𝑮𝑬𝑵𝑬𝑻𝑰𝑪 𝑶𝑩𝑺𝑬𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑶𝑵 || 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟎𝟖.

There were more gossip rags at his speech. Word had spread that there was something going on between the infamous potions master and the spell mistress.

The blasted reporters circled like sharks. Thankfully, he wasn't covering anything Earth-shattering...just some innovations in the storage of ingredients.

Hermione was sitting in the front, and he spent most of the speech watching her. It wasn't lost on the press.

"Potion Master Snape, can you comment on your relationship with Ms. Granger?"

"Yes, my comment is 'It's none of your damn business."

The rest of the reporters chuckled. Somehow, he always managed to get away with saying things to them that they would eviscerate other people for. Of course, it might be because they were secretly afraid he might be willing to eviscerate them...in a literal sense.

He noticed that several of the Aurors were hanging around. Davis and Rodgers: Too young by half as far as he was concerned. Snape had the urge to call them all dunderheads and assign them detention.

He turned his thoughts away from the youth of the current Aurors, and focused on the press. The malicious witch that had annoyed Hermione was there, but she hung back, unwilling to engage him again.

He offered Hermione his arm.

"So, we've both done our bit for the day...would you like to go do something? Shopping? Dinner?"

She seemed to think about it and shook her head. "I think I would rather stay in if you don't mind. Don't feel like you have to babysit me though, if you have things you need to do I'm sure I'll be fine . I would normally go hear some of the other speakers but I just don't want to..."

"Why not?"

She smiled at him.

"Well, first of all, I'd rather not give the press another go at us today. Secondly, your fan club is finally awake, and they're giving me death glares, and third, I'm a bit nervous...I know that I'll be seeing a box with an internal organ in it soon, and I don't want to be caught out in public when it comes."

He tightened his jaw.

"Why do you think this person would act again so quickly?"

She shrugged. "He's going to be upset that you and I are sharing a room, especially if he thinks that it's more than friendship. That bit you said about me being a...what was it...virgin high priestess?" She tried to smile, but he noticed that she still blushed slightly at the comment. "I think you hit the nail on the head. He thinks of me as this untouchable, pure idol...but if I do something that changes that...like spend the night with a man, then the pendulum is going to swing the other direction. I'll be a horrible slut who doesn't deserve his heart anymore."

He scanned the halls as they returned to his room. "You have a knack for understanding this sort of individual. "

"I've read studies on them from the Muggle world."

"Do you believe he is a danger?"

"Don't you?"

"Yes. I have dealt with enough men like this to know the type...he just seems more...organized than the ones I knew as a death eater..."

"That's because he has to stay hidden. He doesn't have an outlet for the things he wants...in fact, he might be fighting his darkest desires...he'll think of it as 'keeping it together'. It's important to him that others think of him as a decent man. I would bet that his father isn't one."

"What?"

"A decent man. I would guess that there was violence in his home growing up, either to himself or his mother. Since hearts aren't used as a rule in potion making, Harry and I are fairly sure he is taking them out himself. I just don't understand the significance of the hearts..."