WARNINGS: Hey friends, I know there are some readers who do not wish to read about pairings other than their owns, so I wanted to give you. fair warning that in this chapter Penny kisses someone who isn't SNAPE LUPIN OR CEDRIC. So, proceed accordingly. I will say the scene isn't overly graphic or serious, but it's there. Makes some guess before you proceed and if you were right, well I don't have a prize but kudos to you if you guess it! ;)
In this chapter is the after-math of her drinking! I am sorry for those of you who were happy with Snape and Penny not fighting recently, but I find myself unable to stay away from them arguing for long. lol. I love their dynamics too much! I'm getting so close to the the 300k mark and we are seriously still in September of the 5th book, so I am seriously wondering how huge this work will be when I finally get to 7! Thanks for hanging in there and being the amazing readers you are, and for sharing your thoughts with me! I love hearing your thought and experiences with this fic :)
I'll put some notes at the end about the reasoning for the kiss. Have a splendid week!
"Why does it hurt so much," Penny said in a raspy voice that she did not recognize as her own. She opened her eyes, her hands finding their way to her horrendously stiff neck. She tried to move it from side-to-side but it screamed in pain, trapped at the odd angle she'd been sleeping in.
Blinking back tears, she shook her foot, which was full of pins and needles because it was horribly asleep. To make matters worse, the world around Penny was definitely tilting when it shouldn't be. A dark figure stepped into her vision, blocking the warmth from the uncharacteristically robust fire.
Snape looked down on her taking in her pathetic state with an approving sneer.
"I think this is it, I'm officially dying this time," she groaned, her head throbbing right above her left eyeball.
"Decided to return to the land of living did we? Good, your snoring was growing tiresome."
"I don't snore!" Penny said incredulously.
"I beg to differ."
"Well I beg to differ your differ?" she said, trying to focus on Snape but failing miserably. "Why must everything keep spinning, and why does it hurt so much?"
"You have reaped the rewards of your inability to exercise any self-control. I'm curious, how much did you drink, Potter?" he said, placing the back of his hand against her cheek and resting it there a moment to ascertain her temperature. Dissatisfied with it, he bent in close to her, peering into her eyeballs before moving to her pulse next.
"Too much, I drank too much, I don't even remember. . ." Penny trailed off, sitting up suddenly and regretting the movement very much because it made her feel suddenly nauseous. "Hang on, how did I even end up here?" she asked, realizing for the first time she was sitting in a very uncomfortable chair in Snape's office.
"Are you telling me you drank until you blacked out," he said, his voice shaking ever so slightly.
"No! It's all just a bit of a blur. I'm not really sure in what order things happened, but I can remember it all!" Penny said, drooping back into her chair.
"Then tell me what you do remember," he said, his fingers lingering on her neck a moment as he tried to keep his voice even and failing miserably.
"You're just trying to get me to snitch, aren't you! I won't do it. I was entrusted with the secret and landing everyone in detention would be social suicide!" Penny accused, waving her finger dramatically at him.
"Spare me your theatrics, I am not interested in the other reprobates who reside within these walls. And even if I was, I need only to give you a few drops of veritaserum to obtain what I desire," said Snape, a cruel grin twisting the side's of his thin lips.
"That's not very ethical of you," Penny scowled.
"Nor is lying to your Professor."
Pushing his hand away, Penny pulled the blanket up to her nose, as though it would somehow hide her from the retribution of her Potions Master. "Then why are you asking me?" she said, eyeing him suspiciously.
"You will serve detention with me for the next month for being out of bed and being intoxicated on school grounds. However, the nature of those detentions will be determined by your forthcomingness," he said with that gloating look of his, the one that reminded Penny how much the evil man loved relishing in the power differences between the two.
There was no doubt in her mind that he'd been considering this moment, planning exactly how to make her suffer as she'd slumbered drunkenly on his chair. It was really the most awful of luck on Penny's part. How she'd been caught while there had been plenty of other drunk people stumbling through the castle was beyond her. But she felt how this man always found her was unnatural, and Penny was beginning to wonder if there was something he wasn't telling her. Regardless, she knew the man was vindictive and that if he felt she was altering or hiding details from him then he would only make her suffer more.
"Fine, but can you sit down? It's killing my neck to look up at you."
Snape conjured a much more comfortable looking chair for himself, which earned him a scowl from Penny, who was feeling irritable about the amount of discomfort she was in.
