AN: Hey me again! I have a beta reader now and she is absolutely amazing! Her fanfiction UN is RPGgirl514, so check her stuff out! I really couldn't ask for more out of a beta reader.
All previous chapters will be updated soon(ish) so look out for that. Only minor details will be changed, so they shouldn't change how the story reads as a whole. Chapter releases may be delayed for a few days longer because of editing and whatnot. Also I will change the 'BDSM undertones' thing in the summary soon because it is less undertones now and just like straight BDSM haha.
And as always thank you so much for reviewing, following, and favoriting. Having my gmail spammed with alerts from you guys always brightens my day.
A couple of days passed with nothing too remarkable happening. Hermione helped Professor Snape out with whatever he asked. The tasks were usually simple, but always gave her enough to finish the work she had from the rest of her classes. She had developed a special hatred for fetching Snape's mail. At first she had wondered why Snape was so forceful with his owl but after having to fend the damned thing off from several nipping fits, she learned to head in with a certain mindset.
The two talked more often now, almost in the same way she would talk to a normal acquaintance ,as strange as it sounded. Most of the time he was lecturing her, but the more she got to know him she realized his constant scolding was his way of showing affection. He was genuinely concerned about her well-being.
He encouraged her to mark students off for whatever reason she wanted, whether it be the obnoxious writing tone of something or a simple misspelling. Suddenly she found her peers treating her with more respect once they realized she was the one grading their work. Despite that, she tried not to let her power get to her head and graded everything fairly. The only time she was especially harsh was when Draco was particularly irritating. Like the other day when he and his pack went out of their way to follow her to her next class and obnoxiously pretended to tug on her robes from behind.
"Granger, I need you to pick up something from the library for me." Snape wrote the book title on a scrap piece of parchment paper and handed it to her. "Hurry back."
Hermione took the scrap, nodding listlessly in response. She would be able to stretch out her legs. She threw her bookbag over her shoulder and set out, her legs loudly creaking and cracking in the silence. The halls were mostly empty, making it easier to navigate about. She was also happy to avoid the pity-filled stares of her classmates and whispers as she walked by. Strangely, her punishment had caused somewhat of a political issue among her classmates. "Poor Hermione, Snape has really been focusing all his anger on her lately." "At least it's been stopping him from messing with the rest of us," was usually how they went.
It felt like years had passed since the last time she had been inside the library. She had spent so much time in there it felt like a second home to her. Everything was still in place from her last visit, except the spot in the corner she usually sat in was occupied by a noisy group of Slytherins. She fought back a groan, trying to make things easier on herself by going against her usually outspoken nature. She wanted to get this trip done as fast as possible, return to the potions classroom to finish her work and that was it. There was no need to have any more angry Slytherins after her.
After clearing her check-out for Snape with the librarian, she slipped behind the nearest bookshelf and to the back section. As she browsed the titles she couldn't help but pick up on the not-very school-appropriate conversation the group was having. The librarian had left the room, or so she assumed, because there was no way Madam Pince would have sat by while they were talking about such things.
"Oh wow, so what was next?" The bulkier one said to the other, nudging his side. They looked familiar but not enough to put a name to their faces. She might have saw them hanging around Malfoy at some point.
"You wouldn't believe it, it was pretty surprising for me too. A Hufflepuff girl into such kinky shit. It sounded like a dream."
"A dream come true!" They both laughed, and again Hermione found herself withholding another groan.
"So I when I had the chance I slipped off to Hogsmeade, you know, the night of the show and all that mess," he said. "I got this book and I gave her a great time ,I'd say." He tossed the book on the table.
Her interests were piqued. She took a few steps toward them and removed a book from the shelf, creating a hole for her to look through. A thick coating of dust that was previously covering the shelf flew around her. She covered her mouth with her palm, fighting the urge to sneeze.
"But the book is total bull. It doesn't have any of the stuff in it I thought it would. I had to do most of the actual 'scene' thinking myself."
