Saving Miss Granger (Small Edit)

Chapter 12 ~ A Letter From the Potions Master

When Hermione exited her rooms, she looked carefully up and down the corridor to see if Marcus was still lurking about. He wasn’t. What an idiot? Did he really think swelling his cock up to the size of a troll’s organ would make her want to fuck him? The wizard was completely unbelievable. It was a wonder he got laid at all.

Hermione turned to close the door and saw an envelope attached to it. She removed it and closed the door. She didn’t see Severus peeking out at her from his office door. The witch turned the envelope over to see it was sealed with green wax, the ornate letters “SS” in relief. The letter was from the Professor. What could he possibly want?

Hermione pried the seal up and opened the letter, her eyebrows raised at the absolutely beautiful handwriting. She didn’t know the Professor could write so prettily. When he scrawled his notes on the board in class they were barely legible, little more than dragonscratch.. The witch realized that he purposely wrote that way to torment his students by making them decipher his handwriting. Hermione smirked. The wizard was too much.

She read the letter.

Dear Miss Granger,

I wonder if you would honor me with your presence next Friday evening and accompany me for a night of dining and dancing at the Bee’s Knees. If you accept my invitation it will be formal dress. I await your reply.

Professor Severus Snape
Potions Master

Hermione blinked down at the letter. The Professor was asking her out on a date? Dinner and dancing? She didn’t know the wizard could dance.

Severus watched the witch closely to see if she would give him an inkling of whether she would accept or not. He was holding his breath, though he wasn’t aware of it. If she accepted, it meant he was in the running.

Hermione stared down at the letter. So the Professor was interested in her too. At least he was approaching her with some class…not sending her belts or showing her how large his cock was. Hm. The Professor dancing. How could she pass something like this up? Just the idea of seeing the dark, snarky wizard out on the dance floor was reason enough to accept his invitation. Hermione was immensely curious, and honestly a little excited.

The Professor had been the least creative sexually during her ordeal, but the witch realized afterwards that he was trying to save her life and most likely restraining himself, not wanting to appear as if he were taking advantage of the situation, unlike either Marcus or Lucius, who made the most of the opportunity. That the Potions Master was taken by her was obvious at the end, and he had still been a good lover despite his restraint. The memory of those dark eyes staring down at her as his strong, lean body flexed and flowed brought a bit of heat to the witch’s belly.

The Professor was a very private and solitary wizard, who kept to himself most of the time. He was not a socializer. That he would approach her in this manner and risk rejection showed that he was making an effort to get to know her on a more personal level. He was showing interest in her as a woman. Of course, Hermione realized this was because he had fucked her, and most likely wanted to do it again, as did Marcus and Lucius. However, he seemed willing to invest time and court her properly. Hermione couldn’t remember the last time she went dancing. Even with the snarky Professor it sounded as if it could be fun.

Hermione smiled. Yes, she’d go out with the Professor…just to see what he was like in a social setting. She opened her door and re-entered her room to write a response. Severus saw her smile, and his heart began to pound. It seemed the witch was going to accept his invitation.

Several minutes later, Hermione emerged with a letter in her hand and attached it to the wizard’s office door, then continued on to her lab. The moment her footsteps faded, Severus yanked the door open and quickly retrieved the letter, closing the door back quickly. He sat down at his desk and stared at the envelope for a moment, before opening it and reading Hermione’s reply.

Dear Professor Snape,

I would be delighted to accompany you for a night of dinner and dancing. Please let me know what time we will be departing. I look forward to our date.

Sincerely

Miss Hermione Granger
Spells Mistress


Severus smiled. An actual full, broad and rather happy smile. Something he rarely did. Oh, he smiled…but generally it was nastily and had something to do with an unpleasantry he had committed on a student or two. This was different. Something good was going on in his life…something hopeful and positive. Maybe at long last he would finally have a witch of his own. A witch of both beauty and intelligence...someone he could connect with mentally and intellectually as well as physically. He didn’t think about an emotional connection…the wizard didn’t think himself capable of love.

Oh, there would be the rudimentary emotions such as possessiveness and jealousy. Of that he had no doubt. He certainly would treat the witch as kindly as he could, if only to stay in her favor and keep her from wandering.

The wizard shook his head. He was moving too quickly. Hermione had only accepted his invitation to dinner, not to his bed. He couldn’t allow his nose to get wide open, he had a lot of work to do yet. Severus didn’t want Hermione to come to him because he was actively pursuing her…not really. He wanted the witch to come to him, because she desired him above the other wizards. And when she came to him, he’d show her just how creative and thorough he could be. His mind once again went back to the infirmary, and the witch’s responses to him. How much more would she respond when he bathed every inch of her luscious little body with his tongue and brought her to orgasm with his lips.

