A Brand
"And you kissed me like you meant it."
Most people would think that beginning a day with Severus Snape would be a challenge.
But, beginning a day with Severus Snape after he has been comatose for four years, well, that was essentially the situational equivalent of convincing Severus to give Gryffindor house points to Harry Potter during potions class.
In other words, nigh on impossible …
Severus seemed to be of the opinion that Hermione's small interventions were not helpful to his gradual easing back into the wizarding world.
"What do you mean all you have available for me to wear is light blue robes? And why can't they be charmed to a darker color!?" His voice was blistering in its accusatory tone.
"Severus, any insinuations that you might be making are highly unfounded," she replied sweetly, "though I can see your level of paranoia has not decreased over the years."
"The Ministry simply deemed that robes should not be able to be transfigured or charmed in any way that would change its appearance, in light of the way Death Eaters were quickly able to disguise themselves after confrontations with Aurors."
At that particular moment, she didn't feel the overwhelming need to tell him that the silly law had been rescinded after only three days, when public outcry (especially from mothers with several children) threatened to turn the wizarding world into a state of anarchy, so she simply just let that point slide.
And he would look much more appealing in light blue, she thought.
Severus spluttered. "What utter nonsense! That's the most ludicrous thing that I've ever heard…" he paused, then eyed the robes suspiciously.
"Hermione …" he started slowly, "regardless of your now very potent power and highly esteemed position as Headmistress, you do realize that you are still a Gryffindor …
Hermione nodded, still smiling. She showed no sign of giving ground.
"And you do recall that I am still Slytherin, with a certain … familiarity with, shall we say, persuasive practices."
"Of course, Severus." Hermione flushed slightly.
"And that, while it seems that we have imbued each other with some of our mutual personality traits, a true Slytherin's cunning is vastly superior to the attempts of a Gryffindor that has only attained her skills by close proximity, even for a long duration," he added, his gaze penetrating.
Her hands were clamped together tightly, but she refused to drop her eyes from his. She clutched to her Headmistress's lightly distracted air.
His eyes returned to the robes in question, his face slightly scowling, half in thought, half in disdain.
"Very well, then," he said, "as you wish, Hermione."
He summoned the objectionable, almost baby blue robes and put them on. Hermione looked delighted.
"A noble attempt at manipulation, dear Hermione, if I do say so, myself," said Severus, insisting on having the last word. "But you might find it easier to reach your goal next time if you just ask." A small smile curved his thin lips.
I win. he thought, looking imperiously down his nose at her.
Hermione, knowing the game was up, but refusing to cede him the last word, simply quoted Slytherin doctrine and looked as innocent as she could.
"The ends justify the means, dear Severus. Now, shall we go find the others for a spot of tea, and maybe some delightful biscuits?" She turned on her heel, and after pausing slightly to allow Severus to join her, slid her arm into his.
"Of course, I'll have to help you travel there Severus," she remarked with an air of authority, after noticing his surprised look at their interlocked arms. "Good gracious," she said slyly, "after all, you've been comatose for four years!"
On the way to the Headmistress' office, Hermione chattered on about the state of Hogwarts, and Severus weighed the morality of her taking advantage of a man in a weakened state.
He could not remember the last time he had lost so many verbal battles with one person in such a short duration. It seemed as though even when he won, he lost. He had been certain that Hermione would have been flustered into a nervous irrationality and that victory would be easy after he'd outed her dreadful baby blue robe ruse.
And indeed, I did catch her, hand in the cookie jar, trying to pull one over on me. Severus' scowl deepened slightly in thought. The nerve! The bloody nerve of her to try to manipulate me, a consummate Slytherin! And in my delicate state of health, too!
But here he was, wearing damnably cheerful, baby blue robes, somehow.
How did that happen? he wondered, as Hermione continued nattering away at his side.
He'd had no problem deducing her deception, but instead of using that to his advantage, he'd decided, against his own inclination, to put the robes on anyway. Why had he acquiesced?
To curry her favor, he realized with a shock.
He suddenly felt out of breath. He gasped, which drew Hermione out of her wandering, one-sided dialogue to examine him closely.
"It just hit you, didn't it?" she asked with a knowing smile.
"What on earth are you rambling on about now, Hermione."
"It just hit you, that, however you want to call it, we want to mutually please each other. That you, in return care for me and my feelings. The insufferably know it all, the infuriating girl, whatever. You've come to care for her." She fought hard to keep her emotions neutral.
