These characters and their setting are the property of J. Rowling and her associates and affiliates.
Chapter 14: Slytherin Honor and a Private Dance Party
Hermione knew Snape wasn't happy even if he pretended to be proud of their second place win. The Potions master never seemed happy about anything, but even the non-sanguine had differing levels of discontent. Besides, she had seen him laugh before, which had proved he could smile, and she had long known he was capable of humor. He just rarely showed that humor where others could see.
His sourness seemed part of a mask-- the face of a careful poker player keeping his cards to himself. Snape pretended to only feel negative emotions but, as Hermione had seen, that simply wasn't so. There was a lot of positive in Professor Snape-- positives like loyalty and honor. The professor cared about things and he did so with passion. He cared about his world, his school, and the advancement of knowledge. And he cared enough to protect his students even if he personally disliked them.
Snape was an enigma, but one that had long intrigued Hermione. She had watched him carefully and felt confident now of interpreting his moods-- which was why she was certain that though he tried to hide it, he was deeply and furiously angry. But here it all became murky. If Snape was angry at her or the team he would have shown it. He never would have spared them. So who was he mad at? Some of the judges hadn't seemed very friendly. Did this have to do with them? Or did Snape blame himself for their lack of perfection? Why was it so important to be first? It had to be that Slytherin thing.
Slytherin had been the champion house before the Gryffindor "Dream Team" had arrived, but that hadn't always been the case. Hermione, always curious, had done some research. Hogwarts kept meticulous records, not only of which House won the cup, but how many points had been awarded, and to whom. The information had been illuminating. Slytherin had indeed enjoyed a winning streak, but it had started precisely when Professor Snape became their head.
Before Snape had joined the staff, Slytherin had not had a stellar record. In the twenty years prior to his employment, they had won the House cup only twice, and on very narrow margins. It amazed Hermione that Slytherin, the house of competitive overachievers, had once been one of the lowest scoring in the school. It was also interesting to note that one of their victories (and quite a few near misses) were due to the efforts of a student named S. Snape.
So it had been Snape responsible for the Slytherin rising star. He had taken a losing team and had turned them into winners—something many a sports team would love to recruit him for. Students grumbled that Slytherins won from favoritism, but Hermione knew that wasn't totally true. Slytherins played rough in Quiddich, stuck to each other like glue, and could be quite nasty, but they weren't a bunch of screw-ups. They did work extremely hard. Even Draco Malfoy, a notorious troublemaker, had been a good student. The only one who had scored constantly higher than him had been... herself.
Was that why Professor Snape had always been so hostile to her-- because she helped end the Slytherin reign? Part of her reaction was natural indignation. Surely one couldn't win all the time! Expecting to do so was selfish and even presumptuous! But another part of her understood him perfectly. She had never really thought of herself as competitive, yet always she had striven for perfection. Never had Hermione been content to do less than the best-- and she had wanted everyone to see it! She had to be the top student, and when she had reached a level where others no longer challenged her, she still competed against herself. She also enjoyed making Gryffindor win.
How must Snape have felt to be placed in a house falling consistently last? Had their roles been reversed, how would she have felt? Hermione wouldn't have liked it and would probably have tried to change it, but would she have been as successful? She had grave doubts there. She alone wasn't responsible for the Gryffindor rise to fame. Harry Potter and the school's benevolent attitude toward him had done that. Hermione had certainly played a part, but it had been a Potter-dominated process. And it hadn't actually been fair either, because Harry really hadn't been an exceptional student. No wonder Snape had disliked him.
It would take an idiot not to notice the anti-Slytherin bias that permeated Hogwarts. Hermione had once assumed it was because of so many former Slytherins associated with the dark arts, but lots of students from all houses found dark magic fascinating. Only recently she had overheard a group of Ravenclaws complaining about being forbidden to learn it. Knowledge, after all, was knowledge. Shouldn't everything deserve study? And what was it that made some magic dark? Wasn't it the intent to cause harm that crossed the line? If one truly didn't intend harm...
Perhaps it was thinking like this that caused so much of the troubles in the past. Perhaps it was also the reason that led many Muggles to pursue martial training or own assault weapons, always contending that their motives were benign. At least most of those Muggle martial arts included a heavy dose of restraining philosophy-- a code of honor-- that kept adherents from abusing their power. And of course where power existed, there were always those that abused it.
