Coming Together
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
16
Views:
16,438
Reviews:
38
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
16
Views:
16,438
Reviews:
38
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
How Pansy Lost Her Swagger
Chapter Six – How Pansy Lost Her Swagger
Severus was still marveling at the outburst of humor that had been brought upon by his student when he noticed her bag pack still sitting beside the door. It seemed in her hurry she had forgotten it. With hardly a thought he slung it over his shoulder and headed out of the dungeons to the Gryffindor tower.
‘She might need it,’ he reasoned. ‘Oh of course Severus,’ His inner voice chimed; ‘she needs her bag returned at nearly midnight on a school night and it couldn’t be that you just want to spend time with her.’
“Of course not,” He answered out loud and resolutely ignored any more wise-ass comments from his inner voice.
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“Hey Fat-ass, what’s with the dopey grin? Did you finally convince that ginger-headed little boyfriend of yours to shag you?” Pansy’s threat echoed in the otherwise silent corridor and Severus slowed his steps as he turned the corner and watched the scene unnoticed by its players.
Hermione spun around to face the two Slytherin girls who were slowly moving in on her, Pansy blocking the way she had come and Millicent now halting her progress toward her room. For a split second, Severus thought of intervening but the Slytherin in him demanded that he see what played out.
“Sod off Pansy,” Hermione countered, “my mood is none of your business.” ‘Even if it is your head of house that I was just dreaming of smearing in Honeyduke’s chocolate,’ she added in her head.
“Everything that happens in this school is my business Granger. Besides I was honestly interested. I figured that either you just got a brand new book or someone finally got desperate enough to touch you. I do feel sorry for Weasley though, I expect it will take him weeks to wash off the filth.” Pansy laughed and Severus could almost feel the magic in the air being sucked toward Hermione. Her aura was positively seething and he just barely repressed the desire to run.
Pansy didn’t seem to notice this new development and just kept talking. “I mean, if he was so needy he could have at least found someone decent looking. I might have even considered giving him a pity fuck if I knew you were his other option. We can’t have our Quiddich players, and purebloods at that, going around degrading themselves on ugly, bushy-haired, Know-It-All, Mudbloods now can we?” Severus flinched at the word Mudblood but kept still and silent. He knew that interrupting now would take away Hermione’s chance to defend herself and would make her look weak.
Even Millicent seemed to sense the danger growing now as she slowly started edging out of Hermione’s way while remaining as far from Pansy as possible. Pansy, however, was oblivious to the signs and opened her mouth to, undoubtedly, spew forth some more bile; but before she could give voice to whatever insult had been on her tongue she was silenced by the simple action of Hermione drawing her wand.
If the sparks emitting from the end of her wand were any indication, it was taking all of Hermione’s willpower to refrain from hexing Pansy’s very small brain clear out of her skull; but it was finally her turn to speak and Pansy was going to listen.
“How DARE you speak to me, or anyone for that matter, as though you are above them! I know of slugs with more brain cells than you and blast-end skrewts with better personalities!” She was advancing on Pansy with such a fierce look in her eye that the girl was almost propelled backward from the amount of hatred in the air.
But Hermione wasn’t done. “You have the NERVE to call ME ugly? Why just the other day I heard Draco Malfoy saying how lucky he was to have gotten away without a disease or being sliced open by one of your ribs after he shagged you! You stand here with the absolute gall to insult my looks and my parentage for the simple fact that you are found to be worthless in everything you attempt? It doesn’t take a Know-It-All to see that you are pathetic, Pansy! Now get the fuck out of my sight, or I swear to you that by the time you make it back to your common room there will be twice as much of you as there was before you had the nerve to call me a Fat-Ass, you disgusting piece of shit.”
Hermione’s voice had risen to a shriek during her little speech but she spoke the last line in such a quiet voice that Severus almost had to strain to hear it. Pansy seemed to get the picture and took off toward the dungeons as quickly as her twiggy little legs would carry her and Millicent, who had tired of this game long before, beat a hasty retreat behind her.
Severus exhaled deeply, as he had unknowingly been holding his breath through Hermione’s reply, and once the other girls were out of sight turned back toward Hermione.
To his surprise she collapsed onto her knees on the hard stone floor. All her anger had seemingly abandoned her and a closer look revealed that she was now sobbing violently. Before Severus had time to form a plan his body had moved without his volition and he found himself standing directly in front of her. She sensed his presence and looked up. Their eyes met and he couldn’t help but display his confusion.
