Shouting, Screaming and an Amicable Smile, chapter 105

Chapter beta: Dani
Chapter translator: Aivy

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I walked down the white steps that glittered in the sunlight.

The Twins stood in front of the red, two-storey house that housed their brightly coloured shop, and clashed violently with their mother. Arthur looked around, lost and embarrassed, and Ginny and Ron just stood there, slightly superfluous, looking interested into the shop window so as not to be drawn into the argument.

Only Remus and Tonks were gone, probably to escape the squabbling. Let them have their respite.

Remus certainly had a lot to digest. Apart from the news concerning me - that in his eyes, his friend had probably forced himself on a child, in two different ways, which surely wouldn't leave him unaffected in his morale - there was also the fact that he himself had inherited a considerable sum and obviously hadn't anticipated it.

I tried my luck, but as per usual, I had none. As expected. Before I even got the chance to cast a spell, a loud call sounded.

"Hermione, come here," Ron and Ginny demanded immediately.

They both hit the same horn and Mrs. Weasley even stopped nagging at the annoyed Twins and turned to me with a piercing look and hands raised to the hips. Although she hadn't seen me before, she had now, thanks to Ginny and Ron. Great job, both of you, I thought resentfully.

"What was that about, young lady? You did ... with Sirius... That's not acceptable, that's outrageous. Do you know how old he was? Over 35 years old, clearly older than you; more than twice as old!" she shrieked loudly. Thus, the matron of the Weasley family pounced on me, her latest victim.

Ron stood to the side, trembling with anger, and Ginny looked at me disparagingly, as if I was a slut. That was irritating because she had no right to tell me anything at all. Nobody had! Okay, well, the three annoying snakes maybe, but only with reservations.

"Hi, Mr and Mrs Weasley... Ron, Ginny," I greeted the group politely. That didn't change the fact that everyone looked at me all upset. Although, that wasn't true, not everyone. Arthur measured me rather reprehensively and the Twins only rolled their eyes frustrated and compassionate as I had gotten into the focus of their over-moral mother.

Well, a sorrow shared is only half, or something like that?

"Um yes... I knew about his age and I didn't care," I retorted relatively coldly and calmly. She wouldn't upset me, not Molly Weasley.

"You really had an affair? You? You've already slept with a man, a real man and with Sirius at that?" Ginny suddenly asked excitedly, with shining eyes. It seemed as if the girls in Gryffindor thought I was going to bed with my books!

Ginny just seemed like she could warm up to the subject. As a mother, I would be alert if my daughter emphasized something that. 'A real man.' Then the guys she had already spread her legs for - I knew that our dear Ginny no longer had the famous or rather infamous hymen - fell under 'boys', or what? But I didn't intend to respond to Ginny's words. Why should I? It brought me nothing to cause her trouble.

"Hermione, I cannot believe that! You and Sirius?! ... Did you even think of Harry?" Ron became worked up for his friend and seemed thoroughly overwhelmed.

"What does Harry have to do with the fact that I was with Sirius?" I asked confusedly because the connection did not seem clear to me, except that Sirius had been Harry's godfather.

"That doesn't matter. What would your parents say if they knew that you were intimate with a man twice your age? I never expected Sirius to let himself go like that, Hermione! That was wrong, so wrong! I would have expected you to be the one who is the most morally decent," Molly said, outraged.

"Well, Mum, still waters are just deep, very deep," Fred deflected immediately when the delicate subject of my parents came up. They were truly the best.

"Yes, almost as deep as the Mariana Trench. I don't want to go down there. You, brother?" George now also hummed helpfully in between.

"You two should be very quiet. Why should Sirius leave you so much money?" They now had to pay the price for their interference, again having the attention of their almost raging mother.

"Well, maybe we were in bed with him, too," Fred teased provocatively and wiggled with his carrot red eyebrows.

"Fred, George, that's enough," Arthur now snapped at his sons, saying something for the first time. Perhaps it was too much for Arthur to imagine his sons with a man? Worried, the Twins' glanced briefly at their family because after all it was the crux of the matter.

