Harry Potter 1. The kiss

Hermione was sitting in the quiet, dark library, looking at a book called 'Ancient Monsters and Their Powers'; the glow from her wand the only source of light. She had taken the book from the Restricted Section and would have had to have permission to take it out normally, but this wasn't a normal circumstance. Harry, Ron and she had been trying to work out a puzzle, about an ancient creature that could be resurrected; serving only the first person it saw when it awoke. If Harry could control it, it would be of great use to him in the fight against Voldemort. Of course they could tell no one of this plan, as they would be told it was foolhardy and dangerous. They had done a lot of research in the day, but didn't want to have to explain why they wanted this particular book out to any that teacher they asked permission from.

Harry and Ron had gone to get something they would need to use as part of the ressurection ritual, called Phoenix stone and they had discovered that some had been set into the fireplace in the great Hall.

Hermione had been quite happy to be left by her-self in the library, she always felt safe and comfortable in this scholastic environment. So absorbed was she in her reading, that she didn't notice the change in status on The Marauders map that had been left by her side. She was supposed to check it every now and again, to see if anyone was coming.

Suddenly she felt the hairs on the back of her neck standing up and goose-bumps spring up all over her body. The door to the library creaked open and slow, deliberate footsteps were walking in the direction of where she was sitting. She glanced down nervously at the Marauders Map and her stomach clenched in fear as she saw who it was – Professor Snape.

Hermione, although she would never admit it to anyone, was terrified of Professor Snape. He had always made it quite clear how much he despised her and went out of his way to make her life a misery in his classes, despite how well she did.

As he got closer, her heart started to beat faster and thumped against her ribcage, a trickle of sweat ran down her back and her hands began to shake. After slowly closing the book, she slid off the chair and silently stepped into the shadows of the tall bookshelves. She shut her eyes tightly and held her breath as she heard him walk right up to where she was, then let it out with relief when she heard him walk past. She opened her eyes and watched as he went over to the desk she'd been sitting at and opened the book of Monsters, drawing his finger down the pages, trying to guess what the reader had been looking at.

She hardly dared breathe in case he heard her, so she took her breaths in sharp, shallow intakes, making her feel dizzy and shaky.

The Professor then stood up straight, still with his back to her, she could tell he was thinking about something and for a few agonizing seconds, did not move a muscle. What happened next was a blur of black robes and light from a wand as he turned quickly, with his arms outstretched. Suddenly Hermione found herself pushed back against the bookcase she had been hiding against, with a lit wand shining in her face. Moving the wand to one side, he made the light shine upwards, making his face look even more sinister than usual. His mouth curled into a sneer as he saw whom he had captured.

"Well, well, it's the mud-blood know-it-all! What are you doing here in the Restricted Section at this early hour of the morning looking at books about monsters?" His face became serious now as he looked down at her. His body was pressed close to hers, his free hand gripping her arm tightly so as to prevent her escape.

This close proximity was very intimidating and as she tried to speak no words would come, just a squeak. This seemed to irritate Professor Snape and he asked again

"What were you looking for? I demand you tell me now!" He said in a more threatening tone.

"I..I..I couldn't sleep, there was some homework I've been trying to finish, but I needed some extra infor.." Hernione managed, weakly, but was cut off by Snape

"Don't give me that! You are planning some scheme with Potter and Weasley aren't you? What are you brats up to now?"

"Nothing, nothing!.. .it's just me, I wanted to look something up for myself. Harry and Ron have nothing to do with this!" She said bravely

"Humph! You think you are so clever don't you? Think you can fool me, but you don't know as much as you think you do, now tell me what you are planning. Or I'll find out another way!" his sneer had returned and his face was so close to hers she could feel his breath on her cheek. She was really scared now, she knew she had to escape, but how? Her arms and legs felt weak from the fear, so she couldn't fight him and she was too scared to use her wand at the moment, so she had to think of something quickly, something that would shock him into letting her go. She had an idea, the only one she could think of at that moment. Reaching her arms up around his neck to pull his head towards hers, she took a deep breath to ready her self and kissed him on the lips.

He froze in shock for a moment, just as she had hoped. He relaxed his hold on her and she took that lapse in concentration as her chance to escape. Slipping sideways, she went as to make a run for it, as fast as she possibly could, but just as she was about to go, a hand shot out and grabbed her arm again. She let out a small squeal in fright and struggled against his grip.

"What did you think you would achieve by that, did you think you could seduce me little girl?" He said sardonically, sneering again

Hermione felt incensed by him calling her a 'little girl' and her fear momentarily left her, "I am not a little girl!" she said irritably, "I am a woman, I'm 18 as you well know!" she said still struggling against his grasp.

He suddenly moved forward, grabbing both her arms now, pushing her against the desk, trapping her with his body.

"You have no right to hold me like this, let me go!" Hermione said indignantly, still valiantly trying to prise her arms away from his grip. The pressure of his body against hers sent fear coursing through her again. She felt very vulnerable like this and wished dearly that Harry and Ron would hurry up back.

"I have every right, if I feel that what you are doing will endanger not only yourselves, but the rest of the school!" he said harshly, "Now tell me what you are planning!"

Hermione was starting to get hot from nerves and all the struggling; sweat was trickling down her forehead and her hands were slipping, trying to grip the edge of the desk.

"Please, please let me go..you're scaring me. I didn't mean any harm I was just doing some research" Hermione tried again

Professor Snape didn't answer he was looking at her strangely, piercing her with his almost black eyes. Then letting go of her arms at last, he placed his hands either side of her head. She immediately guessed what he was about to do; he was going to try and read her mind. She went as to scrabble backwards across the desk, but it was to no avail as his grip on her was too strong. His gaze was making her feel dizzy and she was starting to weaken, she could not under any circumstances, let him in to see her thoughts. She had to think of something quickly, that would break his concentration.

Then it struck her, "what if I tried kissing him again?" It worked once it could work a second time and this time she would move even faster, before he could react. She grabbed his head pulling it forward and pressed her mouth against his firmly. At first he stiffened up and backed off a little, just as she hoped, but then suddenly he relaxed. Hermione wasn't expecting this, she thought he would jump back in surprise away from her and that would be her chance to make a run for it again.

She found herself being slowly pushed back onto the desk and he was still kissing her! What was she supposed to do now, she couldn't escape, as he had his weight pressing down on her and the advantage of two feet on the floor; hers were dangling uselessly over the edge.

Before, whenever she had imagined what it would be like to kiss Professor Snape, the mere thought of it had made her shiver with disgust. She thought that his lips would be as cold as his heart seemed to be.

To her surprise though, his lips felt warm and soft against hers and he really seemed to know what he was doing, it felt really different to Ron's rather amateurish fumbling's,

"What was wrong with her? Was she enjoying this? No surely not, not with Professor Snape." But _he _certainly seemed to be enjoying it. The passion with which he was expressing himself was very contagious and not being able to hold herself back any longer, she found herself giving in and returning the kiss properly, opening her mouth wider and moving her lips in rhythm with his.

His tongue ventured against her teeth and even though shocked at this intimate gesture she allowed him to slide it in to her mouth. She couldn't believe how good this made her feel and used her own tongue in the same way then, sliding and caressing it against his. The world seemed to disappear, she was lost in the moment, not even minding the slight rasp of his stubble against the delicate skin of her face.

"What was going on! She shouldn't be doing this!" But somehow it felt so sexy; the scariest teacher in the school, a man who exuded glowering disdain for nearly everybody, was kissing her - passionately. Her tummy began to clench up to nearly solid with nerves and excitement.

Suddenly a noise made them both stop and listen; it was the door creaking open. They looked at each other for a fleeting moment, panting gently then Professor Snape stood up quickly. Leaning over her, he tapped his wand on the side of her head, muttering something. Hermione felt the whole room fade into a blur and then blackness.

"Hermione, Hermione! Wake up! Come on, we've got it! Hermione!" Stirring from her slumber, rubbing her eyes and looking confusedly around, Hermione saw Ron and Harry looking at her.

"Where were you? What took you so long!" Hermione said accusatorily. She felt strange and fuzzy headed for a moment, then the memory of what she had just done, hit her. She groaned inwardly, putting her hand to her head and leaning her elbow on the desk. Vines of guilt started to creep around in the pit of her belly, taking hold and squeezing tight. If they found out about this, if anyone found out about this – her name would be mud.


	2. Cauldron Catastrophe

Hermione awoke the next morning feeling tired from her late night. She got out of bed and padded over to the bathroom she shared her one room-mate, Ginny Weasley. 6th and 7th years only had to share with one other person, giving them more peace and quiet to study if they needed it.

Ginny was already in there and was busily brushing her teeth.

Twinges of guilt started to burn in her belly again as she saw Ginny, the memory of the night before still lingering. The memory had to be real, or was it? Somehow it seemed far away like it had been a dream. Had she fallen asleep, tired from her reading, while Harry and Ron had left her alone?

She turned on the shower still trying to make sense of what she was feeling. Ginny finished brushing her teeth and looked over to Hermione who was still lost in thought.

"Morning! Where were you last night? Off on some jaunt with Harry and Ron I suppose. Why don't you ever tell me what you are doing, I could help too you know!" Ginny said indignantly

"Oh, I..we were just looking at something in the Restricted Section of the Library," she paused to yawn "It was just something for school" Hermione said thinking quickly for this time in the morning

"Why didn't you do it in the day then?" Ginny asked suspiciously

"We forgot" Hermione shrugged and turning her back, slipped off her nightshirt and stepped into the shower. Thankfully Ginny seemed to accept this explanation and left the bathroom.

After showering and getting dressed Hermione walked down to the common room, to find Ron and Harry waiting there.

"What took you so long! You're normally ready before us!" Ron said in surprise, "and we've had to put up with a roasting from Ginny as to why she wasn't included, we've had to let her in on it now! I just hope no-one else finds out or we're stuffed!" he continued

"Oh, I was just tired from last night that was all" She answered absently, it was partly true, she had been tired but it had been more to do with the fact that she had been lost in thought and hadn't been watching the time.

They all made their way down to the Great Hall, Ron had his arm around her on one side and Harry strode along on the other. She felt suddenly uncomfortable and stiffened up making Ron drop his arm. They had been going out only since the summer of the previous year and had their and still argued a lot, but in the main had been quite happy together. They had even managed to have sex, due in most part, to Ron's persistence on the matter. Hermione had put it off as long as she could saying that she hadn't wanted to rush into things. Ron had said that a 6 month wait was hardly rushing into things, so she had given in, finding it not as bad as she had thought.

Now guilt was creeping over her again, she bit her lip as thoughts raced round her head,"had the experience been real? If it had, how come she had enjoyed it so much, with him of all people! Even if it had been a dream, it was still bad that she had even thought about it!"

Hermione tried to carry on as normal, as if nothing had happened, which as the day wore on got a little easier. Ron and Harry kept talking excitedly about the experiment they were about to do, in trying to resurrect the 'ancient creature' that would supposedly do their bidding. Hermione had suddenly lost enthusiasm for this project, not least because she had other things on her mind and also because after reading about it thoroughly, it may not even be possible to do.

For rest of the week she carried on as normal, well normal for her if she was in a bad mood, which she did often get into. Ron hadn't seemed to have noticed anything was wrong, which annoyed her even more. He just said "Women! One minute they're happy as anything, next they're crying their eyes out! It's their hormones you know!" A statement, which usually got him a book in the side of the head from Hermione.

At the end of the week Hermione was filled with a sense of dread and trepidation, she had Potions on Friday afternoons, with Professor Snape of course. After dinner that day her belly was churning with nerves as she made her way down to the Potions classroom.

It was only Harry and Hermione for Potions, as Ron had managed to get out of doing it, as his OWL results were not good enough. They entered the classroom, took up their usual seats and started to set up the ingredients they had been told to bring the previous week, for the potion of the day. It was a medicinal one that was supposed to scarify scars, lesions and cuts, very useful for an Auror who wanted a quick fix. It was also very difficult to get right, as were all the potions that Professor Snape made everyone do, probably just so he could criticize more.

Suddenly he burst into the classroom, striding up to the front, then stopped abruptly at his desk, turning round ready to start. The first part of the lesson was about the potion they were about to make; it's uses and properties. He also told them that in large quantities it could be dangerous and could burn the skin very badly. So everyone had to be extra careful with it once they had completed it.

Hermione was trying very hard not to be nervous, but it was very difficult. Her hands were shaking, making putting precise drops of ingredients into her cauldron doubly hard. She was also getting very hot and kept wiping her brow and sweaty palms on her robe. Professor Snape passed her a few times on his patrol of the class, but he did not stop or look at her.

"It must have been a dream, or else why isn't he looking nervous at my presence or even a slight bit uncomfortable. But it seemed so real!" Hermione thought to herself

When finished, the potion was supposed to be a sheeny golden colour, Hermione's was yellowy gold and Harry's was the colour of mustard. He peered into it pulling a face, then looking at Hermione – shrugged, as if to say that it was near enough. But Hermione, who hated anything less than perfection, racked her brains trying to work out what was wrong. It suddenly dawned on her, she'd missed out the 'lutum' essence, she'd unusually, forgotton to bring her's but spotted that the boy in front of her had some. She went as to tap him on the back to ask if she could borrow some but in her haste and nervous state, knocked several vials off her desk. They landed with a "plop, plop" into her full cauldron. Hermione clamped her hand over her mouth in horror, she had no idea what effect this would have on the potion, but she soon found out. The mixture changed from smooth and glossy, to thick and gloopy and started to bubble up like a volcanic mud pool, splashing everywhere. Hermione desperately tried to stop it, pointing her wand at it and muttering a cleaning spell, but to no avail. The liquid bubbled over the top and splashed all over her, making her squeal in fright. Several other students were now, sensibly moving out of the way of the explosive looking mixture, including Harry who looked quite amused, much to her annoyance.

Snape, who had been at the front of the classroom helping a Slytherin boy with his potion, was suddenly alerted by all the noise. He strode quickly down the classroom and scowled at Hermione, who smiled weakly back, in apology.

He looked her up and down, seeing the potion now covering her robe and uniform.

"Go down to my office at once and remove those clothes! Quickly! Before the potion burns through to your skin!" Hermione didn't move, looking at him unbelievingly, "Now!" he shouted. Hermione blanched and made for the door, "wait! Here, let me have your wand!" Hermione held up her wand wincing as she could already feel the potion starting to sting her skin. He tapped her wand with his, telling her that it would now open the door to his locked office.

She ran as fast as she could and after rushing inside and slamming the door shut, stripped off to her underwear. She watched in horror as what was once her school uniform disintegrated into a black sludge on the stone floor. Looking down at herself, she saw red patches on her skin, where the potion had started to burn through. Then a realisation hit her; she was in Snapes office with hardly any clothes on and lessons were about to end for the day, what was she supposed to do now! She hadn't got the power to magic up more clothes, that was a difficult and advanced spell and couldn't call any from her room as she would have to do them one at a time, be very specific and anyway it would take far to long.

Looking desperately round Snapes dingy office, she spotted a wardrobe and hoped it had robes in it; luckily, it did. They were a little musty, but Hermione was grateful just for something to cover her self with. Pulling the robe around her she sat on the edge of his desk, waiting for the bell to go for the end of school, which it soon did. After waiting a little while longer, giving everyone time to get out of the corridors and back to their common rooms, she slipped out of Snapes office and made her way back to the potions classroom. She sincerely hoped he would also be gone, then she could collect her things, go up to the common room and change, hoping that not too many people found out about her rather embarrasing accident.


	3. Snapes punishment

Hermione opened the door to the Potions classroom and her heart sank as she saw that Professor Snape was still there. She walked in with her head down, wrapping the robe around her more securely and headed for her desk.

"Ah! You found something to wear I see. Well, you can now clean up the mess you made!" Snape said sharply.

"Of course I will, but can't I go and get dressed first! I promise I will come back down afterwards, I.." But Snape interrupted her

"No! You will do it now Miss Granger, it has done enough damage already, it must be cleaned up before it does any more!" He said pointing at the spilt potion; that was now starting to harden into sticky brown goo.

Hermione sighed in defeat and pointed her wand at it to magically remove it.

"No! You mustn't do it magically! It is very unstable, throwing magic at it, could cause it to explode." He warned, putting his hand up, then looked away flourishing his own wand, "No, the only way is with water and ..a brush." He said, producing the said items out of the air and passing them over to her.

"You mean you expect me to scrub this off by hand!" Hermione questioned him incredulously, holding up the cleaning implements, he had given her.

"I thought as a part muggle you would be used to manual work, haven't you ever scrubbed floors before?" He said a malicious smile playing on his lips

"No as a matter of fact I haven't!" she replied indignantly, but nevertheless went over to the sink and filled the bucket with cold water. "Can I at least heat the water magically?"

"No, it must be cold, as I said it is very unstable, although it is quite safe on your skin now it has hardened" he answered and started to walk up the classroom, "Now get on with it or you will miss dinner"

Hermione reluctantly began to scrub the floor, pouting sullenly, thinking of all the things she would like to call him, if only she had the guts.

After about 20 minutes, she had managed to scrub the desk and chair clean, so she started on the floor. Her were sore and a blister had come up the palm of one hand, it was also very difficult to scrub and hold the robe shut at the same time. She knew she would get no sympathy from him though, so didn't bother to mention it. As she got down on her knees, she realised that he had approached and was now watching her with interest, making her feel very uncomfortable. Suddenly, the memory of the night in the library came flooding back clearer than ever. She decided to confront him about it once and for all, but in a round about way, as she still wasn't sure.

"Professor Snape" hermione asked, sitting back on her legs, "Can anyone do a memory charm? Or does it have to be done with the 'Ministry of Magic's' permission?" She said trying to make the question sound perfectly innocent

His demenour suddenly changed from haughty to unnerved, shifting on his feet slightly.

"What are you talking about? Why are you asking me about such things?" he snapped

"Oh, it's just, I thought you were an expert on these sort of things. You see I think someone tried to perform one on me the other night, to make me forget something, but I don't think it worked properly" she paused looking down, biting her lip so as to try and suppress a smile "because I remember everything, it's just a bit hazy" she looked up then to see his reaction.

Professor Snape had visibly blanched, which was hard on someone already so pale. He had been leaning on a desk but now stood up straight, hands behind his back, trying to regain his composure.

"I see..and this memory..was it an unpleasant one?" he questioned, trying to make it sound casual by looking down and brushing off an imagined bit of dirt off his robe.

"No, well at least it wasn't at the time.." Hermione said, starting to scrub again, "but now I'm not so sure!"

"Memory charms are allowed, in certain circumstances, to be done by non-ministry officials. If they are qualified to do them of course and the situation calls for it" He continued, his haughty expression was now back, but his eye was twitching slightly.

"By the way, you can stop that now, I will finish it" Snape said suddenly, breaking the silence

"But I've nearly finished, I just need to get this bit here.." Hermione's perfectionism always got the better of her.

"Please, go, I have other things I need to be doing" he said sounding agitated. Hermione got up, carefully holding the robe around her and began to pack her bag. Then she looked up startled as she heard Snape uttering the cleaning spell "Scourgify!" at the rest of the spilt potion, clearing it up in an instant, with no adverse reactions whatsoever!

"I thought you said it was unstable and couldn't be cleaned up with magic!" Hermione said her mouth gaping open in disbelief

"I thought it would be an appropriate punishment and a lesson for you to be more careful in my class in future!" He said looking very smug

"You mean you've had me scrubbing that ..that muck off your filthy classroom floor and get sore hands.. for..for nothing! When I could have just cleaned it up with my wand!" Hermione felt anger bubbling up inside her now, she needed to express it but could not think the right words just at the moment

"You..you..you! Oh! I'm getting out of here!" she gathered up her things, her face red with righteous indignation and stomped over to the door. Just before she left she shouted out "You're sick, do you know that! SICK!" then left, slamming the door as hard as possible, behind her.

"Yes maybe, but you like it really don't you, Little Miss 'Goody two-shoes'" He smiled to himself as he followed her out of the door watching her, as she stomped off down the corridor.


	4. Confrontation

Two days later it was a Saturday night and Hermione was sitting with Ron, Harry and Ginny in the common room. Harry and Ron were playing chess and Hermione and Ginny were finishing off their homework, at least Ginny was.

Hermione had been brooding ever since the potions class incident, not least because it had spread around the school, but also because of how horrible Snape had been to her afterwards. No one had found out about the exact nature of his punishment, that would have been far too humiliating, but they knew something had happened. This had led to speculation and suggestive remarks were often been made about her and Professor Snape. Even though she had told everyone clearly and simply that he had merely lectured her about being more careful with her potions in future and then allowed her to clean up the mess with her wand. She daren't let Harry and Ron know the truth, for fear of them doing something that would get them into serious trouble. No, she had to sort this one out for herself, she was going to confront him, properly, tell him that she wouldn't put up with this sort of treatment. She was 18 for God's sake! Not 12!

Making up her mind, she decided she needed an excuse to get away for a while. Then it came to her, she'd make out that she was going down to the library for another book, that she'd say she'd forgotten to get earlier.

"Oh Damn!" she exclaimed making everyone look at her curiously, "I'm just going down to the library, I need another book, to help me finish this" she said hurriedly, hoping that Ginny would not offer to go with her. Luckily she didn't, she merely nodded, smiled and carried on with her homework. She was also relieved that Harry and Ron were too absorbed in their game to stop her and ask awkward questions.

Then she remembered something, she still had Professor Snape's robe hidden in her room; she could use it as an excuse to be there, at least to start with. Going upstairs she quickly retrieved it from under her bed and then sneaked down the stairs again, lingering at the bottom to see if her friends were watching. Seeing that they hadn't noticed, she crept out of the portrait hole and made her way down to the Slytherin dungeons.

She'd always hated coming down here at night, even if it did look the same as in the day, as there were no windows, but Hermione had worked herself up into such a temper as she walked along, that her fear had practically gone. Feeling that she was going to give him one of her best ear-bashing's; that often left Harry and Ron stumped for words, she smiled resolutely and went to knock on the door. She hesitated, as she the thought struck her, "no, I won't do him the courtesy of knocking, I'll just burst in, like he does!"

Getting out her wand she readied herself to blast open the door. She'd always been good at opening almost any door and now she was older and more experienced she had got even better. Building up the rage and righteous indignation inside, she took a deep breath and shouted out "Alomorah!"

The locked door burst open and Hermione strode inside, getting ready for her tirade. But what she saw when she got in there took the 'wind out of her sails' somewhat. Professor Snape was looking up in surprise from his desk, which was empty of it's usual clutter except for a book; which he had been reading and a glass of something bluish coloured. He had taken off his robe and jacket, under which he wore a high collared white shirt, the neck of which was now open and the sleeves had been rolled up.

"What do you think you are doing! Bursting into my office like this!" He snarled, getting up, walking round his desk, glaring at her

"I..I..I came to return this and.." she tried to speak and tell him what she thought of him, but the words wouldn't come, she was too stunned at how he looked. It was so strange to see him out of his usual black cloak. He cut a striking figure in the flickering candlelight, his black hair falling all over his face. Just then something else caught her attention; music. She looked around quickly to see where it was coming from, then found out. There was a doorway now, where before there had only been a cabinet full of bottles and vials. Beyond the doorway she could see the curtain hangings of a four poster bed.

"Well, you've brought it back. Now you can go!" he snapped

This ungrateful attitude made Hermione recover herself suddenly. Squaring-up and with a resolute look on her face she at last began her verbal assault.

"NO! I came here to tell you what I think of you and I'm going to do it!" she said, to which his only reaction was to raise his eyebrows slightly. Seeing the door still open she slammed it shut; she didn't want anyone else overhearing what she was about to say.

"What you did to me after potions on Thursday was despicable and degrading. There was absolutely no need for it! It was bad enough that I made such a complete fool out of myself, then you ordering me down to your office to take my clothes off! You wouldn't believe the suggestive remarks I've been getting! Then on top of all that you chose to play a trick on me to 'teach me a lesson'! More like you got some kind of thrill seeing me down on my knees scrubbing! You've got no right to punish me like a naughty child! I am an adult now and I expect to be treated like one!" she paused for breath and was annoyed to see his reaction, which instead of one of maybe at least an apologetic look was one of only mild interest, his arms folded up against his chest.

Then a twisted smile spread across his face when she had finished, then promptly disappeared, as he began to speak, "So, you think my treatment of you was unfair do you! I once witnessed for myself the damage that can be done by carelessness with potions and I can tell you the effects were quite horrendous! You must always be vigilant!ALWAYS! Lose concentration for a second and look at what can happen! You were lucky that it was fairly harmless potion, if it had been volatile and I hadn't been there.. who knows what could of happened! I don't care how old you are, you are never too old to be put in your place! You've got far too big for your boots Miss Granger, preaching to everyone and thinking you know everything, I thought a lesson in humility might do you good. To remind you, that you _are_ just a mud-blood and need to be put in your proper place." As he finished this statement, the smile returned

Hermione was too stunned to speak for a moment and just stood there open mouthed; she was so surprised to hear such a personal attack, even from Snape.

"Me being a 'mudblood' didn't seem to stop you kissing me the other night, though did it!" Hermione snapped back at him, expecting a denial of all knowledge of the incident.

His smile faded for a while, but as he narrowed his eyes, the smile came back, making him look smug

"I think you'll find it was you who kissed me! Twice no less! You try to make out you are such a little Miss Perfect, who'd never do anything wrong, don't you, but I wonder how Weasley and Potter would feel if they found out what you'd done! They wouldn't be happy at all would they!" the smile turned into an evil grin.

Hermione was incensed, she strode over to him and throwing the robe down on the floor (which she had still been holding all this time) she launched another tirade at him

"You..you, absolute hypocrite! You stomp round this school like you own the place, metering out judgements on people like there's no tomorrow! As for calling me a mud-blood, as if it's somehow lowly and subordinate, well, I'm more powerful than a lot of your so called 'pure-bred' wizards and witches!" pausing for breath her eyes flicked down and she was momentarily distracted by the chest hair, that she could see sticking out of his open neckline. "As for the other night, I give you, that I did kiss you at first, but only so I could distract you and get away! I started it but you carried on kissing me and you forced me down on that desk so I couldn't get away!"

"There wasn't much forcing involved, you wanted it and you know it! I think you would have gone even further if those two hadn't come back when they did!" he replied, looking her up and down lasciviously.

"You arrogant pig! You think a lot of yourself don't you! I could just report you, you know and you would be out of here like that!" Hermione felt sure this would wipe the smile off his face, but it didn't.

Instead he moved closer to her and held her chin with one hand, his eyes flicking from side to side looking into hers. Hermione trembled at this touch and her belly started to clench with nerves, she knew she should move away but, she found herself not wanting to. There was something about him, his sheer physical presence, that made first years weak with fright. The way he got the better of her verbally; not many people could do that! Maybe that was what impressed her so much! His mind and his ability with language.

The tension in the air had increased, her breathing getting heavier, with her increasing body heat. As it was now quiet she could hear the music properly, it was soft classical music, the lilting melody filling the room. She listened to it for a while, surprised at him liking something that sounded so beautiful. All the time his unwavering gaze seeming to be searching her thoughts.Then he broke the silence

"So little Miss perfect' you'd love to know how it feels to be a 'bad girl' for a change would you? No one would be able to believe what the little bookworm they all thought they knew, really thinks about! That she's got shocking secret!" As he said this he got even closer, his nose almost touching hers.

"What shocking secret?" Hermione asked curiously in a nervous voice

"That you've got a crush on your Potions Professor!Don't try to deny it, look at you, trembling like a leaf at my touch! You can't believe all the feelings you're having can you! Well get used to it, because you're a woman, not a little girl anymore and believe me I've noticed. You're quite the beauty now aren't you? With a body to match!" As he said this his hands had slipped around the back of her head and tilting it up he whispered:

"We are like forbidden fruit to each other aren't we? And as you know, nothing ever tastes quite as sweet.." He kissed her at last. Hermione melted into it, feeling more excited than she had ever thought possible, but also great fear. Fear of what she was doing, fear of how she was feeling and most of all fear of what everyone would think of her if they found out. this made her want to pull away and to tell him no. But as she his tongue to entered her mouth, the rest of the world seemed to slip away and she didn't want the kiss to end. She didn't even struggle when he suddenly picked her up in his arms and carried her into his bedroom.


	5. Ticklish situation

Snape lowered Hermione gently down on his four poster bed, still kissing her,climbed on top then moved from her mouth down to her neck, biting and sucking playfully. She'd had her eyes closed for a while now and she felt like opening them, curious as to her surroundings. As her eyelids flicked open, the first thing she saw was the Slytherin shield on the roof canopy above her head. Suddenly the spell she seemed to be under was broken, she breathed in sharply, _what the hell was she doing with him? Was he expecting to make love to her? _Kissing was one thing but sex! That was totally another!

A fearful thought struck her though, what if he didn't want to stop? She felt his left hand travelling down the side of her body to her waist and then start to slide up inside her shirt very slowly. That was it! She had to get away now! She tensed up and bringing her hands up under his shoulders, began to push him off. Just as she was thinking about leaving however, he stopped moving his hand any further and started kissing around the base of her neck. _Oh! That feels so good_! She thought and closed her eyes, breathing heavily, the sensation of his soft kisses, causing tingles to run down her spine and back again. She shivered with the pleasure and closed her eyes once more.

After a while he pulled away from her neck and moved down to her belly, pulling up her shirt just enough to get to it and brushed his lips softly against the smooth, firm skin. He breathed out heavily, tingeing the breath with a quiet sigh of satisfaction.

This was a particularly ticklish place on Hermione's body and she giggled at this touch, wriggling a little. Then he used his tongue teasingly, tracing a circle around her belly button, looking up with just his eyes to see her reaction. She giggled even more at this and spurred on by her seeming relaxation, undid the bottom button on her shirt, running his tongue further up.

"Stop, please! Stop! You're tickling me!" She giggled pleadingly. But he didn't stop, sliding his hands to the sides of her waist he squeezed gently, now that really tickled. She began laughing properly now and started to struggle, desperately trying to get away, pushing at his shoulders. But it was to no avail, he was too strong and held on to her. His tickling then moved up to her under-arms, making her helpless with laughter.

"Stop, stop!" She squealed, trying to pull his hands away, but by now she was weak from the tickling and the laughter and it was hopeless trying. She hadn't done this kind of thing since she was a little girl with her father, when they used to play-fight. He always usually won, because of how helpless she went when she was being tickled. It was a weakness of hers that she kept a secret from most people, for obvious reasons, although Ron had found it out, to his great delight.

Suddenly he stopped tickling and slid him-self up so that his face was directly over hers and began to kiss her on the mouth again. Oh he was clever, she had to give him that, he was pushing all the right buttons and was expecting a reward now, wasn't he. Even in her weakened state she knew what he was about to try and do next, his hands were sliding down towards her belly again. She felt his fingers slide under the top of her hipster jeans and attempt to undo the button. This was it, this time she really had to stop him, this time he was going too far!

"No, no! NO!" Hermione shouted suddenly, pushing him off with the all the strength she could possibly muster. As she pushed she lifted her-self up a little and reached down to her back pocket. She grabbed her wand and then pointing it at him threateningly. He leant up and looked at her, an amused look on his face.

"Get off me! Now!" Hermione warned, "You know I can hurt you, so don't try anything!" As she said this she had started to shuffle back up the bed away from him, moving up into a sitting position. He made no attempt to stop her.

"Chickened out at last have we? Just when we were starting to have fun! I know you were enjoying it, but your conscience is pricking you now isn't it? You think you're betraying your friends don't you, by being with me, but the only thing you're betraying is your true feelings. I know you really want this deep down, you're just to scared to take it!"

"I'm not scared!" Hermione lied, "I..I..this is wrong, totally wrong and I don't want to do it, not with you! You couldn't be further from the truth! You must be using some sort of potion or mind control on me.. or something! There's no way I'd even contemplate this normally!" she said accusingly

He sat up and laughed before saying "Is that what you really think or are you just trying to ease your conscience?"

"At least I have one! Which is more than I can say for you!" Came her quick-fire retort. She got off the bed and made for the doorway, striding along indignantly. As she passed through it out into the office again, she stopped turning round to face him

"Don't think this will ever happen again.. because it won't, I'll make sure of that! You're never going to take advantage of me again _Severus Snape!"_ She said sternly and walked over to the door of his office. Professor Snape got off the bed also and followed her.

"Well, You know where I am if you change your mind" He said invitingly, in his velvety smooth voice.

Hermione stood looking at him for a few seconds then decided, "I won't! Believe me!" As she put out her hand to grab the handle, he stopped her, putting his hand on top of hers.

"I think you may want to sort that out first, before you go" He said indicating with his head and pointing at her chest. As she looked down, curiously, she let out an exclamation of surprise.

"Ohhh! When did you do that! I didn't know you'd even.. ." then she broke off, hurriedly doing up the buttons of her shirt that he'd mysteriously, somehow undone without her noticing. She walked out of the office, slamming the door behind her, bumping into a surprised Slytherin boy making his way down the corridor.

"Watch it, Gryffendor!" he said rudely, pushing her away.

"I'd _watch it_ if I were you!" Hermione replied threateningly, she was in no mood for stupid people like him right now. She brandished her wand and had a look on her face that said she meant business. The boy's face dropped and he didn't reply, carrying on his way hurriedly, along the corridor.

Hermione broke into a run then, as fast as her legs would carry her and she didn't stop until she got to the Library. She had just remembered that everyone would be expecting her to come back with a book. Just as she got there though, she heard the great clock clanging, the chimes reverberating round the school. It was 9 o'clock and closing time. She'd need the invisibility cloak to get in there now and that was back in Harry's trunk in the common room. She slid down the wall next to the doors and sat staring into space for a while, thinking about what had just happened.

Guilt crept up from her belly again, causing accusatory thoughts to come into her head, taunting her. Professor Snape had been right, she had enjoyed it, she just didn't understand why. Why would she want to be with him, especially when he had been so horrible to her, but the way he kissed her; oh boy, did he know what he was doing! Ron never did it like that, he kissed her on the lips sure but he hadn't got much of a clue as to anywhere else, just going straight for the obvious places after that. But given time and instruction, he could probably be okay. At least he loved her and cared about her, even though at times he could be tactless, jealous and forgetful and never seem to listen to her when she tried to talk to him about her feelings. She still loved him though, didn't she? How could she, if she was capable of doing this with someone else? She desperately wanted to believe that Snape had used something magical, to make her do what he wanted. But she came sadly to the inevitable conclusion that he had used a more down to earth trick; make her believe that she had started it and that he was just going along for the ride. But if he had had any decency at all he wouldn't even have kissed her back in the first place.

Hermione stood up, using her fingers to wipe away the tears now flowing from her eyes. She took a deep breath and made her way to the Gryffendor common room trying to think up a good excuse. She could easily flummox Ron, but Ginny was different, for starters she was female and secondly she was naturally very intuitive. Maybe she could tell her a little, but not all, of the story and swear her to secrecy. Yes, that would be a good idea, just tell her that Professor Snape had been horrible to her and upset her and leave it at that.

She approached the portrait lady and uttered the password, the door slid open and she climbed inside. As soon as she saw her friends over where she had left them, the guilt now burned within her like a fire, but she knew she had to be convincing. She approached Ron and Harry and stood a little way away from them fiddling with her hands and biting her lip. Then she realised that Ginny was no longer there.

"Where's Ginny?" Hermione asked of the boys, who were still absorbed in their game. Without looking up Ron said

"Oh hi Hermy, she gone to bed I think. Get what you want from the library?"

"Err, no, I err.. I decided I'd do it tomorrow instead. Look I'm tired myself, you don't mind if I just go to bed do you?" She said hopefully, looking towards Ron

"Sure if you want" he said still not looking up, but as she turned to go he said, "Where's my goodnight kiss?"

"Oh..yes" she pecked him quickly on the cheek.

"Is that all I get?" Ron said with a mock puppy-dog expression and grabbing her hand, trying to pull her back.

"Look Ron, I'm really tired.. I'll make it up to you tomorrow I promise" she said awkwardly, pulling her hand out of his grip. He looked a little hurt, but Hermione could stand it no longer, she had to get away, the guilt was overtaking her, becoming suffocating and almost unbearable. She ran over to the dormitory stairway, jogged up and turned at the top to the girls dorms, all the time hoping that whatever story she came up with to tell Ginny sounded really convincing. She felt that the slightest suspicion of it being a lie on Ginny's part, in the mood she was in, might make her crack and admit everything. She definitely couldn't let that happen


	6. The experiment

"So what is it, what's wrong?" Ginny asked leaning up. She had been lying on her bed, reading a book.

Hermione looked down biting her lip for a while, then began to speak, "You know just now, when I said I was going for a book, well, that wasn't strictly true."

She took a deep breath before carrying on; "I went to see Professor Snape"

"What for?" Ginny had got up now and sat on the edge of her bed, looking at Hermione curiously.

"I wanted to..to tell him what I thought of him, because of the other day, when he told me off in class for spilling my potion. He was very mean to me, but I suppose he was right, it could have been bad if the potion had been a more dangerous one." Hermione said, sniffing and wiping away a tear.

"Oooh, that man, he is so vile! It's not as if you do that sort of thing all the time, is it? Once in your whole time at Hogwarts, you spill a little potion, big deal!" Ginny answered, pouting furiously. Standing up, she walked over to Hermione and sat beside her, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Look, why don't we tell the boys? We could play a trick on him to get him back, that would be fun!" She smiled, raising her eyebrows expectantly at her friend

"Hermione suddenly looked up in horror at the prospect of this, "No! You mustn't tell the boys! Please Ginny, you've got to swear you'll keep this strictly between us!"

"Alright, I will, but I don't see why.." Ginny started, but Hermione cut her off

"Promise me Ginny! I don't want them getting into trouble now, not in their final year, I just want them to concentrate on passing their exams!" Hermione pleaded, desperately.

"Okay, okay! I won't tell them then" Ginny gave in at last, but Hermione could see suspicion, wrinkling her brow, slightly.

They both went to bed at about 10.30 after Hermione had tried, amazingly successfully, considering the night she'd had, to finish her homework. She'd kept going until sleepyness had begged her eyes to close and she could do no more.

Her sleep was troubled though; she dreamt that she had found herself in bed with Professor Snape in the potions classroom. One minute it had been empty, the next it was full of grinning students, laughing, nudging and whispering to one another. She had looked horrified, but Professor Snape had just looked at them, then back at her and joined in with the laughter. Suddenly Ron had burst in through the door; he had looked at her shaking his head with tears in his eyes and then run from the room. She had tried to follow him but she couldn't move off the bed, too weak to move.

She woke up with a start the next morning and decided that she would never put herself in the position where she would be alone with the dark potions master ever again.

For the next four weeks, things carried on as normal. She buried herself in her books and her schoolwork, something she always did when stressed or in need of comfort or solace. At least it made her feel good knowing she was getting her work done. As for her relationship; Ron and her were going through a bit of a bad patch, as she had been reluctant to have sex with him recently, having used every excuse she could think of not to. He had gone into one of his sulks, which nothing she tried to do to make it up to him would bring him out of it. She just couldn't make love to him when she kept seeing Snape on top of her in her head, instead of Ron and that frightened her. Was it because she wished it was him or because she was still traumatised? She didn't know for sure.

As for Potions lessons, Snape seemed to be going a little easier on her than usual, every now and again giving her furtive, knowing looks. Every time he looked in her direction though, she immediately looked down, blushing. This got a few curious looks from Harry but he said nothing.

Another four weeks later, spring had most definitely sprung and it was getting warmer, being the month of May now. Hermione and Ron and sometimes Harry and Ginny aswell had taken to walking in the grounds in the evenings. A lot of other students also had the same idea, but Ron and Hermione usually managed to find, an out of the way spot, to be alone. Hermione had agreed to start having sex again by now, but it didn't feel the same as it had before, not bad, but just not as good. She hoped the residual feelings she had had after the evening spent with Severus Snape would soon fade and she would feel normal again, as every-time she saw him lately, her heart leapt and her belly clenched with nerves. When he came anywhere near close to her, she felt hot and felt herself start to blush. Trying to avoid him was difficult when she had a double potions lesson every week and also saw him around the school.

The Easter Holidays arrived and Hermione planned to spend them getting on with her work and relaxing with her friends. Suddenly though Harry announced that he wanted to carry on with their experiment of trying to resurrect the creature, called an 'Adsecular', which simply means 'servant'. They had put it on the back burner for a while because Harry hadn't been getting any more bad dreams lately, but apparently now they had started again.

They had got nearly all of the ingredients still stored away safely until they needed them and had discovered that the last Friday of the holidays was the perfect time to do the experiment, as there was to be a full moon.

Hermione had memorized the potion and in 'moaning Myrtle's bathroom they mixed it up, knowing they wouldn't be disturbed there. There was only one missing ingredient, the full moon. It had said in the book that the full moon had to be seen reflected in the potion in order for it to work.

They had to use somewhere underground in order to contain the creature, not knowing yet how controllable it would be, but needed somewhere with a window also, so as to let the light of the moon in. After a lot of searching, they found an underground cave that had a mouth, though small, that allowed the outside sky to be seen, with an almost perfect view of the moon.

So that night the foursome (Ginny had been let in on what they were up to this time) went down to the cave with the mixed potion, all of them filled with trepidation. Harry nervously placed the potion on the floor, making sure it was in the right place, so that the moon reflected in it. Then he spoke the words, that Hermione had again memorised, to begin the ritual. Everyone waited with baited breath, but nothing happened, apart from a little vapour escaping. They waited, watching it for an hour, but still nothing happened.

"I told you it wouldn't work" Ginny said, as she'd been quite sceptical, when told of the plan.

