-THE CURSED POSITION
CHAPTER 9 : Visiting Grandma
Snape was uncertain about Hermione's idea, but considering he didn't have any other options on this matter, he decided to agree with it. The invisibility potion was ready. He shrunk both vials along with the parchment and placed them in his pocket. They would first have to hide the parchment containing the formula for his potion and then they would go to the Ministry of Magic. It was after lunch when Hermione knocked at the door.
"Enter," he said.
"Are you ready, sir?" she asked as she walked in.
"Yes and you're late," he answered coldly.
She was about to retort to that when she saw he was dressed in his usual frock coat and black robe. "I thought you didn't want to attract attention."
He followed her gaze to his clothes and asked, "Why?"
"Well, we're going to London and we can't just apparate directly to my grandmother's house. She doesn't know about our world you know?"
"And your point is?" he asked.
"Well, we'll have to apparate to an alley where no one can see us, so we'll have to walk about ten minutes before we reach my grandma's house. Your clothes are not exactly the latest fashion in the muggle world," she said holding back a smile.
"Well, I'm sure that not everyone follows the latest fashion."
"Of course not, but when the style of you clothes look hundreds of years old, It's hard not to be noticed," she said now smirking.
He glared at her and with a sigh, he turned on his heels and disappeared through a small door in the back.
While waiting, Hermione started looking around the office, examining the slimy stuff inside the jars. She always wondered if those were even real or just one of Snape's tricks to intimidate students and terrorize first years in detention.
She heard his steps coming back and turned to see something she never, in her wild dreams, imagined seeing. Snape without his usual bat clothes.
He was wearing his white linen shirt and black slacks, but no frock coat or robes. He looked a lot less gloomy and to her surprise not at all intimidating. Even the clothes he wore were part of his attempt to cause fear and impose respect. She wondered if he was really that sarcastic and brooding. Maybe it was all part of an act. If he only knew that people would respect him for his brilliant mind and not for fear.
He seemed to be a little uncomfortable out of his usual attire and she pretended not to notice.
She followed him to a part of the dungeon she had never been before, there was a little door in between two columns that led to a flight of stairs. She was amazed that they could go even lower than that part of the dungeon. It was even darker and there was a musty smell lingering in the air. The stairs made a spiral curve and after a while she started to feel dizzy.
Snape took his wand and said, "Lumos."
The beam of light illuminated the way as they reached the last steps. Hermione found herself in a square room with a small bed and a glass and wood cabinet. She saw a lot of labeled potions and healing material just like the ones in the infirmary.
She wanted to ask, but Snape continued going through a narrow passage and she quickly had to follow. The passage seemed interminable and she had a million questions bursting in her mind, but Snape wouldn't talk or stop going and she didn't want to be left behind in that creepy place.
They finally stopped in front of a heavy wooden door and Snape muttered some words she didn't recognize and the door swung opened. Still not talking, Snape entered the room which looked like an old storage place that seemed to be abandoned. There was a "Closed for repair" sign on the window and the place looked like it was that way for years.
She couldn't hold her curiosity any longer. "What is this place?"
"We're in Hogsmeade, this place belongs to the Headmaster and I use it as a way out of Hogwarts without being seen," he answered.
"Why was there medicinal potions and a bed in that little room?" she asked before thinking again and realized as the words came out that she shouldn't have touched the subject.
Snape looked at her with an eyebrow raised and she felt her cheeks blushing in embarrassment.
"Has it ever occurred to you, Miss Granger, that when Potter gets to swish his wand and save the world from evil, having everything presented to him in a neat silver platter, someone had to go and do the dirty work to make all that possible?" His eyes were blacker and colder.
"I know that sir, I never said it was easy..."
"Death Eaters' meetings are not what you would call a pleasant evening out, but you wouldn't know that would you? Like your little friends, you think I enjoy playing the spy!"
"Well, it certainly was your choice to become a Death Eater! Just because you regret that now, doesn't give you the right to take it out on us!" she shot back.
"You don't know anything about my life or my choices, so don't assume you have all the answers for my actions! I think we should go before it's to late to enter the Ministry," he said dryly, leaving through a glass door at the front.
Hermione was a little unsure for a moment and then ran along to meet him outside. She couldn't look at him in the eyes, it was the first time she heard him mention anything about himself and he wasn't too happy to have had that conversation with her.
"How are we apparating? I didn't finish my training yet," she asked.
"You'll have to hold my arm and be still," he said extending his arm toward her.
"I didn't know you could apparate with other people," she said.
He glared at her, annoyed at her incessant questions, it seemed like the girl could never keep her mouth shut for more than five minutes. "I can be able to concentrate on one person other than me, no more though, if there were more then we would need a port key."
