Disclaimer: THEY'RE NOT MINE!!!!! AAAAAAAARGH!!!! Apart from Ailie, that
is.
Chapter Eleven- Building Tension
Hermione toyed with her food, aware that Snape's stare was again on her. He wasn't being as obvious about it as usual, only glancing at her occasionally, but the poison contained in that glance would have stunned a goat. It was obvious he was angry at her, but what cause?
Of course, it could be the fact that she had argued twice with him so far today, and had been doing so for the past week. She had certainly committed enough offences in his eyes for him to be furious at her for the next ten years. And, she had to admit, he had been more or less permanently angry at her since the first of their acquaintance. Still, she had argued with him in previous days and he had been satisfied to merely sneer at her and ignore her as best he could. Today, he seemed bent on intimidating her.
Feeling resentment rise, Hermione sniffed, and looked up, tilting her chin proudly. Snape, ever undaunted, continued to glare at her. Keeping her face expressionless, she raised an eyebrow. There, she thought. Try a trick of his own on him.
The gesture seemed to have little impact, however, so Hermione gave up. Intimidating Snape would be like trying to out-twinkle Dumbledore; best not to mess with the master. She followed the long-ago advice of her mother, and ignored the bully.
Turning to Sirius at her side, she saw a twinkle in his eye. 'Better watch it, 'Mione,' he said with a grin. 'Looks like all this hanging about Severus has made you catch some of his behaviour.'
'I am not hanging about with Professor Snape,' Hermione answered, with gritted teeth. 'We have merely had some disagreements over the past few days. And I,' she added, when Sirius' grin widened at her outburst, 'am tired of this 'nudge, nudge, wink, wink' business between you and Ailie. What are you two on about?'
Her attitude failed to dim Sirius' gleeful smile. 'Hermione, dear, I will tell you when you are older.'
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. 'You will tell me now or I will make certain that a certain big black dog gets a terrible case of fleas in the next few hours.'
Sirius studied her for a few moments, weighing his options. Eventually, he nodded. 'Hermione... do you remember when Ron was constantly fighting with that Ravenclaw girl in your last year of school?' he asked.
Hermione frowned. 'Oh, you mean the one he ended up...' Comprehension of his meaning slowly dawned on her, and her eyes widened. 'No, Sirius. You cannot possibly mean that Severus Snape and I have a crush on each other! You are completely, totally insane if you think that I... That he...' She stuttered into horrified silence.
Sirius shrugged, still smiling broadly. 'I didn't say you had a crush on each other. I don't think emotions have anything to do with the ants in old Sevvie's pants.' He paused, thinking for a moment. 'And I never inferred that it was a two way thing, either, missy. Hmm... is there something you're not telling me?'
Hermione, cheeks aflame, looked down at her dinner in an attempt to avoid his knowing grin. After a moment, she was able to collect her thoughts enough to utter a reply.
'Sirius Black, there is nothing between Severus Snape and myself. You are imagining things. And if you think one or two arguments with that man means that he has some sort of...' she trailled off, unwilling to put his insinuation into words. 'If that were true, Snape would have to be after the better part of the residents of this school, including students and Headmaster Dumbledore.'
Sirius laughed, the booming sound ringing out over the hall. 'Whatever you say, Herm, dear.'
Ailie leant past Harry, on Sirius' other side, her expression curious. 'What do you say, Herm, dear?'
'Nothing!' Hermione fumed, her cheeks again beet red.
'I was just discussing ants with my esteemed friend,' Sirius said, sending Ailie a wink.
'Oh.' Ailie smiled. 'Ants, huh?'
Harry looked at each of them, his expression all puzzlement. 'What?'
'Don't worry about it, Harry,' Ailie said, patting his hand. The two resumed their conversation, turning their attention back to their food.
Hermione kept her head down, aware that the last part of their conversation had attracted the attention of the entire table. Now Snape's glare was freely on her, no doubt expressing his displeasure at having his meal interrupted by such a child.
She spent the rest of the meal in silence, barely tasting the food in front of her. What an idea! That Snape... That he would...
Hermione had no illusions about her power to attract. Over the entire span of her school years at Hogwarts she had failed to attract a single male, apart from Viktor Krum. Certainly, there had been Ron, who had imagined a crush on her for a while, and Neville had once stutteringly expressed the idea that she was quite pretty, once, but while girls like Lavander and Parvarti were spending hours in the bathroom improving their looks, she had been sitting in the library improving her mind. And, face it, the idea of falling in love over a library table, while one of the most romantic fantasies, just did not happen in reality.
There had been one or two boys that had approached her during her time at college, but they had been little put down by her apologetic refusals on the grounds of needing to study, and, besides, boys at college were really out to bag as many girls as possible. It was little recommendation to her looks that some over-excited eighteen-year-old males had wanted to date her.
No, Hermione reflected, there was little chance of her attracting any male in the near future. Men, contrary to the warming advice given by mothers and magazines, did not tend to go for brains over beauty, and, while keeping herself tidy, Hermione had never really been concerned with the ins and outs of fashion.
And the idea of Severus Snape ever stooping so low as to even consider looking at her with anything but distaste was simply ludicrous.
The disturbing concept filled her mind well into the evening, and Hermione found herself approaching Ailie as they prepared her rooms for the party.
'Ailie,' she began, sitting distractedly on the couch that Ailie was trying to move, 'am I attractive?'
Ailie, having her efforts at shoving the couch up against a wall frustrated, smiled fondly at her friend.
'Hermione, you know you're a very nice-looking person. What's brought this on?'
Hermione frowned and shook her head. 'No, I don't mean to ask if I'm ugly, or a bad person. I want to know if I could be attractive.'
Ailie sat on the couch next to her friend. 'You're certainly attractive enough to catch the attention of one or two men I wouldn't dare name,' she said, with a mischevious grin.
