Once again, she failed to rise to his baited comments. No matter how nasty or snide he was, she just smiled and made some polite remark, as if she had feathers between her ears, instead of acting like the fiery, semi-intelligent witch that he grudgingly admitted she was. It was incredibly boring, especially in the tedious setting of his forced attendance at yet another ministry sponsored event.
He had enough, and proceeded to tell her so. "Miss Granger, your insipidness is annoying."
"I know," she smiled indulgently. Not at all the response he was expected from the rather irritating young witch. "Haven't you figured it out, yet?" She cocked her head to the side, inquiringly, and he wondered what she was on about. "That's why I do it. Why waste my energy trying to hold an actual conversation, when you are just going to belittle and mock me, when I can skip right over that and irritate you just by being polite. There are few amusements in my life these days. Like you, I take my small pleasures where I can find them.
"You've spent years telling me exactly how ugly, stupid, annoying, and socially backwards that I am. Why should I voluntarily subject myself to more of the same? Annoying you is just a bonus."
"How terribly sad your life is." Severus' face reflected his disgust, and he barely refrained from rather obviously rolling his eyes. "What? Am I supposed to pity you?"
"Of course not," Hermione chuckled wryly. "That would be awfully ironic after all. Don't you think?"
Severus stood agape for a few moments, fury building in him, and then stalked away. How dare that impertinent know-it-all... There would be other functions that they were forced to attend, and he would get the best of her yet.