Disclaimer: The characters, settings, etc. of the Harry Potter series are not mine. I just play with them.
Severus walked into the library in the second week of July intent on finding a new potion to work on. In a few short weeks, he had gone through every potion on the list his friend had sent him. When he finished, he put them all into vials, boxed them up carefully, and owled them, along with short letter, to his friend. Now, he was in search of a new project to occupy the rest of his summer.
Dumbledore, who had made his morning visits a habit, had strongly suggested he take a vacation, even if it were just for research purposes. Severus had emphatically refused the offer of time off. There was nowhere to travel that interested him. As he had explained to Dumbledore, any research that needed to be done could be in the castle's library, as had been done for countless years.
Dumbledore had then insisted that he go home. Return to his family's manor for at least a week or so. He could visit his relatives, the cousins and aunts and uncles who often wrote to him requesting his company. Or his friends, Dumbledore had been sure that Severus had plenty of friends who would simply love to have him visit.
Severus had been firm, though, and told the headmaster that he simply wanted to stay where he was. He was happy here. There was more than enough to distract him at Hogwarts.
Severus had noticed that at meal times, Dumbledore would often give Hermione the same lectures. She would respond with similar answers. She acknowledged that the rest of the staff took holidays and that it was perfectly normal to leave the castle from time to time, but she had always argued that Hogwarts was her home now. She had no desire to leave it.
Severus couldn't agree with her more.
He walked quickly back to the potions wall of the restricted section, and almost jumped out of his skin when he saw a small woman slumped against the book case, a large book resting her lap.
She was not dead or unconscious or any of the other conditions Severus had thought her to be in when he first came upon her. He saw, instead, that she was just reading attentively, and from her position and the way her eyelids kept slipping closed, she seemed to be quite exhausted.
"How long have you been here Miss Granger?" he asked softly, hoping not to startle her.
She was startled though, and nearly leapt to her feet at the sound of his voice. "Professor!" she exclaimed, and her voice had a sleepy quality to it. "I didn't hear you come in," she said as she struggled to her feet. Eventually, she made it and stood staring up at him.
"If you had slept last night, I am sure you would have been a bit more alert." he replied, taking the book she held loosely in her arms. "What is this?" he asked, looking at the plain cover.
When she did not answer, he looked up at her. There was the familiar blush coloring her cheeks. "Well," she said, looking him right in the eye with the air of defiance she had taken to adopting when she felt he was going to tease her. "If you must know, Severus, it is just a novel. A muggle one."
"I see," Severus said, moving to open the cover when she grabbed it away from him. "Honestly, Hermione, if it's just a muggle novel, then there's no need to hide it from me!"
She blushed again. "Well, it's not really the type of muggle novel you might expect me to read, Severus."
He sneered. "Miss Granger, how do you know what I would expect you to read?"
She shrugged. "Wouldn't you suspect me to be a great reader of the classics?"
"Yes," he admitted, "I suppose I would."
"Well, this is most certainly no classic." she replied, and moved to walk past him. He grabbed her arm as she did, and held her still.
"What are you reading?" he asked simply, hoping a direct approach would deliver him answers. He knew he was teasing her and was deliberately harassing her about the book, but he was enjoying it. Something about her appealed to him when she was so flustered.
She smiled up at him, but he saw that her cheeks were still flushed. "Does it really matter?"
"Well, it does now. You've piqued my interest."
She sighed. "A romance novel, Severus," she said after a moment. "I am reading a romance novel." She pulled her arm from his grasp and continued to walk towards the library exit.
"That wasn't so difficult, was it?" he called after her. She made no answer, and simply left the library quickly, leaving Severus
quite alone.
Severus entered the great hall that night for dinner a few minutes late. Almost everyone who was at the castle had already seated themselves at the head table.
"Severus," Dumbledore called jovially as he approached the table. "I had nearly given you up for lost. I assumed you were reverting to your former habits and decided to skip the meal."
"Yes, well," Severus mumbled as he took the only empty seat at the table next to the headmaster.
"Well, eat up then," Dumbledore said, patting Severus on the back. Severus began to eat the meal that had appeared before him and noticed a few moments later that Hermione was nowhere to be seen.
"Have you spoken with Professor Granger today, Severus?" Dumbledore asked, guessing at the younger man's thoughts.
"Yes," Severus replied. "I saw her this morning in the library."
"Indeed? Doing some research of her own, then?" Dumbledore asked.
