A Looping of the Scales - Chapter 1 to 20 - Harry Potter FanFic.net

A Looping of the Scales - Chapter 61 to 80 - Harry Potter FanFic.net

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http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5061224/1/A_Looping_of_the_Scales

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Chapter 61 to 80

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Chapter 61: Clandestine thoughts and acts

"No, Harry."

"Oh, come on, Ginny."

"No! Hermione said she didn't want anyone there, Harry. You should respect her wishes," Ginny told him, her arms folded as she scowled at him. They were sitting on a bench in a corridor on the first floor. Harry was trying to convince Ginny to come with him to watch the duel.

"But Ginny, aren't you the least bit curious to see who wins?" Harry asked her.

"Of course I am, but they'll tell us afterwards, Harry. You really shouldn't spy."

"It's in my nature to spy, Ginny. You know that."

"Well, I'll have nothing to do with it, Harry. And if Hermione turns you into something small and wriggly, it'll serve you right," Ginny said.

"They won't even know I'm there. The room will hide me," Harry said confidently.

"If you can even find the room."

"I'll find it, or, as badly as I want to see that duel, it will find me. I'm sure of it," the boy who lived declared. Ginny sighed.

"You still don't listen to people, Harry," she said, shaking her head.

Harry, who had been imagining the sparks flying between Snape and Hermione blinked at Ginny and said, "What?"

"I rest my case," Ginny hissed, standing up and walking away from him angrily.

"What?" Harry called after her, rising himself and following.

"What did I do?"

Hermione spent the first half of her day putting together her written Muggle Studies presentation for her NEWTs. Since she was Muggle-born and understood nuances that witches and wizards raised in the wizarding world didn't grasp, her success would be a no-brainer. Weighing in at two hundred and twenty-five pages of research, she was absolutely sure she'd get an Outstanding, especially combined with the written test.

When she was satisfied with the finished product for Muggle Studies, Hermione took out her sketches of Severus and did a bit of inking on the best ones, cleaning them up. Her sketch work wasn't perfect but it was definitely passable. Hagrid had been a very patient instructor. She planned to use the gryffin sketches for both NEWTs. She had checked carefully and there was no rule against submitting similar presentations although the focus would be slightly different. Snape's form was so rare in the magical world as a real animal, that an Animagus form would do nicely.

She studied a drawing of Snape as a wizard pre-transformation. She stared at his eyes, looking straight back at her. Even in the sketch, they made her feel as if they could see inside of her. She carefully inked the sketch, focusing so she didn't make any mistakes. She set it down to dry, cocking her head at it.

She never imagined that she would be in this position with the former Potions master. How could she have ever imagined it? But here she was, sleeping with him—and liking it. She didn't dare think she loved it, because that would be too close to admitting she loved him. Love was a word she didn't have time for, not in that sense.

Her nostrils flared a bit as she thought about Snape asking her if she would be jealous if another witch wanted to shag him. Well, how would he expect her to feel? Having sex was a very intimate act after all and a person should only have one partner at a time, even if they weren't "technically" together. Each should still respect the other's feelings, right? It had nothing to do with being jealous really. No, not at all.

It was just—just good Quidditch to keep the partners down to one. Besides, there were all kinds of STDs out there, and one never knew what they were getting into when they started sleeping around. No, she wouldn't be jealous. She would just expect him to give any witch who wanted to play mattress-tag, a resounding NO. For both of their protection.

Having satisfactorily rationalized away her still obvious feelings of jealousy and possessiveness for Severus Snape, Hermione next set about plotting for the duel. The rules would have to be laid out plainly and she thought it would be best if the spells could only be used once, just like during the review. This way each person's skill and knowledge would be tested.

Pain would probably be involved. It always was in a good duel. Hermione had no doubt that Severus would cast a painful hex at her in a second, and he could count on her returning the favor sevenfold. Tonight was not the time to go soft. Besides, he was such an arrogant git every time he mentioned the duel.

Hermione growled a little at the thought of his smug, pale face, smirking at her loftily.

Let's see how smug and arrogant he'd be with the seat of his trousers on fire. She knew a pretty good spell that replicated a person being kicked in the arse. That would come in handy, too. Not every spell had to be crippling. Humiliating could work, too.

Hermione was very excited, but she knew she had to watch for Harry. He'd taken her "no" too easily. He'd definitely be lurking around. She'd keep an eye out for knee-high shimmers. Harry's cloak didn't cover him fully and even though Disillusionment wasn't allowed inside Hogwarts, that would make no difference to Harry. Not when he wanted something.

Hermione didn't worry the least bit about Ron, he was so smarmy over Susan. She would see them in the halls between classes, Ron with his arm around her waist, escorting her everywhere, being fed tidbits from her fingertips and trying to steal kisses all the time.

It was rather nauseating, and she'd zip by them quickly every time they popped into view.

And it had NOTHING to do with jealousy. She did feel a bit out of sorts when Ron declared his affection for Susan publicly, but that was just a bit of residual feeling for what they were trying to have, not what they actually had.

If this constant adulation and attention was the kind of relationship Ron really wanted with a witch, he was welcome to it. Hermione could never have dealt with a Ron so head over heels in love or lust. She was just glad their relationship hadn't been that way, or it couldn't have lasted as long as it did. It was like he was a male version of Lavender with Susan.

Brrrr.

Hermione shuddered a little, then found even ground by thinking about Severus. She couldn't ever see him acting as goofy as Ron. He was solicitous, sneaky and seductive with his affections. Hermione imagined he wouldn't show the world his hand, just the object of his desire.

Which, incidentally, was her. Hermione felt a bit of warmth flow over her again, and once again it wasn't a sexual pulse, but something from the heart, just as intense and thrilling. Something she was fighting hard not to recognize. Not now. Now wasn't the time for it.

She didn't know if there would ever be a time for it.

Snape spent much of his day reading spell books. Not that he was learning new spells. He was good, but not that good. It required time to learn how to cast an unfamiliar spell, more than a few hours at any rate.

But he was reading the books because completely different spells might be utilized in an unexpected manner, so he was comparing and considering the possibilities. As much as he teased Hermione, he knew she could be dangerous and might actually manage to get the best of him if he wasn't on point. He seemed dismissive of her, but that was a ploy to keep her angry and wanting to prove herself.

In other words, he was keeping her emotions high and her logic low. Anger could make anyone misstep. Cool heads prevailed when dueling, although Snape could hardly claim to be a cool-headed duelist. Most of the time he was raging when he battled the Marauders and his ferocity actually helped him much of the time. They rarely ever faced him one on one, and when they did, either he got the best of his opponent, or it was a draw of sorts with no clear winner.

Snape slowly closed the book he was reading as he thought about James and his friends. Cowards. The whole lot of them. Like a pack of—of jackals, running up when they smelled blood and helplessness.

Rarely did Snape lose in a fair duel—but that didn't matter. What mattered was he was being constantly attacked in the first place.

The wizard's brow furrowed as his old hatred flared up again. They were all dead, but still he despised them deeply.

"I won't think of them," he muttered, turning his thoughts back to Hermione carnally. That always served to take his mind off of unpleasant things. He smirked a bit at how he backed her into a corner with his question about her being jealous.

He already knew the answer to that. If she were that covetous about his books, how much more covetous would she be about him when they did what they did together? As goal-oriented as she was, Hermione was a very passionate witch about everything she involved herself in, and she considered everything she involved herself in a part of her personal little kingdom, whether she recognized that fact or not.

And Snape was the Queen's consort.

Snape smiled as he imagined Hermione imperiously ordering Lisa's head chopped off for her audacity in approaching him. If Snape had been any other wizard, he might have considered pretending to be interested in another witch in order to get a rise out of Hermione or possibly force her to admit she wanted a closer relationship.

But Snape was not the kind of wizard to play with another's emotions that way. He knew what it was like to be led on, and he would never lead anyone on, unless it was of clear benefit. So many things could go wrong with such a scenario that it wasn't worth taking the chance. His best chance to get Hermione to recognize there was more than just casual sex going on between would be to actually address it while they were intimately involved, or during sex. Possibly pound it out of her.

That was a delicious thought, although Hermione had no problem telling him to ease off if he became too passionate. Usually she loved it, but there had been one or two times she pushed him off of her and took over herself so she could "moderate" the "activity."

Snape shook his head. She'd actually said that while climbing on top of him and sliding over his cock. Hermione was not only sexy and passionate, but funny as hell. Funnier still because she didn't know it.

Snape smiled and looked up at the time. It was going on five o'clock.

Only two more hours before Hermione would arrive. Then they could go to the place he had picked out.

If he won, he planned to claim his prize right then and there. How was that for spontaneous, Miss Granger?

"Where's Harry?" Ron asked Ginny as he shoveled food into his mouth. He tried not to pay any attention at all to Susan, who was eating her meal slowly. Soon, they'd be in private together.

Ginny shrugged, frowning a little.

"He said he had something to do," Ginny said, her voice irritated. She couldn't believe Harry was going to disregard Hermione wishes. But, then again, she really could believe it.

This was Harry, and Harry pretty much did what Harry wanted to do despite anyone's wishes, which was why he was also known as "the boy who almost died a few hundred times" between Ginny and Ron. It was an exaggeration, but not by much.

Now he was at it again. Ginny almost hoped a ricocheting spell would get him. It would serve him right for being so nosy.

"What are your plans for tonight, Ron?" his sister asked him.

Ron pressed his hand to his head.

"Susan told me I felt warm and probably have a bit of a fever. I'm going to go lie down and rest. Call it an early evening. Susan has some house stuff she needs to do, so she's going to be busy. I might as well get a little extra rest."

"Sounds good," Ginny replied as Susan got up and left the Great Hall. Ron remained seated as if he hadn't noticed. He played it off quite well, waiting for some other students to leave before rising and exiting the hall as well.

The deception appeared to have worked.

"All right, here's what I need," Harry said to the empty Room of Requirement. He had learned from Neville that the room had the ability to produce what you asked for if you did it clearly. So, he was taking no chances on missing a thing.

"When they enter, I need to be hidden but in a place where I can see and hear all the action and not be discovered. I want to be able to hear them, but I don't want them to hear me if I get too excited and yell something. I want to be completely undetectable and want to leave after they finish. Is that clear?"

Of course, there was no answer from the Room. Harry blinked around at it.

"I hope so. Hermione will be furious if she finds me here," Harry said. Suddenly, Harry found himself encased inside a wardrobe as a setting fuzzed in. He could see clearly out of the front of it as if there were no front. A king-sized bed appeared. It was covered in rose petals. This was followed by the winking in of floating candles which gave the room a warm romantic glow. Soft, sexy music started to play from nowhere.

"What? What is this?" Harry hissed.

Suddenly the wall opened and in walked Susan, who looked around the room with a pleased smile.

"Shit!" Harry hissed as Susan seemed to look right at him, but her brown eyes shifted away as she checked the firmness of the mattress. She didn't see him.

"Oh, bloody hell, I've got to get out of here. I can explain to Susan that I thought Hermione and Snape would be in here."

He tried to walk out of the wardrobe but found he couldn't.

"Hey! Let me out!" he cried to the room.

Susan didn't hear a peep.

"ROR. I command you to release me!" Harry yelled, not caring whether or not Susan heard him.

A sentence appeared in front of him, glowing slightly as it floated in mid-air.

"I want to be completely undetectable and want to leave after they leave."

"I meant Snape and Hermione, not Ron and Susan," Harry yelled desperately, but the words just faded and he was stuck in place.

"Oh no," he groaned as Ron entered the room, looked at Susan standing by the bed and practically tackled her, taking her down to the mattress. She giggled as he tore at her robes, pulling them open and staring down at her large blouse-encased breasts.

"Oh, I can't wait to put my head between those and just-just drown in titties, Susan. Your body is—is awesome, he breathed, falling forward and kissing her hungrily.

"Oh no . . . no," Harry groaned, covering his eyes, but he could still hear them, Ron commenting on Susan's fat juicy arse and thick, yummy thighs as they stripped quickly, ready for action.

There were some kissing noises, then silence for a moment. Harry peeked between his fingers long enough to see Susan on her knees in the bed, arse up and Ron on his knees behind her. They were both naked, and Ron plunged his face between her arse cheeks with a growl.

"Oooh, Ron!" Susan moaned, "Eat it, Ron—ooh. Yes! Eat it!"

"Oh—oh gods. Stun me! Obliviate me! Something!" Harry pleaded with the room, completely squicked at the moaning, sucking and licking going on out there. And then, then the scent hit him.

The smell of arousal is wonderful if you're the one aroused, but if you aren't—it's not a very nice scent coming off of someone else. It smelled musky—animal musky. Like sweat, pussy and male leakage. Again, that's only nice when its, well, you and your partner are the ones giving off the scent.

Harry turned a little green as slurping noises filled the room, very wet slurping noises and Ron's groans of pleasure, followed by some choking, gagging noises

Well, one thing was certainly clear during the couple's frenzied foreplay, and that was whatever caution Ron had with Hermione, he'd thrown completely out the window with Susan. And Harry was there to witness the depths of his best mate's lust and adventurousness.

"Why oh why didn't I listen to Ginny?" he moaned sliding down to a sitting position, his face in his hand as Ron exclaimed enthusiastically, "Come on, Susan. Sit on my face!"

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Chapter 62: The duel

At seven o'clock sharp, Hermione knocked on Snape's door. It was immediately opened and Snape stood there, looking down at her. She was dressed in traditional robes, her hair pulled back into a bun.

"Right on time," Snape said softly, leaning in to kiss her.

Hermione jerked back with a frown.

"Don't you try to disarm me, Severus Snape. No kisses. I have to stay focused on blasting you out of your robes," she told him.

Snape quirked an eyebrow.

"If you wanted me out of my robes, Hermione, you certainly wouldn't have to blast them off of me," he purred at her.

Hermione colored.

"Stop being—being seductive, Severus! It isn't the time for it!"

Hermione spun and started walking up the dungeon corridor. Snape warded the office door and followed her, thinking there was always time to be seductive. He caught up to her and Hermione noticed he wore a black satchel.

"What is that?" she asked him.

Snape looked down at the bag and patted it.

"Healing potion, pain potions, two extra sets of robes, some herbs for poultices, things of that nature. Just in case we need them," he replied.

"In case you need them," Hermione huffed. She was trying to stay in aggressive dueling mode.

Snape didn't respond as they exited the dungeons.

"Wait," Hermione said, stopping. She looked around carefully.

"What are you doing?" Snape asked her, looking around too.

"Looking for Harry. He's going to try to watch us duel. I know him," Hermione replied, frowning as she looked for knee-high shimmers.

"Potter is probably hiding out in the ROR waiting for us," Snape said. "I implied that's where we'd be dueling. But, it isn't. We're going someplace else."

Hermione smiled at him then. Harry was definitely in the ROR. Well, he wouldn't be seeing any dueling action tonight, that's for sure.

Harry might not see any dueling action between Snape and Hermione, but he was getting a very large dose of Ron and Susan action.

"All right, let's go then," Hermione said, heading for the double doors. Snape followed.

Once they were outside, Snape handed Hermione the satchel and watched as she slipped it on. Then he transformed into the gryffin, crouching slightly so Hermione could mount him. A number of students greeted them, a few looking at Hermione enviously as she sat on the gorgeous animal. No one had the nerve to ask Snape for a ride. Good thing too. His reply would have been scathing. Only Hermione rode him—and vice versa.

Snape took off at a trot across the grounds, then leapt into the air, flying strongly upward into the darkening sky.

"Where are we going?" Hermione called over the wind.

Snape screeched, then banked, turning toward the Forbidden forest and flying over it.

"If we were going to the forest, why didn't we just go there? Don't tell me you were just showing off for the other students, Severus. Really. Your ego is huge," Hermione sniffed at him.

In response, Snape folded his wings and went into a dive that had Hermione screaming at the top of her lungs before he neatly pulled up and landed safely in the clearing. Hermione leapt off him furiously, pulled off the satchel and starting swinging it at the gryffin.

"You nearly scared me to death!" she yelled as the gryffin ducked and dodged the swinging bag, snapping its beak at the witch in irritation before transforming into Snape, catching the strap of the bag and pulling it out of her hands.

"The reason I took a round about route was so no one would see us entering the forest," he told the irate witch.

"And the dive?" she snapped at him.

Snape shrugged.

"You pissed me off," he said simply.

"Pissed you off? I'll piss you off, all right!" Hermione screeched at him as she pulled out her wand. Snape dropped the satchel and dove aside as she tried to Stupefy him and ran behind a tree, pulling out his own wand.

"Hermione! We haven't set the rules yet!" he called from the other side of the tree. He stuck his face out to see if she'd heard him and nearly was hit by a Reducto spell that blasted a large piece of bark out of the tree. He jerked his head back just in time.

"It's supposed to be structured!" Snape yelled at her. "We can't just haphazardly—"

Snape suddenly smelled Hermione and jumped away from the tree just as several ropes whipped around it. Hermione appeared from between the trees, her eyes narrowed and wand held ready to block.

"Fine," Snape growled. "No rules then, you little—hellcat! Levicorpus!"

Hermione blocked the spell, ran back through the trees and Disillusioned herself. Snape did likewise. Their shimmers would be visible but the trees and waning light would help hide them.

But Snape had the advantage because of his sense of smell. He cautiously entered the trees. Hermione saw his shimmer from her vantage point.

"Finite Incantatum!" Hermione hissed, making him appear again "Furnunculus!"

Snape barely managed to block the boil spell and fired back, not aiming at the witch's shimmer but the tree next to her.

"Arbor Animus!" he snarled and the tree's closest branches suddenly grabbed Hermione, dragging her upward. Her Disillusionment spell ended as she struggled for a moment.

"Sectumsempra!" she yelled, slicing through the thick main branch and dropping to the ground and landing in a crouch. .

"Expelliarmus!" she shouted, blasting Snape, who only managed to partially block the quickly thrown spell and staggered back through the trees.

"Accio Hermione Granger!" he hissed and Hermione was drawn forward, then became airborne, flying toward the wizard.

"Avis!" Hermione cried, sending a huge flock of birds at him. Snape wasn't expecting that and tried to protect his face as the birds flew at him, then he was knocked to the ground, Hermione crashing into and landing on top of him.

Desperately, he grabbed her wand hand and she grabbed his. They began to roll around on the ground, Hermione's determination increasing her adrenaline so she had an iron grip on his wand hand. Snape was surprised he couldn't easily overpower her. She wrapped her legs around his and locked them together. Presently they both stopped fighting, panting and still holding on to each other's wand hands.

"Now, this is interesting," Snape panted at her.

"Hardly," Hermione breathed back at him. They were laying on their sides, facing each other, Hermione's legs firmly wrapped around Snape's and crossed at the ankles. "We can't lie here like this forever."

"I could," Snape said with a smile. He tried to kiss her and Hermione yanked her head back for the second time of the night.

"No kissing! Now, let's just let go of each other and get up," she instructed. "No hexing until we can put a bit of distance between us. Agreed?"

"All right," Snape replied.

Hermione gingerly released his legs and slid back, still holding his wand hand. They both let go at the same time and jumped up, wands pointed at each other's chest.

They began to back up slowly, then both flicked their wands at the same time, light flashing from the tips and colliding. They took this opportunity to each dash for the trees again.

"Hiding's not going to help you, Severus!" Hermione called out.

"I notice you aren't standing in the middle of the clearing," Snape called back with a grin.

"I'm not afraid," Hermione called back. Snape's eyes widened as the witch walked into the middle of the clearing. He could hardly see her because night was falling. They'd have to make bonfires soon. She made a "come get some" motion with her hand.

Hermione watched as not one but three Snapes emerged from between the trees. They faced off for a second, then charged toward each other, robes flying as all wands were extended.

Suddenly a Chimera leapt out of the forest from the right, hurtling toward Hermione, all three heads snarling. Another two Chimeras flew out from the left, charging the Snapes.

"Oh fuck!" Hermione screamed as the Chimera landed on her—and passed right through the illusion she'd sent. She had screamed from the safety of the trees.

Suddenly, the white gryffin sprang from the woods and landed on the first Chimera, tearing at it with its talons and beak as it tried to protect Hermione, not realizing she wasn't under it. Snape had sent out three illusions of himself, not trusting Hermione.

"Severus! No!" Hermione screamed, running from between the trees. "Avada Kedavra!"

She hit one of the other Chimeras before it joined the fray. It had no prey and the gryffin was real. It fell, stone dead as the other Chimera leapt on the fighting gryffin.

"NOOO!" Hermione cried, casting the Reducto spell and blowing one of the creatures off of Severus. It slid across the ground, crashing into the trees before righting itself and charging toward Hermione. It was suddenly driven out of the way by a very bloody Snape, who leapt on it viciously, ripping and tearing as the other injured Chimera began healing. The snake and goat head had been torn off by Snape, but the lion head was only damaged, so the creature was healing.

Horrified, Hermione dispatched the other Chimera, but she couldn't get a bead on the one fighting with Severus while they were so close, rolling over and slashing and biting at each other. Blood was everywhere.

"Severus! Get away from it!" Hermione screamed at the gryffin. It seemed to hear her and tore away from the Chimera, almost completely crimson.

"Avada Kedavra!" she screamed, hate filling her heart. The green light bathed the beast and it dropped where it stood.

"Severus!" Hermione cried, running toward the gryffin, which staggered and fell to its side. Hermione fell on her knees beside it, her eyes full of tears as she looked at the torn animal form of her lover.

"Severus, transform back. You have to transform back. I can't help you like this. Please—oh gods. Severus. Please—"

The gryffin lay there, its sides rising and falling with effort, the black eyes half-closed and glazed with pain. Suddenly, Severus appeared, his face torn and robes soaked with blood.

Hermione gently rolled him to his back. She had to stabilize him enough to get him back to Hogwarts. She pointed her wand at the night sky and fired a red flare, the signal for help, then ran to find the satchel. After searching about, she found it, and ran back to Severus. She gently lifted his head and fed him two bottles of healing potion in the hopes it would help any internal injuries. Then she gave him pain potion to ease his agony.

"Oh gods, Severus," she breathed as she opened his robes, and then his shirt. Deep scratches and bites covered his body. "I wasn't even there. It wasn't me. You did all this for nothing."

Snape's eyes opened.

"Not—not—" he whispered.

Hermione's lip began to tremble at how weak he sounded as she began cleaning his wounds. The bleeding had stopped.

"Shhh, don't talk," she said, softly, dabbing at his wounds with a sterile cloth and more pain potion.

"Not for nothing—for you," he said softly. "I would die for you."

His eyes closed again as Hermione continued to work on him, wishing she had never mentioned dueling him. If she hadn't been so competitive and so dead set on proving that she was a better duelist than he was, this would have never happened.

"Hallo!" Hagrid's voice sounded through the forest.

"Over here!" Hermione cried. "We're over here!"

Hagrid's enormous bulk emerged from the trees, followed by Filch's slender frame. Both of them looked shocked at the dead Chimeras and Filch ran forward, looking down at Snape.

"Oh no," he breathed, his eyes filling. He bent down and gently picked Snape up in his arms, showing surprising strength as he cradled the injured wizard. Hagrid blinked at him.

"I think I'd better do tha', Argus. Yer up in years, yeh know."

Filch shook his head.

"I'll do it. I'll get the lad back to the castle," he said. "You get the information of what happened from Miss Granger for the report."

With that, Filch quickly carried Snape through the trees at a run, heading for Hogwarts castle as fast as his legs would carry him.

Thanks to Snape's salve, that was very fast indeed.

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Chapter 63: In the infirmary

Hermione sat worriedly in a small folding chair in the infirmary, her brown eyes glued to the black privacy curtain drawn around the area where Snape was being treated. She wasn't allowed in as Poppy examined the injured wizard. Sitting next to her was a slightly green Harry Potter, who had been receiving treatment for an extremely irritated stomach. He had a bottle of stomach calming potion in his pocket. He was to take a spoonful every time he felt nauseous. Despite how horribly he felt, Harry tried to comfort Hermione.

"He's going to be all right, Hermione," Harry said to her as she stared at the curtain. They could only hear murmuring. What Hermione would give for a pair of Extendable Ears right now.

"It's all my fault, Harry. If only I hadn't insisted on dueling him," she said tremulously.

"He was perfectly willing to duel you, Hermione. Don't blame yourself. How were you to know a pack of Chimeras would attack? You couldn't have known that. There hasn't been a Chimera attack on humans in ages."

Hermione's wet eyes turned toward Harry.

"Still he did it for me, Harry. We were both safely out of the way, but he thought one of the Chimeras had taken me down, and so he tried to save me. He's not a real animal, Harry. He doesn't have the same vicious nature."

"I don't know about that. He tore two heads off one of them, didn't he? Chimeras are tough, so that made him tougher."

"But if it wasn't for—"

"Miss Granger! I've just read the report," Minerva McGonagall declared, billowing up the medical wing in her Tartan robes, her beady eyes flashing at the witch. "You had no business in the Forbidden Forest! It is still off limits to students, even students that have been through a war! Explain yourself!"

Hermione blinked up at Minerva.

"We, we just wanted a quiet place to—to test our skills," she said in a small voice.

"Test your skills? You mean to duel! You said nothing about 'testing skills' in the report. We have a perfectly good Room of Requirement that could have safely provided a scenario for that kind of activity," Minerva said imperiously.

"Um—it was occupied," Harry said, holding his stomach reflexively.

"That doesn't matter, Mr. Potter. They could have found a place on the grounds of Hogwarts proper," the Headmistress snapped. "You both could have been killed! Chimeras are nothing to play with! You can expect a loss to Gryffindor of seventy-five points, Miss Granger and this incident will be recorded on your permanent record. Your parents will be notified and you're quite lucky you're not being expelled for your—your abject disregard for the rules!"

"I'm nineteen. Past the age of consent. My parents can't punish me," Hermione said rather sullenly. Minerva swelled up to nearly twice her size in indignation at her cheek.

"No, they can't punish you, but they can take you to task for being so irresponsible," Minerva replied. "Now no more of your cheek or you'll end up with several weeks of detention as well. The only reason I haven't assigned them is because of the number of NEWTS you are taking. Be grateful!"

Minerva billowed off and disappeared behind the privacy curtain to check on Snape.

"Wow. McGonagall is really angry at you," Harry breathed.

"Not as angry as I am at myself, Harry. Severus could have been killed trying to defend me," she said softly.

Harry studied her.

"It seems Snape really cares about you, Hermione."

Hermione didn't say anything about the wizard's declaration that he would die for her. Actually, she didn't say anything at all as she continued to stare at the curtain.

"He's going to have some scarring," Poppy told Minerva as she finished wrapping Snape's mid-section with bandages. "Luckily, the marks on his face, chest and legs will heal cleanly, but his back was badly torn. Still, it will only be a few battle scars. Nothing like the scarring he received from you know who."

"Voldemort, Poppy. His name was Voldemort. He's dead now. You can say it," Minerva replied, looking down at Snape. "Is he asleep?"

"No. I just put him out to make treating him easier. He's in pain. I've given him some potion for it, but he's going to feel terrible for the next couple of days."

"Imagine, fighting Chimeras. He's insane. He should have fled. Both of them should have fled," Minerva said, frowning down at Snape.

Poppy didn't know all the details so didn't say anything. Her job was to keep the students breathing, not to judge how they received their injuries. She pulled a sheet over him.

"I'm going to have to wake him to feed him more healing potion," she informed Minerva.

"Is he in any condition to talk?" the Headmistress asked.

"I don't know about talking, but he can listen," Poppy said, pointing her wand at Snape.

"Ennervate."

Snape groaned and opened his eyes. He saw a blurry form standing over him.

"Hermione?" he said softly.

"No, I am not Miss Granger," a curt voice replied. Snape's vision cleared and he saw Minerva scowling down at him.

He let out another groan, and it wasn't pain related.

"I'm going to get more healing potion," Poppy announced, pulling back the curtain and exiting. Minerva looked down at Snape severely.

"Severus, it was very irresponsible for you to take Miss Granger into the Forbidden Forest to duel," the Headmistress lectured him. "You could have both been killed."

Snape's black eyes turned on her.

"Where's Hermione? Is she all right?" he asked softly.

"She's fine, Severus. She wasn't at all injured. You attacked that Chimera for nothing. It had attacked an illusion of Miss Granger. She was never in any danger," Minerva informed him. An expression of relief washed across his face that the witch didn't miss.

Was there something more going on here than two young people stupidly risking their lives?

She continued.

"Since you are not technically a student, Severus, you could enter the Forbidden Forest, but Miss Granger is the responsibility of this school and you placed her in very grave danger. You are being held responsible because you flew her there. I have no choice but to issue your first formal warning about your conduct. If you receive two more, you will be removed from Hogwarts immediately. Is that understood?"

Snape nodded slightly, his black eyes meeting Minerva's. She sighed as she looked down at him.

"But, it was very brave of you to take on three Chimera to try and save a student of Hogwarts, despite how misguided the attempt was, Severus. You still have that selfless quality that made you so invaluable to us as an adult," she said to him softly.

Snape didn't say anything but he wasn't being selfless. He loved Hermione and would do anything to keep her attached to her mortal coil. His so-called "selfless" quality as an adult had been little more than being manipulated into a dangerous situation and having to deal with it. As far as Snape knew, serving Albus and the Order was nothing he would have chosen for himself.

Poppy returned with the healing potion and looked at Minerva furtively.

"Are you finished speaking with him, Minerva?" she asked the Headmistress. Snape was her patient, and she didn't want him upset.

"Yes, I am, Poppy. Take care of him," Minerva said, then she looked at Snape severely.

"I expect you to behave yourself for the rest of the term, young man," she said. Then her lower lips trembled as she thought of the man he used to be. "Goodbye for now."

She left quickly.

Hermione popped up immediately, approaching the departing witch. Minerva didn't slow down.

"How is he?" Hermione inquired as she passed.

"He's going to be fine, Miss Granger. He needs time to heal up. Mr. Potter, it is after curfew for you. Get back to Gryffindor tower. Miss Granger, I expect you there promptly at eleven," Minerva ordered as she opened the door and exited.

Harry stood up.

"I'd better go, Hermione, but it's going to be all right. Tell Snape I said to get better," Harry told her.