The wizard’s cock hardened.

“Dear gods,” he said, looking down at his tented robes, “You’re going to have to be patient too.”

He reached into his drawer and pulled out some student assignments that needed marking to get Hermione out of his mind. She receded, but didn’t totally disappear.

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Later that evening, Severus arrived at supper in the Great Hall. Hermione was already there. The witch looked up when he entered and gave him a brilliant smile. The wizard nodded back and sat down, quite pleased.

Marcus however, was scowling. What had that bright smile been about? He studied Hermione and then the Professor. Severus was eating a steak with potatoes and green beans, taking a moment to glare at the students as usual. And every student that met his eyes blanched, also as usual. Satisfied with his long distance terrorizing, the Potions Master returned to his meal.

Hermione watched him, and smiled as she remembered being one of the recipients of that glare for seven years. The Professor really enjoyed keeping the students of Hogwarts on edge. They feared him, but also respected him. He kept a proper level of reserve with his pupils, unlike Marcus. There were rumors that the Dark Arts teacher occasionally fucked seventh year witches who were of the age of consent in exchange for better grades. Hermione wouldn’t put it past him if it were feasible, but doubted the rumors were true because such actions would definitely get Marcus sacked, if not sent to Azkaban for a short stint for mark manipulation.

But the Potions Master’s conduct toward the students had never been questioned, at least as far as propriety went. Every year the Headmaster received complaints from parents, and the Professor had to have meetings to ‘explain his conduct’ toward their children. At these meetings he told the parents in no uncertain terms that Potions was an exacting art, and that if a student couldn’t work under pressure he or she did not belong in his class. They had to be able to correctly brew no matter the stress or circumstances, because a mistake could cost them their lives. The parents would then leave, still dissatisfied but with no other recourse but to let Professor Snape teach his class in the manner he was accustomed to, or to withdraw their child. No one ever did.

As far as his treatment of his female students, it was clear he considered them to be hormonal and silly, and steered clear of any compromising situations. Of course, there was the errant young witch here or there that got it in her head that she wanted the snarky wizard. In cases like that, he’d crush their little hearts like insects, and took great pleasure in it. A situation like that unchecked could cost him his position, and although the wizard had a very good income of residuals, he still liked his job. When he shot them down, his speech went something like this:

“Why would you think I would be the slightest bit interested in you, Miss (applicable name)? You are young, silly and believe large breasts and a round behind work like magnets on every wizard you come in contact with. Well, they don’t. I find you as sexually appealing as a mountain troll, and would sooner involve myself with a basilisk than you. Now that we understand each other, leave my presence. Fifty points from (applicable house).”

It worked every time. The witch would leave his presence in tears and look at him hatefully until the end of the year, which suited the wizard just fine.

Hermione finished her meal and walked by the Professor. She stopped and leaned over his shoulder, whispering in his ear. All of the staff stopped eating to watch them, the Professor nodding slightly as she spoke to him. Then the witch smiled and left the Great Hall.

“What do you suppose is going on between the Spells Mistress and the Potions Master?” Pomona Sprout asked Minerva McGonagall, whose lips were in a tight thin line.

“I don’t know, Pomona, but I am sure it is nothing good,” she replied, frowning at Severus

Minerva had very definite lines drawn in the sand when it came to Slytherins and Gryffindors. A line that should not be crossed, even if the Gryffindor was a grown witch. Severus Snape might be a hero, but he was a very dark, cold wizard. If he got Hermione Granger in his clutches, there was no telling what twisted acts he would perform on her.

Severus finished his meal and exited the Great Hall, Minerva staring after him distastefully. Actually, the witch liked the Potions Master…just not him sniffing around Hermione. The Gryffindor Head of House still had some residual protectiveness left over from when the witch was her charge.

”Look at him,” she seethed, “I bet he’s heading right for her rooms, the lecher,” Minerva sniffed as Severus exited. “There should be a rule prohibiting staff from fraternizing.”

”But Minerva, my dear…where would that leave us?” Albus said, his blue eyes twinkling with affection across the table at the witch.

Professor McGonagall turned a bright red.

“Never you mind about that, Albus Dumbledore,” she said, flustered.

“Ah, you say that now, Minerva…but in the late hours…” the wizard began.

“Albus!” Minerva nearly shrieked at him as the staff chuckled.

