Poor Dumb Bastard
Chapter 2 of 40
AuretteHermione sees someone she knows who might be in danger...
ReviewedI adjusted the straps to my negligee as I descended back down to the first floor. Ma intercepted me in the lobby with a tray of drinks and a small frown.
"Princess, you're in the Emerald Room for the rest of the night. The party got here about twenty minutes ago and should be starting to get busy about now."
"Did they request me, Ma'am?" I asked.
"No, not tonight but they have paid for the room for the whole night as usual and there are more in the party than reserved, so I need all the girls that are free to work the room," she answered, handing me the drinks. Ever the saleswoman, that's our madam. I was relieved to know I was not a main attraction.
She looked at me critically.
"You need to work on that smile, girl. You look like a corpse."
"Yes, Ma'am," I answered. I smiled for her, and she nodded.
"A bit better. Keep trying, or I'll take it out of your hide."
Balancing the tray, I made my way into the Emerald Room. Conversation was loud and raucous; there were about ten Death Eaters there and even more girls. I made my way slowly, looking at the floor as I navigated the room offering drinks to the gentlemen and their consorts. The babble of lively conversation washed over me until one person's name ran into me making me stop dead in my tracks.
"Here's to our prodigal boy, Snape!"
The sound of drink glasses clanking on my tray was lost among the huzzahs. I pivoted towards the focus of amusement and spotted my erstwhile professor. There he was. The murderer of Dumbledore. My mind was flooded with images and memories: hasty consultations with a dead man's portrait and a confusing tale of twisted loyalties and even more twisted logic; Harry running forward toward Voldemort after the Dark Lord's ambush at the Burrow; Harry disintegrated in the onslaught; Ron blown apart a moment later. I only fell, two steps behind and caught in the backlash. Apparently no one knew I was still alive for two days.
My mouth felt full of bitter ashes. Snape. Was he a double agent? A spy for Dumbledore? Then how did we not know of the planned attack on the Burrow? Did I even care anymore? It was five years ago. This was my life now. There was no escape. I tried. I stopped caring. I felt the numbness descend down upon me once again, and I welcomed it.
I poured the spilled drinks into the fake ficus plant next to me and arranged the still full drinks on the tray. I studied Snape as I walked among the guests passing out drinks. He looked miserable. Miserable and pathetic. His robes were the cut I remember but shabbier. His hair was a long, greasy curtain spilling down his back well past his shoulder blades. It was still black as night. His skin was even more pale and sallow if possible. His face, a mass of lines that made him look much older than his forty-four years. His nose still a long, thin slash of a hook marring the center of his face. But his eyes...I had seen that look every morning for the last five years. They were like mine; they were dead. Even though I only came up to his shoulders, he seemed smaller, less imposing, less intimidating. Just, less. A skinny, ugly, sad, little man. Lost.
He held himself stiffly, obviously awkward at the attention. The others laughed at his discomfort. Interesting. It would seem the prodigal boy was short on allies in the room. The talk got more bawdy as the drinks flowed and the girls got busy. I watched as Macnair whispered to Peaches and followed her with my gaze as she prowled across the room to Snape, wrapped around him like a cat, and started unbuttoning his robes. I saw two spots of color appear high on his cheeks and admired the effort he put into not looking mortified. He failed.
From the conversation in the room, I gathered that the Potions master had been gone from his compatriots since the end of the war. This was the most news I had ever heard. I also gathered that he did not surface by choice but was chanced upon in an apothecary shop by Rookwood and dragged to this gathering. I also took in the fact that tonight was less a celebration than an ordeal, a trial, a test. It would seem Snape's loyalties were questioned by everyone.
Peaches rubbed against his side and stroked her hand up and down his body from his collar to his crotch in long sinuous movements. I watched his trousers for any response; either there was none or he's hung like a gnat. I tried to decide what my feelings were. I could not. Maybe it was pity.
I placed the tray of drinks on the piano where Angel was playing a pleasing Jazz tune. I smirked at the Mudblood music. Ah, the little rebellions abounded that evening. We exchanged a too-blank look as I took a glass of wine and downed it in one go.
