I know he's not very nice, but...
A Bother
In which Severus makes the mistake of not paying attention during a staff meeting and pays for it.
Hogwarts loomed in front of him; Hogwarts, the castle and its well-kept secrets, even after centuries; Hogwarts, that he sometimes utterly despised.
Hogwarts, which in spite of everything, had offered him shelter; offered him shelter from a drunken wreck of a father and warmth that a depressed mother hadn't been able to gift him with; Hogwarts, whose dungeons were the only place in this wretched world where he felt that he truly belonged.
Hogwarts, where he had lost his first and only best friend.
Severus Snape sighed as he shook the drops of rainwater from his long, greasy black hair. Not a day went by when he didn't think of his Lily; of what he had lost in uttering that vile word, Mudblood; of what he could have gotten that was rightfully his, Lily.
He entered the castle in his usual manner; emotionless, his head high, without a slip in his facade, even if he was really breaking inside.
He detested staff meetings, really; he sometimes wondered why he even bothered to keep this job, dealing with these dunderheads of brats; perhaps it was because he had gotten used to working in a place harbouring so many memories of Lily over the years. He swore, however, that he still had nightmares about Nymphadora Tonks and her Great Cauldron Disaster, and the day Fred and George Weasley decided to Transfigure every single object in the Potions classroom into large toads and various other unpleasant beasts (poor Severus still had scars from a rattlesnake's bite, from that day).
Minerva met him at the door with a curt nod; she gestured at the table in the corner as was her habit, and then went back to her seat near the warm fire. Her eyes never left him as she watched him sigh and make his way to the table to help himself; he poured himself some Butterbeer.
Dumbledore made his appearance a small while later; sweeping into the staff room, he smiled at his colleagues, his blue eyes twinkling, and then set off into a ridiculous speech; it was one of the old man's peskier habits, Severus thought before yawning discreetly, his mind already drifting.
It was towards the end of the meeting when Dumbledore called his name. He jumped slightly, and his black eyes looked around restlessly before he realised that the Headmaster meant him. He tried to sound professional, "Yes?"
"Would you kindly take care of the last Muggle-born on the list, Severus?"
"Headmaster," Severus said slowly, "I find myself unable to accept your suggestion. You see, I have duties to fulfill –"
"Duties, indeed," snorted Minerva, two chairs away.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "As I was saying, I have duties to fulfill as the Head of Slytherin House and Potions master, and surely a Muggle-born will bring multiple responsibilities."
"If I know you right, Severus," said Dumbledore, his blue eyes twinkling for the millionth of thousandth time, Severus imagined, "You would have planned those things as soon as the term ended. And a Muggle-born would take no more than two or three days, I am sure you can sacrifice that minuscule amount of time."
Severus looked back at him in a scowl. "Who is this Muggle-born, may I ask?"
Minerva peered over at the scroll of parchment paper in Dumbledore's long-fingered, wizened hands. She looked back at him, and then said, "A little girl named Hermione Granger. Do you accept, Severus, or shall we find someone more… attentive to take this task?"
Severus glared at her and folded his arms, leaning back in his armchair, and sighed.
"Fine," he fumed. "Fine, Minerva, Headmaster, fine."
There was really no democracy in this hellhole.
I had the idea for this a while ago, but I decided to rewrite this. They'll be a few chapters in this fic - it'll be purely friendship between Snape and Hermione. Characters appearing will be Mr and Mrs Granger, the staff at Hogwarts, the Malfoys, the Greengrasses, and a few others.
Next chapter will be Hermione receving a visit from Snape.
Please read and review, especially if you favourited/alerted!