"It will, we must have missed something out!" Hermione said, annoyed at Ginny's defeatism. She thought that she must have read something wrong, which wasn't like her atall, but the night she had read the book had been quite an eventful one and maybe she _had_ made a mistake.

"Maybe it's me" Harry added miserably, "maybe it just won't work for me!"

"Cheer up mate, Hermy must have made a mistake or something, go and check will you babe?" Ron said looking from Harry to her

"Okay" said Hermione rolling her eyes, and getting up "I'll need the invisibility cloak though, to get in the Library unseen!"

"I'll come with you" Ginny offered, and Hermione gratefully accepted, she really didn't want to be roaming the school alone, even with the cloak on, as she didn't want to risk bumping into Professor Snape on one of his patrols.

The two girls covered themselves with the cloak and made their way up to the Library, all the time looking out for any teachers out after hours, or even worse – Filch or his cat. They saw no one and after climbing the several flights of stairs it took to get there, reached their destination. Hermione unlocked the door and they walked in, heading straight for the Restricted Section.

Hermione felt very nervous, the memory of what had happened the last time she had done this had suddenly come flooding back.

After taking off the cloak, Hermione got the 'Ancient Monster' book down off the shelf and began to read. Ginny sitting on the opposite side of her. She read and re-read the passage on the resurrection of the 'Adsecular', then spotted something she hadn't noticed before – a section of very tiny writing. It was in Latin and even though she understood most of the language, she tapped her wand on it to reveal it's message in English.

"Ginny! Go and tell the boy's quickly! It says, 'a drop of blood from the Recipient of the servant, is needed for the ritual to suceed!' Go and tell them quickly!" Hermione said urgently to Ginny who jumped up immediately, readying herself to go.

"There's more here but I seem to be having trouble getting it to translate and I can't make it out. I'll come down when I've done it" Hermione explained, squinting and continually tapping her wand on the page, uttering various spells.

Ginny took the invisibility cloak, promising to come back up and fetch Hermione once she had told the boys what they needed to know.

Once again Hermione was left alone in the Restricted Section, completely absorbed in her work, forgetting about everything else for a moment.

After about 15 minutes she still hadn't had any luck getting the passage in the book to become any clearer and was starting to give up, feeling extremely frustrated. She leant back in the rather uncomfortable library chair, stretched, easing her stiff back and then rubbed her aching shoulders. She was just thinking how tired she was and that it would be really nice now just to go to bed, when she heard a low creaking noise.

This sudden noise caused fear to streak through her; it was the sound of the Library door being opened. She stood up and rushed to hide behind a darkened bookcase.

"Oh! It's just Ginny coming back for me!" Hermione thought suddenly, feeling relieved and scolded herself for being so paranoid. She went as to come out from her hiding place, but as she listened she realised the footsteps were not Ginny's. They were even and heavy; Hermione knew them at once, having heard them so many times before.

Her heart started beating hard against her chest and her breaths came in sharp gasps. She felt warm and clammy, her palms and forehead beginning to sweat. Her belly was clenched with fear and anticipation of what was to come.

The footsteps continued their way down the library, the sound of every one making Hermione's heart, beat a little faster.

"Please don't find me! Please don't find me!" Hermione begged, clasping her hands together up by her mouth.

The footsteps came closer, then stopped suddenly and she knew he was now standing behind the bookcase where she was hiding. She hardly dared breathe, as the sound might give her away, remembering all that had happened with him before.

Then it struck her, what was she so afraid of? She could take him on! She knew he had power, but then didn't she also? No, she wasn't going to let him scare her anymore! Her mouth was set in a resolute line and her wand was held out as she prepared herself to meet him head on.

He turned the corner then, his lit wand held out in front of him, seeing Hermione immediately.

"We meet again Miss Granger, this is starting to become quite a habit with you isn't it?" Professor Snape said sternly, but with a hint of sarcasm.

Hermione looked at him, immediately feeling the strength she had previously found, fading away and her nerves coming back, but she was determined not to show it.

"I'm not scared of you anymore!" Hermione said trying to convince herself, as much as him

"Oh really, you could of fooled me, Everytime I look at you your cheeks burn red, whenever I come anywhere near you, you scuttle away like a little frightened mouse!" Snape said, smiling condescendingly at her.

Hermione couldn't think of anything to say to that, as she knew it to be mostly true, so she kept her mouth shut. Holding her wand out in front of her defensively, she began to walk forward. Then she remembered something and smiled

"Harry and Ron know where I am and they have the Maruaders map, so they'll see that you're with me! They'll be here like a shot, to help me!" she felt triumphant, _this_ would stop him in his tracks!

He didn't look worried though and reached into his robe calmly, producing something horribly familiar to her.

"This Marauders Map.. by any chance? The game is up Hermione! You forget that I can read minds, especially one as open to me as yours was. I knew what you were planning weeks ago, I was just waiting for when you would try and carry it out and it now the waiting is over!" He stepped closer to her then, smiling evilly.


	7. Inevitable conclusion

Hermione was stunned, if Snape had the Maruaders map that must mean that the boys had been caught, she hoped that they weren't going to be in too much trouble.

"I found them in a cave below the school, your friends, all sitting round that cauldron, waiting for something to happen. They couldn't understand why I was laughing!" Snape smiled again at the memory, then continued, "When I told them, they all looked so disappointed! I almost felt sorry for them.. almost! I sent them all back to your common room, they certainly weren't very happy. I had to make a guess that if you weren't with them you were bound to be up here, because as you know the Marauders map will not allow me to view it," he pursed his lips at this, seemingly annoyed, then carried on, "and _they _told me you were in bed! I didn't believe it for a minute. Seeing as your experiment hadn't worked, I thought that you had probably been sent up here to check the book again"

"So what was it, what were you laughing at?" Hermione asked curiously

"Come here and I will show you" Snape replied, leading her over to the book she had been reading, still sitting open at 'Adsecular's'. He tapped his wand on the page and said his name out-loud. The words swirled a little, then reasserted themselves in their correct positions.

"See, we teachers at this school are not as stupid as you students would like to think! We aren't going to leave all the information to resurrect dangerous, possibly out of control monsters, just lying around! Not for students to find, even if the book is in the restricted, 'permission only' section, students will always want to look at things they are not supposed to. The full words to recite the spell will only come up to a registered teacher, no matter how powerful the students magic is!" Professor Snape explained

"So we did all that for nothing!" Hermione said then, feeling highly disappointed, but in some ways relieved.

"Yes, I am afraid so, but even if you had managed to re-create the creature, it would have done Harry no good anyway. The prophesy says that he has to fight Voldemort alone and that is what he must do, no-one and _no thing_ can do it for him" Snape said, his tone serious but slightly softer than before

Hermione felt like crying; she always did when thoughts of Harry facing Voldemort came to her. She bowed her head sadly, leaning on the desk for support.

Professor Snape moved closer to her then and resting his fingers under her chin, gently pushed her face up to meet his gaze. He had a slightly crooked smile on his face and they just looked into one another's eyes for a moment, not saying anything. Hermione started to get lost in those dark pools, her breathing and heartbeat beginning to speed up again.

His hand slid around the back of her neck, his fingers pushing into her long, wavy hair, pulling her closer.

"No! Not again! You're not going to get to me this time, no!.." Hermione warned him, shaking her head, but in her heart she knew she was weakening, she knew that she no more wanted to move than he did.

"We have unfinished business you and I Miss Granger ...or maybe I should call you Hermione now. I haven't stopped thinking about you since that night, when we were last together and I don't think you've stopped thinking about me either. Why not bow to the inevitable.." He trailed off reaching down to kiss her, but she turned her head away.

"No, I can't! It's true, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, but that doesn't make it right, in fact it's downright disgusting in some ways. This isn't me, I'm not the sort of person that goes around kissing teachers!" Hermione said, starting to pull away, but he wasn't giving up that easily.

"You want to be though, don't you Hermione? Curiosity always gets the better of you doesn't it? You're dying to know what it feels like to be a bad girl for a change. Even though you proclaim to hate most of them, you'd love to see what it's like to be a Slytherin. You've always been such a good girl, hardly ever putting a foot wrong, but those boys have been such a bad influence on you haven't they? You've tasted a little of what it is like and you want more don't you? I represent that dark side to you, the side that is dying to come out, why don't you just give in to it?" Severus said teasingly almost in a whisper, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her closer to him; but still she resisted. He seemed to be encouraged however by the fact that she seemed not to be resisting _too_ hard.

Hermionefelt her belly tighten with nerves but also burn with excitement. Her mind may have been saying no, but her body was saying a definite yes! She didn't know how much longer she could resist him.

"Look it's not right, I mean you're my teacher!" Hermione argued weakly

"Would this help then?" he asked, stepping back slightly. Reaching up to his neck, he undid the clasp on his cloak and swirled it off dropping in onto the desk. Using his wand he undid the buttons on his jacket and took that off too, then undid the top few buttons of his shirt by hand.

Hermione looked at him; he did look good, when he was out of his 'teacher clothes' and in just that simple, white shirt. He had been taking care of himself a lot more recently; although still quite long, his hair was no longer greasy and he smelt good to, making an immense difference to his appearance.

He looked at her for a while, perhaps gauging her reaction, then stepped forward, sliding his hands around her waist again. Hermione looked down at the triangle of chest that she could now see and suddenly longed to stroke it, to feel its warmth. She gave in to this impulse and reached her shaking hand up to his neckline, brushing her fingertips gently against the sprinkling of hair that grew there. He smiled, then holding her head in both hands, leaned in to kiss her. This time she didn't move away, this time she didn't resist; allowing his tongue almost immediately into her mouth. The relief was immense, to give in to her desire at last, the desire that she had been trying to bury, hide or ignore for so long, was now surfacing with a vengeance.

Their kiss became more passionate and their breathing heavy, feeling as though they were melting into one another. Severus's hands had moved from her head and travelled down her back, sliding up again inside the top she was wearing. He then trailed his fingers down her spine, making her shiver and giving her goosebumps.

He pulled away from the kiss and grabbing the hem of her top, he lifted it over her head, Hermione stretching her arms up to help. He undid his own shirt also and pulled it free of his trousers, revealing his rather pale skinned chest. Hermione was pleasantly surprised, he looked good for his age, not as tightly muscled as Ron or Harry, but not bad at all. She took a deep intake of breath as she felt his naked skin come in to contact with hers, a sensation like electricity shot though her. Unbelievable feelings of pleasure were flowing through her now, like she had never felt before. Maybe it was the danger, the wrongness of it, she no longer cared, she just wanted more!

Sliding his hands around her bottom, then down to her thighs he picked her up easily, pushing her legs up to either side of his hips, placing her down on the desk that she'd been reading at moments before. They resumed kissing, Hermione now sliding her questing hands all over his back, sides and chest, enjoying feeling the warm, smooth skin beneath her fingers.

Everything she thought she knew about herself had come crashing down, smashing into little pieces. She was shocked that she was capable of something like this and that all that mattered to her now was being here with him in this moment.

As they kissed she felt him undo her bra and she made no objection as he removed it. He fondled her breasts gently for a while, then leant down to kiss them, using his mouth and tongue expertly, making her moan with pleasure. Standing up, he began pushing up her skirt, Hermione knew this was it; he was going to make love to her now. She knew she should stop him, but she was just too turned on to do so, but also had to admit that she wanted it now as much as he did.

She closed her eyes as she felt him remove her tiny pink g-string; one of her favourites. He pulled her hips towards his, lifted up her legs and after adjusting their position slightly, pushed himself inside her. She made a noise in her throat as he did so, as it felt so good and she started to breathe heavily. Even though she was a little tense to start with, as she soon let body move in rythm with his, she relaxed. The pleasure she was feeling was like nothing she had ever thought possible and after a while she knew that she was going to climax. A rush of feelings, like a tickle, but a hundred times stronger, flowed through her body, making her moan with the ecstacy.

She felt him do the same, panting heavily. He pulled away and they held onto each other for a while, still panting and perspiring with the exertion of before. Hermione was still buzzing from the orgasm and still felt quite shaky and weak from it. She was tired anyway, so she started to get comfortable on his shoulder and felt herself dropping off to sleep. But him moving away made her jump up, suddenly awake again. He was doing up his trousers and looking at her, smiling.

"Thankyou!" he said looking her up and down lasciviously, "I knew you were a beauty, but I couldn't have imagined just _how_ beautiful your body would be" he proclaimed and reached out his hand to stroke her face softly.

Hermione looked down, suddenly feeling embarassed at being naked in front of him and slid off the desk. She grabbed her clothes, which had been scattered around and got dressed as quickly as possible. There was a moments panic when she couldn't find her knickers, but when she had got up off the floor, Snape had them dangling off the end of his wand, a big smile on his face. She grabbed them looking at him derisively and put them on.

"I'd better go, the others will be wondering were I am, they might even be out looking for me!" Hermione announced, feeling awkward now.

Severus Snape looked down slightly, pursing his lips, looking like he was suppressing a smile, "No they are not, I assure you." He said looking up now, a smile still tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"How do you know? What have you done, given them a sleeping potion or something?" Hermione asked with a sarcastic tone

"No, they're very much awake, I assure you! At least they were when I left them.. . in Dumbledore's office! In fact, we should be heading that way too now, he's waiting for us. You're all in big trouble you know! I've told him everything!" Severus could hold the smile back no longer; it broke out into a wicked smirk, as he saw the look of complete shock on her face.

"What! You absolute shit!" Hermione almost screamed, "you did that to me, when all the time you knew I was going to have to face them straight away, afterwards!" Hermione was incredulous, she couldn't believe it, she felt like she had been tricked and lured in to some devious plan of his. At the same time, she couldn't help feeling impressed at his sheer audacity.

"Come on, we can't keep him waiting any longer!" Snape said, finishing dressing himself. They both left the Library and made their way up to Dumbledore's office. Hermione walked nervously along, not knowing how she was going to bear facing everyone, let alone Ron, after what she had done.


	8. The long walk

They walked out of the Library, Hermione feeling sick with nerves, but still buzzing from her previous experience. That had been one of the most exciting things she had ever done! Even though it was also the worst; but Snape had been right, being bad was an incredible adrenaline rush. She still felt guilty though, _incredibly_ guilty, if she hadn't had to go and face everyone now it would be an awful lot easier to bear.

Even though Professor Snape had played a terrible trick on her, she still found him very sexy and as he put his hand to the small of her back to guide her along briefly, her tummy fluttered. She wasn't going to make it easy for him though, not by a long shot.

She gave him a filthy look and shook off his hand

"Don't! How could you do this to me? Do you get a kick out of seeing me suffer or something? I thought I meant something to you! You took advantage of me, when I was feeling vulnerable" She accused him angrily

Suddenly, he stopped walking and grabbing her round the waist, pushed her up against the wall. He just looked at her for a few seconds and she looked back a defiant look in her eyes, trying to wriggle free, but he was holding on too tightly.

"You are so beautiful when you're angry, Your eyes sparkle with flames and your sweet lips go into a delicious pout . You just love being all self-righteous don't you? But just remember who kissed who, first!" Snape said, smirking

"Oh! That was just a ploy to stop you reading my mind! I just wanted to shock you and get you off me, so I could get away! You kissed _me_ after that!" Hermione was incredulous at his accusation

"You didn't seem too worried about escape afterwards, though did you?" He asked, smiling smugly

"Well..maybe not, but I..I was lost in the moment that was all. I regretted it afterwards!" Hermione said trying to sound convincing

"So much so that you kissed me once more and then shared passionate sex with me in there, just now? Come on, Hermione, I don't think you regretted it for one moment! Admit it, you are attracted to me, you wanted it as much as I did! Your lack of experience, prudishness and guilt was the only thing holding you back. You're only just discovering how wonderful being a woman can be Hermione and believe me it can only get better! I can show you how much better, if you want" He said looking at her and stroking her face briefly.

"I still don't understand why you've been after me though I thought you hated 'Mudbloods'! I would have thought it would make you sick to touch me!" Hermione said sarcastically

"I have seen the light and realised that sexual attraction has no superficial barriers. Since that kiss, my adour was awakened and I could not stop thinking about you. I wanted you and nothing was going to stop me having you, no matter the consequences. Even if you resisted at first, I knew you would give in to me eventually" he replied, almost in a whisper ,bending forward and beginning to kiss her neck

"Oooh! you're such an arrogant pig Severus Snape, you really think a lot of yourself, don't you!Get off me!" She said trying to push him away, but as she did so he began nibbling her neck and it felt very ticklish.

"Get off! Get off!" Hermione said, pushing desperately but even in her annoyed mood, she began to giggle. "Stop, stop! Look, I thought we were supposed to be getting to Dumbledores office!" She reasoned, trying to sound serious again

"A few more minutes won't matter" he replied carrying on nibbling and kissing her neck and sliding his hands around her waist.

"No, come on stop! This is it, I mean it this time! Get off!" Hermione started to push hard, then remembering reached down for her wand, that was still in her pocket. But before she could do so, he suddenly stopped dead, looking up, his face serious. His head whipped round quickly

A streak of fear ripped through her. Hermione was really worried, it was obvious he had heard someone there behind them, but who?

"Hello Severus! Having a little bit of fun are we? Need any help?" Filch said in fake niceness, with his horrible oily voice

Hermione's belly did a flip, she suddenly realised what a risk she had taken and what a terrible thing it would be if anyone found out about them. Snape turned round fully, to face him, covering Hermione completely with himself and his long black robe

"Go back to your hole Filch, you have no business being here!" Snape said, in a threatening tone

"Alright, I'll go! But Mrs Norris told me that lots of people were wandering about, I just wanted to see what was going on that's all, I thought some of the brats were up to no good. Hmmhp! Now I see it's not just the kids that misbehave in this school!" He backed away quickly, sniggering and then disappeared down the corridor, still sniggering and talking to Mrs Norris.

Hermione let out a sigh of relief "That was so close! You don't think he saw me, do you?" she asked worriedly

"No, he didn't see you, he can't prove anything if he couldn't see you, do not worry yourself about it. Well I suppose we had better get going now" he said reluctantly.

They went the rest of the way in silence, Hermione still feeling confused and frightened of facing her friends. Not knowing how she was going to feel when she saw them.

They reached the bottom of the stairs to Dumbledores office and Snape said the password "Sons sontis" and they ascended the stairs. Hermiones eyebrows had raised in surprise at the password, as she knew it's meaning.

They reached the door, Hermione waited as professor Snape went in first then she followed, closing the door behind her.


	9. Hermione's dilemma

Ron, Harry and Ginny were all sitting on comfortable looking chairs, placed in a circle around Dumbledores desk. They were all drinking mugs of hot chocolate and looked tired as if they were struggling to stay awake and merely smiled at Hermione in greeting.

"Ahh! Hermione, nice of you to join us at last! Please sit down," Dumbledore conjured up another chair and Hermione sat down gratefully, wincing a little, as her lower back was feeling sore. He then produced another mug of hot chocolate and passed it over to her.

"Now, as I've been telling the others, what you tried to do tonight, was foolish and dangerous in the extreme. However, I do understand Harry's reasons for wanting to try it and because of this I will show leniency. We shall say no more of this, but I shall be keeping an extra eye out on you from now on and I don't want any more of these 'experiments' in resurrections, is that clear?" Everyone nodded in agreement, "even though your attempt failed, the reason for which I know Severus has already informed you, that doesn't excuse you completely," Dumbledore said looking around at the attentive but dispirited faces, apart from Hermione's, because she was looking down into her mug.

"Well, I think you had all better get back to your dorms and get some sleep, it is now 2 o'clock in the morning!" Dumbledore added, raising his eyebrows

They all grunted or sighed in agreement and began to get up. Hermione joined them still looking down, she worried that if she caught Ron's eyes, she would start to cry. So, feeling almost numb now after being full of nerves for so long, she joined them and they all trooped glumly towards the door. Snape, went to follow them

"I will escort them Dumbledore, just to make sure they all get there _safely_" He said stiffly, emphasising the last word sarcasically, glaring at the foursome, especially Harry

"Yes, if you wish, but can I have a private word first Severus?" Dumbledore asked, holding out his arm to him as a signal for him to stop.

"Wait here!" Snape said sharply, shutting the door to Dumbledores office in their faces, once they were outside.

They all sat down to wait in the small chair lined, ante-chamber. Harry next to Ginny and Ron next to Hermione

"So!" Ron said at last "Where did you get to then Hermione? You were absolutely ages! We were getting worried. Especially as we knew Snape had gone to look for you! What did he do? He wasn't too mean to you was he?" Ron asked, slipping his hand over hers comfortingly

Hermione found it hard, but eventually did look at him properly, meeting his gaze. As she looked into his hazel eyes, the guilty feelings overcame her and the inevitable happened – she burst into tears, but managed to speak

"No, he wasn't too mean to me, he just told me off that's all. I'm really sorry about all this, I didn't know what..." but then she stopped herself, shaking her head confusedly and just carried on sobbing.

"Hey, it's okay Hermy babe, don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault that Snape found us! We were just unlucky that's all! The way he was laughing at us though, I wanted to zap that smile right off his ugly face! What I would like to know is how he found out in the first place, I mean we were so careful, no-one outside of us four knew about the plan!" He finished, creasing his brow in concentration and looking away for a while thinking.

Hermione could hardly bare it. She couldn't believe she had betrayed him like this. There he was sitting there, looking at her lovingly, innocently thinking that she was just upset because the plan hadn't worked! Excusing her from guilt, when all the time she knew that it was her fault that they had been found out! She felt terrible, but knew that this was not the time to talk about their relationship, that could wait until tomorrow, when she had had a nights sleep and time to think of what she was going to say.

Snape came sweeping out of Dumbledores office then, his facial expression stern and his bad mood obvious.

"Come on!" he snapped, indicating that they should follow him, "Dumbledore can be an indulgent old fool at times with the students, especially when it comes to you Potter! You would not of got off so easily if it had been up to me!" He continued, almost seeming to glide down the stairs as his cloak flowed out behind him.

"Yeah! You'd have probably had us strung up by our thumbs or something!" Ron muttered under his breath as they followed on after him

Once they got back to their Dorm, Snape silently waited as they all made their way through the portrait hole. As much as she had tried to avoid it, Hermione had been last to climb through, worrying that the professor would hold her back or something. He didn't, but as she climbed through, she felt his hand briefly touch her bottom, making her jump visibly.

"What's the matter babe?" Ron asked curiously, seeing her reaction

"Oh nothing, I just caught my leg on the hole that was all!"

He seemed satisfied with this and merely nodded

They all went to bed, and Ginny fell asleep immediately, much to Hermione's relief, as she then didn't have to face her questions. She was still feeling very troubled, but at the same time, couldn't deny how she felt. She was very attracted to the dark Potions master, his look, his intelligence, his seeming aloofness, the way he strode arrogantly about; just about everything! She found it so unbelievable that he wanted _her_ out of all the girls in the school, she just couldn't help it, she was really flattered. Her belly fluttered with excitement at the memory of what they had just done, but she also knew was that she still loved Ron, maybe not in the same way as before, but she had never set out to hurt him and it killed her that she had betrayed him in this way. She went to sleep wondering what tomorrow would bring and for the first time in all her time at Hogwarts she had no idea what to do next. She was pretty sure there wasn't a book on this in the library - suddenly not the safe , studious and rather staid place that it used to be!


	10. Bye bye Ron!

Hermione woke the next morning with a sense of dread for what was to come. She was going to have to have to have _that _talk with Ron. The one where you tell them, "I love you, but I'm not in love with you, but I hope we can still be friends." She was going to tell him before breakfast allowing everyone else to go down before them, ensuring privacy.

She got washed and dressed then went down to meet the boys with Ginny as usual in the common room.

"Hey babe!" said Ron, in the cheerful tone he always used when addressing Hermione. He came up to her, sliding his hand around her waist and kissed her. When Hermione reacted awkwardly to this loving gesture he gave her a confused look.

"What's up?" he asked, crinkling his brow

"We need to talk" Hermione answered sadly, looking down

"What about?" He asked, sounding slightly nervous

"Us" she said simply

"Oh" he answered back

Hermione entered the Great Hall and went immediately over to where Ginny and Harry were sitting. She stopped for a while, watching, realising how intimate they looked, talking and laughing, sitting very close to each another. She hesitated before eventually going over to sit next to them, hoping they wouldn't notice she had been crying. She took some toast from a plate and began scraping jam on it.

"What's the matter Hermione? Have you and Ron had another row?" Ginny asked immediately, upon seeing her

"Erm..me and Ron have..have..well, we've finished" Hermione answered looking down at the toast

"What! Why! Oh Hermione, what's happened to make you do that!" Ginny sounded very upset, Harry just looked shocked

"Look things just weren't working out, he's just so full on and I need a bit of space for a while. After all, we all need to do well in our exams this year, we need to concentrate on our studies more." She replied, realising as she had said it, that this excuse sounded very cold hearted

"Is Ron okay?" Ginny asked, concerned

"Well, I just thought I'd leave him to it for a while. Of course he begged me to change my mind, to give him another chance, but this is what I want. He'll get over it given time, I'm sure." Hermione replied, feeling upset again at these last words. Even though in some ways it had been a relief to finish her rather suffocating relationship with Ron, she still felt sad, it was the end of an era. She knew this would throw out the balance on the friendship of the four, but all would be well if Ron could find it in his heart to be civil to her and not harbour too much resentment. She sadly doubted he was capable of this though, as he had the emotional capability of a child, he went into sulks, had tantrums and got very jealous all the time.

"Look, I'm not hungry any more, I'll just go off to my first lesson now" she said, picking up her bag and standing up

"Okay, well, we'll see you later then" Ginny said sadly

Hermione knew she had upset her friends but she knew she had had to do it, it was for the best. Some of the guilt she had felt had been off loaded a little, she was a free agent now, so whatever happened between her and Professor Snape, at least she wasn't two-timing. Though she still had no intention of telling anyone about it, it would still definitely have to be a secret.

Three weeks of rows, confrontations and pleading later, Hermione and Ron had come to an uneasy understanding, much to her's and everyone elses relief. They were civil to each other but there was a distance between them now. Hermione still felt sad, as she knew she had broken his heart and Harry had told her that Ron had been having long talks at night, mostly about her and sometimes crying himself to sleep at night. He'd also taken out his pain on anyone that crossed him, usually Slytherins, who did not know what had had hit them. Hermione felt terrible about this, but still felt that she had done the right thing.

It was a Saturday night and Hermione was at a loose end, having normally spent this time with Ron on their own, she didn't know what to do. She had done all her homework already and was sitting on her bed, fiddling with the edge of her quilt. Ginny had gone to meet Harry and presumably Ron somewhere and Hermione had bowed out of joining them, wanting to spend as little time with Ron as possible at the moment.

Thoughts started to creep into her head - thoughts of Professor Snape. She remembered the night they had made love, no scratch that, had mad passionate sex in the library. She licked her lips, smiling, thinking of how good it had felt. Suddenly she felt naughty, very naughty. How would he react if she paid him a surprise visit? She didn't know, but she hoped it would be positive as she was going to give him one. For the past two weeks, she had been very good, not purposely going near him or giving him any indication that she was still interested. He had done the same – almost. Every now and again when he passed her in the corridor, she felt something brush against her hair, tugging it slightly, or touch her back, un-noticed by anyone else.

She knew he was teasing her, daring her to say something, but she didn't dare, for fear of raising suspicion. She had merely kept silent.

She went over to her wardrobe and looked inside, then she found the perfect outfit; a petticoat style top with scalloped lace at the bust line, in black together with black hipster trousers. She finished off the outfit with a pair of strappy, heeled shoes.

Slipping on her school robe over the top, she made her way down to the Slytherin dungeons. Every step she took made the guilty feelings within her rise, making her jumpy. She eventually reached the Slytherin common room entrance and walking past it, made her way to Professor Snape's office.

Her belly now clenching tightly with nerves she knocked on the door. A rather annoyed, "what is it?" came from the other side

"Erm..it's me Sir, Hermione" she said, holding her breath and biting her lip, not knowing what reaction she was going to get.

The door opened and Hermione recoiled in shock at who was sitting by the desk. But he didn't seem to recognise her, he got up and went over to her as Snape shut the door behind her.

"Goodevening" Lucius Malfoy said, looking Hermione over lasciviously, "come for some extra curricular activities have you?" then turning to Snape "You lucky devil Snape, this ones a real beauty, let me know when you've finished with her and I'll gladly take her off your hands!"

Hermione pulled a face that said she did not appreciate this remark, but said nothing.

"Weren't you just going now Lucius?" Snape asked impatiently,

"Of course, I'll go and leave you to your..work!" He replied looking over at Hermione and smirking. He flounced out of the door, leaving Hermione alone at last with Snape.

"What was he doing here?" Hermione demanded

"That, is none of your business!" Snape said sternly, "now what have you come to see me about?"

Hermione's jaw dropped as she watched him go over to his desk and roll up parchments with his wand then float them up onto a high shelf.

"Isn't it obvious!" Hermione said incredulously, pushing her robe over her shoulders and showing him her outfit.

"No" He said simply, sitting down on his chair and looking at her expectantly

Hermione felt exasperated, _what did he want her to do, spell it out_? She suddenly lost her confidence, maybe he'd only wanted her once and that had been it, now he just saw her as a student again. She felt defeated and turned towards the door.

"I'll go then" she said, reaching for the door handle

"Not so fast! You still haven't told me what you came here for" Snape had got there unbelievably fast and leant against the door, looking at her, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

Hermione looked down, feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

"I..I.. thought that maybe, you'd want to spend some time with me..or..or something" she replied, twiddling with her robe nervously.

She felt quite humiliated as Snape began to laugh, well more of a derisive snigger and went to open the door again. But his hand was suddenly on top of hers and keeping hold of it he led her over to the middle of the room.

"You may be an intelligent girl, but you've got a lot to learn about seduction!" he pulled her close then, making her whole body start to quiver with nervous expectation. Hermione felt powerless in his arms, but she liked it.

"Oh, little Hermione, you amuse me so much, I like that. Your innocence is intoxicating" he smiled

"I'm hardly innocent! I have had sex before you know and once with you!" Hermione said indignantly

"Are you talking about that oaf Weasley, I can't imagine he even knows what to do, without detailed instructions to show him!" he sneered, but stopped when he saw Hermione's annoyed expression, "I meant that you're an _innocent_ in the ways of seduction and entrapment! I, on the other hand, am not" he said, grabbing her hand and turning it palm up, kissed it softly.

"That was mean of you just now, making me think you'd lost interest, I felt like such an idiot!" she said sulkily

He didn't answer and just smiled, his eyes flicking all over her body. Her breathing got shallower and faster now; when he looked at her like that, like a snake about to swallow a very tasty looking mouse, it scared her slightly.

He still had his wand in his hand and pointing it at the middle of her neck, trailed it slowly downwards following with his eyes. When he reached her legs he slid it in between them, then he pulled it out again, dragging it upwards, making her flinch.

"I like what your wearing, very sexy" he said breathily, she suddenly felt conscious of how she looked and smiled awkwardly.

"Erm..thanks, I.." but before she could say anything else, he cut her off by kissing her hard on the mouth. His hands slid round to her back and started to squeeze gently, through the silky satin fabric of her top. This was a very pleasurable sensation and she got lost, forgetting what it was she had wanted to say. Her belly was still clenching with nerves, though, making her flinch then quiver every now and again. She wished she could stop it doing this, as it was very uncomfortable, but she couldn't.

"You're nervous, aren't you? Afraid of what you're doing, of what you're feeling and wondering whether you can go through with it. Any time you want to stop you can, I'm not into force, that's only for Neanderthals.. . but I will do everything I can to keep you here. I have a potion you can take if you want, it will help you to relax" he said beginning to kiss her neck.

"Err..no I..I'm alright, I'm just not used to doing this sort of thing, that's all! It's very new but very exciting, I've never felt like this before!" Hermione explained

"Very well, it is your choice" he said, stopping what he was doing and leaning up again. He went over to the shelves of potions, where his door had been before and made it appear again, with a sweep of his wand. They both entered his bedroom and Hermione sat stiffly on the edge bed, waiting with trepidation.

Snape walked over to an old fashioned looking gramophone and put on some soft soothing music. The tune was very simple, repeating the same bars over and over with a soft back-beat, it was almost hypnotic.

Hermione watched as he took off his cloak then his jacket, hanging them up using his wand. He then walked to where she was sitting and stood in front of her, smiling. He took her head in his hands and leaned down to kiss her, pushing her back, then he took his hands away from her head to lean on the bed for support. They both crawled backwards across the bed, still kissing, until Hermione felt her head touch the pillows. As they kissed, her nervousness lessened, pleasure feelings gradually taking it's place.

She really hoped she wasn't going to regret this afterwards, because at the moment it felt _really _good.


	11. Union with the snake

Suddenly Snape leant up, smiling, showing his teeth slightly. He rolled right the way off her onto the bed and lay on his side, supporting his head with his elbow

"Stand up" he ordered

"Why?" Hermione asked him, curiously

"Just stand up!" He asked again

Hermione wasn't going to argue with him when he spoke in that tone and decided to do as she was told. She got off the bed and stood in front of it, wondering what was wrong.

Snape looked at her his smile turning into a leering smirk then said, "now take off your clothes"

Hermione felt almost relieved by this statement, but she also felt very unnerved by this request; with Ron it always had to be quick so they rarely fully undressed for sex and even then they would lie on the bed to do it. Privacy was hard to come by in the dorms, so they had to do what they could, when they could. But here there was no one to walk in on them, as the door had been locked.

Hermione took a deep breath and picking up the edge of her top, began to peel it off, feeling butterflies in her tummy as she did so. Then she slowly unbuttoned her trousers and slipped them off over her shoes; a little awkwardly. She stopped then, holding her arms up in front of her a shyly.

"Now the rest!" he said, nodding at her, raising his eyebrows, still smiling and staring intently.

She bit her lip and removed her bra, letting it drop to the floor, then her knickers. She stood there completely naked in front of him, apart from her shoes, feeling very exposed and wanting desperately to jump back on the bed again.

"Turn around" Snape ordered, her then, "right the way round, that's it" he told her, as Hermione did as he said. "Now, come here!"

"Do you want me to take off my shoes?" She asked feeling tense and rather uncomfortable

"No, I'll do that for you" he replied

She climbed onto the bed and lay down. Snape went down to her feet and unfastened her shoes throwing them off, then began kissing the tops of her feet. _Why is he kissing my feet? _Hermione asked her self, still feeling very disconcerted. He looked at her and seemed amused by her obvious discomfort.

As he caressed and kissed them, Hermione was surprised at how nice being kissed on the feet was and began to relax a little, enjoying it. Then he began moving upwards, still kissing; her calves, her knees, her thighs and when he reached his final destination, Hermione jumped back slightly, looking at him nervously.

"Trust me, I promise you'll like it!" He said, looking at her with a gleam in his eye.

"Alright" She said a little reluctantly, but at the same time wanting to feel the pleasure she knew it would induce, so she allowed him to slide her legs apart and do what he wanted. He had said she would like it ..and she did! A lot! Just at the point of complete ecstasy, he moved quickly, climbing on top, undoing his trousers, then pushing inside of her. He soon got into a rhythm, leaning down now and again to kiss her neck or breasts. All she could hear was her own heart beating and the panting breaths, coming from both thier mouths. Hermione was enjoying it so much she had no idea nor cared how much time passed, she felt like she was floating in a sea of pleasure. When these feelings got so strong she thought she could take no more, gasping and flinching, she came, and then some! Stronger than she had ever felt before.When he was done himself, he lay back on the bed panting and blew out a breath. Hermione looked at him; his hair was stuck to his forehead with perspiration from the exertion and he ran his fingers through it, to push it away from his face and cool him-self. He looked a little tired so Hermione felt a compliment was in order.

"That was amazing! No-one would guess, that under that austere exterior, there beats the heart of a expert lover!" She smiled

"Appearances can be deceiving, I, like any other man, want to give and receive sexual pleasure. I always try achieve perfection in everything and sex is no exception to this rule " He said, sitting up and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. As Hermione watched his back she pulled the bed covers over herself, as it was more than a little cold. He sat there for a while, bending forward slightly, looking like he was pulling off his trousers, then stood up, stretching and rubbing his back. Hermione smiled at the sight of his naked bottom. _I bet, not many people have seen that! _She thought to herself.

Hermione was still looking at him, when without warning he turned round, completely unabashed, "You'd better get going now, before you're missed" he said casually, seemingly unaware of Hermione's gaping reaction. She couldn't help but stare and didn't react at first, but upon hearing him impatiently calling her name again, she snapped out of it.

"Erm yes..you're right. Err, but first I need to use your bathroom, where is it?" She asked, pulling a sheet around herself, like a towel and standing up, looking around for a door.

"Through there, just put your hand on that brick and it will open for you. She went over to the wall as instructed and as she put her hand on the cold stone a door appeared, she went inside. The bathroom was basic but clean and by the time Hermione had done what she wanted and come back into the room the professor had put on a black dressing gown and was sitting on his bed. He watched her intently as she got dressed, but stayed silent.

Hermione walked over to the doorway and lingered there, wanting to ask a million questions, but knowing he would probably not want to answer any of them.

"Erm, I'll be going then. ..erm, can I call you Severus now? At least, when we're alone, I mean that is if you don't mind" she asked nervously

"Yes, I think that would be appropriate, but only when we're alone" he answered rather stiffly, getting up off the bed, "If you would like a repeat performance, I would be only too happy oblige, but next time, no surprise visits! That could have been any of the other teachers sitting there! We were lucky, even though Lucius will be giving me trouble over it, but I have too much on him, for him to go making accusations" Snape said, seriously, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully at this last sentence.

"I'm sorry, it never occurred to me you might have company!" Hermione said apologetically

"No matter this time, but next time you must be more discreet." He said walking with her back into his office and her over to the way out. "Now it is twelve o'clock, so there shouldn't be that many people hanging around, but we will still need to be cautious. I will check first then tell you when you can go"

Hermione took a sharp intake of breath in shock at hearing the time, she had no idea that, that so much time had passed! She started to get worried, _what was everyone going to say! Where was she going to say she had been all night!_ She tried to think of something quick, the cogs of her mind whirring. A few social events and clubs were usually going on, on Saturday nights, but not until this late! Most people of her year and just below would probably still be up, but they would all be in their House dorms by now, as per the school rules.

There was no-one about, so after a quick kiss from Severus, Hermione fell out into the cold, dark corridor.

She began to walk quickly, running the nights events through her mind. She decided she would just tell her friends she had gone to find a quiet place to think out of the way and completely lost track of time.

This excuse settled in her mind, her thoughts then turned to the memory of seeing the Potions professor, naked for the first time. A lot of people thought of him as a snake or snake like, but she smiled to herself, thinking _she_ had a completely different reason for doing so.


	12. Heat

The sun streamed in through the windows, hitting Hermione full in the face. She groaned and screwed up her eyes trying to block out the light that was hurting them, even through her closed eyelids.

"Morning sleepyhead!" Ginny said derisively as she flounced around the room, humming to herself. She was already washed and dressed and looked as annoyingly bright and bouncy as a spring rabbit to Hermione, who felt anything but.

She sat up in bed rubbing her eyes, pushed her long hair back over her shoulders and gave out a long resigned sigh. She knew the question was coming, it had to sooner or later.

"So, where did _you_ get to last night?" Ginny asked eventually, raising her eyebrows expectantly. She had come over and sat down on the end of Hermiones bed.

When Hermione had arrived in the common room the previous night, she had been thankful that none of her friends had been in there and when she had got up to her dorm room that Ginny had been fast asleep. She had managed to creep into the room and slide into her bed without waking her, at least she hoped she had.

"I just went for a walk and lost track of time," Hermione answered groggily, sliding her knees up and wrapping her arms around them.

"You were a bit overdressed just for a walk weren't you?" Ginny said incredulously, indicating the clothes discarded on the floor the previous night. There was a pause, then Ginny pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes shrewdly

"You're seeing someone aren't you?" Ginny stated suddenly, making Hermiones stomach jolt. "It's okay, you can tell me. I know you probably think my first loyalty is with Ron, but you're my friend too, I mean, you have finished with him now, so you can go out with someone else if you like." She said trying to sound as if she meant it, but she had looked away and down at her hands.

"So, you really wouldn't mind if I went out with someone else?" Hermione queried, quite surprised

"No, I mean, I can't say I'm not disappointed that you and Ron split up, but if it wasn't working out, then what can you do?" Ginny looked at Hermione now, with a weak smile

"So who is he then? He's obviously not in our house... a Ravenclaw perhaps?" She asked.

Hermione thought very carefully before she answered, "Erm no, it's not..actually.. he's a Slytherin, but a nice one! Of course, I can't be open about our relationship, he's asked me not to tell anyone, he's scared of the reprisals he might get from the other Slytherins" which was _basically_ true.

"You can tell _me_ about him though..can't you?" Ginny queried

Hermione shook her head sadly, what she wanted to do more than anything else was talk to her one of her best friends about her new relationship, but she knew that she couldn't.

"Not even his name?" Ginny enquired further 

Hermione bit her lip and didn't answer

"I don't know what's got into you lately Hermione, you've gone all secretive on me, we used to confide in each other. It's like you're pulling away from me, like you don't want to be my friend anymore!" Ginny said sulkily, looking close to tears.

"Oh Ginny it's not like that, it's just.." _It's just that my lover is professor Snape! Oh yeah! I can really tell her that can't I? "_Oh alright then it's... Gavin Godrick!" Hermione pulled the name straight off the top of her head; she didn't really know him, apart from that he was a 7th year, had once tried out for the Slytherin quidditch team and failed and that he was fairly good looking. At least he wasn't one of Malfoys gang, Ginny might accept him for that. She had, had to choose a Slytherin, as her curious friend was least likely to know him.

