-SEDUCTION BY THE BOOK
CHAPTER 9: A visit to the kitchen
By: PITON
Hermione had been avoiding confronting everyone as much as she could. She didn't show up for breakfast or lunch and since it was Sunday, she made sure to disappear into her books, studying for the NEWTS in her own bedroom. Not only it kept her mind away from her troubles, but it was a good excuse to run away from all the questions.
She knew that eventually she would have to face them, but she was hoping she could come up with something to say. The truth was, she didn't know what to say. The whole school probably knew about the challenge by now and if word got out that she had actually won the challenge, Severus would be fired in a heartbeat.
Looking at the bigger picture, it was a wonder she could have cared to be part of such a silly game, and it didn't even matter anymore if the rest of the world called her a loser or made fun of her inability to get men's attention.
There was so much more than that and any humiliation in the world was a little price to pay for what she would have with Severus.
She suddenly realized this was indeed what it meant to be a Gryffindor and her decision was made. She was going to hold her head high and let them laugh if they wanted. Severus was worth that much.
She was brought back from her thoughts when Ginny, Ron and Harry knocked at her door some time after lunch. She knew that they probably would be worried when she didn't show up for meals, so it was inevitable, she might as well face them now. With a deep sigh she opened the door.
Ron burst into the room. "Well?"
"Well what?" she asked innocently.
"Are you going to explain what the bloody hell is this thing about seducing Snape?" his voice was getting louder and Harry squeezed his arm to shut him up.
"There's nothing to explain," she replied sitting back in her bed.
"Please tell me you didn't!" Ron hissed with a disgusted look on his face.
"I didn't," she answered with an amused smirk, but her eyes didn't show any amusement.
"Hermione, you're starting to sound like Snape, what did you really do?" Harry seemed truly concerned.
She looked at him for a while then turned to Ginny as if silently asking if she should let them know. Ginny shrugged and Hermione took a deep breath before speaking.
"I'm going to tell you this because you are my best friends, but you have to promise that no matter what happens, nothing I say here can get out of that door." She waited until they all nodded, so she could proceed.
She told them everything that happened since she left for detention on Saturday morning, to her encounter with the Slytherins on her way back and her decision to forget the challenge to protect Snape.
Ron was pacing back and forth outraged, she saw him flinch when she mentioned kissing Snape and even though she didn't tell them the details, she made it clear that it led to more than a kiss. Ginny was enjoying everything until Hermione said she wasn't going to show the picture to anyone.
"But Hermione, you can't let Lavender and Parvati think they're better than you just to protect the greasy bat! He never cared about any of us!" Ginny said.
"Why on earth did you agree with that in the first place, Hermione?" Harry asked.
"I can't believe you let them manipulate you into kissing that... that GIT!" Ron was yelling again.
"HAVEN'T YOU HEARD A WORD I SAID?" Hermione was now standing with her hands into fists, shaking slightly with anger.
The three of them froze at Hermione's sudden outburst. Once she started talking, it was like releasing years of frustration she didn't even think she had. She couldn't stop even if she wanted to.
"I could care less for what Lavender and Parvati think right now. I am not pretty, I am a bookworm and I am proud of it! I don't know what made me get into this mess in the first place, but thanks to it, I got to know what kind of man Severus Snape is, and I didn't kiss him because they manipulated me, I kissed him because I wanted to! And yes Ron, I didn't stop there, I went further and I did more in one afternoon than you ever did in your whole life, with your long list of girlfriends! And yes I enjoyed it and will to do it again!
"So I'm not going to let anyone interfere in my choices of who I sleep with. I am intelligent and old enough to decide it, none of you are my boyfriends to have a jealous fit. And no, I'm not showing anyone the picture, for I'm not about to let the man I love get sacked because of a foolish game! So if you are really my friends and you care about me as I care about you, you will respect my decision. Oh, and one more thing. If any of you say or do anything to harm Professor Snape, I'll hex you into oblivion!"
She took some time to regain her breathing and went out the door, slamming it behind her. The three remained in the room too shocked to say anything.
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Snape had spent his Sunday grading papers and preparing the classes for Monday. He usually finished the whole thing by lunch time, being so organized made things a lot easier, but not today. His mind was somewhere else and in many instances, he found himself staring out the enchanted window of his office. Flashes of his 'encounter' with Hermione kept coming back and it was impossible to concentrate on his work.
By middle afternoon, he stacked the last parchment on top of the others and stood up, stretching his long arms. He had his eyes closed but he knew when the elf appeared in the room.
"Ah...Twanny, what have you got for me today?" he asked without looking at the elf.
"Twanny is having important news to Master Snape sir!" The elf's eyes were brighter than usual and she seemed very pleased with herself.
"All right, go on," he said while walking into his chambers.
"Harry Potter and the other one... " The elf was frowning to remember the name.
"Mr. Weasley?" Snape was paying her more attention now.
"Yes! and Miss Red is in Miss Fizzy's room. They wanted to know if the challenge is true..."
"What? Potter and Weasley were in her quarters?" He started his usual pacing. "How dare they... demanding explanations!"
"They aren't happy with Miss Fizzy, but she told them off!" The elf was smiling and Snape stared back at her in confusion.
"Explain," he said.
And the elf told him all about what went on in Hermione's room that afternoon.
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Hermione left her friends behind in her own bedroom, and headed straight for the kitchen. She remembered the way, Fred and George had showed her years earlier and it wasn't difficult to find it again.
