OlderFemaleReader X Snape
Mistletoe trap
Your stomach growled for the third time in ten minutes and you groaned in tired annoyance. It was well past lunch time and dinner was only a few minutes away you knew, but there was no helping your hunger. Hogwarts was the most spectacular place you've ever known and you get to learn all about spells, magical creatures, potions and herbs, the works to become a witch or wizard.
Unfortunately a lot of students use their magical abilities for clever pranks and the like on unsuspecting victims, and it being the Christmas season didn't mean there were less of these misgivings.
You decided earlier this snowy Saturday morning to go exploring around the castle halls, since you had nothing else better to do, and you found an especially lovely abandoned hall to look around. There weren't any ghosts skulking around, not even a portrait hanging on the walls to talk to.
It was so lovely, in fact, you hadn't left this hall in the past four hours. You've been standing around yelling at the top of your lungs for anybody to come help you out of this stupid spell so you could go eat.
Your stomach growled at the mere thought, and your butt was freezing on the cold floor that leaked through your thick winter school robe.
Yep, it looks like you've become the victim of one the pranks mentioned earlier, and the fact that it's the Christmas season probably didn't make it any better.
You look up at the offense in question, a harmless little tree fungus that many a couple have walked under to share a special moment. But right now all it meant was that some magical people took this tradition way too seriously.
It didn't really take you long to figure out what happened. You were walking down the hall, enjoying the solitude, when all the sudden you ran into a wall. It was confusing at first because you were right in the middle of the hallway and the end could be seen around fifty feet ahead of you. So what on earth did you hit? You felt around in front of you and could definitely feel something solid. You moved your hand around and discovered that the wall had curved around you! Even the way you came was blocked!
"Wait, what happened?" you exclaim, wiggling your arms out touching both curved walls. Thankfully it was at least your full arms width wide but that didn't matter to you at the all! You started to get really claustrophobic but even with all of the pushing and shoving the walls didn't budge! You began to get frantic and looked in all sorts of places from your vantage point to try and find the cause. That was when you found the mistletoe and everything clicked in your head.
Someone had pulled a very rude joke and you were at the butt of it.
You screamed, you shouted, used your wand to try and dislodge the plant from the ceiling, but it was no use. No one was nearby enough to hear you and the stupid thing wouldn't be tampered with. All you were able to do was make a mess with the ceiling tiles.
"Whoever the person was that put that thing up there, when I get out of this you're going to be tasting mistletoe berries for the rest of your life!" You had shouted then, that was all four hours ago. You scooted your butt as far as you could before hitting the invisible wall that fell around the proximity of the mistletoe and moaned miserably.
"If I ever get out of here." You wrapped your arms around your cold limbs and buried your face in them, trying to keep the tears from flowing. "You're being over dramatic you know." You told yourself. "You won't end up like the ghosts of Hogwarts forever trapped here searching for someone who could free you. You won't become an unfinished fairytale!" you wiped the tears away and stood up. Screaming some more might not improve your situation but it would definitely improve your mood. "Someone, I don't really care who, will come down this hall within 24 hours and help you out of this stupid prank and your life will resume." You took a big breath
"HEEELLOOOO!" you screamed down the halls feeling the vibrations under your feet. You smiled. No one would be able to ignore that! You waited a few seconds while rubbing your now scratchy throat before trying again, careful not to damage your vocal cords this time.
A few more minutes of this yielded the same results as the last hour had. No one heard, no one cared. You kicked the 'wall' in a bout of anger!
"ARG!" you yell "Why didn't I pay attention to Flitwitz class about the voice amplification spell?! Or even looked through the spell books!" You hit your head against your wall and clenched your teeth. "Oh I'll just doodle on my scroll about people shouting and not freaking pay attention to something that could very well save my life!" You mocked yourself "Oh I'll just sleep in and not go down to the library and look through some very important spells that could very well be useful like magically getting stupid vegetation down from a high place!" You butted the wall again and again! When that did nothing but give you a headache and a fair bruise you sat down hard on the ground and sulked.
