Being Nice Has Its Rewards
Standard Disclaimer Applies
Author's Notes: No, regardless of what the title entails, there is NO explicit content in this chapter... sorry!
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Hermione couldn't say anything as his mouth descended to hers. His lips captured hers in a sweet kiss and she found her eyes closing. She was drowning in sensations. She had never- not in her entire life- been kissed like that. Sure, Victor had kissed her. He had even tried to "cop a feel", as Ron put it, but it had been nothing like this. This- this was heaven! She wrapped her arms around his neck as one of his hands left its place on her hip to caress the back of her neck.
He moved away from her, smirking. She reached up and cupped his face in her hands, smiling. Her thumbs brushed along his cheekbones tenderly.
"Thank you," she said.
Whatever reaction he had expected, it was definitely not this! His brow furrowed with confusion at her mood swings. He would never admit it, but a small part of his subconscious suspected that she was suffering from Pre-Menstrual Syndrome. He grabbed her hands and held them gently in his own, giving her a questioning look.
She chuckled. "All I was looking for was a small glimpse of at least a semblance of a tender side under all those black, billowing robes and cold glares."
"And did you find what you were looking for?" he asked.
"I think I did," she replied, "Now, I'm sure that my friends will be terribly worried if I don't return soon."
"Right, of course," he said, dropping her hands.
"Good night," she said, pausing on her way through the doorway to add, "Severus."
He stood in the empty classroom for what seemed like an eternity before he gained enough feeling in his legs to walk down to the dungeons.
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"Hermione! Where the hell did you go?" Ron asked.
"Just- for a walk," she said, "Actually, more of a run."
"What happened?" Harry asked.
Hermione smiled. It was then that she noticed Neville, Ginny, Seamus, Parvati, Lavender, and Dean had gathered in the common room with them.
"Why do ask?" she said.
"Hermione, I have known you for the better part of my life, I can tell when something has happened. You left here in tears and now you're beaming," he said, grinning.
"Have a late night tryst, 'Mione?" Ginny asked.
"You could say that..." she said, smirking.
"With who?" Ron exclaimed.
"Well... I wouldn't exactly call it a tryst. It was more of- just a really nice kiss," Hermione said.
"WITH WHO?" Ron asked again.
"Severus," she replied.
"Sev- Snape?" he screamed.
"Ron, shut up. He was actually very nice to me... kind of," she said, "It was really confusing. He's an incredibly frustrating man!"
"I can't believe it! It's almost as though you want to shack up with the greasy git!" Ron shouted.
"Shut up!" she said, her eyes wide.
"No! You're the one having late night snogging sessions with that snarky old bastard!" Ron suddenly turned away from her, "I can't even look at you Hermione! He's twenty years older than you! Twenty god damned years! That's just disgusting!"
Hermione was crying again. She hugged herself, shaking uncontrollably. "Just shut up!"
Neville suddenly stood up and walked over to Ron. He spun him around by his shoulder and Ron was suddenly thrown back when his face connected with Neville's fist.
"Do you want to know what I think, Ron? I think the only bastard tonight is you!" Neville spat, "Hermione is shook up enough already without you helping. She has just gotten over her fucking fear of this whole thing and then you go and drudge it up again? I don't think so! That just won't fly with me!"
The entire room fell into silence. Nobody expected that. (And I'm sure none of you did either)
Neville walked over to Hermione and hugged her. "I'm happy for you, Hermione. I'm sure he's not as bad of a guy as we all think. I mean... after all he's done for the wizarding world, he can't be."
"You're right, Nev," she replied, "He's not as bad as we all think. I mean, yeah he'd kind of bipolar, but under all of that hard ass exterior, he does have a better side."
"I'm glad. If he didn't I would be forced to kill him and petition for you myself," Neville said.
"But- you're not a pureblood," she said.
"Well then I'd kill Fudge, too. I can take 'em all," Neville said.
"Yeah, that's one hell of a right hook," Ron said, "Been practicing much?"
Neville shot him a glare that would have made even the Dark Lord's blood run cold. "If you're just going to continue being an ass then I suggest you save me the trouble and just stay down."
