The Fireplace

Disclaimer: The characters and settings in this story are lovingly borrowed from J.K. Rowling.

Special thanks to DreamyDragon_73 and AnnieTalbot for their incredible beta work. This story originally posted at the sshg_exchange as a gift for nejna. Thanks for reading!

Original Prompt: Rose and Hugo pulled a prank with almost disastrous consequences for Hogwarts points system. Headmaster Snape calls widow Hermione for a little chat. What was the real reason behind children's prank?

Hermione,

Mr Klandestin

~*~

Hermione cast a quick Silencing Charm on the conference room and screamed.

Hermione scrawled a quick note to Mr Klandestin to say that the project had been finished this morning, so Sanderson could keep his intern. She carefully omitted the numerous adjectives that threatened to sneak into the letter. She grabbed the assorted books and stacks of notes from the table and returned them to the bookshelves before collapsing into her usual chair in the conference room. It wasn't noon yet, and she was ready for the day to be over. Exhausted didn't even begin to cover how she felt. She groaned. Severus, Minerva, and Draco would be there shortly.

She flung her arm across the table and grabbed a bit of parchment. She needed some notes if she was going to sound remotely coherent when she explained what had happened in the chamber. Shortly after she finished an outline, which would double as her project resolution report to Mr Klandestin, the trio came in for the debriefing.

Her eyes tracked Severus as he entered the room. He sat on the other side of Minerva, looking out the window. Her jaw clenched in frustration.

Right then. Once they were settled, she launched into her explanation.

"The chambers in the dungeons were created by Godric Gryffindor." She paused for Minerva's gasp and Draco's sniggers.

"There were two chambers. One provided the power source and spell mechanism. The other chamber amplified and directed that power."

Her stomach lurched as she made the next point. "The antechamber was powerful enough to attack Scorpius in the hallway. I suspect this was why someone in Hogwart's past warded off that section of the castle. The inner chamber... The chamber was designed to attack the Slytherin half of a Slytherin and Gryffindor couple."

Hermione braced herself. Draco's shoulders shook with laughter, Severus continued staring out the window, and Minerva looked confused.

Minerva interjected, "Well, we could see that Rose and Scorpius were a couple, but it doesn't make sense that Severus would have been attacked. After all, he wasn't attacked the first time you two went down there."

Comprehension dawned, and Minerva looked positively scandalised. Draco laughed harder. And Severus Snape continued staring out of the window. Either Poppy needed to check him for brain damage from the spell or she would need to reverse several hexes once this meeting was adjourned.

She grit her teeth and responded, "Minerva, Severus and I are not together, but it would seem that the room was able to detect the feelings that were developing between us." She watched Severus flinch at her use of past tense. Oh, good. He'd caught that.

"The chambers were constructed using a large number of rune sentences in both the inner and outer chambers. These were all linked, converging on a spot in the inner chamber where eight rune sentences formed a poem that described the room's purpose. Using the information Bill Weasley provided and the book that Draco was able to supply, I destroyed this nexus, neutralising the room. The wards can be removed from the corridor outside the chamber. The students are, once again, safe."

She glanced at her outline. That covered everything. "Any questions?"

Draco looked as if all major wizarding and Muggle holidays had come at once. "Aren't you leaving out some details, Hermione?"

Severus's attention snapped to Draco at his use of her name.

She sighed. "The inner chamber contained a large, decorated statue of Godric Gryffindor, flanked by two statues of griffins that came to life when Draco entered the room. The statues proceeded to stalk us, and Rose and Draco repeatedly cast Stunners to slow the griffins as I worked to destroy the nexus. Does that cover everything, Draco?"

He grinned widely. "Yes, I believe that covers it. A Founder hated Salazar Slytherin so much that he worked obsessively to create a room that would attack any members of Slytherin's house who dared mingle with his own."

Hermione ignored his gloating and turned her attention to Minerva who looked as if her world had been turned upside down and shaken vigorously. "Did you have any questions, Minerva?"

"The students are safe?"

Hermione nodded. "They are. Although, as a preventive measure, I'd recommend searching the corridors in the rest of the castle to determine if any more chambers have been built."

"Anything else? No? Well, I need to prepare a report on the incident to my supervisor."

Hermione watched as Severus, Draco, and Minerva all left the conference room. She slumped in her chair. Severus had not made one second of eye contact with her since he'd awakened. She blinked away the stinging of angry tears. She was too bloody exhausted for this. Whatever stick had lodged itself up his arse while he was unconscious could just bloody stay there.

Shoving her chair away from the table, Hermione conjured a box and began yanking books off the shelf.

"Leaving so soon?"

Hermione jumped and whirled around to find Severus standing a foot away. "I needed to work off the rest of my adrenalin. I figured the books would have to be packed sooner or later," she said, hoping Severus would accept the excuse. Because she certainly did not care to admit that she had been preparing to leave the castle in a huff.

Severus seemed to ignore the explanation entirely. "Thank you for undoing the curse. Spending an eternity saddled with the horns of Godric Gryffindor would have been unbearable."

"Well, it's not as if you were aware of them," she replied brusquely, not entirely certain where he was headed with the conversation.

He coughed. "Perhaps you're not fully aware of the effects that spell had on young Mr Malfoy and myself."

He took a half-step forward. She looked at him, well, as if he had horns growing from his head. He didn't, of course, not any more.

"We may have appeared to be asleep, but we were fully conscious."

Hermione paled.

"And we could hear every word."

She swore her heart had stopped beating. Her mind scrambled to recover the transcript of everything she might have said. Severus stepped forward.

"I'm fairly certain that I did not hear Poppy grant you the liberty to touch my horns."

