A Dish Served Cold

A/N - I know that this is still mostly a lot of talking, but I suspect theat I would have whole host of things to talk about in the same situation. :) Thanks again to Kate, my beloved beta, without whom I would be lost. I really appreciate the reviews on this, I thank everyone who is willing to be dragged along on another rollercoaster with me.

Chapter 3 – Reaction

Severus was stunned as he watched Hermione’s calm face. Her sudden request for the quill and the composed manner in which she made a decision that changed her life forever impressed him. He watched her, hiding his face again from her behind the sweep of his hair. Her hands fumbled a bit as she drank her tea and he felt a surge of relief. She wasn’t as cool about this as she would like to seem.

Minerva was looking rather shocked by the whole exchange. Severus suspected that she was dismayed by the lack of tears or at least a stream of invective from her young protégé; even Severus was a trifle taken aback at her methodical calm.

“Whom did you choose, Miss Granger?” Albus asked and the girl looked up in surprise.

“Professor Snape, of course. He was the only Order member.” She stated it as though it should have been obvious and perhaps for her it was. Severus felt a slight twinge pass through his chest and looked at his fiancée with a touch of irritation. She hadn’t even asked if he had wanted to marry her. “It’s not as though either of us has a choice; if I don’t marry him, his father will only choose someone worse.” Severus was struck by this argument and the image of being married off to Millicent Bulstrode arose in his mind. The vision of her carrying him across the threshold made him blanch.

“True, as an Order member yourself, you are one of the few safe choices,” he remarked dryly. She wouldn’t find his mask and cloak and call the Aurors, or conversely, report him to Voldemort as a traitor. Indeed, this could have been much worse on many levels. Miss Granger nodded as though the thought was not new to her.

“Indeed, Miss Granger, most sensible,” Albus replied faintly. His eyes were a trifle wide as he studied the utterly tranquil young woman.

“Well as soon as the law was drafted I did put together a list of people who might suit me; admittedly Professor Snape wasn’t on the list…” Here her voice faltered and Severus was amused by her lapse. “…but he is no worse than many of my choices and a great deal better than Mad-Eye Moody,” she finished with a snort and Severus tried to picture the paranoid old Auror walking Miss Granger down the aisle. It was as awful a picture as himself with Miss Bulstrode.

“Indeed,” Albus murmured and poured himself a strong cup of tea. Severus could see the huge effort the Headmaster was making to keep from laughing.

“I admit, that the …um…requirements are…um…were not …um,” she trailed off with a frightened look at him and Severus felt a tightness in his guts. Damn, he was going to have to bed the child, wasn’t he? She was looking at him as though he was a night terror come to haunt her and he cursed his meddlesome father once more.

“A conversation for another time, perhaps?” Albus cut off the girl’s sudden realization; she nodded abruptly and they changed the topic.

“We will have the wedding at Hogwarts, I think. We have made preparations in the understanding that this could happen to any of our students.” Minerva was prattling on now about gowns and flowers and bringing Miss Granger’s parents to Hogwarts for the ceremony.

“Good God.” The thought of her parents surprised the exclamation out of him and her frown made him realize that she had misunderstood. He hated explaining himself to people; no matter how much he tried, they never listened and they never understood. Still, he would be stuck with this girl for the rest of his life and if he didn’t want that life to be a misery he had better start making nice. He scowled as he forced his mouth open. “I hadn’t considered before your parents’ opinion on this.” Her face cleared, miracle of miracles, and she nodded comprehension.

“They know about the law. I have been very open with them about the differences that exist between the Muggle and the Wizarding worlds. They thought that I had another year to come up with a plan, though.” A bleak look crossed her face and he felt a stab of pity for her. She was only seventeen and she was being forced to make a rapid decision that should have been very different for her. A thought occurred to him.

“Miss Granger, is there a young man who will be hurt by your decision today?” He had no desire to be the object of some jealous young fool’s malice. She looked blank for a long moment and then burst into laughter.

“Oh please, Professor. I’m Hermione Granger, the bookworm. I do not inspire passion in young men.” Her tone held no trace of bitterness, only a quiet acceptance of something that must have galled her fiercely at one time. Severus was startled by her confession but unsure of how to respond.

