Accidental Encounters
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
14
Views:
9,898
Reviews:
45
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
14
Views:
9,898
Reviews:
45
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.
The Post-Attack World
Chapter Seven: The Post-Attack World
It was not even eight o’clock in the morning, and Hermione already felt entirely unsettled after her encounter with Professor Snape. He wasn’t the man she remembered from potions class. This Snape was quietly upset by the attack, and had seemed as though he was blaming himself. He was, after all, the best placed person to prevent such an attack, and yet he seemed to have had no idea it was happening. The fact that he would no doubt be forced to appear thrilled at the massacre at the next Death Eater meeting would not be easy to stomach either. It was just this thought of him having all-too-human emotions, as well as the way he had been so polite, that had her wondering. That, and she had never literally seen him before like she had today. The blue-black eyes were unusual, and certainly intriguing.
Forcing her mind temporarily onto other matters of intrigue, Hermione decided to give up on the paperwork and head over to the office. When she arrived, Penny had a box resting on Hermione’s desk. “Sorry, ‘Mione! I just needed a little bit of spare space. I’ll be out of your hair in a sec.”
Hermione watched as Penny pulled assorted books and papers from her bookcase, before throwing them into her box.
“Are you going somewhere, Penn?”
“Huh? Oh, yes – sorry Hermione! I can’t be at work for a bit. My house-elf is sick and there is nobody else to take care of my kiddos.”
“What about your husband?”
“What husband?” Penny rolled her eyes again. “The last husband was more interested in life at the Three Broomsticks, and the one before that cared more for some Irish witch than me. But I’m not complaining – I’m better off without them both.”
“But – I thought you were a Mrs.” Hermione was thoroughly confused.
“I just let Elizar call me that because it is the only way he can cope with my having kids but no husband. By choice, too. Like a lot of wizards, he is stuck in the Dark Ages. Anything to keep him happy though.”
Penny stopped to blow some dust off an old-looking book, but she barely missed a beat. “I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’m taking some work home in case a miracle occurs and I get five minutes of peace. Elizar will be taking over my call-outs. Heaven knows you probably have enough to …” Her voice faded momentarily.
“How are you doing with it, ‘Mione?”
“I’m okay, I guess. What about you?”
Penny sighed. “I keep hearing those screams over and over in my mind. I don’t think it will ever leave me, but it sure as hell has convinced me again what an evil lot of sick bastards those death-eaters are.” She practically spat the last sentence.
Hermione handed her the full box, and gave a small smile. “I’ll come and see you. Take care, though, okay?”
Penny winked at her. “That’d be great.”
***
A letter arrived from Ron. It was his first one since they had left Hogwarts, and even though Hermione was confused by his silence, she hadn’t been able to write to him either. She couldn’t explain what had happened, just that things felt different. The letter was short and brooding, similar to how Ron had been the last few times she a seen him.
Dear Hermione,
I heard about the accident at Hogsmeade, and Harry told me that it is all on your head. I am sorry to hear about that, and I hope you are okay. Your accident made me realize how important our friends and loved ones are to us, though. We can’t drift apart – we need each other. I need you.
Love R.
PS: I started training in Percy’s department at the Ministry, but it was so boring and Perce was so patronizing that I quit after a week. That’s me, folks! The kid who couldn’t hold down a job if you paid him.
She didn’t know what to write in response.
***
On September the Fourth, Hermione once again passed under the winged boars which solemnly guarded the gates of Hogwarts. She detoured the castle entrance completely, instead heading out across the grounds. She walked past the lake and eventually came to a small grove of trees. A solemn party was already assembled there. She saw Harry, guarded closely by his supervising Auror. Minerva McGonagall was there also, fully robed in black and standing perfectly still, with her head bowed. And behind her, a little apart from the group, stood Professor Snape. He was gazing at the small memorial stone erected in this quiet spot, and although his face betrayed nothing, Hermione now knew that inside he was far from calm. Others might have thought he was there purely out of politeness, but she knew it was from genuine respect, driven by genuine grief.
