A Moment Almost Lost by Lydia
I do not own anything related to Harry Potter.
Special thanks to Becky for writing half of this story.
As the final battle started, Hermione thought how foolish she had been last week. At the last Order meeting, Dumbledore made an announcement that had everyone thinking.
It started out as a normal gathering, while waiting for Professor Snape to arrive. Everyone knew the final battle was only days away. "I wonder how much longer he is going to be, I'm hungry." Ron stated.
"He will take as long as he needs, have some respect for him, and what he is doing!" Hermione replied as she smacked Ron on the back of his head.
"Hey, that hurt." Ron yelled.
Severus arrived, just in time to see Hermione smack Ron on the head. He hid a little smile, as he walked further into the room, and looked around. Pleased with what she'd done, 'He deserves more than that as far as I'm concerned', he thought. He had relaxed his opinion about her and had begun to see her in a new light. He, if truth be told, was beginning to think he was in love with her. He knew he would never act on it since she was still his student. Sighing, he shook his head, and thought, 'If only things were different.' Severus walked over to where Dumbledore was sitting and gave him his report before they started the meeting.
Glancing around the room, he found the only seat available was next to Hermione. After he he took his seat he cursed himself for not standing, their legs and arms were touching, and he felt a tingle at both connections and wondered if she felt the same thing. He vowed to himself in that moment, that if he survived this war he was going to tell her of his feelings for her, and whether good or bad. He just needed her to know.
Hermione watched Snape as he walked up to Dumbledore and gave the older man his report. She then gazed around the room and saw the only spot open was next to her. Her stomach did flip-flops as she watched him approach the settee, knowing he would be sitting next to her within moments. Hermione realized that she loved him at the end of her 5th year, she remembered back, 'It was during the Yule Ball, she watched him as he sat at the table with the other professors, she noticed he looked sad, and it hurt her to think of him being sad at Christmas.' When he sat down, his leg and arm touched hers, and she felt a tingle when they touched. and hoped that he felt it too.
Dumbledore began the meeting, mentioning several attacks and that a few muggles had been taken, but thanks to Professor Snape's information, the Order was ready for the attack. The next thing he said, had everyone thinking. "Since we know that the final battle will be in one week's time, I would like to state that I think everyone needs to spend as much time as possible with their loved ones. And if you feel the need to be with someone who would, as a rule, be off limits, then this is the exception and no one would place blame at all." His gaze swept the entire assembly, but stopped ,when it landed on the couple seated before him.
Everyone looked around, trying to figure out who he might be talking about, but two people sat perfectly still, their gazes never wavering from the Headmaster's. After that the meeting concluded, and everyone went their separate ways.
As the week passed, Hermione and Severus never acted on their feelings, so neither one knew how the other felt. The morning of the final battle found both Hermione and Severus wishing they had made their feelings known , but it was too late now. Both thought they would die not telling the other of their feelings.
They fought very hard and finally got Harry to face Voldemort. The face off did not turn out to be what everyone had expected. Harry had so much love in him for everyone who was helping, that one shot of the killing curse and Voldemort exploded into a million pieces.
That night at the celebration dinner, everyone was happy and dancing. Hermione sat at the table watching Harry and Ron enjoying themselves as they danced with several of the girls. 'God knows Harry needs it.' she thought, as she sat there watching the dancers twirl in time to the music. The next thing she knew, a pale hand was outstretched before her, and a velvet voice was asking her to dance. She looked up, and found Professor Snape in his best dress robes waiting for her answer. She put her hand in his and he led her to the dance floor. Everyone stopped dancing, and just stared at them, as they stepped onto the dance floor, but they didn't care. While they were dancing they just looked at each other, and after the song ended Severus escorted Hermione out to the rose garden. They found a secluded spot, where they sat and talked, never realizing how much they had in common all along. As she was looking at the moon he put his arm around her and leaned down and kissed her. She returned his kiss, and he knew then this was what they both wanted. After the kiss she felt brave enough to tell him of her feelings for him.
"Professor...", she started but was stopped.
"I think you should call me Severus, don't you think Hermione?", he suggested huskily.
'I like the sound of my name coming from him', she thought. "Very well, Severus, I know it should be wrong, and I should have done this last week, I think I have fallen in love with you." she stated, and waited for him to laugh.
A small smile graced his features, and he caressed her face, "I feel the same way, Hermione. I also should have done this last week.", he replied as a surprised but happy look appeared on her face.
When they finally walked back into the celebration, Dumbledore looked at them with that special twinkle in his eyes, and they knew everything was going to be alright.