Chapter Seventeen: Confrontation
Chapter 17 of 41
sunny33Severus and Hermione finally talk... sort of.
ReviewedDisclaimer: They're still JKR's underneath it all.
Chapter Seventeen: Confrontation
As she set the heat under her cauldron to a low simmer, Hermione glanced up toward the front of the class. What's he doing? Looks like he's doodling on someone's essay. That's hardly appropriate, Professor. And now he's staring at it as if it might bite him. That's odd behaviour, even for Severus.
Oh... Merlin.
He knows.
Snape held Hermione transfixed in the depths of his black, incredulous gaze. Memories tumbled into his mind unbidden as he stared at the Gryffindor student before him.
Grace Henman Granger, Hermione.
"I have one or two questions, however, if you don't mind."
"Can you be certain the work will be complete by the end of August? I have other commitments beyond that time."
"I have to leave for school at the end of the month. Er... yes. I... er... skipped a year, and now I'm returning to finish up and take my final exams. Sort of an adult student, really."
"You've captured me so well, even the stupid way I bite my lip when I'm thinking."
"That crazy girl with the awful hair who spends all her time in the library. She's the one who threatened us with turpentine."
Fuck!
How could I have missed it? I was so certain Grace wasn't a current student.
Her know-it-all attitude. Her hands. Her Virgo tattoo. Even the precise way she chopped salad ingredients.
I should have realised it was Granger from the moment I picked up that brown, curly hair. I already bloody knew she was an intelligent, powerful, Muggleborn witch by then.
Snape suddenly dropped his eyes, fists balled on top of the parchment on his desk.
A nudge from Blaise drew Hermione's attention back to her cauldron.
"Doxy wings. Now!"
"Damn!" For the next few minutes, Hermione's mind was fixed on her brewing. Only after the simmering stage had been reached did she have time to acknowledge Blaise's warning.
"Thanks. That was just in time."
"What the hell were you thinking, Hermione? You're usually more focussed than that."
"He knows."
"Who knows? What?"
"Severus. He looked at me."
Blaise rolled his eyes. "You're almost as paranoid as he is. He looks at you all the time. Probably to make sure you're paying attention."
"No. He suddenly looked up and stared at me as if..." A light kick under the table stilled her tongue as Snape raised his head to reveal distinctly red-stained cheeks.
Snape found himself once again staring at Hermione Granger in horror as his mind regurgitated unwelcome and embarrassing tidbits.
"Why should I be upset? It's not like you called into your trousers for your penis to come to attention just for fun."
I wrote to her and told her I was masturbating over her. More than once. A student, for Merlin's sake! Minerva will kill me if she finds out. No, she wouldn't be so forgiving. She'd rip my balls out, string them up in the Great Hall, and make me watch as the first years practised spells on them.
She knew. She bloody knew exactly why I had to leave the classroom that day. Oh, gods... I came in my pants like a randy teenager, and she knows!
His gaze never wavering, Snape relived the feeling of Grace's lips on his cock and the taste of her arousal under his tongue. His trousers strained as he remembered her tightness around him when she came and cried out his name.
As Grace's naked form threatened to overwhelm his consciousness, he lifted his head, and the sight of Hermione Granger fully dressed in her student robes poured guilt into the brew of emotions churning within.
A student. I fucked a student. I fucked Hermione Granger!
Someone Avada me now before Minerva does.
"Miss Granger. See me after class."
***
"Do you want me to hang around?"
The reassuring weight of Blaise's concern fortified her. "No. Not this time. I have to do this alone. I need to do this alone. If you play the knight in shining armour, he'll never respect me as a woman. Thanks, anyway." She patted his arm as he packed up his Potions kit. "You could run interference on those two though."
Behind them, Draco and Neville's furtive glances between their professor and Hermione broadcasted the topic of their whispered conversation. Blaise rolled his eyes. "I'm onto it. Don't worry about them; just concern yourself with getting out of this room in one piece."
Her weak smile was little comfort as he joined the pair behind and nearly dragged them from the room.