The service was short and quiet, punctuated only by loud sobs from Hagrid or from the parents of one of the slain students. It was heartbreaking, and Hermione found she couldn’t watch it. Instead, she took her lead from Snape and concentrated on the stone plaque.
When the service was over, Hermione was surprised to note that Snape seemed to be coming towards her. Looking around for Harry, she saw he was already in deep conversation with Dumbledore. She was, though, keen to escape the gut-wrenching sorrow of it all, so she simply turned and walked away, as fast as she possibly could. She didn’t see that behind her, Professor Snape was now watching her.
***
On September the Fifth, Hermione pulled a double-size chocolate cake from her oven. It had turned out well, although it had to be admitted that this was her second attempt. Carrying the cake between mittened-hands, she sent off down Linpin Lane.
In the center of Hogsmeade was a serof tof terraced houses. Hermione went to the one with number “6” painted on its door, and knocked with her foot. A small boy, who looked to be about three years old answered the door. He had blonde hair which hung in bangs down his forehead, covering his eyes so you couldn’t see them properly. He had food on his face, and snot dribbling from his nose. He gazed up at Hermione and grinned toothily.
Hermione couldn’t help grinning back. “Hey, hon … Is your mummy home?”
The boy nodded and turned to run inside the house, but Penny appeared before he’d moved two steps.
“Hermione! How wonderful to see you.”
“How’re you doing, Penny?”
“Ah, I’m good. Really … although I wish I could afford a nanny.”
“Is your house elf still unwell?”
“Terrible. But – no use in complaining now, is there? And I see you’ve met Bruno!” Penny hoisted the small boy onto her hip, and wiped the food off his face with her moistened fingertips.
“Forgive the mess,” she said with a roll of the eyes. “This place is what I call the Hogsmeade Zoo.”
The zoo animals – Bruno, Byron, Ella, Seroma, Nigel and Zinnie, Hermione couldn’t keep track of who was who – demolished the chocolate cake in a matter of minutes. This done, they spent the rest of the afternoon showing off for their mother’s friend, and Hermione reveled in the joyful song of small children. She had refused the Ministry’s offer of stress counseling, but she had not realized how much she needed a release from the events of September the First. Her thoughts had been so focused on death and destruction that an afternoon in the Hogsmeade Zoo was more refreshing than a cool shower on a hot day.
***
Another letter arrived from Ron, considerably more upbeat than the previous one.
Dear Mione,
Guess what? Well, you’ll never guess so I’m just going to tell you. I have a job, and it’s a real job. My own job, different from anything any other Weasley has ever done. It all started when Madam Hooch fell off her broom, when she was trying to teach a flying lesson. She’s a good old duck that one, and it must have been bad for her, but it was very good for me. She’s going to be off work for a while now, and Hogwarts wanted a new flying instructor, and because flying is really about the only thing I am good at, I got it! Can you believe that? I didn’t really, when Dumbledore flooed me at home, but I am now here at Hogwarts.
Classes have only just started for the year, so I have just started fresh with all of the students. Of course, things are a bit tense here at the moment – the school has never had five new students die at once, on their first day no less…
Still – I am really having fun. The students all call me master, how funny is that!!! They ask me so many questions, and I think one of the girls has a crush on me, but I would never go for a student. I have my eye on someone else. Well, I hope to see you soon. Come up to Hogwarts sometime, please? Or maybe I’ll come down and visit you. I get to go to Hogsmeade whenever I want.
Well, that is the news. Bye for now.
Ron.
This - this was the Ron she knew. Chatty and excitable and fun. Hermione couldn’t help breaking into a wide smile. Teaching at Hogwarts was the last thing anybody would have picked him doing, but it seemed as though it was just perfect him him. She was so glad that he was happy, and apparently back to normal. She wondered absently who the mystery girl was, and when Ron would pluck up the courage to do anything about it.
