the marriage stone (Discontinued)

Chapter 44 To Sleep

By dinner that evening Harry had almost resigned himself to the stares he was receiving from all his classmates. After all, this wasn't the first time he'd been subjected to the same. And the truth was, unlike previous times, people were actually hesitant to approach him and directly ask him any questions. But there was one phenomenon that he just did not understand - one that was actually a new experience for him. The giggling!

Throughout the Great Hall there were clusters of girls who were watching him, whispering amongst themselves, and then giggling. It was starting to drive him batty. When a group of Hufflepuffs directly behind him started giggling, he couldn't take it any more. He leaned across the table toward Hermione to get her attention. "What in Merlin's name is the giggling all about?" he whispered. "What's gotten into all of them?"

Ron, Dean, Seamus and Neville leaned in to hear Hermione's answer, especially when they noticed that Hermione actually blushed before responding. "Oh, don't worry about it, Harry," she replied rather nonchalantly. "It's just a. . .change of perspective."

"A change of perspective?" Harry repeated, not understanding at all. He looked at the other guys, but they all just shrugged their shoulders, equally baffled.

Hermione sighed and reached into her bag to pull out her copy of the Daily Prophet. She put it down on the table and pointed to the picture on the front page - it was the same picture that Harry had seen that morning: Harry, Remus, Severus and Alrik walking into the Great Hall.

"What about it?" he demanded, not understanding why the picture could prompt the giggling. It certainly wasn't the most risque picture ever taken of him - Witch Weekly had printed several pictures of him without his shirt on last year. Apparently someone managed to snap a few photos while he was changing before a Quidditch game.

Hermione's cheeks flushed. "It's the leather, Harry."

All five of the guys looked at her as if she'd gone mad. Harry looked down at the picture again, still not understanding.

"Why don't I have any girl-friends?" Hermione moaned to herself. "Look, Harry, most people are used to you looking rather. . .heroic, shall we say. And may I comment that the lack of glasses has gone over really well amongst your adoring public."

"They're giggling because I don't wear glasses any more?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"No," Hermione shook her head. "Actually this is less about you and more about Professor Snape."

"Snape?" Ron and Neville exclaimed in one voice. Seamus began choking on the pumpkin juice he'd just swallowed and Dean pounded helpfully on his back.

"Well," Hermione squirmed a bit in her seat. "Look Harry, when you first married Professor Snape everyone was looking at the two of you and thinking what on earth did you see in him. Now, they all think they've figured it out - they've had a change of perspective."

Still getting nothing but blank looks she pointed again to the picture. "Oh, come on, I mean the Viking is like - you know, wow! And everyone had a crush on Professor Lupin. But Snape always wears those black billowing teaching robes, and now here he is in leather. And boots. And a sword." Her cheeks flushed a deeper red, a rather predatory smile crossing her face. "I mean I'm not saying he's like handsome or anything. . .I'm just saying he's like. . . you know. . . hot."

"You think Snape is hot?" Ron's blue eyes were filled with disbelief, and no little bit of jealousy. He grabbed the paper to take a closer look at it, Seamus and Dean looking over his shoulder. Neville just looked disturbed.

Harry sat there stunned, his mouth open in shock. "Are you saying that everyone is giggling because they all used to think I married him for his money, and now they all think I married him for his body?"