Strange Bedfellows
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
3
Views:
2,534
Reviews:
3
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
3
Views:
2,534
Reviews:
3
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
2. Commotion on the Eurostar
2. Commotion on the Eurostar
***
Dumbledore waved goodbye to Professor Snape and one of Hogwarts’ brightest new graduates on a warm June evening. A slight twinge of uncertainty worried him. Sending those two out on a mission such as this one was sure to produce explosive results. He just hoped they could avoid hexing each other long enough to track down Karkaroff and stop this madness. How the former Death Eater had managed to thwart the Floo Network AND impede all Apparating across Europe was a mystery, even to Albus Dumbledore.
Snape had been a natural choice to track down Karkaroff. Their history together meant he knew more about the slippery man than most. He needed a Muggle-born companion who was a Member of the Order of the Phoenix to navigate him through ‘traditional’ travel methods. Miss Granger had seemed the best option here. Sending Harry was pure madness, far too tempting for Voldemort’s followers. Dumbledore smiled to himself as he thought of poor Severus and the trials he was going to endure.
***
Hermione Granger had never felt more miserable in her liAfteAfter an excruciating eight-hour ride from Hogsmeade into King’s Cross, he was now winging non-stop about the squalor of the London Underground.
At Waterloo, they boarded the Eurostar to Paris. Snape became agitated when they passed through the metal detectors at the Eurostar terminal, saying they made his teeth rattle. Hermione rolled her eyes but said nothing.
‘Not even past Dover and he’s driving me insane already!’ she thought to herself. This couldn’t bode well for their upcoming trip.
They found a nearly empty wagon and moved to the middle section to occupy a group of four seats organized in such a way that they’d be able to put their precious bags on the seats opposite them.
As Hermione took her seat, she noticed a lone woman sitting in the seats across the aisle from them. She had striking straight red hear. Hermione couldn’t really see her face, as she was leaning against the window, listening to a walkman.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Eurostar train to Paris – Gare du Nord. Mesdames, Messieurs, bienvenue à bord le train Eurostar à destination de Paris – Gare du Nord…” the anner ger gave the entire spiel in English and French. Hermione was delighted. While she adored Hogwarts, the one thing she missed more than anything about cosmopolitan Lo was was hearing different languages spoken around her.
Snape immersed himself in a book and ignored her until they reached Dover. He started perceptibly when they entered the Channel tunnel, however. Hermione suppressed her grin.
“How long do you suppose we’ll be underwater?” he asked, trying to sound calmer than he felt.
***
After Calais, the train sped up considerably, causing Snape to look out the window nervously. Hermione took pity on him,
“Don’t worry, Professor. This is a TGV train. It’s designed to go at this speed. We’ll be travelling much faster from here on. You’ll get used to it.”
“And what, pray tell, is a Tidgyvee?” he snapped at her, annoyed that she was throwing Muggle jargon at him.
Hermione giggled. “T.G.V. It stands for Train de Grande Vitesse.” She stopped laughing when she caught his glare. “High speed train!” she finished. “Did you never study a foreign language?”
He turned to her at this and was about to give her a good telling off when a commotion was heard from the seats ahead of them. A man was stalking towards a sleeping old lady, baring what looked like fangs.
“Wands out, Miss Granger!” Snape whispered as he pulled his out. “That is a vampire.”
But before either of them could yell: “Stupefy!” the young woman with the red hair in the aisle across from them seemed to spring into action. She brandished a large wo spi spike, pausing to look at Hermione’s wand in an appraising fashion, and, as she rushed towards the vampire, she threw back at her:
“Oh honey, you call that a stake?”
In the blink of an eye, she’d plunged her spike into the vampire’s heart, whereupon Hermione was shocked to see it turn to dust. The old lady slept on, oblivious to her brush with a gruesome end.
Hermione had never seen a real live vampire. She stood gawking at the redhead. The stake had left her hand at lightning speed. But she hadn’t quite thrown it. It looked to Hermione like she’d levitated it. But that couldn’t be. This young woman bra brandished no wand, uttered no spell.
The woman came back towards her. Smiling shyly, she stuck her hand out and said: “Hi! I’m Willow.”
Hermione seemed to find her voice. “I’m Hermione, and this is Pr…”
“Snape,” he said firmly, casting Hermione a warning glare. She’d forgotten that they were travelling incognito. “Just Snape.”
