Chapter Five: Confrontation

Chapter Five: Confrontation

Exactly three days later, Hermione received her Potions homework assignment back complete with an extra five feet of parchment covered with Snape's distinctive script. Bloody over-achieving, know-it-all smart-arse. Carefully stowing the roll of parchment in her bag before anyone else noticed its thickness, she pointedly ignored the smug, black eyes and irritating eyebrow directed her way and went about her brewing. As she handed in her usual, perfect potion at the end of the lesson, Snape's slight smile inexplicably left her breathless.

"What's wrong with Snape?" Harry asked as soon as they had left the classroom. "I'm sure I saw him smile at you. Was your homework only as long as requested for once?"

"No idea. Perhaps he has wind," she replied vaguely and headed off up the stairs.

"Wind?" Harry shook his head. Girls were so... weird.

Hermione warded her door when she reached her room and took out her fiancé's homework. Before her, beautifully itemised and with diagrams, was a lengthy and detailed dissertation on foreplay and the female sexual response. There was no doubt he had read the material and understood the theory. The question was – could he put it into practice? Smirking to herself, she found some red ink and scratched an 'E' at the top of the parchment along with a scathing comment on long-windedness. Her need for revenge fulfilled, she stretched out on her bed and found herself imagining Severus Snape practising that which he had so eloquently written. Her breath quickened as her mind took her places it had no right to stray, visions of a naked and increasingly alluring dark wizard with competent hands and mouth leaving her flushed and panting.

Returning to her senses, the young witch realised her previously set goal of a tolerable, compatible marriage had been completely upended. No, she wanted more. Much more. Suddenly, she realised she might just find it in the long-fingered hands and sensual voice of her irritable, sarcastic fiancé.

A knock on the door had her leaping off the bed, frantically looking for a hiding place. The Potions professor's handwriting was particularly memorable to any student who had suffered his red-inked scorn. It would not do to have anyone recognising the author of the highly detailed essay on sex she held in her hand. Finally shoving the parchment under her mattress, she opened the door to find Ginny waiting impatiently outside.

"Any news? How was Potions today?" she asked, eyes darting around the room.

"Oh, stop pretending and just ask outright, Gin. Yes, he has done his homework." Hermione sighed. Trying to put Ginevra Weasley off the hunt would be like trying to put her brother off food. "Here." She pulled the roll of parchment out and gave it to her friend.

Ginny made herself comfortable on the bed and studied the essay. "Hermione! You graded it? And..." She read the comments and giggled. "That is so fitting. He always complains about your essays being too long."

"That's why he wrote so much. Payback." Hermione grinned. At least he had some sense of humour, warped as it was.

Ginny's eyes widened as she read through the essay. "Oh, my... Oh, my! I didn't know that! Oh, goodness, do people really...?"

"Yes, Ginny. They do," Hermione assured the redhead.

"So, you and Snape are going to...?" Ginny had to ask.

"Probably. Why not?" The older witch shrugged.

"With your mouths? There? I mean, sex is one thing, but licking Snape's..." She shuddered.

"Oh, come off it. He will be my husband. Married couples do it all the time. Non-married couples do it. Casual acquaintances do it. As I said to him, it is 1999, not 1899! Besides, I've tried it. With Jason. It was very... er... stimulating, seeing his reaction. I'm sure it will be the same with Severus."

"Oh, dear. I'm pleased you lot have a separate class. I will never be able to look him in the eye in the Potions classroom again!" Ginny blushed.

"You will not be imagining my husband that way in class. Or out of class. Or anywhere else, for that matter, Ginevra Weasley," Hermione scolded.

"Perhaps, I will have to start imagining Harry instead," Ginny mused, lying back on the bed with a smile.

"Ginny, have you and Harry never...?"

"Merlin, no! He has a bigger stick up his arse about sex than Snape! He's quite happy to snog all night, but if my hand so much as strays near his thigh, he suddenly finds an excuse to go for a walk. I'm sure he thinks I haven't noticed the bulge in his pants and is worried I might feel something I shouldn't! I haven't even seen him naked. And, Hermione, I really want to see him naked!"

Hermione smiled in sympathy, pleased to find she wasn't the only girl with a repressed male to cope with. "He is probably worried your mother will find out. She is pretty scary, you know."

"Tell me about it. She's the best form of contraception a girl can have. But we are both of age now, so why shouldn't we have sex if we both want to? We are planning to marry eventually anyway," Ginny complained.

"Perhaps she is just old-fashioned?"

"Rubbish. I know for a fact she and Dad were having sex before they got married. Bill was born in November. They were married in May – the same year! She simply doesn't want me to make the same mistake she did. Just because she didn't use contraceptive charms... What's so funny?" she asked as her friend suddenly giggled uncontrollably.

