The Pitfalls of Being an Insufferable Know-it-all

Twenty Two

It was around seven o'clock on a rather bitter evening that I was once more traipsing up the steps to the Society. I'd waited a day, for respectability's sake, following my immaturity at the seminar, and now we'd agreed to meet. A terse reply to my inquiry had informed me he would be incumbent in his office.

The building at large was, of course, rather dark and empty at this time, but the doors opened for me without resistance. I paused momentarily in the grand entrance hall and wondered, not for the first time, if he might give me a tour of the building one day.

He never did, by the way.

Once I got to his office, I didn't bother knocking — I just walked in. Dithering would have meant dwelling on how to begin, and feeling somewhat self-conscious about our last meeting, I decided it would be better to just get straight in there.

'Working late, again?' I greeted airily. 'You might as well start living here, you know.'

Severus was sat behind his desk, quill in hand. He paused and flicked a glance towards me and that's when comprehension dawned. I could have hexed myself for my stupidity. It was so obvious.

'Oh…' I drew out a long breath of wonder. 'You do live here, don't you?'

It all made sense — I wondered why it had not occurred to me before. I could have kicked myself for missing it.

'Indeed,' he replied, unfazed. 'The position comes with a suite of rooms.'

His quill continued scratching. I took a seat in front of his desk and just stared despairingly at the top of his head. Why could he not have just told me that piece of information? Why did that, like everything else with him, have to be such a firmly closed door? It made absolute perfect sense for him to live at the Society.

'And of course, it comes with a house-elf too,' I pointed out dryly.

He paused again. 'Problem, Granger? Perhaps you would prefer to come and wait on me of an evening, instead?'

I scowled at him. 'You could always try waiting on yourself for a change,' I grumbled under my breath.

'Until the day comes where you manage to entirely outlaw house-elf slavery, I'll continue as I am, thank you.'

'And what will you do after that?' I wasn't sure I anticipated there could be full eradication of it in my lifetime, mind.

'Hmm… Then I shall get myself a wife.'

I burst out an indignant laugh and he smirked.

'I have my own views on the institution of marriage, mind, and I —'

He interrupted with a groan. 'Please leave something intact for us mere mortals, eh, Granger?'

I smiled, pleased to have matched his repartee. 'Good luck trying to find someone willing to take you on.'

I was so pleased with my wit I almost missed the little, pointed, askance look he gave me. My cheeks suddenly were violently aflame and I felt almost numb with embarrassment. I should have known much better than to walk headlong into that one. He had the grace to not smirk too openly at my discomfort — I'll give him that, at least.

'Ha ha,' I muttered grimly. 'May we attend to the matter at hand?'

He dropped his quill and sank back against his chair, sighing. 'Very well; but you will not like what I'm about to say…'

'What do you mean?' I enquired with foreboding. His mood appeared to have changed all of a sudden. I felt my face crumple into exasperation. 'Please don't tell me you went to see Cresswell alone? I thought I made it clear —'

'Granger,' he interrupted long-sufferingly, 'will you allow me a moment or two to get a word in?'

I allowed a little huff of acquiescence.

'Word has reached me that Cresswell has scarpered.'

I stared at him, hard. 'When did word reach you?'

'A few days ago —'

I flew to my feet with indignation. 'And you waited this long to tell me? He was our main lead and—'

He cast Silencio on me.

He rose and approached me with somewhat of a steely glint. 'My dear Granger you are rapidly trying my patience.' His hands alighted on my shoulders and he nudged me back into my chair. 'Now you will remain silent until I see fit to unleash you.'

He said the last part with infinite satisfaction. I glared up at him and mouthed that he should release me at once. Evidently, he was a good lip-reader, for he sat casually on the edge of his desk and appraised me. 'Or what?' he asked with supreme unconcern.

I simply glared once more, which amused him to no end. Eventually he stood up with a dry chuckle. 'Surely a witch of your lofty expertise can undo a simple Silencing spell?'