"Since you are so nosey, I will tell you. But be warned, everything is a bit hazy."
"Couldn't imagine why," Snape drawled.
"Don't act like you've never been drunk before," Penny said, reaching forward and pulling Snape's chair closer to her so she could rest her legs on it.
"Some of us, Ms. Potter, know how to hold our liquor," he said, giving her intrusion on his chair an arch of his brow, but sat down, pushing her legs to one side.
"Well, I can't know my limit unless I test it" Penny replied, curling the blanket around her tighter because she was starting to feel chilly. "Anyway, you will not find me disagreeing with you, I drank too much, I can't even remember what the earlier part of the day looked like," she went on, trying to rub away her brain fog.
"So start with what you do know ," Snape said, impatiently.
"I was with Fred and George-no Malfoy-no, oh wait, well at some point I was with Malfoy and he seemed to think I wasn't to be trusted with my drinking. Oh and then there were all the 6th year boys, so full of themselves like their little juvenile ritual made them kings somehow."
Snape's features betrayed his boredom at her juvenile thoughts, but Penny did not care, though she knew she was rambling, it was helping her clear things a little bit in her own mind. "More drinks, oh, and then they got the music going. Fred and George have some serious talent. So I was dancing, and then Malfoy pulled me away from. . . Penny yawned, but her yawn turned into a choke midway through as recalled who she had been dancing with. "No! No. . .no. . .why," she agonized, covering her face with her hands.
Snape interlocked his thin, pale hands and watched her, his dark eyes resisting the urge to narrow. He kept his features unperturbed, waiting expectantly for her to confess her drunken shame.
"Anyone by Nott," she whimpered.
"Theodore Nott?" Snape asked, his voice quiet and controlled, too controlled.
"Is there any other Nott in this school? I guess it could be worse, I hadn't realized how handsome he'd become in the last year, and he's really smart too, isn't he? There's just that minor problem of being a giant man-whore," she mused out loud, trying to convince herself the situation wasn't as bad as it clearly was.
"And just what were you and Mr. Nott doing?" Snape asked, softly.
"Well, I thought we were dancing, but Malfoy said-how'd he put it, oh right, 'having sex with clothing on' which is a little over-dramatic if you ask me-I'll admit we were a bit close, and I think I recall his hands wondering a bit? I don't know, I was pretty out of it by that point. Now that I think of it, I really should thank Malfoy when I see him next. . ." Penny answered, absentmindedly, completely oblivious to the warning signs indicating Snape did not find this story entertaining in the least.
"It seems Mr. Malfoy is the only one with any sense."
"Hah! He ran off with Blaise, those two make zero sense and I wish he'd just get over that mess of a-whatever they are. But after he ran off, where did I end up?" Penny said, more to herself than to Snape. Piecing together the night was proving much more difficult than she anticipated and she was finding it hard to remain awake, her body ached and her head throbbed horribly. "I punched McLaggen after he kissed me-"
"Do you not have a wand, Potter?" Snape said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Of course I do," Penny said, her eye brows furrowing at him.
"Then how is it you always forget you are in fact a witch and end up scuffling like some muggle street-rat?"
"Wizard," she corrected, defiantly. "Oh I don't know, Professor, probably for the same reason you always seem to forget that I grew up with my muggle aunt and uncle who were intent on preventing us from ever knowing we were wizards? Anyways, it's fine, I didn't break my hand this time," she grinned, flexing her fingers for him to see.
"Tell me, why did McLaggen warrant a punch when Nott did not?" Snape pressed, his eyes narrowing.
"He didn't ask! Who just kisses someone?" Penny exclaimed.
"So Nott asked to have clothed sex with you, is that what I am to understand?"
"Well no," Penny said, sheepishly, "But he's not gross like McLaggen, and in the moment I was pretty tipsy and didn't think much about what was going on."
It was at this point that Penny finally looked at her Potions Master, sitting forward in his chair, his face red with rage. "You stupid girl! If Malfoy hadn't been there-do you have any idea what men like Nott-" he spat.
"Excuse me, what? I was surrounded by others drinking just like me, so calm down. It's hardly the end of the world that I spent a night acting like a normal teenager, Nott was just having a good time too, it's not like he tried dragging me into the forest" she said, not bothering to watch her tone.
"Have that half-breed and that damned godfather of yours taught you anything! There is nothing more untrustworthy than the intentions of teenage boys!"
Penny blinked, staring at the man shaking with rage before her and burst out laughing. "That sounds more like a confession than a warning."
