Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

Many thanks to Alienor for an emergency beta, and to my regulars, Septentrion and Sempra.

The door closed on the last of the fifth-years, and a blessed silence fell on the Defence classroom. Relaxing his stance, Severus wrinkled his nose in disgust at the foetid smell of unwashed, sweaty teenager and wasted no time in opening the windows to let in some much needed fresh air. The place was stinking like Hagrid's hut after Fang had been out in the rain and was drying off in front of the fire.

Dear Merlin! Were they wizards or not? If it was too much trouble to bathe, what was wrong with casting a cleansing charm or two?

'Life skills,' he scoffed, imagining, not for the first time, how the more affluent pure-bloods, accustomed to being waited on hand and foot since birth, had welcomed that little innovation. Smirking to himself, Severus cast Reparo on a hex-damaged desk, remembering one particularly animated discussion he'd had with Hermione on the subject.

Severus turned his head towards the door as it creaked open.

'Excuse me, sir. I dropped something.'

Severus grunted and carried on clearing up. A musty smell assailed his nostrils, and he turned around to face the source of it.

Damp Dog. 'Was there anything else, Mr Vaisey?'

The Slytherin boy shook his head, but remained where he was.

'Mr Vaisey...?' Narrowing his eyes, Severus took a step forward, noticing the stains on his robe for the first time. 'Tell me. Is it too much trouble to place soiled clothing in the laundry baskets provided?'

Vaisey looked him straight in the eye. 'No, sir.'

'Then see that you attend to your attire before dinner this evening.' Severus pointed towards the door. 'Oh, and Vaisey?'

'Sir?'

'Make sure I don't catch you and your friends out after curfew again...it's becoming rather... tiresome.'

The boy's shoulders slumped. 'No, sir.'

Hermione read through the parchment in front of her one last time before signing her name with a flourish. There. Done. With a contented sigh, she rolled the parchment up, attached it to the waiting owl and sent it on its way.

'Skipping dinner again?' Minerva asked.

'Actually, I've invited Severus around for an early supper. We've some things to discuss.' Hermione glanced around the portraits, coming to a decision. 'Something's happened that you should know about.' She took a deep breath as they all looked at her expectantly. 'Severus and I found the door that the golden key unlocks.'

His stomach was rumbling. Loudly. Lunch had been a rather Spartan affair; everyone on the High Table had grumbled about the plain food and lack of second helpings. Severus suspected the kitchen was likely running on a skeleton staff as every elf that could be spared would be desperate to help clean Slytherin Tower. That said, it was still almost two hours before his supper date with Hermione. And he didn't think he could face it on an empty stomach. Concentrating on the unmarked essays in front of him was proving impossible.

'Eljay,' he called. 'Some sandwiches, if you please.'

The elf duly appeared. Severus decided not to comment on the large cobweb hanging from his left ear. Instead, he examined the plate and chose a cheese and pickle sandwich.

'How are renovations progressing?' Severus asked, taking a bite. 'Have you noticed any structural damage?'

'No, sir.' Eljay replied. 'The castle's wards protected the tower despite the Concealment Charm...as you said it would.'

'Hmm... S'good.' Severus swallowed. Hopefully, that would allay Hermione's fears regarding health and safety. 'And did you manage to salvage some of the more... perishable furnishings?'

Eljay smiled happily. 'What couldn't be saved, sir, was replaced.'

Still kicking himself for leaving the renovation of Slytherin Tower to a bunch of unsupervised house-elves, Severus left his rooms (clutching a bottle of chocolate liqueur he'd been keeping for such an occasion) and made his way to Hermione's quarters. Merlin only knows what they've done to the decor, he fumed, marching along the empty corridor. Though knowing their taste in hats, anything's possible. Nevertheless, it would keep until tomorrow; tonight, Hermione wanted to 'talk'.

Arriving at her door, Severus raised his hand then hesitated, feeling suddenly nervous. 'It's just supper,' he muttered. 'No point in getting your hopes up.'

Hearing Severus' knock, Hermione checked her hair in the mirror and tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. 'It's just supper,' she told her smirking reflection. 'Nothing more.'

He knocked again.

'It's open,' she called. 'Come in, Severus.'

Hermione smiled as Severus closed the door behind him and awkwardly thrust something at her.

'For you,' he said gruffly.

Hermione took the proffered bottle and glanced at the label. 'How lovely! We'll have some with our coffee, later.'

Relieved that she liked it, he managed a small smile, then sniffed. 'Mmm... Curry? Indian take-away?'