Macnair had been watching the entertainment with a sneer. I heard his muttered opinions on Snape's sexual preferences and the answering sniggers. I listened as he hatched a plot to take Peaches together with Snape and see if he could even perform. I heard a sinister threat: when Snape went off with Macnair and Peaches, one way or another the Professor will be involved in a sexual act. He had no friends here to stand up for him. He was without allies. Poor dumb bastard. I pondered this. I examined my feelings. I should have some. Did I owe him anything? If I interfered, there was a chance he would owe me. That was something. But having a powerless man be indebted to you was less than nothing on the face of it. I grabbed another drink and slammed it back. Replacing it with two more, I moved across the room. I do not know why I decided to act. I surprised myself.
I came up on him from the side beyond my friend. Peaches had been trying all her tricks to spark a fire, and I could tell she was at a loss.
"It's not you, Peaches, honey. He just isn't into redheads." I said this because of something I heard once from Remus. All the old memories had come out to play tonight.
They both twisted around to see me better, and I saw the relief at the rescue on her face and the narrowed eyes of confused familiarity on his. He didn't recognize me.
"Would you like a drink, Sir?" I offered. He looked at the glass of wine with suspicion.
"No." His voice was the same, dark and rich and it made me almost feel something. I flicked the thought away.
"Here, Peaches, for you then."
She laughed and reached to take the wine. Stroking a hand down Snape's unshaven face she turned to me and gestured.
"You're in good hands here; this is the honest to goodness, world-famous, Princess of Gryffindor!"
At her pronouncement he went completely still. Only his eyes snapped towards mine. I was used to people looking quickly away. He did not. I was not sure he was still breathing, he was so still. Peaches gave him a final pat that he ignored and left us in a pool of silence. A rush of thoughts overwhelmed me. Why was I trying to help him? What did I care if he got raped by Macnair? What made him more special than me? Sudden shame caused me to look away first. I took a sip of the wine in my hand and then gently rested my free hand on the inside of his elbow.
"Perhaps we could find somewhere to sit, out of the center of attention, yes?" I said smoothly. I was used to guiding nervous customers, but they were usually not Death Eaters. He didn't respond at first but then followed my lead. My plan was to find a quiet place to tell him what I knew and then leave him to his own devices. I owed him that much for trying to save us from Lupin in third year. That was my plan. Of course, it didn't work. We had not gone two steps before Macnair descended upon us, dragging a bewildered Peaches. He did a bad job of looking jovial, when he was obviously furious that his clever scheme fell apart before it even got off the ground. I wondered at how he seemed to want Snape so badly.
"Severus! Come, my friend! I have found a tasty morsel to share! Let's go upstairs and get this party started for real, old man!"
I moved closer as if to snuggle Snape's arm to hide the fact that I was digging my fingers into his elbow until my knuckles went white.
"Thank you, Walden, but I have found my own for now," he said smoothly. That voice. He moved his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. I relaxed against him. Macnair narrowed his eyes. I could see his thoughts as they formed on his face. He wondered at the dynamic of the untrustworthy Snape choosing the Princess of Gryffindor. I could find no way out of this predicament. It looked suspicious because it was suspicious. How did I get into this? Why? I looked up at Snape with a stupid, simpering smile. I could not tell what he was thinking. His face was a blank mask. I realized I was honestly nervous. I was not happy about this feeling. Snape did a curious thing then. He rubbed his thumb up and down my back as if to calm me. I do not know if that is his intention, but it worked.
"Well grab your doxy and come with me, brother," Macnair said, with forced bonhomie. He reached out and grabbed Snape by the shoulder and pulled him along. I followed along with a gentle hand on my back guiding my way. I was calm all the way up the stairs until we all got to the door of one of the guest rooms and his thumb stilled. Then it hit me: I was about to fuck Professor Snape.
AN: Thanks go to astopperindeath for the final beta and also to Whitehound for her amazing help on the original draft.
