First time writing anything. I wrote this with my bestie, Gryffers , a few months ago for fun and we decided to upload it. Up until now we'd always read stories and we thought we weren't ever gonna publish. And here we are, already working on a second story. Although that one may take way longer cause it's a full-length multi-chapter piece. Hope you enjoy this one!
Hermione had never really took an interest in Quidditch. Trudging out to the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch, she reflected upon the sport. Her dislike of it had grown since the Wizarding Community had decided to give 'KissCams' a try about three years ago, a device commonly used in the muggle world. What a terrible idea and what a major success. Some of the Cam's victims had even ended up married.
These KissCams, however, were not ordinary KissCams. No, these had a magical twist of course. This camera doesn't look for couples in the crowd. The magical twist is that it searches for two people who have a natural chemistry. Forcing two complete strangers to kiss? Preposterous idea, Hermione thought.
So naturally, Headmaster Dumbledore had decided that it would be a charming little device to have at Hogwarts. Hurray… Hermione rarely went to the Quidditch games, except when Gryffindor was playing, because she felt obligated to be present at the games of her own House. However, since Dumbledore added the KissCam last year, Hermione absolutely dreaded heading out to the pitch. Gryffindor or not, she was scared to death of being singled out with a complete stranger. Or worse. Someone she knew.
Following the people in front of her up the stairs, Hermione found her spot on the stands next to Professor McGonagall. Turning towards Hermione, she made her usual comment. "I sincerely hope mister Gillen manages to catch the Snitch this time, I couldn't stand another Slytherin victory. Severus has been unbearable enough since last year…"
"Come now, Minerva," commented Severus from Hermione's other side. Hermione had gotten used to Severus' sudden appearances, the ones he made without a single sound, not even a crack from the old Quidditch stands they were standing on. "We won fair and square. There's no reason to keep bringing it up." Severus said before turning and acknowledging Hermione "Professor." he said with a slight nod.
"Good morning, Severus." said Hermione. Even now, as Charms teacher for the third year in a row, Severus still refused to address Hermione by her given name. They'd developed a certain friendship, bonding over books and cleverness, and Hermione had cherished every moment of it. For what woman could resist the opportunity to spend time with their childhood crush?
Even though Hermione kept denying everything during her student years at Hogwarts, the boys and Ginny had found out about her attraction to the Bat of the Dungeon. With them knowing, it didn't take long for Neville, Luna, most of the Weasley clan and probably half the school to have heard of it.
Remembering the times when the boys and Ginny had confronted Hermione, where she couldn't do anything but blush, stumble over her words, and defend her potions professor while denying every romantic thought in her mind… When they would gladly interrogate and tease her about this crush… Merlin, it still made her blush.
With that realisation in mind, Hermione lowered her head trying to hide her blooming smile and the slight blush creeping on her cheeks, behind her hair. Of course what she didn't know, was that she failed miserably, and that the smile and blush did not go unnoticed by a certain dark figure.
Madam Hooch caught the attention of the three professors as she strolled onto the pitch. Gathering both teams in the middle, she revised the rules quickly, before opening the trunk that was holding all the balls. The two Bludgers quickly flew around the field when released from their bounds. Opening the little compartment containing the snitch, she released it and it disappeared from view almost immediately. After calling the two Quidditch captains to the middle of the circle, Hooch grabbed the Quaffle, blew her whistle, the ball went up in the air, and the game was off.
As had become her habit these past two years, Hermione found it difficult to focus on the game due to Severus' closeness in these packed stands. She felt the fabric of his clothing brushing against her hand and his shoulder against hers. She could feel the warmth spreading throughout her body, and not because of the combined body heat in the stands...
Severus couldn't resist coming to every Quidditch match now that Hermione had started teaching and they had formed an understanding. How he cherished her company. But for Severus, the understanding had become insufficient. He hadn't admitted it to himself, but the reason he sought her ought whenever he could was because he had fallen for her.
"And the Quaffle is up in the air! And it's been immediately snatched up by the Slytherin chaser and team Captain McCann, who flies right up towards the Gryffindor goalposts." Said fifth-year Jorah Jones of Ravenclaw, who has been chosen Quidditch commentator almost four years ago. "He throws the Quaffle to Nutter - who catches it quite neatly - and he's off, diving under Tena. Careful for the bludg- AWSH. Hit in the flank by a bludger. Yeah, he's feeling that in the morning. Don't give me that look Teale, I warned him about it."
"There goes Whelan with the Quaffle, with Fairley and Nutter in the chase. Pass to Tena, who's flying with lightning speed - There's the goalpost - Come on Tena! - Dinklage dives - hE MISSES! GRYFFINDOR SCORES!" Many cheers and hands shot up in the air. Both sides encouraging their own team and ridiculing the other.
Hermione smiled, content that her team scored before Slytherin. She made eye contact with Minerva, who seemed very pleased as well. Severus on the other hand, was mumbling under his breath, clearly not impressed. Hermione knew that even though he didn't show it, Severus was quite competitive, especially when it came to Quidditch.
