Disclaimer: All belongs to JKR, but I wish it didn't.
A/N: Thank you to Sunglow999 for beta reading, and everyone who has reviewed so far.
Chapter 9 - Let Battle Commence!
"May I come in Severus?" Dumbledore knocked on his door. Severus looked up.
"You're already in, Albus, I notice." He put aside the book he was reading.
"How are you?"
"The same as yesterday."
"Ah. I have a request from Hermione."
"Oh yes?"
"She'd like the use of your lab for a few days."
"Fine. I'll clear a space for her." Severus knew he'd shocked Dumbledore by agreeing so quickly.
"Is everything all right? You don't object?"
"Yes. No."
"Have you spoken to Hermione?"
"No. You can tell her she can start tomorrow. I'll make sure I'm not here."
"Is there any hope for you two?"
"Mind your own business, Albus." He picked up his book again, a pointed reminder that this conversation was finished.
~~~
"The boy's up to something, Minerva."
"How do you know?"
"He agreed too quickly."
"Perhaps he plans on finally talking to her. This ignoring each other is very wearing on us all."
"Perhaps."
~~~
Hermione gathered up her supplies and took one last look in the mirror at her reflection. Perfect; the robes hid everything as she'd added a few extra buttons lower down.
Making her way to the dungeons, she entered the potions classroom. She was a few minutes early as she hoped to catch Severus before he left. She quickly set up her equipment and shrugged off her robe as she heard his door click open. She busied herself adding ingredients to her cauldron.
"You're early." His voice rumbled through her and she turned to face him, but he was in the shadows.
"I wanted to get started. I'm nearly out of shampoo."
"Fine. I'll leave you to it." Severus's heart raced at he sight of her standing there. She was doing just what he thought she'd do; try to get to him through his senses, and it was working. She was his fantasy woman tonight, in a mini skirt and thigh boots, and it took all his considerable self-control not to carry her off there and then.
If that was the way she wanted to play, then so be it. He moved into the room, his outer robe over his arm as though he'd just picked it up. Sauntering over to the door, he caught the stunned look in her eyes. He turned and gave her a long look, starting from her boots and travelling slowly up to meet her eyes.
"Nice boots." He said and left the room.
As the door clicked shut he flung his robes on. He felt a right prat in these leather trousers. It had taken considerable willpower to walk across that room, but he'd done it. Now all he wanted to do was transfigure them back into his normal trousers.
What the hell was he doing? All he had to do was go back in there and talk to her. He could have her back in his bed in five minutes, possibly less from the look in her eyes. He knew exactly what buttons to push. And she did say he had a sexy voice. No, it was the principal of the matter. She would have to be the one to make the first move; he was the injured party here, not her.
~~~
Hermione whimpered over the cauldron, hands trembling slightly. He'd been wearing leather trousers! Where had he got them? Who had he bought them for? Did he have some floozy somewhere that he wanted to impress? God, he looked gorgeous in them; his long legs and tight arse lovingly encased in black leather, his impressive equipment outlined by the soft hide.
He was definitely playing dirty now, and she didn't think she'd be able to hold out against him if he came back anytime soon. She'd be grovelling at his feet in less than a minute, eager to get her hands inside those trousers. And he didn't deserve that yet. It was payback time for him being such a miserable git for the last month. She'd make sure he was the first one to make a move.
~~~
It was a battle of wills from then on. Severus started joining the other teachers for lunch and dinner again, being perfectly pleasant. They watched him warily, thinking he was lulling them into a false sense of security before turning on them again. Hermione continued to sit with Sirius and Remus, and they watched with amusement as the ex-lovers baited each other.
Hermione absent-mindedly swirled her juice around the goblet, allowing a drop to spill over the side. She caught the drop on her finger and brought it up to her mouth, her tongue flicking out to catch it, all the time keeping eye contact with Severus, watching his eyes darken.