By Merlin I was trying. But it was no simple spell, the bastard had cast more of a curse.

'Cresswell has scarpered, there is little we can do about that. I haven't yet verified this, so we may have to do some fact-checking for ourselves. We do not know, of course, why or how quickly he left. Did we spook him at Friston Forest? Has he left of his own accord, even? If we visit his house, will it transpire to be a trap?'

He paced in front of the fire as he spoke.

'Quite likely,' I breathed out, having finally removed the spell. 'They know we are on to them.'

'Ah, a contribution, finally.'

I ignored him and sprang out of the chair. 'But what they may not necessarily realise is that we are pursuing them together.'

He narrowed his eyes at me. 'You don't think they would have put two and two together after that incident in the Forbidden Forest?'

'Why should they? Our faces were hidden, furthermore, we've given no other indication of our co-operation. If anything, Cresswell believes I'm after you.'

He contemplated for several moments, and I continued on.

'If it is a trap, I think we should bait it and see what happens.'

'That's what you think, is it?' He looked far from convinced.

'Yes, it is.'

He shrugged his shoulders, flippantly. 'Fine; come, let us grab our cloaks and we shall be on our way.'

'I don't mean now.' I folded my arms impatiently.

'Oh, my mistake, you do intend to think this through?'

I rolled my eyes. 'Yes!' My mind was whirring nineteen to the dozen. 'We'll double-bluff them. It will be our trap… I could… I could borrow Harry's Invisibility Cloak—'

I was interrupted by a loud, pained groan. He almost had his head in his hands.

'Fine, no Invisibility Cloak. What bright ideas do you have?'

'We're fucked, Granger; let's face it.'

I was somewhat taken aback at this unusually defeatist attitude. I wasn't sure how to respond to it, so I ignored it. 'Must you be so uncouth?' I asked instead.

'Must you be so uptight?'

'Must you be so… infuriating!'

'You drive me to it.'

'Well, excuse me!' I whirled around and headed straight for the door, feeling I could engage in far more productive endeavours than stand around trading insults all night. What an obnoxious mood he was in! I'd got nearly to the bottom of the stairs into the foyer before he finally sounded after me.

'Wait… Hang on, Hermione.'

The only reason I halted was because he had used my given name. It always was one of the few signs that indicated he was being earnest for once. Still is, in fact.

He approached me on the stairs. 'You won't do anything silly?'

'Silly?' I ground out.

'Yes; you won't go to Cresswell's alone?'

'Because, naturally, I'm only capable of doing things that are silly,' I retorted resentfully, turning my back on him.

He sighed at length.

I paused and closed my eyes. 'Sorry; I know you didn't mean it like that.' I looked at him. 'What's wrong?'

He raised an eyebrow at me.

'You've had a bad day, clearly…' I stated evenly.

I think I'd got to know him well enough by then to decipher his degrees of grumpiness. And grumpiness devoid of any humour was the most telling.

He surveyed me with narrowed eyes. 'Maybe…' he replied quietly.

I tried not to despair outwardly that he would not elaborate. And there could be nothing gained from prodding, of course—protracted prodding was not useful whatsoever.

I considered for a moment and decided to chance my arm. 'Perhaps you need a change of scene. Why don't you show me where the best place is in Edinburgh to get a drink?'

'You think I would know?' He looked mildly hesitant.

'Come… It's dark, cold, and we're surrounded by Muggles; no one will ever know.'

When he still made no move, I turned on my heel and stepped down the remaining stairs. 'Now,' I called behind me, my tone brooking no further argument. I was determined we would reach a consensus on our action by the end of the evening.

I stood out in the street until he appeared togged up for the elements. I half wondered if he would have left me standing there all night, but there he was. We walked in silence for some time. It was somewhat awkward; I didn't know where we were going and I'm not sure he did either.

Eventually I had to break the silence. 'Um, are we just going to keep walking or…?'

'There is an establishment here that Albert mentioned in the past. I am hardly one for frequenting the city's nightlife, after all.'

