Many thanks as always to JKR for the characters and the setting. This is the brief moment before the storm begins.
Snape decided to inform Dumbledore ahead of time. It was no use hiding anything from him, and perhaps this bit of honesty would keep him from stumbling in at an awkward moment.
"Severus, do you think this wise?"
"I know what you're going to say Albus," he sighed, raking hair back from his face. "We both know what I am does not allow me to make easy decisions."
"I should just not like to see either of you hurt too terribly." The older man's voice was soft, almost paternal. Snape chuckled and looked sideways at the Headmaster.
"I'm going to have to start ducking faster."
"Hana Hooch has a wicked right hook my friend," Dumbledore laughed heartily. "It's been awhile since I last saw her knock someone out. I'll be sure to visit you in the infirmary later on." The sour expression on Snape's face caused him to laugh even harder.
He desired and dreaded the night. The stars, white flames piercing his eyelids, the shadows falling around him, the moon's pale ascent. He gave himself up, and the night swallowed him.
With cynical detachment, he evaluated the possibilities she offered him, discarding those too fanciful to exist. He played the old game of imagining worlds that never were and never are.
In the end he decided to wait for her in the Potions lab. It seemed the simplest place to begin, and he could work undisturbed. His stomach clenched when Hana walked into the room. Snape began his litany of pain, reminding himself of exactly why he had chosen to do this.
She will be your torturer, and you will not find forgiveness.
For once, Hooch felt unsure of herself. She approached cautiously, trying to determine if this was some sort of trap. Her wand remained close at hand, tucked into her belt. She tried not to notice how loud her boots were on the floor in the empty classroom.
"Why do you want to do this?"
"Because you're angry."
"Forgive me if I doubt your philanthropy."
"Think of it as practice then, in case you run into a Death Eater."
"What do you get out of it?"
"Amusement."
She doubted his clipped answer, as much as she doubted many of the things he said. This man had layers tangled up inside, and she wanted to figure out the puzzle.
"Just what are you offering me, Snape?" she asked.
He was silent for a long moment, regarding her thoughtfully.
"I am offering you a chance to strike back. Through me, you can get to Malfoy, and if we practice some you might even get to kill him."
"I still don't understand why…"
"Enough!" he snapped. "I'm sick of hearing you ask why this, why that, why Severus why. You're almost as annoying as Potter."
Robes swirling in his usual grandiose manner, Severus stalked about the classroom picking up things and storing them away by hand, as if he did not trust magic to do the work to his exacting standards. The work seemed to soothe his irritation. With everything neatly cleared, he sat on the edge of his desk, idly handling a long blade.
"Do you know how to fence Hooch?"
"Unlike you, I didn't grow up in a manor."
"A feeble excuse, but I suppose I'll let it slide. You really should learn. It can be cathartic to duel this way."
"I would have thought you would prefer magical dueling Snape."
"That has its charms too. But this is much more… immediate."
Snape twirled the blade slowly, and with a small flick leveled it with Hooch's throat. She did not blink, or startle. He smiled and laid the weapon on the desk. The dull click of metal on wood reminded her that she was about to start something very dangerous.
"Perhaps I will teach you sometime. I used to fence with Lucius in the summer." He added the last as an afterthought, carelessly.
"Before or after tea?" Hana snorted derisively.
"Usually before. After tea we went out to kill things."