a/n This is a fun lil fic based on the idea of a heavily modified Snape. I can't deny some influence from the lovely HandsAcrossTheSea over on AO3 and her amazing series of Kylux modified fics. JKR owns the characters, I just make them play. reviews are appreciated! updated 7/24 to include material from ch2 and correct a few typos
"You've really got to put yourself out there more, Hermione." Said Ginny, waving her third glass of merlot in my general direction. "Loosen up a bit! We all agree that my brother was a bit of a git to you but it's time to let go. When was the last time you even went on a proper date?"
She was right and I knew it. After ron had Run off with some fame-mongering groupie, I buried myself in my work and avoided going out otherwise. Sure I'd been able to pioneer several advancements for house elf rights and passed new laws for their welfare, but my personal life had suffered. Thinking about it, I'd only gone on one date in the three years I'd been single and that had been a disaster. Lawrence from the portkey registration office was nice enough but just… boring. There was no mystery to him, nothing that reached out and grabbed me. I ignored his request for a second date.
"I don't know Gin…" I said, stirring my drink with the straw. "Guess I haven't found anyone interesting enough"
"Well you aren't going to find anyone like that here." she sniffed, eyeing the slightly dingy muggle pub where I'd asked her to meet, "I think you really just need to get laid" I smacked her lightly on the arm.
"Ow! You do though. Might take out some of that aggression too" she said, draining her glass, "I should get going soon though. Harry's waiting y'know" she winked, waving to the bartender to pay her tab.
A sudden hush fell over the usually slightly rowdy bar. A tall man had entered the front door and looked around, causing the two old women who sat in the booth nearby to fall into a hushed conversation instead of their typical obnoxious cackles. He strode to the bar, sitting between Ginny and an older man who eyed him warily before sliding a bill onto the worn wood and hurrying out of the building. The man's long dark hair fell over his face and he wore a black leather jacket and dark jeans, with heavy boots to match. He seemed fairly slim, yet still muscular, like the sort of man who could be deadly in a bar fight. He raised one hand to the bartender. I noticed there were letters tattooed across the slim knuckles, as well as more ink across the back of his hand and down his wrist.
"The usual, Maurice" he said in a rich, familiar baritone.
"Professor?!" I sputtered.
Ginny turned on her stool as we stared at Severus Snape, or, at least, I thought it was him. Glints of silver shone from piercings in his lips, eyebrow, and distinctive nose. The collar of the jacket did little to hide the creeping ink of more tattoos on his neck but these were nothing compared to his eyes. Before they had reminded me of black pebbles, always watching, always knowing. Now they were terrifying, like two pits of hell. No white showed any more, they were entirely consumed by blackness. The effect was otherworldly, like his appearance had finally caught up with his personality. A dangerous smirk crossed his face, pulling one of the rings in his lip upwards at an angle.
"Miss Granger… and Miss Weasley. What a surprise…"
"Miss Granger… and Miss Weasley. What a surprise…or should I say Mrs. Potter now? I do apologize that I missed the ceremony"
Ginny squeaked, breaking me from my obvious gawking. "Um… yes" she stuttered "I was actually just going though… Bye Hermione!" She skittered from the bar a bit too quickly to be subtle, leaving me alone with this new Snape. My heart pounded somewhere in my throat as I swallowed heavily.
"She always was a bit flighty, that one." He remarked, taking the glass of whiskey from Maurice and taking a long sip. He watched me over the edge of the glass with those unnatural eyes.
"I haven't seen you in a while. You look well." He said, placing the glass back on the bar, eyes flickering down my body.
I flushed heavily. Sure I had filled out a bit since after the war, considering I no longer had to live off of foraged mushrooms but still… he was my professor! Well… former professor… but there was no reason for him to look at me like that. Like he wanted to eat me. I shivered a bit at the thought.
"Thank you professor" I managed to squeak.
"Just Severus is fine. I haven't been a professor in ages." he smirked again. "Are you cold, Miss Granger?"
"Just Hermione works and no…" My words died before they hit my lips. He had already started removing his jacket, revealing a plain black t shirt and more tattoos. It seemed like since I had last seen him, every part of his pale skin had been covered in ink. A serpent twisted from the side of his neck, down under his shirt and coiled around his left arm. His right was covered in illustrations of what I recognized as various potion ingredients. Distracted by his artwork I barely noticed him move to drape the coat over my shoulders and sit beside me in Ginny's discarded chair. The heavy leather smelled vaguely like his classroom had, old leather and herbs, along with something heady and masculine.
"Thank you" I mumbled before awkwardly grabbing for my glass and taking a sip.
"My pleasure" He purred. My cheeks burned again. Regardless of how he looked, his voice always had made me squirm. He finished his glass of liquor with one more long sip and placed the glass back on the bar. Maurice refilled it without being asked.
"So what were you and young Ginevra doing in my favorite bar on a Friday night?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow at me.
"We just wanted to go out for a drink. Somewhere with no press or fuss." I explained. In reality, I tended to frequent this place, though rarely on the weekends. It was nondescript enough that I was left alone to think.
"Fair enough" He said, looking around. "Though I would think you'd have some young fellow hanging off your arm. As I recall Mister Weasley was fond of that spot…"
"Ron and I… it didn't work out" I looked down into my drink, pulling the obscenely red cherry from in and placing in on the napkin.
"No one else to catch your fancy?" He said, taking another sip.
"Guess I haven't found anyone interesting enough"
"Not a maraschino fan?" He picked up the cherry by its long, sticky stem.
"Not really.. Something about the color puts me off" I said, watching a drop of scarlet syrup form at the bottom of the fruit, threatening to drip off.
He brought it up to his lips and licked the drop away. I gasped. His tongue was different. Not human. It was split up the middle like a dragon's or a lizards. My hands flew to my mouth as he put the cherry in his mouth and pulled it off the stem, chewed, and swallowed.
"I do love cherries." He said, eyes closed. When he opened them again he glanced over my shocked face. "Oh yeah, the tongue… I honestly forget I got that done. Tends to freak people out at first." He stuck it out at me, wiggling the two tips. I giggled at the absurdity of it.
"How long has it been like that?" I asked, staring in awe.
"Just about a year now. It was one of the first major mods I had done."
"First?" I asked, not sure what else he could have done, "What else is there?"
"Well.. most of them I wouldn't want to show off to poor old Maurice here" He smirked again.
"I had most of the tattoos while you were at Hogwarts though" He ran one hand up his arm.
"Suppose I never saw under your robes" I said, my hand reaching automatically to touch the undulating lines of ink across his skin before realizing just what I had said and bringing my hand back to cover my mouth.
"Would you like to?" His rich voice purred in my ear, one hand resting lightly on my knee.
I'm not sure if it was the drinks I'd had, or if I had always wanted to, but something made me whisper back,
"Yes."