A Looping of the Scales ~ COMPLETED

Chapter 40 ~ Meaningful Meals

At first, they ate in relative silence, both of them rather nervously focusing on their fish and chips, speaking only to pass the ketchup or vinegar. Finally, Hermione found her voice.

”Um—I never did thank you for stopping Blaise from hexing me with the Sectumsempra spell,” she said to Snape softly.

”Well, you certainly couldn’t block it, cringing like you were,” he replied.

Hermione frowned.

”Of course I was cringing. What would you do if you suddenly found yourself naked in front of a bunch of people?” she asked him.

Snape looked at her soberly.

“If I had a wand? I would have hexed the person who did it to me,” he replied. “That happened to me, you know. Down by the lake, but my wand was taken first so I couldn’t protect or defend myself. If I’d had it—“

He stopped talking.

”Oh. Oh, I’m sorry Severus. I’d forgotten about that. About James Potter. You do know what its like,” she said softly.

He nodded slightly, then ate a chip.

”Yes, which is why I covered you so quickly,” he admitted. “But at least you still had your wand. You just didn’t use it.”

”I was embarrassed.”

”That’s exactly what Blaise was counting on,” Snape replied. “That you would be frozen in shock.”

”You knew I would be—you acted so quickly.”

“Yes.”

”Then you hit him, knowing it would cost you points.”

”Yes. I was livid that he did that to you. Bared you that way in front of everyone then tried to cut you. It was a good spell in retrospect, but—I didn’t care about that. I only cared that he tried to hurt you seriously. That spell can be deadly if it cuts the wrong area. Fabric can protect you somewhat, but naked—“

“Thank you,” Hermione said, cutting him off. She knew how horrible it could have been. He didn’t need to say it.

They fell silent again for a few seconds, then Snape said, “You’re a good duelist. You know powerful spells and don’t hesitate to use them.”

”Well, when you’ve been in a war, it can be that way,” she replied.

”Not for Harry or even Draco.”

Hermione sighed.

”Harry doesn’t have the killer instinct, neither does Draco.”

”And you do?”

Hermione nodded.

”I’d kill someone if I had to, yes. I’d prefer not to do it, but if my wand was forced, so be it. There was a time, before the war, that I never thought I’d ever be willing to take someone’s life. But—that’s different now. Sometimes that’s the only way to settle things.”

”Do you think it would fragment your soul?” Snape asked her.

”I don’t know. It would depend or whether I saw it as murder or not,” she replied honestly. “Why do you ask?”

“I asked because I wonder if my soul was fragmented when I killed Dumbledore. If—if it’s fragmented now,” he said softly.

“I don’t think so, Severus. It may have been fragmented when you were an adult. A sign of a fragmented soul is a lack of humanity. Parts of you are—broken, unable to feel or express anything good or caring. As an adult, you were very cold, unsociable and kind of cruel. But now, it’s easy to see that you care,” she said to him. “I don’t believe anything about you is fragmented except your idea that you can beat me in a duel.”

”What?”

Severus finished his last chip, then scowled at her.

”Really. I mean, I know you’ve made up spells, but we know about those, and I’ve been in battle before, with Death Eaters and survived. You can’t say that—now.”

”You think all my spells have been catalogued, Hermione? You can’t possibly think that. I stopped writing them down in my fifth year when James used the Levicorpus spell on me. My potions book had been stolen, then mysteriously returned. I never wrote another spell or potion in it again. But I didn’t stop creating them.”

Here his face took on a dangerous demeanor.

”Most of my spells are Dark Magic,” he told her. “Blaise is nothing, nothing compared to me. The Marauders were lucky, very lucky I didn’t unleash them on them. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in Azkaban for murder. I wanted them dead, but not to have to pay for it. So they lived until destiny gave them all what they deserved. I only wish I could remember each and every one of their demises.”

Hatred glittered within his dark eyes and Hermione realized that although he seemed well-adjusted enough, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were still in his memory as if they’d only walked the earth weeks ago.

She finished her food.

”Don’t think about them, Severus. They’re all gone now. Everything is gone from your past. There’s only the future to look toward. It’s all going to be so much better for you. You have people who care about you now. People who want the best for you—“

Snape’s dark eyes gave her a penetrating look.

”People, or you, Hermione?” he asked her softly.

She blushed slightly.

”Yes, me. Harry, too,” she told him. “And I’m sure the Headmistress and others want to see you happy as well.”