"Look up everyone. Our KissCam has started scanning the crowd, let's see who our first poor victims are…!"
Oh no, thought Hermione, there goes the KissCam again… As the game went on, two heads appeared on the new device, 80 feet above the middle of the pitch. Miss Cunningham, Slytherin fifth-year and… Oh my, Mister Pendleton, Hufflepuff fifth-year. I knew it… Hermione thought smugly.
"Miss Cunningham will not like that." said Severus with a side-glance to Hermione.
"And why is that, Severus? Mister Pendleton is a very charming boy."
"Be that as it may, he does not seem very interested."
Indeed he didn't, for Iwan Pendleton had not noticed his own face in the air until his friend jabbed him in the ribs and pointed towards it. When he saw his own face and Miss Cunningham's shy one, he turned and dashed towards the stairs that led to the Slytherin stands. The camera followed him until he was standing right next to Lisa Cunningham. Hermione watched smugly as Iwan pulled Lisa's face towards him and kissed her firmly on the lips. As usual, the other students cheered enthusiastically as the kiss went on.
Hermione turned to Severus, grinning, "Not interested, huh?"
Sneering at the sight of the two students, Severus turned to Hermione and rolled his eyes which was all Hermione needed to turn that grin into a laugh. Smiling at the effect this had caused, Severus turned back to the game.
"Slytherin in possession, Fairley's about to get blocked by Carter - drops the quaffle - swooped up by Nutter - nice move, that was - Nutter's flying passed a bludger - W-was that the Snitch? Yeah I th- Ow! Nutter at the Gryffindor goalpost - Nutter shoots - AND HE SCORES! 10 POINTS FOR SLYTHERIN!"
The sound of Slytherins roaring and cheering filled the air, just to taunt the Gryffindors. Severus' lips curled slightly upwards when he heard the two professors next to him sigh heavily.
"Well the Gryffindor Keeper doesn't look too happy about that goal. Murray, my mate, dude, buddy, chill. You'll get the next one, don't worry." Jones adds. "And Gryffindor has the quaffle - Whelan is off with McCann right next to him - passes to Cart- snatched away by Fairley - ...
After some time had passed and some more goals were made, the screen of the KissCam lit up, and started counting down from 3..
2..
1..
"And the Cam is off again! Let's see which othe- AWSH - Tena got hit on the back with a bludger directed by Teale - I know the Cam is fun, dear, but you have to pay attention to the game when you're playing it. And the Cam has stopped and focussed on the Ravenclaw stand! Does that mean we'll see some Birdy love?"
Mister Clark. Hmm. I haven't really seen Mister Clark around any girls lately … I wonder who he will be paired up with… Hermione thought, going through a list of Ravenclaw's in her head.
"I can feel the heat coming off of those overly active wheels turning inside that insufferable head of yours. Stop thinking about it already, they're just hormonal students. It's not worth the effort," A hoarse voice suddenly said next to her ear. Hermione smiled and turned her head to Professor Snape.
"It's called young love, Severus. It's a beautiful thing."
"Young love," scoffed Severus while turning back to the image above the field. Still smiling, Hermione studied Severus' features absentmindedly until he suddenly raised an eyebrow. Curiosity peaked, she turned to the KissCam and was quite surprised as well, her mouth making a little 'o'.
It was Mister Pryce who was kissing the other young boy. The crowd seemed divided about the sudden change of events. Silent astonishment, loud cheering and even catcalls were surrounding the two blushing boys.
"Well, that was quite... unexpected." said Severus expressionlessly. "No wonder I couldn't find any potential partner. I was running through the female Ravenclaw list," Hermione said while giggling. Severus couldn't help but look at her through his curtain of hair. She was so mesmerizing.
"Pryce! Why didn't you tell me?! You owe me a butterbeer, my friend. Right, back to the game. Carter in possession of the quaffle - flying around Nutter - cornered by McCann who manages to steal the quaffle - Bludger ahead! Ow, close one! - McCann to Fairley - Tena and Whelan in the chase - going around - .. going around - … going... around again… - Come on guys. This just makes people dizzy. And they go up! Slowly losing vision of them.. Damn those clouds. - both seekers are diving! Must've seen the snitch. I wish I had those reflexes."
"Oh and here comes another one, folks! Let's see who's going to be our nex-"
Hermione heard Severus' silent "Oh bloody hell," right before she realised that it had suddenly become very quiet… Looking around she saw that people were either looking in her direction or staring up at the KissCam. Looking over she came out with her own silent, "Oh shit." Seeing her own face saying that, high above the pitch, she couldn't help but wish she'd stayed inside that day.
Shit shit shit shit shit, thought Severus while still standing there, motionless. As motionless as all of Hogwarts it seemed. As opposed to the other KissCam incidents, no one had yet made a sound since the image of Hermione and himself had appeared.
Shit. Hermione, thought Severus, realizing that either had yet to move. Not wanting to prolong this any further, he turned towards her and tried to ignore the gasps that were heard around the pitch.