'More of an Indian banquet, actually.'

There was rather a lot of food, and it looked and smelled delicious.

'You can thank Purdy for this,' Hermione said. 'She went to India to get it for us by way of an apology for...'

Did she just blush? 'Well...' He smirked. 'I think this is a most acceptable peace offering.' Severus walked over to the table and pulled a chair out for her. 'Shall we?'

'Thank you.'

After they were seated, Severus waited for Hermione to serve the rice before helping himself to some Chicken Korma.

'By the way,' Hermione began, 'I've told the portraits about the tower.'

If she'd expected him to be annoyed, he didn't show it. Severus merely raised any eyebrow.

'It wasn't easy for me to acknowledge that something was amiss,' Hermione explained, 'but now that I have, it would be negligent of me not to pursue it.'

Severus nodded. 'Agreed.'

'I need to gather evidence, though, which is why I asked the portraits for help.' She smiled as she reached for the naan bread. 'And it gives them something to do other than gossip about us.'

'And how did they take it?'

'As you'd expect, really,' Hermione replied. 'Phineas hasn't stopped grinning since.'

They talked about various things after that: Severus' research, the garden, the summer holidays...but it seemed strained as neither appeared willing to broach the subject they really needed to discuss. Severus switched off, staring hungrily at Hermione's mouth, wanting to lunge across the table and...

'Coffee?' Hermione asked as a house-elf arrived to clear the table.

'Uh? Please.'

Hermione rose and led Severus over to the sofa where they sat in silence until the coffee arrived. 'Would you like some of that liqueur?' she asked.

'Bugger the liqueur.'

'Severus?'

'No more games, Hermione. Can I kiss you or not?'

Where that came from, he didn't know. Months of longing and lonely nights, probably. He hadn't meant to sound so abrupt, though, and she looked a bit taken aback...

Hermione stared at him, wide-eyed. Then she nodded slowly. Once.

She saw him swallow. Then he leaned forward, the sofa making squeaky noises as he swivelled around to face her. The first brush of his lips sent a delicious shiver down her spine, and she found herself melting into him, tempted to let go, leave him take control, forget her job, her responsibilities, forget about Headmistress Granger and just be... Hermione.

The feather-weight touch on the underside of her breast brought Hermione back to her senses, and she pushed him away, panting.

'I think we should... take it slowly.'

Severus pressed his forehead to hers. 'Slowly?' he gasped. 'It's been months...'

'I'm just not ready...'

'Fine,' he said, flopping back against the sofa. 'Fine.'

'Severus...'

'How long do you intend punishing me, Hermione?'

'I'm not...' Hermione sighed. 'You're not the first man to hurt me, you know,' she said, staring at her hands. 'And each time, I swear I won't let it happen again. I thought this...us...might be... different.'

'Different,' Severus muttered under his breath as he strode along the corridors back to his quarters. 'What the hell does she expect from me?' He was seriously considering tendering his resignation. There was only so much he could take...

He stopped dead. What was that rustling noise? Drawing his wand, Severus cast Lumos and noticed a classroom door slightly ajar.

He pushed it open and sighed. 'Mr Vaisey. How... predictable.' Severus glanced at his companions, all Slytherins. 'Ten points apiece from Slytherin for allowing me to catch you out after curfew, yet again. Now, get back to your dormitories, immediately.'

After pouring himself a large glass of whisky, Severus spelled off his boots and sank into his chair with a loud sigh. He was annoyed, upset and frustrated amongst other things. Hermione Granger was one infuriating witch, but he wasn't about to give up on her just yet. She wanted him; he couldn't remember the last time a woman had wanted him, and God knew he wanted her...

'Ah, you're back.'

Severus groaned. 'Yes, Betty, I am.' Unfortunately. 'Do you have any news for me?'

'Actually,' Betty replied, 'I've remembered something. It may not be very important...'

'Just tell me.'

'Well...' Betty began, 'I overheard a couple of girls mentioning a recurring problem with mould.'

'Mould?'

'Yes.' Betty nodded. 'Growing on their trunks. Cleansing charms weren't banishing it for long.'

'And?'

'That's it. I told you it wasn't much...'

Taking a gulp of whisky, Severus let his head fall back against the chair and wondered why he was the one trying to make sense of this mess. What was Burbage doing?

Or not doing...?

Severus inhaled sharply. 'Oh, my good God, no.'

Putting his glass down, Severus summoned Eljay.

'How may...'

'Eljay, get me inside the Slytherin common room. NOW!'