Ginny creased her brow for a moment as if thinking it over.

"How did you meet?" she asked eventually

"Oh, in Arithmancy" Hermione said quickly, she was the only one of the group of friends to do the subject, she had no idea if he did or not as it was mostly Ravenclaws in her class.

"So, do you love him?" Ginny kept on digging

"No...I wouldn't say we're in love or anything like that we just seem to like the same things that's all" Hermione answered, feeling like the lie that had started as a small puddle, was now growing into a lake.

After many more questions, Ginny eventually gave up, but Hermione knew she had her suspicions. Ginny was intuitive almost to the point of being psychic, well maybe she was, Hermione didn't know as she hadn't wanted to ask, not really believing in that sort of thing.

The rest of Sunday was spent as normal, doing homework or walking in the grounds, which was really very pleasant now, as the weather was sunny and warm. Then going to spend the afternoon in Hagrid's cottage for tea.

Monday morning soon came around and it was pretty evident that it was going to be a very hot day, the sky was bright blue without a single cloud and the temperature was already in the eighties by morning break.

Everyone was feeling hot and sticky by dinnertime and was trying to find the best cooling charms to relieve them-selves from it. After dinner it was Potions, a lesson that Hermione half looked forward to and half-dreaded lately.

She never knew what Severus, as she now allowed herself to call him, would be like towards her, but he always made her feel nervous whatever mood he was in. Yet even so, it still excited her to be near him, to think smugly to herself that she had seen parts of him the other students hadn't.

Harry and Hermione made their way to the dungeon classroom, hoping from some relief from the heatwave, when they got there. Most of the school, thanks mainly to thoughtful teachers, had been cooled down magically and somewhat due to the castle being naturally cool anyway. As they walked Hermione thought about her present situation, especially after her talk with Ginny and was following Harry blindly, as she ran everything over in her mind.

Trying to do too much homework, worrying about what Ron, Harry and Ginny would think if they found out the truth, a big huge weighty guilt about lying to them all and the overbearing heat were all taking their toll on Hermione that day. As they got closer to the classroom, her heart began pounding and her belly started doing somersaults. Just when they were nearly there though, Hermione realised that she had forgotten her cauldron, for the first time ever! She left Harry and ran back up to her room to get it. She saw it by her bed, the potions she would need for that days lesson, sitting inside. Grabbing it she ran back the way she had come, getting even hotter, if that was possible. Sweat was now running down her back and face and her hands felt sticky, but she didn't have time to stop and magic it away. When she got to the Potions classroom door, she quickly swiped her forehead with her robe, pushing back her hair at the same time. She took a deep breath and pulled her clothes straight, attempting to make her-self look more composed, before going in.

To her dismay, the only seat left in the room was the one no one ever wanted, right by a window, the one with a broken shutter, that Professor Snape had never bothered to replace. Even though they were in the dungeons there were small windows along the top of the walls on one side. Because this was Advanced Potions it was held in a different classroom than they used to use, this one was smaller and more comfortable, but often got hotter, mainly from all the fires lit under the cauldrons. It was almost like Snape wanted to put more pressure on his already put upon students, by making the room stuffy as well, as he hadn't bothered cooling it down like the other teachers had with their classrooms.

She entered the room as quietly as possible so as to try and not be noticed. Professor Snape was in full swing, explaining the effects of the potion they were about to make. Of course he noticed her straight away. Hermione wondered what his reaction would be. Would he still delight in humiliating her in front of others? Even after what they had done together.

"You are late Granger!" he said gruffly, stating the obvious, "get yourself set up quickly!"

That was it, no witty or cutting remarks, no snidey comments. Some of the Slytherins in the group gave each other surprised look's, but no one said anything.

Harry had already set himself up only slightly in front of where Hermione was, but unlike her, was out of the sun's glare. She set up her things and lit the fire under her cauldron ready, still feeling the after effects of the run, with her heart pounding (even though gentler now) and sweat still running down her face, neck and back. As 15 minutes ticked by, the heat she was already feeling seemed to have increased even more. The stress, the sun blazing in through the high window, bearing down on the side of her head and the heat from her cauldron all added up. She took off her robe and rolled up the sleeves of her shirt, but that wasn't enough. She twisted up her hair into a rough bun and made it stick with a touch of her wand; still not enough. Looking around and seeing that everyone was absorbed in their work she loosened her tie, then shrugged to herself and took it off, placing it on the desk beside her. She undid a couple of the top buttons on her white school shirt, then pulled it out from under her skirt, in order to flap it around and waft some air up onto her hot body. Feeling a little cooler she started to get on with her work again, concentrating hard as always, completely oblivious to the stares she was now attracting.

Suddenly she heard a quiet voice call her name, trying to get her attention. Looking up she saw Harry looking at her, trying to indicate something to her with his eyes. Hermione merely shook her head in derision, feeling irritated, she had no time for silly games right now, couldn't he see she was trying to concentrate? She ignored him until he gave up and carried on stirring her pot, adding a little more of this or that potion to get the mixture absolutely perfect.

She was just beginning to relax a little, when Severus Snape approached, his feet tapping on the stone floor as he walked. As she was at the back, he risked a small smile that other people wouldn't be able to see, when she looked up at him. He looked her up and down appraisingly, but Hermione really wished he wouldn't, not here, she was stressed enough as it was. She didn't dare react back, for fear of being seen. He tapped his chest with his wand a couple of times, raising his eyebrows in her direction, but to Hermione's relief, he suddenly heard someone calling him and walked away.

Why were people looking at her so much? Especially the boys in the class, who were whispering and sniggering quietly to each other after glancing in her direction, before Snape loomed over them that was, making them turn back to their simmering cauldrons.

Hermione, to her great relief, knew that her potion was about as near to perfection as it was going to get and stood back slightly, to get out of the direct glare from the window. She was still feeling the heat so she went as to grab the front of her shirt to waft it, in order to blow a draft over her again, then suddenly realised why everyone had been looking at her so much! She looked down, her belly did a sharp flip, making heat rise in her even more and a blush rushed into her cheeks. In her haste, instead of undoing just two top buttons she must have undone more by mistake! Exposing a good amount of cleavage, encased in a lace trimmed under-wired bra. Hermione hurriedly did up the buttons, her sweat drenched fingers slipping on the tiny bits of plastic.

Oh, the humiliation! She knew they would be on about this for weeks, using it as ammunition to embarrass her.

So that's what Harry had been trying to tell her and that's why Snape had been looking at her strangely and tapping his chest with his wand. _Well at least he had cared enough to let me know, even if it wasn't very clear_, she thought to herself.

Her potion finished, she filled a vial with the rather smelly liquid and left it on her desk while she packed up the rest of her things. She tapped her wand on her cauldron, uttering "scourgify!" which immediately cleared out the contents and left it sparkling clean. Then she packed all the spare ingredients into it. She watched as every one else started to make their way to the front, ready to hand in their vials. She waited for a while for the crowd to disperse and then went to pick up her own vial, but it was nowhere to be seen! She searched all over the desk, on the floor and then rummaged through her cauldron, not a sign of it! Where could it have gone? She began to panic, no matter that her and Severus were lovers he was still her teacher too and he had to have her potion to give her a mark! Students started to leave, talking quietly as she looked frantically for her potion vial. Harry had waited for a while, then he said he could wait no longer, as he and the rest of the quidditch team had booked the pitch to play a friendly game of quidditch with the Ravenclaw team, something they did sometimes out of season.

She was then left alone with Professor Snape.

He sat at his desk looking at her, a smile playing on his lips. She walked slowly over to him, trying to look more confident than she felt.

"I'm sorry but I can't find my vial of potion anywhere! Will you still be able to mark me, you saw that it was the right colour.."

"Of course you can't find your potion... because I have it here!" he held up the vial, with it's purplish liquid inside, his smile widening then into a grin. Hermione had never noticed before how pronounced his canines were and it unnerved her slightly.

"Why did you?..." she began, then as he pointed his wand and slammed the door to the classroom shut, chanting a sealing charm on it, she began to understand exactly why.

"You look a little hot Hermione, here let me help you" Snape said, getting up and moving towards her

"I do know how to cool myself off you know, it's not a very difficult spell! I just didn't have time before! I wouldn't have been so hot if you could be bothered cooling this damn classroom down!" Hermione said defensively

Professor Snape said nothing, but merely kept on smiling, reaching out his hands and putting them on each side of her head. He concentrated for a while, then Hermione started to feel coolness spreading over her whole body. This feeling was incredibly soothing and she soon felt much more relaxed.

"Why didn't you tell me that I had too many buttons undone, I was so embarrassed!" Hermione asked him

"I did try, but you ignored me, I thought maybe that was how you had meant to wear it"

"What!" Hermione said annoyed, but her anger just made him smile all the more. He slid his arms around her waist, making her shiver slightly in anticipation, feeling her anger slipping away. He leant forward, so close she could feel his breath on her cheeks. Hermione felt the tension within her increase as he moved in to kiss her, she sighed audibly as she felt his lips touch hers. Hermione returned the kiss with passion, warm, sensual feelings beginning to grow within in the pit of her belly as she did so. After the day she had, it felt so good to be in his arms again, the power he had over her made her feel helpless but it was a nice kind of helpless. The kind you feel when you're being pushed on a swing or being spun around on a roundabout and you know you have no power to stop it, but have no wish to, because it feels wonderful.

As they kissed he began to undo the buttons of her shirt again, then, after pulling it open, he began squeezing her breasts gently. He moved his hands down her body and smoothed them up again on the outside of her thighs, pushing up her skirt at the same time. He grabbed the the cheeks of her bottom, massaging them, making her sigh in ecstasy and part her legs to rub one against his.

Before she knew what was happening, Severus had manouvered her over to his desk and lowered her down onto it. He removed her underwear and after throwing off his cloak and undoing his jacket, began to make love to her. She couldn't believe it, _Am I really doing this?_ She questioned her-self, _Having sex on a desk - in a classroom!_ _Well, I suppose we did do it in the library! _She reasoned. It didn't seem to be bothering him though, as he pushed in and out of her rhythmically, panting softly. She forgot were she was then, concentrating only on him and the feelings that were now building up to a crescendo in her erogenous zones. He came to a shuddering halt, panting heavily and after a brief rest, began standing up, taking her with him.

She stood up, feeling flushed and still hot but for a different reason now and bent down quickly to retrieve her underwear from the floor. Leaning against the desk for support, she put them on again.

They both got dressed in silence, glancing up now and again and smiling. Hermione looked at her watch

"Damn, it's dinnertime! I'd better go!" she said, going over to her desk and collecting up her things.

"You can have dinner with me if you like" Professor Snape stated quietly, walking over to her.

Hermione didn't know what to do, if she said 'yes', she would be letting down her friends, if she said 'no' Severus might be affronted. She hesitated before giving her answer, biting her lip, as she always did when nervous.


	13. Hermione for dinner

As she hesitated she thought, _Why must I always do everything with them? Aren't I allowed to have a life of my own? It wouldn't hurt to have dinner with him, after all his conversation will probably be more stimulating than endless arguments about quidditch and getting back at Draco Malfoy, for whatever he'd done or said lately._

"I'd love to" she smiled, realising that their relationship had entered a new stage, he must want more from her than just sex now. She knew _she_ had for ages, but hadn't dared ask him for more in case he sent her away. Her tummy filled with butterflies and she couldn't stop smiling as they left the classroom.

They headed down to his office and Hermione waited as he unlocked the door, once open they walked in and the Professor closed it firmly behind them. Concentrating on a spot in front of his desk for a while he waved his wand and conjured up two comfortable looking chairs and a table. He strode over to the wall at the back of his desk and pulled on a cord that was hanging there, waited for a few moments, then went over to the door, when a discreet knock could be heard tapping on the other side. Severus only opened it enough to poke his head through and said something Hermione couldn't hear, shut the door again, walked forwards, then waved his wand over the table making several golden plates appear.

"Erm..I don't suppose you'd mind if I used your bathroom for a shower first do you? Only I feel a bit.." Hermione said, pulling a face and tugging at her blouse, indicating her rather sweaty appearance.

"Of course not, I will open the door for you" he waved his wand at the wall, were the hidden entrance was and the doorway magically appeared.

Hermione walked into the quiet bathroom, many thoughts running through her head. She switched on the shower and after making a glugging noise for a while, the water came gushing out. She stripped off and stepped in, enjoying the flow of the water down her naked body, soothing her and making her feel clean again.

She began soaping herself and suddenly the nervousness and excitement of where she was and who with, brought on a warm, buzzing feeling inside her lower belly, making her want to move her hands lower. Maybe it would relax her a little, she didn't know, but the thought of doing something that she would normally have done in the privacy of her own dorm room and even when she could be caught at any moment, was quite a turn on. She closed her eyes and reached down between her legs to gently stroke the sensitive bump, between the folds. The memories of what they had done together and how it made her feel, all helped her come surprisingly quickly, not much to write home about, but it nevertheless made her feel pleasantly tingly all over.

After her shower Hermione felt refreshed and came out of the bathroom wearing just a towel and a smile. She didn't want to get back into her school clothes and was just wondering what to do, when she spotted the Professors black robe on the bed. After tying up her hair, she slipped it on. It felt gorgeous, she surmised that it was pure silk and smoothed her hands over it, enjoying it's softness against her skin.

She walked back into the office, wincing a little as her feet touched the cold stone tiles. The bedroom floor was covered in rugs and was much warmer in comparison.

"Are you ready to eat now?" Severus said, standing up and looking her up and down, his eyes taking in her appearance. He'd been sitting at his desk, looking over some papers. Hermione was surprised he hadn't come to watch her, she almost expected it, but no he had allowed her that time on her own.

"I hope you don't mind me borrowing your robe, I didn't have anything else to change into," Hermione said nervously, hoping he wasn't going to tell her off for borrowing it without asking

Severus smirked and said, "No, I think it looks much better on you"

He turned then and walked back to the wall, where he had stood before, to summon the house elf and pulled the cord a second time.

Food magically appeared on the plates, with knives and forks, a bottle of wine and two glasses beside them. They both sat down.

"Wow, this looks really nice!" Hermione said approvingly, as she looked around at the food. It was a bit different to the normal fare they served down at the Great Hall; it looked like something they would serve in a posh restaurant.

He picked up the bottle and released the cork magically, then poured some wine into both glasses.

"Have you tried wine before?" he asked her, as she looked at the glass a little dubiously.

"Err, yes a little, but I've never really drunk much alchohol before, you can't get away with underage drinking in the wizarding world, like you can in the muggle one!" She joked, truthfully, lifting the glass up to her lips and taking a sip. It was quite strong tasting, but as soon as the liquid hit her stomach a warm, buzzing feeling spread around her body, up into her head and down her arms and legs. She liked this feeling and took another sip, a larger one this time.

"Don't drink too much on an empty stomach, you will get light headed" Severus warned, smiling "come on, eat," he ordered, indicating with his head.

The starter was a sweet goats cheese salad, then lemon chicken as a main course and for dessert – strawberries with a chocolate dipping sauce. They both tucked in; it was a nice change for Hermione to see a man eating his food slowly and actually chewing it, she was so used to Harry and Ron, who always bolted their food down as if it might disappear at any moment. She was also fascinated, she had never seen him eat before, as even though he often appeared in the Great Hall, he never ate in there. They said very little through the starter and main course, other than observations on how good the food was. Hermione was still a little nervous and the silence wasn't helping, she had conflicting thoughts; she felt like, that she shouldn't really be there but at the same time she didn't want to be anywhere else.

Suddenly she remembered something and giggled, then tried with difficulty to swallow her mouthful before she spoke, "You know, there was a time when a lot of people, including me, thought you were a vampire!" she giggled again, swallowing a bit more, "because we had never seen you eat anything!"

He nearly choked on his own mouthful of food and did his best not to spit it out, before swallowing.

"Why on earth would you think that! Do I look like one?" he asked, obviously bemused by this statement

"Err, frankly yes! Well at least if you come from a muggle background you do – what with the black cape, the pale skin and the dark hair! But since reading all about them in the library, I found out that vampires hardly look human at all and they're certainly not stylish, they're more like werewolves, but without so much hair!" she finished, still giggling and taking great gulps of wine to help swallow her mouthful properly.

As soon as her glass had emptied, Severus filled it up again and she had already had three before dessert.

Hermione couldn't wait to get started on the strawberries, one of her favourite fruits. She picked one up and dipped it in the chocolate sauce, but with the alcohol now affecting her co-ordination, she got the sauce all over her fingers as she did so. She licked it off each finger with relish, making satisfied noises, putting her head back and closing her eyes. Then she put the strawberry in her mouth, biting it in half, the sweetness of the fruit and the chocolate mixing together deliciously. She had a few more, before noticing that Severus was watching her intently, smiling and sipping lazily on his wine.

"Aren't you having any?" she asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable eating under such an intense gaze.

"No, go ahead and enjoy, I never eat dessert" he replied, taking another sip of wine

"Oh please try one, it really is delicious, I've never tasted chocolate like it, it's sort of bitter but sweet at the same time!" Standing up awkwardly, as the wine was now taking full effect and making her feel rather dizzy, she walked over to his side of the table. Once there, she bent over to pick up a strawberry, her head span at this movement and she urgently needed to sit down again, so she plonked herself onto his lap. As well as making her dizzy, the wine had served to switch off her usual inhibitions and the nerves she had previously felt had all gone.

Smiling, she dipped the strawberry it into the chocolate, putting it to his lips, raising her eyebrows expectantly. "Come on, open up! I won't give up until you try one!" She said in a mock bossy tone.

"Just one wouldn't hurt I suppose, if it makes you happy" he sighed, giving in and opening his mouth obediently. Hermione put the strawberry in and he took a bite, the runny sauce dribbling down, from his bottom lip onto his chin.

"Oohps!" she giggled, then as he went to wipe it off, she slapped his hand away hard and smiling naughtily, said "let me get it!"

Putting her face right up to his and closing her eyes, she trailed her tongue up his chin, licking off the warm, sweet sauce, then to his lips, which she also licked before kissing them softly and briefly. As she did this, she felt his body react, pushing up against her thigh. She pulled away slightly, but now he was looking at her in a way that said he was hungry for something other than food. He put one hand up to her neck, trailed his forefinger down in-between her breasts to the point where the robe started to cross over, then slid his hand inside, cupping her breast. He pulled the robe out of the way, then traced circles around her nipple slowly and softly with the very end of his finger, looking alternately from her face to what he was doing.

Hermione was too busy watching and enjoying the flutterings in the lower regions of her belly to notice him reaching out behind her back with his other hand to pick something up off the table. Suddenly she felt something warm running down her front. She looked down to see what it was and jumped in shock as she saw chocolate sauce dripping from the top of her chest, to her belly.

"Ohh! What are you doing!" Hermione squealed, going to stand up, but he held her firmly.

"Oohps!" he said in a mockery of her earlier exclamation, "My hand must have slipped! Don't worry I'll get it for you!" he grinned wickedly. Hermione felt him smoothing the silk robe off her shoulders, then begin licking her, from the neck down. She'd never dreamed of doing anything like this it was so ..naughty, but in a good way and also very messy! He licked along the outer edges of her breasts, flicking his tongue expertly, making her quiver and sigh heavily with delight. He stopped and looked up at her

"Mmm, not bad, but I think I prefer your skin on it's own, it tastes better than any dessert _I've_ ever tasted." Severus said, breathily. He lifted his wand and uttered a spell, "scourgify!" The chocolate sauce immediately disappeared, leaving no trace on either the robe or her.

"Now, where were we?"

Hermione slipped her hands around Severus's neck and he slipped his around her waist. They kissed passionately, their chocolatey tongues sliding against each other. She felt his manhood pressing more urgently against her now and began to feel the same way herself.

Hermione felt herself being lifted up and carried and Severus stopped kissing her for a moment as he walked through the doorway into his bedroom. Placing her down on the bed he slowly undid the knotted tie from round her waist, pulling the robe away to the sides, leaving her naked. Hermione's head felt pleasantly woozy as she lay there, watching her lover take off his clothes, until he was naked too. He climbed on top of her and lifted her legs up, bending them until they almost touched her shoulders. This position, allowed him deeper penetration and Hermione winced slightly as she felt him slide inside of her, all the way this time. He began slowly, bending over to kiss her now and then, but as soon as Hermione began to moan softly, he picked up the pace.

With the heavy breathing and already being a bit tipsy, Hermione's head really started to spin. He could have done anything to her right now and she would neither have cared, or been able to do anything about it. All the strength had gone out of her and was replaced instead by a pleasant buzzing sensation, flowing up and down her body, from her head to her feet. Completely relaxed, she enjoyed the sensation of his skin against hers and the wonderful touch of his long fingers, reaching down to stimulate her further. She climaxed easily, causing the muscles inside her lower belly to clench around him tightly, her hips bucking up to meet his and guttural sounds to utter forth from her throat. He carried on for a few seconds after, then stopped, sighing loudly as if in relief, when he had his own orgasm. He climbed off her, kneeling up at first then allowing her legs to gradually slide back down to their natural positions. He waved his wand over her as he always did, uttering a birth control spell, before getting off the bed.

She moaned softly and turned onto her side, hugging the pillow into her head, smiling in enraptured bliss. She heard him get up, but then was aware of nothing else as she fell into a deep sleep.

Hermione sat up, with a start. The first thing she felt was panic, _where was she?_ It was pitch black, but when her eyes got used to the dark, the light from a single candle flickering in the office helped her to see a little. She remembered where she was and started to panic even more. She knew she shouldn't be there at this time and wondered why Severus had let her sleep so long. The second thing she felt, was a severe pain in her head, like someone taking a sledge hammer to it, she grabbed the sides of her head and moaned softly, rubbing her face and eyes. The third thing she felt was sick, very urgently sick. She got up out of bed quickly, holding her hand to her mouth, swiping the stone on the wall that opened the bathroom, with her hand. She got in there just in time and threw up down the toilet. When she finished, she hadn't thought you could feel this bad without dying. Why anyone wanted to do this all the time was beyond her, she didn't intend to get drunk ever again! She got up, her whole body shaking and her head still wobbling feeling as if it could fall off at any too sharp, a movement, then walked over to the sink. She ordered the candle to light, but only enough to let her see, as it burned her eyes strangely when she got it any brighter and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She grimaced, thinking that she looked pretty awful.

"Never again!" Hermione said to herself as she splashed cold water over face. She took a cup from the shelf, filled it with water and took a long drink, this refreshed her mouth, making her feel better, but there was still the matter of her headache and sore stomach. Pulling the robe around her that she was still wearing, she walked into Severus's office hoping to find the ingredients to make a potion, that would cure her hangover.

"Luminate!" She ordered the candles and as they lit up she walked over to the potion cabinets.

"Hmm, now what was that one I did for Harry and Ron that time?" she questioned herself out-loud, squinting in the bright light. Around Christmas time, Harry and Ron had drunk some firewhisky that someone had smuggled in and discovered why it had that particular name, as it burned all the way down, up to the head then down again and out the other end! She had brewed up a potion, which had cured all the symptoms very effectively. She had been inclined to leave them to suffer, but had given in after their incessant moaning.

"Feverfew, fennel, peppermint, expurgo, anti-eructo and acerbitas medeor" Hermione said out-loud to herself, as she collected all the ingredients she needed. Piling all the bottles and jars on the desk, she walked back over to the shelves and was just about to pick up a cauldron to brew it in, when she heard a strange voice behind her.

Stopping dead in her tracks, all the blood from Hermione's head sank to her feet then back up again and a surge of fear began to burn in her belly. She breathed in sharply, not daring to look around to see who was speaking.

"Severus! Did you forget about our meeting tonight!" The voice snapped in irritation.

Hermione dared to turn around then, slowly and without looking up at first.

"Wait, you are not Severus!" the voice said in surprise. Hermione dared to look up and her eyes widened in shock as she saw who the voice belonged to.


	14. Dangerous liason

Hermione staggered back in fear

"Lucius Malfoy?" she said recognising the father of her worst enemy.

His look of surprise at her presence soon disappeared and was replaced by a predatory smirk. He had noticed the open dressing gown and Hermione, quickly realising, pulled it around herself. The tie had been lost somewhere on the floor and she hadn't felt the need to find it. Lucius licked his lips hungrily and began advancing on her.

"I'll go and tell Severus that you're here, he must have forgotten you were coming" Hermione said nervously, trying not to sound as frightened as she felt. Vomiting earlier had made her feel shaky and weak and the fear she was now feeling was not helping at all. Her heart was racing, causing a blood rush around her body, which in turn made her feel light headed.

"There's no hurry, _Hermione_" He smiled

Hermione stopped dead, staring at him open mouthed in shock, she hadn't thought he had recognised her.

"Yes, I know who you are, the little mud-blood bookworm who punched my son in the third year. Now you're fucking your teacher! Quite the little minx aren't you?" He said, moving in on her quickly, grabbing her around the waist.

Hermione pushed against him, still trying to keep the dressing gown closed around her. This struggle only served to make him laugh, and hold her even tighter.

"Get off me! Get off!" Hermione gasped, she somehow managed to push him off and ran into the bedroom. Once in there she ordered the candles to light up, it was then that she discovered to her horror, that Severus was conspicuously absent.

Lucius stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, his arms folded and that lascivious smirk on his face again.

"Oh dear, it seems that our dear friend had pressing business elsewhere, that really was very inconsiderate of him wasn't it? Though I'm sure we can find a way to entertain ourselves, while we wait for him to come back" Lucius said in feigned politeness, looking over at Hermione lustfully.

Hermione felt terror rise in her throat, she was by no means a wimp, she had nearly knocked a guy out once who got too frisky with her, but Lucius Malfoy was a different matter. For a start he was a fully-grown man, not a boy and secondly she knew he was a deatheater, so he was bound to know very effective ways of detaining her against her will. She stood there unmoving, frozen by fear, just looking at him. He began to advance on her slowly, twirling his wand in his slender, ring adorned fingers. She thought about shutting herself in the bathroom, but that would not hold him off long, so it was pointless. He was close now, only a few feet away.

"Why don't you just take off that troublesome robe Miss Granger and make yourself comfortable on the bed." He drawled, the tip of his tongue slaking his lips.

Her hands shaking, Hermione pulled the robe even tighter around her, she intended to keep it on for as long as possible.

"Oh come now, don't be afraid, I won't hurt you..much." Lucius reached out to stroke her cheek, his hand was freezing, making her flinch instantly.

"Don't touch me!" came her exclamation and she suddenly thought about accioing her wand. The state she was in, she doubted it would do her any good, but it was worth a try.

"Accio wand!" she called. The wand obediently flew out of her school bag to her hand, but Lucius grabbed it before she could. With his own wand he spun it round in the air and with a flick of his wrist, it was gone.

"A little charm I learned recently, very useful, sends another persons wand...who knows where? Maybe it will turn up somewhere in the school" He grinned

Hermione was horrified, she didn't know that could be done, her only hope had been taken away from her. She sincerely hoped that it could be found again as she was very attatched to it.

Her only escape route now, was to climb across the bed, but climbing on the bed did not seem to be a very good idea at the moment. She had backed herself into a corner, literally and there was nowhere else to go.

"Oh, such a delicate little flower! How scared you are, those firm breasts trembling so beautifully beneath that flimsy material!" he exclaimed, in a childlike intonation that tried to hide his dark intentions. He reached out to touch her face again, the coldness of his fingers making he shiver. His hand slid slowly around her neck and he suddenly grabbed a handful of her hair roughly, forcing her to walk forward. He brought his face right up next to hers, looking at her seriously for a moment with his steely grey eyes. Then he smirked again, before throwing her hard on the bed. This made her squeal in terror

"Please, please don't do this!" she begged, hoping to tap in to some small bit of humanity in the man, but he ignored her plea, still smiling.

He undid the clasp at the neck of his cloak and threw it off quickly, revealing a dark grey jacket beneath, which he merely touched with his wand to instantly undo. Hermione was now so scared she could hardly breathe, where was Severus? She slid backwards on the bed, thinking that she could make a dash for the door, but she felt an icy grip on her ankle and looked up to see a salacious smile on Lucius's face. He pulled her back easily, leaning over her and beginning to climb on top. Hermione closed her eyes, still trying to push him off, but all the fight gone out of her. She prepared herseldf for the inevitable and only hoped it wouldn't last long.

Suddenly – BANG! The door to the office had been opened and crashed against the wall loudly

Hermione jumped in shock and Lucius hurriedly stood up when he saw the dark, forbidding form of Severus Snape in the doorway.

"What the hell are you doing in here!" Severus thundered, "you were supposed to meet me in the forbidden forest! I have been waiting for over an hour! Then I saw your footprints and tracked them here! Do you think I have nothing better to do, than stand around like an idiot!" He was so angry, that he hadn't properly taken in the scene before him. Hermione was so relieved at his appearance she felt faint, her head span and she managed to croak "Severus!" as she shakily tried to sit up.

The Professor looked at her for a moment, his brows knitted, then he looked at Lucius and took in his state of partial undress. Realisation clicked in his brain and his rage increased

"Lucius! You piece of filth! Up to your old tricks again I see! Well this ones not for you, not this time!" Severus growled, as he advanced on Lucius, his wand held out in front of him threateningly.

"Oh, come now Severus! I was only having a bit of fun with the girl! Why do you care so much anyway! She's only a mudblood bitch! One swipe of my wand and a little memory charm later, the whole thing will be like a dream that she can hardly remember!" Lucius said, in a placatory fashion

"Not her Lucius!" Severus warned, his narrowed, black eyes glittering dangerously.

"What! Are you saying that you actually care for this slip of a girl that dares to call herself a witch! You've gone soft Severus! I've had my suspicions about you for a while, but I kept telling myself, no, not Severus, he's as faithful as they come! But now I'm not so sure!" Lucius accused, suspiciously

Severus had blanched slightly at this accusation and he straightened up, lowering his wand, "I am still faithful, but you must remember that I need to keep my cover here, if I don't I will get thrown out and then I will not be able to watch the Potter boy!" Severus retorted, "Any sort of spell casting of that nature in this place, will catch the attention of the headmaster, even one of your supposedly undetectable charms, you know how powerful he is!"

"Maybe you are right" Lucius replied sounding slightly dejected. To Hermione's great relief he seemed to have accepted defeat and began to do up his jacket and picked up his long cloak draping it over his arm.

"Come into my office, we will have our meeting in there, though it will have to be quick as the hour is now late" Severus said, his voice now back to it's normal velvety, self-possessed tone.

Lucius, looked at Hermione as he went to follow severus and hissed, "One day soon you won't be in the safe confines of this castle mud-blood and Severus won't be there to save you.."

Hermione backed up the bed a little more at this suggestion, she knew exactly what he meant, that he'd get her one day. She sincerely hoped that 'one day' never came. As Lucius disappeared into the office, so did the doorway, leaving her alone.

Her mind was racing, she knew Severus worked for the order as a spy, but could he be a double agent? She knew he had just saved her from Lucius, but was it to protect her or himself and his old deatheater friend? She had no idea, but she was damn well going to confront him about it when she saw him. She was angry and upset, but also tired, so she snuggled up under the covers, staring out at the wall, but not seeing anything lost in her thoughts.

She awoke when she felt someone climb into bed beside her, in her sleepy state, she jumped up in alarm.

"It is only me," said a familiar and comforting voice

Hermione slid back down again allowing him to snuggle into her back and drape his arm around her waist. Tears sprang to her eyes again as she remembered what a near miss she had had, with Lucius.

She felt his strong arms turn her over, so that she was flat on her back, the outline of his face just visible in the dim candlelight.

"Don't worry, I would never have let him touch you. He'll never get a chance like that again I assure you" He whispered breathily in her ear, making her shiver slightly. Reaching up a hand, he wiped away the tears from her cheeks with a touch so soft and gentle, it made Hermione sigh audibly and close her eyes. He kissed her eyelids, while holding her head in his hands, his breath blowing out softly on her forehead. Hermione, despite her earlier experience began to respond to his touch, she wanted to be close to him, to gain comfort from his proximity. She had many questions to ask him, but at this moment, she didn't care where his loyalties lay, she just wanted him to hold her. He seemed to understand this and stopped kissing, lying back down beside her, allowing her to slide her back against him and placing his arm around her waist once more. They lay there for some time before Hermione found the courage to ask a question that had been burning in her throat

"Severus?" she whispered biting her lip

"Yes?" came his sleepy reply

"Do you love me?" she screwed up her eyes, hardly able to bear waiting for the answer. She knew now, how she felt, she had fallen in love with the snarky potions professor, she hadn't known quite how it had happened, or when, she only knew that she did. Her heart began to thump in her chest and her tummy jangled with nerves as she waited, but the answer did not come. All she heard was low breathing, indicating that he must be asleep. Hermione was bereft, was he really asleep or just avoiding the question? She felt sulky and began to pull away from him, but as she did, his arms tightened around her preventing her from moving. She gave in and lay back down again. His head nuzzled into her neck, as she did so, an audible sigh of contentment coming from his throat.

Hermione thought that must have been his way of answering her question, she smiled to herself before falling into a deep and happy sleep, feeling safe and secure in his arms.


	15. Found out!

I just want to thank all my wonderful reviewers, seeing your mail in my inbox really brightens my day and makes me want to continue writing! I especially want to thank- **Mystic dark raven, Nubia, Coldqueen, Charmed piper and ThouandI** who have given me a review in nearly every chapter. To everyone else who reads this story – please review, even if you just say something short, like P.A.M.S!

Hermione awoke feeling as tired as before she had gone to sleep. She ordered the lights to brighten and after untangling herself from Severus's arm, sat up. At least her headache had gone, but she still felt ill and after feeling her tummy burning for a while, realised she was just hungry.

Reluctantly, she got out of bed and looked at the time on the watch she had left on a side table, it was 6 o'clock in the morning. She decided that the best course of action would be to get dressed and leave as soon as possible, before anyone else was up. Once she was past the Slytherin common room she was home free. She'd probably get a few knowing looks, but she didn't care as long as no one saw her leave _Professor Snapes_ office.

Getting dressed back into her now rather crumpled uniform, she thought about last night and how Severus had reacted. He _had_ been very angry with Lucius _and_ protected her against him, but was that out of love or just fear of being found out? If it wasn't love, she did not want to carry on playing this dangerous game. The fact that he had chosen not to answer her question made her doubt his feelings, she wasn't going to take any more risks if he didn't want to commit himself and just saw what they were doing as a bit of fun.

She felt sure she loved _him_, or was it just the excitement, the danger or the fact that he was forbidden fruit, that was making her tummy flutter when he was near? Looking round and seeing him lying there still sleeping, she thought how different he looked. When his face wasn't in a scowl or snarling, it was almost angelic, dark almost black hair framed his face, long lashes brushed against his cheeks and his slightly open mouth looked soft and inviting as he breathed quietly.

Hermione tentatively reached out a hand to brush some of the hair away from his face, brushing it back behind his ear. It was then that she noticed a jagged red line, running down his neck to his shoulder and wondered how he could have got such a scar, stroking it gently. Severus stirred at this touch and his eyes slowly fluttered open

"Morning!" Hermione said gently, smiling.

He groaned and sighed, rolling on to his back.

"I warn you, I'm not a morning person, so don't speak to me unless it's absolutely necessary" he growled, sitting up. Just then the sound of an alarm went off, resounding around the room. The alarm was made by a simple spell, cast by all but the most inept wizards to help them wake up in the morning.

"Silence!" Severus shouted and the room became quiet once more. He stretched, got up and walked over to the bathroom sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

Hermione watched fascinated, as his naked form crossed the room. She looked at his firm chest, with it's sprinkling of dark hair, his belly, which was very flat for a man of his age and then her eyes dropped lower. She still couldn't believe how well hung he was, if she told anyone they would never believe her, it was really large!

_I'd better get a move on_, Hermione suddenly thought, as he entered the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind him, snapping her out of her reverie. Suddenly the door opened again and he talked through the gap

"Your wand is in my office by the way, I retrieved it for you. Lucius told me he had just used a temporary vanishing spell on it and I reversed it." she heard him say, then the door closed again.

Hermione was a bit angry at finding this out, _so, it was there all the time was it? Well he had me fooled, I'd like to have seen him try what he did if I had managed to get hold of my wand!_

Once dressed, Hermione gathered her things together and after saying goodbye through the bathroom door, walked, rather sadly out of Severus's bedroom. She picked her wand up off the desk where he said it would be, opened the office door carefully and sneaked out into the corridor, closing it quietly behind her. It felt strange to be out at this time in the morning and she sincerely hoped that she didn't run into anyone, not least because of where she was but she knew she must look rather a mess.

By the time she reached her dorm room it was nearly half past six, Ginny would be getting up in half an hour's time. Maybe she could just jump in the shower, convincing her friend that she had just got in very late and had come in so quietly that she hadn't woken her. If Ginny knew she had been out all night, Hermione would be grilled with twenty questions about where she had been and who with. She didn't feel up to doing that much lying.

It was getting light, even through the closed curtains, which was lucky, as it meant Hermione could see were she was going. After uttering a silencing spell on her feet, she crept across to the bathroom, closed the door quietly. Switching on the shower, she undressed, shoving her uniform in the laundry hamper.

The shower helped wake her up, feel more alert and ready for a day of school. When she got out she wrapped a towel around her self and stood in front of the mirror to comb her hair. She stood there for some time, thinking and staring at her reflection, asking herself how she felt and if she wanted to carry on her affair with the potions professor. She heard the alarm go off and after a while the door opened, revealing a yawning Ginny, making Hermione jump slightly. She looked round briefly, then carried on combing.

"So you're back are you?" Ginny asked, her tone strangely stiff, she never normally spoke to Hermione like that.

"Look I'm sorry I missed you at dinner and didn't tell you were I was, but Sev..Professor Snape made me make my potion again, then I realised I hadn't got all the books I needed for a homework essay, then I met up with Gavin and well...I just forgot the time!" Hermione answered, hoping this sounded plausable

"Hmm, right! Nice story, well I've got one to tell you! When you didn't turn up last night, the boys were really worried, so I had to tell them something, I told them about that Godrick you mentioned, they definitely weren't impressed by that! But I told Ron he had to move on and let you live your own life, as you and he were no longer an item. There was only one little problem though.." Ginny said, leaning against the wall next to Hermione, her arms folded. "Ron and me went to wizard chess club last night and guess who Ron played against?"

Hermione had a sudden sinking feeling in her belly, her heart began to pound and she licked her lips nervously, but tried to sound nonchalant, "Who?" she asked, rubbing moisturiser onto her face

"Gavin Godrick! As if you didn't know!" Ginny said incredulously, "well you can imagine the strange looks we kept giving him, the poor guy was really perplexed! When the match was over; Ron beat him of course, we took him aside. Harry and Ron kept looking at me, then him and asked him if he knew where you were, he didn't know what they were talking about. There's me going red and feeling like a right fool, with those two giving me twenty questions, questions I didn't have an answer for! In the end I just told them the truth, that I didn't really know who you were seeing, I'd just got the name off the top of my head. They weren't very happy, but they had to accept that they didn't know everything about you anymore. I wasn't very happy either, being made to look like an idiot."

Hermione looked down guiltily, she felt like crying and confessing everything, but she just couldn't bring herself to

"I'm sorry Ginny, I don't know what to say. Thankyou for trying to cover for me" Hermione said weakly

"That's not all..." Ginny said looking up, her head on one side and her eyebrows raised. "I was leaving the classroom were we have the chess club and there was a load of Slytherin's standing by the door sniggering about something and I overheard what they were saying as I walked past." She looked down again now and began playing with the tie on her dressing gown, "they were saying they'd seen 'Potter's mudblood bitch' as they so enchantingly called you, going into Professor Snapes office that night. They were making suggestive remarks, like saying you must be in trouble and he'd give you what for" she bit her lip thoughtfully for a while before carrying on. Hermione just stood there staring at her reflection, leaning on the sink under the mirror.

"Luckily Harry and Ron didn't hear, as they'd gone on ahead. When I got back into the common room I had a sudden thought, The Maruaders map! What if they looked at it, to see where you were? I had to get there first, so I caused a distraction; I started a silly argument with Ron and made as if I'd stormed off, but instead of going to our room I sneaked into theirs. I got the map out of Harry's trunk and brought it here, opened it and sure enough.. there you were, in Snape office! I was very confused at first, then I just shrugged it off, thinking that you'd just gone to talk to him about some homework or something. But I kept checking the map all night and it was still saying you were with him in his office at twelve o'clock. I hardly slept last night for worry, I had no idea what was going on, then something started to click in my mind; someone you wouldn't or couldn't talk about, a Slytherin, but I thought, no, I must be wrong, I had to be! I eventually managed to go to sleep, but I woke up at five this morning and you still weren't back!" Ginny's voice started to crack up and tears sprang from her eyes, running down her cheeks. She wiped them away with her sleeve. Hermione began to feel tears begin to flow from her own eyes and gripped the edge of the bowl tighter as she looked down, trying to hide her face with her long hair.

