DISCLAIMER: Hermione, Severus, Draco and all their friends belong to JK
Rowling, Scholastic Books and everyone else with a copyright. I'm just
letting them out to play a bit 'til the next book or movie comes out and
they have to get back to their day jobs.
A/N: This is really just the first part of Chapter 5, but it seemed an excellent place to end things as I begin working on the next key scene. Hope you enjoy!
A good marriage is one which allows for change and
growth in the individuals and in the way they express their love.
- Pearl S. Buck
Chapter 5, Part 1
Severus Snape was not a patient man at the best of times, and tonight certainly didn't qualify as the best of times. He wanted answers and he wanted them now, not after another interminable staff meeting.
His eyes narrowed as he considered the headmaster, settled in his high back chair at the head of the table, sucking on a sweet and smiling benignly at some drivel that Sprout was mouthing. He was almost sure Dumbledore was dragging this meeting out just to annoy him, and he was succeeding admirably.
Judging by the little melodrama acted out by the Gryffindor players at dinner - you certainly could count on that group to provide entertainment at meals - something serious was going on with one of his Slytherins. As Draco Malfoy's Head of House, he should have been informed immediately of anything that would affect the boy, and he was not pleased that he had had to find out something was going on via That Silly Girl's histrionic pronouncement.
Part of him knew he was being unfair to Her, but he consoled himself with the fact that it wasn't the first time and refused to dwell on it. After all, his primary concern was Draco, not Her.
Even if She had made a splendid exit from the Great Hall tonight.
Replaying it in his mind for the tenth time, he really doubted if he could have done better himself.
-------------------------------------
An hour later (just as he was completing his mental List Of Perfect Ways to Kill the Rest of the Staff - Number 18: a truly ingenious potion of hellebore and Scythin venom that would make the soil in the greenhouse poisonous to humans (i.e., Pomona Sprout) with prolonged exposure without endangering the plant life), the headmaster finally called the meeting to an end. As usual, the staff all scattered into small groups around the room for tea and conversation (a behaviour which he found totally de trop; after all, they had just spent the last 2 hours talking to each other). Rather than making a beeline for the door and freedom, however, as was his wont, Severus found himself trailing the headmaster, trying to get a word in edgewise as he made his rounds.
It was Minerva who finally caught him. "Albus, I would like to speak with you about what happened in the Hall at dinner this evening. I have never known Miss Granger to lie-" she shot Snape a deathly glare at his snort of disbelief " - unlike the members of certain other houses, who are known for their frequent lack of honesty." She cast a meaningful glance at him, but he ignored it. He really didn't expect her to understand the fine distinction between lying and the judicious use of omission and/or creativity. "Is what she said true?"
Dumbledore sighed and popped another lemon drop into his mouth. "I meant to speak to both you and Severus about these unhappy events this evening. Perhaps you two could both join me in my office for a cup of tea?" Minerva nodded primly and the headmaster headed towards the door, the two professors following in his wake.
A/N: This is really just the first part of Chapter 5, but it seemed an excellent place to end things as I begin working on the next key scene. Hope you enjoy!
A good marriage is one which allows for change and
growth in the individuals and in the way they express their love.
- Pearl S. Buck
Chapter 5, Part 1
Severus Snape was not a patient man at the best of times, and tonight certainly didn't qualify as the best of times. He wanted answers and he wanted them now, not after another interminable staff meeting.
His eyes narrowed as he considered the headmaster, settled in his high back chair at the head of the table, sucking on a sweet and smiling benignly at some drivel that Sprout was mouthing. He was almost sure Dumbledore was dragging this meeting out just to annoy him, and he was succeeding admirably.
Judging by the little melodrama acted out by the Gryffindor players at dinner - you certainly could count on that group to provide entertainment at meals - something serious was going on with one of his Slytherins. As Draco Malfoy's Head of House, he should have been informed immediately of anything that would affect the boy, and he was not pleased that he had had to find out something was going on via That Silly Girl's histrionic pronouncement.
Part of him knew he was being unfair to Her, but he consoled himself with the fact that it wasn't the first time and refused to dwell on it. After all, his primary concern was Draco, not Her.
Even if She had made a splendid exit from the Great Hall tonight.
Replaying it in his mind for the tenth time, he really doubted if he could have done better himself.
-------------------------------------
An hour later (just as he was completing his mental List Of Perfect Ways to Kill the Rest of the Staff - Number 18: a truly ingenious potion of hellebore and Scythin venom that would make the soil in the greenhouse poisonous to humans (i.e., Pomona Sprout) with prolonged exposure without endangering the plant life), the headmaster finally called the meeting to an end. As usual, the staff all scattered into small groups around the room for tea and conversation (a behaviour which he found totally de trop; after all, they had just spent the last 2 hours talking to each other). Rather than making a beeline for the door and freedom, however, as was his wont, Severus found himself trailing the headmaster, trying to get a word in edgewise as he made his rounds.
It was Minerva who finally caught him. "Albus, I would like to speak with you about what happened in the Hall at dinner this evening. I have never known Miss Granger to lie-" she shot Snape a deathly glare at his snort of disbelief " - unlike the members of certain other houses, who are known for their frequent lack of honesty." She cast a meaningful glance at him, but he ignored it. He really didn't expect her to understand the fine distinction between lying and the judicious use of omission and/or creativity. "Is what she said true?"
Dumbledore sighed and popped another lemon drop into his mouth. "I meant to speak to both you and Severus about these unhappy events this evening. Perhaps you two could both join me in my office for a cup of tea?" Minerva nodded primly and the headmaster headed towards the door, the two professors following in his wake.