"Thanks, Harry. Bye," Hermione said.

Harry left the infirmary, and Hermione continued to sit there for several more minutes until Poppy stuck her head out of the privacy curtain.

"Miss Granger, he's asking for you," she said softly.

Hermione ran to the curtain and pushed her way through, walking up to the cot and looking down on Snape.

"I'll just give you a few minutes," Poppy said, withdrawing discreetly.

Hermione stared down at him. She could see the outline of the bandages beneath the sheet.

"Are you in pain?" she asked him softly.

"No. I'm experiencing nothing but pure pleasure from my wounds," he responded. "Absolute joy."

Hermione scowled at him now.

"Even bandaged up, you're still a sarcastic prat," she seethed at him, and Snape smiled.

"Remember what I told you about sarcasm. It's my defense against incredibly stupid questions," he said.

Hermione couldn't help smiling back at him.

"Severus, you had me so frightened," she said softly. "I thought—I thought you might not recover."

Snape continued to smile at her.

"I imagine you feel a beat cheated," he said.

"Cheated?"

"Yes, cheated. I was taken out by a Chimera rather than you. There is no winner."

"I don't care that there's no winner. I'm just glad you're all right."

"We can reschedule. Have the duel in the ROR," Snape suggested.

Hermione shook her head.

"No. No more duels, Severus. No more competition."

"Don't you want to know which one of us is the best?"

Hermione gave him a soft smile.

"No. I already know you're the best," she replied, taking his hand and kissing the palm of it.

Snape's eyes fluttered at the soft contact of Hermione's lips and suddenly he caught her shoulder with his other hand and pulled her down into a kiss, just as the privacy curtain drew back and Poppy entered, catching them.

"Miss Granger! Need I remind you that Severus is an injured wizard and in no condition for snogging?" the mediwitch exclaimed as Hermione popped up guiltily.

"But—but it was him—" she started to say, looking down at Snape, who suddenly looked extremely helpless and weak, one hand flopping back and his eyelids drooping.

"Oh, please," she muttered.

If Poppy didn't seem surprised that Snape and Hermione were kissing, it was because she wasn't. Hermione's frantic concern about the wizard told her all she needed to know. Actually, she approved. Snape had lived such a lonely, miserable life his first time around and Hermione was a witch that seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. She was very mature for her age and intelligent, if more than a bit bookish. Snape had always been an intelligent individual, so they seemed a good match. He deserved a bit of happiness.

"Miss Granger, do you expect me to believe that—that Severus made a—a pass at you in his condition? Really. Now, out with you. He needs his rest," the mediwitch said with mirth in her eyes.

She did believe Hermione, but still—Severus needed his rest.

Hermione scowled at Snape, who gave her a small smirk before resuming his "helpless" demeanor.

"All right. Good night, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said, then with a scowl, "Good night, Severus."

"Good night," he said extremely weakly, and Hermione rolled her eyes before departing.

Poppy smiled down at Severus as she uncorked the healing potion.

"Now, Severus, this is a particularly nasty-tasting brew, but it will do wonders for you. The bitterness comes from Bicorn gall—now, up you go—"

Snape's choked coughing could be heard clear to the outside corridor.

"You didn't expect it to taste like pumpkin juice, did you?" Poppy chided the gagging wizard.

Harry made it to his bedroom, where an excited Ron was waiting for him.

"Harry, I've been waiting for you since forever," the smiling redhead said to Harry, who didn't look at him as he walked across the room to his bedside. "Where were you? I want to talk to you—about what happened tonight with Susan. It was fantastic!"

Harry groaned a little as he took out his bottle of stomach calmer and set it on the nightstand. Then he pulled his shirt over his head, getting ready for bed.

Ron walked over and picked up the bottle, reading the label.

"Stomach calmer? Have a bit of a sour stomach, Harry?"

"Yeah," Harry said, sitting down on the bed and removing his trainers and socks.

"Well, this will cheer you up, mate. Details about me and Susan tonight," Ron said, sitting down on his own bed, his face shining.

"Uh, Ron. I don't really feel like hearing about that. No offense," the boy who retched said imploringly.

"Oh come on, Harry. Every red-blooded wizard likes to hear about a good shag," Ron replied, not about to be thwarted in the telling of the tale.

"Ron, how do you think Susan would feel if she knew you were giving me intimate details about you two having sex?" Harry asked him, hoping guilt would make Ron back off.

"What? Witches do it, too. Don't think they don't sit around talking about how big or little a wizard's Willie is, Harry. Believe me. Besides, you won't say anything. Now listen. We went to the ROR, right? And when I saw Susan standing next to the bed I just went for it—"

Harry stripped down to his boxers, gave Ron a hang-dog look which he didn't notice, then took a big swig of the stomach calmer to help him handle the retelling of the dirty deed. He climbed into the bed.

"And she has such a big, juicy arse, Harry—"

Harry's belly bubbled as he couldn't shake the images of Ron and Susan going at it out of his mind. Ron's words were reinforcing what he'd witnessed. Gods damn it. He'd never spy on another living soul for as long as he lived.

"Then, she sat on my face, Harry!" Ron exclaimed enthusiastically.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 64: Meals and deals

The next morning, Hermione loaded up her books and went straight to the infirmary to see Severus. She hadn't slept well the night before, the Chimera attack playing and replaying in her head, as well as Snape's words:

I would die for you.

She entered the infirmary and heard Poppy saying, "Severus, you have to eat in order to heal up properly. Now, open your mouth!"

This was followed by silence, then an exasperated sigh from the mediwitch.

"Severus, you might not have your memories, but this stubbornness is a definite carry-over from your former life. I had difficulty feeding you gruel then as well."

"I don't need memories, Madam Pomfrey. It's instinct that won't let me open my mouth for that swill again. Self-preservation at its finest."

"Severus Snape, you open your mouth right now or I swear I'll use an Unforgivable on you!"

Hermione stopped in front of the privacy curtain.

"Madam Pomfrey," she called.

Poppy, who was seated next to Snape's cot waving a spoon full of gray gruel over the tight-lipped wizard, looked at the privacy curtain.

"Who is it?" she asked with irritation.

"Hermione Granger. I was hoping to have a short visit with Severus."

Poppy scowled at Snape.

"I shouldn't let you see anyone," she snapped at him. "You are still the most difficult patient I've ever had to deal with, no matter how old you are."

Snape's black eyes rested on her stonily. He wasn't going to eat that gruel without a fight. Poppy sighed.

"Come in, Miss Granger. Perhaps you can get him to eat," the mediwitch said.

Hermione drew back the curtain as Poppy rose and pushed the bowl of gruel and spoon into her hand.

"Sit down and see what you can do," Poppy said, frowning slightly.

Hermione set the bowl and spoon on the little stand next to Snape's cot, took off her knapsack, then picked it up again and sat down near the bed. Snape looked at the bowl in her hand then at her face. Hermione saw the terrible scratches on his face had healed nicely and were only thin, smooth reddish lines now. There wouldn't be any scarring. That was good.

"I won't eat that, Hermione. It's is worse than any potion I've ever tasted," Snape declared.

Hermione shook her head.

"That can't be true, Severus. There are some potions that are absolutely vile," she told him. "They taste awful."

"At least they have a taste. This doesn't. It just has a—a feel. And a nasty one at that. I want something with flavor. Like a few bangers and toast. Maybe some sliced tomatoes."

Poppy, who was still standing there, looked absolutely scandalized.

"You can't eat that kind of food in your condition! You'll get irritated bowels!" the mediwitch hissed.

"I'm willing to take the chance," Snape replied.

"Poppy's right, Severus. You're still on the mend. She knows what she's talking about. Now, be reasonable. Eat your gruel."

"No," Snape said petulantly.

Hermione looked at Poppy.

"Could—could I talk to him alone, Madam Pomfrey?" she asked the mediwitch.

"If you think you can get him to eat, then yes, I'll go. I have to restock my stores. I want that gruel gone by the time I come back, Severus—or else!"

Poppy exited the area with a bit of attitude, tossing the black curtain back angrily.

"This isn't an infirmary. It's a house of torture," Snape muttered, then looked at Hermione. "I didn't expect to see you this morning. Isn't this little visit cutting into your study time?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing," Hermione said, dipping the spoon into the bowl.

"You see how I'm doing. I'm being starved to death," he griped, turning his head slightly as she brought the food closer.

"Severus, I want you to eat this gruel right now. How are you going to get better if you don't eat?"

"I will eat. Just not that," he said stubbornly.

Hermione sighed, then brightened. Maybe she could use his words against me.

"Last night, you told me you would die for me," she said softly. "Surely, you'll eat a bit of gruel to live for me, won't you?"

Snape frowned at her, then wrestled himself up on his elbows, Hermione's expression becoming worried.

"Don't, Severus! You're going to strain yourself," she chided him as he slowly sat up, wincing slightly.

"Eating that gruel is worse than death," he told Hermione, who nearly smirked. "But, I will eat it for a kiss."

Both of Hermione's eyebrows rose.

"Severus, how can you think about kissing at a time like this? You're supposed to be focused on getting well."

"A kiss will do wonders for my condition, I assure you, Hermione. That's the only way I'll eat that—that dreck."

"Only one kiss and you have to eat the whole bowl," Hermione bartered.

Snape made a face, but nodded.

"All right," Hermione said, setting the bowl on the stand, then pursing her lips and leaning forward.

Snape caught the back of her head and kissed her hungrily, his soft lips capturing hers and suckling on them sensually. Hermione felt his desire flow over her. Even injured, Severus was so—so seductive.

"Miss Granger!" a shrill voice exclaimed.

Hermione jerked back from Severus and looked to see Poppy standing inside the privacy curtain with her hands on her hips.

Oh, Merlin. Not again.

"I left my clipboard," the mediwitch said. "It's a good thing I came back. Honestly, he's not up to such—activity."

Snape tried to look as innocent and guileless as possible.

"He told me he'd eat the entire bowl of gruel for a kiss," Hermione said, her cheeks bright crimson. "I thought it was a fair exchange. We do want him to eat after all."

"Did you make that offer, Severus?" Poppy asked him.

Snape shrugged assent.

"Well, I would have kissed you if that's what it takes to make you eat," Poppy responded, her eyes twinkling as Snape make a small face and Hermione looked incredulous.

"No offense, but it wouldn't be the same, Madam Pomfrey," Snape said. "Believe me."

Poppy laughed.

"No, I imagine it wouldn't be," the mediwitch agreed. "But I witnessed the kiss, and so expect all of that gruel to be finished when I return."

She picked up a clipboard that rested on the other empty cot and started to leave. She looked back at Hermione.

"You have quite the bedside manner, Miss Granger," she said with a smirk. "You might want to consider entering the Healing field.

Then she exited, leaving them alone.

Hermione turned back to Snape, who was smirking at her. She purposely picked up the bowl.

"It seems Madam Pomfrey believes you could treat your patients lips-on," the wizard purred.

Hermione dug the spoon into the gruel and brought it up heaped with the gray, gritty porridge. She leveled it right in front of Snape's face. He went a little cross-eyed looking at it.

"Open," Hermione said imperiously.

Snape grimaced, then slowly opened his mouth. Hermione shoved the spoon into it making sure he got every bit of it. He swallowed thickly, disgust on his pale face.

"Can I have some water to force it down with?"

Hermione wore an expression of rather malicious glee at his discomfort. She was going to enjoy this.

"Yes, after you finish. Now, open."

"Hi Harry. Hi, Ginny," Susan called as she and Ron emerged from the dungeons the same time Harry and Ginny walked down the marble staircase.

"Hi Susan," Ginny said with a smile as all four of them met up.

"Ah, hi Susan," Harry said, not looking at the witch directly.

"Too bad we can't all eat breakfast together," Ron complained. "I think the houses should be allowed to mingle in the Great Hall. Maybe we should start a petition or something."

"Ron, you aren't going to change centuries of tradition just because you're going out with someone from another house. You're just going to be told to make other arrangements to eat together," Ginny told her brother as Susan smiled at him.

"It's a sweet thought, Ron," she said, and Ron smiled back at her.

"I'm glad someone appreciates my ideas," he said witheringly to Ginny, who just shook her head.

"Come on, Susan. I'll walk you to your table," Ron said, solicitously opening the door to the Great Hall for his girlfriend. Susan said goodbye and walked through. Ginny immediately turned to Harry.

"Harry, what's wrong with you?" she asked him. "Last night you shot right by me in the common room, saying you had a stomach ache. This morning you're hardly talking to me or anyone. Are you still sick?"

"No. Not exactly sick, Ginny. Just—just squicked."

"Squicked? About what?"

"I saw something last night I shouldn't have seen," he said quietly.

Ginny's eyebrows rose. She knew he had planned to spy on Snape and Hermione. Did he see the Chimera attack? It was all around the school that Snape had fought off three Chimeras trying to save Hermione.

"What? Did you see the bloody attack on Snape?" Ginny asked him.

Harry blinked. "No, I didn't see it because I didn't find them. I waited in the Room of Requirement for them to show up, but they didn't show. Someone else did. And the room wouldn't let me out because I had instructed it to keep me hidden until whoever entered finished and left."

"Really?" Ginny said, totally intrigued. "So, who came in if it wasn't Snape and Hermione?"

"Can we go outside? I need some air," Harry said, turning slightly green.

"All right."

Harry and Ginny walked outside and stood on the stone landing. No one else was outside. Harry breathed in deeply, regaining a bit of healthy color.

Ginny watched him for a minute, then said, "All right—who and what did you see in the ROR?"

Harry looked at her miserably.

"Susan and Ron."

Ginny just blinked at him for a few seconds, then said one word.

"Ew!"

"That about covers it," Harry agreed.

Ginny continued to stare at him, shaking her head slightly.

"I told you not to spy on Hermione," she said. "It serves you right."

Harry looked at her incredulously.

"No one deserves that kind of punishment, Ginny, I'm telling you. It was—disturbing. Worse than disturbing. I got sick, really sick. I had to go to the infirmary and get stomach calmer. Then, when I came back to Gryffindor, Ron told me about it all, in detail. It was like a narration to the pictures in my head. I got sick three more times through the night. I even dreamed about it."

Harry stuck out his tongue as if he'd tasted something extremely nasty.

Ginny couldn't help laughing, which didn't improve Harry's mood at all.

"It still serves you right. But I have to ask, you didn't find them shagging at least a little hot?" Ginny pressed him.

Ginny had a bit of voyeur in her. She probably wouldn't want to see her brother shagging, but still—she wouldn't mind watching two people going at it.

"No! Maybe if all they did was shag, it could have been kind of hot, but your brother—Ginny—something's wrong with him," Harry said, shaking his head. "Terribly wrong."

"What? Why? What did he do?" Ginny asked Harry, curious now.

"I don't want to talk about it," Harry said, greening again.

"Oh come on. You can't make a statement like that and not tell me why, Harry!"

"No. I want to keep my breakfast down, Ginny."

"Harry Potter, you tell me what happened and right now."

"No!"

Harry and Ginny walked back into the school, arguing.

There was no way Harry was going to go through Ron and Susan's shagging session a third time. Not even for Ginny.

Snape lay in the infirmary, his body throbbing as it healed. His back was particularly achy and he lay on his side. Poppy had already dosed him with pain potion, but couldn't give him any more at the moment. If she fed him too much, it would lose its potency and not work at all.

He'd eaten all the gruel, and actually did feel a bit better afterwards. Maybe he could get the recipe and tweak it so it tasted good. Snape wasn't only good at potions, but he was a good cook. He was great at seasoning things.

"How is our patient, Poppy?" a familiar male voice said.

"Which person are you referring to, Horace."

"Severus Snape of course," came the reply.

"He's healing up nicely."

"May I pay the boy a bit of a visit?"

"Yes, a short one."

The privacy curtain drew back and in walked Horace Slughorn. He had a hungry look in his eyes as he looked down on the convalescing wizard.

"Ah Severus, my boy. You are a wonder, a true wonder. Imagine, fighting off three Chimeras in your Animagus form. Extraordinary!" he exclaimed, walking over to the cot and taking a seat. "No one has ever performed such a feat. No doubt it will be recorded in the history books, my boy. You are quite special, quite special indeed."

"I don't feel special," Snape responded quietly.

"Ah, you're being modest. You are quite exemplary," Slughorn said, dismissing his comment. The wizard reached out as if to touch the slight marks on Snape's face, but he drew back, frowning at the round, bald wizard.

Slughorn looked around the room shiftily, then reached inside his robes, pulling out a napkin.

"Here," he said conspiratorially. "Something other than gruel. Hide it under your pillow."

Snape took the napkin and opened it slightly. In it were two slices of bread and two sausages. Manna from the kitchens.

"Thank you," he said, closing the napkin back and putting it under his pillow.

"Do you think you will be healed up by the end of the week?" Slughorn asked him anxiously. "I'm having a little party and I wish for you to attend as you agreed. Many important people will be there. Your study partner, Miss Granger has a standing invitation. Perhaps you can attend together."

Snape frowned slightly. He knew Hermione didn't do Slughorn's parties because she felt they were pompous and a waste of good study time.

"I don't know if she'll come," Snape said.

Slughorn simply smiled.

"Miss Granger is quite a busy young woman, Severus. However, it would be in her best interest to make connections while she is still considered a hero. The furor is going to die down eventually and she'll become old news. It's best to strike while the irons are still hot. She'd be wise to think about that. I am simply trying to help her make a place in the wizarding world."

"I think Hermione has her own plans about that, professor," Snape said coldly. "She believes hard work will help her find her niche."

"Tosh," Slughorn blustered, his mustache blowing upward as he harrumphed. "Getting a leg up requires more than hard work, my boy. At least you will reap a few of the benefits."

Snape sighed. He wished he had never agreed to attend one of the parties, but he had wanted the creatures for the review. They were so rare. Everyone thought they had been Boggarts, but they weren't. They were Gobbarts, a close relation to the Boggarts, except they had the ability to appear as what was most feared to multiple individuals. The Riddikulus spell worked on them, of course, but they couldn't be thwarted by several individuals at once, like their relatives. Boggarts would go into a tizzy when more than one person was facing them, turning into this and that until they were exhausted and fled.

Hermione hadn't even caught on to it in the ROR, she'd been so distracted.

"I only agreed to come to one of your parties," Snape said, wincing as a painful throb pulsed through his body.

"That you did, Severus. But I'm hoping you'll be so impressed by the caliber of the people present, that you'll decide to return. Only the cream of the crop will be in attendance, I assure you. People it will be good to know. And, you are a person of great interest. The story of your youthening has spread throughout the wizarding world. Minerva has had quite the time maintaining a news blackout. A lot of money has been offered for even one interview with you."

"I didn't know that," Snape said, frowning slightly.

He could always use more money. The headmistress hadn't told him anything about it.

"Minerva feels you should be protected from the media," Slughorn replied, also frowning because giving an interview would make him even more famous and as such, an even larger feather in the Slytherin's cap. "But, you'll be free to interview with anyone you choose after you leave Hogwarts. It would be an excellent way to get a good second start in life."

"All right, professor. Severus needs his rest," Poppy called from her office.

Slughorn frowned, then lifted his bulk out of the folding chair.

"I'm glad to see you are healing nicely, Severus, and look forward to seeing you Saturday night. It is rather formal so dress robes are in order. It begins at nine and lasts until the last person leaves. Those in attendance do not have to worry about curfew. Food and libations will be served."

Snape nodded slightly, glad Slughorn was leaving. He was starting to ache badly all over now and wanted to sleep through the pain. Perhaps Madam Pomfrey would give him a sleeping draught.

"Could you ask Madam Pomfrey to come here when you leave?" he asked Slughorn

."Of course, my boy, of course," Slughorn replied with a smile. "Until Saturday."

Snape watched as the wizard exited through the privacy curtain, then let out a low groan of pain.

He hoped he would be out of here by the weekend.

Snape closed his eyes and waited for Poppy to come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 65: Laying it down

When Hermione returned to see Snape that evening after classes, she was unpleasantly surprised to see Harry, Ron and Ginny seated by Snape's bed. She entered, frowning slightly at the three intruders.

"Harry, Ron, Ginny—what are you doing here?" she asked them as Snape looked at her soberly. He was sitting up. On the small table were a number of books the Gryffindors had brought him to pass the time. Ron had slipped him a couple of chocolate frogs, too, just for strength.

"Visiting Severus. He's in pretty good shape considering he fought off three Chimeras," Harry said to her with a smile.

"Yeah. I thought he would have lost a few fingers or toes at least," Ron added.

"He fought two Chimeras. I killed one before it could attack him," Hermione said, walking up to Snape and scowling at him as if all the additional visitors were his fault.

"I thought you were resting up," she said to him evenly.

Snape cocked his head at her.

"I am," he said shortly.

Ginny studied them, then said, "Maybe we should go."

"What? Why? I want to talk to Severus a bit more," Harry protested as Ginny stood up.

"Come on, Harry. Hermione wants some time alone with him."

"She always has time alone with him, Ginny. They study together all the time," Harry said, unwilling to leave yet.

Ron popped up.

"Well, I'm ready to go. Susan's down in the kitchens. If I hurry, I might get a little bite or two. Either on something to eat—or Susan."

Everyone looked at him.

"What?" he asked with splayed hands.

"Nothing, Ron. Come on, let's go, Harry," Ginny said, catching hold of his arm. "Bye Severus. Bye, Hermione."

She pulled Harry out of the chair as Ron said his goodbyes and hurried out of the area, making a beeline for the kitchens.

"Bye, Severus. I'll stop by tomorrow," Harry said as Ginny led him out.

Snape blinked after them, then looked at Hermione.

"You really know how to clear a room," he said to her with a half-smirk.

"What? I didn't clear it. They left on their own," she replied with a frown as she took off her knapsack and sat down next to his bed.

"Mist have been all the warmth you exuded when you walked in here with such a happy greeting. What was it? Ah, yes—what are you all doing here?"

"I—I was just asking."

"Asking? Why? It was clear they were visiting with me, Hermione. You're so jealous it's unbelievable," Snape said to her. "You don't even want your own friends around me."

"That's not true. But I know Harry and Ron. They'll slip you things you don't need," she said, grabbing the magazines off the stand and leafing through them. She frowned at the Playwizard magazine hidden under a cover of "Potions Today."

"Typical Ron," she said, yanking it, roughly rolling it up and sticking it into her pocket.

"Hey!" Snape complained.

"You don't need to look at naked witches with magically enhanced breasts," Hermione seethed, leafing through the magazines again. She gasped as she found another magazine named "Magical Muffs" hidden under another unassuming cover.

"I can't believe Ronald," she hissed.

"He was just trying to keep me—how did he put it? Ah, stimulated. He said these magazines would be good for my circulation," Snape said innocently as Hermione pocketed that magazine too.

"You'll be stimulated enough once you get out of here," she said tightly.

Snape's eyes went a bit hot.

"Is that a promise?"

"No. It is incentive," she told him, flushing a little. "You don't need books when you have the real thing."

Snape smiled at her.

"I think I'm not the only one in love here," he said softly.

Hermione looked at him, shocked.

"Love? What are you talking about?" she asked him thickly.

"I think you're just as in love with me as I am with you, Hermione," the wizard said.

"I don't have time for love," Hermione shot back at him.

"That doesn't make any difference. Love doesn't work well with timetables. Either you're in love or you aren't," Snape told her. "And I believe you are and you won't admit it to me or yourself."

"That's—that's just silly. If I were in love, I'd have no problem saying I was. And I'm not. I'm just—just fond of you, that's all. I mean, we are intimate."

Snape just looked at her, and she colored.

"Next time we're together, I'm going to make you admit you love me, Hermione. You're going to say it and mean it," the wizard said. "Everything about you tells me that you have feelings for me that go beyond our sexual encounters. I can even smell the change in your pheromones when you walk in my presence. It's not a sexual scent either. It's something else, warm and compelling. Attractive."

"Oh, so you can smell love," Hermione said. "That's a first."

Snape shrugged.

"Well, I'm not in love. If I were in love, I'd be fawning all over you, making goo-goo eyes and being completely insufferable. Ew," Hermione said, making a face as she thought about Ron.

Snape chuckled.

"Not everyone in love acts the same, Hermione. You have things you want to accomplish. You don't have time for silly displays of affection. It doesn't mean you don't feel anything. You're just—conservative. But I can tell. I can feel it every time I kiss you or touch you. I can even see it in your eyes, although you try to hide it."

"Stop it. You don't see anything," she said softly, not looking at him, but at her hands.

"We're going to have to change our arrangement," Snape said. "I've been laying here thinking about it and it's no longer suitable. I want a claim on you, one that people know about so no one else will try to go out with you."

Hermione snorted.

"You don't have to worry about that, Severus. You're the only one who finds me remotely attractive," Hermione said softly.

"Ron Weasley found you attractive as well," Snape countered.

"But we'd been friends forever, Severus. And he didn't find me as attractive as he finds Susan," she added. "He's absolutely wild about her. Anyone can see that."

"That's only because she's more in line with what he wants, Hermione. She's attractive on other levels to him. But to me, you're absolutely beautiful and I'm sure there are other wizards who see it as well."

"Well, point them out to me, then," Hermione said, trying to lighten the situation.

"That's what I'm trying to avoid," Snape said soberly. "I want us to be exclusive."

"We are exclusive," Hermione told him. "I'm not seeing anyone other than you, Severus."

"I want to know you're mine," he breathed. "That you are my witch. Just mine. I want to have your love and your loyalty, like you have mine, Hermione. I want you and not just for the occasional tumble. I won't interfere with your studies, but—but I need this. I need you. I want to know when I leave Hogwarts, I won't be leaving you. That our relationship will continue. I don't care how many miles come between us, Hermione. You'll always be as close to me as my own heartbeat, whether you accept me or not. I'm committed."

"Severus, we're both so young, how can you say you're committed?"

Snape looked at her, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"How can you doubt it, Hermione? You knew me as a man, what motivated me to be a spy—you knew how dedicated I was to—to Lily even after she clearly made her choice and even—lost her life. It was clear I never stopped loving her, Hermione. Now, there is no Lily. There's only you in my heart. You're the one I love and will continue to love. Don't doubt me when you know even better than I do how devoted I can be—"

Hermione's eyes began to fill as she looked at Snape, her lower lip trembling. Did he really love her as much as he had loved Lily? Could he possibly? The idea of it was almost too much, almost too overwhelming. Suddenly, she stood up, unable to deal with his declaration.

"I—I have to go, Severus," she said softly.

"You can't run away from this, Hermione," he said just as softly. "Thinking about it won't help either. This has nothing to do with logic and everything to do with what's in the heart. I never told Lily how I felt about her. I'm not making that mistake with you, especially when I know you hold the same feelings for me. You're not a callous witch, Hermione. When we make love, I know you feel me beyond the physical pleasure. I certainly feel you. We need to be more."

Hermione looked at him, tears suddenly falling from her eyes. She turned and practically bolted out of the infirmary, a startled Poppy watching her race by her office.

"Miss Granger? Miss Granger, what's wrong?" she called after Hermione, but she didn't stop. She exited the infirmary.

Poppy quickly walked to Snape's area, pulling back the curtain.

"What's wrong with Miss Granger, Severus?" she asked the wizard, who sighed.

"I'm afraid she has a case of cold feet, Madam Pomfrey," he replied quietly.

"You'd never know it by the way she flew out of here," the mediwitch replied. Hermione had really burned up the tiles leaving the infirmary. Poppy left Snape alone with his thoughts thinking how difficult things were for the young.

Hermione hurried to Gryffindor tower, too upset to go to Snape's quarters. Besides, it wouldn't be the same without him there. Well, without him out of the infirmary. Snape didn't always stay with her when she studied but she knew he was out and about. Present, even in absentia.

"Why is he pressuring me? He promised not to pressure me," Hermione whined as she lay on her stomach in her bed. "Okay, he loves me. I understand that. Why does he insist I love him back? He's just—just unnecessarily complicating things. We're already exclusive. I'm not seeing anyone else. I don't have plans to see anyone else. I just want to get through my NEWTs. Merlin, he's so—so pushy."

She thought about his words.

"And mushy," she added with a frown. She couldn't ever imagine the adult Snape spewing such—such sweet words.

The problem was, he meant them. He wasn't trying to cull her favor with romantic diatribe. He was being honest. She could feel it deep inside when he spoke to her so earnestly. Hermione hadn't really thought about after graduation that much, but had planned to continue to see him, even visit that spooky old mansion he was going to move into. She really planned to accompany him there, along with Ron, Harry and probably Ginny and help clear it of any dark spirits.

If they were going to continue to see each other as lovers, why was it necessary to become an—an item? They were already and item, even if they weren't calling themselves boyfriend and girlfriend.

He could smell her love? That had to be the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard of, although he certainly had the nose for it.

But inside, Hermione felt uneasy, well aware that there were changes in the body's scent depending on emotion. Maybe Severus did smell something different when she was near him. Hermione sighed, then rolled out of her bed and walked over to her Floo, contacting the kitchens. She hadn't eaten yet. She ordered a small salad and some tea. Her stomach felt as if it were in knots. She wouldn't be able to keep anything heavy down right now.

She sat on the side of the bed, trying to come to terms with what Snape had told her. He said he was going to make her admit she loved him. How did he intend to do that? He couldn't force her to say something she didn't want to say.

Hermione was glossing over the real issue here. The issue of if she really did love Severus Snape. Once again she was trying to use logic when it just wasn't applicable. She didn't want to dwell on what was so obvious to the wizard. When she entered this arrangement, it was to avoid the necessity of commitment and deep emotion. They were supposed to be associates with privileges.

Like that would have worked in any world

Hermione Granger was faced with a dilemma that could be easily solved if she just stopped trying to open up her mind and instead, opened up her heart.

But that was just too simple.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 66: Harry lays it down

Hermione decided to throw herself into her work, and spent the next four days studying and working relentlessly, not allowing herself to think of anything else. She didn't go back to the infirmary for the rest of the week, forcing Snape out of her mind.

She returned to Snape's quarters as usual, and got a lot accomplished during the week. On Thursday evening, however, someone knocked on the Potions office door. Hermione put down her quill with a look of exasperation on her face and entered the Potions office.

