Summary: A late night need for conversation leads to an unlikely friendship.
Author's Notes: Not to sound conceited, but I absolutely love this story. I enjoyed writing it more than I've enjoyed writing anything else for quite a while. Also, writer's block was almost nonexistent this time around, which was a very nice change. Severus is more than likely OOC, but I like him better when he's not completely anti-social, and I'd like to think that if he and Hermione ever became friends, she could smooth over his rough edges. Some small caveats: there is quite a lot of WaFF in this story, but I felt that I had to add it because it also contains more than my usual dosing of drama. I also want to apologize ahead of time for potential unevenness of the chapters. I typed it all up at once and then divided it up according to sections of the story, so some chapters are probably going to be shorter than others.
Rating: R for a little bit of language, quite a bit of sex and descriptions of abuse and rape
'Ship: SS/HG
Disclaimer: This world and these lovely characters belong to J. K. Rowling and I thank her for letting me play with them. I am returning them only slightly mussed and probably quite a bit happier.
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Unexpected
By OcelotKitten
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Like a thick blanket, darkness lay over Hogwarts Keep. Most slept. Only ghosts and the restless populated the night. One such example of the latter sat before a dying fire in his chambers. Professor Severus Snape was no stranger to the night. Often, it was his only companion in the long hours when sleep eluded him, and the dragons of the past preyed upon his mind. Tonight was no different. He'd lain awake for hours before he'd finally quit the bed and moved to his overstuffed armchair. Now, he stared unseeing into the dying fire, consumed by the inevitable regrets of the past. He was about to quit the chambers to go on his nightly prowl of the castle when there was a knock at the door.
Standing with a sigh, he cinched his black silk robe tighter around his waist, and moved to answer the door. While it was rare for anyone to visit him, it was even rarer for it to be at night. He fervently hoped it wasn't Argus Filch with some real or imagined student offense. While he usually jumped at the chance to deduct points or inflict detention on hapless students, he wasn't feeling up to dealing with the distasteful groundskeeper tonight. He opened the door and his jaw nearly dropped open in utter shock before he remembered himself. Standing there was one of the last people he ever would have expected to be outside his rooms in the middle of the night. Hermione Granger was turning away from the door, as if to leave, but at the sound of the door opening, she turned back, a sheepish expression on her face. It only took a moment for Snape to recover from his astonishment and his teacher mode automatically slipped into place. He demanded, "What are you doing out of bed, Miss Granger?" Flushing, she blurted, "I . . . I was having trouble sleeping, and I needed someone to talk to. I . . . I thought you might be awake since it seems like you usually are at night, and that we could talk. Or maybe not. I should just go."
She turned to leave, but Snape reached out and caught at her arm, common sense momentarily overruled by what he cynically thought was probably insanity. The idea of someone to talk to for once was absurdly appealing, even if it that someone was a student and one of the banes of his life at that. "I would like someone to talk to, Miss Granger," he said, trying to keep his voice as non-threatening as possible, "Perhaps we might help each other." She was still looking at his hand on her arm as if it might bite her, so he removed it and ushered her in. He poked up the fire, and added logs as she sat nervously in the other armchair, and he reseated himself. They sat in awkward silence for several moments before Hermione asked, "So, what was keeping you awake?"
"It is not polite to ask first, Miss Granger," he said dryly, choosing to ignore the ludicrousness of the situation, "You are supposed to offer information, not pry."
She blushed. "All right then," she said and she was quiet for another moment before she blurted, "I couldn't sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about what prats Harry and Ron are and how lonely I am." She blushed even more as if she suddenly remembered exactly whom she was talking to. Snape was quiet for a long moment. He tried desperately to come up with one of his usual sarcastic rejoinders, but found he couldn't make fun of her. Perhaps because her situation was so sadly similar to the one he himself was in. Failing for sarcastic, he tried for puzzled, "Why come to me? I can't have been your first choice for someone to confide in."
"Actually, I've been thinking about coming to you for several nights."
