FIC for: chaotic_vanity
Title: A Light in the Darkness
Recipient: chaotic_vanity
Fic or Art: Fic
Rating: PG
Characters: Snape, Hermione, some Lily and James
Warnings: A bit angsty, beware the Marauder Era Flashbacks!!
Summary: Snape and Hermione, research buddies!
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters in this work of fan-fiction belong to JK Rowling and can be found in the Harry Potter books. No money is being made off of this and no harm is intended, just fan girl flattery and love.
Notes: I claim full responsibility for this odd little duckling; it morphed as I wrote it, taking on a life of its own. Set during the events of HBP. Thanks go out to all my betas: belladoragirl, dead and Penster I hope you like it, giftee, I enjoyed writing it!
A Light in the Darkness
It was one of those nights when she just couldn't sleep. She had padded quietly past her roommates and out of the tower, heading for the library. True, she wasn't supposed to be out of bed and wandering the school at night, but she was only going to study. Surely if she was caught, they would simply pat her on the head and send her back to bed with her book.
Her bare feet whispered along the shadowed corridor. At the library doorway, she stopped. Expecting darkness, a flickering orange glow of lamp light greeted her instead. Who could be here at this hour? Her mind ran through the short list of fellow students who might have had the same idea as her. Finding each one as unlikely as the last, she crept forward cautiously and peered around a bookshelf.
Professor Snape sat behind a rather large pile of musty old spell books. His head lay in his hands, his elbows resting on the desk before him. Lanky black hair cascaded down around his face, almost obscuring his hawkish features. He sniffed and groaned quietly, lifting his head and dropping his hands to the book before him. A deep furrow creased his brow, his bloodshot eyes held a momentary desperate gleam as they scanned over Hermione, unseeing. No, not me, she realized, her heart leaping to her throat, the bookshelf. Visibly setting his jaw, Snape returned his attention to the pile of books in front of him. He glared at their spines for a moment then suddenly snarled in rage and attacked them, throwing the piles to the floor. His sudden outburst tore an involuntary squeak from Hermione. Breathing hard, he glared towards her. "Who’s there?" he hissed. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. "I know you’re there, so you might as well come out."
He stalked deliberately around the desk and the ruined piles of books, now scattered across the floor. "Potter," he hissed, "I swear to Merlin, if that's you under that ridiculous invisibility cloak…" He pulled out his wand as he trailed off, stopping against the end of the bookshelf and glaring into the shadows behind it. For a brief second, he found himself speechless then an evil sneer curled his lips. "Miss Granger," he hissed, "what a surprise."
She stood up slowly, "Pro--Professor Snape--" his face grew incredulous as she spoke and she trailed off, resigned to having been caught by the one professor who might not send her to bed with little more than a sigh and a few obligatory words regarding rules. "Although I would derive great pleasure from dragging you up to Professor McGonagall in order to answer for this, I really don't have the time," Snape continued into her momentary silence. "Whatever hair-brained scheme you and Potter have cooked up will have to be forgotten for the remainder of this evening. I trust I don’t need to show you the way out."
"No, Professor," she said, turning away and starting for the door. She heard books being moved around as, presumably, Snape piled them up on top of the desk again. What could have gotten into him? she wondered. Just as she reached the door, another sudden crash from behind her made her jump and turn back around. I can't, she chided herself as she hesitated, He'll kill me! But she found herself returning to her hiding place behind the bookshelf, peering out of the darkness into the light that surrounded Snape.
The books remained strewn across the floor and he stood, leaning against the desk, glaring down at them. He scratched idly at his forearm then, with a sigh, he covered his face again. A slight tremor ran through him. Hermione's voice caught in her throat and she opened her mouth to speak. That tremor took away her fear, unexpectedly painting the vile professor in a different light. She swallowed once before continuing, "Professor." Snape dropped his hands as if stung. His shocked, wide-eyed expression erupted into malice.
"Granger!" Accusation dripped from his words, "What has gotten into you? I will take this up with McGonagall and you'll be serving detention with me for the next week!"
"I-I just thought that... if you need help finding something... I've read most of these books..." she stammered. For a moment memories tripped across Snape's mind, Hermione's words echoing words that had been spoken to him once before, long ago. Green eyes that had once been kind, mocking him now in Potter's guise, turned away from him in his mind, just as Hermione turned away now. "I'm sorry, Professor. I'll go," she whispered.
Her red hair flared in the sunlight. "I don't need your help," he sneered as she departed.
