A Knock at the Door

A Knock at the Door by Pearle

Summary: The war is over and Hogwarts is about to start a new school year. A knock at the door of Severus Snape\'s office is about to change his life and the lives of those around him. HG/SS


Disclaimer: The characters, settings, etc. of the Harry Potter series are not mine they belong to J.K. Rowling and Co. I promise to return them when I am through. Well, most of them anyway.


~~~~~~ A Knock at the Door ~~~~~~

10. There’s Never a Good Ceasefire Around When You Need One


\"Chudley Cannons?\"

\"Cassandra Vablatsky?*\"

\"I know, Celestina Warbeck*!\"

\"Celestina Warbeck?\"

\"Yes. She\'s the Singing Sorceress on the Wizard Wireless Network.\" The girls were sitting around trying to help Silenus decide on this week\'s password. Weird Sisters had been a huge hit with her housemates. \"It\'s settled then, Celestina Warbeck it is.\"

\"Anything will be better than last week’s password. Bubotuber pus. Yuck. Maybe we can all chip in for chess lessons if you loose again.\" Jessie said. Silenus hit her friend playfully with a pillow. \"You\'re sure the Professor will be all right with this?\" Jessie asked. She didn\'t want Silenus to get into trouble.

Silenus shook her head. \"It\'s fine. The amended rules state that there will be no mention of certain Gryffindors and nothing cute and fluffy.\" They all laughed at the thought of cute and fluffy anywhere near Professor Snape.

\"Did you ask about the Christmas Holidays yet?\" Jessie had invited Kelly, Benita and Silenus to stay over for a few days at Christmas.

\"My mum and dad won\'t mind. They usually go south to visit my sister. I\'d rather go to Jessie\'s.\" Said Benita.

\"I was going to owl my parents next week. I\'m sure they\'ll say yes.\" Kelly was digging in her trunk for sweets as she spoke.

\"I guess I\'ll ask sometime soon.\" The problem was who should she ask, Silenus wondered, her mother or her father?


Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


If the cauldron banged against the stand with a little more force than necessary, Snape didn\'t notice it. She wasn\'t at breakfast or lunch. It wasn\'t his concern what she did or with whom. He knew she had gone into London the last three weekends. He was attempting to make the base for a sample potion he needed for tomorrows\' Fourth year students. Snape went through his stores looking for catsroot and sweet grass. Professor Sprout should have a supply on hand in Greenhouse #3 he thought. He cast a stasis charm on the cauldron and left the lab by the outside door. His private exit was originally designed as a way for him to enter and exit the castle undetected when the Dark Lord called him. Now it was merely a shortcut to where ever he needed to go. He rounded the corner of Greenhouse #1 and stopped short. There on the path heading into Hogsmeade was Hermione Granger with a young man about her age. He was taller then Hermione and had dark hair and classic good looks. He had no idea who the young man might be but from the looks of the two he thought he could hazard a guess. While not holding hands, they seemed to be leaning into each other as they walked. Their combined laughter floated back to Snape. Their smiles were evident even at this distance. Snape felt a lurch in the pit of his stomach. He was being childish. She had been gone for 12 years. She had meant nothing to him then and she meant nothing to him now. He proceeded to the Greenhouse to collect his supplies, pushing all thoughts of the witch from his mind.

Dinner that night held the usual mayhem. Albus called for quiet as he announced there would be a Halloween dance this Thursday. The noise level in the Great Hall reached a new level as the student discussed the dance.

\"Ah, to be young again Severus.\" Said Albus as he reached for the pumpkin juice.