I smiled to myself. I wasn't one for frequenting any nightlife. We went inside and, without too much argument over who was to pay, managed to order two drinks. We opted for a somewhat shadowy corner where I felt we could not be overheard.

'Get that down you,' I instructed, nodding at his ale.

I allowed him one gulp before I dove straight in with my second plan of action. He might have winced but I can't be sure.

'Let me go to Cresswell's,' I urged. At his rapidly darkening expression, I ploughed on quickly. 'Let me go there in my professional capacity. I'll make up a report about some improperly kept Category Four creatures and I'll go there with several colleagues to investigate. If anyone is watching they can hardly ambush a team of Ministry employees and it will provide necessary cover for me to have a look around.'

He shook his head doubtfully. 'And when they find no evidence of any Category Four creatures?'

'Please,' I scoffed. 'I spend too much time traipsing round the country following up falsified reports which, the majority of the time, turn out to be neighbour disputes. "My neighbour is keeping a Runespoor locked up and threatened me with it." When we go there, no Runespoor in sight, but we do get faced with a tirade about a whole history of perceived slights instead.'

He simply stared at me for a minute. Wouldn't it be nice if he could be blown away by my ingenuity, I thought; bowled over by my nous. Except, what he eventually uttered was…

'"Professional capacity", eh…?' He gave a disbelieving flick of his eyebrows.

I set my glass down with a thud. 'Yes,' I stated warningly.

'If you say so.' He shrugged minutely. 'It could work, I suppose. I'll leave this in your hands, Granger; I just hope they are up to the task.'

I didn't bother dignifying that with a response. It would be fine. I could easily draft an anonymous Owl detailing an incident and the Ministry was duty bound to respond. The only slight risk was that I could be overlooked for the task, but I had confidence in being able to engineer it in my direction.

'I will surprise you one day.' I smiled to myself, relishing the challenge.

'Undoubtedly,' I heard him mutter dryly into his glass.

His tone noticeably caught my attention, and I think he sought he quickly to divert it.

'Did you enjoy the seminar?' he asked suddenly.

I blinked my thoughts away. 'Of course; it was fascinating.'

He didn't look so entirely convinced. 'Many make use of our facilities, so we have quite the programme throughout the year, including our own events, of course. If you wish to attend any of them I will see to it that it is done.'

I found myself struck dumb for a moment. 'Oh, well, thank you, Severus; that is very generous and much appreciated.'

The small ball of warmth inside me that appeared to be now ever-present during his company morphed into a wave and I hoped that my face did not flush too hotly. But it was a wave that brought over me a crushing realisation. I watched him glance casually around, as if he had not just made a sweeping gesture of note, and the sudden rush of feeling that I had... I realised stupidly that I was in love with him. I also realised that I should have known this before now —that I'd been deluding myself it was an infatuation.

I suppose I had known. Clearly, pushing him away that night after Hogwarts had been shutting the proverbial gate after the horse had bolted.

It was a cold realisation too. I felt the warmth in me disintegrate to an almost cold, clammy sweat. He had not responded to my thanks or even acknowledged them in any small way. He didn't need to. The way he avoided me told me all I needed to know. I knew him, I understood him, and that seemed the most precious thing I could ever hope for. But it would never be all I would hope for. For whilst I could desire that connection of empathy and be grateful for it, I could not ignore that more physical connection we had. I would not be satisfied with one without the other.

Should he have touched me in that moment, for whatever mundane reason, it would have scalded me. Should he have whispered my name, by Merlin, I think I would have broken down.

I blinked back into the present. It was not something to dwell on in his presence. He had made clear his own views on our involvement, after all.

'Are you quite well?' He was looking at me now with a frown.

'Oh, um, sorry, what… did you say something?'

'You will exercise caution at Cresswell's?'

Far from take umbrage, I felt a small smile form. 'Of course.'

I looked wistfully into my glass. If only I'd exercised caution elsewhere in my life, I thought.

