#oh my gosh halfbloodprincess you don't know me well enough yet!

[curiouselfqueen]

Holiday Drabble #7

Owl post, @halfbloodprincess23!

Pairing: Sevmione Holiday scenario: Sledding

A/N: Aaahhh, here you go!  I hand-wrote this while on the plane, so rereading it to type and edit gave me a few laughs and moments of “WHAT does that say?!?” I had a pretty clear idea right away from your prompt, and well, this is what came out.  (Things tend to drift their own direction about half way through, I’m finding...)  Hope you like it!

It was the first day after all the children at Hogwarts Boarding School had left for the winter holidays and as was tradition, the teachers were all gathering to go sledding.  It was part celebration, part stress relief, and part rejuvenation before they turned right back around to work for one last weekend to finalize grades for the term.

Hermione Granger, the newest member of the faculty, was just as eager as any anyone to have a bit of fun before the last pile of essays were to be graded.  Nearly the entire faculty poured out of the castle-like building, pulling stragglers out of their classrooms as they went.  As the crowd passed one particular chemistry lab, Hermione stuck in her curly haired head.

“Hey teach!”

Severus cringed.  He should have guessed the cheery, youthful cohort would try to rope him into this.  He participated in very few school events, and certainly not silly traditions such as sledding down the biggest hill on the property like a bunch of the immature, hormone crazed students they all instructed.  She was smart enough to put the pieces together.  They had worked together now for months.  Why waste both their time trying to convince him to go?

Not having turned around at her first call, Hermione once again spoke to the back of the surliest teacher on staff.  “Mr. Snape, will you be joining us all in a bit of sledding?  Minerva only said everyone does it every year and--”

“Everyone but me, you will find,” he said curtly as he turned to face the woman who had proven to be amazingly insistant regarding curriculum all year long.  He suspected they had an argument dangling in front of them.

“Come on,” she pleaded, taking a few more steps into the classroom.  “I’m not sure you’ve done anything this year so far to have fun or relax.”  She hopped up onto one of the desks, using the chair as a footstool.

“How I spend my free time and what I do in private to relax, as you say, is none of your business,” Severus sneered.  “As is whether it happens or not.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow and he let out an exasperated sigh as he mentally reviewed what he had just said.  “Please, Miss Granger, you are wasting your efforts.  Go enjoy yourself.”

He turned his back to her again and resumed his task of packing beakers and test tubes.  After a few moments of silence, he heard Hermione quietly slide off the desk.  Her boots squeaked slightly as she walked to the door.  Thinking she had gone, Severus shifted and saw her standing in the doorway.

“You know,” she started.  He watched her while her eyes dropped to her gloved hand resting on the doorframe, picking at some chipped paint.  He’d need to put a work order in for that.  Her hands were so small.  He had never noticed before.  Severus found himself looking over his coworker and realized he had never really paid her much attention since she arrived that fall.  His gaze fell back on her face, where he found the slightest sprinkling of freckles, just as she turned her honey-brown eyes on him again.  “You’ll never know what you’re missing out on if you stay, which is safe,” she said, her eyes falling to the floor briefly.  Severus watched her hands fidget while she seemed to be debating whether to continue.  She looked up again with the determined look in her eye he had been accustomed to seeing, and said “But you also lose out on the chance of things becoming better.”  

Severus stilled completely.  How dare she begin to presume to know anything about his life.  How could she know?  How, when he did so much to shield himself, tucked into the background as much as he thought possible.

She took another breath.  Apparently it wasn’t over.  “Don’t let yourself get stuck here.”  She paused again, shifting her weight before she added “You’ll only have old memories for company.  They’ll play on loop and go stale if you don’t add fresh ones.”  She smirked before adding “And we can’t let your cleverness get away from you, now can we?  I’m fairly certain you’re not the kind of man to let himself get by on his good looks alone,” and with that she was gone.

Severus stood in the middle of the silent classroom holding a case of lab equipment contemplating what, exactly, had just happened.  After a few moments, he dropped the case down on a table, marched up to his desk, pulled his coat off his chair without missing a stride and exited the classroom, grumbling all the way.

More Holiday “Drabbles”