A Trap Well Set

Kudos go to Alliean for being the awesome beta for this chapter, and WriterMerrin for her patience.

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Chapter 24 - A Trap Well Set

It had been a perfect and clear day, with not a single howler sent or a cloud in the bright blueness of the sky. Everything was at it should have been.

Hermione had been in a rather good mood that day and, thankfully, had gone past the overly emotional stage of her pregnancy. Nobody was more relieved than Severus about that. He had his sweet, rational wife back. She had already taught her first years that morning and had been blessed with Megan's assistance in the storage room; she was ahead in the class readings and was more nimble than Hermione. She was currently in her afternoon class with her N.E.W.T Potions group and had them all brewing their Veritaserum quietly. She was pleased to be in the presence of a little bit of maturity.

Because everyone was working so silently, this gave her a chance to reflect on Severus and his very cryptic words to her that morning. He had been murmuring something about making sure he got all his work done in the morning so he could deal with another tiny problem in the afternoon. Somewhere in there, she had remembered he had mentioned something about recruiting some of the Slytherin boys to help him with it, and so she had simply nodded and smiled at him.

Now that she had been thinking about it for longer, she decided that she would have to make sure she had a good chat with him about it when her class was over. Looking at the clock on the wall, she noted that there was about ten minutes until classes were over for the day, and she stood and walked around the room to survey the students' progress. Seeing nothing amiss, she returned to her desk, which was littered with essays, and stood there to address them.

'Alright, you may all cast your stasis charms and pack up for the day,' she commanded firmly with a small smile. 'You are all doing well, so I won't be giving you any homework for the weekend.'

There was an audible sigh of relief through the room, and Hermione smiled, reminded of the days with Harry and Ron and how the two of them would always be grateful when Severus did not force homework on them, and how she would always be a little disappointed that there was one less chance for her to prove herself to him. She had really sought after his attention in those days, needing to prove herself as a witch and wanting Severus to like her as all the other teachers did. He had been a very hard man to please, and it was only now that she knew how much he truly admired her talent.

Once everything was cleaned and put away, she Flooed into Severus's office and found her husband sitting at his desk, scribbling away furiously with his glasses perched precariously on the end of his nose. She walked over to him silently and, with the tips of her fingers, nudged the glasses further up. He looked at her and smiled gratefully before finishing off his paperwork and letting his quill drop carelessly from his fingers.

'Hello, my love,' Hermione said with a smile, leaning down to peck him on the lips gently before squeaking as he pulled her onto his lap. 'You shouldn't do that – I'm getting too heavy.'

Severus chuckled. 'You, my sweet one, shall never be too heavy to sit upon my lap,' he said, nuzzling the tender skin of her neck. 'And you smell quite lovely today – is that the citrus perfume I made for you?'

She nodded. 'Yes, and a hint of the vanilla,' she replied. 'I couldn't resist – they both smelled so good to me today.'

He laughed softly into her neck as he pressed a kiss to her nape before pulling back and simply settling for holding her close to him. 'I have some very important business to get to in a few minutes, love,' he said with a long sigh. 'I am sure you remember what we were discussing earlier this morning, and it appears as though the schedule must be moved forward a little sooner than I had planned.'

Hermione took the chance then to ask him what was on her mind. 'Actually, Sev, I was too busy eating breakfast, and I had no idea what you were talking about this morning, I'm afraid,' she said with a guilty grin. 'Could you please tell me exactly what it is that you need to do this afternoon?'

'What's this I hear? My wife was too preoccupied with gorging to listen?' he teased, rubbing her rounding belly until she slapped at his hand. 'Oh fine, I will only tell you that today might be the day that we finally bring the case of the Daily Prophet article to a close.'

'You mean you've solved it then, yes?' she asked, eyes lighting up.

'Indeed, with the assistance of a bright little Gryffindor, surprisingly,' he answered with a proud smile. 'I will be down in the dungeons, but I ask that you stay up here while I attend to the problem and await my return, yes?'

'Fine, then,' she answered with a sigh, knowing it was pointless to argue.

Severus then quickly moved her off his lap and stood before sitting her back on the chair comfortably. 'Go and take a nap, love. You're looking a little tired,' he gently insisted, and she nodded.

After leaving his wife and his office, Severus made his way down to the dungeons, passing various students and other professors on the way. When he had nearly arrived there, Rolanda Hooch, who was surprisingly strong for an older and shorter woman, pulled him to the side abruptly.

'What can I do for you, Rolanda?' he asked impatiently.

She rolled her eyes at his tone. 'Now, Severus, I don't ask for much from you, but I do ask that you keep the students away from the Quidditch pitch unless they are players,' she said huffily. 'I now have the lawn hexed several different shades, with the words "Slytherin Rules" carved into it.'

