Severus Snape: OneShots

Last-Minute Reprieve

Severus stood in the door of Hogwarts' Transfiguration classroom, watching quietly as Hermione packed up her possessions. The witch had finally caved to the pressure from what seemed like most of the wizarding world and, presumably, her biological clock, and agreed to marry the youngest Weasley boy. Severus was disturbed, the idea manifesting as a weight, centered in his chest.. Said weight grew heavier with every day as the wedding drew closer. Now, in just over twenty-four hours she was due to say her vows before her friends and family and bind herself forever to Ronald Bilius Weasley . Severus felt as though his heart had converted into a black hole, threatening to suck him into its event horizon as he folded in upon himself under the crushing force of his own confusion, never to be seen again.

Of course, it could be the thought of interviewing for a new Transfiguration teacher that was weighing him down. He hated doing interviews and, as a result, had hired Granger the moment she completed her apprenticeship with Minerva, leaving the elder witch free to enjoy her retirement. Yes, it was probably the sense of doom he associated with the misery of interviewing sixteen million morons in an attempt to fill the vacancy. A cursory review of the applications that she'd already solicited on his behalf was disheartening. None of the candidates were nearly as suitable.

He didn't like change. Hermione had been teaching Transfiguration for five years. He'd gotten used to her, dammit, and didn't feel like breaking in a new teacher at his age.

It certainly wasn't the thought of not seeing her every day, hearing her thoughts over breakfast and catching passing glimpses of her mad curls in the corridors. He was nearly 90% sure that it absolutely was not that he thought he was going to miss trouncing her at chess. Bless her, she tried so hard, but he'd never met anyone who was so brilliant and yet quite so hopeless at the game in his life. It definitely wasn't the idea of losing their three-evenings-a-week coffee and reading marathons. Nor the thought that another man would soon have leave to touch and caress all that smooth golden skin - that he'd seen only once, when her parents had dragged them to the beach in Australia when they had repaired the Grangers' memories.

He was concerned Hermione had never...dabbled in love, as so many of her peers had done. That startling confession came out when they were both a bit merry on elf-made wine.

She'd explained that at first there had never been the time, and then there hadn't been the inclination. "It felt like, you know, I'd made it through the war with it, so it became a bit...precious, if that makes any sense. Not something to be got rid of or given to just anyone, you know? And besides, is it such a bad thing that I'll be able to wear white on my wedding day without feeling the fraud?"

He'd agreed that of course it wasn't a bad thing, and the subject had been dropped, but the knowledge of her intact state had haunted him ever since, popping up at the most inconvenient times. They'd be arguing about magical theory and his brain would pop up to shout 'she's a virgin' at him, and he'd completely lose track of his argument. On his more paranoid days, Severus wondered if she'd told him on purpose, just to drive him bananas. It wasn't that he wanted to deflower her himself, of course it wasn't. He just wanted whoever it was to take the appropriate care with her, to cherish her the way an extraordinary witch like her should be cherished. No, it definitely wasn't that he expected Ronald Weasley, stupid man-child he still likely was, would neglect to take the proper care for her. Severus knew viscerally he could do a better job of making her first time spectacular than the orange ape. No, he told himself, he just thought he could do better.

It wasn't any of that, because Severus Snape was not that stupid. One case of unrequited love was enough for a lifetime, and he was certainly not about to go through that again.

And yet...

He was startled out of his thoughts when Hermione suddenly slammed her wand down on the desk and stood staring and sightless, her shoulders heaving. Almost immediately he was across the room, stroking soothing circles down the middle of her back until her breathing eased.