Chapter Four
Chapter 4 of 16
LooneylunaHermione realizes a harsh truth.
ReviewedChapter Four
Severus didn't know what to expect, but the smile that graced her lush lips unnerved him. It unnerved him to the point to where he relaxed his guard.
"A glamour, perhaps?" He heard the huskiness of her voice, saw her glance at his lips, and felt himself begin to unwillingly harden.
Hermione shoved him, and he stumbled backwards. "Don't you think you're carrying this a bit far, Fred?"
"I assure you that I am not joking, Miss Granger, nor am I Fred Weasley," replied Severus, rubbing the spot on his shoulder where she had hit him. Her attitude perplexed yet intrigued him. Perhaps she had gotten too much sun.
"Yeah, right," she scoffed, still refusing to believe him. "Your glamour is very good, Fred. Is this a new product for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes? You've even got Professor Snape's voice down. You and George will make a fortune with this!"
Severus placed his hand upon her forehead. "You don't look feverish, nor do you feel feverish. Is it possible that you're suffering from some Muggle malady? Did you Obliviate yourself?"
Hermione laughed again. "You're hilarious, Fred! If I'd Obliviated myself, do you really think I would remember it?"
She circled him, running a hand along the breadth of his shoulders. "So when does the glamour wear off? Do you have a name for the product yet? How much will it cost? Do you realize the ethical implications of such a product? Do you honestly think the Ministry is going to allow you to market it?"
She smacked his shoulder in the same spot she had pushed him earlier. "Oh! I know! You can market it to the Ministry! They could probably use it... what with all the rouge Death Eaters still running amok. Are there any flaws? Do you..."
Snatching her wrist and hauling her against him, Severus sealed his lips over Hermione's to stem her incessant words. She gasped in surprise, and he exploited the moment, deepening the kiss and sliding his tongue against hers in silent challenge. Her fingers flexed against his chest. A groan slipped past her lips, and he sipped at the sound greedily.
Things were definitely not going as planned.
Backing her against the nearest wall, Severus plundered her willing lips and nipped the swollen skin until he thought he would come just from the taste of her.
He kissed her to shut her up, not seduce her. But who was seducing whom? Where had his plan gone wrong?
Grinding his hips against her pelvis, Severus felt the stinging bite of her teeth on his bottom lip and pulled away. She kneed him near the groin area... thankfully not in the groin... and pushed him away with a violent shove.
"I don't know what you think you're doing, Fred Weasley, but I am not that kind of witch!" she seethed. "And I certainly don't think of you in that way. You're like the older brother I'm glad I never had."
Scowling, Severus wiped the blood off his lip with his forearm. "I would hate to think that you would kiss Mr. Weasley in such a manner, much less your brother."
He walked away from her, oblivious to her panicked stare, and gathered his clothes.
--
Hermione watched him walk into the master bedroom, his lithe stride reminding her of a stalking feline, or more appropriately, a slithering snake. Something clicked... something that she did not wish to acknowledge.
Ginny called it her "ostrich" behavior, where Hermione refused to see something for what it was. But when Fred referred to himself in the third person, something shattered her hopeful delusion.
The man in the master bedroom...her room...really was Severus Snape!
The room tilted, and she stumbled backwards, tripping over the sleek, travel bag that held the man's possessions. Hermione reached for the bag, the gleam of the silver nameplate catching her eye.
S. S.
"Oh, no!" she whispered, the horror of the last fifteen minutes flashing before her. "This is not happening!"
Epiphanies were always rude awakenings. Why should this one be any different?
"Holy fuck," she whispered shakily, standing and tugging on her sarong. She'd just snogged Severus Snape. She had just...
Her mind worked quickly, like a celestial event streaking across the midnight sky. "I came home and found a half-naked Snape in my hot tub. He Vanished my wand.
"Bloody fuck!" she hissed, wincing as she used the f word for the second time in the past minute. "He Vanished my bloody wand!"
Hermione nudged his travel bag out of the way and started to pace. "That wanking git Vanished my bloody wand! Just who does he think he is? What makes him believe that it would be okay to Vanish my wand...no matter the reason?"
She stopped in the middle of the sitting room and took a deep breath. It did nothing to calm her nerves. Not only was she shaking like a leaf, but she had lost her vocabulary. According to him, he owned her wand. How was that possible?
How was she going to do magic without her wand? "Bloody hell!"
She stomped toward the bedroom and flung the door open to find him sitting on the bed, still in his underwear, the documents next to him. "You!" she shouted as she pointed a shaking finger at him.
He straightened.
