Wow, I never thought I'd get such a response from everyone who has read this. When I started it, I just thought it would be a way to pay my respects to my favorite Yahoo! Group. I like all the people who have read thus far, and I love anyone who has given me positive feedback. I really hope I am doing one of my all-time favorite pairings justice. And now, without further fanfare, I present you all with Chapter 5!
Ghost
Chapter 5
Finally the weekend arrived. Hermione slid into a booth at the Three Broomsticks where her two best friends were seated.
"Sorry I'm late," she apologized. "I caught a couple of seventh years snogging in a broom closet, and I had to deduct the points and assign the detentions."
"What house were they in?" asked Ron. "'Cause if they were in Gryffindor, you should have let them off."
"I can't do that, Ron," Hermione replied. "As a professor, it is my job to remain unbiased and treat all of the students fairly."
"That didn't stop Snape," Harry remarked as he took a sip of his butterbeer. "How is the greasy bat, anyway?"
"Ugh, he's getting better, but worse at the same time," Hermione replied, taking a sip of her wine. "He's actually being nice to me, and it's starting to scare me. I have a feeling that he just wants to be on my good side so that I'll try to find a way to bring him back."
"I didn't think that was possible," Harry said, thinking about Sirius. Everyone had told him that he couldn't be brought back, and that that fact had to be accepted.
"I didn't think it was, either, but I've been reading about a Wiccan in the United States that brought someone back," Hermione replied. "The only problem is, she had a body to deal with. The person that passed had only been dead for a couple of weeks at most. Severus has been dead for about five years, so I don't think using his body is an option."
"Well, if anyone can do it, it's our Hermione," said Ron, taking a sip of his butterbeer.
"So, Ron, how's Lavender doing? How's the baby?" asked Hermione, changing the subject.
"Try babies," Ron replied. Harry and Hermione's eyes widened. "Lav's having triplets."
"Wow, Ron," remarked Harry. "You'll have that Quidditch team in no time."
"Oh shut it, you," Ron said. "I'm nervous, but excited at the same time. What the hell am I going to do with three babies?!"
"Love them, cherish them and make sure they don't turn out like you?" suggested Hermione. Ron stuck out his tongue at her. "And so mature, too! You'll be an excellent father with an attitude like that!"
"I think Snape is rubbing off on you, Hermione. You never used to be sarcastic," remarked Harry.
"It's the job," Hermione replied. "And I'll have you know, Harry James, that I was plenty sarcastic all through school. You were just too dense to notice it."
"We're wounded," moaned Ron, placing a hand over his heart and swooning dramatically.
"Will we ever be the same?" asked Harry. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Oh grow up, you two," she said, checking her watch. She gasped when she saw what time it was. "I'd better get going so that I can make my rounds before going to bed. I'll owl you both later this week, okay?"
"See you, Hermione," the boys—no, men—said in unison. Shaking her head and smiling, Hermione left a few coins on the table to pay for her drink before picking up her cloak and leaving the pub. She set a quick pace to the school, not wanting to be out alone at night.
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When Hermione finished her rounds, she made her way to her rooms. After checking to make sure ghost-Snape wasn't there, she began stripping down, a trail of clothes leading to the bathroom. She closed the bathroom door and stepped into the shower, allowing the hot water to cascade down her body.
Just after Hermione entered the bathroom, Snape floated through the wall into the sitting room. He followed the trail of clothes, curious, until he reached the closed bathroom door. Curiosity taking over, Snape floated through the door, only to hear the sound of water running.
The frosted glass door of the shower hid most of it, but Snape could still see the outline of a woman's body. He swallowed, not able to take his eyes off her. 'Is THAT what the Hogwarts robes have been hiding all these years?' he asked himself. 'I'm just glad she didn't show that off while she was in my class. It would have been difficult to teach with a raging hard-on, after all. I wonder if a ghost and a live person can have a physical relationship?' He mentally shook himself. Of course that couldn't happen! What was he thinking? He wasn't able to think about it further because at that moment the water turned off. Snape zoomed out of the bathroom, hoping that Hermione hadn't seen him.
Hermione got out of the shower, unaware that a moment before she was being watched. She changed into her pajamas—nothing glamorous, just a pair of sweatpants and a tank top—before casting a drying charm on her hair. It was still as bushy as ever, but if she used a certain shampoo and conditioner, it wasn't as bad. She twisted her hair up into a messy bun before she padded out of the bathroom and went into her sitting room. Snape was already floating there, seemingly waiting for her.
"How was your excursion into the village?" he asked politely. Hermione raised an eyebrow at his odd behavior.
