The Burning Pen

A Looping of the Scales by Ruth Solomon

The story content is adult in nature and can contain graphic sex and violence.  Those under the age of 18 are asked to leave this site immediately.  You are not welcome here.  The author is not responsible for those under-aged who view these works.

CHAPTER 34

All recognizable characters belong to JKR. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 34 ~ Thoughtless Words

“That was a simply awful display,” Hermione said to Snape, who was sitting at his writing desk with his supper in front of him. It smelled delicious, but Hermione was too busy complaining about Ron to pay any attention.

”He should have worn shorts, or at least a thong,” she sniffed, getting out her books and slamming them on the desk in a temper.

Snape cut into his Yorkshire pudding. It was filled with beef stew. He also had horseradish sauce, gravy, roast potatoes and vegetables to round out the meal. A glass of cold pumpkin juice waited for consumption. He didn’t say anything to Hermione in response, yet.

”Honestly, did he have to swing around so much? He nearly made the entire female population of Hogwarts pass out from shock and disgust. And you wizards—encouraging him the way you all did—“

Now Snape looked up at her, having been personally drawn into the offending party as a whole.

”I was simply applauding his agility,” Snape said in his defense.

Hermione scowled at him.

”You were laughing,” she said accusingly. “I saw you.”

”Laughing is good for the soul.”

“It was terrible. Ron can’t run around like that. McGonagall won’t allow it,” Hermione hissed.

”Well, she can’t stop him unless there’s a reason, Hermione.”

”There is a reason. His enormous dangly bits. They shouldn’t be allowed in public!”

Snape quirked a lip at her then said, “I was wondering about those. Were they always so big and—er-- hairy? I don’t mean to pry, but, you have seen them up close before. I’m just curious.”

Hermione turned nearly purple at Snape’s question.

”No, they weren’t that big and hairy! They transformed with the rest of him!” she spat.

”Oh. Well, that’s reassuring to the rest of the male population,” he said, returning to his supper. “But unless a wizarding world wide law is passed requiring Animagi to cover their sexual parts, then the Headmistress can’t legally single Weasley out. You should know that. Besides, they’re just animal parts.”

”They resemble human male sexual organs closely enough to be disturbing,” Hermione said with distaste.

”Disturbing? As a human male, I take offense at that statement. I don’t go around saying human female sexual organs are disturbing. In fact, they are far from it—as far as I hear. Not that I know. I haven’t really looked at a set yet.”

Hermione reddened as Snape put a potato in his mouth and chewed, looking at her thoughtfully. Then he swallowed and said, “Perhaps, for the sake of knowledge, we should compare our sexual organs and see which are least attractive.”

”Perhaps, we shouldn’t!” Hermione hissed, quickly sitting down and opening her books.

The nerve of him. All wizards were pigs.

Snape continued eating his supper in peace, having ended the conversation about Ron’s enormous nads quite effectively. Hopefully permanently.

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The next day at lunch, Harry, Ginny and even Ron were excited about the upcoming Charms and hex review with Snape. It was almost as if Hermione didn’t register at all.

”Now we’ll get a chance to see him in action,” Harry said with a smile. “I always wondered how powerful he was when facing my father and the rest.”

”If he’s that good, you’d better hope he doesn’t have a flashback,” Ron said warningly.
”You do look like your dad, Harry.”

Suddenly Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zambini appeared behind the boy who lived, both sets of eyes glittering.

”I’m looking forward to reviewing with you, Potter—Weasleys,” Draco drawled.

Shocked, all three looked up at him.

”What are you talking about, Draco?” Ginny demanded.

”Oh, you didn’t know? Blaise and I will be joining in this evening. Balancing the odds, really. Snape might be used to four Gryffindors against one Slytherin, but that doesn’t mean he likes it. So, you’ll be facing more than Snape.”

Blaise didn’t speak, but his brown eyes swept over the three of them measuringly, and he wore a small, unpleasant smile.

“We weren’t going to face Snape. It’s every wizard or witch for him or herself,” Harry countered.

Draco snorted.

”You really believe that? You’ll all be firing at Snape, whether you ‘intend’ to or not. He’s the odd man out, after all. But, while you’re firing at him, we’ll be firing at you. See you in the Room of Requirement.”

Draco and Blaise walked away.

”There’s going to have to be some rules,” Ginny said in a low voice. “Plain rules that everyone can understand. Draco and Blaise could throw hexes we wouldn’t use.”

