Chapter 6

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling and any quotes and plots you may recognize are those of William Shakespeare.

Dinner was finally over, and Hermione was ready to take her leave. Snape had been acting rather strangely tonight, and it unnerved her. Instead of trading their usual insults, he had thrown her by almost, well, not complimenting her, but coming as close to it as he ever had. She was vexed that she couldn’t uncover what he was up to now. Still, she stood her ground, not falling for any of his comments, feeling most assured that they were a trap of some kind. The game had left her exhausted and longing for her bed.

She walked up the stairs of the Burrow to Ginny’s former room to say goodnight. Just as she reached the landing, she overheard a conversation that gave her pause.

“Are you sure Snape has a thing for Hermione?” Ginny’s voice carried softly through the cracked door.

Surprised by the comment, Hermione moved closer, spotting Ginny, Tonks and Luna all piled on Ginny’s old bed. Flattening herself against the wall to remain hidden from the sight of those inside, she listened with curiosity.

“So says Remus,” Tonks assured the redhead.

“Are you going to tell her?” Luna asked.

“Hell no! Would you?” Tonks responded. “All she does is take jabs at him. Snape may not be the best of men,” laughter drifted out, “but no man deserves to be scorned so openly for his feelings.”

“Hermione would rather be forced to ride a broom daily for the rest of her life than date Snape!” Ginny said. “Could you imagine how she would torment him if she ever found out?”

“That’s why I told Remus to tell Snape to forget it,” Tonks told them. “Hermione is not looking for a man, and, even if she were, it would definitely not be Snape.”

“Maybe we should tell her, just to hear what she says. After all, they do have a lot in common,” Luna suggested.

“No!” said Ginny and Tonks at the same time.

“Hermione is so anti-man and anti-marriage that she would only taunt him, using it against him until he was in tears,” Ginny said with certainty.

Hermione bristled with indignity but kept quiet.

“On second thought,” Ginny continued with a tone that let Hermione know she was up to no good, “maybe we should tell her. I wouldn’t mind seeing her make Snape cry.”

“Snape might be a bastard, but he deserves to keep what little pride he has left,” Tonks countered. “Hermione would cut his heart out with a spoon and serve it to him for breakfast rather than accept it as her own.”

“I can’t believe I feel sorry for Snape,” Luna sighed.

Hermione heard someone coming up the stairs and quickly ducked into the twins’ old room next door. She left the door slightly ajar so she could peer into the other room.

“Ladies, there you are,” Remus said, pulling the door to Ginny’s room open. He walked over to Tonks and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I am sorry to break up the party, but we’d better hurry or we shall be late for the concert. The Weird Sisters wait for no one.”

Tonks got off the bed and wrapped an arm around Remus’ waist, resting her head on his shoulder. “We were just talking about how lucky we are to have the wonderful men love us that we do,” she told Remus before clasping his hand in hers and allowing him to lead her out of the room.

Hermione quickly ducked back in the room. Quietly, she walked over and sat down on one of the beds.

Can this be true? Do my friends really think so little of me to believe I would be so disdainful to a man simply for being interested in me?

Maybe this is just some sort of joke. It would certainly explain his earlier behavior. Yes, that must be it. Snape doesn’t feel that way toward anyone.

But what if he does? that annoying part of her brain that second-guessed everything piped up. What if he had developed some sort of feelings over the years? After all, who else does he share his wit with?

She thought it over and concluded that it was true that she had a friendlier camaraderie with Snape than most, but that was a long way from love. She really didn’t think Snape was capable of acknowledging love. The man had more walls around his emotions than China had on its borders.

Considering her sources, she figured they were exaggerating, as they were prone to do. But even if it wasn’t love, could Snape possibly be interested in her?

Do I want him to consider me for anything more than friendship?

She couldn’t deny that she loved their verbal battles almost as much as she enjoyed the all too few times they collaborated on a potion or research. Time spent with him passed easily because he treated her like a colleague, an asexual being. The fact that she was a woman and he was a man was immaterial to their relationship.

But what if it wasn’t?

Snape wasn’t handsome, but then again, she had dated Victor Krum, and she didn’t consider herself beautiful, so they were even there. Looks aside, he was incredibly intelligent, witty, and shared her interests. She shook her head. I can’t believe I am even considering this! The man is spiteful, mean-spirited and antisocial.

But not to you. The pesky voice was back. Besides, a man like Snape isn’t going to be interested in a woman whose goal in life is to breed a Quidditch team. He would expect nothing less than a woman with a life of her own.

While she couldn’t say she had any deep feelings for Snape, she could see herself testing the waters with a date or two. He was an intriguing man, and sometimes a date was just a date, nothing more. She ran her hand through her hair and sighed. She could just imagine the reaction from her friends if they found out that she — “Miss I Don’t Need A Man” – was considering dating, let alone who.

Author’s Notes: Any of the biting wit that you may recognize are lines inspired by/modified from Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” except for the spoon line, which I am sure you all know is from “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.”

Many thanks to Zafania and Tjwritter, who suffered through the first draft, and to Logical Quirk, who made sure I didn't make more mistakes.