So I've been awarded the prompt, they have no reflection in the mirror, as a gift of sorts to my friend and beta, bondgirltrb for her successful completion of a noir style fic while I tempted her with a hot cider prompt. Go figure she'd finish on time lol.
Merlin the girl could talk.
Hermione smiled and pushed a stray strand of curls behind one ear while the precious little girl in front of her talked about everything on her mind. The child's deep brown hair with large curls would bounce each time she waved her small hands in the air to emphasize her newest point. And oh, what a point it was indeed. Not that Hermione was actually sure she understood the importance of or validity of a creature referred to as Pikachu. She was reasonably certain that Luna Lovegood would have referred to it as a nargle of some sort.
Dark brown eyes glinted with cheerful mischief that could really only be found in small children and the Weasley twins. "And I think Prfssr Snap could have a Vulpix."
Covering her mouth to stifle the snort of laughter threatening to bubble forth from her mouth, Hermione felt her nose scrunch in amusement when her eyes found the dark clad form of her co-worker buried face first in the newest volume of Starke Tranke. Only Severus Snape would find the harshest sounding potions periodical to read during breakfast. She shook her head and turned her attention back to the girl watching her with an unnerving amount of eagerness. "Professor Snape probably has no idea what a Vulpix is."
The girl's head tilted to one side, those impossibly large brown eyes widening with disbelieving horror. "But everyone knows Vulpix!!!!!"
Hermione couldn't bring herself to admit that she also was unaware of what a Vulpix was. But then, she also hadn't admitted to anyone else about the little girl talking to her every morning either. How was she to explain that every day she was visited by a doll-like girl who talked to her about anything and everything under the sun? And the fact that she never realized that she was the only one who could see and hear her until one day they were walking in front of the large windows in the corridor to her quarters where she came to the startling realization she was the only one reflected back? She didn't think the little girl was dangerous and, truthfully, she had learned so much about the rest of the staff from her that it seemed harmless to allow her to keep chattering away like she always did. It was apparent that the little girl was lonely and obviously had a very vivid imagination.
"Well Hope…I think it is because Professor Snape is more academically inclined."
Cocoa colored eyes suspicious, Hope looked at the dark haired professor still reading with a blissful lack of awareness of her regard. "But he likes fluffy things."
Another choked laugh caught in Hermione's throat. No, she couldn't imagine the dour man liking anything fluffy. He certainly disparaged her own thick and curly locks often enough. In fact, the last time they spoke, he threatened to grease her hair back before she set herself on fire via one of the various candles littering her desk in her office. Mind, that had been during a high tempered meeting about one of his Slytherins getting detention with her after trying to set up runic traps in the hall outside her classroom. Impressive though those traps were, she was not going to put up with having to unward every inch of space beyond her class doorway just to head to lunch. Perhaps she should not have stared at him when he was pacing back and forth in front of her desk but, really, the man oozed sensuality with each movement.
All easy grace and suppressed energy wrapped in unrelenting ebony robes. Obviously, the man had no idea what kind of image he projected when he was in high dudgeon. Especially when sparks of his magic swirled in time with the billow of his robes. Walking sex.
Hermione sighed internally. Not that she could ever admit to the man that she was interested in him. It was pretty clear he saw her as nothing more than an annoyance that needed to be avoided at all costs. It didn't stop her from wanting to run her tongue down his neck after freeing that pale column of skin from his confining high collared robes. She shook her head to clear that particularly enjoyable thought and turned her focus back onto the small girl still waiting for her response. How could she be diplomatic?
"Well Hope…maybe if he saw a um…Vulpix he could tell you if he really likes fluffy things?"
Unholy glee lit the girl's eyes and Hermione suddenly felt a wave of unease travel through her body.
In all his years, both as a student and a teacher, Severus Snape had seen a great many mysterious things happen in the halls of Hogwarts. Some things, less mysterious and more disconcerting, such as the time that Longbottom managed to enchant a queue of Fanged Geraniums into following him around for a fortnight during his apprenticeship with Pomona Sprout. The only thing that made the experience more surreal was the complete passivity of the notoriously bad tempered plants. He did get some choice ingredients from that particular batch of flowers though, so he didn't berate the young man for the potential risk of that event. At least not much. Right now, however, he was on the mysteriously frightening side of things when it came to the byproducts of working in a semi sentient school full of magical teenagers.