"You'd better figure out where you've sent my wand! I want it back, and I want it back now!" she declared.
Standing to his full height, which was a good head taller than she, he glared down his nose at her. "I see that you have finally regained your senses. I am pleased that my earning potential has not been damaged by your momentary lapse of reason."
Hermione resisted the urge to smack the silly grin off his face. She still had no idea what he was talking about, the embarrassment of the situation settling around her like an oppressive shroud. Oh Merlin! She'd written a book based on a schoolgirl crush... based on him. How was she ever going to live through this experience?
Focus, Hermione! Get your wand back. Then you can wallow in self-pity.
"Tell me, Miss Granger," he sneered, seemingly pleased with her discomfort and her lack of manners. "Were you an only child? You certainly are acting like one."
She sputtered, seeing little dots of anger dance before her eyes. Perhaps she had gotten too much sun today. "I don't see what that has to do with anything. If I am not mistaken, you are also an only child!"
Ignoring her outburst, he continued, "I wonder if I shall own your parents, as well." He brushed past her, walked down the hall and into the sitting room, and picked up his bag.
"What!" she shouted, suddenly checking her tone and trying her best to be civil. The poor professor had obviously inhaled too many fumes.
He walked back into the master bedroom and set his bag on the bed. "Do you have any joint assets with your parents?"
She crossed her arms over her chest in the manner of a belligerent child and did not answer him.
"It doesn't really matter," he stated, pulling several sets of clothes out of his bag, none of which were appropriate for the beach. "Once the Wizengamot adjourns in three months time and determines the extent of what you owe me, I'm certain an accurate financial disclosure will be completed."
He moved her clothes to one side in the closet and hung his next to hers, keeping a set out.
"What are you blathering about?" she asked incredulously. "Wizengamot? Assets? Own my parents? Are you feeling well, Professor Snape? Shall I fetch a Healer for you?" It was obvious the man was impaired, for she had no idea what he was going on about.
She had the sneaking suspicion that she didn't even want to know what he was talking about.
Severus sauntered into the master bathroom and placed his black trousers and white shirt on the back of the door. "I'm quite well. Thank you for your concern. As for what I am talking about, read the documents on the bed. If you have any questions, you may contact my barrister, Percy Weasley. For now, I must take a shower."
With a final click of the bathroom door, Severus dismissed her.
Hermione grabbed the roll of parchment, sat down on the bed, and started to read.
--
The bloody chit! His confidence that he would be able to intimidate her with a mere look was quite shaken. He had not intended to kiss the bloody wench, much less continue to feel the effects of the event tingling on his skin. Severus shivered. If he didn't know better, he would think that he was in one of her uninspired, insipid romance novels.
He just needed to give her time to stew. It was a strategic retreat. It also gave him the opportunity to take a cold shower.
Phase one of his plan was complete...separate her from her wand so that she could not see through the ruse. With a quick flick of her wrist and a mumbled, "reveal thy secrets," she would have been able to tell that the document was a forgery.
He hadn't anticipated needing a phase two. He hadn't realized that Miss Granger was going to lose what little intelligence she had and rant about him being Fred Weasley. He also hadn't anticipated the pang of jealousy he'd felt when she had kissed him. There must be something between her and Fred Weasley to allow such a familiarity.
Stepping into the shower, Severus turned the water on and held his breath. The cold spray against his chest and lower extremities was just what he needed to rid himself of the residue of lustful entanglements that the brief kiss had inspired.
Hermione Granger was not the scrawny schoolgirl he remembered. She wasn't fashionably thin. She was fashionably healthy, judging by the slight pouch he had seen while she sunbathed and dictated her torrid storyline the other day. A gentle curve of her waist defined the flare of her hips. Her breasts were... Well, they filled out the halter-top she wore very well and left little for his imagination, including the way her nipples hardened after their impromptu snog session.
Nor had he foreseen the desire that afflicted him now. Even under the icy spray, he was still semi-erect. This state was unacceptable. She must have had some magical perfume on that entices lovers to disgrace themselves. Those scents were very popular in tourist traps and tropical destinations such as this. They were similar to lust potions, yet more subtle.
That must be why he had felt the overwhelming desire to back her against the wall and shag her senseless!
Severus leaned against the tiles and shivered. It felt as though ice was flowing through his veins. Shutting the water off, he hurried out of the stall and dried himself off.
--
This had to be some mistake! This couldn't be happening to her! This was some horrible nightmare brought on by too much sun and not enough alcohol! This had to be some elaborate forgery! This had to be a joke!
