Author's Note: All characters belong to the lovely J.K. Rowling. I realize that I'm a bit rusty as far as my writing goes, so if you have any suggestions, feel free to review or P.M. me. Enjoy!
Chapter Two
The following day was Sunday, which happened to be the only day I had no classes to teach. I did quite a bit of decorating in my own rooms, though I had nothing to put on the bland cream-colored walls and my desk still remained empty, albeit a quill and stack of parchment. Student after student had welcomed me to the new job, most had gushed about my time with Harry and how I was legendary for helping him.
I was putting wards on the cabinets in my personal space when I glanced up at my reflection in the mirror. My life had revolved around Harry and the war up until it was suddenly over. Throughout that entire time I had never focused on my looks, save for my buck teeth and bushy, unmanageable hair. Of course, those were easy fixes when you had magic available at the swish of a wand.
My teeth were perfectly normal now, straight and white. My hair had calmed down a bit, now falling in soft chesnut, waves, almost to my waist. I wasn't usually concerned with the way I looked, but then again, when no one saw you at work on a daily basis, I guess it didn't really matter. But now, being a professor of charms, I almost felt it was necessary to look my best when dealing with hundreds of students a day.
While staring at my reflection, I barely registered a slight knock on my door. It sounded once more, sharper this time, and I snapped out of my thoughts. Hurrying quickly to the door, I opened it, startled to find the hallway before me empty. A piece of folded parchment was magically stuck to the door, and I pulled it down. Whoever had left it was certainly skilled with charms, because the note was bound to my magical signature. Anyone else who tried to open it would be covered in paper cuts from head to toe, no doubt.
'An invitation' It read, scrawled in messy letters. 'For Hermione Granger, at dinner, in the great hall.' I frowned and tried to read on, the rest of the words a jumbled mess until I tapped it with my wand, the letters magically rearranged themselves into the proper places. 'You were absent last night, dinner was extremely uneventful and quite frankly, you were missed greatly by the others. Do try to show.' I gave a little snort at the signature on the bottom of the page. 'Severus Snape'.
I chuckled at the explanation for the note, and how the insufferable man had stated that the 'others' had missed me. The thought made me wheeze as I fought to control myself, and I instantly had a sobering thought. The man was bound by both Dumbledore and Voldemort in many ways during the war. The darkness that radiated from him constantly was probably a side effect of that, and now that both of the wizards were gone, it was possible that the darkness inside of Snape had been vanquished as well.
Taking the note in hand, I walked through the doors and into my classroom, where I sat at my desk. I wrote quickly on the parchment, scrawling my snarky response about coming to get me for dinner himself, and then applying the same charms he had used on the note to the parchment, and sent it on it's way through the castle and to the dungeons, ministry mail style. He would receive it in a matter of seconds, and I thought of the professor actually showing up at my door before dinner to retrieve me. It would be quite entertaining when he realized she was joking.
"Miss Granger," I turned my head to the open door and saw the tall man standing there, my note in hand, an amused expression on his face. He stepped in, and rolled the parchment into a ball, before holding it up, poised as if to throw it at me, which he then proceeded to do. I caught it, and threw it up the air, whispering a charm of my own, and it immediately burst into flames. His response was a low whistle, and he crossed his arms, leaning on the door frame. "Impressive, silly girl. What next, will you turn it into a bat?"
"No, next I will throw it back at you and set you on fire." I watched as he raised a brow at my threat, eyes turning cold and dark once again. Someone said something behind him, and he moved out of the way, surprised. A petite red headed woman practically flew past him and rushed me, before I had time to react, I was enfolded in a familiar pair of arms. "Ginny!"
"I heard you were back, and I couldn't believe it!" The girl was practically crying as she hugged me, and I made eye contact with Snape, who rolled his eyes at the display and turned to go. Before he shut the door behind him, he turned and called out over his shoulder.
"Miss Granger, I assume that both that threat and the parchment were legitimate?" Before I had time to respond, he spoke again, this time getting Ginny's attention as well. "I'll see you at quarter to five, and if you ever set me on fire, you'll pay for it dearly."
I was shocked, not because he said he was actually coming to retrieve me for dinner, but because he took my threat of setting him on fire well. If I had done that as a student I'd be shoveling Thestral shit and writing lines for a year. It was quite comical to watch Ginny's mouth pop open at his words, and then quickly close again as she tried to figure out just what to say to the exchange.
"Mione, I don't think I've ever once seen him without that infuriating scowl on his face. He actually laughed!" Her apparent shock made something clear to me finally. Snape was still the cold hearted bastard he had always been, but for some reason he found it in said cold heart to at least civil to me. Ginny's eyes narrowed and she lowered her voice before she spoke again. "You didn't drug the man, did you? Or use some new spell to make people actually pleasant?"
"No you idiot, I'm just as addled as you." I spoke on her level, in case the greasy git strayed behind to listen to our conversation. It was definitely something he'd do, the man entirely Slytherin at heart. I turned to Ginny and changed the subject quickly. "Come, I feel like I haven't seen you since…"
She knew my meaning as I trailed off.
"Since the war?" She paused to give me a small smile. "We all feel that way, Mione."
I winced and led her to my sitting room, gesturing to the small couch and lumpy old chair. Ignoring the pang that I felt when I thought about the sparse decor, I started asking her about her life. I was surprised to learn that she and Harry had married, and Ron was well on his way, being engaged to Lavender Brown. Ginny worked with Neville in the Herbology department, while Ron and Harry were both Aurors for the ministry.