He found he didn't really have the proper words, and even if he had, the muscles in his jaws didn't seem to be cooperating in the function of opening his mouth to speak.
"You are wondering how I knew that …" she said slowly, watching him, as though she was afraid he would bolt. He only stared at her. Though she did not touch him, she tried to look as comforting as possible.
"I was only able to deduce that, because I lost my breath the moment I realized I cared for the dungeon bat, the greasy git (though, I've fixed the greasy part)," Hermione crinkled her eyes playfully at him to let him know she did not believe her own words, "the one teacher who would never accept my effort in class as anything other than an attempt to be a know-it-all." She stepped nearer to him and lowered her voice, her eyes searching his.
"I, too, lost my capacity to breathe properly when I first knew that I cared for you."
Snape's eyes widened and two spots of colour stained his sallow cheeks, as he returned her intent gaze for several seconds. He felt unaccountably angry.
And Hermione was standing entirely too close to him, he decided.
"At least now I don't have to continue chattering inanely about the 'State of Hogwarts.' Of course that's important, but I was really just stalling to allow you to have your little epiphany." She chuckled lightly.
Oh bugger. His thoughts blistered. But that was it, wasn't it? he realized. I'm notangry because she is wrong. I am angry because she is right.
Can this be real? Can it really be--that somehow I have formed an attachment to this girl? No, he amended, this woman? Is this some cruel dream? He closed his eyes briefly and took a slow, deep breath. All I want is to go back to that place where we held each other, and I don't give a damn whether I'm wearing black or bloody baby blue robes! What madness is this!?
"Severus, I'm not sure where exactly your mind is taking you right now, but it's safe to say that any major revelation you're having, I've also experienced it."
He looked at her skeptically.
"Think about it objectively – there was no love lost between either of us before the war. Maybe some amount of grudging respect, but no more. We both experienced the last four years, me consciously, and you unconsciously. All the thoughts that will begin to surface, unless I'm very mistaken," she said, taking on her best knowing air, "will be ones I was confronted with at some point over the last few years."
She took a deep breath.
"As such, anything I can do to aid you in dealing with these thoughts …"
That was all she managed to say before Severus reached out to enfold her in his arms, to gently hold her.
Electricity pulsed through them.
Eyes closed, they clung to one another and felt a magical warmth envelope them as a result of their bodies touching.
"I think that this will do just nicely, for the time-being, of course." Severus said, his voice low and husky.
Hermione nuzzled softly into his shoulder, and Severus found his face enveloped by some sort of wild entity that was perched on the top of the Headmistress' head, that seemingly had a very real mind of its own.
He gathered her closer in his arms, and felt her melt into him. A small sigh escaped both of their lips concurrently.
Hermione giggled. Severus offered a dignified chuckle.
"I assume this is the first time that we have physically embraced? Not in the habit of taking advantage of comatose men I hope?"
Hermione blushed furiously, then furious with herself for blushing, quickly shot back, "Of course not. I felt that our mental embraces were the most important anyway."
Severus eyed her quietly. He hadn't noticed that they had come to a stop in front of the headmistress' office, the grumpy gargoyle still standing guard.
"But imagine," he breathed "undertaking both at once."
She felt her skin tighten and goose bumps rise on her arms. An interesting idea indeed.
Hermione broke away first, feeling the need to regain some of her vaunted composure.
Severus, as well, seemed slightly shaken by the intensity of the feeling behind their embrace. It was unlike anything either had ever felt. They hadn't embraced urgently, or with much fervor; they had simply held each other, and felt the ripple of emotion that interacted between them.
"Lemon drop," she commanded, as the gargoyle leapt out of the way, and performed a small bow.
"Well, that's new" said Severus in astonishment. "It seems the castle has given you a level of respect it has accorded no other."
Her eyes twinkled.
"Well, the gargoyle has never done that before. I'm inclined to say the bow was more directed towards the present company." She gestured at him.
He cast a quick glance behind his back and opened his mouth to speak. He closed it again.
"Clearly one of Albus's parting practical jokes, that insufferable man. Even from the grave he taunts me." He knew he wasn't fooling anyone, least of all Hermione, with his mock irritation. "Shall we, Headmistress?"
