Severus Snape was not in a good mood.
He had three detentions to supervise, clean up eighteen melted cauldrons in his first year class, avoid upsetting his wife and be on time for a meeting that Albus had called.
He was late, had snapped at his wife as he ran past her, the detentions had each gone on longer than planned, the cauldrons were refusing to be vanished and there was a fight in the Slytherin common room.
In short, he was pissed.
After the meeting, he sorted out the other problems before hesitating in front of his shared quarters. Expecting the worst, he walked in, only to find his wife, Hermione, sprawled out on their couch. Looking up, she scowled at him before continuing to read. As Severus walked past her, he caught the title of the book – An Advanced Guide to Dispatching Annoying Pests. Smirking, he walked towards his private lab to brew some of the potions requested by Madam Pomfrey.
After a short while, he heard a rustling sound, followed by a door slamming. Curious, he stalked out to his living room to find a note on the table.
Severus, you'd better have a good excuse as to why you have greasy hair today. If not, it's all going when I get back – I mean it.
Gulping, Severus looked at his hair and cursed under his breath. It was greasy – he hadn't had time to wash it recently, what with all the problems he'd just had to deal with. And yet, this was the most important person he had to please. His wife. Who he loved more than life it's self, yet he could do nothing right in her eyes. Severus knew she just liked to torment him, to see him squirm because of the power she had over him, yet he knew if she asked, he'd willingly travel to the Sun and back, just to see her happy.
He sighed – washing his hair took hours, because of all the potion fumes clogging in it. His dark mood lightened slightly when he saw that Hermione had left him some new shampoo to try.
Hermione was sat in the Great Hall eating a late dinner with Minerva McGonagall, talking about Severus and his hair dilemma. When Hermione thought back to the note she left, she smiled in glee, causing her former teacher and friend to look bemused.
After politely excusing herself, she walked slowly back to her quarters, wondering if the note had made any difference. Grinning in anticipation, she opened the door to find one very disgruntled, upset, angry and bald Severus Snape.
He looked ready to pounce on her and rip her to shreds about the new shampoo, but upon seeing her holding her sides with laughter, he decided that his embarrassment was worth her amusement. She rarely smiled nowadays because of the war, so anything was worth seeing her smile.
As he politely asked for an antidote, he began forming a plan for revenge.
Oh, yes. Revenge was a dish best served cold.
AN: Reviews anyone? What should his revenge be? I've already got some suggestions, but his could be an ongoing war . . . whad'ya think?