"I decided to take one last look at the Marauders Map, hoping against hope that I was wrong, but there you were...still there!" Ginny's tears were flowing unchecked now. "Why Hermione? Why him? Did he drug you or something? What the hell is going on with you?" she wailed looking at Hermione sorrowfully

Hermione stepped back and sat on the closed toilet seat. Tears ran down her face and she looked at her hands wondering what to say and how to explain how she felt. It was going to be difficult as she wasn't sure herself

"I..I don't know, we've just sort of begun this little affair thing. He...well, he's not what you think, he's quite amazing really. The persona he projects as a professor, that's not all there is to him, there's so much more. He's so.. interesting, so intelligent, he just.. amazes me! I suppose that's why I fell for him!" Hermione finished, hoping that Ginny would show her a bit of understanding

"Huh! I think you've gone completely and utterly off your head! You've been sniffing dodgy potions or something! Not only is he the person that has made your, Harry's, Ron's, mine and practically anyone else who isn't in Slytherin house, life a misery, he's old enough to be your father! How could you, with him!" Ginny ranted, holding her hands out in front of her. "Oh Merlin, it's a good job the boys don't know, I dread to think how they'll react! It's just so crazy, I can't get my head round it!" She continued

"I know it's crazy, but they always say that you have little or no control over where your heart falls. I know he is too old for me, but our minds have so much in common, I feel that for once I'm with someone who understands the world the same way I do. I think Snape the professor and Severus the man are different entirely. I mean, I can't say that I know that much about his past or anything like that but...when I'm with him it just feels right" Hermione explained, wiping her eyes

"Oh Hermione! I just don't know what to say, I mean he's...he's Snape! I just don't know what you see in him! Don't you worry about getting caught? What if Dumbledore found out! He'd have to sack him and that wouldn't be very good for the Order, would it?. What about Harry, how do you think he would feel? Or Ron for that matter!" Ginny was speaking more calmly now, but was still upset.

"Please keep this a secret Ginny...I'm begging you! Don't tell the boys!" Hermione looked at Ginny pleadingly

"Okay, seeing as you're my friend, I'll keep your secret, but I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it for!" Ginny replied grudgingly.

"Thankyou Ginny, I owe you one!"

"You owe me big time and don't forget it!" Ginny began to move forward then, turning the shower back on and undressing. She felt the water and satisfied, climbed in.

Hermione felt very worried, so far, the fact that no one had known about her and Severus, gave her the courage to keep on seeing him. Now that Ginny knew and with those Slytherin boys seeing her, she wasn't so sure she wanted to carry on now. What if more people found out? She didn't want to think about it. She knew the best thing to do now was to stop seeing him, but the thought of never lying in his arms again made her feel strangely empty inside.

Hermione walked into her room again and as she was dry, began to get dressed. Just as she was putting the finishing touches to her hair, (she put a lot more effort into it nowadays) Ginny walked in and sat on her bed. Combing her wet hair, she looked at Hermione thoughtfully.

"So, what's he like, you know ...in bed?" she asked, curiously, smirking a little

Hermione smiled at this question, _had Ginny accepted her and Severus or was she just going to make a sarcastic comment._

"He's wonderful, if you must know! He really knows what he's doing!" she replied a little embarrassed

"As opposed to Ron you mean!" Ginny said raising her eyebrows

"I would never say anything bad about Ron! He's lovely, but...I honestly don't think we've got that much in common." Hermione replied earnestly

"So...what's he like erm..naked? How big is he in the trouser department? Or does he turn off the lights, so you can't see?

"Ginny! I can't tell you that!" Hermione said in a shocked tone

"Oh! Go on! How else am I going to find out? Me and my friends are always trying to guess who's got the biggest out of the boys and the teachers!" Ginny said giggling

"_Trust you_! Well, you'll just have to carry on guessing!" Hermione replied, then she winced as she felt a pillow being thrown at the side of her head, which she threw straight back. They carried on doing this for a while until they noticed the time and decided they had better get a move on. They ran down to breakfast still giggling, but with Hemione still worrying what she was going to tell the boys.

(Sorry there was no sex in this chapter! But don't worry the next one is going to!)


	16. Hermione's dillema

Thanks for continuing to read and review my story, here are some answers to some of them:

**Snapes witch** – Oops! But even the best writers make boo-boo's sometimes! I will have to write down when she has her classes, so I don't get muddled up! But like most students of this age she has two sessions a week of this subject- I've said it's Monday and Friday afternoons

**GeekGoddess** – Hermione is normally quite a powerful witch, and can be quite bossy, but I don't think she is that confident inside. Someone like Professor Snape making moves on her could intimidate her and make her feel insecure. Especially with the fear of being found out!

**Jayne Elizabeth** – Thankyou for your wonderful review! I don't need a beta, I personally like to do my story myself, as I like to have complete creative control, but thanks anyway!

**Nubia** - oops, again! I will really have to watch my continuity, but I imagine that Harry would have found a way to get the map back anyway, probably by breaking in to Snapes office to get it!

By the way P.a.m.s. means Please add more soon! It's something a lot of people use on forum based fanfics.

Hermione was sitting on the window seat in her room, looking out onto the grounds. It was a warm, sunny Saturday morning and typical of Hermione, instead of being out there enjoying the weather, she had been doing her homework inside. She had taken Arithmancy, Ancient runes, Transfiguration, DADA, Astronomy and of course Potions in her sixth year and was now in the process of studying for the final exams. It was hard work even for a bright student like Hermione, as there was so much work to get through.

She had finished all but her arithmancy homework, for which she needed another book from the library. Right now though, she felt that she needed a break, to ease the headache that was now threatening to break out around her strained eyes.

All the previous week she had avoided Severus, even in Potions on friday, telling herself this was for the best and the way it had to be. Every time he had come near her, she had not looked up from her work and he had passed her without comment. Even when she had taken her finished potion up to his desk, she had avoided eye contact and hurried off quickly. She couldn't help feeling a little disappointed though, when he had not even tried to get her alone to ask her why.

Hermione had a sense of longing and loss that she had never felt before, like a strong pull on her heart. She had made up her mind not to see him anymore, but didn't have the courage to tell him, in case he dismissed her or even worse convinced her otherwise.

The boys had questioned her about the night she had been missing of course, but she had smartly avoided telling them anything too revealing. With help from Ginny, she had told them that the boy that she'd really been seeing was now out of the picture and they had finished. They had seemed suspicious, but boys being boys their minds soon became occupied by other things more important to them, like quidditch or who was the latest centrefold in 'Witchbunny monthly'.

She had managed to convince Ginny that the night she had spent together with Severus had been a one off. She told her that he'd invited her to dine with him when she had missed dinner in The Great hall and they had both drank too much wine and one thing had led to another, also that previous to that, their relationship had been platonic. Of course she hadn't told her about the time Severus and her,had had sex in the library, when she was still supposed to be going out with Ron! She'd made out that they had only started their relationship after her and Ron had finished.

She pondered on the word 'relationship', was it? It certainly hadn't really felt like it. It felt more like an affair, a few snatched moments together and nothing more. He had revealed nothing of himself to her and she hadn't really revealed that much of her self to him. All that she was certain of was the sexual chemistry they had between them, which was very strong. That wasn't enough for her anymore, though, she wanted more and wanted to know more about him and not just for curiosity's sake. She wanted to know just how much in common they had, as she felt sure they were like minded in some ways. Even with the age gap the thought of being with him in a more conventional relationship excited her, even though she had tried not to think about it before. She wanted to forget him, but she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried and even though it had been only four days since spending the night with him, it had felt like forever.

She was alone today, having told Harry and Ron that she had far too much homework to do to go to Hogsmead, as usually they went together nearly every week since they had become 7th years. Ginny had met up with some friends from her own year and was probably there too.

She sighed deeply and stood up, it was no good, she couldn't hold out any longer, she _had_ to see him. She had to know for sure how he felt about her, so she knew what her next move should be. Hell! She didn't need all this extra worry at the moment, what with the exams looming and all the extra homework and revision they'd got to do. She needed to get her mind settled so she could concentrate, she'd been having nightmares lately about failing all her exams and she didn't need any more stress. Picking up her wand she walked over to the door.

She couldn't risk anyone seeing her going to Severus's office now though, at this time on a saturday, people would notice and think it unusual. No, she knew there was only one way that she could go and that was under Harry's invisibility cloak. She crept down the stairs that led to the girls dorms, turned then climbed the stairs to the boys. Once at the top and checking first to see if anyone was around, she darted down the corridor, to the room Harry and Ron shared.

The magical lock they had put on the door was no trouble for Hermione to get past, her being rather an expert on disarming locking charms. Once in there she went straight to Harry's trunk and again used her wand to perform an unlocking charm to open it. She rummaged for a while, grimacing at the mess of clean and unclean clothes, stuffed in there haphazardly, then she found it. It was right at the bottom, tucked under his Hogwarts a History book, which looked strangely new and unused to Hermiones eyes, like it had never been opened.

Wrapping the cloak around herself, she made her way down to the Slytherin dungeons, being careful not to brush up against anyone and to keep her feet covered.

She reached Severus's office and stood in front of it, feeling like her belly was in a vice, her nerves were so bad. Not knowing if she had the courage to go through with this. She raised her hand three times before having the courage to knock and even then it was very quietly, she was so worried that someone might hear. Looking around and seeing no one she went to knock again, louder this time, but before she could the door suddenly opened. Hermione jumped back, putting a hand over her mouth to stifle a cry of surprise.

Severus stood there looking around for a moment, then with a very unnerving stare, concentrated on the spot where she was standing. He narrowed his eyes for a moment as if thinking then his face broke into a smile

"Are you going to come in or just stand in the corridor all day?" he asked, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

Hermione didn't need asking twice, she ran into his office quickly. She heard the door click behind her as she took off the cloak, putting it on top of his desk. It was then that she had the sudden realisation, that coming here in Harry's cloak was not such a good idea, what if Severus confiscated it! That would put Harry at a severe disadvantage.

"So, he does have a cloak then? I always knew he had, even though Dumbledore would never, confirm or deny it to me. I would love to study its properties, maybe even recreate it as a potion perhaps.." Severus went on, his mind obviously racing with the possibilities.

Hermione stood closer to him, holding her hand up, before he could reach out for the cloak

"Look, I didn't come here to show you the cloak. I came here to talk about..well..us" Hermione said, she had begun to lose her confidence now, as he gave her one of his derisive looks. A look, that could reduce most first years to tears, but now made her feel very small and rather silly.

"I see..." Severus said, starting to move closer to her. Hermione moved back purposely, not wanting to let him get the better of her just yet, not until she had said her piece. He stopped moving and looked at her, amusedly, his head slightly on one side.

Hermione looked back at him and her tummy started to tingle with appreciation as she took in his appearance. He had taken off his cloak and jacket and was only wearing his white shirt and his usual black trousers. Something about him when he was just in his white shirt did something for Hermione, especially when he wore it open at the neck revealing a tempting triangle of dark chest hair.

She managed to tear her eyes away and took a deep breath, before asking,

"How do feel about me Severus? I really need to know; In fact I really can't take not knowing any more. I've never felt so out of control, I feel like everything I thought I knew about myself, has well ...I don't know, been completely wrong, I didn't know that I could act like that! Not with a teacher anyway!" she ranted, looking alternately from him to her feet, which she was shifting around nervously. Then staying looking at he feet, she said"I certainly didn't know that _you_ could act like that either, you certainly are a dark horse, in more ways than one!" she couldn't help but snigger a little at her last remark

There was the faintest hint of smile from Severus and a brief raise of eyebrows, before his face fell into a more serious expression, as he got ready to speak

"Well, as we get older we discover the world does not work the way we thought when we were young. We learn that there is no black and white right or wrong, that there are many, many shades of grey in-between" he said, walking over to stand in front of her. He picked up a strand of her hair and stared at it for a moment, before letting it drop. Hermione thought he was probably trying to distract her, but she wasn't going to let it drop, not yet.

"But..but, you still haven't answered my question - how do you feel about me?" Hermione asked, more demandingly this time, frustrated, looking into his dark eyes searchingly.

"Ahh, the killer question! I suppose you want me to tell you that I am madly in love with you, that I cannot live without you, that you invade my thoughts and bewitch my soul. I could tell you what you wanted to hear, but would that make you feel better? Do you expect me to make a definite commitment to a mere 18 year old? When girls of your age are notoriously fickle! After all, you came here to tell me you that you want to stop seeing me, didn't you? I knew you had gone cold on me, or at least tried to show me you had, when you ignored me in Potions yesterday" Severus answered, walking back over to his desk and sitting against it, gripping the edge for support.

Hermione felt bereft at this statement, but hoped that he didn't really mean it..

"I just want to know the truth about how you feel, good or bad!" Hermione said desperately, "Yes I did want to tell I didn't want to see you anymore! I mean I can't carry on like this much longer...it's so..wrong, us being together isn't it? We could hurt a lot of people or even worse get you thrown out of your job! So I've been trying to forget about you, to not see you as anything but a teacher anymore." Hermione said hanging her head, trying not to cry.

"If you really feel like that then why don't you go?" he snapped, "why did you even come here in the first place?"

This hit Hermione like a slap in the face, _why did he always have to make her feel so intimidated?_ She thought to herself, Ron had never made her feel like this, if anything she had been the one in control in that relationship. She had not been afraid of him before, but since being with Severus as a lover, she never really knew, what to do or say for the best.

"I..I.." she began, as tears sprang from her eyes, which she quickly wiped away. Why is he being so frustratingly non-committal? Why wouldn't he answer her question? She decided to try a different tack she took a deep breath and tried to steady her nerves, she was determined not to let him get the better of her.

"What was Lucius doing here the other night, by the way? And what did you say to him after he attacked me?" she said, sounding much calmer and holding her head up in what she thought was a more defiant pose.

Severus made a derisive 'hrrmph' noise in his throat and smiled

"If you can't get in through one door you try another! Very clever! What goes on between Lucius and I is not for your ears. Suffice to say that He and I are both skilled legimens and you are not. If ever you were captured and any details of my double life were in your head, my life and that of many others would undoubtedly be in danger, as you would not be able to resist any one probing your mind. Though I don't doubt you have tried to learn occlumency, you would not be able to stop a skilled deatheater interrogator. My cover must remain intact, no one must suspect that I am anything other than a true pure bred Slytherin, with only a grudging alliance to Dumbledore. It is safer for you if you don't know." Severus said seriously, "He will certainly not get the chance to come near you like that again though. I have warned him off coming into the school, I told him that it is too risky and that he may be caught next time and in future we should meet in Hogsmead. I need to convince him that I am still a faithful deatheater and to keep that belief going, I could do or say no more, without raising his suspicions. I am only very glad that I came in when I did. Just a stupid mistake led to that situation; we had both waited at the right time only in different places, so he came looking for me, but found you instead. He will never change; he has always had a penchant for younger women and often doesn't have to try that hard to get them. Most women find him very attractive, don't you?" He was smiling slightly now at this last remark, as he knew her probable reaction.

"Ugh! No! He's horrible! He may be good looking but a shiny veneer does not hide the uglyness within. That man is pure evil; I don't think he has any conscience at all! I would never in a million years give myself willingly to him!" Hermione shuddered

"Then why do you give yourself to me? I was a deatheater once, for all you know I could be just as evil as him" severus asked, with a hint of sarcasm, raising his eyebrows questioningly

"You.. you're different from them. I know you have goodness deep inside of you. All that hatred and contempt you show to others, that's just bitterness, if you truly hated you would never have agreed to protect Harry the way you do. Yes, I know you'll deny it, but I know you have been protecting him ever since he started at this school. You know how important he is, how his survival is vitally important to us all" She was starting to weaken again, no matter how much she denied it, she still felt very strongly that she wanted to be with him.

"I am not different, underneath I am still the same. I know I have sworn to protect Harry, but that does not change who I am and what I have done" he explained, sounding a little self-depreciating, knitting his brow and looking away from her to the floor.

Hermione walked over to him, reached her hand up to his cheek and rested it there softly, pulling his head up so she was looking straight into his eyes.

"But you are different, at least my heart tells me so. You are a revelation; you burst into my life just when I thought my future had been set, that I knew exactly where I was going and who I was. You blew all that out of the water and made me look at life differently. I never know where I am with you, one minute you were being deliberately cruel to me, the next, you were making love to me in a way that showed a side of you I didn't think existed!" She looked down then, before saying "You're quite the lover Severus snape, I know I_'_ve had only a little experience, but I know good sex when I have it and wow, is it good!" Hermione said, looking up again, smiling and blushing a little

Severus grabbed her hand from his cheek and kissed it lightly, looking deep into her eyes. Then using his other hand, pushed the hair that had fallen over her face, back over her shoulder. He then slid this hand around the back of her neck, immediately making her wince as it triggered the memory of when Lucius had done it. Seeing her reaction, he immediately removed his hand and instead cupped her face, looking at her intently, with his beetle black eyes. She felt lost in those dark pools, marveling at their almost complete blackness, his iris's only one shade lighter than his pupil's. 

"Shall we go and finish this conversation... in there?" He motioned with his head, indicating his hidden bedroom

"Yes!" Hermione said gladly, nodding, at last giving in to the intense feelings that had been building within her and still holding her hand, he led her over to the potion shelves that hid the doorway.


	17. I want you!

They walked in to his bedroom and Hermione felt as nervous, as if it was her first time with him. She knew that it was because this time was different, he had revealed a little more about himself, but not so much in words, more in manner. Maybe like her, he was confused, but felt unable to voice this confusion for fear of looking weak. She hoped it wasn't just that he wanted to spare her from the fact that she was maybe only a passing fancy to him. She decided to just go with her own gut feeling, which told her that he did feel something for her, she just didn't know what.

Hermiones belly lurched, as he reached out to pull her close to him, putting his hands either side of her head. He stroked her hair back then held her face up, to hold her gaze with his.

"You are an enigma Hermione Granger! You have such a strong effect on me, making me act like a hormonal teenage boy on heat! Before that time in the library when we kissed, you were just another student, I _had_ noticed you had grown up lately, but like any teacher would, I closed off my mind to improper thoughts about you. But once I knew you were attracted to me, then that put things in a whole new light. You were offering me something I never thought I could have and my desire began to intensify. I knew that I had to have you and I didn't want to stop until I did. Luckily for me, you were quite willing to sate my appetite. I thank you for that." He said, then studied her face silently for a moment. "You are so beautiful, but that is not the only thing that attracts me to you, it is also your extraordinary mind and abilities that make you irresistible to me. I no longer care whether it is wrong or right Hermione, I want you!"

He leaned forward and kissed her fiercely and passionately, pushing his tongue into her mouth. The force of the kiss surprised Hermione but her own desires were now running high and she returned his kiss with just as much fervour. She slid her hands around the back of his neck, grabbing at his long black hair. They moved back towards the bed and climbed onto it still kissing. Severus began to undo Hermione's shirt and once undone, almost ripped it in his rush to get it down her arms.

"Oh, I've wanted you so much, but I could do nothing, I had to wait until you decided to come to me. When you ignored me in my lesson yesterday I was shocked at how hurt I felt, I thought that it was all over and I would have to do without you again. But now...here you are," he said, then began kissing her again, using his lips and tongue to softly caress the sensitive skin on her face and neck. Hermione moaned with pleasure from his delicate touch, the tingling sensation it caused, making her gasp. He kissed across her shoulders and sliding off each of her bra straps in turn, pulled the whole bra down to her waist, revealing her breasts. Once they were exposed he devoured them with his mouth, sucking her nipples, making them to harden and using his hands to knead gently. Hermione marveled at his ability to know when to be rough and when to be gentle alternately, at just the right amount, arousing her still further.

As he worked his way back up to her face again, she reached underneath him to undo the buttons on his shirt and with his co-operation, pulled it off. She shivered appreciatively as she slid her hands over his naked chest and back and sighed loudly when at last he lowered his body down gently against hers. They kissed for a while longer, then Severus reached behind her back, to unfasten her bra, pulling it off and throwing it to the floor. Hermione reveled in the wonderful feeling of having her bare breasts against his chest, noticing how the hairs tickled her slightly, the warmth deliciously comforting.

His lips left hers to trail down her body, kissing as he went. Once he reached the top of her jeans, he lifted the front up just enough to stick his tongue underneath, making her gasp and wriggle. He knew how ticklish Hermione was around that area and smiled up at her, when seeing her reaction. Hermione undid them obligingly and Severus, leaning up, slid them off. His hands traveled all over her body then, stroking and kneading her smooth skin with his fingers, all the while moaning ecstatically. He leant up and undid his trousers, pulling them down to reveal the tumescent erection through his boxers, which he also took off. He stood up to let the trousers and boxers fall to his ankles, then looked down smiling at Hermione, who smiled back, as he kicked off his shoes. Bending forward and grasping both sides of her sheer, pink g-string, he pulled them off, lifting her legs involuntarily in the air. He leaned over her once more, slipping his swollen member between her legs to rub against her sensitive bud. Hermione moaned in ecstasy and anticipation, with the sensations he induced with this action. He moved a little lower with each down-stroke, then at last she felt him pushing inside of her, tentatively at first, to allow her to open up. He stopped kissing her then, leaning up to concentrate on what he was doing and started to thrust his hips against hers. She gasped as she felt him inside her, making her whole body tingle with exultation.

"Am I hurting you?" He asked almost in a whisper, stopping for a moment

"No...please...carry on" Hermione panted back, encouragingly

He continued thrusting, then leant over to kiss her neck, just below her ear. This sent a shiver all down her body, making goose-bumps appear momentarily. Hermione felt the kiss on her neck become rougher, more like a bite, it hurt a little but it only seemed to heighten the pleasure she was already feeling. He stopped and moving down her neck he began to suck and bite again, all the time thrusting, harder and faster.

Hermione was getting lost in the ecstasy of the pleasure he was inducing in her, when he suddenly stopped. He pushed hard against her pubic bone, and she felt him throb inside of her, as his fluids released and moaning deeply with satisfaction, he rolled off to the side

"I am sorry, I could hold it no longer, but don't worry, I'll make sure you have one too" he said, a little out of breath. By now Hermione was completely relaxed and was still moaning softly, offering no objection as he pushed her knees up and out to the sides.

His hair felt wonderfully soft brushing against the skin on her inner thighs, as he worked his way down with kisses, until he reached his final destination. Parting her legs even further apart he began to flick his tongue over her bud, making her moan even louder.

After a while, Hermione felt the familiar burning, squeezing (but extremely pleasurable) sensation in the pit of her belly, telling her an orgasm was imminent. She squeezed her pelvic muscles to enhance this feeling, pushing her hips up towards Severus's gently lapping tongue. Then she felt it, starting off as a vice like sensation, then exploding out as tingles to first her thighs, then the rest of her body. She cried out loudly, not caring at that moment if anyone could hear outside of the room.

She lay still, her eyes closed, just enjoying the buzz from her intense orgasm.

Hermione felt the bed sink slightly as her lover lay down beside her and she turned on her side to snuggle up against him, reaching her arm out around him, resting her hand flat against his chest. Severus reached his arm around the back of her neck and grasped her shoulder lightly. They lay there in silence; each lost in their own thoughts.

Right now Hermione couldn't have cared less about her previous decision to break it off with him, in fact she didn't want to worry about anything right now, she just wanted to lie there with him and pretend that, just for a while, the outside world didn't exist.


	18. Oh, oh!

Hermione awoke with the groggy-headed feeling that only seems to come from falling asleep in the day. There was a pounding noise, which at first she thought was in her head, then when it got louder, she realised, it was someone knocking the office door. The knocking stopped and was replaced by a voice, a voice that Hermione knew very well. She was frozen to the spot with fear and her heart began to race. The sudden realisation that she really shouldn't be there and that if she was caught, the consequences could be bad, made her panic.

She jumped up out of bed quickly, grabbing the sheet that Severus must have pulled over while she slept, panting and shaking like a leaf. Looking for somewhere to hide, she remembered the bathroom, ran towards it and put her hand on the spot on the wall that opened the door; but the door refused to open. Her belly felt like it was sinking to the floor and she started to feel dizzy. What the hell was she going to do? She decided to wake Severus and turned round, but he had already woken and had jumped out of bed. He put his fingers to his lips as the voice rang out again

"Severus...Severus? Are you there? You did not come to our meeting; it is most unlike you to forget. I have been calling you through the floo network to your fireplace and also got no reply. Severus, I know that you're in there...are you sulking again? Oh, this is ridiculous! I'm coming in!" the voice shouted through the door

They heard the door being blasted at with a wand, making a slight fizzing sound, then being opened.

Hermione looked at Severus desperately; he was busily trying to get dressed, but indicated the bathroom with his head.

Hermione put her hands out and shook her head to indicate that she could not get in and as soon as he saw these gestures he rushed over to open the door. The doorway appeared just as they heard Albus Dumbledore walking through the office towards the bedroom. Then Hermione saw her clothes being shoved through the doorway, while she stood behind the wall.

Severus..have you been sleeping, on a Saturday afternoon?" he asked, as he rounded the corner from the office to the still open doorway. Hermione had got into the bathroom just in time and heard his voice again as he entered the bedroom.

"Ahh...there you are! Did you fall asleep? It is not like you to forget an appointment!" he asked

"Yes, I stayed up late last night and I was tired, so I thought it would do me no harm to rest for a while, I apologise for keeping you waiting" Severus responded quickly

"No matter, but I did wonder where you were. Then I consulted my clock (like the one at the burrow) and it told me you were down here, so I thought I'd better come and see if anything was wrong" Albus said, in his usual friendly manner

Hermione heard the bed squeak as Severus sat down on it, presumably to put on his shoes, then silence for a while.

"Severus...is there something you'd like to tell me?" Dumbledore said in a voice that sounded half-amused and half-curious.

_What was going on?_ Hermione's heart began pounding again and she thought, _did he know?_

"I...I don't know how that got there.."

Hermione had never heard her normally unflappable potions master, sound so nervous. Her heart sank, Severus must have left an item of her clothing behind by mistake and Dumbledore must have seen it.

"Well, it can't be yours, as I doubt that you would fit into it. It looks very modern, the sort of thing that might belong to a young lady..." there an audible gasp, as realisation hit, "Oh, Severus..you haven't, have you?" Dumbledore said in a worried tone

Severus didn't answer.

Tears sprang to Hermiones eyes and she leant back against the wall she had been hiding behind, looking up in resignation.

"You might as well come out now, whoever you are! The game is up!" Dumbledore called out, "I thought I felt the presence of another person when I came in, but I dismissed it at first, thinking it so unlikely" he continued

Taking a deep breath, Hermione emerged from the bathroom, the sheet wrapped tightly around her. She couldn't look at him, not wanting to see the look in the kindly headmaster's eyes, when he saw her.

There was an incredulous gasp as Dumbledore took in the sight of who was actually standing before him.

"Hermione?...You?..By Merlin!..I am totally at a loss of what to say!"

Hermione padded over to the bed and sat on it, her legs feeling shaky, still looking down.

She felt Severus sitting beside her, sighing heavily.

"Well, you two! I think an explanation is needed!" Dumbledore sounded unusually stern

"There is no excuse Albus, I...I gave in to my basest carnal desires, I let my emotions get the better of me. I will accept whatever you decide to do about it" Severus said, stiffly, sounding like a man resigned to his fate

"Severus..I would never have believed it of you...you are always so stoical! And as for you young lady! What have you got to say for yourself?"

Hermione bent her head even lower as she spoke

"I...I'm sorry! I know what we've done is against the school rules, but you're not going to sack Severus are you?" she sobbed, looking hopefully up at her headmaster.

"At the moment, I don't know what I am going to do. I would hate to lose a highly valued member of staff and as you know Hermione, a vitally important member of the order! If this got out it would do terrible damage to both the school and our efforts against Voldemort.

He looked down and pursed his lips as if thinking

"Is this the first time you have...erm?" he indicated the bed

"Yes, headmaster, the first and only time" Severus lied, his eyes only briefly flicking up at the headmaster

Hermione was shocked at how quickly and easily he had lied to Dumbledore. Could he lie that quickly and easily about or to anyone else, Hermione decided he probably could, after all he had been a deatheater.

"Well, in that case, I think we can overlook this as a one off mistake. Were you discreet Hermione, in coming here?" Dumbledore said, sounding calmer

"Yes, I came in Harry's cloak" Hermione assured him

"Hermione, I would like to speak to you alone for a moment, come into the office if you would" he asked briskly.

Hermione followed him out of the bedroom, wondering what he wanted. He bent down and spoke quietly, once they were out of Severus's earshot.

"Hermione, I need to ask" he paused, then carried on, "Was there any coercion on Professor Snapes part at all? Do not be afraid to tell me, it is alright," Dumbledore said kindly putting his hand on her lower arm and squeezing softly for a second

Hermione felt the immediate need to reassure him,

"No, no. No he didn't force me if that's what you're thinking, I wanted to do it as much as he did...we both wanted to" she answered, smiling at him, then looking down again, blushing a little ashamedly.

"That is a relief, but I am very disappointed with both of you. The fact that neither of you both highly intelligent individuals, thought about the consequences of your actions." He looked away then and walked back into the bedroom, where severus was now standing, his hands behind his back.

"Well severus, I do not know what led to this little episode, I do not wish to, I'm only glad I found out like this and not second hand after it had spread around the school!" Dumbledore spoke sternly

"However, I am not a man to judge others just for giving in to their emotions. Do you love each other?" he asked, looking from Hermione to Severus in turn

Hermione's heart leapt, perhaps her lover would at last, now, admit his true feelings for her. She spoke first however, as an encouragement.

"Yes Dumbledore, I do, I don't know quite when it happened, but I know now that I have fallen in love, I've never felt like this before, not with anyone" Hermione answered, all the time looking at Severus, who wouldn't look back. He kept avoiding her eyes.

"And you Severus?" dumbledore asked expectantly, "do you love Hermione?"

Hermione held her breath as she waited for him to speak. He looked at her briefly, then looked directly at Dumbledore.

"How I feel is of no consequence, the fact remains that I have committed an illegal act. I will understand completely if you would like me to leave, I will offer up no objection" Severus said, in his best potion masters voice.

Hermione's heart sank and she bowed her head low. Any hope she had of him admitting his feelings was slipping away. If he really felt love for her, wouldn't he want Dumbledore to know? After all it would at least give a good enough reason for what they did.

"Well Severus, under normal circumstances and if it had been maybe any other teacher, I may have considered dismissal, but...these are not normal circumstances and you are not just any teacher. I doubt very much that we could replace you easily and your presence here is essential as part of your work with the order. So, no I will not dismiss you, but I think some time away might do you both good." Dumbledore considered, then he asked, "the mission you are planning, could you start it early?" looking at Severus, questioningly

"Yes, I will have to make some arrangements, but I think it will be possible" answered the now stern faced Severus

"Hermione suddenly felt very uncomfortable dressed only in a sheet.

"Excuse me but I think I will go and get dressed" she said miserably, retrieving her bra off the bed. Then as she reached the doorway to the bathroom, she turned and asked, "Dumbledore, how long will he be going away for?"

"A few weeks I think, he is going on a reconnaissance mission to somewhere abroad, he needs to be completely cut off too, so no owls must be sent! His cover must stay intact at all times!" Dumbledore said looking at Hermione, over his glasses

Hermione merely nodded, she felt wretched, not only had the man she loved, practically dismissed her as meaning little to him, he was also going away. She got dressed, listening to them talk about sketchy details of the mission revealing little of anything use that Hermione could pass on to Harry. Then she heard the headmaster call out that he was leaving.

"I will go now and leave you two to alone, I expect you will have much to talk about" then he walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Hermione walked into the room, wiping the tears from her eyes. Severus was sitting on the bed, staring at the floor. She went over to him and laid her hand gently on his shoulder, holding it there for a few seconds. Then, on seeing no objection otherwise she slid her arm around his back and sat down next to him, leaning her head against his arm. They both sat there in silence for a while before Severus spoke

"I think our game is over Hermione, fate was always against us from the start, we gambled with it and lost. Now we must face the consequences of our actions, as Dumbledore said, like I have had to do many times before in my life" he said resolutely

"Please don't say that! We could still carry on in secret! I could be more discreet than ever before, this time no one would..." but Severus cut Hermione off before she could finish

"No, you must accept it. I think you had better go back to your friends where you belong. I would also very much appreciate you telling no one of our encounters, if you could" his tone was cold, but he still wouldn't look at her.

Hermione felt that something wonderful was slipping through her fingers, she desperately did not want that to happen

Kneeling in front of him, she held his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.

"Just tell me you feel nothing for me and I will go now and never look back" she said hoping to call his bluff, desperately hoping that it would work.

He looked at her, his expression changing from sad to his usual cold, stoical one. But he still looked away as he spoke.

"Truthfully, I feel nothing for you. I enjoyed toying with you, you were an enjoyable diversion, a pleasant change from all the usual drones in this place, that is all. Now go and forget about me"

"I don't believe you! I know you feel for me! There's no way you could make love to me like that if I was just a plaything to you, you're just too afraid to admit how you feel that's all!" hermione almost screamed

Severus stood up then, holding on to her arm, taking her with him. He looked angry and gripping her arm even tighter, walked through the bedroom, right up to the door of the office

Before he opened it he looked at her and spoke, a familiar snarl curling his lip

"Silly, naïve girl! You know nothing of what I feel or what I am afraid of! Why can't you accept that it is over!" he ranted going to open the door, presumably to throw her out. But Hermione was too quick, just like she had all those weeks ago in the library, she reached up and kissed him. At first he was unresponsive, then gradually and much to her relief, she felt his arms slide slowly around her waist and his lips move along with hers. The kiss began to get more passionate, almost desperate, then suddenly Severus broke it off, pushing Hermione away at arms length. He looked down, then up again, all the previous anger gone

"This changes nothing Hermione, we still have to end this now, you understand that don't you?"

Hermione merely nodded, tears welling in her eyes again. She opened the door, but just as she was leaving she said

"What about when I leave school, would you consider us again? After all, there'll be nothing to stop us then"

"Hmmph! I think we will be far too busy this summer for such trivial things! Also after a break I doubt you will feel the way you do now. But I would have no objection, to you contacting me if you so wished" His tone was lighter now, giving Hermione a glimmer of hope, "now go, before your friends miss you and wonder where you are"

Hermione left then, not turning around as she heard the door click shut behind her. It took all of her strength and resolve not to go back and hammer on the door, begging him not to leave, but she walked on, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other and not looking up until she reached the Gryffendor common room. Then taking a deep breath to compose herself, she uttered the password and entered. As soon as she got through the portrait hole, she saw Harry, Ginny, Ron and several others sitting around in a circle, some on chairs, some on the floor talking and laughing. On seeing her, they called her over and she joined them, putting a brave face on it and forcing her self to smile like nothing was wrong. Later she knew she would tell Ginny and probably cry her eyes out, but for now she would just pretend and try to hide her pain from people who would definitely not understand what she was going through and definitely not about who! "We have unfinished business you and I, Severus Snape!" she thought to herself, quoting what he had said to her once, "and I intend to finish it as soon as I get the chance, that's a promise"


	19. When Hermione told Harry

"Hermione you don't happen to know where my invisiblity cloak is, by any chance? I can't find it any where!" Harry said rather accusingly, walking up next to where Hermione and Ginny were sitting.

The two girls were on a blanket in the school grounds, which were bathed in glorious sunshine. Ginny had been comforting her distraught friend as she poured out her feelings, talking further about the events of the previous day. They had talked most of the previous night too, but Hermione was still feeling upset and confused.

Ginny gave him a look of reproach, before snapping at him

"No, we don't know where your stupid cloak is, maybe if you tidied your room up once in a while you wouldn't lose things!"

Hermioine's stomach tightened with guilt, she knew very well were it was; in Severus's office. With all that had happened, she had completely forgotten about it. _Oh no! I can't possibly tell him that I took it! He'd want to know why; he'd go absolutely mad if he knew who had it now! _She thought miserably

She bent her knees up and buried her face in them, trying to hide her tear stained face.

"What's up with her?" Harry asked, sitting down, looking at Ginny expectantly

"Oh..she's just upset because...because she thinks she's going to fail all her exams, that's all" Ginny answered quickly

Harry gave an unbelieving snort.

"Huh! If anyone was going to pass all their exams with flying colours, it would be Hermy, she's got more brains than the two of us put together!" Harry joked

"Huh! Speak for yourself!" Ginny threw back huffily

Hermione wasn't in the mood for listening to her friends bicker and she got up to go, wiping her eyes on some tissue Ginny had previously conjured up for her.

But Harry and Ginny became silent and watched her get up; Harry grabbed her arm gently. Hermione looked at him, trying to smile as if nothing was wrong, but failing miserably.

"What's really up Herm? You've been weird for ages, ever since you and Ron broke up, is there something going on that I should know about?" He looked at her, his green eyes burning into hers, making her look away.

Hermione swallowed, _should she confess all? Tell Harry what she'd been up to?_ After all Severus was going to be away for a while and Harry couldn't go and confront him yet. In some ways she wished he could, she was angry with Severus right now and wanted him to feel some of the pain that she was feeling. She bit her lip, unsure of what to do.

She looked at Ginny, who smiled weakly and shrugged, as if to say, "it's up to you."

Hermione made her decision. So with fear burning in her belly, her eyes closed and brow creased in concentration she began.

"Harry, you'd better sit down, you're not going to like what you are going to hear, but please listen before you judge, that's all I ask," she said, nervously.

They all sat back down on the blanket, Harry still not taking his eyes off Hermione. Ginny laid a comforting hand on Hermione's back and rubbed now and again.

Hermione's hands began to shake and she clasped them tightly in her lap in an attempt to steady them. She wondered if she was doing the right thing, she could make up something, but she really didn't want to tell anymore lies.

They all sat down on the blanket, with Harry looking at his friend expectantly.

"You know all those times I kept disappearing?" Hermione started, still looking down. "Well...I was..I was with someone, someone you don't really like very much.. that's why I didn't want to tell you" tears began flowing from Hermione's eyes again, but she wiped them away quickly

Harry looked concerned and said in a cautious voice,

"Who? Not...not...Malfoy!" his voice shook on saying that name

"No...no not him." Hermione closed her eyes tightly, she could hardly bring herself to say her true lover's name. "No, Pro..Professor Snape!" She immediately began crying again and Ginny squeezed her friends shoulder comfortingly. Hermione knew she had to look at Harry, even though she didn't really want to, but knew that she had to reassure him, before he went off on one.

Hermione turned around to see his face, but he wasn't angry, he was grinning.

"Ahh! Good one you two! Thought you were going to get me then didn't you! For a moment there I thought you were serious! What did you use on Hermione to make her cry like that? It was really good whatever it was!" Harry sniggered

But both girls did not smile back, making his grin falter slightly.

"Harry, it's not a joke! It's the truth, I've been seeing him for ages and what's worse, Dumbledore found us together! So now he's had to go away on some mission and I don't know when he'll be back!" Hermione said, blowing her nose on her now extremely waterlogged tissue. She immediately conjured up another one, making the old one disappear.

Harry's mouth dropped open for a while before he spoke

"You're... you're serious! No..no, Hermione you can't tell me that! You're telling me you've been seeing.. Professor Snape! No!" Harry started to edge back away from the girls

"It's true Harry!" Ginny affirmed to him, "She told me first, she was worried about how you boys would react"

"Are you telling me that, you've..you've done it with him? Please tell me you haven't had sex with that old bastard!" Harry's face was starting to redden with anger

Hermione merely nodded meekly.

"Please don't be too angry with her Harry, Professor Snape sort of seduced her...she didn't plan it, it sort of just.. well.. happened" Ginny said trying to defend her friend

Harry's face was now fully red, his eyes were even greener, if that were possible and his hands were balled into fists.

"Where..is..he?" Harry's voice was dangerously calm

"Oh, Harry you're not going to do anything stupid are you? Please, don't! It wasn't just him it was me as well! I wanted him, as much as he wanted me! Do you really think I would have let him touch me if I hadn't wanted him to? Remember what I did to that Sytheryin boy, when he tried it on with me?" Hermione asked, but then she shuddered as the memory of her close call with Lucius came back to her, a time when for once she hadn't defended herself too well.

"Yes, but he was just a boy. Snapes different, he's a lot more powerful and he can be very persuasive. I should know, I've had to put up with occlumency lessons from him for three years!" Harry retorted angrily, then he looked down for a while, silent. Suddenly he sprang to his feet, a determined expression on his face.

Hermione stood up with him, looking into his eyes pleadingly and holding on to his arm. He looked back, but his expression didn't change.

"Hermione, you know that I love you and that I always believe in you and what you tell me. Usually you always seem to know the right thing to say and do; you're always the one who keeps us on the straight and narrow. Now this! I just..." he broke off shaking his head, 'that slimy bastard is such a hypocrite, always going on about us giving in to our urges and how he's so controlled! Then look what he goes and does! Goes after a girl, young enough to be his daughter, the filthy pervert! When he come back, I tell you, he's not going to know what's hit him!" Harry said through gritted teeth.

"Can you forgive me though?" Hermione asked, looking away, over at the trees waving gently in front of the lake.

"I don't know... right now I just don't know, but I do know one thing, I'll never ever forgive _him_! I know Ron won't either!"

"Oh please don't tell Ron!" Hermione pleaded, looking back at him

"Why not? Why should we keep it from him? That's not fair! He has the right to know what the girl he loves has been up to behind his back! I'm not sure if he'll ever take you back now! I'm not willing to lie to him Hermy!" Harry replied angrily, then he shook his head "I still can't believe this! I feel like I've jumped into another dimension or something!"

"Harry, I'm not that bossy bookworm you used to know anymore! I'm a woman now and I...I want to be with someone who I have something in common with! Ron and me, we're just too different, I don't love him like that anymore Harry, I don't want him to take me back" she said gently, smiling and laying a hand on his arm, but Harry snatched it away

"So, do you _love_ Professor Snape?" he asked, almost accusingly

"Yes, I think I do" she replied cautiously

Harry set his lips in a thin line looking angry again

"To think that you reminded me of my mother!" he spat, suddenly, looking her up and down "You and Ron being together used to remind me of they might have been, now you've gone and destroyed it!"

Hermione shook her head, she was so tired of hearing this thing Harry had, about comparing her and Ron to his parents

"Harry! Why were you always trying to recreate your parents in Ron and me? We were nothing like them, most of the time we did nothing but argue! But they wouldn't have been perfect either! Why can't you accept that your perfect vision of the past, is just you looking through rose coloured lenses, your parents would have had their faults just like anyone else! After all your dad was a bully, wasn't he? He made Severus's life a misery here!" but she knew at that moment she had gone too far and said too much.