Ron and Harry merely waved as they left, deep in a discussion about what was likely to be on the menu for lunch.
Hermione placed everything into her bag precisely, finally looking up to the front of the classroom when the last reassuring sounds of her fellow students had faded. Snape was sitting behind the desk, leaning back in his chair with arms folded. A peculiar expression rested uneasily upon his face, as if, for once, he had lost control of the situation.
Taking the bull, or at least the snake, by the horns, Hermione stood and faced her lover.
"You've worked it out."
"Indeed."
"And? You have nothing to say?"
"I have a considerable amount to say on the matter, Miss Granger. However, I shall refrain from commenting until I hear your explanation." Control, Severus, control. You don't want her rushing off to Minerva accusing you of Merlin knows what perversion.
"Miss Granger? Miss Granger? I believe we have moved past the formalities, Severus." I won't let him deny our relationship. He might kill me, but he will not pretend this never happened.
"What did you expect? Grace? Hermione? Whispered endearments and stolen kisses? Shall I get down on my bended knee and propose right now?" His sneer was almost effective, betrayed only by the heartbreak in his eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous." She moved around his desk, acknowledging his wince as she drew closer. "Tell me it's impossible. I'm a student, and you're my teacher. You're twice my age and a hundred times as bitter. Tell me I'm crazy to have fallen for you. Tell me something I don't already know." She shrugged and turned to the window.
"Why?" It was almost a whisper.
"I told you why. I needed the money. I thought I could do the job and walk away, pretend it had never happened. But you... you were... different. I found the real Severus Snape there in the studio. Witty and sarcastic and intelligent. Brooding, artistic, and passionate. Just my type. How could I let you go?"
"You should have. Dammit, woman..." He bowed his head, frowning as he noticed the unaccustomed trembling of his fingers. "Grace... Granger, why didn't you tell me?"
"When would have been a good time? During class? After dinner? 'Oh, by the way, Professor Snape, you're a great shag, and I think I'm in love with you?' I was terrified you'd find out and even more afraid to lose you by telling you myself."
Snape met her eyes, almost moved by her tears until he remembered. "I suggest it might be in your best interest to pay a little more attention to Miss Granger."
"Zabini knows. Dammit, who else have you told? Potter? Weasley?"
Stung by his accusation, she stepped back half a pace. "No! How can you say that? The only person I told was my mum, and for your information, she gave me her blessing. Blaise figured it out for himself. Although Ginny knows there's someone, but not who."
"Miss Weasley? How?"
"She saw one of your letters. By mistake!"
"Fuck! Which one?"
"Put it this way, she was about to run to the headmistress and complain about the pervert writing me letters. If I hadn't told her I knew the sender of the letter, she would have created merry hell."
Shite, that one! How long before she works it out? I have to stop this now.
He stood just as she stepped back to him and stumbled. Catching her arms with his hands, Snape rested his chin in wonderfully bushy, untamed hair and inhaled the scent of his downfall. "Oh, gods..."
Hermione lifted her face to find his inches away. Close enough. Brushing her lips across his, she coaxed them open to drown in his desperation.
Ignition.
Lips, tongues, teeth clashing... hands reaching to unbutton, pushing away cloth hindering access to bare skin... breathing ragged and desire subsuming rational thought until...
"No!" Snape dragged his unwilling mouth away, staggering back to the support of his desk as he rebuttoned his robes. "I can't. I mustn't."
"Why not? What's the worst that could happen?" Hermione stood, arms akimbo, heedless of the half-uncovered breasts her unfastened clothing revealed.
Snape averted his eyes from the temptation before them. "Are you naïve or merely foolish? This is wrong! You could face expulsion, not to mention the disdain of your peers for your choice of consort. I could lose my job, my income. Do you really think the headmistress would forgive one of her staff for despoiling her precious lion cub?"
"I don't give a damn what people think. I love you, Severus Snape, and the rest of them can go to hell. Whatever happened to Come to me before I perish from the love you are withholding? I'm not withholding anything." She advanced towards him, pressing her body to his as the desk stalled his retreat. "Don't deny it. I can feel it there between us, hard and insistent. Never doubt my desire for your touch your body is only a physical metaphor for the need my mind, heart, and soul has for you. Should I doubt it?" She ground her pelvis against his arousal, eliciting a groan from the man before her.