It was not even eight o’clock in the morning, and Hermione already felt entirely unsettled after her encounter with Professor Snape. He wasn’t the man she remembered from potions class. This Snape was quietly upset by the attack, and had seemed as though he was blaming himself. He was, after all, the best placed person to prevent such an attack, and yet he seemed to have had no idea it was happening. The fact that he would no doubt be forced to appear thrilled at the massacre at the next Death Eater meeting would not be easy to stomach either. It was just this thought of him having all-too-human emotions, as well as the way he had been so polite, that had her wondering. That, and she had never literally seen him before like she had today. The blue-black eyes were unusual, and certainly intriguing.
Forcing her mind temporarily onto other matters of intrigue, Hermione decided to give up on the paperwork and head over to the office. When she arrived, Penny had a box resting on Hermione’s desk. “Sorry, ‘Mione! I just needed a little bit of spare space. I’ll be out of your hair in a sec.”
Hermione watched as Penny pulled assorted books and papers from her bookcase, before throwing them into her box.
“Are you going somewhere, Penn?”
“Huh? Oh, yes – sorry Hermione! I can’t be at work for a bit. My house-elf is sick and there is nobody else to take care of my kiddos.”
“What about your husband?”
“What husband?” Penny rolled her eyes again. “The last husband was more interested in life at the Three Broomsticks, and the one before that cared more for some Irish witch than me. But I’m not complaining – I’m better off without them both.”
“But – I thought you were a Mrs.” Hermione was thoroughly confused.
“I just let Elizar call me that because it is the only way he can cope with my having kids but no husband. By choice, too. Like a lot of wizards, he is stuck in the Dark Ages. Anything to keep him happy though.”
Penny stopped to blow some dust off an old-looking book, but she barely missed a beat. “I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’m taking some work home in case a miracle occurs and I get five minutes of peace. Elizar will be taking over my call-outs. Heaven knows you probably have enough to …” Her voice faded momentarily.
“How are you doing with it, ‘Mione?”
“I’m okay, I guess. What about you?”
Penny sighed. “I keep hearing those screams over and over in my mind. I don’t think it will ever leave me, but it sure as hell has convinced me again what an evil lot of sick bastards those death-eaters are.” She practically spat the last sentence.
Hermione handed her the full box, and gave a small smile. “I’ll come and see you. Take care, though, okay?”
Penny winked at her. “That’d be great.”
***
A letter arrived from Ron. It was his first one since they had left Hogwarts, and even though Hermione was confused by his silence, she hadn’t been able to write to him either. She couldn’t explain what had happened, just that things felt different. The letter was short and brooding, similar to how Ron had been the last few times she a seen him.
Dear Hermione,
I heard about the accident at Hogsmeade, and Harry told me that it is all on your head. I am sorry to hear about that, and I hope you are okay. Your accident made me realize how important our friends and loved ones are to us, though. We can’t drift apart – we need each other. I need you.
Love R.
PS: I started training in Percy’s department at the Ministry, but it was so boring and Perce was so patronizing that I quit after a week. That’s me, folks! The kid who couldn’t hold down a job if you paid him.
She didn’t know what to write in response.
***
On September the Fourth, Hermione once again passed under the winged boars which solemnly guarded the gates of Hogwarts. She detoured the castle entrance completely, instead heading out across the grounds. She walked past the lake and eventually came to a small grove of trees. A solemn party was already assembled there. She saw Harry, guarded closely by his supervising Auror. Minerva McGonagall was there also, fully robed in black and standing perfectly still, with her head bowed. And behind her, a little apart from the group, stood Professor Snape. He was gazing at the small memorial stone erected in this quiet spot, and although his face betrayed nothing, Hermione now knew that inside he was far from calm. Others might have thought he was there purely out of politeness, but she knew it was from genuine respect, driven by genuine grief.
