Survivor

Chapter 9 - The interval

Breakfast was an awkward affair for both parties. Hermione didn't feel much like eating but she was too stubborn to avoid Severus. It was exactly what he was expecting her to do. Therefore she pushed herself to sit with him at the kitchen table, watching him sip his black coffee while she sourly drank her cup of tea. 

If her life were a play, this would be the end of the first act. The reason the pair had been forced together had been established. The tragic story of the female protagonist who was tortured and raped, saved by a heartless man with whom she would live in a comfortable silence with. Unfortunately for her, there was to be a plot twist, in which the playwright intended to bring the miserable man and the damaged young girl together in a horrifying twist of fate.

This was the pause before the action. A break to allow the audience to gather their thoughts and speculate among themselves, all the while enjoying frozen treats from the concession stand.

Hermione scowled. She had loved attending the theatre with her parents. They would make a point of going to see a show at least once a year. She had seen musicals, ballets and plays and had even managed to see a Shakespeare play at the Globe theatre, when she was 14. It all seemed like a distant memory.

Her entire life now was the antithesis of what it was before. She was missing, presumed dead. There were thousands of people looking for her, including members of a certain dark organisation. She would definitely die should someone find out that she was actually alive. Her parents were gone. She had no way of finding them, at least not until after the war, but who knew when it would end?

There was no comradery. Her friends had clearly left her to her own devices. As much as Hermione thought it wrong, she wondered whether her friends had actually managed to survive without her. Harry was The-boy-who-nearly-died-like-5-times. He was brave and he was heroic. While he had some common sense, Harry wasn't book smart.

Ron wasn't smart. Period.

Now she understood why Snape was always so grating as a professor. He truly was dealing with idiots. Of course, Hermione didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being right, so she kept her mouth shut.

The issue went deeper than that, and she knew it. Something inside her didn't want to lose him. The man had seen her at her lowest and had attempted to coach her back up. She had been downright awful to him, and Severus had taken every blow and still offered to make dinner afterwards. She felt safe around him. The prospect of going to Hogwarts and not being able to see him again was tearing Hermione apart.

Severus stood and dropped his mug into the sink. He couldn't face the silence much longer, not with Hermione sat staring into the nothingness.

"Get ready. We leave for Hogwarts at 9." Severus snapped. He felt like he was a teacher again, giving the girl orders laced with venom. It didn't feel right, not in his own home.

Hermione huffed. "Yes Professor Snape." She glared at him, meeting his eye as he spun round after hearing her response.

"Watch your tone, young lady." He replied, almost sounding bored.

"No, I'm not your student. I don't have to follow your instructions. I am my own person." Hermione cried.

Severus rolled his eyes and point a finger at the girl. "If you are not my student, then you should cease acting like one. You are simply having a tantrum because you aren't getting what you want. You are behaving no more mature than a first year. Shall I see if there is room for you in their classes when I return? Perhaps I shall treat you like an adult when you start behaving like one"

"I suggest you follow what I say or risk getting yourself in a sticky situation. I will refuse to pick up the pieces this time, after you've inevitably been captured and tortured again. Why must you persistently fight with me? Would it kill you to cooperate?"