บท 16: Chapter 15: Differences Professor Snape and Severus.
"Wait!" Draco shouted at Severus making him look at him waiting for whatever he had to tell him.
Draco's head was pounding, he didn't know how to convince the young Snape to help them, but he needed to.
Draco pressed a finger to his temple, grimacing as the nails of pain dug their way into his skull.
"We know where the Prince family ring is with which you can take the inheritance test to be the next heir," commented a calm Hermione instantly as she saw that Draco was not handling the current situation well.
Draco looked at her with wide eyes.
'How can I forget about that!?' he groaned inwardly, but he was happy that the know-it-all Granger was useful.
It was then that they saw the young Snape's reaction of intrigue, interest, doubt, and complete surprise.
They both knew that they had now gained his undivided attention.
Hermione wasn't sure at first if mentioning that would work to gain Severus' favour, but seeing Draco's efforts to hold him back, she couldn't help but bring it up.
She didn't know if the young Snape was interested in his maternal family's inheritance, she only knew that Professor Snape had been investigating his family for some time until he found the ring.
But since he was an adult and could not obtain the Prince's inheritance, he ceased to give the matter any importance.
Professor Snape didn't seem particularly disappointed by it, it seemed more like a simple passing disappointment, so Hermione didn't know how much this inheritance might appeal to the young Snape, but from the reaction he had, she was sure that the current Severus cared quite a bit this matter.
And Draco was delighted with this development, he was convinced that no one would pass up the chance to get the inheritance of a Noble family, not even Snape.
Plus considering that young Severus wished to be a death eater along with him hating his Muggle father and even using the Half-Blood Prince alias, it was quite obvious to assume that being the heir to the Prince family could be one of the biggest dreams the current young Snape could have and this was beneficial to them.
"This... I didn't hear you right, you said you knew where the Prince family ancestral ring is?" this came as quite a shock to Severus, he couldn't believe they knew that, but this could be their chance.
With the political and economic power he would gain by being the heir to the house, he could stay away from the bothersome death eaters for a while and get money for his many future plans.
Now that he knew there was a possibility that Padme was still alive, he had many things to do, and they all required money and time.
He had discarded the idea of getting the inheritance because he didn't have the ancestral ring from his mother's family, but it seems that life is now smiling on him a little.
Things may have taken an unexpected turn, but he is benefiting from it.
"Huh, looks like you're interested now," Hermione couldn't help but tease a little at the intrigued young Severus in front of her.
"Alright, let's get straight to the point," Severus said not bothering to deny what she said.
"What exactly do you want in return for telling me where it is?" Severus finally asked in his usual cold voice, but much more sociable and approachable than before, his tone had stopped being so dry, direct, harsh, and intimidating.
He didn't need to get information out from either of them anymore, he knew he wouldn't get much more than what they already told him.
If he really wanted to know more he would have to use force, but part of him didn't feel right about doing that to innocent people, so he dismissed the idea.
He decided that there was no need to act tough and intimidating in front of them anymore, since both sides had something they needed from the other, it was better to speak calmly and honestly.
"Does that mean you'll help us?" asked Draco.
"No," Severus replied quickly.
"But since you are offering me something I want, it is fair enough that I listen to your terms and know what you want."
"But just because I'm willing to listen to you doesn't mean you can take advantage of the situation, I wouldn't want to have to use unconventional methods to get what I want," he added, glaring at them.
Making Draco and Hermione tense up and swallow.
Severus laughed slightly amused at the nervousness barely present in the two young wizards when he said that.
" Although no... I have no intentions of doing such things, too much work and time that I don't have at the moment," Severus commented lightly as he smiled slightly amused.
"You...!" Hermione and Draco realised that he was only teasing them.
Draco relaxed noticeably and so did Hermione, but she still wanted to give him a sharp reprimand, but she controlled herself, he wasn't her friend that she could do such things.
But despite not saying anything to him, she gave him a sullen look to let him know that she didn't think his comment was funny.
"Come on, don't look at me like that Miss Hermione, it was just a joke, it may have been an unnecessary comment and maybe I went a bit overboard, my mistake," Severus said not really feeling bad about his joke.
"Well from now on you can call me Severus to make things easier. So, what do you say we make a deal?" he asked, relaxing the tense atmosphere a little.
Hermione seemed to accept the apology, she was very nervous at the moment without her wand which made her feel so helpless, that's why she was angry at young Severus' joke.
Whereas Draco didn't seem to mind, Slytherins were usually like that, so he understood young Snape.
Still, Hermione and Draco were surprised by the sudden change in young Severus' attitude.
They were very confused, they hadn't expected the Snape in front of them to act intimidating and irritable on purpose, they would have sworn that young Severus was just like the adult Snape, with a few small changes.
But no, they were wrong.
Not only was the current Severus more sociable and outspoken, but he also didn't seem the least bit bothered by the fact that Hermione Granger was a Muggle-born and a mudblood.
'Come to think of it in the whole conversation he never showed any sign of displeasure at the mention of me being a muggle-born..., how strange...' Hermione thought intrigued.
Draco didn't think much of such things as he didn't give such a thing a second thought, after all, he wasn't a muggle-born, but he was surprised at the change in Snape's attitude.
"Yes, we would like that and you can call me Draco," he nodded quickly.
"Well..., it's not like I could call you different," Severus joked since he never told him his surname.
