Katie Scarlette: Thanks! For both the compliments and the suggestion! That really had my mind coming up with all kinds of ideas... *evil grin*
Eternal Queen: Lol, you're right.
plastic: *tries to imagine AR as a woman* *runs away, screaming*
BHSBandGeek2005: Yeah, I think I could have written him as some clumsy clown on a broom, but that would've been too sad :)
Elfmoon87: Gotta keep that in mind!
JoeBob1379: Hehe! Now you mention it... Yes, actually, they have something in common... Now I think about it, didn't I start this fic around the same time Beauty and the Beast got released on DVD? Wow, scary!
bluestarfish: You're right, that apology really had to come of his toes! But it was there anyway, and at least it had some effect on 'Mione!
A Rose By Any Other Name, lollylips3:
Thanks! And I will continue, don't worry :)
The Perfectionist
By Mykerinos
Chapter Twelve: Blame the rules
That night they stood at the now
familiar Quidditch field again.
Hermione watched as Snape grabbed
one small broom out of his pocket and shook it a few times, the spell wearing
off, and the broom regaining its original size.
"Erm, sir? Where's my broom?" Hermione
asked.
"In the broom shed," Snape answered
curtly. When no explanation followed, Hermione frowned. Snape rolled his
eyes. "The rules of the contest require that the two participants have
to do at least one act on the same broom,"
Hermione yelped, and gave him a weird
look.
"These are the rules, I can't help
it," Snape snapped. "Now get on the broom,"
Still hesitating, Hermione walked
over to Snape and the broom. She hadn't exactly expected this. Flying with
Snape hanging in the air right beside you was worse enough; Actually flying
with Snape was something most people wouldn't even do for a million
of galleons.
But she hadn't got a real choice,
had she?
Carefully stepping on the broom,
she suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Where to hold on to? Before she could
ask, Snape had taken off, and Hermione felt how she began to fall backwards.
In a reaction, she swung her arms around and grabbed for the only thing
she could grab for -- Snape.
Before she knew what she was doing,
she was clinging to his left tightly, afraid she'd fall.
"Miss Granger," came the highly annoyed
voice of Snape, and she could actually feel the vibrations of his voice
going through his body. "Could you please remove your hands from me?"
"I would, sir," Hermione said in
a somewhat high voice. "If I had anything else to hold on to,"
She was just glad it was dark, and
he couldn't see her face, because she was blushing fiercely. This was just
too close! Glancing up at Snape, she saw his face was stern and unreadable
as ever.
"We're going to do a double back
flip now," he announced. "Ready?"
Immediately she felt how he pulled
the broom up, and although she had done back flips before, it was a whole
new experience doing one without controlling the broom herself. Scared,
she made herself smaller and pressed her head against his back, holding
on as tightly as she could. She could barely breathe, but when she did
so, she was surprised by the smell of herbs.
And no, not stinky, awfully smelling
herbs, but herbs that reminded her of forests, oceans, with happy animals
and rays of sunlight creating wonderful sceneries. For a moment she forgot
who she was clinging to.
And then they were flying horizontally
again, and Hermione finally managed to let go a bit.
"Well, we've certainly got to work
on that..." she heard Snape mutter. "But not tonight,"
Hermione didn't dare to object as
they flew back to the ground again, and silently she walked back to the
castle. Once she had got inside, and knew he couldn't see her anymore,
she started running back to her dormitory. Not quite knowing what to think,
she let herself fall on her bed, staring at her hands. The smell of herbs
was still stinging her nose.
- -- - -- - -- -
"On one broom?" Ginny exclaimed.
"I can see how you're so upset now! How terrible!"
They were having breakfast in the
Great Hall, but Hermione wasn't eating. She had just told Ginny about last
night's 'happenings'.
"No, it wasn't!" Hermione said, rubbing
her eyes. "And that's what's wrong. It didn't feel terrible. At all. Especially
not when I smelled those herbs..."
"You think he poisoned you in some
way?" Ginny asked, worried.
Hermione laughed, tension falling
away. "No, of course not! He wouldn't do that!"
Ginny scratched her nose, pouring
some pumpkin juice into her glass. Glancing up at Snape, she smiled. "You
do have a thing with noses, haven't you?"
"Ha-ha," Hermione said and she poked
her friend, remembering Viktor Krum, from a few years ago. Then she glanced
up at Snape also, who was stirring his tea silently. Absent-mindedly.
Ha-ha.
TBC