She caught a short glimpse of the cover, only catching the name. 'Bondage and BDSM: An Introduction,' she repeated curiously in her mind. It sounded as tasteful as it could possibly be she supposed. The group soon changed subjects, going on to talk about the boring lecture they got from Professor McGonagall after getting caught and other subjects she was equally uninterested in. She went back to looking for the book, repeating the name in her head, trying to keep herself on track.
"OH BUGGER! She's waiting for me, I almost forgot!" The boy screamed, running out of the library, and leaving his things behind. His friends, who were equally surprised, chased after him, grabbing most of his stuff and taking them with them.
She tried to ignore them and continued looking for the book. Finally finding it, she quickly grabbed it and went to leave, passing by the table the group sat at to see if her intuitions were correct. And they were. Near the edge of the table laid alone the book the boy was so carelessly swinging around in the air earlier. She ran her fingers over the cover, sliding it into her bag before running out.
Out of breath, she stopped in front of the door to Snape's classroom to recollect herself before entering. She took a deep breath and walked inside. "Sorry if that took long, there was some traffic in the library," she lied. He stared at her, giving her a look that made her wonder if he knew better. She smiled awkwardly, sitting back down in her spot directly across from him. She wrapped her book bag around itself, to make sure nothing accidentally slipped out, and placed it on the floor next to the back legs of her stool.
"Is that so?" He took the book from her and placed it to the side of his desk, showing absolutely no interest in it. He intertwined his fingers together and cleared his throat. Her uncomfortable behavior spoke volumes; she wasn't fooling anyone. "Do you have something to say? Speak up now." His eyes narrowed, determined to get to the bottom of things, she assumed. His presence was growing, as if it wasn't already impossible to ignore.
"N-no! It's nothing important! Sorry!" She laughed, trying to think of something to change the subject with. She brought up the first thing that came to mind. "What did you want that book for anyway? Is it about something you're planning to teach us in class?"
"Which is it? Do you not want to share or is it nothing?" The words rolled off his tongue, ending each word with a sharp click.
She found herself in an uncomfortable position. "It's nothing, really." She picked up her pencil and tried to look busy so he wouldn't question her any further. He said nothing more on the matter but she could still feel his burning gaze on her. She felt guilty for lying to him, and if these was a way to explain herself without putting herself in a compromising position she would. She also had a feeling if she said anything more she would basically be digging herself her own grave. Snape was very cunning and knew the right things to say to get what he wanted. It was best to avoid his questions all together.
Not much time passed before Snape dismissed her. She could tell by the slight change in his body language he was feeling uneasy, but she pretended not to notice. She clutched her book bag firmly in her hand, ready to get out of there with it. Hermione took the quickest route back to the dorms, nearly slipping as she went.
She sat on her bed with the curtains drawn around her, giving her the most privacy she could in the noisy dorm room. The book was in front of her, and now with the opportunity she had no idea what to do. 'This wasn't considered stealing was it?' She thought, running her fingers over the silky cover. The librarian would have have a heart attack if she saw something like this lying around, and the boy it belonged to probably would have gotten in trouble for having it. Perhaps in a way she was doing everyone a favor? Somehow she had trouble convincing herself that completely, but it was a good enough excuse for now.
With a deep breath she took the book into her arms and began reading the back cover. 'So, BDSM, huh?'
She had heard of it before in books, which oddly enough seemed to be a constant underlying theme in most of the fiction she'd read secretly, but she never actively sought it out. So in a sense it wasn't like the 'kink scene', as the book described it, was entirely new to her. She replaced the awkward paper book cover with another random book cover lying around her room and set it on her lap, flipping it to index page. The book itself seemed to be a more informational take on BDSM, describing the ethics and emotional impact of the play more then the play itself.
She skimmed over the forward, her eyes darting across the small print font until something caught her eye. It was a small passage about spanking, flogging and other methods of punishment, whatever that was. She felt her face flush and she adjusted the book awkwardly, hiding it more in her lap. Her eyes scanned the passage again, trying to keep images of Professor Snape and his flogger out of her mind for long enough to take it in.
Confused about some of the terms used, she flipped back a few pages to read the basics. Okay, she thought, again shifting into another sitting position. So a dominant is the one who typically does the whipping as either for play or as punishment for his submissive.