He looked at her with a look of unbelievable hurt, shaking his head.

"You're even defending him now! My Dad was worth 10 of him! For all we know Snape probably deserved it!" Harry snapped back, balling his hands into fists angrily, "He's a disgusting, filthy, pervert Hermione, can't you see he's just using you!"  
"He's not! He's wonderful! He's intelligent, intuitive and gentle! There's a whole side to him you just don't know about Harry, hidden underneath that gruff exterior there's a really good man!"

Harry scoffed, "Well it's really well hidden then, because all I see is a greasy git with a big nose, who likes to make people's lives a misery!"

Hermione went to retort but realised that several people had spotted what was going on and were looking over and pointing. The three of them decided that the time had come to make a move and go somewhere a little more private. Ginny kept looking at Hermione sympathetically, but said nothing. Hermione kept looking at Harry as they walked but he didn't look up, he was keeping his head bent down.

Just as they had nearly reached the doors to the school however, none other than, Malfoy and his new gang were standing in their way. Crabbe and Goyle hadn't made it past the fifth year, so Draco had had to make some new friends quick, well they were more cohorts than friend's.

"I want a word with you Granger!" he hissed, sneering at her

"Get lost Malfoy! We're not interested in anything you have to say!" Harry spat. "Remember the last time you tried to get the better of us?" he finished, smirking, remembering a time when Malfoy and his friends were left hanging by the back of their underwear, from some of the many flagpoles that stuck out from Hogwarts outer walls.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips sulkily, he was obviously remembering it too.

"Professor Snape has gone and I know you had something to do with it!" he said, pointing a finger accusingly at Hermione

Hermione had already recoiled from him, a little, she was feeling unnerved now, she hadn't realised before just how much he looked like his father. His power was also increasing, though he had none of his father's finesse or skill yet. His power though, however great, could not match that of Harry's or even hers.

"What makes you think that?" she asked worried about what he knew

"Oh, just some _rumours _going around! Someone saw you coming out of his office on Saturday, looking upset, just after Dumbledore had come out before you! What's going on?" Malfoy said threateningly

"You're only worried that with Professor Snape not here to baby you, you're going to fail all your exams!" Hermione retorted back

Malfoy just grimaced, but said nothing

"Come on lets go" Ginny said, worried that the situation was going to escalate

Harry, Ginny and Hemrione moved forward, expecting the gang of four to move, they did, albeit reluctantly, but just as Hermione passed Malfoy, he grabbed her wrist.

"One day, mudblood, you'll be all alone without your friends here to help you and then.." he trailed off suggestively

"Don't touch me!" Hermione snapped fearfully, but trying to make it sound like he just disgusted her

"Don't worry, I wouldn't want to! I'll have to go and wash my hands now!" he laughed, looking around at his grinning friends

Hermione was furious and as she passed them, spoke without thinking

"It's a shame your father doesn't think like that!" but immediately on saying the words, she regretted them

"What do you mean? What do you know about my father?" Malfoy asked angrily

The three of them looked round briefly, but pressed on through the doors. Malfoy and his gang followed them.

"Come on Granger! What do you mean?" Malfoy demanded, snatching at Hermione's arm to make her turn around and face him. As Hermione went to pull her arm out of his grasp, however, he only gripped tighter. He wasn't going to let this go.

"I didn't mean anything, now get your hands off me!" Hermione snapped, grabbing his hand and attempting to disentangle herself from it, but he still held fast

"I'm warning you let go! Or do you want me to hex you another head?" she warned him, glaring directly into his eyes

"And I'll do more than hex you!" Harry seconded

But Malfoy must have been very angry indeed because he seemed to be ignoring their warnings and merely glared at the two of them, still holding on to Hermiones arm.

"I just want to know what you meant by that comment! You insult my father and I want to know what you're talking about!"

Hermione looked at Harry, who looked like he was going to launch himself at Draco. In the mood he was in at the moment, he would probably do him some serious damage. So Hermione stopped struggling to get away and on seeing her calm down Malfoy released his grip on her arm and stood back, which in turn made Harry relax a little.

"If you really must know!" Hermione said, narrowing her eyes at him, "I happen to know your father is rather fond of taking women by force and he doesn't seem to be too fussy about what their background is!" then she jutted her chin out defensively, folding her arms and glared into Malfoys cold, grey eyes

His face broke into a furious grimace

"Liying bitch!" he hissed furiously, "I know my father would never do that! He'd never take a woman by force and especially not one who wasn't a pure bred witch!"

"It just shows how little you know him then doesn't it?" Hermione said in reply, smirking at his fury

Malfoy rushed at her but she was ready for attack this time, with a flick of her wand and the spell, "Impedimenta!" he was thrown across the floor, his friends obviously decided that intervening was not fortuitous at this point and went instead to their leaders aid.

The three friends silently resumed their walk up to the Gryffendor common room. Harry looked lost in thought as they reached the portrait.

"Hey Hermione! What did you mean about Malfoys dad anyway?" Ginny asked curiously, after Hermione had uttered the password.

"I'll tell you when we get up to the dorms" Hermione replied, as she began to climb in through the hole in the wall, that had been revealed. She really wished she had held her tongue, she hadn't wanted to drag all that business up again.

As they all got into the common room, they were met by Ron, who immediately came running up to them

"Hey guys!" he said brightly, smiling, then turning to Harry he informed him,"Hey harry, I've turned the place upside down, literally sometimes! But I can't find any sign of your cloak, sorry!" then he looked at Hermione and his eyes widened

"Hey what's up with you?" he asked

"I'll tell you later" Hermione said vaguely

"Are you going to tell him everything?" Harry whispered, behind Ron's back as they walked over to their usual spot, to sit.

Hermione didn't reply, she only looked at him sorrowfully, then looked down. She sighed heavily, she was definitely going to be glad when this day was over.


	20. No news, is good news?

Thankyou for the wonderful reviews as usual, but I need to tell you to read chapter 19 again as I have revised it. I saw an interview with Dan Radcliffe saying that Harry was a genuinely nice guy and I thought, 'yes he is!' and as you have all said how true to the original characters I have stayed then I just couldn't let Harry do that to Hermione, I don't think he ever would no matter what the provocation. Sorry to do this guys, but it has really been bugging me and now I've changed it, I'm a lot happier!

It was the end of the school day on a warm Friday afternoon. The previous few weeks had been a difficult between her and Harry and at first, they had mostly avoided each other, but eventually they had talked and sorted things out (with a lot of encouragement from Ginny). They had both agreed that at the time they had been emotionally overwrought, making them both say things they now regretted. Harry was still very disapproving of her relationship with Professor Snape, but he seemed to be coming to terms with it. As Hermione had asked, Harry didn't tell Ron the real reason they had fallen out, he just told him that Hermione was freaking out about the exams and he'd said something and then she had said something, then it had all blown up out of all proportion. Ron had seemed satisfied with that explanation, especially when Harry had said at the end, "you know what girls are like!" getting daggers from Hermione and Ginny in response. But it had been what Hermione wanted, she didn't want Ron to know the truth, not yet anyway, she wanted to find the right time to tell him, which wasn't now.

She was sitting quietly in her room on her bed, just looking around and thinking. Her eyes first alighted on Ginny lying face down on _her_ own bed, scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment from a book propped up on her pillows. Hermione smiled at her look of intense concentration. Then the photos on her bedside table caught her eye. There was one of her parents, which was an ordinary non-moving one, one of her favourite nanna, who always swore she was a psychic and a magically moving one of Crookshanks. Crookshanks had disappeared, not long after Sirius's death. She'd been sitting on her bed one day, reading, when he'd asked to go out. She had opened the door and he had walked out into the corridor and sat down for a while just looking at her, his head cocked to one side. Hermione had smiled at him curiously, asking him what was wrong, but then he had just sauntered off and she had never seen him since. She missed him; his warm, furry presence was so welcoming after a hard day's school. She'd thought about getting a new cat, but had decided against it, hoping that someday Crookshanks would return to her.

She turned away from the photos then, feeling sad, turning back to the piles of books that surrounded her on her bed.

Exam time was nearly upon her and she was now finalising project work, for as well as the exams, they were going to be assessed on their understanding of the subjects and how well they could work alone within them. Transfiguration had been the hardest subject this year, as they were all learning if they could transform as animagus. They had been told they had to concentrate hard on their skills and abilities and find an animal that had comparable talents. Hermione knew immediately what her animagus form should be, an otter - just like her patronus.

Though none of them had actually achieved a full change yet, Hermione had got the furthest, by producing a rather beautiful glossy tail from the base of her spine and much to everyone's amusement, whiskers from either side of her mouth! Harry wasn't far behind her producing a full set of antlers from his head, he of course had chosen a stag like his father.

She had now done all she could for the exams and could only revise and re-revise the same stuff over and over. If she didn't know it all by now, she never would.

Lying back on her bed between the piles of books, she stared at the canopy above her head. Her thoughts began to wander and although she had tried very hard not to for the past few weeks, they inevitably turned to Severus again. She missed him, more than she could believe. It just wasn't the same without his black cloaked form prowling around the school; it just wasn't the same Hogwarts. But as Dumbledore had said, no communication either way was possible for the moment, though he'd promised to let her know if he heard anything. He had become a lot more sympathetic towards her and her feelings for the Potions master lately and gave her comforting smiles and nods whenever they passed in the corridors.

She had suspected that Severus had been right, that she did just have a crush on him, but she now knew it was more than that. It still shocked her that she could fall in love with someone like him, for a start, he was so much older, he could be grumpy, stubborn, a know-it-all (much like herself!) and smug with it. And secondly she really knew very little about him or his past. All she did know was, that she desperately wanted to see him, to talk to him and to feel the warmth of his arms around her again.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, making both girls jump out of their skin, as they had been so lost in thought.

"Come in!" Ginny shouted

The door creaked open to reveal a rather skinny, 5th year girl with chunky black rimmed glasses and short curly hair.

"Erm, Dumbledore wants to see you, right away," she said nervously, as she looked at Hermione

Hermione's stomach tightened and her face began to burn hot. A feeling of dread built up inside her, if it had of been good news he would have told her next time he'd seen her, surely, not sent for her like this! She looked at Ginny, who smiled back at her

"Want me to come with you?" she asked

Hermione nodded her reply.

The two girls headed off for the Headmasters office in silence.

When they reached the doorway, they realised that they didn't know the password

"Do you know what it could be?" Asked Ginny

"No, I.." but she stopped speaking as a feather suddenly floated down from the ceiling, landing in the palm of her outstretched hand. Hermione grinned and looked at Ginny, who smiled back

"Phoenix feather!" she cried out

The statue moved aside to reveal the stairway, which they ascended. When they reached the top, they walked across the little antechamber and knocked the door; it opened immediately.

"Ahh, Hermione! Come in!" Dumbledore said kindly. He had been sitting at his desk, his hands clasped together in front of him.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, almost not wanting to know; her stomach tied up in knots.

Dumbledores eyes flicked briefly at Ginny, but Hermione reassured him

"It's alright, Ginny knows" she said quickly, looking at her friend then back to Dumbledore again.

Dumbledore took a breath then began to speak

"I have news of Severus, well no news at all really! The fact is, he's missing. I've contacted all the other spies and ordinary members of the order and no one has seen or heard from him for over a week. I don't want to make any presumptions yet, after all Severus is a great survivor. If he couldn't apparate for some reason, he knows almost all the plants and elements that make up this Earth's flora and fauna and could survive in the harshest of climates, with the barest of essentials. But I can't say that I'm not worried he may have been found out as a spy.." Dumbledore trailed off and looked into the distance, as if deep in thought. "I know this is a difficult time for you with your exams starting next week, but I felt it was important for you to know what was happening"

Hermione looked down to the hands clasped tightly on her lap, feeling like she wanted to cry. Then she looked up, immediately meeting Dumbledores soft blue eyes.

"Dumbledore, what was the mission he went on. What was he going to do?" she ventured, not knowing if she would get an answer

Dumbledore immediately put a charm around the room, so that only the two girls could hear what he was about to say and not the portraits.

"He has gone on a sort of 'recruitment drive' with other deatheaters. They are going farther afield than England this time; they are travelling the globe to find followers. We now know that many people have been sucked in to Voldemorts insanity and I have no doubt that many more still will be. Severus went with them just to observe, then report back with numbers and places. We agreed that we would be incommunicado for two weeks so as not to arouse suspicion, but it has now been four and there is still no word from him. I'm sorry Hermione if this upsets you, but he is a grown man and went into this with his eyes fully open. I know you may have thought me a little cruel sending him away like that, but I merely only wanted to save both of you from pain."

Hermione merely nodded sadly and got up to go.

"Before you go, he asked me to give you this and I have to say it surprised me greatly, when he told me what he intended for you to do with it" Dumbledore said, reaching into a drawer in his desk

Hermione stared in disbelief at the beautiful object in Dumbledores hand. It was a large pendant, with the Nordic rune symbol for 'mystery' engraved on it, hanging on a gold chain, it looked like a sort of capital letter 'C' with bent up ends. Hermione stared at it for a few moments, smiling, before taking it.

"It is imbued with a charm by Severus so it will unlock most of his potion cabinets. He trusts that you, above all others, of the students in this school, will use them wisely. Professor Hawksbain (the replacement Potions Professor) has been told of this and he has made his own office in an old classroom, down in the dungeon area. So Severus's rooms are accessible to you anytime you want. I will be keeping an eye on you though!" he said raising his eyebrows knowingly

Hermione's heart at first leapt with pleasure at this generous gift, but at the same time felt a bit slighted. She thought his gift of a pendant was to show her at last how he really felt about her, when it was really just a magical key. Then again the trust he was showing in her, must mean his feelings were deeper than just lust now weren't they?

"That's 'Perth' isn't it? The symbol for mystery" Ginny observed as she walked along side Hermione, who had the pendant held out in front of her.

"Yes" Hermione replied absently, staring at it intently. After a while she sighed and pulled the chain over her head, tucking it under her shirt.

When they were nearly back up to the Gryffindor common room, excitement started to set in; _full use of his potion cabinet? Had Severus been of right mind when he had said that? Or was it because he thought he might not be coming back and wasn't really bothered anymore about the consequences of leaving his precious potions in the charge of a student, no matter how capable? _Hermione thought smiling

Are you going to tell Harry and Ron about this? Ginny asked, curiously

"No I don't think so. They'd only want to go and make Dungbombs or something. Anyway he's entrusted his potions to me, so I don't want to let him down" she said resolutely

Ginny just smiled at her friend's response

"Ginny you wouldn't mind if I went down there now, would you, just to have a look?" Hermione asked

"No, go ahead" she said rolling her eyes, but still smiling

Hermione grinned and almost skipped her way down to the dungeons

Once there she held up the rune pendant in front of the door opening it instantly and walked in, closing it behind her.


	21. Draco's vengeance

Hermione sighed, smiling and looked around the room her stomach fluttering with excitement. She walked towards one of the potion cabinets and tentatively held up the pendant again. The glass door opened, revealing a mixture of carefully labeled bottles and jars, ones just bearing one letter and some with nothing on them at all. She picked some of them up, studying them carefully and reading the labeled ones out loud to herself. She made several shrewd guesses at to what the unlabeled ones could be. After good long while of browsing the cabinets she became inspired and decided to knock up a quick potion. She was going to make a claming balm, that would help both her self and her friends get through the exams, without getting so stressed out.

Gathering all the ingredients together she found a cauldron and conjured up a magical fire, then proceeded to make the potion as carefully and as meticulously as Severus him self would have done. Once finished she bottled the glistening green potion and cleaned up. Sliding the bottle into her bag, she took one last look around to check she had left everything the way she had found it. She sighed sadly at the vacant chair in front of the dark mahogany desk, staring for a while, trying to picture Severus in it. Then pulling herself together, she looked away and opened the door, walking out into the corridor once more.

A group of people were hanging around, talking and laughing loudly down the hall, Hermione recognised Malfoy as one of them straight away. Malfoy looked in her direction and not wanting another confrontation, she walked quickly, back towards the magical stairway's area. She had intended to go back to the common room, suddenly she changed her mind. She didn't feel like she wanted to be with anyone just now, she really just wanted to be alone with her thoughts. She wandered slowly thinking where she could go, then she remembered the lake and how lovely it was to sit beside it at this time of year and headed determinedly, towards the outer doors.

Once out in the fresh air Hermione breathed in deeply, holding her head back and closing her eyes, feeling the still hot sunshine on her face and a light breeze blowing her hair gently. Then, bringing her head forwards again and opening her eyes, she began to walk down towards the lake.

When she got there though, she found to her dismay, that many other people had already got the same idea and were sitting in groups or on their own, eating, drinking, talking or working. She decided to walk along the shore a bit, to find somewhere quieter. The going got a bit rougher further along, all gorse bushes and thorny weeds, but soon she spotted a beach in the distance, which looked perfect. It took her around ten minutes to reach it, which wouldn't leave her much time to relax, as dinner would be served in about an hours time, but she kept on going anyway.

Once she reached her destination, she smiled, it had been worth it. This beach captured the full afternoon sun and was covered in soft grey sand, she took off her shoes, it felt wonderful on her bare feet. She sat down, her legs bent up in front of her and leaning forward, put her arms around then, her chin resting on her knees. Now she was alone, she allowed thoughts of Severus to flow unabated through her head, letting her tears fall freely. She tried to sort out how she truly felt about him, she didn't know if they had a future but they most definitely had a great now. She had never seen him smile for, or at, anyone before she had come into his life, now every time they had been together he had smiled even if only briefly. So she must make him happy, it was worth them being together just for that. Now all she needed was for him to come home, so they could sort it out.

She sighed sadly again, but felt that a lie in the sun for a while might make her feel better. Putting her wand down by the side of her, which had been tucked into the waistband of her skirt, she began to unbutton her shirt. Then, looking around and making sure no one else could see, which she saw they couldn't, slid the shirt off her shoulders, so she was just in her bra. The warm sun on the now bare skin of her arms and shoulders felt wonderful, but she didn't quite have the courage to take off her skirt as well. She carefully lifted the rather heavy pendant off from round her neck and tucked it into her bag safely and after transfiguring her shirt into a towel, she lay back with her legs bent up, allowing her knee length skirt to slide back towards her thighs a little. Soon she began to drift off into a daydream about what it would be like between her and Severus once he returned, which she felt certain he would; he would declare his undying love for her and tell her what a fool he had been and would never leave her again. She sent out a message into the void, asking for her lover to be sent home soon, preferably unscathed and for whatever was keeping him from doing so, to cease immediately.

She had lain there for an indeterminate length of time, snoozing, when she shivered, she felt cold suddenly which roused her from her sleep. Thinking the sun had just gone in behind some clouds and that maybe now was the time to make a move anyway, she opened her eyes. Instead of clouds, though, she saw the grinning faces of Malfoy and his gang. Wham! the shock of seeing them hit her, her stomach leapt into her mouth and her hand instinctively reached for her wand. Malfoy grinned as her hand found nothing but sand, it was then she began to panic.

"Where's my wand?" she asked, in a little higher pitch than she intended

"Don't you worry about that, we're keeping it safe for you" Malfoy answered, in a sarcastic impression of a comforting tone; his friends laughed.

Hermione felt extremely worried;_ how the hell did he creep up on me like that, without me knowing?_ she thought, not realising that she had been asleep. Then she wondered what he was going to do, she guessed, by the now triumphantly malevolent look on his face, that it wasn't going to be pleasant, whatever it was. She was beginning to regret coming to such an out of the way place, realising now how vulnerable it had left her.

_Well I wouldn't have been vulnerable if I had had the good sense to keep my wand in my hand, instead of putting it down just anywhere! _She berated her self bitterly.

"What do you want ferret boy?" Hermione said trying to sound as if his presence wasn't worrying her in the least. She began sitting up, trying to cover up her chest as best she could with her arms. 

"Oooh!" Malfoy said, laughing, looking around at his friends, "That's not very nice is it? But isn't that just getting a little old Granger?"

"No!" came her simple reply

His smile disappeared and he pursed his lips slightly, his eyes narrowed.

"Well boys, I think we'll have to teach her a lesson in politeness don't you? We need to show her that she ought to be much more respectful towards her superiors!"

Before Hermione could scoff at that statement and after a nod from Malfoy all four boys knelt down beside her.

"You lot hold her arms and legs, she can be a vicious little bitch with those fists.

Hermiones eyes widened in alarm and her heart felt as if it was beating out of her chest. _Was he going to do what she thought he was going to do? Surely not even slimy Malfoy would stoop that low!_ Then she remembered his father and realised that maybe he would. She tried to get away, but still groggy from sleep, she didn't move quickly enough and Malfoy's friend's easily grabbed hold of her wrists and ankles tightly, pressing them into the ground.

She squealed as Malfoy placed himself, kneeling, between her legs, after pushing them aside; his friends straining a little, with the effort it took to hold on to her struggling limbs.

"After our little conversation a few weeks ago, I owled my father and I told him what you said, I wanted to know if there was any truth in it" Malfoy told her leaning forward so that he looked directly into her eyes. "He owl'd me straight back, he told me all about his little interlude with you in Professor Snape's office and how protective Snape was of you. So, now I know that all those dirty rumours about you are true, you have been seeing him!" he sneered, "He also said, that if I wanted to finish what he started, he knew a really good spell to help me'. A nice little memory charm, that makes you go to sleep for a while, then you wake up thinking you've just had a bad dream! It means I can do whatever I want and not worry about the consequences. You're always telling me how weak I am Granger, so who's the weak one now?" He sniggered, stroking his hands over her breasts, then squeezing them

"You're sick Malfoy, your whole family is sick! What sort of father is he? That tells his son he can do whatever he likes to people, just because they're not pure bred! He's not right in the head!" Hermione retorted

"Don't you dare talk like that about my father, Mudblood!" Draco snarled, "I'll show you how to have more respect, I'll show you the only thing girls like you are good for!"

Hermione tried to scream, but Malfoy was too quick for her, putting one hand over her mouth and pointing his wand at her neck with the other. He uttered a spell, "Silentium!" Feeling a tightening in her throat, she now knew it was hopeless to try and call for help, as her voice box had been disabled. She thought desperately for something she could do, but could think of nothing, she couldn't do wand-less magic like Harry, that she knew of and wasn't strong enough to take on four large fully grown boys alone. She felt helpless and humiliated.

Malfoy seeing her distress began grinning again, looking around at his friends

"Go on Draco, do her!" one of them goaded him

"Yeah! Do her Draco!" said another, then the last of the three goons, started up a chant, the others joined in with

"Do her! Do her!"

This chant seemed to be the final catalyst, that gave Malfoy the courage to do what he'd most likely, previously only boasted to them he could do. He slid his hands up her thighs and under her skirt, Hermione panicking at this intimate touch, bucked wildly against the restraining grip of the other boy's hands, making a last ditch attempt at escape, to no avail. He gripped both sides of her underwear and pulled them roughly off down her legs, throwing them behind him, then lay over the top of her so she could feel his erection bulging under his trousers, pushing against her pubic bone. She couldn't help it, even though she had tried very hard not to, she began to cry, the silent tears falling down each side of her face into her hair.

Malfoy noticed this

"Ohh..don't cry darling!" he said to her, as if talking to a baby, "this will hurt you a lot more than it hurts me!" then he laughed cruelly

She felt him reaching down to undo his trousers and opened her mouth in a scream, even though she knew no sound would come out. She hoped against hope that the spell would wear off quickly and that if she could just keep on screaming she might get a sound out before they could put the silencing spell back on her again.

Suddenly, through the sounds of Malfoy's friends sniggering and lewd comments, a voice could be heard shouting in the distance, the sound of that voice sent a wave of relief coursing through Hermione, making her stop struggling and strain to hear. Malfoy had also heard the voice and was looking up, holding his hand out, to quieten the other boys.

The voice shouted again, "Hermione? Hermione? Oh, where are you?" Hermione knew at once, it was Ginny

"Shit!" Malfoy said angrily, leaning up. "Quick! Let's get out of here!" he motioned his head at his friends and they all let go of Hermione and began to stand. They started for the cover of the trees, still dark under the canopies even in the bright sunshine. Malfoy lingered, a little longer, looking malevolently at Hermione. Now she was no longer restrained, she started to get up, but Draco had other ideas. He pulled back his hand and punched her in the face with such a ferocity it sent her flying.

"Now we're even!" he said, as he got up him self, then he looked in the direction where Ginny was now coming into view. He sprinted towards the cover of the trees to join his friends.

As soon as they had gone Hermione felt the silencing spell lift from her throat and though in great pain, her head spinning she managed to cry out hoarsely

"Accio wand!"

Her wand flew out from somewhere between the trees, making whoever had been holding it, give out a surprised cry. She heard shouts and rustling as the boys made off through the forest and tried to get up wanting to hex them within an inch of their lives, but finding that her legs were so weak and shaky they wouldn't carry her. So on all fours she pointed her wand in between the trees, in what she felt was the right direction and feeling that her voice was now fully back to normal, she shouted "Petrificus totalus!" then collapsed onto the sand.

Ginny had now reached her

"Hermione! What happened?" she asked, panic stricken at the sight of her friend in such a state, "Was that Malfoy I just saw running off?" she knelt down next to hermione, looking concerned and putting a comforting hand on her back. Hermione nodded

"How did you know I was here?" Hermione said weakly, as she turned from all fours to a sitting position, wincing from the pain.

After gasping at Hermiones fast swelling eye and touching it softly she explained "You didn't turn up for dinner and I was worried so I went to look for you. When I couldn't find you I thought that maybe you'd taken off to try and find professor Snape or something! Then I just asked around to see if anyone had seen you and someone said they'd seen you going round to the far end of the lake. So I thought maybe you'd fallen asleep in the sun or something! The boys weren't that far behind me, they should be here any minute. What happened?"

Hermione reached up to feel her now swollen cheek, it was sticky and she pulled her hand away to look at her fingers. They had blood on them, she surmised he had hit he with the hand he wore his silver Slytherin ring on and it had caught her skin cutting her.

Hermione's head was clearing but she had also begun shaking violently and as well as her face, her wrists and ankles ached where they had been gripped so hard.

"It was Malfoy and his gang, he was going to exact his revenge on me, in a way he knew would hurt me the most, if you hadn't turned up when you did!" she said bitterly, tears falling down her face.

Ginny looked at her friend, her eyes widened with shock.

"You mean he was going to..!" she started and Hermione nodded, getting her meaning

"Oh! By Merlin! I knew he was a slimy bastard and I'd heard a few rumours, about him being a bit pushy with girls, but I didn't know he was capable of that!" Ginny said, then she looked towards the forest and looked torn between staying with her friend and running into it to look for Malfoy

Seeing her friend looking, Hermione warned "They'll be long gone by now! Who knows where they've gone, hopefully something in there will get them and I hope that it's something really painful!" she said angrily

"We'd better go and tell Dumbledore' Ginny said helping her friend up

Hermione pointed her wand at the towel still on the ground and immediately changed it back into her school shirt again. She put it on and buttoned it up, also going to retrive her underwear, but thinking better of it.

"He's had his hands on them" she explained as the offending item went up in flames after a quick incendiary spell.

Then she turned as she heard the voices of Harry and Ron shouting her name.

"Hermione, are you okay? Harry said as he and Ron approached

"Who did that?" he asked angrily,on seeing her cut and bruised face

"Malfoy!" answered Ginny for her, "and that's not all, he was going to rape her too" she informed him

"WHAT!" both Harry and Ron bellowed together, they both went red

"I'm going kill him with my bare hands!" Harry said through gritted teeth

"Only after I've castrated him first!" said Ron, equally angrily

"You'll have to get in line boys! Ginny said, "but I think he's long gone, he went off into the forest, over there.

Harry and Ron both ran off in the direction that Ginny had indicated, anyway, oviously thinking they could still catch up with the Slytherin gang.

"Well, I hope they do catch them! I'd hate to be Malfoy if they do!" Ginny said watching them go, then turning back to her friend, "Come on, lets go back to the school," but on seeing Hermione wince with pain and gingerly touch her face as she moved, she bit her lip wincing her self in sympathy.

"If you like, I can try to heal it for you. I've been practicing with Madame Pomfrey, she says I'm not bad!" Ginny offered. Lately she had been volunteering with the old medi-witch, as she herself wanted to train to be one on leaving school.

Hermione knew that her friends' intuitiveness and skill with her wand, would mean she would probably do a good job, so she nodded her agreement.

Ginny concentrated, saying several spells under her breath and waving her wand over the affected area. Very soon, the swelling around Hermione's eye had lessened so much, that she could now see out of it again and the pain was much more bearable. Ginny also healed the cut on her cheek, closing it up neatly.

Suddenly they saw the Harry and Ron reappear, they seemed to be struggling a little dragging something behind them. Whatever it was, was making strangled cries of pain. Somehow they'd managed to capture Malfoy.

Harry had obviously tired of dragging and with Ron's help lifted Malfoy high in the air. The two friends began walking him over to where the girls stood, pulling Draco along with them like a human kite.

They dumped him unceremoniously on the ground, at Ginny and Hermione's feet. He didn't look quite so cocky now, but he still curled his lips into a sullen snarl, when Hermione looked at him. She gave him a look of extreme disgust and hatred.

"We found him just over there, he hadn't got very far. Did one of you girls throw an impediment spell at him? The face on him when he saw us! Looked like he was going to wet his pants!" Harry said angrily

"Well all we have to decide now is what we're going to do with him!" Ginny said suggestively, looking in the direction of the still prone form of Malfoy

Hermione knew exactly what she was going to do. Before any of the others could decide, she walked right up to him, her wand out in front of her. Malfoy looked distinctly worried as he saw the look on her face and began to plead pathetically

"Hermione, what are you going to do? It was only a joke! I wasn't really going to do anything to you!"

Hermione snorted incredulously, "What about this?" she asked pointing to her face

"Oh that? My..my hand slipped, I was just going to help you up that's all!"

Hermione shook her head, the others just stood around watching, allowing Hermione her moment.

"You, Malfoy, are scum!" Tears were beginning to form in her eyes again, "but do you know? As angry as I am, I still can't attack you unarmed!" then she shouted "re-animate!" this broke the binding spell on Draco. He got up, grabbing his wand out of his pocket.

But before he could even utter a spell, Hermione pointed her wand at him and uttered, "Nudo!" Immediately Draco was left naked, his clothes lying all around him. He looked down at himself in shock, plunging his hand's down-wards to try and cover himself

The others looked at each other smirking, waiting to see what she would do next.

"I could do more, but I unlike you, only attack people when it is absolutely necessary and not just for the fun of it!" she snapped, looking directly into his cold grey eyes, "but I think it is you, not me, who needs a lesson in humility! Harry, Ron; tie his hands behind his back! I think it's time we took him to Dumbledore!"

Harry and Ron effortlessly pulled Draco's protesting hands behind his back, binding them together with a spell.

"Are you just going to leave him like that?" Ron asked, "I mean I know it's it doesn't bother us, but what if there was some of the younger girls watching? You don't want his bits flapping around in the wind in front of them do you?"

Hermione thought, "No, I suppose not, I had better cover him up a little," then she smirked and pointed her wand at the nearby trees. She called some leaves down and used a sticking charm to make a sort of sporran shape over his privates. "I think that will be adequate" she said maliciously, looking Draco in the eye again. Then as a finishing touch she transfigured a spare quill into a dog's lead from her bag and fastened it around his neck, holding onto the end "just in case you try and make a run for it!" she told him

So pushing and shoving, their prisoner, they made their way to Dumbledore, making as much noise as possible, in order to purposely draw attention to themselves. Everyone who saw them pointed and laughed and many came over to ask what they were doing. They merely told them that they had found him like that in the woods and couldn't unbind his wrists the spell was too strong, so they were taking him to dumbledore. Not one person however, offered to try to help him or to cover him up.

"Not very popular are you?" Hermione sneered at Draco, turning round

Draco stood still, to sneer back, but after a thump in the back from Ron he got moving again

Humiliating Draco, may have been petty and childish, but it certainly made her feel a whole lot better and Hermione held her head up steadfastly, even though she was still shaken by her ordeal, as they made their way up to the school.


	22. Trauma

"What is going on here!" Dumbledore's voice boomed out across the hall, as soon as they entered through the doors. Hermione felt slightly sheepish now, standing in front of the unusually stern looking, Headmaster. She dropped the lead attached to Draco's neck that she'd still been holding and was about to open her mouth to speak, to explain her actions, when Draco suddenly launched himself forward. 

"Oh Dumbledore! Look what they've done to me! They've humiliated me in front of the whole school! I'll never get over this!" Draco cried, hiding behind the old wizard, giving a good impression of being really upset and traumatised, but scowling threateningly at Hermione, over Dumbledores shoulder.

"Dumbledore! I assure you, I had a good reason for doing this! Draco and his gang were going to rape me! They only stopped because my friends turned up just in time! He humiliated me, so I thought I'd give him a taste of his own medicine!" Hermione explained, exasperatedly.

"That's not true! I'd never do anything like that! They've just got it in for me, thats all, because they don't like me! They think accusing me of something like this will get me thrown out of school!" Draco fawned pleadingly at Dumbledore

"He's lying Dumbledore, we practically caught him at it, he deserves to go to Azkaban for this! If it was up to me I'd let the Dementors have him!" Harry said angrily

"Yeah! Everyone knows how he's always had it in for us! We've never done anything to him unless he did something to us first! If I didn't know what trouble I'd be in I'd quite happily rip his balls off with my bare hands! Let alone send him to Azkaban!" Ron concurred

"I think we had better go to my office, to sort this out. Dumbledore said, looking around at the assembled group, "I had better clothe you first though, I think Mr Malfoy!" he said, turning to Draco. Then he pointed his wand at the practically naked Slytherin and uttered "Amicio!" which immediately covered Draco in a rather old fashioned looking robe, much like his own purple one.

They all followed the headmaster as he walked swiftly back towards his office, Draco staying close to his side.

Hermione was worried now, what if there was a chance he could wriggle out of this? Then she remembered her cheek and reached up to touch it.

"What about this Draco! I bet you still have my blood on your ring!" Hermione said triumphantly, pointing to the now half-healed cut, that he'd inflicted on her.

Dumbledore stopped and turned round to look at her over his glasses. At the same time she saw Draco look curiously at his hand, then lift his head up in an unnerving smile. He held his hand up behind Dumbledores back to show that the ring was no longer on his finger. Hermione was taken aback, then berated herself, _of course! When she'd got rid of his clothes, the spell must have removed his ring too!_

"Hmm, yes, someone has taken a swipe at you! That is a very good job of healing someone has done on you though! Would that be young Ginny's work by any chance?" Dumbledore said smilingly, looking in Ginny's direction. Ginny nodded, her cheeks turning slightly pink from his flattery.

"Do not worry, all of you! The truth will always come out in the end! As you all know by now, there are more ways to find out the truth than mere physical evidence!" Dumbledore said, looking slyly round at Draco this time.

Now it was Draco's turn to look worried

They all walked in silence then; the gang occasionally exchanging scowls between Draco and themselves, apart from Hermione who purposely avoided meeting his gaze. Soon they reached the statue.

Dumbledore merely swiped his wand at the old statue and it opened up to reveal the stairway. Draco made sure he was first, pushing in, then Dumbledore, then the rest of them. Hermione went last to make sure she was as far away from Draco as possible.

Once in his office, Dumbledore conjured up enough chairs for them all to sit on and then sat behind his own desk, cathedraling his fingers up in front of him.

"Now, this is a very serious allegation you have made Hermione, if you feel you can, could you tell me what happened to you?" Dumbledore said calmly

Hermione looked nervously in Draco's direction before starting. He scowled back but then suddenly, for no apparent reason, he smirked.

_What the hell is he smirking at?_ Thought Hermione, shuddering inwardly, then he mouthed one word, slowly,

"S-n-a-p-e". Hermione caught his meaning straight away; if she told Dumbledore the truth, he would tell what he knew about her and Professor Snape. Draco must have presumed that no one else knew and that she wouldn't want anyone to, but the only person in the room who didn't know was Ron. This was exactly what she had been worried about, Ron finding out like this, why hadn't she told him when she had the chance before? _Because you were too much of a coward that's why!_ She admitted sadly to her self.

_But then again, he's got absolutely no solid proof. He must know there's a chance no one would believe him! I'll just deny it emphatically anyway! He's just trying to intimidate me! _This last thought, strengthened her resolve and she told the kindly old wizard what had happened; not in intimate detail of course, just enough for him to get the idea. Dumbledore looked taken aback, but not shocked. He looked gravely over at Draco, who had tried to butt in several times, but a wave from Dumbledore's wand had silenced him until she had finished.

"Now Draco, what have you got to say for yourself?" Dumbledore asked, reversing the silencing spell and looking over to the now, sullen faced, Slytherin

"I want to see my father before I say anything!" he said, scowling again at the gang

"Very well, but you understand that I cannot let you leave my office until this is resolved" answered Dumbledore

"What! That isn't fair! I didn't do anything, she's making it all up to frame me! The whole lot of them, they've always had it in for me, they just want to get me thrown out of school!" Draco complained plaintively

"But she does have several injuries that point to her being attacked Draco, that is very good evidence I would say and her story is very convincing" Dumbeldore said gravely

Those injuries were probably self inflicted, or maybe she used some sort of spell or something, or her friends must have done them to her, to make it look like she had been attacked! As for that story, it's just something her and her friends have invented between them!" Draco sneered.

"By the way Draco, where are _your_ friends? I would have thought they would be here trying to defend you" Dumbledore asked, raising his eyebrows

Draco was stumped then, his face falling, "they...they.." then he recovered, "I was alone, they waited until I was alone to get me!"

"I see, so your friends were not involved at all then.. it was just you?"

Again Draco was stumped, what could he say, if he said his friends were not involved, then not only would it be a lie, but it could also absolve them of guilt meaning he would take the rap all by himself, if it came down to it. If he said they were involved, it would mean explaining why they hadn't helped stop the four Gryffendors from attacking him. He decided to opt for his earlier statement again

"I'm not saying anything more until I see my father!"

Dumbledore sighed and nodded. "I will call him in then, I will have to call the Ministry also, with the nature of this allegation being so serious." He stated and stood up, looking down at the gang, "you four may go, I will call you back when I need to speak with you again" then he looked sympathetically at Hermione. "Are you quite certain of this my dear, you do not want to refute anything that you have said?"

"No, I want to see justice done" Hermione said quietly, not looking up.

Dumbledore nodded, "I think a visit to Madame Pomfrey would be advisable Hermione, so she can check you over. She will look after you, don't worry."

Hermione nodded, smiling weakly at him.

As soon as they got out of the door, Ron spoke first

"I hope that scumbag doesn't think he's going to get away with this!" he growled

"There's no way he's going to get away with it! All the evidence is against him and even if it wasn't, Dumbledore could use his occlumency skills on him and see for himself what really happened!" Harry stated confidently.

The two boys still carried on talking about what they'd like to do to Malfoy once they had descended the stairs and walked back out into the corridor again.

Suddenly though, Ginny shushed them scowling, for Hermione had started crying and had stopped walking to lean against a wall. She looked as though she was trying her best not to cry for a moment, wiping away her tears, with shaking fingertips. Then the realisation of what had actually happened to her had started to dawn.

Putting her hand to her mouth, as if to stifle a scream, then she closed her eyes tight shut, suddenly letting out great racking sobs. Ginny put her arm around her friend and the boys just stood there looking awkward and concerned.

Hermione couldn't hold in the pain of what happened any longer, she hadn't wanted to break down in front of Draco, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

She slid down the wall slowly, coming to rest on the floor, curling her legs up against her body.

She brought her hand up to her forehead, running her fingers into her hair.

"Why? Why did he do that to me? Why does he hate me _so_ much! Whatever I've ever done to him, I didn't deserve that! I was so scared and they thought it was funny! It was so humiliating, they could see everything!" she sobbed again, more softly this time. Then she felt the gentle arms of her friends lifting her up.

"Come on, lets get you to Madame Pomfrey" Ginny said kindly

Hermione looked at the concerned faces around her and nodded. With many curious glances from passing students, the group made it's way to the hospital wing.

Once there Hermione was hardly able to stand for her self, she knew that she was in shock and that the anger she had felt before had delayed it only temporarily. As soon as they walked through the doors and Madame Pomfrey saw them, Hermione was swiftly guided onto a bed, the curtains pulled around her, even though there was no one else in there at that time.

"You two can go now " said the old Medi-witch looking at Harry and Ron, "Ginny, you can stay and help"

The two boys reluctantly left the room, probably knowing that it was no use arguing with her.

Hermione was now feeling so tired she just wanted to sleep, but Madame Pomfrey was keeping her awake prodding and poking her.

"What happened?" she asked matter of factly

"It was Draco...he tried to rape her...with his friends watching and holding her down!" Ginny said, now in tears herself at seeing her friend in such distress

"Oh! By Merlins beard, that boy! It is a case of like father like son, then! I knew what Lucius was like, but I was hoping his son would be different. How very disappointing" she said sadly, shaking her head and looking at Hermione sympathetically.

"Don't worry, I'll sort you out" she said in a motherly fashion. Hermione wished her mother was here right now, but she knew that would have to wait.

"Ginny, could you get Hermione undressed please, oh and we'll need to keep her clothing"

Soon Hermione was lying under the covers of the surprisingly comfortable hospital bed, dressed in a top to toe nightdress. Between them Madame Pomfrey and Ginny had healed all of Hermione's bruises and the cut on her cheek, but not before keeping a record of Hermione's injuries in her memory and putting the silvery thread of it in her pensieve. Then, she produced another pensieve

"Hermione you need to do something for me, I can take some of the trauma away for you, but first, you need to think about the attack clearly from start to finish and then put the memories away in here for safe keeping. If you agree to do it, I promise you, that no one will get access to it or be able to tamper with it in anyway, it will be completely safe with me.