"Severus isn't here. He's in the infirmary," she called.

"I know he's in the infirmary," Harry replied from the other side of the door. "I'm here to see you, Hermione."

"I'm working, Harry."

"Hermione, you open this gods damned door right now! I want to talk to you!" Harry demanded, his glasses glinting in the torchlight as he frowned at the door.

Hermione opened the door, looking out at a scowling Harry.

"You didn't have to curse," she said to him, opening the door wider. Harry stalked in and spun on her.

"You're really a piece of work, Hermione, do you know that?" he hissed at her furiously.

Hermione closed the door, taken aback by how angry Harry was.

"What are you talking about?"

"Severus, that's what I'm talking about. He nearly got killed for you and you don't even go to see him. What kind of friend are you? Is it just really about his books for you? Don't you even care he's hurt?"

Hermione walked back through the door to Snape's private quarters, followed by Harry who frowned at all the parchments and books spread about.

"Of course I care, Harry, but he's going to be fine and I still have to work hard," she said, sitting down at the desk.

Harry blinked at her.

"Whenever I was hurt, you practically lived in the infirmary," he told her as she picked up a quill.

"This is different," Hermione said, looking at a book.

Harry's face grew darker and darker as Hermione appeared to ignore him, jotting down some notes. Suddenly, he snatched the quill out of her hand, droplets of ink falling on her parchments.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Hermione shouted at him. "My work is ruined! I'm going to have to rewrite all of this!"

"I don't care, Hermione! You're a selfish bitch sometimes, you know that?"

Hermione stared at him, then suddenly jumped up, whipped out her wand, and pointed it between Harry's eyes.

"Don't you call me a bitch, Harry! I didn't do anything to you! I haven't done anything to anyone. All I want to do is get through all this work! Why can't anyone understand that! Why is everyone pressuring me?"

Harry stared at the wand, his mouth in a tight line.

"You want to hex me, Hermione? Go ahead. It wouldn't surprise me if you did do it, the way you're acting. You don't care who you hurt, do you? Go ahead. Blast me!" he snarled at her, his eyes narrowed behind his glasses.

Hermione frowned at him, then her eyes became wet and she lowered the wand.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I—I just—I don't know what's going on with me," she said tremulously.

"I do. You care about the NEWTs more than anyone. Even Severus. I know that you and him are involved, Hermione. Is this how you treat someone who loves you?"

Hermione's eyes rounded.

"What?" she cried.

"Snape told me. Everything."

"He did what?"

Harry gave her a withering look.

"Snape's a person like anyone else, Hermione. He needed to talk to someone, so he talked to me, because he knows I care about you like a sister. He didn't tell anyone else, but I know what's going on between the two of you, and how he feels about you."

"Oh, no," Hermione said, sinking back into her chair and letting her face drop into her hand. "Why would he tell you?"

"Maybe because he loved my mother once. And you know what he said, Hermione? He said he never felt about my mother the way he feels about you. That it's something deep inside him, something real, not wishful. If he loved my mother based on a wish, how much more does he love you? Why are you treating him like this? Ignoring him? You obviously made the decision to get involved with him!"

Hermione looked up at him.

"It's complicated, Harry," she said softly.

"Of course it is! How could you ever think it wouldn't be complicated, Hermione? You're shagging him!"

Hermione turned red.

"But, Harry, we aren't boyfriend and girlfriend. We're just lovers, shag buddies. That's all it was ever supposed to be," Hermione told him.

Harry stared at her in silence for a full minute.

"I can't believe you're so stupid, Hermione. We all know what Snape is like based on his past. How devoted he was to my mum. It's his nature to be that way, and you knew that. Deep down inside, Hermione, you had to know he would latch on to you. Don't act like you didn't know. You've taken up with someone even needier that Ron in a way. He feels things a lot deeper. He'd do anything for you, and you just turned away from him!"

"I didn't. He's going to be out soon. I'll see him then," Hermione said.

"Tomorrow. He's going to be released tomorrow evening," Harry said. "And you need to be honest with him, Hermione. Do you love him? If you don't, you need to break this thing off. Snape's been hurt a lot in his life and he has a chance for a new start. Don't be my mum, Hermione. If you don't want him, then tell him. He needs more than someone who'll shag him every now and then."

Hermione frowned at Harry.

"This isn't any of your business, Harry," she told him.

"Snape's my friend, Hermione and so are you, so it is my business. He hasn't been one as long as you have, but he was nearly killed for me and unlike you, I feel I owe him some loyalty. So, it is my business. Now, do you love him? Or are you just using him?"

"I'm not using him," Hermione said.

Harry looked around Snape's quarters and at all the books she had spread out.

"Looks like you are to me. You're having a right party with his books while he's healing up. Just going through them like you own them while he's in the infirmary. You make me sick, Hermione."

I'm not using him!" Hermione said, louder.

"I don't believe you. He loves you, Hermione and you're just taking ad—"

"I LOVE HIM TOO, DAMN IT!" Hermione shrieked at Harry, banging her fists on the table and tears falling from her eyes. "I tried to keep it simple, to just let it be a physical relationship, but—but it isn't. It isn't, Harry."

"So, tell him, you idiot. Just don't bail on him. You're a Gryffindor—where's your courage?" Harry demanded, but his voice wasn't as harsh now. Hermione was clearly running scared.

"It isn't that easy, Harry. I've kept him at arm's length all this time. What am I supposed to do, just—just change gears?"

"Yes," Harry said softly. "That's exactly what you should do, Hermione. Snape's a good wizard and you two are good together. He doesn't even mind that you work all the time. He just wants something more. He wants to be with you, be your boyfriend. What's so hard about that, Hermione? Especially if you love him back. Just—just tell him you do and stop running away from it. There's other things that matter more than marks, and he's not trying to stop you from getting them. He just wants—you. He wants to know you'll be here for him."

Hermione sat there, wiping at her eyes with her robes sleeve.

"I'm—I'm scared of commitment, Harry. I don't do it well. You saw what happened with Ron," she sniffed.

"Severus isn't Ron. He doesn't want a bunch of kids and a wife to cook and clean for him. He has ambitions too, and wants to do great things, just like you do. Besides, he's already committed to you, Hermione. I think you're committed to him too. Just admit it and let yourself be happy. You're never going to find happiness this way. There's always going to be something more you want to achieve academically, but you can find happiness and love now. That will be an accomplishment that means something, Hermione. Something solid that—that'll ground you. Snape understands you. He'd never hold you back, ever."

Hermione blinked up at him.

"Why do you care so much, Harry?" she asked him softly.

Harry drew in a deep breath.

"Because, I love you too, Hermione," he said quietly. "And I really want to see you happy. You would have never gotten involved with Snape if you didn't feel something for him. You say you believed it was supposed to be casual sex for convenience but we both know better than that. There's nothing casual about you. Everything you do, you throw yourself into five hundred percent. This is no different, Hermione. If you love him—tell him. Everything will be so much better."

"But I'm afraid, Harry—"

"Suck it up, Hermione! Stop being a pussy—er—"

Hermione scowled at him.

"You know what I mean," Harry said a bit sheepishly. That statement worked a lot better on wizards than witches, due to their opposing anatomy.

Hermione let out a choked laugh. She couldn't help it. She drew in a deep, steadying breath and straightened in the chair.

"I am a Gryffindor, aren't I?" she asked him.

Harry nodded.

"And Snape's a Slytherin. You're not going to let him make you run, are you, Hermione? You're just as strong as he is. You just have to be just as honest. That's all."

Hermione blinked at Harry.

"You're right, Harry," she said, closing up all the books on the desk and putting the parchments together neatly. Then she stood up.

"I've got to face my fears," she stated. "I've done it before, and under fire."

"That's right," Harry said, egging her on.

"I'm going to march right up there and tell Severus how I really feel," Hermione said.

"Good for you."

Then Hermione sank back down in the chair.

"Tomorrow," she said softly, then "Hey!" as Harry yanked her out of the chair.

Poppy was standing in the infirmary when the door suddenly opened and Hermione stumbled in as if thrown. The mediwitch watched with raised eyebrows as Hermione turned and tried to force the door back open. It seemed as if it was stuck.

But it wasn't. Harry was holding the other side.

"Have you come to see Severus, Miss Granger? You've been gone for quite a while," the mediwitch called to her.

Snape sat up in the cot when he heard this. Hermione was here?

Hermione spun around guiltily.

"Ah, yes. Yes, I have," she said softly, mentally cursing Harry. She would have hexed her way out but he'd taken her wand.

"I'm sure he'll be happy to see you," Poppy said with a smile. "Go right in."

Snape ran his fingers through his hair quickly. He still had bandages wrapped around his middle but not heavy ones. They'd be removed permanently tomorrow morning. He sat up straight and waited for Hermione to enter. Presently the curtain was pulled back and she entered rather timidly. His black eyes rested on her soberly.

"Taking a break from your studies?" he asked her softly.

Hermione nodded silently.

"I imagine you've got a lot accomplished without me in the way," he stated.

"I got a lot accomplished, but it wasn't because of that," she replied.

Snape just looked at her for a moment or two.

"Why did you come see me, Hermione? You haven't been here almost the whole week."

Hermione swallowed.

"I need to tell you something."

"It couldn't have waited until tomorrow? I get out tomorrow."

"I was going to wait until tomorrow, but—"

Hermione wasn't about to tell him Harry dragged her up here from the dungeons.

"I decided it would be better to tell you tonight."

Snape studied her stonily, waiting for her to say what she had to say. Finally, he became exasperated as she stared back at him like a Bugbear caught in the torchlight.

"Well?" he asked her pointedly. "What is it?"

Hermione reddened.

"What is it?" Snape demanded, a cold feeling in his belly. Was she going to break it off with him? Had he pushed her too much? He steeled himself for her reply. He wouldn't beg if she did, not like he did with Lily when she turned away from him. It didn't make any difference then and probably wouldn't now. He'd just—accept it. He was used to Gryffindor witches tossing him away like garbage. He frowned at Hermione reflexively, expecting the worse as she started to speak.

"Severus— I love you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 67: Strange responses

Having finally said the words, Hermione waited for Snape to respond with joyful jubilation at her admission. But the young wizard simply looked at her and didn't say a word.

"I said I love you," she repeated, frowning at him.

"I heard you," Snape replied.

Hermione blinked at him.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Don't you have anything to say?"

"Yes, I do. Go back to your studies."

"WHAT?"

"I said go back to your studies, Hermione. Is that so difficult to understand?"

Hermione couldn't believe this. She finally tells Severus how she feels about him and his response is for her to go back to her studies? Why the big prat!

"I take it back!" she snarled at him.

He quirked his lips.

"You can't. It's already been said. It's not like you handed me something you can retrieve," Snape said calmly.

"I can't believe you! After all that—that emoting you did earlier this week about my not admitting I loved you, you act like this? What kind of game are you playing, Severus? I pour out my heart to you—"

"If that's pouring out your heart, Hermione, then you have a very tiny vessel," Snape responded evenly.

"All right, maybe I didn't wrap it in all the mushiness you did, but it was straight to the point. Those three words said all that needed to be said," she told him angrily.

"Do you really think so? I haven't seen you all week and then you pop in here, tell me you love me as if it's the hardest thing in the world to say and expect me to break into song. Well, I'm not that easy." Snape said, pointing his nose in the air a bit.

Hermione turned mottled, she was so pissed off. The nerve. If she had her wand—

"I shouldn't have told you anything. I should have known you'd act like a git about it. Honestly. I think I will go back to my studies," she hissed. "I shouldn't have even come here!"

With that, Hermione turned and stormed out of the area, leaving Snape sitting on the cot.

The moment she left, the wizard smiled broadly.

She loved him.

"Yesssss!" he said softly, thrusting both arms into the air in victory.

The reason he hadn't reacted as Hermione expected was two-fold. Firstly, he was mad she hadn't come to see him all week and hid out rather than face him again when he called her on her feelings. Secondly, the infirmary wasn't the proper place to admit her love or for him to express his happiness. It was a "safe" setting. Telling him she loved him there provided her some protection from what could have been a deeply affecting moment. They were alone, but not truly alone.

Snape lay back down on the cot, folding his arms behind his head and looking up at the ceiling.

They'd be alone tomorrow evening when he was released. Then he'd show her just how much her admission meant to him.

In spades.

Harry was sitting outside the infirmary, waiting for Hermione. He stood up as she stormed out and stomped past him furiously. He blinked after her then ran to catch up.

"So, how did it go? Did you tell him?" Harry asked as Hermione marched down the corridor.

"Yes, I told him, the big arsehole," she hissed.

Arsehole? That wasn't a term Harry had been expecting.

"So how did it go? What did he say?" Harry pressed as they came to the end of the corridor and waited for a shifting stairwell to slide over.

"He told me to go back to my studies," Hermione replied. "He said he wasn't about to break into song about it. Can you imagine that? Oh, I wish I could take it back. I knew I shouldn't have told him, but you—you just had to press the issue, didn't you, Harry? Tell him you love him, Hermione."

Hermione used a nasally, nagging voice to imitate Harry's goading. Harry looked perplexed as they stepped on the stairs.

"I don't understand. He was so—so earnest about it all," Harry said.

Hermione snorted.

"He always seems earnest. That's a good quality when you're a conniving, insensitive Slytherin," she spat. "He's really good at leading Gryffindors on."

"What, you don't believe he loves you?" Harry asked her as they changed stairs again, heading down to the entrance hall.

Hermione sighed.

"Yes, I believe him when I'm right there with him, Harry. I do. But—but this? I don't know what to make of this. I go to him and tell him I return his feelings and he practically kicks me out. And they say witches are fickle," she muttered.

"Maybe he's mad at you for not visiting him all week, Hermione. You've been gone for days then all of the sudden you just pop up and tell him you love him—"

Hermione looked at Harry incredulously. She wouldn't have "popped up" at all if he hadn't dragged her to the infirmary in the first place.

"Give me my wand back," she demanded, glaring at him. It wasn't hard to see what she was thinking. Her expression was murderous.

"Oh no," Harry replied. "I need running room before I do that. You'll hex me off the stairs if I gave it back now."

"Am I that transparent?"

"Definitely."

"I could always push you," Hermione said with narrowed eyes.

Harry grabbed hold of the banister.

They rode the rest of the way down to the entrance hall in silence and Harry walked her back to Snape's office. They just missed Ron and Susan walking out of the Hufflepuff side of the dungeons, Ron stuffed to the gills and holding Susan's hand. It was just as well. Seeing smarmy Ron all goo-goo eyed over his girlfriend wasn't something Hermione needed to see right now, especially after Snape gave her the boot.

Harry and Hermione passed a couple of Slytherins on the way, but they didn't greet each other. When they reached Snape's office, Hermione held out her hand pointedly.

"My wand," she said stonily.

Harry blinked at her, slowly drew her wand out of his pocket, then quickly threw it down the corridor.

"HARRY!" Hermione yelled at him as he bolted up the hall, zig-zagging. Hermione ran to retrieve her wand but Harry had burned tile and was too far away to hex. Besides, there were more students in the corridor.

"Blast," Hermione hissed, unwarding the door and letting herself into Snape's office.

She had so wanted to set Harry's arse aflame.

Hermione returned to her work, trying not to think about Severus' cool response to her admittance. But, occasionally she'd exclaim, "ooh, that git!" and "Oh, what an arse!" under her breath.

Well, when he got out tomorrow, he'd get an even colder reception than she had. She'd pretend like she didn't even care he was back. That would show him.

Oh, the best laid plans—

Poppy had a time with Snape the next morning after removing his bandages. He had several scars on his back as a permanent reminder of his determination to save the witch he loved. He studied the scars using a magical mirror. They weren't too terrible. He could live with them. He never saw how badly he was scarred as an adult. These marks were nothing.

Poppy told Severus he would have to stay several more hours just for observation.

"It's obvious I'm fine," Snape said impatiently.

"I'll be the one to decide that, Severus, not you. Now, back to bed with you."

"Can't I at least have my robes?"

"Your robes? Why? So you can sneak out of here the moment my back is turned? No, you may not have them. I haven't even sent for them yet."

"My wand, then."

"That's worse than your robes! You will get what you need when I release you and not before then. Stop being so troublesome."

So, Snape sulked most of the day. He couldn't wait to get out of there and see Hermione.

He had quite a return planned.

"I've never seen a patient dress so quickly in all my time at Hogwarts," Poppy said as Snape emerged from behind the privacy curtain. "Well, then again, you always were quick to leave here, Severus."

"My wand?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"Here you go," the mediwitch responded, pulling it out of her apron pocket. Snape quickly put it in his own.

"You're free to go," Poppy said to the wizard.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey, for everything," he told her soberly.

"You're very welcome, Severus," she replied, smiling as he strode away.

"No arduous activity for at least a week!" she called after him.

Snape exited without a response.

He wasn't about to take that advice.

CLICK HERE FOR INTERACTIVE MUSIC

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Snape quickly rode the stairwell down to the entrance hall and was about to enter the dungeons when he heard his name called.

Blast it all.

He turned to see a smiling Harry and Ginny walking towards him. They were just leaving supper.

"Hi. You're out," Harry said, stating the obvious. Snape fought the urge to roll his eyes. Ginny gave him a little wave and smile.

"Yes I am. And I'm in a hurry," Snape said shortly.

"Yeah, I imagine you are. I just want to warn you Hermione is in a right mood. She's mad that you kicked her out last night," Harry said with a frown.

"She'll be fine," Snape said. "I have to go, Harry. I'll talk to you later. Goodbye Ginny."

And he billowed down the dungeon stairwell.

"Seems he's not worried about Hermione being mad," Harry said, taking Ginny's hand and starting up the marble staircase.

Ginny gave a knowing smile.

"No, he's not," she agreed.

Hermione tried not to look at the clock as she worked. Severus would be returning soon and it didn't matter in the least. She'd say hello and continue to work as if everything were normal and he'd never been away.

She started slightly as she heard the wall slide open, but didn't look over at it. She continued to write. Let him be the first to speak.

All she heard was the wall slide back, then silence. She could feel his presence, but he didn't say anything. Hermione tried to focus, to keep writing, but the quiet was getting to her. Finally, she looked over at Snape, who was standing in front of the wall looking back at her.

"Welcome back," she said coldly, then turned back to her books. All right, so she did speak first. So what? It had been nice and icy.

"Say it now," Snape said quietly.

Hermione looked at him.

"Say what?" she asked, her heart starting to flutter at the covetous way he was looking at her. She knew what he wanted to hear.

"Tell me that you love me," he breathed, tensed and trembling slightly.

"No. I did it once and you just—just kicked me out," she replied, but her heart was pounding.

Snape stared at her for a moment, then walked over and yanked her out of the chair, crushing his lips to hers and snogging her soundly. His kiss was hot, hungry and desperate as he held her close, breathing in the scent of her, feeling the rush of her skin, the world seeming to spin as he let his emotion and elation wash over the both of them.

They continued to kiss, their heads turning this way and that, tongues entwining, mouths connecting over and over, Hermione feeling Snape's desire snaking through her belly as he pressed against her in an unmistakable manner.

"Oh, Severus—what—" Hermione gasped at him when he let her up for air.

"Don't ask me," he said softly. "Just go with this—take me higher, Hermione. I've missed you and I want you. I want you to say the words again. Please. The infirmary wasn't the place to tell me. There was nothing I could do about it then. But now—now Hermione, I can show you how I feel. Say it."

Hermione looked into his dark eyes. They were wet and pleading.

"I love you, Severus Snape," she said softly.

"Yes," he breathed, covering her mouth with his own again and backing her away from the desk gently until they reached the wall near his bedroom door. He pressed her against it, the scent of leather mingling with her scent.

"I want you," he breathed, pulling her hair aside and kissing the side of her throat. Hermione's eyes went half-lidded as he suckled it gently. Still, she tried to protest—a little.

"But Severus I have to—"

"You have to get naked," he finished. "We both do. You have to let me inside you. That's all you have to do tonight, Hermione. You're all I want. Don't deny me. Let me feel your love."

"Oh, Severus," she breathed as he slowly began to unbutton her robes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 68: Unplugging the hole

Snape paused, his fingers stopping, a button and the parted fabric between his fingers as he looked at Hermione, how heated her eyes were. He smiled at her.

"You couldn't really believe I was unaffected, Hermione," he said to her, "that your words had no affect on me."

"I—I didn't know what to believe, Severus," she replied softly, her body reacting to his closeness. Snape began unbuttoning her robes.

"I could have crowed," he said. "I could have changed into a Gryffin and took a few turns around the infirmary when you told me you loved me, but—such a display would have been undignified. Besides, I wanted to see you sweat a little."

"Sweat? What do you mean, sweat?" she asked, catching both his hands and scowling at him.

"You did abandon me for almost an entire week," he said softly.

"Four days. I needed to work," she said.

"You needed to hide," Snape corrected. "You ran away. Some Gryffindor. Godric would have tossed in his grave at your cowardice."

"Don't call me a coward," Hermione hissed at him furiously.

Snape arched an eyebrow at her words.

"I said you showed cowardice, not that you were a coward. There's a difference," he told her. Suddenly, Hermione pushed away from him, sliding past him back into the center of his quarters, Snape turning after her with a billow.

"I wasn't showing cowardice. I just—just wasn't ready," she declared, clasping her hands together as she looked at her lover.

"And what made you ready?" Snape asked, slowly walking toward her. "What happened to make you realize that you loved me?"

"Nothing. Nothing really. I already knew it, even before you said what you did in the infirmary. I just—just didn't want it to get in the way. To complicate things. You know what I'm trying to accomplish. Love—love takes up time, Severus. It might be beautiful, but for now, it's a liability. I don't want to be in love," Hermione said tremulously, waiting for a bad reaction to this truth.

Snape didn't have a bad reaction. In fact, he laughed, which made Hermione quite angry.

"Don't laugh at me!" she hissed, tempted to pull out her wand on him.

"I'm laughing because you can control almost everything around you, Hermione, except your own heart. You know it functions independently of conscious thought. I laughed because it must be odd and unfamiliar to have to give up and give in. You must think being in love with me is the most terrible thing in the world right now. And that appeals to me on a number of levels."

"You are so—so perverse! How can you be enjoying my—my discomfort?" Hermione cried. "I can't believe you! I'm not—not staying here! I'm going!"

Hermione stalked over to the desk and began stuffing parchments and books into her knapsack haphazardly, a sure sign she was upset. Snape watched her for a moment then walked over to her, catching hold of the knapsack.

"It appeals to me because I know you honestly feel love for me, Hermione. It's not something you've considered and come to an informed decision about. You haven't 'decided' to love me. You don't even want to love me—but you do. Every little part of you is for me. How could I not take pleasure in that knowledge, in knowing that you feel for me exactly what I feel for you? Don't leave me because I'm being honest with you, Hermione. You must get used to it. I'm always going to be this way. Please—stay."

Hermione looked down at his pale hands clasping her knapsack.

"You just—annoy me so much," she said softly.

Snape gently took the knapsack out of her hands and set it back on the desk. He moved a bit closer.

"Hermione, everyone annoys you to some extent, because they're always encroaching on your space either physically or emotionally. You know who—your friends, your imagined competition—"

"Imagined? Severus—you know full well there are students at this school who could—"

Snape pressed his finger to her lips gently, quieting her.

"Who couldn't hold a torch to you, Hermione," he finished for her. "All of this work to the exclusion of all else is—unnecessary. It's a way to hide, to avoid entanglements, to push people away. At first I thought, I thought you felt inadequate, that somehow you felt you had to be better than everyone else because you are Muggle-born and feel the need to prove yourself."

Hermione blinked at him, her eyes becoming wet.

"It's not that," he said softly. "I know what it is now, Hermione. I know what drives you, what's kept you keeping everyone at arm's length—"

"What?" she whispered as he drew her into his arms.

"You told me I wasn't the only one," he said, "that I wasn't the only one to lose someone I cared about, and that I had to deal with it. And I wasn't. Everyone lost people they cared about—including you."

"Yes, I did," Hermione said, feeling the loss and pain she'd been fighting down beginning to rise again. "But I wasn't the only one either—Ron lost his brother, Harry lost his godfather—so many others lost family members-it was horrible."

"Hermione, you lost people you loved, too, and it was just as painful. You've been filling in the holes," Snape said softly. "You've been using your studies to fill up every moment of every day since the end of the war, so you didn't have to feel those holes. It doesn't matter if those people who died were relatives, Hermione. Your grief isn't less than anyone else's. That sting is there and you can't block it out. You can't block them out. You can't pad the rest of your life."

Tears began to flow down Hermione's cheeks as Snape told her what had been inside her heart for all these months since the death of Cedric Diggory, Albus Dumbledore and so many others until the culmination of Voldemort's death. All the pain she tried to shut out. All the people she never let go of, but left unburied inside her.

"I know about holes, Hermione. My entire life is one great hole. Nearly everyone I knew is gone, whether I loved or hated them. There was a void inside me, and I'm realizing that opening up and letting people in is the only way I can continue on and be happy. Harry has helped, even Ron a little and then, there's you. It takes people, Hermione, not lessons and marks to heal and to grow. You have to care for the people in your life, take them in and let them fill that void. And let them know they fill that void. I have a feeling that the first time around, I didn't realize that, but I do now."

Hermione blinked up at him for a moment, then wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely as she sobbed.

"But, you let me in, Hermione," he said against her ear as he embraced her. "You've discovered your heart again. It's all right to feel. In fact, it's wonderful to feel."

Hermione and Snape embraced in silence for about five minutes, before Hermione pulled away from him, her face red and eyes wet.

"Severus," she said softly.

"Yes?"

"You were a lot less talkative when you were an adult."

"What? Are you calling me a chatterbox?"

"Not exactly. You just didn't talk so much when you were going to do something. You kept it to yourself and just did it."

"I wasn't in love then."

"Oh."

Severus loosened his hold on her.

"Besides, you can be rather thick, Hermione. Sometimes it's necessary to take time to explain things to you, rather than wait for you to catch on. Although you call the thickness 'preoccupation.' Same animal, really."

"Thick?" she said pulling back. Snape smiled at her.

"We do very interesting foreplay, Hermione," he said. "Bouts of arguments, punctuated by kisses and embraces, then topped off with a rousing round of rather vengeful, selfish sex."

"What? We don't do that?" she said to him, frowning, but his last comment slipping away.

"We do now," he said, tossing her over his shoulder and running for his bedroom, Hermione beating him on the back while she laughed.

Snape fell into the bed with her and they wrestled a bit, Snape finally letting Hermione pin him to the bed, her hands holding his down by the wrists as they both panted.

"I do love you, Hermione Granger," he said quietly as soon as he caught his breath.

Hermione gave him a soft smile.

"And I love you just as much, Severus Snape," she replied, freeing his wrists and lowering her lips to his.

Snape was wrong about their foreplay, and the sex that followed. This round wasn't as nearly as creative and torturous as their last encounter and there was nothing vengeful or selfish about it. In fact, it was quite the opposite, the couple face to face most of the time, the only position changes being who was on top at any given time. There was a lot of deep kissing, caresses and tender words, mostly on the part of Snape, who dominated the act, Hermione content to receive his passion, and tenderness, to in fact, let him in.

She did have her moments too, however, riding him to near-ecstasy before the wizard flipped her back over desperately, not wanting their encounter to end too soon.

"Say you love me," he breathed down at Hermione, his body undulating as he drove into her over and over, his movements sensual, his hips twisting slightly as he claimed and caressed her body, her arms entwined around his neck.

"I love you," Hermione breathed back at him, then arched as he filled her as deeply as he could, trying to get as close, as deep, as all encompassing as was humanly possible.

"I love you, too," he hissed, covering her mouth with his own and never letting up on his possession. Severus Snape lasted a long, long time that night, and made sure that Hermione Granger knew that her love was treasured and returned seven-fold. When they both collapsed, their entire bodies feeling as flaccid as Snape's ample tool, they lay against each other, sated and sleepy, their bodies slick with perspiration and release.

Hermione kissed Snape softly, and the wizard opened his eyes, his wet hair plastered against his skull. Hermione's hair was a riot of wild ringlets.

"That was—intense," she said to him softly.

Snape smirked at her.

"And lengthy," he added a bit proudly. "In more ways than one. It feels like I get bigger every time we do it."

"I'm sure it's all in your head," Hermione said, then paused and they both burst out laughing.

"I didn't mean it that way," she said as Snape hugged her to him and kissed her forehead.

"I never believed I'd ever be this happy with anyone," he said to her softly.

"I certainly never dreamed I'd be this happy with you," Hermione replied, her warm breath tickling his ear. "This is going to sound incredibly selfish, Severus, but—I'm glad you had that accident."

This statement was met with silence for several moments, then Snape said, "So am I."

This was followed by another long silence, then Hermione turned in his arms, looking toward the clock. It read twenty to one. Snape sighed mentally.

Curfew.

Hermione turned back in his arms and snuggled in comfortably, falling still. Snape didn't know what to make of this.

"It's almost curfew," he said to her softly.

Without opening her eyes, Hermione replied, "Bother curfew."

She snuggled in closer and after a minute or two, began to breathe rhythmically. She was asleep. Snape lay there, looking at her and smiling.

"Yes, bother curfew," he said softly, closing his own eyes and following her into dreamland.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 69: A new lease

The next morning, Snape and Hermione showered and more than showered together, losing themselves in each other's bodies and emotions, Hermione once again showing a shuddering, gasping Snape her oral skills and the wizard returning the favor. They both exited a little cleaner, albeit a little dirtier, smiles on their faces along with rather pruny hands and feet from being under the water too long.

They had their first intimate breakfast together and a rather hearty one, consisting of fried eggs, bacon, beans, toast and fried bread. They fed each other and almost had a food fight. After they ate, Hermione walked over to her still sloppily packed knapsack and studied the parchments and books scattered over the desk. Snape walked up beside her, also looking down at all the research.

"You know, I think I've compiled enough information for my NEWTs," Hermione said softly. "I have loads of well-written research, indexes, footnotes and endnotes. I could just—just bind them up and be done with it—if I had help."

Snape blinked at her. She'd had enough?