Molly, on the other hand, looked as if she was about to explode, the way her big chest raised and lowered as she tried to digest what had just happened. Arthur turned to me with another look of reproach.

"Hermione, I am disappointed in you. You betray us all, keeping such great secrets from us. I wouldn't have thought or even expected something like that from you," Arthur remarked surprisingly calmly.

Strangely enough, Arthur's calm nature bothered me more than Molly's fiery telling-off. She always openly criticized anything she disliked, but Arthur was usually the more deliberate type and so I was a bit surprised. Nevertheless, it didn't hit me too deeply because I had expected everyone to be shocked. The time with Sirius had been nice and now I felt the consequences. That was okay.

"Don't get upset, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Sirius was straight, but so,' I tried to reassure them, got one or two deathly glares and tried not to dwell on Arthur's words.

"I'm glad I'm not your mother, young lady. And you, Ginny, don't even dare to follow that train of thought," she whispered sharply at her daughter, who still looked at me with shining eyes. In my mind, I agreed with her because I truly didn't want Molly to be my mother for anything in the world. Merlin, beware!

"Hermione, I am shocked. And Harry! He got completely pale. You shouldn't have shared the bed with his godfather! He was so old... and you are together with Harry!" Ron said accusingly.

Ouch, I had just repressed and forgot that everyone thought I had a relationship with Harry. That was truly compromising. But wait, I had an idea!

That was good. Damn, that was good. That also explained Sirius' cryptic allusion that he was not happy with the thought of who I was with. Perfect, I had my excuse; even if Sirius probably suspected Sna- ... Severus, but the others didn't have to know.

Inwardly, I still struggled hard with the realization that Sirius had loved me. He had not kept to feeling nothing. Besides, he had left me so much, all the books and a million Galleons! Not that I needed it, but it meant a lot to me that he had left me this, that he had remembered me in his testament.

Now I was very grateful for the words on Christmas that I had not gone with resentment. Why did this idiot have to fall in love with me? Alas, I was getting a guilty conscience. Great! Quite great. I hated something like that. I had no time for that and now the red brood bothered me with their accusations. That was unbearable!

However, I wrestled my burgeoning, bad conscience down. Objectively, Sirius and I didn't fit together for a long-term relationship, even though I had more than enjoyed the time with him. It had been beautiful, magnificent. He had been an attentive, temperamental, sensitive, wicked, sly dog of a charmer who was just too nice for me. He had had scruples and morals, but I was an ice-cold, unscrupulous woman whose morals were very elastic. Besides, someone else, I had to admit by now, had aroused my interest far more and it had been more than fair to break up.

He wouldn't have been happy with me, I was much too cold-hearted and he too warm-hearted. Yes, I was better off with Draco, Severus, and even Lucius.

The danger that we would hurt ourselves emotionally was small and if it should happen against expectation, we would come out strengthened, with our heads held high and one experience richer, as we would pragmatically determine.

Sirius would have been broken by such a life. I, on the other hand, blossomed for I felt damn comfortable in the Manor after seeing everything. I acquired more and more of a taste for this game of cat and mouse, which was developing between us.

Eventually, I became aware of the waiting glances that were still focused on me while I had mentally departed into Nirvana. Ron's statement had led to everyone falling silent and staring at me with suspense.

"That's right! Oh Merlin, the poor boy! What will he think? How will he feel?" Ginny exclaimed sentimentally and I really wanted to hit my head against the wall. What had I done to deserve this?

Harry didn't feel anything for me in this regard... Yes, he felt betrayed because of the silence, certainly, but not... Oh, we weren't together at all. If I were a small, sweet snake, he would probably be pissed, but I am only Hermione, I thought ironically.

"Is that true, Hermione?" Arthur now strictly demanded to be told and I looked at him appraisingly.

"Yes. Well, no. I mean, we kinda sorted it out in a hurry; it's all good," I lied without hesitation. I could see the Twins fidgeting in the background and I understood their request.

