Disclaimer: I own nothing. J.K. Rowling owns everything.
A/N: So, I realize that it has been years, literally years, since I have updated. But I recently came across some old Word documents that happened to be the beginnings of this fic. I started reading it and realized how much I still liked it. So after a more than two year hiatus, here is the next chapter! It is, of course AU after OOTP, HBP, and DH.
Their clasped hands stood awkwardly in between them until Hermione shook her hand away to draw the hair out of her face.
"Sir, since we are finished here," she swept her now free hands towards the piles of knick knacks in the attic, "are we leaving for my parent's house tomorrow?" She eagerly awaited his response, trying and failing to keep the eagerness from her face.
The professor looked at the enthusiastic face before him. "Since there is much to do for the ball, we cannot quite afford any detours." Hermione's face appeared crestfallen. "For more than a day," Snape added as consolation.
"But sir, how are we to return to the castle before the holiday is over and before the contracts with the creatures are renewed? Professor Dumbledore explicitly stated— " Snape cut her off before she could continue.
"Do you think I am incapable of warding off a few stray creatures that may wander into the castle from the Forbidden Forest?" His tone was caustic, prompting her to drop any questions she may have. He had slipped up, in his opinion. Losing his composure over Phillip's advances had indicated the thing he feared; he was becoming much to close to the Granger girl.
Hermione was slightly taken aback over the Professors new found acerbic tone, but appreciated the gesture he made in allowing her to visit her family. She had not expected anything akin to graciousness from him.
"We will leave for your home after breakfast tomorrow and proceed back to Hogwarts the following day."
"Yes sir." Hermione knew a dismissal when she heard one. She climbed down the stairs to her bedroom, wondering if he would be this acidic for the rest of the holidays. She had let her guard down around him for the past couple days, appreciating his sly smile, if that's what you could call his slightly upturned mouth, whenever she rebuffed Phillip. But the prospect of seeing her family far outweighed whatever doubts the Professor's tone had put into her mind.
&&&&&
"Really, Phillip, you may not help me pack, you may not spend the night, and for the last time, I have no wish to see where you may or may not be tattooed!"
Severus Snape cleared his throat to indicate to the girl that it was her professor, not Phillip, who now stood in the doorway. Upon hearing him, Hermione swiftly turned around and grew a bright shade of pink, realizing what she had just said to Professor Snape.
"Sorry, sir, I thought you were— "
"Phillip," he said cutting her off. "Yes, I gathered as much." He paused in the doorway, surveying her tidying up her trunk. "Dinner is ready." He promptly turned around and made his way back downstairs, assuming that she would follow. Hermione sighed and threw down the blouse she had been folding.
Dinner was a tense event. All of the compatibility that Hermione felt she had gained with her Professor had somehow seemed to vanish the moment they had clasped hands. It was as if she had trespassed on forbidden ground and was now being punished by stony silence that seemed impenetrable.
"Blow winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow, you cataracts and hurricanes, spout till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks!"
"Miss Granger, why on earth are you quoting King Lear?" Snape asked, appalled at the sudden outburst.
"Oh, I really don't know. The lines just popped into my head."
"Taking a note out of Luna Lovegood's book, are you?"
"I was so tired of this damnable silence. Anything seemed better, professor," Hermione stated matter-of-factly.
"So quoting random lines from the Bard is your solution?" he asked, clearly exasperated over her lack of logic.
"Well, yes. I really could think of nothing better. It was either Lear or recreating the Romeo and Juliet balcony scene."
Snape snorted in what appeared to be a derisive fashion, but Hermione read it as somewhat amused.
"Well, Phillip seems to have taken to the silencing spell quite well," Hermione stated, looking over and smiling bitingly at the man. Phillip merely glowered at her and continued shoveling food in his mouth.
&&&&&&
"But it's tragic and epic and altogether marvelous!"
"I'll give you tragic, but you are quite mistaken in calling Gone With the Wind epic and marvelous. It is no Odyssey, it is certainly not epic and very much the opposite of marvelous."
Hermione gasped at her professor, "But, sir, you just don't understand! Any woman would kill for a man like Rhett Butler; tall, dark, a little outside the law…" she trailed off with a sigh.
"Well, Miss Granger, I wouldn't know anything about that, but I know smut when I read it."
"Smut?" Hermione said in a heated tone. "You wouldn't know good literature if it bit you in the arse."
"Speaking of smut," he quipped and raised on eyebrow at her language. "If you are done giving me a tirade about Margaret Mitchell, shall we proceed outside?"
Hermione shrugged slightly and lifted her chin in her form of the derision that Snape was so good at showing. He was silently amused at her attempt at disdain.
As they stood outside of Snape manor, Snape hooked the two trunks around his arm and grabbed Hermione with his free arm. Hermione gasped at the unexpected gesture when all of a sudden she felt constricted and realized they were apparating.
"Sir," she coughed as they landed. "I have my apparition license. I am nearly eighteen after all."
"I didn't want any mistakes," Snape said tersely.
Hermione bristled at the crack at her magical prowess but was unable to return the insult because she was being bowled over by two large dogs. She laughed and shoved them off of her, petting them as she got back on her feet.