“Nonsense, Miss Granger. Mister Krum was quite taken with you.” Trust Albus to know what to say in an emotionally volatile moment, Severus thought with some relief. Now if he could just keep either Albus or Minerva with him constantly for the rest of his married life…

“Professor, Viktor Krum is gay. He found in me a friendly face, a non-judgmental companion behind whose skirts he could hide the truth.” Severus clamped his mouth shut to keep his jaw from dropping open. Krum was gay? Well, that answered some questions he had had about Karkaroff and his relationship with the young Seeker. Severus knew which team his old Death Eater buddy was playing for and it was an all-male league.

“Indeed.” Albus’ face was a picture and Severus wished fervently that Creevey were here to document it.

“Miss Granger, how will your parents react to this news?” It was the most pressing thought in his head. The idea of being jumped by a knife-wielding Muggle was not high on his list of favorite activities. It was also a question that served to divert everyone’s mind from depressing thoughts of Miss Granger’s attractiveness or lack thereof.

“They will throw a fit,” she replied and he groaned quietly. “I have no doubt that they will stage a protest at the Ministry and set up picket lines.” The three adults looked at her in blank incomprehension.

“Beg pardon?” Minerva asked with a fixed expression.

“Well they did the whole sixties radical thing, you know; they weren’t always dentists.” She stated this as if the information was self-evident and Severus shook his head. She might be one of the brighter witches in a century but she had not seemed to grasp the realities of the Wizarding world, namely that much of what she so patently understood was gibberish to the rest of them.

“Indeed.” Albus blinked in confusion and then nodded as though he understood every bloody word.

“I don’t doubt that you will get a bit of a talking to from my dad, but once I explain that you had no choice either, he will cool off,” Hermione assured Severus with aplomb.

Trying to imagine the circumstances under which he himself would “cool off” after finding his daughter was being forced into a misalliance as egregious as the one Miss Granger had just agreed to, boggled Severus’ mind. Presented with such a scenario himself, Severus would launch into the Unforgivables first and ask about the circumstances later. Perhaps her being Muggleborn was really all for the best. At least her family couldn’t curse him.

“Indeed.” Albus was as close to being flummoxed as the younger wizard had ever seen. “Lemon drop?” he asked faintly and Miss Granger nodded and popped one of the candies into her mouth. Severus was by no means reconciled to the marriage but she would at least provide amusement. Watching her baffle the Headmaster was the most fun he had had in…never mind, that line of thought was far too depressing.
Minerva was giving the young woman a sharp look and Severus deduced that she thought that Miss Granger’s behavior was a show of bravado. If it was, it was worthy of a career on the stage.

Another thought occurred to him: the girl was in shock. He let his gaze rest upon her fingers, clenched around the teacup in a vise grip. The slightly too-bright eyes and the paleness of her skin were additional clues and he guessed that beneath her cool exterior her emotions were churning as she absorbed an entirely unexpected shift in her future plans.

“Miss Granger, what are your future plans?” He broke into another discussion of dresses and flowers and her haunted eyes turned to meet his.

“Excuse me?”

“Are you going to seek an apprenticeship, look for a job – you know, your plans?” He felt his control on his temper slipping and the last bit came out rather sharply. She seemed unfazed though and in fact her eyes lost some of their panicked sheen.

“I was going to seek an apprenticeship, sir.” Her words made him nod in agreement; it was what he had expected. Hermione Granger would want to learn everything, go as far as possible in her chosen field.

“What field?”

“Why?”

“Beg pardon?”

“Why do you care? It’s all over now. I have to produce two children in the next four years. I won’t be able to keep up with the work of an apprenticeship.” There was grief and a touch of bitterness over the wreckage of her academic career that had been absent from her earlier comment on her romantic desirability.

“By no means would I prevent you from taking up an apprenticeship. Means would be provided to care for … the children.” He faltered at that, the reality of it being far from his mind and the means of creating those children being even more remote from what he could imagine right then.

She looked out at him with the eyes of a child, an innocent, and he was appalled at the thought of her having to give herself to a man twenty years her senior whom she abhorred.

