Chapter 7 The Pair's Parley
It had rained most of the day causing Severus' throat to ache, so he was happy when the pouring rain let up to a fine mist. He had spent most of the day filtering through books in the sitting room, using the worthless ones to fuel the fire in the fireplace and placing the valuable ones in his trunk. Severus enjoyed the seemingly mindless task which gave him something to focus on other than his upcoming nuptials to his former student.
That changed with an almost inaudible tapping on his window. With quick movements, Severus let the owl in and at once had the window shut tightly, keeping the damp weather out. The miniature owl flew around his head in dizzying circles, sending water droplets everywhere, and could not calm down enough to deliver the message, much to Severus' annoyance. It took several treats and no sudden movements to settle the owl down sufficiently to detach the note. This annoying owl looked like Ronald Weasley's pet, acted like a Weasley too.
He opened the letter and read it out loud to himself.
Severus,
I have owled the Ministry to let them know that the wedding will be on Sunday evening. Wednesday I will be in Diagon Alley to do some shopping. I thought a meeting could be arranged to discuss things. How about at Flourish and Blotts at 1 o'clock?
Hermione
With a heavy sigh, Severus sat down on the couch. There was no hiding from this, he might as well give in and save himself some time. Not only was this his final week of bachelorhood but he was being forced to think of the wedding constantly. Obviously, the girl didn't realize that he could careless about anything to do with the ceremony. As far as he was concerned, he wanted to show up, get it over with, and leave. This was a sham wedding and everyone knew it, why pretend otherwise?
He would have to meet with her on Wednesday though, he did have to tell her that he was once more employed and that he had already purchased them a house. Thank god, that he would not have to live here much longer. Severus' prolonged visit in this house brought back nothing but memories of Her. He had to bury those thoughts quickly before the memories of her overwhelmed him.
Severus pulled his wand from his robes pocket and conjured a quill and parchment. It was best to reply to this now so that he could once more put it out of his mind, at least for the time being.
I will be at Flourish and Blotts, Wednesday at 1 o'clock. Do not be late.
Severus Snape
While she had apparently felt comfortable calling him by his first name, he would have preferred calling her Miss Granger for as long as possible. Calling each other by first names implied more than a casual acquaintance, he was certainly not ready for anything past that. Even though he would be copulating with the girl in less than a week, the unwelcome thought flooded his brain. This thought then lead to even more disturbing thoughts. Was she a virgin? If not, how much experience did she have? How many Weasley boys had she slept with? Was she half as good in bed as she was in class? If that was the case then she would be one of the better shags he had. Snape shook his head to clear those thoughts from his mind. It was not a good idea to be wondering about Miss Granger's sexcapades. She was a former student and even though she was going to be his wife, there were some things better left unasked.
He rolled up the note and sealed it with his wand, then stood to attach the letter to Pig. Unfortunately, he did so suddenly and startled the little owl, who started flying in circles again. It took another twenty minutes to calm the owl back into landing. Then it fidgeted as Severus attempted to tie the letter to it's leg, causing him to become frustrated. "Will you hold still, you bloody owl!" Severus rasped angrily. This only made the little owl fly away from him, the note falling to the floor. He stooped to retrieve the letter and set it back on the table. "Why can't that blasted women use a real owl!" Severus pulled out his wand and rendered Pig immobile. He fetched the owl from where he landed on the floor, bringing him back to the table. Then Snape tied the message securely to Pigwidgeon's leg before lifting the spell to return the owl back to his hyperactive state. "Get the note back to Miss Granger!" Severus rasped as he yanked open the window. Without hesitation the owl flew out quickly into the light rain, to deliver the message. Snape slammed the window closed behind the owl and groaned in frustration, "bloody owl!" Why did the girl have to borrow Weasley's owl, didn't she have one of her own. No, she owned that orange cat. It was a good thing he tolerated cats or he would have banned it from his home. That probably explained the lack of an owl, her parents bought her the cat instead. She ought to buy her own owl then, or someone needed to buy her one, someone like her husband to be. He shook his head, it would not be safe to dwell on that, then returned to his task of sorting books.