"I could use a bit more practice with my spell work, and need to brew a couple of difficult potions, but I really think I've done enough to get Outstandings in everything. Just the sheer volume is worth it. I need a bit more documentation of your Animagus form—but—"

She turned to Snape.

"I really think I can slow down now," she told him.

Snape nodded soberly.

"I'll help you compile everything," he offered. Inside, he was absolutely elated.

They began to gather up parchments, Hermione pulling more out of the cubbyholes as Snape stacked them together according to subject. Those cubbyholes held a lot of work and soon there were eleven foot high piles of parchment, one for each subject.

"I'll be able to spend more time with Harry and Ron," she said matter-of-factly as she sat down and drew a pile toward her. It had to be sorted. Snape sat down as well.

"Only Harry and Ron?" he asked her, pulling a stack towards himself.

"Oh, no. Ginny will get some time too," Hermione said, smirking as Snape scowled slightly. "But I'll probably spread out my tutoring, maybe take on a couple more students. A lot of them are really struggling."

"And me?"

"What about you?"

"Am I going to get a larger slice of the freedom pie?" Snape asked her.

"We'll see. But more than likely, since I need more documentation of your Animagus form. More flying, and I'm going to have to witness you hunting," she said with a shudder. "There's nothing like seeing it for myself."

They fell into companionable silence as they worked for about half an hour, then Snape said, "I liked having you here this morning, sharing breakfast with me. It was—nice."

"Yes, until you almost shoved a piece of bacon up my nose."

"You should have opened your mouth wider. I already know how big it is. Pretending it isn't huge doesn't change that."

Of course, that started an argument that ended up with both of them on the floor, parchments scattered around them as they snogged madly. Hermione noticed the time however. She had students to tutor and after some effort managed to wrestle away from Snape.

He didn't make it easy.

"I've got to go," she told him, trying not to smile as she fixed her robes. Snape studied her. There was something softer, more relaxed about her. Something he liked very much.

"All right. I'll stay here and sort these out for you," he said.

"Will you come to supper? I've decided I'm going to start going again. I really have been neglecting my friends."

Snape nodded.

"I'll be there," he promised her.

Hermione gave him a rather shy kiss and left his quarters. Snape let out a satisfied sigh, then sat down at the desk and eyed the stacks of parchments.

"I should get a NEWT for all of this," he muttered, starting on the closest stack. But he had a smile on his face.

"You're what?" Harry exclaimed after Hermione announced she was through studying for the NEWTs. They were in the Great Hall and it was suppertime.

"I'm finished. Done. It's over. All I have to do is put everything together. The rest of my year will be fancy free. Sort of. I still have documentation to do with Severus and plan our presentation for the Transfiguration NEWTs, then some brewing, but that's basically all."

Harry stared at her as Ginny smiled. Hermione looked very happy and flushed.

"Did you and Severus make up last night?" she asked her friend.

Hermione turned red enough for both Harry and Ginny to know there had been a makeup. Just then, the door opened and a very sober-looking Severus Snape walked in, dressed to the nines, his robes billowing slightly as everyone looked at him. He only had eyes for Hermione and walked up to the Gryffindor table, leaned down and kissed her cheek, then sat down beside her, Hermione blushing furiously.

"Did you see that?" Minerva gasped at Flitwick, who peered over at Snape and Hermione sitting at the Gryffindor table. "He KISSED her."

"Ah, I believe he did, Minerva," the Charm teacher agreed, returning to his meal.

"But openly. In—in public," she continued.

"That's what witches and wizards do when they're an item. You know that, Minerva."

"An item? Severus and Hermione? Oh, Filius, it seems so wrong on so many levels," she said, dabbing at her lips with a napkin.

Flitwick gave her a small smile.

"It wouldn't seem wrong, Minerva if you made yourself see him not as the man he once was, but the young wizard he is today. Look at him. Do you ever remember him smiling when he attended Hogwarts the first time? Or socializing in a group?"

Minerva watched as Snape, Harry, Ginny, Neville and several other students talked over their meals, Snape looking at Hermione from time to time with a thin smile and Hermione smiling back at him shyly. They both looked very happy. It was young love, plain and simple. Minerva felt her reservations start to melt away at seeing Severus finally fitting in and socializing. He couldn't have made better friends. It really was heartwarming.

"You're right, Filius," the headmistress said firmly. "He's no longer an outcast, is he? All he ever needed was someone to—to care. We didn't do such a good job the first time, did we?"

Her eyes began to fill as she remembered the lonely, unpopular and targeted young man he had been years ago.

She felt Filius pat her arm reassuringly.

"No, we didn't, Minerva. But it seems destiny has rectified our errors. His life is going to be much better this time around. I think it best if we don't interfere at all this time around. Just let him be."

Minerva looked over at Snape again. He was having a tug-of-war with Ron, who had just arrived, over a large chicken leg, the last on the platter.

"Oi! You've been sitting here for hours stuffing your face, Severus. Let go!" Ron said, pulling on the leg.

"I can still see gravy on your chin from your girlfriend's last feeding," Snape sneered back at him, not letting go. "I can smell the roasted beef you just ate, you glutton!"

"Glutton?" Ron cried, incensed. "I'm not a bloody glutton. I just have a high metabolism! Now, let go!"

Ron gave a particularly hard tug on the chicken leg just as Snape did as he asked and let go. Ron tumbled backwards over the bench to the floor, limbs askew, but held up the chicken legs victoriously before getting to his feet. He reddened slightly at the laughter around him before he sat down. Hermione had her head in her hand, shaking it as Ron bit into the leg blissfully, Snape smirking at him.

"You can't keep a Weasley down," Snape said, still smirking.

"No you can't. Especially when there's food involved," Ron agreed unabashedly around his mouthful of chicken.

Everyone laughed, and Minerva wiped at her eyes. It was so wonderful to see Severus have the kind of school experience he deserved. Merlin knew he deserved so much more than he received the first time. So, he was involved with Hermione. They were both young adults and well matched academically. A much better match than she and Weasley, who also appeared very happy with his new girlfriend, Susan Bones. Maybe she could do something about his bottomless stomach.

Minerva let out a sigh that released her final misgivings.

Flitwick was right. She'd just let him be.

When Hermione returned to Snape's quarters that evening, she found her NEWT materials separated and stacked, in perfect order. She was very pleased about it, and wanted to get to work binding them.

"I was hoping we could go flying," Snape said, blocking access. "It's been a while."

Hermione looked at the neatly stacked parchments longingly for a moment, then sighed. She had plenty of time to do that.

"All right, Severus," she agreed and was rewarded with a smile and a little kiss.

"Let's go," Snape said, taking her arm and leading her into his office. He opened the door to the corridor and stopped, a small scowl on his face as Hermione looked completely shocked.

Standing in the doorway was Lucius Malfoy. His cold gray eyes swept over Hermione for a moment, then he looked at Snape and smiled.

"Ah, Severus," the pureblood said, inclining his head at him. "I dropped by for a friendly little visit. It seems as if you're 'occupied.'"

He said this a bit dismissively, and Hermione blushed, removing her arm from Snape's.

"I can go. I'll meet you outside, Severus," she said softly, then walked around Lucius quickly, before Snape could protest.

Damn it.

Snape frowned at Lucius.

"I've already signed the contract, Lord Malfoy. We know where we stand," Snape said shortly.

"Ah, yes. But I just wanted to have a friendly visit with you. It doesn't all have to be about business, Severus. I'd like us to be friends. Now, you will invite me in for at least a small drink, considering I've traveled all this way to see you?"

Snape let out a sigh and stepped back, allowing Lucius to enter his office, then opened the wall and let him through. He'd so much rather be with Hermione.

He watched as Lucius familiarly made himself a Firewhiskey. He turned to Snape.

"Would you like one?" he asked the young wizard.

"No," Snape said shortly, walking up to the fireplace and taking a seat in one of the two armchairs resting before it. He wore an impatient look on his pale face.

Lucius took the seat beside him, swirling his glass slowly before taking a sip. Snape watched, hoping he'd knock it back, but he didn't. He shifted in his seat.

"I've managed to secure Boleskin House for you," the blonde wizard said, looking at him thoughtfully. "And at an extremely low rental fee."

Snape nodded and Lucius pulled a parchment out of his inner robe pocket and offered it to him.

"What's this," Snape asked, looking very suspicious.

"It's a standard waiver stating that the owners are not responsible for your—safety should you take up residence," Lucius said with a slight smirk. "Boleskin House has quite the reputation. Few people have stayed there long, and those who did, are probably still there—in some form."

"I know the reputation of the house. I can handle a few demons," Snape said, taking the parchment from him, standing up and walking over to his writing desk. He dipped a quill into an ink bottle and signed the waiver, blowing on the ink so it dried, then folding it and handing it back to Lucius, who tucked it back into his pocket. Snape sat back down.

"I see you are dallying with that Muggle-born, Hermione Granger," Lucius said in an off-handed manner.

Snape didn't say anything.

"She's quite a brilliant witch, although her looks leave something to be desired," the wizard mused. Snape felt his belly tighten.

"But I suppose you have to have something to occupy your free time at Hogwarts. I will provide you with adequate companionship as a kind of perk when you move to Boleskin," the wizard said with a smile.

"I don't need that," Snape said coldly.

Both of Lucius' eyebrows rose in surprise.

"You haven't even seen the witch. I just need to know your preference. Do you still have a thing for—redheads?"

"I don't need companionship. If you send a witch there, I will turn her away," Snape declared. "I already have a witch."

Lucius snorted.

"Surely you don't mean Miss Granger? She's only a four or five at best. A wizard of your abilities deserves a nine or ten at least."

"I said I don't want companionship and I mean it. Why would I want a witch you pay for? That's not a real companion, that's a whore."

"Well, you didn't have a problem sleeping with whores when you were an adult," Lucius said with a bit of a sneer.

Snape sat there in silence, but trembled slightly.

"Please finish your drink, Mr. Malfoy, as we are finished here," he said tightly.

Lucius smirked, knowing he'd hit a sore spot with the young wizard. He swallowed down the rest of his drink, put the glass on the small table between the chairs and stood up. Snape rose also.

Lucius stuck out his hand, and Snape just took it, giving him a weak handshake.

"You're a very foolish young man to turn away the niceties I'm offering you," he stated.

"If it isn't in the contract, I don't want it," Snape said evenly.

"Suit yourself, Severus. I'm afraid you're going to have to set Boleskin House up yourself. I can't find anyone who wishes to enter it."

"That's fine," Snape said, anxious for Malfoy to leave.

"Very well. I won't be contacting you again until you've settled in. Send me a list of what you will need to make everything comfortable for you. It will all be waiting for you outside of the house when you arrive."

"Thank you," Snape said, moving toward the exit, giving the wizard a hint.

Lucius smirked again and departed. Snape was still an obnoxious bastard, no matter his age. But a brilliant one. He was sure his investment in his future was a wise one.

Snape watched as he exited, then waited a while, not wanting to walk with him up the corridor. After he was sure he was gone, he exited as well.

He wanted to find Hermione and apologize for letting her leave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 70: Another offer

Lucius Malfoy emerged from the castle and saw Hermione sitting on the steps, obviously waiting for Snape. He started to pause and speak, but her eyes were averted, so he didn't bother. He wouldn't have said anything remotely nice and he really didn't want to totally alienate Snape.

Hermione watched the blond wizard walk across the grounds toward the gate, scowling slightly. Presently, Snape emerged and hurried over to her. He was wearing the satchel. After the run-in with the Chimeras, he wouldn't leave Hogwarts without it.

"I'm sorry about that," he said to Hermione sincerely. "I wish you would have stayed. You didn't have to go."

"It was better that I left or he would have just kept trying to see you. I am familiar with Lord Malfoy," Hermione said, a note of dislike in her voice. Snape picked it up quickly.

"You don't approve of Lord Malfoy," he said to her as she stood up and began walking down the stairs.

"Do you think we could walk to the Forbidden Forest, Severus?" she asked him.

"Of course," he replied, knowing there probably was a reason she wanted to walk.

"And no, I really don't approve of Lord Malfoy," she replied. "He's not to be trusted, Severus."

Snape smirked.

"He's a Slytherin. Of course he's not to be trusted," the wizard replied. "But he doesn't seem as bad as a lot of wizards. I read about him and his family in Hogwarts, a history. He spent several years under the Imperious curse serving Voldemort, and his wife was the reason Harry survived the final battle. She lied for him and said he was dead when he wasn't. I think you would be grateful considering he is such a close friend of yours."

Hermione scowled.

"I am grateful, to Lady Malfoy," Hermione said quietly, then she looked up at him. "But, Lucius Malfoy's history has been tampered with, Severus. It isn't all in there. Hardly anything is. He's done some terrible things, but since his wife helped to end Voldemort's reign, it's all been prettied up and wiped away."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. When you have money and influence, you can make things disappear. Even in the wizarding world," Hermione said, anger in her voice. "He's really not to be trusted, Severus. Believe me."

They walked in silence for several minutes, then Snape said, "Well, tell me some of the things he's done and gotten away with."

"I don't even know where to start!"

"The beginning is a good place," Snape suggested, placing his arm around her shoulder as they walked side by side.

"All right. Lucius Malfoy strongly believed in pureblood superiority and was in the first war under Voldemort. He stayed out of Azkaban by claiming he was under the Imperio curse. He had enough money and influence to get away with that lie."

"Sounds like he was simply resourceful," Snape said thoughtfully.

"You would think that," Hermione said, "but he got away with murder, literally."

Snape didn't say anything. It was clear the soapbox was coming out.

"He hated Arthur Weasley, Ron's dad, because he did raids on wizarding homes and confiscated dangerous, dark magic objects. Malfoy had a lot of them. He planted one on Ginny Weasley to try and discredit Mr. Weasley, but the item, a diary, contained the memory of Tom Riddle and the secret to opening the Chamber of Secrets. Lord Malfoy was the reason the basilisk was released, Dumbledore removed as headmaster, and Ginny and Harry and other Muggle-Borns nearly killed. Of course, nothing happened to him, except he lost his position on the Governor's Board and his House Elf servant, Dobby. Even after all that, he got his position back. We later found out that diary had contained a Horcrux."

"Didn't you get petrified by that basilisk?" Snape asked her. He'd read about that.

"Yes I did," Hermione snapped, reddening at the memory. She had missed all the excitement because of that stupid creature. Damn Malfoy.

"Oh," Snape said softly. He smirked a little. Hermione had to hate Lord Malfoy just because of that little incident. "Tell me more."

"Well, when his son Draco provoked a Hippogriff named Buckbeak, Lucius prosecuted it and had it sentenced to death when it was all Draco's fault."

"Doesn't Harry own that animal? How is that possible if it was supposed to die?"

"Well, Buckbeak got away," Hermione said, not offering any more information. Information such as Sirius Black got away too, with the help of her Time Turner. Severus wouldn't have appreciated that info.

"Then Lucius was one of the Death Eaters that tortured a Muggle and his family at the Quidditch World Cup," she hissed. "It was horrible. They even tortured the children!"

Hermione's face blackened.

"Then he attacked us at the Ministry with other Death Eaters. They were trying to get the Prophecy. They would have gladly killed all of us if they could, but we held them off until the Order of the Phoenix could arrive. He was locked up in Azkaban until Voldemort got him out. Then he let them use his mansion as a base of operations. I know. I was there."

Snape didn't say anything although he heard the bitterness in her voice.

"But because of his wife saving Harry, he got away with all he did, Severus. Draco too. He was the one who let the Death Eaters into Hogwarts in the first place—"

Hermione stopped speaking because this information was linked to Snape killing Dumbledore—

"It's not fair. People have no idea of the wicked things Malfoy has done. He should be locked up," Hermione hissed. "You shouldn't have anything to do with him."

Snape lifted an eyebrow at her.

"You didn't say that when I told you about his offer. You said it was a great opportunity," he reminded her.

"Well, it is—was. That was before I fell in love with you. I'm afraid his sliminess will get all over you by association."

Snape chuckled, pulling her in tighter for a moment, then relaxing his hold.

"Sliminess notwithstanding, Hermione, it's the best offer I have and if I had to work I wouldn't be able to devote myself to my art. For me, it's not the means—but the end result that matters. Considering that I let Voldemort sponsor me the first time, Lord Malfoy is actually a step up. What's next up from slime?"

"More slime," Hermione hissed.

Snape chuckled as they approached the perimeter of the forest.

"Time to transform," he said, taking his arm off her shoulder and handing her the satchel.

"It's heavier," Hermione said as she put it over her shoulder and chest.

"I packed some 'extras," Snape said obliquely, then changed into his gryffin form, complete with magic saddle. He squawked at Hermione, then struck a pose, lifting one talon and arching his neck.

"All right, you're beautiful. How many times do you need to hear that?" Hermione muttered at him. Snape made a chuckling noise then crouched to let her mount. She climbed on and grabbed his neck as he suddenly took off running—away from the forest.

"Hey, where are we going?" Hermione cried, lying low as Snape streaked across the grounds then leapt into the air, flapping strongly toward the mountains in the distance.

Hermione held on as they flew over the surf, admiring the sky as the sun sunk lower, hues of pink, orange, purple and blue painting the canvas of the sky, coloring the clouds in beauty.

Snape swept upward, landing on the top of a mountain and letting Hermione off before transforming back.

"Why are we here?" she asked him.

"To watch the sun set," he replied softly, taking the satchel from her, reaching inside and taking out a blanket. He spread it on the ground and helped Hermione down, then sat beside her, breathing in the cool air as his black eyes drank in the beauty around him and next to him. He slipped an arm around Hermione's waist as she rested her head on his shoulder. Both of them sighed contently.

"Just a couple of days ago, Hermione, you couldn't have sat still long enough to watch the sun set," Snape said softly. He could smell the jasmine in her hair.

"I would have been worrying about the NEWTs," she agreed. "Somehow, they don't feel as important anymore. I felt almost as if my life depended on them. I didn't realize I was hiding, Severus. I thought it was because I was trying to show how smart I am, how much of a witch I am. I need to be exemplary."

"You already are. The history books show it clearly, Hermione. You are a witch among witches and people will know it centuries from now," Snape reassured her.

They were silent for a few moments, then Hermione said, "I have no idea what I'm going to do with my life, Severus. No idea at all. I've talked about several careers but I can't seem to focus on even one. All I see are possibilities. I need to know-"

Snape smiled.

"You'll be good at anything, Hermione. Don't stress over it or try to force it. You'll settle in. Perhaps you should just hang about a year or two," he suggested.

"Hang about? I have to have a job, Severus. You know—money?"

"I'll have money. I'll share it with you," he replied. "You can help me with potions at Boleskin house for a year or two. Find out if you want to go into the field of Potions. Sort of a trial run. We'd be doing interesting experiments. Enough to keep your mind filled with thoughts and ideas, plus you'd have all the supplies you'd need."

Hermione pulled away and stared at him.

"You want me to—to shack up with you?" she asked him incredulously.

"I didn't say shack up. I said work with me," he countered. "Of course, you'd stay there."

Hermione continued looking at him.

"You could have your own bedroom," he added. "But—no pressure."

"Oh, none at all," Hermione said sarcastically.

But it did sound exciting, and worthwhile. Severus was right. She could dabble as much as she liked, and there were a few potions she'd like to experiment with. Besides, he'd be there and that was a definite perk.

"It's just a suggestion," he said tightly. His brow was wrinkled as he looked at the horizon.

"Not a bad one," she replied, and he looked at her, hope in his dark eyes.

"It wouldn't be such a lonely pursuit with you there," Snape said.

His first go round, Snape had become used to being alone. But now, he wanted Hermione with him. She was a large part of his new world.

"I'll think about it," Hermione said, pulling him down into a soft kiss.

It lasted quite a while. When they broke, Snape suddenly stood up and offered her his hand.

"Come on, there's something else I'd like to do," he told her.

Hermione took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. Together they folded up the blanket and Snape deposited it into the satchel, then handed it to her.

He transformed.

"Where are we going?" she asked the gryffin, who squawked at her imperiously before crouching.

"All right. All right," she said, mounting. Snape leapt off the mountain and folded his wings back, going into a dive and heading for the surf below, Hermione's hair streaming back as she did her best not to shriek.

He pulled up at the last minute and flew along the shoreline until they reached a beach and small cove. It was getting dark now. He landed and let Hermione off, transforming back.

"Why are we here?" she asked Snape, who took his satchel from her, took out the blanket again along with two magical lamps, which he lit, placed on the sand, then spread out the blanket.

"Oh, now we're going to watch the sea," Hermione said to him as he pulled out his wand.

"Not exactly," he said, pointing it at himself.

"Divesto," he breathed, removing all of his clothes.

"Severus!" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes rounding at his nakedness. "What in the world are you doing?"

"Going skinny-dipping. Now, your turn."

Hermione squealed and ran, pursued by Snape, who kept casting the Divesto spell at the laughing witch, who dipped and dodged. She looked back at him, everything bobbling and swinging as he chased her and shrieked with laughter again before he finally hit her with the spell, removing all her clothing.

"Severus," she squealed as he grabbed her wrist and walked her back to the blanket where he deposited his wand.

"Come on," he said, starting to walk toward the surf. Hermione stalled.

"The water's cold," she complained, her nipples already tight in anticipation of the cold water.

"You'll get used to it," Snape said. "It's warm out."

"Not that warm."

"I'm not about to argue with you. I want to go skinny-dipping and we're going skinny-dipping, the wizard declared, swinging her up into his arms and determinedly walking toward the water. Hermione clung to his neck as he entered the water.

"No!" she laughed, hanging on as Snape tried to chuck her into the surf. After several attempts at dunking her, Snape just walked further out and fell into the water with her.

"Arrrrgh!" Hermione screamed, flailing about before she stood up, hugging herself and her teeth chattering. Snape stood up and wiped the water streaming down his face.

"There. Now, that wasn't so bad was- phlpthpth!"

Hermione had swung her arm on the surface of the water and hit him squarely in the face with a nice heavy slice of water that got in his mouth and his nose, making him splutter. Then, she pushed him so he fell back, completely submerged in the surf. He wrestled to get up.

"No, that wasn't too bad at all," she replied as he lunged at her and she tried to run. A flurry of fighting and dunking ensued, both witch and wizard swallowing quite a bit of water as they gamboled about, splashing and tackling each other before Snape finally grabbed Hermione and kissed her soundly, their wet bodies pressed against each other.

It didn't take long for that kiss to become something else as the moon rose, casting its monochromatic light on the young lovers below.

They ended up on the shore, sand sticking all over their bodies as they lay side by side, looking up into the sky, catching their breath and smiling.

"I like being in love," Hermione said softly.

"So do I," Snape agreed. "I like everything about it except the sand between my cheeks."

Hermione cracked up hysterically as the surf gently lapped against the shore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 71: Pairing off

"Come in," Minerva said, looking over her glasses toward the office door. It opened and Susan nervously entered.

"Miss Bones," Minerva said with a smile.

"Hello, Headmistress," Susan said, walking up to the desk, slightly reddened.

"Please, take a seat," Minerva offered. Susan sat down.

"Now, how can I help you?" Minerva asked her.

"I—I need a—an Animagus Registration form," she said softly.

Both of Minerva's eyebrows rose.

"A registration form? How long have you been seeking your form, Miss Bones? I had no idea. You aren't taking Transfiguration NEWTs," the witch said as she opened the drawer.

Susan reddened even more.

"Not to be rude, Headmistress, but I'd rather not say how long I've been working on it," Susan said apologetically. "But it's important that I don't share that until after the NEWTs. It's part of someone else's project."

"Ah, I see. Miss Granger is doing something similar with Severus for her NEWTs. Would you mind telling me what your Animagus form is at least?"

"No, I can't do that either. It has to be 'unveiled,'" Susan said with a small smile.

Minerva tsked.

"Such secrecy," she said, rising and going to the file cabinet and retrieving the form. She returned to her desk, opened a little pad and retrieved a stamp. She pressed the stamp into the ink and then to the form, dating it. She waved it around a bit to dry, then offered it to Susan.

"You have ten days to register, Susan, or there will be hefty fines and possible arrest. Just keep that in mind," she told the witch a little tightly.

Susan took the form and rose.

"Thank you, Headmistress. I'll be sure to register by then."

"You will have to provide pictures as well, and focus on identifying marks. You can either return the form and information to me or send it directly to the Ministry by owl," Minerva told her. "Just be sure you do so before the time is up. The law is very strict on this."

"Yes, Headmistress. Goodbye," Susan said, exiting the office.

Minerva sighed and sat down.

"Doesn't Miss Bones go out with Mr. Weasley, Minerva?"

Minerva spun in her swivel chair to look at Albus' portrait.

"Why, yes she does. Why?"

"I was just—wondering. I daresay this group of NEWT students is going to be exemplary this year

"I've never seen so many Animagi in one school year," Minerva replied. "Severus, Mr. Weasley and now Susan Bones. And not one of them informed the school of their attempts. Well, in Severus' case, when he attended Hogwarts the first time around, he didn't show any interest in finding his form. Mr. Weasley and Miss Bones—"

Suddenly, Minerva stopped talking, putting two and two together. Her brows furrowed.

"Something is going on here," she said softly.

The portrait smiled at her.

"It seems history is repeating itself, except the first three students to discover their forms in one year didn't register them," it said, blue eyes twinkling.

"They would have if I had known," Minerva said, then narrowed her eyes at the painting. "But you knew, didn't you, Albus? You knew James, Sirius and Peter were Animagi."

"I had my suspicions, but I never knew for certain, Minerva. If I had, then I would have been able to see through Wormtail's deception," the painting replied heavily.

It was talking about how Peter Pettigrew hid in plain sight as Ron Weasley's rat familiar, Scabbers.

"Well, at least this set follows the law. But, now I'm curious," Minerva said.

"I'm sure you'll find out the details after the NEWTs," the painting reassured her.

Minerva couldn't help thinking a few doses of Veritaserum would put her in the know in a more timely manner. Ah well, the NEWTs would be taken in a couple of months and all the mystery would come to light then.

She returned to her desk and her duties.

Hermione had moved a couple of students to Saturday mornings and added a couple of more to her tutoring sessions, so after breakfast, Severus returned to his quarters while she worked with her "pupils." She'd make a good teacher if that's what she decided to do.

After walking Hermione back to Gryffindor tower after their 'flight,' Snape began to wonder about something, something concerning Lily and his former feelings for her. He fell asleep on it, but now, since he was going to be alone for a few hours, the thought arose again.

He sat down in an armchair and looked into the flames of the fireplace, brooding.

"I need to find out," he said to himself, but he didn't make a move for several minutes.

Finally he sighed and pulled his wand out of his pocket, looking at it as if it might explode. It wouldn't, of course, but it was going to show him something that would definitely be affecting.

Snape stood up and walked around the armchair, moving to the center of his study. He drew in a deep breath and raised his wand. He thought of his latest happiest moment, which happened to be last night with Hermione.

"Expecto Patronum!" he hissed.

Silver light exploded from the tip of his wand and his Patronus formed. He blinked at it as it undulated through the air around him. It had changed dramatically.

"An otter?" he said, frowning at the little beast joyfully swooping, gliding and twisting around him as if swimming through water. It certainly was active. But—an otter?

A doe had been embarrassing enough. But this proved one thing, that he was truly over Lily Evans. Why he had an otter for a Patronus was beyond him. Maybe because he'd gone skinny-dipping with Hermione? There were such things as Sea Otters.

He let the creature gambol about for nearly forty-five minutes, letting it grow on him. It was rather entertaining as it snuffled at his books and swam through his study, investigating everything. Snape smiled as he watched it and felt its warmth whenever it came near. A feeling of happiness grew inside him. But that was the nature of a Patronus. It was a positive, protective force that strengthened its master in the face of a number of situations, such as a Dementor attack or some other dark force.

Finally, Snape ended the spell, and felt so good, he decided to go find Harry and see what he was up to.

As he exited his office, he ran right into Draco Malfoy, who addressed him, an excited look in his eyes.

"Hi Snape," he said to the dark wizard.

"Malfoy," Snape returned, starting up the corridor. Draco fell in beside him.

"I spoke to my father yesterday. He says you're going to move into Boleskine House," the pureblood said.

"That's right," Snape admitted.

"He says that he couldn't get anyone to help move your things inside the house, because, well—I'm sure you know."

"Demons," Snape said shortly.

"Yeah, well, I wanted to ask you something. When you go to move in, I'd like to come with you, help you get situated," Draco said, looking hopeful.

Snape stopped walking.

"Draco, last time a demon appeared, you flew the other way," he responded, frowning at Draco. "I don't see how you could be of much help."

"That's just it. I need to face my fears, Snape."

"Draco, I have to be honest. I don't think it would be wise to have someone with me who I can't count on in a tight spot. I understand why you want to come, but there's no guarantee you'll actually face your fear. You could run away screaming."

Draco scowled at him now. He hated Snape saw him as a coward.

"I solemnly swear I will stand with you against ANYTHING!" he hissed, invoking a Wizard's Oath, magic swirling all around them.

Snape blinked at him.

"A wizard's oath? Well, that's kind of a switch since I once took an Unbreakable Vow to protect you. A wizarding oath isn't as deadly, but it places the boot on the other foot. That oath is going to bind you to your promise to me for the rest of your life."

Draco shrugged.

"You did it for me," he said shortly. "Turnabout is fair play. Besides—I owe you."

Snape studied him, black eyes meeting gray.

"Very well. I'll let you know when we'll be departing," Snape told him, and Draco smiled, then shook his hand.

"You're all right, Snape," he said, happy he'd get another shot at proving himself.

"I just hope you'll be all right, Draco. Now I have to go."

Draco watched as Snape billowed up the corridor, then returned to Slytherin House and his private room. He closed the door and warded it, then pulled a huge book from under his mattress. He looked at the title.

Dealing with Demons.

He sat down at his desk, opened the book and began to read.

He'd be ready this time.

At a quarter to nine, Snape stood outside Gryffindor Tower, waiting for Hermione. He was dressed in his best dress robes, the ones with the serpents embroidered in it, and his boots were so polished, they could hurt your eyes if the light hit them just right. His hair was well brushed and silky looking. He ran his finger around his collar just a bit, not yet used to the robes.

