Moon River
Chapter Five
By Alicia Jennings
-
Lost somewhere between love and lonely...
-
"Severus." Hermione interrupted him before he could say what she knew he was going to say. "I can't marry you."
"Why not?" he asked nonchalantly. "I can provide you with things witches your age dream of. I'm a member of the aristocracy. I'd give you a stable environement."
Hermione sighed. His words sounded cold, but she knew that for him, those were things that he considered came from the heart. "That's not what I want in a marriage, Severus. I want a wedding fit for a princess and a big, overdone cake. I want a husband who loves me more than life itself. I want a husband who wants to be married to me, and isn't just married to me because we're having a baby together."
Severus wound his arms tight around her. "Hermione, you can't afford that luxury. Life has dealt you a card that you can't get rid of. Now you just have to work with it."
Hermione's eyes filled up, and she fidgeted in Severus' lap, twisting the ring Harry had given her on her 21st birthday - a nervous habit she'd developed. She thought about his words. Maybe he was right. Maybe she should just go with this.
NO! she thought. Some may think this is best for the baby, but it's not! To be trapped in a house with two people who don't love one another? I can't think of anything worse!
She slid off his lap with firm decision.
-----
Snape was back in his office, drinking what seemed to be his fifth glass of wine. Gods. What a night. He wanted nothing more than to just forget it. But he knew it would always be there, somewhere, lingering in the back of his mind, no matter how many glasses of wine she drank.
"Severus?" came a voice from the fireplace. "Severus, my dear boy, are you all right?"
"Albus," Severus acknowledged. "Enjoying your retirement in Cancun, I suppose."
"Not entirely," said the old, wizened wizard, stepping out of a fireplace full of green flames. "I keep coming back here to straighten you people's problems out." He brushed soot off of brightly colored robes with hibiscus flowers and green leaves all over them - the wizard's answer to tropical vacation wear.
Snape looked at the robes with horror. "Those robes are atrocious, Albus."
Dumbledore looked down at himself, taking in the peculiar robes and the orange flip-flops adorning his feet. "Really? I thought they were rather nice myself."
Snape tipped back his wineglass, not particularly knowing or caring about what to say next to the man.
Albus sighed, sitting opposite to Severus and conjuring up some tea. "Severus...you just can't expect Miss Granger to accept a proposal just like that. She might be with child, but that doesn't mean she has to accept your hand in marriage."
Snape drained his wineglass. "How do you know these things?"
"Oh, my boy, I have my sources." His eyes twinkled as he sipped his tea. "I promise, there are no magical eyes in the back of my head."
"Damned souces. Can't even let a man have his dignity around here." He started to reach for the bottle of wine, but Albus caught his hand and pulled it away.
"No, no, Severus. You'll already have a massive hangover in the morning. No more adding to it." With a wave of his hand, Snape soon had a cup of tea in front of him. "Best to drink that stuff instead."
Reluctantly, Snape took a sip, only to spit it back out. "What is this? It tastes like tar."
"It's chai tea! Do you not like it?"
"No."
"Well, then..." Albus waved his hand and the cup disappeared, looking a little dissapointed. "To the point. You must woo the young lady, Severus."
" 'Woo' her?"
Dumbledore set down his cup, slightly irritably. He drew a rose out of his front pocket. "What is this, Severus?"
"A yellow rose..."
"Right. Yellow stands for love. Red is passion, not love. Don't go sending those. I daresay you've had enough passion for a while."
Snape nodded dumbly.
"Send her two dozen yellow roses tomorrow. First thing. Make sure that she gets them at work tomorrow morning. And then...." He conjured up a candle.
"Promise a candlelight dinner the next night."
Snape took the candle, examining it. "Why do I let you run my dating life?"
"Because," said Dumbledore, sipping his tea, "You won't take charge of it yourself. Yet."
-----
The morning after the "talk", Hermione dragged herself into work looking haggard and worn. Her hair was limp, her makeup half-done and there were dark circles under her eyes she hadn't even bothered to conceal.
"Hermione!" Cat looked at her friend with concern. "Is anything wrong?"
"Do we have any clients this morning?"
Cat returned to her desk, shuffling through the appointment book. "None till two. Why?"
"Come in my office...We need to talk." Cat wordlessly followed Hermione into her office. Hermione plunked her briefcase down, set her laptop case down on the desk, and threw herself into her chair.
"Cat?"
"Yes, Hermione?"
"I'm pregnant."
Cat blinked.
"Did you hear me? I'm preggers. With child. Mother-to-be -"
"I heard, I heard," Cat interrupted. "With whose baby? You don't even have a boyfriend!"
"Er, that's the part that's the problem."
"No, really," Cat said sarcastically. "Come on, out with it! Who've you been in bed with?"
"Well, you have to remember...that I was really, really drunk at the time. Really drunk. Horrendously drunk."
"Yes...?"
