Remember When It Rained

Remember When It Rained
Chapter Two
That Keep My Mind Away From You


Gods he hated cheerful house elves, and as the one who made an appearance with his breakfast was unbearably cheerful, Severus figured that it must be new to the ever bourgeoning staff of the creatures.

The said burgeoning house elf problem was an indirect result of the efforts of the bane of his existence and literal pain in the arse, Hermione Granger.

“Fucking SPEW!” he muttered then tore into his toast with all of the venom he wished he could release on Miss Granger. Chewing absently he shifte his cha chair, trying to get a bit more comfortable, and winced at the soreness of his posterior.

‘Only two months more of the summer term,’ he thought miserably and tried to distract himself with thoughts about what he wouo too today, his only free day of the week. ‘No Order meeting, no Dark Revel, no students and best of all no twinkling from-‘

“Good morning Severus,” came the cheerful voice of Albus Dumbledore’s head from the fireplace.

“Good morning Albus. To what do I owe this oh so longed for interruption of my Sunday morning?” he answered without looking at the head in his fireplace.

“May I come over?”

“I don’t suppose that you would listen if I told you no?” he sighed. “Of course not,” he finished as Albus stepped into the room chuckling.

“Now Severus,” he said. “This is no way to start your day.”

“You don’t say,” he replied eyeing the Headmaster with a cocked brow.

“What I meant was you shouldn’t be so grouchy, Severus. Or perhaps you are missing the tormenting of the student population?” Dumbledore answered picking up a slice of toast, “Were you going to eat this?”

“Why are you here, Albus?” Severus asked with a sigh as Albus bit into the bread. “I actually have plans for my day that I would like to be getting on with.”

Albus gave him a little smile as he conjured up a tea cup and made a show of pouring out a serving and then seasoning it. The room was silent except for the clink of the spoon against the china and the crackle of the low fire. Severus signed again and winced as he shifted positions in his chair.

“I see, Miss Granger has managed to injure you yet again,” Albus observed. “Poor Severus. I quite empathize, seeing as I have been run into on one or two occasions by the lady.”

“Oh? You mean she’s run you down at least twice a week for the last nine months?” he asked with some asperity. “Perhaps may may be in need of some of my special salve?”

Albus chuckled and Severus made a fist against his knee. “Look old man, just tell me why you are here and then let me be.”

“Patience Severus. I must first ask you a question and I want you to answer it as a teacher, which means I want an unbiased opinion from you.”

The piece of toast that Severus had just finished began to feel like a boulder on his stomach as he processed the words that he had just heard. When Albus tells you he wants an unbiased opinion, he thought, it couldn’t possibly be good news.

“Go on then,” was the reply.

“I want to know your opinion of Hermione Granger.”

~*~


“Gods! Can it possibly get any hotter?” Ron Weasley whined as he plopped into a chair and dug into his sundae.

“Oh hush Ron, it’s only June and you are already complaining!” Ginny scolded before she dipped her spoon into her treat.

“Wouldn’t be bitching about the heat if you were playing Quidditch,” Hermione said with derision. “You’re only complaining because Ginny and I haven’t let you and Harry loose in the Quiddich shop yet. So eat your ice cream and be quiet.”

“Hang on, I haven’t complained!” Harry chimed in as he took a seat beside Ginny.

“Only because you haven’t had to, Ron’s been doing enough for the both of you!”

They all sat in companionable silence, enjoying the warm afternoon and the bustle of Diagon Alley. It really had been a full morning for them, with nothing to do but contemplate the summer ahead of them. Even Hermione allowed herself to think of other things besides school, and enjoyed being dragged around by Ginny to the various shops.
She would be returning to a new school year with a variety of nice robes, and a cape or two.

“So Mione, what’s up with that black cape? Trying for the position of Mini Snape?” Harry asked with a teasing smile.

Hermione dropped her spoon into her bowl and glared at her friend, “Ha ha, Harry very funny. Oh and thank you ever so much for bringing that name up and ruining my afternoon.”

Harry laughed and grabbed her hand, “Come on Mione! I was only teasing. Besides he’s the only teacher you haven’t managed to get on the good side of.”

“Yea,” Ron chimed in. “And your running into him every other day hasn’t helped you in that cause either.”

