A Looping of the Scales ~ COMPLETED

Chapter 10 ~ Blast You, Snape!

”Well?”

Hermione looked up at him with a frown.

”I can’t believe that after all you’ve seen about yourself, that’s the only thing you’re interested in,” she said to him angrily.

”Well, you didn’t eject me out of your head when I was viewing everything else,” he retorted. “I want to know why you were kissing me. Were we involved?”

”No, we weren’t involved. All you saw was a little schoolgirl crush. A fantasy that accidentally slipped through. They’re perfectly natural,” Hermione replied. “Nothing happened between us ever! You were just as snarky and mean-tempered toward me as anyone. Maybe even more so because I was one of the people who left you for dead.”

Snape studied her.

”Oh, there’s definitely something wrong with you,” he said, shaking his head. “A crush? After all I saw about me? How could anyone have a crush on someone who was so nasty most of the time?”

”At least you admit that. That you were nasty.”

Snape drew himself up indignantly.

”No, you all thought I was nasty. There had to be a reason I acted as I did. I probably wanted to keep all of you away from me for some reason, or hating me. Maybe because I was a spy. And my classroom seemed to have been filled with dunderheads and that’s dangerous. That Neville wizard didn’t even belong in a potions classroom!”

Hermione looked at him incredulously. He was justifying himself? Well, she’d been guilty of justifying his actions to Ron and Harry, but it just sounded so—so pompous coming from him.

“He did belong. Your job was to teach him!” Hermione said, defending Neville.

”My job was to keep him alive. Even I can see that. And I saw you, too, whispering in his ear while you both were brewing. So, you helped him cheat! No wonder I treated you the way I did. You could have gotten him killed by not letting him learn on his own.”

“You wanted to fail him! That’s why I helped him!” Hermione shot back at him, incensed ever though this happened years ago.

”He probably deserved to fail. No one who isn’t adept at brewing should be brewing! That’s just common sense. It’s hard to believe with all your OWLS and marks that you’re so—so stupid!”

Now Hermione jumped up off the sofa. Stupid? No one called her stupid. Not even Snape. Particularly a Snape her age.

“You know something, professor—“ she snarled.

”That’s Severus. Can you follow a simple instruction? I said to call me Severus several times—“

“I think bloody bastard is a better name for you! For all these years I thought the reason you were such a git to people was because of all you’d gone through, but it’s not true. You’re just an arse! Period.”

Snape smirked at her.

”An arse you wanted to lift your robes for, apparently,” he purred at her.

Hermione turned red as fire, and before she knew what she was doing, whipped out her wand. Snape pulled his out as soon as he saw her go for hers, but she got the drop on him.

”Expelliarmus!” Hermione snarled, blasting Snape across the room and into the bookshelves. He slid down the wall, unconscious.

Hermione grabbed her knapsack, slung it over her shoulder, then walked over and looked down at the unconscious wizard.

”You can bet your broomstick that wasn’t the first time I’ve used that hex on you,” she hissed at him. “But this time, I enjoyed doing it!”

And, she left.

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”Wow, that didn’t take long at all, Hermione,” Ron said as she stormed into the common room. He was playing a game of wizard’s chess with Dean Thomas and soundly trouncing him. “What did you two do?”

Hermione sighed.

”Well, he wanted to know what kind of teacher he was, so I let him use Legilimency on me to see,” Hermione said.

”How did he take being such a git?” Dean Thomas asked curiously as other students gathered around, listening.

“He believes there was a reason for him being that way,” Hermione said. “He tried to justify it.”

Ron snorted.

”There’s a reason for it, all right. He was born nasty.”

Hermione nodded.

”I couldn’t agree more,” she replied.

Both of Ron’s eyebrows rose. Hermione had spent so much time trying to prove to them that Snape was just a misunderstood, but noble human being, that such a statement was definitely out of character for her. What had happened down in the dungeons that made her change her opinion of him?

Harry and Ginny entered the common room, hand in hand. They’d been walking around the castle together. They saw the students clustered around Hermione and walked up.

”Hi,” Harry said, looking curious. “What’s going on?”

”The castle is going to come crumbling down, Harry,” Ron replied, standing up and looking at Hermione suspiciously. “Hermione just admitted Snape was born a git.”

