A/N: Thank you for your reviews! We hope you enjoy the next installment. Special thanks to hobbittabby and Indigofeathers for their sharp eyes. - TimeTurnerForSale and Ariadne AWS
Dangerous Innocence
"Do come in," Dumbledore said pleasantly, gesturing for Minerva to conjure extra chairs. "Ah, the inestimable Pulsifer," he greeted the head of the Board. "Welcome." He nodded to each of the governors as they took off their traveling cloaks and settled gratefully into chairs. Turning to an old witch who was tottering heavily on a rather ugly walking stick, he said, "Hildegrand, it has been too long. Still gouty, I see?" He clucked sympathetically. "So painful, gout. My brother - "
Hermione was nearly overcome with a completely inappropriate urge to giggle as Dumbledore offered the witch the most comfortable chair.
The urge was quickly squelched, however, when the head of the Board turned his raptor-like countenance toward them and launched, without ceremony, into a hearing.
"Professor Snape," Pulsifer began, settling rather stiffly into the central chair, his grizzled, wiry eyebrows bristling at the room. "Your behaviour of earlier this evening jeopardizes a fundamental trust - the very trust on which the principles of any school must rest, especially a school as ancient and venerable as Hogwarts."
Severus kept his face impassive.
"Assaulting a student – any student – is a firing offense, as stated clearly in the terms of your employment as outlined in your contract. The deputy headmistress hastened to assure us that extenuating circumstances existed, and that you thus had just cause for the assault." His eyes flicked briefly to the parchment Minerva had sent before he continued, "Assuming that such 'just cause' does, in fact, exist, there remains the additional... hrm… problem of the nature of the assault itself, which we understand to have been - " Here Pulsifer winced at the ceiling, sucking the air in through his teeth as if to filter some contamination, " - sexual."
The other governors shifted in their seats. Most had the decency to glance down, or at least to fix their eyes on some innocuous architectural detail, but a few turned to look directly at Hermione.
Minerva bristled, but Hermione sat calmly, looking only a little paler than usual.
Pulsifer glanced at Dumbledore, who gestured for him to proceed.
"Professor Snape, if you would please explain the circumstances that led to your assault on Miss… " he checked Minerva's letter again, "Granger?"
In evenly modulated tones, Severus spun a tale stretching back to the previous full moon, when he had begun to notice several extremely toxic and volatile ingredients missing from his private stores.
The gouty witch interrupted. "Your current post is Defense Against the Dark Arts, is it not?"
"Yes."
"Why, then, do you maintain a private store of dangerous potions ingredients at the school?"
Although neither his face nor his voice betrayed him, Severus was pleased with this question, as it indicated a rather unsophisticated line of reasoning. "I am often called upon to provide Madam Pomfrey with such elixirs and draughts as her more severe cases require."
"Yet Horace Slughorn is the current Potions master, is he not?" the witch countered.
Dumbledore spoke. "He is. But although he agreed to come out of retirement for a year, he preferred not to be taxed with these additional duties. Professor Snape agreed to continue them, despite the change in his teaching assignment."
Hildegrand nodded, apparently satisfied, and sat back in her chair. "Proceed, Professor Snape." She ignored the look Pulsifer shot at her.
Severus continued his tale, careful to select ingredients that made one or two of the governors blanch at their mere mention, ingredients that, after an intricate and dangerous brewing period, would theoretically produce a hybrid stimulant-love potion.
One or two of the governors nodded, as Severus had intended they do. The history of the school was rife with love potions gone awry.
"The Pandora Amorata potion is rarely attempted; its instructions are arcane at best and the ingredients so dangerous that any value the final product might hold is far outweighed by the risks involved in its preparation." Severus allowed himself to scowl. As if he were unable to censor his next comment, he sneered, "Similar effects could be obtained with less risk by crushing rose petals into a strong cup of tea. In the Potions community, Pandora Amorata is of some minor theoretical interest. It is only ever attempted by those with more brains than sense," he finished, shrugging slightly.
Hermione blinked. She had identified the potion he was describing almost as soon as he had started listing ingredients, and couldn't help but admire his logic and guile. She was not, however, expecting the veiled compliment.
A rather portly governor leaned slightly forward, adjusting his monocle. "That is all very well and good, sir, but you have yet to explain the assault."
Severus' lips thinned into a condescending smile. "As you say, Mr. Macmillan. There is a point during the brewing process when the fumes produce a potent airborne aphrodisiac. Miss Granger's unauthorized attempt - "
"In your private lab, Snape." Pulsifer's eyebrows pointed at him accusingly.
Macmillan waved Pulsifer silent, and looked at Severus.
"Miss Granger's unauthorized attempt drew the attention of her friends. I assume that they followed her and, at their first opportunity, attempted discovery – an attempt that, had they lifted the lid, would certainly have affected everyone on the main levels of the castle." He paused to allow the thought of the near-miss to sink in.
