Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Challenges listed at the bottom.
Word Count: 1880
Written for Lyrrie, as a prize for Hogwarts Summer Camp. Sorry for the delay, hun, but I hope you like it.
Every Single Day
"You look…" Harry trailed off, his eyes wide.
"Iconic!" Ginny filled in for him, as she put the last touches to Hermione's hair, drawing a few loose curls from the elegant updo she'd spent almost forty five minutes getting painstakingly perfect.
Harry snorted. "You look beautiful, Hermione."
Hermione looked in the mirror, and… she couldn't help but agree. She didn't look like her usual self, that was for certain. Gone were the ponytail, the professional clothes, the comfortable heels.
Instead, she looked like she was stepping out of a fairytale. It took her back for a moment, to the Yule Ball in fourth year, when Viktor had spun her around the dancefloor, and just for a moment, she'd felt like a swan instead of an ugly duckling.
Of course now, she was older, and wise enough to know that she wasn't an ugly duckling. Hermione wasn't insecure about her looks, but the way Ginny had changed tiny things, extenuating and highlighting and polishing…
"Thank you," she replied eventually, turning around on the stool. "You look good, too, Harry. You brush up well when you put the effort in."
Harry snorted. "All of this was Daphne. I can't take any credit for it."
"Of course it was. You're such a dork," Hermione said, rolling her eyes as she laughed at her best friend. "Well, compliments to Daphne then. Where is she, anyway?"
"Downstairs, talking to Draco. I think she didn't want to try and walk up the stairs in her dress. She looks stunning, but it's not the most, uh, operational dress I've ever seen."
Hermione chuckled, shaking her head. When she stood, Ginny preceded them downstairs, and Harry offered Hermione his arm.
When she raised her eyebrow at him, he smirked. "I saw the size of the heels Ginny's making you wear."
He supported her down the stairs, and Hermione took every step thanking every deity that she could think of for her magic, because she knew without it, she wouldn't be able to walk in the morning.
"You look lovely, Hermione," Daphne complimented her, when they made it to the kitchen.
Praise indeed, coming from the woman who literally could steal the breath of anyone who looked at her, she was so damn beautiful. Her pale pink dress complimented her white blonde hair perfectly.
Draco handed glasses of champagne around the group, and called for a toast.
"To a good night," he said, and then grinned. "And to Weasley actually making it to the ball before midnight this year."
They all chuckled, remembering the year previous when Ron and Pansy had arrived at quarter past the New Year, furious blushes colouring their cheeks.
"Not if Parkinson gets her way again," Daphne said, smirking.
"And Hermione," Draco added, after they'd all taken a drink. "Get into trouble, for crying out loud." He glanced at Harry. "Not too much. But some."
Harry laughed, setting the others off, while Hermione shook her head at Draco. He was the worst kind of influence, but… perhaps in the best possible way.
…
The New Years Eve party was already in full swing when they arrived. Draco and Daphne had both insisted they not get there at the time specified on the invitation. Apparently it was still cool to be 'fashionably' late.
Hermione hated it.
Tardiness was a pet peeve of hers, and while she knew they were probably right, it still made her skin itch a little.
She accepted a drink from one of the passing, floating trays, and stayed on the edges of the dancefloor as the others all swayed to and fro, holding their partners close. It made her smile, seeing her friends so happy, but sometimes, she wished she could be like them.
She missed the feeling of being settled in a relationship.
"Miss Granger."
She swallowed hard. She knew that voice. Knew that electricity that immediately surged through her at the sight of him.
"Severus," she greeted, nodding her head.
She wouldn't be formal, not with him. He'd broken her heart, he didn't deserve her respect.
"Dance with me."
"No."
"Hermione, please," he murmured. "Just one dance, and I'll leave you alone if you ask it of me."
She eyed him distrustfully—he was as sneaky as they came, and his words usually held a loophole she couldn't see until it was too late—before she placed her glass down on the empty table beside her.
"Fine."
She allowed him to take her hand and lead her to the dancefloor, and he twirled her before pulling her close, his hands just the right side of decent. She felt her skin heat beneath his touch and cursed herself.
She shouldn't still be reacting to him this way. She shouldn't allow him to have such an impact on her.
Glancing over his shoulder, she searched the dancing couples for her friends, only to find they'd disappeared into the crowd.
Bloody typical.
"I've been trying to meet with you for months," Severus said, his voice low in her ear. "You've been avoiding every attempt."
"Do you blame me?" she asked softly. "You broke my heart, Severus. You can't have imagined I'd come running back when you called."
"I didn't," he admitted. "But I didn't think it'd be quite so hard to track you down."
Her lips tilted up involuntarily.
"I'm sorry," he said then. "I was trying to meet with you to tell you that I'm sorry. I messed up, Hermione."
She tilted her head. Admittedly, she was surprised he'd admitted as much; Severus had always been a proud man, occasionally to his detriment.
He shocked her even further when he admitted, "I got… scared."
Her brow furrowed, confusion undoubtedly evident. "Of what?"