“Well, Just Snape, nice to meet you.” She spoke in a soft American accent. Her eyes danced merrily, not noticing the trademark thinning of Snape’s lips as his anger rose to the surface. Then she looked back, concerned. “I’m glad that sweet old lady didn’t bite the big one at the hands of Mr. Fangy Breath.”
Hermione’s eyes moved in and out of focus for a second as her brain tried to wrap itself around what the woman had just said. It was Snape’s turn to smirk at her, when she cast him a quizzical glance.
“What, Miss Granger, did nevenever study a foreign language?” he asked.
Willow frowned slightly at this. “Erm, so, you guys might want to whittle yourselves some better stakes in the future. Make ‘em thicker and pointier, you know?” she said, pointing at Hermione’s wand.
Hermione looked down, only now realizing that she was still holding it. “Oh, this, actually it’s not…”
“Much good at all, no you’re quite right. Thank you for the… advice,” Snape finished, castingmionmione another warning look. She was slipping up too much for his liking, considering she wasposeposed to be the expert on passing for a Muggle!
Hermione looked at him in irritation. She could tell this woman was no Muggle. Clearly she knew how to deal with vampires. And besides, she wanted to know:
“How did you make your stake fly with such precision?”
“Oh, well,” Willow lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “I’m a Witch.”
Hermione’s eyes widened, looking over to Snape, who was frowning at the redhead.
“I take it you attended Salem Academy, then?”
“Um… no. Sunnydale High, actually.” Willow’s smile wavered. Being asked about Sunnydale always brought pangs of yearning, since her hometown had been swallowed up several years before.
“I am not aware of any School of Witchcraft and Wizardry called “Sunnydale High,” Snape said cu.
Willow burst out laughing. “School of Witchcraft and…! Oh, that’s a good one!” She stopped laughing abruptly when she realised they were serious. “Well, I did some summer training at the Watcher’s Council in London a few summers ago.” Willow didn’t like the way this conversation was headed. These two seemeke Wke Watcher types.
A look of recognition crossed Snape’s face, along with a newfound disdain for the woman before him.
“So, you work for the Watcher’s Council, do you?” he asked, disgusted. Snape knew all about their barbaric practice of using young women to carry out their dastardly deeds.
“No, actually. But the Slayer is my best friend,” she said, smiling proudly. “Well, one of the slayers,” she amended. “I used to date another one.” Her face became serious as she added, “and there is no Watcher’s Council anymore. It was destroyed, bombed to smithereens.”
Snape was clearly taken aback by this. He’d heard nothing of it in wizarding circles. Then again, the Watcher’s council kept their headquarters hidden almost as well as Hogwarts hid itself from the world. And London so regularly fell prey to bombings, whether from the IRA or Al Quaida, that Snape could well imagine this had been explained away as just another terrorist incident.
“It must have been a powerful group that attacked the Headquarters,” Snape probed.
Willow answered enigmatically, “It wasn’t a group, it was the First.”
Snape was intrigued. He tried to sound civil as he removed his bag from the seat opposite him. “Won’t you join us?” he asked her, gesturing to the place he’d just cleared.
“Sure. Thanks!” Willow said brightly.
***
Over the course of the next two hours, they discussed many things. Willow explained how she’d worked with the slayer for nearly a decade. Hermione had been fascinated to learn of the existence of demons. She was equally intrigued to note that Snape did not seem at all surprised by this revelation. Snape seemed particularly intrigued by the entity Willow kept referring to as “the First”. Hermione now had a general sense that this was “The First Evil”. Snape countedkwarkwards on his fingers when Willow mentioned the first appearance of The First at Christmas time some seven years previously. He nodded, as though it all made sense to him.
“What, Professor?” Hermione said in exasperation.
/> />
They had dropped their charade of being Muggles after discovering the extent of Willow’s powersplaiplaining briefly about Hogwarts, Voldemort, and the war against his Death Eaters. When Willow had talked about her past, Snape had been alarmed when she described her ability to levitate, burn, and transform objects at will, without the use of a wand or any incantation. It gave him a newfound respect for her, but he also seemed to fear her.
“Well,” Snape n pen pensively, “I believe that it is too big a coincidence that the initial manifestation of the First coincided with the reappearance of the Dark Lord seven years ago. The Dark Lord must have called it forth, or more likely, the First brought the Dark Lord back.”
They all sat quietly, contemplating the implications of this. Willow sighed, shaking her head, “I sure wish evil would take a vacation once in a while.” They laughed uneasily.
