bitter old man who hates everything and everyone. Of course he's going to treat me the same way he always has. I don't know why I thought it would be any different.

Hermione pulled up a stool and propped her chin on her palm as she watched the two potions brew. They would be done a few minutes before noon if her calculations were correct. The lab had become stifling, and she felt the need to get out. As soon as these batches were complete, she would bottle them and go to lunch at the Three Broomsticks. A Butterbeer would do her good, and it might get her mind of the hateful man working behind her.

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Lunch passed by quickly, and Hermione trudged back down the path that led to Snape's cottage on the outskirts. Apparation would have been faster, but she relished the time alone to think about her situation. There was simply nothing to be done for it. She would have to hold her tongue and do as she was told. Backtalk could only get her fired, and that was the last thing she needed after obtaining her dream job, even if it wasn't with her dream boss.

Snape was still looming over his cauldron when she returned. Several small bottles were sitting on the countertop beside him. Hermione could only assume that he had just finished bottling a potion. Instead of breaking for lunch, he had started on a new one. She itched to ask him about the potions he was brewing, but she knew it would only lead to trouble and a verbal tongue-lashing from him. She quickly walked across the room to her cauldrons and began readying her work area for the remaining potions.

While she was preparing ingredients, time went by quickly, and while she was waiting on the potion to brew to the proper consistency and color, the time slowed down to a crawl. After a long afternoon of brewing several different potions, she bottled her final batch and carefully cleaned up after herself. She took care to leave the countertop and cauldrons exactly as she had found them that morning. Once she was satisfied, she turned to face Snape, but all she saw, yet again, was his back. The man was forever looming over a cauldron.

Hermione cleared her throat. "I've finished the potions on the list, Professor. They're bottled, labeled, and I've placed them in the proper boxes. Is there anything else you require this evening?" she said, trying to keep her voice firm, and also trying to keep her dislike of him from creeping into her tone.

"No, you may leave for the day. I find I can tolerate your bothersome presence no longer," he said without even looking up or turning around to face her.

Hermione gritted her teeth so hard that her jaw began to ache from the pressure. "Good evening, Professor," she replied in an icy voice cold enough to rival even his.

She snatched her bag from the floor and rushed out of the room. The front door slammed in her wake as she exited the cottage and stopped for a moment on the stone path to catch her breath. If she attempted Disapparation while upset, then there was a chance she wouldn't get home in one piece.

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Her second full day working for Snape was drawing to a close. It had been better than the first day only because she hadn't bothered to initiate conversation. He had made it abundantly clear on her first day that talking to her was the last thing he wanted to do.

So much for being more than Harry Potter's friend, Hermione thought bitterly as she bottled up her last potion. The list today had been nearly the same as the day before. It was disappointing, but she still held out hope that he would entrust her with something more exotic and challenging than menial fifth-year potions that she would have been capable of brewing in her first year.

Sometimes Hermione thought that he really didn't think her capable of brewing a potion with a higher degree of difficulty, but most of the time she knew that he gave her these simple potions just to grate on her nerves. It was certainly working. Perhaps he's trying to break me––make me quit so he can get rid of me with a clean conscience.

Snape hadn't uttered a word to her all day long. The only thing she had said to him all day was a terse reminder that she was going to lunch and would be back shortly. The comment got no reponse from him.

When the workday was at an end, she gave him a curt "good evening" and left.

Author's Note: Big, big, huge thanks go out to Snarkyroxy for her invaluable help as a beta. Jessica and Allyness29 also gave the chapter a once-over for me. As I said before, this fic is complete. I'll be posting at least one chapter a week until all fifteen chapters are up. Thank you all for being so receptive and supportive by giving such wonderful feedback. You all rock.