Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of his entourage, enemies, acquaintances, relatives, or fans. However, I do own the plot and any use of it in any other shape, way, or form will be severely frowned upon unless otherwise consulted with me.
A/N: "Pawn to Queen", "Round Midnight", "Their Room", "Bonded to Eternity", "Rhythm of the Rain", and "Pianoforte" all inspired me to write this story. Much thanks to Riley, MetroVampire, aleximoon, Rya Silverflame, Raven Summerset (my beta who's completed thanks appear at the ending author's note), and Heather Jay (whom I beta for, a task at which I'm incredibly honored to take up). These five authors are absolutely incredible and all the credit for this story should really be given to them. Bon appetite, and remember: Unleash Your Imagination And Free Your Soul!
Past the Point of No Return
Chapter 1 – "Les Plaisirs Dans"
Severus Snape cautiously walked up the stone steps, furiously rubbing at his temples.
"Ah, Severus. Do come in," Albus beckoned the nervous figure in the doorway.
He stepped in and took his usual seat in front of the large cherry wood desk.
"Lemon drop?" the Headmaster offered.
Severus waved his hand dismissively. "Albus, you know I never cared for such things."
He chuckled. "That I do, my friend."
He sighed. "I don't suppose you've called me here to plague me with sweets, so get on with it and explain why."
"You know why."
Severus stiffened. "I do not."
"It concerns you."
He smirked. "I would imagine so."
"You know more than anyone what is happening because of the Dark Lord," he answered gravely.
"I'm aware," he replied dryly.
"And so it comes to this, my boy. The Aurors have been through much training and preparation, but they have overlooked a most important factor."
Severus furrowed his eyebrows, deep in thought. "War potions," he whispered finally.
"Precisely," Albus beamed. "And you being such a fine master of Potions and having worked so diligently for the Order of the Phoenix give us a tremendous advantage."
He shrugged.
"But," he continued, "you are in need of an apprentice."
Severus raised an eyebrow. "Albus, a Potions Master needs no such thing," he snapped.
"Listen to me-"
"I will not!" he roared. "I simply won't hear of it."
Albus ignored this. "I was thinking something along the lines of Miss Granger."
~*~
Severus strode down the halls to the dungeons. The dark area did not look any different with the warm summer sun, except perhaps the absence of hundreds of little children swarming around. He shook his head and turned into another corridor.
"Asphodel."
The wall swung aside, revealing his office. He seated himself at the desk.
Miss Granger.
He scowled. He hated the girl with a passion. Such an insufferable know-it-all in her days – constantly waving her arm through the air in hopes of having her professor to ask her for the answer, very well knowing the teacher already knew she did. How could he possibly work with her? It was simply ludicrous – then again, so was Albus.
The art of brewing Potions was his forte – he wasn't willing to share his area of expertise with many people, much less her. He admitted to himself that she was fairly good at it, despite her wanting to help out that poor excuse for a wizard, Longbottom.
His train of thoughts was jerked to a halt, as the familiar sound of tapping at his window was made clear. With an exasperated sigh, he stood from his seat and wandered over to the edge, allowing the owl to gain entrance.
A large, black owl flew in, flapping its wings at an alarming rate. It dropped a roll of parchment onto Severus' desk and flew back out the window.
Severus walked back to his desk and picked up the letter. His body shivered involuntarily as he noticed the intricate etching on the wax seal.
What does that bastard Malfoy want now?
~*~
Lucius Malfoy leaned back into the plush leather, allowing it to envelope him. He subconsciously swirled the dark-red liquid in his delicate glass, but was interrupted at the sound of footsteps.
"Let me in," a muffled voice came from outside the Drawing Room door.
"Enter."
The door swung aside, to reveal a flustered Severus Snape in his doorway. He smirked. "Welcome, Snape."
"What is it, Malfoy?" he snapped.
"Don't stand in the doorway, man, come in!" he ordered.
Severus complied and stepped into the luxuriously furnished room. He watched as Lucius sipped his wine thoughtfully.
"I hear that crackpot old fool has got you to make Potions for the war?"
He paled. "I will not ask how you retrieved that information, but yes, it is true."
Lucius laughed heartily, all traces of humor absent. "Don't be stupid," he sneered. "You know full well I get what I want."
"Money was always everything to you, Lucius," Severus replied knowingly.
His laughter stopped and he gazed intently at his former associate. "Why, how observant of you, Severus," he mocked.