Harry’s eyes went wide behind his glasses.

”What? Hermione said that?”

”Well, I said it, like I usually do, but this time—she agreed with me.”

Harry studied Hermione, who reddened slightly.

“Something’s rotten in Hogwarts,” he said. “What gives Hermione?”

’I just realized that he’s just a nasty individual. He’s eighteen and he hasn’t been through anything yet to make him act like such an idiot,” she replied with a frown.

Harry looked thoughtful.

”But, he has, Hermione. He might not be a spy yet, but my father—and the Marauders made his life miserable. If someone is constantly targeted and picked on, you know it makes him—well, bitter and anti-social.”

Hermione blinked at Harry. She’d forgotten that. This Snape was the Snape of those awful memories, the ostracized, strange, targeted and brilliant young wizard who walked the hall of Hogwarts and associated with aspiring Death Eaters. Not to mention Tom Riddle himself. This was the wizard bitter about his best friend, his one love running off with his nemesis, James Potter. Lily had to have broken his heart. This was a young man who lived with his pain every day in very real ways.

And this was a young man whose entire world had just vanished, who was trying to put the pieces back together. His treatment of her seemed ungrateful, was ungrateful really, but considering his situation, she really could have been more understanding. Calling him an arse was suitable, because he was acting like one, but she didn’t have to blast him when he called her on her crush. But what he said was so—so dirty. He deserved what happened. The hex had been the equivalent of slapping him after all, but with magic.

Almost the equivalent. A slap wouldn’t have knocked him unconscious.

“You’re right, Harry,” she admitted as Ron groaned, the other students chuckling.

”Damn it, Harry. I finally had her twisted around to my way of thinking and you go and ruin it with logic,” he griped as Harry grinned at him. “I suppose this means you’re going to continue to try and help him, Hermione.”

Hermione looked at Ron a bit guiltily.

”I don’t know, Ron. After tonight, he might not want my help anymore,” she said to him. “I’m just going to leave him alone for a while.”

Ron’s brows furrowed. Hermione never backed away from “a project.” Snape definitely fell into that category. Something had to have happened.

”Hermione, something went wrong, didn’t it?” he asked her.

Hermione didn’t reply to his question. All she said was she was going up to her room to study and left the common room abruptly.

Ron looked at Harry with a frown.

”Something happened, and if Hermione won’t tell me what, then Snape will,” he said in a low voice, then he exited the common room.

”Go with him, Harry,” Ginny said to the wizard.

Harry nodded, kissed Ginny on the cheek and followed Ron.

***********************************

Snape groggily got up off the floor, rubbing the back of his head. It was throbbing.

”She hexed me!” he hissed.

No witch had ever hexed him before except Lily. Angry at being out-hexed and wanting a chance to get back a little of his own, Snape left his quarters, planning to go to Gryffindor tower itself in search of Hermione if he had to do it. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d tracked down a Gryffindor witch.

Draco Malfoy was walking down the dungeon corridor when Snape emerged, his pale face contorted and murder in his eyes.

”Hello, professor,” the blond wizard ventured.

”My name is Severus, you dolt! Now, get out of my way,” Snape snarled, pushing by him.

Normally, this insult would have Draco’s wand out in a second, but he had no idea how to handle this situation. He was angry at the treatment however, and stalked down to the Slytherin entrance. He was going to find out Snape’s status. Was he still a teacher, or was he a student again? If he was a student, then—he’d be treated the way he treated others, hero or not.

Bastard.

***********************************

Snape had just started up the marble stairwell when both Harry and Ron walked out of the first floor corridor. All three of them stopped simultaneously, Snape frowning at Ron. He was the boyfriend. He didn’t give Harry a second look.

”Professor, I want to talk to you,” Ron said firmly.

Snape sighed.

”I am NOT a professor. Just call me Snape,” he responded. “What is it?”

Ron wasn’t sure how to present his question, now that he was face to face with Snape. It was very disconcerting to know this was the same wizard that had given him so much grief throughout school among other things.

”Listen, when Hermione started helping you, she did it because she’s always believed that you were worth it and used to say you weren’t really a nasty bastard. She argued with me all the time about it, really. She just said you had a lot to deal with. But tonight she came back to the common room with a different opinion about you. She said you were born a git. I want to know what happened to change her opinion about you?”