She furrowed her eyebrows, continuing onto the section describing the role of the submissive. The submissive decides their own boundaries and consents to everything done to them. At first she was confused with who would ever consent to something like being controlled or whipped, but when asking herself the same question her answer was slightly more complicated than a simple 'yes' or 'no'. On one hand answering yes; that she would consent to such a thing would make her question her own well-being. While whipping was definitely out of the question, the more mild forms of punishment such as spanking didn't sound so bad. And on the other hand, answering 'no' felt more forced than anything.
The more she read on the subject the less perverse it sounded. The way everything was described in the book actually made it sound better than typical relationship dynamics in some ways. Everything seemed to revolve around both partner's consent, so it wasn't like the dominant partner had all the power and could use and abuse their submissive partner as much as they pleased.
She closed the book and stuffed it under her pillow, having had enough of it for the day. Her head was jumbled up with a cloud of messy thoughts and confusion. She didn't want to admit to herself her sudden interest in the subject could indicate something else. While the book had changed her opinions on some things, one thing it couldn't change was the negative social stigma attached to it. Admitting she liked it meant she was basically classifying herself as a weird sexual deviant with past trauma, like she had been so quick to accuse Snape of being before. But when she thought of Snape now she saw none of those things.
She closed her eyes and pulled the covers over herself. Lately she hadn't been getting enough sleep; there were too many things to do and thoughts running through her head. She never had time to herself, something she had come accustomed to from studying so much before, and now whenever she did she was plagued with thoughts of her predicament. For once all her stress wasn't entirely academic-related. Once she realized how tired she was, like a blessing, sleep quickly took her.
"My, my, Ms. Granger, now what did I say about running your mouth?"
She looked up at him from her spot kneeling on the floor. The space around them was pitch black, only the two of them alone in the dark void of the room, wherever it was at. Snape stood ahead of her more dressed down than usual. His collared shirt was unbuttoned halfway down his chest, and his overcoat was laying lazily off to the side along with his thin leather belt.
The first thing she noticed about herself were the ropes. Her arms were tired firmly behind her back, her wrists to her ankles. The second thing she noticed was the cool breeze between her thighs. She clasped them as firmly together as she could. She wasn't wearing much either, hardly anything in comparison. Her blouse was completely undone, and the plaid school skirt she often sported was much shorter than she remembered.
"I'm sorry Professor, I didn't mean to-"
"I've had enough of your excuses. Actions have consequences." Severus wrapped one arm around her waist, playfully tugging at the rope with one hand, and firmly held her chin up with the other. His hands were rough, and she enjoyed the texture. She closed her eyes to focus on how it all felt. She could sense him hovering above her, more of his touch almost within reach. She wanted more of his body on her, but couldn't do much in her current position. The ropes were tight and severely limited her movement. She was sure that was how Professor Snape preferred it.
The air was heavy, and for once Hermione didn't want to think. When she was with him it was like the burden of everyday life was taken off her. Always being 'the brains'; the one who was always expected to know the right thing to do and figure things out made Hermione feel like Atlas, bearing the weight of the world upon her shoulders.. It was nice, maybe once in a while, not to have to worry about such things.
"Children get punished for playing games Granger." His voice was raw. He ran his palm down her neck, it sent shivers through her spine. She arched her back, bringing herself closer to him. Her skirt hiked higher up her thigh, revealing the lace trim of her underwear. But only the slightest. His eyes wandered below for a fraction of a second.
"How shameless Miss Granger." His expression remained unchanged, and just as unreadable as ever.
She watched him, fully engrossed, and excited for whatever was going to happen next. He pulled out something familiar from behind his back. She gulped. An eager moan escaped her lips.
Hermione jumped out of bed, gasping.
She didn't know what had come over her. Not in a million years could she ever picture herself doing anything like that. She felt dirty and embarrassed that not only was she having strange kink-centric dreams about her teacher, but because of how her body now still twitched in excitement because of it. Her pleading thoughts still echoed uncomfortably in her head. She bit her bottom lip, hard. She regretting picking up the book. She would return it tomorrow.