The Odd Couple
A three part series on the odd couple...
Hermione Granger and Severus Snape
Part Two: Christmas Ornaments
A soft popping sound in the night startled the black cat that lurked in the small garden in front of the house. Snape struggled with Hermione, who was looking around in the darkness trying to orient herself. The bottle of Whiskey was clutched tightly in her hand. She looked around at the small house that Snape called his home. She laughed.
"THIS is where you live?"She asked. He looked down and sighed.
"Yes," he said. She regarded him for a moment and then shrugged.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked. He walked past her and with his wand he opened the door. When the door swung open, he walked in and turned to her, motioning her to follow. She obliged and walked through the doorway into the small house.
Surprisingly, it was clean. She blinked as though confused.
"I…thought your house would be old and moldy?" she asked walking around.
"I, cleaned it," he said through gritted teeth. She smiled.
"Amazing," she replied with a gleeful smile on her face. She sat on the green couch. She looked around the room. There were several sofas, and there was a fireplace. On top the fireplace were two photos, and a few odd trinkets here and there, perhaps picked up in random places. There were two coffee tables with lamps on them, and a bigger table in the middle that was bare, save for a few books. "You have surprised me, Severus," she said. She stretched out on the couch and kicked off her shoes. He sighed and shook his head.
"Are you going to sleep there?" he asked. She shrugged.
"I don't know, it's quite comfortable,"
"Perhaps, I should conjure you a bed and you could sleep in it,"
She rose up from the couch and walked over to him.
"Perhaps…you should get out of those robes," she said sexily. His eyes widened.
"Miss GRANGER," He said pushing her away. She giggled.
"Oh, Severus, you are too, serious, why don't you lighten up?" she asked coming toward him again. He moved backward and stumbled, falling on the single couch. She laughed and lay on top of him. She looked into his eyes.
"Hermione, please, don't do this, it isn't right," he said. She leaned over and kissed him, and he found himself kissing her back. It had been so long since he had been with a woman, and here was one, practically giving herself away. The lustful part of his mind would have ravished her right away, but he knew that she was drunk, and he knew that it was wrong. He ended the kiss, which was amazing, and gently pushed her away.
"Hermione, let me remind you that you're drunk, and you're doing something that your…sober self would probably loathe, so stop now," he said. She looked at him, and he saw tears welling in her eyes. With a sigh, he pulled out his wand and muttered an incantation. He saw her slump forward for a second, and then she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she seemed normal, and when she saw that she was on top of him, she gave a squeal.
"Oh my GOD, Professor Snape, I am SO sorry, what the hell!" she shouted. She scrambled off his legs and in the process fell to the ground. He rose up and helped her off the floor. Her face burned in shame. "Professor, thank you, but why didn't you do that spell in the first place?" she asked sitting on the other couch. He looked at her, his mind was blank. She had a point. He could have easily remedied her at the bar and then left, yet he chose to bring her home. He shrugged.
"I…don't know, Miss Granger,"
They stared at each other, uncomfortable.
"Well, I suppose I should…apparate home now," she said. He looked out the window.
"Oh, are you sure, look at the snow," he said quickly. She made a face and looked at him.
"Bloody hell, apparation has nothing to do with that!" she said. He got up. On his face, was a curious expression.
"You know what you said to me at the bar?" he asked. She looked at him, evidently confused.
"Er…not really," she admitted.
"Well, you…you said that Christmastime, is a time where people shouldn't be alone, and…I thought that since Christmas is in two days, if you would…like to stay with me…but I guess it was foolish of me to ask…just forget I mentioned it, Merlin, I don't know what's gotten into me," he said sitting down again. She looked at him. Wait a minute; this was Severus Snape, the meanest professor she had ever had the displeasure to encounter, asking her to stay over at his flat for Christmas?
"Professor, are you on drugs?" she asked. He looked at her and then laughed. Hermione looked even more frightened. "Professor Snape, you're scaring me." She said. She walked back over to the sofa and sat down.
"Why am I scaring you?" he asked. She looked at him.
"Because, you're…laughing? I don't know…I didn't think it was possible…" she said looking down at her feet, realizing that her shoes were off. He sighed.
"Miss Granger, you do realize that you kissed me," Hermione paled.
"What?" she asked. He nodded solemnly. She paled. "Dear GOD, I…" she was at a loss for words. He shook his head and motioned to the bottle of Whiskey.
"I think it was the Fire Whiskey…" he said. She rolled her eyes.
"You think?" she asked. She got up again and began pacing around. He looked at her socks. They were striped and multicolored. "Stop looking at my socks," she muttered. He quickly averted his eyes. "So what are we going to do about this?" she asked finally. He cocked an eyebrow.
