Written in response to the Pinball Wizard Challenge

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter world belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. I'm just borrowing, honestly. I'll put everything back where I found it when I'm done, I promise!

A/N: I love writing for challenges, but rarely do I ever get them in on time. :o)

~Pinball Wizard~

Hermione sat at a table in the library, researching a paper for Arithmancy and humming "Tommy" under her breath. Her headphones were turned up just enough so that she could hear the song, but loud enough so that she didn't hear Professor Snape until he was standing behind her. To be totally honest, she didn't hear him until he leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"Miss Granger, please explain why you are in the library with contraband?"

She jumped a mile, then let out a sigh of relief when she saw that it was only the most hated professor in all of Hogwarts. He'd lightened up a bit since the defeat of Voldemort, and no longer had greasy hair or yellow teeth, but students still feared him. And he was still giving her one of his "glares."

"Please don't do that," she said. "It scared the daylights out of me. What did you say about contraband?"

"That. What are you doing with That?" he pointed at her mini-stereo.

"Oh. My stereo. It's actually not contraband. I asked Dumbledore if it was alright to use it on my time, as long as it didn't bother anyone else, and I didn't use it during a class. He said it was fine and then he twinkled at me. Kind of makes me dizzy when he does that."

She smiled at him, and he was suddenly acutely aware of how pretty she was. He plopped himself down in a chair across from her. Yes, actually plopped. He looked tired.

"Fine, if Albus said it was okay. At least tell me you're not listening to screaming crap."

She rolled her eyes, not believing they were actually having a conversation. "Please, spare me. I don't listen to heavy metal that often. My dad introduced me to The Who? over Christmas Holiday, and I've been listening to them ever since."

His eyes had widened ever so slightly. "You're listening to The Who?"

"Mmhmm," she said. "Do you like them?"

He chuckled. "I haven't listened to them since I was about your age. I used to love them."

She grinned. "Once a fan, always a fan. Here." She handed him the earphones and he put them on. She pushed play on the box and watched as he closed his eyes --- and smiled. Yes, he smiled. It was a nice smile. He looked more relaxed than he ever had.

'Wow,' she thought, 'who'd have thought that the evil Potions Bastard was an old fan of The Who?'

They sat that way for a while, her researching, him listening to her music and pointing out little things in her notes. It was totally strange. He seemed almost friendly. And for the first time, she didn't feel slightly afraid of him. She was packing up her things when he cleared his throat, grabbing her attention.

"Um, Miss Granger? Can I ask you a stupid question?" he asked.

"Sure, everyone else does."

He attempted to give her a glare, but caught her gleeful grin and turned it into a snort.

"What, exactly, is 'Pinball'?"

The smirk disappeared and she stared. "You don't know what Pinball is?"

He shook his head. 'Oh boy,' she thought.

After almost an hour of trying fruitlessly to explain it to him, an idea popped into her head. "When's the next Hogsmeade weekend?"

"Well, this weekend, actually. Why?"

"Would it be easier to understand if I showed you what pinball is?"

"Hmm…" he thought it over. "Why not? But Hogsmeade is an all-magical town. Where would we find Pinball machines?"

"Not Hogsmeade. London. Muggle London. You'd have to ask Dumbledore to let us go,

though. Probably as a field trip."

"I know Albus. You're a responsible seventh year. He'll say yes."

And so it was that very early three days later, Hermione waited for Professor Snape at the entrance to the castle. Dressed in a blue sweat shirt with a Union Jack, jeans, and Chuck Taylor's, with her wand in her bag, she sat patiently on the steps. She was ready for the weekend trip.

"Ready to go?" the familiar voice was right behind her.

She stood and turned, fully expecting him to be standing scowling with arms crossed in those great flapping black robes of his. Her mouth dried up when she saw him as he was dressed for the trip. A black tee-shirt and black leather jacket with black jeans and black boots. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail and he looked absolutely gorgeous. His clothes revealed much more of his male physique than wizarding robes.

"You know, Miss Granger, you look rather silly with your mouth open like that. It makes you look like a fish. Is my attire acceptable?" He turned in a circle.

She could only nod yes. 'Acceptable? Dear Gods, the man has the best buns I've ever seen. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Powers That Be for making tight jeans.' She could have wept.

"We'll be able Apparate as soon as we're outside the gates. I've made arrangements so that we'll be staying at the Leaky Cauldron. I assume that you do have an Apparating license?"

Again, she nodded. Then broke out into a grin. She was going to have a blast.

There were two loud pops on the Diagon Alley side of the Leaky Cauldron and the pair were in London. Slightly dizzy from the quick, turbulent travel, Hermione blinked for a second and steadied herself.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I'm still a bit new to this."

He nodded, then headed into the tavern. She followed, greeted the old man, and walked with Snape up the stairs to their rooms. He handed her a small key. "We'll have to share a room," he said shortly.

"Whaaaat?!" she cried.

"What were you expecting, something bigger? We'll have to share a room," he repeated. She was still standing in the doorway, a stunned expression on her face. He turned his back on her and glanced around the room. It was absolutely tiny. All the color drained from his face though, when he noticed something Tom, the old man from downstairs, had neglected to mention.

There was only one bed.

Hermione stepped into the room and deposited her bag on the floor. She stopped short, standing next to him with a rather strange expression on her face.

"Oh, dear Gods, please don't tell me-"

"Yes."

"There's only one-"

"Uh-huh."

"But there's two-"

"Right."

"And I'm a-"

"Yes."

"And you're a-"

"What are you, deaf, dumb, and blind? Miss Granger, there's one bed, one room, two of us, you're a student, I'm your Professor. I'll take the floor."

"Okay."