This was just a repeat of what's been happening for the past couple of hours and it was getting extremely annoying that you were only going through a pointless loop! You ran a hand through your hair and scratched the back of your head roughly. You pressed your hands against your face and groaned loudly, getting louder as more air passed out of your lungs.
"WHO EVEN THOUGHT OF A MISTLETOE PRANK ANYWAY!?" you shouted in the frustratingly empty hallway. "What's the prank even? Trap someone underneath until someone else comes under, kiss, then you're free?! What's the point? To stand there while others laugh at the poor person stuck underneath? Taunting about how long it's taking for anyone to step up and free them? Make fun of how desperate they look?!" You grabbed one of the fallen ceiling tiles and chucked it as hard as you could to the opposite wall. You had discovered earlier that anything and everything but you could pass under the mistletoe without any sort of hindrance. The tile clacked and cracked on impact on the far wall but didn't shatter, it only bumped pitifully off the wall and clattered a little down the south end of the hall. You glared at it feeling slightly envious of the flat tiles' freedom.
You sigh and leaned against the wall. Even if there were a room full of people, no one would ever come near you for anything like that. You weren't unfortunate or plain looking but no one was coming and asking you around for anything special like a day in Hogsmead or whatever other students do for dates. You've never had your first kiss, so why would this prank bring about anything different?
You sighed and felt your hope drop into your empty stomach and you thought you could hear it clack around in there.
No, wait.
That wasn't your imaginary stomach funeral! You perk up and listen closely.
Yes! There were noises down the hall! Faint sharp click-clacks of footsteps!
You quickly jumped to your feet and dusted yourself off! "Hey!" you shouted, the noises stopped, you quickly call out "Hey is someone there?!" You listen carefully but no other sounds reached you. You felt your hope plummet quickly but you called out again "Wait! Please! Can you help me please?! I've been stuck here for a really long while! I'd really appreciate some help!" you waited and listened to your voice echo softly. You waited some more but you were starting to get anxious. Maybe time alone in an abandoned hallway in a magic school wasn't the best thing for you. "Hello?" You call again, but not as strongly as before since you were starting to think you imagined the noise. You groaned and sunk to the floor.
"You know what? I don't care who it is. As long as they can help me I really don't think I'll mind the price for freedom. But only if they come soon!"
"If who comes soon Miss _(your surname)_?" A deep familiar and snarky voice said from behind you. Fearing for your freaking life you jumped up and met the eyes of every Hogwarts students' worst nightmare, Professor Snape. Your eyes quickly shot a glance to the plant on the ceiling then met his black gaze and you frantically thought 'Anyone but HIM!' His eyes narrowed and he sneered at you as he walked closer.
"And what's this talk of a price?"
Unconsciously you backed up a few steps only to bump against the unyielding wall of the spell. Seeing you stop abruptly the Head Slytherin house's eyes narrowed more and he swiftly circled around you, much like a vulture inspecting an old boot that found itself caught in a bush bramble.
You didn't dare move for fear of raising his ire more than necessary but you found yourself slumping more into the invisible wall, grateful for its unmoving support for once. It was embarrassingly hard not to tremble as you felt his hands hover around your back and arms. You knew he was trying to assess your situation but still, did he have to do it like that?
Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, he stood before you and glared, obviously demanding an explanation. You really couldn't explain even if you wanted to –which at the moment you really didn't want to! All you could do in reply to his glare was shrug weakly and point to the ceiling. His eyes followed and he looked straight up at the offending fungus. You licked your lips and bit both bottom and top between your teeth, worrying about what he'll say. Or worse, what he'll do.
"I-uh." You began rather lamely "I tried everything I knew. It wouldn't budge. I've uh…" you licked your lips again. "I've been stuck here since the sun casted shorter shadows."
