Chapter 2
By Elle, elle_2637@yahoo.com
Response to WKITT challenge by Andrian sethido@yahoo.com
See first chapter for more information about the challenge.
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I don't own any of it, besides the plot, which really I suppose I don't own either because I've probably subconsciously stolen from writers who are better than me. No money is being made and...blahblahblah...you know what I'm saying...
The next few weeks went by fairly fast for both Hermione and her 'assistant,' as she had begun to refer to him as. He didn't like it, but kept it to himself. He had his revenge planned.
'Today we will be going into some of the basic muggle aspects of space exploration, and simply space in general.' Hermione addressed her class. 'The assistant' was off sulking in a corner while he, as slowly as was humanly possible, got the books they would be reading into more orderly piles.
'Absurd title...' he mumbled under his breath as Hermione explained that the students who were taking muggle studies would need to stay after. 'The Cow Jumped Over the Moon....Hmpf!' He mumbled some more.
'Excuse me, Professor Snape?' Hermione called from across the room. 'Is something the matter?' She had a slightly evil looking glint in her eye, but Snape couldn't quite read her expression because of how far away she was.
'I was simply commenting on the absurdity of the title of these books.' He replied. 'It's absolutely impossible for a cow to jump over the moon.' He looked very smug.
'It is obvious that my assistant has not taken muggle studies, or simply does not remember that muggle children have no perception of what is and is not possible, and therefore many books are written with that in mind. This specific book...' She continued on addressing the class with her back once more turned from Prof. Snape.
He glared at her anyway.
~~~~~
Soon a large heap of assorted mechanical items were piling up in the storage closet. Hermione was giving another one of her lectures, which she even took the time in naming. The current one was 'Space, the Final Frontier.' Prof. Snape had retreated into the storage closet to 'check the supplies.'
Her voice could still be heard through the door, but it was not so loud, and invasive as it was when he was in the same room as she, and if he pretended...really really hard...He almost could imagine that she wasn't giving a lecture on how muggles believed the only thing left to explore was no longer on this planet.
She had given many lectures along the same lines in the past two months. 'Space and the muggle,' and 'Space and the Wizard,' were, of course, among them. Along with 'You and Space,' 'Just how big is infinite?' and the list continued on...
Snape had sat through the first ones, but after realizing that he really didn't care (big surprise) he began to busy himself with other, 'more important' things whenever she would start her lectures. At least she is a good lecturer. He had to admit to himself. She keeps the children's attention, and her topics are interesting...if one is really involved with learning everything one can about space.
As she ended her lecture and the period was about to end, he exited the closet, and snuck back down to his dungeons.
~~~~~
Hermione looked around her classroom. She had finished her lecture, and all the children had left. Now where in hell is Snape!! She thought to herself.
'Damn him!' she cursed under her breath.
She had needed to ask him to spend an extra few minutes of his precious time to assemble part of the simulator. It fast approaching Christmas break and Hermione had wanted to have at least the outer shell assembled.
I'll just have to approach him about it after dinner. She heaved a sigh at how stubborn the old man could be. Actually, he isn't that old. Maybe late forties...
She shook her head quickly and cleared her mind of all thoughts concerning Snape. No, Severus. She mentally corrected herself. They had had a heated conversation a week or so back where she had started, nearly, screaming at him. She had accidentally called him simply Snape, and then things got even more heated.
He said she didn't see him as a person, but as a thing. She argued back that he didn't let her see the person that he was so it was his own fault. It ended with Snape stalking out of the room after demanding that she call him Severus, and telling her in not uncertain terms what would happen if he ever heard her call him 'Snape.'
She was trying to avoid another explosion like that from Severus, so she had followed his simple rule, and they had hardly talked since.
But she needed to talk to him now!
She walked quickly back to her quarters and got ready for dinner, mentally cursing Severus Snape the whole time.
~~~~~
Dinner was like it always was. Hermione sat next to McGonnagal and Flitwick, and Snape was at the far end trying to avoid conversation with Professor Sprout. Dumbledore was in a good mood, and wanted to know how Hermione's class was going. They talked about the class for a small time, but soon the conversation was directed towards the upcoming holidays.
Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, and gifts and shopping were discussed with much teasing and fun on all sides. But the meal ended and people began to leave. Hermione saw Severus stand, so she quickly said her goodbyes to Minerva and rushed after him.
She caught up with him right before the turn to the staircase that led to the dungeons.
'S-Severus!' Hermione called to him as she approached.
He turned around and glared at her, but held back any scathing remarks he might have said.
'I was wondering if you would be able to spend some extra time over break to assemble the main console for the simulator.' Hermione rushed out in one breath. She didn't know why, but seeing Severus here in his area of the castle made her feel like he was in power.
'The students can take care of that. I thought that was what this project was for. Unless you are having second thoughts about the student's abilities to follow through with this project.' He looked at her sharply. How dare she assume to ask him for even more help!
'I was hoping that with the more technical areas of the simulator we would show the students how it worked, but leave the actual assembly to ourselves so as to assure that they work.' She began to wish that she had just forgotten about asking him, and had just done it herself.