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Latest 25 Reviews for The Princess of Gryffindor
597 Reviews | 6.94/10 Average
I agree with Mick42 in the sense that I don't like the Voldemort won/everyone's dead/Hermione's a whore stories. I avoid them like the plague. I decided to give this one a go based on the reviews. I was very, very skeptical. There were aspects to the writing that I didn't like, such as it being written in first person, but the memorial scene alone made it well worth the read. I may have shed a tear (or 10).
Wow...just wow. Now I know why all of these other reviewers have shed a tear. I am a mess. Still smiling tho'! Captivating read. Kudos!
Yay, all finished. It's been a while since I've read this, so I had forgotten a lot of the details in the ending chapters, but I still love it as much as I did the first time I read it. You have my in tears reading the end couple of chapters now, but that's terribly easy to do to a pregnant woman, so don't worry too much lol.
I just love Snape, have I ever mentioned that? I do. And it's stuff like this in stories- him vowing to protect Hermione- that make me love him even more..
This is one I've read before, on ffnet I think, but I have to read it here too, it just seems impossible not to reread your favorite stories when you come across them somewhere. The bonus is that you already know you love the story, even if you can't remember all the details between point A and A.D.
My dear Aurette,I have spent half of yesterday and all of today re-reading this unbelievable story. Half of the time, I've been a sobbing, sopping mess - when S&H were gathering forces and found people who were still alive, the whole Harry and Ron speaking to Hermione from the great beyond, the memorial scene (holy crap, talk about sobbing!), reuniting with Minerva's ghost, and the list goes on. I love the plot of the story. I love your numerous OCs. I love how the young DEs revolt. I love how forces from all sides join together to fight the Dark Lord. I love the romance between S&H. I love how utterly vulnerable he is to her, and she to him. I love how wizarding society hero-worships Snape in the end. I love So Many Things about this story. If my heart could take it, I'd start it all over again, but I really wasn't exaggerating when I said I was sobbing half the time I was reading. This might sound odd, but reading this today, US Memorial Day, just makes it seem even more poignant. But I do think it's honoring to RL sacrifices by reading about fictional ones. Thank you so much for this absolutely wonderful story, and for giving me such an enjoyable (if teary and snotty) way to spend my day off.Love,Christev
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
{{{hugs}}}What a beautiful thing to say. I am deeply touched and honored. Thank you, Christev.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
{{{hugs}}}What a beautiful thing to say. I am deeply touched and honored. Thank you, Christev.
Heartbreaking and wonderful and worth rereading. Thank you for sharing this.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
I'm so glad you enjoyed. ;-)
Just re-read this and had to mention: Best Epilogue Ever. Why couldn't you have given JK a few pointers? ;-p
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
LOL! She never asked... Thank you!
I've just flown through the last several chapters, held in thrall to this story! This is just genius, you know, starting at a place of total desolation - this terrible post-war dystopia - and taking all the elements from DH (the prophecy from Severus, the Hallows, even walking beside the dead and moving with them before returning to earth - thanks particularly for including Draco with the others), using them as they were meant to be used, finding another way of stopping Voldemort and reenvisioning a new world in the aftermath.
And I love seeing Snape marked as the Man Who Lived! And a father! And the Minister! (And that proposal? Mmm-hmm... clearly, he has caught on to everything Hermione's been teaching him!)
You strike such a great balance between comedy and high drama. It's such a pleasure to read.
Oh, Goyle. Goyles will be Goyles, I suppose!"I think you have just been metaphorically peed on." Oh, I love this line... particularly since Severus' possessiveness towards Hermione is such a strong part of his character (which is why his reluctant willingness to 'share' Hermione rather than lose her was SO terribly shocking).
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
Thank you! And I think, by his behavior in this chapter, you can see he tacitly took those words... back.
Response from ofankoma (Reviewer)
Oh, absolutely! That's what's so marvelous to see in this Snape. He acts impulsively so often, and then immediately knows that it's not what he really wanted, and is slowly learning to keep it all in check as he accepts the fact that she really loves him and that he's truly safe with her.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
Hannah and Neville! Woo-hoo! (You can just feel the little triumphs along the way - things are getting brighter all the time!) And the lack of trust between all parties involved... yes, that feels completely, completely believable.(Also,I don't know that I've ever met an original character that I've liked, but Peaches is fantastic. Just fantastic. You make me change my mind on a lot of things, I think...)