"Will you excuse me? I have to go back to my parents. The Twins wanted to let me through their fireplace. Otherwise my parents will be worried; I'm sure you'll understand. We'll talk another time, or just write me," I offered hastily and skilfully pulled myself out of the conversation. Severus was waiting and he was never pleasant to deal with if he was kept waiting too long.

"Yo, Mum, we're gonna have to go, too. Business is calling! We'll see each other," George also took the chance to escape his family. He left behind the speechless, angry Molly who stood there with her mouth open because she had been so rudely dismissed. Even Ron and Ginny seemed steamrollered when we skillfully swept off.

"Come on, most beautiful. You can use the fireplace in the study. Bye, folks," Fred shouted well-behaved and was rather shoved than walking through the loudly ringing shop door.

He didn't really give me the time to look at their impressive shop. I was pulled through by the hand. I noticed Lee waving at me from behind the cash register, but I couldn't even reciprocate because I was pushed and pulled forward.

"Hey, I want to see that," I complained grumpierously.

"Not now and not today, most beautiful," they said, slamming the door of their office closed behind them.

Okay, that's what they called order. I couldn’t even see a chair, let alone the floor. How did they find anything in here? Everything piled up desolately, one on top of the other. That must be the total and indescribable chaos that preceded the genius?

There was very little space here. Only one table could be recognized with much effort, but also only its legs, since all sorts of things piled up on the tabletop and it threatened to collapse.

"Is this your office?" I asked, frightened, disbelieving and somehow concerned.

"No, are you crazy? You can't find anything in here! That's the workshop where we come up with new ideas," Fred explained with a broad grin, absolutely serious, and my eyes got wide.

"Oh and you don't have to find anything in the workshop? How can you develop the products here?" I asked, perplexed. I looked at him really confused, I didn't expect a chaos so extreme.

"You have the wrong idea. We do find something here, though not necessarily what we are looking for. That's the only way to discover new things, that's the whole point. The ideas grow from the chaos," Fred lectured me like a teacher and I even recognized a core of truth in the confused statement.

"You might say, from the chaos grows order," George added, winking at me with amusement.

"And your other question: The meticulously neat potions laboratory is in the basement. If we didn't keep order there, we would surely blow up the house and ourselves at some point. The office, now that’s George's domain; I don't go in there and so there can't be any disorder," Fred told proudly and George rolled his eyes.

"All right. I am proud of you. You've thought it all through. You're doing great," I praised them conscientiously and they beamed mischievously in thanks.

"That just now was a last-minute rescue. Thanks, guys. She really wanted to put me through my paces. As if she could get something out of me after even the Aurors or Snape didn't manage," I snorted disparagingly.

"You're right, she wouldn't have! But being annoying, that she can be! Mum can be so unyielding. She's totally jealous because we got a whole ten thousand," Fred said spitefully and grimaced.

"No, she's angry because she now has it in writing that we won't come back home. It doesn't suit her that we do this here... that we are independent," George explained farsightedly, embracing the whole place with his hands and making it clear that he meant their business.

"Are you all right, after the surprise of what Sirius has done?" Fred asked with obvious concern and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Mhm... Yes, it's alright. It makes me sad, but it's alright. I didn't know he felt that way. I never wanted to knowingly hurt him," I explained openly and somewhat dismayed, brushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"Don't take it too much to heart. Even we didn't see or realize that he felt soooo much... After the performance in the library at Christmas, it was clear to us that he was not indifferent to you, but that he had fallen in love? No, that didn't come through," both replied forcefully and somehow it calmed me down a bit. But one thing was certain, Draco had seen it and Severus too.

Draco, who had never seen us together. I wondered if it had been his jealousy speaking, A jealousy he supposedly didn't feel.

"Thank you. Your support is appreciated. But I know for myself that he got carried away. We... I wouldn't have made him happy," I said meekly. "We didn't fit together."

