Is Severus Snape the Next Dark Lord?
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: Everything that is Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling.
That morning's edition of the Daily Prophet was slammed down on the table as its owner rolled his eyes and let out an irritated sigh.
"This is ridiculous!"
Across the table, the wizard's blonde companion chucked.
"It's really your own fault, my friend. If you appeared in society a little more, Miss Skeeter would not be able to speculate so wildly about what you are up to."
"I'm not up to anything! I simply wish to live my life in peace. I think I've earned it," the wizard replied, downing the rest of his whiskey.
"Yes, Severus, but you are a national celebrity unfortunately. You cannot be exonerated as a war hero then disappear without anyone noticing."
The men sat in contemplative silence for a few minutes, each sipping on his whiskey.
"Pity I can't find a means of silencing the cow that won't lend me a lifetime sentence to Azkaban."
"Maybe you should just give her something else to right about; something that doesn't paint you as a villain."
"Yes, but what Lucius? I'm not exactly Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile, or most eligible bachelor like Draco, or a sodding philanthropist like Potter."
The blonde aristocrat thought for a few minutes. What angle could they take to change his friend's image? It would have to be scandalous to attract that Skeeter bitch's attention but something that would also show his friend in a positive light.
"Maybe you should brainstorm with that Granger swat," he suggested finally, not really coming up with any other bright ideas. "Rumor is that she managed to manipulate Skeeter to stop publishing all that rubbish about Potter. Since then Skeeter has had a bit of a vendetta against Granger," he said, pointing to another article in the Prophet slandering the know-it-all girl.
Severus examined the picture of her former pupil. She appeared to be at a train station enjoying a reunion with her nitwit friends Potter and Weasley under the caption Granger Returns to Wizarding World just to Change it All Over Again. The article stated that, now finished with her education, the girl was gearing up for a career in the Ministry that would involve revolutionizing statutes that had been in place for centuries, namely the inequality of lesser magical creatures. According to Skeeter this was foolishness and bound to turn out badly for Granger.
He couldn't help but smirk. There may very well have been some truth to the article – a first for Skeeter – as he recalled his former student's stupid enterprise to free the house elves of Hogwarts.
Still, if she had managed to manipulate Skeeter once before, a feat not easily accomplished, maybe together they would be able to do it again and in the process get the bint off of both their backs.
"She has surprisingly turned into quite a beauty. Were she not a mud—muggle born, I would encourage Draco to pursue her."
Severus scoffed. "As if she would have anything to do with him."
"Yes. She really is quite gifted at holding a grudge."
"Your son bullied her for six years and your sister-in-law tortured her in your house. I think she is entitled to a grudge."
Lucius chucked. "Yes, I suppose she is."
Snape would never admit it aloud, but he did agree with his friend's assessment: Granger had surprising grown into a beauty. He felt it was a shame that for such a brilliant girl, she still hung around with Potter and Weasley—the world's two most overrated heroes.
"You know, Skeeter loves nothing more than a decent scandal. I can imagine nothing would make her chomp at the bit more than seeing you make friends with our dear Gryffindor Princess and her two clowns. Or better yet, a romance."
The dark haired wizard groaned aloud. "I think I would rather be tortured by the Dark Lord."
Not really. Severus was very glad that the megalomaniac Lord Voldemort, aka, Tom Marvelo Riddle was gone once and for all. And Dumbledore for that matter. For the first time in his life, Severus was finally free to live his life however the hell he wanted, which is precisely what he had been doing for the last five years. And just because he was indebted to Potter and Granger for testifying on his behalf after the Battle at Hogwarts did not mean he wanted to make friends with them; any more than they wanted to be friends with him no doubt.
The Granger girl at least treated him civilly, visiting him in hospital, corresponding with him every once in a while while she attended University and invited him to her homecoming party at the Burrow which he gladly missed. Still, he loathed her least of all the members of the Golden Trio. Perhaps his friend was on to something about joining forces with her against Skeeter.
…..
"Professor! What a surprise. Won't you come in?" Hermione said, smiling at her former Potions Professor as he crossed the threshold into the entryway.
Closing the door, she led him into the front sitting room and invited him to sit.
"I apologize for the mess, Sir. I just moved in a couple of days ago."
Severus surmised as much given that the room was filled with boxes labeled with the various items they contained. To one side she had managed to create a small sitting space with a sofa and coffee table but not much else.
"You know, there is this wonderful invention called a wand that allows you to channel your magic and unpack these boxes for you," he said dryly.
"Yes I know," she replied as she stepped from the kitchen with tea. "But exercising magic to unpack requires that I actually be here to exercise it and I have only been here long enough to get everything moved in before I have to go somewhere. I was only able to arrange this sitting area not five minutes before you arrived."
She handed him a cup of straight Earl Grey. He sipped it while she prattled on about the mayhem her life had become since graduating with the move and the party and everyone wanting to see her to catch up and applying for jobs.
"So you see it has been a crazy couple of days. How are things going for you, Professor?"
"Business is going very well, however," he replied setting down his cup and removing the previous day's edition of the Daily Prophet from his jacket and handing it to her, "I have a new thorn in my side."
"Is Severus Snape the Next Dark Lord?" Hermione read aloud. "Really? Stretching a bit isn't she?"
"Indeed. Nevertheless, I feel I cannot ignore the cow any more. Articles like this one are not good for business."
"I can understand that. So why did you come to me instead of hexing the bitch yourself?"
Severus smirked. "If only hexing her was the solution. But you know as well as I do that doing so would only fuel her argument."
Hermione nodded.
"And it also appears that I am not the only one she is after," he said, giving her a pointed look.
"She's a little peeved that I outed her as an unregistered Animagus. A beetle. That's how she got all those stories during the Tri-wizard tournament. I caught her and kept her in a jar for a couple of months. At first she was willing to cooperate but after the war she was up to her no good tricks. I reminded Harry of all the trouble she had caused him and she got slapped with a hefty fine. Since then she has been out to ruin my reputation. Won't happen since she never says anything credible."
"I believe you do have a Slytherin streak Miss Granger. However, although you or anyone close to you may not give any credence to Miss Skeeter's allegations, it could impact your job hunt. You see, her articles will create negative publicity for your department and any cause you are championing. And employers do not like negative publicity, no matter how outrageous or untrue it may be."
"So I am guessing you have a plan that will benefit us both, Sir."
"Yes, I do," he replied with a sly smile
…
Author Notes: I read a story along these lines once but I didn't like the relationship between Severus and Hermione. So I decided to write my own version. It is not my intention to plagiarize the other author's idea. I apologize for any spelling and grammar errors and inconsistencies in this story. I do not use a BETA and I have no intention of using a BETA because you, dear reader are my BETA.
