Only this crazy little gryffindor could storm the ministry itself with a centaur and ex death eater in tow, and force four heads of department to change the law, right then and there.
Ok so I'm fond of her, it still doesn't mean I love her.
December rolled in and their betting game was finally discovered by the other residents of Hogwarts.
They had continued on with their wagers , and though she usually came out on top , he had won a fair few himself.
They bet on everything from quidditch matches to test scores , and chose a variety of rewards.
He had used the opportunity as a Slytherin means of letting her get out of some of his ridiculous requests he had worded into her contract, he had began to feel exceedingly guilty at the various stipulations he'd added that she 'technically' had to adhere to , especially when he began feeling like a lecherous old bastard for forcing her to wear her Thursday attire , if she was truly his sort-of-friend then it didn't seem right for her to have no choice in the matter, but instead of coming out and saying it, instead he offered to remove the more ludicrous stipulations in her contract if she won the wager , which he of course subtly ensured that she did , whilst acting as though he was devastated to lose of course .
When the next Thursday came along , the first where she was no longer required to dress as such, she turned up in a short skirt and blouse of her own free will, and he was more than a little pleased.
They had managed to go unnoticed in their game for a long time as most of their 'winnings' were things that only affected the two of them, who had to mark the first year hufflepuffs...who had to harvest the flobberworm mucous... who got to pick the tea and biscuits for their discussion.
He spent a whole day brewing dressed as Neville's bogart , complete with the heels, which was murder on his calves. She barely got any work done with her giggling that day.
She in turn spent a day with cat ears, tail and whiskers...the fact that it also fell on a Thursday and made her look like some Playwizard pinup didn't really help matters when attempting to conceal his rather physical reaction to her , he didn't get much work done that day either.
But eventually they knew the staff would cotton on to their game , and in came in the guise of poor defenceless Filius Flitwick, who never saw it coming.
The soft spoken charms teacher, didn't have a rude bone in his body, so he of course jumped on the bet , despite the enormity of her requested prize, when she said that she could get him to swear in front of the whole upper classes. So when it came to study hall, for the 5th to 8 Years , he was supervising with Flitwick , when she made her move.
"Professor Flitwick " She called him Filius in the staffroom, but like all other members of staff, when she was in front of the students she used the title out of respect, Likewise the staff all called her Hermione in private.
"Miss Granger , how may I help you ?"
"I was hoping you could settle a geographical debate that I was having with a friend , you see we were discussing foreign potions ingredients and I was certain that the largest Island in Thailand was Bangkok , but they assured me I was wrong , and I was hoping you could clear the issue ?"
He didn't know if it was the look on her face , or the fact that everyone knew there wasn't a single friend that could hold their own on a potions discussion with her, but a few students had turned their attention to the conversation between the two of them as he also settled back to watch the exchange.
"Of course , I'm afraid your friend is correct Miss Granger, It's easy to get mixed up, Bangkok is the Capital of Thailand but the largest Island is Phuket"
"Pardon Me ?"
"The island of Phuket, Miss Granger"
"There's no need to be so rude professor!"
"No no you misunderstand me, it's called the island of Phuket"
Flitwick was getting noticeably embarrassed now , and more than a few heads were watching.
"Professor please, that language is hardly suitable for public hearing , if you didn't know the answer you could have just said so, instead of using that language!"
"No no Miss Granger, the Island is called Phuk-et , spelled with a Ph , Not Fuck it !"
Silence...absolute silence throughout the hall , you could have heard a quill drop. Speaking of drops , his jaw was currently on the floor , along with most of the students.
"Why thank you for clearing that up professor" She smiled sweetly to him.
She turned around and the cat that got the canary grin was back as she left a flustered flitwick and headed towards him.
"I told you Severus , Pay up"
Goddamn infuriating little bitch.
"For gods sake Filius can't you tell when you're being played, you just lost me a bet you blundering fool"
"I...I..." he was as red as the Christmas decorations
She held out her hand to him with a raised eyebrow, and now all the students were watching with blatant interest as he pulled off his notorious robes and handed them to her , leaving him in just his frock coat, then crossed his arms over his chest with a scowl.
"Pleasure doing business with you Severus" to his utter dismay she put the robes around her shoulders and transfigured them temporarily shorter so that they didn't drag on the floor as much on her small frame.
He fought the urge to pout as he snapped at her.
"One week only and then I get them back... are you really going to wear them?"
"Every minute of every day, wouldn't want anyone to miss out on the view"
His ears were burning as he fought the blush from his face , a number of students were laughing but a scowl from him sent them to whispering instead, as he shot a venomous glance at Filius who still hadn't recovered.
By the time dinner came around, word had spread throughout the school of Hermione's antics in study hall , and as they walked into the great hall for dinner and made their way to the head table there was an awed silence around the school , as they all took in the potions master without his infamous robes, and Hermione wearing said robes, looking like the cat that got the cream , with the biggest shit eating grin on her face.
She Plopped down in her place at the table , and he was left to sullenly sit next to her.
He didn't know who started it, but he was pretty certain it was a certain tartain clad feline...someone snickered.
Quickly followed by two others , goodamn interfering mediwtich and of course Hooch.
Then there came a shout from of all people , Draco Malfoy.
"Nice Robes Granger"
Fucking traitor.
That did it , Minerva Snorted so loud she spilt her tea and the whole of the head table broke into laughter , quickly followed by most of the school.
