Chapter 3

A/N: As always, many thanks to my beta, sshg316! She's wonderful.

The characters are JKR's; I just hang out in the sandbox.

***

The next afternoon, in the house-consolidated seventh-year NEWTs Potions class, Severus took a seat in the back of the room. All day, Ms Granger had done an adequate job of teaching his classes. But this class was different, and he looked forward to seeing what she would do with a class that would truly challenge her abilities. These were some of the best seventh-year students Severus had ever encountered. He had found that he had to work much harder preparing lesson plans for them. The lesson plan he had given Ms Granger for the class would challenge her a bit but would not be impossible if she really knew how to teach.

Hermione approached the front of the class and pointed her wand to the board. Instantly, the instructions for preparing Swelling Solution appeared.

"Excuse me, Professor Granger," Mr Jenkins said while raising his hand, "but Professor Snape taught us this potion in second year."

Professor Snape automatically stood, walked slowly toward the front of the room stopping before him. All other students' eyes followed the Professor. He pointed at him and held up five fingers.

Mr Jenkins quickly sat on his hands.

Professor Snape walked back to his seat and looked expectantly at Ms Granger.

"First, it's Ms Granger, not Professor. And yes, Professor Snape also taught me this potion in my second year. But I would like to teach you a new cutting technique for the puffer-fish eyes that will make the preparation much easier."

From his seat behind the students, Severus quirked an eyebrow at Ms Granger. While surprised that she would deviate from his lesson plan so early in the week, he was also just a little curious as to what she would teach them.

Ignoring him, Hermione continued. "Now, if everyone would gather round the front table, I'll show you what I mean."

Hermione quickly demonstrated for the students how changing her grip of the knife altered the results of the cut. In spite of himself, Severus was surprised in the resulting class discussion of other advances in potions production. While he was impressed with the breadth of knowledge Ms Granger presented, he was equally impressed with the knowledge the students held in potions discoveries. He had known this group of students was talented, but he hadn't realized the depth of their knowledge.

That evening, after he had completed his patrol of the castle hallways, Severus walked back to his rooms with Ms Granger trailing him. He had tried to convince Ms Granger that it was unnecessary that she 'accompany' him, but she would not hear of it. Upon entering his rooms, Ms Granger curled up in one of his chairs and picked up her copy of Potions Today.

"Professor Snape," she asked as she put down her academic journal after reading the first half, "what do you think of the recent speculation that the Wolfgang variant of Pepperup potion is more addictive than the original?"

As he had done the night before, Severus wrote a note on a piece of parchment and handed it to Hermione as he walked to his bedroom.

I think that anyone who doesn't research their ingredient interactions deserves what they end up with.

As he shut the door to his bedroom, he glanced to see Ms Granger's reaction. He was disappointed to find she was just rolling her eyes at him. When she noticed him watching her, she just smiled her little smile as he slammed his bedroom door.

***

The following week, Hermione called the seventh-year class to order. She was really enjoying teaching, which she was grateful for since it helped counter the feelings of frustration she was feeling over the lack of progress in the investigation to find the mystery wizard or any other details about the plot to injure Professor Snape.

Severus sat in his customary seat in the back of the classroom. As the class settled down, she waved her wand towards the board. The formula for Pepperup potion appeared.

"Today, we are going to discuss Pepperup potion. This is the traditional recipe, which Professor Snape taught you. And this," Hermione added, waving her wand towards the board again, "is the Wolfgang variant of Pepperup. Has anyone heard of the Wolfgang variant?"

Several students raised their hands.

"Miss Radford, please tell us about the variant."

"The Wolfgang variant is a modification to Pepperup potion, which uses ingredients that are grown in a witch or wizard's own garden."

Miss Baddock raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Baddock?"

"Recently, St. Mungo's has reported an increase in Pepperup potion dependency. They are trying to figure out why."

"If you look at the board," Hermione said as she gestured to the board, "can you see anything that would cause a witch or wizard to become dependent on the improved potion?"

The students looked at the board. Hermione could see them trying to find the combination of ingredients that might have caused the dependency. She herself had just realized the problem that morning. She had been thinking about the issue since she had first read about it the previous week.

After a few moments, when no one had responded, Hermione modified her question.

"Just look at the ingredients, not the preparation."

Hermione watched the students' faces, letting them figure out the problem slowly.

Severus looked at the board with the students. It didn't take him long to realize what Hermione was alluding to.

After about ten minutes, Mr Li raised his hand. Hermione acknowledged him.

"Calamus is known to be addictive but only in larger amounts. The amount in this recipe is still pretty small."

"That is true," Hermione acknowledged. "How many of you have watched someone cut ingredients in a kitchen using magic?" About half the class raised their hands.

"I want you to pair up, ensuring that each pair has at least one person in the group who has seen the process of using magic to chop ingredients."

Hermione waited patiently as the class changed tables. Severus watched Hermione with interest, wondering what she was going to do next.

Once everyone was settled, Hermione handed out pieces of calamus. Some of the students picked up the knotty, yellow root wondering what Ms Granger planned to have them do.

"Now, Mr Li, what is the amount of calamus is required for this potion?"

"Five thin slices."

"I want you five groups to slice the reed using traditional potion-making methods. The rest of you I want to slice using magic. Begin."

Once the class had completed the assigned task, she had each group bring their five slices to the front of the room. Each team weighed their slices. As the team reported the weight, Hermione wrote the number on the board and indicated the method used for preparation.

