A Very Horrible Idea?

"You idiots!" Hermione hissed, "How did you get caught? You were invisible!"

Harry nudged Ron, who was stuffing his face with potato, "He stood on the cloak with his big feet! We're really sorry, Hermione. We tried to get Filch to let us go back to bed on our own so that we could try and slip back and get you, but he followed us to the common room and waited outside; we watched him on the map. I think he stayed out there all night. He might have let us go if Snape hadn't come along!"

"Yeah, well he found me, didn't he!" Hermione snapped, "And now I have to spend my evening in his delightful company instead of finishing the book I’m reading! What did Filch do? Give you detention?"

Ron shook his head, swallowing his mouthful quickly, "He only took fifty points."

"That's hardly fair!" She glared at the boys, "I get detention and you only get points taken!"

"Yeah, but you got caught by Snape. That's the difference..." He trailed off as she glared at him harder, "Anyway, why did he give you detention? You were inside, weren't you?"

Hermione nodded as she finished her dinner, "I was inside, and I tried to tell him that I wouldn't have been doing anything wrong even if I was outside. There is a rule that the Head Boy or Girl is allowed outside after dark if it's a life-threatening situation. I know Hagrid only had a cold, but we didn't know that when we went down there. Professor Snape couldn't prove that you were outside with me, so technically he had no grounds on which to give me detention. But, of course, he did, with the reasoning that I was outside at night and that I was - and I quote - 'endangering' myself."

Ron shot a glare up at Snape's empty chair, "He doesn't care whether you were in danger or not! He just wanted a reason to give you detention!"

"Yeah, we already figure that out." Harry sighed, "We are really sorry, Hermione. Don't worry though, it's only one night, right?"

Hermione nodded, "Yeah, I guess it's not really that bad. One nights less reading, but I suppose it's not the end of the world."

Harry exchanged a raised-eyebrow look with Ron, "Just be grateful he didn't give you a whole week of detention." He rubbed his right hand unconsciously, "My wrist still hurts from all the cleaning he made me do! And that was over a month ago! One night, that's all - you'll get through it, easy."

Hermione nodded again and looked at her watch, "I've got to go, or I’ll be late. See you later... or tomorrow, depending on how long he keeps me."

Hermione left the Great Hall and started down to the Dungeons. She groaned as she turned a corner and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible, but it was too late.

"What are you doing down here, mudblood?" Draco Malfoy's voice rang out as he, Crabbe and Goyle moved closer to her, blocking the corridor, "Alone as well? Where are Potty and the Weasel?"

"It's none of your business, Malfoy." Hermione snapped as she tried moved around him.

"Hang on! What's that in that nest on your head? Oh, look boys! I've found Scarhead and Weaslbe! You know what Granger? I think the Ministry should make a special department just for your hair: Bush Rescue! What do you think, mudblood?"

Hermione pushed passed Malfoy roughly, shaking her head in disgust at his immaturity as she hurried down the corridor. Finally, she knocked on the door of the Potions classroom and was told to enter.

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She was standing in front of him now, waiting for him to acknowledge her presence. Severus stayed still, leaning over a first year essay, waiting for her to say something.

She shifted, cleared her throat very, very quietly, but didn't speak. Finally, Severus looked up and glanced at the clock on the wall, "You're late, Miss Granger."

She stared at him, "I was held up by Malfoy! I was only late by two min-!"

"Seven," He cut in, watching her anger rise, her eyes flashing.

"I've been standing here for five minutes!" She was almost shouting.

Leaning back in his chair, Severus shook his head, "Temper, temper, Miss Granger. You need to learn to control yourself. Perhaps another detention is necessary..."

She had stared at him, bewildered and angry, until he had told her to go and clean some cauldrons. Severus watched her for a few minutes, before glancing around the classroom.

It was all he had now, in his pathetic little life. He had his house, of course, but for some reason he could never contemplate living there; it was such a nasty, dreary place. He felt that he had perhaps outlived his usefulness, with the Dark Lord dead and the war over. He suspected that he was only in the school because Albus still needed a competent Potions Master.