Tonight was Slughorn's party, and the newly freed Hermione couldn't find a good enough reason not to accompany Severus. Harry, Ron, Ginny and Susan would be there, too. Susan wasn't exemplary to Slughorn, but she was Ron's date.

Ginny and Harry emerged from the tower first, Harry wearing dress robes and Ginny looking lovely in a clingy green dress that accentuated her slender shape and red hair. Snape gave her a formal bow when he greeted them, and she blushed slightly.

"Have you seen, Hermione?" Snape asked them.

"She's coming," Ginny said.

Then an "Oi!" sounded and they looked around to see Ron and Susan walking up the corridor. Ron wore dress robes and Susan was dressed in a black, shimmery dress with her hair swept up and pinned. It fit her quite nicely. Actually, she could have passed for a big, beautiful clothes model. Her make-up was nice and not overdone and silver and black earrings dangled from her ears.

Ron had his arm looped through hers proudly as they walked up.

"Hey," he said, followed by Susan's shy "hi."

Everyone greeted them, Harry and Snape looking at Susan. Snape had to admit although she was a large girl, she was quite attractive.

"Susan, you look great," Harry complimented her.

"Thank you, Harry. You look very nice, too. In fact, you all do. Ginny, green looks wonderful on you," Susan replied, blushing slightly.

Ron looked around then let out an exaggerated sigh.

"We're waiting for Hermione, aren't we?"

"Yeah," Ginny said, and Ron rolled his eyes.

"She's going to take forever. She always does. Susan and I are going to go on ahead. I want to get a good head start on the finger foods," Ron said.

"Of course," Snape said dryly.

Ron ignored him. Snape simply didn't understand the Weasley metabolism.

"We'll see you there, Ron," Harry said, not wanting to leave Snape.

"Harry, you and Ginny go to the party. I'll wait for Hermione. There's no need for everyone to be fashionable late," Snape said to the wizard. He'd rather greet Hermione alone anyway. Right now, he felt like he had a chaperone with him. It was a little late for that.

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely."

"All right, then. We'll see you when you get there," Harry said, taking Ginny's arm and joining Ron and Susan. Snape watched as they walked up the corridor and out of sight. Then he turned back towards the tower, his dark eyes resting on the Fat Lady's portrait.

She became redder and redder and finally snapped, "It's not polite to stare!"

Snape bit back a scathing reply. He most certainly wasn't looking at her, but at the entrance. She just happened to be in front of it. Still, insulting the painting wasn't going to be helpful, so he sucked it up and looked around the area, then at his nails.

Suddenly, the Fat Lady's portrait swung back and Hermione emerged.

Snape's scowl lasted exactly one millisecond as he looked at Hermione.

She was dressed in a sleeveless, form-fitting gold sequined dress that fell mid-thigh. She also wore three-inch gold heels. Her hair was curly and pinned loosely with a scarlet and gold clip. She wore dangling scarlet and gold earrings and her face was made up nicely. She wore mascara, eyeliner and lipstick. The dress seemed to bring gold flecks out of her brown eyes. Snape's mouth fell open slightly as he stared at her, lateness definitely forgiven.

"Hi, Severus. I'm sorry I took so long," she said softly.

"I want to make your mascara run," he answered in a raw voice.

"WHAT?"

Snape blinked, then seemed to come back to himself.

"I said you look beautiful," he stated, trying to cover for himself.

Hermione harrumphed.

"That is not what you said, Severus, and you know it," she told him as he smirked.

"No, but it is basically the same sentiment, kind of. I want to make your mascara run because you look so beautiful."

"I wouldn't look very beautiful after that," she replied.

"To me, you would," he said softly, leaning in and kissing her tenderly. It was just a short greeting kiss, really, but Hermione felt it all the way down to her toes.

They broke the kiss, brown eyes meeting black eyes and for a moment the idea of skipping the party and going down to Snape's quarters flashed across both their minds. But only for a moment as Snape offered Hermione his arm.

"Let's put in our appearance," he said to her as she took hold.

"All right," Hermione said, and they began walking. Severus craned his head, looking down at her feet and the heels she wore.

"I like your shoes," he breathed.

"Thank you."

"No, you don't understand—I really like your shoes. They make your legs look so long and shapely. Very wrappable."

"Wrappable? Is that even a word, Severus?"

"Do you want me to use it in a sentence?" he asked her, his eyes glittering.

"No. I don't. I can only imagine what you'd come up with," she replied, reddening even as she tried to hide a smile. Severus was always so ready to get sexual, even if it were only verbally.

"Blast," he said, craning his head again at those delicious shoes.

As far as his 'coming up' with something, he wouldn't mind those heels up in the air. Hermione had struck gold with those shoes.

Snape was well on his way to developing a slight fetish for Hermione in heels.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 72: A party in more ways than one

In an attempt to get Severus' focus off of her shoes, Hermione talked about Professor Slughorn as they walked. She was mildly successful because he was forced to look at her, rather than her shoes out of politeness, but his eyes kept shifting downward.

"I find Professor Slughorn's parties distasteful because he excludes so many students. He only invites famous students, the relatives of famous people or people who are gifted in some way. He didn't give Ron the time of day until after Voldemort fell. It's really bad for peoples' self-esteem."

Snape snorted.

"I wouldn't give his party the time of day if I hadn't made an agreement with him to do it," Snape said, frowning. "When I attended Hogwarts, Slughorn didn't give me a second glance and I was brilliant in Potions. Better than Lily. In fact, I tutored Lily in Potions and she helped me with Charms. It's how we both became proficient early."

Hermione thought maybe it was because Severus had been such a loner that Slughorn didn't embrace him. From what she knew, he wasn't the most social of wizards back then.

"He likes fame," Hermione said. "But, he doesn't want to be famous—he wants to influence famous people and get perks from knowing them. Like free Quidditch tickets and being able to advise people in high positions, things like that."

"He is a Slytherin," Snape replied. "Making good contacts is part of our philosophy. That he wants to benefit from his contacts is no surprise. There are worse things he could do."

"Yes," Hermione agreed as they took the shifting stairwells down to the first floor. "A lot of people thought he was a coward for the longest time. He hid out, you know, trying to avoid being recruited by Voldemort. He was the one who told him about Horcruxes. He hid that for a long time until Harry got it out of him. Without that knowledge, we couldn't have destroyed the Dark Lord."

"So, Slughorn is a hero?" Snape asked her.

"I'm not sure if you can call him that, since he was the one who put Voldemort on his evil path. It wasn't on purpose, but still—"

Snape frowned.

"Well, I made the elixir that gave him more power," Snape said softly. "So what does that make me?"

"You were young. You didn't know what he'd turn into, Severus."

"I knew enough. We were at war," the wizard replied sullenly.

"You spent your entire adult life trying to rectify that mistake, and you saved a lot of lives and made it possible for him to be killed by your sacrifice. If not for you, he might have realized Draco, and then Harry was the master of the Elder Wand. So stop going on about that. You're a hero, and I won't stand for you saying otherwise!"

Snape looked at Hermione's fierce expression. She looked as if she wanted to hex him. Did she believe in him that much? Obviously so. He felt his heart swell a little.

"All right," he said quietly.

"Yes, it is all right," she muttered as they walked toward the Dark Arts classroom where the party was being held. They could hear music and low chatter.

"Here we go," Snape said as they entered the open doors.

The desks had been removed from the classroom and tables and comfortable seating areas placed strategically for the guests' comfort and to inspire conversations. There were several lit ice sculptures that doubled as fountains. Juice, wine and other libations flowed freely. All one had to do was capture their choice of drink in a goblet.

Some students not part of the Slug Club were there, dressed in crisp white jackets and serving the guests various finger foods. On the far side of the room, against a wall was a large display of photographs, all members and former members of the Slug Club. Harry and Ginny were standing in front of it, Harry looking at several pictures of his mother.

All together there was a group of about fifty people in attendance, most of them adults, and not all of them exactly human. The vampire Sanguini was in evidence, as well as his friend and companion Eldred Worple. The tall, pale creature's black eyes shifted over the crowd consideringly, then fell on Hermione, who shuddered and clutched Severus' arm tighter.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"Sanguini, the vampire. He gives me the creeping fugwugs," she replied.

Snape followed her gaze and saw the vampire staring at them, wearing a small smirk. He was dressed in long black robes, had long, rather lank black hair, and a large nose.

"I think there might be a bit of resemblance between us," Snape said to Hermione, who hissed back at him, "There's NO resemblance at ALL!"

"I vant to bite your neck," Snape teased her, lifting his upper lip slightly and showing his slightly crooked white teeth. .

"Shut up."

They entered the room and immediately Ron and Susan appeared, Ron carrying a huge plate of hors d'œuvres. He was chewing on a small glazed chicken wing. Snape eyed him.

"If not for your dress robes, I'd swear you were a server, Ron," Hermione said, shaking her head as Susan grinned. Ron did love to eat.

"You'd find out you were wrong when he bites your hand off at the wrist when you attempt to take a piece," Snape interjected.

Hermione and Susan chuckled as Ron looked outraged.

He swallowed his food and said, "It's not that bad. I'd only take a finger or two."

This caused more laughter and Harry and Ginny walked up.

"Hi, Hermione. You look fantastic," Ginny said.

"Thanks," Hermione said, blushing and patting her hair a bit nervously. "You and Susan look very nice yourselves."

"I like her shoes," Snape said. Harry and Ron looked down at them.

"They look dangerous to me," Ron said. "One misstep and crack! There goes her ankle."

Harry thought they looked sexy. Ginny had on heels too, and he loved to see her in them as well. Susan wore shoes with a broad heel, not quite as high as those of the other witches, but still quite a nice pair.

Snape shook his head slightly, thinking Ron didn't have a clue as to what was sexy.

Suddenly, a smiling Slughorn appeared, looking directly at Severus and having eyes for no one else. He wore an old-fashioned waistcoat with gold buttons and his bald head shined as if he'd polished it just for the occasion. His white walrus-like mustache fluttered in delight as he looked at the young wizard greedily.

"You made it I see, Severus," the professor said gleefully. "Wonderful, wonderful. I wonder if I might borrow you for a few moments and introduce you to a few of my guests."

Snape frowned at Slughorn's rudeness. Didn't he see anyone else?

"I'm with my friends," Snape said tightly.

Slughorn's prominent eyes shifted around the small group of friends as if seeing them for the first time. They dulled slightly as they fell on Ron holding the plate of hors d'œuvres. He might be famous, but what a glutton he was. No couth at all. Still, Slughorn smiled.

"Ah yes, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, Miss Weasley—and—er, who are you?"

"Susan Bones," Susan said softly, blushing slightly. Her hand was resting on Ron's arm.

"Ah, Miss Bones. Mr. Weasley's date. What house are you in?" Slughorn asked her.

"Hufflepuff."

"Oh, I see. Well, welcome to my little party, Miss Bones," Slughorn said a bit dismissively, turning back to Snape.

Ron frowned at the wizard, then patted Susan's hand.

"He's a git," he mouthed at her, and Susan gave him a small smile.

If Slughorn had any idea about Susan's food magic skills, he would have shown much more interest in her. Susan's magical hors d'œuvres would have taken his party to another level completely. Well, it was his loss.

"You don't mind if I borrow Severus for a bit?" he asked the group.

They couldn't very well say they did mind.

"Not at all," Hermione said as Snape shook his head slightly at her, signaling for her to say she did mind. But Hermione was too polite for that.

"Well, come along, Severus. We've people to impress," Slughorn said brightly, walking off.

"Thanks a lot," Snape hissed at everyone, then he followed Slughorn stiffly.

"Well, he should have expected it," Hermione said, looking after him. "Hopefully, it won't be too painful. Let's mingle."

Hermione and friends moved off into the crowd as Snape was led to a small group of wizards, Slughorn beaming proudly.

"Ah, members of the Council. You are of course familiar with Severus Snape?" he said, slipping an arm behind Snape and pressing him forward. "Severus, these are the currently seated members of the Ministry Council. Good men to know."

Introductions were made, and Snape felt distinctly uncomfortable as the Council members eyed him like some kind of novelty.

"So, it is true," one council member said. "You have youthened. Don't have any memories of your adult life at all?"

"No, I don't," Snape said shortly.

"That could be considered a blessing in your case. You were involved in some rather sticky business," another member said, frowning at him in obvious dislike. "Some believe you should be under Azkaban for the death of Albus Dumbledore."

An uncomfortable silence followed this statement, then Slughorn stepped forward, his eyes glittering.

"If not for Severus Snape, we would all be serving the Dark Lord, Gregory. You know his service and sacrifice. He is as much a hero as Harry Potter. And I find it distasteful that you would say such a thing to him when you know he has no recollection of his adult years. I thought better of you," Slughorn said angrily.

"Yet, this is amazing," another member said, cutting off the argument. "You actually found a way to permanently take years off of a human being. Do you have the potion?"

"No. This was an accident," Snape said tightly.

"It would be wonderful if you could retrace your steps and recreate it," the councilman said. "You'd make a fortune, and I wouldn't mind investing in such a product, as well as using it."

Snape didn't say anything to this. He already had Lord Malfoy backing him. He didn't need more stuffed shirts trying to profit from his abilities.

"Severus also has an amazing Animagus form. The most fascinating I've ever seen," Slughorn said proudly as Snape looked at him, startled.

"Really. What is his form?" another council member asked.

"Would you mind showing them, Severus?" Slughorn asked him.

"What? Here?" Snape replied, feeling uncomfortable.

"Yes. Surely you've transformed in the castle before," Slughorn said encouragingly.

People began to crowd around him, having overhead Slughorn praising him.

"Uh, oh. What's happening?" Harry said. "Everyone's gathering around Severus."

"What?" Hermione said, putting down her cup of pumpkin juice and looking over. Snape didn't look too happy. In fact, he looked a bit trapped.

"I'm going to see what's going on," Hermione declared, walking over and pushing her way through the crowd. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Susan followed her.

"Go ahead, Severus. Show everyone your form," Slughorn pressed.

Snape scowled. Everyone was standing around him expectantly. He saw Hermione push to the front of the crowd, her eyes questioning.

"Are you sure he's an Animagus?" someone in the crowd said. "It seems as if his talent is petrification. He's as stiff as stone."

Laughter rose as Snape's face contorted. He hated being laughed at.

"I'm not doing this," he suddenly said.

"Oh, come now, Severus. Everyone will be impressed, once they see your Animagus form," Slughorn cajoled him.

"No," Snape said stubbornly.

Ron, Harry, Susan and Ginny pushed through. Ron's blue eyes were narrowed as the crowd began to jeer at Snape. This was the wizarding world's cream of the crop? They were all arseholes.

"Snape never had an Animagus form," someone else called out from the crowd. "Unless 'slimy git' counts."

Hermione looked over to see Cormac McLaggen looking back at her smugly. He was the one who made the statement. Ooh, she couldn't stand him.

"Leave him alone. He doesn't have to prove anything to anyone here," Hermione cried, stepping out in defense of him.

"Horace, what were you thinking, inviting Snape here? Youthened or not, he's an undesirable, no matter what the history books say. Even after all this time he reeks of Voldemort."

"How dare you!" Hermione shouted at the distinguished looking wizard who made that statement.

"Severus is an exemplary wizard," Slughorn said in his defense. "He will become a wizard of consequence, mark my words!"

"He's filth," someone else cried and voices rose in agreement.

This was a wolf-pack mentality. Snape as a young wizard didn't appear as formidable or imposing as an adult. He was defenseless, and people who would have never dared insult him before, did so now and with great malice.

"Oh, no . . . this isn't going to work," Ron growled, pushing his plate of hors d'œuvres into Susan's hands.

"Ron, what are you going to do?" Susan asked him.

Suddenly, Ron transformed into his Orangutan form, screeching. Everyone looked at him startled, backing up as he ran through the crowd and began trashing the place. They wanted to see an Animagi? Well, here one was!

"Ron!" Hermione cried as he threw a table across the room, the wizards and witches running out of the way. Harry saw someone pull out a wand and point it toward Ron. He whipped out his own.

"Expelliarmus!" he cried, blasting the wizard before he blasted Ron. More wands came out as Slughorn shouted for everyone to calm down. Soon there was a full out wizard's duel going on, hexes, food and people flying. Sanguini moved through the fighting throng, slipping the flying food and hexes, and occasionally mesmerizing a wizard here, a witch there, staying in the spirit of the occasion. He might even manage a light snack in all the confusion.

"Severus!" Hermione cried through the melee, trying to find the wizard. Suddenly she saw him, smirking as he blocked and blasted joyously. She ran over to him, ducking spells. Susan was protecting Ron as he continued his destruction. His pent-up anger about all those months of being ignored by Slughorn was finally being released.

Suddenly, he was hit and blasted against a wall. Susan let out a scream of outrage and suddenly transformed herself, charging through the crowd and knocking them left and right as she barreled through.

"Holy hamadryads!" Ginny yelled to Harry. They were standing back to back, hexing with the best of them. It was almost like the final battle all over again, although no deadly spells were being used. "Susan! She's an Elk!"

Yes, she was. A beautiful brown elk weighing about five hundred pounds as she plowed over a few people then returned to help Ron, who had recovered quickly, in his rampage.

Snape saw them and said to Hermione, "They're not going to have all the fun," then transformed into a gryffin, screeching in challenge. The entire room stopped fighting as they looked at the beautiful animal, stunned.

"He's a gryffin," someone said in amazement. Ron and Susan stopped their destruction and stared at Snape, who stared back at them with its black eyes for a moment, then struck a dramatic pose and let out another screech. Slughorn was sitting in a corner, his head in his hands. He looked up and saw Severus' Animagus form.

"Why couldn't he have done that from the start?" the wizard moaned. This had been a disaster. Tables were overturned, food was everywhere, covering everyone, and wizards and witches were stumbling about, recovering from hexes. Oh, this was awful.

Calm returned to the room, and Ron, Susan and Severus transformed back into human form. Susan had bits of food in her hair and on her dress, and Ron's robes were stained. Hermione's hair was standing up all over her head, coming loose in the excitement. Ginny's dress was torn and she had sweated off all her makeup. Harry was covered in food too.

"Come on," he said to his friends and the six of them beat a hasty retreat, unimpeded by the other guests, who were Scourgifying themselves.

One of the council members walked over to where Slughorn was seated.

"Horace," he said.

Slughorn looked up at him.

"This had to be your best party ever," the councilman said with a smile. He had a stuffed truffle clinging to his shoulder.

Slughorn blinked at him, then looked around the room. Although everyone was disheveled, many of them wore broad smiles. He couldn't believe it. He stood up and walked into the center of the room, looking at his guests.

"I thought we'd do something a bit different this time. The dueling, of course, was staged for your enjoyment," Slughorn pronounced.

Applause arose all around him as he bowed and smiled brightly.

This party would be the talk of the wizarding world for months, if not years.

Snape, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Susan ran down the corridor, hysterical with laughter until they reached the narrow staircase that led up to the shifting stairwells. They stopped, smiling and panting as they caught their breaths.

"Ron, I can't believe you did that!" Harry exclaimed, red-faced.

"They were all gits. You saw how they were ganging up on Snape just because he didn't want to transform," he said. "Who do they think they are?"

"Yeah," Susan said in agreement. "They were horrible to him. They deserved what they got. Professor Slughorn shouldn't have put him on the spot like that!"

Everyone agreed as Snape just looked at them. They had all come to his defense. Every one of them. He had never had anyone in his life like this before, now he had several loyal friends, ready to fight for him. His eyes glistened a little.

"We probably won't be invited to anymore Slug Club parties," Ginny said with a smile.

"You promise?" Hermione asked, grinning. Then she looked at Snape, who wore a sober expression on his face.

"Are you all right, Severus?" she asked him, concerned.

Snape nodded, feeling a lump in his throat. He almost couldn't speak. But he managed.

"Thank you. All of you," he said a bit hoarsely.

Ron gave him a smile.

"Don't worry about it. We didn't do anything for you that you wouldn't do for any of us," he said confidently.

Snape studied him, then gave him a small smirk.

"Indeed," he responded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 73: After the party

~

After Scourgifying themselves, the group decided not to waste the extra hours, and headed down the marble stairwell, intending on going out on the grounds when they ran right into Filch.

The Squib eyed Harry, Ron and Ginny with a frown, then looked at Snape. He was used to seeing him with Hermione, but this?

"Mr. Snape," Filch said in greeting.

"Good evening, Mr. Filch," Snape replied.

"Where are you heading?"

"Er . . . outside. Professor Slughorn's party—er—ended a bit early and we thought we'd take a turn around the grounds since we have an extra hour or two, technically—"

Filch squinted his eyes at Snape's companions. He could order them back to their houses if he wanted to, and he did want to do it. Heroes or not, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were trouble with a capital "T". The gods only knew what mischief they could get into. But, they were with Snape and he didn't want to ruin Snape's evening.

"All right, Mr. Snape, but they all have to be back in the castle and IN their houses by one o'clock," Filch told him. "And no funny business. Potter and Weasley are known for their shenanigans."

"There won't be any shenanigans, Mr. Filch. I'll take full responsibility," Snape promised.

"Not sure you should do that, Mr. Snape," Filch said, frowning again. "But, I can't pick your friends for you, so go ahead outside, all of you."

Everyone murmured their thanks and did just that, Filch looking after them with a frown.

"What a group to fall in with," he muttered, turning on his heel and heading up the marble staircase. "Nothing but trouble, the whole lot. If Snape still had his memories, he'd remember how they are and give them a wide berth. I hope they don't get the lad in a sticky situation. He's been through enough."

Once outside, Ron turned to everyone.

"Wow, I can't believe Filch didn't send us to our houses," he said.

"That's because he likes Severus," Hermione said with a smile. She was holding Snape's arm. "He gave him some salve to make his arthritis better."

Ron narrowed his eyes at Snape.

"So, you're at the bottom of Filch's catching everybody! He almost caught me the other night when I was sneaking back from snogging Susan after curfew. I ran down a corridor with my shirt pulled over my head so he couldn't see my hair, and—and he almost caught up to me before I realized it. I got away, but it was close!"

Snape simply shrugged.

"Fraternizing with the enemy," Ron groused as they all walked down the stairs, Snape smirking at his back.

"We're not going to be able to walk across the grounds in these heels," Ginny complained. Hermione had to agree. Susan's heel was broad enough not to break the ground.

"You could transfigure them into something more comfortable," Harry suggested.

"No!" Snape said quickly. "I'll carry you, Hermione."

He didn't want those shoes off her feet. He transformed into the gryffin complete with saddle. Hermione looked at him.

"Well, that solves my problem, but what about Ginny?" she asked.

Susan suddenly transformed into the elk. She snorted at Ginny and shrugged her shoulder, lowering her body.

"Oh! Cool!" she said, climbing on. Susan looked at Harry and tossed her head.

"Me too?" he asked her, and she nodded.

"Cool!" Harry said, climbing on after Ginny.

Ron transformed into his orangutan form and beat on his chest before leading them off, running across the grounds followed by the gryffin, elk and their human riders. The moon was still waxing and the landscape around them was well lit by its silvery light.

Snape and Susan walked side by side, Harry and Ginny grinning down at Hermione, who wasn't smiling at all as she looked at Susan and wondered how long she had been trying to become an Animagus. It was unsettling to see both she and Ron had animal forms. She wanted to know more as she watched her easily and gracefully carry Harry and Ginny.

Occasionally, Snape would screech at Susan, who made guttural noises back at him. Apparently, they could communicate with each other in their animal forms. Hermione felt a little envious at this. Suddenly, Snape began to trot, as did Susan, both Harry and Ginny clinging to the elk with their knees and Ginny hanging on to her neck as they bounced and laughed.

Ron barreled ahead, galumphing along, doing an occasional joyous tumble as they approached the Forbidden forest. Hermione couldn't help thinking about the Chimeras, but they had more than enough people to fight off an attack.

They entered the trees, Snape leading the way. Ron took to the trees swinging through the branches as Susan carefully picked her way through. After a few minutes, they came to the clearing. The packed dirt was hard enough here to support slender heels. Hermione, Harry and Ginny dismounted and set about making a large bonfire as Snape, Susan and Ron continued socializing as animals, Ron yanking Snape's tail and running into the trees, pursued by the gryffin as the elk watched, making noises of mirth.

Hermione sat on a boulder, watching them and feeling left out as Harry and Ginny joined her, watching them too.

"I bet that's how it was with my father and his friends," Harry said softly as Susan and Snape playfully circled each other. "I bet they played together, too."

"I just want to know how long it took Susan to find her form. Has she been studying all along?" Hermione asked Harry, who shrugged.

"Ron hasn't said anything about it," Harry replied.

"He's changed," Ginny said. "He used to blabber about everything to Harry. He doesn't do that anymore."

"Well, some things," Harry added, turning a little green. Ron still liked to give intimate details about him and Susan to Harry. He didn't do it with anyone else though. Harry was his best mate.

"I think it's because of the NEWTs. He's been working very hard on it, Hermione. He has almost a foot high stack of research. I've seen it, but he won't let me look at anything he's written," Ginny said, then cried "Ooh!" as Snape caught orangutan Ron by the shoulders, flew with the screaming ape over the trees and dropped him into the topmost branches.

A lot of crashing sounds and ape cries followed.

"Oh, that had to hurt!" Harry said, scrunching up his face in sympathy as Hermione's mouth dropped open. After a minute or two, Ron ran out of the trees and started throwing something at Snape, who flapped and dodged above him, screeching in outrage.

"I don't think that's mud," Harry said as Susan trotted away a distance, snuffling loudly as if something unpleasant was caught in her nose. A big glop hit Snape in the center of his snow white feathered chest.

"Ew!" both Hermione and Ginny hissed as gryffin Snape dove at orangutan Ron, who ran back into the trees, screeching laughter. Snape landed in the clearing, turned into human form and ran into the woods after Ron with his wand drawn.

"Oh, that's not good," Harry said as a flash of light shot through the trees, followed closely by a apish shriek of pain, then Ron yelling "Oi! You bastard! You set my arse hair on fire!"

"You hit me with dung, you gorilla!" was Snape's snarled reply. Then the flashes started again. Obviously, they were dueling. Susan trotted up to the witches and wizard, then transformed back to human form and sat down on the boulder next to Hermione.

"I'm not getting involved in that," she said, shaking her head as hexes were shouted and light flew back and forth. Then, there was the sound of grappling and Snape and Ron rolled out of the forest, brawling.

"Oh, good gravy!" Hermione exclaimed, hopping off the boulder and hurrying over to the wrestling wizards. She pointed her wand at them. Ron had Snape in a chokehold, and Snape reached over his shoulder and hit him in the eye with an upraised knuckle.

"Ow!" Ron cried as Snape twisted around, loosening his grip. Suddenly they were both deluged by freezing water.

"Hey!" they both yelled, breaking apart and seeing Hermione standing there, water dripping from the tip of her wand.

"That's enough, you two. Really. Haven't you had enough dueling for one night?" she chided them.

"Snape started it. He shouldn't have dropped me into the trees. That hurt!" Ron complained, pulling out his wand and drying himself.

"You pulled my tail," Snape countered as he dried and Scourgified his robes. "Did you think that felt good? Then you threw ape shit at me."

"Sorry about that, mate. A natural response," Ron said with a grin.

Hermione shook her head as Snape snorted.

"Well, enough of that. Come over by the fire," she ordered, walking back toward the fire.

Ron and Snape glared at each other for a moment, then broke into grins and followed Hermione over to the bonfire. Harry, Ginny and Susan were smiling at them.

"That was entertaining," Ginny said to them. "You've got pretty good aim as an ape, Ron, disgusting as it is. Did you Scourgify your hands?"

"Of course I did. Shut up, Ginny. Merlin," Ron said bad-naturedly as he sat down next to Susan.

Snape sat down next to Hermione, looked around at his companions, then stared into the bonfire quietly.

"We should have brought some Butterbeers and snacks," Ron said as his stomach growled.

"Ron, you can't possibly be hungry after all the food you ate at the party," Hermione told him.

"He's bottomless, Hermione," Susan said, pulling out her wand and pointing it skyward.

"Accio cornucopia!" she cried, then lowered her wand.

Everyone looked at her.

"You have a cornucopia?" Ginny asked, impressed.

"Yes. I usually use it to get ingredients I need to cook with when they aren't available at Hogwarts. But I can get other things, too. My parents foot the bill for supplies although I usually only use it when I have to," she replied. "But I'm sure they won't mind this."

"You have a cornucopia and you didn't tell me?" Ron asked her in disbelief.

"I'm not trying to bankrupt my family, Ron," she replied. "So, just pretend I DON'T have one, all right?"

"Bankrupt your family? What do you mean by that?" he demanded, incensed.

"She means you'll eat her out of house and home, Weasley," Snape answered. "You're a glutton. You'd probably eat yourself to death if you got hold of something like that."

"I am not a glutton!" Ron said defensively. "I just have a high metabolism."

"If I weren't familiar with you, I'd suspect you were a crossbreed," Snape continued. "Most likely of the order of Soricomorpha, and the family Soricidae."

Ron, Harry and Ginny looked bewildered at the reference, but Susan and Hermione laughed.

"What's so funny?" Ron demanded.

"He's referring to the shrew family, Ron," Hermione chuckled.

"A shrew? I don't see anything funny about that."

Susan composed herself.

"Shrews have very high metabolisms too, Ron. Some have to eat three times their weight a day in order to survive," she informed him.

Now Harry and Ginny chuckled too. Snape looked at Ron with mirth in his eyes.

"Well, I used to think you were part bat, the way you hunkered down in the dungeons and swooped around the castle," Ron retorted, "The order of Black-winged Prats, of the family of Great Big Gits."

Snape chuckled. Ron could give as good as he got, even if he wasn't as academically smart as he was. Everyone else laughed too. Suddenly, the cornucopia flew into the clearing, landing at Susan's feet. She picked it up.

"Time for a bit of nosh," she said with a smile.

"Come down to my quarters," Snape breathed at Hermione passionately. They were in a tapestry-covered niche near Gryffindor tower, Hermione pressed against the wall as Snape hungrily snogged her, pressing into her body in an unmistakable manner.

