#✽ (visage) — a brilliant witch (hermione)

[fantasywritten]

alexa and katie / miscellaneous tag drop!

[meggonagall]

Alive

Rated E

Update: Chapter 17

“Why?” he asked in a moment of rare sincerity. “Why do you want to… do this? With me? Surely there are enough Wizards your own age who would be more than willing.”

He was sure that had to have been true. It appeared as if Draco had begun to notice the girl. And his godson was not the only young Wizard who’s eyes he had noticed following Granger around the school. How could they not have been attracted to her? The young woman was a masterpiece. And since she had begun putting back on some of the weight she had lost within the last year of her life, she had become even more beautiful. But it wasn’t only her looks. Granger was one of the most famous Witches in their world. She was smart, brave, caring… not to mention, she saved his life.

Oh fuck it all right to hell, he thought. He was beginning to fall for her, wasn’t he?

***

Hermione almost laughed in his face, but knew that wouldn’t have gone over well. She wasn’t exactly the type of girl who had men lined up to date her. She never really thought she was very attractive. Not that she believed she was ugly, but she certainly didn’t think she was on the same level as Ginny, or someone like Fleur.

She was too skinny, even though she had noticed she’d gained back some weight. Her hair was unmanageable, she rarely wore makeup, her nose was almost always buried in a book. She was stubborn, and could be a tad controlling at times. She knew her shortcomings.

But for some reason, Sna— Severus, she figured she ought to get used to calling him that if this were to continue, he wanted her.

So why did she want this with him? It was no secret that Severus was difficult to deal with, putting it mildly. He wasn’t conventionally handsome, but fuck it all she thought he was sexy. But he was brilliant, and passionate, fiercely loyal, and made her feel things she thought only existed in stories. Beneath that prickly visage, he was quite wonderful, really.

Merlin’s pants… She was beginning to fall for him, wasn’t she?

[divagonzo]

Especially from You - a Look at Me installment

Porridge the Tawny Barn owl - residing at the Barn Owl Trust

(Imagine what you can get when you search for Porridge and Owls)

Ao3 // FF.net

A/N: I hadn’t thought of writing anything for OTP Day today, but a before-coffee request came in that I write something so here you are.  This is a subsequent chapter to Louder than my Words.  – DG

Tagging @ragam-groove since they asked oh so nicely, @barmy-owl because of Porridge the Owl, and @ronaldswheezy since this references her ficlet from this morning to a small degree.

Happy OTP day to anyone celebrating. And this is Rated T for innuendo and crass language. Ace mostly safe. (Cavent Emptor)

Hermione looked up from the morning edition of the Daily Prophet to the young woman plonked her bum down across from her in the Great Hall. She’d been in the Great Hall since half seven, after spending an hour in the Library studying Arithmancy which was giving her fits, unlike the disheveled witch sitting across from her, looking considering worse for wear.

But then winning the Quidditch match yesterday against Ravenclaw, 350 to 200 thanks to the Gryffindor seeker, a sprite of a third-year witch named Imelda Tompkins prompted much celebration very late into the night. Hermione escaped at 6 to go study in the Library while Dean and Luna, along with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, partied late into the night. She returned at half 12, after making rounds tonight with a fifth year Hufflepuff prefect since the Hufflepuff Head Boy Sidney Fysh switched shifts tonight – to console his Ravenclaw girlfriend.

“Finally roused yourself from the comfort of your bed, did you? Serves you right to have a hangover, after drinking so much butterbeer I had to use magic to hoist you up to your bed. Do you know how much mental effort it takes to lift an inebriated witch six flights of curved stairs in the tower? I should have bumped your head a few times for the trouble.”

“I’m not hung over, Hermione.” Ginny looked up from her plate, already covered in fried eggs, bangers and rashers, beans and fried tomatoes, and scones with butter. “Harry was on duty last night with Hemera and he popped over. He wanted to see you but you disappeared. He only had a few hours before needing to return to the Ministry.”

Hermione groaned into her tea.

“Yes, I drank plenty of butterbeer, but that wasn’t all that happened.”

Hermione put her head into her hands. “You are completely mad, Ginny.”

