Disclaimer : I OWN IT! I OWN IT ALL, BWAHAHAHAHAH! That's what I'd be saying, were I in fact JK Rowling. But I'm not. Alas, alas for me.
SLYTHERIN BOYChapter Twenty-Four : Closure and Creeveys
Ron sat pensively in the common room. Hermione sat beside him, and Harry had already gone up to bed. When he'd thought he had a crush on Hermione, a few years back, he'd been insanely angry at Viktor Krum for snatching away his chance for normalcy. Not jealous, per se, but definitely angry.
And now, now… that Bulgarian bastard had come in and snatched away Severus, too. The first person he'd ever felt such a strong attraction to, taken by the same boy who had angered him so in his thirteen-year-old aggression.
The thoughts raced through his brain as he struggled to comprehend how Severus could have done such a thing to him. Treated him the way he had. Dean glared at him from where he was sitting near the fire.
"What?" Ron snarled.
"What're you staring at me for?" Dean snapped. "I hope you're not fancying a shag,"
Ron felt the anger boiling inside him. "I'm not about to lose my virginity to the likes of you, Dean," he snapped. "Besides, the idea of you naked is one of the most gag-inducing ideas I can think of,"
"So you admit you've thought of it, eh?" Dean said. "You keep your queer thoughts away from me, Weasley,"
"Are you trying to pick a fucking fight with me? Because if so, I'll be beating your face bloody in two seconds," Ron shouted. Hermione grabbed his arm.
"Ron. Let it go," she muttered. Ron realized he had stood up, and sank back to his seat. Dean sniffed at him and stalked up the stairs to the boys dormitories.
"Why's he have to be such a prick?" Ron snarled.
"You're upset about Severus aren't you?" Hermione asked softly. Ron's eyes bugged.
"No! He can shag that Bulgarian bastard all he wants for all I care," he snapped at her. "Birds of a feather flock together, right? Jerks belong together."
"Ron… Viktor isn't a jerk, first of all. Second of all, I know you're feeling really jealous right now because he's with Severus. I don't know what to tell you. I haven't even spoken to Severus in nearly a week. I think he's trying to cut himself off from us. If you want to get some closure, you need to talk to him. Otherwise, well… you're just going to end up fighting Dean. I know you don't really want that." She said.
"I guess…" he sighed. Why were things always so difficult?
"Now I know for a fact that at this very moment, Viktor is at his home collecting his belongings. I saw him leave. If I were you, I'd go talk to Severus now, so you don't have to deal with Viktor being there." She said to him.
"…I guess you're right," Ron frowned. "I'll go now. I just… I need to feel better. If you think talking to him will do that, well, you're the smart one after all." He smiled weakly at her. She grinned.
He stood up, plunging his hands in his robes pockets. "Here I go," he said, walking towards the portrait. It swung open. "I'm gone," he called in through the open hole, before disappearing down the stairwell.
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Ron ambled into the library. It was the first stop to finding Severus, the boy… man was often lurking around the books being surly. Ron spotted the dark head of hair poking over the edge of a chair. Ron slipped into the chair across from him.
He realized as he sat down that Snape was asleep, the side of his head leaned against the wings of the chair. He frowned, some reason disarmed by the sight of Snape looking so vulnerable. He reached over with his foot, kicking the man's heavy boot.
Severus jerked, his eyes opening. He looked disoriented for a moment, before seeing the bookshelves and focusing on Ron's scowling face.
"Oh," he murmured, relaxing slightly. "Weasley."
"I need to talk to you," Ron murmured, slightly disarmed by being referenced by his surname.
"Talk," Severus said simply.
"Well I don't… really know what to say. You know… you really hurt me. A lot," he looked at Severus, his eyes guarded. It felt different talking to the man as an adult. He found himself thinking of the black-haired figure in front of him as Snape, rather than the Severus he knew. It surprised Ron to realize he hadn't thought of him as Snape since the transformation a whole year ago.
"I'm sorry," Severus said earnestly. "You know… the thought process between childhood and adulthood are so different. I was impulsive, rash. I did things I… wouldn't have, normally…" he trailed off at Ron's hurt look.
"Listen, Ron." Severus said. "I am an adult. I knew from the beginning that things wouldn't work out between you and I, because eventually I would have been switched back, like this. Do you understand that?" Ron nodded. "But as a child… well, a young man I suppose… I was so led by my emotions. All I could think of, when I was with you, was that I was attracted to you. I'm sure you can understand the possession that comes over you when your hormones kick in?" Ron nodded again, smirking. "I'm not trying to make excuses, I know that won't help. I guess I'm just trying to explain that I never meant to hurt you," he trailed off.
