Chapter Two
Nearly a week passed before there was another meeting of Order of the Phoenix members at Grimmauld Place. As the adults concluded business in the kitchen, Molly Weasley opened the door to the hallway. A motley assortment of youngsters gradually tramped their way downstairs in dribs and drabs and back into the room, curious and happy that they were no longer excluded, although frustrated at still being kept in the dark about all the thrilling goings on. Fred and George were already there with their parents, as well as Tonks, Lupin and Kingsley. Alastor Moody - normally an overbearing presence - was conspicuously absent. Somebody else though, was conspicuously present, despite not actually interacting with anyone else in the room. Severus Snape sat on a bench in the corner, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else at that particular moment.
Ginny Weasley pushed by Hermione just as the older girl was passing through the doorframe, bumping her friend's shoulder - not stopping as she called out an apology and made her way to the larder.
"Thank Merlin the meeting's over, Mum - I've been gasping for a pumpkin juice for the last two hours!" The twins sidled over to their sister and started rummaging through the cupboard with her.
"Pass us a Butterbeer, Fred!" George asked his brother. Molly Weasley shot them a stern glare as she retook her place at the long kitchen table where most of the Order members were still chatting casually.
"One each!" she chastised. "And one only! I'm not going to tell you boys again. It's bad enough some of the chaos you two cause without impairing your judgement, quite frankly."
"Yes Mum! Spoilsport..." they muttered under their breaths. Harry and Ron had now arrived downstairs too - presumably having overheard promises of refreshments.
"Oh yeah, Butterbeer! Pass us one, Fred?" Ron held an arm out towards his brother, who went to hand him a dusty bottle.
"Butterbeer, Hermione?" Fred called to her, leaning backward out of the pantry, only his head visible from behind the door.
"Fred!" Stop trying to corrupt the poor girl will you?!" Molly scolded him, hands on hips. "For Merlin's sake, she doesn't need to be led astray by you two hooligans! Unlike you, she might actually not want to behave like a bunch of irresponsible, Niffler-brained-..."
"-Looks like our Hermione's quite capable of corrupting herself..." George remarked slyly from next to his brother, interrupting his mum. He was looking over towards Hermione and noticed she'd taken a seat in the far corner of the kitchen - ostensibly the only spare place available, albeit for a very good reason, as it was on the other end of the short bench where Snape was located, and clearly nobody else had been courageous - or foolhardy - enough to encroach on the glowering professor's personal space.
Although they sat a good few inches apart from each other, the Weasley twin's beady eyes had spotted that the Gryffindor's hand was down by her side, laying on the seat in between her and Snape. And to his astonishment, the Head of Slytherin appeared to be resting his own arm on top of hers! A subtle gesture; just barely noticeable given that it was mostly concealed by the sleeve of his cloak. A dozen heads whipped round in their direction, and stared at the pair as they made sense of George's remark.
Snape didn't move a muscle; he appeared to be carved from stone, and his face remained completely expressionless. Hermione's cheeks had taken on a faint flush and she was staring at her shoes, holding herself awkwardly as if she were torn between remaining similarly motionless in solidarity, and dashing from the room at a dead sprint.
Ron, who had only just managed to remove the cap from his Butterbeer by prying at it with the edge of his wand, dropped the glass bottle onto the flagstone floor with an almighty crash. Syrupy brown liquid exploded in every direction - drenching the feet of the three or four people who had the misfortune to be seated closest to where he was standing - accompanied by a thousand razor-sharp shards as the bottle practically disintegrated. He stood there gaping, unable to speak, looking around the room to see if everybody else had come to the same conclusion as him.
Molly Weasley was the first one to break the silence. "Severus?" Her voice had just a hint of concern, although she masked most of it with her habitual motherly tone.
"Molly?" Snape met her gaze evenly; his voice was its usual smooth, level baritone that invited no argument. Even when caught, he would give nothing away.
"Hermione, dear? Is there something going on between the two of you?" Mrs Weasley had clearly decided that if she was going to get anything out of the pair of them, it wasn't going to be from the Potions master, Occlumens or otherwise.
You could have cut the atmosphere in the kitchen with the Sword of Gryffindor at that moment. Ron and Ginny looked horrified; George was barely suppressing a smirk, although Fred looked as though he might have been about to be sick; Lupin was staring quietly, but very intently, at some particularly interesting-looking knot in the wooden table in front of him. Tonks was beaming broadly in Hermione's direction, her eyes twinkling; the young Auror's hair had shifted from its familiar bubble-gum pink to a vibrant red colour.
Scuffing the toe of her trainer backwards and forwards on the kitchen floor anxiously, Hermione glanced up at the man next to her for reassurance. Snape's black eyes flickered towards her for a second, and his hand tightened subtly to grasp hers underneath the cover of his voluminous robes.
