"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...." J.K. Rowling's characters and
stories - who don't belong to me by the way - nipping at your nose!
'Tis the season to be busy, and that is exactly what I am right now. Or, one could say that the season is my rationalization for writing a short chapter. I hope that's ok. I wanted to move the story forward, even if it's only a little bit. I don't have a lot of time to spare right now, so I'll do as much as I can. Please be patient with me. Thanks so much for reading this story! I appreciate your feedback and reviews! Happy Holiday to everyone who is celebrating something special during this wonderful time of the year.
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It took every ounce of strength Hermione possessed to refrain from hyperventilating in front of them. Upon reaching the privacy her bedroom, she quietly closed the door and leaned against its hard mahogany panels for support. Her dignity was still intact, but she found herself unable to breathe easily. She was too overcome by the emotions roiling within her. She had never felt so many things at one time. And, for the first time in a long while, she faced a crisis she would not be able to resolve in Hogwarts library.
She stood with her back pressed against her bedroom door for what seemed an eternity, yet for some odd reason, the expected tears did not fall. She was waiting for the release of the confusing pent-up feelings, the breakdown she thought might be required, but it was taking its sweet time in coming.
"You're a foolish woman," she remonstrated with herself. "In two days time, you've managed to make a gift of your self-esteem to a man whose sadistic temperament is exceeded only by Lucius Malfoy's. How did I get into this so deeply, so quickly? It can't be happening. My feelings can't be hurt; they just can't be. Two days ago, this man occupied no more than the length of his potions class in my mind. And now suddenly I'm ready to the fall wheezing to the floor over him? Hermione! Get a hold of yourself girl!"
Hiccuping softly, she threw herself face down on her bed intending to concentrate on shutting out the images of Severus and the personification of plastic surgery that was their neighbor. However, it was hard to focus when the gentle sounds of their laughter occasionally taunted her through the space beneath her door. Actually, it was mostly Roxana's throaty laugh she heard.
"I wonder how long it took her to master that fake laugh? She probably taped herself and played it back a thousand times until she got it oh so right!"
Ironically, she wasn't very far from the truth!
She was still lying on her bed, her thoughts a depressing muddle, when their sounds faded gradually into the faint click of the front door closing behind them. "He left me," she thought piteously. "Now what the hell am I supposed to do?"
She had barely uttered the question before she was jumping out of bed as the only possible answer floated into her consciousness like an old dependable friend. She began feverishly running a brush through her hair. There was only one thing for her to do, and only one place for her to go. The library! She would go to the library and research muggle books on relationships. Perhaps she could gain some insight into Severus's bewildering behavior. Suddenly she felt better. Reliable as Madame Pince might be, a muggle library would be much better suited for what she needed to research at the moment
"Yes, I'll go to the library, and afterward I'll shop for clothes. It's not as if He would be of any help in that quarter. I'm glad he's not going with me. His style can hardly be called tasteful. If he had spent the day with me instead of Her, I would have wasted the rest of my holiday dressed as if I was attending a perpetual funeral. I mean, I love your basic black key separates, but everyday? Please! I don't need him. I'll look up books on mind over matter...Oh! I'll buy chocolate! American candies...M&M's.....And Godiva! Merlin! I feel better already. I don't want him!"
After searching his room and locating their money, she exited the building, the daytime doorman bid her a respectful good morning. She thanked him politely and asked him to get her a cab, which he did with amazing speed and success. As she handed him a five-dollar tip she said to him, "By the way, did I tell I you that I neither need nor want him?"
"No Mam, you did not," he responded politely. "However, I'm sure you are quite correct in your assertion."
"Should I make it my mantra today? I mean, should I say over and over all day that I don't want him?"
"Yes Mam, I'm sure whatever you decide will be the best decision."
"Thank you," she said handing him a second five-dollar bill as she climbed into the back seat of the cab. "To the library, please. The great big one that you see in movies sometimes," she told the cab driver before muttering under her breath, "You had better be damned sure you don't want me Severus Snape! I will not play the docile heroine to your villain!"
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She would have been glad to know that "the villain" in her life was already reaping the bad affects of his own sowing. Roxana had invited him into her apartment, a disgusting confection of bad art and pink things. Furthermore, she had plopped herself down next to him and placed her disgusting rodent- like pet in his lap. In addition to subjecting him to a discourse on her acting career, she'd demonstrated her ability to ooze baby talk gibberish to her rodent while pressing her left breast into his chest at the same time.