"What can we possibly do?" he asked. She shrugged and sat back down.
"I can't believe it, bloody fire whiskey, er…how was it?" she asked. He looked at her, startled.
"How was what?" he asked. She blinked.
"The…kiss…" she said.
"Oh, oh, well, it was…"
"Uh huh…"
"A…good kiss," he said finally. She stared down at her socks; her cheeks burned, and then looked back up at him.
"I wish I remembered better," she murmured. He licked his lips and pulled out his wand.
"I can help you, if you like," he said. She looked at him.
"Can you?" He nodded. Why was he so eager to do this? He cursed himself mentally, but he couldn't help it. He remembered the kiss, so why shouldn't she?
"I'm going to change into something, lighter," he said. She nodded.
"Yes, of course," she said. He nodded and walked over to a doorway and walked through. He came back a few moments later, wearing a pair of black pants, and a black shirt.
She couldn't help but smile. "Do you have any other colors in your wardrobe?" she asked. He shrugged.
"I got used to wearing black, why do I need color?" he asked sitting on the sofa. She shrugged.
"It changes your life," she said. He shook his head.
"There are only several colors I can appreciate,"
"Er, let me guess, black, and black?" she asked. He shook his head, a small smile on his face.
"No, while I do enjoy black, I am rather fond of green, and…oh yellow," She rose an eyebrow.
"Yellow?"
"Yes, yellow," he said somewhat angrily. "Don't push it," he muttered. She looked around the bare room and sighed.
"You do need some more colors in here, oh I know, how about we get a tree?" she asked clapping her hands together. He looked at her as though she had just broken out in spots.
"A tree?" he asked with a slight sneer. She nodded enthusiastically.
"YES, a tree, we can get one, and then decorate it, and we can light a fire here, and make some hot chocolate!" she said. He looked as though he was having a hard time digesting the information. "Look, you're the one who jumped down my throat when I was about to leave, I've decided to stay, why don't you get up off your sorry ass and get a bloody tree while I transfigure some paper into ORNAMENTS?" she shouted. His eyebrows shot up and he immediately got up.
"Fine, FINE," he said. He walked over to the door and opened it. The snow was falling hard.
"Oh for God's sake, Severus, get your robes!" she said getting up. "Now, where's your kitchen?"
An hour later, they had set up the tree in the corner of the room, it was levitating slightly off the ground and they had managed to find some old Christmas lights that someone threw out. Tapping them with her wand, they immediately blinked on and they strung the tree with lights. When they finished, they sat on the floor with sheets of paper from old daily prophets, and with steaming mugs of hot chocolate, they transfigured the sheets into various bulbs and tree decorations.
While in the kitchen, she found a radio and had brought it out to the living room. Christmas carols blasted merrily from it, and they soon found themselves discussing everything that came to mind, they went from Elf Rights, somehow to Potions, and then to Egg Salad, which Snape had admitted he never had. Both of them sitting side by side, laughing, he rose his wand to send the ornaments flying to the tree. She stuck her hand out and held it.
"No," she said with a smile. He looked shocked.
"No, what?" he asked.
She shook her head and stood up, pulling him up with her.
"You put the ornaments on the tree manually," she said. A curious expression stole across his features as she pulled him to the tree and tapped an ornament. A hook appeared onto it and she handed it to him.
They proceeded to decorate the tree. When they had finished, they moved back to the sofa and sat down. With a wave of her wand, the lights went out in the room and the tree glowed brightly in the darkness.
She felt him tremble next to her and she looked at him.
"It looks beautiful," he whispered. She smiled.
"Yes it does, haven't you ever done this before?" she asked. He shook his head and looked down at his hands. He twiddled his thumbs. Unsure of what to do next, they both turned and looked at each other. Somehow, Hermione knew that this was a moment, even though it was Severus Snape, she knew what she needed to do. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. He did not resist, instead he pulled her closer to him and returned the kiss. When they broke apart, she looked at him, and ruefully bit her lip. He smiled slightly.
"Let's spend Christmas…together." He said leaning forward, resting his forehead on hers. She felt a pang of sorrow in her heart, and she nodded.
"Yes, Severus, let's do that," she whispered. He leaned over and kissed her again softly and she sighed happily.
Never, in all her years, did she imagine herself in a position like the one she was in now.
A/N: Thank you all for the reviews!! I really do appreciate them. This story is weird, but fun for me to write. I hope they didn't transition too quickly, I suppose in the next chapter I could explain their feelings a little more. This was just getting to the action!! And I thought the whole Christmas tree thing was quite sweet!! Thanks for the reviews, and please tell me what you think about this chapter!!