She took a deep breath and held his arm. She had never apparated before, so she closed her eyes. There was a little pull similar to the port key, but it was faster and before she could get dizzy, they were already in the alley near her Grandmother's house.
This time it was Snape's turn to follow Hermione. She led the way through the crowded street, while snape looked at it all with mix of curiosity and disgust. He seldom had to go to Muggle London and it was something he dreaded. He couldn't understand how these people could live in those narrow ugly houses, all looking exactly the same and so near one another that the idea of privacy seemed like something inexistent.
They walked fast, so they got there in less than ten minutes. He was glad that Hermione was capable to be quiet throughout the way. When she stopped in front of one of the many brick narrow houses, she turned to him.
"Ok, remember, my grandmother doesn't know and would never understand anything about magic, so I am telling her I've come for a visit and while you distract her, I'll go hide the parchment on a place only I know about. I used to hide things in there when I was little and used to spend time here. It's completely safe and it will be impossible to find."
Snape's eyes grew wide. "What? Me, distract your grandmother?"
"Well, how do you expect me to hide the formula?"
"It's out of the question, you never told me I would have to be making conversation with an elderly muggle!"
"Well, do you have a better suggestion?"
Snape opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. He had no choice. "Won't your grandmother think it's strange for you to bring one of your Professors for a visit?"
"She's very old and her vision is not the same anymore. I just have to tell her you're my boyfriend and she won't notice the age difference," she said matter-of-factly.
Snape was terrified, his expression was priceless and Hermione wished Ron and Harry could be there to see his face.
When she saw he wasn't going to be able to speak, she climbed the steps to the front door and pushed the doorbell. The sharp contraption chimed, making Snape flinch.
It took a few seconds before they heard slow steps coming to the door. An elderly lay with curly purple hair and round spectacles answered the door.
"Oh my dear, Hermione! What a nice surprise!"
"hello grandma," said Hermione hugging the old lady.
The lady pushed her away gently. "Let me look at you. Oh my, when did you get to be so tall?"
Hermione smiled at her and couldn't resist, "I see you dyed your hair yourself again."
With a smile her grandmother touched her hair proudly. "Oh I found this new product that gives it a lovely shade of white, do you like it?"
Hermione nodded and suppressed a giggle, looking at her grandmother's purple hair.
"Oh where are my manners, come in dear," the old woman said.
Hermione turned to introduce Snape and noticed he was still standing on the same spot. She gestured for him to come and he reluctantly climbed the steps.
"This is Severus," She shot him an apologizing look, for calling him by his given name and for what she was about to say, "my boyfriend."
The old woman's face lit up like a christmas tree and she immediately grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. Hermione could see him get stiff at the contact and she found herself enjoying it. She had a feeling she would pay for all this later, but it was worth it.
In a minute the both of them were sitting in the living room having food and tea pushed at them and listening to the unending blabber of the elderly lady. When she got up to get more tea in the kitchen, Hermione saw the perfect oportunity to go hide the parchment upstairs.
"Give me the parchment and I'll pretend to go use the bathroom," she whispered.
Snape got the shrunk parchment out of his pocket and touching it with his wand, it turned to its actual size. She got the parchment and as she was climbing the stairs, she yelled to her grandmother she was going to the bathroom.
Hermione went to the second bedroom on the far left side of the corridor. It was a small guest bedroom she used to sleep on, every time she came to visit her grandmother. She pushed the wardrobe on the wall revealing a the wooden floor boards. She touched one of them and with a firm pull, she got the floor board loose.
Getting it out of the way, she reached her hand inside hole and got a shoe box out. Her face softened when she saw her childhood treasures, plastic jewelry and a little diary. she took the parchment and placed it inside the diary. While she was closing the hole back, she heard her grandma bombarding Snape with questions and hurried to save him before he had a heart attack.
When Hermione got back to the living room, her grandmother turned happily to her. "I was just asking your boyfriend if he belongs to one of those rock bands you youths like. You know, with the long black hair and all. What are they called..." She frowned thinking for a second. "Gothic, yes I saw a very interesting show about them on the Telly. Do you like cemeteries dear?" she asked turning back to Snape and all he could do was glare at Hermione.
He was shooting daggers at her with that look and she thought it was better to leave as soon as possible. After the tough job of convincing her grandmother they had to go and agreeing that they would visit her whenever they could, they left her house to go to the Ministry.
"What was she talking about? Gothic..." said Snape shaking his head.
"My grandmother talks too much and never thinks before asking questions," she said.
"Well, then it runs in the family," he answered.
She ignored his comment, deciding her grandma had already made him suffer enough in there and she would treasure that moment forever.
............................................................................ .......................................................................
A/N : I want to thank : JasperPress77, risi, strega-in-progress and Ashes Kittyhawk for your nice reviews.