"No," Severus replied, smiling to himself. "She was doing a bit of reading for pleasure."
"Oh, how lovely. I wonder if she's reading anything interesting. I would love to hear some of her recommendations."
Severus snorted and took a bite of his food. He imagined, though, that Dumbledore might enjoy the novel Granger had been reading. It seemed like the romance genre was one that would suit the eccentric headmaster.
"I'm terribly sorry for being late!" a female voice called out as its owner apparently rushed into the great hall. Severus looked up from his meal and saw a rather disheveled Hermione Granger hurrying towards the head table. "I was taking a nap and I had only planned on dozing, but I must have fallen into a deeper sleep, and..."
Dumbledore held up a hand to silence her and with a wave of his wand conjured a chair next to Severus. "It is not a problem, Professor Granger. It is the summer after all. We tend to be a bit more relaxed regarding punctuality during this time of the year."
She made no response and fell into the seat beside Severus. Immediately, food appeared before her. She made no movement to eat it, though. Instead she cleared her throat before turning her attentions to the professor beside her. "How are you, Severus?" she asked very softly.
It was so quiet that Severus thought he may have imagined her saying it. Looking up, he saw her staring at him expectantly and decided that she had indeed asked him a question. "Fine thank you, Miss Granger. How are you? Did you get much reading done this afternoon?" he asked, sneering at her.
"Yes, thank you." she replied, looking away from him and beginning to eat her dinner. "I did get some done."
"And how is the book?" Severus asked. "Is the heroine an upstart and vibrant young woman who finds herself falling madly in love with the wrong kind of man, causing dramatics of all sorts to ensue?"
Hermione did not blush, as he had expected. Instead she looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. "How do you know so much about the genre, Professor?" she asked, grinning at him.
He shrugged. "I've been teaching for a very long time, Miss Granger, and, accordingly, I've confiscated many books. Many of them were romance novels, and almost all of them were of the same plotline."
"Well, Severus, you of all people should know that if the formula works, there is no need to adjust it." the headmaster interjected quickly. "Hermione, be a dear and pass me the potatoes."
Hermione complied, after having a fit of giggles, and passed the potatoes to Dumbledore. "Have you made any new potions lately, Severus?" she asked after a moment.
He had to hand it to her, she was doing her best to be his friend. As usual, she was voluntarily making conversation with him, even though she knew his response would most likely be some sort of gurgle or grunt. She always made an effort, though, and he found this to be most impressive. He had no idea why anyone would want so badly to be his friend. It seemed almost unnatural.
He did not have to answer her, though, because a solitary owl swooped into the hall a moment after she asked. It flew over Hermione, dropped an envelope into her lap, and flew back out of the hall in a matter of seconds.
"Well, that is odd!" the headmaster exclaimed on Snape's left. "Owl post at this time of day!"
Hermione nodded in response and tore open the envelope. Severus watched as she skimmed the letter quickly, all color leaving her cheeks. "Well," she muttered softly, and stuffed the letter back into its envelope.
"Anything the matter, Professor?" Dumbledore asked.
"No, no. Just a small matter concerning Professor Snape and myself," she replied, steadily. Snape looked at her quickly and saw she was staring at him. "If you'd excuse me," she said, rising from her seat. Snape and the other occupants of the head table watched as she quickly exited the great hall.
"Well, Severus," Dumbledore said once she'd gone. "Perhaps you'd better see what that's about."
Severus nodded and stood from his seat. He walked quickly to the end of the great hall and exited out of the same doors as Hermione had. He did not see her anywhere, though. Not knowing where to look for her, Severus decided upon heading back to his chambers in the dungeons. If she needed him,
he imagined that she could have no difficulty in seeking him out.
Severus had been sitting in his chambers reading for a few hours when someone knocked on his door.
He called to the person to enter, and was not surprised to see Hermione walk into his rooms. He was, however, a bit thrown by her appearance. She looked like she had been running for hours. Her breathing was labored, and her clothes and hair were in varying states of disarray.
"Is anything the matter, Hermione?" Severus asked, standing from his seat and silently rebuking himself for allowing his voice to take such an alarmed tone.
"Yes," she wailed, stepping towards him. "And no. Oh, Severus, my lies have gone too far!"
He sighed, hoping he looked disinterested and that there was no real problems. He imagined it was quite plausible that Hermione was simply suffering from a flair of the dramatics. "What now? Are we getting married?"