The governors silently pondered why they might have been called to Hogwarts that night had events actually unfolded along the paths Severus was describing. The letters from parents in the next weeks, the next months… nine, give or take… As one, the Board shuddered, then heaved an almost audible sigh of relief.
"I happened by, heard her pathetic attempts to prevent someone's lifting a lid, and entered the lab." He paused, again for effect, then finished with the same description of the explosive conditions and the subsequent events he had described for Minerva.
The Board was silent for a few moments, looking at Hermione. She blushed and looked at her hands, letting her hair obscure most of her face.
Finally, Hildegrand sighed. "Was there no other way to prevent disaster, Professor?"
Severus winced in agreement. "Had there been an alternative course of action, I would of course have chosen it. Any alternative would have been preferable, but having only a split-second in which to divert their attention… " He closed his eyes in apparent revulsion.
"They must have been rather startled," Macmillan mused, beginning to chuckle.
Hildegrand glanced at Hermione, looking somewhat bemused and slightly sympathetic. "You do realize you have probably sacrificed any chance you may have had at making Head Girl."
Hermione swallowed, and stammered, "Y-yes, ma'am."
"I hope the boy you were after was worth this, dear?" the old witch said.
Minerva coughed. "Hildegrand, I must insist…"
"Yes, yes, Minerva. A hard lesson to learn so publicly. But one we all learn, eventually, eh?" She cast a knowing look at Minerva, who merely sniffed.
Pulsifer glanced around at the other Board members. "If there are no further questions?"
The governors shook their heads, and Pulsifer stood. "Professor Snape, Miss Granger, if you would excuse us briefly… "
"Please wait outside the door," Dumbledore said, gesturing them out. "Minerva, please stay," he added, as she rose to join the departing pair. "As Miss Granger's Head of House, your presence…"
The headmaster's voice was cut off as the office door closed, and Severus and Hermione found themselves alone at the top of the spiraling stair.
Severus watched it spiral downwards for a moment, then leaned on the wall, concealing his hands behind his back.
"P-" Hermione whispered, and his eyes cut hers, sharply, silencing her, then glancing meaningfully at the crack under the door.
A small pink string was unfurling, extending beneath it.
Her eyes widened and, despite the gravity of the situation and the nearly unbearable desire to speak to him, to apologize, to question – she would not think about how his hands had felt - her lips twitched at the thought of the august, stuffy Board of Governors patronizing Fred and George's joke shop.
When she was certain she would not laugh aloud, she dared look Severus in the eye again.
He was observing her, apparently calmly alert. "Dumbledore," he mouthed.
She nodded, seeing clearly the usefulness of Dumbledore's eccentricity. She had never been certain it wasn't a carefully crafted guise.
Watching her thoughts play across her unguarded features as she realized the nuances of the headmaster's subtlety, Severus' heart came to his throat. He gripped the top of the banister behind him, hard.
In her mind, he seemed to whisper, "The Great Hall - as soon as possible."
She nodded, and the presence in her mind was gone, and the both watched the stairs spiraling downwards.
After an excruciating half hour, Minerva opened the office door. She did not look especially pleased, but she said nothing as she gestured them in to stand before the headmaster's desk.
"Miss Granger," Pulsifer began formally, "although the Board is not unsympathetic to your… experiences… after Professor Snape's appearance in the Potions lab, it is frankly appalled at your presumption, and has recommended to your Head of House that you be punished as follows."
Hermione kept her feet planted firmly and tried to unlock her knees as she waited, dry-mouthed.
"That you be stripped of your prefect status and serve two months of detention, and that one hundred points be taken from Gryffindor. Your Head of House will make the final decision in consultation with the headmaster and with Professor Snape."
Hermione looked at the floor lest she reveal her relief at hearing the last name. He won't be fired… he won't be fired…
"Which brings us to you, Professor." Pulsifer glanced at Dumbledore. "Are you certain you wish Miss Granger to stay for this, Albus? It is most irregular."
"Quite certain, Pulsifer," Dumbledore said complacently. "I have often found that valuable lessons may be learned from observing the effects of one's behavior on others."
Hermione stood very still. Although Dumbledore's tone was quiet, she detected something behind his bland statement, some warning that the matter was far from settled in Dumbledore's mind.
Pulsifer's lips grew pinched. "Very well. Professor Snape, despite the timeliness of your intervention, you must understand that the strictures regarding your offense are quite clear. Although we are grateful for your efforts, we are nonetheless officially shocked and appalled by your immoral behavior."
"Heroic," Hildegrand insisted, gesturing with her walking stick.
"Immoral," Pulsifer repeated, more loudly. He was shaking, slightly, from repressed anger, and his volume increased with every word. "The ravaging of the innocent, however well-intentioned, must not be rewarded!"
"Ravaging," Severus repeated softly. His tone chilled the room as effectively as had he drawn a sword.
The Board of Governors fell silent, and even Dumbledore scarcely dared to breathe.
"If I may," Severus said quietly, gesturing to the room generally.
