The Rush Justifies The Risk

Chapter 4 – An Investigation

Hello readers! I slightly edited the previous chapters, but only grammar. The story itself has not changed. Enjoy the next installment!

Jasmine: So do I, lol.

~~~

Hermione snuggled next to Ron in the Gryffindor tower the next morning. Harry was taking forever, so they waited for him to get down.

“That bloody wanker Snape needs to get laid,” Ron said simply. “That has to be why he’s such a git.”

“What makes you think he doesn’t?” Hermione asked. “The teachers do have free time when they can go out after lessons.”

“Oh I know,” Ron assured her. “I mean Snape doesn’t get laid because, well look at him.”

“He isn’t so bad,” Hermione said. “I’m sure not every woman thinks so.”

She certainly didn’t think he was ugly. In fact, she thought he was, if not handsome, definitely appealing. To her surprise, she found herself irrationally angry at the idea of other women finding him attractive.

“Every woman with decent vision thinks so,” Ron laughed. “Either that, or the woman is as ugly as he is.”

Anger bloomed inside of Hermione, but she didn’t let it show.

Knowing that she might snap and reveal her deepest, darkest secret, she decided to change the subject. “So tell me,” she said. “What made you change your mind about yesterday so easily?”

“Yesterday?” Ron questioned, clueless.

“About the letter,” she clarified.

“Oh, well I thought about it, and decided that you didn’t have to tell me if you didn’t want to,” he said.

“I’m glad you’ve learned to respect-”

“So I flooed Fred and George and asked them,” Ron told her.

There was a moment of silence as Hermione let that sink in.

“What?” she asked.

“I asked Fred and George what was in the letter,” he told her, oblivious to his asinine mistake. “But the stupid weasels wouldn’t tell me! They told me to nose out! Can you believe that?”

He looked at Hermione as if she would agree with him.

Instead, she leapt up and shouted, “You asked them?! After I specifically told you that it was private!”

Ron looked shocked. “Why are you so angry? I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said stupidly.

“Merlin, how could anyone, even you, be this damn stupid!” she shouted. “You obviously think you have the right to nose into every aspect of my life, but you don’t. I’ll be seeing you around, Ron!”

She stormed off, leaving a very confused Ron behind.

The urge to do something reckless was back, so she headed towards the dungeons. She froze when she saw Professor Snape walking funny towards the hospital wing. She smiled inwardly as she realized he must have sat in his chair.

“Good Morning, Professor Snape,” she greeted cordially.

“It most certainly is not, Miss Granger,” he spat. “It is raining harshly, and apparently you dunderhead students have no respect for anyone!”

“If you say so, sir,” she said simply, and continued off as if she were heading down the corridor.

When he was out of sight, she ran down the stairs towards the dungeons.

She reached his classroom, and looked around. Spotting the door to his office, she headed towards it and broke the seal with her wand. When she was inside, she noticed his private store cupboard. Hermione opened the doors and noticed that all the ingredients were labeled on the shelves, not the bottles. Smirking, she began mixing up the ingredients. She made sure to put similar looking ingredients in the others place.

When she was done, she closed the door and started to walk towards the door, until it began to creak.

‘Crap!’ she thought, and slid under Snape’s desk.

Hermione began to panic when she saw Snape’s legs come around his desk. His toes, thankfully, were facing the opposite direction. He appeared to be looking for something on the windowsill.

While he searched, Hermione watched his legs, partially in fear, but also with fascination. She had never noticed how muscular and firm his backside looked before.

‘Merlin, am I checking him out?! Gross!’ she berated herself mentally.

His legs moved out of her sight, and she heard the door close.

As soon as she was sure he was far enough away, she bolted out of there and didn't look back.

But this rush was the strongest one yet!

~~~

To say Severus Snape was angry was a serious understatement.

He lay on his stomach in the hospital wing bed because it was too uncomfortable on his back. Madam Pomfrey was busy fetching a medicine that would remove the horrible marks from his backside. Etched painfully and clearly in his skin were the words ‘Serves You Right.’

So some student or staff member had decided to get some supposed revenge on him, eh? Fine. That person had better hope he never found out who they were, because he was going to show them the meaning of the word ‘revenge.’ If that person thought he was just going to report this to Dumbledore, they had better think again. He planned to devise the worst vengeance he could possibly could, and exact it on them in the most brutal way.

This was by far the most humiliating indignity that he had ever endured, including all the nonsense he’d suffered at the hands of James Potter and his pitiful friends. Never in his life had he felt as hateful as he did now. Oh, someone was going to pay for this, no matter what the cost!