Severus was concentrating on stabbing his Sheppard\'s pie in an attempt to ignore his surroundings. Albus watched the man for a moment. \"I believe the pie will not attack you were you to let it live, Severus.\"

Snape shot him a murderous glare. \"Do you not have someone else you can torture Headmaster?\"

Albus chuckled. \"I do believe yre are at the top of my list tonight.\" He pointed to the other end of the table where Hermione and the young man were engaged in conversation as they ate. \"It\'s good to see Madame Granger looking well again, is it not?\"

Remus was sitting on the other side of Snape. He heard the Headmaster\'s comment. \"You mean Hermione and Aidan Parks? They seem to be gettinong ong quite well. I believe he works in artifacts at the Ministry. Harry set them up you know.\"

Snape slammed down his cup causing Remus to jump. \"I do not believe I am being forced to listen to you two cackle like two old witches.\" Snape stood from his seat and with a flourish of his robes; he left by the back doorway. Several students cowered in fright at seeing the feared Potions Master storming out of the hall. Silenus looked up thoughtfully at the head table and then at Jessie before returning to the topic of the dance.

Remus laughed as he said to Albus. \" Well I must say. That was an interesting and unexpected reaction.\"

Albus eyes were twinkling merrily as he said in an uncanny impression of the Potions Master himself, \"Indeed.\"


Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Hermione chided herself at the lateness of the hour. She needed to brew two quick potions for the morning. She really should have told Aidan to leave earlier but she had been enjoying his company. It was nice to talk to someone that was easy. To know she didn\'t always have to be on her guard, that every discussion was not a battle of wits or a verbal assault. He tended to be a little boring at times, but she was sure that would pass once they got to know each other better. She was amazed to find she was actually able to go out and have a good time again. She didn\'t realize she was even lonely until she started going out again. Aidan was intelligent and well mannered. He was about five years older than she and held a lot of the same interests. He was...nice. Dear lord that sounded terrible. Like the kiss of death. Nice. Well she thought that would change soon. Things had moved slowly over the last three weeks, but they were finally starting to heat up a bit.

Snape walked into his private lab and stopped, Hermione was working at the spare workstation. Hermione and Silenus were usually in residence on Wednesday or Thursday night. Not Sunday night. Not to mention the fact he did not wish to speak with her. \"Madame Ganger, I would have thought you would be otherwise occupied tonight.\"

What the hell did that mean? They had reached a ceasefire about a month ago. While not warm and friendly they had at least been remotely cordial to one another. \"Is there a problem Severus?\"

\"No, I believe I still have work that requires my attention in my office.\" Snape turned to leave and thought better of it as he moved to his workbench to collect his papers.

\"Really, what is the problem?\" Hermione was confused. What was he talking about? \"Exactly what would I be \'otherwise occupied\' with tonight?\"

\"Perhaps you were not listening? There is no problem. Nothing to discuss.\" Snape was gathering up some of his notes on the Purification potion. Silenus was diligently plowing ahead in her research. Her work was of the highest caliber, as he knew it would be, the girl was probably smarter than he and Hermione put together.

Hermione looked appraisingly at Snape, \"For someone with no problems you do seem to be a agitagitated.\"

\"Which is no concern of yours.\" The battle lines are drawn again, he thought.

\"Fine.\" He was no concern of hers. No concern at all. A little voice in her head screamed, liar.

The door to his private quarters slammed behind him as he left the lab. Witch, he thought.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx


The storm raging on outside could not match the one going on inside of Severus\'s mind. The room was thrown into stark contrast as the lightening reflected through a charmed window in the sidewall. The shadows reappeared as the lightening faded. The clock over his desk chimed. The hand with his picture had moved to, \"You are 15 minutes late for evening rounds. There are two Gryffindors out of bed.\" Another hand had appeared recently, it had shown up from time to time in the past few weeks but now it seemed to be permanent. The new hand had Silenus\'s picture on it. The hand was pointing to, \"Slytherin common room, discussing the Halloween dance\". Snape raised his glass in mock salute to the clock. \"I\'ll be there when I\'m damn good and ready.\" Snape threw back the rest of his drink as he stood up. He was a loner. He always would be. His life would change to include Silenus and that was it. It was time to take control of his life again. He snagged his teaching robes off the end of the sofa and left his quarters to start his rounds. Heaven above help any student he caught out of bed tonight he thought.


Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Snape entered the Great Hall with his trademark scowl on his face. His robes billowed out behind him resembling the wings of the bats that now flew overhead. The Headmaster had outdone himself in decorating the Great Hall for the Halloween festivities. Hundreds of bats, candles, pumpkins and orange streamers were suspended in the air through out the Great Hall. Dozens of black cats ran underfoot. The long house tables were gone and smaller tables seating up to ten people were scattered around the hall. A raised dais at the side of the Hall meant there would be live music tonight. Snape hated these events. As Head of Slytherin House he was required to chaperone the dance. Just because he was required to be there did not mean he had to enjoy himself. He trudged up to the Head table and sat down.

A loud shriek caught his attention. \'Wonderful\' he thought. Standing to the side of the Head table were Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter. They were talking with Hermione, Remus, Minerva, and that wizard, Parks. He was unable to determine which witch shrieked, but they were all excited judging by the hand gestures and the volume of their voices.

At that moment, Albus stepped forward to make an announcement. He waved his hand and the lights dimmed. \"Ladies and Gentlemen, Weird Sisters are here tonight to provide us with musical entertainment. But before they play I wouike ike to extend my warmest congratulations on behalf of the students and staff to Miss Ginny Weasley and Mister Harry Potter on their engagement.\" The students applauded and yelled congratulations to the happy couple.

Severus shook his head, his hand covering his face. He glanced over at the group and noticed Silenus had joined them. The women were laughing and hugging. Snape groaned. He knew tonight would be almost unbearable, he just didn\'t know it would be this bad. The music started and the crowd dispersed to dance. He saw his daughter walk to the dance floor with a second year Ravenclaw. Her hair was up in a French twist. \'She looks so much older tonight.\' He murmured to himself. He was debating on whether or not to hex the young man she was dancing with. He wasn\'t sure he could justify it to Dumbledore or he would\'ve tried already. He was drinking from a Slytherin mug filled with brandy, just to take the edge off the evenings festivities. He saw Hermione spin on the dance floor with Parks. She was wearing deep burgundy robe that hugged her shape and showed off her figure. She was laughing at something Parks said. Snape thought the front was a little too low to be considered decent.

Silenus walked over to him in between dances. Her eyes were shining. \"Ginny asked Mom and I to be bridesmaids. I\'ve never stood up for a wedding before! We\'re going into London to pick out the robes. I can\'t believe it. I\'m so excited.\" She was overflowing with youthful enthusiasm.

\"Indeed.\" It was as about as sociable as he got tonight.

Silenus looked at her father and nodded before heading off. She was pretty sure he wasn\'t going to enjoy the dance even before it began. He wasn\'t exactly the party type. And with Uncle Harry being here, well, all bets were off.

She walked over to where her friends were standing. \"Trouble in paradise?\" Jessie asked with a smirk.

\"No. Ginny asked my Mom and me to stand up to the weg. Ig. I was just telling the Professor about it.\"

\"And?\"

\"And. Well he\'s not exactly a party person.\" This drew the expected laugh from the group and they went on to discuss robes and wedding traditions.

The dance ended at 9:30 giving the students time to return to their common rooms before curfew. Hermione was walking in the garden with Aidan. The night was cool and required the use of a warming charm to keep them comfortable.

\"I am so happy for Ginny and Harry. I think Ginny\'s had a thing for Harry since the first day we all met.\" Hermione was thinking back to the first time she saw Ginny and Harry together.

\"I know Harry is crazy about her. What about you?\" Aidan had stopped and was looking into her eyes.

\"What about me?\"

\"Don\'t you want what every witch wants?\"

Hermione was a bit annoyed at his chauvinistic attitude. \"And what exactly does every witch want?\"

\"To be married. Have a home, children. You know.\"

\"Aidan, I have a home and a child.\"

\"Yes, but it\'s not the same.\"

\"And why is it not the same?\" Her anger was increasing with each word he spoke.

