The Heiress

Chapter 10

Author's Notes: I haven't forgotten that I have a story called "The Heiress", and this proves it! Let's give my lovely beta distempered a round of applause, because she is not feeling so well right now.

Justine Snape winced as Hermione twisted her wet dark locks into rags, setting them for the wedding that was to occur the very next day. Justine had the misfortune of being chosen to bear the rings for the loving couple, which meant she had to go through a grueling beauty regiment. Justine was not a very high-maintenance girl; in fact she was very content to run around in a dirty old frock, getting her bare shins and arms scratched and dirty from the surrounding forest land.

She had protested having to stand up in the wedding and look like some delicate china doll...until she found out Ronald Weasley was going to be there. Now she had to work extra hard to impress him. She supposed that if it meant Ron would think she was beautiful, then she might as well let Hermione pull and twist at her poker-straight hair to make it curly and lively like all beautiful little girls wanted. She eyed the frilly white robe that was laid out for her, all pressed and neat, and sighed.

"What's wrong, Justine?" Hermione asked, twisting together the final rag curl. Justine shrugged and looked down at the floor.

"Aunt Hélène is going to get married tomorrow, and she's going to leave with Teddy. She'll never come see me again, now that she's getting her own family." Hermione kissed Justine's pale cheek and gathered the child up into her arms.

"I'm sure that won't be the case, Miss Justine," Hermione reassured, smiling at Justine. Justine did not return the smile, but she did sigh once more, her large dark eyes solemn and thoughtful.

"Aunts don't need their nieces when they get married." Hermione tucked Justine into bed securely, and sat at the edge of it, taking one of Justine's small hands into her own and patting it comfortingly.

"You're just being silly, like your father."

"Papa isn't silly. He's a very serious man."

Hermione laughed at this, and nodded shortly.

"Yes, he is very serious...but sometimes he says things that are silly when you think about them, no matter how seriously he words it, you understand?"

"No." Justine frowned at this. Hermione placed a kiss on her forehead and stood up.

"Someday you will," she replied, dimming down the lights, and walking out the door. It was going to be an extremely busy day when the morning light came.

Severus Snape was heading upstairs to retire for bed when he spied Hermione Granger coming down the stairs after putting his daughter to bed. They both paused to acknowledge each other.

"Hello Miss...er...Hermione," he greeted rather awkwardly. Hermione gave him a smile that lit up her clear brown eyes. For some reason, he found it very touching. People rarely smiled when crossing paths with him.

"Severus." They passed each other in silence. Severus remembered something quite suddenly and turned around; he at the top of the stairs, she at the landing.

"Hermione?"

She looked up at him, with still a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"Yes, Severus?"

He found the words exceedingly hard to come out with.

"I...I should very much like it if...if tomorrow at the wedding feast...that is to say...do you dance much, Hermione?"

"Not regularly...do you?"

"No. No, never. However...I should like it if you were to...well...would you care to save at least one dance for me? I find that sometimes an occasion such as dancing leaves opportunities to discuss business, what with the close proximity of our bodies...it would leave it easier for us to discuss things without much of an audience and..."

"I'd be honored, Severus."

He merely nodded, before heading back to his rooms, feeling a touch flustered. Hermione walked back to her home, finding that her step felt a bit lighter that night for some odd reason.

The next morning, Hermione fought the uphill battle with her hair, finally getting it to look straight and sleek, not unlike how she managed to get it during the Yule Ball of fourth year. She left it down, the length of it reaching the middle of her back now that it wasn't a horrifying frizzy mess.

She spent very little time on her makeup, leaving her face natural and simple looking, but giving it a bit of a glow using the subtle tricks of cosmetics. Her dress was a simple silk number in pale bluish-green. The spaghetti straps left her shoulders exposed, and the back dipped to reveal just a bit of pale smooth skin. The neckline was modest and exposed no cleavage, as Hermione was self-conscious about her breasts and had been ever since she had been a young girl. The hemline reached just below her knees, and the dress itself had a matching jacket for Hermione to wear until the night's festivities.

Ron and Harry cleaned up quite nicely and served very well as Hermione's escorts as they made the journey to Severus's home, where guests had just begun to arrive.