Snape blinked up at Ron and Harry. Ron wasn’t going to let him just hex his girlfriend, that was for certain. Maybe—maybe there was another way to get Hermione back.

“Do you really want to know?” he asked Ron with a bit of a sneer in his voice that made Harry quite nervous. Had Snape tried to do something to Hermione? If he had, hexes would fly. Ron would never stand for that.

”Yeah, I do,” Ron said, his face set like stone. He was thinking the same thing Harry was.

”Well, your girlfriend let me use Legilimency to see how I was as a teacher,” Snape began.

”Oh, that had to be an eye-opener,” Ron muttered.

Snape frowned at him.

”Oh, it was—particularly when your girlfriend walked up to me in the Potions classroom and kissed me. I was twice her age,” he said softly, but his voice was dripping venom.

Ron went pale.

”What?” he wheezed.

”You heard me.”

”That’s—that’s not true,” Ron hissed at him.

”Ask her, then,” Snape told him. “Gryffindors are supposed to be abnormally honest, which is a lie by the way, but you can try and find out the truth, I suppose.”

Ron and Harry simply stared at Snape, who looked back at them for a moment, then whirled, starting back down the stairs. His work was done here. This was much better than hexing Hermione. Much better.

Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, he turned toward Ron and Harry, both of whom were still frozen.

”It has to be hard to find out your girlfriend wet her knickers for a teacher that was such a bastard to all of you,” he said. “Something’s wrong with her.”

”You shut-up!” Ron roared down at him, going for his wand, but Harry clutched his hand so he couldn’t pull it out.

Snape gave a nasty chuckle and headed back toward the dungeons.

Ron was trembling with rage.

“Come on, Ron,” Harry said to his mate. “Don’t let him get to you.”

Ron turned red-rimmed eyes on Harry.

”I need to talk to Hermione. Now.”

****************************************

Snape was walking back down the corridor when he saw someone standing outside his office door. It was a full grown wizard in rich blue robes. He had long blonde hair and a silver tipped cane in his hand.

Lucius Malfoy couldn’t believe it when Draco sent him an owl telling him Severus Snape had been in some kind of potions accident and was a youth again. He had to see it for himself.

Snape walked up to him and they stared at each other. He recognized Lucius, but he was much older. Still a handsome wizard, however. He had always been disgustingly handsome.

“I—I can’t believe it,” Lucius said softly, catching hold of Snape’s chin and twisting his head this way and that before Snape jerked away, his eyes narrowed. “It’s just as Draco said. This—this is amazing.”

Snape didn’t say anything, but he didn’t like being studied by Lucius like some kind of oddity.

”You know who I am, don’t you?” Lucius said to the boy.

”Lucius Malfoy,” Snape replied tersely.

”Yes. Your old housemate and former brother when we were both in the service of the Dark Lord,” the wizard said softly. “But you don’t remember that, do you? Your dual service to the Order and to Voldemort?”

Snape shook his head.

Lucius’ gray eyes drifted over him.

”Truly amazing,” he said again. “I think we need to talk, Severus. You’re in a very difficult situation, and to be honest, I owe you a debt for saving my son, Draco.”

”Draco?” Snape repeated.

”Ah, you don’t remember that either,” Lucius responded. “I’m sure you know you killed Albus Dumbledore—but my son Draco was supposed to do it. You did instead, keeping his soul from being fragmented and making it so he wasn’t a murderer. You took an Unbreakable Vow to protect him, and did so admirably and to your own detriment.”

Snape blinked at him. An Unbreakable Vow? Why would he do such a thing? Unbreakable Vows would kill if not fulfilled. Why would he risk himself? Snape began to think his older self wasn’t wrapped too tightly.

”What?” he said, the single word containing a million unspoken questions.

Lucius gave him a smile.

”Give me a few moments of your time, Severus. I want to help you, and I am in the position to do so. You are young and alone in the world now. You have to make your way through it again. Voldemort isn’t here to sponsor your continued work in potions after graduation—“

Lucius paused as Snape continued to stare at him.

”But, I am.”

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A/N: Thanks for reading.