As Long As You Need Me

Chapter XIII

O first of friends!
Still at my heart, and ever at my side!
-Homer (The Iliad)
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Hermione wore deep-blue skinny jeans, a khaki-top under a gray knitted sweater and then fitted on her head a bomber-hat of gray rabbit-fur. Snape took one look at the big ear-flaps of the hat and smirked. "Is there a Mad tea party I don't know about?"

"Is spewing venom part of your job description?" Hermione retorted while checking her look at the reflection on the glass of the cabinet. Why did he always have to water down my enthusiasm? "(*aside*) You're being an..."

"Arse again?" he completed her sentence, having heard the first part of it.
He was doing some last minute checking in a book by Newt Scamander about magical beasts, for their expedition.
"I was expecting something more, you know...A witty girl like you should've come up with a more colourful epithet than 'arse'. Think about it."

"How about 'the half-blood prick'? Creative enough for you?"

"Careful now, Granger." He snapped the book shut and gave her a warning look. Although she didn't think he was too offended; she bit her lip and slid away from his intimidating gaze.

"Why aren't you ready?" she asked, fastening her boots, "Weren't you just nagging me to get dressed quickly, so that we could come back by the time there was still light of day?"

"I am ready." Snape replied, showing that he was, in fact, dressed, but in his usual attire.

"You're gonna wear that?" She raised one eyebrow, disbelieving. They were going to hunt for magical beings in the Forbidden Forest, to acquire potions ingredients that can be extracted from animals, and Hermione had prepared for the journey, beforehand; but Snape was as impassive as ever.

He rolled his eyes, "Apart from fussing over your clothes and slapping on insect-repellent creams, I hope you haven't forgotten to pack your bag with the things that we are actually going to need?"

"Nope." Hermione patted the satchel that she had slung across her body, "Everything is A-okay, sir. We're good to go."
.............................................................
The monsoon season was upon them but they had chosen a day when the forecast was of nil rainfall, however the weather was humid. They walked out of the castle and over to the edge of the forest, where Hermione glanced towards the pumpkin-patch of Hagrid's hut in the distance, and saw him training his own intern with Buckbeak. He spotted them entering the forest and waved, smiling; Hermione returned the gesture.

"Keep up, Granger." Snape called, already a few paces ahead of her and she ran after him. They travelled for quite some distance in silence, traversing through the narrow paths among the bushes, stepping over the tree roots spread across the forest floor like the devil's-snare, threatening to trip them up; and Hermione was already getting a bit tired.

"Remind me again, why we can't just order the ingredients from Diagon Alley?" she asked, when they stopped to take a break. It had seemed like a fantastic idea when Snape had suggested it, but now she was not so sure.

"It's all part of the training." he replied, "Wouldn't it be the best thing if you could have first-hand experience of how to collect the many different types of ingredients used in potion-making? It is the mark of every great Potion Master or Mistress to know precise details of the art. Then you might even experiment with them, correct mistakes in potion-books just like I did, and even discover new things."

She took off her hat and fanned herself with it. "Obviously, I know that any experience is good, but..."

"It would be foolish to not take advantage of such a rich source of exotic items within the reach of our hands. The inhabitants of this forest have been left undisturbed for quite a long time. Why, I thought you'd be more excited..."