"This one," she said pointing to the dog nearest Snape "is Andy Warhol and this one," she indicated the one still rubbing against her own leg, "is Gustav Klimt."
"What possessed you to name them such ridiculous names? Whatever happened to Spot? Or Rover?" the Professor asked as he attempted to rid himself of Andy Warhol who was currently licking his shoe.
Hermione only laughed and clapped her hands, motioning the dogs inside the house.
"Hermione, dear! I hope the dogs didn't frighten our guest off." A woman with surprisingly sleek, straight hair came out of the kitchen and hugged Hermione.
"Professor, this is my mother, Sharon Granger."
"How do you do? It's such a pleasure to meet one of Hermione's professors, she talks so much about you all." Sharon extended a hand to Severus.
"I apologize for the intrusion, I hope I won't be in the way."
"In the way! Not at all!" A booming voice sounded from behind and Severus whirled around to be greeted by: "Ned Granger, pleasure." Ned firmly clasped Severus' hand and patted him on the back. Hermione appeared to get her features from her mother but her unruly hair from her father, as evidenced from the massive amounts of curly hair that sat atop Ned's skull.
"Hermione, why don't you show Professor Snape up to the guest bedroom?"
Hermione made to grab the trunks but was surprised when she looked up to find Severus already carrying both trunks up the stairs. She followed up the stairs and showed him to the guest bedroom.
&&&&&&
The doorbell rang and Hermione stood up to answer it. "Hermione, deeeeear!" An older woman sprung on Hermione while what appeared to be her husband and two teenage daughters smiled and entered the house.
"Aunt Shirley," Hermione managed to harrumph out while pressed against her aunt in a vice like hug, "I didn't know you all were stopping by."
"Of course we did, dear. Louise and Jane just absolutely missed you," she said indicating her two teenage daughters.
The arrival of Aunt Shirley and her family was only the beginning. With an exasperated look at her mother every time the doorbell rang, Hermione got up and greeted another member of her family.
"I had no idea my mother would take it upon herself to throw a family reunion today," she hissed to Professor Snape when she managed to get a moment away from her family. "I'm so sorry, sir, I did not expect this," she looked at him sympathetically.
"Come join the party!" cried Uncle Greg. "Don't stand over there by yourselves!" Uncle Greg ushered Hermione and Severus to the table where dinner was now steaming hot and on the table.
"Now," Uncle Greg began after everyone had been seated. "What is it that you teach our little Hermione?" he pointed his hand toward Severus.
"Well, I teach…." Severus trailed off, realizing that he could not let them know his true subject, "Shakespeare."
"Shakespeare!" laughed Aunt Mallory, Greg's wife. "Hermione could use a few lessons in Shakespeare, maybe it would help stir up her love life!" Mallory winked at Hermione as she turned a lovely shade of red.
"Now, now Mallory. Don't be hard on the girl" Aunt Shirley exclaimed, "I bet you she's made one of those boys her boyfriend, right?" Aunt Shirley looked expectantly at Hermione.
"Which boys?" Hermione asked tentatively.
"Well, you're just always going on and on about these Harry and Ron boys. You must be dating one of them?"
If it was possible Hermione blushed an even deeper shade of red, a shade most would consider inhuman.
"I am not dating either of them, no."
"But surely, you must have feelings for one?" Aunt Mallory asked.
Hermione's dad chimed in, "I think she should date Ron, myself. He seems like such a nice, fun fellow."
"Oh no, Ned. Really, she should date Harry. He seems almost chivalrous from what Hermione tells us," she finished in an explanatory note in Professor Snape's direction.
"Oh we've seen pictures!" Louise giggled. Her sister, Jane piped up, "we think Harry's much cuter than Ron. Date him, Hermione!"
"Oh I think I saw her blush a little when we said Ron's name. She must fancy him!"
"No no, Shirley, you have it wrong. She clearly blushed deeper when Jane mentioned Harry. I can tell these things, they'll soon be together."
"Excuse me!" Hermione raised her voice slightly and everyone turned expectantly toward her. "Can I date neither of them?"
"Dear, if you are constantly with these two boys, you must have feelings for one of them…" Shirley trailed off at the end, as if what she said was just common sense.
"Really, everyone, I'm not going to date Harry or Ron."
"You're not interested in them? Oh my. Don't worry dear, your cousin Katherine prefers women as well. We'll have to get you two together for coffee, I've heard it's not an easy lifestyle..."
Hermione cut her off while Professor Snape smirked. "No, Aunt Mallory, I'm not a lesbian. I really prefer the company of men, thank you. But you can't expect me to date Harry or Ron, they're like my brothers!"
"But it just makes sense that you would date at least one of them…."
"Tell me, where is fancy bred? In the heart or in the head?" the Professor's silky voice rose in the air and quieted the family's gossip. "It appears to me that Miss Granger has made her decision concerning the two boys in question. As Shakespeare so eloquently tells us, you cannot control who you do or do not fancy. Perhaps we should move to a less…explosive topic."
Hermione shot her professor a look of pure gratitude.