"What have we observed about these samples?"

Mr Watkins raised his hand. "The five samples cut using a knife all weighed near the same amount. The weight of the sample was also fairly small. But the samples chopped by wand varied in weight. One sample was even twice the amount of the samples cut with a knife."

"And why is this relevant?"

"Because the Wolfgang variant is normally brewed at home."

"Congratulations, witches and wizards, you have now solved the problem of why the Wolfgang variant is sometimes addictive. Now, for homework, I want you each to draft a letter to the editor of Potions Today. In our next class, we will review the assignments and consolidate the words in your individual drafts to one letter that will be sent to the journal from the class reporting our findings. Class dismissed."

As the class filed out, Hermione gathered her belongings. She waited until Severus was ready and followed him out of the classroom. She was surprised when he went straight to his rooms but not that he did so without acknowledging her.

The NEWT class had been the last class of the day. Severus decided that he needed to lie down for a few minutes before dinner in the Great Hall. He wanted to think about what he had just observed, as well as what he had seen Ms Granger accomplish with all of his other classes over the past week. When they reached his rooms, he removed his teaching robes and laid them over his favourite chair. He sat down in his chair and removed his black boots, setting them next to his chair. Without acknowledging Ms Granger, who was still standing near the main door, he walked across the room, into his bedroom, and softly closed the door. Safely inside, he shut his eyes and leaned against the richly stained wood. Taking three deep breaths, he opened his eyes and walked to his bed. He sat down, his feet still touching the floor, then lay back on the bed, flopping an arm across his eyes.

When he woke up, he didn't know how long he'd been asleep or what had awakened him. Lying still a few more moments, he heard a soft knock on the door.

"Professor? Are you all right in there? If we are going to make it for dinner you really need to come out."

Severus opened his mouth to respond that he would be out in a minute but quickly remembered that he was still unable to utter a sound.

Sighing, he pushed himself to a sitting position, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and ran his fingers through his hair.

He heard a slightly louder knock.

"Professor, I'm going to come in there if you don't come out."

Fearing that she would make good on her threat, Severus quickly walked across the room and opened the door.

"Oh, good, you are awake. It's time for dinner."

Severus nodded and walked to his chair to put his boots and teaching robes back on. He then walked to the door to the hallway and opened it, waiting for Ms Granger to join him.

As they walked to the Great Hall, Hermione talked to Severus about the conversation with the Auror office she'd had while he'd been asleep.

"They still haven't managed to find anyone who knows anything about the man who was working at the Leaky Cauldron that night."

At dinner, Severus sat between Ms Granger and Minerva. He listened as they chatted about current events and the activities of Ms Granger's friends. While he found the discussion of current events quite interesting, when the conversation turned to her friends, he tuned them out and instead watched the students while they ate their dinner. Most of the conversations were the droning of unintelligible words, but occasionally he could hear snippets of the expected conversations of who were and were not talking to one another, as well as complaints about homework. There was also the expected talk of upcoming Quidditch matches and Hogsmeade weekends.

Severus' attention was drawn to one group of students. They were huddled around some parchment and magazines. Some of the students were pointing to the magazine and most were arguing with the student holding the quill. All of the students were more engaged in the project in front of them than the dinner on their plates. After watching them for a few minutes, Severus realized all of them were in his seventh-year Potions class. While students occasionally sat at the table of other houses, it was still unusual enough to cause some notice.

Severus put his hand on Ms Granger's arm to get her attention. Once she looked at him, surprised by the physical contact he'd just initiated, he gestured to the group of students. She looked in the direction Severus pointed, her face scrunched in confusion as she tried to decipher what she was seeing. Suddenly, her face exploded into a smile as she realized what was happening. She looked at Severus and nodded. Minerva watched the two of them with interest.

"What are your students working on, Severus?" Minerva asked.

"We can't tell you yet, Headmistress," Hermione answered for Severus. "But I can assure you that you will approve of what Professor Snape's students have accomplished with the skills he has taught them."

Minerva looked back and forth between her two former pupils as Severus nodded in agreement with Hermione's statement.

Minerva, knowing she would never convince either to reveal the answer before they were ready, returned to the conversation she had been having with Hermione before Severus' interruption.

As Severus finished eating dinner, he thought about what had just happened. Part of him felt very jealous that Hermione had inspired his students in a way he never had. She easily could have written the letter to Potions Today herself, but instead, she had used it as a teaching tool. He had found that while he was teaching a little differently than he had when Hermione had been a student in his classroom, he still kept a bit of a tight rein on his classes. He did find that he gave more latitude to this particular NEWT class, as they showed talent en masse that he hadn't found before.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the Great Hall had emptied out until Hermione tapped his shoulder.

"Shall we go?" Hermione asked softly.

Severus stood in answer and held Ms Granger's chair for her. He caught her eye and then looked at the group of students still at work. Recognizing that Severus was recommending they stop at the table, she followed him toward where the students sat, their dinners all but ignored.

"Hullo, everyone," Hermione said when she reached the table where the group of students had gathered. "Please tell me that you are not forgoing food for the pursuit of knowledge."

The students laughed at her as they pushed their books away and tucked in to their now cold food.

Still smiling, Hermione walked out of the Great Hall with Severus following. They returned to Severus' rooms, taking the chairs they had each claimed as their own and dividing the grading that needed to be completed that evening.

As Hermione was grading the last paper, a sheet of parchment landed on her lap.