He shrugged. "Narcissa never meant anything to you, and I don't suppose you'd have a son if not for that heir you had wanted to produce so badly."
"You can read me like a book. Then again, that was all you did when we went to school, wasn't it? You and your silly habitual reading rituals - studying was your religion, Severus. I pulled you out of your hole, and you are in my debt, though for some reason you think differently."
"I owe you nothing," he spat.
"Except your life."
"Especially my life," Severus corrected.
"I showed you power. Was it not I who brought you to the true side?"
He let out a bitter laugh. "I don't suppose forever remaining at the hems of an old wizard's robes gains much subsequent power, now does it?"
"In the end we will succeed," Lucius answered through gritted teeth.
He sighed. "What do you want from me?"
"The girl."
Severus was taken aback. "What girl?"
"The Mudblood."
"Which-"
"Your esteemed soon-to-be colleague," he interrupted.
"Granger?"
"Who else?"
"What do you want with her?" he asked suspiciously.
"Her knowledge. My son tells me she excelled in her studies, very much like you. It's a shame she had to have such a disgusting heritage – she could have joined us."
"She would never join you, Lucius."
"Maybe, maybe not," he replied. "Although did you forget, dear friend, that we have access to tools of persuasion?"
Severus visibly paled. Imperius – he should have known.
"But like I said, her blood is dirty – we have no tolerance for such things."
"Then why do you want her?"
He smirked. "Not to turn hedonistic and indulge in her pleasure, I assure you."
Severus blanched. "Then what, pray tell, could you possibly want with a dirty Mudblood?"
"I told you, her intelligence."
He still did not comprehend.
"To put it bluntly, Drainer inculquer."
"Don't go around spitting out illegal incantations, Malfoy," he snapped.
"You may go now, Severus."
"And so I shall." Within seconds, a soft sound confirmed his departure.
~*~
Severus was absolutely appalled – Dumbledore had gone far past the point of no return. To make Granger his apprentice was one thing, to go and get her was another. He didn't know whether she knew of his arrival or not, so he thought it fit to act as though she did.
He apparated to the place indicated on the slip of parchment Albus had given him, and found himself at the door of a rather decent looking flat. Well as decent as University flats go.
He sharply inhaled before reaching his slender hand out and pressing it to the doorbell.
Ding-dong.
The door swung open. "P-P-P-Professor?" she stammered in surprise.
He now knew she knew nothing of what was going on.
"Erm – Miss Granger?" She was still wide-eyed in disbelief, and so he took that time to study her. She hadn't changed much – only aged. Apparently neither did her fashion sense, for she donned loosely fitting jeans and a rather large navy blue sweatshirt. Around thirty incredibly long seconds later, she shut her mouth and beckoned him inside.
"Please, do come in, sir."
He nodded his thanks and stepped inside, curtly following her into the sitting area. "Have a seat, Professor."
"Severus," he told her absentmindedly. Severus!? Where the hell did that come from?
"Erm – right, then. Severus. Then that would be Hermione."
"Hermione," he murmured softly as he sat down onto the sofa.
"So um," she began in a feeble attempt at conversation, "how has Hogwarts been?"
"Fairly well," he admitted. "The students are still as rotten as ever, but you can't get any better than that, I suppose."
She laughed.
She laughed? Since when do members of the human race laugh at anything I ever have to say?
Hermione cleared her throat. "Not sounding to be rude, Prof-Severus, but what exactly is the reason for your coming here?"
He sighed and sank back into the sponge. "It is after all an opportunity, but for a dreadful cause."
"Oh?"
"The upcoming war with Voldemort," he explained. Severus saw as she visibly winced at the sound of the Dark Lord's name. "As I'm sure your rather short experience in Auror training has taught you, a Wizarding war is in need of War Potions."
She nodded as he fully captured her attention.
"There has been a large amount of people undergoing Training, as you know. Both Potter and Weasley have been doing adequately, and they are our chief strategists." Here he made a face, as though he was thoroughly disgusted with the choice. Then again, Fudge never did know what he was doing.
"At any rate, because of the large population of Wizards to go in battle, we need a proportionate amount of Potions."
"Sir, er Severus rather, why won't you be fighting?"
How did she know I wasn't? That's, well – remarkable.
"Miss-Hermione, I believe I have my own reasons for the course of action I have taken, but rest assured they don't need my ah – expertise on the matter at hand."