The service was short and quiet, punctuated only by loud sobs from Hagrid or from the parents of one of the slain students. It was heartbreaking, and Hermione found she couldn’t watch it. Instead, she took her lead from Snape and concentrated on the stone plaque.
When the service was over, Hermione was surprised to note that Snape seemed to be coming towards her. Looking around for Harry, she saw he was already in deep conversation with Dumbledore. She was, though, keen to escape the gut-wrenching sorrow of it all, so she simply turned and walked away, as fast as she possibly could. She didn’t see that behind her, Professor Snape was now watching her.
***
On September the Fifth, Hermione pulled a double-size chocolate cake from her oven. It had turned out well, although it had to be admitted that this was her second attempt. Carrying the cake between mittened-hands, she sent off down Linpin Lane.
In the center of Hogsmeade was a serof tof terraced houses. Hermione went to the one with number “6” painted on its door, and knocked with her foot. A small boy, who looked to be about three years old answered the door. He had blonde hair which hung in bangs down his forehead, covering his eyes so you couldn’t see them properly. He had food on his face, and snot dribbling from his nose. He gazed up at Hermione and grinned toothily.
Hermione couldn’t help grinning back. “Hey, hon … Is your mummy home?”
The boy nodded and turned to run inside the house, but Penny appeared before he’d moved two steps.
“Hermione! How wonderful to see you.”
“How’re you doing, Penny?”
“Ah, I’m good. Really … although I wish I could afford a nanny.”
“Is your house elf still unwell?”
“Terrible. But – no use in complaining now, is there? And I see you’ve met Bruno!” Penny hoisted the small boy onto her hip, and wiped the food off his face with her moistened fingertips.
“Forgive the mess,” she said with a roll of the eyes. “This place is what I call the Hogsmeade Zoo.”
The zoo animals – Bruno, Byron, Ella, Seroma, Nigel and Zinnie, Hermione couldn’t keep track of who was who – demolished the chocolate cake in a matter of minutes. This done, they spent the rest of the afternoon showing off for their mother’s friend, and Hermione reveled in the joyful song of small children. She had refused the Ministry’s offer of stress counseling, but she had not realized how much she needed a release from the events of September the First. Her thoughts had been so focused on death and destruction that an afternoon in the Hogsmeade Zoo was more refreshing than a cool shower on a hot day.
***
Another letter arrived from Ron, considerably more upbeat than the previous one.
Dear Mione,
Guess what? Well, you’ll never guess so I’m just going to tell you. I have a job, and it’s a real job. My own job, different from anything any other Weasley has ever done. It all started when Madam Hooch fell off her broom, when she was trying to teach a flying lesson. She’s a good old duck that one, and it must have been bad for her, but it was very good for me. She’s going to be off work for a while now, and Hogwarts wanted a new flying instructor, and because flying is really about the only thing I am good at, I got it! Can you believe that? I didn’t really, when Dumbledore flooed me at home, but I am now here at Hogwarts.
Classes have only just started for the year, so I have just started fresh with all of the students. Of course, things are a bit tense here at the moment – the school has never had five new students die at once, on their first day no less…
Still – I am really having fun. The students all call me master, how funny is that!!! They ask me so many questions, and I think one of the girls has a crush on me, but I would never go for a student. I have my eye on someone else. Well, I hope to see you soon. Come up to Hogwarts sometime, please? Or maybe I’ll come down and visit you. I get to go to Hogsmeade whenever I want.
Well, that is the news. Bye for now.
Ron.
This - this was the Ron she knew. Chatty and excitable and fun. Hermione couldn’t help breaking into a wide smile. Teaching at Hogwarts was the last thing anybody would have picked him doing, but it seemed as though it was just perfect him him. She was so glad that he was happy, and apparently back to normal. She wondered absently who the mystery girl was, and when Ron would pluck up the courage to do anything about it.