Hermione felt her stomach drop to somewhere in the vicinity of her ankles. Her heart kick-started again as she saw Severus's expression narrow, a truly wicked gleam entering his eyes.

Her eyes widened in response. No. No, he would not put her off balance like that and get away with it unscathed. "Well, then Scorpius must have caught quite the earful when he heard you and Draco arguing in the Hospital Wing."

Severus's composure only faltered for a second. He stepped forward again and removed the book from her hand, placing it on the table before taking her hand in his.

She snatched her hand away. "I ought to hex you into next week."

Severus had the good sense to look concerned for his safety.

"This is the first time you've even looked at me in the past hour, never mind actually speak to me." She really needed some sleep. She was far more upset than she ought to be. But knowing that it was the fatigue twisting her mind wasn't helping her think straight.

Severus gaped at her.

"Severus, I am completely exhausted. This entire week has turned my life upside down. I want to return home, negotiate peace with my cat, and sleep for roughly three days. Then perhaps I'll be prepared to speak with you again." And if he wasn't careful, she'd simply leave now without her books and beg Mosey to smuggle them out of the castle for her.

She watched as his shoulders slumped, and he began to look as weary as she felt. "Hermione, please come sit with me for a moment. If you want to leave after I've said my bit, then I'll pack up the conference room while you tend to your living quarters."

He walked to the door of the conference room, watching to see if she would follow. She sighed and joined him as he settled onto the sofa.

"I am sorry that I did not look at you or speak to you," Severus said, his voice soft.

Hermione stared at him. There wasn't a trace of condescension in his voice, but when he put it that way, it seemed rather ridiculous.

"When I awoke, because I was asleep, not unconscious, when Rose barrelled into the Hospital Wing," he swiftly clarified, "I had a good bit of information to process. There were some... uncertainties that I had faced the day before that were no longer present. I needed some time, which I took, and some silence, which I certainly did not get, to mull things over."

"You expect me to believe that you couldn't look at me because you were thinking about me?" she asked dryly, her half-smile likely ruining the effect entirely.

"Well, when you say it like that it does sound rather stupid."

Hermione grinned. "So... we're done with all that then?"

"Yes, I believe we are."

They looked at each other for a moment. Then Severus reached across the sofa and brushed her hair from her shoulder. Hermione moved closer and took his left hand in hers, her fingers rubbing across his knuckles.

Hermione cleared her throat. "So, I thought I might next propose to study the Room of Requirement. I'd like to determine what runes were carved on the wall that was repaired and return the room to working order."

She felt Severus's hand cup the back of her head, his thumb rubbing her scalp. "That would be awful. You'd have to spend months at the castle."

She shivered and leaned into his touch. "I am not walking that hill any more than necessary, though."

"That's fine," Severus muttered. "I'll have our Floos connected."

Hermione pushed away from him, jerking out of his grasp. "What do you mean, you'll have our Floos connected? You mean I could have been staying at my house all this time instead of that cramped little room?"

Severus chuckled. "Yes, but then you might not have had dinner with me so often."

"You... you," she spluttered.

"Slytherin, remember? I told you that being cunning and ambitious wasn't a bad thing."

He slid towards her on the sofa.

She slid back, glaring at him. "Do you mean to tell me that you engineered this from the beginning?"

"No, I didn't engineer this. I simply wanted an opportunity to get to know you a bit better. This one arose and so I..." He paused, taking a moment to select his words with precision. "...adjusted the circumstances to provide that opportunity."

Hermione shook her head, smiling. "I suppose I should be thankful."

"Yes, you should."

His arm wrapped around her waist, and he pulled her closer. She looked up and met his eyes. Her heart leapt at the warmth dancing in them.

She threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled him down to meet her. Their lips met, brushing gently against one another. She closed her eyes, and the universe narrowed.

Severus pulled her body flush against his, the softness evaporating from his kiss. Lips and arms and legs tangled, and somehow she ended up underneath him on the sofa, the length of his body pressed against her.

Hermione moaned as his lips travelled down to her neck. Her head tilted off the front of the sofa. Her eyes fluttered open, and she found herself staring at the fireplace. Severus found an especially sensitive spot during his explorations, making her groan. Her eyes narrowed. She squinted at the fireplace. "Severus?"

He lifted his head a fraction and groaned, "Hermione" before returning to sucking on her collarbone.

"Severus, stop for a moment."

He propped himself on his elbows. "What?" he asked, exasperation threatening to bleed into his voice.

"Severus, there are runes on your fireplace."

He glared at her. "Hermione, I don't care." He tried to return his attention to her neck, but she pushed him away.

"This could be serious! What if something happens again? What if we activate something else?"

"It will be fine. I'm sure there's nothing to be concerned about."

She looked at him with suspicion. "Seduced a lot of women on this sofa, have you?"

His body tensed above her. "No, I have not. But this office has been in use for centuries. I can't imagine we're the first individuals in this position."

She struggled against him. "Severus, I'm sorry but I just can't concentrate with those runes there."

He looked at her for a moment, an insult dangling on the tip of his tongue if she read his expression correctly. He glanced between her and the fireplace, and for a moment, Hermione fully expected he was going to grab a handful of Floo power and shove her through.

Instead he fumbled for his wand. She shrieked as a chunk of stone disappeared from the fireplace.

"Severus Snape! You just destroyed part of the school!"

"I don't care," he murmured, guiding her back down onto the sofa.

"I could have researched those!"

"I'm sure there's no shortage of runes for you to study in the castle," he said before nipping at her neck. "I'll carve them into abandoned classrooms with a penknife if I have to."

"Ooooh," she cried as he returned to that sensitive spot. "Well, that's rather ambitious of you."

"Indeed." He moved lower on the couch. "Now hush and let me show you how cunning I can be."

~Fin~