Every one of the staff members knew about Albus and Minerva’s long-term relationship. They were like an old married couple. Some wondered why they never tied the knot. There was a very good reason for it, the same reason they ‘hid’ their relationship from the wizarding world at large. Albus felt that if he had married Minerva, she would become a target for all his enemies. Years ago, Albus had nobly tried to let the witch go to find a wizard more suitable, and safer…but she staunchly refused to leave him.

“I love you, Albus,” she said, “Marriage is nothing but a word and a piece of paper. We are married in our hearts, and that’s all that really matters.”

So they stayed together, stealing passionate moments for all these years.

The old wizard smiled at his lover.

“Now Minerva, don’t you think that the Potions Master deserves some happiness?” he said to the witch placatingly. “If Hermione fancies him, then he should take action. Personally I hope they end up together.”

Marcus frowned at this. So the dungeon bat had the Headmaster’s blessing eh? If Hermione chose Snape over him, the witch was daft. He stabbed his pie viciously with his fork. It seemed everything was trying to work against him. Well, he wasn’t a good loser. Maybe he should have a little talk with the Potions Master and warn him off the witch.

That sounded like an idea.

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The Potions Master was indeed heading for Hermione’s rooms. The witch wanted to hash out the details of their date. The wizard walked down the dungeon corridor slowly, considering how to approach this situation. He decided that he was thinking too much. It would be better to let things happen as naturally as possible. He realized he could control this situation only so much. Almost everything depended on Hermione. He arrived at her door, straightened his robes and knocked.

“I’m coming,” he heard Hermione call, sounding a distance away from the door.

Unlike his own rooms, Hermione’s quarters opened directly on to the dungeon corridor. Since she wasn’t a teacher, she had no office…only quarters and a lab. Her work brought additional income to Hogwarts, and she received a portion of the residuals as well as a salary for development of new spells. She did work closely with Professor Flitwick at times, the small teacher testing the spells for ease of use and stability. He was a Spells Master after all, but enjoyed teaching and was a bit rusty in the development department. Plus he hated arithmancy, a very important element in creating the necessary wand motions to direct the magic properly according to the lei lines of the earth.

Severus ran his finger around his collar as he waited for the witch to answer the door. Finally it opened and Hermione looked up at the wizard, smiling.

“Hello Professor, would you like to come in?” she asked him.

Severus didn’t think that a good idea at this stage.

”Ah, no Miss Granger, but thank you. I simply wanted to tell you that we will be departing at seven sharp,” the wizard said, then he frowned slightly. “I hope you will be ready by then. The restaurant we will be dining at will give away your table if you are more than three minutes late.”

Hermione grinned.

“You are forgetting how punctual I am, Professor,” she replied, “I believed you once described me as ‘annoyingly punctual’ in one of your student evaluations way back when.”

Severus smirked.

“Yes, I remember that, Miss Granger,” he said.

Suddenly, Hermione scowled prettily.

“I thought we were on a first name basis,” she said.

Severus looked a bit taken aback. He was so used to addressing her as Spells Mistress or Miss Granger that he had quickly fallen back to using those terms.

“Habit. I’m sorry, Hermione,” he said silkily.

Gods, that voice. Hermione wondered for a moment what her name would sound like if the wizard said it during sex. She would probably melt into a gooey pool of lust.

“That’s all right Severus. I was guilty of it too,” she replied.

They both fell silent, the Professor’s eyes washing over her as he remembered what passed between them. He started.

“I should go. Remember, we leave at seven sharp, formal dress,” he said with a small bow. He began to walk away

“Severus,” Hermione called after him. The wizard turned.

“Yes, Hermione?” he replied

“Is there any particular color you’d like me to wear?” she asked him, feeling a bit of heat in her belly as the wizard once again let his eyes drift over her body. Hermione was dressed in robes, but he made her feel as if she were naked and every inch of her exposed.

“Yes,” he responded, “I would like to see you in the colors of my house.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. She should have figured. Either that or all black.

“Fine,” she replied.

The wizard looked pleased.
“Until Friday then, Hermione,” he purred at her.

“Friday,” she replied.

The wizard walked away, giving her one more glance before entering his office. Hermione wondered why he didn’t want to come into her rooms. If it had been Marcus she’d invited, she probably would have been knocked down by the wizard in his haste to enter. Hermione closed the door.

Severus Snape dancing. Gods, she couldn’t wait.

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A/N: Ah Severus. Very smooth. Wining and dining, not to mention dancing. Lots of perfectly permissible contact with her body It ought to be quite a night. Marcus seems put out about Hermione showing any interest in the Potions Master. A potentially explosive situation could develop here. Anyway, please review.