Mirror Mirror…or Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
Note: If it belongs to JKR, it isn't mine. Rated T for implied situations.
Severus stared in the mirror.
His hair.
It had always been greasy, stringy, fine, and flat. It wasn't lovely, but it was his…and now….
"Merlin! Severus, what happened?"
He grimaced as Hermione Granger (a woman with whom he shared a complicated past) appeared in Witch Weekly's photography studio.
"Well I sure as hell am not here to receive the 'Most Charming Smile award."
She was already running diagnostic spells.
He gave a put-upon sigh. Meddling witch. "It's a vanity spell. They were popular during the mid-eighties."
Her lips twitched. "You used vanity spells during the eighties?"
He snapped. "Of course not. But Lucius was notorious for his flowing mane. If you think it was bad when he was a governor, you should have seen it during his Fabio phase."
She valiantly fought a grin. "The real question is, how did someone shoot a vanity spell at you right before the official Order photograph?"
"Not a clue. I surely would have noticed a dark enchantment on anything I touched…in fact…" He grimaced as he reviewed his short wait in the studio. "I did not touch anything but the garish shag carpet on which we stand."
The raven locks were nearly as long as Hermione's, thick and lustrous as brushed silk; it caught the light and practically begged anyone who saw it to run their fingers through his hair.
It was utterly wrong.
"How does one remove a vanity spell?"
"Generally a simple finite will do the trick."
"Obviously you've already tried that."
"Obviously."
"Well, we can't leave you like this."
"I wasn't aware that you had any say in the matter Headmistress Granger."
"Don't be like that Severus. You've used my given name before."
He felt a slight blush. There was that one night, years ago. But not since then. Since then, he'd used a very formal address when forced to be in her company. He'd taken care to never be alone with her.
And yet, here they were.
She reached for his face, and in a moment of weakness he allowed her soft fingertips to caress his cheekbone and slide into his newly-grown locks.
She was looking up at him with those whiskey-colored eyes. "When did you notice the change?"
It had been sometime after the final battle…no wait…she meant his hair, didn't she?
"I glanced in the mirror, expecting to adjust my tie pin. That's when I noticed the hair."
One side of her lips twitched. He wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been staring at her mouth.
"In any case, I immediately set about removing the charm…unfortunately, not even a wide array of diagnostic spells have shed any light on this." He gestured in the general direction of his shiny locks in disgust.
Hermione moved away from him, toward the mirror. A tiny corner of his mind would admit that he missed the slight heat he could feel from her when she stood close enough to touch.
She started running spells on the mirror. Within seconds, a blue face with a horrified expression appeared in the mirror.
"Oh honey…just sit still and we'll do something about that frizz…"
She pointed her wand at the image.
"Touch one curl and I'll melt this monstrosity into a gooey puddle of silicone and brass."
The blue thing in the mirror looked highly offended. "I can assure you, that despite my current abode, I am not a cheap knock-off. I have served kings, queens, and the occasional Supreme Mugwump of the Wizingmount."
Severus looked down his nose at the image. "I can assure you that I will follow through with the threat if you had something to do with this." He pointed at the perfect mass of hair on his head.
"You can't be referring to that perfectly quaffed head of hair?!"
"Take it back."
"I can't!" It cringed away from Severus in the mirror. "Once I've given someone a new look it's…"
Severus raised his wand 'Bom..'
"Wait! Wait." The blue being in the mirror was breathing hard. "There is a cure. If you really must have that lank, oily hair back…"
Granger pushed by Severus with a fierce scowl. "He really must. Now tell us the cure without any more nattering or I will personally…"
"True Love's embrace."
Severus groaned in disgust. "You have got to be kidding."
Hermione frowned. "I thought it was True Love's Kiss?"
"That's for sleeping spells. Removal of hair charms requires True Love's Embrace."
Severus took a deep breath through his nose. "There has to be another cure."
The mirror grinned cheekily at him. "I'm afraid not. Anyone who loves you as you are can lift the spell…dogs, cats, friends…" Severus groaned. Where the hell was he going to find someone who loved him unconditionally?
And with that he felt her warm arms wrap around his whip-cord thin frame.
He lost himself for a moment in a haze of pleasure centering around all the places that her soft curves pushed against him.
She looked up at him and raised her hand to his transformed locks.
"This is much better."
The implications of her gesture nearly floored him. He caught her hand and looked questioningly at her slim fingers.
"I don't understand."
"I told you Severus. Years ago. You do remember, don't you?"
He thought back to that painful morning when he had left the witch. She was too young, he was too old, and she'd held more of his heart than she'd known. He didn't do casual relationships. So he had pulled his walls back up through sheer force of will. He had left like he wasn't cutting out his own heart in doing so.
He pulled her into a blistering kiss. He voice was half-strangled. "Still? After all this time?"
She looked up at him. "Always." She pulled him down and set about ravaging his lips. When they emerged sometime later, she was grinning. "Let's forget about the photos. They don't really need a new 'Heroes of Hogwarts' shot. I need to make up for lost time."
He turned to the mirror. "What about that?"
She smirked. "Oh, I have the perfect place for that."
The mirror's eyes widened as Hermione waved her wand and made it disappear.
She turned to her paramour and purred. "Come home with me."
He pulled her into his arms. "Gladly."
The next day a shrouded figure arrived at the floo at Malfoy manor.
"The plan worked? I trust that the reunion was satisfactory?"
Hermione used a cleaning spell as she stepped out of the fire. "Don't be a git Lucius. Did Narcissa get the mirror back?"
"Just as planned. Severus did not suspect?"
She rolled her eyes. "For a brilliant man, he can ignore more than anyone I've ever met. He didn't realize that I've been waiting all this time!"
Lucius chuckled lightly. "I meant that he didn't infer that the hair was a ruse."
Hermione blushed.
Lucius took pity on the brilliant little witch. The fact that she was not on top of the game could only be proof of her genuine attachment to his oldest friend. "No matter. Oh, hurry back by all means. I know you are anxious to get back to him now that you finally have him safely tucked away in your lair. We will see you at the next Governor's meeting Headmistress."
His manner didn't fool her in the least. She knew that he'd been worried for Severus for years; otherwise he would have never sought her out with his little plan. She dimpled and reached up to kiss the blond aristocrat's cheek as she hurried back to the mantle. "Give my love to Narcissa." She hurried back to the flames. Severus was waiting.
Author's Note: And there you go! Just a bit of fluff for you. Thanks to Shadow SSJ and Dragoon811 for pushing me into posting again. I get a little frustrated when my password gets locked up, but the other writers lure me back!