Hermione frowned at her once more. 'I don't want to talk about that. I want to know whether it's possible that I could be attractive.'
Ailie smiled softly at her, and Hermione wondered if her expression was as downcast as she felt inside.
''Mione, you are an attractive woman. You're just not... glamourous.'
'I wouldn't know how to be,' Hermione said, feeling dismal.
'Is there anyone in particular you want to attract?' asked Ailie, slyly.
Hermione's eyes widened. 'No! And don't think I don't know what you're referring to. You and Sirius have both gone completely insane, and I refuse to even think about it, Ailie. You're just doing it as some sort of weird torture.' A sudden thought dawned on Hermione, and she turned on her friend. 'You're not purposely doing it to taunt him, are you? You're not trying to say that Snape's so decrepit he'd even be- attracted to a- a frump like me?' Tears stung the corners of Hermione's eyes, but she blinked them back. It must be some sort of hormonal flux, she reflected. Usually, the thought of being used in a prank wouldn't affect her. A lifelong nerd like herself was numb to such things by now.
Ailie sternly shook her head, and wrapped her arm around her friend. 'Don't you ever think like that! Hermione, you could never be used to taunt a man- or you could, but only ever as something that he would want. Please believe me,' Ailie said, forcing Hermione to look at her.
Taking a deep breath, Hermione shrugged. 'I'm sorry. I know you'd never do that to me, Ailie. I shouldn't have accused you like that.'
Ailie snorted. 'It's not the accusation, Hermione, it's the fact that a pretty woman like you is sitting in front of me doubting that a healthy man could find her attractive. Why do you think Snape's so grumpy today? Because he's seen how much Sirius likes you. You've got him all tied up.' Ailie smiled, as if relishing the thought.
'Tied in knots,' Hermione corrected her friend. 'That's the phrase. And, Ailie, I don't know where you got this whole idea about S-s... him, but you're completely wrong and it upsets me to be teased about it.' Hermione sighed, and added. 'It's doubtful that I'd be able to receive such attentions- even from him.'
Ailie frowned, and hugged her tighter. 'I don't see why not. Sirius likes you.' She caught Hermione's frown and shrugged, dropping her arm. 'Of course, if you want to ignore it, I'll not mention it again. But Hermione,' she added, 'you're not unattractive. I wish there was some way I could convince you.'
Hermione sighed, and nodded. 'I know that I'm not hideous. I'm sorry. I'm just in a mood. It's just...' she studied Ailie. The other girl had something about her that just shouted 'sophisticated', something that Hermione could never achieve. 'You're so... pretty. So together. People would look at you and admire you, think you're an attractive woman. People look at me, and they see a frowdy girl.' She hung her head, slightly ashamed of the admission to the other girl. Oh, come on, Hermione, she thought. How pathetic can you be? She took a breath and looked up. 'I guess I'd just like to be able to look a bit more like you do, that's all.'
Ailie leant back and surveyed Hermione, a critical look on her face. 'You are very pretty, you know. But I could show you some things to do, if you like.'
A panic switch flipped in Hermione's brain. 'Oh, no. Lavander and Parvarti tried to make me over a few times when we were young. I am just not the sort to wear lots of makeup and spend hours in a bathroom worrying over my hair.'
Ailie laughed. 'No, silly. Can you see me with makeup slopped all over my face? Ugh,' she said with a shudder. 'No thank you. But there are a few things that you can do, just to make you look a little more... female.' She pulled Hermione up, and looked around. 'Do you have a full-length mirror?'
Hermione pulled out her wand and transfigured a cushion into a grand- looking mirror, while her friend rolled her eyes. 'Wizards,' Ailie said derisively.
Ailie pulled Hermione in front of the mirror, and pointed at her clothes. 'Look. You wear these great big robes-' She pulled at Hermione's robe. 'They cover you up.'
'That's good,' Hermione said.
Her friend shook her head. 'No. Bad. See what I wear?' She pointed at her own clothing, a pair of trousers with a white shirt, open at the collar. Over it she wore a parted robe. 'Sometimes, just a little skin can be attractive. So can showing a little curve. I wear trousers because they feel comfortable, but they also show that I'm a woman, with some curvy bits. I'm comfortable, but I still feel like I look good.'
Hermione studied her friend and had to agree. Ailie didn't look as if she was trying to attract attention, but she did look like an attractive woman.
'And my hair,' said Ailie, directing Hermione's attention to the mirror once more. 'I wear it up, which keeps it out of my face, but it also shows my neck.'
Hermione shrugged. 'Your hair looks good, but why are necks important?'
Ailie snorted. 'Come on, Hermione. Necks are very sensual. Don't tell me you haven't looked at S- uh, a man you've been attracted to, and noticed their neck? A bare neck makes people think about what they'd like to do to that neck, like kiss it.'
A random picture flitted through Hermione's mind, but she stomped it out before it could form. The insinuations Sirius and Ailie kept on making were taking their effect. Still, she reflected, Ailie could be right about necks.
'So what do I do? I can't just dress like you,' she said.
Ailie shook her head. 'You don't have to. I have a different style to you- if you dressed like me, you'd look strange.' She stood back and looked at Hermione again. Briefly, she stepped forward and lifted some hair from Hermione's face, and tugged at her robes.
'This colour suits you,' she said. 'It's just that the robes are too bulky. Here,' she added, pulling here and there at her clothes. 'Can you do your wandy thing with this?'
Hermione, understanding, took out her wand and magically adjusted her robes. Ailie gave her a few more directions, and soon Hermione found herself in fitted red velvet robes, clinging closely to her torso and arms to the waist and flaring out delicately to the ground. A short, high-necked collar opened at the neck to reveal a high-necked white linen shirt beneath, and starting from mid-thigh, the robe split open in the front to reveal a white linen skirt that peeked out daringly from her robes. Ailie made a few adjustments to her hair, pulling the sides back and letting the natural curls fall down her back. Hermione looked once more in the mirror, and felt like she was looking at a new woman.