The temporary injunction confirmed everything he had said and more.
Just then the door to the master bathroom opened, and a composed Professor Snape crossed the threshold. This was the man she had grown accustomed to. He was dressed in black trousers and a white shirt that was buttoned all the way to his neck.
Padding across the carpeted floor in his bare feet, he made his way to the bed and sat down. "By the horrified look on your face and your lack of witty banter, I assume that you have read the injunction."
Hermione threw it at his head, her temper getting the better of her. "An obvious forgery. I don't believe a word of it. Albus Dumbledore would never agree to this, and where was I during the proceedings? Why wasn't I notified so that I might defend myself? Why weren't my business partners notified?"
Severus grinned. She was correct in her assumption regarding Albus. The old goat would undoubtedly rule in Miss Granger's favor, and he just couldn't wait to go through the rigmarole of the Wizengamot legal process. Mr. Weasley's falsified documents were much better than any of the plagiaristic tripe his twin brothers ever submitted in his class. Though the injunction paperwork and all of its contents looked real and made perfect sense to the trained barrister and the knowledgeable layman, it would never pass any magical scrutiny of its contents.
"Believe it or not, Miss Granger," Severus replied slowly, savoring the small victory of seeing her sweat. By the end of his revenge, she would be well over her infatuation of him, and he would be free to deal with any lingering fans who thought of him as that mind-reading twit, Simon Sanders.
"I own the majority stock of Romance Rabble and any copies of The Darkest Magic that the publishing company is able to produce from this point forward. I certainly shall have a lot of kindling for my fire this winter.
"Not only do I own the stock and the copies; I own the intellectual property rights to any book containing the character that you, without asking permission or regard to my person or profession, so callously modeled after me. In three months time, the Wizengamot shall render its final decision, at which time I am confident that they will award me the intellectual property rights of all of your trashy novels."
Severus examined the cuticles on his left hand, seemingly disinterested in the change in Hermione's coloring. Her pallor had been alarming, and he had thought that she might rob him of her reaction by doing something like passing out. Now she was a bright, beet red, seething with anger and frustration. He could almost taste her hatred of him, which was an elixir that he certainly could get used to.
"My novels are not trashy," she growled in warning.
He had to agree with her. They weren't. The sexual content was tastefully done and not too repugnantly flowery for his taste. "I honestly don't know which amuses me more, Miss Granger... the fact that you modeled Simon Sanders after me, or the fact that you modeled Cassandra after yourself."
Standing, he gathered her cold and shaking hands in his. "If I had known that you were secretly enamored of me, I would have... Well, I don't know what I would have done. However, if your desires are such that you wish to exercise them upon me, I would not find your advances unwelcome."
Hermione yanked her hands from his and made a strangled noise of frustration.
He never saw her fist as it connected with his nose. All he saw were the stars that accompanied the pain of cartilage and bone breaking. He fell backwards, his head swimming with the knowledge that he had been accosted by an irate woman whom he had obviously underestimated.
"I would rather make love to a grindlylow than you!" Hermione hissed before stalking from the room and leaving him to attend to his injury.
--
TBC
Author's Notes: First, I would like to thank my beta readers, Cocoachristy, Soul Bound, and Jen, for their overwhelming and continued support for this story. It takes a set of brass balls to beta read, an even bigger set to weather the storm and hold the author's hand while the creative process births the story.
Secondly, I'd like to thank everyone who has given their opinions over the recent change in direction of this story. Some of you have been supportive of the decision while others are giving it a cautious second-chance. I applaud your decision and hope that you will like it.
While considering the change in the direction, I did contemplate the loss of readers as a possible repercussion. It was not a decision that I made on a whim. It was debated and bandied about for several days. This story started out as a romantic comedy. Somewhere along the way of the original plotline, I got lost. I can only apologize for the inconvenience. I am truly sorry for the shift and to those I have offended, but the greater offense would have been to leave the story as it was. I could not, in good conscience, glorify or minimize date rape.
Some have voiced concern over Snape's current power over Hermione and the current direction of the story, stating that the Wizengamot would never agree to the legality of this plotline. I'm well aware that the Wizengamot would never issue such a silly injunction, but I had to give Severus enough rope in which to hang himself later (wink, wink).
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Latest 25 Reviews for Defamation of Character
248 Reviews | 6.67/10 Average
yea me completed your story...
i did not realize i had not finished it..
thank you for a fun story
waiting for other stories
This was a great story. I had never read read the original but I'm glad you changed it. I was a bit put off over the 'injunction' thing in Chapter 3, it was almost too unrealistic - I know it's silly but I am a corporate litigation paralegal and I am completely aware of how tricky injunctions are in and of themselves simply because of the implications you set forth; an injunction such as that would indeed be illegal and unconstitutional (but I am only familiar with American laws and couldn't speak for the intricacies of British laws) - but I'm glad I kept going.
