He thought the hard part was over.
But then again he had thought many things in his life. He had thought that the most important characteristic of a person was the purity of their blood. He had thought that the Dark Lord was the savior of the wizarding world. And he had thought that Hermione Granger was an annoying, buck toothed, know-it-all, whose sole purpose was to make his life a little more miserable.
So it shouldn't have been a surprise that he wrong about this as well.
"What are those?"
"Those are wedding books."
"I am aware that they are wedding books," he scowled as Hermione made a face at him. "What are they doing in my kitchen?"
"They're for planning the wedding."
Hermione sighed as his blank expression.
"You know, wedding. That thing you do to get married. You know, married. That thing you asked me to do last night," she added sarcastically.
Weddings. He hadn't given weddings a second thought. After all what was there to think about. He had gotten her a ring; he figured all they needed was a witness, maybe a few friends if you got really picky. Albus could do it in his office in five minutes, and then you were set.
But he had a suspicion that a ceremony in the headmaster's office was not what Hermione had in mind. The pictures on the front of the books showed large cakes, elaborate flower arrangements, and models posing as couples with big smiles. Smiles that seemed a bit unnatural. In fact all the people seemed a bit unnatural, just standing there in their gowns and tuxedos..hold on. Gowns and tuxedos?
"Wait a minute! These are muggle books!"
"Very good Severus. Now tell me what color the dress is."
He ignored her sarcasm. She had been doing that a lot lately.
"Why on earth would you plan a muggle wedding?"
"I have no idea Severus. Could it possibly have something to with the fact that I'm muggle-born with muggle parents and muggle relatives?"
There was that sarcasm again. He hoped it didn't last.
"Hermione," he started. "A muggle wedding was not exactly what I had in mind."
She snorted.
"I figured as much. You probably thought Albus could marry us with Fawkes as a witness."
He decided it was best not to tell her that was exactly what he had in mind.
He glared at the books. Damn books. If it wasn't for them he could be happily enjoying his breakfast and not have to worry about having to talk his fiancée out of him wearing a three piece muggle suit.
"Look, wizards get married all the time. Why can't we have a normal ceremony?"
"I know, I went to Harry and Ginny's wedding and they had a beautiful wizard ceremony. It's just that." her voice wandered off and she bit the side of her lip. When she started talking again it was obvious she was holding back tears. "All my family will be there, and they always expected me to get married like everyone else. And I always dreamed of walking down the aisle in a white dress with the wedding march playing in the background."
She looked at him pleadingly; her cinnamon eyes start to swim with tears. He hated it when she looked at him like that. One look like that and Hermione Elizabeth Granger got exactly what she wanted.
*
He hated November. November meant snow. Snow meant a bone chilling cold would set in the castle. This cold meant the temperature would drop in the dungeons leaving him with sniffling students. It also meant he would spend his days making cold potions for Madame Pomfrey, and his nights escorting Slytherins with the flu to the hospital wing. It meant hot chocolate would be served, that disgustingly rich drink that Albus loved and covered with marshmallows. Marshmallows meant white sticky goo stuck on the bottoms of the classroom floor. He hated November.
Albus had asked him if he wanted to be a chaperone on the trip to Hogsmeade. "Like hell I do," he had thought. But of course he didn't say it. All those years, Albus had been the one who trusted him, and had given him a second chance. And for that he had to endure certain miseries. Like chaperoning the trip to Hogsmeade. In November.
He stepped into The Three Broomsticks, soaking up the warmth. During his Death Eater days warmth had been a superfluous indulgence. Now with the Dark Lord gone he overtly enjoyed the relaxing vapors that embraced his body. His preferred luxury, though he'd never admit it, was hot baths. Nothing in the world felt as good as searing water after a long day of sniveling students and the putrid potions they tended to brew.
"Firewisky please."
Rosmerta smiled and handed him a long bottle. It wasn't exactly an elegant or lavish drink, but it hit the spot and he always needed a drink that could do that. Especially in November.
"Hello dear, what would you like?" Rosmerta asked the customer after him.
"Cosmopolitan, please Rosmerta," a feminine voice replied.
Rosmerta pushed over the pink drink as the woman pulled out her money purse. As she pushed across the coins two sickles fell to the ground and one in Severus' lap.
"I am so sorry!" the woman hurriedly apologized picking up the sickles. "I can be so clumsy, and I've been so busy."
Her voice trailed off. Severus realized she was studying his face her mouth slightly open. He decided that this woman, clumsy as she may be, had the most enticing lips he had ever seen.
"Professor Snape?"
He raised an eyebrow. Apparently she was a former student. It made sense; she couldn't be more then twenty-five.
She must have realized she was still hunched over as she suddenly stood up straight.
"I'm sorry you must think that I'm incredibly rude."
