Author's Note: Hermione's point of view from now on. Hope you like
it!
Caged
Chapter One
London, England
June 1814
My childhood was never normal.
My parents had me very late in life and when I was a baby Mama died. A few years later Papa became very odd and jumpy around me and we started moving around a lot. First we went to Egypt, then Scotland and Norway. We lived in Romania for a short while and then India, after that it was an island in the Caribbean where Uncle Charles is stationed. Then I think it was Italy and Spain, then Holland,and then.... Austria maybe?
I can't even remember now, we've moved around so many times I can't even keep them in order anymore.
The odd thing about all this traveling was that my father didn't let me out of the house unless I was going with one of my tutors or my governess with his permission or unless I was with him.
He never let me talk with the other children. He would look at many people suspiciously, especially the children my age who would play pretend along the sidewalks.
He told me I couldn't even look at them.
I hated it very much.
I tried desperately to throw myself into the books my tutors gave me and settled for studying the way other people talked and dressed from the windows of the house.
On one occasion I got very mad at my father, my silent anger boiled inside me and I wished so desperately to go outside that the front door of our house in Italy shook in the frame and then simply fell off all together.
When my father found out he screamed at me and sent me to my room.
I didn't know why he had been so angry, I hadn't even touched the door.
Later on he explained that the expense of fixing the door is what had set him off and that it was just some faulty carpentry that had made the door fall.
That was right before we moved again, to Austria, perhaps, or maybe Spain.
The sun is high above our new house in London and it's so hot I'm growing tired and content. I close my eyes, enjoying the coolness of the grass beneath my back. A gentle breeze makes its way over the stone walls of the garden and tickles my face. I sigh, enjoying the far off sounds of the city, imagining I'm a part of it all.
"Hermione!"
I wince as Mrs. Jacobs shouts my name.
"Hermione where are you?" she demands from within the house.
I don't say anything, I don't even open my eyes.
Her footsteps grow louder but I don't move as she enters the garden, "Hermione Greene, how old do you think you are?"
I pretend to be asleep.
She walks over to me and stops, "You are much too old for this kind of behavior," she tells me. "Get up."
"Do I have to?" I ask.
"Yes, now," she barks.
I groan inwardly as I get up and dust myself off.
"Hermione, when will you learn to be a lady?" she asks me, her stern gray eyes are glaring down at me and her thick fading black hair is pulled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck.
"Forgive me Mrs. Jacobs, I didn't-"
She cuts me off, "Mr. Snape is here for your geography lesson," and she turns swiftly on her heel, leading me inside.
I follow her reluctantly into the upstairs library where a tall man is waiting by the dormant fireplace. He has stringy, oily black hair and is wearing a dark, loose suit. From his profile I can see that he is sickeningly pale, with a large, hooked nose, and a sagging frown. When we walk in he looks toward us, I smile affably.
"Mr. Snape-"
"Professor Snape," he corrects Mrs. Jacobs coldly.
"Forgive me," she says quietly. "Professor Snape, this is Hermione."
"Pleased to meet you, Professor Snape," I say, nodding my head.
He doesn't smile at all, only nods curtly and says, "Hermione."
Oh great, another dreary teacher. At least he speaks English.
"Shall we begin the lesson?" he asks.
Luckily Mrs. Jacobs moves to the corner of the room, sitting in a stiff chair with a book, keeping a protecting eye on this new professor.
He walks over to the thick oak table in the middle of the room and pulls out one of the chairs, "Sit."
I do so and fold my hands in my lap, waiting for whatever boring lesson he has planned for me.
"I thought we'd begin with some simple questions," he says, picking up a piece of paper from the table. "If you don't know an answer we'll move on."
I nod.
"Name at least four landlocked countries in Europe ," he says.
I think for a minute, searching my brain for a map of Europe: "Landlocked? Erm."
Professor Snape smirks a little.
"Switzerland, Hungary, Austria, Moldavia, Belarus- Oh! You wanted to four...."