"Fine!" she retorted, stopping long enough to glare over her shoulder at him. "I tried to help you, but if you don't want my help..." she trailed off, spinning around and disappearing into the sea of students. Snape returned her glare, cursing her silently, though he knew it wouldn't affect her. He wasn't good enough for that yet. But one day, Evans. Just wait, he promised her silently.
***
Snape sulked down the hallway, spells turning over in his mind as he walked, not paying attention to where he was going, the other students parting for him. He pulled up short as a uniformed form stopped in front of him. An evil glare found its way across his face before he saw who it was. "You'll never do it without my help, Severus," Lily chimed. With a snarl, he tried to side-step her but she mirrored his movement, remaining in front of him. "You know, you only have to ask and I'll help you."
"For the last time! I do NOT need the help of a mudblood!" he hissed.
"Wait." He forced the word out, hating both the fact that he was asking for help and that he had to force himself to ask. Hermione stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. "You may as well start your detention now," he finished. "Pick up these books," he ordered, waving a hand in the general direction of the books scattered across the floor. Hermione bent to retrieve them without a word. Once her arms were full, she stacked them on the corner of the table as she straightened. "Have a seat," Snape instructed, voice cool, his iron control back in place, all for her benefit. "You will assist me in finding information on unbreakable vows," he continued.
"Unbreakable vows?" she parroted. "Are you casting one?" she asked.
"Does it matter?" he snapped.
"Well--"
"Just find the information, Granger. Let me worry about how to use it."
Her smugness was almost unbearable. If she had continued to annoy him, or if she had bragged about her accomplishment, that would have been something he could have related to, something he could have attacked or countered. But she simply made a point of looking smug whenever she walked past him! The one time he'd snapped at her had proven to be a big mistake. "Evans! If you look at me one more time," he'd began.
"Are you threatening my girl?" Potter chimed in as he melted from the crowd. "Why would anyone want to look at you anyway?" Snape simply glared at them equally and walked away.
"Yes, Professor," Hermione conceded with a sigh. She grabbed the first book off the pile and flipped through it. Snape stared at her for a moment before bending over his own book. They stayed that way, long into the night.
As the sky lightened, his eyes grew heavy and his head slumped forward. A muffled thump startled him awake. Hermione lay in the open book, asleep at last. What is it about mudbloods? he pondered. "Wake up!" he shouted, slamming a book down near her head.
She startled awake, "Sorry, what time is it?"
"Did you find anything else?" he asked, ignoring her question. She blinked sleepily at him and the books around her.
"I didn't," she said with a yawn, "just that one mention. Can I go, professor?" He ignored her, simply slumping back in his chair and staring at the ceiling. "I’ll come back after dinner," she offered. When he didn't react, she crept away.
***
He set up his cauldron for Potions class. As he laid out the ingredients, Lily floated past him, waving her arm nonchalantly, and flicking her hair from her shoulder. A small scroll landed in his powdered dragon scales. Her neat, handwriting flowed across the outside, "For when you give up." Shock at it's appearance turned to hatred as the words registered. Incendio, he thought, eyes narrowing. Smoke snaked up from the end of the scroll nearest him. A sneer twisted his face as the scroll burst into flames. Lily's gasp was audible over the scream of his tablemate. "You should have saved that, Snape," she cried, pouting lips and pleading eyes.
"I already told you, I don't need your help!" he returned.
Dinner in the Great Hall had just ended and Snape climbed slowly up to the library. Lily's words echoed through his head. He hadn't accepted her help that day, the last day she'd tried to help him with his project. And here I am again, he thought with a sigh as he reached the library. Hermione was already at the table they'd occupied the night before.
"Prompt," he noted as he flared his robe and took a seat across from her.
"Yes, Professor," she said.
The sounds of research surrounded them, burying them in soft, whispered words, the hiss of Hermione's fingers on the pages and the crisp scraping of turning paper. Snape glanced up at her from time to time. Bitter, vile regret mixed with hatred as the remembered scroll burned, turned to remembered ash, and drifted away on a remembered breeze. Lily had solved his problem, had worked on his project for no reason he could fathom, other than to do it before he could, proving... his mind hesitated, that she would always be better than me. he finished forcefully.
I had the answer in my hand, and I set it on fire. I let it burn. And I could never...