"Well no," Hermione said softly. "May I sit down?"
"Of course," Severus responded, gesturing to the easy chair that sat across from his. He sat back down in his own chair and settled in. "So, what seems to be the problem?"
"The letter is from Elizabeth. She and Michael would like us to come over for dinner this coming Friday." Hermione explained as, Severus noted, she stared intently at her lap. He tried to ignore that this explanation sounded terribly rehearsed, but seemed to fail at it.
"I see," he replied, trying not to sigh. "That is not so terrible, Miss Granger. You lead me to believe that the letter's content pertained to life or death matters."
"I do apologize, Professor, but I was very fearful of your reaction to this news."
"And why is that Miss Granger?"
"Well," she scoffed, "for on thing, you seemed to make it quite clear when I invited you to lunch that you wanted nothing more to do with this ruse once the wedding had ended."
Severus was quite taken aback that she had remembered this particular point of their conversation. "Miss Granger, that was almost a month ago!"
"Will you please call me Hermione!" she yelled, finally looking up at him. Her eyes were glinting with her anger.
"Certainly," Severus replied, stunned, for some reason, by her reaction.
She did not respond immediately and they sat in a rather tense silence for a few moments. Severus made the best of the fact that she was not speaking and stared at her, trying to figure out why, exactly, he found that when she was angry she was particularly attractive.
Eventually she looked up at him and sighed softly. "So what do you propose I do about this Severus?"
"I would respond, obviously. Tell them that we'll be there on Friday evening. And do let them know that I am allergic to strawberries."
He saw that she was doing her best to hide her smile. "Strawberries?"
"Yes," Severus replied, giving a dramatic sigh. "I break out into hives. It's rather dreadful."
The smile finally escaped, and Hermione erupted into giggles. Severus did not hold back the grin he felt forming on his face. Instead he smiled at the woman before him, quite pleased with himself for making her laugh.
"I could tell them we've broken up," Hermione offered once her laughter had subsided.
"No!" Severus replied quickly and emphatically. He was as surprised by his enthusiasm as he saw Hermione was. "I mean…our alleged relationship seems to be fairly serious. It would be a bit odd for us to simply just break it off after so much time."
"Well, that could be easily resolved, Severus. I could tell them that I was pressuring you into proposing, and you became frightened and left. Or something." Hermione replied, and once again he was amazed at her ability lie with such ease.
"I suppose," he said, looking away from her and towards the fire. "Truthfully, though, Hermione, I have nothing better to do. And it is quite flattering, you know. No one has ever pretended that I am their boyfriend before," he paused and looked back at her.
Hermione merely giggled in response. "Yes, well…" she said after a few more moments of laughter.
"Hermione, is there any particular reason why you must giggle all of the time?"
"Is there any particular reason why you must be such a prat all of the time?"
Severus smiled at her in a way he hoped was charming. "Of course, Professor. I do have a reputation to maintain."
Hermione grinned back at him, but for once, did not laugh. "Well then Professor, I imagine I should leave you now so that you may brood or do something else equally as suitable to your reputation."
"Indeed," Severus said standing from his chair as she did the same. He followed her over to the door and opened it for her.
"I'll send along a reply then," Hermione said as she walked out into the corridor.
"Yes, that seems to be a good idea," Severus replied, leaning against the door frame and looking down at her.
"Good night then," Hermione said, taking a step towards him. Severus felt his body tense up again as her arms slid around his waist and she pulled herself against him.
"Good night," Severus whispered, looking down at her head. Though he would never admit it aloud, it was quite nice having her huddled against him. He couldn't remember at all who the last person, before Hermione, was who had hugged him.
"You're so tense, Severus," she said against his shirt, and he felt the hands on his back begin to rub up and down.
He made no response, and felt his traitorous muscles relax as she continued to rub his back. His eyes slipped closed as she began to rub a bit harder, and he heard himself sigh softly. "Why are you so intent on being my friend?" he asked, not realizing he had said it aloud until it was too late to take it back.
He felt her go rigid against his body and his eyes snapped open as she pulled away quickly.
"Well," she said, her cheeks flushing, "I could use a friend, and I'm sure you could, too. Good night," she said, and turned quickly, speeding off down the hallway to the dungeons' exit.
"Good night, Miss Granger," Severus said softly, watching her go before finally closing the door. Thinking of the pained emphasis she had placed onto the word friend, Severus retreated to his chair before the fire.