As they ascended the stairs to the Headmistresses office, Severus found he had the time to take the full view of the Headmistress, as she had neglected to "help" him up the stairs, the only bloody part of the trip that he might have needed help. He wondered if this was also part of her scheme, to show him how she had matured… in more ways than one. Maybe she really was turning into a Slytherin after all.
A small smile played at his lips.
Reaching the top of the stairs, slightly out of breath, Hermione took his arm smoothly and guided him into the office. He glowered at her.
"I hardly need someone to 'guide' me anywhere, Hermione. Although I've been unconscious for four years, I do remember where this office is quite clearly."
When he looked up, there stood the bane of his existence, Harry Potter, and the rest of the remaining survivors from Dumbledore's Army, now the teaching staff of Hogwarts.
"Why do I feel, Miss Gr – Headmistress, like I've been set up somehow?"
"I think I might just agree with you right there, Severus." Harry cast a somewhat accusatory look towards Hermione, who was smiling sweetly as she looked around the room.
Severus, for his part, did his best not to flinch when Potter called him by his first name.
"I'd like to take this opportunity to say a few words." said Hermione, "First, regarding the devilishly handsome wizard on whose arm I am currently leaning … He's just recently stopped pouting about his wonderful new robes," Harry made a strange coughing sound. "so I don't want to hear anything about his rather uncharacteristic appearance. Also, he's only just this morning awoken from four years of suffering from a brutal curse, so we must all be nice to him." She turned and gave Severus a small wink. "And, try not to take advantage of him, as he is in such a 'delicate' state."
Severus muttered something indiscernible underneath his breath. All Harry caught of it was "worse then Dumbledore himself…" and he found himself sniggering. He had a feeling that Severus would bring some personality back to the mundane that had begun to infiltrate Hogwarts for him.
"Now," She clapped her hands together. "the reason I called you all here is to inform you that today we will be having a faculty retreat day!" She was clearly caught up in what she thought was the brilliance of her idea.
Memories of a teenage Hermione, oblivious to the outside world's views, knitting house-elves' socks rushed back to everyone in the room immediately. They knew innately that nothing they could say would convince Hermione of the ludicrousness of this idea.
Harry was, of course, the first to try, however.
"But Hermione, we've all known each other for ages. What on earth do we need a retreat for?"
"Well, muggles have these extraordinary team building exercises that I think could be really useful to us members of the faculty!" Enthusiasm glowed in her eyes and everyone in the room realized it was futile to dissent further. They all knew a lost cause when they saw it.
"So … I've created a port-key all of our use in getting to our destination. I'd like everyone to meet back here in one hour prepared for an overnight stay at the Estelon. Food and provisions will be provided, though I dare say you might have to work for it."
Severus was just now beginning to deduce that the twinkle in her eye was generally an indicator of mischief about to break out. That would be useful to file away for future use.
"Anyway, I'll see you all in an hour! Severus, I'd like to ask that you stay here with me for the time being."
Several of the other teachers glanced back at the two of them with a small smirk.
Was it that obvious? Severus asked himself with a small mental sigh.
"Have fun, Severus." Harry said, eyeing him with a wide grin.
Apparently, we must be, if Potter has caught on. Severus gave Potter a dignified nod in response, feigning ignorance of anything to which his erstwhile nemesis might be alluding. Potter was the last to bound out of the room.
"Now then," Hermione said, her eyes twinkling far too brightly, "let's get ready!"
The Estelon was a modest cottage in the heart of … somewhere. It was unplottable after all. What could be said about it is that like most magical homes, it was far larger on the inside than it would appear to be from its outside presentation. It had several large, heavily foliated oak trees on both sides of it, and a weathered cedar wood deck with several tables and chairs around the back. The property the cottage resided on was cleared and manicured, with a small path leading from the deck down to a small pond, where a rudimentary dock secured a small rowboat from the battering of drifting winds.
All in all, it seemed like a fairly stereotypical muggle household.
The present occupants, however, were anything but 'stereotypical'.
One by one, the inhabitants emerged from the back of the house to take seats around one of the larger tables on the deck.
First came a bushy-haired young woman, who seemed to almost skip over to her chair. She waited in a state of slight agitation.
Next came a young man with equally untidy, though not at all bushy, jet black hair, who seemed to be casting questioning looks at the bushy-haired woman.
