Dirty, Pretty Things

Chapter 3

Severus stood, yet again, in front of the white, paint-chipped door belonging to Hermione Granger. Though it was in actuality a few days later from his first visit, it somehow seemed like mere seconds. For some reason that was beyond him, he was more nervous of knocking and seeing her now than he was the first time. But nervousness didn't become him. And so, with a final adjustment of his posture and a calming breath, he knocked on the aging wood. The door creaked open slightly, and a tired eye could be seen through the small slit. "Severus?"

"Yes, may I come in?"

Snape heard her sigh, before saying in a rather groggy voice, "Yeah, sure. The door's open."

As he opened the door, he saw her back was faced to him and she was pulling down her ponytail. She took a few moments to adjust her hair, and when she turned back around, the right side of her face was yet again covered by her hair. She tried to speak, but her voice was broken and she had to clear it before asking in an actually rather polite voice, "Um, can I get you something to drink? I, uh, swear I have beverages other than alcohol." The last part she said with a small and meek smile.

Severus smiled back and shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm fine."

She nodded briefly, busying her fingers with her hair. She motioned to the sofa and sat down. He quickly followed and they sat in an awkward silence. He was beginning to wonder why it seemed almost easier to talk to her when she was drunk and callous, but before his mind could explore further on the thought, however, the young woman spoke.

"So, I'm assuming that you came here for some other reason than to sit on this god-ugly couch."

Snape chuckled lightly before nodding. "Yes, I suppose I am. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. About yourself and…others."

Hermione's eyes closed briefly and she took a deep breath. "You mean about Harry and Ron?"

Snape nodded, wishing he hadn't brought the subject up. The conversation had been light before he had mentioned Harry and Ron, and now he was kicking himself. But if it helped Hermione, then he would be willing for a bit of discomfort on his part. He watched her take a hesitant breath and open her mouth to talk before closing it again. She had a pained expression on her face, and when she opened her eyes, they were filled with tears, but they didn't fall.

"I'm sorry, Severus, but I can't. Not now…I should very much like to tell someone, someone I trust, one day. But not now, not here."

Severus moved his hand to grasp hers in a comforting gesture, but stopped halfway and let his hand fall limp at his side. "I understand. I didn't only come to talk about them, though. I also came to talk about you; mainly, about you coming to Hogwarts."

Hermione, who had been looking down at her lap while he spoke, suddenly snapped her head up at the sound of her old school. There were many emotions crossing her features; joy, anxiety, grief, and fear. But then he saw the emotion he had been looking so hard for, he realized: hope. The tears that had sat unfallen in her eyes now slid down her cheeks. "Me? At Hogwarts again? But, why?"

Severus smiled and looked at her, realizing suddenly that he had been the one who had wanted her at Hogwarts. He was the one who had wanted her to come there. But she couldn't know that, not yet anyway. So he settled with a safe answer. "Professor Dumbledore would like you to come back, that way you may be able to assist me in class."

Hermione just sat dumbfounded for a moment before looking up at him again. "I…I want to come back. But, I hardly think I'm-" she looked down at herself before turning her gaze back to him. "Appropriate for the position. And it's not as if I have the money to afford new clothes and robes and things. And I have…responsibilities to attend to here."

Severus faced became stern, but his eyes were still filled with enough compassion that Hermione did not shy away. "You don't have responsibilities to attend to here. Not anymore. They don't own you, Hermione; you are in charge of yourself. Don't worry about money, Dumbledore has offered to open an account for you so that you may purchase such necessities. And don't worry," he said, as Hermione opened her mouth to object. "He will simply take it out of your paycheck if you'd like until it is all paid back." This was only partially a lie; he was the one was planning on opening the count, and he was not about to let her pay him back out of her paycheck.

Hermione looked at him with a small smile. "You know me too well, I'm afraid." She sat silently for a moment, feeling slightly uncomfortable in the stillness. She wanted very much to go back to Hogwarts, away from this unholy life. She sniffled and wiped her eyes, careful to keep the hair in front of the right side of her face as she did so. "I do want to return. More than anything, really. But...I hardly think I'm in any sort of condition to return. I mean, look at me." She stood up as she said this and looked down at herself. She wore a raggedy, too tight tee shirt and fraying denim shorts that, while they didn't hide her thin, beautiful body, made her look like a first class piece of trailer trash. She shook her head and walked into the kitchen, Severus' eyes following her as she did so. He would have thought that, even in her profession, she would make more than she did. After all, she was exquisitely beautiful. She returned with a beer in one hand and a lock box in the other.

"This is all of the money that I have," she said, setting the box down on the table and taking a swig of beer. "If I'm to start over, I'm guessing I'll be needing some money of my own, right?" She opened the box, showing its pitiful contents of only a few hundred galleons. "That's about how much I make in a month. I can get more if I work harder, maybe in another area of town."

Severus shook his head and closed the box once more, locking it securely. "You will do no such thing. Keep this for...for something you really want. A rainy day, if you will." They sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes until Severus spoke the question that had been on his mind.

"Hermione, you're...you're a very attractive girl. Woman," he corrected himself. "I would have expected men to be clawing for the chance to spend even one night with you. What I'm getting at, I suppose, is why don't you make more money than this?"

Hermione smiled sadly, setting her beer down and leaning back into the couch. "Because no one wants damaged goods."

Severus looked at her curiously for a moment, opening his mouth to ask what she meant when she stood up, grabbing her empty bottle and the lock box and walked back into the kitchen. He waited a few moments for her to walk back out, and when she didn't he silently walked into the kitchen after her. She was standing with her back to him, her hand lifted to her face. He eased up behind her and softly stated her name. She whirled around, fixing her hair much like she had done when he first came in. He lifted his hand to move her hair to the side, but she skirted back out of his reach.

"Don't. You're one of the only people I know who consider me beautiful. I...I just want to keep that, if only for a little while longer."

Severus wasn't sure what to say. His curiosity, strong as ever, wanted to know exactly what it was that she was hiding behind her wavy sheet of hair, but he didn't want to frighten her and lose her trust either. After a moment, he lowered his hand and nodded. He wanted to reassure her, but wasn't quite sure how to without sounding like he was attracted to her, never mind that he actually was.

"You do realize that no matter how you look or what you've been through, you are still one of-no, the most brilliant and clever witch I have ever known. Never forget that, Hermione."

The young woman stood there, not knowing what to say. It had been a long time since someone had called her brilliant, or anything that wasn't derogative for that matter. She considered his offer, weighing the pros and cons in her head like she used to in chess matches with Ron. The thought of him brought on another onslaught of tears, though, so she quickly looked back up at her old professor.

"So, when can I start?"