Killing Cupid

Chapter 3

A/N- Enormous thanks again to all my reviewers/ readers, *dances about like a loon, grinning wildly* individual thanks at the bottom, as per last chapter. Sorry updates aren’t as frequent as they were, am suddenly all busy! (As before with beta-ing as well, but I don’t seem to be doing too badly on the spellings front!)
***Seva***

The night, as such occasions of darkness so often do for those unable to find a way into blissful slumber, (or for that matter even a few snatched seconds of repose) showed no sign of ending in either the dungeons or Gryffindor tower. Evidently their two certain occupants were not to get a wink of sleep on the night in question, and with that in mind both came upon the decision that a nocturnal constitutional seemed to be in order.

Hermione wasn’t usually in the habit of taking any manner of action that could jeopardize the high esteem her professors held her in, and so wandering around the school after hours was a decidedly uncharacteristic act for her. However, even she could see that the deduction of house points was in fact preferable to her exploding from the thoughts buzzing around her head like a demonically possessed snitch, (the gist of which could only be transcripted as something similar to, “Valentines soon…singleton…GAH! Mmmm…. Snape…THAT voice… being taken on desk in potions lab…mmmmmmmm…NO! Nonono… *frantic struggle for innocuous thoughts* Sod it…ooohhhhh yes, as it happens, I’ve been a very naughty girl …please punish me Professor…Stopitstopitstopit…oh fuck…”) which she could see being the only outcome were she to stay cooped up in the dormitory. (It would after all be a bloody unpleasant task for a house elf to clean Hermione remains off every surface in there.)

Severus Snape, on the other hand, was frequently to be found prowling the corridors in the wee small hours, delighting in deducting house points from any students he so happened to encounter. Mostly this was attributed to the insomnia he had suffered since his death eater days, but occasionally, as on this particular night, it was because he judged his frame of mind as being simply too unhinged to entertain the idea of sleep. He stalked malevolently with copious swirling of robes, lost in thoughts not entirely dissimilar to those running through Hermione’s mind. So lost, in fact, that he failed to notice that a student, of all things, out of bed, and marching, in a seemingly purposeful manner toward him. Lost enough, even, not to notice that this student was none other than Miss Hermione Granger herself, engrossed in thoughts so interesting that she allowed her feet to perambulate her straight into the oncoming Professor.

The two collided with a resounding smack, Hermione finding her nose abruptly buried into a quantity of thick black wool. For the second time this evening the realization that this was Snape was slow to dawn. Rather than undertaking the socially acceptable, and altogether more normal act of removing said nose, and so vacating the rest of self from its unusual position of pressed to the front of her Potions Master some inexplicable autonomous decision compelled her to do precisely the opposite. Hermione found herself burying her face as far as was humanly possible into the material, (which was surprisingly far less scratchy than she had thought such items to be,) breathing in the strangely intoxicating, faintly carbolic smell.

Severus, for his part, got over the shock of running into the person he least intended, but curiously most wanted to see admirably quickly, recovering from the initial struggle to remain upright upon having Hermione’s person thrust upon him in the only way possible, by grabbing hold of the nearest object with which to steady himself. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on how you view it) The nearest such object happened to be Miss Granger herself, and the act of steadying, accomplished by wrapping his arms around her soon caused her to become inextricably entangled in his cloak. An arrangement which neither party, mesmerized by this bizarre embrace, seemed to have any intention of removing themselves from.

After what seemed both an eternity and the tiniest fraction of time the far-away crash of Peeves causing pandemonium in some distant corridor caused the unlikely pairing to quite literally leap apart like a startled pair of teenagers caught in some clandestine act, observing one another from a safe distance with a mutual look of unbridled horror. Needless to say, Severus regained his composure almost instantly, reverting to his icy and aloof persona.
‘Miss Granger,’ he intoned slowly, in his most silky and menacing voice, ‘and what would you be doing up at this time of night?’
Hermione could feel the adrenaline running through her veins. She was terrified of the man standing before her, she loathed him but yet at the same time was fighting the impulse to fall to her knees and at the very least beg him to fuck her senseless. (Not that her frankly tattered senses would have taken all that much to push them over the edge.) It was all deeply confusing, and before she quite knew what was happening, for ons ons she couldn’t quite explain Hermione felt tears flowing freely down her face.

‘Oh sodding hell. You’ve made her cry you great git, what the fuck are you supposed to do now?’ This was by no means the first time Severus had made a pupil cry, but there was something wholly different about this. Before he quite knew what was happening Severus had once again engulfed Hermione in his cloak, and was leading her down to the dungeons, and his own private quarters. What his intentions were there remain to be seen….

(A/N- Bit of a weird chapter this one! I wanted to get across that Severus doesn’t normally go around doing this sort of thing, and although there was strictly nothing carnal between them there is an incredibly strong mutual attraction that makes them act in such a weird way! Anyhow, R&R!)

Thanks go to…


Jkrazed- Thank you so very much! I love your stories and it’s a huge honor you’re enjoying this!

Deb- Thank you! I’m also intrigued to see where I’m going to thi this…lol!

Shiv- Heheh, they are all rather fabulous attributes though (“,) thankees!

Jo- Oh but I do read your mind…heheh, don’t you think Hermione’s train of thought looks just slightly familiar? Hope you’re still enjoying it darling, thank you for reviewing and generally being fab, you never know, I might make it darker soon if you so wish… XxXx

Zephyr- Yay! *Dances about* someone other than me thinks I’m funny! YAY! Thank you lot and lots!

Nesscafe- I’m getting cracking, lol, *salutes* I’d love nothing more than to devote all my time to this story, because for one your reviews put a bit silly smile on my face! (“,) Hurrah!

LittleBird- it won’t be long now, I promise! thanks so much for reviewing!