"Yes... No... Dammit, Grace, don't do that. I can't think."
"I don't want you to think. I want you to feel!" She lifted a hand and placed it over his heart.
"What part of wrong did you not understand; you're my student! I can't kiss you... I can't touch you god knows I want to... I mustn't love you. Leave, please, for the sake of my sanity. Just leave!"
Hermione lowered her hand and backed away. Her lowered head and soft words quieted him faster than any hex. "I'm sorry, Severus. I can't switch off my feelings as easily as that. I love you."
She closed the door quietly as she left.
Oh, Grace.
***
Hermione paced the floor of her room, muttering to herself. "Bloody noble fool, too scared to take a chance. What do I have to do, quit school? Damn him!"
"Go easy on the man, Hermione. He does have a point. You could both get in Merlin knows how much trouble if the headmistress found out about your relationship." Blaise leaned back against her headboard, legs sprawled over her quilt as he made himself comfortable.
"But, Blaise, he just sent me away. He won't even talk about it. And for the last few weeks, he's avoided me as if I was bloody Voldemort reincarnated. He disappears as soon as Potions is finished, rarely appears at meals, and never seems to patrol any more. How can I have a conversation with the man if he isn't present? It's so frustrating!" She flopped down on the bed beside him and sniffed. "He's shut me out as if nothing ever happened. Walks around looking like death warmed up and won't even try to resolve the situation."
His arm around her trembling shoulders, Blaise rolled her into the warm comfort of his embrace and brushed her tears away with a gentle caress. "It'll work out, love, I promise. He'll realise what he's missing and come running soon enough."
Hermione looked up into deep brown eyes full of compassion and tenderness and sighed. "Why do you put up with me, Blaise? Here I am, drivelling on like a lovesick fool about Severus, and you hold me and tell me everything will be all right. Look at us, together on my bed. I feel so guilty, knowing how you feel. Don't you...?" She glanced down at the conspicuous gap between the lower parts of their bodies.
He grimaced. "I do; of course I do. But don't worry about it. I'd rather spend a few minutes in discomfort than leave you without a shoulder to cry on. Who knows what you'd do if I left you to your own devices? I can always take care of myself later."
Hermione found herself giggling at the familiar expression, certain she had never revealed that particular detail to Blaise. Sobering, she dared ask, "Do you, Blaise?" She looked down again and raised an eyebrow.
His blush was evident even through his dark skin. "Hermione! I... you... You can't ask a guy that!" Seeing her grin, he shook his head. "Bloody Gryffindors! Yes. Yes, yes, and yes. I'm a normal, red-blooded male. So go on, hex me and get it over and done with, or do you have any more personal questions you want to get off your chest?"
Still lying beside him, Hermione smirked. "There is something I've always wondered. Do you happen to know where the G-spot is?"
"That, my dear, is something you're never going to find out. Serves you right." He rolled onto his back, making no attempt to hide the significant tent in his trousers the topic of conversation and close contact had created.
Amidst gales of laughter, neither of them noticed the stifled gasp as the door opened and just as swiftly closed again.
***
A/N: This was written for shalimar1981 for the TPP Every Flavour Auction. A bouquet to karelia for being my beta, even though she tells me I'm evil.
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Latest 25 Reviews for Limited Exposure
1604 Reviews | 6.58/10 Average
This is one of my favorite SSHG stories ever <3 brilliantly done
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Thank you! :D
Loved the whole story. Lots of fun!
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Thanks. :)
"And today, you’re as jumpy as a unicorn around Pansy Parkinson." Love it.
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
;)
That was a great read, and I've recced this story on the One Bad Man comm over on LJ. I hope that some more readers will experience the pleasure of this story that way!
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Thank you for reading, reviewing, and reccing! :D
Excellent!!
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Thanks! :)
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Thanks! :)
I think Blaise Zabini bought Hermione's pictures.