Snape had once abused his power, but he had found a way to change. He had embraced some sort of restraining philosophy and had successfully turned his knowledge against the powers of darkness. Even Harry Potter had to concede that the battle couldn't have been won without the professor-- not that he liked admitting it... Harry still hated him, and the thanks Snape had got had been grudging. Even now, while Harry and Ron were blissfully pursuing careers in Quiddich, they still owled her warnings about Snape's Slytherin influence over her team. Why the continual bias against Slytherin?
It had to be something more than just the dark arts. Most Slytherins were no more dark than anyone else, yet all the houses were aligned against them. What would cause Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws to all agree at the start of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, "We can't have a Slytherin champion!" Well, why not? Why hate them so? True, Slytherins didn't seem to like the other houses, but if a bias against them really existed, why should they? Where had that bias come from?
Hermione suddenly wondered if it wasn't just sour grapes. For all their supposed subtlety, Slytherins were openly ambitious and made no secret of their desire to come out on top-- in life as well as in school. True their founder, Salazar Slytherin had been a proud, ambitious man (and from what Hermione had read, a bit of a pill,) but most people had ambitions. It was unnatural not to. For some reason, however, it wasn't considered polite to advertise them, just as it was seen as unfashionably rude to continually display one's excellence, as Hermione had learned to her chagrin.
But why not display it? Why pretend not to know the answer when one obviously did? Why pretend to be uninterested in power and success (whatever success was for you) when EVERYBODY, not just Slytherins, wanted these things? Why were Slytherins considered bad-natured, sneaky, and selfish when all people were likewise afflicted? Slytherins were just straightforward about it. Of course when people honest about their ambition actually showed success in achieving it, as they had under Snape's masterful leadership, those with lesser achievement came to resent them.
Then there was always that silly Slytherin fascination with ancestry, but the most intelligent among them knew it was all bunk! Plenty of Slytherins over the years had had less than pure wizard blood. But perhaps it was mostly a defensive reaction. Stupid, of course, but possibly understandable...
How had Professor Snape felt at her age? Had there been an anti-Slytherin bias then? Hermione was sure there had been. Extraordinary numbers of points had been awarded to past Gryffindors such as James Potter and Sirius Black-- men who she knew had been troublemakers as boys. She also knew there had been a rivalry between them and Snape. How would she have felt if her brilliance had always been eclipsed because of some bias? As it some ways actually had. She would have worked harder, of course, and with greater determination... and possibly anger. No wonder Snape couldn't stand to loose.
Hermione's own ambition had been primarily directed at herself. But that was because there seemed little or no obstacles in the way of her success. Severus Snape had always struggled against obstacles-- the greatest of them being the house he was placed in. So he had included his house in his ambitions and dragged them all with him in his quest for recognition... and he had succeeded. How many others could do something like that? Her friends complained about Slytherin influence. Why, that influence was the BEST thing that had happened to their team!
Because Hermione's original goal in cheerleading had only been to be the best she could be, it didn't matter to her if the team received tropheys. She had been getting her kudos from helping the school. Just forming the team had been her achievement. It was Professor Snape who had made them a successful team and he had done so by identifying with it and making their success his own. Ambition was supposed to be selfish, but there was something unselfish in this sort of identification, this mother-hen/drill sergeant type of care. How could anyone not see it as the noble thing that it was?
So Snape wanted them to be first. Well, why not? What was wrong with that? He appeared to be ambitious for them for his own sake, but it wasn't only his own. They all benefited. Team members walked with more assurance and dignity. Team discipline had spilled out into school discipline. No cheerleaders were falling behind in their studies no matter how long they spent practicing, and no one on the team was doing mediocre work. Hermione reasoned that if this was Slytherin influence, then bring on the Slytherins! This silly bias had to disappear. There had to be cooperation between all the houses. Her own cooperation with the professor could lead the way!
She wanted to help Snape get his victory. It would be a way to repay him for all the hard work he had put in for them. But it was more than just that. Hermione felt she understood him, and she wanted to let him know that she understood. There was something about his brilliance and determination that was very much like her own, and she really liked the fact that he now seemed to appreciate her.
The respect for her she saw in his eyes warmed her. She felt gratified whenever he spoke to her as an equal. The evening they had worked together to change the chant had been one of the most enjoyable she had ever spent. It had been fun working with a mind as quick, or perhaps quicker, than her own, and she had relished the times she had verbally sparred with him. It was even nice that he seemed to appreciate her appearance too... But she shouldn't think of things like that! It really wasn't seemly...
