The First Suspect

All canon characters belong to JKR.

Thank you to June for all of her help with this story.

The first suspect

A week had passed since Severus received his note. For the most part he tried not to think on it very much, but every once in a while he found himself looking around, wondering if he was indeed being watched.

He sat at the High Table, while looking around the room full of students eating and talking. As Severus scanned the room, he came to a pair of blue eyes staring straight at him. Ron Weasley was looking at him from a small table alongside the wall, where the interns sat. After their eyes met for several seconds, Ron dropped his head suddenly and continued eating.

‘Oh sweet Circe, no,’ thought Severus in a panic. He looked away and down at his plate. After surveying the food on his plate for the tenth time he raised his eyes — luckily his hair strategically fell over them — and looked in Weasley’s direction. Again the boy was staring at him. Severus put his hand over his forehead, as though to shield himself from the redhead’s intense scrutiny.

‘This has to be a dream. No, nightmare. Maybe I have something on my robes, or my hair doesn’t look right,’ Severus briefly thought, certain that there had to be another reason why Weasley was looking at him, other than him being his secret love. Severus looked down at his robes, and they were fine. He even went so far as to ask Hagrid if there was anything wrong with his hair. Hagrid happily told him it was very shiny and asked him what kind of shampoo he used. After promising the Gamekeeper his own batch of shampoo, Severus went back to his plate, wishing to every god he could think of that it wasn’t Weasley who had sent him that note.

At the interns’ table, there was some plotting going on.

“Hermione, are you sure about this? I mean, of all the people to fall in love with, you had to fall in love with Snape?” asked Ron, who was once again looking Snape’s way.

“Ron, stop looking at him. He’s going to become suspicious,” snapped Hermione.

“I don’t see why you just don’t tell him you fancy him,” said Draco.

Harry looked at him in disbelief.

“Are you mad? She can’t do that,” countered Harry.

“Harry’s right. He’ll never believe me if I just come right out and say it,” said Hermione.

“Well, not to mention he’d probably try to embarrass you by telling you you’re just a stupid little girl,” Ron said as he stuffed a biscuit in his mouth.

“Thank you, Ronald.” Hermione swatted him across the arm and continued with her note-taking. “Can you please swallow so that I can explain to you what you have to do?”

Ron rolled his eyes and swallowed. The last thing he wanted was to be drawn into Hermione’s plan to snag their old potions professor. He couldn’t begin to see what she saw in the man. But if she wanted the git, then as her friend he had to help.

“Bloody hell, Hermione. Can I at least finish my lunch?” Ron looked at Hermione, who was now scowling at him. “Right then, what do I do?”

She smiled and handed him the small parchment, which he read.

“Are you mad?” he yelled as he slightly moved away from her.

“Quiet.” She shushed him and moved closer to him.

“Calm down, Ron.” said Neville.

“Calm down? Do you know what she wants me to do? She wants me to get into his rooms and steal one of his handkerchiefs,” complained Ron. “Why can’t Draco do it? He’s his intern after all; he’s already been in his rooms anyway.”

“I’ve done my part; I gave Hermione the combination of wards. You’ve got the easy part,” said Draco.

“Easy? Do you know what he’ll do to me if he catches me in there?” Ron’s voice was getting higher and higher.

“Hush, Ron,” said Harry.

“And a handkerchief. Now I’ve got to go through the man’s bloody drawers.”

“Ron, I just want something personal of his. Is it so much to ask?” Hermione begged. She knew that once Ron saw the unshed tears in her eyes, he would easily say yes. And she was right.

Ron sighed and agreed to what she asked him to do, wondering which hex the former potions professor would use on him when he discovered a Gryffindor rummaging through his drawers.

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I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading.

I feel the need to comment on something I have not addressed in this story. Yes, Draco and a few of our favorite Gryffindors are friends. I think by now we have all heard the several hundred different ways they may have become friends so I didn't want to spend time writing about something that could easily have happened. In my opinion, after the war and during their association in a place of higher learning, coupled with their maturity, there is a good possibility that at some point Draco and the others befriended each other.