Title: Something There
Author: Nephthys Moon
Pairing:Ginny/Severus
Prompt:”New and a bit alarming, who'd have ever thought that this could be? True that he's no prince charming, but there's something in him that I simply didn't see.”
Rating: PG
Summary: Who knew that he had a human side after all?
Author's Notes: I wanted to step outside of my box a bit while writing this, but this was really as close to romance between these two that I could stomach.
“Detention, Weasley.” The deadly whisper sent a tremor of fear down her spine. “And next time, keep your wand in your pocket and away from Mr. Malfoy,” Snape added before stalking off, his black cloak billowing out behind him. Ginny's finger's itched to send a curse at the back of his head, one so horrible he'd be permanently incapable of harrassing her again. She turned on the spot and stormed away, ignoring the taunts Malfoy was shouting after her.
“Honestly, Ginny, you know better than to attack Malfoy right outside the Headmaster's office,” Annabeth, Ginny's fellow sixth year Gryffindor muttered.
“I know, Annabeth – I just can't help it. Every time I see that git I want to curse him into oblivion!” The redhead's voice was menancing, and Annabeth couldn't help but wonder what would happen if Draco ever did come upon Ginny when there was no one to catch her. She and Ginny joined the other Gryffindors at their table in the Great Hall and she noticed the glare Ginny gave the empty Head's chair. She was murmuring things she'd like to do to Snape if she ever got hold of him, and Annabeth thought it best not to listen too hard – she was certain that Ginny didn't realise her language was close to that of a common streetrat.
“Do I need to assign you another detention, Weasley?” came a voice at her back, and Ginny looked up to see Snape standing over her threateningly. Swallowing her complaints, she shook her head.”Good. I'd hate to see you fail your exams this year because you spent too much time in detention. My office, eight o'clock, Miss Weasley. If you are even one moment late, you will receive another.”
Ginny's wand was in her hand before she even thought about it. Annabeth grabbed her hand, and Ginny looked at her, the rage slowly slipping away as she realised what she had been about to do. She put her head in her hands and rubbed her palms fiercely against her eyes. She needed Ron and Hermione – and Harry, too. Oh, Harry, where are you?
A touch on her shoulder brought her out of her reverie and she looked up to see Neville standing over her. Neville had grown so much in the past year that he was nearly unrecognizable. He bent down to whisper something in her ear and she caught the words happily. A brilliant smile lit her face, and she reached for his hand, squeezing it tightly. Neville nodded awkwardly and walked quickly away.
Hiding her wand under the table, she pulled a Galleon from her pocket and tapped it once. Around the hall, several faces looked in her direction momentarily before turning back to their companions.
At eight sharp, Ginny rapped smartly on the door outside the head's office, having been granted entrance by the stone gargoyles upon her arrival. A low voice bid her to enter, and Ginny did so. Prior to this night, most of her detentions had been served with Hagrid. Only once had she been given over to the Carrows, and she bore the scars on her back to prove it. A shiver of fear crept over her as she stepped into the office, where Snape was seated at his desk, shuffling a few papers, ignoring her presence completely.
She felt she'd been standing there, just inside the open door for five minutes before he finally spoke. “Were you raised in a barn, Weasley? Close the door and sit down.”
Ginny did as she was bid and sat meekly down in the chair he'd pointed out. Another minute passed before he looked up at her.
“Well, well, well, Miss Weasley. It seems this is your fifteenth detention since the start of the term. What have you to say for yourself?”
Ginny looked up in surprise. His tone was less harsh, somehow, and she thought she detected a flicker of something that looked suspiciously like amusement in his eyes before he managed to disguise it. Merlin's pants! she thought scathingly. Is he actually human?
“You have nothing to say? You, who takes great delight in tormenting my professors and myself, have nothing to say? I find this a most – interesting – turn of events,” he said silkily, a hint of laughter in his voice.
“You want me to apologise?” she laughed. “I'll put a right foul hex on that stupid prick the first chance I get!”
“No, I wasn't looking for an apology, Miss Weasley, merely an explanation, if you had one,” he answered calmly. She risked another glance at his face. Were his lips twitching as though he were trying not to smile, or was that merely her imagination? The air whooshed out of her lungs at the thought that he might actually be enjoying her pranks. Her own lips quirked in response to the thought.
“Something amuses you?” he asked.
“You're laughing at me,” she accused delightedly.
“I assure you, I am doing no such thing,” he protested, but his eyes were shining with unreleased laughter. “However, for your own safety, might I suggest that you curb such behaviour post-haste? There are some who, if you are caught in future, might force you to submit to harsher punishments than you have been used to thus far.” The humor was gone, and Ginny nodded solemnly.
“I see you understand me. Good. You are dismissed,” he returned his attention to the papers on his desk and Ginny stood slowly.
As she walked down the moving staircase, she replayed the events of the past half hour in disbelief. Snape had been warning her, as though he actually cared if the Carrows caught her. She knew he'd deny it if ever confronted with the fact, but she was left to wonder why. If she closed her eyes, she could still see the shimmer of a smile on his face; without his perpetual frown, he wasn't so very unattractive after all.
In the turmoil of the following months, she forgot the entire event, and it wasn't until Harry insisted on naming their son Albus Severus that she remembered the brief moment when the man they'd all loathed had shown her a side of himself that perhaps no one had seen in many years. It was then she realized the motives behind it and admitted, in the darkest, most secret part of her thoughts, that in that one moment she had been attracted to him.