'And you are coming to me because of what?' he snapped irritably. 'I am not the Head of House – go and see someone else about your problem. I have matters of importance to attend to.'

'You are the Headmaster – do something about it,' Rolanda replied in mild frustration. 'I should think you would be able to say something to discourage it.'

'Fine, I will go down to the Slytherin common room tonight after dinner and have some words with all of them,' he agreed hastily. 'Now are you satisfied? Good, now I must really get going.'

He left her abruptly in the Great Hall and went to the staircase down to the dungeons, descending them briskly but silently, and continuing down the hall until he reached the large portrait covering the entrance to the Slytherin common room. He passed that and turned left down a little-used corridor, approaching the soft voices he knew would be there. He was still wondering exactly why they would choose that place of all the inconspicuous spaces in the castle. Shaking his head, he moved in, casting an invisibility charm over himself and joining the Slytherin boys there.

'...Ummm, well, Snape doesn't seem to be much like he used to either,' one of the boys murmured to no one in particular.

Severus frowned when he heard mention of his name and narrowed his eyes as he continued to listen to the inane gossip that the boys were spreading. It wasn't until after a few minutes that he finally caught sight of a shiny beetle that was sitting on the palm of one of the boys. His smile in that moment was almost feral, and he knew that it was time. He crept up on them and then reached down, plucking the beetle from the boy's palm and releasing his invisibility spell. There was a brief pause before all of the boys finally looked at him.

'Well, well, well, what do we have here?' he asked them in a dark, even voice. When no one answered, he glared. 'Get on your feet, you fools!'

They all scrambled up and stood with their heads hung and hands clasped behind their backs in surrender. Severus pulled the jar out of his pocket and glanced over the beetle before putting it inside and screwing on the lid with holes poked through it. He smiled inwardly at his good fortune in capturing the silly chit of a woman so easily. Who would have thought Rita Skeeter was stupid enough to fall into such a simple trap? She really had lost her touch.

'Follow me,' he barked out at the boys, turning sharply on his heel and striding down the hall.

By the time they arrived at his office, Severus was feeling less smug, but more angry. It had taken him a long while to get his Slytherins out of the papers for general misbehavior and trouble, and now he was going through the whole damn thing again with these silly Slytherin boys who had a bee in their bonnet because of their Muggle prejudices and dislike of his wife. Well, he wasn't having any of that in his school. He knew he could easily expel them and be done with them, but he thought it might be more profitable to suspend them and give them detentions for the rest of the school year, humiliating them instead.

He ordered them all to sit in the chairs before his desk and sat the bottle on a high shelf before going to the fireplace to Floo Harry. He tossed in the powder and stuck his head in to speak. It was not, however, Harry that answered the call, but Ginny instead.

'I need to speak to your husband about a pest problem we're having at Hogwarts,' he told her immediately.

'Ah, well I will go and get him. He was just changing Lily,' the very rounded Ginny Potter said before disappearing from sight and calling out her husband's name. She returned moments later smiling. 'He'll be here in just a second. How is Hermione doing over there?'

'She is well, and the babies are very healthy,' he said stiffly, aware that the students were listening in on the conversation. 'Where on earth is Potter?'

Ginny giggled. 'Oh, here he is,' she murmured. 'Catch up with you later, Sev,' she said before moving out of the way as Potter's face appeared.

'What can I do for you, Professor?' he asked with a small smile.

'Will you come through to my office now? I have a small problem that I think you could take care of for me,' he asked, biting his tongue to stop himself from being snide. He hated asking Potter for favors.

'I'm on my way through,' Harry answered, and Severus stood once more and dusted himself off before moving back to his desk just as Potter followed through. 'So, who am I arresting?'

Severus almost snorted with laughter at the sight of the boys' faces when they heard Harry say "arresting". They were all pale and nervous, and that comment left them quaking under the Headmaster's glare. He reached up to the shelf and took down the jar, unscrewing the top and flipping the beetle out of it and flicking his wand in its direction, forcing a transformation. Ten seconds later, Rita Skeeter, with her bleached blonde hair slightly askew, stood in the office looking haughty and betrayed.

'Please, feel free to arrest Miss Skeeter for a breach of her parole and various criminal acts,' he said simply.

Harry grinned and walked up to Rita, magically binding her hands behind her back. 'If it weren't you I was arresting, I would be really put out,' he told her. 'It's my day off, after all.'

'Never liked you anyway, Potter,' she spat.

Severus almost smiled on hearing this and watched with great pleasure as Harry led her to the fireplace. Then he turned to the boys with a cold look. 'You will all be suspended,' he said simply. 'Be ready to work hard on your return.'