Hermione's fingers had stopped moving and she had bent over the book, reading closely. Then she looked up at him. He hurriedly returned his eyes to the book in his hands. He could feel her eyes on him, measuring him. Glaring, he forced himself to continue skimming the pages before him. She rose at last and cleared her throat. "I have another passage, Professor."
Emotions wrestled inside him. She can't have found another passage! he reached out for the book, snapping his fingers and she handed it over, open to the passage she'd found. He started skimming the page as she came around the table, leaned over him, her finger pointed to the description of how to cast an Unbreakable Vow.
He read the words twice before looking up at her. She met his eyes with quiet confidence. "And what do you make of it?" he asked.
"Well, Professor," she hesitated a moment, surprised into silence. He had just solicited her for an opinion! She closed her mouth and took the book from him, rereading the passage, looking for the trick. It had to be a trick! Snape would never ask my opinion!
"Well?" he prodded after she'd read it again.
"It's a very powerful spell, Professor. Anyone falling victim to it would have to choose death or compliance."
"An interesting choice of words, Granger. Does it not have to be entered into voluntarily? How could that possibly be seen as 'falling victim?'"
"Well," she started but his glare stopped her and she simply shrugged, casting her eyes downwards.
"And how, do you suppose, one would go about breaking such a bond?" he asked breathlessly. Hermione's eyes flicked back to him, wide, amazed by the tone of his voice. She caught something in his eyes, unguarded for a moment before the contemptuous glare returned; pain, fear, hope, all mingling together in the darkness of his eyes.
Her head spun for a moment and she turned away from him. "I don't know, Professor." She swallowed. "Is that what you were hoping to hear?" she whispered, "That I don't know something."
I had the answer in my hand, he thought, the scroll, aflame, dancing behind his eyes. And I lost it forever. I did need your help Lily. He heaved a shaky sigh. "No," he whispered in return. "That wasn't the answer I was hoping for."
Hermione faced him again, and the same pain she'd seen earlier and the fear she'd seen the night before, etched its way across his face. "I.... Surely, there is a way to break it! Every spell has a counter." She returned to her side of the table. "I'll help you find it, if you'd like," she said, sitting down and grabbing the next book in the pile. "Even if it takes the rest of the school year!" she added triumphantly.
Snape heaved another sigh and picked up his book again. I hope you really are as smart as Lily, he thought, slumping in the chair and continuing his search.
End
Recipient: chaotic_vanity
Fic or Art: Fic
Rating: PG
Characters: Snape, Hermione, some Lily and James
Warnings: A bit angsty, beware the Marauder Era Flashbacks!!
Summary: Snape and Hermione, research buddies!
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters in this work of fan-fiction belong to JK Rowling and can be found in the Harry Potter books. No money is being made off of this and no harm is intended, just fan girl flattery and love.
Notes: I claim full responsibility for this odd little duckling; it morphed as I wrote it, taking on a life of its own. Set during the events of HBP. Thanks go out to all my betas: belladoragirl, dead and Penster I hope you like it, giftee, I enjoyed writing it!
A Light in the Darkness
It was one of those nights when she just couldn't sleep. She had padded quietly past her roommates and out of the tower, heading for the library. True, she wasn't supposed to be out of bed and wandering the school at night, but she was only going to study. Surely if she was caught, they would simply pat her on the head and send her back to bed with her book.
Her bare feet whispered along the shadowed corridor. At the library doorway, she stopped. Expecting darkness, a flickering orange glow of lamp light greeted her instead. Who could be here at this hour? Her mind ran through the short list of fellow students who might have had the same idea as her. Finding each one as unlikely as the last, she crept forward cautiously and peered around a bookshelf.
Professor Snape sat behind a rather large pile of musty old spell books. His head lay in his hands, his elbows resting on the desk before him. Lanky black hair cascaded down around his face, almost obscuring his hawkish features. He sniffed and groaned quietly, lifting his head and dropping his hands to the book before him. A deep furrow creased his brow, his bloodshot eyes held a momentary desperate gleam as they scanned over Hermione, unseeing. No, not me, she realized, her heart leaping to her throat, the bookshelf. Visibly setting his jaw, Snape returned his attention to the pile of books in front of him. He glared at their spines for a moment then suddenly snarled in rage and attacked them, throwing the piles to the floor. His sudden outburst tore an involuntary squeak from Hermione. Breathing hard, he glared towards her. "Who’s there?" he hissed. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. "I know you’re there, so you might as well come out."