However, instead of acknowledging that you've spoken, the Professor pulled out his wand and wordlessly flicked it. You heard a whistle that signaled that a spell was at work and you glanced up eagerly. Maybe you won't have to…?
But no such luck was given to you as you saw that the plant didn't even flicker in the makeshift wind. You looked to your professor, half interested in seeing how he'll handle the rejected command and what he'll do next, and half despairingly at the obvious inevitable.
Professor Snape didn't disappoint, with each flick and with each rejection you could see him becoming more and more frustrated. With a deep sigh you sat down with your face in your hand and opted to watch. You didn't have to wait long though because quite suddenly he barked your name, jolting you to attention again. You stood as quickly as you could while he openly scowled. He pointed to it and growled out, low and intimidatingly
"Explain." Wide eyed with horror you helplessly grasped the air.
"I-I don't-"
"Explain." He hissed out, greasy black hair falling in his face which gave him an angry predatory look which frightened you greatly.
"I-I" your mouth tasted like sand. You swallowed and hopelessly wished that someone else had come to help you. "It's mistletoe, sir."
"I know what it is!" his voice cracked like a whip and you flinched, backing up more into your wall.
"I don't know!" you cried helplessly "I was just walking and exploring for my afternoon and found that I couldn't move from underneath it!" You didn't like this situation at all!
You were embarrassed to have been caught under an obvious entrapment spell and kept there for a long time, relieved to have finally gotten someone's attention but only having them turn out to be the most hated and feared teacher of the school who was currently on a rampage.
Understandably you were getting increasingly frightened.
"I was trying to call for help for hours but either no one was around to hear me or no one cared! Either way, I was stuck here." Much to your shame you felt tears well up in your eyes grow fat and heavy on your lashes. "I'd appreciate it if you'd stop yelling at me and help me out of this." You took a calming breath. "Please," you added quietly, not really wanting to seem too disrespectful.
You were looking at your feet now, letting the fresh tears fall. You just wanted to go home. Either to your dormitory or your actual home didn't matter, you just wanted out of the situation, because you were sure you both knew exactly what had to be done. You at least took some comfort that this made him just as uncomfortable.
The sound of receding footsteps brought you looking at his retreating form. Baffled you called out "Wait, where are you going?" He didn't slow his footsteps as he barked back his reply
"Finding a fool to send to help you." His black robes had just disappeared around the corner before you found your voice again. You weren't sure what you were thinking other than you were sure that that was a very terrible idea! You banged your hands against the wall, it didn't make a sound, oddly enough, but you shouted at the potions master.
"No! Wait! No don't do that! Nononononono!" More tears fell and you screamed "Don't do that Professor, please! PLEASE!" you choked on a sob and fell on the ground like a child! You hated this ordeal so much but the thought of the dungeon bat finding some random male student would only make the situation worse!
"And why, pray tell, shouldn't I, Miss _?" your head snapped up at his voice. He could really be a sneak when he wants to be! You hurriedly wiped your eyes and stood slowly trying to breathe slowly to calm your shaky breaths but it seemed like you were failing. You looked at your teacher's annoyed face and swallowed.
"B-because…" you trailed off, unsure how to continue. Professor Snape was giving his best glare.
"Well?" he hissed.
"B-because it'll make the situation worse, sir." You said without much conviction. As if he'd care what you'd think, you thought. Snape crossed his arms and even though he was still being intimidating, he was giving you a chance to explain. You took a shaky breath.
"Well, think about it. You grab some poor sap and drag him here without a word of explanation, tell him to uh." You felt your cheeks warm up considerably. You cleared your throat. "That would be uh…" you didn't dare finish, and you hoped with all your might he'd take the hint. Even though you would rather be underneath the mistletoe with anyone else but him, you'd rather he didn't do that! You sighed a groan,
"Look, I don't like this any better than you do, I probably like it considerably less, so don't think that I've been planning this out. I just want to go eat and then go to bed without having to do any of…well, this nonsense." You gesture vaguely to the vegetation. If Snape didn't look impressed before, he certainly didn't now. You licked your lips nervously again. "Or I guess you could just leave me here." You wanted that to come off as a joke but it came out rather pitifully instead. You heard him growl.