Hermione nodded, she just wanted the pain to end, if Madame Pomfrey could do it, the sooner the better.

She remembered the attack, with as much detail as possible, as she had been told, then with great difficulty, as she'd never done it before, she put her wand to her head. Concentrating hard she began to pull off silvery threads of memory into the rock like pensieve. When this was done to the best of her abilities she collapsed back on the bed.

After disappearing for a while, the medi-witch came back with a vial of red liquid

"Now this is a very strong potion, it has the effect of making trauma fade, because it tricks the mind into thinking that whatever happened to you, happened a long time ago. But you must be sure before you take it, as it may affect your memory of the event. With all the evidence I have collected, it is unlikely that you will have to face the ministry for questioning personally, but if this goes to court, there is a small possibility. It is up to you Hermione" said Madame Pomfrey kindly, which was a nice change from her usual rather brusque manner.

Hermione looked at Ginny, who smiled encouragingly, then she nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. The sooner I stop feeling like this the better, because at the moment I can hardly bear to be in my own body."

Hermione closed her eyes then, as if gathering her thoughts "and you say that you have all the evidence and the memory of my injuries in your pensieve, so I will most likely, not need to give evidence personally? I want to stop feeling like this, but at the same time I'm worried Draco may wriggle out of this somehow. What if I forget the attack completely?" she asked concerned

"No, you won't forget it completely the potion isn't that strong, it isn't like the modification spells they do on Muggles to stop them remembering things they shouldn't have seen. No, it just makes the memories easier to bear, there just maybe a chance the detail will fade a little that's all. But don't worry, I'm sure that everything will be fine" Madame Pomfrey reassured her

Hermione took the potion cautiously and drank it down. It was quite pleasant tasting and she soon found her self falling asleep.

Some time later, in the early hours of the morning, Hermione woke up; she had heard a voice in her dreams that was familiar to her. A voice that she hadn't heard for a long time.

As she opened her eyes and they got used to the dim light, she heard the voice again. Someone, was protesting about something and someone else was hushing them. Then realisation dawned; she sat bolt upright, her heart starting to beat faster and her tummy clenching up with excitement. She climbed out of bed and peeked through the still closed curtains, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

She looked out in to the room to see a couple of dark robed figures, magically carrying someone in on a stretcher. Madame Pomfrey was talking in hushed tones, helping guide the new patient carefully onto a bed. The two dark robed figures, which Hermione now recognised as aurors, one of them being Kingsley Shacklebolt, guided the stretcher gently over onto a bed and then Kingsley waved his wand, making the stretcher disappear.

Now the seemingly, rather reluctant patient was in the light, from the lighted candle, sconced on the wall, there was no mistaking who it was.

Hermione's heart leapt and tears of joy sprang into her eyes

"Severus!" she whispered, putting her hand to her mouth, a feeling of immense relief washing over her.


	23. He's back!

Even though she was relieved he had been found at last, Hermione found Severus's appearance shocking. He looked terribly unkempt, his hair was matted and filthy, he had a fairly good beard growth and his robes were covered in mud and what looked like congealed blood. Hermione couldn't yet tell if the blood was his own or someone else's. What had happened to him? Why was he in such a state? Suddenly Hermione's view was blocked, as Madame Pomfrey drew a curtain around his bed.

Hermione got back into her own bed, feeling elated, despite everything that had happened. She didn't care what state he was in, at least he was back, because right now she needed him more than ever.

She lay there listening, giggling quietly every now and then at Severus's protestations about being treated like one of the students. Madam Pomfrey curtly informed him, that if he carried on acting like a baby she was going to treat him like one, which didn't go down at all well. They carried on arguing like this for a while until gradually his voice became weaker and then, there was complete silence.

Even after a good long while, Hermione was still wide awake, her tummy churning with nerves. Her head felt woozy and her memory fuzzy, then she remembered the red potion Madame Pomfrey had asked her to drink, but what had it been for? As she lay there confused, her head started to clear and her memory came back.

Draco had attacked her, she knew that much, then she remembered hands, touching her all over and grabbing her painfully. Her head tried to work the logic; she knew that it only happened a few hours ago, but it felt like it was now part of her past and the immediate trauma had faded. Instead of a screaming pain, it was more of a dull ache.

She then remembered the revenge she had taken on Draco, but it didn't make her feel better. The revenge had only gone to show that if she wanted, she could be as cruel as him and that was wrong. _Revenge always seems like a good idea at the time, but in the end it doesn't undo the crime or make the hurt go away_, she thought to herself sadly.

After hearing no sound for a good long while she threw back her covers and swung her legs out of bed. She tiptoed over to the bed where Severus lay and pulled aside the curtains.

He was fast asleep, lying on his back, propped up a little on big squashy pillows. He was now completely clean, his hair washed and brushed and his beard gone, leaving his face smooth again. He looked pale though, even more so than usual and he'd lost weight, which was bad as he hadn't been that big to start with.

Then Hermione tried to guess what had happened to him by his injuries, first of all she looked at the hand that was nearest to her, picking it up gently. His wrist had what looked like rope burns, his knuckles were scratched up, his nails were all chipped off and there were grazes on the tips of his fingers. His other arm was bandaged and so was his body around the rib cage. Everything else seemed to be okay, apart from some more scratches on his face, which had probably been part healed by Madame Pomfrey.

Hermione surmised that maybe he had been beaten-up or attacked by some kind of animal, but the state of his hand led to him grabbing at something rough, like a stone wall.

A surge of sympathy washed over her as she looked at him. She realised how brave this man really was, the danger he put himself in to help the Order. She picked up his injured hand, holding it gently in hers and stroked the wounds. She left her head bent over towards him and cried quietly to herself, thinking of the terrible ordeal he must have been through. Then she reached up and stroked his face, brushing back a stray strand of hair.

Suddenly he became restless and started thrashing around, Hermione stepped back fearfully.

"No! No! I am telling you nothing! No! Arrgh!" he shouted into the air, his eyes still closed

A door banged open on the other side of the room and Hermione decided it was time to return to her own bed. She had just climbed under the covers, when she heard Madame Pomfrey padding across the floor, muttering to herself. By now he had stopped shouting, but was still thrashing around. Hermione heard the swishing noise of a wand being used, then everything went quiet again.

"There that's better, I think a dreamless sleep would be better for you at the moment" Madame Pomfrey said softly.

It was a while before she left again, back to her room.

Hermione turned on her side fretting about her injured lover, tears running down her face, wondering what had happened to him. She eventually fell asleep.

She had a dream; her and Severus were holding hands in a forest, looking into each others eyes, then they moved forward to kiss, but a loud noise behind them made them stop. Suddenly people that she vaguely knew were surrounding them, pointing, laughing and jeering. She looked desperately around for a friendly face, but there was none, even Ginny, Harry and Ron especially, who suddenly appeared in the crowds too, were shaking their heads derisively. Then she felt hands pulling at her, separating her from Severus and she was on the beach of the lake again, with Draco leering down at her. She again felt the pressure on her wrists as they were held tightly, but before anything could happen, her attackers disappeared and she got up and ran. She found herself running through the forest, it was thick with thorn bushes and tangled tree roots and was nigh on impossible to get through. Then she spotted Severus standing with his back to her in the distance. She ran to him, but caught herself just in time when she realised that he was standing right next to a sheer drop, so deep she couldn't see the bottom.

He looked at her, with a mixture of sorrow and fear, then looked down again. The crowd reappeared then, shouting loudly and still berating them. He reached out for her hand and she held his in hers tightly.

He looked down at the ravine below again, then at her,

"I want to, but I am afraid" he said, looking back towards the crowd

"Me too' Hermione found herself saying, not taking her eyes off him

"They'll hate us" he stated

Hermione smiled and said, "I don't care anymore!" Then she felt herself falling and tried to scream, but no sound would come out. She began to struggle, as fear of the unknown overtook her

"It's alright" she heard his voice say, "It's alright", but more softly this time like a woman's

"It's alright Hermione!"

Hermione's eyes shot open, bringing her out of her dream, she looked straight into the face of Madame Pomfrey.

"It was just a dream!" the medi-witch said gently, standing back and opening the curtains with a wave of her wand. The morning sun hit Hermione full in the face, blinding her momentarily.

"How are you this morning? How effective has the potion been?" Madame Pomfrey asked, looking at her expectantly

"I think it's worked, but I don't really know, because I can't remember how I felt before I took it" she replied truthfully

"Yes, that is to be expected, that it is how it works, taking out some bits of memory and leaving others. Like I said it mimic's how your memory is affected by the passing of time, so some of the finer details will be lost. Don't worry though, as mine and your pensieve's contain all the information we need." Madame Pomfrey reassured her, then she moved away, "well I'd better go and see to my other patient!" she finished briskly. "I've asked my assistant Ginny to come in and look after you."

Hermione looked over and saw that the bed Severus had been lying in was now empty, she guessed that he had probably been moved to his room, for more privacy.

Ginny came through the door, just as Madame Pomfrey was about to leave and after a few words together, she walked over. Ginny began smiling on seeing her friend.

"Oh Hermione I have so much to tell you!" she said excitedly, "but first,are you Okay?" with a look of concern now on her face

"Yes I'm fine" Hermione reassured her, but the dream still weighed heavily on her mind, _what did it mean?_ Was it that she was afraid of what people would think of her and Severus's relationship if it came out? Yes, the precipice they were jumping into, did that mean the next stage of their relationship? Was it love or commitment maybe? No wonder they had both been so afraid"

"Draco's been taken away and his friends have been caught, they'd been hiding in the forest! Something in there got them so scared, they were blubbing like babies, when they came out! I think Hagrid found them in the end!" She said rolling her eyes, "well anyway, they're saying that it was all Draco's idea and that he told them he was only going to scare you and they didn't know that he had really planned to rape you." Ginny informed her

"What! They encouraged him! They were chanting, they wanted him to do it! And I have no doubt in my mind that they would have raped me too, when he had finished, I remember the looks on their faces!" Hermione said angrily, shuddering.

"Well for now they've only been charged with aiding and abetting, Draco's getting the full rap, on his own." Ginny continued

Hermione was shocked, _with friends like those who needed enemies! Huh! They won't be so pleased with themselves once the ministry sees my pensieve and finds out what really happened!_ Then she thought about all those strangers looking at her memories, maybe men included. They were only memories, but the nature of the attack was such, that just the thought of it made her feel violated again. She worried, but knew she had to be strong and that they had to see the truth, or Draco, with his fathers ministry connections, might get away with his crime.

"Do you feel ready to get dressed now and come down for some breakfast? Dumbledore says you don't have to go to classes today if you don't want to." Ginny said kindly

"Yes...did you bring something with you?" Hermione replied

Ginny produced a small bag out of her pocket and magically grew it back to its normal size. It had everything in it that Hermione needed and they chatted as she got ready.

Once down in the Great Hall, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her momentarily and then carried on talking, some of them in hushed tones. Hermione guessed they were talking about her, but she knew she would have to put up with this for a while, as this sort of thing just didn't happen at Hogwarts.

She sat down near Harry and Ron, who looked at her smiling awkwardly, as if they didn't really know what to say. A boy on the next table was staring and Ron scowled at him, making him turn around immediately. Ron scared most people, for as well as being an accomplished wizard he was also now, very large and formidable looking; basically no one messed with him. Draco had been very lucky indeed!

For the next week it was much the same, either people just stared or avoided her completely. It seemed that no one really knew what to say or how to be around her, the attack was such a difficult subject to deal with. She spent most of her time reading in her room, as she didn't feel ready to return to classes yet and didn't like going anywhere without her friends being with her. This left her in a dilemma, she desperately wanted to see Severus, but she was too frightened to go down to the dungeons by herself. He had not contacted her yet and she hadn't seen him like she normally would in potions class, but she knew from Dumbledore that he had now fully recovered and was teaching again, which made her feel somewhat better.

The last time she had been in Dumbledores office, he had asked her if she would allow her pensieve to go to the Ministry along with Madame Pomfrey's, so they could be viewed by Amelia Bones. He assured her that it would just be her and no one else, as it was felt that because it was an attempted rape it was much too sensitive for just anyone to look at. He also assured her that the pensieve's would be wiped clear of all memories after the trial was over.

Because of Hermione's evidence, Draco and his friends were sentenced to two years in an underage wizards detention centre. It was run by ex aurors and any magical activity by the prisoners was banned. It was an extremely tough regime and little or no luxuries were allowed, so Draco would probably feel like he was in hell, as he was used to being spoilt and having all the best things in life all the time.

She got used to some of Draco's Slytherin supporters sneering at her and giving her threatening looks; she learnt to ignore them. With Madame Pomfreys potions and help from a councilor from St Mungo's she began to gradually recover from her ordeal.

Exam time was looming so there was now less classes and more study periods, which Hermione made good use of. She was now more determined than ever to do well in her exams.

After one week off she decided she was ready to go back to classes and was fine until Thursday afternoon, when she was going to have to go to a potions class. She was very nervous, how was he going to react to her? She worried as she approached the classroom with Harry. She knew from him that Professor Snape seemed a little different, quieter perhaps, even more contemplative than usual and had not even made one sarcastic comment to him. Harry had at Hermiones begging bequest, had not said or done anything about his knowledge of their affair, but had probably given the Professor plenty of dirty looks instead!

She burned with curiosity about what had happened to Severus during his absence and had even asked Dumbledore about it, but he had told her, "If Severus wishes you to know he will tell you himself, no doubt. It is not my place to tell you I'm afraid"

She walked in the classroom and sat down, setting up her things. The classes now, for the seventh year potions students, were for practice for their exams, so the potions they were going to make, would be of their own choosing. Hermione had chosen to make a healing draft that would apparently speed up the recovery from internal injuries of any kind.

Suddenly the door opened behind her and the hairs on the back of her neck, stood up and her belly began it's familiar nervous clenching. It was Severus, he walked up to the front of the classroom without even glancing at her. Her heart began to beat faster as she watched him sweeping up the classroom and come to a stop at his desk.

"Begin! I will come and inspect what you are doing, to make sure you get it right!" Snape said brusqely.

Hermione could hardly bear the tension, he wouldn't even look at her, not even slyly, through-out the whole time she was in there. Her potion finished, she stashed it in her bag, as it would be used as part of a project she was doing for the potions exam. She had planned to linger a while, letting everyone else leave before her so she could speak to Severus alone, but she had half a mind to just go.

Then she saw him glance at her briefly, his expression impassive, but his eyes saying much more. This gave her encouragement, making her want to stay again and she indicated to Harry that it was alright for him to go. He did, albeit reluctantly, raising his eyebrows at her and shaking his head. He also gave the potions master a sullen look before leaving.

Once everyone had gone, she was now alone with her lover for the first time in six weeks. He had his back to her and was leaning on his desk.

"We need to talk, but not here, in my room" he said stiffly.

Hermione said nothing, but merely followed him out into the now empty corridor. After checking they couldn't be seen, they walked quickly over to his office, closing the door and locking it behind them.

As soon as she was in the room, Hermione couldn't help it she began to cry, the tension had been getting to her. Severus stood hovering by the door uncertainly for a while, then walked over to his desk and sat behind it.

"Sit down Hermione,' he said, conjuring a chair for her to sit on. "There is no easy way to say this but I think it would be best if we didn't see each other anymore. Dumbledore told me what happened to you and I feel partly to blame, as this would not have happened if you hadn't been seeing me. I feel quite sure that Lucius put Draco up to the attack, as it was definitely his style. I think he may have done it to get at me, well... it worked!" he said looking down at his hands, which he had clasped together in front of him on the desk.

"You mean, he told his son to rape me, just to get at you!" Hermione said incredulously, her mouth gaping

"It is something I would expect from Lucius, yes, that is the sort of person he is. I know many others like him too, being with me puts you in great danger" he answered, keeping his eyes lowered.

"So you don't want to see me anymore then? That's it, finished?" Hermione asked a hint of anger in her voice, looking at him sticking out her chin defiantly

"Do you know what I went through while you were away? You could have been anywhere! Or lying dead or dying for all I knew!" then Hermione's anger increased, on seeing his lack of reaction

"I did not ask you to worry or fret about me! You knew the work I did was dangerous! Do you expect me to let you know when I'm likely to be in mortal danger, so you can come and protect me? After my experience I could do without a teenage girl's, hormonal angst!" he said, suddenly standing up, his voice sounding angry now.

"Huh!" she said disgusted, "All I'm saying is that you show me a bit of consideration! Not just drop me like a stone with hardly an explanation!" Hermione shouted back, also standing up

"I have explained! This is it! Our game is at an end! There are more important things to consider now. You also have your exams coming up and your time at Hogwarts is nearly over. Why do wish to prolong that, which is already finished? Just accept it and move on, I'm quite sure you will forget all about me once you start your new life outside these walls." He retorted

Hermione stood there open mouthed, how could he say that! She thought her heart would break, how could he be so cold?

"Do you know what I've been through? Hell and back and there you go acting as if I meant nothing to you! You're a complete and utter...bastard!'Hermione screamed, stealing herself at such bad language, but it had seemed appropriate

"Do you not think I have suffered too! I was tortured and starved by men who could not have cared less if I lived or died! Then I come back to hear that you have been attacked, by one of my house students! You have no idea of what hell is Hermione, I have seen things, things that your naive mind could not have even begun to cope with!"

Hermione was incensed, she walked right over to the Proffesor and brought her hand back to slap his face, but he caught her hand swiftly. So instead, she kicked him hard in the shin.

"Well, that's a bit more suffering for you!" she spat

He looked in pain but he tried not to show it and just grunted a little, pouting at her

"Can't you see I am only trying to save you from more pain? I am only trying to do what's best for you!" he said through gritted teeth, trying not to show his pain in his voice. He limped over to one of his potion cabinets, picked a vial off one of the shelves and took a swig from it.

"I don't need a father, I've already got one thankyou! I don't need you to do 'what's best for me'! I need you to be there for me! I've fallen in love with you, you idiot!" she retorted, walking over to where he was

He looked at her taken aback, his forehead creasing in confusion.

Then he laughed, but only derisively, "You're living in a fantasy world. _Love me?_ What, do you really think we have a future together?" but there was a tinge of sadness as he said these last words

"Why not? Don't you think you could handle me?" she asked, deliberately trying to goad him

"Handle you! You're hardly dangerous!" he scoffed

"So then this would be no trouble for you, she said standing back and throwing a spell at him which he quickly deflected with his own wand.

Hermione tried again and again, but he deflected each one easily and she pouted in frustration.

Severus shook his head, smirking, "Now you are acting like a spoilt child who has been told they cannot have the toy they want! Just because I'm not telling you what you want to hear!"

"Oh! A child now am I? That didn't stop you having sex with me though did it? She retorted, folding her arms

"Keep your voice down!" he warned, looking towards the door

"No, I won't! You know what? I think I'm going to tell the whole school everything, right now!" She said, beginning to walk away

Severus moved quickly, standing in front of the door, looking slightly worried. Then he narrowed his eyes suspiciously

"You wouldn't dare! You would be too scared of what people would think of you!"

Hermione smirked defiantly, "Just..watch..me!" she said determinedly. His eyes widened slightly, but his face was still set with a derisive look

"Now move out of my way!" She warned him, holding up her wand, directing it at him. Her anger and pain was sending her normally logical mind into confusion; she wanted to hurt him, to make him understand how she was feeling. She sent a beam of electricity through the slender stick, burning the top of his arm.

"You little ..!" he began, angrily, looking from his arm to her, then he rushed forward and grabbed her roughly.

"Get off me! I hate you!" she cried, tears stinging her eyes. She tried to break free of his grasp, but he held on tight. Then she began to panic, as the fear of being held down overtook her. Her breathing became so rapid and her heartbeat so fast, that she started to feel dizzy. She wanted to scream, but no sound would come out, this made her panic even more. Her throat felt like it was closing up and a cold sweat of terror broke out all over her as she tried in vain to breathe. Then everything went black.


	24. Try a little tenderness

When Hermione came to, she was lying in Severus's room. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at her concernedly, but on seeing that she was awake, stiffened slightly and moved back.

"What happened?" Hermione said, sitting up

"I believe you had a panic attack, brought on by stress no doubt" he replied seriously

Hermione shook her head in disbelief, _a panic attack?_ She'd never had one of those before.

They just looked at each other for a while, the tension increasing between them, until Hermione decided it was probably time to make a move

"Well, I suppose I'd better go then" she said flatly, swinging her legs off the bed, "Erm...I'm sorry about your arm...and your leg by the way"

Severus just shook his head a little, looking down, as if to say it didn't matter. Hermione shuffled closer to him, nervously biting her lip. They were silent for a while, then Hermione felt she had to do something to break the tension and gingerly reached out a hand and let it come to rest on top of one of his. He looked up at this touch and as their eyes met, it was like they were locked in a stalemate, many thoughts going through both their heads.

Hermione eventually decided she would have to do something before he suddenly remembered that, he had previously told her to go. She shuffled up even closer, then pulled her legs up underneath her into a kneeling position on the bed, so she could face him. With a tummy full of butterflies and a pounding heart, she brought a shaky hand up to hold his cheek; then leaning forward, planted a soft kiss on his lips.

To her delight she felt him return the kiss, making her tingle with a mixture of fear and anticipation. She pulled away, then rested her forehead against his, feeling his hand sliding up around the back of her neck.

Hermione felt the tension between them increase even more, her breathing becoming more audible as her fast beating heart made her pant gently. She was still worried that at any moment Severus was going to get up and ask her to leave, so she dared not move a muscle.

But he didn't ask her to leave; instead, he turned himself slightly and moved forward kissing her this time, then pulled back. He reached up to hold her face in one hand, like she had done with him. Closing her eyes with pleasure she turned her head slightly to kiss his warm palm, then she reached up her own hand to hold it in place over her lips.

He looked away, then shook his head, blowing air of his mouth gently, but did not remove his hand.

Hermione reached out again, this time to slide her arms around his neck, he responded by sliding his, around her waist. They kissed again, Hermione was nervous, but not as scared as she thought she would be. She pushed against him gently and he allowed her to lie him back on the bed. At first their kisses were soft and light, lips just brushing against each other, but then passion began to take over. She felt his hands move slowly up and down her back, squeezing gently now and again, as their tongues and lips caressed.

Feeling lost in the moment, Hermione gradually relaxed and started to enjoy herself, being with him almost felt like coming home to a warm familiar place, which was somewhere she felt safe, but at the same exhilarating and excitingly unpredictable.

Her questing fingers found the buttons to his tunic and she undid them deftly, then did the same to his shirt and slid open both garments to the sides. She began planting soft kisses all over his chest, noticing that his heart was pounding like a drum too. After a while she opened her eyes and saw that several new, jagged scars now marked the skin over his rib cage and after tracing them with her finger, wondering exactly how he got them, kissed them too.

She kept on kissing downwards, enjoying the sensation of his warm skin against her lips. She stopped at his belly then rested her head there for a while, the softly curled hair that grew there, tickling her cheek. She felt him brush her hair gently back off her face, then just stroke it for a while and she closed her eyes in ecstasy, as she loved having her hair played with.

Then he brought himself back up to a sitting position, pulling her up with him. Very carefully he leaned over and began to kiss her neck, making her tingle with pleasure. She felt tears spring to her eyes then; she wanted this, but she felt so nervous and worried that she would panic again. But as he worked on her neck, with his lips and tongue, she soon began to relax.

After a while he sat back on his legs, to take off his jacket and shirt, revealing his pale, lean, lightly muscled body. Hermione noticed that even though he was still slim, he had put on a little more weight since she had last seen him like this, which made him look much better. His body was surprisingly youthful for his age, his chest was still firm and his belly only had a cute little bulge, when he was sitting down. He leant forward again, pushing her back gently this time. She put her hands on his upper arms as he did so, then remembered the burn she had inflicted on one of them. She felt rather guilty, as she stroked her fingers across the still raw patch of skin on his upper arm. _How could she have done that to him?_ Maybe she _had_ acted like a spoilt child, like he had said, stamping her foot and lashing out in uncontrolled anger, because she couldn't have what she wanted.

Now she was lying back on the bed, her head resting on a pillow, he returned the favour she had done him, by unbuttoning her shirt. After sliding the shirt off, he leant over her, kissing her chest around the collarbone and then moving down to her belly. She closed her eyes, enjoying the tingling sensations from his soft gentle touch. She pushed her belly up and reaching underneath her back, undid her skirt and slid it off, leaving her in just her underwear.

He smiled at her then, looking her up and down, then stood up and undid his trousers, letting them fall and pulled down his boxers just enough for her to see his now swelling manhood.

"You always have this effect on me now, whether I want you to or not!" he said, looking down and pursing his lips playful derision

She leant up reaching out her hand, then after first looking into his eyes smiling uncertainly, she began to stroke the large tumescent length he had produced gently and marveled at how deliciously silky the skin felt.

Nerves jangled in her tummy again, as she thought about what she wanted to do, but then she realised that there was really no comparison between Draco's violent assault and her older lover's skillful touch. Severus had never forced himself on her, he had only not been afraid to push her in the right direction and she had only been too willing to let him.

Reaching around her back, she undid the clasp of her bra and slid it off slowly, down her arms. Then standing up, she removed her lace g-string, letting it fall to the floor, Severus not taking his eyes off her once as she did so. After watching her, he finished undressing too; removing his trousers, socks and shoes. She lay back down on the bed and he lay down next to her, propping him self up on his elbow, his erection nudging at her thigh

"Would you like to go on top this time?" he asked, tracing a finger lightly down her body, between her breasts.

Hermione answered this question by sitting up and straddling her self across his belly, then lifting up her bottom and moving back a little to get into the right position. With his help she eventually managed to take him in, then began to move slowly up and down his length, leaning forward on her hands. It felt strange to her to be the one on top, but she rather liked the feeling of control it gave her. She could go as fast or as slow as she wanted and he could only penetrate as deep as she allowed him to.

Soon she got into a rhythm and now and again, leant down to kiss him, all the time keeping her hips in motion. They carried on like this, until Severus could hold back no longer and he came inside of her. After a quick anti-pregnancy spell, they got comfortable, with Hermione lying on her side up against him, her leg bent up over his and her hand resting on his chest.

After a while Hermione asked the question that had been burning inside of her, ever since he had got back.

"Severus...what happened to you? Where had you been, while you were away?" she enquired nervously, hoping he wasn't going to somehow avoid the question, as he usually would.

After a few moments tortuous silence, he sighed deeply before deciding to tell her

"I was in Greece and was captured by their Ministry of Magic; the O.P. Some other deatheaters and I were meeting in secret, but it seems we were being watched, we must have been informed upon. I took on the three aurors that attacked us, but it seems my friends were not so keen to do so and I was left to tackle them alone. I managed quite well until one of them used a very powerful spell on me. I don't know what it was but I was knocked unconscious and woke on the floor of a darkened cell. My captors spoke good English and for days they questioned me about Voldemort and his activities, I refused to answer their questions of course, I could not compromise my position as a spy, so they began to use torture and beatings to break me. They also deprived me of food and water and made me drink foul tasting potions. They were frustrated though, as I am, fortunately, thanks to my own skills in that area, immune to truth serums of any kind. One day they left me alone for some time and I began to think of a means of escape. In my cell there was only a high barred window, but it was that or nothing. I waited as long as I dared, to allow it to get dark outside first and weak as I was, I managed to crawl up the stone walls, using the little wandless magic I had left in me. Then with as much concentration as I could muster, I melted the bars enough to be able to snap them and push them out. I looked through the hole and saw that there was a drop of some twenty feet below, but the walls were very rough-hewn, so I thought it might be possible to climb down them, as I had climbed up inside the cell. I managed to squeeze myself through the small gap, which thanks to their starving me, I slipped through fairly easily. I managed to get half way down the wall, before I was spotted and shot at with wandfire, coming from many directions. The next thing I knew I was falling and I tried in vain to keep a grip on the wall that I was climbing down. I fell hard on the ground below, breaking several ribs and also breaking my arm, when I landed on it. Suddenly I was aware of more wandfire coming from within some trees surrounding the stone fortress they had imprisoned me within. It was Aurors from our Ministry; I heard them approach and then talk to the Greek ministry men for an indeterminable length of time, as by then I was drifting in and out of consciousness. I only woke up properly when we got to Hogwarts, they must have used a port-key, then they conjured up a stretcher and brought me up to the hospital wing." he said, concluding his story

Hermione was amazed he had told her so much, but was still curious, "why didn't you just apparate away, why did you try and fight them?"

"They must have had some sort of anti-apparation shield up, for I tried and found that I could not" he answered

"They must have taken your wand, how did you get it back?" she asked

"Truthfully I don't know, Kingsley and Harley must have retrieved it for me somehow."

"Well, now I know" Hermione sighed, "You wouldn't believe how I felt when I saw you being carried in to the hospital! When I saw the state you were in, I was really shocked, but at the same time I was just glad you were back in one piece!"

"What were you doing in the hospital, were you ill?" he questioned, creasing his brow in concern.

Hermione looked down sadly, before speaking, "I had collapsed, Draco's attack had left me in a right state and I was in delayed shock, but Madame Pomfrey gave me a potion that took away the worst of the trauma. It seems like the attack happened a long time ago now, but the memory of it still hurts."

Severus sighed deeply again

"Draco would have made a fine wizard if it had not been for his father. He has an excellent mind and much talent, but he lacks the discipline and concentration to use them effectively. All he thinks about now is becoming a deatheater like his father, he believes it will give him what he wants, more power. His father has made him think he is invincible and not subject to the same laws as everyone else, like he believes of himself, but Draco is a young fool, like the rest of us were; he doesn't understand that we Deatheaters are merely pawns in Voldemorts sick game" Severus said reflectively, then he turned to her and said

"You had better go now, it is almost dinnertime"

Hermione merely snuggled into him and put her arm further around his chest.

"I don't want to go, can't I have dinner with you, like I did before?" she asked hopefully, then she heard him sigh and begin to shake his head, "Please?" she added

"Very well, but then you will have to go, I have a meeting tonight in Dumbledores office" he answered eventually, giving in.

He got dressed, but she found his black robe and put it on thinking she would get dressed later. After calling the house elf to make his order, he conjured a table and chairs, just as he had done before, all those weeks ago. Once the food and drink arrived they sat down and began to eat. This time he had only ordered water to drink, as he said he needed a clear head for the night ahead. The meal was as delicious as usual, grilled fish with vegetables and sauce then fruit sorbet for afters. Hermione was just tucking into her sorbet and thinking how to tackle the thorny subject of her and Severus's strange relationship, when a shout outside the door brought her out of her reverie.

"Snape!" then what sounded like the pounding of a fist, "Snape! You bloody bastard! I'm gonna' kill you!"

Severus did not look at all worried by these threats and merely raised an eyebrow, before going to the door. Hermione on the other hand looked absolutely horrified, putting her hand to her mouth in shock. "Oh my god! RON!" she exclaimed as quietly as possible

Severus indicated that she should go back into the bedroom and she quickly did as she was told. She sat down on the bed, shaking with worry and feeling a cold sweat of fear creep over her. It was obvious that either Ginny or Harry had told him, but why? Then she remembered Harry's warning, that if it came down to it he would not lie to Ron about her relationship with the potion's master, so it had probably been him. She saw the wall close over in front of her, which Severus had obviously done to hide the room and her within it. After a while she was dying to know what was being said, so after finding her wand, she used it to cast a hearing enhancement spell. She leant her head against the cold wall, pressing her ear as close as possible and heard a heated argument.

"Where is she? You pervert! I'm going to tell my Dad, they'll come and arrest you! There's got to be a law against it! Now what have you done with her!" she heard Ron's voice shout

"I don't know what you are talking about, you've gone quite mad! I think you need to go and see Madame Pomfrey, for a calming potion, before you land yourself in a great deal of trouble" Severus's voice said calmly, but with a dangerous edge.

"What? Come on, I'm not stupid! I know what's been going on, you filthy pervert! You've done this just to get at Harry and me haven't you! Now tell me what you've done with her!" Ron shouted, then Hermione heard scuffling, as if a fight was in progress. She was worried then; she had no idea who would come off the best or worst; Severus with his experience and great skill or Ron with his strength and tactical ability. She guessed they were pretty evenly matched physically, but magically Severus was definitely the superior one. Then she heard more shouting, it was Ginny and Harry, followed by Dumbledore. Everything went silent, then she heard Dumbledores voice say through the wall, "I think you had better come out now, don't you Hermione?"

The wall disappeared and Hermione walked nervously into the office, wrapping the robe more tightly around her, hardly daring to look up.

Ron spoke first, "tell me it isn't true, tell me you don't feel anything for this..this giant bat!" he said pleadingly

Hermione looked up then into his expectant face, which was red with anger, but she couldn't seem to find the right words, so she just looked down again.

"What the hell is going on?" he demanded angrily, breaking free of his sisters restraining grip on his arm and walking over to his ex-girlfriend, "has he been forcing you to do stuff with him? Does this have something to do with Draco's attack on you?" Ron demanded again

Hermione was trying hard not to burst into tears and bit her lip; she looked directly into Ron's eyes and felt suddenly very guilty. She had not only cheated on him, she had consistently lied to him, when all he had ever done was love her. She still loved him, just not the same way as before.

"I'm so sorry Ron!" was all she could manage to say, before the floodgates opened and she burst into tears. Ginny ran to comfort her, but before he could say anything else Dumbledore interjected

"I thought this was at an end Severus?"

"I tried Dumbledore, but she..." then he trailed off, sighing, casting his eyes downward

"Well, it seems we have a problem then" Dumbledore announced, sitting down on one of the chairs at the dinner table.


	25. Weasel versus the Snake

_Before I start this next chapter I simply must thank all of my wonderful reviewers, you make writing this story so much more enjoyable and worthwhile! _

_ThouandI – thankyou for your usual insightful reviews!_

_June() thanks for the tip! Mistake now rectified!_

_Thanks also to Mandabella, IluvJohnnyDepp and Mystic Dark Raven_

Hermione sat there looking at Severus, who was sitting at his desk, his head bowed slightly and hands clasped out in front of him. She was wishing that everyone else would just disappear and leave them alone, but she knew that wasn't possible right now.

"The biggest question I have is, do you love each other? Or is this just a fling; a 'bit of fun'?" Dumbledore asked, looking between the both of them.

Hermione chewed her lip, looking down for a moment, then she looked up at Ron who was scowling and staring at the floor, next at Harry, who looked distinctly uncomfortable and kept glancing at Ron and lastly she looked at Ginny, who gave her a half smile. Ginny's expression seemed to indicate that, although she sympathised, Hermione had to get herself out of this mess, as she couldn't really do much to help her now.

"For me it's love, I don't know about Severus..I mean Professor Snape..Oh I don't know what I mean! All I know is I've fallen in love with him. I don't know how it happened, it just sort of crept up on me.." Hermione admitted at last, looking at Severus again, but he only flicked his eyes up briefly and then continued looking down.

She saw Ron shaking his head at her, with eyes half closed, she looked down too then and began to play nervously with the tie on her robe.

Dumbledore turned his head to Severus, "Well Severus? How do you feel, do you love Hermione?" he asked, "My goodness! I sound like I'm conducting a marriage ceremony!" He added, under his breath

"I refuse to discuss my private life, in front of these.." and it sounded like he was going to say 'children' but that would have been an unfortunate choice of words, considering that Hermione was the same age as them, so instead he said, "students"

Dumbledore sighed deeply and rolled his eyes, "very well Severus, I will talk to you later, in private. As for you three, I need to ask a favour of you" he asked, then looked down and pursed his lips, thinking, before looking up again

"As you, Ron and Ginny, know, with your parents being members of the Order; Professor Snape is a spy for us. His position in the school is essential for his work, as it provides a means of cover and protection for him. Without his position here, he would not be able to work as effectively for us and therefore our struggle against Voldemort would be all the more difficult. So I'm asking you all if you would keep quiet about this, at least for the time being"

"What! Is this some sort of guilt trip? Turn him in and the struggle against Voldemort will suffer? Huh!..." Ron shook his head with an incredulous smirk on his face, "Do you think I'm daft or something? You're just trying to protect him because he is your friend! The fact is Dumbledore, that I happen to love that girl over there and even after everything that has happened, I would still take her back! That Pervert" (indicating Severus) "has taken her away from me and I can't just conveniently forgive and forget, for the sake of not letting the order lose one spy! I'm sure they have plenty of others who can do his job" Ron said, giving his rival a look of utter hatred

"I can assure you Ron, that unfortunately, there is no one else like Professor Snape, he is the only deatheater that has turned back totally from the dark side, something which takes an enormous strength of mind, as the pull is very strong to keep you there. He does invaluable work for us and he could not be replaced, unless we could train someone to pretend to be a deatheater, but that would mean them having to undergo having the 'dark mark' tattooed on their arm, something I assure you, that not many would volunteer for. He is also, though a little bad tempered at times, one of the bravest men I have ever met, he approaches threats upon his life with the same stoical manner in which he approaches anything else. He has protected Harry on many occasions, at great risk to himself, without Harry even knowing it. In short Ronald, I ask you to lay aside your anger, however justified and not report this to the Ministry, at least not until the war is over, then I think that Severus will accept his fate no matter what it may be."

Ron looked down, calmer now "but don't you think what he has done is wrong? I mean it's not allowed is it? He could have given her something to make her want to be with him..or anything, how do you know?" Ron asked.

Hermione decided to interject at this point

"He's never given me anything...apart from the odd glass of wine," she said, raising her eyebrows slightly at the word 'wine'. It's always been mutual, he's never forced me to do anything I swear!"

"One question I have for you Herm is, how long have you been seeing him? Since after we broke up or was _he_ the reason we 'all of a sudden' broke up, when everything was going along fine before. " He asked curiously, narrowing his eyes suspiciously

"Ron..." Hermione said, choosing her words very carefully, "our relationship was pretty much over before anyway, at least, from my side.."

"Just answer the question! Did you start this..this..thing, before or after we broke up?" Ron persisted

Hermione was about to open her mouth to answer, when suddenly, there was a polite knock at the door

"Severus? Dumbledore? Is everything alright?" It was Professor MacGonagall and she sounded a little worried

"Yes Minerva!" Dumbledore called out "everything is fine!" Then he got up and went over to the door, opening it just a crack. He spoke in hushed tones to the old witch, that weren't audible to anyone else, then closed the door again.

"Well Ron, have you made your decision?" Dumbledore asked

"Okay, I won't say anything for now, but only for Harry's sake, I wouldn't want to do anything to jeopordise his safety, but once the war is over.." Ron said with a warning glare at Professor Snape, who merely looked back with a stony expression

"Well, now that I have your word on your discretion Ron, may I speak to these two alone for a moment?" Dumbledore asked looking at Ginny, Harry and Ron.

The three of them nodded and got up, heading for the door. As they went out Ginny gave one last encouraging smile to Hermione, before closing the door behind her.

Dumbledore proceeded to tell them, that basically, them carrying on seeing each other while Hermione was still a student at the school; was definitely out now. That with the fact that he may have to do a little illegal memory modification to anyone who may have seen or heard anything going on.

He also told them how conflicted he was, because on the one hand he felt disappointed in both of them, for acting so foolishly, but on the other hand he was gladdened to see two people find love with each other. Severus would still not admit his feelings for Hermione though, but when he'd been asked, would not look her in the eye.

Dumbledore had asked to speak to Severus alone while Hermione got dressed and closed the wall behind her as she had re-entered the bedroom. Hermione didn't listen this time; she merely sat on the bed and got dressed, feeling utterly miserable. After a while, the wall disappeared and Hermione walked back into the office, to see a resigned looking Severus leaning against the fireplace.

Seeing her forlorn expression, Dumbledore put his hand comfortingly on Hermione's shoulder.

"Hermione, you should go now. I know this will be hard for you, but you have your whole future to think of. Your exams start next week and you must put all your energy into them for now. This really will be for the best, but once you have finished school..who knows what could happen" the old wizard said kindly, smiling warmly

Hermione merely nodded and looked towards Severus, but he didn't look back, so she sadly picked up her bag and went as to leave. She took one last look at him hopefully before she left and this time he did look at her. They just stared into each other's eyes for a moment, before Hermione eventually smiled weakly, then she lowered her eyes, looked away and opened the door. Once out into the corridor she could hold back the tears no longer and cried her heart out, not caring if anyone could see her.

By the time she got to the Gryffindor common room, her tears had dried and her composure had come back. She knew that Dumbledore had been right, she did have her future to think of, she needed to get good grades so that she could apply to become an auror. She needed to become an auror, at least for the moment, to help Harry. They certainly wouldn't accept her if she had any baggage attached, if it got out that she had been having an affair with a teacher, they probably wouldn't touch her with a barge pole; they couldn't have someone working for them, that had been involved in a scandal. She knew that at least for the moment she needed to concentrate her efforts on passing her exams, then afterwards who knew? Like he'd said. Maybe her and Severus would be able to see each other again, if he wanted to that was, he seemed very noncommittal on that front. But Hermione knew that she wasn't going to give up on him that easily.

"You started this Severus Snape and you're damn well going to finish it!" she said to herself, before uttering the password and climbing through the portrait hole.

Once in the common room she sighed, what on earth was she going to do about Ron? She hoped he did keep his word and didn't tell anyone, or else the 'shit really would hit the fan!'


