...still not owning Harry Potter. but I would totally own him in a game of Yahtzee.
Now I was confused as ever. It must have shown because he started laughing at me.
"Why else would I have come here? You are important to people, you know." He informed me, still smiling.
"Yes," I said slowly, "but why specifically you? When things were normal, you never gave me a second glance. Well, if only to hurl insults, but..." I trailed off.
Snape heaved a sigh, letting it out yoga-style.
"Granger, I accepted the minister's offer. I am the official headmaster of Hogwarts."
My head snapped up to look at him, to see if he was serious. There was no trace of the humor that had been there moments before. He continued speaking.
"You see, I had plans to open my own shop; an apothecary of sorts. The idea was about to become a reality when I had another encounter with the minister. I had initially given him a stern no in response to his offer but I've come to find that Arthur can be quite relentless."
I felt my jaw fall open.
"Arthur Weasley is minister?" I gasped. Snape nodded. He seemed a bit irritated by the fact.
"Yes, Weasley finally got out of the basement." He grumbled.
"He saw me in Diagon Ally. Never accept a drink from the man; you'll never get away, especially if he wants something. We sat in the Leaky Cauldron for over an hour before he even got to why he wanted to speak to me." He rolled his eyes and massaged his temples at the memory. It was kind of comical to see him so annoyed with Mr. Weasley.
"Finally, after I couldn't take anymore anecdotes about Molly, I had to get to the point. I asked him what he wanted with me. He brought up the Hogwarts offer, and I immediately shot it down. Did that deter the man, oh no. He started talking about his children; the ones who didn't survive the war." He said quietly.
"He laid the guilt trip on me. He said he wanted only the best to head the school and, consequently, the only person he could see replacing Dumbledore and Minerva was me." He paused to take a drink and shook his head.
"His logic's a little twisted, wouldn't you say so?" He said more than asked. I was still confused. I sat up in my chair and leaned on the table, on my elbows.
"So, where do I come in?" I asked him. He grinned and turned so he was facing me strait on.
"Well," he said, "I need teachers, don't I?" as though it were completely obvious.
I felt my mouth hang open again but I quickly snapped it shut. Hadn't I just said that I wouldn't go back?
"Yes, I know what you said." Snape answered. I glared at him.
"Stay out of my head. What makes you think I'll go back with you?"
He gave me another Snape-Signature Smirk.
"I know you'll come back. Curiosity always kills the Griffindor." I snorted.
"It's been eight years. If I were curious enough, I would have already gone back." Score: one to Hermione.
Snape "hmmed" as he thought. After a moment or two, he nodded to himself and spoke.
"Miss Granger. If you were to come back to Hogwarts, you would have your own rooms, summers off, and..." he paused.
I raised my eyebrows.
"Well? And?" I asked impatiently.
"And your pick of what subject you'll teach. Except potions; that one is mine."
I tilted my head, questioningly.
"But you're the Headmaster."
Snape rolled his eyes.
"Glorious observation, Granger. Yes, I know I'm headmaster, and as Headmaster I'll do as I please. Even if it is teach a class." He said sarcastically.
I sighed. I'd never admit it to him but, I was curious. Hearing that Arthur and Molly were doing well made me hopeful. I shook my head. I couldn't believe I was actually considering this offer. As I was thinking, the waiter passed by the table. I at him and pointed at my glass. When it was full, I downed half of it and turned to Snape, who was waiting patiently with a funny look on his face.
"What?" I asked
He shook his head.
"Nothing, really, it's just in the years that I knew you I would have never thought of you as the drinking type." He said, somewhat amazed.
I laughed.
"Eight years of thinking about the past will drive anyone to drinking." I said.
Suddenly, a mental picture came to view: I was alone in a small white room with a bottle of red wine before me. All I did was sit and drink, and the more I drank, the bigger the bottle got, reminding me of an inverted Alice in Wonderland.
The image startled me and I tried shaking my head back into focus.
Snape looked at me, concerned.
"Are you alright? What's wrong?" I didn't say anything. I was still thinking about the Alice-bottle.
I couldn't live like that.
I focused back to the restaurant, and looked at Snape.
"When do I start?"
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