"Concentrate Severus. Hold on to your temper; bite your tongue and concentrate. This is an attractive woman. It's been a long time since you've had a romp...Too long, in fact. You could use one now, so concentrate..... "
"Dammit! I can't concentrate on this she-muggle," he thought briefly because it was replaced by the more worthy insight of, "God, Hermione was incredible today. She constantly surprises me, for someone so young. She left the room with such dignity."
"Mmmmm...Larry, touch me there again doll!
She was so beautiful today lying beneath me on the floor. Her hair, it's unlike any other woman's I've seen before. It's as if each curl has a life of its own. When I touch it...."
He was aroused. So was the woman practically sitting on his lap and sucking his earlobe. But his arousal had nothing to do with her. He shifted uncomfortably to ease the discomfort in his nether region, and felt something foreign to him adjust along with his own movement. Looking down he was immediately caught in the vacant gaze of the dog.
"What the hell?" he cried jumping up from the couch and dumping Poupee unceremoniously to the floor. The dog screeched and disappeared beneath a puffy pink chair nearby, its hindquarters the only part of him still visible.
Roxana immediately dropped to her knees torn between continuing with Severus and looking for the dog. She quickly decided on pursuing the former, while keeping her right hand extended awkwardly toward the dog in case he decided to attempt an appearance.
"What's the matter baby?" she asked Severus. Her voice recaptured the sexual tension they were experiencing moments before as if they had never been interrupted by a dog.
"It's that rodent...er, I mean your dog. I can't have it sitting in my lap like that. I'm not fond of dogs. I find their slavish devotion, and willingness to like any person with a unit attached to the end of their arm, highly irresponsible."
"I'm sorry baby. Relax," she said as she began gently massaging his thighs.
"I can't relax. I have to go check on Herm....That is, I need to.....
"Check on her what? She'll be fine. She's probably watching "The Brady Bunch" reruns."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh never mind! Everything you want is right here Larry darling," she said as she took his hand and guided it down the front of her blouse. She wasn't wearing a bra. His immediate reaction was one of distaste. He wasn't interested. Casual sex was one thing, but for him it required more than a pretty face and a pair of surgically enhanced tits to do it. When all was said and done, he only bedded women who were his intellectual peers. Women he respected. This woman did noting for him. However, he had chosen this particular path...
"She's really quite good at this," he thought detachedly as she began to undo his pants with surprising expertise. "How am I going to get out of this," he wondered to himself even as an answer came to him.
There was really no other option. He leaned back into the couch and allowed her to begin undressing him. And in an effort to uphold his end of the deal, so to speak, he closed his eyes.....And he pictured Hermione kneeling before him instead of Roxana.
The effect of the fantasy was immediate. "Oh God," he moaned as she lowered her mouth to him. For several minutes he savored the pure hedonistic pleasure of the experience. He was tempted to allow it to progress to a natural conclusion; however, a feeling completely foreign to him forced him to pick up his wand, which he had placed carefully between the seat cushions.
"Lumos," he said breathlessly as if he were whispering a love word to her. Suddenly every light in her apartment illuminated with an effervescence far beyond their normal capacity. The sudden brightness distracted, and then startled Roxana.
"Whatever is going on?" she asked looking around startled.
The distraction was all that was required. Quickly Severus muttered a memory charm while refastening his pants. Without missing a beat, he thanked his confused neighbor for the lovely breakfast date and headed for the door.
After successfully reaching his own apartment, Severus leaned against the interior of the door to catch his breath. He felt unable to move. Instead, he rested his head against the hard mahogany panels and listened for sounds of Hermione.
Severus Snape was an intelligent man. He was also an honest one. He knew what had chased him away from what most wizards would consider a fantasy fulfillment of the highest order. Very few wizards were handed wild, noncommittal sex from beautiful muggle women as if on a silver platter.
Somehow, a not quite eighteen-year-old Gryffindor know-it-all had managed to ruin him in a matter of two days. She had broken through barriers within him that had been impregnable for years. The very thought of it scared the hell out of him. And...It kept his back pinned against the door as if he were holding on to his very life.