"Harry is scared of your mother. He offed Voldemort, but he is scared of your mother. You realise if we had set your mum on Voldemort, we could have saved ourselves all that trouble!" Tears of laughter ran down their cheeks as they imagined a fierce Molly Weasley facing off against Mr Evil Incarnate.

"Oh, my. That would have been a sight. You're right. It's no wonder Harry is so nervous. Won't stop me trying, though. One day, he will get carried away and give in to my womanly wiles. I might have to read that book of yours when your fiancé has finished with it to get some tips."

"Just don't tell Ron you have been getting ideas from me!" Both girls collapsed in fits of laughter, imagining the expression on Ron's face if he ever found out his sister had been having lewd thoughts about his best friend. Not that Ron didn't know how Ginny felt about Harry, he just didn't want to know any details. Hermione had no illusions as to his reaction when he found out she was married to Severus Snape. It would not be pretty.

"So, do you think an 'E' was a fair grade?"

"Well, he seems to have covered the material thoroughly, and those diagrams are fairly comprehensive. I'm surprised you didn't give him an 'O'."

"He will have to demonstrate outstanding practical application of his knowledge to obtain that grade."

Once again, the two girls were overcome.

"Where have you two been?" Harry asked as Hermione and Ginny sat down for dinner some time later.

"Oh, just going over homework," Hermione replied. The girls' eyes met, and they dissolved into laughter yet again. The puzzled stares of their companions only added fuel to the fire of their mirth.

"What is so funny about homework? My homework is never funny. Confusing... impossible... frustrating... but never funny!" whined Ron.

"I guess you had to be there." Ginny nudged her friend under the table and tipped her head towards the staff table where Snape was glaring in their direction.

Hermione turned to her fiancé, smiled, and winked. The satisfying blush as he turned away was worth the risk.

"Hermione!" Ginny whispered reprovingly.

"Worked, didn't it?" she answered with a grin.

"Just because those boys are usually totally oblivious to what goes on around them while they are eating doesn't mean you can go winking at Snape. Someone will notice. Or worse, Bill will think you are winking at him!" She indicated her brother, who was sitting next to Snape and staring in Hermione's direction with a bemused smile.

"OK, OK. No more winking. Let's eat." Hermione giggled and filled her plate. The rest of the meal passed uneventfully as food took precedence over teasing the man she was to marry.

The group of chattering Gryffindors made their way back to their common room after dinner, Ginny and Harry arm-in-arm, Ron enthusiastically entertaining Lavender and Parvati with tales of his latest Quidditch escapades, and the rest in twos or threes, leaving Hermione trailing behind.

Suddenly, she felt a strong hand reach around her waist and pull her into a darkened classroom. The faint yet distinctive scent of the Potions classroom alerted her mind to her assailant's identity, and the lean, hard body behind her reminded her senses of his masculinity. Letting herself relax into his arms briefly, she sighed as he abruptly released her and moved away.

"Oh. That's a shame. I thought you had suddenly taken the initiative," she teased.

"Very amusing, Miss Granger. I am not generally inclined to abduct students in the corridors and take them into dark corners to have my wicked way with them," her fiancé responded, lips almost betraying him with a slight smile.

"Pity. You could do with the practice," she retorted with a cheeky grin.

His hands raked his frustration through his hair. "The only witch I will be practising with can wait until she is married," he growled; his ability to hide his turbulent emotions behind a cloak of indifference seemingly void in the presence of the wild-haired vixen before him.

"Spoilsport. I could think of all sorts of practice exercises for you to do." She smiled sweetly at the Potions master. Seeing the dour man standing before her, unusually bereft of his emotional armour, she took pity upon him. "So why did you drag me in here?"

With a shake, he resumed his professorial persona. "What exactly were you and the Weasley chit up to at dinner?" he demanded.

"Just having a little fun," she replied, innocence personified.

"That little bit of fun had better not be at my expense. I will not tolerate disrespect from you or anyone else!"

Hermione moved towards him until they were separated by mere inches of thick, heated air. "Homework is always fun, don't you think, sir?" She swiftly reached up and kissed him on the cheek and, before he could react, turned and ran out of the room.

Severus Snape, lost for words, sank down onto a nearby desk. His hand strayed to his cheek as he murmured softly, "Indeed, Miss Granger."

Potions on Thursday began uneventfully. Snape burst through the door with his characteristic swirl of robes, and with a flick of his wand, the instructions for the day were on the board. The class set to work, and soon the only sounds were of gentle stirring, rhythmic chopping, and the soft simmering of the various cauldrons in the room. The professor loomed over students' shoulders and glared at their brews, which, for him, was perfectly normal behaviour.

Suddenly, a startled yelp caught his attention as Ron Weasley found his potion about to boil over. Whipping out his wand, Snape prevented disaster, or at least a large mess, by Evanesco'ing the lurid, purple mixture.