All signs of rain had disappeared from the previous days, leaving the sky clear and bright. It was a surprisingly cool summer day with a light breeze, the perfect weather to be outside. Though, Severus needed to be at home packing. All of the books downstairs had been sorted and his study was mostly packed. He still had several other rooms to sort before the end of the week. Yet, he had been in Diagon Alley more than an hour before he was supposed to meet Miss Granger. He had taken care of the few errands he needed to, like checking his vault and picking up a few potion ingredients he was low on, and now had thirty minutes left before 1 o'clock. That was when he found himself outside of Eeylops Owl Emporium. Several cages containing different species of owls hung up outside and the owls hooted softly as they watched the magical folks pass by. Severus was here to get an owl, after all the trouble he faced Monday evening with Ronald Weasley's owl, he did not want to deal with it anymore. This meant buying the girl her own owl, however, Snape was worried that she would see this as a gift of something more than just his own selfish gain. Thus, Severus stood outside the shop rethinking the whole idea.
"Can I help you, sir?" asked a gray haired wizard.
"I need an owl." The words were out before Severus had time to stop them.
The older wizard smiled. "I got a rather large shipment on barn owls this last week so I'm having a sale, 8 galleons for the smaller owls and 9 galleons for the larger barn owls."
Severus nodded as the man spoke, acknowledging his words but was not really listening. His attention was focused on a white barn owl whose cage was positioned near the door. "I want that one." Snape rasped as he indicated the petite owl.
"Ah," the shop keeper praised. "That would be Finley, he's been here quite a while. He considered a small owl so he's not really good for packages. Are you sure I can't offer you a different owl?"
"That's the one I want," Severus insisted.
"I suggest a second, larger owl then, that can deliver packages." The shop keeper said as he retrieved the cage containing the little owl. "I have a Greater Sooty Owl that gets along great with this one. I'll give them both to you for 14 galleons and I'll throw in a free bag of treats."
"Fine," Severus rasped as he pulled the money out of his pocket.
The shop keeper traded Severus the caged owl for the money then fetched a second larger cage. In this cage was a heart faced owl that looked as if she had flown down a dirty chimney. "This here is Kiera," the old wizard said as he handed the other cage to Severus. "Take good care of them for me."
Severus thanked the man and head up the street towards the book store. Then he realized that he bought two owls when he only needed one. "Bloody sales man." Snape muttered darkly to himself.
He reached the book store and checked his watch, five minutes to one. Perfect, he did not want to be late after already giving the girl a hard time about not being late. He walked inside and looked around, she did not seem to be here yet. So Severus picked a place in the potions section that had two chairs. He positioned himself so that she would not be able to sneak up on him. Then, he pulled a book out at random from the shelf to read while he waited.
Hermione was running late, it had been much harder to detangle herself from the Weasley women than she had thought. When she finally managed to leave them outside the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, it was fifteen minutes after one. "Bloody hell!" Hermione exclaimed as she ran through the crowds of Diagon Alley towards Flourish and Blotts. Now Severus would give her a hard time after he warned her not to be late. She skidded to a halt outside the book store and caught her breath. Once she had herself composed, she entered the book store.
Snape was easy enough to find sitting in the potions section. He was seated in a dark colored chair with a book open on his lap, his hair falling over his face, obscuring it from view. Next to him on the floor was two cages, one containing a white barn owl and the other held a great sooty owl, both were hooting softly.
"You're late." Severus' voice startled Hermione. She looked back at him to find his black eyes staring straight into her honey brown eyes. "I did request you be on time, Miss Granger-"
"Hermione," she interrupted.
"What?"
Hermione sat down heavily in the chair. "Call me by my first name, we are going to be married in a few days."
Severus slowly closed the book and placed it back on the shelf, never taking his eyes off Hermione. "While that is true, Miss Granger, I am being forced into it and I am not happy about it. So, I shall call you by whatever name I choose."
"Aren't you just a ray of sunshine today." Hermione remarked in a sarcastic voice.
"Perhaps, I would be more of a 'ray of sunshine' as you so eloquently put it if you had felt the need to be on time." Snape raised an eyebrow and steepled his fingers.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I got here as soon as I could. I didn't figure that you would want Molly or Ginny here for our conversation."
"I would have preferred to avoid this whole conversation."
Hermione felt a headache coming on and slowly began to massage her temples. "We would both have preferred to avoid this whole thing but the Ministry has other plans."