Remus shifted uncomfortably and looked Sirius in the eye, who grinned. He jerked his head and whispered something to Hermione, who looked up, surprised. Then she smiled.
Sirius beckoned to Remus, who followed him from the hall. Finding an empty closet, Sirius dragged him in, casting locking and silencing charms on the door.
Remus sagged against his lover.
"I don't even like women, and she's turning me on!" he moaned. "How long is he going to resist her?"
"Can't be much longer, surely. All I could think of was you doing that to me." Sirius growled at him.
"Really?"
"And not with pumpkin juice, either." Bending over Remus, he gave him a scorching kiss, pulling him tight against him.
"We're sad gits, aren't we? Getting turned on like this." Remus gasped.
"Speak for yourself. I, for one, am eternally grateful to her..."
~~~
Severus left the table, glad his robes covered everything. That little display of hers was the opening salvo; he'd have to come up with a counter attack. Unfortunately, he didn't think he could get away with something like that, certainly not in front of the whole school. It would have to be something subtler, or maybe physical... Ah, the next Quidditch match. He was due to referee. He'd always looked good in Quidditch gear. It had something to do with strategically placed amour and skin-tight trousers. He was good on a broom, too, and didn't she have a fantasy about that?
Making his way back down to his classroom, he almost smiled to himself. He had been in regular contact with his newest ally, John Granger, by owl, who had confessed that he'd told Helen of their situation. Surprisingly, she had come down on his side, and between the pair of them had come up with a lot of inside information. Mind, he didn't envy them if Hermione ever found out about it. Those leather trousers had been an outstanding success if the look on her face had been anything to go by.
~~~
Mid October rolled around, and Quidditch had started. Hermione sat with Ginny to watch Ravenclaw against Gryffindor. The only reason she had allowed Ginny to drag her out here was because Severus was refereeing for once. She wondered if he would find an excuse to deduct points from Gryffindor. And she had absolutely no interest in finding out what he looked like in Quidditch gear, or on a broom. None whatsoever.
Ginny gasped as Snape strode out onto the pitch.
"Shit, he looks even better than Harry does!"
"Where?" Hermione grabbed the omniculors from Ginny and zoomed in on him. Then she moaned.
"Pick yourself up off the floor, woman!" Sirius grabbed the glasses and looked.
"Doesn't he just?" he drooled.
"Where, let's see!" Remus snatched them and leered through them.
"He's mine, you perverts!" Hermione grabbed them back and there was an undignified struggle for a few seconds.
"Can we have him when you've finished with him?" Sirius asked, grinning.
"You'll be too old and decrepit by that time." She looked again, feasting her eyes on Severus. "Now I know why you always came to Harry's games, Ginny."
"Yeah, but he never looked as good as Snape."
"But Severus is a man, not a boy." Remus said.
"And what a man!" Hermione sighed. She watched as he threw the quaffle in the air and mounted his broom.
The match was on. He flew gracefully backwards and forwards, his leg muscles bunching under those trousers as he twisted and turned in the air. Hermione had absolutely no intention of watching anything but him now, aching to feel those muscles against her body again. She was getting tired of their game now; and she knew it was a game they were playing with each other.
She had a pretty good idea that he'd forgiven her, and was just teasing her. Why else would he display himself in those leather trousers; why else would he be wearing that obscenely tight quidditch gear and show off in front of her? And he was showing off, very cleverly, she thought. It wasn't just coincidence that had him speeding past the Gryffindor stand so closely she could see the slight smile on his face.
"Enjoying the game, Hermione?" Sirius nudged her.
"Absolutely.." she murmured absently.
She watched as a bludger narrowly missed him and frowned. Another one. Then another. She swung her gaze up to the beaters and watched as they deliberately sent another one his way.
Severus looked up and just avoided another one. This was getting scary. He called a time-out and brought the captains in front of him. She watched him speaking to them and saw them nod, then they flew over to the beaters, shaking their heads and gesticulating.
