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Title: Revelations ``°°ºº¤oøO§Oøo¤ºº°°``°°ºº¤oøO§Oøo¤ºº°°``°°ºº¤oøO§Oøo¤ºº°°`` His mind only half on his dinner, Severus Snape finished
eating his raspberry trifle. The other half of his mind was calculating
the amount of time he had left before he had to add the ginseng, borage,
and theobromine to the Energetica potion he was working on. He rose
from the table, mumbling his habitual excuses about something on the
fire, and he was very surprised to notice that Minerva McGonagall
had also risen, smoothly taking his arm and following him out of the
Great Hall as if it were perfectly ordinary for the Head of Slytherin
House to leave the dinner table with the Head of Gryffindor on his
arm. "I wonder if I might have a word with you, Severus," she responded crisply. Snape suppressed a wince, feeling ridiculously like a student who'd been caught misbehaving. But it was rare that the Deputy Headmistress called on him like this. He supposed it would be a professional courtesy to acquiesce. "If you can have that word in thirty minutes or less, then certainly. I've a potion simmering that will require my attention." The aging witch at his side nodded. "That should be sufficient. We'll go to my office, since it is on the way to yours." Snape blinked. It wasn't remotely on the way to his office. He glanced down, took one look at the icy set of Professor McGonagall's features, and hastily recalculated his remaining window of free time. He had a sinking feeling he was going to need all of it. Minerva steered him through the castle to her office. When they arrived, she shut the door behind them, and warded it securely. Snape swallowed. This was looking more and more like it was going to be unpleasant. He rapidly reviewed his actions of the past several days, and couldn't come up with anything that might have offended the Transfiguration professor or her precious Gryffindors. Well, no more than usual, anyway. "Is something the matter, Minerva?" he asked when it became apparent that the Deputy Headmistress seemed content to simply glare daggers at him. "Is something the matter?!" she parrotted incredulously. "How can you be so obtuse?" Snape shot her an irritated glance. "Minerva, I really don't have time for guessing games. To my knowledge, I have done nothing in the recent past that warrants this kind of outrage. I haven't hurt any of your precious Gryffindors' feelings in the last few days," he sneered, "so you needn't play Mother Lioness on their behalf." Minerva drew herself up and fixed him with her steeliest regard. "I am not speaking about anything you have done to my House," she said frostily. Snape scowled in puzzlement. "Then I fail to see why you should be so cross." "I went to your rooms last evening, intending to bring the recent behavior of some of your Slytherins to your attention," she glowered, "and I scarcely think I need to remind you why I went away without knocking." She waited. Snape's mind raced. Last evening? He'd made a batch of Dreamless Sleep for Poppy, some old-fashioned liniment for Hooch and her flock, and he'd spent the rest of the night with... Oh, hell. And he'd forgotten the blasted Silencing Charm. Minerva watched with some satisfaction as her younger colleague's cheeks heated in a dull flush. "Yes, that's right, Severus, I heard you. I have spoken with the Headmaster," she continued, "and he professed no knowledge of your new... paramour," she spat. "Severus, you know I don't begrudge you companionship, but for Merlin's sake, you, of all people, know how dangerous it is to bring people into the school without taking proper precautions. Especially now! One never knows what dangers might follow them in," she lectured. Oh, was that all? Snape tried to reassure her. "Nothing to worry..." "And don't you try to tell me there's nothing to worry about," she cut him off. "Why, just last week, you expressed concern that You-Know-Who might be onto you. There may be things you don't know. Agents of whom you are unaware. Just because you're in His inner circle doesn't mean you're privy to any and all threats to our students." "Really, Minerva, there's..." "Spare me your excuses, Severus. They are too little, too late. I expect you to go straight to the Headmaster and have your young man checked out," she ordered. "And furthermore..." "Professor McGonagall!" Snape thundered. "Did you ever stop to consider that, perhaps, my lover might be from Hogwarts, itself?" There, he thought. Chew on that, you old bat. Minerva floundered to a stop and blinked. "From Hogwarts?" she repeated in disbelief. "I know it's not Albus," she mused, apparently thinking out loud. Snape winced. Definitely not. "The voice was too deep to be Filius, I passed Argus in the hall on my way, and I'd just come from a curriculum conference with..." She trailed off, then looked up at Snape with a look of dawning horror on her face. "Good heavens. You're bedding a student?!" Ha-ha! What do you think about.... Waitaminute. "A STUDENT?!," she shrieked. Shit. "Of course n--" "How could you?" she screeched. "Did it ever occur to you that most of them are underage?" FUCK! "But...!" "And to think of all the times I have reprimanded my students for rumors they whisper about you and your students and why they always have such high marks in Potions. What were you thinking?!" "I wasn't...!" "Obviously!" she barked. "Never in my life have I been more ashamed of anyone! I suppose you're happy at how well you managed to pull the wool over everyone's eyes. I can't believe Albus ever trusted you!" The censorious tirade continued. "How long has this been going on? Months? Years?! How long have you been preying on the students you are supposed to protect? Of all the disgusting, filthy..." "RUBEUS HAGRID IS MY LOVER!" Snape finally roared in desperation. Cut off mid-harangue, all Minerva could do was stare in open-mouthed shock. Snape cleared his throat uncomfortably and tried to salvage the situation. "Just for the record, Minerva, I am not now, nor have I ever taken a student to my bed. And yes, if you must know, I am shagging the bloody Groundskeeper. If I may say, you might possibly wish to examine why you immediately leapt to the conclusion that I'd somehow coerced an underage student into my chambers before you even considered the fact that Hagrid is an adult, a consenting adult for that matter, and that, as a rather notable member of your House, he is someone you should've thought of on your own." "Hagrid?" Minerva squeaked, obviously having difficulty with the idea. Snape rolled his eyes. "Yes, Minerva. Hagrid." he said dryly. "I suppose I find your reaction reassuring, in a way. We've wanted to keep it private, and you obviously never suspected. Perhaps we've been a bit too discreet. Now, if you will excuse me, I find myself in need of your fireplace. I won't get back to my laboratory in time if I walk. And you might wish to steer clear of the dungeons this evening. Hagrid is coming to visit again today," he informed her, trying not to smirk. Still speechless, she made a vague gesture in the direction of her fireplace. Snape stalked over to the fireplace and took a handful of Floo powder. "You'll convey my regards to the Headmaster, I'm sure?" he asked mildly. With that, he bellowed, "Potions Laboratory!", dropped the powder, and disappeared, leaving a puff of green smoke and a gaping Minerva McGonagall in his wake. Fin. |