Perhaps he could use her help again. Would he be agreeable if she went to him and offered her services? Hermione had stayed away from the Professor-- since from the beginning he had obviously wished for her to stay away-- but things appeared to be different now. And the last time they had put their heads together they had had a good result. Surely they could do it again. Hermione got up and headed for Snape's dungeon office with a sprightly step. It was for the good of the team, after all.
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Snape sat at his desk amid a pile of cheerleading manuals and score sheets. He had barely two weeks to overhaul the team's routine before the next competition. Just two weeks to perform the magic-- or miracle-- that would satisfy those bitchy Muggle judges and get the team first place. Barring failure at the Topsfield Tournament, there was only one more Competition and after that it would be too late.
Perhaps it was ridiculous to try so hard for a first place win. It was only Cheerleading after all-- a Muggle thing and a female sport to boot. But it was his female Muggle-style team, HIS girls that were competing. If he let anyone connected to him fail to do their best, it would be he, himself, that would be failing. He would be letting them down, abandoning his responsibilities.
But where was he going to begin? Until very recently, he had never heard of cheerleading and had never seen anything remotely like it. He had learned a lot about the sport in just a few short weeks but he honestly didn't know if he was equal to this task. Not that he had any choice. He still had to do it. He had said he would. Never had he gone back on his word or failed to finish anything he had once started-- no matter what it cost him. Such was Slytherin honor. He would just have to work until he had a solution. It wasn't impossible, but if only he had some help...
He paged through the manuals looking desperately for inspiration. He had to change just about everything, and that meant not only the new chant they had already worked out, but a new dance and a new stunt routine. Who was he kidding? This job he had so casually taken on required him to be a choreographer, conductor, and possibly ring-master as well. And his specialty was Potions...
The gears began to turn in his mind. A potion only consisted of select ingredients artfully combined. Wasn't a cheering routine only human ingredients artfully combined? There was the same sort of precision involved, balance and harmony-- although a different sort of harmony than that which kept a potion from exploding in one's face... The principle was the same but the practice radically different. The problem was that there were so many possibilities! How would two weeks be enough time?
A knock sounded at his door and Snape put the book down in irritation. Who had the temerity to bother him? There were definitely times when he regretted not only being a teacher, but being head of house as well! Too many problems ended up in his lap. If this was something trivial there was going to be a very sorry student cleaning cauldrons with a toothbrush...
"Yes, what is it?" he growled, waving his office door open impatiently with his wand.
"Excuse me, Professor Snape. I didn't mean to disturb you. Perhaps I should come back later." It was Miss Granger.
Severus felt like he had just received an answer to prayer. How providential for her to show up exactly when he needed her! Minutes ago Snape had actually considered sending for her but had decided against it because of how dangerously distracting her presence was. But now that she was here, he would just have to work through the distractions. He could do it. Slytherins could do anything.
Miss Granger was looking at him doubtfully. She seemed very concerned that she had barged in on him at the wrong time. Her face looked a bit flushed from embarrassment, and Severus couldn't help thinking that, all pink and pretty, she looked good enough to eat. Good enough to eat? Merlin's wisdom teeth! Did I really just think that? I need to clean up my mind...
This wasn't good. Was he becoming a randy old goat like Flitwick? Good thing Filius didn't know it! Good thing Miss Granger couldn't read minds either. If she could read his she'd be running up to the headmaster, screaming like a banshee, and he didn't want her to do that. He wanted to keep her here. He needed her to help him solve these problems. Besides, having her near him was pleasant, distracting or not. He enjoyed looking at her and he was safely sure she had no idea that he did.
"Actually, now is as good a time as any, Miss Granger. Come in and shut the door. I was going over our routine. We need to make some more changes and I believe your expertise could be helpful."
Miss Granger closed the door and eyed him with reserve. "What sort of changes?"
"We need new stunts and a new dance. The chant can stay since we've already changed that."
The girl was instantly defensive. "But why? It's a good routine! I know we didn't come in first, but that's no reason to throw it all in the rubbish! We just need to polish it up. Why change everything?"
Severus studied her gravely. Miss Granger was the only student he knew that would dare to stand up to him and disagree with him to his face. Cheeky students normally received the most intimidating verbal barrage he was capable of, but he found he couldn't do that to her. He had come to respect her. Hermione Granger wasn't his equal (she was still a student after all) but it wouldn't be long before she would be. He couldn't treat her like one of the other dunderheads. He also respected the hard work she had put in on the present routine. If his work was about to be trashed he would have been ready to duel! He owed her more than a simple, "because I said so." She needed to know the truth.