Ailie stood back and studied the changes. 'And now, just a touch of makeup would be appropriate. As it's a special occasion,' she said.
Hermione led the way to her bathroom, where a few items of makeup spent their days in a bottom drawer. Ailie added a touch of blush to Hermione's pale cheeks, and put shiny gloss on her rosy lips.
'There,' said Ailie, her voice all satisfaction.
Hermione looked at herself. There wasn't too much of a change; she was still obviously herself- she doubted Harry or Sirius would feel the need to comment when they saw her. But the overlying impression was of a slightly attractive woman.
Which was disheartening. If all it took was a few simple touches to make her look relatively pretty, why hadn't anyone even remotely seen her like that before?
Ailie, sensing that the small makeover hadn't improved her friend's mood, ushered her out of the bathroom.
'Come on, you. We still need to make your room pretty, you know.'
With as much enthusiasm as she could muster, Hermione moved into the living area and began to summon up decorations with her wand.
Shortly after, there was a knock at the door.
'That'll be Harry,' Hermione said, standing on a chair to put up some particularly tricky holly bunches. 'Could you please get it?'
Ailie nodded, and headed toward the door. Soon she was back, accompanied by a freshly-scrubbed looking Sirius. Hermione, having talked herself into a good mood for the past ten minutes, looked down to see genuine admiration in her old friend's eyes, and wondered. Ailie had teased that Sirius had a liking for her. Not that such a thing should be encouraged, but after such a downturn in mood as she had experienced since dinner, some healthy ego-boosting would be nice.
Instead of letting her climb down by herself, Sirius reached up and, grabbing her by the waist, lifted Hermione from the chair, setting her down in front of him.
'I want to talk with you,' he said, his tone mock-stern.
Hermione looked around, and noticed that Ailile had made a discreet exit. 'About what?' she asked.
Sirius smiled. 'You needn't act like you're facing a firing squad. Ailie's just told me that you seem to have some strange idea that you're unattractive, which greatly disturbs an old letch like me.'
Hermione looked down, ashamed that her vulnerability should have been exposed in such a manner. 'It's not that big a deal,' she said softly. Regaining her voice, she looked up. 'Anyway, Ailie shouldn't have told you.'
Sirius frowned at her. 'She was right to tell me. We can't have our lovely Hermione walking around thinking such things.' Hermione looked away, embarrassed, and Sirius touched her arm, making her look at him. 'You can't think that way, 'Mione, and I'm ashamed of myself for not pointing out sooner just what a beautiful young woman you are. If I weren't practically your uncle, I'd be after you myself.' Hermione half-smiled at his joke, then, looking into his eyes, realised he wasn't joking. 'You're a beautiful, attractive, intelligent woman, Hermione, and don't let anyone tell you differently.'
Sirius reached out and smoothed a hair away from her face, and Hermione felt some of the worry from earlier in the evening melt. In any other situation, having a man tell her she was beautiful would have been horribly embarrassing. Having Sirius do it, however, and having him admit an attraction for her was somehow soothing. Instead of awkwardness, Hermione felt only gratitude for her friend's stark honesty.
'Thank you, Sirius.'
Sirius shared her smile. 'No problem. Although it is very hard work telling a lovely young girl just how alluring she is.' He raised an eyebrow. 'I'm afraid we can't begin our affair, however, as I have promised my heart to Ailie, here.'
Hermione smiled and, turning, saw Ailie in the doorway, with a tray of nibbles, and Harry behind her.
Harry walked toward her to receive a hug. 'I thought I'd practice an old tradition and raid the kitchens,' he said, nodding toward Ailie. Hermione looked closer at the tray and saw that it contained Pumpkin Pies By Surprise, a Weasley invention and one that had been popular at the Gryffindor table when they were students. Unlike many of the Weasley's inventions over the years, these pies had actually been quite pleasant. Beginning as pumpkin, each bite turned the pies into a new flavour, so that by the time someone finished, they could have consumed pumpkin, apple, blueberry, chocolate, caramel, lemon, pecan or even mincemeat pie; Neville had once, through careful biting, tasted as many as 27 flavours in one pie.
Hermione's eyes lit up, and she smiled at her friend.
'Harry, that was a brilliant idea! Do you think we should get some more?' she asked. The thought of food hadn't even crossed her mind.
'I'm way ahead of you,' said Harry. 'I organised for the elves to bring in some more trays later.'
Hermione nodded, and missed the speculative look on Harry's face as he looked at her. 'You look really nice tonight, Herm,' he said, in a thoughtful voice. Hermione nodded, her mind now occupied in thoughts of refreshment.
'Thanks Harry. I'd better do some more work.' She rushed off, leaving Harry to stare at her.
***
'I'm worried about Hermione,' Harry said as he wandered over to his godfather's side. Sirius put down the cup of mulled wine he was drinking and turned to his godson.
'Really?' he asked, his expression unreadable. 'What do you think is wrong?'
Harry frowned. 'She seems so strange, at the moment. Like tonight. She's so dressed up.' His expression grew even more serious, and he looked quickly over his shoulder. 'You don't think she's- she isn't going through some sort of crisis, is she? Ailie said Hermione's been having huge arguments with Snape-' here, Harry's eyes widened in disbelief, and he lowered his voice. 'Hermione never would have done that before. Snape's never got to her before. She smarter than that.'
Sirius shook his head and smiled, confusing Harry further. The older man slipped his arm around Harry's shoulders, leading the younger man to the bowl of mulled wine.