"And you sound like an over-confident moron! You made yourself a target last not and if it were not for Mr. Malfoy-"
"We were just dancing! You can't keep me in a cage just because you decided to join a cult and participate in the worst of humanity. Not everyone thinks like you, and I have no intention of wasting my life being afraid of 'what ifs'," she all but yelled, her irritation getting the better of her. "And, not that it's any of your business, but when I asked Fred to kiss me he said he'd prefer to wait until I was sober!"
"Just how many boys did you throw yourself at!" Snape demanded, getting to his feet.
"The slut shaming is a little unwarranted, don't you think? Considering I DIDN'T EVEN KISS ANYONE," she bellowed.
"Not for a lack of trying! It appears to me that if hadn't been there to reign you in, you would have tried every willing partner there."
"Careful, sir, someone might get the impression you're jealous," Penny sneered.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Potter, but desperate isn't my type," he breathed, his fists shaking.
"Oh right, I forgot Death Eaters only prefer the unwilling," Penny said, bitingly, getting to her feet and wobbling unsteadily.
Snape looked like he would like very much to wrap his fingers around his neck, but he turned and kicked the chair instead, sending it into his desk. Penny watched, her own anger rising, intending to continue her shouting match, but when the chair hit the table, it made something large on the desk move, sending the shimmering liquid within splashing down its side. Penny 's eyes found the pensive, the gears in her brain grinding to a halt.
Memories were flooding back, smashing against her sore brain, images of a pensive she'd dove into the day before; inside of which she found memories of Snape's regarding her.
"I came to your office yesterday. . ." Penny said, quietly.
"Don't try to back track now, Potter, we were just getting to the good part, let's hear it, tell me yet again how it is I who is the vile creature while defending the likes of Theodore Nott. "
"You weren't here, but the pensive was," she continued, turning to find the black eyes.
"So it was you," Snape hissed, stepping forward, but Penny stepped back.
"You know, I'd wondered why you would have invited Yaxley and Lucious Malfoy over without telling me. You normally took so many precautions, so it was curious to me, why you wouldn't have told me to stay in my room," Penny said, continuing to back away.
"I wasn't expecting-"
"Don't lie to me!" Penny spat, stopping abruptly. "It's just so peculiar, you know, how Yaxley was the first to arrive, while you were nowhere to be found, except you were there, weren't you? You heard everything that he said because you were waiting, you wanted to know what he'd do," Penny said, her voice shaking with anger, watching the color drain from Snape's face. "You know, at the time, I believed it was an honest mistake, and I let it go. But you set that whole thing up, and you didn't care how it affected me, so long as you got your hunch confirmed, didn't you, Professor?" Penny said, her voice so quiet now, she was almost whispering.
"I was in the basement," Snape said through gritted teeth.
"How can you lie to my face? You know what he did while I was in that place, and still you let him come into your home and do it all over again. I trusted you. . ."
He remained silent for a moment, his eyes hard and calculating, showing no remorse. "It was for your own good, Potter. I know Yaxley, you are not the first of his fixations, the rest are not here-"
"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST TELL ME!"
"And how would you have suggested I should have done so when you were preoccupied with trying to poetically kill yourself with grief," he sneered. "I had little time-"
"I'm so sorry my grieving was inconvenient for you, I should have asked Cedric to try dying a couple months later," Penny replied in a scorching tone.
"That is not what-"
"I know exactly what you meant, the only thing that mattered was getting the answer you wanted. It's funny how similar you and Yaxley are that way."
"Oh yes, lets' hear it Potter, tell me how being a Death Eater means you are forced to believe that my actions are forever self-serving, no matter what I do, I cannot escape it, can I? How convenient of you to refuse to admit to using this mark on my arm to validate your proneness for distrusting my intentions." Snape all but yelled, taking several steps toward her.
Penny's legs fled, taking several steps away from him until her back collided with the cold door. He advanced on her, his face dark with rage, hands balled into fists. He loomed over her, staring down his hooked nose on her.
"What's the matter, Potter, afraid of being alone with a Death Eater? You just lectured me about your refusal to be ruled by 'what ifs' so tell me why it is they are so present now. Which one worries you more I wonder, the what if I'm not who I say I am, or the what if I lose it this time? The truth is Potter, you're afraid of me and always have been," he seethed, smashing his fist against the wall just beside her head.