"Of you. Of my feelings for you. It's been a long time since I've felt anything remotely measuring the regard I have for you, Hermione, and… the last time did not end well."
She nodded, because of course she knew that. Everyone knew that, after Harry had announced it to Voldemort in the Great Hall of Hogwarts.
"Even so, you… you didn't have to be so cruel, Severus," she murmured, as the song slowed to a finish. "Thank you for the dance."
"Hermione—"
She slipped out of his grasp and escaped the dancefloor. There was still no sign of Harry, Ginny or the others, so she moved through the crowd on her own, until she found a door to the balcony of the hotel they were being hosted in.
…
"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked, arching his brow at his once hated professor. "I saw the two of you dancing but—"
"She… she walked away," Severus admitted. "I find I have no recourse left, if she truly wishes to lay the past where it is, then who am I to tell her she's wrong?"
"She still loves you," Harry said flatly, though he winced internally at the broken confidence. He could only hope that she'd forgive him. "You just need to prove to her that you love her too. That you'll willing to give up your pride and your stubbornness to be what she needs."
"What has the world come to?" Severus mused, though his lips tilted up slightly. "Harry Potter, giving me advice about love."
Harry shook his head. "I'm giving you advice about my best friend, because I want her to be happy, and… as far fetched as it may seem, I believe you can make her happy. Besides, you're fully aware of what you're getting into if you get her back."
"Ah, yes. You and your merry band of idiots," Severus agreed. "The sugary sweet icing on a particularly lovely cake."
"Uh huh. So go and find her. It's only twenty minutes to midnight, and for once, my girl deserves to ring in the New Year with a smile on her face."
"Your girl?"
Harry nodded firmly. "Hermione will always be my girl, Headmaster. I think you know that."
Severus smiled slightly. "You might be right at that. Potter…. Thank you."
Harry grinned, and turned away, his aim straight and true to where Daphne stood waiting for him. He'd done what he could.
The rest was up to Snape. And Merlin help him if he hurt Hermione again.
…
Hermione watched a spider creating his web, her hands rubbing up and down her bare arms to protect her from the cold winter air.
She knew she should go back inside, before she made herself ill, but she couldn't bring herself too. Midnight was fast approaching, after all, and she had nobody to kiss.
She looked up at the moon and sighed. Did New Years wishes work, she couldn't help but wonder? She'd long given up on resolutions, but wishes… perhaps it was worth the chance.
A jacket was slid over her shoulders and she startled, though the warmth was heavenly.
"Did you not promise to leave me alone after our dance?" she asked, curious rather than accusing.
"If you asked it of me," he replied. "You didn't."
"My walking away didn't indicate my wish to be left alone?"
"Perhaps it did," Severus agreed softly. "But I didn't promise to stay away because of an indication, did I?"
"I suppose you didn't. I... thank you, for your jacket."
He nodded. "Of course."
They were silent for a moment, and then Hermione sighed. "Severus... what are we doing here? Is it not better to leave the past where is it?"
"I don't believe so," Severus replied softly. "I would, if I could, go back in time and slap my past self upside the head to make him sense, but as I cannot… the only thing I can do is ask for forgiveness, and hope you'll see fit to give me another chance."
"And if you get scared this time?" She demanded, turning to look at him. "What then?"
"I won't."
"Can you guarantee that?"
"I can," he replied simply. "Hermione, the amount of love I have for you… it's beyond any emotion I've ever felt before, and though it grows daily… I cannot imagine my life without you in it any longer. I would have you by my side forever, if only you'll allow it."
Hermione bit her lip. She wanted what he was offering, she really, truly did, but did she trust him enough to take it?
"Allow me to woo you properly?" he offered, when she didn't say anything. "Allow me to court you, Hermione."
She met his eyes, and then slowly shook her head. When the hope in his eyes died, she reached out a hand to rest it against his arm.
"I don't need courting," she told him softly. "I just need to know that you won't run away again. I need to know that you're serious."
"How can I prove that to you?" he asked, stepping just a little bit closer.
"By being here," she murmured. "Time, I suppose, will tell."
"You'll give me a chance?"
As the countdown to the New Year began inside the party, Hermione nodded her head.
"Kiss me at midnight, Severus," she requested softly. "And then kiss me after, so I know that it's real."
He gently pulled her closer, his arms circling her waist as her own stretched around his neck.
"Every single day," he promised.
And he kept that promise.
Written for:
Record Collection: 26. Dancing
Amber's Attic: 29. Stay up until midnight for the new year.
Elizabeth's Empire: 29. Hurt/Comfort
Bex's Basement: 6. "Iconic!"
Film Festival: 21. "Get into trouble, for crying out loud. Not too much. But some."
Marvel Appreciation: Black Widow: Sneaky / Spiderweb / Changing appearance / Looking for someone
Lyric Alley: 2. Cold the season
Forecast: 29. Party
Snowball Fights: Severus vs Minerva: Hurt/Comfort
Pop Figures: Pop rocks: 48. Amy Winehouse: Pink
Hogwarts Talent Show: Gurning: "You're such a dork." / Hermione Granger / (word) Icing
Insane: 14. Impact