'Harry, Hermione is fine. She's just... er,' Sirius paused, apparently searching for words. 'She's just testing the waters.'
Harry raised and eyebrow, and looked over to the subject of their conversation, now chatting happily to Professor McGonagall. The evening was progressing well; the teachers, though all decorum in front of their students, seemed to relish the opportunity for a little revelry. They had begun turning up soon after Harry and Sirius arrived, and the room was quite full now. Harry couldn't help noticing that little Professor Flitwick found ways to return to Hermione's side, and a couple of the younger teachers did their best to make conversation with her. Harry didn't know what it was, but something worried him about it; Hermione was just different, somehow.
And Snape. The man himself stood near the window, looking as gloweringly unapproachable as possible. Undoubtedly Dumbledore had asked him to come along, Harry supposed, but Hermione, instead of just ignoring him as she should have done, seemed quite up to returning his occasional glares.
Harry didn't think he was quite as dim as Ron when it came to perceiving Hermione's moods, but at the moment, he was stumped. It wasn't that she was behaving completely out of character. She just seemed a little... un-Hermione.
Harry pushed the worry aside. He would have a chat with her later, and make sure everything was all right.
***
Ailie sidled up to Snape, a slightly deviant smile on her face.
'Having fun?' she asked.
Snape glared at her. 'Guess,' he said. Ailie's smile grew wider.
'I don't know why you don't socialise a little more. You're friends with Sirius Black, aren't you? And you used to teach Harry- and you haven't even said hello to your hostess,' Ailie said, clicking her tongue and feeling gleeful.
Snape raised an eyebrow, and for a second, Ailie wondered if she'd pushed it too far. 'Sirius Black,' he said, 'is hardly one who can qualify under the term of 'friend.' Harry Potter is a simpering idiot of a boy that it has, yes, been my absolute displeasure to teach. And as for my hostess-' Snape leant a little closer and fixed Ailie in his stare. 'Hello. Now, go away.'
Ailie's grin widened. 'My gods, you do have a sense of humour.'
'I have to, working in this school,' he replied drily.
'There you go again,' Ailie said. 'Now all you need is a drink and you'll be ready to join the party.'
Snape looked at her for a moment. 'Ailie, while I do, indeed, feel the temptation to dull the boredom of this... affair with alcohol, I believe I will refrain.'
Ailie gave him a contemplative look. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him why he was here, but she knew that it would only take an impertinent question such as that, and he would leave. The temptation to tease him further was almost irresitible all the same. She was saved by Madams Pomfrey and Hooch, who cornered Snape about a recent article he had had printed in Ars Alchemica.
Ailie silently moved away, before temptation became too great. She had been keeping an eye on Snape all evening for obvious reasons. She chuckled to herself. It was an interesting position to be in, knowing someone's desires before they had admitted them to themself. How long had this been going on? she wondered. Goodness knew, she had figured it out fairly early- she wasn't into girls, herself, and there could have been no other reason for that strangely familiar sensation whenever she looked at Hermione in a Snapish mood.
Hermione's reaction to the news had been a little surprising, Ailie considered, but she respected Hermione's wishes to ignore the idea. She would be honest with herself soon enough, Ailie thought.
As the evening grew late, Ailie judged it time to put their plan into action. Though their talk earlier in the day had shown Snape to be not quite the heartless, cruel being she had built him up to in her mind, and though it had given her more of an idea as to the motivation for his behaviour, Ailie still felt the need for some sort of payback. And, after all, a dream potion that would show him what he truly wanted was doing the old curmudgeon a favour, wasn't it?
With a whispered word to Hermione, the two girls began preparing the cups that would contain the heated eggnog, the last drink of the evening. Hermione, ever willing to turn a plan into an opportunity for experiment, had, in the last few days, devised an ingenious way to distribute the potion. She had found a charm that would unlock certain properties of an instrument only for the intended bearer- it was, she said, a derivative of the elements in a wand that would only respond to their master. With a few alterations, Hermione had managed to adapt the spell to work on a cup, so that a substance on the cup could only be ingested by the object of the spell. They had tested it themselves, dipping a cup in sugar water and focusing the spell on Ailie. Both girls had drunk water from the cup, but only Ailie had tasted sweet water.
All it had taken was something to link the spell to Snape, and that had easily been achieved by 'borrowing' one of his quills when he was out of his work-room (replacing it, of course, to remove any suspicion on his part). Now, each and every cup on the tray had a dose of the potion, as well as a drowsiness potion to prompt the victim to go to bed, spread on the rim. Those whose touch would not unlock the spell- in other words, everyone except Severus Snape- would drink a harmless cup of egg nog. It was a masterful plan.
Ailie had seen Snape being forced into drinking a cup or two of mulled wine by his colleagues, so the sudden drowsiness should not cause any suspicion for him. Besides, it was Ailie's part of the scheme to make sure than any doubt in Snape's mind was quashed as soon as it entered it. She would need to concentrate.
To top off the plan, Ailie would announce a toast just as Hermione handed the drinks around. Hopefully, Snape would be coerced into taking a cup without needing any mental nudges from Ailie.
The plan was soon executed, and Ailie looked with satisfaction to see that Snape had been given a cup by Dumbledore himself. She felt a momentary twinge of guilt for having brought the old wizard unknowingly in on the scheme, knowing that he would be upset if he realised his part, but it was too late. She raised her own glass.
'To a Happy Christmas, and sweet dreams for all,' she said. The others in the room heartily agreed, and downed their drinks.
Soon, the room began to clear. Hermione waved goodbye to the last departing staff member, and Ailie flopped down on the couch. As Hermione returned, the girls shared a smile.
'Now, we just have to sit back and wait,' Ailie said with a smirk.
A/N: Next Chapter, Snape will finally begin to Get His. And boy, will he get his good. Sorry it's taken so long, but these characters keep on nattering on and I have to write down what they say, because it interests me.