This was great, I like how you worked the rumor of Albus and Minie in there. I almost wish I could read the novels.
Thank you
Ha! I love this! It's great how the enchanted notebook becomes almost an instant messaging tool, and allows H and S to finally be a little more honest with each other... even if it *is* in a kind of middle school way. I like how pathetic/sweet Severus is in this chapter.I found this story long after you wrote it, but I'm really enjoying it! There are a lot of really quirky deadpan moments in your writing that are completely hilarious. Yay!
Lovely! I like that you didn't rush things, that sex wasn't the cure-all and they still had to work through some issues.
I know I should have reviewed each chapter but I couldn't stop clicking the button to move on to the next chapter. This was a very funny, poignant, sexy and sweet story and I most definitely will be sending the link to my friends and telling them that they HAVE to read it.
I think the thing I liked best was the way you got Severus' voice exactly right. I could hear Alan Rickman's voice as I read the words (I "heard " Mr. Rickman's voice in my head when I first read HP&TPS years before he was cast in the films--go figure).
Thank you for sharing your story with us. It was definitely worth staying up past midnight on a work night to finish reading it.
Response from Looneyluna (Author of Defamation of Character)
Witch-nap! LOL
If I were Albus or Minerva, I would have trick-portkeyed those mixed-up two into the Room of Req. and held them prisoner there to force the two of the them to talk things out once and for all. *exasperated*
Oh! It's not a silly story! You shouldn't say so! I rather like it. Please, post the next chapter soon :)
Regards,
Response from Looneyluna (Author of Defamation of Character)
I am enjoying your story and happy to see an update. Could I put in a request? Please have Hermione stop acting like a rhymes-with-witch. I can't imagine anyone even wanting to share a meal with her like this much less spend the rest of his life. Then again, I don't read romance novels so perhaps a rhymes-with-witch scene is a necessity;). Looking forward to the next bit -- and thanks for your work!
i rather like this story. Can't wait to see what happens now that the ball is in her court.
take it nice and slow, Severus. Nice and slow... He is going to get her, right? *blink*Great chapter, more please!
aww how sweet a romantic kidnapping. I admire you for redoing this story it's very enjoyable.
You may or may not recall that I had some very distinct reservations about your new direction for the story. You've done away with them most admirably; I've enjoyed the last few chapters very much, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this story's going to end. (Eek—that sounds terribly formal. Sorry about that. I've been reading John Donne again; for some reason, his poetry has that effect on me. *Wishes we had a "D'oh!" emoticon*)
On a slightly off-topic note, I agree with you about fan-fiction being AU by nature. After all, the original author writes the real canon, no matter how canon-compliant we try to be. But then, I'm preaching to the choir on this one, eh?
Oh please continue. There has to be a peaceful resolution to this. You made me cry with this chapter and Sev is trying so hard. A little love is really all the poor man needs. I'm such a sucker for happy endings! LOL
hehe!! Too funny! At least he realises it! LOL
Thank you for continuing to write this delightful story! I needed something sweet and funny with just the right amount of angst to tide me over whilst I recover from that which is DH. Sigh. I hope you continue writing, in spite of it all!
Argh! These two need a good smacking! One is so hard headed, while the other is manipulative... Away with false pretence and ego, just get down and boogie! o_O LMAO!Nice chapter by the way... *grin*
At last. I love this story. Looking forward to the next part.Truly
I think he's either going to pass out, or going to throw up as the motion hits him. Either one is not conducive to a romantic interlude. Although the way he talks gets me all revved up--it has to be affecting Hermione because she gets the added benefit of that voice.
Oh, you're wicked! I hope you're madly scribbling on the next chapter.
Response from Looneyluna (Author of Defamation of Character)
I am :).
Oh my. I very nearly fell over when I read that part about Hermione's hair. God, this is hilarious stuff.Thanks for a great story :o) ,Sue.
Woot! I'm doubly impressed that Severus doesn't suffer from Firewhiskey d***!!! Potions' Masters Rule!! I hope Pansy and the babies are okay. I love this story, and I hope you feel better soon!!GG
They had better! Great chapter, even if you left us with a tease of a cliffe.
It's getting awfully hot in here....can't imagine anybody getting that drunk, even with Veritaserum and a massive guilt complex.