I’ve seen Cursed Child a few times now, mostly because I’ve been snatching up cheap tickets whenever I see them. The plot still isn’t my favorite, but I really enjoy watching the show.
The one thing that I’m currently the most surprised by is how much I now ship the alternate timeline Snape and Hermione.
In the universe where Harry died and Voldemort conquered everyone, only Hermione, Ron, and Snape are left alive as the lone members of the resistance. Over the years, every other member of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore’s Army has been killed off. Hermione and Ron, in fact, have been reduced to hiding, changing locations every so often. When Scorpius meets them, they are hiding in a room in the roots of the Whomping Willow. At one point, Hermione even admits she hasn’t been outside in a long while.
But despite all this gloom and doom, one of the first thing Snape does when he and Scorpius see Hermione is to tease her.
It’s difficult to tell the tone from the script alone, but the actors exchange these lines as friendly banter, as two friends who’ve known each other for years but are weary and battered from the world around them. They are no longer student and teacher, but they fall back on old, familiar ways of thinking of each other in their teasing. It shows they have a history together, but they’re not enemies or overly antagonistic toward each other.
Snape even jokes about Hermione being more “wanted” than Ron.
Even if this is Snape referring to how society considers her more of a threat than Ron, it’s likely more than that. Snape could have said nothing or made fun of Hermione in addition to or instead of Ron. Instead, he pokes fun at Ron only when both she and Ron are present.
Now, let’s take a look about how these three characters refer to each other.
Early on, Hermione states:
Most people don’t call her Hermione, but instead know her by her last name. We see this play out over the next few scenes. However, what’s peculiar is that Snape uses her first name.
And half the time she, in turn, calls him “Severus,” particularly here after he shows concern for her.
Especially when they’re in a somewhat…tender moment when she’s trying to offer him comfort after Scorpius admits that in the other timeline Snape is dead by Voldemort’s hand.
And again, Snape makes a joke at Ron’s expense. After taking comfort from Hermione’s sympathy, of course.
Snape, in fact, also calls Ron by his first name.
Ron, on the other hand, usually calls Hermione “Granger” and Snape “Snape.”
And Hermione calls him “Weasley” half the time.
In other words, Snape tends to use Ron and Hermione’s first names, and while Ron does not call Snape “Severus,” Hermione does. Hermione and Severus does not always use each other’s first names, but they do so more often with each other than they do with Ron (or he with them).
All in all, Snape and Hermione have a special connection, seen by the way they use each other’s first name, but also by how they comfort each other.
Onstage, their acting emphasizes their connection even more. Often Hermione (Noma Dumezweni) and Snape (Byron Jennings) angle their bodies so they only face each other, ignoring Ron who is also in the room and standing as a third point (positioned slightly upstage behind the two) in their triangle.
A few times, Hermione and Snape even lay a hand or arm on each other when they’re trying to offer comfort or make a point. Although taken alone these gestures are not that significant, when combined with everything else mentioned here, they are rather telling of the type of relationship Snape and Hermione have. In fact, everything here also made the later kiss between Hermione and Ron (and their admission of love for each other) to be somewhat awkward and unexpected in this reality.
At the very least, we can say that Snape and Hermione are closer than Snape and Ron. In addition, she and Severus have moved past their school days, while Ron is stuck a tiny bit in the past with his attitude toward Snape. If Hermione and Snape are not romantically involved in this alternate timeline, then it is very likely they would have become so with enough time.
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