That's it, I'm fucking resigning.
She reluctantly handed the robes back at the end of the week , though he was almost a little dissapointed.
He was certain that he'd caught her ogling his arse again when they were brewing , facilitated by the lack of robes covering it, but he daren't say anything to her.
Besides , just because she looked didn't mean she was interested in him, she was just human after all , and she was with Weasley , she wasn't interested in her ugly old potions master.
Even if she did dress down for him on Thursdays, of her own free will.
And ogle his arse when he wasn't wearing his robes.
The disappointment he felt was soon gone, when he realised his robes smelled like her.
He could definitely live with that.
Soon it was the week before Christmas, and he found himself wondering what she was doing with herself over the Christmas period , as she seemed to be getting exceedingly melancholy.
"So, what are your plans for the yuletide season Hermione ?"
"I don't know , staying here I guess...I don't really have anywhere else to be"
Over one of their tea sessions she'd told him of her parents, how she had irreversibly obliviated them for their own protection , so he knew not to bring them up.
"You're not going to the Burrow with Mr Weasley ?"
"I don't know... Molly invited me and Ron wants me to, but I thought it'd be too awkward what with how Ron is and all"
"Yes, I could see that"
He could...The boy always had his beefy arm around her, and he could imagine how uncomfortable it would be for a person as reserved as her to be surround by family with the boy draped around her shoulders.
He didn't know why she stayed with the oaf, she could do so much better and they had so little in common.
"Everything will be so different this year... without Harry...it's hard to believe we were in Godrics Hollow on Christmas Eve last year"
He cringed at the memory of that, he'd heard about their own encounter with Nagini, and was once more impressed with the reminder of the witch's skills, the boy would not have survived as long as he did without her.
"I know you never saw eye to eye but Harry...harry was like my brother... we've always been so close and this is my first Christmas without him, he never even got presents growing up with the Dursleys and they treated him like dirt, so we always made sure he spent Christmas or boxing day with us or the weasleys , my mum and dad sort of adopted him into the family... he became part of the family tradition, just as much as stockings and advent calendars. Day to day it's like I can almost pretend that he's in another class , or playing quidditch but when Christmas comes and he's not there, it becomes too real...that he's really gone and not coming back"
She stopped what she was doing then , and brought her hands up to cover her eyes as her shoulders shook in silent sobs.
He put a stasis on both of their cauldrons and made his way over to her...he tentatively began to rub her arms , unsure of his welcome, when she turned and wrapped her arms around him , burying her face in his chest as she cried.
He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head, admiring how she fit in his arms , even as he attempted to offer here what comfort he could.
"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry" she mumbled into his coat
"Don't be...it's grief , it will sneak up on you and consume you when you least expect it , even when you think you have gotten over it , just allow yourself to grieve, you will never be able to move on if you hold it back"
She sobbed at that and held tighter to him.
"I think near the end he wanted it... death...he was so tired of fighting and death , and always feeling responsible, he said after fourth year it was like death followed him and he was tired of being the reason people around him got hurt."
She was no longer crying but still had her face buried into him.
"Me and Ron found him in the bathroom once, the one we made polyjuice in, he was so stressed out and upset and he'd cut his arm bad, he swore that it was an accident but he admitted to me later that he'd done it on purpose , he wasn't even sure if he was trying to kill himself or just wanted the hurt on the outside to match the hurt on the inside"
His arms were still around her and he was rubbing soothing circles on her back.
"He was gay you know... "
Potter was gay? that was news on him.
"...he figured it out in 6th year , it was one of the reasons he broke it off with Ginny when we left, but for her own protection aswell. He never told anyone but me and Ron, and even then it wasn't intentional , The horcrux...it made us think and say terrible things, Ron got so angry thinking that me and harry were getting together behind his back , and he sort of blurted it out that would never happen, because I was like a sister, and he wasn't interested in girls anyway. I tried to tell him that it was OK, I'd had my suspicions and we loved him anyway , but Ron didn't take it well , it wasn't long after that he left us... I think he sort of selective memory'd that away when he came back , and pretended like he'd never heard"
She was resting her forehead and hands on his chest now , and he still had her in his embrace , allowing her to vent.
"I think that was another one of the reasons why he felt so depressed, just another way to be different from everyone else he'd said, all he ever wanted was to be normal, to be accepted, the same as everyone else"
She wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
"I loved him so much and yet I can't help but wonder if there was a time , a chance after defeating Voldemort ,that he was given the option to come back , that he wouldn't have taken it... and I feel mad at him for not choosing to come back and live his life, and I feel guilty for being mad , when all I wanted is my brother back"
Holding onto her as she cried he did not know what to say to make things better for her, choosing just to hold her and offer comfort in his presence.
When her tears had dried she went to take a step back from him , but instead he pulled her into another hug.
"Never be sorry for being human, there is nothing wrong with hurting from the death of a loved one"
She nodded gratefully and returned the hug.
"Now I have to admit my experience in comforting weeping females is not vast, but if years of being head of house has taught me anything it's that there's not much that can't be improved in the short term by the judicious application of tea and chocolate or baked goods"
She laughed at that and wiped her tears as she looped her arm through his.
"Lead the way Severus"
AN: The darks creeping in a bit...
Please review ! x
Feel free to suggest bets that sev and mione can make , or prizes they might ask for !