If he didn't have Hogwarts, he really would have nothing. Severus looked back at Hermione Granger and smirked. He was finding it more and more enjoyable to watch her and her two lapdogs almost explode with anger every time he made one of his less-than-pleasant comments. Especially her.

On the rare occasion that she did rise to his insults or unfairness - as she had earlier - he could hardly contain the smugness he felt. He knew she saw it in his eyes, just as he always saw the barely controlled anger in hers. They flashed in the most peculiar way, and he sometimes found himself waiting for her to get so angry that it showed in her eyes. She kept her mouth shut - or tried at least - unlike Potter and Weasley.

It almost made Severus laugh to watch her try to hold them back and stop them from attacking Draco Malfoy. It was quite comical, considering how tall Potter and Weasley were compared to her. Severus scrutinized her carefully; she wasn't tiny, but she certainly wasn't tall.

He never looked specifically for anything - he was not some dirty old pervert - but the changes in the female portion of the student population was clear by the time they got to their seventh year. For some reason, most of the Slytherins girls ended up built like men. Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode were very good examples, with rather broad shoulders and muscular limbs. To be honest, most of the female students were very ugly - there was no other word for it.

Sometimes Severus wondered where people like Narcissa Malfoy had come from, as there had been no young woman with such femininity placed in Slytherin since that particular Black sister. But then again she had been a very stuck up child.

And it didn't matter how much the seventh year girls grew or dressed up; they were still children really, especially the ones that thought the world revolved around them. He couldn't stand people in general, but he especially couldn't stand people who were like that; man or woman or child.

That was probably part of the reason for Severus' resentment of Harry Potter - that coupled with the fact that he was the son of James Potter, of course. Weasley was just a whining brat and Granger... Well, she was so infuriatingly good and clever. Severus just wanted to strangle her for being right about every damn thing! He hated to admit it, but he wished she had been a Slytherin. Apart from the obvious brains, she would also have bought the figure of someone who actually looks like a young woman to his house.

And this was what Severus had been reduced to; comparing the mannish builds of the Slytherins girls to every other female student in the school and taunting the dream team until they looked ready to spontaneously combust.

He almost winced at the thought; he really did sound like some perverted old man. He was just thankful that he had never had any untoward thoughts about a student. No one else would have known if he had, but Severus doubted if he would have been able to carry on teaching if anything like that did creep into his mind.

But he knew it wouldn't. He had never really been very interested in women; he had always been too wrapped up in learning and creating new spells and potions when he was young and as he got older he just found that he couldn't be bothered with the more complicated sex. And he definitely wasn't gay! It wasn't that he was a virgin; he had just never had sex until he joined the Death Eater's and had never really had the desire to do so again.

Anyway, he preferred to be alone.

""""""""""""""""""""

Hermione could feel his eyes glaring a hole in her back. Well, if he wanted to be creepy, let him be creepy - she didn't want to do anything else that may accidentally get her detention, or make him remember the one her had threatened her with.

Her arm was beginning to ache, but she persevered until she had finished. She didn't know how much time had passed, so she stood up and looked down at her watch. It was almost eight o'clock and she had arrived at just gone six.

"Problem, Miss Granger?"

Hermione looked up, "No, sir, I’ve finished."

"Then you are dismissed." Hermione turned and breathed a sigh of relief as she opened the door. She should have known it was too easy. "And Miss Granger..." She turned back and looked at him. Snape smirked, "Tomorrow. Same time."

Hermione glared at him, "That's not -" She stopped abruptly and took a deep breath.

"Fair?" He was so damn smug, "Life's not fair, Miss Granger. Surely someone with the amount of brains that you claim to have would know that. You were late so you will be back tomorrow. I think that's very fair."

Hermione glared, but managed to stay silent until she was out of the classroom, "Bastard!"