It's always easier to run

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Chapter 9:


Far better it is to dare mighty things, to
win glorious triumphs, even though checkered
by failure, than to take rank with those poor
spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much,
because they live in the gray twilight that
knows neither victory nor defeat.
- Danish proverb.
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Hermione collapsed onto the bed with tears slowly drying on her face. Still, she brushed their remnants furiously, ardently wishing for Snape to disappear. If only he would just leave. Be gone from her life forever. She wished it with her whole heart right then.

He was always doing this to her. Making her feel completely worthless, idiotic and worst of all; average. With Simon she always felt special, as if she were something to be valued. With Snape he looked onto her as some bothersome annoyance, some student he barely recalled.

She rubbed the part of her arm that Snape had grasped so roughly and winced. She\'d have a bruise on it by morning. Just imagine what the Headmaster would say if he heard about Snape\'s brutality.

Then again...she had spit on him.

But, she could play it off as mere retaliation; after all he had been excessively cruel. Calling her names, ordering her around, almost kicking Crookshanks, Why, when she got back to Hogwarts-

Hermione\'s mind came to a screeching halt at the last sentiment. So harshly that she actually shot up on her bed. When she got back to WHERE? She shook her head roughly, trying to shake out any conceived notions of returning with that prick anywhere!

She\'d never go back! Not even if he bribed her! Not even if it meant getting rid of him forever! She had made up her mind, and was not about to be bullied into anything.

But how to get rid of him? He was obviously repulsed by her that; much was evident. But it wasn’t enough to fully get rid of him. But how? How could she prove to Snape that she wasn’t going to break down?

The realization came to her like a thunderbolt. Simple. She had to prove that he wasn\'t getting to her. She had to prove that no matter what he did, he was never going to persuade her into going back.

Perfect.

* * *

Snape finished moments later, placing the pale beige plates in the sink. He turned on the water, testing to see if it was appropriate. When it was, he recalled the soap Granger used to wash the blasted things. Yellow, came in a squeezable tube- Ah, there it was.

Snape looked at the tube before squeezing almost all of the yellow liquid onto the two plates in the sink. The water coursed around it, creating a most unusual scent and large amass of bubbles. Strange. Snape didn\'t remember so many bubbles when Granger did dishes. He was doing it wrong.

Snape was then confronted with the realization that he had become coddled with house elves. Almost utterly dependent on things that couldn\'t form a rational sentence, let alone thought. Things that wore doilies on their head for God\'s sake! He shook his head at the notion. He wasn\'t dependent on anything or anyone.

At \'anyone\', Snape\'s mind soon drifted to that of the bushy haired, annoying persuasion, and he felt his blood boiling just as massively as moments before. The sting of the humiliation still upon him. He suddenly felt his teeth grinding at what had happened between he and Granger. Bloody chit had spit at him! He\'d done worse to those who hadn\'t come half as close to almost emasculating him. He was practically choking on his contempt for the little snotface.

Hermione suddenly decided at that moment to stroll into the kitchen, looking much more composed than moments before. He tried to seen nonchalant as he continued on with the washing of dishes, superciliously working as if he hadn\'t a care in the world, trying to flush the bubbles down the drain.

There seemed to be a small battle of the wills that went on for a few minutes, in which both parties refused to back down. Not a word was spoken between the two. Hermione stared at Snape\'s back and Snape stared at the dishes. Heavy tension clouded them.

Snape waited for Hermione to mention her obvious amazement at his acquired domestic skills, and Hermione was waiting for a heartfelt apology for being so blatantly rude to her.

Neither comments came.

And so, the only sound heard in the modest kitchen was the fervent scrub of the cloth against the plate (that was above and beyond being cleaned). Snape simply didn\'t want to finish. He refused to be the one that had to turn and speak.

\"You need a proper bed.\" Hermione suddenly said stoutly, causing Snape to almost drop the slippery plate in his hands. \"It\'s only fitting.\"

Before Snape could disapprove, she had disappeared into the sitting room. Snape growled under his breath in irritation, finding that her choice of conversational topic was most inappropriate.

He flew out of the kitchen, following her at a mad pace, only to find the girl grunting along as she endeavored to pull a large, graying mattress down the hall to some closed and locked door. He hadn\'t bothered asking what lay behind it, during his visit here.

He watched in stony silence as the door was unlocked with a small silver key, and opened. He expected a number of things to lay behind it. Perhaps cobwebs as far as the eye could see, along with dust. Or perhaps, a skeleton of a deceased relative (he was becoming quite morbid in his old age).

But instead all he could see in the dingy darkness was a large bed frame and a wicker chair by a moderately sized window. The room was a great deal smaller than the master bedroom, but was still a step up from the laundry room.

He viewed Granger still mustering up the strength to drag the mattress into the room and suddenly decided it was time to take actions. Obviously she was getting the wrong idea about this. She wasn\'t supposed to be accommodating!