"I agree. You're absolutely right, he was too nice for you... As unbelievable as I find it to say that, but you and Draco are a perfect match. Even you can hardly shock him - or you'll have to make at least an effort... With Sirius, you would have had him in his grave in no time with your lifestyle," grinned George devilishly cheeky, but with a melancholic look in his eyes.

Alas, he bolstered me with his statement. And yes, Draco was my perfect match.

"But you have to go now, otherwise Snape will finish you off. He was slightly acidified anyway. We'll see each other, right?" Fred interrupted the melancholy mood resolutely and asked an important question.

"Tonight! I agreed with Harry that I'd pick him up at seven pm sharp. Draco will accompany me, but disappear before Harry sees him. He wants to wait with you in the garden to give me time with Harry in the house," I briefly explained our plan and then nibbled restlessly on my lower lip.

" Brilliant plan. Today the weather is nice anyway, then we will have another barbecue. It slowly gets better and better. Draco will have the opportunity to cook again. I'm curious whether he can do that better than us, or whether the Muggle grill will beat him as it did us," Fred said, rubbing his hands joyfully.

"Well, I'm happy. Maybe it'll finally taste good again," George whined spitefully and Fred playfully boxed into his side. A lenient smile escaped me because the chaos twins always managed to lift my spirits.

"Well, let's do it that way," I sealed the deal and was ready to go to the door when George stopped me by grabbing my upper arm.

"Where are you going?" he crooned with a huge grin on his face.

"Knockturn Alley, where else?" I exclaimed irritated as I pulled my hood into my face.

"You're forgetting who owns this building. A Malfoy always has a back exit that leads exactly where your desire lies," Fred proclaimed terribly pompously and he was right.

Of course, a Malfoys' house had access to the evil alley! Thereupon, I smiled nastily. I liked this family. Or, better said, I began to enjoy being part of it.

"Until tonight," I whispered, saying goodbye as I stepped outside.

I wasn't afraid, even without my cloak, because by now I felt so comfortable in this society that I didn't feel any excitement anymore. My face could not be seen and I had my daggers and my wand. Should somebody try to accost me, I would know how to defend myself.

Something very depraved occurred to me. Severus had chosen this meeting place to humiliate and oppress me after getting taken apart last night by Lucius. That was probably his revenge on me for having to go through that.

That was the only reason he wanted to remind me where I belonged, to demonstrate his power over me. But not with me! An abysmally evil thought had come to me. I pulled out the wand as I walked and consciously transformed myself. Let us see how he liked this. I can play this game very well, my dear professor, I thought gleefully.

I reached the door of the pub that was my destination. Pushing it open, I stepped into the smoky interior and looked around searchingly. I could feel many looks on me; the questionable customers of the Hangman were ogling my body. Then I saw him, in the corner where we had once sat with Lucius. Everyone held a visible, very respectful distance to him, the Dark Lords left hand, .

He had also seen me and crossed his arms in front of his black clad chest. Severus met me with a disapproving look under his chin-length, black hair, while I was still walking, pulling the hood off my head.

I noticed how his eyes narrowed to slits in surprise. The fact that I got a reaction at all showed how much I hit the mark with my actions. You had to know him well to even notice that something in his rigid mask was changing.

I took a seat and looked smilingly at him, running a hand through my short blond hair as I waited.

"Are you crazy?" Severus hissed already with restrained viciousness.

"Why? You wanted to meet me here and there I am," I retorted calmly, throwing him appraising glances under lowered eyelids.

"Shall we take room no. 13 now or later?" he asked with astonishing black humour which I had never expected from my esteemed professor. I didn't know him like that. It was probably because I belonged to the family from now on that he showed his true nature and I decided quite spontaneously that I liked that very much.

"Mhmhm... I think we should only drink to the old times. Or what do you think, Severusss?" I drew out his name provocatively, smokily and observed how he lifted his finger and ordered something behind my back.

When I lasciviously, just to annoy him, licked over my red lips with the tip of my tongue , I could see that his eyes were now positively stuck to my mouth.