Hermione noticed that there was a fairly noticeable line drawn between Teddy's family and Hélène's. Hermione also felt like she and Harry should've opted for the traditional wizard's wedding robes, as Ron and the Snape half of the party had. She noticed one particular witch with short bobbed sandy blonde hair giving Hermione a cold stare. The woman was standing near Severus at the moment, and when she had Hermione's attention, she linked one slender arm around his and smirked. Hermione rolled her eyes at this and tried to spot Justine.

Justine spotted Hermione first. She had been sulking around her father, watching under half-closed lids as Marla Killjoy flirted outrageously with him, and she backed away a bit when Marla tried to give Justine an overly done hug and kiss on the cheek. She saw Hermione just in the nick of time, and pushed Marla away to run to her, arms wide open. Hermione caught her, gave a dramatic spin around, and kissed her forehead affectionately. Justine sweetly returned the kiss, and hugged her tightly around the neck.

"Not so tight, Justine," Hermione warned, with a mockingly choked voice. Justine obliged and Hermione set her down.

"You look very pretty, Hermione," Justine complimented.

"Why thank you, Justine. You also look very..." Justine had rushed away before Hermione could finish. She had spotted Ron, no doubt.

Hermione watched in amusement, as Justine twirled and preened in front of Ron, giving him no choice but to rain compliments on her. Harry also offered her praise, but she didn't appear to hear him. It tickled Hermione that Harry was finally playing second fiddle to someone else.

"This had better only be a phase she's going through," grumbled a familiar voice. Hermione turned her head and smiled at Severus.

"Oh, I'm sure it is...but it's so adorable, isn't it?"

Severus raised an eyebrow.

"It most certainly is not. My daughter in love with a Weasley? The concept is unbearable."

Hermione laughed.

"She's only five years old, Severus!"

"But for how long?"

"Oh for heavens sake...these infatuations never last long. Just let it play out and I'm sure someday she'll run off and marry some Slytherin boy."

"She had better not...she'll know better than to give her heart to some sly, unworthy little monster."

Hermione widened her eyes and gasped in mock surprise.

"My word! Severus Snape, actually saying something bad about his sainted house..."

"I never said it was sainted. Gods willing, she'll never turn into some mindless boy-crazy, sex-starved teenager."

Hermione was touched by this.

"She can't be your innocent little girl forever."

"Exactly," he replied. Hermione detected a hint of sadness in his voice.

The sandy blonde-haired witch intruded on their conversation.

"Severus, the ceremony is starting in a moment...is this the governess?" She once again linked her arm around Severus's, glaring imperiously at Hermione. Severus nodded.

"Yes...Marla this is Hermione Granger...Hermione this is Marla Killjoy, an old friend of the family."

"Old!" Marla protested in mock indignation. She sneered at Hermione, eyebrows lifted.

"How do you do, Miss Killjoy?"

"Very well...it's very unusual that you and Severus are on a first name basis...highly irregular for hired help."

"He requested it," Hermione replied softly, withering under Marla's scrutiny.

"Indeed? Well...enjoy the ceremony." With that Marla and Severus walked away to their seats. Hermione felt betrayed that Severus did nothing in the manner of coming to Hermione's rescue when Marla had not-so-subtly voiced her disdain for her. They were obviously an item, Hermione thought with a strange and sharp little pang in her heart. Where had that come from?

The ceremony was a lovely combination of Muggle and wizard tradition, even though Hermione was sure the pureblood section of the party would disagree. She sat with Teddy's family, along with Ron and Harry. The three of them found his family warm and delightful. Not a one of them appeared to be looking down on Hélène's family customs, and a few of them whispered their praises of the beautiful bride and her charming but distant family.

Hermione looked over to Severus, who was holding a sleeping Justine on his lap, her duties being over with. She looked away when he glanced in her direction, just barely catching a glimpse of Marla pulling one of his hands into hers. That woman's possessive attitude was irritating Hermione to no end. Obviously, she thought of Hermione as a threat. Why else would she be putting on a show for her?

Once the ceremony was finalized, the party mingled, and then took a few hours' break before the great feast. Hermione took great pains to avoid Severus, which wasn't hard, seeing as Marla was slyly monopolizing all of his time. Justine had been laid down in her room upstairs for a nap, and was not to be disturbed, so Hermione, Harry and Ron decided to take a stroll around the grounds.