"I-" She didn't manage to get any more out, before Ron slammed his hands down on the table and started shouting at her, his face flushing worse than hers, until it almost matched his hair. His wand was gripped tightly in his right fist - the knuckles were turning white as he resisted the urge to point it at Snape and hex him eight ways to Sunday.
"Urgh 'Mione, that's disgusting - Snape's like a million years old! And he's a right bastard! What could you possibly see in him?! I bet he slipped you a Love Potion or something!"
The professor bristled visibly, pursing his lips and rising swiftly to his feet; long black cloak sweeping angrily behind him as he drew himself up to his full, not-inconsiderable height. Suddenly Hermione jumped up next to him, this time placing her hand on his forearm, staying his reaction. "Actually Ronald, I'll have you know Severus is a very intelligent man! And a gentleman to boot! Which is a lot more than I can say about a great many other wizards I know!" She glared around the room at her friends and assorted acquaintances in turn - daring any of them to make further public judgment on her romantic choices. She continued hotly, "Quite frankly it's none of any of your business, I'm almost seventeen now - which last time I checked was the Wizarding age of majority! I'm at perfect liberty to do whatever I like, with whomever I like!" Her hair had frizzed up like an angry cat, and she had her hands on her hips indignantly, her previous embarrassment overcome.
"So you are... dating?" Ginny's quiet voice sounded curious, nervous, and revolted, all in one go.
"Obviously." Snape met each of their eyes; taking in all of their varied reactions in silence. Hermione looked up at him in admiration and leaned over to rest against him lightly, her head nestled into his shoulder.
"Filch's hairy old arse-crack you are!" yelled Fred, outraged. George seemed mildly taken aback by his brother's strong feelings on the matter. Personally he'd always thought they'd had a 'live and let live' attitude to other people's insane behaviour, so long as it didn't directly affect them adversely.
"Wash your mouth out, Weasley!" Snape suddenly snapped at him, his patience with the current charade clearly exhausted. "I may not be able to deduct house points while you're here, but I still expect to be treated with respect by my students, no matter the environment." Then he purred, "Perhaps if you were less uncouth, you might be a little more successful in attracting witches of the same calibre as Miss Granger?" The retort came out as a sneer - he hoped the girl next to him wasn't offended by his words, but he was no longer willing or able to sit and take their insults without riposte, even if the boy's mother were witness.
"And what about her? Hermione's still your student too, isn't she! That's got to be against so many school rules it's unreal! Wait 'til Dumbledore hears about this, Snape - I bet he'll sack you so fast your head'll spin, you son of a banshee! I wouldn't be surprised if the Ministry breaks your wand and throws you in Azkaban for good measure!" Ron was back in full flow again, his freckles fairly throbbing against the livid colour of his cheeks.
Seeing that there was no way this situation was going to be sorted out with a calm, reasonable discussion, Mrs Weasley stood up and clapped her hands, calling the room to order. "Right, everybody out - now! Ron, Fred - out! You too, Harry." She ushered all of the youngsters towards the door to the hallway - full-on pushing her youngest boy, who was still rigid with fury, and shooting Snape a filthy glare over his shoulder the whole way out of the room. The remaining adults made their polite goodbyes to Molly and Arthur, citing their need to get away to conduct Order business anyway, and then it was just Hermione, Snape and the Weasley parents alone in the kitchen. Closing the door firmly, Molly sat back down at the table, waving a hand towards the other chairs in an invitation to the couple in the corner. Hermione took a seat in silence; Snape had folded his arms across his chest, looking as if he were going to prove spectacularly uncooperative about any further prying.
"Severus, don't be like that dear! I've dealt with nearly as many petulant teenage wizards in my time as you have, I'll bet, let's not make things harder than necessary." She smiled warmly at him. Arthur pulled a heavy wooden chair out from under the table for the professor, before seating himself next to his wife opposite them. "So! I presume Dumbledore does know about 'this', Severus? Whatever 'this' is of course?" The Weasley matriarch waved her hand again vaguely, encompassing the two youngest occupants at the table with the gesture.
"He does." Snape inclined his head fractionally in confirmation. "There's very little to say Molly, I'm afraid all this hysteria is simply nonsense." He sighed deeply and rested an elbow onto the table top, running his hand through his hair and brushing it away from his face, before letting it all flop back over his eyes once more - the first real indication that anything about this incident had gotten to him. Hermione thought Severus looked tired suddenly, and her heart broke for him. Working himself to death fighting Voldemort for the Order, and now she had caused him problems with the very people that were supposed to be his allies. She badly wanted to plant a gentle kiss on his forehead just to remind him that he wasn't in this alone, although she refrained from doing so in case Molly wasn't quite as accepting of their relationship as she appeared on the surface.