\"I...uh, just mean, you know, get married. That kind of thing.\" He could tell by the set of her jaw he had said the wrong thing. \"What I mean is...\"

\"According to you, I can\'t be happy because I\'m not married? Is that it? I need some wizard or I\'m out of luck?\" Her voice had a hard edge to it, but it was nothing compared to the look in her eyes.

He ran his hands gently up and down her arms in an effort to calm her and avert disaster. \"No. I never said that. Hermione, look, I\'m sorry if I said the wrong thing.\"

It was just then that Snape rounded the corner and entered the garden. \"Twenty points from Gryffindor for behavior unbecoming a staff member, Madame Granger. Did you not read the handbook that states you are to be a role model for Hogwarts students?\"

\"Then explain to me how is it possible for Slytherin to even earn points with you as their Head of House let alone a role model?\" Her voice held as much sarcasm as his did and her eyes snapped fire. \"Fifty points from Slytherin for unfair teaching practices, Professor.\"

\"You little witch. One hundred points from Gryffindor for being a know it all, Madame.\" They were almost nose-to-nose as they snarled at each other. The hourglasses outside the Great Hall were rapidly draining of rubies and emeralds as they spoke.

\"Two hundred points from Slytherin for unethical practices and bad hygiene, Snape.\"

\"Two hundred and fifty points for obnoxious over achieving, Granger.\"

\"Bastard.\"

\"Yes, I believe we have already established that fact.\"

Aidan was looking back and forth between the irate witch and wizard as if he were watching a tennis match. In the front entranceway, Minerva and the Headmaster were watching the two hourglasses, now almost totally devoid of stones.

Hermione\'s eye held an odd light as she said in a hiss, \"Five hundred points from Slytherin for being you, Severus.\" She turned to Aidan and said in a saccharine voice, \"Shall we return to my quarters for a night cap Aidan?\" She would\'ve batted her eyelashes if she hadn\'t thought that just might be overdoing it a little.

\"What exactly do you think you\'re doing?\" Severus was ready to wring her neck.

\"Doing what you told me. Joining the living.\" She took off with Aidan in tow.

It was easy to see what mood he was in as Snape blasted rose bush after rose bush, demolishing the entire garden.

Hermione was heading back to her quarters muttering curses under her breath about a certain wizard with Aidan followed behind. \"Just who does he think he is?\" She asked the empty corridor.

Minerva stood with Albus looking at the empty Gryffindor and Slytherin hourglasses. With a wave of his wand and a twinkle in his eye he restored the lost points to both houses. \"I do believe Severus and Hermione are attempting to work out their differences.\"


Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Hermione allowed her anger to carry her along to her quarters. She spoke rather sharply to the portrait. \"Laurel, open up please.\"

\"Are you alright Madame?\" The girl was a bit startled. Usually Madame Granger was the epitome of good graces.

\"Fine, thank you. Open please.\" She said impatiently.

The portrait swung open noiselessly on its hinges without another word. Aidan quietly followed Hermione inside. \"Are you all right? Who was that and what was all that about?\" Aidan was looking curiously at Hermione.

Hermione seemed to come out of a daze, realizing Aidan was still with her. \"Huh? Oh. Um.\" Well that was rather coherent she thought. \"That was Professor Snape, Silenus\'s father. He and I... Well, it\'s not exactly as if we get along all that well really.\" Exactly how was she to explain Severus, or the two of them when she didn\'t understand herself?

\"You must have gotten along at some point?\" He had moved closer to her, just a touch away.

\"And what does that mean?\" Her anger at him was starting to return.

\"Nothing. He hardly seems to be your type. And Silenus is a really great kid, nothing like him at all.\" His left hand was slowly tracing patterns up and down her arm. His other hand was gently playing with the hairs at the nape of her neck as he moved closer to her. He was just starting to gently kiss the shell of her ear and nibble on her neck.

