Centerfold

Okay, so chapter 4 was a hit. Good. I\'m glad you guys are with me on the whole \"kinda-gotta-keep-them-waiting-and-frustrated\" thing. I am so so so happy most of you like it.

However, I would like to point out that I am not trying to make Hermione out to be a \"scarlet woman.\" \"Scarlet woman\" implies that Hermione is \"flagrantly wicked,\" for example, she is a married woman who is flaunting her affairs with various men around town. So far, Hermione is not married, and is not romantically involved with anyone (Snape doesn\'t count yet). The next term was \"vamp,\" I believe. A \"vamp\" is \"a woman who uses her physical allure to attract and exploit men; to act the vamp (shortened from vampire).\" A \"vampire\" is (apart from a creature that drinks blood) \"a person who exploits others ruthlessly.\" Hermione does use her \"physical allure\" but not to the extent of exploitation. Female Rambo....hmmm...when she starts using links and drums of ammunition as accessories and carries around an AK-47 (one of the most reliable weapons the Soviet Union, and possibly the world, has ever manufactured) then Hermione might be termed a \"female Rambo.\" And finally, we come to that distasteful word, \"whore.\" I find it almost as degrading as the \"c\" word. (You know which one I\'m talking about. Rhymes with grunt and is another name for the female anatomy.) A \"whore\" is defined as \"a woman who engages in promiscuous sexual intercourse for money.\" Hermione has not had sex with anyone (that we know of) as of yet, and she has not accepted payment for services rendered. I really hope that you actually read what I had written and didn\'t just make assumptions. You miss out on a lot of fun and good times (and possibly delicious cake) when you make the wrong assumption.

Sorry. That was for the readers who were questioning my messing with Hermione\'s intelligent innocent image. A woman can be comfortable with her sexuality and be extremely intelligent as well. I know I said negative criticism was welcome, but that doesn\'t mean I\'m not going to criticize your argument right back.

Here\'s another chapter for your reading pleasure. Tell me, did I go overboard in my opening paragraph up there? I hope no one takes that the wrong way. One must always have a good defense (and a good dictionary).

Big old disclaimer here. I don\'t own nothin\'.


Chapter 5 (finally)


Hermione rolled over and stared up at the ceiling. The morning sun filtered in through the curtains. She felt like curling up into a ball and dying. What on earth had possessed her to prance around in her knickers? She liked making Severus uncomfortable, and angry, but there were other ways of doing that. She could give him an itching potion, or put flyers with his baby picture on them all over the school. That was so immature, though. Just like her stunt last night was. She smiled a bit to herself. She\'d definitely gotten a rise out of him. That was something. Feeling a little bit better (but apprehensive about her next encounter with Snape) Hermione got out of bed and started her day.

Severus was already up and about. He was prowling the hallways, trying to catch the students not going to Hogsmeade in some rule-breaking activities. He was irritated, frustrated and just plain fed up with every student he had ever, or would ever, have. He swept angrily around a corner and sent someone sprawling to the ground. He looked down in fury and saw that it was Granger. Perfect.

\"Miss Granger, might I suggest, and not for the first time, that you watch where you are going?\"

She sat on the floor and glared up at him.

\"I usually do watch where I\'m going, Severus, unless some overbearing oaf decides to hurtle around a corner and knock me airborne. Now, if you\'d kindly help me up, we can discuss my lesson plans.\"

Hermione held out her hand and waited for him to pull her up. She waited a while. Then finally he sighed (like by helping her he was putting aside some very important life\'s work when all he\'d been doing was being snarky to the poor children) and grabbed her hand, pulling her up. He did not, however, let go immediately. Indeed, the charge running from their joined hands seemed to hold them spellbound (they weren\'t hexed, though). Severus looked into caramel swirled eyes, Hermione looked into onyx depths and then...they both felt extremely akward and broke the contact.

\"Well, then...uh...let\'s go to my office since it\'s closer.\"

Hermione nodded as he spoke, then followed him as he turned and headed toward his office. They stepped inside the classroom, and she felt some of her embarrassment ebb away. It was exactly like him. Dark, gloomy, scary and just a little bit mean. Gods, but she\'d hate to see his color scheme in his private rooms.

He sat behind his desk and waited. Hermione almost sat in one of the students\' desks, but decided that as colleagues they should be on a more level ground. So, she perched on his instead.

\"Alright, here\'s the deal. I don\'t want to go over potions that the students have already learned about. I don\'t want to go over potions that are too advanced either. So, I was thinking, if you let me have the lesson plan you prepared for your Potions classes this year, before I took over the post, I could just stick to that. Easier in the long run for me, and you would know that the students are working at their ability level, or close to it. What do you think?\"

He was looking at her like she had just announced that she was going to fly with her magic skunk to the moon in order to procure moonberries so that she and said skunk could cure cancer. Alright. Maybe this wasn\'t such a good idea. He obviously wasn\'t in a sharing mood.

\"Well...you just think about it, will you? Get back to me later.\"

Hermione was almost to the door when he spoke.

\"Granger. I\'ll bring my lesson plans to you later this evening. I will knock on your door. You will answer, with your clothes on. There will be no music on about \"fucking like an animal.\" I will give you the lessons, you will read through them, and you will come to me if you have any questions. Other than that, we will avoid each other, because you annoy me, and I seem to anger you.\"

He stood up, walked to the door and opened it for her. She stood there, looking at him speculatively. For a long time. It was making him uncomfortable and he felt the urge to squirm and look in a mirror to see if there was something on his face.

\"What?!\"

\"I\'m going to bug you until the day I leave, Sevvie Pooh. So, why don\'t you just S.I.U. Do you know what that means? Suck it up. You have just made me want to make your life miserable. So, guess I\'ll see you tonight, schnookums. Around, say eight? Can\'t wait! Until then, my little schmoo.\"

Hermione knew full well that she had spoken that last bit (the part with all the pet names) loud enough for the passing students to hear her. The door was open, so it was quite easy for them to see who she was talking to. It would be around the school in a matter of hours, that Professor Snape let Professor Granger call him her little schmoo. She skipped a little as she left Snape gaping after her. Life was alright.

\"I\'ll deal with you later, Granger! Just be glad I can\'t give you detentions anymore!\"

Severus fairly growled at the students who walked past him. He was going to kill her.