“Why are you crying?” he asked, honestly not understanding, “That was, for lack of a better description, bloody brilliant! It will be days before Miss Parkinson gets her swagger back.” Hermione smiled weakly at him but her tears didn’t stop.
“I hate it when they say that.” She answered before she could stop herself.
“What… Know-It-All?” Severus offered.
“No,” Hermione sighed, “I have heard enough of that one to be used to it. I hate it when they insult the things that I have no control over; like my hair, and my parents, and…” she trailed off.
“And what?”
“And the fact that I am ugly.” She said it with the air of someone who knows that they are about to be made fun of.
Severus was confused yet again. (Not a comfortable emotion for him) In his opinion, (not that he made a habit of forming such opinions about students mind you) Hermione was very pretty. Definitely when compared to the other two examples of female that had been in attendance. Miss Parkinson was skeletal and Miss Bulstrode barely passed for a member of her own gender. The idea that this highly attractive (God he had to stop thinking like this about a student) young woman was honestly convinced that she was on a lower level than those two hags was appalling. He crouched down, lowering himself to her eye level.
“You are most certainly not ugly, Miss Granger. In fact, for you to even entertain the possibility is an insult to your own intelligence,” here he placed his fingers under her chin and tipped her head up so that she would meet his gaze. “Real women have curves, and in that respect you are high above all the other so-called females that I have come into contact with in this establishment. I will hear nothing further on the subject from either you or anyone else.” He rose and offered his hand to help her up.
Once she was on her feet he released her hand and stepped back. “Now, I suggest you return to your dormitories before you are caught roaming the halls after curfew, Miss Granger.” He handed her bag to her and slunk away before she could form an appropriate response.
She reached up and touched her face where his fingers had rested on her skin. ‘Damn…’
As he neared his private rooms, their conversation replayed in his head. He could still feel the smoothness of her skin under his fingertips. He knew tomorrow he would be cursing himself for both the physical contact and the kind words but at the moment all he could remember was the way she had smiled at him. ‘Damn…’
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A/N – Sorry for the amount of cursing in this chapter but I am a very strong believer in the ability that words have to hurt and there is just a certain joy in saying the word FUCK that no other sentiment quite captures.
I hope to have internet at my house but I don’t know if it is working or not. If it is I will try to get one chapter at least during the next week. But if not I will update the minute I get back to school.
Happy Easter,
-MA
Severus was still marveling at the outburst of humor that had been brought upon by his student when he noticed her bag pack still sitting beside the door. It seemed in her hurry she had forgotten it. With hardly a thought he slung it over his shoulder and headed out of the dungeons to the Gryffindor tower.
‘She might need it,’ he reasoned. ‘Oh of course Severus,’ His inner voice chimed; ‘she needs her bag returned at nearly midnight on a school night and it couldn’t be that you just want to spend time with her.’
“Of course not,” He answered out loud and resolutely ignored any more wise-ass comments from his inner voice.
##############################################
“Hey Fat-ass, what’s with the dopey grin? Did you finally convince that ginger-headed little boyfriend of yours to shag you?” Pansy’s threat echoed in the otherwise silent corridor and Severus slowed his steps as he turned the corner and watched the scene unnoticed by its players.
Hermione spun around to face the two Slytherin girls who were slowly moving in on her, Pansy blocking the way she had come and Millicent now halting her progress toward her room. For a split second, Severus thought of intervening but the Slytherin in him demanded that he see what played out.
“Sod off Pansy,” Hermione countered, “my mood is none of your business.” ‘Even if it is your head of house that I was just dreaming of smearing in Honeyduke’s chocolate,’ she added in her head.
“Everything that happens in this school is my business Granger. Besides I was honestly interested. I figured that either you just got a brand new book or someone finally got desperate enough to touch you. I do feel sorry for Weasley though, I expect it will take him weeks to wash off the filth.” Pansy laughed and Severus could almost feel the magic in the air being sucked toward Hermione. Her aura was positively seething and he just barely repressed the desire to run.
Pansy didn’t seem to notice this new development and just kept talking. “I mean, if he was so needy he could have at least found someone decent looking. I might have even considered giving him a pity fuck if I knew you were his other option. We can’t have our Quiddich players, and purebloods at that, going around degrading themselves on ugly, bushy-haired, Know-It-All, Mudbloods now can we?” Severus flinched at the word Mudblood but kept still and silent. He knew that interrupting now would take away Hermione’s chance to defend herself and would make her look weak.