Harry, Ginny, Ron and Susan had all departed once they returned to the castle, everyone giving each other space in case they wanted private time. Hermione wouldn't go back to Snape's quarters and he walked her to Gryffindor tower. Well, almost to Gryffindor tower. He pulled her into the niche as soon as it came up. He and Lily used to talk here sometimes. Now, it served another purpose as he attempted to seduce Hermione.

"No, Severus. We've done it two days in a row. We need to take a break," Hermione said softly, nearly breathless from his ardor.

"I don't need a break, I need you, Hermione," he replied, kissing her again, running his hand under her dress and up her thigh, leaving a trail of heat.

"No," she said weakly. I need to go, Severus. I didn't sleep in my own bed last night. I got away with it once, but I can't take chances. We have to follow protocol—"

"Let me do you here, then, Hermione—against the wall. I'd be good—so good. I'm so hard for you. Just turn around and I'll take care of the rest," he purred, pressing his erection into her belly.

Hermione was turned on, but she managed to keep her head rather than give in.

"No," she said firmly. "I won't Severus. We have to exercise some control," she told him, gently pushing him off her body.

Snape stared at her, then sighed.

"All right. But if my nads turn blue, it's going to be your fault."

"I happen to like the color blue."

Snape caught her by the arm a little roughly and walked her out from behind the tapestry after peeking out first to make sure no one was around. They stopped in front of the Fat Lady, who had seen them come from behind the tapestry.

"It's late, Miss Granger," she said primly. There was a little disapproval in her voice.

"I know," Hermione replied as Snape glared at the painting. It was getting a bit nosey now. "I'm going in soon."

The painting's eyes shifted from Hermione to Snape, then back to Hermione.

"Come to think of it, I don't remember you returning last night," the Fat Lady said with narrowed eyes. "I keep a count of the students' comings and goings. No, I distinctly—"

"Obliviate!"

Hermione gasped as Snape hit the painting with the memory loss spell.

"Oh, Severus. You shouldn't have done that!" she said to the frowning wizard.

"You're nineteen. She doesn't have to keep tabs on you," he said angrily. "Or give you the third degree. She's just a portrait, Hermione. You deserve some privacy. I wasn't about to stand here and listen to you trying to explain yourself to some colors on a canvas."

Hermione looked at him and sighed. Severus was only trying to protect her. He was so—caring.

"Thank you," she said softly.

He nodded, then lifted her hand and kissed it.

"Good night, Hermione," the wizard said as she drew her hand back into her breast, loving his gallantry. It was old fashioned, but somehow seemed perfect.

"Good night, Severus," Hermione replied then said the password. The Fat Lady swung back, a dazed look on her painted face. Snape watched the portrait swing back, then glared at the painting.

It blinked at him, still confused.

"Where did you come from?" it asked him.

"Nowhere," Snape replied, turning and walking down the corridor.

Blasted portrait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 74: Repercussions

The next morning in the Great Hall, Snape, Hermione, Harry and Ginny were enjoying their breakfasts together. Susan and Ron were eating their breakfast down by the lake so they could be together without complications. If they stayed inside, they'd have to sit at separate tables.

"Slughorn doesn't look the least bit angry," Hermione observed as the wizard smiled at them.

"I don't think that's good," Ginny responded, frowning. "We destroyed his party. He should be furious."

"Knowing Slughorn, he probably turned it around to his advantage somehow," Snape said quietly.

Harry didn't say anything, but he found it disconcerting there didn't appear to be any repercussions for what they did.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over them and they all looked up to see a very tight-lipped Minerva McGonagall standing over them, her beady eyes glittering.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Snape, Miss Weasley and Miss Granger, I expect to see you all in my office immediately after breakfast," she said in a low voice. Then she turned and stalked back up to the dais.

"Uh, oh," Ginny breathed.

Almost as one, the group slowed down eating, making breakfast last as long as humanly possible.

From his seat, Filch shook his head.

"I knew they'd get that boy in trouble," he muttered over his porridge.

Harry, Ron, Snape, Ginny, Susan and Hermione stood in front of the huge ornate desk in the headmistress' office as if waiting for the order to shoot to be given to a firing squad.

Minerva was seated behind the desk, red-faced and looking at them furiously. She was so angry, she couldn't speak. But that didn't last long.

"Starting a brawl at Professor Slughorn's party? How could you?" she demanded.

Everyone blinked but no one said a word.

"I don't approve of Horace's parties, but he was given permission to hold them here as part of his contract, and it was approved by the Board of Governors. But be that as it may, I expect any students that attend his functions to conduct themselves properly. You have no idea how upset I was to discover that students from MY house caused an all out wizarding duel!"

"But, headmistress, everyone was attacking Severus!" Ron blurted out. "They had him surrounded and were jeering him and calling him names and he couldn't get away! What were we supposed to do? Let them treat him like that?"

This information seemed to catch Minerva by surprise. She blinked and asked Severus in a low voice, "Is this true, Severus? Were you surrounded?"

Snape nodded slightly.

Minerva's lower lip began to tremble as she looked at her charges. They had stood up for Severus? Dear Merlin.

Minerva turned and looked at Albus' empty picture frame, trying to compose herself as tears threatened to fill her eyes. She harrumphed a couple of times. Everyone looked at each other bewildered as they stared at her back. Presently, Minerva turned back around, her face pink.

"Well, be that as it may, you still caused a brawl in front of some very distinguished people. Professor Slughorn asked that you not be punished for the outbreak, but in my opinion, you all deserve punishment and so, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Weasley, Miss Bones and Miss Granger, you will all serve two weeks detention doing various duties around the castle. They will be assigned."

Harry and Ron groaned, but the girls all took it stoically. Minerva's black eyes shifted to Severus.

"It's unfortunate that you had to go through that, Severus. I do empathize, but have it on good authority you were casting hexes along with the rest of them. Since you are a ward and not a student, I have no choice but to issue your second verbal warning. You have one left, and one write-up before you will be expelled from Hogwarts," she said to Snape, "so I expect you to keep your nose clean for the rest of term."

Ron helplessly snickered at this statement. Snape's nose was so big, he probably couldn't help some dirt and dust getting sucked up in there. Minerva and Hermione scowled at him and his expression turned sober although his blue eyes were full of mirth. Snape's lip quirked as well at his little outburst. Ron was something else. A real free spirit.

"Now, out of my office, all of you," Minerva ordered.

Harry, Ron, Susan, Ginny and Hermione all turned to leave, but Snape didn't budge. Hermione noticed immediately.

"Come on, Severus," she said softly as Minerva looked at him.

"No. I need to talk to the headmistress privately," he told her, then looked at Minerva. "That's all right, isn't it?"

Minerva nodded, and Hermione reluctantly left the office, following the others down the stairs.

"I wonder what Severus wanted to talk to McGonagall about," Harry mused as they emerged in the corridor.

"I don't know," Hermione said, "but I'm going to wait here and find out."

Minerva sat down behind her desk and gestured for Snape to take a seat in the armchair in front of it, which he did.

"Now, what did you want to talk to me about, Severus?" she asked him curiously.

Snape blinked at her a couple of times then said, "I don't think it's fair that they received detention and I didn't. I was just as much at fault as they were, headmistress."

"Yes, you were, Severus. But you are not a student of Hogwarts. Only students can be assigned detention. The rules concerning you are different."

"But they were defending me. They wouldn't have gotten in trouble if they weren't trying to help me. Protect me."

Minerva gave him a soft smile.

"Yes, that's true, Severus. But each of them knew there would most likely be repercussions. They knew they would be punished."

Snape looked at her, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.

"Still, I'd like to serve detention as well. It's only right."

Minerva shook her head.

"I'm sorry Severus. I can't assign it to you. However, you could volunteer to assist them on your own, if that would make you feel better about it," she told him.

"I'd like that," he said shortly.

Minerva studied him, a sad smile on her face.

"You have friends, Severus. Good friends. Friends willing to make sacrifices for you. It appears that you're just as willing to make sacrifices for them as well."

"It's only fair," Snape said tightly, frowning a little.

Minerva cocked her head at him.

"Fair? Most Slytherins would be pleased as pumpkin juice to have avoided detention," she said.

"Maybe—maybe I'm not like most Slytherins," he responded, standing up. "Goodbye, headmistress."

"Goodbye, Severus," Minerva answered and watched as he exited the office.

The moment the door closed, Albus' portrait reappeared in the painting behind her desk. It had discreetly ducked out the moment it heard Severus was being summoned. No need tempting the wizard.

"I remember thinking that sometimes we Sorted too soon," it said to Minerva, who turned in her chair to look at it.

"But now," the portrait said, its blue eyes bright, "I'm sure of it."

Minerva wasn't sure she agreed with the portrait. Yes, Snape was showing a sense of fairness and loyalty, but only to those who were showing him the same fairness and loyalty. It was a simple case of tit for tat, which was definitely a Slytherin trait. The only thing different about Snape now as compared to his first time at Hogwarts, was that he had friends. Those Slytherin tendencies of resourcefulness and cunning still remained, she was certain of that.

Once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin.

When Severus exited the stairwell, he was met by Hermione and the rest of his friends, who looked at him anxiously.

"What happened, Severus?" Hermione asked as the others gathered around him.

"I want you all to let me know what assignments you get for your detentions," Snape said.

"Why?" Ginny asked him, her brow furrowed as Snape started walking. They all kept up.

"Because, I'm going to help you," he said shortly.

"But, you don't have to do detention," Ron said. "That's great."

"Yeah," Harry agreed.

Susan didn't say anything and neither did Hermione.

Snape didn't answer them concerning how great it was, because he didn't think it was great at all that they had been punished for helping him while he only received a verbal reprimand..

"Just let me know what assignments you get," he reiterated.

Harry and Ron shrugged at each other.

"All right," they both agreed.

They walked in silence a bit, then Hermione said, "I've got to go. I have tutoring to do."

She looked at Snape to see if he wanted to accompany her, but all he said was, "I'll see you all at lunch."

Then he sped up, leaving them.

"What do you suppose all that's about? He's totally in the clear," Ron said, blinking after him.

"He doesn't think it's fair we got detention and he didn't," Susan said quietly. "He wants to do his part and support us now. It's nice, really."

Ron snorted.

"I'd be happy with just a verbal reprimand," he said as Hermione scowled at him.

"You're so thick, Ron," she said witheringly. "A real friend wouldn't want to see his friends punished while he wasn't."

"I am a real friend! And I think real friends would be happy to see someone get out of it," he retorted. "Not everyone has to go down with the broomstick."

"Thick!" Hermione hissed at him, walking faster and leaving them behind. She needed to get to her students.

"What's wrong with her?" Ron asked Harry, Ginny and Susan, who all just shook their heads.

Ron was a good sort, but sometimes he missed things completely.

"Forget it, Ron," Ginny said tightly.

Susan caught hold of his arm and gave him a soft smile.

"I'll explain it to you later, Ron," she told him.

"Thanks, Susan," he replied, then his stomach growled.

"Have any cooking to do today?" he asked her hopefully.

"I'm sure I can whip something up."

Snape made his way down the dungeon corridor toward his office. He slowed as he distinctly smelled candied pineapples. There was only one person at Hogwarts who smelled like that. Snape frowned as Professor Slughorn stepped out of a niche with a broad smile.

"I hope I didn't startle you, my boy," he said to Severus brightly, only to be greeted by a rather sullen, "You didn't."

Snape walked right around him, heading for his quarters. Slughorn followed, a newspaper tucked under his pudgy arm.

"I hope Minerva didn't lower the boom on you and your friends too hard. I tried my best to persuade her not to punish you, but she had other ideas. Most of my guests enjoyed themselves greatly last night, but there's always one or two complainers in the bunch. That's how you were found out."

Snape didn't say anything as he stopped in front of his office. Slughorn pulled out the newspaper and showed Snape the front page. In the lower right corner was a little article with the headline,

"Horace Slughorn's Party a Wizarding Sensation!"

"I was a smash," the wizard said delightedly. "Already I've been deluged with requests for invitations to my next party by some of the most influential people in the wizarding world, people I couldn't get to attend before last night. It's simply marvelous. I wonder if you might attend—"

"No," Snape stated flatly.

"Severus, I promise you that you won't be beset upon like—"

"No. I won't be coming to any more of your parties, and that's final," Snape said angrily.

Slughorn's face fell.

"Perhaps I could provide you with some form of recompense—"

"No. Nothing you have could make me attend another party. I only came to that one because of the Gobbarts you loaned me. I don't need anything else from you."

Slughorn sighed.

"A lot of people were impressed by your form," the professor said, "powerful people."

"No."

Slughorn looked at Snape with disappointment.

"I had hoped that you would be willing to make important contacts, Severus. Contacts are very important to success."

"I'll get successful on my own," Snape told him, pulling out his wand and unwarding his door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, professor."

"Certainly," Slughorn said heavily, then watched as Snape entered his office and firmly closed the door behind him.

"He's no more sociable than when he first attended Hogwarts. I thought it might be different for him this time around. He's still going to be the odd man out. What a pity. He has so much potential. With the right advisor he could really go places. A shame really. At this rate, he'll never amount to anything," Slughorn muttered to himself as he walked up the corridor, wallowing in his own version of "sour grapes."

He was right. Severus Snape did have a lot of potential. Fortunately, the young wizard was aware of this himself, and didn't need anyone to "guide him along."

He'd be just fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 75: Moving on

Draco collapsed panting on top of Pansy, taking her down to the mattress and resting on her back with a tired smile, his cheek resting against hers as they spiraled back to reality.

"I swear, Pansy, if you could bottle that, you'd make a fortune," he breathed to the witch, who smiled, her black hair damp against her temple.

"You always say that, Draco," she responded as he slid off of her, lying beside her as she turned to face him. He was a gorgeous wizard, especially wet and naked.

"That's because I mean it," he replied. "Whew, I'm hot."

"You'll get no argument from me about that, Draco," Pansy replied, and he smiled at her.

Draco and Pansy were shag buddies and had been since their fifth year. Draco wasn't allowed to have a girlfriend. It was his father's rule. He could have dalliances of course, but Lucius felt he was far too young for a serious relationship and that there'd be time to be a relatively one-witch wizard when he was old enough to marry. He was expected to play the field until then, and even afterward, have a mistress or two on the side.

It was the Malfoy way.

Draco did have the occasional dalliance, but it was Pansy that he gravitated to mostly. She had always adored him and supported him, even in his darkest days when he was ordered to perform a task of Voldemort and he was torn. It was Pansy who stood by him, even though she didn't know what he had to do, but she was a port in the storm for him.

Pansy was still a bigot, and still disliked Harry Potter and the rest of the Gryffindors, but her Draco could do little wrong. However, she was shrewd enough to see that their relationship wouldn't go much further. His father didn't approve of her. She wasn't pretty enough or connected enough to be a suitable wife for his son. She overhead Lucius speaking about her in unflattering terms at the last Christmas ball and Draco, although he looked sullen, didn't say anything to defend her except she was his friend.

"Keep her that way," Lucius had told him.

Pansy wasn't that pretty. She had a rather hard look about her, and Harry described her as being pug-faced. Draco had had prettier witches, but Pansy cared about him to the point where she'd stand by his side and fight with him against anyone. And he could talk to her about almost anything and she'd listen quietly and not ask intrusive questions, and comfort him when he needed it, whether it was just an arm around his shoulder or an all out shag. Whatever he needed, she was there for him, willing to provide it.

He'd become used to her, so didn't take it well when she said what she did as she lay next to him, cooling off.

"Um, Draco. I've been thinking about something," she said softly.

"Hmm?" he responded, his eyes closed.

"Jordan Cromwell asked me out," she continued.

This didn't bother Draco. Pansy got asked out quite a bit, because everyone knew she was sexually active. She always said no, however, because of him.

"The Ravenclaw?"

"Yes. I think he really likes me, Draco," she told him.

Draco smiled.

"Any wizard would like you between the sheets, Pansy," he said with a purr in his voice.

"I think it's more than that, this time. He's really nice. He even understands about you and me," she told the pureblood.

Draco opened his gray eyes and turned them on her.

"Understands?" he repeated, frowning slightly.

"Yes, he really does. But he says that there's not going to be a future with you and I should consider other options, like him. He's quite handsome and very smart."

"So, why does he want you then?" Draco said bad-naturedly.

Pansy let his cruel comment slip, and replied, "He has a thing for bad girls. He said he remembered when I suggested turning Harry over to Voldemort at the final battle and he said he believed that would have been the most logical thing to do. He said I'd shown great courage standing up to everyone like that, even though I knew the suggestion would be unpopular."

Draco snorted.

"So, are you considering going out with him? Or just seeing him? I don't have a problem with you seeing him. I see other witches," Draco said to her.

"Well, Jordan doesn't do 'seeing,' Draco. He wants me to go out with him, exclusively," she said apologetically.

"Has he shagged you yet?"

"No, of course not."

Draco brooded.

"I don't like the idea. Where would that leave me?" Draco asked her, pouting.

"We'd still be friends. We'd still talk and I'd be here for you. We just wouldn't shag. We don't do a lot of shagging anyway, Draco."

"But I like to know that I can shag you when I want."

"I think that's going to change. I really like Jordan and I think I can have something nice with him. Come on, Draco. You know after we graduate, this is going to be over anyway. I just don't want to be by myself. I want a wizard of my own who is completely mine. You'll never be that."

Draco lay there, feeling miserable now. He didn't actually love Pansy but she was—more than just his friend. The idea of someone else having her affection exclusively didn't sit well with him. He was selfish, plain and simple.

"I don't see why you want to rush into something like that. You have your whole life to fall in love, Pansy."

"I'm not rushing. I've been thinking about it a lot, Draco. What we have is nice, but it's not going anywhere."

"You know, a couple of years ago, you wouldn't have been interested in anyone other than me. The idea of not being with me would have devastated you," he told her.

She smiled.

"Yeah, but I've grown up since then, Draco. I'm not as needy and as gorgeous and well-off as you are, there are plenty other wizards out here who don't have their father telling them what to do and—who to do."

Draco watched as Pansy sat up and slid to the end of the bed, grabbing her wand off his nightstand and Scourgifying herself. She stood up and slipped on her bra, knickers and then her robes, stepping into her slippers and turning to look at him.

He really was gorgeous lying there nude, his gray eyes resting on her soberly. She looked as if she were memorizing him as her eyes drifted up and down his body.

"This was our last shag, Draco," she told him softly. "I'm going to tell Jordan, yes. And I'm going to mean it."

She leaned down and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"You're going to find a witch acceptable to your father, marry her and continue your line, Draco, like a dutiful son. There's nothing wrong with that. But I have to look out for myself, you know? I'll see you later."

With that, Pansy exited his private room and Draco scowled after her.

"Jordan Cromwell," he muttered, slipping his arms behind his head. "Bloody hell."

Actually, it was probably a good thing that Pansy made this change in their relationship, because Draco had been considering asking her to accompany him to Boleskin House. That would have been an utter disaster.

As understanding as Pansy was toward him, it was in direct opposition to how she felt about Harry, Ron and Hermione. Hermione was still a Mudblood and Ron a Blood Traitor as far as she was concerned. She never forgave Harry for using the Sectumsempra spell on Draco in his sixth year either.

In fact, Pansy was known for her sharp tongue, snide remarks and tormenting others at every possible occasion, especially Gryffindors. Although her verbal attacks had toned down since the defeat of Voldemort, she still retained a deep dislike for those of that house and probably would do so for the rest of her days.

She talked about Snape constantly, although her comments never made it back to him. She couldn't understand how he ended up friends with the Gryffindors until it became common knowledge that he and Hermione were an item.

"Ew. Granger's disgusting. How can she shag her former professor?" Pansy asked Draco, looking as if she were about to puke. "And how can he stand being around them? I know he's lost his memories, but he's still a Slytherin. He must be whipped by Granger. That's the only explanation. Ew."

If Draco had brought Pansy along, no doubt Snape would have blasted her three ways from Sunday if she started in on him, and more than likely, it would have started an all out duel between all of them.

So, as sad as the situation was for Draco, it was much better this way.

He could always bring Blaise.

Snape did show up to help his friends with their detentions, and was actually quite helpful because while they couldn't use magic, he could. So the cleaning of the Thestral stables, the turning of soil in the gardens, the trimming of trees and cutting grass was not as much work when Severus was around. Of course, he helped Hermione most so everyone tried to get assigned with her, but it wasn't always possible. But Snape did what he could and spread his time around. There were some evenings Harry, Ron, Ginny and Susan had to fend for themselves, but not that many. They were grateful to him.

The weeks passed quickly, Hermione having all of her NEWT presentations neatly bound and ready for presentation. She and Snape worked on brewing together, the wizard giving her a few neat little tricks he'd learned along the way to help improve her techniques. They also practiced their spell work, but had no more duels.

Snape nearly destroyed his Hell's Guardian when it tried to swallow Hermione whole, acting as if it were dormant when she cast a cooling spell on it to add to her own Herbology knowledge, then pouncing when she came close to examine it. The plant was a horrendous sixteen feet tall now, and quite intelligent for a plant species. Unlike most plants, which simply responded to their environment, the Hell's Guardian manipulated its surroundings as much as possible to insure a good meal. It almost got Neville, too, luring him into its proximity one evening by exuding a sweet smell similar to that of freshly baked Treacle tarts. Neville only escaped because he had good dodging reflexes and jumped back when it went for him.

Good thing it wasn't Ron in the Herbology center when the plant issued the delicious scent. They'd still be looking for him.

With Ron's help, Susan developed several wonderful magical foods to present for her NEWTS, excluding her Oysters Rockefeller recipe. Showing successful results could be quite—er—sticky.

The most interesting creation was her diet cookies. Ron called them her "Anorexia Cookies" because if a person ate one, they were no longer hungry. A person could literally waste away on a bag of them and Ron hated the whole concept, especially when Susan started using them herself.

"Susan, you're going to lose your boobs and bum!" Ron exclaimed, snatching the bag from her. "On women, those are the first things to go!"

Ron knew this little detail because over the years Molly had dieted off and on, and his dad sabotaged her attempts to slim down every chance he got, simply because he loved her rounded.

Ron and Susan had a row about the cookies, one that ended up with them shagging madly, Ron determined to prove that he loved her as is and didn't want her to lose even an ounce of her delicious, ample body.

Greatly convinced, Susan left the cookies alone.

Ron had compiled quite a bit of compelling information about the Animagi transformation and formulated a decent theory concerning intent and the release of passionate emotions as a catalyst rather than time. He not only used his experience for proof, but Susan as well although it was hard going describing how she found her form, since it had happened during a sexual encounter. Luckily for both of them, it had happened while Ron was changing positions so he wasn't actually shagging her at the moment.

But, the bed broke.

He also did quite a bit of research on the Marauders, setting forth the premise that it was their desire rather than years of attempts that allowed them to find their forms so quickly. All in all, it was quite a ground-breaking piece of work, strengthened by the fact that both he and Susan were Animagi. Ron did lose some points for his enormous orangutan nads, however, although his ability to suck them in to form a cavity restored them adequately. The witch who was giving the examination turned quite red at the display, or . . . lack of it.

The NEWTs also consisted of difficult written examinations, but thanks to Hermione's diligence and whip cracking, her friends and tutoring pupils were well prepared. She had managed to get hold of several old examinations and used them for practice. So, when everyone was seated, they didn't find the tests daunting at all.

When Hermione presented Snape at the presentation segment of the Transfiguration NEWTs, and provided the thick, written information compiled, as well as a Pensieve of him learning to fly and hunting, the examiners were very impressed. Snape was the first mythological Animagi ever recorded.

Snape's Hell's Guardian plant was the highlight of the Herbology NEWTs. Just the size along guaranteed him an Outstanding. But what was amazing was the amount of intelligence it showed, and the plant was taken by the Ministry for further study and a sample of the growth potion, another feather in the wizard's academic cap. Since Snape had it patented, he was going to make quite a bit of money off its use by the Ministry, and Lucius wouldn't get a dime of the residuals.

Hermione garnered Outstandings in all of her NEWT topics, something that hadn't been done in more than fifty years. It made her the most brilliant witch Hogwarts ever produced. It was satisfying to the witch, but mostly—she felt relieved. Snape was quite proud of her.

"I'm shagging the smartest witch in the wizarding world," he said to her with a smile. "Not too bad at all."

Snape also received straight Outstandings for his four NEWTs, and he was pleased with that.

Ron made an Outstanding in his Transfiguration NEWTS, and Exceeded Expectations in his other subjects. Not a bad showing at all. Susan did well, too, as did Harry, who got two Outstandings and two Exceeds Expectations.

Now, the friends were in Snape's quarters, packing up all of his books, which was quite the job since they couldn't be reduced in size. Boxes upon boxes were stacked and they could barely move through the small aisles they'd created. What made it worse was Hermione insisted they be sorted according to subject and in alphabetical order by author. This slowed everything down considerably. Ron was buried in tomes when he attempted a mass migration from shelves to boxes and they had to dig him out.

"Having this many books is obscene!" he complained once he was free.

"Knowledge is a heavy pursuit, Weasley," Snape said with a smirk.

Finally, they got them packed away, and Lucius sent over a number of house elves to transport them to Boleskin House. But the little creatures wouldn't enter the house itself and no amount of threatening or punishment would make them enter the doors. They were rented elves, so Lucius couldn't punish them.

With graduation over, it was now time to set out on the next leg of their journey. Harry was on his own basically, so could do as he wished and didn't have any problems going to Boleskin House. Hermione sat down with her parents and explained that she was going to take off a year or two to find out what field she wanted to pursue and would be working with potions at Boleskine House under the patronage of Lucius Malfoy. She made it sound as clinical as possible. Since Hermione had always been the independent sort, her parents didn't object. She had made amazing marks at Hogwarts and it made sense she'd want to take time to decide what she wanted to do, and she couldn't do that in the Muggle world, so they gave her their blessing. They had heard about Boleskine House, but since they weren't magical people, and didn't much believe in demons, they didn't give much credence to the claim it was an evil place.

"It's just an old house that was occupied by a strange man," Hermione's mother said. "Really, what people won't say to stir up excitement."

Getting permission for Susan to come was a bit more complicated. Everyone went to her home to meet her parents, who were quite stunned to see Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley in her group of friends. Snape was a strange addition as well. But, how could they say no when she would be in such illustrious company? When they found out she and Ron were an item, they were absolutely delighted. They had worried about her a bit socially, but it was clear their daughter was moving in marvelous circles.

Ron was the only one who had to fight to go to Boleskine. Despite him being the age of consent and having graduated, Molly didn't want him going to a place with such a bad reputation to battle demons.

"Mum, you can't stop me," Ron told her. "Anyway, Harry, Hermione and Snape will be there, too. They can handle almost anything."

"Ron, you're talking about demons. Demons steal souls. Do you want to be dragged down into Hades, or wherever they go?"

"Mum, I've been in a war. I can handle a few demons."

"No! Absolutely not!"

Molly tried to pull Arthur into it on her side, but all he said was, "Molly, he doesn't have to ask our permission. He's a man now."

Molly had burst into tears and fled into their bedroom, Ron looking after her miserably before looking at his father.

"Why doesn't she ever make anything easy?" he asked his dad, who shook his head.

"That's just Molly, son. She loves you and doesn't want anything to happen to you," he told him. "But, you go ahead to Boleskine House and be careful. I'll take care of your mum."

So, Ron packed up his things, picked up Susan and met his friends at King's Cross station. Draco was there as well, a small carry-all bag in his hand, and determined look on his face. They greeted each other.

"So, we're ready?" Snape asked as the train pulled in.

"No, not yet," Draco said. "Blaise isn't here yet."

"Blaise?" Hermione said in disbelief.

"Yeah. He's going to help," Draco explained.

Hermione looked at Snape with narrowed eyes.

"Blaise?"

Snape looked at Draco steadily, then turned his black eyes on Hermione.

"Draco asked if he could bring a companion. I said yes, since we are all paired off. I had no idea he'd bring Blaise. I thought—I thought he'd bring a witch," Snape said, looking back at Draco, who reddened.

"I was going to bring Pansy," he began. Everyone except Snape looked at him with horror.

"Pansy? She'd be worse than any demon in the place," Ron said, frowning blackly.

"But, the situation changed, so I decided to bring Blaise. He's good, as you all know."

"Good and dirty," Ginny muttered. "Severus, you aren't really going to let him come are you?"

Just as Snape was about to answer, Blaise appeared, his brown eyes cool as he took them all in. He looked at Draco.

"I'm here," he said shortly. He had a carry-all bag as well.

There was a pregnant silence as everyone looked from Blaise to Snape.

"Blaise, I didn't know you were coming," Snape said to him, "but I need you to understand that we are going to Boleskine House to set it up for my lodging and my experiments. We may encounter Dark forces and have to clear them out. We aren't going there to engage each other. There will be no dueling."

Blaise frowned at Snape.

"I know that," he said flatly. "I'm only coming because Draco asked me and I'd like to face off with a few demons summoned by a Muggle sorcerer. I hear they're different then the magical demons we normally encounter. Besides, I've already dueled this bunch."

Blaise didn't say it, but he gave off a vibe of disdain as if dueling them again would be beneath him.

"Very well. As long as you understand, you are welcome," Snape told him as Hermione stared at him in disbelief. He needed to send Blaise packing.

"Let's go," Snape said, picking up his bag and catching hold of Hermione's arm. They walked silently toward the train.

The tension was palpable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 76: On the way to Boleskine house

Draco and Blaise sat in a separate compartment because all of them in one was a bit crowded. No one had a problem with that, although Blaise's presence was a matter of concern.

"You should have told Blaise he couldn't come, Severus," Hermione said to him.

Snape stared out of the window at the passing scenery, ignoring her, which made her pinch him.

"Ow!" he hissed, looking at her reproachfully.

"I'm talking to you," Hermione snapped.

"And pinching me," Snape added, frowning at her.

"Why didn't you tell Blaise to leave?"

"Because he may be of help, Hermione, that's why."

"But after what he did in the RoR—what he did to me—"

Snape sighed.

"I don't like what he did, but we were in a dueling situation, Hermione. I hit him in the nose and Ginny removed his hair. You bested him in the end one on one. What more do you want?" Snape asked her.

