Bittersweet

II.


Ronald Weasley was an idiot. More of one than Potter, if Severus was forced to admit it. Honestly, what kind of buffoon would be so stupid as to confuse the word Amordesino with Amordestino? One simple letter…


One letter was all it took to permeate Severus’ emotional defenses. He had made it a point earlier in his teaching career that he’d never allow himself to think of any of his students in a way that was less than appropriate. Of course, this wasn’t his fault. The only reason why these strong emotions were coming to him now were because of Weasley’s poor excuse for a spell.


How had he never noticed before how pretty Miss Granger was? The memory of her concerned face above him was enough to speed up his heartbeat. No, this was wrong. Having feelings for a student was wrong, no matter how strong and pure they were.


There would be no need to get Dumbledore involved. This would all blow over, eventually.



“Harry?”


“Ron, not now.”


Ron was distressed. In his furious rage, he’d forgotten that Harry was his best friend, and not just some bloke who liked his sister. Amazing what situations the infamous Weasley Rage managed to get him into.


“Harry, please! Can’t you believe how sorry I am?” Ron whined pitifully.


Harry turned around to glare at the redhead. “Instead of apologizing to me, I think you should apologize to Hermione!”


“Hermione? What’s she got to do with this?” Ron said, obviously confused.


“Didn’t you see the way Snape was looking at her right after you hexed him?” Harry exclaimed, exasperated. “He was undressing her with his eyes!”


“He looked like the same snarky Snape to me!”


“Ron?”


“Yeah, Harry?”


“… You’re an idiot.”




After the incident in Professor Snape’s office, Hermione rushed as quickly as she could to her room. Seeing that neither Lavender nor Parvati were there, she undressed and walked into the bathroom to run the water in the bathtub. Adding scented oils and bubbles to her bath, she slid comfortably into the warm water.


Her thoughts abruptly switched to Professor Snape. Remembering the spell that Ron had cast on him, she pondered briefly over why Snape would have looked at her in the way he did. She remembered clearly from a book she had read that the Amordesino spell was used in arranged marriages, though not frequently, to end any love that the bride or groom-to-be had for anyone else except for the person they were betrothed to. It had made more than a few marriages less messy, for all parties included.


Hermione knew that Ron said the spell incorrectly, and that Professor Snape had mentioned that by saying it the way he did made the exact opposite effects occur. So, if Ron had intended for Harry to fall out of love, Snape, the one that had been hit with the spell, would fall into it.


Oh, no. No… There was no way Snape could be in love with HER! Why her, of all people? Hermione’s knowledge of Amordestino was vague, true, but it couldn’t just make Snape fall in love with the first person he saw, could it? Or were previous feelings involved too? Hermione shivered, yet not with revulsion. Professor Snape? Fancy her?

It sounded absurd, but Hermione allowed herself to hope it was true.



Breakfast in the Great Hall was the same as always, yet Hermione couldn’t help but feel that something was eerily different. Glancing to either side of her, she could see Ron wolfing down his food, as always. Harry, on the other side of her, was hardly paying any attention to his food; Ginny Weasley was much more interesting. There was nothing new at the Gryffindor table.


Hearing a loud laugh coming from the High Table, Hermione looked up to see Hagrid and Dumbledore exchanging enthusiastic conversation. Her eyes shifted to the dark, brooding Professor Snape, sitting to the right of Hagrid. Hermione was startled to see that he had been looking at her, and did not look away once she’d caught him. Their eyes were locked together, as if by magic. Hermione blinked, then looked down at the table in front of her.


That’s all it was, anyways, right? Just magic? She couldn’t expect Professor Snape to really feel anything for her that wasn’t induced by the spell. She’d need to pay a trip to the library…


“’Mione?” Hermione turned her attention back to Ron, who was looking at her with a puzzled expression. Hopefully, he didn’t just see that little exchange.


“What, Ron?” Please, oh please…


“What was that? With Snape?” Oh, bullocks. He’d seen.


“I-I don’t know…” Hermione fidgeted in her chair, eager for the conversation to end.


Ron looked at her thoughtfully, which wasn’t something he did often. “He’s a nasty bugger, isn’t he?”


