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Headmistress McGonagall sat behind her desk, her face etched with a mix of shock and distress. "This is absolutely unacceptable. I can't believe someone was able to do such a thing - and inside the castle!"
Hermione didn't reply. Rowland sat in the chair next to Hermione, remaining a quiet source of support. His eyes held concern, but he was good enough not to speak for her, despite how upset she was.
Minerva turned to her, resting her hands flat on the wooden desk. "Professor Granger, I am deeply sorry that you had to go through this. Your safety is our priority. I will contact the Aurors office immediately."
"Thank you, but I sent a message to Harry and Ron, and one to Kingsley. I'm worried about what comes next. I don't feel safe in my own rooms."
Minerva looked distressed. "That is understandable. We will heighten security around your quarters, twenty-four seven watch." She paused as an idea came to her. "I will put Peeves on it."
"The ghost?" Rowland asked, surprised.
"Peeves is a poltergeist, technically. Who else has the time to keep post outside Professor Granger's door?"
"Will he agree?" Hermione asked.
"Let's find out." Minerva pointed her wand to her throat, "Peeves!"
The poltergeist in question came through the floors a few moments later. He looked annoyed to be there, like a teenager who was about to be punished for breaking the rules. "I didn't do nuffing this time."
"Peeves, your services are needed." Minerva started. Peeves perked up, realizing that he was not in trouble at all. "There has been a security breach. Professor Granger's rooms have been vandalized. We need your assistance catching the culprit."
Hermione had thought that Peeves would refuse, or demand something, or perhaps throw dungbombs at their heads, but to her astonishment, he didn't. His ghost form seemed to stand straighter as he awaited his orders.
"You will remain unseen and stand post outside of Hermione's door, if you catch the culprit, AND you bring them to me AND you behave towards Hermione, I will allow you to personally torment the person responsible for a whole hour before we turn them into the Aurors. Do you accept this?"
Peeves' eyes widened. He stuck his chest out and nodded vehemently. "Peeves will catch the naughty naughties." He swept his hand up into a grand salute and disappeared.
"I've not seen him this excited since Spring of 1998."
No one at the castle liked to refer to the events of Spring 1998 as the "Battle of Hogwarts" as the rest of the wizarding world did. The horrors of that bloody fight had soaked into the walls, the very spirit, of this castle.
"Thank you, Minerva." Hermione smiled at her boss sadly. "There's something I never told you." She explained about the black bouquet she had received. "I wasn't sure if they were really a threat, but I think this confirms it."
Minerva looked scandalized. "Professor Granger! I expect you to tell me these things immediately!"
"I will in the future." Hermione nodded. "But what about the students? How do we explain this to them?"
"We do not yet have reason to believe that the students know about the incident." Rowland offered. "They cannot enter the staff corridors, right?"
Hermione and Minerva both huffed out a laugh at the same time, and looked to one another, amused.
"What is it?" Rowland looked between them.
"The portraits are all gossips, and nothing exciting has happened in years. Trust me, some student, somewhere, will overhear them whispering about it. They can't help it." Minerva replied.
"We'll address the students collectively, emphasizing the values of respect, tolerance, and inclusivity that our school upholds."
"It's crucial they understand that hate speech of any kind is not tolerated here."
Hermione sighed softly as they sorted out the details. She hated the idea of the children being scared, especially the muggleborn students. "I just want to forget about this and get back to teaching."
Minerva stated firmly, "We will do everything in our power to make that happen. In the meantime, we must investigate the source of the graffiti. Tracing spells, magical memory charms, et cetera. We will not let this person get away with it."
Hermione thanked her and stood, Rowland quickly copying her. As she reached the door, she turned back to Minerva, who had a stern and calculating look on her face. "Minerva, do you think it was a student?"
"It very well could be." Minerva stood, "Keep your wits about you, Granger."
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Hermione's classes that morning went fine that day. She stayed focused on potions theory during her fourth-year lecture, and it ended up being a good lesson. No one asked her about the vandalism, and after a few hours, she almost forgot how her day had started.
As soon as the lesson was over and she stood alone in the potions classroom, a familiar white noise buzzed through her head.
Hermione skipped lunch. She knew she should sit at the staff table, unbothered, so that if the person who had defaced her door was there, they would know they hadn't gotten to her. But she was just exhausted, so she ended up taking a nap in her office.
The staff meeting that afternoon was the last thing she needed to do for the day, and she couldn't wait to get back to her room and take her shoes off.
The staff room was full and full of more chatter than usual. As she looked around for an empty chair, the room went silent, a dozen or so faces turned to stare at her.
Bollocks. The last thing she needs is a group of civilians feeling sorry for her. She's been through much worse.
She froze - it was the voice. She looked around, but since everyone was looking at her, she couldn't tell if it was coming from anyone in the room, or if she was hearing things. Perhaps she should go to the hospital wing and speak to Madam Pomfrey about these voices.
She took a seat next to Flitwick, who gave her a small smile and leaned towards her. "I have taken care of your door, professor. You don't need to worry about any more vandalism either, I put a slippery surface charm on the walls so that paint can't stick in the future."
"How on earth did you get rid of it?" She asked in a low voice. "I tried every charm I could think of."
"Oh yes, it took an advanced one to get rid of it. Here," he reached into his bag and pulled out a small book, "take a look at this. I think you'll appreciate the author's perspective on charms theory."
"Thank you, Filius." Her eyes pricked with gratitude, so took the opportunity to look away and put the book in her bag.
Minerva walked in and cleared her throat. "Good afternoon, professors. As you all may know, there was an incident of vandalism this morning in the staff corridor. Professor Granger has received a slur on her door. As of right now, there is no evidence of who left the message, but are launching an investigation with the Ministry's aurors. If you hear of any threats or witness any altercations, you will bring this information to me immediately."