Large doe eyes stared up at him from a cherubic face graced with pink cheeks ringed with large dark brown curls. The intent regard of those eyes was unnerving and more than a little disturbing. Especially considering he was sitting in his private rooms trying to enjoy the relative comfort of his nightly ritual of unwinding with a nice cup of tea and his secret vice of muggle science fiction novels. He was pretty certain that none of his co-workers had a young child staying with them in the school. Although, he did admit that it was possible that the Ancient Runes teacher could be child sitting for one of her friends. A small comfort since the child was in his quarters and staring at him like he knew all the secrets of the universe.
"Prffesor Snap, you like fluffy stuff."
Severus blinked and slowly closed his book. He liked what? Surely the child was touched in the head if she believed he had a love of cuddly animals. "Pardon me?"
One dark brown eyebrow shot up as the girl heaved a long suffering sigh.
His own eyebrow went up in response. "Explain yourself small…female thing."
Those doe eyes narrowed. "You like fluffy stuff. Like Vulpix and Prffesor Granger."
Oh fucks sake, this child obviously was a result of Granger's lack of attention as a child minder. And she was still talking.
"And then Prffesor Granger drawed the pretty letters and it lit up and…"
His eye twitched. Didn't children require air to breathe? How could anyone string that many words together without stopping? He was pretty certain that even his godson wasn't that loquacious as a child. Perhaps it was a byproduct of spending time with Granger? How much trouble would it cause if he lost his temper with the small female creature currently turning his drink into a child's potion of mostly sugar and cream with a hint of tea? And really, where in the bloody hell did she come from?
"But if you put blue and pink together they turn kinda purple but I like green cuz green is the bestest color ever. Do you like green Prffesor Snap?"
Severus' fingers drummed against his thigh. "I find it an acceptable choice over pink or purple."
"Prffesor Granger likes green too. But I really think she likes black best because she looks at you the most and you are always in black."
He blinked, all thoughts of casting a silencio on the child disappearing from his thoughts at that sentence. "She looks at me?"
The girl nodded solemnly even as she started attempting to fold a piece of parchment on the coffee table into a strange origami shape only known to small children. "And she turns pink too."
"Hmm…"
"But you look at her lots too."
Black eyes narrowed. He wasn't aware of being so obvious with his interest. And, for that matter, when did she see him watching Granger? Certainly he had never noticed a small child following the Runes Mistress around the castle at any point in time. Because, as the child pointed out, he did watch Granger whenever he thought he could get away with it. She had grown into a beautiful woman and he was not going to lie to himself about his interest in her. Even he wasn't that foolish.
"My mommy says that people look at each other lots sometimes because they like them. Prffessor Granger likes you lots and lots. Mommy says its cuz you have a peel." Tiny hands started toying with the buttons on his sleeves. "Like an apple, I guess apples are important."
"Obviously." Severus looked down at the dainty fingers tapping on his buttons then back up at the girl's face. "I believe I should return you to Professor Granger before she works herself into a frenzy and comes searching."
A brilliant smile lit the girl's face. "Ok!"
Striding through the halls with a small child chirping cheerfully beside him was a novel experience. Especially considering that not a single person remarked on his short companion. Likely, that lack of response was due to the sharp eyed glares he shot in their direction. Very few students wanted to risk the Potion Master's temper. And the entire walk up to the Rune Professor's quarters, his small companion kept up a running commentary.
"But if bugs are good for potions, why are they icky? And are all potions gross? Prffessor
Granger always makes faces when she has to take her potions. But she tells me that, at least, they weren't made by Neville. I don't know Neville yet. Does he work here too? Do you think dragons are cool? I think dragons are cool. But I really like dogs more because they're fluffy and play fetch. I'm not allowed to have a dog or a cat cuz Grandma says no cuz G'pa is 'llergic to cats. Are you 'llergic to cats? Prfessor Granger has a cat."
For the rest of his life, Severus would remember turning his head to glance at the talkative little girl and seeing only himself in the windows in spite of very clearly looking directly at the child. He would also remember that not once had he felt threatened by her cheerful presence. Though, as he knocked on Professor Granger's door, he wasn't surprised that the girl kept on speaking about creatures with names he had never heard before in his life. Perhaps she was one of Lovegood's mysterious Wrackspurts sent to push him into interacting with his younger colleague? Certainly he had no clue, but when Hermione opened the door to her quarters and smiled shyly at him, he didn't begrudge the fact that the child had disappeared from view.