CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE—In Trouble
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Severus took tea in the teacher's lounge. The Carrows came in. Pomona insisted Rolanda should follow her to the greenhouses to look at some plant that sounded distinctly made up.
Walter kept to himself in the corner by the window, the spot with the best sunlight for reading.
The Carrow siblings sat next to Severus.
He had been here for several, long years. He was not known for being personable. But he had a polite, professional relationship with everyone in the castle. Or would even dare to call some professors a friend. All of them had assisted him when he had to take over Horace's duties, sans Rolanda, even Pomona who was slowly growing more convinced that Severus had been the one to kill the former Potions instructor. The Carrows put a damper on all those relationships. Just today Minerva had come into his office ready to smite someone.
"Severus, this is unacceptable!" she declared as she shut the door.
"Perhaps start at the beginning," he said, eyes still on a Weasley essay.
"Miss Granger has received a detention."
"Yes, she tends to do that." He flipped to the next scroll.
"The Head Girl has never received a detention—in the entire time we've had a Head Girl position!" Minerva vibrated with rage.
"Shall I tell her to never get in trouble?"
"I'm telling you," she said, stalking towards his desk, finger first, "to tell your friends to tread lightly."
"What do you want me to do, Minerva?" he asked, tossing the essay away. "Tell the Carrows to give detention to everyone but my wife?"
She threw up her hands and began to pace before his desk. "They—they're running roughshod over our reputation! Just the other day, Madame Maxime wrote me, asking if I could introduce her to our new Muggle Studies professor! Absolutely I will not!"
Severus forgot the cutting remark he was set to put on Mr Weasley's essay. He just gave him an E to be done with it.
"And gods forbid anyone wanting to use Amycus as a reference!" Minerva visibly shuddered. "They are like our—our dirty secret!"
"My first detention," Alecto said to Severus.
Amycus surprised Severus—along with a manic grin, he gave Alecto a cup of tea. Amycus never did anything nice for his twin.
"You beat me out," Amycus said as he went back to pour himself a cup. "But I'll be the one to get one of those brats on their own, first. I can feel it."
Severus stayed silent. Alecto explained:
"A fair number of my Muggle Studies students refused to turn in their first large essay." She set her saucer and cup on the table. "In every single class, no less. So I will have to have a group detention in the Great Hall."
"Lines?" Amycus chuckled and shook his head. He lurked behind Alecto's chair. "The cheeky Mudbloods need put in their place with something more efficient than lines."
Walter cleared his throat and straightened the Prophet.
The twins turned to glare at Walter's interruption.
"Got a problem, old man?" Amycus challenged.
"Please take your vulgar talk to your private rooms." Walter opened the paper to the next page. "That kind of language has no place in this school."
Alecto grabbed Amycus's arm as he stomped forward. "Don't!" she whispered.
Amycus ripped his sleeve out of her hand. "Don't tell me what to do!" he shot back.
Severus narrowed his eyes at Amycus.
That deterred him more than Alecto's protests. He shot another glare at Walter, who glared back. Then Amycus stomped from the room and slammed the door behind him.
Alecto sipped her tea as if nothing had happened.
Severus said nothing.
He followed Walter out of dinner to apologize.
"Is that the sort of company you keep outside of school?" Walter asked, imperious.
"We're not friends," Severus said. His skin crawled uncomfortably at the thought.
"That's not what I asked, is it?" Walter retorted.
Severus narrowed his eyes at Walter just short of a scowl. They had never had a problem in all his time here.
"Those are not the sort of people you want to associate with," Walter said, each word measured. "Nor do we want associated with Hogwarts.
"Nor do I want to associate with those kind of people."
The scrutiny he gave Severus made it clear he knew what kind of people Severus, Amycus and Alecto were.
Walter continued his trek to his quarters.
Severus rolled his head on his neck.
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Hermione stood in the doorway between her room and Severus's. Her hairbrush was fairly tangled in her hair. Crookshanks dozed on the bed. Come nightfall, he would be full of energy and pattering between Severus's bed and the top of Hermione's bookshelf.
Severus entered the room, face twisted in a scowl. "Stop getting into trouble," he said instead of a hello ora how has your day been or literally any other polite greeting.
"Someone's in a snit," she said. The brush made a horrific noise as she yanked it out of the knot.
"Excuse me?" His pale face was the epitome of shock.
Hermione pointed her brush at the clock on her bedside table. "It is 9:39 at night—and I'm in here in our room. So you can drop the teacher voice at any time."
She resumed wrestling with her hair to hide the shake of her hands.
"You expect me to believe," he said, at least now a bit more calm, if not any more polite, "that the only people to have ever scolded you have been teachers?"
"And rarely at that."
"Then this is a day of firsts, isn't it?" he asked. He shrugged out of his robe. The only way she could describe the tilt of his jaw was sassy. Which would be hilarious if he was not 'scolding' her.
"As I am sure you already know," he said, unbuttoning the cuffs of his jacket, "there has never been a single Head Girl in the history of Hogwarts to receive a detention."
Hermione bit the inside of her cheek. "No," she said, "that was not in Hogwarts: A History, I'm afraid."
He put his hands on his hips. The sneer was detestable. "Well I knew that—because Minerva came into my office to shout about it."
"Well, Severus, if I had an office, she could come to yell in it instead." She worked at the tangle again.
Severus dropped his head into his palm.
It seemed to throw him off his rant when she called him by his given name.
"I'll try not to shame the Snape name." The terrible ripping noise was quieter this time, the knot smaller now.
"If you are expelled, we're both going to feel the repercussions." He crossed his arms to give her another mean look.
Honestly? The glare's potency was starting to wear off.
"I don't think I'll be kicked out for refusing to write one essay." She held onto the chunk of hair to really get at the knot.
"Aren't longwinded essays your hobby?" he asked, snide. Was that an eyeroll?
"Unfortunately, I can't prove I did not steal my magic from another wizard," she said with equal malice. "So unfortunately, I had nothing to turn in."
Okay, that was definitely an eyeroll.
And without so much as a how do you do, he turned and walked to the washroom and barricaded himself in.
Hermione finally brushed through the knot.
Crookshanks sat up and stretched his back.
Hermione smirked a bit. That little tête-à-tête felt good. Even if the detention was an embarrassment she would have to stand forever.