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Read on, MacDuff! :)
I thought it sounded like a good idea. Severus may need a body double for a pregnant Hermione or they could use polyjuice from a pregnant woman. Would that work? I know she wouldn't be pregnant, but would she look pregnant? The breasts change with pregnancy and he is all about the breasts. If he does the early pregnancy painting before a woman is completely miserable, maybe Hermione could just stick out her tummy. The 1st baby I didn't show for 5 months. Only my breasts got slightly larger. She could be looking in the mirror and imagining herself as a mother with a baby at her breast. Please tell me they won't have children this soon. Studies in the US show that people without children are happier than adults that have childern. At least if they stay at Hogwarts there are probably house elfs lined up around the block for the chance to take care of their baby while they work.
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Don't panic, Hermione has her own opinions on that idea! :)
I do like the fact that most of the other characters beside H and S are very astute and aren't missing much when it comes to the couple in question. In most other stories the other characters aside from possibly Ginny and maybe Harry seem to be mostly cluelss, but we all go along with it because it fits the needs of the story. I'm afraid to find out what Minerva has discovered.
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Most of them are pretty smart people who know these too well. Of course they'd figure it out. :)
Please let Minerva be understanding. Sorry. I have to get on to the next chapter!
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
:)
Dear Severus, Blaise knows about us and he is in love with me so he had been providing a shoulder for me to cry on, because I've been crying a lot. He has been trying to help me work things out with you. He's very supportive and noble. In case you've been listening to gossip, I'm not shagging Blaise. I'm sure you are above listening to gossip started by Ronnald Weasley. That burk has no idea what really I do in my private life, otherwise he wouldn't be spreading untrue gossip would he. He saw Blaise comforting me and jumped to the wrong conclusion. Wouldn't it be awful to be like Ronnald Weasley?
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Hehe!! :D
WTF!!! I guess I'll find out who that was soon enough. I hope it was Ginny. That would take care of that little problem. Severus wouldn't open her door without knocking, I think. Blaise is too good. What would Severus do if he thought Hermione was spending her free time laying on her bed with Blaise? Would he be jelous or would he nurture it and use it to rationalize a reason for dumping her and hating her? Does he really expect Hermione to leave him be? Can't they just agree to wait until the end of school? They are adults after all. Hermione would protest but it would be the best thing to do in the long run. But then again, where would be the fun in that? Are Christmas Hols coming up? Two weeks at the studio would be nice.
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
LOL wouldn't be much of a story if they did the mature thing and waited. ;)
Not the response I was hoping for when he figured it out. What will you do with Blaise? Just as there is no one like Severus Snape, there aren't other girls like HG running around the school. He might like Ginny if he knew her better. Maybe Luna? She is definitely an unique individual. I've been too enthralled wanting to get to the next chapter to leave reviews, but I want to tell you that this is awesome!
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Thanks. :)
Is she going to tell her mom the real truth? She seems like someone she could tell the truth to. She is a lot like my mom. Maybe her mom can talk some sense into her about continuing to deceive Severus.
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Her mum's pretty open. :)
That silly girl. Is she trying to torture him by continuing to stir this up? Her stream of consciousness ramblings indicate she has no intention of letting Severus discover she is Grace, yet she plays with fire. I suppose that because she is more naive than any 19 year old would realize they are, she doesn't realize how cruel this is if she doesn't plan to have a relationship with him but only plans to lead him on for her own titillation. Does she plan to live a double life? Hermione Granger during the week and Grace Henman on the weekends? The more she draws this out the more deceived he is going to feel when he realizes he's been tricked. She isn't a stupid girl and she must know this deep inside. Now he knows she returns his feelings. What is he supposed to do with that information? This is going to get bad before it gets better I fear. I feel the most concerned for Severus who has more to lose. He would have let this lay if she hadn't egged him on. He didn't pursue her because he didn't want to be hurt. He felt it was inappropriate but aslo that she would never be interested in him because of his age. He isn't looking for a booty call. Has she thought that he might be interested in more than sex? Now that she has gotten his hopes up what does she plan to do about it? Has she thought it through that far? Again I ask, has she thought this through?
