A/N: Sorry, everyone! For the RIDICULOUS delay! I know! School has been
very demanding and the block in my brain really wasn't helping. Anyway,
thanks to the encouragement of many, I've decided to click that little
button on my desktop and start typing. I hope you guys like it!
Chapter 8: Hogwarts Children from 16-200
"Too slow, they're too slow, darn it!" The headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was getting impatient, and that's never a good sign.
His Deputy Headmistress just shook her head and rolled her eyes, knowing once again that her boss was getting a bit too caught up with his antics. She knew she should have been scared when he said he wanted to live like a kid again after the war. "Albus, stop fidgeting and whining, you're scaring the children," she said irritably as she attacked her scrambled eggs. She never was a morning person and the fact that she had to start her day listening to a nearly 200 year old man complain about other people's relationships made her especially volatile. She couldn't stand that type of gossip as a six-year with the other girls in her dorm and she certainly didn't need it now.
"But Minniiiiiiieeee-"God she hated that nickname! She threw him a glare, which promptly shut him up. Like a child who had been denied a new toy, Dumbledore pushed around the chickpeas on his plate to make pictures.
"Yea, Minniiiiieee...." Snape said in the same annoying sing-song voice. The smirk on his face told McGonagall just how much he was enjoying this. Deciding not to take this anymore, she took a page from Hermione's book and ground her slight heel into Snape's foot. "Jesus! Woman!" he hissed with a grimaced.
Satisfied, she was just about to get back to her breakfast when she felt a tug at her sleeve from the previous direction. She turned to see a pouting Headmaster, holding a plate of chickpeas... arranged in a sad face.
Dumbledore smiled on the inside when he saw the adorable Minerva McGonagall (in his eyes anyway) with a vein throbbing on her forehead.
Hermione Granger hummed softly to herself as she responded to Ginny's letter. Apparently, the younger girl still had no idea how to tell her muggle boyfriend about her heritage. "Love just complicates everything, doesn't it?" she said softly to herself as she reviewed her response.
"Oh no, please don't tell me I walked in on one of your teenage romantic drama moments," a sarcastic voice drifted from the entrance of the infirmary.
"If I said yes, would you run away and scream in horror?" she asked without looking up. After all, this had become a habit in the past year and she rather enjoyed the companionship.
The potions master, sensing her antics, decided to play along. With an indignant gasp, he held a hand to his heart, feeling lucky that it's still beating. "You wouldn't!" he whispered with narrow eyes. He walked over and dropped off the latest batch of sleeping draughts in her cabinets.
"I don't know. I mean, if it can get rid of you... Besides, it sounds rather amusing. Now if I had only known that it was that easy to get rid of you when I was still your student..." She tied the letter to the leg of the awaiting owl after using her age-old wax seal.
"You wound me, my dear." With a dramatic pause, the figure clad in black fell back onto the pristine white sheets of the cots.
"I hope you plan on straightening those out when you get up," she said as she walked over to the cabinets and began with the weekly update of the inventory. It wasn't that she was ignoring him. It's just that she felt comfortable enough to be that casual around him. He was like a long-lost uncle or cousin or some relative twice-removed. There was just something about him. "You know, you're just a big teddy bear."
"That's it, I'm leaving before this gets worse," Severus pretended to get up, but continued to stare at the white ceiling. It was really something he never thought he'd hear in his entire life, at least not directed to him.
"No, I'm serious! You'll see. I'm going to convince everyone that under all that awful black fabric, you're just a big, soft teddy bear. I'm going to make a nice pink, fuzzy teddy bear and name it Severus," she said with an endearing smile.
"You do that and I'll sic that Oliver bloke on you. I'll do it too. Remember, I am a Slytherin." When the pregnant pause descended, he decided to further his questioning. "So how are you guys anyway?"
She turned towards him hesitantly, as if unsure of what to say. "Oh, we're fine. We talk and hang out now. We don't get to see each other much since we're both here to work, but we try to take the time." Snape smirked, they sounded like a couple already. "It's weird, you know? Now that I'm getting to know him, I can't remember why I disliked him so much. He's very much a gentleman, you know."