He stalked deliberately around the desk and the ruined piles of books, now scattered across the floor. "Potter," he hissed, "I swear to Merlin, if that's you under that ridiculous invisibility cloak…" He pulled out his wand as he trailed off, stopping against the end of the bookshelf and glaring into the shadows behind it. For a brief second, he found himself speechless then an evil sneer curled his lips. "Miss Granger," he hissed, "what a surprise."
She stood up slowly, "Pro--Professor Snape--" his face grew incredulous as she spoke and she trailed off, resigned to having been caught by the one professor who might not send her to bed with little more than a sigh and a few obligatory words regarding rules. "Although I would derive great pleasure from dragging you up to Professor McGonagall in order to answer for this, I really don't have the time," Snape continued into her momentary silence. "Whatever hair-brained scheme you and Potter have cooked up will have to be forgotten for the remainder of this evening. I trust I don’t need to show you the way out."
"No, Professor," she said, turning away and starting for the door. She heard books being moved around as, presumably, Snape piled them up on top of the desk again. What could have gotten into him? she wondered. Just as she reached the door, another sudden crash from behind her made her jump and turn back around. I can't, she chided herself as she hesitated, He'll kill me! But she found herself returning to her hiding place behind the bookshelf, peering out of the darkness into the light that surrounded Snape.
The books remained strewn across the floor and he stood, leaning against the desk, glaring down at them. He scratched idly at his forearm then, with a sigh, he covered his face again. A slight tremor ran through him. Hermione's voice caught in her throat and she opened her mouth to speak. That tremor took away her fear, unexpectedly painting the vile professor in a different light. She swallowed once before continuing, "Professor." Snape dropped his hands as if stung. His shocked, wide-eyed expression erupted into malice.
"Granger!" Accusation dripped from his words, "What has gotten into you? I will take this up with McGonagall and you'll be serving detention with me for the next week!"
"I-I just thought that... if you need help finding something... I've read most of these books..." she stammered. For a moment memories tripped across Snape's mind, Hermione's words echoing words that had been spoken to him once before, long ago. Green eyes that had once been kind, mocking him now in Potter's guise, turned away from him in his mind, just as Hermione turned away now. "I'm sorry, Professor. I'll go," she whispered.
Her red hair flared in the sunlight. "I don't need your help," he sneered as she departed.
"Fine!" she retorted, stopping long enough to glare over her shoulder at him. "I tried to help you, but if you don't want my help..." she trailed off, spinning around and disappearing into the sea of students. Snape returned her glare, cursing her silently, though he knew it wouldn't affect her. He wasn't good enough for that yet. But one day, Evans. Just wait, he promised her silently.
***
Snape sulked down the hallway, spells turning over in his mind as he walked, not paying attention to where he was going, the other students parting for him. He pulled up short as a uniformed form stopped in front of him. An evil glare found its way across his face before he saw who it was. "You'll never do it without my help, Severus," Lily chimed. With a snarl, he tried to side-step her but she mirrored his movement, remaining in front of him. "You know, you only have to ask and I'll help you."
"For the last time! I do NOT need the help of a mudblood!" he hissed.
"Wait." He forced the word out, hating both the fact that he was asking for help and that he had to force himself to ask. Hermione stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. "You may as well start your detention now," he finished. "Pick up these books," he ordered, waving a hand in the general direction of the books scattered across the floor. Hermione bent to retrieve them without a word. Once her arms were full, she stacked them on the corner of the table as she straightened. "Have a seat," Snape instructed, voice cool, his iron control back in place, all for her benefit. "You will assist me in finding information on unbreakable vows," he continued.
"Unbreakable vows?" she parroted. "Are you casting one?" she asked.
"Does it matter?" he snapped.
"Well--"
"Just find the information, Granger. Let me worry about how to use it."
Her smugness was almost unbearable. If she had continued to annoy him, or if she had bragged about her accomplishment, that would have been something he could have related to, something he could have attacked or countered. But she simply made a point of looking smug whenever she walked past him! The one time he'd snapped at her had proven to be a big mistake. "Evans! If you look at me one more time," he'd began.
"Are you threatening my girl?" Potter chimed in as he melted from the crowd. "Why would anyone want to look at you anyway?" Snape simply glared at them equally and walked away.
"Yes, Professor," Hermione conceded with a sigh. She grabbed the first book off the pile and flipped through it. Snape stared at her for a moment before bending over his own book. They stayed that way, long into the night.