Five or six other young individuals came out of the back door and took their seats around the table. The one thing that the whole party had in common was that they all wore billowing robes, and over those robes were white muggle t-shirts, which said in large, exclamatory letters "Hogwarts Retreat, 2001". No one seemed particularly happy to be there, besides the bushy haired woman, whose excitement only seemed to ratchet up a notch with each new arrival to the table.
The group sat in silence for a few moments, until an older man stepped through the threshold, the look on his face a cross between utter disdain, and pure misery.
The bushy-haired girl beamed.
"One word, Potter," Snape held up one finger to emphasize his point, "and I will not be accountable for my actions."
Harry bit back a smile, as he tried to secure in his mind for later amusement the image of Severus Snape, the feared Potions master, the vanquisher of Voldemort, wearing a white, muggle retreat t-shirt.
Harry tried. He really did – but self restraint wasn't his strongest suit.
"Severus, I think it goes well with your eyes." he remarked dryly, gesturing at the t-shirt, and attempting to keep the playful smile from his lips.
Hermione closed her eyes with a sigh.
She didn't want to see the duel she felt was about to break out between Harry and Severus.
Why do men have to be so pugnacious! she thought with a mental eye-roll.
A deep bellowing sound erupted from somewhere across the table, and she wondered what kind of strange spell incantation it might be. Hermione had never heard it before.
When she opened her eyes, she caught the tail end of Severus' laugh, and the beautiful smile that had been on his face.
"One point to you Harry, for your surprisingly dry wit."
"I don't think you can give house points to me, as I'm a teacher now, Severus." Harry said with growing mirth.
"Oh, I'm quite aware," he said, looking sly, "what I meant is 'Harry - One, Severus – Zero'—for now." His eyes were laughing, and his face showed tell-tale signs of amusement. "I am quite sure I'll catch up quickly." he added with a barely discernable wink.
Harry looked at him in shock. Snape ignored him in favour of turning a critical eye on Hermione.
"Now then, what is it that you have drug us out here, against our will to do, Headmistress?"
Hermione, it seemed, was also in shock. She was looking back and forth between Harry and Severus, her mouth agape, her eyes wide. As a result, she did not register Severus' question, much less answer it.
Harry had that quizzical look on his face that reminded her of their school days after she had said or done something he could not immediately grasp. And Severus' face was simply unreadable.
"Hermione?"
"Hermione!" Harry said again, more forcefully.
With somewhat of a jolt she came back to her senses, though still in wonderment about the interaction she had just seen.
"Um, well, yes, what is it?" she asked, still a bit flustered.
"What on earth are we doing here?" asked Neville with a chuckle.
"Oh yes!" Hermione cried, clapping her hands together. "We're going to start out with a muggle team-building exercise. The first thing we need to do is split up into teams of two. Severus, Luna, Neville, and Draco, write down your names, and put them in this hat." She conjured said hat with an easy flourish of her wand.
"Harry, Ginny, Zacharias and I will now pull names from the hat, and the person who we draw will be our partner for the exercise. I'll go first, okay?" Hermione's eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm.
No one seemed to be too eager to get the "team-building exercise" started, so no opposition was presented to their leader's suggestion of going first.
"Neville! You and me! It'll be just like old times!" Neville blushed, remembering his previous incompetence during their school years. He cast a furtive look at Severus, who eyed him with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh don't you mind him. He's just jealous." Hermione said with a slight twinkle.
Severus did not refute her observation.
As the drawing went on, Ginny was paired with Luna, and Zacharias with Draco. That left one name still in the hat. And one person to pull it.
Severus and Harry gave each other a meaningful look.
"It seems as though I'll have the opportunity to catch up even sooner than I thought, Mr. Potter." Severus said, casting a smirk and a scowl at him simultaneously.
His facial expressions had always been world class.
"Indeed, Severus," drawled Harry, slightly drawing out the "S" in Severus' name with mock taunting.
Severus quirked an eyebrow at his former nemesis. Hermione, for her part, had caught on to the game and chose not to acknowledge it, lest Severus feel in the spotlight. She went on with her directions.
"Inside these bags, you will find instructions for the activity. In each room of the house there is a package of materials to use for the task. You are free to use anything else you find. You have two hours to complete the task, before we meet back on the deck to compare and test the products of our labors."
Someone, or everyone, it was tough to tell, exhaled in a deep sigh. The last thing anyone wanted was two hours of work on a Saturday.
"Have I neglected to add that the winning team will be exempt from chaperoning Hogsmeade weekends for the entire year?" asked Hermione innocently.