It was, strangely, Minerva who recovered first, and nodded.
"With all due respect, Governors, the distinction you draw between 'assault' and 'sexual assault' is spurious. Both are violent; neither should go unpunished. Especially when the victim is, as you so rightly note, relatively powerless."
The quiet menace that was Severus Snape's reputation and trademark left no one in the room unaffected, and there was a heavy silence.
His voice still soft, his words almost uninflected, he continued, "I would ask you, however, if Miss Granger is indeed as powerless as you would have her be."
All eyes turned to Hermione, who was trying desperately to figure out where his argument was heading and thus had no idea whether she should try to project power or the lack of it. She settled for not looking at him.
"Miss Granger," he said sharply, and she drew in an involuntary breath.
"Y-yes, sir?"
"Why did you not draw your wand? Were you aware," he continued even before she could inhale to make a response, "that the potion was, at that precise moment, at its most volatile, rendering the use of magic in the lab potentially fatal?" He looked intently at her, silently begging her to meet his eyes.
But she didn't. She was staring at her hands, her own eyes hidden by her hair, trying to figure out which answer he wanted her to give, which would best help him.
"Miss Granger," he said, sternly. "You will look at me when I speak to you. Surely you cannot expect the Board of Governors to believe you demure, after tonight's… incident?"
She did look at him then, a slight flush rising in her face.
Trying to ignore, in the moment, what he was doing to her, and hardening his heart against a growing ache, Severus carefully moved his eyes from side to side.
Oh. "I – I am sorry, sir. Governors." Drawing herself a little straighter, she said, "No, sir. I did not know that the use of magic was dangerous at that stage."
It was a tribute to her forbearers that Minerva was able to suppress her snort at the thought of Hermione Granger attempting any potion without knowing the instructions, their variants, and all relevant commentaries by heart before beginning.
"I thought not," he drawled, "as that particular portion of the instructions is written in Farsi. Do you speak Farsi, Miss Granger?"
Hermione shook her head, but her mind was amazed by his command and his subtlety, and she had to struggle to keep her admiration out of her eyes. She knew she was failing.
He opened his hands mockingly, and all eyes flew to him. "Do you read Farsi, then, Miss Granger?"
She shook her head, taking the moment his gesture had bought her to school her expression into something less transparent.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor for your dangerous innocence, Miss Granger," he growled.
Several governors – all of the Gryffindors and the one Hufflepuff – winced.
Severus continued. "As you did not, by your own admission, know the perils of using magic under those conditions, would you would be so kind as to enlighten us, Miss Granger, as to why did you not draw your wand to defend yourself from… ?" He could not bring himself to finish the question. Some lies just will not be spoken.
"I – I didn't think to, sir," Hermione said, hoping fervently that that was the answer he expected.
It was. He turned on the Board of Governors, his black cloak rippling dangerously, consuming more of the room than seemed strictly proper.
More than one pair of eyes widened, very slightly, in admiration.
"And it is your attitudes that have left her – and all of the young witches with whose instruction and care we are charged – so frighteningly unprepared to face reality."
"Really, Professor Snape," Pulsifer huffed. "Such matters are best left to…"
"To the parents?" Minerva sniffed. "Whom our students rarely see?"
Pulsifer turned an affronted face to the deputy headmistress, only to find himself prodded from yet another source.
"Hogwarts students are always in danger," Hildegrand announced, emphasizing her points by thumping her walking stick with phrase. "Dangerous plants. Potions. Hexes, jinxes, Dark creatures..."
"Even Quidditch," Macmillan added.
Especially Quidditch, Hermione thought, watching Pulsifer's face jerk toward each speaker in turn until she thought his neck must snap under the strain.
Severus brought the moment to a close. "And yet, Governors, we fail our female students by cloistering them behind collapsing staircases, leaving them in these uncertain times as vulnerable, as defenseless, as Muggles." The menace in his tone grew beyond the scope of the headmaster's office to contain it. "Had my intention been to 'ravage' Miss Granger, I would have succeeded, and she would not have thought to stop me until after the deed was done."
Silence lingered, and then Hermione said simply, "He's right."
Dumbledore's voice broke the uncomfortable silence that followed Hermione's admission. "It seems that this incident serves to illustrate a real danger to our students – a danger which, as I think you will all agree, is not Professor Snape. His lack of options in dire circumstances may have proven beneficial to our students, in the end."
"Quite." Hildegrand thumped her stick once in agreement.
"Very well, then. Professor Snape, Miss Granger, that is all for tonight, I think," Professor Dumbledore said sternly. "You may go. Minerva, if you would please escort Miss Granger to her dormitory?"
Severus inclined his head sharply and made a deliberate exit, leaving the door open behind him. The edge of his cloak was already disappearing around a corner when Hermione and Minerva emerged in the corridor by the gargoyle.
They walked in silence toward Gryffindor Tower. They were over halfway there by the time Hermione's heart had calmed enough for her to realize that neither of them had been punished.