	26. The Leaving Ball

For the next two weeks Hermione, Ron and Harry redoubled their efforts to study and put 'their all', into their exams. Hermione, despite bursting into tears at the drop of a hat, managed to do very well, as expected. Ron and Harry also did well, Ron having now, hardly anything to do with Hermione apart from an acknowledging grunt, whenever she came near. This, Hermione got used to; she knew it would take her friend's a long time to get used to her relationship with Professor Snape, if they ever did, but at least they didn't hate her for it; they just didn't understand. She hardly understood herself; all she knew was that being with him felt amazing and she didn't regret a thing, even though it had got her into so much trouble. She ruefully admitted to herself that if she could have done anything differently she would have been much, much more discreet!

Once the hard slog and the extraordinarily hard exams were over, there wasn't much for all the seventh formers to do apart from laze around in the sunshine, walk around the grounds or play the odd game of quidditch and wait for the end of term. School finished for the summer on a Monday, the week after and there was a leaving ceremony and party scheduled for the Friday before.

On the day of the ceremony, Hermione had stood on the specially erected stage in the Great Hall and had been watched by students, teachers and parents like all the rest of her friends, to receive her scroll and a handshake from Dumbledore. Her parents had been brought to the school, like all the other muggle parents, with a special portkey, to allow them entry for the day. They had hardly closed their mouths once during an impromptu tour, that Hermione and others had given their curious parents, after having permission from the teachers. They simply couldn't believe the room of requirement and her mother had squealed like a young girl, when things that she had thought of just appeared before her. Her 'Trekkie' obsessed Dad had said it was like the holographic suite on Voyager, to a look of derision from her long-suffering mother!

The day over Hermione had said goodbye to her, by now tearful, but extremely proud parents, promising to see them as soon as she could. They knew that she had some sort of important work to do once she finished school, that she couldn't talk about and they accepted it, albeit a little sadly. They had missed out on a lot of their little girls growing up and Hermione knew that they would want to spend some time with her before she flew the nest for good. She reassured them, though, that once she had her apparation licence she could visit them whenever she liked, so they needn't worry.

Once all the parents had left, the hall was transformed into a ballroom for the seventh years leaving party. It was going to be formal dress, but it certainly wasn't going to be a formal party, as a couple of live witch and wizard bands had been lined up to play.

Hermione sat on her bed doing her makeup in a mirror, which she had bewitched to light up and float in front of her as she worked. Ginny had done her hair and done a wonderful job too, bringing some of it up on top and leaving curled strands to fall around her face and rest on her shoulders. Ginny was also attending the ball, as seventh years could bring anyone from 5th year upwards if they liked and Ginny being her best friend apart from Harry, Hermione had decided to take her. It wasn't necessary to take a date if you didn't want to, so Harry and Ron had decided to just go together and see what happened when they got there.

Her makeup finished, Hermione stood up and looked critically at her reflection, in her long mirror this time, turning this way and that. Her dress looked sensational on her, it had a fitted, strapless bodice and long skirt flaring out from the waist down to the floor. The fabric was dark green taffeta, perfectly complimenting her skin tone and reddish-brown hair. With it she wore a simple jet choker and matching earrings.

Ginny wore a long black creation that was also strapless but fitted all the way down and had a split that went half way up her leg. The top was decorated with a delicate flower pattern made with tiny pearl like beads and she had a bag to match. Once they were both ready, they made their way down to the Great Hall with all the others. As they walked, Hermione thought how wonderful everyone looked and she also felt sad, like all the others probably did, that this was the last time they would be together like this, as soon their lives would be taking them on different paths.

Even though she felt sad, a feeling of excitement grew in her belly, as she knew that all the teachers would also be attending the ball and she hoped against hope that Severus would be there too. She had fantasised that he would stuff convention and rules, sweep her off her feet and dance with her. She could live in hope! She desperately wanted to talk to him, to discuss what they were going to do after she left school. She knew that it wasn't going to be easy for them to see each other, but they had to try, as she felt what they had was too good to just to let go.

As they walked into the Great Hall everyone opened their mouths in wonderment. Living in this school for as long as they had and having seen many amazing thing's, could not have prepared them for what they saw this time. The room was decorated in all the house colours, with banners on all four sides proclaiming the names. The ceiling above them was coloured with a beautiful sunset, red, gold and orange with a dark sky peeping through sparkling with stars. In fact stars seemed to sparkle everywhere and the effect was quite dazzling, but beautiful. The floor looked like grass and the walls were all moving with different scenes, magical snapshots from the previous seven years, most people were gathered around their various house walls, looking and laughing at themselves in their younger days. On one wall above the moving scenes, words were projected, which said:

"The sunset of your childhood is now upon you

Do not let the grass grow under your feet

And always reach for the stars, no matter how far away they seem"

Hermione and Ginny spotted Harry and Ron by the refreshment's table and made their way towards them. Harry greeted the two girls with a smile, but Ron only said hello to his sister. Hermione didn't know what she was going to do for the next few weeks, as she was due to join Harry and the Weasleys as usual in the Order headquarters at Grimmauld place. It was going to be very awkward, but she had to be there for Harry. Harry was still a little awkward around her, but she had managed to convince him he could still rely on her and trust her completely with his secrets and that she would never let him down when it came to her support, no matter what.

After they had eaten a little and had a drink, they stood up with everyone else to watch the first band come on. They were new on the music scene and called themselves 'Goblin rebellion', they were certainly different, but Ron already loved them and began bopping his head and singing as soon as they started their first song. After a rather shaky start they went on to do some really catchy numbers and soon got everyone up on the dance floor, even some of the teachers. Not Severus though, he sat with Dumbledore most of the night having what looked like a very serious disscussion, sometimes waving his hands about and looking quite angry. Hermione kept glancing in their direction every now and again, curious as to what they were talking about. This eventually earned her a raised eyebrow from Dumbledore, making her look away hurriedly again.

After Goblin rebellion, it was the Weird Sisters turn to play and they came on to much cheering, hooting and clapping from the assembled crowd. The Weird sisters had made it big now in the wizarding world and were only staying for couple of songs, as they had to go to a big concert in Australia. Even Hermione liked them; she didn't usually like this type of thing as she preferred classical or more down-tempo types of music, the sort of thing she had been brought up with. This had led to much conflict between her and Ron, as he liked to listen to loud, grungy rock bands.

The night drew on and it came time for The Weird Sisters to leave and it was the turn of a woman calling herself  'Hydra' and her band 'Senarius' to take to the stage. Her voice had a beautiful haunting quality to it and she sang torch songs and love songs, to give a chilled out end to the night and couples paired off to dance together to them. Hermione kept turning down boys asking her to dance; she kept hoping against hope that Severus would relent and just come and ask her. It was nearly 1.00am and he had now finished his conversation with Dumbledore, but was looking fidgety in a corner. The dance finished at 1.30 and Hermione was bored of sitting on her own, but she just couldn't seem to find the courage to approach him or could she? Ron was dancing with Lavender; a choice Hermione had felt he had picked just to annoy her. He knew very well that Hermione disliked the gossipy girl intently. Harry had been asked to dance by a rather confident Padma Patil; she was now well known for not taking any prisoners, if she liked a boy she let them know about it, not in a slutty way, she just didn't mess about.

Harry's jaw had dropped when he had seen her in front of him. She was wearing a very low cut gown, in light blue which sparkled almost as much as the room and looked absolutely stunning. Harry had just got up when asked and gone to her with out a word, holding out his hand, which she had taken with a smile. He had then stayed with her the rest of the night.

Ginny was dancing with Seamus Finnigan, much to Ron's annoyance, as the lad had by now earned himself quite a reputation as a ladies man. He had more notches on his bedpost than any other boy in his year and wasn't too fussy about whether the girl was the same age as him or what house she was in, as long as she was willing! Ginny was too clever to fall for his charm though and kept slapping his hands whenever he tried to sneakily slide them down to her bottom.

This left Hermione alone, feeling sad, Severus had hardly even looked in her direction all night, but she had half expected it. She had by now resigned herself to the fact that he was not going to ask her to dance and was debating whether or not to just go over to him, when Neville nervously approached. Neville had filled out in all the right places now, if a little chunky around the middle, but he still looked better than he used to. He was more confident in general, but still shy around Hermione and she knew it was because he secretly fancied her.

"Erm, would you like to dance?" he'd asked, smiling hopefully

Hermione had just nodded and got up taking his proffered hand. At first she kept him at arms length, feeling a little uncomfortable in his unfamiliar arms, but as the music went on she began to relax and thought, "It's only Neville for God's sake! He's not going to try anything is he?"

He smiled and when she smiled back, he dared to pull her closer, Hermione thought she would allow him this privilege and did not object. She couldn't bear to look at him too much though, as he now had a rather soppy look on his face, instead she preferred to look out into the room. It was then she spotted Severus, he was almost invisible at the outer edge of the room in his dark clothes, but her sharp eyes caught him. He was moving slowly towards the doors and left out of them swiftly and quietly. Butterflies flew around in her tummy then, she knew this was her chance to talk to him and she had to take it. She didn't have time to go to Ginny and explain, so after apologising to a very disappointed looking Neville; she followed her lover out of the door.

Leaving a few moments after Severus, left her hurrying to catch up, but she didn't want to call him; she didn't want to attract attention or risk him telling her to go back, not until they got to his destination. She trotted along the corridor after him, as quickly and quietly as her high heeled shoes would allow, her dress swishing around her legs as she went, expecting him to go to in the direction of his office.

But he wasn't going to his office; instead he seemed to be heading for the outside,

 _For some fresh air maybe?_ She guessed, then hope flared within her; outside they could be assured of some privacy at least, as long as they were far away from the school buildings, as she guessed quite a few students would be making good use of the bushes around the old castle tonight.

She heard the doors opening in front of her, headed in their direction and in a couple of minutes, she reached them herself and had walked through them into the warm night air. But once the doors had shut and the darkness closed in around her, Hermione began to feel nervous; she had not been outside on her own, much, since the attack, as she had still been too afraid. Though her panic attacks had been calmed by a very effective potion, given to her by Madame Pomfrey and  powerful witch though she was, she still felt vulnerable.

She had hardly seen Severus for the whole three weeks of the exam time, apart from in the distance, or occasionally at mealtimes in the Great Hall, during which they had exchanged glances and nothing more. Even though he had kept his distance, she still felt love for him and wanted to be with him, believing that they really could take their relationship further and make it more serious.

Fear now clenching her belly and making her shiver, even though it was a warm night, she nevertheless followed her lover down the long pathway that led to the road outside the school. _Where was he going, to Hogsmead maybe?_ It could be anywhere, as, as soon as he got out of the gates he could apparate anywhere he liked.

She quickened the pace, so as to catch up and now she was well away from the school, she at last felt confident enough to call him. He was just reaching the pig shaped gate heads when she opened her mouth

"Severus! Severus! Wait!" she shouted breathlessly, hitching up her long dress in order that she didn't trip over it and really wishing she had some flat shoes on.

He looked around then and stopped, then started to walk back up towards her

"Hermione! What are you doing here? Go back at once! Now!" he barked

"No! I won't go back! I want to talk to you!" Hermione retorted, losing her footing slightly, her high heels slipping on the gravel

"I haven't got time for this now, I have to go! Now get back up to the school!" He replied, stopping his approach

But Hermione kept on going toward him, asking her wand to light up on the way.

"Get back now! That is an order! And put that light out! Do you want the whole school to know that we're here?" He said, sounding agitated.

Still, she ignored him and once she was standing directly in front of him, he shook his head, looking angry, but Hermione wasn't perturbed. Lifting up her wand to better see his face, she looked him straight in the eye, looking angry herself for a moment, then she dropped her head. When she looked up she had a much softer, sadder expression

"Oh Severus, I've missed you so much! I just want to talk to you, can't you understand that? It doesn't matter anymore, I'm no longer a student now, well practically! Please don't tell me to go" and as she said the last words, she launched herself forwards, holding him in a tight hug, wrapping her arms around his middle. She buried her face in his chest, enjoying the closeness that had been denied her for so long.

"It is not that!" He said, grabbing her arms as if to push her off, then stopping suddenly. She looked up, her face still lit by the wands eerie light and he looked down directly into her eyes, shaking his head sadly, then he sighed.

"Why did you come here? You should have stayed at the ball with your friends, where it was safe" he said, his voice much softer now

"But I always feel safe with you Severus" she said lovingly, smiling

He merely shook his head, then leaned down to kiss her, but pulled away after a just a few seconds

"I must to go, please go back now," he said, sounding a little colder again and this time he did push her away.

She stood there for a moment, not knowing whether to run off in a huff or persist in her previous mission, but a quiet popping noise behind her disracted her from this train of thought, making her stop dead to listen.

"Ahh! How touching! What a tender moment we have stumbled upon!" Said a voice, suddenly behind them. That voice sent a cold shiver down Hermione's spine, she knew immediately whom it was and whipped round, backing up slightly. Fear then consumed her whole body as she saw Lucius Malfoy and several other deatheaters, walk out of the shadows and approach them.

"I thought the arrangement was to meet outside Hogsmead!" Severus asked angrily, pulling Hermione to his side, protectively.

"Huh! Someone must have tipped off the Ministry, the place was swarming with Aurors!" Lucius replied through gritted teeth, "but we have a little informant of our own, so we were warned just before we walked into a trap!" he added, smiling

Severus merely looked at him expressionless for a moment, maybe thinking what to do next.

"So, you're still fucking the mud-blood then?.. Huh! That's not showing much loyalty is it Severus? Considering what she did to Draco! Well, no matter, I have often thought about what I'd like to do the bitch if I got hold of her and now here she is!" Lucius said, his eyes narrowing and a malevolent smile creeping across his face.

Hermione felt Severus holding her even tighter and she also gripped him fearfully.

Her heart began to pound in her chest and her breaths came in sharp gasps, as the realisation dawned, that she could be in serious danger.

"Your son deserved everything he got, after what he did Lucius!" Severus retorted angrily

"Strange how you've changed your tune since you've been with her isn't it? I thought you were just having a bit of fun with her, but it's more than that now though isn't it?" he said coming closer and fixing Severus with an icy stare. "Well, You're going to have to decide were your true loyalties lie Severus. If you let us take her then that will be the end of it, I will know you are a true Slytherin and loyal follower of Voldemort, but if you try and stop us...My suspicions about you will then be justified. I have long suspected that your heart is truly not in our cause, but just thought that it was your way not to reveal how you really feel about anything." He backed off slightly, obviously waiting for his old friend to take in what he had said. When Severus didn't answer for a moment he added

"Well what is it to be Severus? Are you going to let us take her and give her what she deserves or are we going to have to take you to face Voldemort, to tell him what a traitor you are?" Lucius sneered, then he smirked obviously enjoying the fact that he'd really put Severus on the spot.

Hermione looked from Lucius's face to Severus's, wondering what he was going to do. Giving her to them would mean he did not have to give himself away as a spy, to be seen to want to protect her could mean his cover would be blown and the order would no longer have their one and only deatheater informant. Worst still, they could hurt him or even kill him, as well as her. She sincerely wished that she had listened to him now and gone back to the school when he had asked. She closed her eyes, waiting with baited breath for his answer.


	27. Consominio Ementior!

Hermione looked up at Severus, to see him already looking down at her, but her heart skipped a beat when his face suddenly broke into a sneer, then a smirk. Hermione felt confused and worried as he looked away, to speak to Lucius

"Very well Lucius, you can have her if you want, I'm done with her anyway. In fact I'll be glad to be rid of her, I've told her it's over many times, but she just won't let go! You'll be doing me a favour!" he admitted, an unusuallymalevolent tone now in his voice.

Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing, _he didn't really mean that did he? Surely not, he couldn't! _But as he looked down at her again, his faceseemed resolute, with a cold glint in his eye. _Oh my God! I think he does mean it! _She thought fearfully, she felt in that moment that everything she thought she knew about him, had just been one big lie. Well he'd certainly been a good liar, as she had trusted him totally and thought him completely genuine. She couldn't move or speak; she just stared at him, her mouth open in shock.

Then he grabbed her arm, pulling her round to face him; "Surprised aren't you?" he said sarcastically, smiling at her shocked expression.

"I don't have to pretend to be Dumbledore's lackey in front of my colleagues over there! They know the real me, the one I've hidden from you so far, but now you get to see it. Well, you did say you wanted to get to know me better!" he sneered again, "You see, I didn't really turn from the dark side, all this time I've been a spy for Voldemort. Why do you think the deatheaters have always been a step ahead of the aurors? Being in the Order means I have access to all of their secret information and of course they trust me implicitly, that's why it is so easy!"

All Hermione could do was to shake her head in disbelief, she wanted to run, but her legs felt rooted to the spot. She still couldn't believe what she was hearing, she felt like all the blood had just drained out of her, goose bumps rose up on her skin and her whole body began trembling. This was worse than Draco's assault on her,to be betrayed by someone she trusted, hurt more than any physical attack ever could.

Then he pulled her closer to him, so that his face was right next to hers, still holding tightly on to her arm.

"Remember that night in the Library? When I used that spell on you? What was it now?" he rolled his eyes briefly as if thinking. "Ah yes! 'consominio ementior'" he said, strangely enunciating the spell words clearly, like you would when you're teaching someone a different language. "A very useful spell, renders the receiver unconscious and they wake up with their most recent memories seeming like a dream! Well I can tell you the truth now Hermione, that it wasn't just a dream, I did rape you that night!"

Hermione just looked confused, _that wasn't what happened! Was it? What's he talking about?_

Laughter erupted from Lucius then and the other deatheaters joined in. He pulled off his hood, obviously not worrying now about revealing himself in the semi darkness.

"Oh Severus really! It was just too selfish of you not to let me in on your little game! Why didn't you tell me before? I was beginning to think you actually cared for this little mud blood bitch! I have to say I was a little worried about you there for a moment! I thought you'd gone soft and become a muggle lover like that old fool Dumbledore!" Lucuis said to Severus, laughingly. "He does so love to play his little mind games!" he said, after turning round to his deatheater companions, who snickered softly in return.

At this distraction, Severus suddenly widened his eyes and flicked them to the side, so briefly that if she hadn't been staring at him she wouldn't have noticed. A faint hope suddenly flared within her at this subtle signal, she tried to hide a smile as she now began to realise what he was doing – he was onlybluffing! _Thank God for that!_And doing a very good job too, no wonder he'd got away withbeing a spyfor so long! He had certainly fooled her! But that was obviously the idea, so as to make her reaction as convincing to Lucius as possible.

"I'll take this! We wouldn't want any _heroics_ would we?" Severus said, snatching the still lit wand from her unresisting hand and looking towards Lucius again. She _really _hoped that he _was_ bluffing and that she could trust him, as she still felt a little uncertain. She kept repeating the words of the spell he had mentioned, over and over in her head; now knowing that he must have said it clearly so she could remember it more easily. If anyone could learn something off by heart quickly, it was her, she had always learnt spells faster and more accurately than anyone else in Gryffendor House.

After taking her wand, Severus then roughly pulled her right arm up her back and walked her towards the gateway. Lucius was still standing with the rest of his cohorts, just outside on the road where he'd apparated in, he had a soft light erupting from his wand and as she got closer, Hermione could see his horribly triumphant smile. When she suddenly felt her wand stealthily being pushed down the back of her strapless dress, she did everything she could not to react, even though she wanted to laugh with relief. Instead she joined in on the act, because like any other woman she couldturn on the tearseasily, if she needed to.

"I can't believe you lied to me like this!" She wailed, looking back towards him "I thought you loved me and all this time you were..still in league with him and all the other scumbags!" then looking towards Lucius

"Oh poor little Hermione! You just don't understand Slytherins do you? You should really know by now, the only person they love is themselves and they will sacrifice anyone, if it means they get to live! Severus is a deatheater, he became one by choice, no one forced him! You won't find many as true to the cause as him, apart from me of course!" Lucius mocked. "But I must admit, you did have me worried there for a moment old friend!" he added

By now, they were only standing just a few feet away from each other. Hermione wondered briefly why Lucius couldn't come through the gate, but knew she would have to work that one out later, right now she had to get ready and psyche herself up for what was to come. Severus had begun a tapped countdown on her bare back, which she knew he must have been doing to let her know exactly when to strike with the spell. This was very helpful, as it left her mind free to concentrate on just doing what she had to do and not when. He started at ten, then when he got down to three she got ready

Tap-tap-tap, tap-tap..... tap! Then he let go of her, pushing her forwards at the same time

Lucius was just about to say "thank you" to Severus, when in a flurry of green taffeta and reddish-brown hair, Hermione suddenly produced her wand from out of the back of her dress and pointed it at the wide eyed Malfoy

"Consominio ementior!" she shouted with all the force she could muster. She had been trying to build up her power all the time she had been walking slowly towards him, using anger. She remembered the time he had tried to rape her that night in Severus's room, when she had been weakened and did not have the strength to fight him and the fact that he had practically told his son to try and do the same. This righteous indignation had fired her up to such a degree that she now had no idea how much power would be behind the spell, or even if she would do it correctly. She had never done it before, but had read about it, she'd looked it up after Severus had performed it on her.

There was a sudden blinding flash as the spell came shooting out of Hermione's wand with such a force that Lucius was knocked flat onto his back, his body rigid and his face blank with shock. Then as the sleeping part of the spell took effect, he closed his eyes and visibly relaxed. The other deatheaters, who were still hooded, seemed taken aback by this turn of events and did not react straight away,by the time theygot out their wands, ready to fire at Hermione, Severus had already got his wand in position.

"Petrificus totalus" he cried loudly, somehow throwing the spell out in to a kind of arc. This had the effect of rendering all the deatheaters ridgid and helpless on the ground at once. Then he walked among them as they lay helpless, uttering the memory charm Hermione had just used, picking them off one by one.

Hermione just stood there shaking, she couldn't believe what she had just done and had no idea she had so much power.

"I..I..I didn't know I had it in me!" she said shakily staring at the now prostrate Lucius in front of her

"and I thought you knew everything!" said Severus sarcastically,as he walked towards her, his wand lit.

"Now will you listen to me and go back to the school! They won't be out for long and there is no guarantee how long the spell will work on Lucius either, even though it seemed powerful enough"

Hermione hesitated, not wanting to leave him, but at the same time wanting to go back to the comfort of the school after her experience. She felt proud though, she had stood up to Lucius and she felt she would now no longer be as afraid of him as much as before.

She rushed up to Severus and reaching up, kissed him on the lips, he responded by catching her around the waist and back of her head and briefly returning the kiss. When they seperated, she couldn't hide her excitement, which seemed to amuse him

"Get used to that feeling, you'll be doing a lot more of that sort of thing when you become an auror! Do you think you have the stamina for it?" he asked with a small smile

"Huh! I'm a Gryffendor! Of course I have! I'm ready for anything those deatheaters can throw at me now!" she replied, still not being able to wipe thelook of utter triumph off her face

"Do not get too full of yourself, we were just lucky that time. If you had not said the spell correctly or a moment to late, you'd probably be dead by now! But I felt it was a risk worth taking, I couldn't let him take you" Severus said more soberly, looking down briefly

Hermione felt touched at these words and looked at him smiling, "You really got me going to there for a moment, you know! You are the most convincing liar I've ever met! You really are a true Slytherin, Severus Snape! Sly, sneaky, cunning and...arrogant with it!" Hermione said cheekily, laughing softly. Severus merely snorted and pursed his lips, in a way that Hermione now found quite cute

"Go!" he said, pointing in the direction of the school exasperatedly

Hermione obeyed him giggling quietly, now she felt certain she knew where his loyalties lay - with the Order and she felt sure with her too. Or was he just protecting her as he would any student? No, not with the way he kissed her just then.

She reached the school and as she was heading towards the Gryffendor common room, she suddenly had an idea. She still had the pendant that Severus had given her but she hadn't used it since that one time. She could use it to get in to his room and wait for him in his bed! She needed to get changed first of course though! Feeling excited, she walked up to the Fat lady and uttered the password 'chocolate frog' and climbed in.

Once up in her room, she found Ginny already asleep. The poor girl hadn't quite managed to get undressed properly; she must have been really tired. She had onlygot her dress half way off and wasn't covered with any sheets. Hermione smiled and pulled the sheets up over her sleeping friend, which immediately disturbed her

"Where did you get to? We thought you'd gone off in a huff!" Ginny said groggily on seeing her, "We even looked for you on the map, but you didn't show up on that, until we looked on the grounds section, then we saw you at the gates with Snape. We guessed you must have been okay if you were with him, so we decided to wait 'till you came back. The boys were down in the common room, well at least Harry was. I just couldn't stay up any longer though, I was so.." she yawned, "tired!"

"Well I wasn't just with Severus!" Hermione said to Ginny, her red haired friend's eyes now closing again.

"But I'll tell you what happened in the morning!" she finished smiling.

She lay on her own bed looking up at the canopy, thinking about what she had just done. Then she remembered the pendant and had just decided to get it, when suddenly tiredness hit her. She promised her self she would just close her eyes for five minutes, but sleep soon took hold and she didn't wake up until morning.


	28. What next?

Hermione woke the next morning feeling groggy and tired. After trying unsuccessfully to rub the sleep out of her eyes, she gave up and turned over, but a sudden squeezing sensation around her chest and waist, made any more sleep impossible. When she reached down to find out what was causing it, she realised that she was still wearing the green dress from the night before, which had a boned bodice. She managed to sit up to pull down the zip, then slipped it off. She began rubbing her self where the bodice had dug into her through the night, wincing at the soreness. She looked over at Ginny, whowas still asleep and in much the same condition as her self.

She decided that a shower would wake and refresh her, so she walked over to the bathroom and switched it on. She dared to look in the mirror and immediately stuck out her tongue at her reflection, as she was not looking her best.

"Same to you dear!" it said in reply

After a long shower, she felt much better and walked back into the bedroom again to sit on her bed and dry her hair. Ginny was just waking up asHermione came inand sat up, rubbing her eyes

There it is hope you enjoyed it! Sorry for any grammatical or spelling mistakes as it is 1.30am!

"Oh, I'm so tired! I'm just not a night owl like you Hermione, staying up late _does not_ agree with me! I'm more of a morning person – Urghh! But not today!" she said moving on from her eyes, to rub her forehead. Then suddenly her head shot up.

"Oh! This is our last Saturday together at Hogwarts!" Ginny wailed "Please tell me we can spend it together! I'm going to miss you so much when I come back next year!" Ginny said, looking pleadingly at Hermione and with such sad eyes that Hermione agreed. She guiltily remembered that she had planned onstaying in with Severus the rest of the day, but her falling asleep in her own bed instead of goingdown to his room,had made that more difficult. She felt torn, but in the end knew she would have to compromise and try and spend the night with her lover instead.

After Ginny had, had a shower, Hermione sat on her bed talking to her as she got dressed. After chatting for a while about what Ginny thought about Seamus and the fact he had asked her out, Ginny suddenly remembered Hermione's disappearance

"So what happened last night then?" she asked, raising her eyebrows

"Well...I went to meet Severus and well, we had an unwelcome guest.." Hermione dithered over whether to tell her friend the whole story, not knowing how much to reveal

"who?" Ginny asked curiously

"Lucius Malfoy!"Hermione told her

"What! He was inside the school? How?.. Why?"

"No, he wasn't inside the school, he was outside, look.. I think I need to tell you the whole story.."

Hermione proceeded to tell her friend about the night Lucius had attacked her, the letter and last night's occurrences. Ginny sat there wide eyed with shock through most of the conversation, with lots of "Ohh's" and head shaking.When Hermione eventually told her about the spell she had used on him; she could hardly believe it, but was very impressed

"How come the Ministry haven't been in touch with you? I mean it sounds as though you used an awful lot of magic to take him out!"

"I think Severus probably took the blame for me, I don't know" she answered truthfully

"Wow, Hermione! That was amazing! You must be feeling pretty pleased with yourself!" Ginny said, touching her friends arm briefly

Hermione smiled, cocked her head shyly, shrugged, then she laughed.

"Yes, it did feel pretty good, I must admit!" she said in the end, "but remember you're sworn to secrecy about this, no one else must know, that includes the boys!"

Ginny nodded, "of course, I won't tell a soul, I promise! But I wish you'd told me before, it must have been awful keeping this to yourself!"

Hermione and Ginny walked down to Hogsmead and met up with some of Ginny's friendsat the Three Broomsticksfor lunch. Harry and Ron had got involved in some sort of 'friendly' quidditch match, so they probably wouldn't see them until teatime. Hermione wasn't all that keen on most of Ginny's friends as being a rather serious type of girl, she thought them rather silly and frivolous. The only one she did like was Luna Lovegood. Luna always seemed to be there in body but not really in mind, until someone said something of interest to her, then she'd make some droll comment, making everyone stop, look at each other, then either shrug or laugh or both. Even though she was a little 'out there' Hermione knew her to be a very intelligent person and respected her, even if she didn't always understand what was going on inside her head.

After they had eaten lunch, they sat there talking for a while, having drinks, with Hermione trying to join in with the conversations. She tried very hard to concentrate on what was being said, but all she could think about was Severus and what she was going to say to him. She felt worried; now that she was leaving school, she wasn't going to have the access to him she had before, what if he disappeared again? She started to get edgy, what if he had already left, after all there was no reason for him to stay now, as there were no more classes.

When Ginny had gone to the toilet with two of her friends, Hermione just sat looking out of the window, watching all the people go by. The two of Ginny's friends that were left,were having an intimate conversation by themselves and Luna had her head in a book, so Hermione got lost in her own thoughts. She sighed as she saw, a couple go by hand in hand. Would her and Severus ever do that? Feeling sad, she hung her head a little, '_oh why couldn'twejust be like any_ _normal couple?'_ She thought, then berated herself, '_because you aren't a normal couple, that's why, you idiot!'_

"He's just afraid that's all!" Luna said suddenly, behind her, laying a hand on Hermione's shoulder and making her jump.

Her heart pounding, she turned around to look at the rather strange looking girl. the clothes she had taken to wearing lately made her look like Professor Trelawny! But in Luna's opinion the Divination professor had very good taste in clothes, so that was probably her intention! Fortunately for Luna, because she was pretty, she almost got away with it.

"He is just afraid that's all," she said more quietly this time, taking her handoff her shoulderand laying it instead onHermione's forearm, "he thinks that if he lets you into his heart you will inevitably break it, he has had his heart broken before and doesn't want to go through that again. You'll have to prove to him that you really love him and that it is not just a crush. He thinks you just want to be with him because of who you think he is, not who he really is.He is fine with that as long as you don't ask for more. He will be difficult, he'll give you every reason not to love him and try to push you away, but do not give up because eventually.." She said her big eyes round and serious, "there will come a point where he can resist you no longer and he will reveal his true feelings, if that is what you want then I suggest you go for it, before it is to late", then she turned back to the book she had been reading as if nothing had happened

Hermione sat there open mouthed in shock, how did Luna know? Why hadn't she said something before? She just couldn't believe it, but by the time she had managed to engage her mouth to say something, Ginny and her now hysterically giggling friends came back and sat down again.

Hermione quickly made a decision

"Erm, Ginny... I'm sorry, but I can't stay any longer there's something I've got to do and it can't wait" she said looking at her friend apologetically

Ginny looked disappointed  
"Okay, if you really have to go, but we were going to go to Honeydukes next, to try their new chocolates, they are totally calorie free, but taste just the same as normal chocolate apparently!" the red haired girl said, trying to tempt her friend into staying

"That sounds lovely, but I'm sorry, this is really important. Anyway, we'll be spending most of the summer holidays together, so don't look so sad!" Hermione reminded her, which made Ginny nod reluctantly in reply, then smile.

After saying their goodbyes, Hermione began the long walk back up to the school. She was a few paces behind some 5th year boys, who were a mixture of Ravenclaws and Slytherins, they were laughing, joking and generally messing around as they walked. They were dawdling, so, after saying excuse me, Hermione pushed past them. As she did so she heard some of them whispering behind her back,sending a shiver up her spine.

As it had been a very hot day she had chosen to wear her jeans with a tight fitting shoestring strap top which finished just above her belly button, but she now felt a little vunerable in it. Since the attack, she had become a little paranoid that boys were looking at her and didn't like showing her self off too much. As she had still been on the confident high from last night and knew she was going to be with Ginny, she had relaxed her guard a little today though. She began to walk even faster and got her wand out of her bag, to hold ready just in case.

"Oi, you!" cried out one of the boys rudely, "you're the one aren't you? The one that got Draco banged up!"

Hermione just ignored them; she was used to Slytherin taunts by now and since Draco's imprisonment, she had constantly been accused of lying by them. She heard feet running to catch up with her, which made her walk even faster.

"Hey! Don't you ignore me..bitch!" one of the boys swore at her, grabbing her shoulder.

This time Hermione did take notice. She whipped round angrily, smacking his hand away, then held her wand out in front of her threateningly. This move made the boy blanch a little, but he soon recovered and pulled his face into a look of defiance as she spoke

"Don't you EVER, EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN! UNDERSTAND!" Hermione warned him; through gritted teeth, "or you'll be wearing your balls for a necklace!" this got her a load of sarcastic "whoo's and "whoe's" from the assembled crowd.

"Hmmph!" said the boy, who was rather skinny, but quite handsome, with a mop of spikey black hair. "Draco told me how vicious you were, but I don't scare easily!" said the boy, narrowing his blue/grey eyes

"Oh no? How would you like me to demonstrate the spell I used on Draco after he attacked me? I would be quite happy to show it to you!" she said sounding a lot braver than she felt

"Just try it!" the boy said arrogantly in reply

"Leave it, Paris!" said one of the other boys, who Hermione knew to be a Ravenclaw

"NO!" said the boy in reply, "If she thinks she can hex me, then let her try!" he added, not taking his eyes off her once

"She is pretty good Paris, she's supposed to be really powerful!" warned another boy, but Paris was having none of it and stood his ground

"So am I!" he replied, looking round briefly. Hermione felt more relaxed now as she saw that the other boys appeared to be no threat to her, it just seemed to be Paris who had a problem and _he_ didn't look to be that much trouble. She thought of a spell and pointed her wand at him

"Abelgatio!" she shouted loudly, but the banishing spell was neatly re-bounded by a smiling Paris. After several tries from either side to whoops of encouragement from his friends, they reached stalemate. Hermione was frustrated, all she wanted to do was to get back to Hogwarts, not stand here with this silly boy, duelling.

She stood back folding her arms, her frustration written all over her face, but Paris took this as a sign of defeat and not realising that until now she had gone easy on him, as she didn't want to get into trouble with the Ministry. Paris looked around arrogantly at his friends, smiling,

"See I told you she wasn't that good, I can beat that mud blood, easily!"

This was a big mistake on his part, first of all looking away, then calling her by a label that she had come to despise intently, making her even more angry. So fast that he definitely didn't see it coming, she pulled back her arm and landed a punch on his chin so hard it sent him flying back into the arms of his friends. She stood back, her face resolute, she deplored violence normally, but this pipsqueak was getting on her nerves. There wasn't a sound from the boy now; he just looked at her in sulkily, touching his bloodied lip.

"I'll bet Draco didn't tell you I could do that, did he? Yes, I punched him in the third year! It's funny, but you have the same look on your face as he did! Are you related by any chance?" she said jokily

"I'm his cousin!" the boy revealed, standing up with help from his friends

"Ahh, that explains it! Stupidity must run in the family then!" she said, before walking away

She looked back briefly to see the boy struggling out of his friends grasp and begin to hold his wand out towards her, but the other boys managed to stop him and hold down his arms.

"You haven't heard the last of this bitch!" the foul-mouthed boy shouted after her, "When Draco gets out he's going to come and find you, then you'll regret ever messing with a Malfoy!" Paris shouted after her angrily

"I'll be ready for him!" Hermione shouted back, sounding completely unworried, but feeling frustration inside, why couldn't those Malfoys just leave her alone!

Walking quickly, she soon left the boys far behind and got to the gates of the school, then began the long walk up the gravel driveway.

As she walked, she played out scenarios in her head, things she would say and things that Severus would likely to say back. She knew he would probably be difficult but she felt sure that she could win him over, she had to, as she didn't want to lose him. She also wondered at Luna and what she had said, _was she a seer or something?_She'd always seemed to have very good insight into things, but Hermione had just presumed that it was just because she was very clever, obviously it was more than that.

Reaching the school, she walked through the main doors. It was very quiet inside today, as most people were either outdoors, or at Hogsmead, enjoying the sunshine. As she made her way down to the Slytherin dungeons, she felt sadder and sadder, she really was going to miss this place.

Still not knowing exactly what she was going to say to Severus, she eventually got to his office. Standing in front of the rather imposing black wooden door, she knocked cautiously. Then, after carefully looking around to see if anyone was watching she called out

"Severus! It's me Hermione!" she said in a loud whisper. Strains of music could be heard as the door began unlocking itself, then opening to reveal the room beyond. She walked in to see Severus standing in the doorway that led to his bedroom. He was dressed in just his shirt and trousers like he normally did when relaxing, but he looked slightly more ruffled this time. It was then she noticed also how messy his office looked, even more so than usual.

She looked round at stacks of parchment and boxes of potions.

"You're leaving already?" she asked, worriedly

"Yes, it is time for me to go" he answered simply

her eyes flicked over him, not knowing what to say next

"So, where does that leave us?

"There is no us, there never was, we just played with each other for a while, it was fun, but now it's over and we both have to get on with our lives" Severus said stiffly, folding his arms

"No! It may have started out as a bit of fun, but it became something more, much more and you know it! Look at last night, you said you couldn't let him take me, why would you say that if you didn't care about me?" Hermione replied, his dismissive words stinging her

"You have no idea what that man is capable of! I've seen him do some things that...well, ...I would have done the same for any student at this school, he is totally without consience!" Severus retorted, unfolding his arms and turned, so that he had his back to her. Then he began busying himself again, using his wand to pull things down from shelves and place them in piles or boxes

Hermione took a deep breath, readying herself for an argument, but then she thought she'd try a softer approach

"I think you're in denial Severus" she said, sliding her arms around his waist and resting her hands flat on his chest. For a moment he paused and seemed to be thinking, then looking down he removed her arms.

"I suppose you think that seducing me will change my mind, well it won't work, not this time," he said, not looking round, then he carried on with his task. This angered Hermione, she walked round to his front so that she was facing him andjutting out her chin and pursing her lips she glared at him

"Do you know Severus Snape, you are a complete and utter...SHIT!" she said the tears now in full flow, "you seduce me, then..then..then you make me fall in love with you! Then you just dump me, just like that! Your heart is like stone Severus Snape, if you even have one that is!" Hermione said accusatorily, hoping for some sort of reaction. She got one

A look of haughty defiance came over his face, before he began an angry rant

"You know nothing of my heart! You know nothing of life! Only what you have read in books! You think you know everything and yet you have hardly been outside of these walls for the past seven years! You have no idea what's out there, the danger that is coming! There is a good chance you could die, that many of us could.._including_ and quite likely .._me!_ Don't you realise that being with me would put your life in even more danger? I tread a very thin line and could be found out at any time. Whenever I go out there with them, there is a good chance that I won't come back!" he shook his head then and turned away, walking over to his fireplace, placing both hands on the mantle and leaning over it

"Please, just go, go and live your life! You'll soon forget me and move on to someone else! You're only eighteen for Merlins sake! Why would you want to saddle your self with an old man like me?" he continued

"Because I happen to love you! That's why! And you're not old, I think you are very young looking actually! You are the sexiest.. most fascinating, most intelligent man I know. If I went with anyone else, I would just be looking for another you, so why can't I have the real thing?" Hermione stated, desperately trying to win him over

Still he shook his head

"No! NO! This is it, this is the last time! Why can't you let go! Of all the women I've known, you are quite the most stubborn! Most of them have drifted in and then quite happily drifted out of my life with out so much as a goodbye, but you!"

"What is it? Is it because you just can't believe that anyone could love you! Or are you afraid of what people might think? I'm not naïve enough to think that my life could just carry on the same as before! I know people would hate us being together, but I don't care! We are the only ones that count, our happiness is the only thing should matter!" Hermione pleaded, walking over to him

"I can guarantee you would not be happy with me, no matter what people thought of us!" he said, not looking up. Hermione bit her lip and took a deep breath

"Don't you realise, that the past few months with you have been some of the best, most exciting in my life? You have taught me so much about myself! I know under all that sarcasm and scyniscism there beats the heart of a passionate man who is merely afraid, afraid to love and be loved, who thinks that everyone will ultimately betray him and cause him pain" she said softening her tone considerably

"Where did you get that from, one of your books?" he scoffed, looking up, then back down again

"No! That's what I think or rather.. know about you" she replied, feeling a little hurt, "Please, please don't push me away! I'm serious, I won't hurt you, I just want to love you, why won't you let me?" she put her hand softly on top of his. He didn't move or say anything for a while and Hermione's heart began to beat faster and when the tension became too unbearable, she began to move away, heading for the door

Suddenly she felt him grab her from behind and whirl her round to face him, then hold her head in his hands firmly. She knew he wanted to probe her mind, so she let him, watching him intently. When he had finished, he looked almost surprised

"You are a very strange girl Hermione Granger, but I like your taste!" He said incredulously, with a hint of a smile teasing up the corners of his mouth. Then he reached down and kissed her softly. Hermione felt a rush of butterflies to her tummy, which made her legs go a little wobbly. Tears of joyful surprise sprang into her eyes; had she convinced him? His passion increased and the kiss became harder, his hands sliding from her cheeks to the back of her head to massage her hair gently between his fingers.

Hermione slid her hands around his waist, pulling right up against him, so her breasts pressed into his chest. His hands slid down from her hair, onto her thighs and leaning over slightly, he picked her up and carried her over to his desk, then after shoving everything that was on it onto the floor, lay her back on it. He moved his mouth down onto her neck, breathing heavily

"Oh, why do you bewitch me so? I know I shouldn't want you, but I can't stop and now... now I don't want to! I hope you know what you are letting yourself in for girl!" he said in-between kisses, sounding slightly muffled.

