Many thanks to JKR, Melynda and Allosia.
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Fall. Glorious fall. Leaves turning, dropping the wind, the hint of ice at night. The smell of wood smoke and earth, the faint scent of decay. He loved this season.
Despite himself, Snape met Hooch the next morning, and the morning after that. They did not talk much, just looped the Quidditch field a few times before beginning their acrobatic wanderings. Hooch never imagined the professor in his voluminous robes spending much time on a broom. They only slowed him down a little in the air, and provided well for dramatic effect. She kept her hair and robes short, an old habit from her days on professional Quidditch teams. Back then, it hadn't been gray.
Banishing her musings, Hooch drifted up behind Snape and seized the ends of his robe. With a deft maneuver she flipped them over his head and was rewarded with a voluble stream of curses from the black lump struggling in the air.
"Shouldn't wear those robes to fly," she called out to him. Snape shook his head, and for a moment she almost saw him smile. Perhaps he was just squinting at the sun rising over the trees. They slowly spiraled back down to the ground.
"You must have been at Hogwarts when I playing the professional circuit," she began as they walked back to the castle. "Did you play Quidditch?"
"No." He straightened his collar, refastening an errant button. "Too many other things to do."
"Like what?" Snape's eyes flickered towards her.
"Why?"
"Just curious."
"I was studying."
"Of course," Hooch nodded. "You went to school with James Potter and Lucius Malfoy, didn't you?"
This time Snape stopped. His eyes flashed dark fire, and Hooch wondered what kind of nerve she hit there.
"Why?"
"Curiosity." Icy fingers dug into her forearm, and Snape glared at her, eyes demanding another answer.
"Merlin's ghost, you are a suspicious bastard Severus." Angrily she jerked her arm free and jabbed a finger at his face. "what, did you have a crush on him? Worried I'll tell the students?"
Snape's mouth dropped open and she stifled the urge to laugh at his expression, something between horror and fury. Hooch turned and headed towards breakfast, allowing herself a small smile for reducing Severus Snape to speechlessness.
"Point," he whispered, and followed her to the Main Hall.