Severus relaxed his hands and leaned back in the chair. "So why are we here, Miss Granger?"
"We need to discuss things like buying a house-"
"Already done."
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"
Severus could hear the warning tone in her voice, she was furious. "I bought a house in Hogsmeade."
"Why?"
"I am once more the Potion Professor at Hogwarts so I needed a house near by." Severus watched for signs that she was going to explode, so he could escape quickly before she caused a scene.
Hermione took a deep breath and slowly released it. There was no need to get angry about this now, there was no changing it. "Fine," Hermione muttered darkly.
"I am merely following the guidelines that McGonagall gave me when I requested to live off school grounds."
"Fine," Hermione repeated, crossing her arms. She really shouldn't be mad at him, this meant more money in her pocket for the time being and one less thing to do. "Well at least one of us has a job then." Hermione frowned, if Severus had managed to get a job already than she would need to hurry up with finding one. She did not want to have to rely on this man to support her forever.
"My, my, my," Severus rasped with a smirk. "The brightest witch of her age can't even find a job."
"The Ministry has not responded to my owls." Hermione crossed her arms over her chest.
Severus' smirk widened as he said, "of course not, you would interfere with their new law."
Hermione sighed. "I figured that, so I'm looking for something else."
Snape had a sudden idea and before his brain had time to think it through he was opening his mouth. "Hogwarts is short a few teachers."
Hermione was taken aback at the suggestion. "I'm barely older than the students there and technicality I never completed my education so how could I be a teacher."
The idea was already out and there was no way to take it back now. Snape frowned, she was right. "That is true."
Hermione narrowed her eyes and frowned. "Are you saying that I'm not capable of teaching?"
Severus smirked as he leaned forward slightly. "No, I merely agreed with the fact that you did not complete your education at Hogwarts and that many of the students are close in age to you."
"What subjects?"
Snape frowned, she was talking herself into this job without him intending her to. "Defense Against the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies."
"I only took Muggle Studies in my third year but I did well in Defense Against the Dark Arts." Hermione said thoughtfully.
"Maybe you should see Headmistress McGonagall." Severus knew that the witch would not hire this girl who did not have a full education to teach at Hogwarts.
"I will." Hermione replied as she mentally added that to her to do list.
Severus sat back in his chair studying Hermione , she felt like his eyes were burning holes into her. "What else are we to discuss?"
Hermione suddenly felt nervous. Why was he staring at her like that? She needed to break eye contact with him but she felt like he had her gaze locked into his. A soft hoot from behind Snape's chair caught her attention and her eyes flicked down to see the two caged owls on the floor. "Why do you have two owls?"
Snape raised one eyebrow but was silent for a long time as if he was reading her thoughts. Hermione quickly emptied all thoughts from her mind, just in case he was. Another smirk crossed Severus' lips as he spoke, "I need them."
"For what?" As soon as Hermione said it she realized that it was a dumb question.
"Mail, deliveries, etcetera."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Right, so why do you need two?"
"I don't need two."
"You know what I mean." Hermione's snapped, getting annoyed.
"No I don't know what you mean."
"You know exactly what I mean."
Amusement was written in his small smile. "One is not mine."
"So who's is it then?" Hermione felt her temper flaring.
"Yours."
"Mine?" Hermione felt like her frustration had drained out her leaving disbelief in it's place.
"Yours." Severus rasped leaning forward. "On one condition."
"I expect nothing less than that from a Slytherin."
"Don't ever use Weasley's owl to send me a message again."
Hermione understood what was happening, obviously, Pig had been frustratingly difficult when he delivered the letter to Severus. This was his way of ensuring that he never had to deal with Pigwidgeon again. "You don't like Pig?"
Snape narrowed his eyes. "The next time someone one sends that owl to me I will curse it and them."
Hermione couldn't suppress the giggle that escaped. "Couldn't even handle a little owl," Hermione teased.
Severus stood up swiftly and placed one hand on each arm rest, pinning Hermione in her seat. "Are you mocking me, Miss Granger?" Snape rasped in a venomous voice. Startled, Hermione shook her head no as she leaned further back in the chair. Snape bared his teeth as he snarled, "don't ever tease me! Do I make myself clear, Miss Granger?"
"Crystal." Hermione whispered looking up into his angry face.