Her heart racing in her chest, Penny could not stop herself from jumping, could not stop the shame that rose in her chest. A part of her felt the need to flee, was afraid of where Snape's anger would take him. For some reason she'd always felt there was a volatility to him, one she was instinctively wary of, and she felt ashamed he knew it; that she flinched as though the man had ever harmed her. But though she knew there was some truth to his words, she could not subdue the hurt in her chest, a pain that pressed her to continue to lash out.
"You're a c-coward," Penny stammered, finding her voice.
"DON'T CALL ME A COWARD, POTTER," he screamed, his face as close to hers as was possible, his spit splattering Penny's face.
"Did I hit a nerve?" Penny growled, placing both hands against his chest and shoving, but the action accomplished little, and before she knew it, his own hands grabbed her wrists and had slammed her arms against the door, his lip curling and chest heaving.
"You resort to bullying me because your pride doesn't like admitting you don't know what to do, you don't know how to apologize, do you? I imagine it's not a nice feeling, guilt. Do you feel it swelling in your chest? Does it keep you up at night? Make you ashamed when you think of it, what you let him make me endure?"
"I stopped him-" came his shaking response, but Penny refused to listen to any of it.
"AFTER YOU'D GOTTEN WHAT YOU WANTED," Penny raged, thrashing against him, wanting nothing more than to hit the man. "He put his hands on me, reveled in making me feel helpless, and you just. . .how could you just. . ." but Penny could not get the words out, they were stuck in a throat that was closing. She coughed a few times, a rogue tear burning at the inner corner of her eyes. She hated that tear, but she refused to let its presence stop her, so she set her jaw, her green eyes locking onto the dark pools watching her. "Do you have any idea how Yaxley made me feel?" Penny whispered, her voice breaking.
Snape's anger dissolved before her, anguish taking its place. She could see his struggle plain on his face, watched his mouth open several times, but no words came out. His grip on her wrists slackened and his hands fell to his side. He watched her, that desperate look in his eyes, the one that made Penny think he was afraid he'd lost her this time. And then he finally spoke, his voice low, tinged with bitterness. "The good-for-nothing muggle who gave me his name never missed an opportunity to remind my mother how much of a freak he thought she and I were. Hate me for what I did, but do not accuse me of doing so lightly, or without you in mind. I will not watch Yaxley drag you to your grave like that damned woman was. The only apology you will receive from me is for allowing them to remove you from Hogwarts in the first place."
He stepped away from her and turned to look at the fire, unable to look at her a moment longer. Penny stood frozen to the spot for a long moment. "It's not fair when you make it hard to be mad at you," she said, wiping the tears angrily from her face with her sleeve and then she turned on her heel and left Snape alone in his office. He did not chase after her, leaving Penny to the thoughts and emotions mulling through her brain.
She was angry with him, furious, murderous even. He'd used her as bait, listened to Yaxley torment her, and then allowed her to believe he'd rescued her-and for what? Whatever had been hidden from Penny had nothing to do with Yaxley and everything to do with Dolores Umbridge, so why was Snape so worried about Yaxley, what did he know that she didn't? He was vile and loathsome, but Penny found herself much more frightened of Amycus than him. It was Amycus she often saw in her nightmares and feared running into, not Yaxley, so why was Snape so hell bent on pursuing Yaxley?
But this anger, it fizzled out as she thought about what Snape had admitted to her. His words, which had been so hard for him to get out, they were tinged with something Penny had also experienced. She'd never really considered what kind of life Snape had led as a child, though she assumed since he was a Death Eater it had not been the best, though he had made mention of his mother once or twice and made her feel as though he had hard feelings toward her. But she'd never once considered the possibility that Snape too, never knew what home felt like until he came to Hogwarts, that he had experienced the kind of neglect and hatred Penny had experienced from her aunt and uncle. Except, by his words, Penny feared his experience had been much worse, it sounded as though his father had abused his mother and if he'd abused the mother did that mean he abused Snape too? While Penny had endured emotional abuse, being locked in a cupboard, and being denied meals from time to time, she had never been physically abused by her aunt and uncle.
The thought of Snape being hit by his father, something Penny always believed to be sacred, it made her sad, and that sadness warred with her desire to rage at the man. Even though she felt she could understand where Snape was coming from, she refused to give in, not until he understood that Penny deserved a say, that if he wanted her to trust him, then he needed to trust her.