"Not at all," he replied silkily, handing her her sickle. She blushed slightly. "Sit," he said gesturing to the chair next to him.
To his pleasure she did just that, giving him a small smile as she returned the run away sickles to her pouch.
"You probably don't remember me."
She was certainly correct about that. The woman sitting in front of him was a far cry from any of the girls who populated his dungeons. She had silky honey brown curls that framed a small, pale face, home of those ever more tantalizing lips. She was thin, but hardly skinny with more curves then your average seventh year.
"I'm afraid not?" he answered returning her smile.
"Hermione Granger."
It took every ounce of his willpower to not let his mouth gape open in shock. There was no way. No way that the woman sitting in front of him was the same bushy haired, annoying, studyaholic who he had taught all those years. Less miraculous transformations happened in McGonagall's classroom.
"I graduated six years ago-"
"Yes, I know," he interrupted.
"Oh, so you do remember me?" She looked positively thrilled. Maybe she became emotionally attached to all of her harshly cruel teachers.
"How could I forget?" he grumbled as she laughed. That laugh was the same. It was an interesting laugh. It wasn't particularly attractive, but not off-putting either. She always sounded like she had just heard the funniest joke ever, regardless of what she really heard.
"What, may I ask, brings you to Hogsmeade, Miss Granger?" he asked once she had fully regained control of herself.
"Well, I was sent here to go Christmas shopping for my boss-"
"You Christmas shop for your boss?"
"Well, she's a very busy woman!"
"Obviously if you have to shop for her. She might as well not bother though. She's probably to busy to ever actually see the people you're purchasing gifts for."
She let out another laugh, this time managing to shoot Cosmopolitan out of her nose. Despite his best efforts to remain calm Severus found the last bit too much and couldn't help but chuckle as she tried to mop up the mess.
"Grace is not one of your finer points is it Miss Granger?"
She shrugged embarrassed.
"No, much to my mother's distaste. She's always been trying to make me more socially accomplished. She had me in ballet classes and finishing school until the day I left for Hogwarts."
Severus suddenly had an image of her squirting tea out of her nose in etiquette classes. He emitted another chuckle.
"Is it really that amusing Severus?"
He noted her use of his given name, but decided against commenting on it. She was no longer his student and was no longer expected to use such formalities as Professor when addressing him.
"Well, you just don't seem like the finishing school type."
"I wasn't, much as my mother tried. You have to give her some credit. No matter how bleak my training looked she never gave up."
Severus wasn't sure what kind of credit that deserved. The woman sounded delusional to him, but he guessed a Gryffindor could find some sort of redeeming determination within it.
"Well, I should be off. I haven't been nearly as successful at shopping as I had hoped."
"Do you mind if I accompany you?"
She looked surprised at his request. Well it was nothing compared to what he felt. He hadn't meant to say anything of the sort, only to wish her a successful trip. But it was out and judging from the smile that returned to her lips, he really had to stop looking at those; it was to late to retract the request.
"Of course. I just don't know how interesting it will be."
"Well, it's more of a learning experience," he explained, offering her his arm. "You see, I'm extremely curious as to what a woman, who has her employees shop for her, buys for her friends."
She laughed again, sans the projected liquid, and he decided he definitely liked that laugh.
As they stepped out of the pub, dodging other shoppers and shocked looking students, he wondered what all his fuss had been about. November wasn't that bad after all.
*
"Fine."
She jumped up excitedly.
"Really?!"
"Yes really. You obviously care more about this weeding thing then I do."
She let out a girly shriek, the kind that he hated, and bounced out of the room to the phone. Before long the entire world, and the Weasleys, would know all about Hermione Granger's fabulous wedding.
He took a log swig of his coffee. He couldn't very well tell her no, she couldn't have the wedding she had always dreamed of. But he had a very bad feeling he was going to regret this.
"Mom? It's Hermione."
He let out a groan. Yes, he was most certainly going to regret this.
A/N: I learned something today. My spell check knows how to spell McGonagall better then I do.
This is my first SS/HG fic, even though I've been reading it since day one when I unwittingly stumbled across Dishonest by Strega Brava. So I've always been a fan, just a hesitant to write one.
I will still be keeping up with "I Never Knew" and am working on the next chapter (if you haven't read it please do).
I know the description of Hermione is a little clichéd, but I believe all nerds have the right to grow up to be beautiful and have everyone who once tortured them be totally smitten. I'm not alone, there are several movies dedicated to this same idea.
For those who may be confused the middle part was a flashback and it should be italicized if ff.net doesn't screw that up. There will be a couple of these throughout the fic.
The chapters will probably be longer, but I didn't want to over kill.
I'm also looking for a beta if anyone's interested. Thanks for reading. Tchao!