“Er, well, I suppose…”


“Of course, he can’t be all that terrible, considering how much he helped out with the Order and all,” Ron remarked, bringing another forkful of eggs up to his mouth.


Harry chimed in, “Yeah. If he were really all that terrible, he’d have helped out his Death Eater chums, rather than turning the entire battle toward the side of the Light. We’d likely have lost without him.”


Odd, Hermione thought, that she hadn’t even realized how much Snape had helped out in the Final Battle. Professor Snape deserved more credit than he had received. He hadn’t even been awarded an Order of Merlin! Why was he so overlooked? It didn’t seem right.


Hermione quickly finished up her breakfast, gathered her things, and raced out of the Great Hall to get some time in at the library before her first class started.


“Harry?”


“Yeah, Ron?”


“You saw it, too, right?”


“That thing with ‘Mione and Snape? Sure I did! It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”


“That they’re perfect for each other?”


“Exactly.”


Ron paused, then, “You know, Harry, that we just practically gave Snape our seal of approval.”


Harry grimaced. “I suppose if Hermione ends up happy, there’s nothing wrong with it.”


“I hope for her sake that she does.”


Harry looked grim, yet determined. Suddenly, his eyes widened.


“Ron, we just had a somewhat intelligent conversation.”


“I know… Who’d have thought it was possible? We probably shouldn’t tell Hermione, or she won’t want to nag us anymore.”


“Good idea.”


The two Gryffindors went back to eating their food and discussing the latest news in Quidditch.


Three weeks went by. Hermione had gone over every possible resource in the library with a fine toothed comb, but without any results. She’d managed to find details concerning the Amordesino spell, but nothing else specifically related to what she was looking for. She’d have to check the bookstore in Hogsmeade on the upcoming Saturday.


She arched her back in a wide stretch and put her studying materials away. There was no use trying to get anything else done that night. Hermione was too excited about what would happen the next morning.


Hermione’s only wish was that Dumbledore would let her remain anonymous.



“Severus, I do believe you have a package in your cereal.”


Snape turned to glare at Dumbledore, who was looking at him suspiciously with that damned twinkle in his eye. That twinkle looked brighter than usual… No matter. He’d find out what it was about momentarily.


Taking the package in hand, Snape wiped off the paper with his napkin, then set about to unwrapping it. There was a folded note and a box. Opening the note, Snape gasped and looked again at the box. He ripped open the lid to see a sparkling Order of Merlin, First Class.


The note, from Cornelius Fudge, was apologizing for the delay in his just rewards for his war efforts.


Minerva peeked over at Snape’s opened package and smiled. “About bloody time, don’t you think, Severus?”


He was stunned. “Yes, indeed…” He hadn’t expected that the bloody idiot Minister would ever give him this. He must have been coerced, and by no small measures either. Fudge hated Snape with a fiery passion; Fudge would only consider awarding Snape with the medal would be if he’d been threatened or paid off considerably. Obviously, someone had cared enough to set that spark aflame under the Minister’s arse. But who could it have been?


It could have been Dumbledore, but the Minister liked him even less than he liked Snape. Minerva was a possibility. No one else would have bothered… Except, dare he hope?


Snape raised his gaze slowly to peer over at the Gryffindor table. He was surprised to see a pair of warm, brown eyes already looking over at him with incredible compassion.


Miss Granger? Why would she have cared enough to hassle Fudge into giving him an Order of Merlin? First Class, no less!


Then, she did the most amazing thing. Hermione Granger smiled at Severus Snape. Even more surprising was that Severus Snape smiled right back at her.


The rest of Snape\'s day went smoothly after that. He\'d let his Order of Merlin take a place of honor on his desk, right where all his students could see it. Each time Snape noticed it, he smiled again, remembering that someone gave a damn.


And if that certain someone gave a damn, maybe he had reason to hope, after all.



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Author’s Notes: I hope no one’s confused about what’s going on, and that everyone understands about the spells, now.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, although I know there are a couple issues that I’ll deal with in the next chapter… The way I see my story going, it will likely only have two or three more chapters, at the very most.

Thanks to everyone that liked my story enough to read the second chapter. Any input is appreciated.