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
I intentionally started this tale as dark as I could make it, and then slowly let the light in. Neville and Hannah were such a beacon of hope...
Ah, the trust between the two as they examine the girls! And her red robes... yes, I imagine Severus doesn't want Hermione in anything less than a high-necked robe in front of her old beau.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
Trust is something they thought they had, but as you can see, they are both too emotionally unsophisticated to not end up with issues.
Whoa, whoa, whoa... Elder Goyle and Ma are two revelations here, aren't they? As for the former, it really makes me wonder (again and again) what Voldemort's plan was 'when' he won. Why cheat Death if you have nothing to live for? For someone as hypothetically long-sighted as he was (looking to an eternity of power and control over the wizarding world), he's remarkably short-sighted here (what do you do now that you've won?). You raise all sorts of fascinating questions here. And Ma, with the Veritaserum? Grand.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
Ma was intended to just be a stock vilain, but she elbowed her way toward three dimentional. I was very happy with the way she worked out.
The robes! Wonderful, wonderful, all around, from Hermione's comfort in them and the note exchange.Charlie and Viktor? You're really getting things moving here, aren't you? Momentum. You're really a master with creating a momentum that just pulls a reader through the story. I don't mean just here, but everything I've read up til now - it's so well paced and unfolds so naturally. In case I haven't said this in a chapter or two, thanks so much for sharing this.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
I was very attuned to the pacing of this tale. It was my very first mult-chaptered fic and getting the pacing down right was one of my primary concerns. Thank you so much for reviewing it!
Hooray! I love what you've done with Theo Nott. The second guessing and the regret shows how easy it was for misguided, then-ambivalent people to latch on to Voldemort's coat tails. (Cloak tails?) Very like Severus at that age, no?You're also hilarious, but I suspect you know that. "Conjure myself some decent clothes?" FABULOUS.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
Exactly! I saw Theo as not being wildly different from young Snape, just perhaps a bit more entitled. I am so glad you liked this.
Wow. There are so many things I love, love, love in this chapter. First off, the relationship between Severus and the Malfoys. (Ach, and the horror of their deaths!) Next, Dumbledore's attitude. I, for one, have a tendency to vilify the man. Reading the repentance he shows here makes me rethink a lot of things about him. (So thank you for challenging me!) But you're right - we have a lot of evidence in DH that there are many unspoken things in his past that explain his present actions. And, of course, it's just a relief to see that he finally has someone to tell all this to, someone who will care for him and stand by him through it all. This is just wonderful, and I'm completely loving your writing and this story!
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
I also have a tendancy to vilify Dumbledore, but I know that was never JKR's intention, so every so often I try and reset my thinking. Then I backslide. lol.
There are so many reasons I love this story... wonderful narrative flow, seamless incorporation of canon devices (Hallows! Can't wait to see them in action!), a fresh perspective on the nature of evil in the Voldemort regime, a place to see regrets worked out and atoned for.But the single greatest reason why this is so fabulous is your clear vision of your characters. What we know of them from JKR is fleshed out so beautifully here, and it's not a happy-go-lucky, cleaned up and sanitized version of the very broken people we know (and love), but a hard look at the mistakes they make and how they learn together to move on and forgive one another in a much deeper understanding of who the other really is.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
This chapter was my impetus for writing the whole fic. I wanted to get to this scene. Of course, once I did, I then had a Ministry to over throw... lol.
Oh, now that's interesting... incorporating the Hallows? I think this means we'll get to see some action from the Elder Wand (killing Voldemort?), the Resurrection Stone (Harry and Ron?), and the Invisibility Cloak (I have no idea on this one... it's useful in so many ways). I can't wait to see where they lead!
Severus' thoughts on the ambition of Voldemort five years out are interesting... it certainly does make you wonder - what would Tom have done had he won? Did he have a plan in place? I mean, the fear of ignominious death aside, what was really motivating his actions? What did he envision for the Wizarding world?