The curtain that was keeping anyone from looking at his bare butt was pulled slightly back as Madam Pomfrey walked in. She quickly closed it back. Severus noticed that she had returned with a jar in her hands. She opened it, revealing a greenish yellow paste.

“Alright Severus, I need you to hold still while I apply this to the marks-” she started, but was interrupted.

“I shall apply it myself, if you don’t mind,” he snapped.

“Severus, you have no reason to be concerned,” she said, looking annoyed.

“I know, as you are not a sixteenth of the wizard that I am,” he said, at which she gasped angrily. “Still, I prefer to touch my own ass rather than you if I am capable, which I happen to be at this time.”

“I am the school nurse, I am supposed to treat my patients,” she persisted.

Severus tried to think of a way to coax her into allowing him to treat the boils himself. Truly, he knew it was probably a bit ridiculous, but really, he felt he had taken all the humiliation he could handle for awhile. He was not about to let her start caressing his behind, too.

“I don’t like people playing with my ass, Poppy,” he yelled.

“Playing with your ass? Be reasonable, it’s not as if I am going to molest you,” she scoffed. “Really! There is no reason for you to be so difficult!”

He smirked mentally as an idea entered his mind. It might just work.

“You seem rather eager to get your hands on me, perhaps I should be worried,” he muttered rudely.

His mental smirk widened as he saw her eyes flash at his insinuation.

“Professor, I assure you there is no part of a body that I have not touched in the course of my work,” she assured him impatiently.

“Clearly,” he said sarcastically. “It seems that you seem happy when those patients ‘force’ you to put your hands on their persons. Perhaps Albus should be calling in someone to investigate our resident medical caregiver for the safety of the students.”

“I would never inappropriately touch a student!” she shouted with indignation.

“So it’s just the staff, then,” he smirked. “In that case, sexual harassment would be applicable.”

“Why would anyone sexually harass you?” she asked coldly.

“A question best answered by you,” he told her.

“I assure you, I just want to help you,” she said as if talking to a two year old. “It needs to be applied in a certain way-”

“Excuses,” he said, knowing she would give in eventually.

“Severus, I realize you are just doing this so that I will let you apply the cream, and normally I would oblige, but if this is not applied precisely right-”

“I don’t care, just give me the damn paste!” he shouted angrily. He was not taking anyone’s garbage today.

“Fine,” she said through pursed lips, and walked off muttering about speaking to Albus about unnecessary rudeness.

Snape began to apply the cream to the words on his backside, wincing at its sting. Oh yes, someone was going to pay for this. Horribly, if he could help it.

“Severus?” a voice called from the other side of the curtain.

“I’d prefer some privacy at the moment, Albus,” he called curtly. “Couldn’t we discuss this later?”

“I thought perhaps you would be interested to know that something similar to this has happened recently,” Dumbledore told him.

Dumbledore smirked as he heard a muttered curse as a pair of pants were hastily pulled up and zipped. Snape pulled the curtain back and stepped out.

“Something similar?” he asked.

“Yes, Mr. Longbottom was brought in yesterday morning with for bubotuber pus contact with the skin,” Dumbledore informed him.

“Who did he say did it?” Snape demanded.

Both Dumbledore and Snape looked at the nurse.

“He refused to name them,” Madam Pomfrey said in irritation.

“What?” Snape burst out.

“He told me he didn’t want to get his housemates in trouble and that it was all in fun,” she told them.

“Housemates?” Dumbledore repeated.

And just like that, Severus was twice as livid. “A GRYFFINDOR?!” he roared.

“Not in my infirmary, Professor Snape!” Madam Pomfrey yelled.

Severus looked as if he were about to start throwing things, but quieted down.

“As it seems that this was not just in-house fun, I have no choice but to mount an investigation into the matter,” Dumbledore said.

“I want to be in charge of the investigation,” Severus said quickly.

Dumbledore considered him for a moment, but decided to grant his request. “Very well, Severus,” he agreed. “Inform me of your progress. Now, I must depart.”

And with that, he swept off to his office.

“I’m well enough to return to my quarters, Poppy,” Severus told her.

“I really should keep you here until the mark completely fades,” she argued.

“Shall I inform the headmaster that you coerced me into staying so you could attempt to-”

“Very well,” she snapped, and walked away from him.

Smirking, he strode out with every intention of interviewing Mr. Longbottom.

Suddenly, he remembered that he had simply walked into his office before coming down to the infirmary. He hadn’t even thought about it because he was rushing to get his wand, which he had left on the window sill.

‘That means someone was in there!’ he thought. ‘Fuck!’

He ran back down to the dungeons, hoping his personal stores had not been plundered.

~~~

Chapter 5 shall be up soon. Sorry this was so short, the next will be longer.