"That will do," he says in a clipped voice. "How about the countries bordering bodies of water."
I look at him, "In Europe?"
He nods.
"All of them?"
"Is that a problem, Miss Greene?"
I shake my head, thinking for a moment.
"England, Ireland, Scotland.... France, Spain, Portugal, and erm, Italy," I pause, thinking for a minute. "And Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Norway-"
"That's enough, thank you."
I silence myself.
"Can you name six capitals of any country in the world beginning with the letter B?"
"Brussels, Bucharest, Belgrade, Berlin, Beijing, and Banjul," I say, afraid to look the man in the eye.
He glares at me all the same, "Right."
He scans his list and then looks at me.
"Perhaps a harder question?"
I stare at him expectedly.
"What are some other names used to reference the Dead Sea?" he asks.
"Well, in Hebrew it's Yam ha-Melakh, which means 'sea of salt' and also Yam ha-Mavet, and that means 'sea of death.' Also the Eastern Sea or Sea of Arava. I believe the Geeks called it Lake Asphaltites...." I trail off. "Oh in Arabic it is al-Bahr al-Mayyit which means-"
SLAM!
I stop talking immediately and jump in my seat as Professor Snape lets a book drop on the table with a loud bang. My eyes are wide as he leans on the table to meet my gaze.
"Miss Greene, may I ask how it is possible that a girl of your age knows so very much about geography?" he wonders.
"I'm sorry sir, is this is a geography question?" I reply.
"Hermione!" Mrs. Jacobs snaps at my tone.
"No," he says icily. "This is not a geography question miss, but would you kindly answer it?"
I open my mouth but don't say anything. I look at Mrs. Jacobs quickly, her book is laying in her lap forgotten and her eyes are looking at me with a warning.
I clear my throat, "Forgive me sir.... But, I've moved around quite a lot with my father before and everywhere we go I learn something new about the country or the whole of the area in general."
He stares at me, not saying anything.
"I love learning about places," I say, hoping the man doesn't think I'm some snobby brat who ought to be abhorred completely.
"I see," he stands up straight. "Then I believe I should leave now to prepare a more challenging lesson for the next time I see you."
He doesn't make it very hard to see his temper is shorter than a freshly cut blade of grass.
He begins packing up his papers and books into an odd leather case. I glimpse a rather thin stick inside the case, wondering if he uses it to strike people with. Maybe he would have struck me today if Mrs. Jacobs wasn't here, just because I knew the answers to his 'simple' questions. I hope we move away from England soon, I don't like this geography teacher.
I look to Mrs. Jacobs who nods to Professor Snape.
"Please forgive me Professor Snape sir," I say, standing up. "It is one of my many faults that I can't hold my tongue when speaking to people of such authority, my governess tells me it shall be my undoing."
He looks at me for a minute, frowning, before he closes his briefcase with a tarnished clasp.
"Please forgive me sir."
He picks the case up and stands tall, "Miss Greene, you'd do right to correct that fault of yours immediately, lest it affect your education the next time I come by."
I bow my head, pretending I've been properly scolded.
With the case in hand he walks to the door, Mrs. Jacobs stands up.
"Goodbye," he says in a short, hateful voice.
I hear him tromp down the stairs and then leave through the front door. He doesn't go speak to father to tell him how the lesson went, he doesn't wait to be walked to the door either. I go over to the window that faces the street and see him walk down sidewalk, looking behind him every once in a while to make sure no one's following him, it seems. Mrs. Jacobs sighs behind me.
"Hermione, you really need to adjust your temperament. How do you expect to find a proper husband-"
"Mrs. Jacobs," I cut her off without meaning to, "Why didn't that man wear a hat outside?"
She throws her hands up in exasperation, "Heaven only knows child!"
I watch Professor Snape from the window until he disappears from view, "What a strange man," I say to
myself.
Author's Note: Please don't check my historical accuracy on any of the questions he asked her because
I'm bound to be wrong. There is magic in this story even though it's AU. Hope you liked the chapter! Next
one's coming soon!