Somehow, Snape found himself seated next to her at the annual staff Christmas party. Nursing a glass of red wine, Professor Granger looked miserably at the small groups scattered around the room in animated conversation.
"Do you have any plans for the holiday?" she finally asked, fishing for something to talk about.
He shook his head. "Nothing. You?"
"Nothing either." There was a pause. A long pause.
"Are you going to see your family?" he finally asked.
She shrugged. "Mum and Dad are going skiing. Harry invited me to join him and Ginny, but…. Gah." She threw up her hands. "Is it terrible of me to just want some peace and quiet? To have a couple of weeks where no one wants anything from me?"
"No." Snape could relate. After dealing with students all blooming day long, all he wanted was to hole up in his quarters with a good book.
"All I want is to just hole up in my quarters with a good book," she said in exasperation. "But if you believe Harry, I am turning into some kind of hermit. A crabby, lonely old cat lady who's getting more antisocial all the time."
Snape found himself nodding. The same could be said of him. Minus the cat and lady components, of course.
"If I tell him I don't want to deal with people in my time off he looks at me as if I am going insane. And then plans an outing for every evening, because it's good for me." She sighed. "He even tried to get me to join a book club. Which would be fine, if it wouldn't involve having to talk to other people." There was a sudden glimmer in her eyes. "Hey, what if I started one?" Her hands drew the shape of a banner into the air. "I can just imagine the advertisement:
Does your mother want you to get out more?
Are your friends trying to set you up for blind dates because "you never meet anyone"?
If so, you are invited to join "Silence in the Library," a book club for introverts.
Come, sit, read your book, murder a cup of tea, and go home –
But you can now positively state that you have attended a social outing with
like-minded literature lovers. No one will ever call you a hermit again."
She grinned at Snape. "What do you think, would I get any takers?"