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'Tis the season to be busy, and that is exactly what I am right now. Or, one could say that the season is my rationalization for writing a short chapter. I hope that's ok. I wanted to move the story forward, even if it's only a little bit. I don't have a lot of time to spare right now, so I'll do as much as I can. Please be patient with me. Thanks so much for reading this story! I appreciate your feedback and reviews! Happy Holiday to everyone who is celebrating something special during this wonderful time of the year.
**************************************************************************** *************
It took every ounce of strength Hermione possessed to refrain from hyperventilating in front of them. Upon reaching the privacy her bedroom, she quietly closed the door and leaned against its hard mahogany panels for support. Her dignity was still intact, but she found herself unable to breathe easily. She was too overcome by the emotions roiling within her. She had never felt so many things at one time. And, for the first time in a long while, she faced a crisis she would not be able to resolve in Hogwarts library.
She stood with her back pressed against her bedroom door for what seemed an eternity, yet for some odd reason, the expected tears did not fall. She was waiting for the release of the confusing pent-up feelings, the breakdown she thought might be required, but it was taking its sweet time in coming.
"You're a foolish woman," she remonstrated with herself. "In two days time, you've managed to make a gift of your self-esteem to a man whose sadistic temperament is exceeded only by Lucius Malfoy's. How did I get into this so deeply, so quickly? It can't be happening. My feelings can't be hurt; they just can't be. Two days ago, this man occupied no more than the length of his potions class in my mind. And now suddenly I'm ready to the fall wheezing to the floor over him? Hermione! Get a hold of yourself girl!"
Hiccuping softly, she threw herself face down on her bed intending to concentrate on shutting out the images of Severus and the personification of plastic surgery that was their neighbor. However, it was hard to focus when the gentle sounds of their laughter occasionally taunted her through the space beneath her door. Actually, it was mostly Roxana's throaty laugh she heard.
"I wonder how long it took her to master that fake laugh? She probably taped herself and played it back a thousand times until she got it oh so right!"
Ironically, she wasn't very far from the truth!
She was still lying on her bed, her thoughts a depressing muddle, when their sounds faded gradually into the faint click of the front door closing behind them. "He left me," she thought piteously. "Now what the hell am I supposed to do?"
She had barely uttered the question before she was jumping out of bed as the only possible answer floated into her consciousness like an old dependable friend. She began feverishly running a brush through her hair. There was only one thing for her to do, and only one place for her to go. The library! She would go to the library and research muggle books on relationships. Perhaps she could gain some insight into Severus's bewildering behavior. Suddenly she felt better. Reliable as Madame Pince might be, a muggle library would be much better suited for what she needed to research at the moment
"Yes, I'll go to the library, and afterward I'll shop for clothes. It's not as if He would be of any help in that quarter. I'm glad he's not going with me. His style can hardly be called tasteful. If he had spent the day with me instead of Her, I would have wasted the rest of my holiday dressed as if I was attending a perpetual funeral. I mean, I love your basic black key separates, but everyday? Please! I don't need him. I'll look up books on mind over matter...Oh! I'll buy chocolate! American candies...M&M's.....And Godiva! Merlin! I feel better already. I don't want him!"
After searching his room and locating their money, she exited the building, the daytime doorman bid her a respectful good morning. She thanked him politely and asked him to get her a cab, which he did with amazing speed and success. As she handed him a five-dollar tip she said to him, "By the way, did I tell I you that I neither need nor want him?"
"No Mam, you did not," he responded politely. "However, I'm sure you are quite correct in your assertion."
"Should I make it my mantra today? I mean, should I say over and over all day that I don't want him?"
"Yes Mam, I'm sure whatever you decide will be the best decision."
"Thank you," she said handing him a second five-dollar bill as she climbed into the back seat of the cab. "To the library, please. The great big one that you see in movies sometimes," she told the cab driver before muttering under her breath, "You had better be damned sure you don't want me Severus Snape! I will not play the docile heroine to your villain!"
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She would have been glad to know that "the villain" in her life was already reaping the bad affects of his own sowing. Roxana had invited him into her apartment, a disgusting confection of bad art and pink things. Furthermore, she had plopped herself down next to him and placed her disgusting rodent- like pet in his lap. In addition to subjecting him to a discourse on her acting career, she'd demonstrated her ability to ooze baby talk gibberish to her rodent while pressing her left breast into his chest at the same time.