Hermione's parting words had sent everyone running inside to begin work.
"Listen, you open the box of supplies, and I'll read the directions, okay?" asked Harry, as both he and Severus raced up the stairs to the nearest open room.
"Fine, fine ..." muttered Severus. "What's it say?"
"It says, 'In the box you will find an egg. At the end of the two hours, we will be dropping the egg off of the roof of the cottage. Your goal is to build a construct that will protect the egg in its fall. The team with the best container wins the prize. Containers will be judged by appearance, and efficacy. No magic allowed!'"
"Well that's just ludicrous! It's as if she wants us to be like muggles!" exclaimed Severus.
"Yeah!" Harry agreed. "It's like she wants us to gain an appreciation for them!" He winked.
Severus' face was etched into a deep scowl.
"Ha, ha, ha." Severus intoned blandly. "That's two for you Potter. Don't expect to get any more." he said. But his lips turned up slightly.
"Now, on to the task at hand. Do you have any idea how to use those muggle contraptions … I think they're called drills."
"I have no idea. I lived in a cupboard, remember?"
"Ah, true …" Severus mused.
"How would we even get one anyway? What's in the box?"
"Surprisingly… nothing, it seems." said Severus, as he lifted the lid to the box and peered into it again.
"Wait a minute …" Severus said slowly, re-examining the box.
"Brilliant. The witch is bloody brilliant. I would be willing to bet that she charmed each of these boxes to be like miniature Rooms of Requirement. Anything that we need, we should be able to procure from this box at will." explained Severus. "Why else would the box be empty? It's the only thing that makes sense."
Harry nodded and screwed up his eyes in concentration." Well, I'm in need of a perfect egg container thingy." Harry opened the box expectantly.
The interior of the box continued to meet gaze with emptiness.
Bloody hell, you don't give an inch, do you, Hermione? Harry thought with a deep sigh.
"Okay," said Harry, scratching his face absently. "What kind of container do we know of that's hard and dense?"
"I suppose your head wouldn't be a suitable vessel would it …" Severus drawled. Oh, this is great!
Harry's eyes twinkled. Point for Severus.
"I do remember, though, when Dudley used to get packages for his birthday, they used to come in these boxes filled with this foam, and it used to protect his gifts. Maybe we could use something like that?"
"Perhaps, but what about the appearance aspect? I don't want to lose this competition because my dim-witted assistant/muggle expert had a limited imagination. I suggest that we ask the box for a book that will show us some attractive, secure boxes. Then we can come up with something that is documented to work well."
"Severus, you and Hermione really were made for each other." Harry said, shaking his head, an incredulous grin on his face.
Severus' cheeks flushed slightly, and he looked away, pinning his gaze on the mysterious box.
"Bloody hell, Snape, you're blushing!" Harry chuckled. "But while we're on the subject …" he continued tentatively. "I still can't believe this is happening between the two of you." Snape's eyes snapped up to regard Harry warily. Harry hurried to qualify his statement. "I didn't mean it like that. I suppose she just spent so much time with you over the last four years … I mean, it didn't even seem to be a strain on her. It was like she needed you, every bit as much as you needed her. She'd go to you when she was totally stressed out and come back relaxed. It was amazing." Harry's face was full of wonderment.
Severus looked down at his hands.
"I'm not exactly sure how it happened. I know she did a great deal for me while I was being held captive by the curse. We felt each other during that time, and we seemed to form some kind of a bond. It's the most powerful thing I've ever felt."
Harry looked him straight in the eye and nodded slowly. He knew he had no right to grant "approval", but he still wanted Severus to know that he thought him a worthy man for Hermione.
"However it happened," Harry said in low tones, "I am glad it did." Severus smiled a very small, slightly embarrassed smile.
Time to let him off the hook, Harry thought.
"Anyway," Harry cleared his throat nervously, "I already tried wishing for the book while you were insulting my hard head. I think Hermione put some sort of uber-charm on the box that made sure that we came up with the idea on our own. As you noted, she is kinda brilliant like that, after all."
"Oh, very well. Let's make a wooden box filled with that foam you mentioned. Then we'll paint the outside something bright and despicably flowery. Who's judging this anyway? It didn't say in the instructions."
"I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure that Hermione has something up her sleeve." replied Harry.
"I believe that I may be of some assistance in this matter," offered a voice coming from a portrait on one of the walls. Severus and Harry turned to observe Dumbledore's cheery countenance beaming at them.