\"Really Miss Granger,\" Snape said haughtily, eyeing the graying mattress with distain. \"This is most unnecessary. We shall be back at Hogwarts in less than a fortnight.\"

Hermione suddenly stopped her motions, coming to stand completely straight. She eyed Snape darkly a moment before speaking. \"We?\"

\"Yes, of course.\" Snape said brusquely, looking to the mattress\' dimensions, seeing if there was any space for it in the room. Surely the bed frame was far too small for it? Or was it?

\"There you go assuming again Professor.\" Hermione bit back as Snape surveyed the room. \"Who says I\'m coming back?\"

Snape decided to take another approach. Obviously aggression had no real affect on the girl besides irritation. This would not do. Snape decided to merely shrug his shoulders effortlessly at the girl.

\"Fine.\"

Hermione gave a curt nod of understanding before she pulled the mattress through the narrow door\'s opening and flipped it onto the skeletal bed frame. She brushed a strand of hair from her shining face before her last heave of exertion allowed her to firmly plant the mattress onto the bed frame. She moved onto the blankets next, knowing it would be getting chilly soon.

Snape watched the entire spectacle with mixed feelings, most of them confusing. There was the usual angered emotion, one that he found to be most convenient. The other though was an almost pity as he watched her making the bed, and having a difficult time. He knew not to interfere, for she\'d merely retaliate with stubborn anger. But still, he felt as if he owed her something.

\"There.\" Hermione said, having finally put all the blankets and so forth onto the bed. She fluffed the small pillow she had as a decorative piece on her own bed. \"That should be just perfect.\"

She went to the window, blowing the dust off of the blind\'s handle and starting to twist. She intended to have some light shine in the room and was rather surprised to feel Snape\'s hand overtop her own, just as the incident with her key for the lock on her door.

She hadn\'t heard him swoop over from the doorframe, but it was no surprise. Even in the hallowed halls of the school it was impossible to decipher his footsteps from a passing breeze.

He was very close though. So close she could feel the heat of his side against her own. So close she could smell him, exotic and spicily suffocating. So close that when he spoke, she felt the huffs of his punctuated words on her ear as if his lips were close enough to kiss it.

\"I think it would be wise to have the blinds shut.\" He said softly, his voice a low rumble. Hermione swallowed thickly then, not completely sure of why. In the end she decided it was the cause of the feel of his reverberating voice on the lobe of her ear. Made sense.

\"As you wish.\" She said softly, her hand slipping from underneath his own, only to be snatched to her side. She looked up the tall expanse of his chest to meet two glittering black eyes. \"I\'m going to bed.\"

Snape said nothing as he turned back to the window, glancing out the minimal slits of moonlit color. He allowed himself this one pleasure, hearing as the girl\'s footsteps diminished to the doorframe. Something was amiss. It had passed through them a moment and was now drifting with every passing inch between them.

\"I don\'t know why you\'ve done all this, Miss Granger.\" Snape said airily, his back still to the girl as his dark eyes narrowed. \"But I intend to find out.\"

Hermione watched his tall frame still towering by the window, his eyes surely inky blots in the white of his face. He was puzzled by what she\'d done, and although this was part of her plan she felt uneasy.

\"A mere act of kindness, sir.\" Hermione answered absently as she shut the door behind her. \"Completely altruistic.\"

There was a low sound that could have been a chuckle were it anyone but Snape, accompanied by a shallow whisper of a response;

\"Perhaps.\"

* * *

\"Oh GOD YES!\" Simon screamed as he pounded into Hermione a final, time, his entire body throbbing with post coital release and exuberance. His motions slowed as he finally finished, his body shaking a moment before he rolled off of her.

A few days had passed since Hermione\'s encounter with Snape in the guestroom, and she still wasn\'t completely convinced of his motives. He had been unnaturally pleasant these past few days. She had been edgy, just waiting for the other shoe to drop, which it hadn\'t! And now he plagued her thoughts, she couldn\'t stop thinking about him!

So was the cause of her distraction with Simon this afternoon.

He had taken her back to his flat, kissing her every inch of the way from his door to the bed. It was sweet as usual. He was always gentle, and then impressive. She was never unsatisfied.

But today was different somehow.

Every time she had closed her eyes this afternoon with Simon driving into her, all that met her were two dark eyes, teasing her. She had arched into Simon, biting her lip from calling out her dark suitor’s name in ecstasy. Snape. A man she hated.

She had almost felt his smooth hands on her breasts, his strong thighs (or so she imagined them) against her own. Dark tendrils of hair, floating around her, teasing her cheek as he possessively kissed her.

NO!

She almost felt as if she were cheating on Simon all afternoon, without actually cheating. Picturing someone else during sex -intentional or not- was still serious cause for discomfort and guilt. That\'s all she had been lately; guilty.