"Ready to leave?" he asked a few minutes later. She nodded, still a bit overwhelmed. They left, walking the few blocks to the old arcade in companionable silence. A light dusting of dirty gray snow lined the sidewalk. The lights of the building flashed lamely, half broken or burnt out, but there was still magic- Muggle Magic -in this place.

"Close your eyes."

He raised one eyebrow, then rolled his eyes and relented. She took his hand and opened the door. It was dark inside, and hot. Music blared out of speakers, and lights from a hundred video games blinked neon colors in the background. She led him all the way to the back of the building, excitement building with every step. She stopped at an old, beat-up machine.

She leaned very close to his ear, and whispered. "You can open them now."

The hairs on the back of his neck tingled, and he opened his eyes very slowly. She was leaning so close. Very close. Too close. 'Attraction to a student is exactly what I want and exactly what I don't need at this moment,' he thought.

"So," he said, trying to distract himself from his very pretty student. "This is a Pinball machine?"

She turned toward it, a tiny bit disappointed. For a split second, she had wanted very much to kiss him. Banishing all such thoughts from her mind, she remembered why they were there.

"Uh-huh. This is a Pinball machine."

"It's not very impressive."

She giggled. "Wait a second."

She ran over to a man sitting behind a counter in the corner. She handed him a piece of paper and he, in return, handed her a handful of gleaming coins. She came back grinning.

Putting all but a few tokens in her kangaroo pocket, she put one in a slot at the close end of the machine.

"Watch," she told him. He jumped back as the machine came to life, then broke out into a wide smile. She began pressing buttons and talking to herself, and he watched carefully as she made the shiny silver ball fly around the board, ringing bells and disappearing into the slots. It was absolutely mesmerizing.

A pretty blonde girl about Hermione's age came over and leaned against another Pinball machine, watching. When she'd finally lost her last ball, she laughed at her score.

"Wow, that's the first time I've ever scored so high! I'm in the top ten!" Hermione exclaimed.

"You're really good. I've been playing since I was little, and I've never gotten that high a score!" the young woman said.

Hermione smiled shyly. "Thanks. My Dad used to be nuts over these. He bought one and put it in the garage. He used to stand me on a milk crate and let me play." As she explained this, she handed Snape a handful of coins.

"Play!" she commanded. She received another raised eyebrow, but coupled with another smile.

The other girl took him in, and nudged Hermione with a grin. "Your boyfriend?" she whispered.

Hermione flushed, then grinned evilly. "Yeah. What do you think? Hot or what?"

"Smokin'. Where can I find a butt like that? Tall, dark, older and handsome."

Hermione was unable to suppress her laughter. "He's a-" she began, but never got the chance to finish, as Snape let out a yowl.

"Ah! It dinged me!" he snapped.

"You tilted it," the girls said in unison. They looked at each other and burst into a fit of giggling. He scowled menacingly, which only made them laugh harder. After catching their breath, the blonde stuck her hand out. Hermione shook it.

"Name's Calypso," she said.

"Hermione. It's a pleasure."

They stood and talked, watching him become increasingly more and more absorbed in the game.

It was around noon when Hermione's stomach reminded her of her need to eat. It growled loud enough for Calypso to hear, and she smiled. "Hungry? I know a great place around the corner."

Hermione nodded. "Severus?" she asked tentatively. She'd never used his first name.

He didn't even look up. "Hmm?"

"We're going to get something to eat at the place around the corner. Are you hungry?"

"No. Go ahead," he said, totally addicted now. He still had a bunch of tokens left, and intended to use them all. He was a natural.

"He's growing attached to that thing. I think I'll have to pry him off later."

Calypso laughed as they turned the corner and entered a badly lit, American-style diner.

"Are you sure about this place?" Hermione asked, unsure.

"Trust me, they serve excellent food. And their sundaes are to die for."

"Okay."

The girls took their time looking over the menu, Hermione finally choosing a burger and chips. The other girl had the same. They ordered an extra for Snape, and asked for it in a leftovers-box.

They made small talk while waiting for the food to arrive, Calypso speaking non-stop about normal things. Hermione began to feel that by being a witch, she had missed out on a lot of wonderful Muggle things, but didn't regret it.

The food arrived, and they ended the conversation there. It was just like Calypso had said, the food was fantastic. They wolfed it down and paid, leaving the diner at a brisk walk with Snape's lunch.

The wind had picked up, making the air that much colder. Their breath steamed as they made their way back to the arcade. Immense snowflakes fell from the sky, piling up around buildings.

There was a crowd growing around the area Snape had been, and an intense fear shot through Hermione. She shoved the Styrofoam box into Calypso's hands and bullied her way through. She fully expected there to be a fight, or find her professor hurt or something, but the scene she came to was more shocking than she'd imagined.

Snape was bent over the machine, sweat rolling down his forehead, deaf, dumb, and blind to the world around him. The crowd was cheering him on. Hermione looked up at the electronic score flashing on the top of the machine. He'd surpassed her score by ten thousand points!

"Wow," said a pimply-faced boy next to her. "He's, like, the Pinball Wizard."

"Today was the first time he'd played," Hermione whispered.

Calypso elbowed her way to Hermione, holding a now squashed Styrofoam box. "What's going on- WHOA!"

"My sentiments exactly."

"Wow, I've never seen anything like that."

Cheers from the crowd rang out every time he successfully kept the ball. He'd taken off his jacket, and Hermione could see the muscles in his arms bunch every time he jerked. He was lean, much more so than she'd imagined, and muscular in a sleek way. He was beautiful, in a strange way. Hermione felt hot all of a sudden.

The pimply-faced young boy was speaking again. "-and he's been playing this same game, for, like, an hour and a half."

~*~

~A/N: Okay folks, this is where I leave it until chapter two. Tootles!~

~Kate~