Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Hermione entered her home and dropped a small pile of books on the table at the door. She exhaustedly hung her cloak on the hook behind the door. It had been a long day, and the only thing she could concentrate on was a bath. She quickly moved through the house into her bedroom and back through it to the bathroom. She looked at her huge tub and smiled. Yet another indulgence sat before her. It was a tub fit for a queen. She could probably entertain five people in it if she wanted to, but she coveted her enormous tub and would share it with no one. It was jetted of course; just what she needed to relax after a long day of stocking and rearranging shelves. Dropping her wand absently on the sink counter so it would be in reach, she watched it as it spun slightly, coming to rest at a diagonal. Boy was she tired! She had been mesmerized by the slight turning of the wand and now she sat and stared at it blankly. Shaking her head and giving a small sigh, Hermione turned the tap water on and let the tub fill as she stripped down to her underwear.

She had been sitting on the edge of the tub watching it fill and thinking about nothing when there was a knock at her door. She frowned, wondering who could be bothering her. Grabbing a robe, she pulled it around her and tied it tightly. She turned off the tap water before answering the door. Opening it, she was amazed to see Severus Snape standing there, looking out of place.

"Oh," he said in embarrassment as he saw her state of undress, "you're busy. I'll come back later."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Nonsense, Severus!"

She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.

"I'm not going to let you escape me that easily!" Hermione cried. "Make yourself at home while I go put some clothes on," she ordered as she disappeared into her bedroom.

Severus heaved a sigh, not liking his thoughts when she had appeared at her door in only a robe. You've been a recluse too long, Severus Snape, if the thought of a scantily clad Hermione Granger can excite you. He rolled his eyes at his waywardness. Looking around her home, he found it to be cozy and elegant. The living room had a dark tan rug covering the floor. Two white couches faced each other in front of a fire place. A dark wood and glass coffee table sat in between the two sofas. Off to the right was a Muggle haven of electronics. There was a huge flat screen TV hooked up to a stereo system. There was also a number of Muggle CDs and DVDs to choose from. Severus wandered over and perused her musical selections. Smirking to himself he chose one and put it into the CD player.

Hermione hurried and dressed in a pair of white slacks with a turquoise short sleeve top. Glancing in the mirror, she straightened out her hair and fixed her makeup quickly before she emerged to speak with Severus.

As she reentered the living room, she found him straightening up, having just inserted a CD into the stereo.

"What did you choose for us?" she asked.

"Mozart," Severus said simply.

"Oh, he's my favorite! I love the Fortieth Symphony."

Hermione stopped in her tracks as the sounds of the Mozart Requiem began to play. She smirked at him.

"That's not quite as upbeat as the Fortieth," she joked.

"A mass for the dead shouldn't be upbeat."

Hermione tilted her head and regarded Severus carefully. "No, I suppose it shouldn't be. Nonetheless, this is another of my favorites. I actually like to sing along with it."

Severus raised his eyebrow at her.

"Do you like to sing, sir?"

Severus scowled. "No, I do not like to sing."

"That's a pity. I assumed that with your wonderful speaking voice you would be a wonderful singer as well."

Severus narrowed his eyes at her, but ignored her comment.

"Please, sir, sit down," Hermione said, motioning to one of the couches.

She sat on the couch across from him and folded her hands around her knees, waiting for him to speak.

"I have decided to agree to your request for help."

Hermione smiled. Her heart was racing a mile a minute, but she made herself be very nonchalant. "Thank you, sir."

"I think that since we will be working closely together, perhaps we should address each other by our first names," Severus said blandly.

"Alright, Severus."

"Most people are unaware of this, but prior to my mother, the Prince line had many Potions masters associated with it."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "So you're not the first in your family to become a Potions master?"

Severus looked at her crossly. "If we are to work together, Miss Granger, I would expect you to listen to what I have to say before piping in with a million questions!"

Hermione looked duly chastised. "I'm sorry, sir, I just like to make sure I understand things, so I have a habit of rephrasing them. It won't happen again."