***
Author\'s note: This fic is g tog to be SS/HG, but I couldn\'t resist bringing Willow in to stir things up a bit!
love, Luna
***
Dumbledore waved goodbye to Professor Snape and one of Hogwarts’ brightest new graduates on a warm June evening. A slight twinge of uncertainty worried him. Sending those two out on a mission such as this one was sure to produce explosive results. He just hoped they could avoid hexing each other long enough to track down Karkaroff and stop this madness. How the former Death Eater had managed to thwart the Floo Network AND impede all Apparating across Europe was a mystery, even to Albus Dumbledore.
Snape had been a natural choice to track down Karkaroff. Their history together meant he knew more about the slippery man than most. He needed a Muggle-born companion who was a Member of the Order of the Phoenix to navigate him through ‘traditional’ travel methods. Miss Granger had seemed the best option here. Sending Harry was pure madness, far too tempting for Voldemort’s followers. Dumbledore smiled to himself as he thought of poor Severus and the trials he was going to endure.
***
Hermione Granger had never felt more miserable in her liAfteAfter an excruciating eight-hour ride from Hogsmeade into King’s Cross, he was now winging non-stop about the squalor of the London Underground.
At Waterloo, they boarded the Eurostar to Paris. Snape became agitated when they passed through the metal detectors at the Eurostar terminal, saying they made his teeth rattle. Hermione rolled her eyes but said nothing.
‘Not even past Dover and he’s driving me insane already!’ she thought to herself. This couldn’t bode well for their upcoming trip.
They found a nearly empty wagon and moved to the middle section to occupy a group of four seats organized in such a way that they’d be able to put their precious bags on the seats opposite them.
As Hermione took her seat, she noticed a lone woman sitting in the seats across the aisle from them. She had striking straight red hear. Hermione couldn’t really see her face, as she was leaning against the window, listening to a walkman.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Eurostar train to Paris – Gare du Nord. Mesdames, Messieurs, bienvenue à bord le train Eurostar à destination de Paris – Gare du Nord…” the anner ger gave the entire spiel in English and French. Hermione was delighted. While she adored Hogwarts, the one thing she missed more than anything about cosmopolitan Lo was was hearing different languages spoken around her.
Snape immersed himself in a book and ignored her until they reached Dover. He started perceptibly when they entered the Channel tunnel, however. Hermione suppressed her grin.
“How long do you suppose we’ll be underwater?” he asked, trying to sound calmer than he felt.
***
After Calais, the train sped up considerably, causing Snape to look out the window nervously. Hermione took pity on him,
“Don’t worry, Professor. This is a TGV train. It’s designed to go at this speed. We’ll be travelling much faster from here on. You’ll get used to it.”
“And what, pray tell, is a Tidgyvee?” he snapped at her, annoyed that she was throwing Muggle jargon at him.
Hermione giggled. “T.G.V. It stands for Train de Grande Vitesse.” She stopped laughing when she caught his glare. “High speed train!” she finished. “Did you never study a foreign language?”
He turned to her at this and was about to give her a good telling off when a commotion was heard from the seats ahead of them. A man was stalking towards a sleeping old lady, baring what looked like fangs.
“Wands out, Miss Granger!” Snape whispered as he pulled his out. “That is a vampire.”
But before either of them could yell: “Stupefy!” the young woman with the red hair in the aisle across from them seemed to spring into action. She brandished a large wo spi spike, pausing to look at Hermione’s wand in an appraising fashion, and, as she rushed towards the vampire, she threw back at her:
“Oh honey, you call that a stake?”
In the blink of an eye, she’d plunged her spike into the vampire’s heart, whereupon Hermione was shocked to see it turn to dust. The old lady slept on, oblivious to her brush with a gruesome end.
Hermione had never seen a real live vampire. She stood gawking at the redhead. The stake had left her hand at lightning speed. But she hadn’t quite thrown it. It looked to Hermione like she’d levitated it. But that couldn’t be. This young woman bra brandished no wand, uttered no spell.
The woman came back towards her. Smiling shyly, she stuck her hand out and said: “Hi! I’m Willow.”
Hermione seemed to find her voice. “I’m Hermione, and this is Pr…”
“Snape,” he said firmly, casting Hermione a warning glare. She’d forgotten that they were travelling incognito. “Just Snape.”
“Well, Just Snape, nice to meet you.” She spoke in a soft American accent. Her eyes danced merrily, not noticing the trademark thinning of Snape’s lips as his anger rose to the surface. Then she looked back, concerned. “I’m glad that sweet old lady didn’t bite the big one at the hands of Mr. Fangy Breath.”