But then again he had thought many things in his life. He had thought that the most important characteristic of a person was the purity of their blood. He had thought that the Dark Lord was the savior of the wizarding world. And he had thought that Hermione Granger was an annoying, buck toothed, know-it-all, whose sole purpose was to make his life a little more miserable.
So it shouldn't have been a surprise that he wrong about this as well.
"What are those?"
"Those are wedding books."
"I am aware that they are wedding books," he scowled as Hermione made a face at him. "What are they doing in my kitchen?"
"They're for planning the wedding."
Hermione sighed as his blank expression.
"You know, wedding. That thing you do to get married. You know, married. That thing you asked me to do last night," she added sarcastically.
Weddings. He hadn't given weddings a second thought. After all what was there to think about. He had gotten her a ring; he figured all they needed was a witness, maybe a few friends if you got really picky. Albus could do it in his office in five minutes, and then you were set.
But he had a suspicion that a ceremony in the headmaster's office was not what Hermione had in mind. The pictures on the front of the books showed large cakes, elaborate flower arrangements, and models posing as couples with big smiles. Smiles that seemed a bit unnatural. In fact all the people seemed a bit unnatural, just standing there in their gowns and tuxedos..hold on. Gowns and tuxedos?
"Wait a minute! These are muggle books!"
"Very good Severus. Now tell me what color the dress is."
He ignored her sarcasm. She had been doing that a lot lately.
"Why on earth would you plan a muggle wedding?"
"I have no idea Severus. Could it possibly have something to with the fact that I'm muggle-born with muggle parents and muggle relatives?"
There was that sarcasm again. He hoped it didn't last.
"Hermione," he started. "A muggle wedding was not exactly what I had in mind."
She snorted.
"I figured as much. You probably thought Albus could marry us with Fawkes as a witness."
He decided it was best not to tell her that was exactly what he had in mind.
He glared at the books. Damn books. If it wasn't for them he could be happily enjoying his breakfast and not have to worry about having to talk his fiancée out of him wearing a three piece muggle suit.
"Look, wizards get married all the time. Why can't we have a normal ceremony?"
"I know, I went to Harry and Ginny's wedding and they had a beautiful wizard ceremony. It's just that." her voice wandered off and she bit the side of her lip. When she started talking again it was obvious she was holding back tears. "All my family will be there, and they always expected me to get married like everyone else. And I always dreamed of walking down the aisle in a white dress with the wedding march playing in the background."
She looked at him pleadingly; her cinnamon eyes start to swim with tears. He hated it when she looked at him like that. One look like that and Hermione Elizabeth Granger got exactly what she wanted.
*
He hated November. November meant snow. Snow meant a bone chilling cold would set in the castle. This cold meant the temperature would drop in the dungeons leaving him with sniffling students. It also meant he would spend his days making cold potions for Madame Pomfrey, and his nights escorting Slytherins with the flu to the hospital wing. It meant hot chocolate would be served, that disgustingly rich drink that Albus loved and covered with marshmallows. Marshmallows meant white sticky goo stuck on the bottoms of the classroom floor. He hated November.
Albus had asked him if he wanted to be a chaperone on the trip to Hogsmeade. "Like hell I do," he had thought. But of course he didn't say it. All those years, Albus had been the one who trusted him, and had given him a second chance. And for that he had to endure certain miseries. Like chaperoning the trip to Hogsmeade. In November.
He stepped into The Three Broomsticks, soaking up the warmth. During his Death Eater days warmth had been a superfluous indulgence. Now with the Dark Lord gone he overtly enjoyed the relaxing vapors that embraced his body. His preferred luxury, though he'd never admit it, was hot baths. Nothing in the world felt as good as searing water after a long day of sniveling students and the putrid potions they tended to brew.
"Firewisky please."
Rosmerta smiled and handed him a long bottle. It wasn't exactly an elegant or lavish drink, but it hit the spot and he always needed a drink that could do that. Especially in November.
"Hello dear, what would you like?" Rosmerta asked the customer after him.
"Cosmopolitan, please Rosmerta," a feminine voice replied.
Rosmerta pushed over the pink drink as the woman pulled out her money purse. As she pushed across the coins two sickles fell to the ground and one in Severus' lap.
"I am so sorry!" the woman hurriedly apologized picking up the sickles. "I can be so clumsy, and I've been so busy."
Her voice trailed off. Severus realized she was studying his face her mouth slightly open. He decided that this woman, clumsy as she may be, had the most enticing lips he had ever seen.
"Professor Snape?"
He raised an eyebrow. Apparently she was a former student. It made sense; she couldn't be more then twenty-five.
She must have realized she was still hunched over as she suddenly stood up straight.
"I'm sorry you must think that I'm incredibly rude."