Chapter Eleven- Building Tension
Hermione toyed with her food, aware that Snape's stare was again on her. He wasn't being as obvious about it as usual, only glancing at her occasionally, but the poison contained in that glance would have stunned a goat. It was obvious he was angry at her, but what cause?
Of course, it could be the fact that she had argued twice with him so far today, and had been doing so for the past week. She had certainly committed enough offences in his eyes for him to be furious at her for the next ten years. And, she had to admit, he had been more or less permanently angry at her since the first of their acquaintance. Still, she had argued with him in previous days and he had been satisfied to merely sneer at her and ignore her as best he could. Today, he seemed bent on intimidating her.
Feeling resentment rise, Hermione sniffed, and looked up, tilting her chin proudly. Snape, ever undaunted, continued to glare at her. Keeping her face expressionless, she raised an eyebrow. There, she thought. Try a trick of his own on him.
The gesture seemed to have little impact, however, so Hermione gave up. Intimidating Snape would be like trying to out-twinkle Dumbledore; best not to mess with the master. She followed the long-ago advice of her mother, and ignored the bully.
Turning to Sirius at her side, she saw a twinkle in his eye. 'Better watch it, 'Mione,' he said with a grin. 'Looks like all this hanging about Severus has made you catch some of his behaviour.'
'I am not hanging about with Professor Snape,' Hermione answered, with gritted teeth. 'We have merely had some disagreements over the past few days. And I,' she added, when Sirius' grin widened at her outburst, 'am tired of this 'nudge, nudge, wink, wink' business between you and Ailie. What are you two on about?'
Her attitude failed to dim Sirius' gleeful smile. 'Hermione, dear, I will tell you when you are older.'
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. 'You will tell me now or I will make certain that a certain big black dog gets a terrible case of fleas in the next few hours.'
Sirius studied her for a few moments, weighing his options. Eventually, he nodded. 'Hermione... do you remember when Ron was constantly fighting with that Ravenclaw girl in your last year of school?' he asked.
Hermione frowned. 'Oh, you mean the one he ended up...' Comprehension of his meaning slowly dawned on her, and her eyes widened. 'No, Sirius. You cannot possibly mean that Severus Snape and I have a crush on each other! You are completely, totally insane if you think that I... That he...' She stuttered into horrified silence.
Sirius shrugged, still smiling broadly. 'I didn't say you had a crush on each other. I don't think emotions have anything to do with the ants in old Sevvie's pants.' He paused, thinking for a moment. 'And I never inferred that it was a two way thing, either, missy. Hmm... is there something you're not telling me?'
Hermione, cheeks aflame, looked down at her dinner in an attempt to avoid his knowing grin. After a moment, she was able to collect her thoughts enough to utter a reply.
'Sirius Black, there is nothing between Severus Snape and myself. You are imagining things. And if you think one or two arguments with that man means that he has some sort of...' she trailled off, unwilling to put his insinuation into words. 'If that were true, Snape would have to be after the better part of the residents of this school, including students and Headmaster Dumbledore.'
Sirius laughed, the booming sound ringing out over the hall. 'Whatever you say, Herm, dear.'
Ailie leant past Harry, on Sirius' other side, her expression curious. 'What do you say, Herm, dear?'
'Nothing!' Hermione fumed, her cheeks again beet red.
'I was just discussing ants with my esteemed friend,' Sirius said, sending Ailie a wink.
'Oh.' Ailie smiled. 'Ants, huh?'
Harry looked at each of them, his expression all puzzlement. 'What?'
'Don't worry about it, Harry,' Ailie said, patting his hand. The two resumed their conversation, turning their attention back to their food.
Hermione kept her head down, aware that the last part of their conversation had attracted the attention of the entire table. Now Snape's glare was freely on her, no doubt expressing his displeasure at having his meal interrupted by such a child.
She spent the rest of the meal in silence, barely tasting the food in front of her. What an idea! That Snape... That he would...
Hermione had no illusions about her power to attract. Over the entire span of her school years at Hogwarts she had failed to attract a single male, apart from Viktor Krum. Certainly, there had been Ron, who had imagined a crush on her for a while, and Neville had once stutteringly expressed the idea that she was quite pretty, once, but while girls like Lavander and Parvarti were spending hours in the bathroom improving their looks, she had been sitting in the library improving her mind. And, face it, the idea of falling in love over a library table, while one of the most romantic fantasies, just did not happen in reality.
There had been one or two boys that had approached her during her time at college, but they had been little put down by her apologetic refusals on the grounds of needing to study, and, besides, boys at college were really out to bag as many girls as possible. It was little recommendation to her looks that some over-excited eighteen-year-old males had wanted to date her.
No, Hermione reflected, there was little chance of her attracting any male in the near future. Men, contrary to the warming advice given by mothers and magazines, did not tend to go for brains over beauty, and, while keeping herself tidy, Hermione had never really been concerned with the ins and outs of fashion.
And the idea of Severus Snape ever stooping so low as to even consider looking at her with anything but distaste was simply ludicrous.
The disturbing concept filled her mind well into the evening, and Hermione found herself approaching Ailie as they prepared her rooms for the party.
'Ailie,' she began, sitting distractedly on the couch that Ailie was trying to move, 'am I attractive?'
Ailie, having her efforts at shoving the couch up against a wall frustrated, smiled fondly at her friend.
'Hermione, you know you're a very nice-looking person. What's brought this on?'
Hermione frowned and shook her head. 'No, I don't mean to ask if I'm ugly, or a bad person. I want to know if I could be attractive.'
Ailie sat on the couch next to her friend. 'You're certainly attractive enough to catch the attention of one or two men I wouldn't dare name,' she said, with a mischevious grin.