”Speak for yourself, Ginny. I’d Crucio Draco until the Thestrals came home,“ Ron muttered. “It’s not like anyone would know if we use Unforgivables, as long as we don’t use the Killing Curse. That should be the only hex off limits.”

”Ron, a lot of damage could be done that way,” Harry said uncomfortably.

There were some very nasty curses that could be thrown around.

”Since Snape set this up, let’s just see what rules he imposes. If we don’t agree, we can either discuss it or refuse to participate,” Ginny said reasonably.

Ron scowled.

”I’m not walking away like a coward. I’ve been through a war. An evening in the ROR will be nothing compared to that. Tame, in fact. It’s just a room. It’ll be easy to battle—er—review. And if we work together, we can handle all three of them. Hermione’s fast, you’re both fast, and I’m fast.”

”Blaise’s pretty fast too, Ron,” Harry said. “And he has an Outstanding in both Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

”We all have Outstandings in Charms,” Ron countered. “That doesn’t mean anything. A good charm can block Dark Magic, too.”

Harry looked uncertain. What seemed to be an evening of fun had just become very serious and drawn along house lines. Snape might not be an active Slytherin, but he still was one. He probably would work with Draco and Blaise.

”We need to talk to Hermione,” Harry said, pushing away his plate. “She’s in Snape’s quarters.”

He walked down the aisle, followed by Ginny and Ron.

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Hermione and Snape were working on Potions ratios when there was a knock on the office door. It was amplified so Snape could hear visitors from his room. Hermione continued working as he answered it.

He returned momentarily.

”You have visitors,” he told Hermione from the entrance, then stepped aside, letting in Harry, Ginny and Ron, who looked around the sparsely furnished study.

”Not much here other than books. No wonder you love it,” Ron said to Hermione, who rose, looking perplexed. Snape sat back down at the desk and studied his parchment.

”What are you all doing here?” she asked them.

Harry looked over at Snape, then said in a low voice, “We need to talk to you, Hermione. About tonight. Privately.”

Hermione frowned.

”Severus invited you,” she said a bit coldly, “so you should talk to him.”

”We want to talk to you. It’s about—Draco and Blaise. They’re coming too.”

”WHAT?”

Hermione spun on Snape, who was perusing his work as if it was the most important thing in the world. Hermione stormed over and snatched it out of his hand.

Ron, Harry and Ginny looked very surprised at her aggressiveness.

”You invited Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zambini to our review?” she asked him.

”Malfoy asked me if he could join in with a friend and I said yes. The more people involved, the better the exercise,” he said, snatching his parchment back from her with a frown.

”It’s bad enough you invited Harry, Ron and Ginny. Now there’s going to be two more?”

Snape didn’t say anything, but simply looked over at her three friends, who were staring at her.

”Hermione, you have a problem with us reviewing with you?” Harry asked her.

Hermione realized she had spoken without thinking. She turned to see Harry staring at her. Both Ron and Ginny were scowling with their arms crossed.

”Ah—no Harry. I didn’t mean that, exactly,” she said in a tremulous voice.

”Well, what did you mean then?” Ron said angrily. “It sounded clear enough to me.”

”Me too,” Ginny said with a bit of iron in her voice.

”I just meant—well, when I suggested it to Severus, I meant it to just be the two of us, as part of our studies. We do study exclusively,” she said in her defense.

”Obviously not that exclusively if Snape said we could join in,” Ron retorted. “So, you don’t want us here?”

”You’re invited now, Ron,” Hermione replied, feeling absolutely awful.

Snape just listened to the interaction. They must really like each other, because he would have walked out on her immediately if she had said that in front of him.

“Well, we were coming to talk to you about how to handle Draco and Blaise, but forget it now,” Harry said, frowning at her. “We’ll figure it out ourselves. You just—study, ok? See you later, Severus. Sorry to disturb you.”

Harry turned and walked out of the room, followed by Ron and Ginny. Ron looked back at Hermione and shook his head, then exited.

”Do you mind letting the wall down?” Snape asked her.

She looked at him, then walked through the opening, made sure the office was locked and warded, then re-entered the room, closing the wall and joining him at the table. She was very quiet.

“Looks like you ruined a perfectly good Gryffindor pow-wow,” Snape observed. “I had no idea you didn’t want your friends to participate. Was that why you gave me the silent treatment two days ago? I thought it was because I questioned your skill.”