"Oh, is he? Well then I'll just have to recruit someone else to support me on the anti-Snape-teddy-bear campaign." 'Considering how whipped that kid is going to be. Poor guy, doesn't even know what he's getting into,' Snape thought. Although he did tease around and joked about the couple, he was actually quite pleased with the match himself. "While I'm at it, I'm going to tell everyone exactly what you are."
"And what's that?" she asked, amused.
"Poison ivy."
"Ha ha, very funny. I'm annoying, et cetera. And can I hear your logic?"
"You're contagious." With that, he walked out of the room. Indeed, the young woman was very contagious. After all, she can make him smile.
Hermione was stunned for a second, left alone to contemplate her co- worker's words. With a shake of her head, she turned back to her task. She found it ridiculously difficult to concentrate though, and she had every intention to blame it all on Severus. That feeling she got when he mentioned Oliver...
"Oh don't be silly, Hermione. You're not a giggling seventh year."
"You know, I resent that, Madam Granger. Not all seventh years are giggly and ditzy." The new voice caused Hermione to turn her head. She smiled when she recognized one of the more mature members of the rowdy seventh-year Gryffindors.
"Well, Cammy, what can I do for you today? Please say that you're keeping Rick in check. He can be quite a problem sometimes. Must be something about beaters." Her mind wandered off for a bit as she thought of the infamous Weasley twins. She quickly snapped back to the present. He's only worse with Kevin."
Cammy looked down and immediately felt guilty about what she was about to do. She knew it was for the beloved medi-witch's own good, but she still had trouble with the whole lying bit. "Well, actually, it is about Rick," she started with a shaky breath. She then tore her eyes away from the floor tiles to make her performance more believable. "You see, he took quite a nasty hit from a bludger two days ago and we thought he was fine but he said it's acting up again. Can you please go see him right now? It's quite urgent."
"Of course! Where is he now?" Hermione asked frantically as she grabbed all the potions she needed and placed them in her medicine case.
"He's in the boys' locker room by the Quidditch Pitch. He's in the second shower stall from the wall, washing his wound. Do you know the way? I thought it would be a good idea for me to run over to Professor McGonagall and ask her to come see if Rick can still play." Who knew she could do this without stuttering?
"Of course. You run along now and I'll rush down there right away. Second stall from the wall, correct?" At the girl's nod, she quickly left her room. Cammy looked guiltily after her before she heard snickering from the corner.
"Come out, guys. I feel bad enough as it is. You don't have to lie to me about it," she said as she buried her face in her hands in shame. Just then, three figures emerged from beneath an invisibility cloak in the corner of the room.
"That was bloody brilliant! Who knew goody-Cammy could lie like that! You're my hero!" Kevin said between barks of laughter.
"I agree, that was amazing!" Cassidy said with a grin.
"That's my girl!" Rick leaned over and planted a kiss on his girlfriend's blushing cheeks.
"I feel so bad! Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" Cammy asked, her question muffled by her hands.
"Bad? Are you kidding? I am so jealous!" Cassidy smiled scandalously.
"I'm sure she'll be ecstatic, Cam. By the way, are Kev and I really that bad?" The girls gave him a look, a roll of the eyes and a quick sigh before nodding. "All right!" the boys cheered with a high five.
Meanwhile, back with our heroine
The first thing she recognized was the smell of shaving cream in the air. 'If they always use this much, it's no wonder that some of it would creep into their brains.' There was steam everywhere and the moisture was setting on her skin, her clothes, and her hair. The feeling was not exactly the best in the world, like that of a hot, humid summers' day. But our brave heroine tread on in the territory where no mediwitch has gone before.
'Cammy said the second stall from the wall... ah hah!' True to her word, there was steam rising from the said stall and Hermione approached it. She reached out for the dripping curtain, innocently asking, "Rick, sweetie? Are you all right?"
