Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters from it. Harry Potter is the property of J. K. Rowling.

Joys of Manual Labor

Chapter Six

Silence followed the first chorus of the song. Severus and Lucius were both stunned, but for entirely different reasons.

'Muggles truly consider that music?" Lucius thought to himself with an internal shudder. 'How does that even have the appearance of music? It does not make that slightly bit of sense.' He glanced at Hermione. 'I do not understand how she could enjoy such noise.' He looked a bit closer and noticed the slight twitch of her lips. As though she was trying to hold back a smile. Her eyes flicked to his and he caught a glimmer of mirth in them. 'Is she laughing at me?' Lucius was barely able to keep from frowning at her.

'Well, I am back at the school, at least for now. And I am wearing black. However, I don't see how else that song describes me.' Severus thought trying to puzzle out Hermione's reasoning. 'It was enjoyable, I suppose I'll have to look into finding records done by AC/DC.'

Hermione watched the two men in front of her. It was so rare to see them speechless, and with looks of shock on their faces. Though she had seen Lucius shocked the day before when he heard just the beginning vocals of Led Zeppelin. 'He looks kind of cute when he's shocked.' Her lips twitched at the thought, and she quickly squashed it, turning the bulk of her focus to Severus. 'Now why is he looking so shocked? He clearly enjoyed the music. Does it not seem like the music someone like me, a bookworm and know-it-all, would listen to?' Hermione gave a silent snort at the idea. 'I'm more than a bookworm, more than a know-it-all.'

Her train of thought was broken when Ginny leaned into Her and whispered, "I think we might have broken them." She smirked a little and turn her full attention to her friend.

"I think you're right." Hermione's response wasn't as quiet as Ginny's comment, and it seemed to snap both men back to reality.

"Ms. Granger," Severus started in his teaching voice. "How can you say that song fits me to a T?"

Before Hermione could respond Lucius cut in. "How can you call that noise music, or singing? That was not singing."

This made both young women laugh.

"I suppose AC/DC is an acquired taste. My parents never enjoyed their music. But my uncle does. He went to a concert of theirs in 1980. Actually, that concert was part of their Back in Black tour. He said it was one of the best concerts he had ever been to."

Ginny looked at her friend. "Did you get your love of Rock N' Rock from your Uncle?"

Hermione smiled. "Probably. Mum and dad were often really busy with their work. They always made time for me, but my uncle would often be the one to pick me up from school. He would help me with my homework if needed, then we would listen to his records. It was a lot of fun. I really missed that when I started coming to Hogwarts."

"What does he do that he could be the one to pick you up from school?"

"At that time, he was just finishing up college and was actually still living with my grandparents. His classes ended with just enough time for him to come get me. So, he was also working on essays and such when we would get back to his home. But he works in a publishing company now, he helps edit and revise books."

"So, a love of books is a family trait, huh?" Ginny asked with a grin.

"Apparently." With that answer Hermione turned back to Lucius and Severus. "And to Answer your question, Professor Snape, I think it fits you because you came back. You didn't die from Nagini's bite. Something that I'm really grateful for. I also think it fits you because of the fact that you're always wearing black." Hermione added quickly trying to coverup what she said about being grateful that Severus was still alive She was blushing very much now and looked away.

'Interesting, she's happy that I'm not dead and buried. Even though I was so cruel to her when she was my student. I wonder why that is. And why is she blushing so much?'

"Well, Miss Granger, I can't say that I shall ever think of the noise that band makes as music. However, I will agree that certain aspects of those lyrics do match Severus."

Hermione gave Lucius a small smile but didn't seem inclined to say anything else.

Deciding to take pity on her friend, Ginny once again joined the conversation. "Not that talking about and listening to music isn't fun. But shouldn't we be working?" She directed her gaze to Severus. "How should we be proceeding, Professor? I got good grades in Herbology, but I have no idea where to start."

At Ginny's question Severus turned to survey the entirety of the greenhouse. After taking a minute or two to assess the situation he proceeded to give direction to everyone, including Lucius.

Lucius shot his friend a look. He did not particularly enjoy being told what to do but had to admit that Severus knew more about the care of magically plants than he did.

They had been working for close to two hours when Ginny noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to get a better look. Was Lucius Malfy...? He was. Ginny's eyes bugged out and she reached out to tap Hermione on the arm.

Hermione turned to her. "What?"

Ginny simply pointed towards Lucius and Hermione turned just in time to see him remove his shirt and place it on one of the tables in the greenhouse. Both young women gaped at the muscles that were now on display.

'Who knew that Mr. Malfoy was in such good shape? Now I know why Hermione was blushing so much at lunch yesterday.' She looked over at her friend and saw that Hermione's eyes were glued to Lucius and that her skin was more flushed than it had been from the physical labor she had been doing. 'If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Hermione had the hots for Mr. Malfoy.'

Seemingly not to notice the stares he was receiving Lucius took a drink of the water the house-elves had delivered earlier. Though, he did take care to keep Hermione within his line of sight. He quite enjoyed the look of appreciation on her face. He saw Ginny whisper something in Hermione's eye which caused her to blush even more before she nodded. Before Lucius could goad either girl even more Severus was in front of him, a lethal glower on his face. Lucius simply raised an eyebrow at his friend and continued working.

"Lucius." Severus said in a low dark hiss.

"No need to use a death glare on me Severus." Lucius' voice was just as quiet as Severus'. "There is nothing wrong with displaying one's assets. I won't mind if you do the same, and I doubt Hermione would either. As I told you before I'm not adverse to sharing. Now before you refuse, take a close look at Hermione, she doesn't seem to care about the scars I have. And she isn't actively hiding the scars she has." Lucius wasn't sure where this was coming from. Being so open something most Slytherins were good at, but he sensed that his friend needed some assurance. An unsure Slytherin built walls and he knew that was the last thing Severus needed to be doing. "Scars don't define us, my friend. They simply help to tell our stories." With that Lucius went back to where he had been working. Giving Severus time to process what he had said.