Hermione let out a sigh.

”When I issued you that challenge, I wanted to go one on one with you, Severus, and show you how good I am. But—now that they’re involved—it won’t be just us,” she said softly. “I know it’s incredibly selfish, but that’s how I feel, and I feel awful about it.”

Snape just stared at her for a moment, then his eyes fell on her lips.

”One on one with me?” he purred at her.

Hermione flushed.

”Practicing charms and hexes, yes,” she answered.

”That blush suggests something other than charms and hexes,” he said softly. “Are you really that jealous of the time you spend with me? So jealous that you don’t want to share me with your friends? You’ve walked into the jaws of death with them, Hermione.”

She hung her head.

”I never knew I was this—this selfish and shallow, Severus. I don’t understand it.”

”I think I do,” the wizard replied. “You have someone on the same page with you for the first time. We’re alike, more alike than you and your friends, despite how much you care for them. You’re the first person I’ve been completely in line with, too.”

Lily had been his friend, but they clashed much of the time, Snape usually having to grovel to get back in her good graces. They studied together for the OWLS, but he was always more focused than she was. She took a lot of breaks and complained about working too hard.

”What are you trying to prove, Severus?” she’d ask him. “That you’re the smartest wizard at Hogwarts?”

Yes, Snape knew what Hermione was going through. He truly did, even though he hadn’t been as bad as she was about his studies. He was studying the normal amount of NEWTS material, and since Lily dumped him nearly two years before, he didn’t have friends to miss him.

Hermione didn’t say anything but felt completely miserable. How could she have said something like that right in front of them?

”You’ll make up,” Snape said. “I’m sure you’ve said thoughtless things before.”

“I don’t know,” Hermione said, “they must feel terrible.”

Snape smirked as he picked up his Arithmancy work.

”I think they’re going to feel much better this evening after they’ve hexed you out of your robes,” he responded. “You told me friends sometimes hex each other when angry. I hope you’re as fast as you say you are.”

Hermione scowled.

”They wouldn’t—“ she began, then stopped.

Maybe Harry wouldn’t be vindictive, but Ginny and Ron were another story altogether. They were rather hot-headed when angry, and both of them seemed pissed off, while Harry had seemed more hurt than angry.

Maybe this evening was going to be more of a challenge than she’d thought.

It would be her fault it if was. Bat bogeys were sure to fly.

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That evening, Harry, Ron and Ginny waited outside the Room of Requirement, each lost in their own thoughts. Hermione’s outburst had been quite hurtful. Harry had suggested they not show up, but both Ron and Ginny shot that idea down. They were ready to “review” with Hermione.

Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zambini walked up to the trio.

”Ready to get your robes smoked, Weasley?” Draco said to Ron, as Blaise once again sized them up, his dark eyes resting on Ginny a bit longer than necessary. Long enough for Harry to move closer to her protectively. Blaise was a bit of a witch-magnet. He didn’t talk much, but by his track record of former girlfriends, obviously he didn’t need to do much talking.

”It’s your robes that are going to be smoking, Malfoy,” Ron shot back at him as Hermione walked up. She reddened a little.

”Where’s Severus?” she asked.

”Isn’t he with you?” Harry responded, his eyes a bit hard behind his glasses.

”You don’t see him, do you?”

Both Ron and Ginny scowled at her, while Draco looked delighted. Seems there was a bit of a rip in the friendship fabric. Better for him.

Suddenly the door to the ROR opened and Snape stepped out, closing it behind him.

”Hey, we didn’t know you were in there,” Ron said to him, frowning.

”I was setting up the room for our engagement. Now, this is a review testing our skills and abilities. No permanently crippling spells are to be used. Painful spells are fine. If an Unforgivable is used, we’ll just—pretend it wasn’t. I’m sure you all know not to use the Killing Curse for obvious reasons. Death is an expellable offense even if we are preparing for the NEWTS.”

He looked at Hermione pointedly, though he didn’t need to do that. She’d do what she had to do to prepare for the most important wizarding tests she’d ever take, but would stop short of killing someone.

“Now, are you all ready to enter?”

Everyone nodded.

”Follow me,” Snape said, opening the door and entering the ROR, trailed by the other participants, who all looked around the room with rounded eyes.

”Bloody hell,” Ron said in a near whisper.

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A/N: Thanks for reading.

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