"I hope so too!" She replied breathily, enjoying his kisses; each one leaving her tingling with anticipation. He moved down to her chest and was just pulling down her top a little, when he suddenly shot up. Hermione was wondering what was wrong, when her lover pulled her legs up and shoved her unceremoniously onto the floor behind his desk

She looked at him curiously and was about to protest at his roughness, when she heard a voice and the door opened a crack

"Severus? Erm..can I come in?" it sounded like Professor Flitwick. The door opened fully and Hermione quickly ducked behind the desk, hiding in the gap, between the drawers.

"What is it Filius? I'm very busy!" Severus snapped

"Ahh, I've been doing a little sorting out myself. There always seems to be so much to be done doesn't there? I've been at it all morning and..." Professor Flitwick went on, but Severus cut him off

"What is it you came to see me about?"

"Ahh, well it is rather delicate.. would you mind if I sat? he asked cautiously

"Very well, but I hope this does not take long, I need to be somewhere" Severus replied; rather rudely, Hermione thought and she also worried were he had to be in such a hurry.

"Would you please sit as well, being short, it is rather intimidating having someone as tall as you towering over me" Professor Flitwick asked politely

Severus reluctantly sat down, pulling his chair forward slightly, making Hermione pull back as far as she could go, under the desk.

As she looked at her lover's legs, a naughty smile suddenly spread over her face, as she remembered something she'd seen in a film once. She hesitated, biting her lip in indecision; then feeling a sudden wanton bravado come over her, she decided to go for it.


	29. Naughty!

_I just want to say thankyou, thankyou and thankyou again for all of you that keep sending me your wonderful reviews! I'm nearly at the end now, so enjoy!_

"So, what is this 'delicate matter' you wished to discuss with me Filius?" Severus asked irritably. He was obviously trying to sound unworried, but his eyes betrayed his real anxiety, as they had never left the charms teacher since he had been in the room.

Hermione listened intently before carrying out her plan, as she wanted to see what Flitwick had to say, her heart pounding in her chest from her nerves.

"Well...there was a rumour going round the staff room...that you erm...well you erm" Flitwick stuttered

"Spit it out man! What is it!" Severus interrupted, impatiently

"Well, rumour has it that you happened to have...found a very effective cure for erm..piles" Flitwick managed at last

"Piles!" Severus said incredulously, but after hearing this he seemed to relax a little

Hermione felt a great rush of adrenaline, as relief swept over her. This led her to feel rather silly and gave her the push she needed. Smiling to herself, Hermione reached out and touched Severus's leg, he flinched and immediately pushed her hand away.

She put her lips between her teeth to suppress a giggle and reached out again, getting the same reaction as before.

"Yes, mine have been giving me gyp lately, it's a family curse!" Flitwick continued. "Poppy has all but given up on them, I've tried all sorts of spells, lotions and potions, but none of them have worked. I mentioned it in passing to Professor Vector and he recommended something you gave him a while ago...I forget the name" Flitwick paused as if thinking

Severus had started to tap irritably on the desk with his long fingers and even though she knew she was pushing her luck, Hermione dared to reach out again. She slid her hand all the way from his ankle to the top of his thigh, then attempted to slide her fingers up even further. Severus slapped her hand away, but Hermione was feeling really bold now and reached out again. He paused before pushing her hand away this time, to glare down at her, but she just smiled back at him sweetly, raising her eyebrows.

Hermione was really having trouble suppressing her giggles now, so she put one hand over her mouth for a while and took several deep breaths to get herself together again.

"Err, oh that name it won't..erm.. Oh, are you alright Severus? You seem a little jumpy. You don't have a bit of trouble down there too do you? Because if you do I.."

But he was interrupted by Severus speaking

"The potion you are referring to is called 'Anti-affundus tincture' and no I don't..(slap)..have a bit of trouble..(slap)..I just want to..(slap).. get on with my packing!" Severus said disjointedly between slapping Hermione's hand away. She was now targeting directly between his legs and much to Hermione's amusement, he seemed to be getting very irate about it.

"Oh, I'm sorry to keep you, I'll get out of your way then!" Flitwick said sounding a little affronted, "But if you would be so good as to get the potion for me, I would be very grateful.." he added politely

This time Hermione had to put both hands over her mouth. She had already done what she had wanted and had distracted Severus perfectly, if she hadn't, she was sure he would have noticed what she had been doing and that would have spoiled the surprise.

Severus couldn't get up quick enough to carry out Flitwick's request, but as he stepped forward, he suddenly flew through the air, landing hard face down on the stone floor.

"Are you alright Severus!" Flitwick exclaimed worriedly, immediately rushing to his side.

"Yes, I am quite alright, thankyou!" Severus snapped, sitting up and glaring at the now very red face peering out at him briefly from under the desk.

He looked down at the tangled shoelaces that had caused him to trip and righted them again using his wand. Then he got up off the floor using the desk for support.

Hermione heard him walking over to his cabinets and opening a door

"Here, I have some already made up into a vial, use it only once a day as it is very strong. I cannot guarantee that it will work on you though, as I made it especially for Professor Vector. If you give me more time I will make you your own personal mixture" Severus explained, "but at the moment, I really don't have the time"

"Of course..but thankyou very much anyway, if it only provides me with temporary relief, that will be something! But I'm sure it _will_ work, I don't know of many better Potioners than you Severus!" he said appraisingly, then in more hushed tones he asked "Are you sure you're alright? I mean if you ever want to talk I'm always here to lend a friendly ear you know, I.."

"As I said before, I am perfectly fine! And I have no wish for an ear; friendly or otherwise! Now if you please.." Severus snapped

Hermione heard shuffled footsteps, as if Flitwick was being bundled towards the door

She thought she was going to explode, it took all of her self control not to burst into hysterics. With her hand clamped over her mouth and her head bowed down low she waited for the inevitable tirade.

The door to the office creaked open

"Well, you know what I said still stands...if you ever need an ear.." Flitwick said as he was shoved out into the corridor

"Yes, yes..I will keep you in mind! Now good-day Filius!"

"Yes, good-day to you and thankyou, I'll.." but whatever he said was cut off by Severus shutting the door. Hermione listened as Severus uttered the incantation to lock the door tight shut, his wand making a slight tinkling noise as it worked.

Her heart began pounding in her chest again, _why hadn't he said anything yet? _This was very unnerving, _what was he going to do? _She knew one thing for sure; he wasn't going to let this go easily!

She heard his footsteps walking towards her and then come to a stop in front of the desk. She looked up, but before she could react, a hand reached down and gripped her firmly by the arm, yanking her to her feet.

He looked at her for a while pursing his lips and narrowing his eyes.

Hermione tried to give him her most innocent and apologetic look, trying to judge whether or not he was amused or angry, but she couldn't tell yet.

"So.. like playing tricks do you? Well that childish little prank could have got us caught!" he declared angrily. Hermione looked down ashamedly, she felt regretful now about what she had done; it had seemed a good idea at the time, just a bit of fun, but now it did seem really, rather childish and silly. She didn't usually do things like that; maybe Ron's bad influence had rubbed off on her at last!

"I think, that for acting so childishly, there is only one appropriate punishment!" he said sternly, but there was the hint of a smile playing briefly on the corners of his mouth

"What do you mean, 'punishment'?" Hermione said, looking at him incredulously. After all they had done together and now he was acting like he was still just her teacher!

But she merely got a 'humph!" and a wicked smirk in reply. Still keeping a tight hold of her arm, he dragged her towards his bedroom, walking straight in, as the doorway was already open.

"What are you going to do?" Hermione said anxiously, but he ignored her. "Look I'm sorry!" she said smiling, "it was only a joke! I couldn't resist it! I saw a chance to get you back for that time in potions class! Remember? When you had me scrubbing the floor for nothing?" she reminded him.

"That was a perfectly legitimate and legal punishment, I wanted to teach you to be more careful with dangerous potions in future!" he replied stiffly, still not letting go

"Oh yeah! And I suppose you didn't enjoy it either did you?" she retorted

"I must admit it _was_ quite amusing to see you scrubbing away so fastidiously! You also had absolutely no idea that every-time your robe slipped I could see everything, that is before you covered your self up again!" he smirked

"You pervert! You shouldn't have been looking!" Hermione scolded, she still felt shocked to hear this even now, as she'd had no idea.

He smirked again before suddenly throwing her down on the bed, face first, with her legs dangling over the edge

"Severus! What are you doing!" she asked him, trying to turn over. But he ignored her and leaning forward, pushed down on her lower back with one hand to prevent her getting up. With his other hand, he tore down her jeans to her knees, which served to partly immobilise her legs.

Hermione realised then what his intentions probably were and struggled to get up, but he held firm, using his superior strength and greater weight to his full advantage. She tried not to feel too worried though; after all he wouldn't really hurt her would he? He was just trying to frighten her.

Then she felt the first smack

"OUCH! That really hurt!" she protested, shocked at how hard it had been

SMACK!

"OWW!" she exclaimed again, as she struggled ineffectively

"If you must act like a child then I will have to treat you like one! And I believe that strict discipline is the only way to make children to behave!" Severus said sternly, but with a hint of sarcasm

SMACK!

"OWW! That's it, now! It was only a joke, for God's sake! Stop it! You're really hurting me!" she begged, trying to push herself up on her hands, but he hadn't finished yet and still held firm

SMACK!

"Oooh!" she said through gritted teeth. "OKAY! THAT'S IT! I'm warning you you're going to regret this, I mean it Severus! Let me go!" Hermione said angrily, beating the bed with her fists. She wrenched herself round with all the strength she could muster and this time she managed to break free, but before she could pull up her jeans he suddenly leapt on her, pushing her back onto the bed again. He lay on top of her, smiling triumphantly.

"You're vile Severus Snape! Get off me!" Hermione snapped angrily, trying to push him off, but he grabbed her wrists then leant up slightly and locked his arms, so that he could keep hers pushed down firmly against the bed. Hermione was completely trapped underneath him now and couldn't move; so she decided to try a different approach

"My bottom really hurts now, you know!" she whimpered, pouting and wriggling a little.

He looked down at her, narrowing his eyes momentarily, then his mouth broke into a really wide smile, showing off his sharply pointed canine teeth.

"Good! That just means I get to kiss it better doesn't it?" he said in a playfully sarcastic tone

She gave him a look of defiance and turned away

"Oh come on my fiery little siren, you liked it really didn't you? Admit it! You enjoyed being treated like a bad girl for a change!"

Hermione tried to suppress a smile and did not do a very good job, but she still kept her head turned away.

Severus let go of one of her hands and began to trace his fore finger gently down the contours of her neck to her chest. This light, tender touch tickled and she shivered and flinched slightly, but still refused to look at him

"Come on..admit it..you liked it didn't you!" Severus whispered, breathing heavily in her ear, making her whole body tingle. He nibbled her lobe, then brushed her hair back and proceeded to kiss down her exposed neck. His kisses felt soft and his warm breaths made all the hairs stand up on the areas of skin that they touched. Hermione could hardly hold back her feelings any longer, this was incredible; how come she was so turned on? When he had done something so horrible! Oh my God! She hadn't known she was so kinky! She was extremely shocked at her own reaction; she really had changed recently!

"You are such a..bad..bad girl..Hermione Granger" Severus breathed, between kisses, looking up at her through his dark lashes and smiling.

Hearing him call her a bad girl like that was very exciting and in the very pit of her belly, a burning fire of passion began to grow. Now sure that she wasn't going anywhere, he let go of her other hand and kissed his way down to her chest. He lingered around the edge of her top, licking with light feathery movements, making her moan softly.

She was really turned on now and his every touch sent ripples of pleasure coursing through her, so she made no objection when he slowly pulled the straps of her top down her arms, letting it come to a rest around her waist. After doing the same with her bra, he moved up again to kiss her breasts. Hermione moaned loudly each time she felt his lips against her skin. He used his hands to cup the breast he was working on, squeezing gently and making circular movements with his thumb.

She felt the muscles in her tummy begin to clench involuntarily now, intensifying the pleasure even more. She now felt very relaxed, so she kept her eyes closed when she heard him lean up to take off his shirt, she also assisted him a little in pulling off her jeans and underwear. When he leant back down on her, she moaned loudly as she felt the warmth of his naked chest press down on her. She turned her head properly to face him at last and immediately felt his lips close over hers. This was the catalyst that made the raw animal passion explode within her. Suddenly, she grabbed him round the neck, pulling his head down hard against hers, panting heavily through her nose and brought her now bare legs up to either side of his hips. They kissed passionately for a while, Hermione her running her hands through Severus's gorgeously soft hair, while he massaged her breasts or stroked up and down her sides. He lifted his hips slightly to undo his own trousers, but did not take them off, then shuffled down so that his head was level with her belly. He kissed the sensitive skin around her belly button and then looked up slightly

"Could you please turn over?" he asked, "I still haven't kissed you better remember!"

"Oh, it's gone off now, you don't really have to kiss it better" Hermione said smiling down at him

"On the contrary I insist!" he said, grinning in a way that Hermione thought made him look ever so slightly sinister, but at the same time very sexy.

Hermione grinned back and did as he had asked.

He began by kissing down her back, then worked his way down to her bottom, caressing the cheeks gently with his hands. By now Hermione was in ecstasy and completely relaxed,but she did feela littleworried when she felt him lean over her and part her legs. He put his hand under her belly, pulled her up into position then tucked a pillow underneath her, but as shebegan to protest, Severus whispered in her ear reassuring her

"Shhh! Trust me! I won't hurt you, I promise!"

The way he said these words had the effect of sending a shiver all down her body, making goosebumps appear on every inch of skin. She panted with nervous anticipation as she allowed him to enter her from behind; he was as gentle as always and after a bit of adjustment, slid inside of her. This angle made the whole experience very different, she felt more vulnerable, but because she trusted him so much, it was a real turn on. He moaned in her ear between kisses as he moved in and out with slow rhythmical movements and reaching round he used his fingers to stimulate her expertly at the front. Hermione gripped the bedcovers as she felt her self orgasm, it was very strong and she called out as loud as she dared. A few seconds later she heard Severus do the same and with a loud sigh, he collapsed down on the bed next to her. She turned round to look at him smiling and he smiled back. They lay there for a while in silence, just getting their breath back and enjoying the afterglow.

"You really hurt me you know! Smacking me like that!" Hermione eventually announced sulkily, "No one has ever, ever smacked my bottom before! My parents didn't believe in that sort of thing!" she added

"Well now you know what you've been missing then, don't you! After all you did deserve it!" Severus said smirking

This incensed Hermione and she punched him in the shoulder in retaliation. I was expecting a playful slap not a full blown spanking!" she wailed

"I had to punish you for the humiliation you caused me in there! You don't know what an old gossip Flitwick is! He'll go and tell everyone I've got a 'problem' and I'll get looks. People will then presume there is something wrong with me and I'll get Poppy next, banging down my door asking me if I want her to check me over!" he retorted irritably. "_And_ that fall really hurt my knees you know!" he added, pointing down then rubbing them a little

Hermione laughed, putting her hand to her mouth, she remembered the time in the hospital, when Madame Pomfrey was trying to help him and he did nothing but complain.

"It's not funny, that woman can be quite a harridan! When she thinks you are hiding an illness from her she can be quite impossible to get rid of!"

Hermione collapsed into giggles

"I'm sorry about your knees! I never thought, are you alright?" she managed

"Yes, nothing that can't soon be healed with a very effective potion I have" he answered

"You know, I think Madame Pomfrey fancies you!" Hermione joked, thinking she would get a disdainful reply

"Huh, yes, that woman! She really drives me mad, she's always trying to mother me!"

Hermione giggled "really?"

"Yes, she's been flirting with me ever since she learned I was part of the Order, she thinks I'm some kind of hero or some such! As if I'd be interested in her! She's old enough to be my mother!" he snorted

"Huh! What double standards you have! Look at me and you!"

"Well, that's different! You being a young woman and me being a..a mature male"

"A very sexy mature male! Hermione sighed, pulling up closer.

She heard him snort softly through his nose as his arm wrapped tighter around her shoulders.

Then he leant up

"Well I will have to ask you to go now, as I really do have to finish my packing and I don't think I will get very far with your obvious...distractions!" he said fastening his trousers.

"Yes I might as well start mine I suppose" she added gloomily

They dressed in silence and they lingered by the door and kissed.

"Severus, You're not going to disappear are you?" Hermione asked fearfully

He looked down before answering

"No, I'll be around, do not worry"

She smiled and then bit her lip; she was going to ask an awkward question, that he hadalways seemed to manage to avoid, but now she really needed to know

"Sevrus...do you love me?"

He looked at her for a few moments, but before he could answer some students came walking noisily down the corridor. Hermione looked away for a second, then back to him.

"Well?" she asked again

By now the students where really close and his face looked anxious, so after a brief smile and wave, Severus shut the door hastily, leaving her standing alone in the corridor.

Hermione was mad now; he'd done it again hadn't he? She went to knock the door again, but the students had reached it themselves and gave her a funny look as they knocked. There was nothing she could do now but walk away, so she went sadly back to her dorm. She was going to get an answer out of him even if she had to tie him up, to make sure he didn't get away, she was going to make him tell her, if it was the last thing she did! He definitely wasn't going to get anymore 'benefits' until he did anyway!


	30. The tie that binds

By the time Hermione had reached the common room, she was not in the best of moods. She stomped up to her dorm and plonked her self down on the bed, head in hands.

"Oooh! He makes me so mad! How come he always manages to avoid the questions he doesn't want to answer!"

She decided she was much too mad to deal with him that night, so thought he could wait until the next day. She needed time to think anyway, _how she could get him to admit how he really felt about her?_

Ginny came up about an hour later and was curious about what had been so important. Hermione told her about her run in with the Slytherin boy, but left out the bit about Severus, as she knew that her friend didn't really approve that much and it was now a bit of a sore subject between them. She merely told her that she had wanted to see a teacher that was leaving early. Ginny had nodded in return, but Hermione didn't think she looked that convinced.

After lunch she spent the afternoon talking and having a laugh with friends from her year, something she seldom did, so it made a nice change. She had by now definitely decided, that shewasn't going to see Severus again that day, so she went to her own bed that night and stayed there.

Getting up the next day, she went to sit by the window, feeling the need to do some serious thinking. It was a rather dull drizzly morning, compared to the previous week, but it seemed to match her mood. She was making a mental list of all the pros and con's of a more permanent relationship with her dark eyed lover and it was quite extensive. The con's were many, including – his deatheater status, his age and his temperament! But so where the pro's – his intelligence; the fact she wouldn't have to explain everything to him when they were talking, as she knew he would already know or understand. His life experience, the voice that sent shivers up her spine, the fact that she now fancied him like mad and that he was a really good lover! And most important of all, that quite simply, she knew that she loved him very much and didn't want to let him go. She kept trying to think logically – how could she feel this way about someone who was old enough to be her father? She had no idea, but just decided that the heart didn't use logic and that she'd learnt that sometimes it was best just to follow it and trust it's judgement.

Her morning was spent as nearly every Sunday before, the past year; down at Hagrid's cottage, with the rest of the gang. He was quite inconsolable and kept sniffing into a very large handkerchief, which would have made a decent sized tablecloth for a normal person! He kept going on about how much he was going to miss them, how fast time went by and how it seemed like only yesterday that he had gone to pick up Harry from his Aunt and Uncle. Hermoine and Ginny spent most of their time putting comforting arms around him and patting him consolingly, while the boys tried to cheer him up by telling silly jokes. Hermione had found this trip difficult as Ron was still avoiding her as much as possible and had done his best to pretend she wasn't there at all. Even Hagrid had picked up on this atmosphere between them and had questioned it, but Hermione explained that they had split up only recently and Ron still hadn't got over it yet. The way Ron had glared at her when she said this made her worry that he might tell Hagrid the truth, but he didn't - much to her relief.

All through lunch that day, Hermione tried to formulate a plan in her mind; she needed to make Severus tell her how her how he really felt once and for all. She had to know soon, she hated feeling this insecure; he was really messing her about and messing with her head! Once she'd finished her sandwich, she decided to go up to her dorm room alone for a while to continue mulling over the problem in peace. She lay on her bed and stared at the canopy with its Gryffindor shield, which had always seemed to help her think.

_What I really need is to get him so that he can't escape, so he can't avoid my question again. Huh! I think I'd have to tie him up to do that! Wait a minute, YES! That's it! I'll tie him up!_ Hermione's stomach fluttered with excitement at the thought of doing something so naughty. _But how?_ _It needs to be with a good spell; or else he'll be able to get out of it in no time! Hmmm, I wonder..._she said out loud, pursing her lips and squinting in deep thought.

She decided to go to the library to find out the answer to her problem, to look up binding spells and try and find a really strong one!

When she got to the library that afternoon, unsurprisingly it was empty, apart from Madame Pince as usual. As Hermione walked past her desk Pince gave her a disapproving look, before going back to her filing. Hermione was used to this, even someone as book-loving as she had always been, was given short thrift by the bespectacled witch, who seemed to think the library would be much better off if everyone just left it alone.

Hermione headed straight for the restricted section and began to look up and down the ceiling high shelves, which were literally groaning under the weight of the many books piled upon them, some of which weremaking strange noises too! After browsing for a while, one book in particular caught her eye; it was almost hidden in amongst all the others as it was quite small and she would have missed it, had it not vibrated and slid forward a little when she had looked in it's direction. The book seemed to want her to pick it up, so feeling slightly nervous, she obliged and took it down from the shelf. After a quick flick through the pages, she realised immediately that it was full of spells and hexes concerning matters of the heart, most of which she knew to be illegal. She wondered how come a book like this had come to be in the school, but just guessed it had been brought in by a student sometime and put in the library by mistake - or for a joke and had managed to stay unnoticed!

Along side the text were erotic but tasteful drawings of intimate couples , which seemed to imply that if you used the spells in the book, then you would end up doing the same! Flicking through more slowly, she soon came upon exactly what she was looking for and began grinning triumphantly. She went over to sit at a desk, to study the page more closely in candlelight, as the restricted section was always dark, no matter what time of day it was.

"Devincio." She read quietly to herself, leaning her chin on one hand and creasing her brow in concentration.

"A binding hex - particularly useful for love play, as the receiver will suffer no pain or injury in the wrists, but will not be able to get free unless the caster of the spell utters the anti-hex from their own lips. To make the spell effective, simply say 'Devincio' while pointing your wand straight at the receiver. The receiver should preferably be near something to bind them to and holding your chosen rope or fabric for the spell to be most effective"

There were more instructions and suggested uses, locations and quite graphic sexual descriptions. Hermione read the lot; well it didn't hurt to be well informed!

After saying the spell word a few times, and the anti-hex, she made a mental note of the correct intonations, which were always at the top of the page, next to the spell. She then read the rest of the book, just for curiosity's sake and found some very interesting tips such as 'how to tease your lover' and 'how to find out your lover'strue feelings for you'.

She was getting quite nervous now at the thought of doing this! She'd never tied anyone up, or for that matter, seduced anyone before! She'd never had to, as Ron had always been the one that had begged her for sex and Severus, well, she hadn't exactly had to do a lot to encourage him either! This time was going to be different though and she sincerely hoped that she wasn't going to make a complete fool of herself!

After looking around a little guiltily, to make sure no one was around to see what she had been reading; she put the book back where she had found it. Once back on it's shelf, it seemed to vanish out of sight again and she wondered how it had read her mind and had known exactly what she had wanted. _Strange! _She thought, then she had a dread feeling that it could be something to do with dark magic. It hadn't said anything on the cover though and seemed pretty harmless stuff really, as long as it was between two consenting adults, but at the back of her mind she did wonder.

Even so, she couldn't stop smiling to herself all the way back to her dorm; Severus wasn't going to know what had hit him tonight!

Her only concern now, was that he might not even still be around! Even though he had said he would be, she worried that he may have just decided to make a quick getaway and disappear! To reassure her self she had sneakily asked Miss MacGonagall as if in passing. After a curious glance, the old transfiguration professor had given her the answer she sincerely wanted to hear -yes, he was! He wasn't going to be leaving until the next day as he had to help make sure all the younger Slytherins got up and out on time in the morning.

She had to spend the rest of the afternoon until dinnertime packing her trunk, magically shrinking everything so she could get it all in. She felt very emotional, as she was doing this for the very last time and the only thing that cheered her up was the thought of what she was going to do later that night.

That evening, it was still warm, as the day had been sunny after the rainy spell that morning, so she spent the rest of it outside. She, Ginny, Ron and Harry sat talking with other friends in the 7th year, reminiscing and alternately feeling both sad and happy at their imminent departure. She had to smile when people talked about their memories of Professor Snape. When somebody mentioned how terrified they had once felt when they were called to his office, she had to stifle a giggle, her memories of that place were somewhat different to most peoples! At about 10.00, MacGonagall called them in and they all reluctantly walked back up to the school to get back to their dorms

Hermione began to get very nervous; she kept going from certainty to uncertainty, _what if it went wrong?_ _What if he got really mad? _Then she thought, "NO! I have to make him tell me once and for all and I'm not going to be fobbed off this time!"

Later that night while Ginny was in the bath, she made her preparations. After searching through her trunk, she found what she wanted and changed her clothes. Instead of her usual t-shirt and shorts, she put on a very slinky see through slip and matching panties. It was black with lace edging and fitted quite tightly to the body, showing off her lovely figure very nicely. It had been a favourite of Ron's so she thought it might work for Severus too. She had a quick look in the mirror and after doing what she thought were a few sexy poses, giggled softly to her self and looked away. After finding the pendant that Severus had given her, she slippedthat on too, hoping that it still worked. Then she climbed into bed to wait.

When Ginny eventually came out of the bathroom, she dried her hair roughly, dressed in her nightclothes and climbed straight into bed. After a quick chat with Hermione, she was soon asleep.

Hermione lay awake in the dark, waiting for time to pass, her belly churning with nerves and excitement. She kept repeating the spell word with the correct intonation over and over quietly to herself. When the clock turned to 1 am she could wait no longer.

She put on her old school robe over her sexy underwear and tucked a long silky neck scarf into the pocket, then she put a silencing spell on her feet so she could sneak quietly out of the dorm.

Making the long descent to the dungeons, she kept talking herself into what she was about to do, even so, by the time she had got there she had begun to lose a little confidence. She knew that she really did have to be brave and stand up to him though, as the spell probably wouldn't work if she was too nervous.

Once she reached the door to Severus's office, she stood there for a while, taking deep calming breaths.

Hands shaking a little, she held up the pendant and to her relief it glowed and the door swung open with a little squeak, she walked in to the darkened room and closed the it behind her.

After telling it to illuminate, she held out her wand in front of her and began to walk forwards, her tummy now totally clenched up solid with nerves. She began to worry again that she was going to lose her nerve completely and stood in front of the place in the wall, where the entrance to his bedroom was and hesitated so she could psyche her self up.

"You can do this Hermione! Come on, you can do this! If you don't stand up to him now you never will! He has to stop messing you about like this! It just isn't fair! He deserves this, you know he does!"

Then she held up the pendant again and the wall vanished revealing the bedroom beyond. Like the office it was in complete darkness, apart from the light from her wand.

She held it up to see if Severus was in bed and to her dismay he wasn't, but she knew he had been, as the covers were pulled back and his pillow dented. But where was he now?

Hermione heard an almost silent footfall behind her, then she screamed when someone suddenly grabbed her from behind. There was a tussle, as Hermione began to panic and try to get free. _Wasthis Severus?_ She thought.He wasn't saying anything yet, so she couldn't tell for sure. When she was pushed face first down onto the bed, her fear rose even higher, but soon turned into relief, however, when she heard a familiar voice call out

"Lumos!"

She was roughly turned around onto her back and a lit wand was held over her face, blinding her momentarily.

"Oh Hermione, it's you! Why didn't you tell me? You weren't trying to sneak up on me were you? Bad idea! I've had better people than you try that and fail!" he said, looking directly into her eyes. Hermione knew immediately thatSeverus was searching her mind for answers and had to act quickly.

"What the...!" he exclaimed suddenly and his own eyes widened in surprise, when, before he could react Hermione had already pointed her wand at him and confidently shouted "Devincio!" She then stuffed the tie into his hand afterpulling it out of her pocket and held up her still lit wand, to see him being thrown back up to the top of the bed. His hands were yanked back over his head and Hermione watched, fascinated, as the tie wrapped itself tightly around his wrists and the ornate wooden bedstead, holding him firmly.

"Illuminate!" she shouted into the room, causing the candles to ignite and they both blinked for a while in the brightness. He looked at her curiously, but did not look in the least bit worried and to her annoyance smirked as if mocking her efforts.

Now he was tied up and pretty much helpless, she had a sudden rush of adrenaline and felt more confident. _Now she was the one with the power for a change! _Smiling triumphantly she snatched the wand from his unresisting hand and put it down on the bedside table, but to her disappointment this seemed to have little effect on his demeanor.

"Been reading up on binding spells have we? I know this one well! It is not the first time I've had it used on me, believe me! I've also employed it a few times myself and I must say I'm impressed! It is quite a difficult spell for a novice!" He remarked, raising one eyebrow and still smirking.

Hermione merely raised her eyebrows in return and pursed her lips, then moved to sit between his legs. He was wearing his black silky dressing gown and as she had always thought he looked quite sexy in it, she flicked her eyes up and down his body briefly, before leaning back on her now curled up legs. Very slowly, she slipped off her school robe and tossed it to the floor, then bent her head down allowing her hair to drape over him. When she brought her head up again, she flicked her hair back, smiled wickedly and licked her lips suggestively. His eyes traveled up and down her body, and she could see that he definitely approved of her appearance, as he was already making a tent under his robe.

"So, what are you going to do now?" he purred, smiling

"Well..that depends on on you" she replied cryptically in return

"Oh?"

"Yes, if I like what I hear I may treat you to something really nice, but if I don't..." she said haughtily

"Hmmm! This is a whole new side to you isn't it Miss Granger! Getting very **kinky** aren't we? I didn't know we had those sort of books in the library!" he replied mockingly

This incensed Hermione, even though it was true this time, he had always used her love of reading against her as if she should already know it all or something! Of course she had got it out of a book! How else would she have learnt something like this - in a bordello?

She decided to ignore his mocking, as she knew that it was after all, his way of trying to control people and she wasn't going to let him get to her that easily.

She reached out her hands and began to rub the top of each of his thighs gently, sliding under the silky robe, going further and further up with each stroke. Then she stopped suddenly, as the book had mentioned that a good way of teasing was to start to do something, make them think you are actually going to do it, then stop.

He looked at her expressionlessly, only narrowing his eyes a little.

She flicked her hair back again, pushed it all up towards the top of her head, giggled, then released it again to let it cascade over her shoulders. Then she settled back and got comfortable

"Now I've got your full attention and you have no way of getting away... or distracting me! I want some answers!" she said purposefully. "Firstly... I want to know why you wanted to be with me in the first place, was it some kind of ego trip? Or is it a hobby of yours to seduce young girls?" she asked raising her eyebrows

Severus shifted a little uncomfortably and tugged uselessly at the tie that bound him.

"I have no idea what you mean by an 'ego trip', but if that means that you think I am with you to make me feel like I am still attractive to women, then the answer is.. no." He said, his tone suggesting that he did not like being asked this question, "I have no need to prove myself to boost my ego, I already know what I'm capable of" he added

"Have you ever done this before? Or am I the first? Or am I just one in a long line of Snape conquests at this school? After all you certainly seem to know what you are doing!" she continued, pouting slightly at the last statement

"Haa! I should have known that one was coming! Well...if I told you the truth, it might incriminate me, so I cannot reveal that information!" he said, starting to smirk again.

Hermione pouted in annoyance and puffed a breath loudly out of her nose.

"You know I won't tell anyone! I have a right to know if you make a habit of this, so I know where I stand!" she said, folding her arms in front of her crossly.

He looked her up and down briefly, smiling, before answering.

"Well...I may have done this before a few times, but believe me when I tell you, that I have never gone after the girls - they have always pursued me! They, unlike you though, have always been happy once they had got what they wanted and then gone on to their next victim. Well, they were all Slytherin girls and we Slytherins expect that sort of behaviour! But you're the first Gryffindor I've shared a bed with and you are not what I expected at all, I thought you Gryffindor girls were all so prim and proper!" he replied. "And would never dream of doing half the things that you have done with me!" he added a little sarcastically

"Well, it just goes to show you doesn't it! You shouldn't judge a 'bookworm', by its cover!" Hermione replied, smiling,

"Hmm! Maybe you are right!.. Well, now I've answered your questions could you perhaps...do something with that?.." Severus smiled; indicating with his head the erection that had now pushed it's way through the flimsy dressing gown

"Oh that!" Hermione said, as if she'd only just noticed and smiled back. She bent her head down low, tucking her hair out of the way behind her ears, then looked up with just her eyes to smile at him again. Shecarried on going downtowards his waiting manhood and opened her mouth as if she was going to take him in, but then at the last minutemerely pursed her lips and blew outgently overit instead.

"There! How do you like your blow job?" she asked, feeling quite pleased with her self

He merely narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips in frustration.

"That's all you are going to get until I get what _I _want" she said confidently, then continued her questioning

"I want to know if you had noticed me before we kissed that time or if it was just a coincidence. I thought at first that all you wanted from me was sex but you must feel something for me now other than sexual attraction, because I'm sure you wouldn't keep on taking the risk otherwise! I want to know what those feelings are" she demanded, leaning back and folding her arms  
He pursed his lips once more and paused before saying, "I had never thought of You as anything other than another student before that kiss, that is the truth. Even though I must admit I had noticed your rather...attractive physical assets before then... I am a man after all!" he smirked."But it was only after you kissed me that everything changed. I began to see new possibilities, a new challenge to interest me. I never expected it to go this far, because as you remember, I tried to end it many times,as I did think it wastoo risky, but you just refused to let godidn't you?" He explained, "I admit that I am impressed with your determination though" he added

"It's because I know you feel more for me than you let on! I know how I feel about you, I've already told you.." Then she lowered her eyes before adding; "I once read that you should never give up on true love once you find it, as you never know when or if you will ever find it again"

Severus just sniffed out a breathin answer, then they were both silent for a while. Hermione had expected him to mock her when she had said that, but to her surprise he didn't and she looked up to see his expression had softened slightly

"I had just wanted to see how far I could push you before you would tell me to stop, but you went a lot farther than I expected! I will admit... that things are now different between us...but don't ever go thinking we can ever be more than just casual lovers, as anything more would be impossible! You realise that don't you? We must stay a secret, as too many people know already!" he explained, his tone and expression more serious.

Then after looking her up and down again, he brightened considerably.

"Now are you _please_ going to do something with this erection, before I go insane?" he asked indicating downwards. "Seeing you in that outfit and you being so...well, domineering, is very arousing!"

Hermione smiled wickedly again, as she definitely wasn't finished yet! She shifted her position so that she was sitting on his lower belly, then leaned forwards to kiss him gently on the lips, enjoying his warm response. As they kissed she rubbed her hands up and down his arms, enjoying the feeling of the tense muscles through the silky material of his sleeves. She definitely wouldn't feel nervous about doing this again if she could; it was so much fun! Moving away a little reluctantly from his mouth, she covered his face in soft kisses andworked her way down his neckthenstopped when she gotto the top of his chest. She leant up a little to look at him

"I don't care about us going on in secret... as long as I can be with you" she whispered breathily, "I love you", then she carried on kissing his chest

"You only love who you think I am" he replied cynically, making her pull away again. His eyes were now looking downward and his brow was furrowed in the middle.

Hermione leant back down and resumed her kissing, biting his nipple, just hard enough to make him jerk his head up in surprise.

"Maybe... but I still do nevertheless.." she said smiling, "that's whyI can't wait to find out more about you; as you are the most fascinating man I have ever met! I could only love you more when I do! Now, just one simple thing left to answer!" shedemanded "...how do you really feel about me? Do you love me? Or.. ...are you just stringing me along? I need to know Severus! It's time to stop avoiding the question and just be honest with me!"

He looked directly at her and studied her expectant face for a while, while she played with the now erect nipple, as she knewit wouldprobably irritate him, Ron had always hated it

"Hermione?.."he said, getting her attention

"Yes?" she replied expectantly, stopping what she was doing and looking up

"...If we are not going to have sex, do you think you could let me out of this now? My arms are really starting to acheand itgetting is getting most uncomfortable!" he moaned, wriggling uselessly against his bonds again

"NO! Not until you answer my question! We'll stay like this until morning if need be!" she retorted angrily, leaning back and folding her arms.

"What if I need to relieve myself?" he asked, raising his eyebrows

Hermione pursed her lips thoughtfully

"You'll just have to hold it won't you! Like I said I'm not budging!" she stormed, "If you answer me to my satisfaction, then and only then will I relieve your frustration and give _you_ satisfaction! That's a promise!" she urged

He looked at her, his eyes narrowed, then they widened again suddenly. At first he wore an expression of shock, then began to screw his face up, as if in great pain. He made a strangled cry and sighed loudly.

Hermione was worried, _what was wrong with him?_ _Was he just playing with her or was he really in pain?_ She just didn't know

"What's wrong? What is it?" she questioned nervously

"It's just something I get now and again..(wince) I have a potion that will take it off (wince)...please let me go (wince)..it's only just in there" he managed to say

Hermione wasn't sure, he really did look as if he was in pain, but he could still be trying to fool her. She bit her lip indecisively

"Come on (wince)..what are you waiting for! Do you enjoy seeing me in agony?" he grumbled

He was starting to sweat and thrash around; he looked really convincing.

"I'll get it for you.. where is it?" she asked getting up and standing by the side of the bed

"No...I haven't labeled it yet, you might get the wrong one and poison me!"

"Just tell me! I do know a bit about potions you know!" she was starting to get agitated her self now

"If you would just let me go! I'd find it much faster on my own!" he shouted back, grimacing

"You're just doing this to avoid my question!" Hermione retorted

"You think I would suffer this agony on purpose! I am not that much of a martyr!" he snorted. "Come on, hurry up and let me go!" he asked, now sounding quite desperate, then carried on thrashing around

She hated seeing him like this, but she still felt unsure. Then she made a decision, maybe against her better judgement.

"Laxo-are!" she said, pointing her wand at his hands

He got up immediately, looking strangely well all of a sudden

"Oh.. I knew it was just an act you **pig**!" Hermione said as she hung her head in defeat, but Severus walked over towards her and lifted her chin. He was smiling

"So did you really see through my little act? Or are you going to just admit defeat at last?"

She didn't answer, she was feeling too hurt and was frustrated that her plan had gone awry. Tears welled up in her eyes and ran down her cheeks silently. Severus wiped them away with his thumb, then shook his head, rolled his eyes back and snorted

"Oh very well then...I will give you an answer, but the way I feel about you is... complex. Truthfully, I'm not sure how it feels to be in love with someone, as I neverhave before, at least I don't think I have. I have seldom had any love directed at me in my life also, so it is difficult for me to recognise it when it does. All my previous relationships have been for mutual benefit, sexual or otherwise. Maybe the best way to describe my feelings towards you is that ...I feel the same way about you ...as I do about.. breathing.." he answered awkwardly

"Breathing?" Hermione asked incredulously; seriously unimpressed. Then she thought about the words more carefully -breathing? If he didn't breathe, what would he do?.. Ohh!

Hermiones face lit up and her heart leapt with excitement as she suddenly clicked

He pulled her close

"I warn you though, I expect full commitment from you and I will not tolerate betrayal of any kind! Even if we only see each other on a casual basis! Do not think you can get the better of me Miss Granger, more experienced women than you have tried and failed!" he growled, looking her in the eye, holding her head firmly

"Are we going to talk all night or are we going have some kind of sex? I didn't wear this for nothing you know and I've got to be up early in the morning!" she smiled, blanking what he had said, the way he did to her. She sniffed away her tears and raised her eyebrows expectantly

He just smirked in return, kissed her, then lifted her up under the thighs and took her over to the bed.

He climbed on top, then removed her flimsy panties andhis robe. She moaned as she felt himpush inside of her, pushing up her hips to meet his. It was getting easier now and more comfortable for Hermione, as they were getting used to each other. They kissed passionately and Hermione was so happy, she didn't even care that his stubble was scratching her!

Very soon after making love, Severus fell asleep, well it was about 3am! They lay there spoon like, Hermione comfortable with his arm curled around her and buzzing with the feeling that she had just received the best Christmas present ever.

She linked her hand into his and couldn't stop smiling, even though she knew things would be difficult for them like he had said. She agreed that they would definitely have to remain a secret, at least for the near futureanyway, soshe'd have to learn to be learn to be even more covert and secretive about their relationship. Yes...that information would definitely remain in the 'restricted section' for the time being!

Very early next morning she sneaked back up to her dorm and climbed into her bed to make it look like she'd slept there all night. She lay there feeling anxious, she couldn't see him again now until she left and hoped she wouldn't have to wait too long.

Later that morning,just as she was getting into the carriage that would take her to the train station, a large black Raven came swooping down towards her suddenly. Seemingly unnoticed by anyone else, it dropped a note at her feet and she picked it up immediately

She smiled when she read the message, it said simply

"See you at Grimmauld Place"

She tucked it down her top and climbed aboard the waiting carriage, with a curious glance from Ginny, but she just smiled then looked out of the window. She had decided to ride with Ginny and her friends from the 6th year -including Luna, this time instead of Harry and Ron. Shedidn't feel thatcomfortable being around her rather angry ex at the moment andshe dreadedthe fact that she was going to beliving with him for the next few weeks!

As the carriage rolled down the long drive to the gates Hermione was feeling both sad and happy at the same time - she was leaving forever, but hopefully a part of the school was going to be staying with her for long time to come!


End file.