"We need a completely new routine because the Muggle judges believe that ours is stolen. They think we stole it from one of them."
Hermione gaped. "Stolen! You've got to be kidding!"
Snape narrowed his eyes grimly. "I never kid, Miss Granger. You should know that by now! The fact is, the Muggles believe we are cheating, and they firmly refuse to change that belief when I tell them we are not. I don't know about you, but I REFUSE to allow our school to be thought of in such a way! In the interest of diplomatic harmony... and of honor... I told them we would make some changes. If you wish to make yourself useful, you will help me."
She found a chair and sat down slowly, her expression righteously hard. "Oh, How awful! No wonder those judges always looked so nasty! What COWS!"
Severus raised an eyebrow.
"Well they are." She paused in rueful thought. "And it's not like this doesn't happen all the time, because it does. Most routines have elements in common. There are only just so many variations possible, and when a team comes up with something really, really good, everyone else wants to try it. If they don't, they won't score as many points. But there always seems to be somebody at Competition that starts bellyaching that another teams' routine looks too much like theirs. Coaches and parents shout at each other. They make nasty comments in the loo. I even heard one team criticized because their girls were too cute! They were accused of being under the age limit."
"Incredible. And here I thought this was a positive, Cheerful sport."
Hermione grimaced. "It really is ridiculous." She shook her head. "They're probably giving us such an extra hard time because we're new."
He looked at her sharply. "Why should that make a difference?"
"New teams have to prove themselves. No one hands out gold medals or first place tropheys to a team they aren't used to seeing on top. I'm actually surprised they gave us second place."
"It should have been first!" he growled darkly, "Your routine was excellent and the team performed it superbly."
Miss Granger suddenly awarded him with a radiant smile, like a desert flower blooming under after a swift, nourishing rain. Sweet Merlin, what a lovely sight! And all he had done was to say something nice... Snape never gave out compliments. He had always felt it would encourage laxity or foolishness. But perhaps a few small ones judiciously bestowed might actually prove beneficial. He enjoyed the sight of that smile. It did wonders for his gloomy office decor.
"It is unfortunate," he continued, "that those in power here are acting like cats." Definitely cats, not cows. And such a pity. The bovine are so much easier to manipulate.
"Perhaps what they need is a cold water spell," Miss Granger remarked maliciously.
"I know of one actually."
"Do you?" She appeared very interested.
"I'd teach it to you, but it isn't the sort of knowledge serious teachers bestow. Besides, using it on Muggles is unfortunately forbidden. We would end up disqualified."
"Darn."
"Contemplating it, however, can be almost as gratifying. It takes less effort, and in the case of copious amounts of water, there is less mess. And you can do it over and over."
Miss Granger looked up at him and gave him a smirk.
Working with the know-it-all Gryffindor was more than unusually pleasant. Her quick mind and cooperative nature made her just what the doctor ordered. He also didn't have the problem he normally encountered while working with people. She didn't seem to mind his personality. Most people found his acerbic manner either intimidating or infuriating, and his harsh appearance only intensified that situation.
But Hermione was neither angered or intimidated. She seemed to understand that his prickly demeanor and dry, sardonic wit were nothing personal against her and were simply the way he was. Snape found this oddly refreshing. Before this, only Flitwick had shown so much ease in his presence, and Miss Granger had the advantage over him in being far more pleasing to the eye-- especially when she smiled.
Severus found that he liked to see her smile. It made him feel good. Few people smiled either around him or at him, and he had been so accustomed to this that he took it as natural. Miss Granger's boundless, fearless enthusiasm near him was a new condition and he found he enjoyed it. The fact that she was an attractive female near his intellectual level didn't hurt either.
Curiously, Snape found himself making the effort to curb some of his harshness around her, to appear less negative and forbidding. In turn, of course, the girl became even more relaxed and smiled more often which caused him to relax more as well. Severus had a sense that he was acting out of character, but didn't stop it. Since it was temporary, and therefore harmless, he saw no reason not to indulge himself. Occasions like this didn't happen every day and Slytherins made use of every opportunity.
Miss Granger had a lot of ideas and to help her illustrate them, he had her change into her cheerleading uniform. Having her wear the uniform made sense of course. It wasn't just so he could look at her legs-- though he did look at them. And why not? She had long, shapely legs that were a pleasure to look at, and since he wasn't going to do anything but look, it was totally safe. Besides, Gryffindors were so innocent. With his subtlety and discretion she wouldn't even know he was looking...