'I will not spend my holiday in such a worthless pursuit.' He began to walk away.
Hermione just stared at his retreating form. Fine, you bastard. She wanted to yell at him. I'll do it myself! Thanks for all the help!
~~~~~
It was snowing outside, but Hermione couldn't even allow herself to have the pleasure of watching the tiny snow flakes fall. She was too busy. The main console was taking much longer than she had planned to put together, and even though it was Christmas Holidays, she had spent all of the three days thus far I her office working on her classes project.
It was almost done. Hermione could tell that only a few more things needed to be wired and it would be all ready to go.
She looked around the room. It was littered with what seemed to be random objects, some that were for the main console and some that were for other parts of the simulator. Before the holidays had started a few of the students had stayed behind after class and helped her assemble the outer shell of the simulator. She could see it through the open door leading to the classroom from her office.
She sighed, and stood up, taking a few moments to stretch out her sore limbs. The console could wait, she decided, she needed a break. She walked around the room for a few minutes, and then she decided that she would take a walk outside. She quickly summoned her cloak with a muttered incantation, and was soon out the door.
~~~~~
Severus watched her leave her office, thanking all the deities known to mankind that she had not seen him, and then he slipped into her office. He was amazed when he first glanced around the room at how much progress she had made. He hadn't known that the outer frame and coverings for the simulator were finished, although now that he knew his mind was working hard to fit that into his plan to get that stupid Granger girl for all the insults she had hurled at him during their different disputes.
He quickly recovered from the new information and stole into the classroom to the simulator. He quickly set a few undetectable wards and spells over the simulator, muttering as quietly as he could under his breath.
"Hello?" Someone's voice called from Hermione's office. "Is anyone there?"
Severus recognized the voice and quickly tried to find a place to hide, but seeing none, he assumed an expression of disgust and bent over part of the simulator.
Hermione strode into the classroom just moments after Severus had managed to appear like his normal self. "Oh. I thought I heard somebody. What can I do for you Professor Snape? Finally decided to help me?"
"I was simply examining the work the students have done. I was not informed that the simulator had been finished. I simply thought I would come up here and see how far you had progressed with your work, but you were not here..."
"I went for a walk outside to help ease my muscles, but realized after a few cold minutes that I could not continue without my gloves, which I seem to have misplaced." Hermione was suspicious for a moment as to why Professor Snape had deigned to come out of his cave and all the way up to her office, but the thought was quickly pushed away by her desire to make him miserable. "You mention the simulator being complete, but Severus I'm sure if you had taken a moment to look closer you would have sent that it is not complete, simply that the outer shell has been assembled."
Suddenly Severus detected the evil glint that her eyes had occasionally when she knew she could make a fool out of him. "If you would be so kind as to allow me to show you the work the students and I have accomplished, I believe that you will need to know eventually, and now seems as good a time as any." Hermione waited for him to reply, but his reply was long in coming.
His face quickly turned very pale, and then he seemed to be fighting some sort of internal battle. Eventually he managed to choke out "I have an important...something...to attend, please excuse me."
"Oh, no Severus, you are not going any where. While I understand that you truly abhor this project as well as myself, I will not allow you to saunter off, and then come to class after the hols and have no idea what is going on." She grabbed his wrist and pushed him into the capsule. "Have a seat, get comfortable, I'll be right back."
"Ohshitohshitohshitohshit." Severus mumbled under his breath. Hermione quickly reappeared holding a large bag, and then she was soon sitting next to him. "Couldn't you have picked one of the many other chairs in this capsule to seat yourself? There seem o be six of them, but you had to seat yourself next to me."
"Well, I figured that being next to you I would be able to explain things better than if I was two rows back, where I would prefer to be."
"What is in the bag?" Severus could distinctly smell chocolate of some sort.
"My lunch. I intend to snack a little as it is late afternoon, but I have not yet eaten." Hermione took out a brownie, and began to munch on it. "Now over there is-"
"Don't eat it!" Snape grabbed the brownie from her hand, and quickly put it back into the bag.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Hermione yelled at him.
"We don't know how long we'll be stuck in here, so we need to save whatever food we have."
"What by Merlin's beard are talking about? We can leave whenever we want. You see, there's this thing, called a door, and you open it. Then you move through the opening and-"
"Shut up! You're so dense at times. We are stuck in here. I cast a spell so that the moment you were fully in the capsule it would lock itself until someone came along and opened it. The whole thing is now sound proof and magic proof."
Hermione just stared a Severus for a few minutes, taking in what he had said. "Holy shit. Houston, we have a problem." She muttered under her breath.
"What?" Severus asked her, not understanding who or what Huston was.
"Never mind, muggle saying."
~~~~~
A/N: Sorry for the long gap between chapters. I had thins one mostly written, but a few problems kept me from finishing it! How will they get out?? Will they both survive without killing one another?? How long before Snape succumbs and gobbles up the brownie?? Find out in the next installment! **Reviews help feed starving artists (although, actually, I'm on a diet...lol!)**