"Stop playing, you minx! Unless you mean the offer seriously,' he whispered darkly, exciting me. I smiled boldly at him, which made him growl. "You must still be in shock. Thanks to the mutt and because he cannot even keep his mouth shut in death, everyone now knows much more than they should," he tried to provoke again.

"Mhmh... If I am, then about what he left me. You know, he was actually very angry with me. Shouldn't you be upset about everything he demands from you? It's a lot and you liked him so much," I played the game just as well as he did and certainly annoyed him with this statement, for he certainly didn't want to be reminded of that.

"I am not happy and he really knew how to get me mad. But back to you. Are you pleased that he was so smitten with you?" he asked intently, revealing real interest in his gaze. Though only if you knew how to read him.

"Pleased? I beg you! He said he loved me," I spat contemptuously and my face turned to a grimace. "I am not someone to love, in a relationship... At least not by Sirius or a similarly kind-hearted person. One thing is clear, Severus, I am neither good nor nice," I replied resolutely.

Thus, I drew my own devastating resume and he looked at me in astonishment. His eyebrows wandered to undreamt-of heights when I ascertained this so emotionlessly.

Suddenly, our camaraderie was interrupted when the buxom waitress came and put two glasses, a bottle and two steaming bowls in front of us, together with a warm loaf of bread.

The harlot couldn't let it be, fluttering her pretty eyes at Severus and he actually dared to take a deep look into her open-hearted, plump décolleté. That made me clench my lips angrily. I didn't know why, but I didn't like it at all. When he sat at a table with me, he bloody shouldn't look at another woman!

I began to eat in forced silence and could still see him chasing the fat arse of the stupid cow with an appreciative look.

"Your self-assessment, my dear, is not really flattering - for you," he eventually announced coolly.

"Ah, well, but very realistic," I grumbled, shrugging my shoulders. He grimaced. I think it was supposed to be an approving gesture, but if it was, he would have to practice that.

"What did Potter say about the fact that you had laid with his beloved godfather?" he suddenly enquired further and tried to sound uninterested, which he did quite well. However, I heard his slight tension.

"So talkative and curious. Severus, you shock me," I mocked him, amused, and he bared his teeth aggressively.

"You avoid my question," he noted and I waved my hand in a throw-away gesture.

"He was calm, relatively! ... But now my question: How did the others react?" I asked. Since I had stayed behind in the room with Harry, I didn't have a chance to observe them and, above all, I was interested in Dumbledore.

"How do you think? Horrified that the good, ambitious baby lion does not follow the rules," he derided with obvious pleasure and grinned nastily.

"What did Dumbledore do?" I shot him an interested look and took another bite.

"What do you think? Look dumbstruck, but rightly so! He even lost his stupid grin. You should be vigilant, he has set his gaze upon your back. He wanted to press me for information to see if I knew anything. Please, as if I had something to do with you! What an absurd thought," he taunted, at the same time warning me for the future.

"You shouldn't spend so much time around the Order, Severus. Too much Moody in your statement! I certainly believe that the others were shocked. Unfortunately, I ran into the arms of the Weasleys earlier and they pestered me. 'Moral' here and 'moral' there, as if I needed a compass to point me in the right moral direction. I do have one, but it is already broken," I laughed harshly and got a piercing look.

"You are in a funny mood today," Snape - uh, Severus - discerned. Shit, I would never get used to that!

"What do you expect? I really liked Sirius, but not in that way... Never in that way! I know you are the wrong person to talk to, but you asked. I wonder if I acted right back then. Do you even know why things got so out of hand? Why he attacked me in the kitchen?" I asked him hesitantly. However, I was interested and curious in his answer, leaning far over the table towards him.

He, too, looked attentively at my changed, transformed face. Minna beamed at him and I waited for his decision if he wanted to hear the truth. After a moment, his head gently lowered as an answer.

"No, I don't I know why. I only saw the result, knowing that it was you," he finally confessed quietly and seriously.