In the next moment, silence fell upon the room and all that could be heard was the sound of the water beating from the showerhead.
Chapter 8: Hogwarts Children from 16-200
"Too slow, they're too slow, darn it!" The headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was getting impatient, and that's never a good sign.
His Deputy Headmistress just shook her head and rolled her eyes, knowing once again that her boss was getting a bit too caught up with his antics. She knew she should have been scared when he said he wanted to live like a kid again after the war. "Albus, stop fidgeting and whining, you're scaring the children," she said irritably as she attacked her scrambled eggs. She never was a morning person and the fact that she had to start her day listening to a nearly 200 year old man complain about other people's relationships made her especially volatile. She couldn't stand that type of gossip as a six-year with the other girls in her dorm and she certainly didn't need it now.
"But Minniiiiiiieeee-"God she hated that nickname! She threw him a glare, which promptly shut him up. Like a child who had been denied a new toy, Dumbledore pushed around the chickpeas on his plate to make pictures.
"Yea, Minniiiiieee...." Snape said in the same annoying sing-song voice. The smirk on his face told McGonagall just how much he was enjoying this. Deciding not to take this anymore, she took a page from Hermione's book and ground her slight heel into Snape's foot. "Jesus! Woman!" he hissed with a grimaced.
Satisfied, she was just about to get back to her breakfast when she felt a tug at her sleeve from the previous direction. She turned to see a pouting Headmaster, holding a plate of chickpeas... arranged in a sad face.
Dumbledore smiled on the inside when he saw the adorable Minerva McGonagall (in his eyes anyway) with a vein throbbing on her forehead.
Hermione Granger hummed softly to herself as she responded to Ginny's letter. Apparently, the younger girl still had no idea how to tell her muggle boyfriend about her heritage. "Love just complicates everything, doesn't it?" she said softly to herself as she reviewed her response.
"Oh no, please don't tell me I walked in on one of your teenage romantic drama moments," a sarcastic voice drifted from the entrance of the infirmary.
"If I said yes, would you run away and scream in horror?" she asked without looking up. After all, this had become a habit in the past year and she rather enjoyed the companionship.
The potions master, sensing her antics, decided to play along. With an indignant gasp, he held a hand to his heart, feeling lucky that it's still beating. "You wouldn't!" he whispered with narrow eyes. He walked over and dropped off the latest batch of sleeping draughts in her cabinets.
"I don't know. I mean, if it can get rid of you... Besides, it sounds rather amusing. Now if I had only known that it was that easy to get rid of you when I was still your student..." She tied the letter to the leg of the awaiting owl after using her age-old wax seal.
"You wound me, my dear." With a dramatic pause, the figure clad in black fell back onto the pristine white sheets of the cots.
"I hope you plan on straightening those out when you get up," she said as she walked over to the cabinets and began with the weekly update of the inventory. It wasn't that she was ignoring him. It's just that she felt comfortable enough to be that casual around him. He was like a long-lost uncle or cousin or some relative twice-removed. There was just something about him. "You know, you're just a big teddy bear."
"That's it, I'm leaving before this gets worse," Severus pretended to get up, but continued to stare at the white ceiling. It was really something he never thought he'd hear in his entire life, at least not directed to him.
"No, I'm serious! You'll see. I'm going to convince everyone that under all that awful black fabric, you're just a big, soft teddy bear. I'm going to make a nice pink, fuzzy teddy bear and name it Severus," she said with an endearing smile.
"You do that and I'll sic that Oliver bloke on you. I'll do it too. Remember, I am a Slytherin." When the pregnant pause descended, he decided to further his questioning. "So how are you guys anyway?"
She turned towards him hesitantly, as if unsure of what to say. "Oh, we're fine. We talk and hang out now. We don't get to see each other much since we're both here to work, but we try to take the time." Snape smirked, they sounded like a couple already. "It's weird, you know? Now that I'm getting to know him, I can't remember why I disliked him so much. He's very much a gentleman, you know."