Hermione blinked at him. It was true. She had bested Blaise.

"Look, Hermione, he's here. I'll keep a close eye on him, all right?" Snape told her.

"All right, but I don't like it."

"Duly noted."

Ginny was seated next to Hermione and Snape, and Harry was seated next to Ron and Susan. They had listened to Snape and Hermione argue without comment, but now, Ron narrowed his eyes at his sister.

"Oi, Ginny. I just thought about something. How did you get to come on this trip? Mum had conniptions when I asked her. I didn't hear anything about you—"

Ginny smirked at him.

"Well, I waited until you asked first, then when Mum was upset, I went to her and told her I'd go along to keep an eye on you, and she agreed," Ginny said with a smile as Ron looked outraged.

"What? She sent my little sister along to keep an eye on me? Bollocks!"

Ginny shrugged.

"I guess I'm the sensible one," she responded.

"Oh, that's just—I can't believe—what was Mum think—oh, the hell with it!" Ron spluttered as everyone grinned at him. Susan rested her hand on his arm sympathetically although she was smiling.

"Ron, Ginny just took advantage of the situation," she said to him softly. "You have to admit it was pretty smart."

"Pretty embarrassing," Ron muttered.

Susan kissed him on the cheek, then reached into her pocket and drew out a pumpkin pasty and offered it to him. He took it sullenly, unwrapped it and took a bite, frowning as he chewed.

"Thanks," he said around the pasty.

Hermione cleared her throat in that way she did when she had some knowledge to impart. Everyone looked at her as she reached into her knapsack and pulled out a large book. Ron groaned a little and Hermione narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, then opened the book.

"This book tells about Boleskine House and Aleister Crowley, the Muggle sorcerer who had purchased it.

"Is there really such a thing as a Muggle sorcerer?" Susan asked.

Hermione nodded solemnly.

"Yes, apparently there is. Becoming one is a very dangerous pursuit, because since Muggles don't have magic of their own, they have to use the power of other things to do what they want. Some of them use the powers of nature. Air, Earth, Fire and Water. To do this, they have to bind elemental spirits to their wills and make them perform for them. It's actually enslavement and that's what makes it dangerous. Elementals don't like being enslaved. There are some methods of Muggle magic where Muggles actually work with elementals, and this is far safer because there is choice involved. But mostly Wiccans do that. Sorcerers are a completely different story. They're all about power."

Everyone listened enthralled as Hermione continued.

"Sorcerers are different. They don't just use nature. They often use other things, rituals that involve spilling blood, bodily secretions, body parts and taking lives."

"Well, we use body parts in Potions," Ron interjected.

"That's completely different, Ron, believe me. We don't sacrifice the creatures we use—"

"That's a matter of opinion," Snape said suddenly. "When fresh ingredients are used, we do kill creatures to harvest the parts needed."

"But we don't invoke anything," Hermione argued. "We don't do it to appease some spirit that loves the taking of a life. The difference is, in sorcery, Life is considered sacred and powerfully connected to—to faith. Religion. God and his—his Adversary. An area where men are not supposed to tread. That's why the results can be so devastating and long-lasting."

Ron, Ginny and Susan looked a bit lost, as they didn't practice "religion" per se. But Harry and Snape knew what Hermione was talking about.

"But, they can connect with other religions, too. Very old ones, summoning very old gods and creatures once believed to be gods. If they can't enslave them, they serve them in return for power, providing some kind of service or recompense. Many times, they give up their immortal souls. It isn't always a choice either. Very sticky business."

"So, are we dealing with demons or gods?" Harry asked Hermione, his eyes wide behind his glasses.

"We're going to be dealing with forces. I can't tell you what they are. They're called demons but we can't be sure about that, but they're different than what exists in the magical world. Blaise was right about that. According to this book, Crowley was trying to make dark forces turn to the light at Boleskine House. He was trying to make them serve—uh—the Greater Good."

Hermione used this analogy so Ron, Susan and Ginny could comprehend what the sorcerer was doing.

"I thought he was evil," Ron said.

"Well, eventually he spiraled downward and did some terrible things in his search for power. He made his followers do them, too. Things too awful to talk about—"

"Like what?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Oh Ginny, I really don't want to say the things he did. You can borrow the book if you want to know that," Hermione said, going a little green.

"Sounds a lot like Voldemort," Harry mused.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely," Snape said softly, his black eyes reflected in the glass window as he watched the passing of the undulating moors.

"Yes," Hermione agreed.

"So, if Crowley was trying to do something good, what happened?" Susan asked Hermione.

"He left without completing the ritual," Hermione said, shaking her head. "His mentor got into some trouble and Crowley left Boleskine House to go help him. He left so quickly that he didn't send the forces he summoned back. He just left them there, in limbo."

"They couldn't have been very happy about that," Ron observed, finishing his pasty.

"No, I imagine not," Hermione said. "And these were Dark forces, too, forced to appear to him and under his control. He lost that when he left them that way. Some people said they were the reason the rest of his life was so tormented and twisted. They influenced him."

"Sure doesn't sound like our demons," Harry said. "They usually just attack you and be done with it. Either they kill you or carry you away."

"I don't think these work like that. I think they gain more power and delight in turning humans to evil. They influence thoughts and deeds. If they take a person, it's usually when they die, so they can get every bit of use out of them that they can. So, it's very possible we won't actually see them if they're there, but we could be influenced by them. I'm not sure. It definitely won't be business as usual."

Everyone was silent for a moment, then Susan asked, "Hermione, will our banishing magic work on them?"

Hermione shrugged.

"I don't know, Susan. Maybe. If not, we're going to have to try and recreate Muggle rituals to be rid of them. But on a brighter note, a family of Muggles lived at Boleskin House for years, and said they'd never been bothered by anything supernatural. So, Boleskine's reputation could just be legend or myth."

"That, or the demons were laying low for some reason," Harry said. Snape's eyes shifted toward him, then back to the window. But he was listening carefully to everything Hermione was saying.

"But, the family was bothered by other people. Followers of Crowley's work, curiosity seekers and others who would sneak on the grounds and try and break into the house. It had to be very annoying."

"I'll ward the area," Snape said. "That will keep any 'sight-seers' away.

"I think there's a groundskeeper," Hermione said. "He's going to need access, Severus."

"A Muggle?" Ron asked.

"Most likely," Hermione replied.

Snape frowned slightly, thinking he was going to be using his Obliviate spell quite often. He'd have to look at his paperwork again. Hermione was a detail person and had looked the packet about Boleskin House over thoroughly, while Snape skimmed it. It was just information about the setup of the house and surrounding area. But, if she said there was a groundskeeper, more than likely there was. That would be a complication, but he couldn't deny the man his livelihood, Muggle or not.

Maybe he could keep his mouth shut.

"I got the distinct impression that I'm not wanted here," Blaise said to Draco, who was leafing through his demon book. The blond wizard looked up at him.

"They didn't know I was bringing you. I think they were shocked."

Blaise smirked at this.

"Good. I like keeping Gryffindors on edge," he said. "But I really am just here because of what I've heard about Boleskine House. Well—sort of."

Draco closed his book. Whenever Blaise said "sort of" he definitely had ulterior motives.

"What do you mean, sort of?" Draco asked him.

Blaise gave him a bit of a lascivious smile.

"Just what I said. Sort of. That 'sort of' being Ginny Weasley," he said. "She's a hot little bit of fluff, don't you think?"

Draco looked at him like he was crazy.

"Ginny? She's Harry's girlfriend, Blaise. You don't stand a chance with her," he told his housemate. "She'd never leave Harry for you."

"Who says I want her to leave him? I don't want the little Blood Traitor for a girlfriend. I just want to shag her once. Or maybe twice. Boleskine is a big place, with a carriage house and other little areas. Perfect for sneaking off."

Draco frowned at him.

"Blaise, I distinctly remember you telling Pansy when she asked you if you thought Ginny was pretty, that you'd never touch her, pretty or not."

Blaise shrugged.

"I changed my mind. Besides, she hit me with that spell and left me hairless for two weeks. Giving her a good reaming ought to make me feel better about that," the Slytherin said, frowning.

Draco shook his head.

"You can't do it, Blaise. It won't work out."

Blaise narrowed his brown eyes at him.

"Don't tell me what I can't do, Draco. I know witches. I know how to manipulate them, how to get under their skins and how to get under their robes. Ginny Weasley isn't any different than any other witch. I just have to find out what buttons to push. She's not as goody-two shoes as the rest of them, you know. She has a dark side, and I'm a Dark wizard. She might make due with Potter, but she could have a secret desire to tangle with someone a bit more—exciting. Someone who plays—dirty."

"That someone being you."

"Right in one, mate."

Draco fell silent. Blaise was treading on dangerous ground setting his sights on Ginny Weasley. The witch was formidable by herself and no doubt Harry was quite territorial concerning her. And her brother, Weasley? He'd draw his wand on Blaise if he even looked at his sister cross-eyed.

Draco began to think he shouldn't have brought Blaise with him. He had the potential to be even more troublesome than the demons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 77: Arriving at the Boleskine house

The group departed the rail in Inverness, the capital of the northern Highlands, then transferred to the Farraline Park Bus Station where they caught a local rural bus to Boleskine parish. There were quite a few people about, tourists mostly and the young wizards and witches blended in fine since none of them wore traditional robes. They didn't want to attract undue Muggle attention. Snape was dressed in boots, black trousers, a white dress shirt and a long, black, but light-weight summer coat, the closest he could get to wearing a robe. He could have passed for a character out of the movie, the Matrix.

Draco and Blaise wore nearly the same garments, but with sports jackets. Ron, Harry, Ginny and Hermione were casually dressed in comfortable shirts, jeans and trainers. Susan wore a nice floral blouse, dress pants and very comfortable shoes.

The ride to Loch Ness was nice, the bus heading up the West bank of Loch Lomond, over the Rannoch Moor and through the rather spooky Glen Coe area. The scenery was remarkable and changed constantly. There were a number of little stops along the way and people from all parts of the world could be seen congregating there.

"Look! There's the cemetery!" Hermione exclaimed as the bus slowed. Everyone gathered up their things and exited the bus, followed by several other tourists, who immediately entered the cemetery, led by a guide.

Snape slowly crossed the road, followed by the others. They stopped in front of the closed black wrought iron gates of Boleskine House. Each post was topped by an impressive golden eagle. Inside the gates, at the entrance of the gravel road that led to the main house, was the Gate Lodge or Gatehouse.

The Gatehouse was in good condition, but seemed to be uninhabited. It was constructed of stone and had a slate roof. It featured a large, covered porch with double storm doors. There was a rock garden in front with evergreen shrubs and a large amount of flowers.

"That's lovely," Susan breathed, looking at the garden and the surrounding greenery.

Only about half of the front of Boleskin House could be seen from where they stood. The drive went down to the house, then swept around behind it. They could make out a terraced lawn and flower borders. The house itself was of a pinkish tint with a gray slate roof.

"I don't feel anything sinister," Harry said as they looked through the gates. Snape looked behind him toward the graveyard. The tourists were entering a small wooden building and not paying any attention to them. He drew his wand and pointed it at the gate.

"Alohamora," he said softly, and it opened slightly.

"We're in," he said, pushing the gate wider and entering. He let everyone in, then warded the gate securely, Hermione watching him.

"What about the groundskeeper?" she asked him.

"We'll deal with that when it becomes an issue," Snape replied. Ron, Harry, Ginny and Susan were already walking up the gravel road, followed by Blaise and Draco. Blaise was looking at the gate house with some interest.

The grounds were well-maintained. There were Douglas Firs, Cedar and Cypress trees sheltering the house on the north side and the beautiful lawn and flower borders was quite impressive. In front of the house was a very handsome sandstone porch that led to a pair of double storm doors. There was a teardrop lamp post by the front doors, and the front of the house was quite long with bow windows. It seemed a very pleasant residence.

Boxes upon boxes rested on the porch. Snape's things. They would have to be brought in. But the weather looked fine and there was no reason to rush. They could look about first and get the lay of the house.

"Are you sure there's demons here, Snape? Doesn't look like the kind of place they'd hang about in. Too cheery," Ron said.

"No, I'm not sure," Snape said, pulling out a key ring, then unlocking the storm doors, then the interior doors. "But, we'll find out soon enough."

He pushed the doors open, then stepped back, looking at Hermione and gesturing for her to enter. She gave him a smile, hesitated, then hurried through, followed by the others.

Snape was the last to enter.

Inside Boleskin House, something was happening. An excitement filled the empty halls, the vacant rooms. It was nothing tangible—nothing that could be perceived by natural means. A slight shifting of the ethers. A minute change in atmosphere. But it was there, aware and waiting. Voices were heard coming from the outside and inaudible whispers began, only to be shushed quickly as the doors to Boleskin House opened and a curly-haired, excited young woman appeared in the doorway.

Youths.

Yes. Young and impressionable, already prepared. Look—

Hermione quickly entered the entrance hall, looking about and smiling.

That one has Pride.

Yes.

Harry appeared next.

Pride and Fear.

Yes.

Ginny followed Harry.

This one has been touched by Evil, taken by it. Vulnerable.

Yesss.

Ron followed Harry.

Gluttony.

Different, but still useful.

Susan entered, and there was a slight ripple of displeasure.

She's pure.

Draco entered.

Much fear—and sloth. Pampered. Privileged Uncertain.

Yes.

Blaise entered, and there was a perceptible, almost joyous indelible response to his presence.

This one is full Lust, Anger and Covetousness. Ah, I've missed that.

Perfect. Perfect.

Snape followed Blaise in, and there was another pregnant pause.

This one, there is Darkness, the kind of Darkness born of Evil, but yet—there is no Evil. It is as if he's been—purged. Absolved.

These are not connected to the Faith. Absolution is only given to those of the Faith.

Still, he has the stench of the Reborn. The Resurrected. He bears watching.

Let us retire and consider this.

Suddenly, the presences—were gone.

The entrance hall went straight through the house and had doors leading off. First there was the Drawing room that had a huge bay window and a beautiful southern, western and northern view of Loch Ness. It was complete with recessed bookshelves, an open fireplace that housed a solid fuel stove with a tiled hearth. The wooden mantle surrounding it was carved with flowers, fruit and gargoyles.

Next was a family room that was tiled and had steps that led to the cellar.

Susan took to the kitchen immediately, declaring herself house cook. No one objected. It was a lovely, modern facility, with a tiled floor, dishwasher, electric cooker, double stainless steel sink, two ovens, an airing cupboard, a double storage cupboard and access to the attic. All manner of pots, pans and kitchen utensils were artfully hung on racks which could be lowered for easy reach. There was an island in the center where she could prepare food and double as a kitchen table if necessary.

There was a rear porch with its own bathroom, a utility room with a washer and dryer that also had a back door that led to the parking area and gardens.

The dining room had a French window that opened on the gardens and a bay window with views similar to that of the drawing room. It also had two recessed, one shelved and one with built-in drawers.

There were five bedrooms, three with en suite bathrooms and two without. The couples took the bedrooms with the baths and Draco and Blaise took the other two bedrooms. They would have to use the common bathroom but it was quite nice and they had no problem with that.

Ron was relieved to see that the refrigerator and cupboards were fully stocked and as soon as Susan put her things away, she changed clothes and set about making a late lunch for everyone. She had to yell at Ron a couple of times as he fiddled with the stove and dishwasher, which both ran on electricity, and finally Harry came and got him to explore the grounds.

Hermione corralled both Draco and Blaise in the drawing room to debrief them on the history of the house and what they could be facing. Draco listened intently, but Blaise seemed bored as he leaned against the wall next to the fireplace with his arms crossed. His eyes flicked to Ginny occasionally. She was there listening, too. She found Crowley's story and the possibilities concerning the demons fascinating. She didn't look back at Blaise, but knew he kept looking at her. She might have called him on it, but decided she'd better just keep the peace. It wasn't against the law to look, after all.

Snape was examining the cellar. There were a few root vegetables down there, but it was spacious, cool and airy. The perfect place for his lab. His black eyes shifted about. He could feel no evil presences at all.

Maybe the demons were a myth after all. Still, he was glad his friends were with him. They could still enjoy the house even without demons to banish.

Ron and Harry couldn't begin to cover the forty-seven acres that Boleskine covered. They found a boathouse, but no boat and another, older gatehouse on the grounds. There was a pond with a number of newts in it, and flowers everywhere. They also found a workshop with gardening supplies in it, and a small duck pond.

A hillside covered in rhododendrons made a dramatic backdrop, and there were a number of trees all about that added even more to the landscape. A barn and pony paddocks abounded. There was a lot of space here and it was really a beautiful place.

"I tell you, Snape's got it good. Look at this place, Harry," Ron said as they headed back toward the house. "He's set."

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "I don't think there's anything evil here. It's too beautiful. Demons like dark, dismal haunts as far as I know."

On the back porch, two invisible presences watched as Harry and Ron approached. So, they knew about them, did they? The whispering began again, and once again the presences shushed them with the admonition.

Patience. Subtlety is everything. Let them feel—secure. Safe.

Hermione finished her debriefing with Draco and Blaise, and Draco walked out of the drawing room with her, asking a few more questions. Ginny started to follow, but for some reason paused. Blaise was still leaning against the fireplace wall, looking at her.

And then?

Then, we will influence them. All except one. One, we can begin now. Come.

"I suppose you're still angry about the hair hex," she said to the wizard, who simply stared back at her, not answering at first, his brown eyes purposely moving down her body and up again so she would see it.

Then he said, "Not a very Gryffindor thing to do. A Slytherin? Yes. But a Gryffindor? No."

"No one's perfect," Ginny replied with a slight smirk.

Blaise didn't return it.

"No one except your boyfriend," he responded. "I imagine you worship him. The famous Harry Potter."

Ginny frowned at him.

"I don't worship him. That's ridiculous. Harry and I are on equal footing. We have a normal relationship," she informed him.

"I wonder how that is?" Blaise said.

"How what is?"

"How it is to be with him now that Voldemort's dead and there's no excitement or danger anymore."

"It's fine. Wonderful, in fact."

"Is it?" Blaise asked her.

"Yes."

Blaise straightened, then slowly walked toward Ginny, his eyes resting on her face, his expression slightly disdainful. He stopped in front of her.

"Do you ever get bored?" he asked her.

"Bored?"

"Yes, bored. With him?"

"What? No! Harry is a lot of fun," Ginny responded.

"Only fun?"

"What are you trying to say, Blaise?"

The wizard smirked slightly.

"What makes you think I'm trying to say anything? I just asked you a couple of questions."

"They're personal questions."

"No one twisted your arm to make you answer them," the Slytherin told her. "You answered them because you wanted to answer them. Why are you so—defensive?"

"I'm not."

"People get defensive when they are trying to protect something that's vulnerable. What's vulnerable with you, Ginny Weasley? What are you trying to protect?"

"Nothing!"

"Defensive."

"Nothing!"

Blaise shook his head, still smirking at her.

"Slytherins are far more honest than Gryffindors when it comes to unpleasant realities. You need to find out what yours are," he said softly, then walked past her, very closely and exited the drawing room, Ginny looking after him, confused.

What had just happened here?

The two invisible presences watched as Ginny slowly left the drawing room after Blaise.

He's good.

Yes. Yes, he is. She was easy to make hesitate.

Yes. Whatever touched her, touched her deeply.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 78: The consensus

After lunch, Hermione, Ginny and Susan tested the house for tell-tale signs of Dark Magic while the wizards brought in Snape's things. Mostly, these items consisted of his books, his lab equipment and boxes of ingredients. The books were brought into the drawing room and the equipment carefully transported to the cellar. Ron and Harry were transporting the boxes from the porch to the cellar entrance outside the house, then Draco and Blaise brought them down the cellar stairs and Snape carefully put them in the areas he wanted.

Blaise grumbled about his not knowing he'd be used as the "help."

"Servants should be doing this," he said, frowning as he levitated a large box directed to him from Draco at the top of the stairs, down the rest of the way to Snape. "Don't you have servants?"

"No. I didn't want them," Snape replied from the bottom of the stairs, catching the box with magic and setting it to the side.

Draco looked incredulous at this. He didn't want servants?

He realized Snape had grown up poor, but he had been given the opportunity to have servants and turned it down? That meant he would have to cook and clean for himself. Then he realized Hermione would be here. She'd probably do that for him. Witches were good for something other than shagging after all.

Hermione would have hexed Draco back to King's Cross if she knew that the little, pampered prat thought she'd be a house frau for Severus. Sure, she would do some of the cooking and cleaning, but so would Snape. She was here to learn and improve just as much as he was.

Snape winced as he heard Ron curse and the sound of glass breaking.

"Ron, you clumsy oaf!" Draco said with disgust as Ron stood up and brushed himself off.

"Oi, I'm all right," he said. "Just took a misstep."

He had stepped on a loose shoelace dangling from his trainer and tripped, dropping the box he was levitating. Harry was laughing from the porch.

Snape just shook his head at Weasley's clumsiness, although he wasn't angry. He'd be able to repair any broken glassware and they were moving a lot of boxes.

He wondered how Hermione was doing.

None of the wizards were aware of the pair of sharp blue eyes watching them work their magic from between the copse of trees.

Hermione, Ginny and Susan moved from room to room, their wands carefully covering every inch of space as they investigated closets, bathrooms, cabinets and every recessed area as they tested for Dark magic.

"Will they even register?" Ginny asked as she rose from her knees after checking under a bed.

"I don't know, Ginny, but I'm not getting any indication of any Dark magic ever being here. There is usually some residual negative energy left behind," Hermione replied with a slight frown.

"Maybe—maybe it was all imagination," Susan said. "Maybe Crowley just believed he summoned forces. Could he see them?"

"In a manner of speaking—not clearly. They were shadowy. But he had a method of identifying their physical presences. He built a terrace and covered it with fine sand from the Loch. The forces supposedly left footprints."

"Well, that was convenient," Susan said with a smile that showed she was starting not to believe there had ever been anything sinister at Boleskine House except what was in the Muggle imagination.

"That's where he summoned them, I think. He kept them in that area with drawn circles they couldn't cross. I'm not sure if they were pentagrams, but something similar," Hermione informed her.

"So, we definitely need to check the terrace," Ginny said, heading out of the door and down the entrance hall to the drawing room. A door had been constructed and opened on the north, and a stone terrace. The door was closed and locked securely.

Hermione and Susan followed Ginny in, and they stood looking at the heavy door.

"This room was where he performed his rituals and out there is the terrace. Supposedly, he summoned both good and evil forces and they kind of marched around in a procession. The demons came because they wanted to overcome him, so he used himself as a lure."

"Well, let's see if any of them hung about. Alohamora!" Ginny said, unlocking the door and pushing it open. There was an unassuming enclosed terrace made of stone. Again, there was nothing dark they could sense as they carefully tested the area.

"No. Nothing here," Ginny said, turning to Hermione. "Looks like we came here for nothing. There's nothing evil in Boleskine House."

"But there were so many reports," Hermione said uncertainly. "Not everyone could have made them up."

She hated being uncertain about anything.

"It's not a waste. It's a beautiful house. So, we don't have to banish demons. We can still help set up everything and enjoy being here," Susan said to Hermione. "I'm thrilled to be here. It's still an adventure to me and I'm glad you asked me to come."

Hermione smiled at Susan. She really was a good egg and knew how to find the good side of things. No wonder Ron liked her so much.

"Still, it would have been cool to face something—different," Ginny said wistfully as they left the room.

"I bet your mum will be happy about this," Susan said to her. "She was so worried Ron would be spirited away."

"Yeah, she would be."

The witches left the room without closing the terrace doors back. They didn't see the slight, shadowy forms that momentarily materialized and milled about excitedly before fading out.

"So, I'm afraid there's no evidence of Dark forces here," Hermione told everyone as they sat around the kitchen island eating sandwiches and drinking milk. "We're sorry to have brought you all here for nothing."

Ron looked at Hermione.

"What do you mean 'For nothing?' This place is great, Hermione. I'll be glad to hang about a few days, help Sev set up and just have a bit of R&R. What about you, Harry?"

Harry nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm not ready to leave, are you, Ginny?" he asked his girlfriend.

Blaise's dark eyes shifted toward her.

"No. Not yet. All we'd do is hang around the Burrow if we went home. Here we can do what we want."

"I'm definitely staying. I was shocked Mum and Dad let me come. I'm not in a hurry to go home," Susan added.

Everyone looked at Draco and Blaise. Draco looked very disappointed.

"I was hoping to face off with a few demons," he said somewhat dejectedly. "I wanted to—to face a challenge."

"Well, hang about a bit. I could ambush you a few times. That'll keep you on your toes," Ron offered, his blue eyes narrowed a bit.

"I could summon demons for you, Draco," Blaise said soberly. "You can face them."

Everyone looked at him. That was definitely Dark magic and Hermione said so.

Blaise looked at her coldly.

"I'm a Dark wizard, Granger. Doing Dark magic is second nature for me. Don't act like I'm doing anything out of character. I'm a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor, remember? Draco came here to face demons. If I can help him, I will. Unless Snape objects—"

Snape looked at Blaise, then Draco, who looked a bit hopeful. Why not? If Blaise could summon demons, he could banish them as well. And there was plenty of space to practice without getting in anyone's way.

"I have no problem with it, Blaise, as long as you don't do it in Boleskine House itself. If it is demon-free, I want to keep it that way," Snape said as Hermione frowned at him and Draco smiled broadly.

Blaise nodded somberly, and Ginny's eyes flicked toward him for a moment, then away. Summoning demons was a dangerous business. Blaise was an arse, but he was courageous.

Blaise suddenly looked at Harry.

"Care to come along, Potter? For support?" he asked him, sounding as if he expected him to say no. But he had a reason for asking.

"Well, I was going to take Ginny for a walk around the grounds—" he started to say.

"That sounds exciting," Blaise said, mirth in his eyes as he turned them on Ginny, who reddened. She was thinking of how he said Harry was boring.

"No. No, he'll go. We'll both go," she said quickly. "Right, Harry?"

Harry blinked at her.

"If you want to, Ginny," he acquiesced.

What a bloody wimp, Blaise thought.

"Well, Susan and I are going to explore the area in our Animagus forms," Ron announced, starting on his sixth sandwich. The girls had eaten two apiece and the wizards, only three.

"Ron, you certainly are hungry. Hungrier than usual," Susan observed.

"I know," he said around the sandwich. "I can't help myself. They just taste so good—"

"What are your plans tonight, Severus?" Harry asked him.

The wizard looked at Hermione intensely.

"I had hoped Hermione would go flying with me," he said softly.

Hermione blushed.

"Of course I will," she replied. "The Master of Boleskine House needs to familiarize himself with his domain."

"The Master," Snape purred at her suggestively. "I like the sound of that."

Everyone went a little quiet at the blatant sexuality in Snape's remark and Hermione turned crimson and grabbed her cold milk, drinking down a large amount of it. Susan rose and collected the empty platters and plates. Hermione quickly hopped up to help her.

Blaise stood up.

"It's getting dark. We should go now and find a place to practice," he said. Draco rose eagerly. Harry and Ginny also stood up.

"So, let's go," Ginny said. There was challenge in her voice as she looked at Blaise, who smirked at her, then turned and led the way out of the kitchen.

Hermione and Susan washed and dried the dishes and put them away, then Ron and Susan left, leaving Snape alone in the kitchen with Hermione. She looked at him.

"I really was hoping there were demons, here, Severus. It would have been exciting to try and banish them, doubly so because they were a product of Muggle magic. I planned to document the entire thing," she told him.

"I wouldn't have expected any less, Hermione," he said softly. "But I hope you aren't too disappointed. We have another, more pressing purpose for being here. Potions."

"Yes. You're right of course, but that would have been a real feather in my cap, documenting demons summoned by a Muggle. I'm so good at gathering groundbreaking information. Few can do it like I can," she said.

Snape listened to her boast, a bit surprised.

"Yes—you are good at it," he said slowly.

"The best," she replied a bit sharply.

He didn't answer that. There were many good researchers in the wizarding world. He frowned slightly. She sounded pompous. Hermione always sounded confident about her abilities, but never like this. Maybe she just didn't realize how arrogant she sounded this time. He decided to leave it alone. Everyone had their moments.

"Are you ready to go flying?" he asked her.

"Yes."

"Good. Just let me go get my broom."

"Your—your broom?"

"Yes, my broom."

Hermione looked a bit disturbed. Why did he want to take his Firebolt?

"But, we always fly with you as a Gryffin," she told him.

"I know, Hermione," he said, rising and walking up to her. He took both her hands in his, then kissed her lips softly and quickly.

"But, as a Gryffin, I can't hold you," he said softly, "and I want to hold you tonight when we fly. You'll let me do that, won't you?"

Hermione looked up at him and gave him a smile. Flying under the moon in his arms would be wonderful, even if it was on a broomstick.

"Of course I will," she said.

"Good. Just let me get my Firebolt," he said, exiting the kitchen.

Hermione sat back down on one of the stools and waited.

From the furthermost right corner of the kitchen, she was quietly being observed

If we are delicate with our influence, eventually everything she does, she'll feel is genius—

An evil chuckle rippled the ethers in response

-whether it is or not.

"I still can't believe you gave Blaise permission to summon demons here, Severus," Hermione said as she rested against him. They were lazily flying low over the grounds.

"You seem to forget, I summoned a demon with you before," he said softly.

"Well, that was different," Hermione said, frowning.

"Why? Because it was me and you? There's no difference. We aren't special, Hermione. Others have the right to take chances as well. It's not as if Blaise is going to send the demons after us—"

"I wouldn't put it past him. He's just so—so dark," she said. "If he had it in for one of us, there's no telling what he could do."

"He doesn't have it 'in' for any of us, Hermione. Stop being so paranoid and enjoy the night—and me. This is our first night at Boleskin. It's—special. No more Blaise."

Snape's arms tightened around her as he gained altitude, Hermione leaning back against him. She wasn't as scared now. Flying with him in his Gryffin form had desensitized her concerning heights, although she preferred the safety of the saddle to sitting side-saddle on a slender broomstick. But she trusted Severus, and he held her gently and firmly as if he'd never let her go.

After a minute or two, Snape said, "Isn't that a barn?"