“I’d not seen Harry since Christmas, Hermione.”

“You’re still barmy, you know that?” Hermione ignored the ache in her chest from not getting to see Ron since that morning so many weeks ago. “And how did you manage to escape Jones? You know she patrols the halls at night, under the guise of making sure we’re tucked into our proper places so evil Death Eaters don’t sneak in and kidnap us in our sleep.”

Ginny smirked. “Who said we left the tower?” She picked up her teacup and took a long sip, looking over the rim at Hermione with smoldering eyes. “Being a prefect has some benefits, I reckon. And since I’ve been sharing a room with you all year, and you were gone, I took Harry to ours for a bit of fun.”

A screech from the open windows underneath the hammerbeam roof of the Great Hall announced the morning mail. There might be no post on Sunday but that didn’t apply to the owls at Hogwarts, thankfully.

“Well, since Harry was with you last night,” Hermione raised one eyebrow at the witch tucking into her breakfast across from her, “I doubt you’ll be getting much since you obviously received more last night.”

“Hermione, don’t be jealous. You know my prat of a brother would love to be here, throwing you over his shoulder for a leg over. He’s barking mad for you and you know it.”

“I know,” she put her teacup down, ignoring the bagels and butter in front of her. “And I’m happy for you. Really I am. But I do miss him terribly. Studying today for the Arithmancy exam tomorrow will take all day. And then I have to study for the Astronomy exam that is tomorrow night.”

An owl landed in the porridge in front of the young ladies before shaking bits of oats from her feathers. “Looks like my tosspot of a brother thought of you for today. I knew he wouldn’t let you down.”

Hermione looked down at the owl holding out a leg towards her with a scrap of parchment attached to her leg. “Me?” She unraveled the twine from the owl’s leg before plucking a rasher from the platter to her left and handing it to the appreciative owl.

“What’s he said today? Waxing crass about you in ways I don’t want to hear about?”

Hermione unrolled the parchment and scanned it before standing up and running away from the benches.

“What?” Ginny yelled but Hermione was dashing out of the Great hall, leaving behind everyone for the one she was desperate for.

Hermione ran until her lungs grew a dozen stitches, half-way up the stairs to the Headmaster’s office, before walking the rest of the way to the office on the other side of the complex. She made it to the stone Griffin blocking the doorway to the office. Cranachan she spoke clearly before the stone guardian moved to the side to offer her entrance up to the office. She dashed to the door at the top and froze, finally seeing her paramour standing up from the headmaster’s desk in front of her.

“Miss Granger, I presume you received this Auror’s parchment?”

“I ran once I read the summons,” she huffed out while trying to settle the pounding heart in her chest. “I didn’t want to wait an extra half hour once I read about the unannounced inspection visit.”

“Well, Miss Granger, seeing that you are our Head Girl, and this nice apprentice Auror is here for duty, I would hope you would escort him around the grounds, even if it is rather cold outside, to show him how we are doing in protecting our students.” The older witch in front of her gave a shrewd look with almost a hint of a smile in her worn visage.  Ron sat down and Hermione sat in the chair next to him. “He is to report back to the Ministry today at 9pm, so I presume 12 hours will be sufficient for Auror Weasley to collect his information for the report for Director Robards. Isn’t that so, Mr. Weasley?”

“That’s more than sufficient, Headmistress.” Ron kept his eyes forward but Hermione saw his ears were turning pink. “Director Robards thanks you for letting us have a surprise inspection. The threat hasn’t gone away yet, not with so many Death Eaters still on the loose. He wanted to make sure that the grounds were secure, especially after the Quidditch match yesterday.” He glanced to the side for a brief moment. “He has every confidence in Auror Jones but he said additional eyes inspecting the school wouldn’t be remiss.”

The Headmistress pulled a piece of parchment from her stack and wrote a few lines on it before handing it over to Ron.  “When you report back to the Ministry, please inform the Minister and Director Robards that we have zero complaints about their concern and well-being, and also the consideration of their efforts, especially with regards to Senior Jones. She has been a wonderful asset to the staff this year.”