Even Millicent seemed to sense the danger growing now as she slowly started edging out of Hermione’s way while remaining as far from Pansy as possible. Pansy, however, was oblivious to the signs and opened her mouth to, undoubtedly, spew forth some more bile; but before she could give voice to whatever insult had been on her tongue she was silenced by the simple action of Hermione drawing her wand.
If the sparks emitting from the end of her wand were any indication, it was taking all of Hermione’s willpower to refrain from hexing Pansy’s very small brain clear out of her skull; but it was finally her turn to speak and Pansy was going to listen.
“How DARE you speak to me, or anyone for that matter, as though you are above them! I know of slugs with more brain cells than you and blast-end skrewts with better personalities!” She was advancing on Pansy with such a fierce look in her eye that the girl was almost propelled backward from the amount of hatred in the air.
But Hermione wasn’t done. “You have the NERVE to call ME ugly? Why just the other day I heard Draco Malfoy saying how lucky he was to have gotten away without a disease or being sliced open by one of your ribs after he shagged you! You stand here with the absolute gall to insult my looks and my parentage for the simple fact that you are found to be worthless in everything you attempt? It doesn’t take a Know-It-All to see that you are pathetic, Pansy! Now get the fuck out of my sight, or I swear to you that by the time you make it back to your common room there will be twice as much of you as there was before you had the nerve to call me a Fat-Ass, you disgusting piece of shit.”
Hermione’s voice had risen to a shriek during her little speech but she spoke the last line in such a quiet voice that Severus almost had to strain to hear it. Pansy seemed to get the picture and took off toward the dungeons as quickly as her twiggy little legs would carry her and Millicent, who had tired of this game long before, beat a hasty retreat behind her.
Severus exhaled deeply, as he had unknowingly been holding his breath through Hermione’s reply, and once the other girls were out of sight turned back toward Hermione.
To his surprise she collapsed onto her knees on the hard stone floor. All her anger had seemingly abandoned her and a closer look revealed that she was now sobbing violently. Before Severus had time to form a plan his body had moved without his volition and he found himself standing directly in front of her. She sensed his presence and looked up. Their eyes met and he couldn’t help but display his confusion.
“Why are you crying?” he asked, honestly not understanding, “That was, for lack of a better description, bloody brilliant! It will be days before Miss Parkinson gets her swagger back.” Hermione smiled weakly at him but her tears didn’t stop.
“I hate it when they say that.” She answered before she could stop herself.
“What… Know-It-All?” Severus offered.
“No,” Hermione sighed, “I have heard enough of that one to be used to it. I hate it when they insult the things that I have no control over; like my hair, and my parents, and…” she trailed off.
“And what?”
“And the fact that I am ugly.” She said it with the air of someone who knows that they are about to be made fun of.
Severus was confused yet again. (Not a comfortable emotion for him) In his opinion, (not that he made a habit of forming such opinions about students mind you) Hermione was very pretty. Definitely when compared to the other two examples of female that had been in attendance. Miss Parkinson was skeletal and Miss Bulstrode barely passed for a member of her own gender. The idea that this highly attractive (God he had to stop thinking like this about a student) young woman was honestly convinced that she was on a lower level than those two hags was appalling. He crouched down, lowering himself to her eye level.
“You are most certainly not ugly, Miss Granger. In fact, for you to even entertain the possibility is an insult to your own intelligence,” here he placed his fingers under her chin and tipped her head up so that she would meet his gaze. “Real women have curves, and in that respect you are high above all the other so-called females that I have come into contact with in this establishment. I will hear nothing further on the subject from either you or anyone else.” He rose and offered his hand to help her up.
Once she was on her feet he released her hand and stepped back. “Now, I suggest you return to your dormitories before you are caught roaming the halls after curfew, Miss Granger.” He handed her bag to her and slunk away before she could form an appropriate response.
She reached up and touched her face where his fingers had rested on her skin. ‘Damn…’
As he neared his private rooms, their conversation replayed in his head. He could still feel the smoothness of her skin under his fingertips. He knew tomorrow he would be cursing himself for both the physical contact and the kind words but at the moment all he could remember was the way she had smiled at him. ‘Damn…’
#########################################################
A/N – Sorry for the amount of cursing in this chapter but I am a very strong believer in the ability that words have to hurt and there is just a certain joy in saying the word FUCK that no other sentiment quite captures.
I hope to have internet at my house but I don’t know if it is working or not. If it is I will try to get one chapter at least during the next week. But if not I will update the minute I get back to school.
Happy Easter,
-MA