Mastering Temptation

CHAPTER THREE: The Jokes on Snape







Severus stood in front of the fireplace and waited for Lucius to open the connection so he could floo to Malfoy Manor. He was agitated and his head was pounding as he waited. All day long he had walked the halls of the castle beside her, more aware of her than he should be given her age and her position as his employee. He wasn’t happy to see that the rest of the male staff reacted to her the same way he had. They seemed to turn into besotted idiots the moment she said hello. The only one who hadn’t seemed to notice was Hagrid who just swung her up into his arms in a hug that left her struggling to breathe and begging to be put down.







His attraction to her was damned inconvenient and he needed to figure out what he was going to do about it. First thing he was going to do however was find out why Lucius hadn’t bothered to share more detailed information with him. He knew the kind of women Severus liked and he also knew that Hermione was going to be working for him, one would think that he would inform his oldest friend that she was in possession of all the assets necessary to tempt a man like him. Of course that was partly his fault. Running the school had limited his ability to socialize with his friend in recent years.





Severus heard Lucius call down the network for him to step through and he made his way into the study at Malfoy Manor.





“You could have warned me you know.” Severus said in lieu of an actual greeting as he stalked across the room towards Lucius’s desk.





“And what did I forget to warn you about, Severus?” Lucius asked, leaning back in his chair with his hands folded over his abdomen.





“Perhaps you could have warned me about Ms. Granger.” Severus said.





“What about her?” Draco asked as he walked into his father’s study. “Hello Uncle Sev, what brings you here?”





“Hermione is Severus’s new secretary.” Lucius said with a smug smile on his face. Draco and Severus both sat in the leather chairs situated in front of Lucius’s desk.





“She told me, congratulations, she’s quite brilliant.” Draco said.





“It’s not her brilliance that’s the problem.” Lucius chuckled. “Severus hasn’t seen the girl since she was seventeen, at least not until today.”





Severus glared at his friend across the desk. Draco saw the look on his face and he was somewhat shocked, then he started to laugh.





“I can see where she might take you a bit by surprise. She was a late bloomer that one. Filled out quite nicely didn’t she?” Draco watched the expression on the older wizards face and he wanted to laugh even harder.





“You could have told me about certain changes in her appearance, Lucius. As a friend I would have warned you.” Severus said as he reached across the desk and took Lucius’s glass of whiskey.





“Why would you need a warning? I know she’s stacked but she’s not dangerous.” Draco laughed.





“That depends on your definition of danger.” Lucius said. He enjoyed seeing Severus all riled up. The man had gotten too stuffy in recent years, and if it were possible even more brooding and serious. “You see a woman like Hermione might cause problems for a man who is attracted to a certain body type.”





“Oh?” Draco looked over at Severus in amazement. “I wasn’t aware that you liked women.”



Severus choked on his pilfered whiskey and turned his angry gaze on Draco.

“What in the hell would make you think I didn’t?”





“I’ve never seen you with any. You never bring them here for dinner or to any events.” Draco said with a shrug.





“Oh he likes women well enough, son.” Lucius laughed.





“I do not feel the need to parade conquests about like prize ponies.” Severus said tightly.





Lucius got up and went across the room to a bookcase that had a cupboard underneath.





“You see, Severus’s father was a muggle, so his time away from school was spent at Spinner’s End.” Lucius said, digging through the contents of the cupboard. “So Severus developed a taste for a certain kind of woman from watching muggle entertainment.” Lucius found what he was looking for and brought it over to show Draco.





“Who is Marilyn Monroe?” Draco asked, looking at the curvy blonde in the photograph his father handed him.





“She was a muggle actress that Severus was quite taken with as a boy.” Lucius said, resuming his seat behind the desk.





“You are enjoying my discomfort immensely aren’t you, Lucius?” Severus asked.





“I get it, Uncle Sev likes his woman voluptuous, like Hermione.” Draco said, setting the photograph on his father’s desk. “So what’s the problem, surely you haven’t been thinking about shagging your secretary.”





Severus didn’t answer; he took another long swallow of his whiskey and emptied the glass.





“That’s exactly what he has been doing, that’s why he is here yelling at me for not telling him about her.” Lucius said laughing.





“I had no idea who she was when I saw her at first; she was bent over my desk so all I saw was a round backside when I walked in.” He grumbled, wondering why he remained friends with the cocky blond. “I nearly had a coronary when she turned around.”





“So are you going to sack her then?” Draco asked, amused that Snape would be attracted to Hermione of all people.





“I can’t sack her because I happen to be…..distracted by her.” Severus said





“Well I don’t see a problem, she’s absolutely amazing at her job and you can enjoy the view as often as you please. It’s a win win situation.” Draco said.





“You think it would be so easy to concentrate on running a school with her prancing about your office all day?” Severus asked just before he accio’d Lucius’s whiskey decanter from a credenza against the wall.





“Getting pissed won’t make her any less attractive you know.” Lucius drawled.





“I had no problems tending to business with her running around here.” Draco said.





“She tells me you are friends, how did that happen?” Severus asked, filling his glass.





“Bumped into her at a coffee shop actually, we were reading the same book and got to chatting about it. Turns out all her friends are married and she’s not, so she spends a lot of time alone. In fact Potter’s wife is expecting soon.” Draco answered.





“Well how did she end up working for you?” He asked Lucius. “You never filled me in on that little bit of information.”





“She helped Draco out when his personal assistant left while he looked for another one and I was impressed, so I hired her. Best assistant I ever had, it was a shame she felt it was inappropriate to work for people she considered friends.” Lucius said.





“I get the feeling you admire her for more than her mind.” Severus said into his glass as he peered at Lucius over the rim.





“I prefer my women tall and willowy, but I won’t deny a certain appreciation for the picture she presents. She has an amazing walk, did you notice?” Lucius asked.





“Yes, I noticed.” Severus frowned and slammed his glass down on the edge of Lucius’s desk.





“So what are you going to do?” Draco asked.





“I am going to go back to the school and do my best to ignore her.” Severus said, but there was no confidence in his ability to do it.





“You could seduce her, who knows, she might be amenable. I know she isn’t seeing any one and she lives alone. I could give you her address.” Draco said smiling.





“I have her address, thank you; it’s in her employment file. And I definitely will not be seducing my secretary who I might add is half my age!” Severus said indignantly.





“Never stopped me.” Lucius said.





“Somehow it doesn’t surprise me coming from you.” Severus said, pushing to his feet and teetering just a bit as the whiskey took effect. “I think that morally you are a lost cause.” Severus shook his head trying to clear the fog as he made his way back to the hearth.





“Enjoy her; I can assure you she will make your life a hell of a lot better.” Draco called out smiling.



Severus shot them one last glare before stepping back through the floo connection and into his rooms at Hogwarts. He stumbled into his bedroom and fell face first onto his bed. He groaned as his head began to spin and the ache intensified. He reached into his nightstand for a mix of sleeping and pain potion, tossing it back quickly. Praise the goddess that it took effect quickly. He would need a decent nights sleep if he were going to be faced with another day spent in the presence of temptation.