"Albus, speaking of having something up one's sleeve … glad that you could join us. I am sure you will find no limit to your amusement as Harry and I humiliate ourselves trying to make sense of our young Headmistress's latest inane idea," responded Severus, part seriously, part jokingly. "I'm sure you wouldn't miss this for the world."
"Quite right," said Dumbledore, peering over his half-moon glasses at them with laughing eyes. "I have to say the versatility that portrait travel offers is quite remarkable. I've been able to visit every team so far, to see how they have been progressing."
He looked at the progress (or lack thereof) they had made with an unassuming air.
"So then, you would know what type of boxes the other teams are trying to make!" said Harry excitedly, obviously hoping that they would be able to gain a strategic advantage over the other teams.
"Boxes? Is that what you are making? That is unique." Dumbledore said, quite amused.
"Excuse me. Albus. Are you implying that the other teams are doing something different? You do know we are not allowed to use magic," Snape said suspiciously.
"Oh, I am well aware; I was the one who chose this challenge, to ensure that the Headmistress had no prior knowledge and no advantage. I saw it on an episode of Full House … a muggle television show. It seemed like quite a good time," he said with a chuckle in his voice.
"I should have deduced that you had a hand in this ridiculous idea, Albus," Severus sniffed. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll have to get back to our box, which will be superior to anything the other teams come up with to rival it."
Dumbledore laughed softly and was gone.
"Meddling old fool," muttered Severus.
Harry looked amused.
"Now," said Severus to Harry, "do you know how to use a 'hammer'?"
Two hours later, covered in muggle paint, with two bruised thumbs (the victims of inadvertent hammer strokes), and a glowing sense of accomplishment, Severus and Harry gingerly carried their egg containment box out on to the roof. The paint was still drying, but as Harry had insisted that everything important in the muggle world had a good "paint job", the pair had been putting the finishing touches on their box until the very last moment. Regardless, they had decided to cover their box with a tarp, so that they could "unveil" their masterpiece with a dramatic flair. This had been, predictably, Severus idea.
They were the last to arrive, and they found the other groups standing on the slate roof, nervously pacing or talking in low voices, and eyeing the competition. What had initially started out as something silly had become quite a serious affair. After all, not having to chaperone students in Hogsmeade was serious business.
"Now that everyone's here …" said Hermione, throwing a pointed glance at Harry and Severus, who at the exact same moment gave rather innocent expressions and looked around questioningly. Hermione had the urge to laugh, but just barely contained herself by biting her lip. "I think that we should begin with the appearance portion of the competition."
"To judge," she flicked her wand, summoning a floppy dark object, "I have brought the Sorting Hat. It's the most unbiased entity I could think of."
"Severus, Harry, that means it's time to 'unveil' your grand masterpiece, in as overly dramatic a fashion as you can manage, as I am sure is your plan." sighed Hermione with a healthy eye roll.
Harry and Severus exchanged a knowing look. They had spent a good deal of time discussing the "presentation", as Severus called it.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," said Harry.
"We give to you …" said Severus.
"Custodius!" they said in unison, as Severus withdrew the canvass with a practiced flourish to which only he could attain, through years of cape billowing and swishing.
A small gasp escaped Neville, as the group gazed on the crudely made wooden box. It was painted bright pink, with a bright blue sky and butterflies flitting about under a too large sun. Closer examination showed the sun to be a cheerfully beaming 'smiley face'.
Severus gave his best sneer, but started chuckling despite himself. Try as he might, he just couldn't keep a straight face looking at that garish box.
"I think it's wonderful!" cried Hermione, as she threw herself into Severus' arms, as if he had made the box just for her. She pulled back slightly, and brown eyes met black. Both radiated.
"Hey now," said Neville, slightly shocked by the display … and not just of the pink box, "no fraternizing with the enemy until the competition is over."
"Oh, of course," said Hermione, giving Severus an endearing look, and letting her hand linger on his as she walked away. His hand tingled where she had touched him.
One by one, the vessels of the other teams were revealed. Some looked like over-sized pillows. Hermione's and Neville's looked simply like a Gryffindor robe wrapped around a small compartment.
The sorting hat made its observations, and silently ranked the competitors.
"The winner: Custodias!" it proclaimed after due consideration.