Ron stood first, looking dashing in his new robes, and Hermione joined him. “Does he need to leave via your Floo when he is to depart, Professor?”

“It might be prudent, since his inspection of the grounds and building might impede him today.” Professor McGonagall gave them a pointed look. “Now, let’s not hold up Auror Weasley from his duties or yours today. And remember, he is to report back to his desk at the Ministry at 9pm.”

“Yes, Professor.” The two of them left her office and made it to the stairwell, riding it down to the next floor.

The stairs stopped and Hermione threw herself onto Ron, who easily caught her in his embrace. “I missed you too,” he whispered into her hair before hugging her closer. Her muffled sobs in his robes told him that, while being here was going to be brilliant, his girlfriend might have trouble adjusting her schedule to fit his needs – and hers. Going from her tosser of best friend to her boyfriend only changed a few things – but Hermione was still Hermione and adjusting to changes was still hard for her.

“It’s ok, I’m here,” he muttered while her sobbing slowly settled. “I know you like having some warning when I’m going to surprise you,” he kept the mirth out of his voice by the paradox that a known surprise was, “but I was only informed of such last night at the start of my shift by Robards. He’d already sent Harry over yesterday but said that the git didn’t include everything so he sent me too.”

Hermione pulled back and saw his beautiful blue eyes were darker than normal, and not because the alcove they were standing in was bathed in shadows.

“You’re actually here for work?  You’re not going to get into trouble with Robards for being here?”

Ron bent awkwardly to kiss her gently, fighting tooth and nail to keep it from turning molten in an instant. “I am, at Hemera’s request. She has everything sorted here but said it would be a terrific training opportunity for the apprentices to see what she has done in securing the grounds, and learn from it. I have to meet her at 5 at the front doors for a flight inspection of the grounds and then a walk-through the castle before we depart. So I get lunch and dinner with you, at least.”

“Her idea?”

“Yeah. When we’re on duty with her, we’re not allowed to show ourselves to students. I’ve seen you so much and it’s a pain in the arse on duty and can’t – “

Hermione pulled his ears down and kissed him deeply, begging entrance with her tongue on his lips which he gladly accepted. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her up off her feet and moved them around, pressing her into the stone wall behind her back. Her legs wrapped around his waist and the snogging continued until she was close to passing out.

“Robards asked for volunteers for this assignment and I asked to be on rotation here, after I was such a tosser last year and that I wanted to make this Valentine’s Day somewhat special. While – “

“You’re here and I appreciate it.” She hugged him closer, dropping small kisses on his chin.

“You can shag me in a minute but I gotta say this before I lose my nerve.”

“All right,” she whispered and quit kissing him, which he regretted for a moment before pushing aside his discomfort.

“Last year, we were barely speaking, after I was a twat for leaving you, and Harry. You had every right to be mad at me and Merlin knows I earned your anger.”

“Ron, I forgave you months ago.”

He continued, ignoring her interruption.  “And yet for all the fuck ups I’ve had, you’re still here, and told me that you love me and that’s bloody amazing. You’ve given me so much and I know I can’t  - “

“Yes, you can,” she interrupted.

“Say what I feel for you ‘cause I’m pants at words, I certainly can show you how much you mean to me, by giving you everything I can.”

“So when are we going to do the inspection?”

Ron lowered her to the ground and brushed his hand across her cheek, wiping away a stray eyelash that had fallen among the tears shed. “Later, once I’ve shown you how much I love you, and get a kip. I’ve been awake since 5pm and I am tired, but you come first.” His hands went back to her cheek, contrasting his hands to her skin. “And Merlin knows how much I’ve missed you since Christmas but sleep will wait. I need to show my girlfriend that Valentine’s Day means more than chocolates and plague.”

Hermione burst out laughing. “Plague? Who told you that?”

“Well, yeah. Jones mentioned that Muggles say that St. Valentine’s Day is also a day about plague.” He blushed, hard. “I thought you’d appreciate that nugget of knowledge. She is surprisingly well-read, like you are.”

Hermione pulled his ears down again for another kiss, giving promise what was going to come very, very shortly. “I do. It’s better than chocolates, especially from you.”