Yes, they could make it out in the waning moonlight. A very large barn. Snape circled overhead a few times, then landed before the building, letting Hermione off then reducing and pocketing his broom. Catching hold of Hermione's hand, he pulled open one of the large doors and led her inside. He lit the tip of his wand and looked around.

"Oh, Severus—should we be in here?"

"I'm the current Master of Boleskine House, aren't I? This barn is part of my domain," Snape replied. He saw a lantern hanging on a beam and retrieved it, lighting it with the tip of his wand and turning up the flame so it gave a warm glow.

There were tools, riggings, barrels, stalls and other items here, but no animals. It seemed the barn was used for general storage. In the center of it was a huge pile of fresh, sweet-smelling hay. Snape looked at it, and then back at Hermione.

He smiled lasciviously.

"The Master of the Manor wants a tumble in the hay," he said to Hermione.

"In the hay? Severus, it'll get in my hair and everything," she said reluctantly.

"It's much better than sand," he replied, pulling her into a kiss and falling into the hay with her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 79: On the grounds of Boleskine

Straw flew up into the air as Snape and Hermione wrestled around, Hermione laughing as he tugged at her clothing. Finally, she began to help him, trainers, boots, shirts, jeans, trousers, socks, bra, boxers and knickers flying out of the haystack to the barn floor as the young couple went at it. Snape covered them up completely with straw so all that could be seen of them was a moving lump of hay, making its way through the pile, little cries and gasps of pleasure accompanying the motion.

There wasn't a lot of foreplay. They were both too randy and excited, Snape taking Hermione passionately, driving her through the hay almost brutally, his mouth locked to hers as they shagged missionary style.

Outside, Susan and Ron gamboled up to the barn in their Animagus forms, then both transformed.

"A barn," Ron said with a smile, his eyes hot. "How about a shag, Susan?"

"In there? Oh, Ron."

"Oh, come on. It's fun to do it in different places. Come on, Susan," he said, grabbing her and snogging her soundly. When he let her up for air and looked at her with puppy-dog eyes, she sighed.

"All right, Ron," she said. "Just a quick one."

"That's fine," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling open the barn door.

The first thing they saw was the lit lantern on the ground and the huge haystack. Then the clothing tossed all over the place.

"What—" Ron said under his breath.

Suddenly, they both were startled as a big pile of straw appeared and started to vigorously rise and fall, jerking through the haystack.

Then, they heard Hermione shriek, "Oh! Severus! Damn!"

"Whoops!" Susan said, softly as Ron blinked at the very animated pile of straw as it buckled and bounced with such alacrity that little pieces were flying out of it.

Wow. Snape was certainly pouring it on.

"Let's go, Ron, before they realize we're here," Susan said, pulling at him.

Still staring, Ron let her pull him out, then closed the barn door. It scraped the ground and Snape popped up out of the hay, looking around, straw sticking out of his hair. Hermione sat up on her elbows, also with straw in her hair.

"Did you hear that?" Snape asked her, still looking about.

"I didn't hear anything."

Snape scented the air and discerned the scent of orangutan and elk. Uh, oh. Ron and Susan must have come in and seen them. He blinked, then looked down at Hermione lying before him, flushed and naked, bits of straw sticking to her body, her full breasts still puckered.

Oh well. They were gone now. There was no need to upset her.

"I must have been hearing things," he purred, then dropped on her as she squealed, pulling the hay over them again and continuing their breaking in of the barn.

Ah, to be young and in love.

Ron and Susan walked back toward Boleskin House, Ron very silent. Susan held his hand and kept the silence as well, for a while. But, finally, she said something.

"Ron, are you okay?"

Ron started and looked at her with a sober expression.

"Oh, yeah. I'm—I'm fine," he replied.

"Seeing that was a bit of a shock, wasn't it?" she asked him softly.

"Seeing what? Oh—Snape and Hermione shagging? Yeah, a little."

They were silent for a few more steps.

"It bothers you a little, doesn't it?" Susan asked him.

"No—"

"Ron—"

Ron sighed. Susan could always tell when he wasn't being completely truthful.

"Well, a little—but I don't know why, exactly. I mean—I'm perfectly happy with you, Susan. I love you. What we have is better than anything I've ever had before—"

Susan smiled at him.

"Yes, but you were with Hermione, Ron. You loved her, too. You still do in a way," Susan told him. "When you've cared about someone the way you have about Hermione, then see them with someone else—it can be hard, even if you've moved on."

"It doesn't make any sense, Susan. Why do I feel anything about it?"

"Because, tonight, the reality set in, Ron. That's all. She's really with Severus—really with him in every way. It's just—just something residual."

Ron was so into Susan, he had pushed Hermione completely out of his mind, focusing on his own happiness. He'd gotten used to seeing her with Snape and even the occasional show of affection between them didn't bother him, because he was much more affectionate with Susan publicly. But there was a difference between seeing a peck on the lips and the two of them moving haystacks around.

"It'll be all right, Ron," Susan said, squeezing his hand.

He looked down at her. She was so perfect for him. Most witches probably would have been jealous about his reaction, but—Susan wasn't and that was because she understood connections between people didn't just break when they went separate ways. Ron and Hermione were friends unsuited to be anything more. But they had tried, and even though it hadn't worked out—there would always be a bond. In a world that could be cold and heartless, people needed bonds.

"Susan, you are something special," he said to her softly. "Really."

"You're something special, too, Ron," she replied with a soft smile.

Together, they headed for Boleskine House.

"Arrgh!" Draco cried as Blaise sent a fire demon flying at him, Ginny and Harry standing off to the side with their wands drawn as it lit up the night, roaring flame.

"Get it, Draco!" Blaise cried. "Focus! You can stop it!"

Draco produced a huge ice shield that stopped the demon from advancing.

"Good! You've stopped it!" Blaise called, smiling. "Now, use your wand to push it back! Force the shield forward! Drive the bloody thing back! Show it who's the strongest!"

Encouraged by his success at stopping the demon, and encouraged by Blaise, Draco slowly walked forward, using his wand to push the demon back. At first, it was difficult, but Draco was determined. He had to keep sending the ice because the heat of the creature was melting it. Slowly, he began to push it back, the ice stream becoming stronger.

"Yes! That's it! You're stronger, Draco. Cover it in ice! You can do it!"

As Draco drove the demon back, it began to lose color, dimming, the ice beginning to surround and encase it, melting less and less.

"Why isn't Blaise telling Draco to use a Banishing spell?" Ginny asked Harry.

Harry shrugged.

Now, the demon was encased completely in ice, only the eyes retaining any glow.

"Now, destroy the ice, Draco! Blast it to bits!" Blaise instructed.

Draco snarled a spell, blasting the ice and the demon to pieces, small shards raining down on everyone.

"Good. Good, Draco," Blaise said to his smiling housemate.

"I did it," Draco said, pleased.

Blaise nodded.

"You're stronger than any demon, Draco. You have to remember that," Blaise told him. "Men have dominion of the earth, not demons. They are beneath us."

A small bonfire was burning for light, and Ginny looked at Blaise standing near the flickering flame, a proud, disdainful expression on his face as he spoke of the demons. His eyes glittered and she could feel power and darkness coming off of him.

"Now, everyone get back. I'm going to show you all how to deal with an Earth demon," Blaise said. He was dressed in traditional wizard robes and shook back his sleeves.

"An Earth demon? Blaise, those are really dangerous," Harry said to the wizard. "How do you even know how to summon one?"

Ginny sighed inwardly at Harry's caution. It was good he was cautious, but still—now wasn't the time to show it, especially in front of Blaise.

"Nothing wrong with facing a little danger, Potter. I'd think you'd know that, considering—" the Slytherin said, his lip slightly curled. "But to answer your question, I know how to summon, banish and destroy a large amount of elemental demons because of the line of work I've been recruited for. I'm going to be an 'Unspeakable.' After I've gone abroad for Gringotts for three years, of course. If I survive, then—I'm in."

"An Unspeakable?" Ginny repeated. "That's a dangerous job, Blaise."

"That's why I'm going to be one. No namby-pamby cushy job for this Slytherin. I live on the edge, that's what makes me feel whole, Weasley."

"That 'edge' being nearly getting yourself killed for a living. That's a healthy attitude," Ginny shot back at him.

Harry was suitably impressed. Being recruited to be an Unspeakable was a very high honor. It took a certain kind of wizard to work in that sector of the Ministry. Unspeakables worked with the darkest, most dangerous magic and magical items known to the wizarding world. Some even unknown, kept from the public because knowledge of the horrible things out there would send the citizenry into a panic.

Being an Unspeakable was sort of like the position of 'The Men in Black' but for wizards. A lot of footwork was involved.

"What are you going to do for Gringotts?" Harry asked him.

Blaise put his wand away. Clearly, he wouldn't get anything done until he answered a few questions. Normally, he wouldn't do it, but he wanted to impress Ginny.

"I'll be 'collecting artifacts,'" Blaise said.

"Raiding tombs. You'll be a Cursebreaker, like my brother Bill was," Ginny replied. "He used to break curses on tombs and other structures to get treasure or magical items for the goblins at the bank."

Blaise looked disdainful, as usual.

"Hah. A Cursebreaker? No. All they do is gain access. I'll be a Cleaner," he replied. "I'll be the first one to enter. My job is to take out whatever guards the items we're seeking. Usually demons, but anything can be inside. Gorgons, Basilisks, Dragons or supernatural entities. I came to Boleskine hoping to get some experience with beings created with Muggle magic, because much of what I'll be facing will be products of that. Otherwise, it will be trial and error. And an error can cost me my life."

Harry shook his head.

"I can't understand why anyone would want a job like that," he said to Blaise.

"Life isn't worth living if you don't take some—risks," Blaise replied, looking directly at Ginny. "I'm a risk taker, Potter. It's what motivates me. I'm going to work for Gringotts to build up my resume for the Unspeakable position. Besides, the idea of taking what isn't mine—and the danger that doing so involves—gives me wood."

Harry noticed Blaise was looking at Ginny as he said this, and the boy who lived didn't like the vibe he felt as Ginny frowned back at the Slytherin. He moved a bit closer to her.

"Yeah, but you know wood can be splintered," Harry replied, his green eyes hard behind his glasses. "In fact, it can be chopped into tiny pieces."

"That depends on how well someone can swing the ax, Potter," Blaise responded with a rather dark smirk.

"Just show us the Earth demon, Blaise," Harry said coldly.

Draco just stood there and listened, wincing a little at the tension in the air. Blaise had done it. He'd put Potter on the scent. Damn it. Slytherins were supposed to be subtle with their sneaky plans. But Blaise wasn't. He was going for bold, because he suspected Ginny liked bold and reckless. Not to mention dangerous.

With the death of Voldemort, Harry wasn't like that anymore. Ginny might love Harry for who he was, but Blaise was certain that the element of danger surrounding him had to play an integral part of that initial attraction. "Attraction" being the key.

"All right, Potter."

Blaise produced his wand again, shaking back his robes sleeves. His brown eyes were narrowed as he looked at Harry, who returned the favor.

The wizard slowly raised his arms over his head and closed his eyes. His mouth moved subtly, then he clasped his wand with both hands and brought it down hard toward the ground as if chopping it.

There was a rumble, then the ground began to shake. It was like a small earthquake.

"What's happening?" Ginny cried as they were buffeted around as the quaking intensified. Suddenly, a small mound formed in front of Harry as Blaise looked on, a nasty smile on his face as the mound increased in size, turning into a large pillar of earth. Roots and stones stuck out of it oddly and it had to be at least thirty feet tall. The quaking stopped and all was quiet.

Harry had backed up and stood staring at the pillar, Ginny beside him.

"I suggest you move," Blaise called over.

Draco backed away further, as did Harry and Ginny. Suddenly the pillar exploded, earth raining down on everyone. In the place of the pillar stood a creature made of solid earth. It had two legs, four arms and one long, rather pointed head. The features were twisted as if made of clay, and the empty narrowed eyes glowed with an eerie green light. Its limbs were blockish and dirt trickled from it without it losing mass.

It stared down at Harry and Ginny, then lunged forward with a roar, attempting to smash them with its huge fists.

"Run!" Harry cried as the creature lurched after them.

"Blaise! What the fuck are you doing?" Draco yelled at him.

"They'll be fine, Draco. Potter just has to stop running and start fighting. I'll get rid of it if it gets the best of him."

"Blaise—I swear—" Draco hissed, running after the demon.

Both Ginny and Harry had their wands out, sending Reducto spells at the demon. But the spell had little effect, simply blasting earth off it. They dove aside as the fists slammed the earth again. Draco cast a spell he learned in Herbology at the demon, and some of the roots grew out of its body and wrapped around its legs, tying them together. The creature toppled.

"Good one, Draco!" Blaise called approvingly.

But the demon wasn't done for yet, and pulled itself along the ground with its arms, making quick progress. Harry shot fire at it, and one of the arms hardened, and broke off.

"Fire! Fire will do it!" he cried.

Blaise watched as Harry, Draco and Ginny started roasting the demon, turning it into fired earth. Once it was completely hard, they blasted it into dust. Harry and Ginny were covered with dirt from diving out of the way so much. Harry turned his wand on Blaise immediately.

"You did that on purpose, Blaise. You sent it after us!"

Blaise looked at Harry calmly as Ginny also pointed her wand at him, furious. The Slytherin made no attempt to raise his wand.

"Well, I invited you here for 'support.' What did you imagine that would be? You didn't expect just to watch, did you? You helped Draco just like you were supposed to do."

"You didn't say you'd be sending demons after us!" Ginny spat at him.

"I shouldn't have had to say it," Blaise shot back at her. "What else did you think was going to happen if you were here for support? I can't believe how thick you two are. This session is over. Obviously, you can't handle it."

With their wands still trained on him, Blaise turned and stalked away into the darkness. Harry and Ginny let him go, not knowing what to do other than hex him in the back. Ginny was sorely tempted to do it. If she had been alone, she would have.

Draco didn't seem to register the argument. He was looking at what was left of the demon. He'd manage to overcome it as well. As far as Draco was concerned, this had been a very, very good night.

When the earth shook, Severus and Hermione had simply attributed it to the intense climax they reached, which coincided nicely with Blaise's spell. Spent and smiling, with straw sticking all over their bodies, they lay in the haystack, catching their breaths.

"Much better than sand," Snape reiterated.

Hermione lifted her hips and pulled several long pieces of straw out of the cleft of her bum. She had been on the bottom the entire time. Sliding through the haystack hadn't been without its price.

"Speak for yourself," she told the wizard, throwing the straw at him. He brushed it away.

"We'll have to break in the Gate House next," Snape told her.

Hermione frowned at him.

"We've just finished having sex and you're already thinking about shagging in the Gate House?"

Snape looked at her.

"Well, statistics state young men think about sex every five seconds—so, it's really to be expected, Hermione," he informed her.

"Don't go spouting facts at me, Severus Snape. You're just—just wanton."

"Wanton?"

"Yes, wanton."

"I thought women were wanton. Men are just—always ready."

He was rewarded with a faceful of straw for that remark. He brushed it away and spit out a few pieces that got into his mouth. But he smiled at Hermione and she smiled back at him.

"I like being in love," he said softly, then pulled her into a kiss.

Twenty minutes later they were slowly flying back toward Boleskine House, Snape holding Hermione against him firmly, his chin resting on her shoulder. He kissed her cheek from time to time, Hermione hunching her shoulders every time he did so.

She liked being in love, too.

Standing on a ridge was a shadowy form, watching the couple fly back to Boleskine house. When they landed and entered the premises, it slowly walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 80: During the night

Ron was in the kitchen, raiding the refrigerator. A huge amount of food was on the table as he constructed himself a Weasley sandwich. There was no set recipe for a Weasley sandwich, except that it involved at least eight thick slices of bread, condiments and any and everything edible that could be held between them. Ham, cheese, fish, poultry, meat, vegetables, pickles, half a roast—if he could stack it up—he could eat it.

Snape and Hermione entered the kitchen as Ron finished his masterpiece. He had three different kinds of bread to his sandwich. Pumpernickel, rye and sourdough. His sandwich balanced precariously on the plate as he looked up at the couple.

"Did you save anything for the rest of us, Weasley?" Snape asked him, eyeing the huge construction.

"There's plenty of food," Ron said, reddening a little.

"Well, good. I'm famished," Hermione said, walking around the island and heading for the refrigerator. Ron gave her a quick look, then looked at Snape who was looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes.

"How was your night?" Snape asked him pointedly.

"Fine. Susan and I just explored the grounds," Ron said a little tightly.

"By the barn, too?"

Hermione jerked her head out of the fridge when she heard that.

"Just for a second," Ron replied, meeting Snape's eyes. "But, I've got to go. Susan's waiting for me."

Ron picked up the sandwich and quickly exited the kitchen. Hermione looked at Snape with rounded eyes.

"Ron and Susan were near the barn?"

"Yes. I scented them when we left," Snape responded.

"Do you think—think they knew we were—you know—"

Snape shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but they couldn't have seen us under the hay, Hermione. We were completely covered up. Don't worry about it."

Hermione blushed, but returned to the fridge to gather up sandwich fixings. She frowned.

"You know, there was a lot more food in here this afternoon," she said.

"Ron, are you eating again?" Susan said from the bed as Ron entered the room with his sandwich. He sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah. I was starving," he responded. "Shagging does that to a man."

Ron and Susan had a rousing round of sex when they returned to Boleskine House, since the barn had been occupied. But Ron made himself a sandwich when they first arrived.

Susan smiled. Ron did expend a lot of energy during sex. Sometimes it felt as if he were everywhere at once. But still, it seemed as if his appetite was growing.

"Well, you'd better pay more attention to what you eat, Ron. Metabolism can change, you know."

Ron paused before biting into his sandwich.

"You'd still love me if I gained a few pounds, wouldn't you, Susan?"

She smiled at him.

"I'd love you, but there would be things we do now that would be hard to do if we were both big—"

"Things?"

Susan twiddled her fingers a little to show him she meant things sexual.

"Oh—things. Well, all the Weasley men are slender, so I don't think we'll have to worry about that, now—"

Ron blissfully bit into his sandwich, losing a little lettuce as Susan looked on, shaking her head.

Ron could certainly put it away.

Blaise did his two hundred pushups before bed, the amount he did every night, then showered and retired. He would get up early for him morning run. His thoughts turned to Ginny. She seemed very angry at him at the clearing. It was difficult to read her, to tell if she found him exciting enough.

Blaise had learned early on that a witch would shag if a wizard turned her on, whether or not they went out with someone else. She just had to be reassured that the wizard wouldn't tell, and Blaise, as much as an arse as he was, never told who he'd given the hard one to. He might say he had his sights on someone, but he wouldn't tell if he'd been successful. But it was easy to tell he had, simply because he'd stop pursuing her.

Besides, Blaise liked doing witches that had boyfriends. It was clear ground, with no residual or unnecessary attachments. He didn't have to give gifts or spend time with them. The relationship was always clear, always physical. His gift was his ability to 'bring out the inner slut' as he told Draco.

Doing the famous Harry Potter's girlfriend would be stellar. He just had to watch for an opening to approach her. And carefully.

She had quite a temper.

Around two in the morning, Draco lay in his bed asleep and his stomach growled horrendously.

"House elf!" he mumbled, still partially in dream land..

He was used to doing this at home and at Hogwarts. When no squeaky voice answered him, he sat up in bed groggily, holding his stomach.

"I'm bloody famished," he said, sliding out of bed and pulling his housecoat over his boxers. He stepped into his slippers and exited his bedroom. Instead of going to the kitchen, he walked down to Ron and Susan's room and knocked hard on the door.

Ron woke up.

"Who is it?" he called sleepily.

"It's Draco. I need Susan to fix me something to eat."

Ron lay there in the dark in stunned disbelief. Susan was sleeping comfortably and deeply in the crook of his arm.

"Go bloody make your own food, Draco!" he called back.

"But she's the house cook," Draco said insistently.

"Yeah, but she's not your personal servant, you git. Make your own food or I'll serve you up a knuckle sandwich with plenty of punch!"

"Peon," Draco snarled, leaving.

He was one of the privileged. He'd never made his own food in his life.

"That's what I get for associating with people socially beneath me. They don't know their place in the pecking order. Well, I'll just contact father tomorrow and have him send me a personal servant immediately."

Draco wasn't usually this uppity. Over the past two years he'd been taken down a peg or two. Under usual conditions, he might have given a go of serving himself as a novelty, but this was the first time it had come up and he found himself furious that he wasn't being accommodated. He walked into the kitchen, scrounged around until he found a few pumpkin pasties, took them and headed back to his room in a bad temper. He'd wanted something more substantial than this prepackaged stuff. He was used to fresh foods.

As he returned to his bedroom, two presences watched him with quiet glee.

Ginny tossed and turned in Harry's arms as she had a troubled sleep. She was dreaming about the Chamber of Secrets. She hadn't done that in years.

Harry was sitting next to her, dying from the Basilisk's bite and telling her to go find Ron and get out of the chamber.

Suddenly, Harry was gone and Blaise Zabini was standing over her, offering her his hand, his brown eyes sober. Confused at the scene change, she took his hand and he pulled her strongly to her feet. They stood looking at each other and suddenly he grabbed her and pulled her into a hot, searing kiss that sent her senses whirling. It felt so wrong, but so right as their mouths came together, his full lips covering hers as he pulled her tight against him.

She didn't fight him as his hands ran all over her body and he kissed her, claiming her tongue as if he owned her. There were no words as he took her down to the stone floor, pulling apart her robes, his eyes hot and hungry, then tearing at his own. He opened his trousers, then reached between their partially nude bodies and pulled her knickers aside.

Then-

"Oh my gods!" Ginny breathed, sitting straight up in the bed.

"Wha—what? Ginny?" Harry said sleepily, automatically retrieving his glasses from the night stand and putting them on, looking up at his distressed girlfriend.

"Ginny? What's the matter?" he asked her, concern in his voice.

"I—I had a nightmare," she said in a small voice, pulling her knees up to her chin and shivering slightly. Harry sat up, too, slipping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her against him.

"About what?" he asked.

Ginny didn't look at him. She couldn't tell him she dreamed about Blaise shagging her, or about to shag her with no protestations.

"The Chamber of Secrets," she replied.

Harry blinked at her. That had to be a nightmare.

"Want to talk about it?"

"No. No, that's all right, Harry," she said softly. "Let's just go back to sleep."

"Are you sure, Ginny?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"All right, then. Snuggle down. I'll protect you," he said, kissing her. Then they both scooted down in the bed, Harry's arms wrapped around her protectively.

He kissed her temple, then settled back in to sleep. He was out in two minutes.

Ginny lay in his embrace, her eyes shifting back and forth in the dark. The dream had been disturbing. She hadn't tried to reject Blaise at all. In fact, she had been into it even as she knew it was wrong.

What the hell was going on here? She wanted no parts of Blaise Zabini.

But the way her body was tingling, she knew it wasn't completely true.

And that troubled her. She loved Harry very much and planned to marry him one day. At least, she thought she loved him. Didn't she? How could she have a dream about Blaise if she did?

Maybe it was some kind of fluke, or a dream meaning something completely different than the obvious. Maybe Blaise shagging her had something to do with the way he'd screwed them with the demon last night. Yes, that could be it.

Ginny closed her eyes, hoping she'd found a feasible answer other than being secretly attracted to the dark wizard.

The alternative was just too disturbing.

She is easy to manipulate. Her passionate nature will be her downfall.

We can always use the chamber to open her up to our influence. How convenient.

Blaise woke up at five, did a few stretches, then put on his running shorts, socks, trainers and a white t-shirt. He tucked his wand in his sock, then left Boleskine house for his morning run.

It was a nice run, with a variety of terrains to keep it interesting. The air was moist and cool, just the way he liked it as he fell into his stride. Forty-seven acres gave him a lot of running room and soon he was covered in a sheen of sweat as he covered more and more ground.

As the dawn broke and the sky lightened, he passed the gardening shed, and saw someone walking around it. He didn't stop to investigate. It was probably the Muggle groundskeeper. He didn't do Muggles if he could help it.

Ron woke up and eased out of bed, heading for the kitchens again, feeling as if he hadn't eaten in days. He raided the refrigerator again, making another Weasley sandwich and preparing a large glass of milk to wash it down with. It should tide him over until breakfast.

Ginny awoke and decided she wanted a glass of water. She was still feeling antsy. She didn't bother putting on her housecoat. It was so early the whole house had to still be asleep. Leaving Harry sleeping peacefully, she exited the bedroom, padding up the entrance hall barefoot.

Blaise entered the utility room, covered in perspiration and breathing heavily. He pulled off his shirt, revealing his wet chocolate body, and well-developed chest and abs. He was lean and strong, with an athlete's build. There was nothing bulky about him as he wiped at himself with his balled up shirt, walking into the entrance hall. He stopped as he saw Ginny walking toward him in her nightgown, barefoot and her red hair tousled all over her head.

Ginny stopped when she saw him as well, looking at her with flared nostrils. His brown eyes shifted around the hall, looking to see if anyone else was up and about. Ginny felt as if there was a stone in her belly as the wizard began to purposely walk toward her, half-naked. His body was—awesome.

Ginny's feet wouldn't move and she couldn't find her voice as Blaise approached her, all male, his dark body glistening as if oiled, his stride confident and purposeful. His eyes were locked to hers and he licked his lips.

Suddenly, the kitchen door opened and Ron appeared with his sandwich, blocking Blaise's approach.

"Oi, Blaise. Going to get yourself a bite to eat?" he asked him.

Ginny seemed to snap out of her trance at Ron's appearance, but it felt as if she'd been running, her heart was beating so fast.

"No, just some water," Blaise said, turning off into the kitchen, silently cursing Ron.

Then Ron noticed Ginny.

"Hey, what are you doing up so early?" he asked her.

Ginny shrugged.

"I was going to get a drink of water," she said.

"Seems everyone's thirsty this morning," he replied, heading for his bedroom with his milk and sandwich. "I'll see you later."

Ron entered his bedroom and closed the door. Ginny stared at the kitchen, then turned around and headed back for her bedroom and the familiar, safe embrace of Harry's arms.

After all, what was in the kitchen wouldn't cool her off in the least.

Snape awoke to the sound of a machine outside. He quietly rolled out of bed and pulled aside the curtain, looking across the grounds. A man was riding on a lawnmower, mowing the terraced lawn in a careful pattern.

The groundskeeper.

Snape looked at Hermione, who was sleeping peacefully, then shrugged on his robes. He put on his socks and boots. He didn't wear any other clothing, because he was in a hurry and planned to come back quickly.

He exited the house and strode across the grounds toward the man.

The groundskeeper was wearing a Kango hat, a lightweight blue and white plaid shirt and brown trousers with suspenders. A bit of gray hair stuck out from under the hat, it was almost past his collar. Kind of long for an old man. He looked to be about sixty. He artfully turned the mower in a pattern as Snape approached.

Finally, Snape called to him.

"Hallo!"

The groundskeeper kept driving the mower.

"Hallo!" Snape called again, moving closer. But the man didn't seem to hear him over the mower engine.

Snape pulled out his wand, flicked it at the mower and quickly put it back. The mower died.

"Blast!" the old man said, getting off the mower and staring at it as if it purposely stopped running. "Bloody machine."

"Er—excuse me," Snape said walking up.

The man turned quite quickly, his blue eyes sharp as he took in the young wizard. He took out a kerchief and wiped his hands and then his brow.

"Who might you be?" the man growled at him.

"I'm Severus Snape. I'm currently occupying Boleskine House."

The groundskeeper looked him up and down.

"You look like one of Crowley's crowd, but you aren't that," he stated.

"No, I'm not," Snape replied. "But I will be conducting some—experiments while I'm here, and I'd prefer they stay clandestine.'

"Oh, you do, do you?" the groundskeeper replied.

"Yes."

Suddenly, a robin flew onto the mower and chirped at the groundskeeper, who gave the bird a little bow. It seemed to bow back at him, then cocked an eye at Snape, who thought it a bit odd. The robin let out another series of chirps, then flew away, the groundskeeper smiling after him.

Very odd.

The groundskeeper turned back to Snape and continued the conversation as if it hadn't been interrupted by a little bird.

"Well, I don't know how 'clandestine' anything you do will be, considering I watched you and your people floating boxes yesterday. You don't hide what you are well at all."

Snape's eyes widened.

"Then those monsters last night, you flying on a broom with a girl and those two turning into animals—"

"You—you saw all that and didn't report it to the authorities?" Snape asked him, wondering if he should Obliviate him now or later. He was leaning towards now.

"The authorities? Have no use for 'em. Besides, what could they do against it anyway? It's not like they have magic, is it?"

Snape just stared at him. The man walked up to him and offered him his hand.

"My name is Ben Weatherstaff," the old man said. "I've been a gardener for years and years. This isn't my first run-in with magic, you know. I once tended the gardens of a rich lord and his son and his niece used magic all the time. Not like you lot, but I've seen miraculous things. But, I can keep a secret. The question is if you can keep yourself a secret."

Snape scowled slightly as he shook Ben's hand. Why did that name sound so familiar? But there was something about the old man that felt safe.

"Where do you stay? On the grounds?" Snape asked him.

"No. Down the road a ways. Still Boleskine property though."

"So how did you get in?" Snape asked him.

"I let myself in the gate, the way I usually do," Ben replied.

"But—"

"But what?"

Snape blinked at him.

"Nothing," he said.

He'd have to go check the ward he'd put on the gate. Weatherstaff shouldn't have been able to go in or out.

"Did you have something to do with my mower going out?" Ben asked Snape.

Snape nodded.

"Well, bloody fix it. I want to get my work done before the sun gets too high," the old man snarked. He watched as Snape pulled out his wand and flicked it, starting the mower. He didn't even react to the display of magic. He just climbed on the mower.

"I put some fresh flowers in the kitchen," he shouted over the mower. "Nothing like fresh flowers in the kitchen."

Then, he began cutting again.

Snape watched him for a while, then turned and slowly walked back toward the house, his brow furrowed.

Ben Weatherstaff.

He was certain he'd heard that name before—but how and why?

Maybe Hermione would know.

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More later~