"Right... well... As pleased as I am for you... both..." She shot Hermione a glance quickly as if double-checking to make sure the girl was one-hundred percent a willing participant in the whole debacle. "I'm not sure if it's a terribly wise idea for you two to... At least... Perhaps if you were to avoid any-..."
"Molly, if you are implying that I have any intention of behaving improperly... I can assure you-"
"Oh no, Severus, I know you wouldn't be so foolish. I didn't think for a moment that you might do anything as rash as that. It's just that maybe it would be for the best if for the moment, you didn't show off any displays of personal affection towards each other in front of the others? It's a lot for them to take in, you know - not being overt about it might make it easier..."
"Yes - Merlin forbid I should give my students reason to dislike me(!) However... you can rest assured, that you will not see us engaging in any nauseating romantic behaviours whilst in company."
"Speak for yourself..." muttered Hermione, rubbing her foot up against his leg under the table, away from the gaze of Mr and Mrs Weasley. Snape closed his eyes and inhaled deeply in an expression of extreme patience, before rising from his chair in one fluid motion.
"If this interrogation is concluded...? I'm headed back to Cokeworth tonight." He shot a steely, impenetrable glare towards Mrs Weasley before she could open her mouth to comment. "Alone." Not bothering to tuck his chair back under the table, the tall dark wizard bent his shoulders down and planted a firm kiss on the top of Hermione's head before leaving the room, striding purposefully down the hallway and out the front door, which closed with a loud bang. Sat in silence, Hermione offered the Weasleys a wan smile.
"Well!" Mr Weasley broke the tension, rooting around in his jacket pocket, pulling out a couple of Muggle electrical fuses and fiddling idly with them. "I think we could all use a cup of tea Molly, don't you?" Shooting Hermione a reassuring smile, he too left the table, and started pottering about in one of the drawers in the kitchen dresser. "Has anyone seen the Doxycide? I think there's another infestation in the drawing room curtains again..."
Reluctantly following Mrs Weasley towards the sink, Hermione helped get a few teacups out of the cupboard, picking out the least-chipped ones and placing them on the draining board while the kettle boiled noisily.
"Well I must say, I am pleased though that Severus has found someone at last. I thought that poor boy was going to spend the rest of his life as a lonely old wizard. And he couldn't wish for a nicer witch than you of course, my dear. I'm sorry if I seemed a little disapproving earlier, I have to admit I was taken by surprise somewhat. I'd always imagined you'd have your pick of the young men at Hogwarts - what in Merlin's name was it that drew you to Severus of all people, if you don't mind me asking?"
Hermione, seeing that Mrs Weasley wasn't about to cast any hasty judgements over her, studied the cracks in the glaze inside the teacup in front of her for a moment, trying to think how best to word how she felt.
"I... he's... different. More than just how he looks, I mean. I can't say the overgrown-bat thing has ever been a particular weakness of mine(!)" She cracked a small, slightly wistful smile. "But the way he teaches - you can tell he has a real passion for magic. He's very gifted, both practically and academically. I admire his enthusiasm. He can also actually be really funny sometimes! Not in a pranking way like Fred and George, and he'll never do stand-up - oh, um, where someone tells jokes on a stage." she added, seeing Molly's brief bemusement. "He just has that dry wit, he's very quick. Probably not quite so funny if you're the person on the other end of his venom I know, but a talent's a talent."
Molly handed her a cup and saucer containing the world's most anaemic-looking tea. Hermione sipped cautiously at it; wary of burning her lips on the hot water, and contemplated which houseplant she could tip it into when Mrs Weasley's back was turned, that wouldn't try and bite her in revenge.
"He's very lucky to have found someone like you who can see past his defensive exterior Hermione. Although I can't think what Dumbledore said when Severus first told him! I imagine it was just as much of a surprise to the headmaster as well. To be honest, what with your age, and Severus', and the fact you're still at school, I'm astonished he allowed it?"
Hermione leaned back against the kitchen counter, still cradling her drink, staring into the tea as if the leaves might reveal some profound truth to her. Molly was still bustling around, wiping tables and putting things back in cupboards. "Actually... from what Severus tells me, Professor Dumbledore seemed quite pleased. I was as surprised as you! We both went to his office at first, just to confess that we weren't sure what this was, but that there was something between us, and he was very polite, listened to what we had to say without much comment. Obviously I'm of age this year, but I'm not entirely sure what the rules are. The headmaster didn't say whether there were any... restrictions... as such, on our relationship if it develops further, but we both decided that we weren't going to do anything publicly at Hogwarts that might expose it, just in case. We're both quite private people - I couldn't bear the thought of people gossiping about either of us - either his motivations, or mine! Severus obviously has more personal interaction with him than I do though, and to be honest, it sounds like if Dumbledore weren't in a position of authority over us both, he would be outright encouraging us. Maybe he's as tired of seeing his Head of House swooping grumpily about the castle as everyone else?!" Her lips pursed in amusement as an ingrained image of the severe Potions master sprang to mind - so deeply in conflict with the thoughtful, caring man she had come to know of late.
