Chapter 17

All canon characters belong to JKR

Thanks to June for her help with the beta work.

Chapter 17

Hermione was fuming. She couldn’t believe Ron could still be so immature. He was almost twenty-three years old, yet acted like he was thirteen. She felt bad having to leave Harry the way she did. After all, he seemed to be just as angry as she was at Ron’s behavior, but she just could not stand to be in the same room with Ron.

She looked at the clock and noticed it was not quite one o’clock. Deciding to take some time to calm herself down, she shrugged off her clothes and walked into the bathroom. An afternoon soak in a warm tub would relax her. Afterwards, she would go and see if Severus wanted to take her to dinner.

After spending some time getting herself together, she walked to Severus’ quarters. She knocked on his door, but there was no answer. She then tried to open it, but found he had changed his wards. After several minutes of trying to get them down, she tried knocking again. ‘Why did he change his wards?’ she wondered. She walked away, not knowing he had been standing on the other side of the door waiting for her to leave.

Severus walked back to his desk, wondering how long she would have carried on. When had she planned on telling him the truth? As he sat, staring into the bottle of ink sitting at the corner of his desk, he hit upon an idea. ‘Perhaps,’ he thought, ‘I will give her a taste of her own medicine.’ He would let her see how it felt to be played with in such a malicious way. Deciding it best to stay in the rest of the evening to finish grading essays, he would deal with her in the morning.

It angered him that he felt cold and empty. He looked around his rooms and found he missed her presence desperately. He missed looking up from his parchments and seeing her sitting in the corner of the couch. He missed sitting next to her as they read books. Most of all he missed the feel of her body. Severus had barely been away from her for an entire afternoon and he missed her already. He needed to get her out of his mind. He kept telling himself it had all been joke. She never felt anything for him. She had played him brilliantly. She knew just how to get to him. God, he had been such a fool to have fallen so easily for her deceit.

He looked behind him to the window. Osiris had not moved from his spot for several hours. Severus kept trying to talk to him, but his cousin refused to answer. He was taking it as badly as Severus. Osiris had grown very attached to Hermione. Severus would often find him in the potions classroom helping Hermione with odd tasks.

“Come away from the window. It’s getting cold, and you’ll catch a draft,” said Severus.

Osiris turned and flew onto the desk. “I guess it’s just you and me again, then.”

“So it would seem, cousin, so it would seem,” Severus said as he pushed his sifter of brandy towards Osiris. “You still have Albus to talk with as well.”

Osiris dipped his beak into the brandy, then looked at Severus. “Oh, the joy of being me.” Then he hiccupped and sat on the edge of the desk.

They both sat there for the rest of the evening, every so often taking a drink. By the time Severus had finished with the essays, it was time for bed. He got up and felt the room was beginning to swirl around him. He looked down at Osiris, who had passed out. Gently, he picked up his cousin and placed him on one of the pillows on the couch. Before he went to his room, he measured out a small amount of Hangover Potion and left it on the coffee table with a note, telling Osiris to drink the potion the second he got up. Then he went to bed, wishing he had never met Hermione Granger.

* * * * * *

In the morning Hermione knocked on Severus’ door again. Once again there was no answer. After several minutes, she walked to the Great Hall by herself. As she entered, she noticed immediately Severus was at the High Table. His head was down, but she noticed he was scowling. She had not seen him the entire previous day. She approached her seat smiling.

“Why didn’t you wait for me?” she asked.

“I was not aware that I needed your permission to come to breakfast, Miss Granger,” he said tersely.

She had been reaching for a scone, but drew her arm back quickly when she heard him address her formally. She turned to him, and wondered if he was playing with her.

“Of course you don’t need my permission,” she said. “It’s just that I didn’t see you all day yesterday, and I thought we could walk together this morning.”

“I was busy yesterday,” he said. She noted his voice sounded irritated, like it often did when he did not want to be bothered.

“Severus, are you all right?” She put her hand on his forearm, only to have him move it away from her.

“Professor Snape, to you, Miss Granger. And I can assure you I am quite fine.” He refused to look at her, deciding instead to keep his eyes on his plate.

Hermione felt like a piece of lead had settled in the pit of her stomach. She swallowed hard. Something was wrong. He was acting like a complete bastard.

“What’s wrong? Why are you acting like this?” Her voice was shaky.

“Nothing is wrong. I am merely tired of playing this game. You know about games, don’t you, Miss Granger?” He now looked at her with a disgusted look on his face, and noticed her face pale at his sudden use of the word “games.” ‘I’ve caught you, and you know it,’ he thought.

“What game?” she asked, now even more confused.

“You did not honestly think there was really anything between us, did you?” Her eyes grew wide. “Oh, I suppose you did.” He turned back to his plate, and began stabbing the potatoes and filling his fork. “Perhaps it was more than just sex for you, Miss Granger, but I am afraid that is all it has been for me.”

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Okay, Severus is going to be pretty hateful for the next several chapters, but that's because he things he's been played.