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Of course not. She's nineteen. She knows she wants him but hasn't really thought beyond the moment. You know what they are like at that age! :)
It's too bad Severus feels he still has to be a git. I know potions is dangerous, but I'm sure he could get the NEWT students to cooperate without being mean.
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Not sure he knows any other way to behave. :)
Well, I've been thinking about how brave Hermione is. She has been nothing but professional. I admire her. I am a femenist, but I don't think I could have been that relaxed in her situation. It is unusual to find a young woman that is so comfortable with her own body and isn't recriminating herself for imagined flaws for one thing. She doesn't feel super sexy but she also doesn't feel embarrassed about any of her features. I suppose I wouldn't be able to pose like that without feeling at least as aroused as she did. She did have the knowledge of the truth to keep her from getting carried away. On the other hand, Severus was very hard on himself but he didn't judge her for feeling aroused too. What a gentleman. I am feeling very sorry for Severus. He is so sensitive. He's got it bad for Hermione and she's only "just interested" in comparison. She is young and has never really been in love yet. She doesn't know what a broken heart is yet. I've heard it said that women fall in love easier, but men fall in love harder. I suppose one could say he is only sexually interested in her but we know he wouldn't be aroused if he didn't truely like her for herself. Female Death Eaters didn't have the same affect on him. And what do you expect a normal red blooded male to do when a beutiful and aroused teenaged woman is willing to lay there with her legs spread for you for hours while you examine her every nuance', realising she is aroused because she is showing her lady parts to you. How sad for him to have her treat him so causally kind and truely proffesionally, to be honest. It must make him feel like he's just a harmless old man, and maybe even as if he was a trusted harmless old favorite uncle that paints lots of nude women and figure that she could never imagine him as a sexual creature even when she knows he desires her. Because while he could tell she was obviously aroused, I'm certain he didn't immagine it was due to the fact that she was thinking sexy thoughts of him. Hermione acted completely professionally. How was she to know he would develope feeling for her. I sense that this will get worse before it gets better, but I'm comforted by the hope that you will help them work this out and they will be whole in the end and a happy couple.
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
It's sort of like biting off more than you can chew, isn't it? Neither of them really knew what they were getting into, but are trying as hard as possible not to ruin the hard work they have done so far by given in to their physical responses. :)
This story reminds me. About 16 years ago I went to the Musee d'Orsay in Paris with a friend. We thought we had seen everything there until we were leaving and I saw the postcard for the L'orignine Du Monde. I was like, "Hey Kathy! Hold on! Look at this! We've obviously missed a section somewhere because I'm sure we haven't seen this yet! My eyes had landed on it immediately like a magnet as I scanned the stand. 
I wonder how many people actually buy that postcard? I personally prefer my postcard of the statue of David for unreligious reasons. He has such large hands. I love large hands on a man. 
Which reminds me again! Later at the Louvre, we were down by the mummies. The underwire in my bra had broken through the fabric. I just couldn't bare it jabbing me between my breasts anymore, coupled with my painful feet from walking all over the city. So, I reached into the top of my sweater and pulled and struggled and pulled and wrestled it somemore, as I tried to get the wire out of my bra. There was an older woman resting in a chair by the wall. She was looking at me in horror as if I was about to pull a bomb out of my bra and blow the whole place up! Finally, I got the wire out and looked at her as I pulled it out of the top of my sweater holding it up. Her face and eyes lit up in a friendly smile of comradery as she nodded her head sagely and said, "Ahhhhh!" I saved that underwire with all of my other Paris mementos. Apparently broken underwires transcend the language barrier. 
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Love it. Every woman can understand that pain!
Very lovely!!!! 
Can't wizards feel the magic signature of another magical person when they are together? I wonder if he stares at her long enough he will notice she is wearing a glamour? I don't know how they work in this story, but it seems in other stories they can be detected by the trained eye, and if anyone has a trained eye it is Severus Snape. I suppose we see what we expect to see and he isn't expecting to be deceived. 