"Not at all," he replied silkily, handing her her sickle. She blushed slightly. "Sit," he said gesturing to the chair next to him.
To his pleasure she did just that, giving him a small smile as she returned the run away sickles to her pouch.
"You probably don't remember me."
She was certainly correct about that. The woman sitting in front of him was a far cry from any of the girls who populated his dungeons. She had silky honey brown curls that framed a small, pale face, home of those ever more tantalizing lips. She was thin, but hardly skinny with more curves then your average seventh year.
"I'm afraid not?" he answered returning her smile.
"Hermione Granger."
It took every ounce of his willpower to not let his mouth gape open in shock. There was no way. No way that the woman sitting in front of him was the same bushy haired, annoying, studyaholic who he had taught all those years. Less miraculous transformations happened in McGonagall's classroom.
"I graduated six years ago-"
"Yes, I know," he interrupted.
"Oh, so you do remember me?" She looked positively thrilled. Maybe she became emotionally attached to all of her harshly cruel teachers.
"How could I forget?" he grumbled as she laughed. That laugh was the same. It was an interesting laugh. It wasn't particularly attractive, but not off-putting either. She always sounded like she had just heard the funniest joke ever, regardless of what she really heard.
"What, may I ask, brings you to Hogsmeade, Miss Granger?" he asked once she had fully regained control of herself.
"Well, I was sent here to go Christmas shopping for my boss-"
"You Christmas shop for your boss?"
"Well, she's a very busy woman!"
"Obviously if you have to shop for her. She might as well not bother though. She's probably to busy to ever actually see the people you're purchasing gifts for."
She let out another laugh, this time managing to shoot Cosmopolitan out of her nose. Despite his best efforts to remain calm Severus found the last bit too much and couldn't help but chuckle as she tried to mop up the mess.
"Grace is not one of your finer points is it Miss Granger?"
She shrugged embarrassed.
"No, much to my mother's distaste. She's always been trying to make me more socially accomplished. She had me in ballet classes and finishing school until the day I left for Hogwarts."
Severus suddenly had an image of her squirting tea out of her nose in etiquette classes. He emitted another chuckle.
"Is it really that amusing Severus?"
He noted her use of his given name, but decided against commenting on it. She was no longer his student and was no longer expected to use such formalities as Professor when addressing him.
"Well, you just don't seem like the finishing school type."
"I wasn't, much as my mother tried. You have to give her some credit. No matter how bleak my training looked she never gave up."
Severus wasn't sure what kind of credit that deserved. The woman sounded delusional to him, but he guessed a Gryffindor could find some sort of redeeming determination within it.
"Well, I should be off. I haven't been nearly as successful at shopping as I had hoped."
"Do you mind if I accompany you?"
She looked surprised at his request. Well it was nothing compared to what he felt. He hadn't meant to say anything of the sort, only to wish her a successful trip. But it was out and judging from the smile that returned to her lips, he really had to stop looking at those; it was to late to retract the request.
"Of course. I just don't know how interesting it will be."
"Well, it's more of a learning experience," he explained, offering her his arm. "You see, I'm extremely curious as to what a woman, who has her employees shop for her, buys for her friends."
She laughed again, sans the projected liquid, and he decided he definitely liked that laugh.
As they stepped out of the pub, dodging other shoppers and shocked looking students, he wondered what all his fuss had been about. November wasn't that bad after all.
*
"Fine."
She jumped up excitedly.
"Really?!"
"Yes really. You obviously care more about this weeding thing then I do."
She let out a girly shriek, the kind that he hated, and bounced out of the room to the phone. Before long the entire world, and the Weasleys, would know all about Hermione Granger's fabulous wedding.
He took a log swig of his coffee. He couldn't very well tell her no, she couldn't have the wedding she had always dreamed of. But he had a very bad feeling he was going to regret this.
"Mom? It's Hermione."
He let out a groan. Yes, he was most certainly going to regret this.
A/N: I learned something today. My spell check knows how to spell McGonagall better then I do.
This is my first SS/HG fic, even though I've been reading it since day one when I unwittingly stumbled across Dishonest by Strega Brava. So I've always been a fan, just a hesitant to write one.
I will still be keeping up with "I Never Knew" and am working on the next chapter (if you haven't read it please do).
I know the description of Hermione is a little clichéd, but I believe all nerds have the right to grow up to be beautiful and have everyone who once tortured them be totally smitten. I'm not alone, there are several movies dedicated to this same idea.
For those who may be confused the middle part was a flashback and it should be italicized if ff.net doesn't screw that up. There will be a couple of these throughout the fic.
The chapters will probably be longer, but I didn't want to over kill.
I'm also looking for a beta if anyone's interested. Thanks for reading. Tchao!