Molly chuckled. "Well, if Professor Dumbledore thinks you're going to be a good influence on him, then who am I to argue?! Do be careful though my dear, I'd hate to see you hurt - either of you - if it doesn't work out. And if it does, well... just don't be in a hurry to rush things. I know Severus is a bit older, but if he's half the man Dumbledore makes him out to be then he should at least be respectful towards you and not pressure you into anything, if you know what I mean dear?"
Hermione flushed slightly - it was bad enough when her own parents had given her a massively awkward talk about "boys" years ago, never mind Ron's mum hinting at it as well! She grudgingly took another sip of the insipid tea, just to avoid making eye contact. Luckily Arthur had disappeared somewhere already while the two women had been chatting - presumably on a Doxy-hunt.
"Oh, yes, um... I don't think anyone needs to worry about that! Severus is very respectful, we've not... we're not... we haven't..." she was running out of non-specific denials. "What I mean is, it's early days yet, we just enjoy each other's company."
Molly seemed slightly relieved to hear it. No doubt with a constant stream of teenage boys in her house over the years, she was inherently suspicious of men's behaviour when it came to their girlfriends.
"Lovely! Right, well I'm going to start the potatoes peeling for dinner now. Do you think you could go and ask Ginny if she's free? I could use some help sorting out the rest of the crockery before we have all the Order members over for dinner again at some point. Merlin knows, I'm sure there's something stealing the side plates - there's more missing every time I come here. I think Sirius needs to have a word with Kreacher again!"
Hermione took the opportunity to abandon her teacup in the sink, and went upstairs to the second floor. She knocked gently on the door to the bedroom that Ginny occupied when her family wasn't at the Burrow.
"Yeah?" Her friend called out. Hermione turned the doorknob carefully and cracked the heavy door open ajar, sticking her head through cautiously.
"Hermione! Come in!" Ginny was sat cross-legged on the bed, patting the duvet next to her, inviting her friend to join her. "So?!"
"So?" Hermione feigned ignorance and cringed internally, knowing what was coming.
"Why didn't you say?! You and Snape- sorry, Professor Snape!" Ginny's eyes were wide, although she seemed more excited and curious than revolted. Hermione took a deep breath.
"There's not really much to tell, Gin. I realised I admired him - OK, more than admired him! I liked him, and thought he was really interesting, so I got up the courage to tell him how I felt one day and... Well, he eventually realised I was telling the truth, and I think maybe he was just glad to have someone who wanted to listen to him. To talk about things - anything - other than Voldemort all the time! Someone who appreciates scholarly pursuits, but also doesn't have a pre-existing impression of him from his Death Eater days."
"And...?" Ginny leaned forward, fixing Hermione with a penetrating stare, looking like she was about to burst from anticipation.
"And?" Hermione was hoping that Ginny would take the hint from her continued stalling and drop the line of enquiry she knew this conversation was taking. But she knew better than to underestimate the tenacity of a Weasley. "You want to know if we've kissed yet?"
"Merlin, no! Apart from the fact that that's an image I don't really want - sorry 'Mi - I'm after much more juicy gossip than that - spill the beans!"
Shooting a mock-exasperated glare at the younger girl, Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're as bad as your mother you know, Gin. Just because we like each other and he's a bit older, doesn't mean we've jumped straight into bed! And even if we had... you know...? I'm sorry, I love you dearly, but I'm not going to divulge all the gory details. He does have a reputation to keep up you know, and I'd end up with detentions until I was as old as Nicolas Flamel if I breached Severus's privacy I'm sure. Anyway, your mum wants you downstairs I'm afraid - I think she's still trying to organise the kitchen, seeing as Sirius isn't interested in sorting the house out much. Makes sense seeing as we're all spending so much time here lately I suppose."
Ginny huffed and groaned, and slithered off the bed reluctantly, sticking her hand into Arnold the Pygmy Puff's cage as she passed and shooting her friend a final lascivious grin as she left the room. Hermione could hear her stomping her way down the two flights of stairs as she went. Giving Arnold a final scratch behind the ears herself, she made her way back to her own room across the landing and busied herself rearranging everything in her trunk twice, until everything was how she liked it.