"Okay," Ron said. "You know… I don't understand what's so much better about Viktor Krum than me," he grumbled.
Severus smirked slightly. "Don't eat yourself up about it, Weasley," he said. "It was only a physical attraction with you, and I know it. You were struggling with sexuality and I pushed you over the line. For that you liked me. For anything else? Well you thought I was a pretentious, ill-tempered bastard. Which I am."
"True." Ron smirked. The more he thought about it, the less unhappy he felt about not getting a good shag out of Severus. He had a thought, suddenly. He frowned. "Are you even going to be friends with us anymore?" he asked after a moment of silence. "Not that I can ever forgive you. And I know Harry still doesn't like you. But Hermione… well, she hasn't said it to me, but I can just tell… she's terrified that you'll never speak to her on a friendly level again. She thinks things are going to just click back to the way they were, with you hating us and us hating you."
Severus blinked. He hadn't even thought of that. "Oh," he murmured. "I don't know. I don't think things could ever be the way they were." He smirked slightly. "Seeing as things will be changing anyways, I don't see why I can't continue being friendly with her. Not that I was ever friendly with you and Potter," he smirked slightly. "And seeing as I'll be back sitting at the High Table, no need for pleasantries."
Ron smiled, standing up. Severus followed suit. Ron held his hand out. "To being mortal enemies," he said. Snape smirked and shook it.
"For the record," Severus said. "I don't feel so ill towards you three anymore. I doubt things will be quite as vicious as before. Not that I'm going to sacrifice my reputation as a greasy bastard for you. But… I don't doubt the atmosphere will have changed a bit."
Ron nodded. "I obviously don't hate you anymore. Harry neither. But, you know how it is. You can only lose so many house points before you start to get irritated again." He shrugged.
"Well, I'd better go. Viktor's coming back soon." Severus said. There was an awkward pause.
"Go, then." Ron said. "You're right. I've been putting far too much worth on you," he said, though his heart sunk slightly as he said it. He swallowed.
"Tell Longbottom not to be so afraid of me," Severus said, suddenly. "If he would keep his head while coming into my damned class, I'm sure he wouldn't have so many nasty accidents,"
Ron laughed as Severus walked out of the library.
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"Well?" Hermione said as Ron slumped back into the chair. He smirked at her. "Well?" she repeated.
"Well, we're back to despising each other, I guess. We came to an agreement of sorts. You're right, Hermione. I do feel a little better." He nodded.
"Good," she murmured.
"Oh yeah," Ron said. "He told me to tell you, the password to his rooms is 'Parseltongue'."
Hermione blinked. "Why did he want you to tell me that?" she asked.
"Well, you two are the good friends, right? He didn't want to just cut you out of his life after you two'd become such good friends and all," he said nonchalantly.
"Oh," Hermione beamed. "Well! I'll remember that. Thank you, Ronald," she smiled at him, before kissing him on the cheek. "I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow, darling,"
He rolled his eyes as she walked up the dark stairwell to the girls dormitories. He sat for a moment, happy that he'd made her feel good. It was nice to see her not looking depressed. He was still a little bit jealous about Krum, and he supposed he'd always be a bit sore. Snape had been right in what he'd said, though. It was a physical attraction issue. They'd never been particularly nice to each other, unless they were kissing. Which, come to think of it, really hadn't been that often. He sighed, standing up. He stretched, slightly, looking over to the fireplace.
The only people still awake were the Creevey brothers, pouring over a book. He smirked.
Colin Creevey didn't look so bad, really.
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A/N: I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY THAT I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN SO LONG!
I was seriously hating this story for… a long time. But I finally had a bit of inspiration, and tried to write this chapter from a different approach. Originally, I had planned on it being a chapter of Severus going with Viktor to meet his family, but I was having NO luck at all with that. Everything was turning out awful, so I set it aside for a really, really long time. Then I was thinking about it today, since I have been getting a spattering of reviews recently, and decided to try the chapter again. I read the last ten chapters over, and found a spark again. I tried again from the Snape Family Reunion approach, before being struck with the idea to do a chapter for Ron. And it worked out well.
Next time… more Viktor and Severus. Maybe a bit of the family spice thrown in there. I have a new idea… more Severus torture. Can you guess it? I wonder. G