Author's Note:
OMG!!! Thanks so much for the exquisite (sorry, I have a thing with that word now...) reviews!!!
Well, the last two chapters were quite fluffy... but these next three really get things going...
Enjoy! And please don't forget to review on your way out :) Thanks!
Chapter Twenty Four: And It Draws Near
Severus Snape sat in his office, brooding over the next class he was to have. It was
just after lunch, the first Thursday in November, and he could feel the tension and
excitement in the air. Sixth year Potions. His 'favorite group,' he thought, sarcastically. He
scoffed.
The Homecoming Ball was that Saturday, and the students were more unruly than
ever. He shuddered to think what would have occurred had the Weasley twins still been
there. But then, in a way, they were, as their candies and treats designed to cause chaos
had spread like wildfire throughout the younger wizarding world.
He shook his head in annoyance, and then looked over the note that had been left on
his desk for the umpteenth time.
Severus, we need to talk. Narcissa
He admired the neatly scripted letters, the way she had written his name, and then
signed hers. And then he thought and wondered... 'No, that would be foolish,' he silently
scolded himself.
Narcissa had been avoiding him since before the last Slytherin Quidditch game.
Indeed, it had been since her son had made that very public declaration in the Great Hall.
And then she had asked him... She had asked him about what he had told her in the
library. But what exactly had he meant? He wasn't even sure himself. He had just had a
slip, was all. Yes, that would be it. It was a minor slip in the library, when he had said
that. And then the words rang through his ears.
I guess what I'm trying to say is congratulations -- and thank you for teaching us all a few
things -- thanks for everything.
He had never said those things to anyone before. What had he meant? Indeed, he
had never had anyone make him feel the way Narcissa Malfoy could. Malfoy. Snape's face
twisted with bitterness.
The memories came flooding back. He could remember how Narcissa Black had
been one of his only friends while he was at Hogwarts. He remembered how she had been
likely the prettiest girl in their year, and was quite popular. He remembered how she had
come up to him and really, besides, Lily Potter, been the only one to ever defend him. He
remembered how he had made a fool of himself. He remembered being sixteen, and going
up to her while she was at lunch, by the lake, and pulling her away from her group of
friends. He remembered professing his feelings to her, asking her to be with him. He
remembered how she told him that she was already with Lucius, trying not to break his
heart. He remembered storming away, and never really mentioning it afterwards. She had
kept it to herself, it seemed, and never told anyone. And then, he remembered one last
thing. The thing that made Severus Snape forget about all circumstance surrounding the
two, and all the things that could possibly go wrong. He remembered the look in her pretty
blue eyes, whenever he would pass her when she was with Lucius. They indeed had
reflected a sadness, a longing, something more... But surely, not for him...
Then he thought of how she would talk about her life after she came to teach at
Hogwarts. She said she had felt like a prisoner, trapped in a loveless marriage, with a son
her husband was desperate to have follow in his footsteps. But had she said her marriage
was loveless? Yes, she had. But what of it?
He shook his head. Why was he thinking about all this? And then he looked down at
the note again. No, she had not been avoiding him. He had been avoiding her. The
thought made his insides crawl. Yes, deep down inside of that cold shell that was Severus
Snape, likely the most unpopular professor at Hogwarts, one of the most outcast students
of his time, a former Death Eater, and now a spy, there was a heart. There had to be... If
not, he certainly wouldn't get that feeling whenever he was around Narcissa...
Hermione took a seat next to Draco in the front of the gloomy potions classroom.
Winter was around the corner, she could tell, as the temperature had taken its typical
descent in the dungeons. She wondered how the Slytherins could stand it. The class was
filling up, but Snape hadn't shown up yet.
She felt two warm arms snake themselves around her. She tensed as she smelled
his cologne. "You alright?"
She turned to smile at him, meeting his gray eyes with her brown ones. "Yeah,
Draco, just a little cold, is all."
He pulled her into a close hug, which felt as though it warmed her from the inside
out.
"Better?" he asked.
"Mmhhmm," she nodded, and smiled.
Just then, the classroom door opened, and in walked Snape. He looked different...
Enlightened, perhaps? There was something about his eyes. And then, there was
something about his hair. And his robes. Since when did he care what anyone else
thought?
Hermione smiled wickedly. Of course. How could she not have seen it before? The
way they had been talking to each other, in the library once in a while, outside of class, at
dinner. She had assumed it was just things for the Order and such, as clearly they had
gained a valuable new ally. The way they looked at one another, as though no one else was
in the room, and how they made subtle flirtatious gestures, that was inexplicable other than
perhaps... It all made sense now. Severus Snape was in love with Narcissa Malfoy...
The class was uneventful, and not even Snape taking twenty-five points from
Gryffindor for Neville's cauldron explosion seemed to take Hermione's thoughts off the
strangely sweet romance involving the formerly bitter, now smitten potions professor.
Draco made his way to the Great Hall with Hermione. He had insisted on walking
with her to dinner that night, after a late study session for Defense Against the Dark Arts
the following day.
As they walked there, he noticed a box-like apparatus with an opening in it, and on
the wall above it, a piece of parchment, which read plainly:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nominees for Hogwarts Quidditch Homecoming Court
Terry Boot (Ravenclaw) Hannah Abbott (Hufflepuff)
Michael Corner (Ravenclaw) Susan Bones (Hufflepuff)
Roger Davies (Slytherin) Cho Chang (Ravenclaw)
Justin Finch-Fletchly (Hufflepuff) Hermione Granger (Gryffindor)
Draco Malfoy (Slytherin) Pansy Parkinson (Slytherin)
Ernie MacMillan (Hufflepuff) Padma Patil (Ravenclaw)
Harry Potter (Gryffindor) Ginny Weasley (Gryffindor)
Dean Thomas (Gryffindor) Blaise Zabini (Slytherin)
Please use the quills and parchment supplied to fill out your choices, and deposit
your completed ballot in the voting box below. Votes will be tallied after breakfast
the day of the ball. Each student is allowed one and only one vote.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There were several quills and a stack of colored parchment on a table next to the
ballot box, obviously intended for the voting, and a bright white circular line surrounding the
box itself, which, Draco guessed, was likely one of the means for insuring that no one voted
twice.
He glanced at Hermione and saw her reading the list. When she paused, and cocked
her head to the side, he assumed she had seen her own name up there, among the
nominees. She laughed.
"What are you laughing at?" he asked.
She looked at him, disbelief in her eyes. "Have you seen this? I'm actually up there!
I mean, look at the nominees, two boys and two girls from each house, and of the
Gryffindors, Ginny and I got the most nominations! I mean, Ginny is not surprising, since
she has quite a bit of admirers, but me? Come on, Draco. I thought most people just
looked at me as smart, not material for this sort of thing, seriously."
Draco shook his head, and then locked eyes with her. He took her hand in his, and
said, "Hermione, you're gorgeous, don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."
She started to say something, but he continued. "There is no one else at this school
who has changed as much as you have the past couple of years, and apparently, people
have started to notice."
She gave him a light kiss. "Thanks, Draco," she paused. "But I think you're wrong,"
she continued, as she picked up a piece of parchment and jotted down her choices, and the
deposited it. "I'm not the one who's changed most." Draco raised an eyebrow at this, and
she brought a finger to his lips. "You are."
Just then, they heard familiar footsteps coming, though the person was still out of
view. The click-clack of high heels was easily distinguishable, and they looked around.
Draco grabbed a quill and parchment, and dropped it in the ballot box, before he and
Hermione walked into the Great Hall together, where they parted ways.