"No, I think I'm finished... sorry Hermione. I just needed to vent," he said, "I guess I'll get used to the idea."
"You had better, because I'm not changing my mind and wizard marriages are permanent. There's no divorce, and the only way to get out of one is if your spouse dies," Hermione said.
"Yeah I know... Dad explained it all," he said, "Now... I guess I would like to know just how you came to postulate that Snarky Snape has a nice side."
"Well... after I left here..." And so Hermione told them all about the scene in the forest and her flight to the castle. (I'm not going to elaborate on the explanation, for you all have already seen it.) Lavender, Parvati, and Ginny gasped and "aww"ed at appropriate intervals, while the boys made idle threats to Severus, such as; "If he's ever a cold bastard to you again, just tell us and we'll beat the shit out of him."
When she was finished Ginny hugged her. "I can't believe that! Snape has a heart!"
"And apparently he's a really good kisser, judging from you flushed face when you came in here," Lavender said.
Hermione nodded. "Oh my god, you have no idea-!"
A collective groan came from the boys and Hermione laughed.
"We can talk details in the dorm later," Parvati whispered conspiratorially.
"Yeah, for now we just want to know if we're invited to the wedding," Ginny said.
"Of course!" Hermione said, "I made sure that Dumbledore invited all of you! You should have seen the look on Severus' face when I told him that I'd be inviting all the Weasleys! It was priceless! He was terrified."
Ron grinned proudly. "What can I say? We're a rowdy bunch!"
"I have no idea how you turned out Ginny," Lavender said.
"She's an oddball!" Harry teased.
"Yeah, but a right cute oddball," Seamus said, winking at her.
"Hey man! That's my sister!" Ron exclaimed.
"You didn't seem to have to big a problem hinting at Harry the last- oh I don't know- five or six years!" Ginny said.
Hermione laughed. "She has a point Ron. Though, it's not really a surprise that it took so long for Harry to ask you out, Gin. He and Ron only recently discovered that I'm a girl!"
"Wow... I've know that since the day you graced our halls with you beauty!" Dean said dramatically.
She kissed his cheek. "You're sweet... maybe I'll have you at my bachelorette party!"
Dean smiled. "I'd be happy to oblige a bunch of hot- that is sweet girls..."
"Yeah... I'm sure," Parvati said. They all laughed.
"I could come!" Neville said, flexing his arms in a macho way, "Ever since that summer that my gran took me to the States I've only gotten sexier..."
Hermione grinned. It was true... something had changed about Neville when he came back in his sixth year. He had gotten really toned... he was actually pretty hot.
"I don't know... I think I'm willing to consider that," Hermione said.
Ginny wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Of course we'd have to peruse the merchandise rather thoroughly."
"Ginny! Your brother's right there!" Neville exclaimed.
"Not to mention her boyfriend!" Harry growled.
"Oh right! Sorry Harry!" Neville said, flashing him a grin.
They continued talking and before they knew it there was a grey light filtering through the curtains. Seamus yawned.
"Maybe we should get to bed..." he said.
"Tomorrow... I get married tomorrow..." Hermione said.
"Holy shit," Seamus added.
"Yeah," Harry agreed.
"Well... I guess I'll go see if Severus is awake..." Hermione smiled, "It'll take a while to get used to that... calling him Severus."
She walked out of the common room and down to the dungeons. She stopped at the door she knew led to Severus' personal quarters and pounded her fist on the door.
"What?" Severus yelled.
"Are you awake?" she asked, then mentally kicked herself. Chalk one up on the stupidest questions of my life...
"No... I'm so intelligent that I can hold a conversation in my sleep," he said sarcastically, (A/N; Here's your sign...) "Of course I'm awake."
He opened the door, clad only in his green cotton pajama pants. "The question is, why are you?"
"I actually haven't been to bed yet," she replied, "I was wondering if I could see the invitations... if you wouldn't mind."