The game started again and this time the beaters behaved themselves. It had been worth a try, after all, to try to get back at him for taking all those points off them. Hermione carried on watching Severus, his hair flying back away from his face.
Something caught her eye; something that was gold, shiny and fluttering right in front of her nose! She brushed it away before the seekers headed straight for her, but it wouldn't move. She batted it away again, but Ginny nudged her hand and her fingers curled around it, it's tiny wings fluttering in her palm.
Severus blew his whistle and flew over to Hermione, holding out his hand, black hair windswept.
"May we have our snitch back, Miss Granger?" his eyes looked into hers, a smile playing about his mobile lips.
"Of course, Professor Snape, seeing as you asked so nicely." She held out her hand and he curled his long fingers over hers, scooping up the errant snitch into his firm grasp.
He took note of her fast beating pulse that matched the snitch, and he very nearly dragged her out of the stand and on the ride of her life, but he restrained himself. It wouldn't be long now...
He turned away, his robe flapping back to reveal the taut muscles of his leg, a small smile on his face. He released the snitch and the match continued.
~~~
There was a celebration in the Gryffindor tower that night. It hade been a close call, 200-180. If Harry had been there, it would have been an easy win, but the new team were just getting to know each other. It had been hard to find a seeker to match him.
Hermione could hear the celebrations from her sitting room, where she was curled up with a book. It was time to plan the next move in her game of Severus Chess. Making him jealous was out; there was no way she was going down that road again. There was always food, but she didn't think Remus would survive that. She wracked her brains, but she couldn't think of anything but the way he made her feel at the match today.
He'd been all hot and sweaty by the time the match had ended, and she had been swept down with the other Gryffindors to congratulate the team. She swore that Sirius deliberately knocked into her and sent her crashing towards Severus. He'd caught her and they'd been pushed against the stand wall, his body against hers so she could feel every inch of him. She thought she'd died and gone to heaven, but the moment had been short-lived. He'd pulled away with a small smile, and headed towards the staff changing rooms. She would have gone after him, but Ginny had dragged her into the crowd to celebrate. Damn Ginny! She could have been in that shower with him!
~~~
He'd fully expected her to follow him into the shower, but it hadn't happened, much to his disappointment. That must have been the longest shower on record while he'd waited in vain.
It was getting tiresome now, their game. He missed her every minute of the day, not just for the sex either. He missed their conversations, their work together and even the arguments over different theories. He stared into his glass as he sat by the fire. What was she doing now? Celebrating with the others? Was she dancing? He fished in his pocket for the flat box he'd put there earlier, and opened it up. The stones of the necklace glowed in the firelight, the orange and red shimmering in the depths. He lifted it out and held it up, imagining it round Hermione's neck.
Making his decision, he carefully put it back in the box and got to his feet. Leaving his robes off, he strode to the door, throwing his cape over his white shirt; it could be bloody cold in those corridors.
~~~
Hermione snapped her book shut, making her mind up. She was miserable, he was miserable. If it took a grovelling apology to him to get them back together, she'd do it, and crawl on her knees all the way back down to the dungeons if it made him feel better. She missed his smile, his sexy walk, his bad temper and sarky comments. She also missed cuddling up to him at night and she missed the mind-blowing sex.
Throwing her cloak over her nightgown and slipping her feet into her slippers, she quietly opened her door. Everything was quiet; the party had finished hours ago; and she slipped into the corridor. Making her way quickly down the tower steps, she peered round the corner to make sure Mrs Norris wasn't about. Seeing the coast was clear, she made her way quickly to the dungeons, keeping to the shadows.
She was halfway there when she rounded a corner and ran straight into a solid wall of muscle. The moon had disappeared behind a cloud, so she felt her way up a cloak-covered chest and over broad shoulders. Her fingers found a straight nose and smooth cheeks.
Catching her by the waist, he spoke softly.
"Going somewhere, Hermione?"