”I’m only concerned with you. The devil can take the others,” he said vehemently. “You were the one who showed me the truth. They wouldn’t even tell me what had happened to me. Sure, Harry let the dragon out of the cave, but it was you who took me where I needed to go, and stood by me as my world came crashing down, and—and helped me focus on some things—“

Snape paused, his eyes shifting to the wall that had covered the room full of Pensieves.

”And kept me from focusing on other things,” he continued. “No one else knew what to do, what to say. And you didn’t show me pity. When I acted an arse you had no problem telling me so, and you didn’t abandon me when I was wallowing in it. You pulled me out of it.”

”I didn’t do so much, Severus.”

”You’ve done a lot for me. If not for you, I’d be here all alone, Hermione. I’m so—I was so used to being alone—with nothing but Tom’s promises—“

Snape stopped talking, his voice breaking and he looked down at the table miserably.

Hermione looked at him, her eyes wet, then she rose and walked around the table, placing her hand on his pale one. Snape looked up at her.

”You’re not alone now, Severus,” she said softly. “I’m your friend.”

Their eyes met, and Snape slowly rose from his chair, grasping her hand in his.

”I want to be more than your friend, Hermione. I want to be—to be special to you. I don’t think I’ve ever been special to anyone.”

Hermione gave him a small smile.

”You are to me. You always have been, no matter what your age,” she replied, then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into their sweetest kiss yet, initiating first contact.

No studying would be done tonight although a bit of learning was definitely in order.

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Ron hurried into the kitchens, the House Elves greeting him warmly as he hurried over to the counter. Susan was there, her apron already streaked with flour and other ingredients. She wore a dress and little chef’s hat on her head. She smiled.

”Right on time,” she said, smiling at him.

”Of course,” Ron said, sniffing the delicious scents in the air. Was that chicken? “My stomach awaits,”

”It’s going to have to wait a bit longer. Sit down on the stool and make yourself comfortable.”

Ron did as she asked, then noticed a tray covered with foil resting on the countertop.

”What’s this?” he asked her as she was about to slip a pan into one of several ovens.

”Oh, that’s Oysters Rockefeller,” she said, her back to him.

”Really, never had them,” Ron said, lifting the foil curiously. He looked at the oysters. They were topped with spinach, cheese, breadcrumb and butter, then broiled to a golden brown. He picked one up and brought it to his mouth just as Susan turned around, her brown eyes wide.

“Ron! No!” she cried, running forward. But it was too late. He’d slurped it down and was chewing blissfully.

”Wow! That’s great, Susan,” he said to the witch, who was shaking her head.

“Oh, Ron. You shouldn’t have eaten that. You shouldn’t eat anything I don’t specifically tell you to eat,” Susan told him, recovering the pan of oysters and looking at him worriedly.

”Why? They taste great. In fact, I’d like another one,” Ron said to her with a smile. Susan looked at him closely. His pupils were starting to dilate.

“Oh—Ron,” she said despairingly. Those oysters were baked with magic. They’ve never been tested on a human before. Only nifflers.”

”They aren’t poisonous are they?” Ron asked her, a bit alarmed.

Susan reddened.

”They aren’t poisonous, but the effects can be extremely painful if—if—there’s no pain potion for it or anything—“

”What? Painful? What the hell did I eat? What do they do?” Ron demanded, hopping off the stool now.

”They’re, they’re aphrodisiacs, Ron. They make you want to shag,” she said in a small voice. “And from what I’ve seen from the nifflers, a male goes into great pain if a female isn’t provided. I’ve always had to put a female in the cage with them, because the alternative was too awful. And I only gave them a pinch. You ate a whole oyster.”

Suddenly, Ron ran a finger around his collar.

”Gods, I’m getting hot, Susan,” he said to her.

”Merlin, let me get you some water,” she said, running to the sink, grabbing a glass and filling it up. She ran back to Ron, who drank it down thirstily. He put the glass down and looked at her.

”Susan,” he rasped as he began to get an erection. She looked down.

”Oh Ron . . . Ron, I’m so sorry,” she said to him.

”Ow—it’s so hard—“ he gasped, bending over. “Shit!”

Susan wrung her hands, not knowing what to do as the House Elves gathered around them, chittering worriedly.

”Is not good, Miss. He suffers very much. Will gets worse,” an elf said to Susan. “You musts helps him.”

“Arrrgh! Susan—oh, I’ve got to open my trousers,” Ron gasped fumbling with his fly.

“Oh, damn it! Come on, Ron. Into the cupboard,” she said, grabbing an oyster and slurping it down. She hurried into the cupboard, Ron stumbling after her as he struggled to free himself.