"Did you see the pretty little bit that was hanging on Snape the whole time? How does he manage to land a woman like that?" Ron asked bitterly.

"She certainly was pleasant to look at," Harry added with a nod. Hermione felt her blood boiling.

"I honestly couldn't see anything remotely attractive about her. I thought she was a nasty ugly little thing," Hermione stated meanly.

Ron and Harry stopped walking, and stared in surprise at their friend.

"What? She was..."

"Please tell us you're not jealous," Harry pleaded. Hermione glared at them for a while, and then laughed.

"Jealous? Don't be ridiculous. I was merely stating a fact."

They started walking again, Harry and Ron both sighed in relief.

"We were worried there for a bit, darling," Ron said.

"Yeah...but you in love with Snape? You're right, it is too ridiculous," added Harry.

"I'm not in love with anyone, Harry."

"Well...you should hurry up and get in love, I'm sick of living in a crowded house," Ron replied.

"Ron, you've always lived in a crowded house," Hermione pointed out.

"Yes, that's true...but still, do hurry up."

After the feast, the real festivities began. Once again, Teddy and Hélène compromised and settled on hiring an orchestra for the wedding ball instead of a Muggle disc-jockey or a wizarding band. Hermione found that Teddy's brother Jason was an excellent dancer, and reasonably attractive to boot, so most of her time was divided between him and dancing with Ron and Harry. Severus had yet to approach her for the dance they had promised each other.

Severus was presently eyeing the prospective couple with a dark look upon his face. He stiffened when Marla placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Darling, why do you look so gloomy? Perhaps you should dance."

"I don't care for dancing, thank you."

Marla noticed where his gaze followed to, and she felt a hard stab of jealousy towards the young governess.

"I'd wager that you'd care very much for dancing if it was with that saucy piece you call a governess," she replied nastily. He glared at her.

"Madam, I've endured your insults towards Miss Granger for far too long tonight. If you persist, I will have to ask you to go elsewhere."

Marla scoffed at this.

"Why, Severus...why didn't you tell me before?"

"What?"

"That's you're obviously infatuated with the governess, that's what! Well, I won't stay where I'm not wanted."

"You're being ridiculous."

"Am I?" Marla raised an eyebrow and wandered off to mingle with the other guests, not giving Severus a second look.

Severus tried to ignore what Marla had so graciously pointed out, but he found it increasingly difficult. It became all the more unbearable when he noticed that young upstart, Jason, taking Hermione's hand and kissing it. Was that...was she giggling? Severus finally stood up, and strode over to the couple.

"Excuse me, but I believe this young lady promised me a dance," Severus announced, taking Hermione's recently kissed hand and leading her to the dance floor.

"You're certainly making a spectacle of yourself," he commented as they began to waltz. Hermione gasped in anger.

"Pardon me?"

"With that young man...honestly, Hermione, do you really think he's good enough for you?" Severus asked, with a sarcastic edge to his voice.

"Since when did you begin deciding what's good enough for me? I'm only the governess. We shouldn't even be on a first name basis, seeing as it's so highly irregular," Hermione replied with venom purely dripping in her tone.

"Those were Miss Killjoy's words, not mine."

"And yet you did nothing to show me that you disagreed with what she said."

The music picked up, and as if almost on cue, took a darker edge.

"I apologize if I said nothing, Hermione. I did not know that she had injured your feelings."

"Yes, well, meeting Jason has certainly made up for whatever unpleasantness went on earlier." She felt Severus's grip on her waist tighten a bit at the mention of his name. Very curious...

"He'll do you no good."

"Ah, but I feel I should take every step towards falling in love soon, so those poor boys won't be stranded at my house any longer." Severus stopped their waltz, and bent over to whisper in her ear.

"I wouldn't be so quick to force feelings for someone so unworthy of you. If it takes years and years for you to finally make your decision, it shouldn't matter. Nobody deserves an unhappy marriage." With that he left her standing very much alone in the middle of the floor. Hélène had been watching their heated exchange from where she had been sitting, and felt as though a bit of a connection had been made that night. She smiled victoriously, and then turned to her new husband to give him a loving, firm kiss on the mouth.

End of Chapter.