"Draco?"
TBC
A/N: Thank you to Sunglow999 for beta reading, and everyone who has reviewed so far.
Chapter 9 - Let Battle Commence!
"May I come in Severus?" Dumbledore knocked on his door. Severus looked up.
"You're already in, Albus, I notice." He put aside the book he was reading.
"How are you?"
"The same as yesterday."
"Ah. I have a request from Hermione."
"Oh yes?"
"She'd like the use of your lab for a few days."
"Fine. I'll clear a space for her." Severus knew he'd shocked Dumbledore by agreeing so quickly.
"Is everything all right? You don't object?"
"Yes. No."
"Have you spoken to Hermione?"
"No. You can tell her she can start tomorrow. I'll make sure I'm not here."
"Is there any hope for you two?"
"Mind your own business, Albus." He picked up his book again, a pointed reminder that this conversation was finished.
~~~
"The boy's up to something, Minerva."
"How do you know?"
"He agreed too quickly."
"Perhaps he plans on finally talking to her. This ignoring each other is very wearing on us all."
"Perhaps."
~~~
Hermione gathered up her supplies and took one last look in the mirror at her reflection. Perfect; the robes hid everything as she'd added a few extra buttons lower down.
Making her way to the dungeons, she entered the potions classroom. She was a few minutes early as she hoped to catch Severus before he left. She quickly set up her equipment and shrugged off her robe as she heard his door click open. She busied herself adding ingredients to her cauldron.
"You're early." His voice rumbled through her and she turned to face him, but he was in the shadows.
"I wanted to get started. I'm nearly out of shampoo."
"Fine. I'll leave you to it." Severus's heart raced at he sight of her standing there. She was doing just what he thought she'd do; try to get to him through his senses, and it was working. She was his fantasy woman tonight, in a mini skirt and thigh boots, and it took all his considerable self-control not to carry her off there and then.
If that was the way she wanted to play, then so be it. He moved into the room, his outer robe over his arm as though he'd just picked it up. Sauntering over to the door, he caught the stunned look in her eyes. He turned and gave her a long look, starting from her boots and travelling slowly up to meet her eyes.
"Nice boots." He said and left the room.
As the door clicked shut he flung his robes on. He felt a right prat in these leather trousers. It had taken considerable willpower to walk across that room, but he'd done it. Now all he wanted to do was transfigure them back into his normal trousers.
What the hell was he doing? All he had to do was go back in there and talk to her. He could have her back in his bed in five minutes, possibly less from the look in her eyes. He knew exactly what buttons to push. And she did say he had a sexy voice. No, it was the principal of the matter. She would have to be the one to make the first move; he was the injured party here, not her.
~~~
Hermione whimpered over the cauldron, hands trembling slightly. He'd been wearing leather trousers! Where had he got them? Who had he bought them for? Did he have some floozy somewhere that he wanted to impress? God, he looked gorgeous in them; his long legs and tight arse lovingly encased in black leather, his impressive equipment outlined by the soft hide.
He was definitely playing dirty now, and she didn't think she'd be able to hold out against him if he came back anytime soon. She'd be grovelling at his feet in less than a minute, eager to get her hands inside those trousers. And he didn't deserve that yet. It was payback time for him being such a miserable git for the last month. She'd make sure he was the first one to make a move.
~~~
It was a battle of wills from then on. Severus started joining the other teachers for lunch and dinner again, being perfectly pleasant. They watched him warily, thinking he was lulling them into a false sense of security before turning on them again. Hermione continued to sit with Sirius and Remus, and they watched with amusement as the ex-lovers baited each other.
Hermione absent-mindedly swirled her juice around the goblet, allowing a drop to spill over the side. She caught the drop on her finger and brought it up to her mouth, her tongue flicking out to catch it, all the time keeping eye contact with Severus, watching his eyes darken.