Hermione’s eyes moved in and out of focus for a second as her brain tried to wrap itself around what the woman had just said. It was Snape’s turn to smirk at her, when she cast him a quizzical glance.
“What, Miss Granger, did nevenever study a foreign language?” he asked.
Willow frowned slightly at this. “Erm, so, you guys might want to whittle yourselves some better stakes in the future. Make ‘em thicker and pointier, you know?” she said, pointing at Hermione’s wand.
Hermione looked down, only now realizing that she was still holding it. “Oh, this, actually it’s not…”
“Much good at all, no you’re quite right. Thank you for the… advice,” Snape finished, castingmionmione another warning look. She was slipping up too much for his liking, considering she wasposeposed to be the expert on passing for a Muggle!
Hermione looked at him in irritation. She could tell this woman was no Muggle. Clearly she knew how to deal with vampires. And besides, she wanted to know:
“How did you make your stake fly with such precision?”
“Oh, well,” Willow lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “I’m a Witch.”
Hermione’s eyes widened, looking over to Snape, who was frowning at the redhead.
“I take it you attended Salem Academy, then?”
“Um… no. Sunnydale High, actually.” Willow’s smile wavered. Being asked about Sunnydale always brought pangs of yearning, since her hometown had been swallowed up several years before.
“I am not aware of any School of Witchcraft and Wizardry called “Sunnydale High,” Snape said cu.
Willow burst out laughing. “School of Witchcraft and…! Oh, that’s a good one!” She stopped laughing abruptly when she realised they were serious. “Well, I did some summer training at the Watcher’s Council in London a few summers ago.” Willow didn’t like the way this conversation was headed. These two seemeke Wke Watcher types.
A look of recognition crossed Snape’s face, along with a newfound disdain for the woman before him.
“So, you work for the Watcher’s Council, do you?” he asked, disgusted. Snape knew all about their barbaric practice of using young women to carry out their dastardly deeds.
“No, actually. But the Slayer is my best friend,” she said, smiling proudly. “Well, one of the slayers,” she amended. “I used to date another one.” Her face became serious as she added, “and there is no Watcher’s Council anymore. It was destroyed, bombed to smithereens.”
Snape was clearly taken aback by this. He’d heard nothing of it in wizarding circles. Then again, the Watcher’s council kept their headquarters hidden almost as well as Hogwarts hid itself from the world. And London so regularly fell prey to bombings, whether from the IRA or Al Quaida, that Snape could well imagine this had been explained away as just another terrorist incident.
“It must have been a powerful group that attacked the Headquarters,” Snape probed.
Willow answered enigmatically, “It wasn’t a group, it was the First.”
Snape was intrigued. He tried to sound civil as he removed his bag from the seat opposite him. “Won’t you join us?” he asked her, gesturing to the place he’d just cleared.
“Sure. Thanks!” Willow said brightly.
***
Over the course of the next two hours, they discussed many things. Willow explained how she’d worked with the slayer for nearly a decade. Hermione had been fascinated to learn of the existence of demons. She was equally intrigued to note that Snape did not seem at all surprised by this revelation. Snape seemed particularly intrigued by the entity Willow kept referring to as “the First”. Hermione now had a general sense that this was “The First Evil”. Snape countedkwarkwards on his fingers when Willow mentioned the first appearance of The First at Christmas time some seven years previously. He nodded, as though it all made sense to him.
“What, Professor?” Hermione said in exasperation.
/> />
They had dropped their charade of being Muggles after discovering the extent of Willow’s powersplaiplaining briefly about Hogwarts, Voldemort, and the war against his Death Eaters. When Willow had talked about her past, Snape had been alarmed when she described her ability to levitate, burn, and transform objects at will, without the use of a wand or any incantation. It gave him a newfound respect for her, but he also seemed to fear her.
“Well,” Snape n pen pensively, “I believe that it is too big a coincidence that the initial manifestation of the First coincided with the reappearance of the Dark Lord seven years ago. The Dark Lord must have called it forth, or more likely, the First brought the Dark Lord back.”
They all sat quietly, contemplating the implications of this. Willow sighed, shaking her head, “I sure wish evil would take a vacation once in a while.” They laughed uneasily.
***
Author\'s note: This fic is g tog to be SS/HG, but I couldn\'t resist bringing Willow in to stir things up a bit!
love, Luna