He did have an occasional randy thought-- especially when some of the dance moves made her pose those luscious legs in what seemed like provocative positions. But they were only thoughts after all. He wasn't going to act on them! There was no harm really. His Slytherin control was impeccable.
"What about this sequence, Professor?"
Miss Granger executed a sinuous combination of moves that included pelvic thrusts, lascivious sashays, and a few high kicks worthy of a chorus line. Delicious. She could probably break a man with those legs. But what a way to go...
"Add a couple more steps, a turn, and a twist."
"Like this?"
Oh absolutely.
"Hmm... That set does have possibilities, Miss Granger."
Lots of them. Go on, please.
"How about I do a few moves down on the mat?"
He watched her do some rolling, flipping, squirming actions on the floor that made his pulse race.
What an incredible sport this is! All we have to do is get our audience hot, bothered, and frothing at the mouth and the victory is ours!
Except that most of the judges are female... Bloody Blazes! Why can't life be more fair?
"Put it all together and let's see it again."
Sweet Merlin, this is the life!
Soon (all too soon as far as Snape was concerned) they had worked out enough ideas in theory to be ready to combine them into a routine. It was then time to switch on the computer. The first thing they needed to do was to compare it to the original routine.
"Where did you get the footage of our team, professor?" asked a puzzled Hermione. "The videos aren't due to be delivered for at least two weeks."
She bent her healthy, pretty face close to his to better view the computer screen and Severus felt her proximity acutely. She was near enough to touch, near enough to kiss. Near enough to do much more than kiss... Images of what he would like to do jumped joyfully into his mind and he practically had to freeze himself to keep from possibly acting on them. It was a very dangerous moment.
Merlin's jockstrap, but that was close! I need to watch out! Those thoughts he had been allowing himself to indulge in really hadn't been wise at all. They had been stupid! There was a REASON why he had been careful around students for so many years-- self preservation! He had to regain that iron control, but he suddenly found that wasn't going to be easy.
He could sense her body heat. He could even smell her aroma. He could imagine her soft, warm skin radiating all that heat underneath her uniform and how pleasant it would be to bury his face in it, to touch, to kiss, to explore... She's a student! If Albus knew what I was thinking he'd fire me on the spot! Thankfully, Albus didn't know.. And Legilimens or not, he wasn't going to find out because Snape was going to get control of himself. He suddenly remembered that cold water spell and concentrated on imagining gallons of ice water plunging down upon him. It worked.
Keeping his mind carefully clean and chaste, he worked at recalling what it was she had just said. The last thing he wanted to do was to let on she had distracted him. Or look stupid. Cold water. ICE cold water. Man, how I really hate cold water... Oh, yes, she had said something about videos. Videos?
"What videos, Miss Granger?"
"The ones for sale yesterday," she answered seriously, completely unaware of her teacher's narrowly missed meltdown. Good. " The ones I ordered for everyone at the Tournament. They couldn't have been delivered yet."
Severus felt a ludicrous stab of relief, and he almost laughed. So that's what those cameras were for! And he had been worried his face would appear on British television! It was only some enterprising Muggle selling souvenirs. But why had Miss Granger bought them? Surely she had to know they were useless for wizards. Snape's own ignorance and stupidity felt far less embarrassing in the face of this evidence of hers. Humbling her was going to be pleasant, especially since she was driving him crazy.
"You do realize, of course, that no one here will have the slightest idea what to do with those videos. Though I suppose they would make interesting wall ornaments-- for those who like such things."
Miss Granger wasn't taken down at all. "They could always invest in learning Muggle technology. It would be good for them."
"Pigs will fly first," he said dryly.
"Around here they often do."
Snape suppressed a smile. Amazing how not humbling the girl seemed enjoyable too.
"Where did you get the footage from, sir?" she persisted.
"These images came from my memory, Miss Granger, which by the way I would trust far more than some Muggle camera. I put the memory into a Pensieve and then entered the Pensieve with a magical camera... a digital magical camera. All I had to do then was plug the camera's memory chip into your computer." He felt very smug.
"Wow!" Hermione exclaimed. "You brought a camera into a Pensieve? I didn't know you could do that!"
Seeing Miss Granger impressed was gratifying. "Obviously," he replied loftily. "And what a pleasant surprise it must be for you to realize there is something you do not yet know."
Hermione looked up at him, brown eyes twinkling into his. She seemed to know instinctively that he hadn't really meant that to be cruel. "It is a pleasant surprise, sir. Since I know you so disapprove of know-it-alls."
"Indeed." It was hard to keep from smiling back.