Quote from CharlotteRhea on March 10, 2024, 8:32 pm

I know, this sounds bland but: their dynamic. And I mean their dynamic in all stages of their relationship.

That he couldn't stand her as his student up to the point he mocked her with his 'I see no difference' comment while Hermione has rarely ever critisised him. Harry and Ron were always complaining about Snape and never trusted him one bit but Hermione? She rarely ever engaged in their rants and rarely ever uttered any form of mistrust, on the contrary: she normally defended him. That's an interesting dynamic, isn't it? One could think Hermione understood pretty early that Severus wasn't as free to act as he would have liked...

And although I'm not that fond of 'Cursed Child', there are two aspects of that book/play that stood out to me: Hermione virtually becoming Snape 2.0 in a world in which she and Ron did not end up together, and Severus being peculiarly familiar with Hermione to a point where I first thought they were a couple in that vers. I know, the whole story is a mess but it is kind of canon? And it hints at 1. Hermione's mind working in a similar way as Severus's (hence her development in a world in which she had her heart broken), and 2. they probably getting along quite well when Hermione isn't his student anymore and has some time to mature and grow up. Granted, I'm perceiving this through the lens of a Snamione shipper but still... 😆

Sadly, that's the point where I have to leave canon and can only talk about how I envision their relationship to develop/be.

But after - usually - Hermione gets confronted with some aspect of Severus that wouldn't leave her alone anymore, I really enjoy her persistence in getting it into his head that she likes him. That she likes to be around him, that she wants to get to know him and that no, she isn't misguided about who he is. She knows he a supreme arsehole at times and no, that's nothing she particularly enjoys about him but he's more than that. And even if he refuses to acknowledge that, she won't and she will see to him understanding that.

Really, Severus deserves someone like her. Someone as loyal as her and as adamant to love when she decides someone is worth it. She would defend all of her loved ones like the lioness she is and that is exactly the kind of person I want Severus to have in his life, whether as a romantic partner or as a friend. She is stubborn and brave, ruthless when she has to be and I'd say she loves just as fiercely as he does. When they love, they love forever, both of them.

(That's, btw, the reason why I don't see her and Ron drifting apart for long even when they break up. Hermione won't let that happen, he's been her friend before he became her partner and she won't let him ever be anything less than that. So Ron-bashing is something that lets me nope out of a story pretty quickly. ^^)

And apart from her loving so fiercely, Hermione is also someone who grew up in a healthy environment. There is nothing in the books hinting at her parents being anything but encouraging of her and her goals and I'm sure when Hermione gets to know the extent of Severus' self-loathing, she will make it her personal goal to shower him with love until he stops thinking any less of himself than he is. She is the kind of person to read through myriads of books to figure out how to support him because that stubborn git won't seek out a therapist, and she's clever enough to support him in a way he doesn't really notice because he wouldn't tolerate that either. But when he looks back at some point, he will notice how she helped him and I'm sure he will be grateful - maybe silently, maybe openly, who knows?

But not only will Hermione support Severus, he will support her as well. Whatever goal she sets her mind on, he will encourage her to strive for it. The way he talks about the dunderheads he has to teach, I'm sure he has a thing for intelligent people (or fierce brave Gryffindors who won't put up with his shite in general - only that Hermione meets him at a time she can realistically expect him to do better because he's no longer in such a dependant position as he was during his school days).
They would have such a good time battling their minds - although Severus would never let her forget that she's pants at Chess and needed the better part of seven years to learn how to actually think and not only regurgitate book knowledge.
And she would remind him that he was pants at teaching and that she probably would have learned her lesson earlier if he hadn't gone on calling her an insufferable know-it-all instead of... you know, teaching her. 😂

So, yeah... That's what I like best about them. They can be a healthy and supportive couple but they wouldn't put up with each other's shite and have the most hilarious banters that they then resolve in bed.
And at the same time, you can have them ruin each other as well. Hermione shows the same tendencies of going down a self-destructive path that he has when she's only hurt enough so you can make the most delicious heart-breaking mess out of them, you can let them crash and burn (and still circle back to a happy end if you want). They know how to hurt one another the most and given the right circumstances, they would do it because they both have the necessary ruthlessness.
They are just amazing to toy around with, so much fun to write and just never get boring because there are so many layers to explore. My muse goes hog-wild with them, I can't do anything about it. 😂