She was not giving in to the sensations he was creating. It had been a long time since she had felt this wanted. Severus had not been her first or her last lover, but he had been the most experienced. He stoked a flame deep within her. No one before or after him, not that there had been more than a handful over the last twelve years, had ever been able to create those feelings within her that he had. \"Aidan.\" She tried to get his attention.

His hands had moved to caress her face. His fingers were gently stroking her jaw line. He lowered his head to capture her lips in a soft kiss. Even as she placed her hand around his neck she thought, this is sweet but it\'s not fire. One hand moved across her back and the other across her shoulders pulling Hermione into his embrace. Again the thought crossed through her mind as they kissed, nice. He would probably be a gentle and considerate lover. Caring about her pleasure first rather than his own. The problem was she wanted what every witch, every woman, really wants. Fireworks. She wanted passion and explosions. She wanted to feel out of control. She wanted to loose control. She wanted soft. She wanted rough. She wanted the unexpected. She wanted a gentleman and the devil himself. With a sigh she pulled back. \"Aidan, it\'s getting late and I have rounds first thing in the morning.\"

He gave her an appraising look. Something wasn\'t right. He just didn\'t know what. \"I understand. I have an early morning myself. We\'re still on for this weekend right? We have tickets for that play with Ginny and Harry. Maybe you\'d like to stay over this time?\" He had asked her before, but she always declined.

\"Maybe. We\'ll see.\" They moved to the portraitr sor so he could leave. He’d have to walk to the gate before he could apparate home.

He bent over and gave her a gentle kiss. \"Goodnight Hermione.\"

\"Goodnight Aidan.\" And he was gone. Hermione was lost in thought as she stood looking into the flames in the fireplace. There had to be something wrong with her. Aidan was a nice man. She liked him. But he didn\'t elicit any feelings of passion within her. Join the living Snape had said. She definitely wanted to feel alive again. But this just wasn\'t it. How could Severus draw these feeling and emotions from her and Aidan could not? She wanted Aidan to be the one to make her feel. He was everything she should want. On parchment he was perfect. So what was the problem? Snape was the problem. It wasn\'t even his bad boy image, dark and mysterious. Gods, he\'d hex her for sure if he ever heard her say that. They would be picking up pieces of her for years. It went deeper than that. But hell if she could figure it out. She thought a glass of wine and a hot bath would help turn her mind to other thoughts. They had never been in love, they both agreed. So what exactly was her problem?


Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx


She might have felt differently if she had looked down the hallway outside her door. One of the shadows untangled itself from the wall and was heading for the dungeons. Snape was making a vain attempt to convince himself he was concerned for her welfare and nothing else when he had followed the pair back inside the castle. He deemed it safe to leave when he was satisfied that Hermione was okay and that Parks was gone. He headed back to the dungeons and a snifter of brandy to try and dispel his thoughts.


TBC


A/N: The problem with a ceasefire is that it never lasts. What play? Can a Medwitch even deduct points? Are the two of them blind? Is that what every witch really wants? And why hasn\'t the headmaster announced the annual party to honor the defeat of Voldemort yet (Oh wait, that\'s a chapter or two down the road)? Can you guess who will be there? Hint: first initial is R (You didn\'t think I was going to tell you did you?). More questions, more answers next time.


From the Harry Pottter Lexicon-
Vablatsky, Cassandra - 1894 - 1997 Celebrated Seer and author: Unfogging the Future

Warbeck, Celestina -1917 - present -Singer on the WWN known as the Singing Sorceress . Recently recorded a version of the Puddlemere United team anthem as a benefit for St. Mungos .Warbeck appears on a Famous Wizard card.

Thank you to all who have reviewed. As always thoughts, comments, reviews, whatever are always welcome. A thank you to Casandra, my beta.

Regards, Pearle