“What in the name of Merlin are you talking about, Ron. What cause?”

“Oh come on Mione, all of the teachers at Hogwarts love you,” Ginny said. “Well except for Trelawney and Snape. Not that Snape ever loved any of his students, the Slytherins excepted of course.”

“So what, everyone thinks that I am some sort of arse kisser?” Hermione replied angrily.

“No, but you have been talked about you know what with all of that running into Snape last term. I had to nearly hex Malfoy just recently when I overheard some of the things that he was saying about you.” Harry answered.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Just what did that little cockroach have to say?”

Harry and Ron glanced at each other and blushed.

“Well, what did he say?” Hermione asked in a tone that had always managed to make Ron cringe. “Well?”

“Well, erm he said that you and Snape were, erm you know, that you two were-“

“That son of a bitch!” Hermione yelled eliciting a few stares from passers by. “I’ll kill him!”

“Oh for the love of Merlin, Hermione! Calm down! No one actually believed those rumors.” Ginny whispered as she placed a restraining hand on her friend’s arm. “Although a lot of us thought it was awfully funny you running into him all of the time. Seamus had a pool going as to whether or not you would actually cause him to break a bone.”

“That’s not funny Ron!’ Hermione exclaimed when he laughed. He was joined by Harry and Ginny and Hermione’s face got redder.

She glared at her friends until they were cowed into silence.

“Come on Mione, lighten up a bit. It was just all in good fun.” Ron gasped trying to catch his breath.

Hermione threw her napkin on the table before her and stood up. “Well it’s nice to know that I have been the source of entertainment for the entire school!” she exclaimed, then stormed away leaving her friends aghast.

~*~

“Albus Bloody Dumbledore, meddling, interfering, conniving old fool! Actually thinks that I would even want to come within ten centimeters of her! Nervy old bast-“ Severus Snape\'s tirade was cut short by the impact of Hermione Granger shooting out from the fireplace and into the library of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

‘Fuck! Fuck! Fuckity Fuck!’ Hermione thought, horrorstruck at what she had just done.
Then taking a deep breath she quickly assessed the situation and knew that she was a dead little witch.

They lay, sprawled on the hearth rug, limbs entangled and covered with ash. His eyes were closed but she could tell that he was still conscious because his jaw was rigid and she could hear him grinding his teeth. It was the flaring nostrils tat told her that she was going to die. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off before she could utter a syllable.

“DO NOT say a word, Miss Granger. If you utter a sound I will hex you.”

‘Oh is he pissed!’ she thought ‘I am so dead’

She sighed and then gently pushed against a shoulder so that she could at least get upright. Perhaps she could make a run for it, floo to Hogwarts through another fire place, or perhaps Molly could protect her! She managed to get to her feet as Severus opened his eyes and glared at her.

Before she could stop herself she offered her hand to him in assistance. He waved it away with a snort and slowly got to his feet.

‘Run you stupid twit!’ she shouted to herself, but instead she stood there, next to him as he brushed the ash from his robes, all the while grinding his teeth. With a final flick, he sent the last of the ashes off of his person and then turned to the annoyance at his side.

“Well Miss Granger? What is the excuse this time?” he growled. “Are you running from a rampaging Hippogriff? Being chased by Malfoy? Or did you merely sense my presence here and decide that you had to make it two days in a row that you plowed me down?”

Hermione Granger hated to be intimidated, and Seveus Snape was now thisclose to her and getting closer. She could feel his hot breath on her forehead. So she did what any premenstrual girl would do in her situation. She snapped.

“Well that does it!’ she growled back at him. “How dare you assume that I have nothing better to do than to stalk you and make a point of running you down every chance I get/ I mean my reputation as a know it all book worm wasn’t complete! Oh no! I just couldn’t bear to spend my sixth year at Hogwarts without being this years Snape Fuck!”

The room fell silent when she finished her tirade and for once in a good many years, Severus Snape was dumb struck. Dumb struck and angry. Very angry. So angry that even Hermione could tell that she had just signed her death warrant with her rant. She felt as if the air had been sucked out of the room.

“Oh! I am so dead!” she squeaked and then turned and raced from the room.





A/N: Funny now, but I promise that it will get serious too....