"Well, it was your fault, Severus, it was your fault," I whispered quietly, then I downed the burning alcohol in one because the food sat heavy as lead in my stomach. Afterwards, I leaned back again.

"What do you mean?" He seemed honestly confused as he looked up at me to nail me down with a piercing look.

"That we had such a fight happened the night you ordered me here for the first time. After that, I had an appointment with him. No, don't look at me like that. Not to do what your sick brain is imagining. I wanted to say goodbye to him decently and end it in a civilized way. Only that he smelled you, me, ... us and ... what we did. He knew I had had sex before and freaked out," I whispered quietly and lost myself in the unpleasant memory, forgetting that I had just told Severus the story.

"I beg your pardon? That's how it happened?" he muttered in surprised.

I'd say he sounded shaken but I dismissed that thought after looking at his cold, rigid mask.

"The Twins saved me from Molly," I now announced abruptly, out of the blue, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, she is truly a she-devil," he spat out immediately and gratefully accepted the new topic.

At that moment, the cheeky blonde came back to clean up the table and, in the process, she was strutting tantalizingly around Snape, which irritated me dangerously. Especially considering how good my mood was already. The behavior was really audacious and dangerous for the stupid, hollow nut.

"Would you like anything else, dear Mr. Snape?" she purred seductively and I watched as his gaze wandered over her body and suddenly I had enough.

I moved up a little, grasped her ash-blonde hair, grabbed her tilted head and shoved it less than gently onto the tabletop. It thumped loudly when I slammed her skull into the wood of the table with force. She screamed garishly in horror. That would leave a bump.

All the noise in the normally noisy barroom cut off when the waitress went down on her knees, still screaming, and Sn-Severus looked at me with a frown, only to begin to grin coldly. He did nothing, had only leaned back again, uninterested in getting involved.

"Don't grin so stupidly, Severus," I hissed angrily, hearing how quiet it was into the room. Nobody else would dare to address the highly respected man this way, but I was allowed to do so with impunity.

"What was that about?" he asked succinctly, glancing at the floor and the bleeding and crying woman. She crawled hastily away from our table. I didn't even spare a glance for her as I couldn't care less for her. Instead, I looked at him sharply and piercingly.

"What do you think? How would you react if I sat at a table with you and flirted with another man? Severus, don't flirt with another woman near me," I explained slightly irritated. It was a matter of principle.

"Do you not always do that?" he breathed quietly enough and turned towards me in a way so that only I was able to understand him.

"I never do! The only time I kissed Draco was when he came back from his mission with Lucius and crossed a line that didn't leave him unaffected either. Otherwise, you never saw us kissing or touching in any inappropriate sense of the word. Nothing more than a kiss on the forehead," I whispered without moving.

Remembrance showed in his eyes and he nodded deliberately.

"You are right! But it shocks me that you always have to be so brutal," he said, shaking his black head, pretending to be saddened by my behaviour.

"Oh, that's the accumulated frustration. I need to get back into the physical training, then the aggression will lessen quickly. It's her own fault for flaunting herself in front of us," I showed my callousness, shrugging my shoulders indifferently I was looking forward to the coming training and had long forgotten the woman about that.

"Jaded and cold, that's what it sounds like," he concluded no less coldly.

"If you ask my boyfriend, I was never different," I alluded provocatively to Draco.

"Mh-hm... A remarkable and frightening realization," he snarked sarcastically and smirked at me.

"As if you were afraid of me," I countered nonchalantly and snorted disparagingly.

"No, I am not. But I would advise anyone not to underestimate you! You are dangerous," he said seriously.

"Nice. Alas, what did I expect? You warned him, didn't you? And he doesn't believe you. Oh, that will be fun! I bet you can't wait for him to fall flat on his face," I whispered, having concluded sharp as a razor that Lucius didn't seem to believe him, thereby annoying Severus very much. If he took the effort to warn him, he wanted to be taken seriously by Lucius.

I grinned at him deviously and replied with a diabolical smirk. Oh, it was nice to understand each other almost blindly. We exchanged an amicable smile.