Still raging, Penny stormed through the portrait hole only to realize she'd sent people into a muttering frenzy. She was uncomfortably aware of how disheveled she looked and that it was already four pm and she'd been missing all day. No doubt rumors from the night before were already making their rounds, something Penny wanted very much not to deal with.
"A-are you alright, P-Penny," Neville Longbottom said. He was sitting at a table to her right, his face red and also concerned.
The words hit Penny like a brick wall and she stared at Neville as though she had never seen him before. He looked as timid as always, but there was a fierce resolve behind his kind brown eyes, and etched in his face was genuine concern. Scanning him, Penny realized he was different somehow, he'd lost much of that baby-fat that had been characteristic of him, and there was something different about his air, but Penny could not place it.
Penny turned and made a b-line for him, pulled out the chair from across from him, sat down and laid her face against her crossed arms. "No," she muttered.
"Did something happen. . .last night I mean," he said, his voice sounding surprised, as though he had not expected her to join him.
"A lot of things," Penny sighed, sitting back up and looking out the window beside them.
"McLaggen was saying. . ."
"McLaggen?" Penny hissed, "Is he looking for another bloody nose?"
"So it's true then, it was you who put him in the Hospital Wing?
"Hospital Wing?" Penny said, utterly confused. "I only punched him in the nose before Malfoy dragged me away. But I hardly think that'd wind him up in the Hospital Wing."
"Why'd you hit him, if you don't mind me asking," Neville said, looking nervously down at his notebook.
"I can't say I'm proud I hit him, I think I probably drank too much firewhisky, but I still think he deserved it for trying to force me to kiss him."
It was at these words that Neville looked up, his features sharp with anger, surprising Penny. "I'm glad you hit him. I would have hit him too, if I'd been there."
"Thanks, Neville," Penny said, a sad smile forming at the corner of her lips. There was something oddly comforting about Neville's words, they made Penny feel somehow, a little less alone in her turmoil.
Penny stared at the quill in Neville's hand, her mind drifting back into thoughts of Snape. Finding some resolve, Neville set the quill down with a kind of purpose and cleared his throat. "I wanted to say this after those Durmstrangs spat on you, but you're marvelous, Penny, so don't let the likes of McLaggen or the Durmstrangs convince you of anything else."
Jarred back to reality, Penny blinked a couple of times, before her Neville's face became the color of a cherry tomato. "Thanks, Neville. You're something special, you know that?" Penny said, getting to her feet and squeezing Neville's hand lightly. "I think I'm gonna go get changed, but I mean it, thanks."
Part of Penny felt terrible for leaving Neville after he'd found his courage to be so kind to her, but Penny had felt Harry's mind getting closer, and it was evident he was looking for her. He'd been prodding at her off and on all day, but she'd resolutely ignored him, still furious with him about the invisibility cloak. Her exchange with Snape made her even less inclined to talk to him, because she knew she would not be able to keep it from him and was not in the mood to hear his hot take on Snape.
At the last minute and fearful Harry would send Hermione up after him, Penny made for the 4th-year girls dormitory and found Ginny alone inside, everyone else evidently at dinner or else doing their homework.
"There you are," she grinned, patting the space on the bed beside her.
Feeling very much like she'd like to push a nail through her skull, Penny laid down beside her, letting out a large sigh as she did so.
"What happened last night?" Ginny said, rubbing dirt from her face.
"Before I say, tell me what you've heard," Penny asked, closing her eyes as she braced herself.
"Nott seems to think something happened between you two, but that sent Malfoy on the warpath, so I think he started retracting his side of things before anyone really heard anything, and Fred and George put McLaggen in the Hospital Wing for kissing you," Ginny answered, sounding much too amused.
"Wait, have you spoken to Fred and George? Was it really them?" Penny asked, her eyes snapping open.
"I have," she said, a knowing look falling over he features, "And yes, it was them."
"So they told you?" Penny asked, rubbing her face several times.
"What, that you were obscenely seductive, but unfortunately way too drunk when you asked Fred to kiss you?"
"I'll never be able to face them," Penny moaned.
"Oh shut up, Penny, you know that's not true. I told you my shirt would get you a lot of attention, so you can't blame Fred for being caught off guard by you, but we both know neither of them is going to push the subject if you don't want to," Ginny said, pulling Penny into a sitting position so she could begin brushing the tangles from her hair.
"You're right. But god I wish I wasn't such a bloody moron," Penny said.
"You're just too high strung, Snape's been rubbing off on you. Now tell me what happened."
