AN: Sure it's earlier than expected…but I've been gone a long time…so that's ok. Still rated M (but you knew that.) and JKR still owns Harry Potter. (You knew that too).
Severus experimented that day. True, there wasn't much to choose from at the Ministry…but Kingsley was still in decent form, single, and Severus supposed that he was considered attractive by most witches. He was certainly powerful and amiable. It took very little to lure the man into Hermione's office.
When Kingsley came into the room, Hermione greeted him properly, and ignored the subtle signs of attraction the wizard was clearly showing. She should have been more responsive since she was in estrus.
Severus toned down the sex aura and Kingsley left, the wizard obviously feeling slightly confused about his sudden attraction to the witch.
Ah.
Oh.
Well that could be it. If she were attracted to witches, nothing he could do would make her notice a mere man.
If the Ministry was a bit thin on the ground when it came to single attractive men, finding a single, attractive female who preferred witches was impossible. Severus gave up and went find a witch he had known well before his….change.
Millie Bullstrode had grown into an attractive witch, built on the lines of a classic statue…thick dark hair, good bones, excellent posture. She had made her preference known in the Slythern common room years before he became headmaster. Severus immediately realized that while she did have a current lover he deduced that the bond was light and easily broken.
Excellent.
Now how to get the two witches together?
In the end Severus faked a summons to the Ministry, and had a plain owl deliver it. A grumpy Millie left work early and flooed to the Ministry just when Hermione normally took her break. She walked in, nose in a book, right on time.
Severus turned up the magic as the two witches passed.
Millie's head turned like a greyhound catching a scent.
"Granger?"
Hermione looked up from her book and smiled slightly.
"Millicent…How are you?"
The witch stroked her sleek dark hair and smiled widely. "Very well. How have you been?"
Hermione smiled absently. "Oh you know the song and dance here at the Ministry. Harry was raving about your new Firebolt."
Mille preened. "It's one of my best yet. Do you have time for a cuppa? I have to be in the Department of Records by the end of business to update a patent, but I have time to spare."
Hermione happily agreed to the idea of 'catching up' and Severus followed, radiating power all the way. There. That would clear up his conscience about Miss Hermione Granger rather nicely…
Except that Miss Hermione Granger refused to do more than be friendly and polite toward the other witch, who was clearly interested in other activities. But Hermione did nothing. What was wrong with the girl?
Merlin's shaggy nose hair. He was going to have to pull out the big wand. He'd have to ask Aphrodite for advice.
SS
The Goddess of Love was a fan of chocolate…she made more money off of candy than any of the other members of the pantheon made on a single product. It wasn't hard to locate her when Severus concentrated. Finding her lounging around a Swiss chocolate shop was nothing new.
In the past five years Severus had learned that under those golden curls there was a powerful, cunning mind. It was just as well she hadn't participated in the founding of Hogwarts. He didn't want to think of what the halls would have looked like with an entire house dedicated to the charming, beautiful, and ruthless.
"Severus! How are you?"
He allowed himself a slight smirk. "Largely the same. Has your son tired of macramé?"
The goddess snorted. "Not likely. He was on the talk show 'Dory' yesterday."
Severus shook his head. "I heard. Something about shirtless crafts and buns of steel?"
Aphrodite shrugged. "Well, he was a sex god for eons."
Severus picked up a sinfully dark truffle and bit into it.
She watched him from the corner of her eye for a moment. "You didn't come here just to eat a few truffles Severus. What's on your mind?"
He squared his shoulders. "I'm having a bit of a problem with my powers."
She gave him her full attention. "How so?"
"There is a witch of my acquaintance…one from before I was dragooned into this position."
She smiled sweetly, showing perfect teeth, if you didn't take into account the slightly elongated canines. Severus never made the mistake of underestimating her because of her beauty. Of course…that might be because he had a different standard…he found that he much preferred whiskey-colored eyes to violet…and chestnut curls over golden silk.
"She's been resisting my…attempts at finding her an appropriate partner."
"What do you mean by appropriate?"
"Someone worthy of her of course."
She raised a perfectly sculpted golden eyebrow. "Shouldn't she be the one to choose?"
"She's been rather lax on that point…she was never social per se, but since the War…"
"Ah-ha. So this witch meant something to you before."
"Not particularly. She was a nuisance, just like my other students."
Both of the goddess' golden brows lifted. Severus sighed. He could see he would get no help from her without an explanation.
Should have bloody well asked Athena. Or Hermes. Or even Hades.
"Well perhaps I was forced to be rather nasty to this particular student…and perhaps she was rather bright…I thought that I might make up for my past behavior by easing her way into a relationship, since her schoolmates seem to think she is unable to secure a partner."
