Truth and Consequences

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. JK Rowling owns it all, but I promise to return her characters in 'like-new' condition when I am done with them.

"Wipe that smug smirk off of your face, my dear. It's very unbecoming," he snarled at her, although Hermione was certain that she caught a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

Her smile only grew. "For some reason, I have the feeling you don't really mean that. After all, I did simply tell you what you said you wanted to hear."

"You are becoming more and more insolent as the evening wears on."

Rolling her eyes and snorting at his comment, Hermione retorted, "You just don't like the fact that I refuse to cower at your remarks."

Severus studied her face for a moment before he answered her in a gentler tone, "Perhaps."

Feeling uncomfortable under his lingering gaze, Hermione began to fidget with her hands and look around the room. She could look anywhere but at him. "Erm... I think that I should probably leave now."

The uncomfortable silence between them only grew after her remark. Severus appeared to be studying her, while Hermione did her best to avoid looking at him. It was hard for her not to shirk under his intense scrutiny. Out of a childhood habit, she began chewing on her lower lip, trying to figure out the best way to leave. The aisle between the table and the counter was incredibly narrow, and to walk past him he either had to move or she would have to brush up decidedly close to him.

"You're in my way," she said, finally forcing herself to look at him.

Severus' eyes narrowed slightly, and it appeared as if he was going to make another sharp retort, but instead he merely turned and led the way out of the room.

Once his gaze was focused elsewhere, Hermione felt that she could breathe comfortably again. Quietly, she followed him out the door into his sitting room. When he continued leading the way out of his quarters, then up the stairs and to the entryway of the school, Hermione spoke up again. "You don't have to walk me out; I know the way."

It wasn't that she truly wanted him to leave her just now, it was more that she didn't want him to feel obligated. Besides, the sooner she was alone, the sooner she'd feel comfortable enough to sift through her thoughts about what had occurred this evening.

Severus stopped walking at her statement and turned slightly to look at her. "That would make me a very poor host, would it not? Have you thought for a moment that I may want to walk you out to the gates?"

"No, but after the way that you've been treating me this evening, I would think that you couldn't get away from me fast enough," she countered.

Taking a step closer, his words much lower, Severus said, "And in what respect do you not like the way I have been treating you, Hermione?"

Indignantly, she huffed, "You've been doing nothing but toying with me all evening! I think it was your goal to get me as riled up as possible just so you could have something more to hold over my head."

He took the final step towards her so they were only inches apart. Tilting her chin up towards him, he leaned his head down to her slightly as he gazed deeply into her eyes. "I know exactly what it's like to have someone lord over me, taunting and teasing. If that was my intent, then trust me, you would've run from my rooms screaming the moment you had consumed the antidote."

Hermione was so lost within the confines of his black eyes that she had difficulty concentrating. Her heart was now racing, her face was flushed, and her breathing was shallow and quick. "Then what do you want?" she whispered, wishing that she could inconspicuously wipe her sweaty palms on her robes.

"Trust me," Severus replied as he began to close the gap between their mouths.

Allowing her eyes to close, Hermione could feel his soft breath on her lips. He nudged her chin a touch closer with his fingers...

BANG!

The noise caused Hermione to jump a step back from him. She turned towards the sound and saw a very flustered Minerva McGonagall, her wand drawn, finishing the walk up the steps to the front doors that had just burst open. Giving Severus a quick glance, she noticed that his emotionless mask was back in place as he watched the aggravated witch enter the school.

As soon as Minerva caught Severus' eye she began ranting. "I swear, I've never seen a more immature group of people! First there was Ron's little stunt, then the twins thought it would be funny to shoot off an entire slew of those fireworks in the house! Oh, and you should've heard the things that Molly was saying! I just cannot believe the mess over there! And all of this on the day that was supposed to be just for Harry and Ginny."

"Indeed," Severus remarked dryly.

"Oh, Hermione! I'm sorry, dear. You're both up here, I see. Does that mean that you found a cure, Severus?" Minerva asked, looking between both Severus and Hermione.

"Of course, Minerva. I was just escorting Miss Granger to the gates."

The older witch nodded curtly to Severus before facing Hermione. "I hope that Severus hasn't been too hard on you. You'd already had quite an ordeal, I must say."

Feeling herself beginning to blush, Hermione squirmed slightly as she shot a glance at Severus before speaking to Minerva. "S... er... Professor Snape has been very accommodating. I appreciate everything that he's done."

"Good, I'm pleased to hear it." Turning to Severus, she continued, "I'll walk Hermione to the gates, Severus. You've done enough this evening. I'll come down and see you when I'm done."