She was feeling drained and hungry, but somehow relieved. She even felt lighter...
Upon reaching the kitchen, the house elves surrounded her, asking what she wanted to eat and trying to please her at any cost. She asked for a sandwich and some tea, and sat at the end of the long table. The elves who were so eager to please, had suddenly vanished and she wondered why they had left the kitchen deserted like that. She shrugged, it was a large kitchen, they should be somewhere she couldn't see.
She was almost done with her sandwich when she heard him.
"Hungry, Miss Granger?"
She turned around to see Severus standing behind her, doing something she had never seen before. He was smiling, and not only that, it reached his eyes!
"Severus... what are you doing here?" she whispered worried one of the elves was nearby.
Seeing her concern, he said, "Don't worry, I asked Twanny to keep them busy somewhere else."
"Twanny? You know the house elves by name?" she asked in disbelief.
"I know this elf... anyway, it's a long story which I intend to tell you in the near future." He pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her waist. "There are more important things I want to tell you now."
She opened her mouth but he silenced her with a kiss, and after that she couldn't argue any longer. There was something about his kisses that made her legs give out.
"Is it true you are not showing the picture to Miss Brown and Miss Patil?" he asked softly to her ear.
"How do you know?" she pulled away to look at him.
"That's part of that long story," he answered with a smirk.
She looked at him suspiciously but decided not to press the subject.
"They told the entire school about the challenge and if I tell them what happened, you... I don't want you to lose your job," she said shyly.
"With the prospect of having you in my life, I think that would be worth it," he said in between kissing her neck. "But it was very noble... what you did."
With that he lifted her up and sat her on top of the table, kissing along her jaw line.
"Is it true that I am the man you love?" He looked at her intensely.
Her eyes grew wide and he knew she was going to ask him how he knew that. He immediately captured her lips again, this time the kissing her more demandingly and she welcomed it, kissing him back with the same intensity. She moved her head to see his face, he had a wicked grin and his eyes... there was so much desire and admiration in them that it was flattering she was the object of all those feelings.
"Well?" he asked.
"Yes, I love you Severus." She smiled and he brushed her lips with a light kiss.
"Would you really hex Potter for me?"
She tried to glare at him but he was busy nibbling her ear. "Are you spying on me Severus Snape?"
"Hmmm," he managed to reply while biting her neck, making her squeak and giggle.
He chuckled at her reaction and she kept stroking his hair, running her fingers in the silky strands. Her breath was starting to get hitched.
He pulled her to the center of the table, and smirking, he said in a low drawl, "Looks like I'm going to feast on you today."
She lifted one eyebrow in a very good 'Snape impression' and let their feelings take its course, enjoying the little time left they had, before going back to pretending they were nothing more than teacher and student.
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Hermione woke up that morning walking on clouds, but she was aware of the fact that she couldn't look too happy or it would raise suspicions. As she made her way to class, she wondered what Severus was planing to do to Lavender and Parvati. He said he was going to have a word with Ginny but couldn't give her any more details, for it was already late and he had to attend the staff meeting.
Her friends seemed to have gotten the message and were not touching the subject, they were even nicer. 'Probably afraid I'll snap at them again,' she thought with a smile.
Lavender and Parvati deserved whatever wicked thing that could come from Severus and Ginny's mind combined. She could almost pity them, but considering the taunts she had to endure from the Slytherins and the harsh looks from the other teachers, it was hard to feel any compassion.
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The door slammed open and Snape burst into the classroom in his most dramatic entrance. The 6th years Gryffindor/Slytherins fell into complete silence. Already used to Snape's moods, the students knew that the more dramatic the entrance, the worse his temper would be.
He started the class by giving them instructions for the day's potion and walked around, inspecting their work
Snape usually picked on Ginny no more than he did everyone else. He had Colin Creevey to torture and for her it was usually 'peaceful', as much as a Snape's class could be.
Not this time.
For some reason, he kept hovering behind Ginny's back and catching every little thing she did wrong, yelling at her in the most vicious way he could. At some point Snape lightly kicked the stool she was sitting, causing her to drop three porcupine quills to the cauldron, instead of two. The potion immediately changed from the expected dark green to bright orange, boiling over and melting the cauldron in instants.
"Miss Weasley!" He towered over her. "What is wrong with you today? Has your brother's incompetence finally rubbed on you?"
Some Slytherins snickered and she felt her Weasley's temper going to her head.
"But I didn't do anything wrong and you know it, you did it on purpose!" she blurted out.
"That will be 20 points from Gryffindor for disrespecting a teacher and 20 for sheer incompetence," he said turning to go to his desk. Then turning back to her, he said in a soft dangerous voice, "Oh and detention in my office, tonight at 7 O'clock."
Ginny was glaring daggers at Snape's back, as he retreated to his desk. Little did she know the smug smile he had in his face.
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A/N: Thanks to mysticdarkraven, Evil Duckie of BlackLagoon, Dark-M-Fairy, Chainmailgrl, Ashes Kittyhawk, Intelligent Witch, Erykine, Willy, sweetytweety013, Aindel S. Druida(hmm one's idea of cheesy may differ), Ben's Little Mickey, XxRoswellchicaxX, magicwand, Porthos, mysticalfairy-05, The great Green Leaf of Peril, Natsuyori, charmed piper, Nancy Capulet, danic-weatherby and Cumor for the wonderful reviews ;-)