"And since you are the God of Sex, you feel the need to make matches as often as possible."
He shot her a glance as bitter as the 90% cocoa truffle he'd just popped into his mouth. "God of Physical Congress. And that's another little morsel you forgot to mention when I…wait no, I didn't accept the position because I wasn't given a choice." He glared and popped another treat in his mouth.
She sucked the filling out of one the creams and licked the chocolate off her fingers. "I thought a clever god like you would pick up on it."
She chose another bon bon at random. "So tell me, what happened when you tried to make a match for her?"
"She completely ignored every partner I presented."
Aphrodite reached for a white chocolate truffle with a thoughtful expression. "Narcissism?"
Severus snorted. "No. Nor is she so wrapped up in her studies that she does not notice other human beings. She is polite and friendly, with absolutely no trace of desire. I'm afraid she is in love with someone who is…unavailable."
"That would be unfortunate Severus, but hardy the end of the world. If she doesn't feed it, in time her love will fade away or change and she'll be able to find another."
Severus pushed away from the counter and paced fitfully. There was something…off in Aphrodite's reaction.
"Is there another reason?"
Aphrodite shrugged. "Occam's Razor. Her being in love with someone she can't have is the most likely scenario. The other possibilities are quite unlikely. The only thing you can do is try to figure out who she fancies."
Bring Hermione Granger and Harry Potter together? Every feeling, every iota of his soul found that idea nauseating. Then he considered that the bloody boy who lived might make the bushy-haired little swot happy.
Sweet Circe served with teriyaki sauce. He supposed he had to try.
SS
He hovered around Hermione: at work…at her flat…when she did her shopping. She barely registered the increased sex drive of those around her, beyond some slight eye-rolling, and the occasional muttered oath when her upstairs neighbors got a bit too loud…(Even Severus was wishing for a pair of earplugs after two days of constant moaning, groaning, and slapping flesh. Seriously…when were they EATING? And didn't they ever sleep?)
He could easily claim that he was drawn to her lovely collection of books…they covered every available wall all over the flat. Her one-person dinette was shoved in a corner of her dining room to make way for bookcases…it was the only personal thing in the space…and some would claim that it was almost as personal as a public library.
Severus sneered mentally at the dunderheads that would think that this was an impersonal collection of volumes. Each one was a treasured pet of its mistress…each book gave a hint at the contents of her mind…and judging by these hints, her mind was a lovely place to be.
He sighed as he closed a treatise on ancient runes. She was asleep on the couch…she had left him the oversized chair, almost as if she'd sensed him there.
Or more likely she preferred the couch.
Her neck would get stiff if she slept like that.
He pulled her into his arms and she snuggled into his chest. He smoothed the curls away from her face. Surely he could tuck her into bed without arousing her suspicions. Her fluffy monstrosity of a bed was no match for his power and the sheets turned down with ease. He didn't dare do more than take off her shoes and take down her hair, but she looked slightly more comfortable.
Smiling to himself, he turned out the light.
SS
There were those who might imply on occasion that Hermione Granger was a bit…unobservant. She supposed that she might be guilty of wearing the same black robes three times in a single week (after they'd been laundered of course) and there had been a time or two (since the end of the war) that she'd managed to forget the day of the week….
But by in large, she was extremely observant about those things that mattered.
And there was something off in her flat. She knew exactly where each and every book was located in her improvised library, and she knew exactly what she had or had not read in any given time period. And there were books out of place in her flat that had nothing to do with her current research.
And that was a puzzle because her wards should keep out anything short of a new dark lord.
Then there were the much more frequent trysts that were occurring around her. She could excuse the couple in the flat upstairs because she knew they were recently married (though in the year they'd been living up there they hadn't made anything NEAR that amount of noise) but the random couples in the halls of the Ministry, in the park…at the grocery store (yuck)…the flirtatious glances that she had gotten from any number of single (and not-so-single) wizards and witches…
She was beginning to wonder if there wasn't a subtle lust spell attached to everyday objects…perhaps the Daily Prophet (she still refused to read that rag) or maybe something in the water?
She conducted detection spells quietly and was wondering if she could bring Harry into her little conspiracy theory when she caught a hint of it.
She'd been reading, and she caught the first whiff. She inhaled deeply, thinking that it might have been the book (which she'd bought used after all…could it have once been his?). The scent did not linger, but she noticed it three times over the next few days.
She drew the most logical conclusion.
Severus Snape really was dead.
And for whatever reason, he was haunting her.
AN: Chapter 5 will be out tomorrow.