Hermione frowned at her once more. 'I don't want to talk about that. I want to know whether it's possible that I could be attractive.'
Ailie smiled softly at her, and Hermione wondered if her expression was as downcast as she felt inside.
''Mione, you are an attractive woman. You're just not... glamourous.'
'I wouldn't know how to be,' Hermione said, feeling dismal.
'Is there anyone in particular you want to attract?' asked Ailie, slyly.
Hermione's eyes widened. 'No! And don't think I don't know what you're referring to. You and Sirius have both gone completely insane, and I refuse to even think about it, Ailie. You're just doing it as some sort of weird torture.' A sudden thought dawned on Hermione, and she turned on her friend. 'You're not purposely doing it to taunt him, are you? You're not trying to say that Snape's so decrepit he'd even be- attracted to a- a frump like me?' Tears stung the corners of Hermione's eyes, but she blinked them back. It must be some sort of hormonal flux, she reflected. Usually, the thought of being used in a prank wouldn't affect her. A lifelong nerd like herself was numb to such things by now.
Ailie sternly shook her head, and wrapped her arm around her friend. 'Don't you ever think like that! Hermione, you could never be used to taunt a man- or you could, but only ever as something that he would want. Please believe me,' Ailie said, forcing Hermione to look at her.
Taking a deep breath, Hermione shrugged. 'I'm sorry. I know you'd never do that to me, Ailie. I shouldn't have accused you like that.'
Ailie snorted. 'It's not the accusation, Hermione, it's the fact that a pretty woman like you is sitting in front of me doubting that a healthy man could find her attractive. Why do you think Snape's so grumpy today? Because he's seen how much Sirius likes you. You've got him all tied up.' Ailie smiled, as if relishing the thought.
'Tied in knots,' Hermione corrected her friend. 'That's the phrase. And, Ailie, I don't know where you got this whole idea about S-s... him, but you're completely wrong and it upsets me to be teased about it.' Hermione sighed, and added. 'It's doubtful that I'd be able to receive such attentions- even from him.'
Ailie frowned, and hugged her tighter. 'I don't see why not. Sirius likes you.' She caught Hermione's frown and shrugged, dropping her arm. 'Of course, if you want to ignore it, I'll not mention it again. But Hermione,' she added, 'you're not unattractive. I wish there was some way I could convince you.'
Hermione sighed, and nodded. 'I know that I'm not hideous. I'm sorry. I'm just in a mood. It's just...' she studied Ailie. The other girl had something about her that just shouted 'sophisticated', something that Hermione could never achieve. 'You're so... pretty. So together. People would look at you and admire you, think you're an attractive woman. People look at me, and they see a frowdy girl.' She hung her head, slightly ashamed of the admission to the other girl. Oh, come on, Hermione, she thought. How pathetic can you be? She took a breath and looked up. 'I guess I'd just like to be able to look a bit more like you do, that's all.'
Ailie leant back and surveyed Hermione, a critical look on her face. 'You are very pretty, you know. But I could show you some things to do, if you like.'
A panic switch flipped in Hermione's brain. 'Oh, no. Lavander and Parvarti tried to make me over a few times when we were young. I am just not the sort to wear lots of makeup and spend hours in a bathroom worrying over my hair.'
Ailie laughed. 'No, silly. Can you see me with makeup slopped all over my face? Ugh,' she said with a shudder. 'No thank you. But there are a few things that you can do, just to make you look a little more... female.' She pulled Hermione up, and looked around. 'Do you have a full-length mirror?'
Hermione pulled out her wand and transfigured a cushion into a grand- looking mirror, while her friend rolled her eyes. 'Wizards,' Ailie said derisively.
Ailie pulled Hermione in front of the mirror, and pointed at her clothes. 'Look. You wear these great big robes-' She pulled at Hermione's robe. 'They cover you up.'
'That's good,' Hermione said.
Her friend shook her head. 'No. Bad. See what I wear?' She pointed at her own clothing, a pair of trousers with a white shirt, open at the collar. Over it she wore a parted robe. 'Sometimes, just a little skin can be attractive. So can showing a little curve. I wear trousers because they feel comfortable, but they also show that I'm a woman, with some curvy bits. I'm comfortable, but I still feel like I look good.'
Hermione studied her friend and had to agree. Ailie didn't look as if she was trying to attract attention, but she did look like an attractive woman.
'And my hair,' said Ailie, directing Hermione's attention to the mirror once more. 'I wear it up, which keeps it out of my face, but it also shows my neck.'
Hermione shrugged. 'Your hair looks good, but why are necks important?'
Ailie snorted. 'Come on, Hermione. Necks are very sensual. Don't tell me you haven't looked at S- uh, a man you've been attracted to, and noticed their neck? A bare neck makes people think about what they'd like to do to that neck, like kiss it.'
A random picture flitted through Hermione's mind, but she stomped it out before it could form. The insinuations Sirius and Ailie kept on making were taking their effect. Still, she reflected, Ailie could be right about necks.
'So what do I do? I can't just dress like you,' she said.
Ailie shook her head. 'You don't have to. I have a different style to you- if you dressed like me, you'd look strange.' She stood back and looked at Hermione again. Briefly, she stepped forward and lifted some hair from Hermione's face, and tugged at her robes.
'This colour suits you,' she said. 'It's just that the robes are too bulky. Here,' she added, pulling here and there at her clothes. 'Can you do your wandy thing with this?'
Hermione, understanding, took out her wand and magically adjusted her robes. Ailie gave her a few more directions, and soon Hermione found herself in fitted red velvet robes, clinging closely to her torso and arms to the waist and flaring out delicately to the ground. A short, high-necked collar opened at the neck to reveal a high-necked white linen shirt beneath, and starting from mid-thigh, the robe split open in the front to reveal a white linen skirt that peeked out daringly from her robes. Ailie made a few adjustments to her hair, pulling the sides back and letting the natural curls fall down her back. Hermione looked once more in the mirror, and felt like she was looking at a new woman.