Hermione took a deep breath and continued. "I met this guy at that club I was at...Moon River. I didn't know who he was at the time. We danced...and oh GODS ABOVE could he dance, Cat...and we had some drinks, and went back to his place and...well..."
"YES?"
"Well we had some more drinks...and then..."
"YES?"
"Magically ended up in bed?" Hermione finished up lamely, watching Cat pace.
"I don't believe this..." Cat threw her hands up in the air. "Did neither of you think to use protection?"
"Er...we were really drunk..."
"And how can you be so calm?" Cat demanded. "I'm freaking out. How can you be so calm?"
"I have to stay calm," said Hermione, smoothing her suit and reached for her coffee mug. Cat reached to grab it, and Hermione handed it to her, exasperated. "It's orange juice Cat, I know better than to drink caffienated beverages, you know!"
Cat sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm your friend, and I'm concerned for you. Unwed mothers in the wizarding world are highly frowned upon."
"That's what he said too." Hermione sipped at her juice. "Gods, this is sour."
"Wait. That's one thing I haven't gotten. Who's he?"
Hermione set her mug down. "Severus Snape, Professor of Potions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Cat shrieked.
Hermione groaned. "Well, I did have eardrums -"
"Snape? SNAPE is the father of your child? You're carrying a SNAPE?!"
"He's not all that bad, you know," Hermione retorted. "He's good at the tango...vertically AND horizontally."
Cat looked as if she was going to be sick. Hermione was saved from trying to say something to make her feel better by the front door opening. Cat left the office to recieve the visitor, and Hermione took the time to magic on some makeup (the Muggle way looked better, but no time) and she twisted her hair into a bun.
"Yes, she's in there. Just go right in." Catherine seemed thouroughly freaked. And Hermione soon found out why.
A beaming delivery boy walked into her office, bearing a burdon of two dozen yellow roses, set in a beautiful glass vase, and a scroll with Severus' seal.
-----
A/N -
I'm sorry this is so short. It's very hard for me to write anything in terms of vaguely romantic right now. My boyfriend and I - we'd been dating eight months and were promised - just broke up...so I'm going through a pretty difficult time right now. I was very upset after it initially, but I'm beginning to get better. It's just very hard for me to write right now. But I will try. I may draw on some of it, actually, for this story. And I'm using the characters of my best friends Cat and Katelyn for Hermione's moral support system. :) They're two lovely young women! So if they ever read this...not likely as Katelyn's not an HP fan...and Cat is but she has no Internet anymore...oh well.
Much love, Alicia/Jaimes
Chapter Five
By Alicia Jennings
-
Lost somewhere between love and lonely...
-
"Severus." Hermione interrupted him before he could say what she knew he was going to say. "I can't marry you."
"Why not?" he asked nonchalantly. "I can provide you with things witches your age dream of. I'm a member of the aristocracy. I'd give you a stable environement."
Hermione sighed. His words sounded cold, but she knew that for him, those were things that he considered came from the heart. "That's not what I want in a marriage, Severus. I want a wedding fit for a princess and a big, overdone cake. I want a husband who loves me more than life itself. I want a husband who wants to be married to me, and isn't just married to me because we're having a baby together."
Severus wound his arms tight around her. "Hermione, you can't afford that luxury. Life has dealt you a card that you can't get rid of. Now you just have to work with it."
Hermione's eyes filled up, and she fidgeted in Severus' lap, twisting the ring Harry had given her on her 21st birthday - a nervous habit she'd developed. She thought about his words. Maybe he was right. Maybe she should just go with this.
NO! she thought. Some may think this is best for the baby, but it's not! To be trapped in a house with two people who don't love one another? I can't think of anything worse!
She slid off his lap with firm decision.
-----
Snape was back in his office, drinking what seemed to be his fifth glass of wine. Gods. What a night. He wanted nothing more than to just forget it. But he knew it would always be there, somewhere, lingering in the back of his mind, no matter how many glasses of wine she drank.
"Severus?" came a voice from the fireplace. "Severus, my dear boy, are you all right?"
"Albus," Severus acknowledged. "Enjoying your retirement in Cancun, I suppose."
"Not entirely," said the old, wizened wizard, stepping out of a fireplace full of green flames. "I keep coming back here to straighten you people's problems out." He brushed soot off of brightly colored robes with hibiscus flowers and green leaves all over them - the wizard's answer to tropical vacation wear.
Snape looked at the robes with horror. "Those robes are atrocious, Albus."
Dumbledore looked down at himself, taking in the peculiar robes and the orange flip-flops adorning his feet. "Really? I thought they were rather nice myself."
Snape tipped back his wineglass, not particularly knowing or caring about what to say next to the man.
Albus sighed, sitting opposite to Severus and conjuring up some tea. "Severus...you just can't expect Miss Granger to accept a proposal just like that. She might be with child, but that doesn't mean she has to accept your hand in marriage."
Snape drained his wineglass. "How do you know these things?"