The execution of my plan turned out to be really easy. I drafted a letter, anonymous, of course, pretending that an illegally bred dragon was being kept at Cresswell's address in the Dyfi Forest. Owing to the seriousness of the allegation, I envisaged calling to the property with a few colleagues. Should there be sufficient evidence, and should we be refused access, we would return with the services of an Auror and gain entry forcefully. I hadn't quite explained this part to Severus, but then, he hadn't asked. I wasn't sure how I would reasonably justify the use of an Auror, but I decided I would make that call once there.

The Owl was in the in-tray before I'd arrived at work in the morning. I purposefully ignored it and waited for someone else to sift through the morning post. It worked like clockwork.

'Granger, here's one for you to look into.' The scroll was tossed onto my desk.

I wasted no time. I called on two colleagues — two of the least likely to ask awkward questions and told them to ready themselves for a potential Category Four incident. One ministerial Portkey later and we stood in front of the little cottage.

Events rather unravelled from there.

The cottage was silent, and no signs of life were apparent. I approached the front door and rapped officiously on it. As anticipated, no one answered, and so I indicated we should commence examining the external perimeter of the building. I was walking around the rear garden, wondering if I'd have to resort to pretending to spot dragon faeces, when my name was called.

'Er, Granger?'

'Yes?'

'I think someone is in there.'

I crossed over to where they stood peering through a small window. There was a small gap in the curtains which I looked through.

I felt my stomach clench uncomfortably. Turning, I made for the front door and spelled it straight open. I stepped inside, but it was immediately obvious what we were dealing with.

Cresswell was lying dead on the floor.

There was no need for me to check. I'd seen enough dead bodies in my lifetime to know one when I saw one.

'Send for the Aurors,' I called out grimly behind me.

I glanced around the room, knowing I could not now rifle through or disturb anything. There was no real sign of a disturbance, but I knew in my own mind that his death may not have been a natural one. Thwarted, it was only as I turned to go that it caught my eye — the sight of my own name in looping handwriting. It was on an envelope propped up against a vase on a small stand near to the door.

It was instinctive. When I was sure no one was looking, I snatched it up and shoved it into my robe. It was only later, as I sat in the Auror office waiting to give my statement as to what had occurred that I considered how much trouble I'd waded into. And now I had to decide precisely what I was going to reveal. The edited truth or the real truth? All the while I felt the small weight of the missive in my robe.

The missive, which, I could not open until some hours later when I was finally allowed to go home. I'd barely managed to shut the door before I carefully, very carefully, peeled it open. Contained inside was a small number of photographs.

I laid them out one by one on my kitchen table and felt immediately sick to my stomach. As quickly as I'd laid them out, I snatched them back up and put them back inside my robe. Then, I hurried over to the sink and gulped down a slug of water. Closing my eyes, I took several deep breaths and urged my mind to focus.

My decision as to what I would do next was very important and would have all-encompassing implications. Things would be set on a course that was irrevocable.

Rightfully, my decision should have been to return to the Aurors and divulge everything —completely and utterly.

I didn't.

Instead, I made sure my envelope was safely stowed, then I threw up my hood and Disapparated straight to Edinburgh.

It was later than my usual calling time and the Society was in darkness. However, this time the doors would not open for me. Using a Lumos charm, I ventured around the back of the building, feeling those living quarters he referred to must surely have their own access and egress. I peered upwards and my only option appeared to be a small external staircase that lead to an arched wooden door at the top. I rushed up it and banged on the door. Breathing heavily, I listened hard for sound within. Nothing. I banged again and waited. Nothing. Resisting the urge to stamp my foot, I unleashed my wand ready to blast the thing open, when the sound of a lock clicking forestalled me.

He sighed long-sufferingly. 'Of course, it's you.'

I didn't register his scowl. My hand instinctively went up to my robe, where I knew the envelope was held and I had to swallow away the dread before I could speak.

'We have a huge problem, Severus.'

AN: Thanks for reading and reviewing : )