CHAPTER 9 : Visiting Grandma
Snape was uncertain about Hermione's idea, but considering he didn't have any other options on this matter, he decided to agree with it. The invisibility potion was ready. He shrunk both vials along with the parchment and placed them in his pocket. They would first have to hide the parchment containing the formula for his potion and then they would go to the Ministry of Magic. It was after lunch when Hermione knocked at the door.
"Enter," he said.
"Are you ready, sir?" she asked as she walked in.
"Yes and you're late," he answered coldly.
She was about to retort to that when she saw he was dressed in his usual frock coat and black robe. "I thought you didn't want to attract attention."
He followed her gaze to his clothes and asked, "Why?"
"Well, we're going to London and we can't just apparate directly to my grandmother's house. She doesn't know about our world you know?"
"And your point is?" he asked.
"Well, we'll have to apparate to an alley where no one can see us, so we'll have to walk about ten minutes before we reach my grandma's house. Your clothes are not exactly the latest fashion in the muggle world," she said holding back a smile.
"Well, I'm sure that not everyone follows the latest fashion."
"Of course not, but when the style of you clothes look hundreds of years old, It's hard not to be noticed," she said now smirking.
He glared at her and with a sigh, he turned on his heels and disappeared through a small door in the back.
While waiting, Hermione started looking around the office, examining the slimy stuff inside the jars. She always wondered if those were even real or just one of Snape's tricks to intimidate students and terrorize first years in detention.
She heard his steps coming back and turned to see something she never, in her wild dreams, imagined seeing. Snape without his usual bat clothes.
He was wearing his white linen shirt and black slacks, but no frock coat or robes. He looked a lot less gloomy and to her surprise not at all intimidating. Even the clothes he wore were part of his attempt to cause fear and impose respect. She wondered if he was really that sarcastic and brooding. Maybe it was all part of an act. If he only knew that people would respect him for his brilliant mind and not for fear.
He seemed to be a little uncomfortable out of his usual attire and she pretended not to notice.
She followed him to a part of the dungeon she had never been before, there was a little door in between two columns that led to a flight of stairs. She was amazed that they could go even lower than that part of the dungeon. It was even darker and there was a musty smell lingering in the air. The stairs made a spiral curve and after a while she started to feel dizzy.
Snape took his wand and said, "Lumos."
The beam of light illuminated the way as they reached the last steps. Hermione found herself in a square room with a small bed and a glass and wood cabinet. She saw a lot of labeled potions and healing material just like the ones in the infirmary.
She wanted to ask, but Snape continued going through a narrow passage and she quickly had to follow. The passage seemed interminable and she had a million questions bursting in her mind, but Snape wouldn't talk or stop going and she didn't want to be left behind in that creepy place.
They finally stopped in front of a heavy wooden door and Snape muttered some words she didn't recognize and the door swung opened. Still not talking, Snape entered the room which looked like an old storage place that seemed to be abandoned. There was a "Closed for repair" sign on the window and the place looked like it was that way for years.
She couldn't hold her curiosity any longer. "What is this place?"
"We're in Hogsmeade, this place belongs to the Headmaster and I use it as a way out of Hogwarts without being seen," he answered.
"Why was there medicinal potions and a bed in that little room?" she asked before thinking again and realized as the words came out that she shouldn't have touched the subject.
Snape looked at her with an eyebrow raised and she felt her cheeks blushing in embarrassment.
"Has it ever occurred to you, Miss Granger, that when Potter gets to swish his wand and save the world from evil, having everything presented to him in a neat silver platter, someone had to go and do the dirty work to make all that possible?" His eyes were blacker and colder.
"I know that sir, I never said it was easy..."
"Death Eaters' meetings are not what you would call a pleasant evening out, but you wouldn't know that would you? Like your little friends, you think I enjoy playing the spy!"
"Well, it certainly was your choice to become a Death Eater! Just because you regret that now, doesn't give you the right to take it out on us!" she shot back.
"You don't know anything about my life or my choices, so don't assume you have all the answers for my actions! I think we should go before it's to late to enter the Ministry," he said dryly, leaving through a glass door at the front.
Hermione was a little unsure for a moment and then ran along to meet him outside. She couldn't look at him in the eyes, it was the first time she heard him mention anything about himself and he wasn't too happy to have had that conversation with her.
"How are we apparating? I didn't finish my training yet," she asked.
"You'll have to hold my arm and be still," he said extending his arm toward her.
"I didn't know you could apparate with other people," she said.
He glared at her, annoyed at her incessant questions, it seemed like the girl could never keep her mouth shut for more than five minutes. "I can be able to concentrate on one person other than me, no more though, if there were more then we would need a port key."