Breaking out of her shocked trance, Hermione saw Severus turn and looked over at him. Shit. Looking in his eyes she saw he was fighting the same battle she was in her mind. I'm gonna have to kiss him if we ever want to get out of here. He's not gonna like that. Fearing his reaction, she didn't dare move. Rather waiting for him to take the initiative instead.
I'm gonna have to kiss her to get out of here. I don't want to kiss her. At least not like this. Looking in her eyes he tried to read her emotions and what he saw didn't settle his mind at all. She looked slightly scared. Great. Bloody fantastic. She doesn't want to kiss me. Oh to hell with it. Let's just get this over and done with so I can get out of this nightmare.
Hermione saw several emotions cross his face in a very short period of time. Uncertainty followed by annoyance, then finally settling on determination.
Severus kept watching her face until he made his decision. He quickly closed his eyes and leaned down to touch her lips. Strangely, Hermione didn't react in the disgusted way he had expected her to. She seemed startled by his sudden touch, but didn't pull back or push him away. Taking a leap of faith, Severus lightly moved his lips initiating a proper kiss and was quickly rewarded when Hermione responded accordingly.
Neither of them believing their luck, they stayed like that for several moments and kept the kiss slow and gentle. When they finally broke contact and opened their eyes, surprise was visible in both sets. Still not able to look away, a voice could suddenly be registered throughout the pitch.
"Well folks, uhm… it seems that during our KissCam interlude, even the Snitch got distracted and uhm, the Gryffindor seeker was able to catch it right in front of her. So, uhm, that's it then. Congratulations to Gryffindor and enjoy the rest of your day people."
That's when the whispers and murmurs erupted. Having had enough attention for today, Severus quickly turned around and strode out of the teachers' stands. "Severus," said Hermione, "wait. Severus!" Following his footsteps and ignoring the looks from her colleagues, Hermione rushed after Severus and caught up with him after leaping down the first flight of stairs. "Severus, please, we need to talk." Sensing the approaching professors and knowing how much they would love another scene, Severus quickly grabbed her arm and whispered "Not here," with not as much venom in his voice as was usually the case, and apparated them away.
He transported them away from every living being on the grounds to a small, almost forgotten courtyard on the other side of Hogwarts. Landing on sure feet, Severus released Hermione and quickly stepped back as if touching her would light him on fire.
When Hermione opened her eyes she saw Severus standing 5 feet from her with his head bent down and his hair covering his face. "Uhm, thanks for that. For getting us out of there."
"Well I wasn't going to stick around," said Severus while looking at a most interesting patch of dirt and definitely not at her, "Especially not today," he added silently.
"Severus, look at me. Please."
He stood still for several moments longer, but finally turned and looked her in the eyes, raising one eyebrow questioningly.
"You kissed me."
Avoiding her eyes, Severus looked over her shoulder instead. "Of course I did, it's the only way to be freed from the damn camera."
"That's not what I mean. You kissed me. You really kissed me." Oh bloody hell. Gryffindor courage... Hermione thought, "And you know what, I do believe I kissed you back."
She's right, Severus. She did. She seemed just as into it as you were.
Hermione looked at him questioningly. Oh great, she's expecting me to answer. Well how do you answer such a statement?
Hermione started frowning, Why isn't he reacting? Am I wrong…
Well…, thought Severus, she did kiss you back. And it was very much enjoyable, so…
Smirking slightly, Severus slowly moved forward and placed one hand on her cheek and the other on her waist. Her frowning features had quickly been replaced by widening eyes and a pink tinge to her cheeks. Her slight gasp did not escape his notice, and Severus' eyes were quickly drawn to her lips.
"Indeed you did," said Severus while shifting his focus to her eyes again. Seeing no objection to his actions in them, he slowly leaned forward to touch his lips to hers for the second time that day. He didn't close his eyes until the last second, so he could gaze upon her innocent beauty for a bit longer, before he completely stole it from her. For now that he had her, he wasn't going to let her go that easily.
In the meantime, back in the quidditch stands…
"Well, Minerva," said Albus still looking at the spot where Severus and Hermione had vanished from, "where do you think they've gone?"
"It doesn't matter where they are. What matters is what they are doing."
"Curious much?" chuckled Albus. "I can assure you, Minerva, that judging by both their reactions to what transpired just now, I'd say whatever they are doing is probably too intimate to be any of our business."
"Albus, do you really think…" whispered Minerva while looking at him questioningly.
"Yes, I think this was the push they needed to finally act upon their feelings," said Albus with a suspicious twinkle in his eyes, "Which reminds me, Minerva, I do believe you owe me something now." Holding up his palm to Minerva, Albus waited for her to settle their debt.
"Albus," said Minerva with a stern look in her eyes, "did you have anything to do with the KissCam's choice of targets today?"
Seeing he wasn't going to answer until she paid up, she reluctantly handed over the four Galleons. "Albus?" she asked sternly.
Pocketing the coins, Albus looked her in the eye and stated "I have no idea what you're talking about Minerva," before turning and strolling out of the stands. Seeing him fighting off a smirk, Minerva was quite sure he knew what she was talking about.
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