Severus stared at her unblinking for a long moment before he closed his eyes, released the chair arms and stepped away from Hermione. He took a deep breath before reopening his eyes. "One of the owls is yours." Severus whispered softly, almost apologetically. "Which ever one you want."
Hermione didn't know what to say. The flare of his temper had startled her and the almost instantaneous transition back to calm had disarmed her. She was just staring at her husband to be as her brain was second guessing her decision to marry him.
Snape fidgeted under her gaze as if she was scrutinizing him. "Which do you want?" He asked breaking the silence.
"Whichever one you want me to have." Hermione whispered not taking her eyes off him.
Severus broke eye contact as he turned around to the owls. Without really looking, he grabbed an owl cage and turned back to Hermione. "Here."
She took the cage holding the white barn owl from him, breaking eye contact to focus on the little owl. If it wasn't for the distinct heart shaped face, she wouldn't have know it was a barn owl. He was all white except for the honey colored v that formed the top of the heart outline of his face and the speckles of tawny along his back. His eyes were a deep brown that stared up at Hermione with curiosity.
"The shopkeeper called his Finley but name him whatever you want." Severus rasped as he subconsciously reached up to touch his throat.
Hermione slowly sat the cage on the floor next to her chair. "Thank you."
Severus merely nodded as he sat back down. The two stared at each other for a while before Snape broke the silence. "About this wedding?"
Hermione nodded as she focused her thoughts on this, putting all doubt at the back of her mind. "We get married Sunday evening."
"What time?"
"The Ministry official will be there at 8:30." Hermione responded as she squirmed in her seat.
"What time do I have to be there?" Snape asked as he touched his neck with the tips of his fingers, again.
"7:30 and you can wear dress robes, doesn't matter what color."
"Don't you have wedding colors picked out?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow.
Hermione shook her head. "This is not going to be a extravagant ceremony. It will be my friends, the Weasley family, and anyone you invite."
"Then why can't we just go to the Ministry, sign the papers and get this over with?"
"Molly insists on a ceremony so I'm trying to keep it short and simple."
"Do I have to sit through dinner with the Weasley family?"
"No but we are having drinks after the ceremony."
"Need a little liquid courage to bed your Potions Professor?" Snape sneered.
Hermione was beginning to feel uncomfortable with where this conversation was head. "I figured it would make things easier," she whispered almost inaudibly.
Was that her way of admitting she's a virgin, Severus wondered to himself. Maybe he should just ask, better to know the answer than to assume he knew it. "You're first time?"
Hermione felt insulted that this man would be inclined to think that she had not managed to find someone to give her virginity to. "No!" she snapped angrily.
Severus was taken aback by this and once more failed to filter his thought, saying, "Shag a Weasley, did you?"
Hermione crossed her arms disapprovingly. "For your information, no I didn't. But would it have matter if I did?"
Again, Severus felt as if he was on dangerously thin ice. He figured now was a good time to keep his mouth shut and his expression neutral.
Hermione glared at the insufferable man and muttered, "I'm only going to be sleeping with you the rest of my life anyway." She sighed at the thought, she would be stuck with him the rest of her life. "Alright back to wedding talk, I don't have much longer to talk. Are you going to have a best man?"
Severus would have once said that Dumbledore was the best friend he had. However, he had to murder him almost a year ago thus losing one of the only friends he had. "I will."
"Who?"
"I will let you know who after I have asked them to attend." Severus answered quickly thinking of who he could ask.
Hermione was confused as to why he wouldn't say who it was going to be. "Just tell me who you are planning to ask."
"Minerva McGonagall." Severus answered when she was the only person who came to mind.
Hermione was surprised by his answer. "Interesting choice."
"I supposed that Potter and Weasley are to be your bridesmaids," Severus retorted.
"No, Ginny is my only bridesmaid," Hermione remarked as she checked her watch. "I have to get going before Molly and Ginny come looking for me." She stood up and grabbed Finley's cage.
"No more wedding talk?" Severus asked trying to keep his tone neutral when he was delighted.
"No just don't be late Sunday or we'll both be dragged off to Azkaban." Hermione said as she turned to walk away.
"I'm never late," Severus rasped. "Sunday at 7."
"Right!" Hermione responded with a nervous smile before she left Severus standing in the potions section all by himself.