"Just what did you think you were doing, Mr Weasley? Do you think you are so skilled at potion making that you no longer need to follow the instructions? What was the last ingredient you added, boy?"

Ron paled before the older wizard's wrath. "Mayfly wings, sir."

"And do you see mayfly wings anywhere on the list of ingredients, Mr Weasley?" Snape demanded.

The redhead studied the blackboard intently. "Er... No, sir. I must have misread the instructions. See, where you wrote mayfly eggs, the loop there looks a little like..."

"ENOUGH! Your pitiful excuses are wasting my time. Twenty points from Gryffindor for inattention to detail." Snape turned as a voice intruded on his bad temper.

"Excuse me, sir, but your writing is a little hard to read there."

The class fell silent as Snape rounded on the speaker. "Miss Granger. Exactly when did I ask for your opinion? Five points from Gryffindor for interference."

"But, you are not being fair, sir! Anyone could have made that mistake." The stubborn witch persisted.

"In my classroom, I decide what is fair." Snape's curled lip was inches from her face.

Hermione refused to be intimidated. "Then you need to re-evaluate your definition of fairness, Professor." She prodded his chest with her finger, evoking gasps from her classmates.

Harry tugged on Hermione's arm, trying to quell her death wish. Ron was staring wide-eyed at the pair, unable to reconcile their usually respectful companion with the virago before them.

"OUT! Everyone out! Class is dismissed!" Snape bellowed. They needed no further encouragement. Within two minutes, the room was cleared, only Ron and Harry remaining near the door to witness the confrontation between the fuming Potions professor and their suddenly volatile friend.

"Detention, Miss Granger. Tonight. 9 o'clock," he spat, once again nose to nose with his wife-to-be.

"No."

"No?"

The two stood and glared at each other, hands on hips, chins jutted out in eerily similar stances.

"He's going to hex her," Ron whispered, curiously calm.

"Or snog her senseless," Harry suggested, only partly in jest. The sparks flying between the witch and wizard before them were almost visible.

"Eww. Harry! How could you even think that?"

"Just look at them. Can't you feel it? There's more going on here than we know. Since when has Hermione ever defied a teacher? She is not the least bit afraid of him."

Ron studied the pair, who had gradually moved closer, totally oblivious of their audience. "Er... I think we should go," he muttered, dragging Harry out of the door and closing it behind them.

"You forget yourself, Miss Granger." Snape's tone froze her anger as he turned to his desk.

"You forget you will be my husband in a few days," she retorted.

"That is irrelevant. You cannot undermine my authority in my own classroom! This damned marriage is going to cause enough scandal, without my position as a professor in this school being compromised. Did your summer adventure cause you to lose your common sense as well as your virginity?" he sneered.

"This damned marriage is for your benefit, and I appear to have lost any common sense I had the moment I petitioned to save your bloody hide from Dolores Umbridge and friends. More fool me for thinking you would appreciate it!" Tears sprung unbidden as she saw the hard-won gains in his trust crumbling before her eyes.

Snape's rage dissolved at the sight of his fiancée in tears. "Merlin, woman, stop snivelling." He reached into his robes and produced a handkerchief. Shame for his burst of temper prodded him to continue. "I told you I appreciated your courage. I thought you, of all people, would realise the need for discretion. If you start behaving differently in class, your classmates will notice."

"And what if they do? I am not ashamed of whom I am marrying. Are you?" Eyes puffy, she watched his face closely, wondering if she had imagined the flicker of hope that had escaped his control.

"No. Not ashamed." He did not elaborate further, simply taking the handkerchief she had balled up into a sodden mess and leaving her more thoroughly confused than before.

"The man is impossible!" Hermione raged as she paced the floor of her room. "One minute he appears to be prepared to make the effort to make this marriage work, and the next he goes off at the deep end. I don't know whether I want to slap him or kiss him!"

Ginny watched her friend rant. "If nothing else, he stimulates feelings of passion. That must be better than indifference, Hermione. You can hardly blame him for objecting to being challenged in front of the whole class. Although, I would have loved to have been there."

"Well, I suppose I did overstep the mark a little. But Ron was right, the instructions were easily misinterpreted."

"And since when have you seen fit to argue with him over something my idiot brother has done?" Ginny asked.

"OK. Point taken. He is still infuriating. I wish he would just stop fighting the inevitable and make up his mind to be happy, you know?" Hermione stopped pacing and turned to her friend. "What can I do?"

"I imagine he feels his whole life is out of his control at the moment. Just like it was for years while he was spying. And with the whole sex thing to add to it..." Ginny smiled.

"Out of control. He and I both. I'll be glad when Saturday is over," Hermione grumbled.

"Now, that's no way for a woman to be viewing her wedding... and wedding night."

"Tell my beloved fiancé that!"

Ginny grinned. They were just hopeless.

Prompt: 1. Something Old. The Marriage Law Challenge. Many thanks to karelia for the beta.