"Will you be brewing Potions as well?"
What made her think she will be brewing Potions? This is rather odd…
"What do you mean by 'as well', Miss Granger?"
She chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Well isn't that why you're here? To ask me to brew them?"
"How did you know?"
"Well, I assumed that's what you would be here for. And besides, Harry and Ron told me about the war," she admitted. "I thought that you might be here to ask me to brew them because of my major."
"I am currently unaware of your major, nor have I ever known."
"Oh, well I'm doing a double major in Potions and Alchemy."
At this he had to lift an eyebrow. "You did do fairly well in your Hogwarts years as far as Potions was concerned. Needless to say, it was the same story with every other subject you'd taken."
She blushed slightly. "Thank you," she whispered.
He waved his hand as if making use of his wand. "So do you accept this offer?"
Hermione stared down at the floor as though nervous, and busied herself by losing her hand in the mass of curls that lay atop her head. "I, well – uh, I suppose…"
Severus nodded approvingly. "Very well, then. I should inform the Headmaster of your decision at once."
"What does this mean?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"This – well, what exactly is this, as far as commitment is concerned?"
"Well I'd assume that you would be able to continue living here, although I'm afraid you will have to make use of your Floo system rather often. You will arrive via the network every morning and shall depart every evening. That is, of course, unless you'd like to shift your ah – place of residency to Hogwarts."
She gave this some thought and shrugged lifelessly. "We'll see how this goes, and if the situation calls for it, then so be it."
"Alright." He walked over to the small fireplace and looked at her as though for permission. She nodded at him, and he muttered a quick Incendio and threw in flecks of powder, all the while noticing that she had been staring at him.
Merlin, please don't have let her have seen what I just did…
"Albus Dumb-"
"So you're one of them," she whispered hoarsely.
Irritated, he looked up at her. "I am one of what, Miss Granger?"
"I've read all sorts about your kind. I should have made the connection."
He shook his head. "It is meant to be that way. We generally do not like people intruding on our privacy due to feeble curiosities."
"Is it hereditary?"
"Not in the least."
"You mean you learned it?"
"Yes."
"By choice?"
"As opposed to by force?"
"No, I was only asking if you wanted to do it because it caught your interest or what."
"Mmm."
Hermione curled into a ball-shape, and looked up at him with big, round eyes. "D-D-Do you think maybe you could teach me sometime?"
He stiffened. "If you wish. No doubt you possess the qualities."
"I'd like that, Severus," she answered brightly.
Severus smirked. "I'm sure you would." He shook his head and looked into the roaring flames. "Albus Dumbledore!"
Within seconds, a familiar face, or head, rather, popped into the fireplace. "You called, Severus?"
"Indeed. Miss Granger has accepted."
"Ah! Excellent!" He turned to see Hermione and gave her a large smile. "It will be wonderful to have you aboard!"
"Thank you for your kind offer, sir."
"My pleasure, child. Well, I've got a meeting with Misters Fred and George Weasley – mustn't keep them waiting. I shall see you both soon, I trust?"
"You will."
"Alright. Good bye, then!"
Just as quickly as his head came, it disappeared. Hermione's head bolted upright as she heard Severus muttering an incantation causing the flames to extinguish.
"That's why you said it," she simply said.
"Said what, Miss Granger?"
"I remember on our first day of Potions class – 'There will be no silly wand waving in this class'," she answered primly.
He smirked. "Five points to Gryffindor."
"You don't do your silly wand waving because you don't use a wand. You're subject to wand-less magic."
A/N: The story's title is an Andrew Lloyd Webber song from the musical "The Phantom of the Opera" obviously called "Past the Point of No Return". The story summary is an excerpt from the song. The chapter title means 'pleasures within' in French. Okay, much thanks to my beta Raven Summerset! Without you, well – let's just say I honestly don't know where I'd be or what I'd be doing! You've helped me so much, and in more ways you'll ever know. I'd also like to take this time to thank two very special people – Slytherin Girl and SophieBabe. Believe me when I say that I could not be any more excited about our story "No More Tears, No More Sorrow" – I think it really will be the 'crème de la crème' of fan fiction as my good friend Godhuli calls it. (Much thanks to Godhuli for being the greatest friend a girl could ever have.) Anyway, you two are such inspirations and I wish I could be as clever and write just as well! I love you guys!
© 2002 – Muneezeh Kabir