Severus looked appeased. He went on.

"The Potions masters that have existed in my line span back more than a thousand years. My mother and the women before her were careful to keep the record of our ancestors intact and updated. I have a family history that reaches almost as far back as the first Potions master in history."

Hermione's mouth dropped open, imagining what work it must have taken to accumulate all of that information.

"To get to the point, Hermione, I am a direct descendent of Barnaby Sutton." He pulled the book from his robes and placed it on the table.

"This," he said with a flourish of his hand, "is his personal diary."

Hermione could not contain her excitement. "Oh, Severus, thank you for helping me!"

She got up and sat next to him on the sofa. "May I touch it?" she asked.

He nodded his agreement. She pulled the book to her and felt the dry cracked leather. The book was brown in color, and although small, measuring approximately three inches by five inches, it was very thick. It was an enchanted diary. It would expand as the author wrote into it, making more room for subsequent entries.

"Have you found anything in it?" Hermione asked him.

"I have not read it carefully for a long time. I have skimmed through it quickly in preparation for our meeting. Sutton mentions Horatio Holt repeatedly, but if he had mentioned the book, I have not come across it, nor do I remember reading about it previously."

Hermione cracked the book open and lovingly stroked the first page. "Severus, this is a gold mine. Not just for our search, but it holds long lost secrets about your family."

"He started it when he was at Hogwarts," Severus explained. "He was in the second class of the school. He begins talking about Holt and his apprenticeship about a quarter of the way into the diary. I marked the spot with a bookmark."

Hermione turned to the bookmark, a Slytherin snake that was clipped over the page. She carefully removed it and read the entry. Severus scooted closer to her and read it over her shoulder. Finally she looked over to him.

"This states that Holt was already an author. Do you think he had written Potions for our Time yet, or was Sutton referring to some other book he may have written?"

"I honestly don't know," Severus said as he eyed the entry again curiously.

Hermione took her wand and waved it over the book, making a copy of the entry.

"We'll need to copy anything that seems pertinent for now. We can sort them out and be more in-depth with them later. The copies will help to prevent excessive wear and tear on the diary."

They spent the next two hours scanning each entry quickly, looking for references to Horatio Holt. Some of the entries were very short, but most of them were quite long. It seemed that Barnaby Sutton was a man of many words. He had amassed hundreds of pages of memoirs in the diary. It would take them a while just to glance through everything and compile copies to search. They copied out anything that seemed even the least bit pertinent. Finally, Hermione sat back in the sofa and rubbed her neck.

"I can't read another word," she mused. "Everything is jumbled on the page to me now."

"I think it's time we gave up for the evening," Severus said quietly.

He placed the bookmark on the page where they'd left off and turned to Hermione.

"When do you want to meet again?" he asked her.

"Tomorrow, if you can."

"I am available."

Hermione wanted to smirk, but things had been going nicely the past two hours and she didn't want to spoil it by making him irate.

"I can meet at your home if that's easier, Severus. My shop is open until three tomorrow. I can drop by after that."

"That would be agreeable," he said as he rose.

Hermione got up also and walked him to the door.

"Severus?"

Severus turned in the archway and gave her a raised eyebrow.

"Thank you again for helping me. I would have never been able to get my hands on such an in-depth resource."

Severus gave her a slight nod of the head, said good night, and left. Hermione closed the door behind him and leaned against it. She gave an excited squeal when she was sure that he was gone. She had hoped he would reconsider about helping her, but being the stubborn man that she knew he was, she had not counted on it. Luckily she had been wrong, and he had reconsidered.

She had become very negative about ever being able to find the ancient text, but now her enthusiasm was renewed. With Severus' help, she was sure she could uncover the whereabouts of the book. She only hoped that she could break through the walls that he had built around Severus' feelings and get him to like her.

A/N: Next up: Another quest.

Yes, I really do enjoy singing the Mozart Requiem. It's an amazing piece. Kudos to my beta, she knows I appreciate her. Thank you all for your interest and fun reviews. I enjoy hearing from all of you.