I wonder how long Hermione can keep up the charade? I'm a little surprised he didn't recognize her voice when she was on her feminist rant. Maybe he has never really listened to her because she annoyed him so much. 
If she pulls this off for the holiday, I can't imagine he won't become suspicious after school starts. After watching her for so long he will have to notice the similarities of voice, scent, hand gestures and facial expressions when he see's her in class. What if he falls in love or infatuation with his model? During breaks he will surely find out what an intelligent woman she is and find her interesting. That could be good or very bad depending on how he takes it when he finds out who she really is. What a tangle that will be. 
Ha! I had no idea this would be bringing up the feminist cause when I went on my own rant in the last review!
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Just pretend for the sake of the story that he can only see a magical signature if he actually looks for it. He sees what he expects... a Muggle. ;)
Great stream of consciousness monologue! Yey for the hippies! My mom was a hippie. Bodies are just natural. Handy for the breastfeeding lady except when people are offended at mums breastfeeding in public and mistakenly say something in my presence and I have to climb up on my feminist soap box. I have to climb because I'm quite short, but once I'm up there I am very passionate. People who can't look at a breastfeeding baby without sexualizing it makes me very uncomfortable and I don't think they should be allowed to do that in public. It totally grosses me out! Strange. The young women that are my colleagues at work don't understand feminism. Why did they become lactation consultants and childbirth educators? Will Hermione tell him who she is or not? I am going with "not" for the time being.
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Totally agree about breastfeeding. It's perfectly natural and if people don't like it they don't have to look. Prats. :)
This end of this chapter had me in in fits of little school girl giggles hehe. Can't to see the real reactions to that scene!
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
LOL Thanks. :D
Response from Duchess_Of_Arcadia (Reviewer)
Yeah I wrote that review very late haha not my best typing skills lol, I've finished the whole story now and I just loved it, well done :)
Dear sunny33,
I am writing to inform you that you've been nominated for the following category for the Fall-Winter 2013 Round of The HP Fanfic Fan Poll Awards (hpfanficfanpoll . livejournal . com):
SHIP: SNAPE X HERMIONE
CATEGORY: BEST ROMANCE for "Limited Exposure"
You need not take any other action at this time, unless you would like to reject the nomination. In that case, please contact us and we'll remove the nomination and contact the person who nominated you to let them know your decision.
We have an "I've been nominated" banner on our website for you to post on your blogs/Tumblr/Twitter/Facebook pages right now, if you wish. The banner can be found here:
hpfanficfanpoll . livejournal . com / 20115 . html.
The nominations period ends on October 28, 2013.
The voting period will commence on November 1, 2013 and close on December 31, 2013 (that gives two full months to read and consider the nominated fics).
Our awards ceremony is open to the public to vote, and we encourage you to ask your friends/family to participate. We will tally up all votes and announce winners on or before January 10, 2014. Please check back then to see if your stories placed, or add us as a FRIEND on Livejournal so you can get emails when that list is broadcast on our blog. Banners for your nominations/placements will be available at that time, too.
Congratulations on your nomination!
Sincerely,
Melissa, The HP Fanfic Fan Poll Awards Moderator
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Thank you. :D
I've thoroughly enjoyed this. I remember reading this when it first started to post and I'm so happy to see it completed now. I meant to stop inbetween to leave reviews, but I was to eager to see what happens next.There are so many things to love here: the relationship between Severus and Hermione, Snape the painter (and I can see him so well pouring all his pent-up emotions into his art over the years), the friendship between Hermione and Blaise, the relationship between Draco and Neville...I had to grin when Kingsley turned out to have a wife after all - apearances can be deceptive ;)Very delightful tale with a lovely happy ending for all!
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
LOL Some me ARE just well groomed. Thanks for stopping by to review! :)
nooooooooo! i'm not ready for it to end! any next generation of their children fics u are thinking of?
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
I don't do next gen fics. I'll let others take that on.:)
love the argus kiss and his inclusion and pride in his hobby!
Response from sunny33 (Author of Limited Exposure)
Thank you. :)