Draco smiled a little embarrassed but nodded.
While Hermione was silent, she couldn't help but think about what she knew about Snape.
She knew that he was a half-blood but like Voldemort, he didn't consider his Muggle father's blood his own.
Voldemort called himself a pureblood and abhorred anyone who did not believe or did not believe in the supremacy of blood and she understood that Snape as a teenager believed in the same ideals as the Dark Lord.
Severus hated his father and compared all Muggles to him, which was why he wanted to serve a powerful wizard like Voldemort, but apparently, he wasn't quite like that, or the young man in front of her didn't show much interest in those ideals.
And she wouldn't believe that this was all just because they told her what would happen if Voldemort won.
'Hmm, maybe Severus just looked like that on the outside, but inside he was never really like that...' Hermione began to question many things, remembering the various scenes in which she saw a young Severus Snape behaving like a typical blood purist.
Hermione could now tell that the young man in front of her was very different from what she thought he would be, he not only fooled them with his attitude at first, but now he was completely different from what they thought.
Yes, Severus was still cold and rather dark, but much more relaxed and honest when he spoke, he even joked with them.
Something Professor Snape never would do.
She was very grateful that Severus was more open than she expected, she thought he was going to threaten them or that he would find some method to get the information out of them.
Now Hermione was facing a young Severus who was willing to talk like a more sociable person, he even told them to do so, call him by his first name, that was almost unthinkable to Hermione.
Calling Professor Snape by his name, that was only done by Dumbledore along with a few other teachers or acquaintances of him.
"Miss Hermione?" called Severus interrupting Hermione's inner thoughts.
She had apparently been thinking more than she should have, making Draco and Severus a little nervous.
Severus thought that perhaps she was thinking about what to ask him in return for telling him about the location of the Prince family ancestral ring.
"Hermione," Hermione suddenly said, directing a serious look at him.
"Huh?" Severus was rather confused by the serious look she gave him, he didn't understand what she meant by saying his name so seriously.
"If I'm going to call you S-Se-Severus, it seems logical to me that you call me by my name only as well," Hermione clarified rather seriously as if she wanted to validate his logic and the importance she attached to this matter.
She called Severus' name with some difficulty, but strangely pleased to be able to call him by his name and not as Snape or Professor.
Severus, who saw the serious look on Hermione's face as they discussed such a banal matter as names and how to address each other, couldn't help but laugh lightly.
Even Draco chuckled at the strange Gryffindor.
'Puff... by Merlin..., I know a lot of weird people and species but she takes the top spot!' thought Severus amused.
" Forget it, Granger can be quite weird sometimes," Draco commented as he laughed mockingly at her.
Hermione played down Draco's mockery as seeing Severus laugh so suddenly surprised her even more, she hadn't expected these reactions from him.
"Ahem!...well, apologies, I didn't expect our names to be such a big deal, I was expecting another response from you when I saw that serious look on your face...something related to what you wanted for the ring or anything else really, it just surprised me," Severus said now a little calmer.
Hermione was dumbfounded, she could swear that never in her wildest dreams or thoughts had she seen this scene before, but now she was seeing the stoic, unchanging, cold, dry, hard and dark Severus Snape laughing and apologizing like this.
And his laugh was so unique, he had a deep, cold tone of voice that when he laughed created something unique and very pleasant to listen to, that day Hermione realised that Severus when he laughed was quite charming.
"Hermione?" Severus called her name again in his deep, cold voice, making Hermione freeze.
Severus Snape's call brought her out of her strange thoughts.
It was so strange for her to hear that unique voice of Severus Snape calling her name alone, but Hermione had to admit that it wasn't unpleasant at all.
"Yes?" she asked still lost in her strange thoughts.
"You know, I'm still waiting for your answer...," Severus replied.
"I told you, freaky," Draco commented again with a sneer and Severus had to agree that the young witch was indeed weird.
"Look, I don't mean to be nosy but I recommend that you stop getting so lost in your thoughts when you're talking to someone, otherwise the conversations you have will become quite awkward..." advised Severus gently suggesting to Hermione that she stop thinking so much while she was talking.
'Could it be that the time travel has affected her brain?' thought Severus, she was really starting to look weirder and weirder in his eyes.
What he said made Hermione think again that the young man in front of her might be very similar to the future Professor Snape, but no doubt the Severus in front of her was completely different and that could save him.
He couldn't go back to being a dark wizard, something she would make sure wouldn't happen.
"I'm sorry..., this happens to me quite a lot, I'll take your advice into account," Hermione replied a little embarrassed.
Severus just nodded in understanding.
"Yeah, right, as if you were going to do that," Draco scoffed, he didn't think that was possible, he had made comments to her about it on more than one opportunity, and she never gave it a thought.
What he didn't know was that Hermione tended to ignore him completely when he teased her, and clearly wouldn't pay attention to what he said unless he was more serious about it.
"I also agree to discuss what you could give us in exchange for the location of the Prince family ancestral ring, though I think you can already guess what we want," Hermione said ignoring Draco's comments.
"Yes, but it would be easier if you told me directly, just to make sure there are no misunderstandings, I'm not promising anything either, as I said before, I'm not interested in all this mess you two have," Severus nodded and replied.
Hermione then looked at Draco who only nodded.
That was the signal that he didn't care if she took care of the matter.
"Well, since you're not interested in our fight with Voldemort we'll just ask you to help us with other things."
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