Shattered | Hermione x Draco

Summer

We step into a dark room and with a flick of his wand, multiple candles light up. The room is small and littered with books.

"Your trunk should be in the guest room, I will show you," Professor Snape breaks the tense silence.

I nod and walk behind him. The whole house is small, but I guess you don't need much if you mostly live at Hogwarts. There are no pictures on display or anything, just furniture. The guest room is the same, just a single bed, a wooden chair, small desk and a dresser. Everything is in shades of grey. His house is as boring as his clothing.

My trunk is sitting at the end of the bed, I am glad I packed everything before the final task. Maybe I expected something to go wrong and prepared for it. How is Harry doing?

"Do you want a cup of tea?" Professor Snape asks.

I look up at him, his face is a mask, I have no idea what he is thinking.

"Can I change first and freshen up?" I ask softly, looking down at my happy red and yellow colors and remembering the stripes of makeup on my face.

"Of course, the bathroom is across the hall. I will lay out a towel for you," he offers and walks away.

I open my trunk and grab a pair of lounge clothes out of it. A soft pair of joggers and a matching sweater, both in a light grey. Oxford University is written in bold letters across the front of the sweater, when I bought it I thought it was funny. It was my dream school and I always thought I would study there, but then it turned out I am a witch and I got to go to Hogwarts.

Still I bought this set, just because I always imagined myself studying in the late evenings wearing this. I wear the sweater a lot on the weekends and it brings me a lot of comfort.

I grab my toiletries and walk towards the bathroom. A large dark grey towel is laying on the sink. This is so weird. How could I ever imagine that I would be taking a shower at Professor Snape's house!

I ignore my own thoughts, start undressing and fold my clothes. The shower is cold and I wash my body quickly until the water runs clear. As I am drying off I wonder if I can use magic, I should ask about that.

I return to the guest room and hang the towel over the chair to dry. My hair is still damp and makes it hang more straight, it is getting very long, but I like my hair long. The longer it is, the better it looks, the curls are more defined and not as frizzy.

As I walk back to the living room I look around, but I can't spot a personalized touch to the house, beside all the books. In the living room the professor is sitting in a large chair next to the fire, reading through a book. A cup of tea is steaming on a small table next to him.

"How do you like your tea?" he asks.

"Just one sugar," I answer as I look over all the books in the bookcase.

I hear some rustling behind me and the rattling of a cup. "If you see something you like you can read it," he offers.

"Oh," I respond surprised. "Thank you, professor."

"Please call me Severus or just Snape here, I don't mind. We are not at school," he says softly.

I turn around to look at him and nod. He is watching me and probably waiting for a response.

"Please use Hermione or insufferable-know-it-all," I quip with a small laugh.

Another Professor I am allowed to call by their first name.

He chuckles and I return to look at the books. "You have a lot of books, both Muggle and wizard," I muse outloud.

"I'm Half Blood," he responds as an explanation.