Not believing that Draco Malfoy actually helped Snape teach potions every other week left us both in a fit of giggles until we controlled ourselves. We caught up in all things, personal, and work wise, until a loud knock sounded on the door. I stood, glancing at the clock and realized that it was indeed, quarter to five. He was right on time. The door opened once I removed the ward, and Snape walked through, dressed in his usual black on black robes, the attire I remembered.
"Miss Granger, I distinctly remember you telling me to be here at a quarter to five." His tone was slightly scolding and I frowned, looking up to see a laughing expression in his eyes. Something told me that I was the only one meant to see that because he turned to Ginny, and his features once again became closed off. "Miss Weasley, how...nice to see you."
"Snape." Her tone was just as clipped, and she strode past him and out the door, turning to give me a quick wink before she went to the great hall. So it was true. He acted different towards me than he did to everyone else. For some reason I felt a slight rush of something unpleasant through my limbs, causing me to frown slightly. Realizing I was ignoring the man standing in front of me, I snapped back to the present and quickly grabbed my cloak.
"Ready?" He asked, holding out his arm in jest. I snorted and shoved it away, moving past him to the door. I cast several wards over the heavy wooden door, ensuring my private space would stay...private. Snape watched me the entire time, and muttered his approval with the last and final ward, which was the most difficult. "You must have something extremely valuable if you go through such measures to ensure your privacy."
"No, Professor Snape, I simply value having my own space." I walked quickly down the halls, up a set of stairs and then down another two, knowing exactly where to go to get to the great hall. When we reached the doors, I stopped, and looked behind me, and was shocked to see that Snape was nowhere to be found. I shrugged, and stepped into the loud hall for the first time in years.
It was exactly how I'd remembered it, floating candles lit, ceiling enchanted to show the starry night sky above, cloudless and beautiful. Four long tables stretched across the room, each house seated at one. At the high table sat all professors and staff; the only ones I recognized were grouped together. Hagrid, Ginny, Neville, Madam Pomfrey, Minerva, and to my surprise, Snape, all sat chewing happily on their meals. I strode up to the table, and took the empty seat next to the black-clad professor.
"Miss Granger, wherever have you been?" The snarky smirk of the man made me want to sock him in the eyes with my fork, but I ignored his jab and focused on loading my plate. I was ravenous. I could feel his eyes on me as I scooped a heap of potatoes onto my plate, followed by a generous helping of the beef stew. Looking up once more, I realized he was laughing silently, his broad shoulders shaking with the effort of keeping quiet.
"Can I help you?" I asked, louder than I meant, and suddenly the entire table turned to us. Ginny and Neville both looked extremely uncomfortable at the sight of Snape laughing like he was, Hagrid just shrugged and went back to munching on his stew, and Minerva looked almost overcome with glee. "What? Why are you laughing?"
"You have-" He was overcome with another bout of giggles and I heard Neville whisper something to Ginny about a drugged Severus. I frowned and suddenly noticed a large bit of potato that somehow found it's way into my hair. Whispering a quick scourgify, it disappeared and I turned back to the still laughing wizard. He finally controlled himself and his expression was once again neutral, and no one said anything more of the awkward situation. I finished my meal quickly, and stood, intent on going back to my rooms for the night.
I wasn't aware of anyone following me until a hand grabbed my arm, effectively stopping me in my tracks. I turned to Snape, and glared daggers at him until he let go. His surprise at my reaction was noted, and he took a step back, which made my unexplainable anger rise even more. The heat in my cheeks made my eyes water, and I almost hoped that he wouldn't say anything, but to my dismay, he did.
"I'm terribly sorry for laughing at you." His voice was sincere, and suddenly, I went of like a box of firecrackers before he could continue.
"Sorry? Sorry!? What's the bloody matter with you?" At his confused expression, I continued, my voice growing louder and louder at each word. "I come back to the bloody school and I expect you to be the same cold-hearted bastard you've always been and here you are bloody apologizing for laughing! What happened to Snape, the great greasy bat of the dungeons?"
His face morphed into a painful expression, and then back to shock, and then suddenly, he was back to the Snape I remembered. His cold eyes glinted dangerously and he took a step towards me, effectively making me take a step back. My back hit the wall and he was suddenly pushed up against me, one long, pale finger pointed to me.
"You want to know, little girl?" He whispered, sending chills up and down my spine. "Fine. I'll tell you what happened to the great greasy bat." He paused and chuckled low, sending another chill all over. "He's still here, Granger. He never left, you insufferable girl. Excuse me for trying to be pleasant to my intellectual equal."
He spat the last words at me, pushing away from me and storming down the hall quickly. I stood there for a while before I regained my composure. I should've held my tongue and not said anything at all, I thought. Now I would most likely have to deal with the greasy git once again. I felt like banging my head against the wall, frustrated with my stupidity. Then his words hit me. He thought of me as his equal?
I rushed back to my rooms, intent on writing an apology for the man. Still shaking my head at my words to him, I wrote down words that I thought would convey my apology well, quickly. Charming it to fly as fast as it could, I sent it on it's way to the dungeons and sat down. I waited for what seemed like hours until a tapping at my door sent me running. The note seemed untouched, and I frowned, picking it from the air. I held it for a matter of seconds, confused, and then it instantly burst into flames, burning my fingers. Dropping it quickly, I yelped, staring at my now charred skin.
Oh, the bastard was going to pay dearly, yes indeed.