A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews, but remember never-ending also means never posted! Glad you liked it though.
Chapter Five
The bane of his existence, Harry Bloody Potter, strode into the room, Ron Weasley trailing behind, with murderous looks on both their faces.
"What have you done to her?" Ron yelled.
"I haven't done anything but calm her down after your brothers decided to spike her morning coffee," Severus said calmly, sliding his hand over to the pocket where he stored his wand, just in case he needed it. He wouldn't mind throwing a few hexes at these two; he had never been offered the chance while they had been at school. Dumbledore frowned on cursing misbehaving students, preferring the teachers to take house points or issue detentions instead, but that wasn't nearly as therapeutic as a well-aimed Entrail-Expelling curse could be.
"Hermione we need to talk, alone," Harry said pointedly, barely reigning in his temper.
"No, I don't think so," she said low and dangerous as she stood up. She took a moment to wipe the tears from her cheeks and run her hands through her hair, while the three men in the room just watched, entranced by the blue creature before them. "The last thing I need at the moment is you questioning me."
"But what's happened to you?" Ron said with a pathetic whine.
"Fred and George happened."
"Oh," both boys said as if they had just discovered the twelfth use of dragon's blood. And then much to Severus' annoyance they started to giggle. First, it was just Weasley, and then slowly Potter, until even Hermione had cracked a smile and then finally given in to the laughter.
"I don't see why you're upset, it can't be any worse than the summer after sixth year," Harry said.
"Yeah, at least this time you don't have…," Ron said, laughing so hard now that he couldn't get out the last word.
At least she didn't have what? What? The frustration at being left out of this conversation started to mount, followed by frustration at the fact that Severus even wanted to be in a conversation that not only included Potter and Weasley but giggling. Why did they get to be the ones to make her laugh about being blue while he was relegated to crying duty? It didn't seem fair. He certainly didn't like being jealous of those two morons. This had gone on long enough, he decided. Standing, he put his hands on her shoulder, both to remind her that he was still there and to irritate the boys. It worked only slightly. The giggling slowly came to a halt and ended with Hermione still tittering while Potter and Weasley resumed glaring.
"Thanks, I really needed that," she told them, wiping new tears from her face, these from laughing too much.
"About your note," Harry prompted.
"Yes, alright. I knew you wouldn't be happy, but I am, and that's what is important, isn't it?" she asked, sounding tired and more like the Hermione he had first encountered earlier in the evening.
"But, but…," Ron sputtered.
"But what? It's Snape? You're right and I would explain it if I could, but I can't other than I enjoy his company. He makes me laugh, he makes me think, and he makes me happy," she said, pulling away from his hands on her shoulders and kissing each boy on the cheek. "Now get out of my house, so I can get back to snogging him senseless."
"Hermione," Harry said, looking stricken at the idea of her kissing Snape.
"Go," she ordered. "I'll owl you tomorrow and we can meet for lunch later this week." Finally convinced, they acquiesced and apparated away with a loud pop.
Severus sat back down, processing everything that had just happened. She liked him, really liked him. He knew because she had said so and for some reason this both excited and frightened him. And she had mentioned snogging him senseless, but the other night when he had tried just that she had pushed him away. She sat next to him and reached for his hand.
"Thank you."
"For what?" he asked, perplexed and irritated. He hadn't been the one to make her accept her "blueness," that had been Harry bloody Potter and Ron the Weasel.
"That could have gone a lot worse."
"I almost wish it had," he said. His wand had never left its pocket, he felt as though he had missed a prime opportunity. If he had acted faster, he might have been able to hex the two to oblivion and then claim it had been in her honor. Looking over at her, he wondered if she would have accepted that as an excuse though. She was rather protective of her friends, loyal too. Of course, she now included him in that category. She would protect him. She would be loyal to him. And it would be him she would be snogging senseless and not them. He needed his own category, however, something more than friend.
He looked up to discover she had crawled back into his lap and was stroking his face fondly.
"I'm glad it didn't," she said smiling. "Just think of the mess you three would have made. And if they had blown you to bits I wouldn't be able to do this." She leaned down and kissed him. He kissed her back until he realized exactly what she had said.
"What makes you think that I wouldn't have blown them to bits?" he asked indignantly.
"If you made it this long without killing Harry then I seriously doubt you would succumb now."
"Yes, but before I had to protect him so that he could defeat You-Know-Who. Now that's he gone, I would have no problem of ridding myself of him forever." She frowned and he realized suddenly that he had said the wrong thing. Who cared if it was how he really felt. How he really felt about Harry Potter was not going to get him snogged senseless.
"And this time I would have been defending your honor," he added. She considered that for a moment.
"I can defend my own honor, thank you very much."