Ailie stood back and studied the changes. 'And now, just a touch of makeup would be appropriate. As it's a special occasion,' she said.
Hermione led the way to her bathroom, where a few items of makeup spent their days in a bottom drawer. Ailie added a touch of blush to Hermione's pale cheeks, and put shiny gloss on her rosy lips.
'There,' said Ailie, her voice all satisfaction.
Hermione looked at herself. There wasn't too much of a change; she was still obviously herself- she doubted Harry or Sirius would feel the need to comment when they saw her. But the overlying impression was of a slightly attractive woman.
Which was disheartening. If all it took was a few simple touches to make her look relatively pretty, why hadn't anyone even remotely seen her like that before?
Ailie, sensing that the small makeover hadn't improved her friend's mood, ushered her out of the bathroom.
'Come on, you. We still need to make your room pretty, you know.'
With as much enthusiasm as she could muster, Hermione moved into the living area and began to summon up decorations with her wand.
Shortly after, there was a knock at the door.
'That'll be Harry,' Hermione said, standing on a chair to put up some particularly tricky holly bunches. 'Could you please get it?'
Ailie nodded, and headed toward the door. Soon she was back, accompanied by a freshly-scrubbed looking Sirius. Hermione, having talked herself into a good mood for the past ten minutes, looked down to see genuine admiration in her old friend's eyes, and wondered. Ailie had teased that Sirius had a liking for her. Not that such a thing should be encouraged, but after such a downturn in mood as she had experienced since dinner, some healthy ego-boosting would be nice.
Instead of letting her climb down by herself, Sirius reached up and, grabbing her by the waist, lifted Hermione from the chair, setting her down in front of him.
'I want to talk with you,' he said, his tone mock-stern.
Hermione looked around, and noticed that Ailile had made a discreet exit. 'About what?' she asked.
Sirius smiled. 'You needn't act like you're facing a firing squad. Ailie's just told me that you seem to have some strange idea that you're unattractive, which greatly disturbs an old letch like me.'
Hermione looked down, ashamed that her vulnerability should have been exposed in such a manner. 'It's not that big a deal,' she said softly. Regaining her voice, she looked up. 'Anyway, Ailie shouldn't have told you.'
Sirius frowned at her. 'She was right to tell me. We can't have our lovely Hermione walking around thinking such things.' Hermione looked away, embarrassed, and Sirius touched her arm, making her look at him. 'You can't think that way, 'Mione, and I'm ashamed of myself for not pointing out sooner just what a beautiful young woman you are. If I weren't practically your uncle, I'd be after you myself.' Hermione half-smiled at his joke, then, looking into his eyes, realised he wasn't joking. 'You're a beautiful, attractive, intelligent woman, Hermione, and don't let anyone tell you differently.'
Sirius reached out and smoothed a hair away from her face, and Hermione felt some of the worry from earlier in the evening melt. In any other situation, having a man tell her she was beautiful would have been horribly embarrassing. Having Sirius do it, however, and having him admit an attraction for her was somehow soothing. Instead of awkwardness, Hermione felt only gratitude for her friend's stark honesty.
'Thank you, Sirius.'
Sirius shared her smile. 'No problem. Although it is very hard work telling a lovely young girl just how alluring she is.' He raised an eyebrow. 'I'm afraid we can't begin our affair, however, as I have promised my heart to Ailie, here.'
Hermione smiled and, turning, saw Ailie in the doorway, with a tray of nibbles, and Harry behind her.
Harry walked toward her to receive a hug. 'I thought I'd practice an old tradition and raid the kitchens,' he said, nodding toward Ailie. Hermione looked closer at the tray and saw that it contained Pumpkin Pies By Surprise, a Weasley invention and one that had been popular at the Gryffindor table when they were students. Unlike many of the Weasley's inventions over the years, these pies had actually been quite pleasant. Beginning as pumpkin, each bite turned the pies into a new flavour, so that by the time someone finished, they could have consumed pumpkin, apple, blueberry, chocolate, caramel, lemon, pecan or even mincemeat pie; Neville had once, through careful biting, tasted as many as 27 flavours in one pie.
Hermione's eyes lit up, and she smiled at her friend.
'Harry, that was a brilliant idea! Do you think we should get some more?' she asked. The thought of food hadn't even crossed her mind.
'I'm way ahead of you,' said Harry. 'I organised for the elves to bring in some more trays later.'
Hermione nodded, and missed the speculative look on Harry's face as he looked at her. 'You look really nice tonight, Herm,' he said, in a thoughtful voice. Hermione nodded, her mind now occupied in thoughts of refreshment.
'Thanks Harry. I'd better do some more work.' She rushed off, leaving Harry to stare at her.
***
'I'm worried about Hermione,' Harry said as he wandered over to his godfather's side. Sirius put down the cup of mulled wine he was drinking and turned to his godson.
'Really?' he asked, his expression unreadable. 'What do you think is wrong?'
Harry frowned. 'She seems so strange, at the moment. Like tonight. She's so dressed up.' His expression grew even more serious, and he looked quickly over his shoulder. 'You don't think she's- she isn't going through some sort of crisis, is she? Ailie said Hermione's been having huge arguments with Snape-' here, Harry's eyes widened in disbelief, and he lowered his voice. 'Hermione never would have done that before. Snape's never got to her before. She smarter than that.'
Sirius shook his head and smiled, confusing Harry further. The older man slipped his arm around Harry's shoulders, leading the younger man to the bowl of mulled wine.
'Harry, Hermione is fine. She's just... er,' Sirius paused, apparently searching for words. 'She's just testing the waters.'