"Oh, my boy, I have my sources." His eyes twinkled as he sipped his tea. "I promise, there are no magical eyes in the back of my head."
"Damned souces. Can't even let a man have his dignity around here." He started to reach for the bottle of wine, but Albus caught his hand and pulled it away.
"No, no, Severus. You'll already have a massive hangover in the morning. No more adding to it." With a wave of his hand, Snape soon had a cup of tea in front of him. "Best to drink that stuff instead."
Reluctantly, Snape took a sip, only to spit it back out. "What is this? It tastes like tar."
"It's chai tea! Do you not like it?"
"No."
"Well, then..." Albus waved his hand and the cup disappeared, looking a little dissapointed. "To the point. You must woo the young lady, Severus."
" 'Woo' her?"
Dumbledore set down his cup, slightly irritably. He drew a rose out of his front pocket. "What is this, Severus?"
"A yellow rose..."
"Right. Yellow stands for love. Red is passion, not love. Don't go sending those. I daresay you've had enough passion for a while."
Snape nodded dumbly.
"Send her two dozen yellow roses tomorrow. First thing. Make sure that she gets them at work tomorrow morning. And then...." He conjured up a candle.
"Promise a candlelight dinner the next night."
Snape took the candle, examining it. "Why do I let you run my dating life?"
"Because," said Dumbledore, sipping his tea, "You won't take charge of it yourself. Yet."
-----
The morning after the "talk", Hermione dragged herself into work looking haggard and worn. Her hair was limp, her makeup half-done and there were dark circles under her eyes she hadn't even bothered to conceal.
"Hermione!" Cat looked at her friend with concern. "Is anything wrong?"
"Do we have any clients this morning?"
Cat returned to her desk, shuffling through the appointment book. "None till two. Why?"
"Come in my office...We need to talk." Cat wordlessly followed Hermione into her office. Hermione plunked her briefcase down, set her laptop case down on the desk, and threw herself into her chair.
"Cat?"
"Yes, Hermione?"
"I'm pregnant."
Cat blinked.
"Did you hear me? I'm preggers. With child. Mother-to-be -"
"I heard, I heard," Cat interrupted. "With whose baby? You don't even have a boyfriend!"
"Er, that's the part that's the problem."
"No, really," Cat said sarcastically. "Come on, out with it! Who've you been in bed with?"
"Well, you have to remember...that I was really, really drunk at the time. Really drunk. Horrendously drunk."
"Yes...?"
Hermione took a deep breath and continued. "I met this guy at that club I was at...Moon River. I didn't know who he was at the time. We danced...and oh GODS ABOVE could he dance, Cat...and we had some drinks, and went back to his place and...well..."
"YES?"
"Well we had some more drinks...and then..."
"YES?"
"Magically ended up in bed?" Hermione finished up lamely, watching Cat pace.
"I don't believe this..." Cat threw her hands up in the air. "Did neither of you think to use protection?"
"Er...we were really drunk..."
"And how can you be so calm?" Cat demanded. "I'm freaking out. How can you be so calm?"
"I have to stay calm," said Hermione, smoothing her suit and reached for her coffee mug. Cat reached to grab it, and Hermione handed it to her, exasperated. "It's orange juice Cat, I know better than to drink caffienated beverages, you know!"
Cat sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm your friend, and I'm concerned for you. Unwed mothers in the wizarding world are highly frowned upon."
"That's what he said too." Hermione sipped at her juice. "Gods, this is sour."
"Wait. That's one thing I haven't gotten. Who's he?"
Hermione set her mug down. "Severus Snape, Professor of Potions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Cat shrieked.
Hermione groaned. "Well, I did have eardrums -"
"Snape? SNAPE is the father of your child? You're carrying a SNAPE?!"
"He's not all that bad, you know," Hermione retorted. "He's good at the tango...vertically AND horizontally."
Cat looked as if she was going to be sick. Hermione was saved from trying to say something to make her feel better by the front door opening. Cat left the office to recieve the visitor, and Hermione took the time to magic on some makeup (the Muggle way looked better, but no time) and she twisted her hair into a bun.
"Yes, she's in there. Just go right in." Catherine seemed thouroughly freaked. And Hermione soon found out why.
A beaming delivery boy walked into her office, bearing a burdon of two dozen yellow roses, set in a beautiful glass vase, and a scroll with Severus' seal.
-----
A/N -
I'm sorry this is so short. It's very hard for me to write anything in terms of vaguely romantic right now. My boyfriend and I - we'd been dating eight months and were promised - just broke up...so I'm going through a pretty difficult time right now. I was very upset after it initially, but I'm beginning to get better. It's just very hard for me to write right now. But I will try. I may draw on some of it, actually, for this story. And I'm using the characters of my best friends Cat and Katelyn for Hermione's moral support system. :) They're two lovely young women! So if they ever read this...not likely as Katelyn's not an HP fan...and Cat is but she has no Internet anymore...oh well.
Much love, Alicia/Jaimes