"Oh, is he? Well then I'll just have to recruit someone else to support me on the anti-Snape-teddy-bear campaign." 'Considering how whipped that kid is going to be. Poor guy, doesn't even know what he's getting into,' Snape thought. Although he did tease around and joked about the couple, he was actually quite pleased with the match himself. "While I'm at it, I'm going to tell everyone exactly what you are."
"And what's that?" she asked, amused.
"Poison ivy."
"Ha ha, very funny. I'm annoying, et cetera. And can I hear your logic?"
"You're contagious." With that, he walked out of the room. Indeed, the young woman was very contagious. After all, she can make him smile.
Hermione was stunned for a second, left alone to contemplate her co- worker's words. With a shake of her head, she turned back to her task. She found it ridiculously difficult to concentrate though, and she had every intention to blame it all on Severus. That feeling she got when he mentioned Oliver...
"Oh don't be silly, Hermione. You're not a giggling seventh year."
"You know, I resent that, Madam Granger. Not all seventh years are giggly and ditzy." The new voice caused Hermione to turn her head. She smiled when she recognized one of the more mature members of the rowdy seventh-year Gryffindors.
"Well, Cammy, what can I do for you today? Please say that you're keeping Rick in check. He can be quite a problem sometimes. Must be something about beaters." Her mind wandered off for a bit as she thought of the infamous Weasley twins. She quickly snapped back to the present. He's only worse with Kevin."
Cammy looked down and immediately felt guilty about what she was about to do. She knew it was for the beloved medi-witch's own good, but she still had trouble with the whole lying bit. "Well, actually, it is about Rick," she started with a shaky breath. She then tore her eyes away from the floor tiles to make her performance more believable. "You see, he took quite a nasty hit from a bludger two days ago and we thought he was fine but he said it's acting up again. Can you please go see him right now? It's quite urgent."
"Of course! Where is he now?" Hermione asked frantically as she grabbed all the potions she needed and placed them in her medicine case.
"He's in the boys' locker room by the Quidditch Pitch. He's in the second shower stall from the wall, washing his wound. Do you know the way? I thought it would be a good idea for me to run over to Professor McGonagall and ask her to come see if Rick can still play." Who knew she could do this without stuttering?
"Of course. You run along now and I'll rush down there right away. Second stall from the wall, correct?" At the girl's nod, she quickly left her room. Cammy looked guiltily after her before she heard snickering from the corner.
"Come out, guys. I feel bad enough as it is. You don't have to lie to me about it," she said as she buried her face in her hands in shame. Just then, three figures emerged from beneath an invisibility cloak in the corner of the room.
"That was bloody brilliant! Who knew goody-Cammy could lie like that! You're my hero!" Kevin said between barks of laughter.
"I agree, that was amazing!" Cassidy said with a grin.
"That's my girl!" Rick leaned over and planted a kiss on his girlfriend's blushing cheeks.
"I feel so bad! Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" Cammy asked, her question muffled by her hands.
"Bad? Are you kidding? I am so jealous!" Cassidy smiled scandalously.
"I'm sure she'll be ecstatic, Cam. By the way, are Kev and I really that bad?" The girls gave him a look, a roll of the eyes and a quick sigh before nodding. "All right!" the boys cheered with a high five.
Meanwhile, back with our heroine
The first thing she recognized was the smell of shaving cream in the air. 'If they always use this much, it's no wonder that some of it would creep into their brains.' There was steam everywhere and the moisture was setting on her skin, her clothes, and her hair. The feeling was not exactly the best in the world, like that of a hot, humid summers' day. But our brave heroine tread on in the territory where no mediwitch has gone before.
'Cammy said the second stall from the wall... ah hah!' True to her word, there was steam rising from the said stall and Hermione approached it. She reached out for the dripping curtain, innocently asking, "Rick, sweetie? Are you all right?"
In the next moment, silence fell upon the room and all that could be heard was the sound of the water beating from the showerhead.