Forty-five minutes and a lot of panting, grunting and shrieking later, a disheveled Susan emerged from the cupboard, straightening her chef’s hat, followed by a smiling, smitten Ronald Weasley. The House Elves had discreetly withdrawn and warded the kitchen doors once they heard the in-outie going on. It was a private time.

”Wow! That was—you were—I was—shagging was NEVER that good before. Never.”

Susan was completely red as she walked to the sink and washed her face and hands. Ron followed her, and when she turned, he kissed her.

“You’re fantastic, Susan. Your body, your—your breasts, your bum—you’re amazing.”

”Ron, it was the oysters, believe me,” she told him, still blushing as she self-consciously straightened her dress.

“No, it wore off twenty minutes in, Susan, but I didn’t. You’re beautiful, sexy. You have the best pu—“

”Ron, stop it,” she said. “I only shagged you because of what would have happened to you if I didn’t. We aren’t an item.”

”I want to be. I want to be, Susan,” Ron said to her desperately. “I won’t be able to sleep at night knowing you’re here and I can’t get to you.”

”Ron, you’re just in the glow stages. When it passes, you’ll see I’m right about this,” she told him softly.

”No, you aren’t. I know you aren’t. Wow. Go out with me.”

”Ron!”

”We’ve already shagged, Susan and I don’t have a girlfriend—“

”You just broke up with Hermione. I can’t do that,” Susan said to him.

”I saw Snape kiss Hermione. She’s over me completely, believe me,” he told her taking both her hands.

”You saw that?”

”Yes, just yesterday while we were reviewing charms. Snape kissed her right in front of me and she didn’t mind it at all. So, we’re really broken up, Susan. There’s no chance we’ll get back together.”

”But Ron, you don’t even know if you really like me. Besides, if I did say yes, it wouldn’t mean we’d be shagging like bunnies all the time. Despite what we did, we have to get to know each other—“

”So, we’ll get to know each other, then. I’m not leaving here until you say yes, Susan. I mean it.”

Ron sat down stubbornly on the stool.

”Merlin, what did I get myself into,” Susan thought, looking at the smitten redhead.

It would certainly cause a stir to go out with him though. He was one of the Golden Trio, and she was the unassuming friendly fat girl. She hadn’t been a virgin and had dalliances with wizards before, those quick dalliances that meant nothing to the guys at all except a quick shag. She’d never had a real boyfriend. There were some hopeful starts, but the wizards all succumbed to peer pressure because she was a big girl.

”Ron, if you go out with me, you’re going to get teased,” she told him honestly.

Ron frowned.

”Teased? About what?”

“In case you didn’t notice, I’m fat.”

”Fat? You’re not fat, you’re healthy. My mum’s healthy and my dad loves her to death,” Ron argued. “There’s nothing wrong with a woman with some meat on her. I think you’re beautiful. Everything about you. I’ve been with two other witches and never felt as turned on as I did with you. Both of them were skinny. Kind of.”

”It was the oysters.”

”I can prove it wasn’t if you want to go back into the cupboard with me,” Ron said.

Susan blushed.

”No, that’s not necessary, Ron. I’ll tell you what. Think about what you’ve asked me over the next few days, say, for a week. If you still feel the same way, maybe we can go out. But until then, no tasting my food. I want to be separated, so you aren’t constantly around me. And maybe you should ask a friend or two what they’d think if you went out with me.”

”They’d be fine with it, Susan.”

”Just see,” she said softly. “Now, will you go? Please?”

”All right. But a week’s not going to make any difference,” Ron said confidently. Then he hopped off the stool, grabbed her and snogged her royally.

”You’re fantastic. I think I’m in love,” he told her.

She shook her head.

”You’re not in love, you’re in lust. And it’s going to wear off.”

”I doubt it,” he said. “I’ll see you in a week.”

He left the kitchen, whistling happily as he walked up the corridor. Susan nearly collapsed against the counter.

”His nads might not be the size of his Animagus forms, but he’s good enough. Whew!” she breathed, fanning herself. Then she smiled naughtily.

That had been rather good.

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A/N: Don’t kill me y’all. It was either bisect the story here or leave another evil Severus and Hermione cliffie. This way I can dedicate the entire next chapter to them and give everyone some satisfaction. Plus, I solved the “lonely Ron” problem nicely. Actually, it was a lot of fun. Lolol. Big UPS to the big girls! Thanks for reading.