"There's no way in hell I'll be able to bring you back, Snape, so you might as well drop the nice act," Hermione snapped as she sat on the sofa and summoned some of her marking. Snape was taken aback.
"I was thinking nothing of the sort," he said. "I was asking purely out of curiosity." Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"I've been at this school long enough to know that the only reason why a Slytherin would ever be nice to a Gryffindor is because the Gryffindor has something or can provide a service for the Slytherin," Hermione replied matter-of-factly. "I can see right through you Severus and I don't mean literally."
"Well, that's no reason to snap at me," he retorted. "I take it that your visit with your friends didn't go as well as you had planned?"
"No, it went fine," Hermione replied with a sigh. She pushed her marking away and sat back on the sofa, tucking her feet underneath her. "I'm upset for a different reason; it's kind of pathetic, really."
"Miss Granger—Hermione," said Snape, floating over to her. "You're looking at the personification of pathetic. If you look up pathetic in the dictionary, you'll see my picture." Hermione giggled slightly, causing Snape's lips to turn up slightly.
"You know, if I didn't know better, I would say you were drunk," she said with a snort.
"Contrary to popular belief, Hermione, I am a very good listener," Snape said. "Only the Slytherins knew about it though, because I had to be a bastard to everyone else. I couldn't have the 'big, scary Death Eater' persona ruined, after all."
"So really, under the greasy bastard façade, you're a great bid teddy bear," Hermione said, thoughtful. She grinned.
"I never said that," Snape said. "Now, are you going to tell me what's bothering you or not?"
"No, I don't think so," Hermione replied, shaking her head. "It's late and I should go to bed."
"But I have an eternity," Snape said, trying to get the girl—no, woman—to stay. He didn't know why though.
"But I don't," Hermione replied with a yawn. "I need my sleep. Goodnight, Severus."
Hermione got up from her spot on the couch, waved good-by to Snape and went into her room, shutting the door and warding it behind her. She turned down all the lanterns and crawled into bed. Only then did she let her tears fall.
Going out with Harry and Ron and hearing about their families and happiness reminded Hermione that that she, too, could have been happy like them. However, circumstances leading up to the arrival of Dumbledore's owl crushed that hope
-Flashback-
-May 2002-
Hermione arrived at her flat, early for once to surprise her fiancé. She had completed her apprenticeship almost a year before, but she was teaching at a small primary school until there was an opening for a potions expert somewhere.
When she entered her flat, the first thing she saw was her fiancé, a Muggle named Marc, in the arms of another woman, another teacher at Hermione's school. Marc looked up, and pushed the woman off of him when he saw Hermione standing in the doorway.
"Hermione, love, you're home early!" he said, trying to sound cheery. The other woman was gathering up her clothes that had been tossed on the floor earlier.
"Oh, no," she said to the woman. "Please, finish what you were doing. It's no trouble at all. I'll just leave and let you do what you have to." Sarcasm dripped off every word.
"Hermione love, let me explain," Marc begged, a pleading look in his eyes.
"Don't 'Hermione love' me," Hermione spat. "I will leave for a few hours. When I get back, I expect you, your things and the tart out of my flat. Are we clear?"
"Crystal," Mark said. Hermione turned and made her way to the door. Before she left, she turned back.
"Oh, and before I forget," she began. She wretched the large diamond ring off her finger and threw it at her ex-fiancé. It bounced off his forehead, dazing him for a moment. "Here's your ring back."
Without another word, Hermione left the flat, slamming the door so hard that some of the pictures that had been on the wall fell off.
-End flashback-
Dumbledore's letter arrived a couple of days later. Hermione went immediately to see what her former Headmaster had wanted. Much to her delight, it had been an offer to teach, and offer to leave her Muggle life behind. She gave her notice at the school, sold her apartment and began teaching at Hogwarts, and that was where she was today.
With a sigh, Hermione rolled over and closed her eyes. Within minutes she was asleep, the dried tear-tracks still running down her cheeks.
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Well, here's chapter five. I hope you all enjoyed it. I thought it was pretty fun to write. I know Severus is a little OOC, but I think it's in a good way. I think Hermione is a good influence on him, and he doesn't have to be a bastard around her. As well, Severus wants to stay on Hermione's good side so that she'll try and bring him back.
As always, I appreciate all types of feedback. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to update for a couple of weeks. I'm going on a family vacation. –sarcasm- goody. I'll bring paper and a pen so I can write a chapter or two while I'm gone, and I'll type them up as soon as I get home. I promise. As well, if you have any questions about this fic, or any of the others I have written, feel free to leave it in a review or sent me an e-mail. I'll try my hardest to answer them, but if I can't you'll understand, right?