There's much that I enjoy in this chapter... the way they recognize each other as being, really, the only people left on earth (that we know of so far) who can really see one another is fantastic. Antarctica banter with penguins! 'Whoever had broken this man deserved to burn in hell.'What I found myself wishing I had here was Hermione's musings on her own sexual history. Was she a virgin before she was enslaved here? I found I wanted this when she first talked about her position as a whore with Snape as well... I just want it sometime. (Maybe it's coming up later? We'll see!) There seems to be space for her to say that she's still a virgin (so to speak) with a great deal of this as well. And defend her innocence. Since she never kissed Ron in the final battle (AU breaks off earlier here, right?), has she even been kissed?
Response from ofankoma (Reviewer)
(Because Severus very well may be right in trying to stop her... for her own peace of mind, certainly, and for the fact that she's been traumatised for years there. Another sexual experience now may not be helpful on the road to recovery, and he'd certainly be remiss if he didn't know the situation before letting her have her way with him...)
The harpsichord? That's hilarious. Does she tune it herself, as well? All the descriptions of this place add up to a bizarre, depressing, garish nightmare. It's like everyone tossed in their leftovers and out popped a brother, or several people's lives just vomited out all their extras on the (Voldemort-run) street.
Ah, Draco. I'm sad to hear he's lost. I have a soft spot for him as one of the people who gave Severus a will to go on in HBP and DH. I would have liked seeing your Snape deal with him.
That last long paragraph on the enigma of Snape? Spot on. It sums up why he's such a fascinating character in canon: powerful and powerless, beautiful and ugly, lauded and humiliated. The ambiguity of him is so rich, and not in the Dumbledore 'we sort too soon' sort of way, claiming that he's truly a Gryffindor at heart merely because he's on the side of good.
As to protection, well, that's another one of the strongest themes attached to him in canon, isn't it? He's constantly fighting to protect people - even people he despises -and he prepares them all to do the same. Your Hermione's a lucky girl...
Well done, you.
Hmm... "I, too, practice self-denial?" I think he might practice a few kinds of denial here, since he did just move to kiss her. (Of course, perhaps poor Severus doesn't know any better. He missed out on the 'What not to do whilst visiting a whorehouse' lesson in finishing school.) I greatly appreciate a post-DH Snape who doesn't know what to do with a woman... after all, when you poke around in canon, it seems fairly obvious that his social calendar was empty.
I also enjoy the dynamic you're setting up between Hermione and Peaches, the latter of whom is clearly in control of her own destiny in a way that Hermione just isn't... yet.
And...Harry and Ron? What?!?
Oh, gravy! Lime-green peignoirs and silver mules? This is a high class establishment poor Hermione's stuck in. (Although the lime-green clothing is oddly reminiscent of St. Mungo's...)
I love a phrase like "She floated in like a frigate in full sail." Really, the oppressing shabbiness of the place is overwhelming. I'm so very wary of new characters, so I'm really hoping I will like yours... Peaches, maybe yes? Ma, maybe no. Unless we do know Ma or Angel already and they're just under aliases like the Princess?
Drinking Cocoa enticed me back here to revisit this wonderful, deep, rich tale once again, when I should be doing my own writing and in other ways getting the heap of papers on my desk cleared and sorted (not to mention getting to bed at a decent hour). But, no, I had to swallow this beautiful work whole once again, rediscovering all its complexities and marvels, emotions and heatbreak, fascinations and intricacies. And it is now nearly 2am, and I can at last climb into my solitary little bed, wrapped in the warmth of some quite satisfying and delicious writing. Thank you.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
I thank you, truly, for your revisiting this story. Nothing is more satisfying than knowing it is apreciated on a second reading as well. :-)
I give it five years before Brilliant figures out how to spell that journal open and gets the shock of her young life hahahaha.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
LOL! Oh, that would be Brilliant! You need to write that fic!
Response from StarryEyedNoOne (Reviewer)
I haven't wrote HP fanfic since I was the age of a first year lol. I pray to any diety that's listening that NONE of it is still floating aroung out there. :-\
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
LOL! I understand. I once read that if you aren't embarrased by something you wrote a year ago, you are no longer growing as a writer. Hell, I get embarrassed over things I wrote last week...