"But why?"
She took a paused, looking down and toying with the hem of her red Gryffindor robe, "Because I thought you might feel similarly. I mean, I know you think Harry and Ron are prats. Everyone knows that." He snorted and she looked up at him with a small smile, "But you seem so lonely . . ." Taken aback, Severus was forced to reevaluate his long-held opinion of her. She had seen and, more importantly, she cared about what few others did, not even his own colleagues, save Dumbledore. "I am, Miss Granger," he said, quietly, not bothering to wonder why he was unburdening himself to a student. It felt so good to simply talk with someone. "I am more alone than I would be were I the only one in the castle." He paused, then continued in the same quiet tone, "You are one of the first in all my long years here as a student and then as a teacher to care about how I felt."
"I am?" she said, "That's so sad. But I think I know how you feel. It seems like Harry and Ron don't care about me or anything I like. The only time they care about books is when they're about Quidditch."
Snape nodded ruefully, "I encountered much the same attitude with James Potter and his . . . friends." Hermione seemed to ponder something for a moment. She said, "Forgive me for asking, but I've always wondered. What happened that night at the Willow? The night Sirius played that trick on you." Snape sighed. Trust that she would ask that. Noticing his reluctance to answer, she hastily said, "You don't have to tell me if it's none of my business . . ." He held up a hand, "No, it's all right. I don't mind. It was midway through my fifth year. I had noticed Lupin being smuggled out of the school to the Whomping Willow many times, and was naturally curious as to what was going on, but I also never missed an opportunity to get my adversaries into trouble. I was certain he was involved in some unsanctioned activity. Black must have noticed my interest in the matter because he told me that I could follow Lupin down the tunnel. He told me some inane thing about a secret Potions experiment that Lupin was conducting. I can't remember now exactly what it was, but I should have known better than to trust him. Even now, Black wouldn't know proper potions-making if it bit him on the arse."
Hermione stifled a giggle as he continued, "Black told me about the knot on the tree, and how to trigger it. He told me all about how to find the hidden trapdoor. He even told me approximately how long the tunnel was, and that it would come out in the old shack in Hogsmeade. What he didn't tell me was that at the end of the tunnel, I would find a fully transformed werewolf, ready and more than willing to tear me to pieces. I was nearly to the Shrieking Shack before Potter caught up to me. I know now that he had had nothing to do with it, but at the time, I was furious. I thought they were all in on it, and I wanted revenge. I went straight to Dumbledore, claiming that Sirius had tried to kill me. It was dismissed, of course, as a harmless school boy prank." He sighed ruefully, "Dumbledore was the only one who came close to believing me, and even he thought I was exaggerating it. No one wanted to believe what I said about them, about anything. They were the most popular students in the school. Even some of the Slytherins liked them. No one wanted to take the word of a suspected Death Eater over them."
Hermione bit her lip, "Were you a Death Eater then?"
He shook his head, "No, I wasn't, although I suspect that that incident played a large part in driving me to it." Hermione was quiet for a long moment. She finally said, "Harry always defends Sirius about anything and everything. I used to think he was right for doing so. Now I am not so sure. Whether it was his intention or not, he could have killed you that night, and I don't think that youthful indiscretion is an excuse for near murder."
He smiled gently at her, "Thank you, Miss Granger for that. It was good to hear that, to hear someone side with me even after all these years." The chatted for a while longer, before Snape glanced at the clock. He was astonished to discover that several hours had flown by. Rising, he said, "Miss Granger, you should get back to your dormitory. I believe you have Potions first thing in the morning and I am afraid I cannot allow you to fall asleep in class." She stood too and smiled as he led her to the door. Turning to face him, she said, "It means a lot to me that you would do this, Professor. Would you want to talk again another night?"
After a moment's hesitation, he gave her a smile and said, "I'd like that, Miss Granger. I truly would." She flashed him a grin and was suddenly gone. With a sigh, Snape went back into his chambers. They were empty, but no longer seemed quite as lonely.
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