Harry did his happy dance. Severus allowed himself a small fist pump, but quickly affected a bored expression. His thoughts turned to whether Hermione might give him a congratulatory kiss.
Hermione, for her part, was pondering the same thing.
"Well now," Hermione said, refocusing, "I suppose it's time to move on to the actual practical portion of the competition. The one that actually counts." Hermione, for all of her graces, was not the best loser. "The winner of the appearance competition will go first."
Severus offered her a stiff nod.
The height from which the eggs in their vehicles were to be dropped approached twenty-five feet, and one had to be precariously close to the downward sloping edge to drop an object. The box that Harry and Severus had constructed was in itself three feet wide and a similar height. This proved to make gracefully dropping the box off the side of the roof, without going over themselves, something of a challenge.
After a few failed attempts to get close enough to the side (which was very entertaining to the losing teams), the two decided to use their prodigious combined intellects to come up with a clever solution.
"On the count of three, and not a moment sooner, Potter." Severus said with growing agitation.
"Right, right, I'm well aware of how to count!" Harry spat back in reply.
Even noting the agitation that was in both men's voices, Hermione watched Harry and Severus working together with a sense of intense pride and relief. Since Ron had died at the onset of the final battle, these two men were the most important people in her life. They were the two people she had never thought would ever be able to be in the same room together. And yet there they were, bantering back and forth like two brothers.
"Three!" cried Harry, as he and Severus heaved the box over the edge of the roof. For a moment, as the box reached its apex, the scene seemed to be almost surreal. Severus Snape, in his baby blue robes and white muggle t-shirt, had a look of exhilaration on his face. Harry Potter was smiling widely—while in the presence of Severus Snape.
Yes, times had really changed.
The onlookers peered off the side of the roof, and watched as Custodias hit the hard wooden deck. It appeared that neither Severus nor Harry were very well versed in any form of stress engineering, as the box splintered into several pieces, and a poof of styro-foam peanuts swelled out. Severus and Harry held their collective breath in uncertainty. Had their egg survived?
Harry floated off the roof, landing lightly on the deck, and started carefully rummaging through the rubble looking for the egg. Hermione gently put her hand on Severus' back as he continued to watch intently over the edge. The warmth that spread from her hand, and the electricity of her touch made him want to turn around, draw her into his arms and kiss her—egg or no egg.
A shout of triumph erupted from below them, as Harry held up an unharmed, completely intact egg.
"I really don't see what the big fuss is about." Severus said sourly. "From what I was told, the competition was to prevent the egg from breaking. Just because our box shattered doesn't mean that it didn't do its' job." He paused slightly, attempting to formulate his next words. "Your 'parachute' contraption was very ... interesting. I was impressed with its efficacy."
Hermione smiled slightly to herself, as she took in their beautiful surroundings. It was mid-evening at the Estelon, and after a delicious dinner, Severus and she had gone down to the dock to sit and enjoy the evening alone together.
"Severus, I think your box was wonderful," she said soothingly "and I think that it's wonderful that you worked so well with Harry." She softly lowered her head onto his shoulder.
"Yes, yes, he isn't as bad as I thought him to be all those years ago, I know." Severus felt that Hermione putting her head on his shoulder somehow softened the blow of having to admit that Harry wasn't a complete dimwit.
He put his arm around her and drew her closer. As she nestled her head into the crook of his neck, he felt her body relax.
"This may sound very foolish, Hermione, but I do have to ask myself every fifteen minutes or so if any of this is real." He looked and felt a bit uncomfortable. "While I'm starting to remember some of our shared ... experiences of the past years, it still seems like just a moment ago I was fighting Death Eaters at Dumbledore's grave. I can hardly believe that I am now here, sitting with you, feeling emotions I'm not sure I've ever experienced in my life."
There was a small, comfortable silence, as they basked in each other's warmth.
"What about Lily?" asked Hermione. "Didn't you feel some of these emotions with her?"
"Yes, some," conceded Severus. "The difference is that she never reciprocated my feelings."
There was a gentle pause.
"It is one thing to love, Hermione. A beautiful thing, at that." he said softly, "but it's something completely different to be loved in return." He drew her closer to him.
She looked up, and her brown eyes seemed to envelope him.
A kiss.
A brand.
A scar.
Many thanks to my fabulous fabulous fabulous beta hermionestargazer. For the 5 people that read this fic, this is for you. It was a lot longer than expected, and a lot harder. I hope you enjoy.