"Concentrate Severus. Hold on to your temper; bite your tongue and concentrate. This is an attractive woman. It's been a long time since you've had a romp...Too long, in fact. You could use one now, so concentrate..... "
"Dammit! I can't concentrate on this she-muggle," he thought briefly because it was replaced by the more worthy insight of, "God, Hermione was incredible today. She constantly surprises me, for someone so young. She left the room with such dignity."
"Mmmmm...Larry, touch me there again doll!
She was so beautiful today lying beneath me on the floor. Her hair, it's unlike any other woman's I've seen before. It's as if each curl has a life of its own. When I touch it...."
He was aroused. So was the woman practically sitting on his lap and sucking his earlobe. But his arousal had nothing to do with her. He shifted uncomfortably to ease the discomfort in his nether region, and felt something foreign to him adjust along with his own movement. Looking down he was immediately caught in the vacant gaze of the dog.
"What the hell?" he cried jumping up from the couch and dumping Poupee unceremoniously to the floor. The dog screeched and disappeared beneath a puffy pink chair nearby, its hindquarters the only part of him still visible.
Roxana immediately dropped to her knees torn between continuing with Severus and looking for the dog. She quickly decided on pursuing the former, while keeping her right hand extended awkwardly toward the dog in case he decided to attempt an appearance.
"What's the matter baby?" she asked Severus. Her voice recaptured the sexual tension they were experiencing moments before as if they had never been interrupted by a dog.
"It's that rodent...er, I mean your dog. I can't have it sitting in my lap like that. I'm not fond of dogs. I find their slavish devotion, and willingness to like any person with a unit attached to the end of their arm, highly irresponsible."
"I'm sorry baby. Relax," she said as she began gently massaging his thighs.
"I can't relax. I have to go check on Herm....That is, I need to.....
"Check on her what? She'll be fine. She's probably watching "The Brady Bunch" reruns."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh never mind! Everything you want is right here Larry darling," she said as she took his hand and guided it down the front of her blouse. She wasn't wearing a bra. His immediate reaction was one of distaste. He wasn't interested. Casual sex was one thing, but for him it required more than a pretty face and a pair of surgically enhanced tits to do it. When all was said and done, he only bedded women who were his intellectual peers. Women he respected. This woman did noting for him. However, he had chosen this particular path...
"She's really quite good at this," he thought detachedly as she began to undo his pants with surprising expertise. "How am I going to get out of this," he wondered to himself even as an answer came to him.
There was really no other option. He leaned back into the couch and allowed her to begin undressing him. And in an effort to uphold his end of the deal, so to speak, he closed his eyes.....And he pictured Hermione kneeling before him instead of Roxana.
The effect of the fantasy was immediate. "Oh God," he moaned as she lowered her mouth to him. For several minutes he savored the pure hedonistic pleasure of the experience. He was tempted to allow it to progress to a natural conclusion; however, a feeling completely foreign to him forced him to pick up his wand, which he had placed carefully between the seat cushions.
"Lumos," he said breathlessly as if he were whispering a love word to her. Suddenly every light in her apartment illuminated with an effervescence far beyond their normal capacity. The sudden brightness distracted, and then startled Roxana.
"Whatever is going on?" she asked looking around startled.
The distraction was all that was required. Quickly Severus muttered a memory charm while refastening his pants. Without missing a beat, he thanked his confused neighbor for the lovely breakfast date and headed for the door.
After successfully reaching his own apartment, Severus leaned against the interior of the door to catch his breath. He felt unable to move. Instead, he rested his head against the hard mahogany panels and listened for sounds of Hermione.
Severus Snape was an intelligent man. He was also an honest one. He knew what had chased him away from what most wizards would consider a fantasy fulfillment of the highest order. Very few wizards were handed wild, noncommittal sex from beautiful muggle women as if on a silver platter.
Somehow, a not quite eighteen-year-old Gryffindor know-it-all had managed to ruin him in a matter of two days. She had broken through barriers within him that had been impregnable for years. The very thought of it scared the hell out of him. And...It kept his back pinned against the door as if he were holding on to his very life.
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