In other news, the first Hogsmeade weekend is this week. With recent events in mind, staff will double up and remain together the entire trip. Instead of two chaperones, we will have two teams of two chaperones each. We will also double up corridor patrols, you will be in teams of two for safety purposes. This does mean that you all need to supervise Hogsmeade weekends to accommodate this. This month's corridor patrol schedule is also in the back of the room."
As everyone stood, Hermione walked to the back of the room and saw, to her delight, that it was her turn to be a Hogsmeade escort. She had assumed she wouldn't be allowed to take on such responsibility yet, but she was very excited to go. She looked at the corridor schedule, she was with every teacher at least once, which she supposed was a good thing. It would be nice to get to know all her colleagues.
As she looked over the patrol schedule, her heart sank; she wasn't paired with Severus tonight, she was paired with Rowland. She wasn't disappointed to spend time with Lucas, but she hadn't been able to speak to Severus at all today, and she would have loved the opportunity to spend the evening with him. She told herself it was fine, she would have patrol with him next week.
She stiffened as she realized that Severus was standing next to her, not moving. His clean scent surrounded her as she trailed her eyes from his wool coat up to his face. His eyes were on her, they looked troubled. He opened his mouth to speak when Rowland appeared to Hermione's left.
"It looks like we are on Hogsmeade duty together this weekend," Rowland said cheerfully. "Are there any good places to eat in the village?"
Hermione nodded politely. "Yes, in fact, there's a stew in the Hog's head that is much better than you'd expect."
She conversed politely with him for a few moments and then turned back to Severus as soon as she could. He was gone.
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Severus didn't light his wand as he walked to meet Professor Granger at the front steps. He knew these corridors better than his hometown, he could walk them in complete darkness. As he approached the great hall, where the teachers were meeting up, he watched Hermione walk in from outside, followed quickly by Professor Rowland. He hated himself for fuming, for caring who she spent time with.
Hermione looked radiant, her deep crimson sweater sat snugly on her hips, her jeans accentuating her small waist and full thighs. He felt a pang of shame for staring. He watched her look around for Rowland and spot him. His face lit up and he jogged over to her.
Eager much. Severus thought to himself bitterly.
Hermione's head popped up, looking around. When Rowland approached her, they turned and disappeared down the corridor, their wands alight.
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Severus climbed the stairs of the Astronomy tower just after midnight. He had lay awake for hours, trying not to think about how much time Professor Granger was spending with Lucas Rowland, the professor who had the nerve to look like a model. Severus had drunk a large glass of whiskey, but nothing helped. Every time he closed his eyes, he imagined Rowland's lecherous hands on her, and her beautiful brown eyes staring up at him with adoration. It made him sick.
As he climbed, he smelled a skunky odor wafting towards him. He sniffed the air, and his interest peaked.
"Must you haunt all of my haunts, Professor?"
Her brown hair whipped around as she faced him.
"Is that pot?" He asked.
"You want some?" She offered him the blunt.
"I don't care for it, thank you."
"But you've-?"
"Of course. As you know, marijuana is a very versatile potion ingredient.
"I'll be sure to stock up."
"There should be some in your potions cupboard in a magically sealed jar."
"Really." She said, with a deadpan look.
"It's in a jar labeled Murlap Venom."
She smiled at him.
He shook his head. "You're smoking it now, aren't you?"
"Imagine my surprise when I was doing inventory," she laughed, taking a drag. "How was your day?"
"Insufferable," Snape replied, feeling hollow.
"And yet you suffered it," she said cheerfully.
"I am not obtuse enough to ask how your day was."
She nodded ruefully.
"Would you…like to talk about it?"
That did it. Hermione burst out laughing. Maybe it was the pot, or the exhaustion, the stress, maybe all three, but Severus Snape, dungeon bat, and world-class grump, asking her if she wanted to talk was just too much.
Severus looked annoyed.
Hermione stifled her laughter, "I'm sorry," she said, and she meant it. "I am just always so caught off guard when you're nice to me." She hesitated. "Why are you so nice to me?"
He didn't answer right away, when he did, his voice came out low. "Because…you knew what was coming and you prepared yourself. You're a survivor-" she rolled her eyes. "That's not nothing. You are incredible, especially considering your young age."
"You were decent, for a prison guard," she said with a morbid laugh.
"So I didn't let you starve, give me a bloody medal."
"It's not just that." She said seriously. "You helped me. It made all the difference to my survival."
"Maybe I was just playing a role, getting you to trust me." He teased.
Her eyes twinkled. "Maybe I was going to use you too."
"You wish."
"You think I couldn't?" She stepped closer to him, and he nearly stepped back, his body reacting strongly to her perfume, the smell of her shampoo. "Maybe I planned to get in your good graces and double-cross you for information. It would make sense, cozying up to the one Death Eater that wasn't a true threat to me."
He paused, unsure. "How did you know?"
"Know what?"
"That I'm not a…That I wasn't going to..."
"Force yourself on me?" He winced at her words. She nodded, "You said 'them'."
"Them?" He repeated.
"In the cellar, when you first saw me there, you said, 'Don't provoke them'." Her soft brown eyes shimmered under the gas lamps. "If you were one of them, you wouldn't have said 'them'."
"A chink in my armor, it would seem." Not the only one.
Hermione's eyes darted up, and she scanned his face frantically, looking for confirmation. His face gave away nothing, but this time she was sure. The voice, the constant voice that had helped her through the war, the one that had kept her alive, was coming from Severus Snape.