She took a deep breath and held his arm. She had never apparated before, so she closed her eyes. There was a little pull similar to the port key, but it was faster and before she could get dizzy, they were already in the alley near her Grandmother's house.
This time it was Snape's turn to follow Hermione. She led the way through the crowded street, while snape looked at it all with mix of curiosity and disgust. He seldom had to go to Muggle London and it was something he dreaded. He couldn't understand how these people could live in those narrow ugly houses, all looking exactly the same and so near one another that the idea of privacy seemed like something inexistent.
They walked fast, so they got there in less than ten minutes. He was glad that Hermione was capable to be quiet throughout the way. When she stopped in front of one of the many brick narrow houses, she turned to him.
"Ok, remember, my grandmother doesn't know and would never understand anything about magic, so I am telling her I've come for a visit and while you distract her, I'll go hide the parchment on a place only I know about. I used to hide things in there when I was little and used to spend time here. It's completely safe and it will be impossible to find."
Snape's eyes grew wide. "What? Me, distract your grandmother?"
"Well, how do you expect me to hide the formula?"
"It's out of the question, you never told me I would have to be making conversation with an elderly muggle!"
"Well, do you have a better suggestion?"
Snape opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. He had no choice. "Won't your grandmother think it's strange for you to bring one of your Professors for a visit?"
"She's very old and her vision is not the same anymore. I just have to tell her you're my boyfriend and she won't notice the age difference," she said matter-of-factly.
Snape was terrified, his expression was priceless and Hermione wished Ron and Harry could be there to see his face.
When she saw he wasn't going to be able to speak, she climbed the steps to the front door and pushed the doorbell. The sharp contraption chimed, making Snape flinch.
It took a few seconds before they heard slow steps coming to the door. An elderly lay with curly purple hair and round spectacles answered the door.
"Oh my dear, Hermione! What a nice surprise!"
"hello grandma," said Hermione hugging the old lady.
The lady pushed her away gently. "Let me look at you. Oh my, when did you get to be so tall?"
Hermione smiled at her and couldn't resist, "I see you dyed your hair yourself again."
With a smile her grandmother touched her hair proudly. "Oh I found this new product that gives it a lovely shade of white, do you like it?"
Hermione nodded and suppressed a giggle, looking at her grandmother's purple hair.
"Oh where are my manners, come in dear," the old woman said.
Hermione turned to introduce Snape and noticed he was still standing on the same spot. She gestured for him to come and he reluctantly climbed the steps.
"This is Severus," She shot him an apologizing look, for calling him by his given name and for what she was about to say, "my boyfriend."
The old woman's face lit up like a christmas tree and she immediately grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. Hermione could see him get stiff at the contact and she found herself enjoying it. She had a feeling she would pay for all this later, but it was worth it.
In a minute the both of them were sitting in the living room having food and tea pushed at them and listening to the unending blabber of the elderly lady. When she got up to get more tea in the kitchen, Hermione saw the perfect oportunity to go hide the parchment upstairs.
"Give me the parchment and I'll pretend to go use the bathroom," she whispered.
Snape got the shrunk parchment out of his pocket and touching it with his wand, it turned to its actual size. She got the parchment and as she was climbing the stairs, she yelled to her grandmother she was going to the bathroom.
Hermione went to the second bedroom on the far left side of the corridor. It was a small guest bedroom she used to sleep on, every time she came to visit her grandmother. She pushed the wardrobe on the wall revealing a the wooden floor boards. She touched one of them and with a firm pull, she got the floor board loose.
Getting it out of the way, she reached her hand inside hole and got a shoe box out. Her face softened when she saw her childhood treasures, plastic jewelry and a little diary. she took the parchment and placed it inside the diary. While she was closing the hole back, she heard her grandma bombarding Snape with questions and hurried to save him before he had a heart attack.
When Hermione got back to the living room, her grandmother turned happily to her. "I was just asking your boyfriend if he belongs to one of those rock bands you youths like. You know, with the long black hair and all. What are they called..." She frowned thinking for a second. "Gothic, yes I saw a very interesting show about them on the Telly. Do you like cemeteries dear?" she asked turning back to Snape and all he could do was glare at Hermione.
He was shooting daggers at her with that look and she thought it was better to leave as soon as possible. After the tough job of convincing her grandmother they had to go and agreeing that they would visit her whenever they could, they left her house to go to the Ministry.
"What was she talking about? Gothic..." said Snape shaking his head.
"My grandmother talks too much and never thinks before asking questions," she said.
"Well, then it runs in the family," he answered.
She ignored his comment, deciding her grandma had already made him suffer enough in there and she would treasure that moment forever.
............................................................................ .......................................................................
A/N : I want to thank : JasperPress77, risi, strega-in-progress and Ashes Kittyhawk for your nice reviews.