And it made no sense whatsoever. Why, she had no romantic inclinations towards Snape, which was just ludicrous. This was undoubtedly due to some psychological backlash or something of the sort. Finding Snape desirable was something she was not willing to admit or realize. She wanted to be rid of him and all the feelings he brought with him.

\"Sandra.\" Simon suddenly said gingerly, looking to the girl with dark, troubled eyes. \"What\'s wrong? It\'s like you weren\'t even here all afternoon.\"

Hermione froze a moment, feeling her heart pounding. She felt guilty all over, as if she had sabotaged she and Simon\'s relationship already. She gave him a compassionate look, longing to kiss his worries away. But she was tired, so very tired.

\"It\'s nothing.\" Hermione said flatly, forcing a smile onto her face as she rummaged around in her purse for her aspirin. \"I\'ve just got a headache.\" Hermione finished absently, downing her found aspirin with a glass of nearby water.

They lay in silence a bit as Hermione pulled the blanket back up over her bare chest, trying to collect her thoughts. Simon noted this and pulled it back down jerkily, exposing Hermione’s jutting nipples for the world to see. Hermione covered herself instantly, even though he’d seen her naked a thousand times, and blushed.

“Simon!” Hermione said giggling good-naturedly as she lightly slapped his arm. She was about to protest more when his soft lips found one nipple and she sunk into pleasurable bliss. He sucked at it; massaging her other breast expertly as his thighs began to slip over her own. It was a familiar prelude and Snape’s image swam into view.

“Simon.” Hermione said more firmly, pushing him and his sweet lips back to his side of the bed. She had to stop thinking of Snape that way. “Not now, I really do have a headache, and I need to be getting back to my…Uncle.”

“Ah yes.” Simon said gruffly with a grin as he rolled onto his back, his hands folding behind his head as he spoke with an amused sigh. “You’re dear old Uncle who just so happens to hate me.”

“He doesn’t hate you.”

“He does so.”

“Yes, well…” Hermione said with an absent shrug, tossing the covers over her once more. “He hates everyone.”

“Not you.” Simon purred, slowly kissing her collarbone. “Never you.”

“Yes me.” Hermione said, gingerly pulling back, “He always thought I was annoying and a know it all.”

“You are a know it all.” Simon said with a jaunty eyebrow waggle, drawing closer to her. “But I don’t mind.”

“Shut up.” Hermione muttered with a laugh under her breath. “I don’t need to hear it from you too.”

\"So,\" Simon said playfully, pulling her closer to him under the warmth of the covers. He let his hand wander over a warm breast as he stroked it, still talking tiredly. \"When does Inky Sylvester bugger off back to wherever he came from?\"

\"Don\'t call him that.\" Hermione grumbled lowly, her fingertips absently drumming against Simon\'s chest as she squirmed from his touch. \"And I don\'t know when he\'s leaving. The surgery\'s been moved back.\"

\"I thought he was recuperating from surgery.\" Simon said with a yawn, closing his light eyes as he spoke. Hermione winced a moment, trying to keep her voice level and contained. What had she told him? She couldn\'t even recall!

\"Oh no.\" Hermione said breezily, feigning a yawn to cover the indecision. Gods she hated lying, she was just no good at it! \"He\'s got to go into surgery and then recuperate. He could be here for weeks.\"

At this, Simon\'s light eyes jolted open. \"Weeks?\"

“Yes, weeks.” Hermione answered with another yawn, this time real. “What’s the problem?”

“Well,” Simon said with a feigned pout, his eyes merrily twinkling behind his glasses. “It’s just I had a little surprise for us two weekends from now…if you were available.” He turned his light eyes onto her imploringly, and then pulled away. “But if you’re busy-“

“No!” Hermione said intrigued, her curiosity always getting the best of her. She pulled Simon back to her, feeling his hips itching to be atop her again.

“Tell me!”

Simon gave her a wide smile before brushing her hair back behind her ear. He leaned over in the bed, whispering something excitedly to her before pulling back, testing her reaction.

\"Oh Simon!\" Hermione squealed excitedly, allowing Simon to mount her once more.

\"That\'ll be perfect!\"

* * *


Back in Hermione’s flat, Snape sat at the kitchen table, a small basin at his right, and a small smile on his face, one void of its usual malice. He was busy with his thoughts, unsure of how to proceed.

He was in the kitchen as quiet as a mouse. His dark eyes drifting to the shallow basin and then back to his wand. There was much to be done, but he was unsure of where to start. His stomach gave a small lurch, but he ignored it.

He knew he had certain debts to be repaid. He knew that he had certain missions to commence and complete. He also knew that his preconceived plans were not going over well with Miss Granger.

But this would be different. She wouldn\'t be able to say no now. Another smile passed his lips.

Unbeknownst to a certain Hermione Granger, Snape had a plan of his own.