Disclaimer: Just havin' a but o' fun here. Still not mine though.
A/N: Sorry this installment took so long! I ended up being shipped off to New Jersey (I live in Southern New York) for the entirety of the long weekend. I spent my time keeping small children from dying and I dunno...eating crayons and the like. Riveting, no, but time consuming, yes.
BIIIIIIIIIIIG THANKS to all of you who reviewed! And an apple pie.
LushBaby: Looks like we're both in a improved mood today. Your reviews plastered a huge grin on my face. I'm glad that you enjoyed my humor, sarcasm and all ::smile::
Hermione frowned testily at Snape as she waited anxiously. What the hell was going on here? Wasn't Dumbledore supposed to be protecting her from situations like this?. How she wished that Dumbedore would come in, sit across from her, give her a nice smile, and solve all her problems. Simple as that. But somehow, it didn't seem likely.
Snape sighed and collected himself from his seat and stood up, taking a seat across the desk next to Hermione. He glanced at her quickly, and upon recieving a glare that could curdle milk, he averted his gaze and rubbed his temples. He always seemed to get headaches at the most inconvenient times. He stood up again and walked over to the cabinet behind where they were sitting. He opened it and started shifting through the vials, fully aware that Hermione had turned in her seat and was watching him.
He grabbed a dark blue bottle and downed the contents when a sound from the other side of the room made him turn. "Ah hello Miss Granger." said Albus Dumbledore as he walked into the room, giving her a supportive smile. "Severus." the Headmaster acknowledged him with a nod. He took the seat behind the desk and watched the two people in front of him for a moment. Hermione was sitting in her armchair, hugging her knees to her chest, throwing a dirty look at Snape when he sat down in the chair next to her. Snape pretended not to notice and focused his attention on the headmaster. Dumbledore noted the potion bottle in his hand.
Dumbledore sat back in his chair. The tension was so thick in the room it could be cut with a knife. The headmaster sighed. "I really don't know what to say to make this better for you, Miss Granger." he said. Tears gathered in Hermione's eyes and she sniffled loudly. "Just think of it as a marriage of convenience really, you won't even have to live with each other-"
Hermione snorted. Snape frowned deeply. "It's a bit more complicated than that Albus." he said, obviously irritated. The headmaster's eyebrows raised slightly and Snape indicated the crumpled document on the desk.
Dumbledore smoothed the paper and read through it, his blue eyes growing cloudy as he scanned it. "Severus, would you care to explain this?"
Professor Snape frowned. One would think that the old man didn't trust him. "There's really not much -to- explain. That paper there knows about as much as I do." With a significant look from the headmaster, Snape continued "The Dark Lord gave me specific instructions to include the last two requirements."
"Why?" said Dumbledore shortly, gazing coldly at him.
Snape resisted the urge to get up and leave. He didn't want to have to deal with these inane questions. Just because he was a Death Eater didn't mean the Dark Lord revealed the details of his plans to him. He responded politely as he could manage " As I said before, I didn't gain any doing what you asked. I highly doubt the Dark Lord will explain to me why he is so interested to see one of his Death Eaters tied to a.. muggleborn." He caught himself in the end, remembering Miss Granger was in the room and not using the term 'mudblood'.
Dumbledore sighed. Things could never be easy for him, could they? "There's nothing I can do about it at this point anyway. Seems like there are some arrangements to be made." he glanced between the two people sitting before him. "I'll have to make an announcement at breakfast tommorrow."
Hermione choked slightly. "An announcement? About what?"
"About your nuptuals Miss Granger. Beginning with the fact that you are no longer 'Miss Granger' but 'Madam Snape'." the Headmaster began.
"Also, because of the position you've been put in, I'm afraid that you'll no longer be able to remain head girl."
"What! No no no. You can't Professor! I earned that!" Hermione pleaded, wringing her hands desperately.
"Hermione, I have to. The head girl position has to go to an unmarried student, it's in the Founder's code."
"Well this is bloody great. What more will I have to give up Professor? My life, my family, my future. Why don't you just lock me in the dungeons now and be done with it!" Hermione ranted angrily.
"Hermione-" Dumbledore started, trying to quell her but still retaining a slightly condescending tone in his voice. He looked at her over his half-moon glasses with a slightly tense look on his aged face.
"No! You helped pass this bloody law. You are the one that asked that Professor Snape marry me. You are the one who is piece by piece ripping apart my life!" Hermione all but screamed, her face turning scarlet as she yelled. She breathed in great gulps, and the anger was radiating from her every pore.
"Stop acting like such a bloody child!" Snape snarled from next to her. "Your not the only one making sacrifices here."
Hemione flinched back as if she had been slapped. She firmly shut her mouth and stared fixedly at the carving on the desk in front of her.
"Hermione," Dumbledore said gently. "I know this is hard for you. I don't expect you to understand why this is so necessary. You come from a different world, and if there was another way, my dear, I would take it in an instant."
"But there isn't. I never expected this to happen to you, but now that it has I expect you to make the best of it."
Dumbledore paused a moment, then added as an afterthought "That goes for you too Severus." He gave the man a stern look.
"Now, Miss Granger, I'll have the house elves bring down your things to Severus' quarters.
Hermione refused to meet Dumbledore's eyes, but she gave a small nod. She felt so conflicted inside, her thoughts were in turmoil. With everything she was feeling, and her big mouth, it was more than likely that if she tried to talk, she'd end up saying something she'd regret. Better just to keep her mouth firmly shut.
Snape glanced at his watch. "I have a class to teach." he said, rising from his seat and making twords the door.
"Alright Severus. I'll have Miss Granger expect you after dinner to show her to your quarters." the Headmaster said tiredly as Snape nodded curtly and swept from the room.
"Oh, one last thing before I let you leave Miss Granger." Hermione glanced curiously at Dumbledore. "I seem to remember a rule that allows the spouse of a head of house to dock and give house points, and to assign detentions." he said with a slight smile.
Hermione threw Dumbledore an almost-grateful look. "We're done then?" she asked rather curtly.
"Of course. Have a nice evening Hermione." the headmaster said to Hermione as she stood up and made for the door. She nodded to him and mumbled a similar farewell before heading out of the dungeons.
The headmaster was not left wondering how long he was going to have to play referee to those two, but with his own guilty thoughts about what he had done to bring them to this situation.
A/N: I'm not 100 percent happy with this chapter, but it'll do. Dumbledore comes off too mean I think...and he looks too suspicious. Oh well. I'm not too fond of Dumbledore anyway, if you haven't guessed. Kinda ironic how I hate the good guys. I love Snape, and he's got tons of imperfections (if you can call them that P) and Dumbledore on the other hand is ominscent and can do no wrong. God, that's irritating. It's not...human!
Reviews ::equals:: faster revisions ::equals:: real updates soon!