“Thank you, sir,” she whispered and he realized that her fear had been that he would lock her away in the dungeons as a breeding machine and her mind would languish in the darkness. He snorted.

“No thanks are necessary, Miss Granger. The thought of you with nothing to occupy your time with while you are in close proximity to my lab and other breakables is a horrific image,” he sneered, but she caught the humor in his eyes and simply nodded.

“Transfiguration,” she finally answered and he nodded. Minerva’s face lit up and she reached out to grasp Miss Granger’s arm.

“Oh, my dear child, do let me take you on!” Minerva sounded ecstatic and Miss Granger gave her a shy little smile.

“I wanted to ask, but I was afraid to presume.” Severus snorted at her words and Miss Granger looked at him in surprise.

“There has been a war in the Teacher’s Lounge for five years over who will claim you as their apprentice, Miss Granger.” He flung himself into a chair, tired of looming over them all.

“Were you in that war, Professor?” she asked with a miniscule smile peeping out.

“Certainly not!” he refuted vehemently and Minerva laughed.

“Severus never indulges in taking an apprentice.” Albus was back on familiar territory and his eyes had brightened in amusement once more.

“I have never found anyone I could tolerate long enough to even consider,” he grumbled and the look of dismay on Miss Granger’s face made him sigh. “I have hopes that we will see as little of one another as possible, Miss Granger.” She seemed to shrink in her chair and then straightened and nodded.

“It cannot be called a love match,” she shot back at him with a look that was somewhat akin to grief. He suspected that some silly, idealistic, romantic hope was dying a slow sad death in her heart right then and he felt somewhat guilty.

“No, Miss Granger, it cannot. Still, you are not entirely without merit and we shall have the rest of our lives to learn to deal with each other.” Albus shot him a look of irritation and Minerva frowned but he wasn’t going to sugarcoat the future for her; it would only lead to greater disappointment later.

“That was the nicest thing you have ever said to me.” She was looking at him, her plain face earnest and her brown eyes thoughtful. “I hope this will not be too horrible for you.”

“Miss Granger, I had never thought to marry – ever – and had I contemplated that blessed state, I would not have chosen a seventeen-year-old Gryffindor.” He put a great deal of his personal bitterness in to the word “blessed” and his distaste for Gryffindors in general was well known enough to make her wince on the last word.

“Well, as a little girl when I imagined my wedding, I certainly didn’t plan on marrying a bitter, sarcastic man with no social skills,” she shot back, tit-for-tat. Minerva drew a breath to scold her, but Severus merely shrugged.

“Now that we have established that we are not soul-mates, Miss Granger, shall we move on?” That surprised a laugh out of the girl and he was pleased that she could hold her own in a little gentle verbal sparring.

“Yes, sir,” she nodded; wiping away the tears her eyes had produced from her bout of mirth.

“As soon as the engagement is announced, you will be under close scrutiny. The Slytherins especially will be on you looking for some weakness they can exploit.” She was looking confused and he sighed. “Internal Slytherin politics, Miss Granger; I will give you the full lecture later, but it will be assumed that you have influence with me.” She still looked rather confused. “Grades, Miss Granger,” he prompted and her eyes went wide in shock.

“That’s despicable!” she shot back and he looked at Minerva accusingly.

“Gryffindors,” he sneered. “As Head of House, you’re responsible for her education. Surely a little understanding of the other Houses wouldn’t have been amiss.”

“It never came up,” Minerva shot back dryly and he found his lips twisting up in response.

“It has now come up.” Albus inserted himself gently into the conversation and the two teachers nodded in unison.

“Now what?” Miss Granger asked and Severus felt that it was a very good question indeed.

“Now we announce the engagement and wait for the first shots to be fired over this betrothal.” Albus answered her and she looked startled. “Lucius Malfoy, my dear; he will not relinquish you easily.” The Headmaster’s words froze Severus’ blood. He of all people should have thought of that possibility but he was so off-kilter from the proposal that he had been thinking only of the impact on himself and Miss Granger.

Whole worlds of complications re-opened to him as his earlier fears about Voldemort came crowding back. As soon as the engagement became public knowledge, he was in for a great deal of explaining and a very great deal of pain.