Remus shifted uncomfortably and looked Sirius in the eye, who grinned. He jerked his head and whispered something to Hermione, who looked up, surprised. Then she smiled.
Sirius beckoned to Remus, who followed him from the hall. Finding an empty closet, Sirius dragged him in, casting locking and silencing charms on the door.
Remus sagged against his lover.
"I don't even like women, and she's turning me on!" he moaned. "How long is he going to resist her?"
"Can't be much longer, surely. All I could think of was you doing that to me." Sirius growled at him.
"Really?"
"And not with pumpkin juice, either." Bending over Remus, he gave him a scorching kiss, pulling him tight against him.
"We're sad gits, aren't we? Getting turned on like this." Remus gasped.
"Speak for yourself. I, for one, am eternally grateful to her..."
~~~
Severus left the table, glad his robes covered everything. That little display of hers was the opening salvo; he'd have to come up with a counter attack. Unfortunately, he didn't think he could get away with something like that, certainly not in front of the whole school. It would have to be something subtler, or maybe physical... Ah, the next Quidditch match. He was due to referee. He'd always looked good in Quidditch gear. It had something to do with strategically placed amour and skin-tight trousers. He was good on a broom, too, and didn't she have a fantasy about that?
Making his way back down to his classroom, he almost smiled to himself. He had been in regular contact with his newest ally, John Granger, by owl, who had confessed that he'd told Helen of their situation. Surprisingly, she had come down on his side, and between the pair of them had come up with a lot of inside information. Mind, he didn't envy them if Hermione ever found out about it. Those leather trousers had been an outstanding success if the look on her face had been anything to go by.
~~~
Mid October rolled around, and Quidditch had started. Hermione sat with Ginny to watch Ravenclaw against Gryffindor. The only reason she had allowed Ginny to drag her out here was because Severus was refereeing for once. She wondered if he would find an excuse to deduct points from Gryffindor. And she had absolutely no interest in finding out what he looked like in Quidditch gear, or on a broom. None whatsoever.
Ginny gasped as Snape strode out onto the pitch.
"Shit, he looks even better than Harry does!"
"Where?" Hermione grabbed the omniculors from Ginny and zoomed in on him. Then she moaned.
"Pick yourself up off the floor, woman!" Sirius grabbed the glasses and looked.
"Doesn't he just?" he drooled.
"Where, let's see!" Remus snatched them and leered through them.
"He's mine, you perverts!" Hermione grabbed them back and there was an undignified struggle for a few seconds.
"Can we have him when you've finished with him?" Sirius asked, grinning.
"You'll be too old and decrepit by that time." She looked again, feasting her eyes on Severus. "Now I know why you always came to Harry's games, Ginny."
"Yeah, but he never looked as good as Snape."
"But Severus is a man, not a boy." Remus said.
"And what a man!" Hermione sighed. She watched as he threw the quaffle in the air and mounted his broom.
The match was on. He flew gracefully backwards and forwards, his leg muscles bunching under those trousers as he twisted and turned in the air. Hermione had absolutely no intention of watching anything but him now, aching to feel those muscles against her body again. She was getting tired of their game now; and she knew it was a game they were playing with each other.
She had a pretty good idea that he'd forgiven her, and was just teasing her. Why else would he display himself in those leather trousers; why else would he be wearing that obscenely tight quidditch gear and show off in front of her? And he was showing off, very cleverly, she thought. It wasn't just coincidence that had him speeding past the Gryffindor stand so closely she could see the slight smile on his face.
"Enjoying the game, Hermione?" Sirius nudged her.
"Absolutely.." she murmured absently.
She watched as a bludger narrowly missed him and frowned. Another one. Then another. She swung her gaze up to the beaters and watched as they deliberately sent another one his way.
Severus looked up and just avoided another one. This was getting scary. He called a time-out and brought the captains in front of him. She watched him speaking to them and saw them nod, then they flew over to the beaters, shaking their heads and gesticulating.