"Is that why you are a sporting color of blue?" he asked sarcastically, knowing full well that he should back up, apologize, and say nothing else stupid if he wanted to continue kissing her, but old habits tended to die hard.
"That had nothing to do with it," she protested and he could see that she was working herself up into a giant rant. He needed to do something quick.
"You're right," he said, trying to kiss her again, but she turned her head and he got her cheek instead. He hadn't admitted that he was wrong but surely she could see he was trying by saying she was right. But it didn't appear as if she understood that at all.
"My honor…"
"Wait," he interrupted. He noticed that her face was slightly less blue where he had just kissed her. Perhaps the spell was starting to wear off. He tested his theory by licking the rim of her ear.
"What are you doing?" she asked, somewhat piqued that he interrupted the beginning of her tirade on women's rights.
"I'm solving your problem," he said. "It's wearing off."
"Really! That's terrific!" She threw her arms around his neck once more and kissed him. Potter and Weasley could make her laugh, but could they fix her problem? The answer was no. And when he thought about it, she hadn't called either of them to help her. She had called him. The foul mood that he had sunk into began to lift.
"Do you think a shower would get the rest off?" she asked, bounding off the couch.
"Well, as much as I would like to do it myself, we would be here all week, so yes, a shower sounds like the next best idea." However much he wanted to take Hermione to bed, his fantasies had yet to include her in the part of the 'blue nymph.' He watched as she flounced off in the direction of the bathroom. She stopped in the doorway and turned back.
"Thank you," she said.
"You're welcome."
"See you tomorrow," she asked expectantly. He nodded.
Hermione had been so preoccupied after her visit with Lavender that she had let her guard down, and her coffee cup out of her sight. The rest of the day had been a flurry of anger, tears, and confusion. Severus had come to the flat and sat with her while she sobbed her uncertainties about the future—how the apprenticeship hadn't worked out, how the job at the Weasley's wasn't working, how she had no idea what to do. She was surprised, actually, at the amount of sensitivity he had shown. He hadn't snapped at her, but had just held her until she finished. It was everything she needed at the moment. And then when Ron and Harry had shown up ready to rescue her from his evil clutches, she had been certain that her flat would be destroyed and someone would be killed. But that hadn't happened either. Given the circumstances, the night had progressed relatively smoothly, but it had been draining. She couldn't remember a time recently when she had been so spent emotionally. She marveled at her luck while she worked the next day.
"Hey Hermione! Want some coffee?" Fred asked, stopping by her workstation where her cauldron was set up.
"No, thank you," she said icily, patting a small flask on her hip. "I have some right here."
"Becoming a bit like Mad-Eye Moody aren't we?" he laughed.
"Working here tends to bring out the paranoia in me," she said. "By the way, I need to talk to you."
"About what?"
"I'm giving you my notice," she said. She had decided to take Severus' advice. He was right she could do anything and working here would only serve to make her crazy. He had worked in a job that he obviously hated for years and looked at how he had turned out—not for the best, even if she thought there was a lot to like.
"That's great!" Fred said with a grin.
"Great?"
"Yeah, that means I win the pool."
"The pool?" she asked, her voice raising in pitch, a sure sign of impending wrath.
"George and I were really surprised when you took the job. We figured you wouldn't last long in our "unique" working environment, so we started a pool."
"So, you were spiking my coffee in order to run me off?" she said, her voice even higher. Her hand moved to her wand.
"Oh, no. We would have done that regardless. It'll be a shame to lose you. You're a genius when it comes to potions." Hermione nodded tersely, her lips pursed and her fists balled. She turned back to her work, knowing that if she said anything in response it would be in the form of a curse.
She didn't know if she should be relieved or hurt that the twins hadn't thought her strong enough to work for them. George stopped by later and tried to convince her that she should stay a little longer. Apparently, he had thought she was made of tougher stuff than Fred and had predicted she would last at least until Valentine's Day.
"Plus, we really need your help on our new Shakespeare's Sonnets Solution. The drinker speaks nothing but sonnets for up to half an hour after drinking it—very romantic," George pleaded.
"I know about the pool, George," she told him flatly.
"An even better reason to stay then," he said with a mischievous smile. But she noticed that he backed away from her in case she decided to whip out her wand. Both Weasleys were still recovering from the damage she had done them the day before after the Blue Incident.
But George had reminded her of something—Valentine's Day. She was going to have to buy Severus something. But what? The only gift she had bought for him before had been a gift certificate her parents had given to her on which she had changed the name. She didn't think he would like something like a singing Valentine, though she was tempted. But if she couldn't be there to see him receive it in the crowded Great Hall then it wouldn't be worth the trouble she would face later for it. He liked her, but she didn't think it extended that far, not yet anyway. Potions supplies were too impersonal, and she didn't know what books he owned and which he didn't. It was a puzzle for sure, but Hermione loved a puzzle.