Harry raised and eyebrow, and looked over to the subject of their conversation, now chatting happily to Professor McGonagall. The evening was progressing well; the teachers, though all decorum in front of their students, seemed to relish the opportunity for a little revelry. They had begun turning up soon after Harry and Sirius arrived, and the room was quite full now. Harry couldn't help noticing that little Professor Flitwick found ways to return to Hermione's side, and a couple of the younger teachers did their best to make conversation with her. Harry didn't know what it was, but something worried him about it; Hermione was just different, somehow.
And Snape. The man himself stood near the window, looking as gloweringly unapproachable as possible. Undoubtedly Dumbledore had asked him to come along, Harry supposed, but Hermione, instead of just ignoring him as she should have done, seemed quite up to returning his occasional glares.
Harry didn't think he was quite as dim as Ron when it came to perceiving Hermione's moods, but at the moment, he was stumped. It wasn't that she was behaving completely out of character. She just seemed a little... un-Hermione.
Harry pushed the worry aside. He would have a chat with her later, and make sure everything was all right.
***
Ailie sidled up to Snape, a slightly deviant smile on her face.
'Having fun?' she asked.
Snape glared at her. 'Guess,' he said. Ailie's smile grew wider.
'I don't know why you don't socialise a little more. You're friends with Sirius Black, aren't you? And you used to teach Harry- and you haven't even said hello to your hostess,' Ailie said, clicking her tongue and feeling gleeful.
Snape raised an eyebrow, and for a second, Ailie wondered if she'd pushed it too far. 'Sirius Black,' he said, 'is hardly one who can qualify under the term of 'friend.' Harry Potter is a simpering idiot of a boy that it has, yes, been my absolute displeasure to teach. And as for my hostess-' Snape leant a little closer and fixed Ailie in his stare. 'Hello. Now, go away.'
Ailie's grin widened. 'My gods, you do have a sense of humour.'
'I have to, working in this school,' he replied drily.
'There you go again,' Ailie said. 'Now all you need is a drink and you'll be ready to join the party.'
Snape looked at her for a moment. 'Ailie, while I do, indeed, feel the temptation to dull the boredom of this... affair with alcohol, I believe I will refrain.'
Ailie gave him a contemplative look. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him why he was here, but she knew that it would only take an impertinent question such as that, and he would leave. The temptation to tease him further was almost irresitible all the same. She was saved by Madams Pomfrey and Hooch, who cornered Snape about a recent article he had had printed in Ars Alchemica.
Ailie silently moved away, before temptation became too great. She had been keeping an eye on Snape all evening for obvious reasons. She chuckled to herself. It was an interesting position to be in, knowing someone's desires before they had admitted them to themself. How long had this been going on? she wondered. Goodness knew, she had figured it out fairly early- she wasn't into girls, herself, and there could have been no other reason for that strangely familiar sensation whenever she looked at Hermione in a Snapish mood.
Hermione's reaction to the news had been a little surprising, Ailie considered, but she respected Hermione's wishes to ignore the idea. She would be honest with herself soon enough, Ailie thought.
As the evening grew late, Ailie judged it time to put their plan into action. Though their talk earlier in the day had shown Snape to be not quite the heartless, cruel being she had built him up to in her mind, and though it had given her more of an idea as to the motivation for his behaviour, Ailie still felt the need for some sort of payback. And, after all, a dream potion that would show him what he truly wanted was doing the old curmudgeon a favour, wasn't it?
With a whispered word to Hermione, the two girls began preparing the cups that would contain the heated eggnog, the last drink of the evening. Hermione, ever willing to turn a plan into an opportunity for experiment, had, in the last few days, devised an ingenious way to distribute the potion. She had found a charm that would unlock certain properties of an instrument only for the intended bearer- it was, she said, a derivative of the elements in a wand that would only respond to their master. With a few alterations, Hermione had managed to adapt the spell to work on a cup, so that a substance on the cup could only be ingested by the object of the spell. They had tested it themselves, dipping a cup in sugar water and focusing the spell on Ailie. Both girls had drunk water from the cup, but only Ailie had tasted sweet water.
All it had taken was something to link the spell to Snape, and that had easily been achieved by 'borrowing' one of his quills when he was out of his work-room (replacing it, of course, to remove any suspicion on his part). Now, each and every cup on the tray had a dose of the potion, as well as a drowsiness potion to prompt the victim to go to bed, spread on the rim. Those whose touch would not unlock the spell- in other words, everyone except Severus Snape- would drink a harmless cup of egg nog. It was a masterful plan.
Ailie had seen Snape being forced into drinking a cup or two of mulled wine by his colleagues, so the sudden drowsiness should not cause any suspicion for him. Besides, it was Ailie's part of the scheme to make sure than any doubt in Snape's mind was quashed as soon as it entered it. She would need to concentrate.
To top off the plan, Ailie would announce a toast just as Hermione handed the drinks around. Hopefully, Snape would be coerced into taking a cup without needing any mental nudges from Ailie.
The plan was soon executed, and Ailie looked with satisfaction to see that Snape had been given a cup by Dumbledore himself. She felt a momentary twinge of guilt for having brought the old wizard unknowingly in on the scheme, knowing that he would be upset if he realised his part, but it was too late. She raised her own glass.
'To a Happy Christmas, and sweet dreams for all,' she said. The others in the room heartily agreed, and downed their drinks.
Soon, the room began to clear. Hermione waved goodbye to the last departing staff member, and Ailie flopped down on the couch. As Hermione returned, the girls shared a smile.
'Now, we just have to sit back and wait,' Ailie said with a smirk.
A/N: Next Chapter, Snape will finally begin to Get His. And boy, will he get his good. Sorry it's taken so long, but these characters keep on nattering on and I have to write down what they say, because it interests me.