The game started again and this time the beaters behaved themselves. It had been worth a try, after all, to try to get back at him for taking all those points off them. Hermione carried on watching Severus, his hair flying back away from his face.
Something caught her eye; something that was gold, shiny and fluttering right in front of her nose! She brushed it away before the seekers headed straight for her, but it wouldn't move. She batted it away again, but Ginny nudged her hand and her fingers curled around it, it's tiny wings fluttering in her palm.
Severus blew his whistle and flew over to Hermione, holding out his hand, black hair windswept.
"May we have our snitch back, Miss Granger?" his eyes looked into hers, a smile playing about his mobile lips.
"Of course, Professor Snape, seeing as you asked so nicely." She held out her hand and he curled his long fingers over hers, scooping up the errant snitch into his firm grasp.
He took note of her fast beating pulse that matched the snitch, and he very nearly dragged her out of the stand and on the ride of her life, but he restrained himself. It wouldn't be long now...
He turned away, his robe flapping back to reveal the taut muscles of his leg, a small smile on his face. He released the snitch and the match continued.
~~~
There was a celebration in the Gryffindor tower that night. It hade been a close call, 200-180. If Harry had been there, it would have been an easy win, but the new team were just getting to know each other. It had been hard to find a seeker to match him.
Hermione could hear the celebrations from her sitting room, where she was curled up with a book. It was time to plan the next move in her game of Severus Chess. Making him jealous was out; there was no way she was going down that road again. There was always food, but she didn't think Remus would survive that. She wracked her brains, but she couldn't think of anything but the way he made her feel at the match today.
He'd been all hot and sweaty by the time the match had ended, and she had been swept down with the other Gryffindors to congratulate the team. She swore that Sirius deliberately knocked into her and sent her crashing towards Severus. He'd caught her and they'd been pushed against the stand wall, his body against hers so she could feel every inch of him. She thought she'd died and gone to heaven, but the moment had been short-lived. He'd pulled away with a small smile, and headed towards the staff changing rooms. She would have gone after him, but Ginny had dragged her into the crowd to celebrate. Damn Ginny! She could have been in that shower with him!
~~~
He'd fully expected her to follow him into the shower, but it hadn't happened, much to his disappointment. That must have been the longest shower on record while he'd waited in vain.
It was getting tiresome now, their game. He missed her every minute of the day, not just for the sex either. He missed their conversations, their work together and even the arguments over different theories. He stared into his glass as he sat by the fire. What was she doing now? Celebrating with the others? Was she dancing? He fished in his pocket for the flat box he'd put there earlier, and opened it up. The stones of the necklace glowed in the firelight, the orange and red shimmering in the depths. He lifted it out and held it up, imagining it round Hermione's neck.
Making his decision, he carefully put it back in the box and got to his feet. Leaving his robes off, he strode to the door, throwing his cape over his white shirt; it could be bloody cold in those corridors.
~~~
Hermione snapped her book shut, making her mind up. She was miserable, he was miserable. If it took a grovelling apology to him to get them back together, she'd do it, and crawl on her knees all the way back down to the dungeons if it made him feel better. She missed his smile, his sexy walk, his bad temper and sarky comments. She also missed cuddling up to him at night and she missed the mind-blowing sex.
Throwing her cloak over her nightgown and slipping her feet into her slippers, she quietly opened her door. Everything was quiet; the party had finished hours ago; and she slipped into the corridor. Making her way quickly down the tower steps, she peered round the corner to make sure Mrs Norris wasn't about. Seeing the coast was clear, she made her way quickly to the dungeons, keeping to the shadows.
She was halfway there when she rounded a corner and ran straight into a solid wall of muscle. The moon had disappeared behind a cloud, so she felt her way up a cloak-covered chest and over broad shoulders. Her fingers found a straight nose and smooth cheeks.
Catching her by the waist, he spoke softly.
"Going somewhere, Hermione?"
"Draco?"
TBC