Penny explained the events of the night in as much detail as she could. All the while Ginny brushed Penny's hair and plaited it, laughing every so often. When she reached the part where Snape caught her, Ginny choked on her disbelief.
"I have detention for a month," said Penny, laying back on the pillow.
"Best of luck with that," Ginny said, smiling apologetically at her.
"I just wanted to stop being Penny for a night, to snog someone and not worry about it. Even Cho was snogging people and not crying, and there I was, entangled in another giant mess."
"Are you sure you're ready?" Ginny said, frowning slightly.
"Of course I'm not, but I just wanted to have a moment where I just felt like I was a 15-year old and not some tragic girl whose boyfriend was murdered," Penny said, exasperated.
"You don't need to be like Cho to regain some control in your life, if that's what you're thinking."
"It's not that," Penny murmured.
"What is it then?"
"I-I just can't stop thinking of the way his skin felt on mine. It haunts me, Ginny. A part of me cherishes those memories, but the other, awful part of me feels it's a curse, because I want so badly for him to be there and he's not. I wanted someone else to touch me. . .because I wanted to forget, to just have a moment where I felt alive again," Penny admitted, avoiding Ginny's gaze.
"You don't need some dumb bloke to do that."
Confused, Penny's green eyes met Ginny's brown eyes, she looked over Penny for a moment and then turned to straddle Penny. The breath caught in Penny's chest as Ginny took one finger and trailed it over the top of Penny's breasts, sweeping it lightly up to her neck and gliding over to her lips where she pushed her finger into Penny's mouth and then began wetting them with the spit from within.
"I don't understand," Penny breathed, the heart in her chest beating erratically and the heat rising to her cheeks
"You want to know if you can feel that way again without Cedric. Let me show you, you can, and afterward, you can cry in peace," Ginny whispered into Penny's ear, sending a blissful shiver down her spine.
Penny couldn't help but gasp when Ginny engulfed her ear with her mouth, her tongue playing around the sides and nibbling gently. Penny's back arched, her pelvis pressing against Ginny's and sending waves of pleasure through her. Pulling away, Ginny looked down at Penny, a smirk playing at the corners of her pretty mouth. "So, what do you say, can I kiss you, Penny?"
"Yes," Penny almost begged, grabbing the front of Ginny's shirt to pull her closer. Her lips crashed against Penny, their pillowy softness inviting Penny deeper. Penny's own lips parted, allowing their tongues to meet in the middle. A guttural moan escaped Penny as she pressed against Ginny, her hands grabbing onto her waist and squeezing, eliciting the most enticing response.
Everything about Ginny was different than Cedric, she was soft where Cedric had been hard, and shapely where Cedric had been straight. She kissed Penny with an expertise that knew exactly what would make Penny go wild. She teased, coaxed, and caressed all of Penny she could reach, lingering on Penny's breasts and leaving her with a kind of need Penny had not felt for such a long time.
And then she pulled away, Penny giving her a disappointed look, but Ginny's response was to wipe the tears from Penny's cheek with her thumb, surprising Penny, who had not realized she'd been crying. Ginny gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, rolled off Penny and then wrapped Penny in her blankets.
"It's better if you just let it all out," was all Ginny said before snagging her book from the bedside table to begin reading.
"Thanks, Ginny," Penny whispered, closing her eyes and allowing her sadness to swim over her.
Her heart was tender, each throb reminding her of Cedric, but at the same time, Penny felt it was distinctly different, her sadness had changed somehow-her heart was mending.
YES GINNY! In case anyone is wondering, and since I cannot tag here in the same way I do on A03, I should probably make it known that I will be changing cannon as far as Ginny/ Harry is concerned. I'm actually going to have Draco/Harry endgame, but thats going to have a lot of development way later. So NO WORRYING THAT THE TWINS LIKE THE SAME GIRL! haha. But I do not dislike Ginny as a character just because I don't like Hinny! In this story, I feel Ginny has a lot to offer Penny, during this time where Penny just wants to try things. Ginny will be developed quite a bit more, but Penny/Ginny will likely remain casual, but Ginny does have insights to offer that I think will help Penny in this time of redefining and exploring who she is.
As for Snape, he's got some serious ass-kissing to do. I felt he wouldn't be apologetic, because he is always thinking about Penny's longterm happiness, which puts him in an impossible position, but at the same time, he neglects that how Penny feels in the moment matters too.
Alright, hope you enjoyed!