Severus nodded to Minerva, and looked to Hermione. "It's been a most interesting evening, Miss Granger," he said silkily. Spinning on his heels before Hermione could answer, he made his way back to the dungeons.

"Come along, Hermione," Minerva said, forcing the younger witch to pull her sights away from watching the retreating Potions master. "You've had a long day. A good night's rest will help to set things straight in your mind."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Forcing a smile, Hermione began to follow Minerva out of the school.

~ * ~

Arriving at the doorsteps of Grimmauld Place, Hermione took a deep breath before opening the door. In anticipation of a screaming row with both Ron and Harry, when she left the school, she had almost Apparated to her parents' home. However, that would just lead to an entirely different discussion than the one she was faced with by just going home. Her mother could always read her like a book, and it was not a discussion that she'd much enjoy having with her mum. True, her mother was a bit more anonymous than the inevitable discussion with the boys, but she really couldn't put off the boys for very long. They'd likely be searching her out if she was gone for the night. Plus, there was the promise she'd made to Severus that he wouldn't catch any flack from the boys. If she didn't go home, Hogwarts would be the first place that they'd look for her.

The sight that greeted her was a blissfully quiet house. Closing the door behind her, she trudged up the stairs to her room. She barely made it to her door when a sound of footsteps behind her caused her to turn.

"So?"

Sighing, Hermione replied, "I'm fine, Harry."

"Ginny is down in the kitchen preparing some tea. We'd like it if you'd come join us in the library."

"Look, Harry, I really don't want to see Ron right now."

"Oh, don't worry, Hermione," Harry quickly answered. "Ron's not here. Just Ginny and I. Please." His voice left little room for argument.

Resigned, Hermione followed Harry to the library where they found that Ginny was already there waiting with a tea service. Taking a seat in the corner of the settee, she curled her legs up under her and waited for Harry and Ginny to begin their interrogation.

Harry sat in an armchair opposite her, while Ginny sat next to Hermione on the settee. Hermione looked on while Ginny set about preparing tea for them all. With cup and saucer now in hand, Hermione prepared herself for the worst. When the silence continued as both Harry and Ginny sat fiddling with their own tea cups, Hermione forced herself to break the silence. "Where is Ron?"

Ginny seemed to relax at the question, obviously relieved that she no longer had to think of a way of breaking into conversation. "He's at home with Mum and Dad. Tonks threatened to hex his bollocks off if he came back here to harass you tonight," she said with a snicker.

Hermione smiled softly. "Good."

Sitting up a bit straighter in his chair, Harry asked, "He really feels bad about what he did, Hermione. Ron said that he never intended to hurt you. I think that he was just hoping to get an admission of your feelings for him. Honestly, the way he was talking earlier tonight, I think that he was planning on asking you to marry him."

"Marry him!" Hermione exclaimed, sloshing a bit of her tea. "We've never even dated!"

"I know, I know," Harry said trying to calm her. "But think about it. You two have been friends since you were twelve. You can't blame him for thinking that he could skip a few steps."

Hermione snorted. "Leave it to Ron to not think things all the way through," she muttered.

"He's not stupid," Ginny chimed in.

"No, he's not. But sometimes he gets overzealous and doesn't consider the consequences of his actions. And in some ways, that's worse," Hermione remarked.

Ginny nodded her agreement.

"So, Hermione, do you mind telling us what exactly happened? I mean. We know that Ron slipped you some Veritaserum in some wine. But, when Mrs. Weasley and Ron both came back downstairs from seeing you, they didn't seem too pleased. Ron said that you had said something about never wanting to be with him and that..."

"Go on, Harry," Hermione prodded, setting her cup and saucer on the small end table next to her. "He said that I had some horrible crush on Professor Snape?"

Looking uncomfortable, Harry nodded slightly. "Er... Yeah, pretty much."

Sighing out her exasperation, Hermione propped an arm up on the settee and leaned her forehead against her hand for a few moments to collect herself. Once she felt ready to again face her friends, she replied, "It's not a silly little crush. I admire the man. Ron is just sore because I announced to the occupants of that room that I was never going to date him."

"You admire Snape?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Yes, I admire him!" Hermione shot back. "We all should. Have you forgotten that it's because of him that you were able to find where Voldemort was hiding so that you could kill him?"

Harry growled in frustration. "And how was your evening with the greasy git?" he ground out.

Willing herself, unsuccessfully, not to blush, Hermione clenched her hands in frustration. "It was fine," she sneered. "Nothing happened, and I daresay that Professor Snape showed more respect for me than either Ron or Molly. At least with Professor Snape, he was only acting within the confines of his natural personality – I expected him to bait me and tease. Ron and Molly betrayed my trust."