"You do realize what you're asking me to do? You do realize just how inappropriate that is" You gesture wildly.
"Well which is worse then? You becoming the secret matchmaker? The Pervert? Or the Deserter?" The moment the words left your lips you immediately regretted it. You backed up against the wall in fright. "I'm sorry!" you tried saying but the damage was done. His eyes had narrowed dangerously and his lip curled in a very unpleasant snarl.
"Then I suppose we know the answer to that. Don't we Miss _?" you swallowed thickly. You were going to die of starvation. But you nodded anyway.
"Thank you anyway, Professor" you whisper. You closed your eyes and turned away, ashamed, embarrassed, and hungry. You knelt on the floor as you hear the sounds of his footsteps fade away slowly.
Only to hear them grow loud, pass you by, and fade the other direction. Curiosity getting the better of you, because there is no way that man is lost, you lift your head and see him put his wand away as he walked back towards you. Your brows furrowed in confusion and bewilderment. "Professor?" His only reply was a scowl in your direction. You decided to let him do his thing and watch him. You were tired of this rollercoaster.
Professor Snape stood before you once again but you didn't bother getting up. You leaned your head back to look at him. You must look like such a mess right now.
"Yes?" you asked. Professor Snape didn't reply. Instead he reached down and grabbed your wrists roughly, pulling you up to stand. Your heart lept in your throat on the reason why he was acting like this. You put your hand up in an effort to stop whatever was happening from happening!
"Wait!" you cried, embarrassed with how breathless it sounded. Snape didn't react much but kept glaring at you as you hurried to talk. "Bu-what-What are you doing?!"
"Helping." He said. "I will personally deal with the repercussions but I've made sure to seal this particular area from ghosts wandering in."
"Wai-" you couldn't finish what you were trying to say. In that moment he leaned in and effectively shut you up.
It was a very brief kiss. Just the barest of contact before he pulled away and tugged you with him. You were in such a daze you hadn't really realized what was happening until you felt the familiar unyielding wall keep you rooted despite the Professors tugging. You realized that the kiss wasn't enough and your eyes widened in despair! Snape growled in annoyance and grabbed your chin roughly, bringing you in for a longer kiss.
You had no idea what to even think, your mind was completely devoid of all thought even when he tugged you again. The lip contact broke but the wall didn't. You weren't sure how much more of this excitement you could take but when Snape cupped the back of your head and pressed his lips against yours again you realized that your heart was doing somersaults all throughout your body. You hoped that it all will end soon. Then you were surprised that the last statement didn't feel true. This time you were conscience of him pulling you and you still felt the wall. You gave your own growl of frustration and glared at the mistletoe above you.
"Just how many do we have-" you didn't finish, Snape took that opportunity to go deeper in your mouth and you were absolutely stunned with the sudden onslaught and you couldn't help but respond. This time you felt him push against you and you could only step back in response until you hit the wall. You groaned. He growled. You both broke contact, breathing very hard and you both looked up at the plant.
"You've got to be kidding me." You breathlessly groan. You swallow, daring a look at your teacher. He wasn't looking at you, thankfully, his eyes were on the plant. He was breathing kind of shallowly but so were you. You weren't sure what to make of that quite yet. When he faced you he was still glaring but you weren't sure if it was because he was annoyed, angry or what, but you didn't really like it. You licked your lips nervously. You didn't miss how he looked at the movement and it made you feel very weak in the knees.
"Professor? I don't think we should continue." He finally looked you in the eyes and you swallowed. "I think we did all we could." If it were possible he scowled deeper and he looked at the mistletoe again. Your nervous habit was kicking in, you couldn't stop licking your freaking lips! You felt his calloused hands cup your face and you felt his lips on yours again. You sighed and decided that until he actually left you to sit here and deal with the trap yourself, you'd do anything he asked, within reason of course.
