The Half Blood Prince
Vs
The Know-All Queen
The wind of change
I wake up, which is a surprise in itself; can't even remember going to sleep. The first thing I realise is that I'm not in bed; in fact I'm not even anywhere near my little abode. I'm resting in what feels like a chair, and my arms are on what must then be a table. My eyes aren't working; shit, I'm blind! I put my hands in front of my face and I can make their blurred shapes out. Oh, thank gods, it's just dark, must be the small hours of the morning. I look for my wand and it's in my skirt pocket
"Lumos." I whisper.
Have no idea why I'm whispering; it's highly unlikely that there's going to be anyone else sleeping on a table in the middle, of what seems to be, a classroom. I've been here before, definitely. I see three doors, one by itself and two next to each other, but still close to the first, on the adjoining wall. "Eeny meeny miney… oh fuck this!" I'm still whispering. I push open the door by itself. "Yes!" I whoop quietly, as I enter a corridor. I look down both directions of the corridor, and to be frank, it all looks the same.
'Oh, come on!' I say to myself I turn left and start walking. I keep going until I find an arch way at the end which leads to another door. I try to turn the handle, no joy. "Alohomora." I say confidently. The door just stands there defiantly, silently mocking me. That's it, I can't take anymore, I woke up in a strange place, I got lost and now this, this stupid door won't even open. "Fucking twat!" I shout at the door "Why can't you just open like a normal bloody door? Argh! Open up, damn you!" I pull on the handle again and to my total astonishment it actually opens. Asking it to open was apparently the key to opening it up. I walk in and turn the lights on to see a room nicely decorated in earthy, neutral tones. With a rather tempting chocolate coloured suede sofa. And it was crying out to me. I close my eyes. 'Hermione,' it calls, 'go to sleep.' Its voice is soft and gentle and must be obeyed. After all, I remind myself, it's not every day you find a talking sofa. I lie down and my eyes slip close. Sweet, sweet rest. It's bliss.
ooo000ooo
A hand touches my shoulder; the skin's rough. I remember I fell as sleep…FUCK I'm being attacked. I punch forward and my fist makes contact with someone's nose. Whilst my would be-attacker is holding his face in pain, I scramble into one corner of the couch, grab my wand and shout, "Back off, I've got some serious magic here!" My attacker pulls his head out of his hands. The first thing I notice is that his nose is bleeding, and I feel a wave of pride wash over me. Then I realise, I know that nose; it's larger than normal and it's hooked. Oh bugger. Snape's look is one of pure rage.
"Out," he says with total hate.
"Wait! I can help, I promise," I plead. "Here." I swoop down on him and I'm now face to face with a furious Snape, as I try to pull a hankie out of my pocket faster than the speed of light, which is not possible, I tell my self since I have mass and things that travel that fast, don't have mass. I start attentively dabbing at Snape's bloodied nose. I lean forward and my hand rests on his knee. Snape pushes me away, and I'm left kneeling on the floor feeling really guilty.
"What were you even doing here Granger?" He snarls.
I talk to the carpeted floor. "Well I woke up in the classroom, and I got out into the corridor and I guess I was a bit dazed and I turned the wrong way, then I found this room; I got really angry at the door because it wouldn't open, so I started shouting stuff at it, then I said "open up!" and it did, and then, I mean your couch, it looked so comfy…" my voice gets quieter and quieter.
"These are my private chambers, Granger, it is not some refuge for waifs and strays. How dare you enter uninvited?" he says with quiet anger. "How dare you?"
"I'm really sorry." He still looks angry, and I suppose he's right. It's his personal space and I invaded it. "I'll go now." I pick my bag up and I hear a dull clunking sound. I open my bag and pull out the jar of acromantula venom. "Here," I say, placing it on a coffee table nearby with a small thud. "It's the venom."
He walks over still holding his nose. His free hand picks the brown jar up and examines the silvery liquid inside. He holds it up to the light.
"It's been purified and preserved well," he observes. I just nod. "Well then, I see you haven't crossed the border into being completely useless," he says, now looking inside the container of venom.
"Has the bleeding stopped?" I ask with just a hint of fear, from his reaction.
"Yes," he replies with a tone that clearly says 'with no thanks to you'. I point my wand at him and a quick burst of pale blue light comes out and settles on his face.
"A healing charm?" he raises an eyebrow "But the bleeding has stopped."
"That was for the black eye," I answer gently hoping he wouldn't notice.
"You gave me a black eye?" he shouts. "For gods' sake, why did you do that?"
"I thought you were going to attack me!" I say pleading, but a little angrily.
"Why would an attacker ever be so polite as to lightly touch your shoulder and gently shake you, in an attempt to wake you up?"
"I was asleep," I reply disbelievingly. "It wasn't like I could just say 'oh excuse me are you going to assault me?' It's absurd." I try to calm down. "Look, I don't want to argue with you."
"Really? Well, you could have fooled me."
"Let's just leave the past where it belongs please, Severus." As though saying his name is going to show him I'm a woman now.
"It'll be a long time before I forget the amount of times you have humiliated me," he answers smoothly.
I sigh heavily and I admit I feel a little dejected. I reach into my bag and hand him a silver envelope inscribed 'Severus' and a small parcel wrapped in black paper.
"Happy birthday," I say, handing over the present that had been residing in my bag until I felt brave enough to hand it over.
"You remembered," he states.
"Well," I urge softly, "open them up."
He opens the card which has a picture of a of an excited Einstein look-alike standing over a glowing cauldron and at the bottom in big letters reads 'EUREAKA! I remembered your birthday!'
"It's…nice," he says in a tone that clearly says he hates it, but he's grateful.
"Well, open your present." I smile.
He does and pulls out a box and opens it. He seems rather surprised.
"Is this…" he holds this up to the light as well.
"Yes." I smile and blush a little; bloody blushing, so annoying.
"A sapphire vial. How on earth did you afford this?" he stares at me as though the answer is written on my forehead in really small letters.
"I got a bonus when everyone in all of my classes received a pass or higher last year." Ah yes, one of my proudest moments. That earned me my mug from Ron, and for that reason part of me wishes one student would've failed.
"I don't know what to say," he says coyly.
"Yes you do, you just have trouble saying it."
He studies the vial again, the light reflecting off its many facets beautifully.
"You're welcome," I say, and then out of tradition I lean to give him a small kiss on the cheek, but he stops looking at the glass and as he moves, I accidentally catch his lips. They're soft, softer than I'd have guessed. My eyes involuntarily close and I move a little closer. This is nice, I think to myself, really nice. His hands lightly rest on my hips and the gravity of the situation dawns on me. I'm kissing Snape!
Thanks to everyone, your comments really helped! I hope you like this chapter as much as the others, I'm trusting you to tell me if you don't, loves and hugs to everyone x x x x