"Hermione," Ginny began, "what happened with you and Professor Snape once he took you away from the Burrow? I mean, he'd heard your confession, too. At least, that's what Mum said. How did he take that?"

Relaxing and smiling slightly, Hermione thought about how best to answer her friends. "I got the impression that he wasn't pleased at first. But, regardless, the evening was pleasant enough. He was much nicer than I thought he would be." Looking at the suspicious faces of her two friends, she continued, "Look, I really don't want to talk about this until I've had some time to think. Even if I hadn't had spent a couple of hours alone with Professor Snape in his quarters, I think that I'd be done in. What I said about not ever being with Ron took me a bit by surprise, too. I really believe that I answered honestly, but Molly asked me right as I was trying to relax and caught me by surprise. The words were out of my mouth before I had a chance to process them."

"What do you mean that you spent a couple of hours in Snape's quarters?" Harry asked accusingly.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Harry. It wasn't anything like that. He has a private Potions lab in his quarters. That was all. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to go to bed," she said while pulling her legs out from under her and rising from her seat.

"Oh," Harry replied, looking abashed. "Yeah. Good night, Hermione."

Smiling again to acknowledge them both, Hermione leaned down and gave Harry and Ginny each a brief hug before heading for the door. "G'night."

~ * ~

Severus was sitting on his own settee in his rooms, nursing a glass of firewhisky and awaiting the company of the school's headmistress. It had proven to be an interesting evening, and despite his expectations of having to spend more than five minutes in the little know-it-all's presence, Severus had to admit that he had found the evening to be satisfactory.

The girl – woman – could definitely hold her ground against him. It had been a long time since Severus had found a woman that could match wits against him. She was definitely a challenge. He smirked. A challenge, yes, but in other ways she was easy to manipulate. But did he really want to manipulate her? Severus had enjoyed baiting her and forcing her to speak without asking her direct questions. Although, she held up very well.

A knock on his door broke him from his reverie. Lazily waving his wand towards the door, he heard it open. "Welcome, Minerva," he said idly.

He heard the door click shut and the sound of footfalls behind him. "Good evening, Severus."

Motioning his hand to the settee, he invited Minerva to sit down. "Care for a drink?" he asked.

"No, thank you," replied the witch as she sat on the other end of the settee, next to Severus. Without preamble, she began, "Thank you for helping Miss Granger this evening. I swear, I have no idea what got into Ron."

"I'm afraid none of us can decipher exactly what Mr. Weasley was hoping to accomplish."

"Well, no. The boy is truly remorseful, though." She eyed Severus seriously for a moment. "Then there was Molly," she added.

Preparing for the worst, Severus groused, "Yes, Mrs. Weasley has the impulse control of a gnat."

Minerva snorted. "Well put, Severus. However, that does not eliminate the fact that Hermione made an admission to a small group of people. One of those people, she is sharing a house with."

"Obviously neither of the Weasleys were able to keep their mouths shut about the incident."

"Of course not!" berated the witch. "Since when has Ron Weasley been able to keep his mouth shut when it comes to things like this?"

"Never," he said, after taking a sip from his glass. "Now, what is the real purpose of your visit, Minerva?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Contemplating how best to respond, the headmistress studied the man she was sitting next to before she answered. "Leave Hermione be. The girl is young and innocent."

Severus snorted.

"Well, innocent enough! And she doesn't need the likes of you harassing her at every turn. I've known you for a long time, Severus, and no disrespect intended, but you're the last thing that she needs."

He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when Minerva held up her hand.

"Don't even try to deny it, Severus. I could tell by the way she was looking at you."

Severus conceded defeat. "Fine," he replied shortly.

Giving a stiff nod, Minerva stood. "Thank you, Severus, and thank you again for helping her out of that horrid predicament she was in. She's still so young, and I believe very confused. Things will settle soon."

"I'm sure that they will," Severus all but sneered. Turning his head to watch the older witch leave his quarters, Severus was quite disgusted that Minerva would still be so protective of a former student. The woman had no place to talk or judge. She'd been involved with Dumbledore for well over three decades.

With a soft click, Severus was again left on his own with only his thoughts to keep him company.

A/N: Minerva has rotten timing. Don't you think? The reference about Molly's impulse control level was nearly a direct quote from Potions Mistress. The line was too good not to work it in here someplace.

Thanks as always to my wonderful beta SnarkyRoxy. Any mistakes that you find are mine.