This kiss went on far longer than any of the others but it wasn't quite as deep and passionate as the last one. In fact this time it was gentle, almost caressing you. The feelings were melting your insides. But as much as you enjoyed it there was still a very active part of your brain that was freaking out about the entire ordeal. You promptly pushed it away as you felt his mouth open. You responded in kind and leaned against the wall for support.
Then quite jarringly found yourself sprawled on the floor. Snape didn't land on top of you, thank heavens, he managed to catch himself before falling completely. It still left you both in a somewhat compromising position, your head between his splayed hands and, well, him mostly on top of you.
You both stare at each other, not quite fully comprehending what had just happened. Since you were on the floor you were able to see the sprig of fungus that caused you so much trouble fall from its perch and land somewhere behind your teacher. You immediately blush from head to toe as the words 'Congratulations you have snogged and effectively ruined your Teacher's career!' swam through your mind.
You closed your eyes with a grimace, at least it was over. You felt the Professor get off of you but he didn't stand, he just sat there with his knee propped up and wasn't looking at you. You sat up too as guilt started to leak into your being. This man had risked a lot to help a silly student.
You reached a hand out to him but then decided you've done enough, resting the hand in your lap. You both didn't say anything, you didn't even move. What could you say anyway? 'Thanks for that?' you mentally shook your head. He would dock all of your houses points for this incident, no need to make it any harder for future students. Pretty sure you'd be the first student to get the house points to the negatives.
Minutes pass and the silence grew almost unbearable. Finally you felt as if you should be the one to break the silence.
"Professor," you say softly. His eyes were the only thing that moved and his piercing gaze nearly scared your nerve away. "I-" you were firmly interrupted by the loud grumblings of your stomach. You both looked at that part of your anatomy with astonishment. Your face flushed even more but you were grateful that the uncomfortable spell had been broken, at least for a moment. You picked yourself up and dusted the seat of your skirt and waited for the older man to do the same. Except you found yourself standing awkwardly around, waiting for him to move.
"So," you began somewhat reluctantly "what now?" you winced slightly, you could have opened that up better. The potions master scoffed and looked up at you and you hated the way your body was reacting to his stare now, less afraid and more eager.
"You go to the Great Hall first and we never speak a word of this ever again. It never happened." He ground out the last statement so that it would leave no doubt in your mind to be obeyed. You mentally rolled your eyes. It wasn't like you were dying to blab to your friends that you have just snogged the bat of the dungeon or anything. He made a small shooing gesture with his hand. "Go." You started to turn but something was nagging at you. You didn't quite feel right about leaving without giving some form of gratitude that won't have him biting your head off.
With an idea in mind you walked over to the man, knelt on the ground next to him, and briefly kissed his cheek. He jerked away and frowned angrily but you smiled when you noticed the faint healthy blush on his sallow skin.
"Miss-!" he began to say but you quickly interrupted him
"Thank you for saving me, Professor." And with that you stood up and hurried away from the sight, not catching the stunned movement of fingers brushing the spot of your kiss or the small smirk or even the dark eyes watching you run away. You skipped down the hallway, very much ready to drown all of your confusing thoughts feelings in heaps of magically prepared food.
Authors Note: Thank you so much for reading this story and I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have writing it. I tried keeping our dear potions master in character as much as possible while pushing for that forced romance.
I've had this idea in my head for forever but actually with one of my own OCs (of course)but the more I thought about it the more appealing making this ReaderXCannon seemed to be. So this came up. I was actually really reluctant to post this because I'm not sure how I did in keeping character and also it's been forever since I've read/ watched the Harry Potter series so I guess I'm rusty. Also it's been forever since I've written a story so I apologize for grammar and spelling mistakes.
Choosing a genre for this was hard because this isn't really Romance but, eh. Also ignore the fact that I posted a Christmas themed story in April. Please review! Thank you so much!