"Oh no... I was just sleeping- like a normal human being- but it's fine. You can come in here and start rummaging through my things and-"
"Thanks," she said, walking past him, "And I wasn't aware that you were a normal human being. As far as I'm concerned a normal human being doesn't risk his life to be a spy in order to save a bunch of people that he doesn't even really like. To me, that just screams Saint."
Severus couldn't suppress a chuckle at the thought. He? A Saint? The very idea was laughable!
She looked at the large stack of invitations. "Why so many?" she asked.
"Albus seemed to think it fit to invite the staff and about half the Gryffindor dorm plus misters Malfoy and Zabini," Severus said, "That along with my family, yours, and the entire Weasley brood makes for a very large wedding."
"Oh good, then I won't have to add anybody," she said, smiling at him.
Severus' jaw dropped. Not even married yet and she's already acting like a meddling wife! he thought.
"So... it's a Sunday right? That means tomorrow's a Monday..." she said, taking a seat in one of his large plush chairs.
"Albus has cancelled classes for tomorrow on account that none of the teachers will all be at our wedding. It is scheduled for eight o'clock in the morning. The reception will be held in the Great Hall and Albus is going to announce to the entire school that, though they won't be attending the actual wedding, they are all more than welcome to attend the reception if they so desire," Severus explained.
"That's a good idea," she said, "Though I doubt that many of the Slytherins will be attending."
"You might be surprised..." Severus said, "Quite a few of the Slytherin students are actually strong followers of young Mr. Potter. They are just... held back by their parents' will."
"Really? Could I possibly get a list of these students?" she asked.
"Why?" he retorted, narrowing his eyes.
"Well, I would simply like to speak with these individuals... personally. Neither Harry nor Ron will accompany me. I will even speak to them here or in your office if you wish," she said.
"Hermione..." he said tentatively, "I know you're hiding something from me."
"Yeah, so?" she said.
"Could you please tell me? If you want I'll even keep it a secret from the other teachers," he said.
"That would be good... though Dumbledore already knows. Blasted man knows everything," she said.
"Yes, it gets to be such a nuisance... I'm almost afraid to shower," he said.
Hermione laughed. "Yes... well..." she looked up at him, "Okay, I'll tell you, but only if afterward you'll give me that list."
"Very well," he replied.
"Alright, since our fifth year, when Umbridge- I cringe at the name of that toad- started teaching DADA. Harry, Ron, and I didn't think she was doing a very good job of preparing students for the war, so we took matters into our own hands," she said.
"So like Gryffindors..." Severus sighed.
"Shut up and listen," she said, "Anyway, that's when we created DA- Dumbledore's Army."
Severus chuckled at the name. "What a clever play on the Ministry."
"Yeah, we know. So we recruited people from all houses in all years that we thought were trustworthy and we took an oath. When any one of us sold us out to someone we couldn't trust completely he or she would get a certain mark on their forehead... I'm sure you know what that mark is," she said.
"Of course... that little Ravenclaw got plenty of taunting in this classroom," Severus said.
She smirked. "I'm sure... Well, we didn't think anybody in Slytherin was trustworthy- or rather we didn't know any of them well enough and didn't care to walk up to them and ask; 'hey do you support Voldemort?' So we didn't invite any of them. However, if you would kindly give me that list, I would like to extend that invitation. We need to strengthen inter-house relations as much as is possible. The final battle is coming, I can feel it, and we need as many people to fight with us as we can get."
Severus was amazed her passion. He simply waved his wand and a piece of parchment flew into his hand. He quickly scribbled names down on it and handed it to her. E scanned it quickly.
"Pansy Parkinson? I never would have thought..." she said.
"She was much like Draco. However, once Draco came to the light side, she seemed to be shaken into reality. I spent several days trying to answer her incessant questions about what is right and wrong... I finally just sent her to Dumbledore," Severus said.
"Well, thanks for this... I'll be bringing them here, then?" she asked.
"Yes... I think they'll be much more comfortable here than up in your frivolous Gryffindor rooms," he said.
"Thanks so much Severus... you won't regret this, I swear. Plan on having company later this evening," she said, leaving him with his thoughts.
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Okay... wow that was a long one. Review as always.... S'il vous plais et Merci! A'bientot!