As the sky lightened, his eyes grew heavy and his head slumped forward. A muffled thump startled him awake. Hermione lay in the open book, asleep at last. What is it about mudbloods? he pondered. "Wake up!" he shouted, slamming a book down near her head.
She startled awake, "Sorry, what time is it?"
"Did you find anything else?" he asked, ignoring her question. She blinked sleepily at him and the books around her.
"I didn't," she said with a yawn, "just that one mention. Can I go, professor?" He ignored her, simply slumping back in his chair and staring at the ceiling. "I’ll come back after dinner," she offered. When he didn't react, she crept away.
***
He set up his cauldron for Potions class. As he laid out the ingredients, Lily floated past him, waving her arm nonchalantly, and flicking her hair from her shoulder. A small scroll landed in his powdered dragon scales. Her neat, handwriting flowed across the outside, "For when you give up." Shock at it's appearance turned to hatred as the words registered. Incendio, he thought, eyes narrowing. Smoke snaked up from the end of the scroll nearest him. A sneer twisted his face as the scroll burst into flames. Lily's gasp was audible over the scream of his tablemate. "You should have saved that, Snape," she cried, pouting lips and pleading eyes.
"I already told you, I don't need your help!" he returned.
Dinner in the Great Hall had just ended and Snape climbed slowly up to the library. Lily's words echoed through his head. He hadn't accepted her help that day, the last day she'd tried to help him with his project. And here I am again, he thought with a sigh as he reached the library. Hermione was already at the table they'd occupied the night before.
"Prompt," he noted as he flared his robe and took a seat across from her.
"Yes, Professor," she said.
The sounds of research surrounded them, burying them in soft, whispered words, the hiss of Hermione's fingers on the pages and the crisp scraping of turning paper. Snape glanced up at her from time to time. Bitter, vile regret mixed with hatred as the remembered scroll burned, turned to remembered ash, and drifted away on a remembered breeze. Lily had solved his problem, had worked on his project for no reason he could fathom, other than to do it before he could, proving... his mind hesitated, that she would always be better than me. he finished forcefully.
I had the answer in my hand, and I set it on fire. I let it burn. And I could never...
Hermione's fingers had stopped moving and she had bent over the book, reading closely. Then she looked up at him. He hurriedly returned his eyes to the book in his hands. He could feel her eyes on him, measuring him. Glaring, he forced himself to continue skimming the pages before him. She rose at last and cleared her throat. "I have another passage, Professor."
Emotions wrestled inside him. She can't have found another passage! he reached out for the book, snapping his fingers and she handed it over, open to the passage she'd found. He started skimming the page as she came around the table, leaned over him, her finger pointed to the description of how to cast an Unbreakable Vow.
He read the words twice before looking up at her. She met his eyes with quiet confidence. "And what do you make of it?" he asked.
"Well, Professor," she hesitated a moment, surprised into silence. He had just solicited her for an opinion! She closed her mouth and took the book from him, rereading the passage, looking for the trick. It had to be a trick! Snape would never ask my opinion!
"Well?" he prodded after she'd read it again.
"It's a very powerful spell, Professor. Anyone falling victim to it would have to choose death or compliance."
"An interesting choice of words, Granger. Does it not have to be entered into voluntarily? How could that possibly be seen as 'falling victim?'"
"Well," she started but his glare stopped her and she simply shrugged, casting her eyes downwards.
"And how, do you suppose, one would go about breaking such a bond?" he asked breathlessly. Hermione's eyes flicked back to him, wide, amazed by the tone of his voice. She caught something in his eyes, unguarded for a moment before the contemptuous glare returned; pain, fear, hope, all mingling together in the darkness of his eyes.
Her head spun for a moment and she turned away from him. "I don't know, Professor." She swallowed. "Is that what you were hoping to hear?" she whispered, "That I don't know something."
I had the answer in my hand, he thought, the scroll, aflame, dancing behind his eyes. And I lost it forever. I did need your help Lily. He heaved a shaky sigh. "No," he whispered in return. "That wasn't the answer I was hoping for."
Hermione faced him again, and the same pain she'd seen earlier and the fear she'd seen the night before, etched its way across his face. "I.... Surely, there is a way to break it! Every spell has a counter." She returned to her side of the table. "I'll help you find it, if you'd like," she said, sitting down and grabbing the next book in the pile. "Even if it takes the rest of the school year!" she added triumphantly.
Snape heaved another sigh and picked up his book again. I hope you really are as smart as Lily, he thought, slumping in the chair and continuing his search.
End