Changes of the bond

Disclaimer Harry potter does not belong to me, never has never will

As the Hogwarts express approached the castle, Hermione Granger sat staring out of the window watching the rain pour down. She knew that things were going to be very different in the school this year. She looked over at Harry and Ron and smiled fondly, they were her brothers and she loved them deeply.

This year would be very different for everyone. The threat of voldemort was removed. Harry had ended Tom Riddle's reign of terror on his sixteenth birthday. The final battle had taken place at Hogwarts and voldemort had fallen to a trio of killing curses from Harry, Ron and Hermione. The battle had changed everyone, Ron and Harry began to seek the attention and were very much in the spotlight. Hermione wanted none of the attention, andshe locked herself in the basement lab of grimmauld place.

(flash back)

She approached the lab slowly, she needed a space to be away and to escape her thoughts she had done many terrible but necessary things during the battle and the guilt lay heavily on her mind. She knocked softly on the door and heard the potion master Severus Snape's silky voice "come in Miss Granger." She entered the room and asked "How did you know it was me professor"

He turned back to his cauldron "this house is full of dunderheads miss granger, who else would seek out my company." He pointed at a stool and passed her a roll of parchment and a quill. "Sit and take notes while I brew."

She sat and quietly took the notes he quietly dictated. It was amazing to watch a master brew, his movements were sure and quick, it was very graceful to watch and she was sure he had forgotten she was present. When he paused and set down the stirring rod she asked "Professor, what will this potion do."

He sneered "our headmaster saw fit to ask me to retrieve the mutt."

She gasped "you're going to bring Sirius back, But how I looked everywhere for a way."

He turned and walked towards a door in the back of the lab motioning her to follow. The door opened to reveal a cage with a rat with a silver paw huddled in the corner of it. "This piece of filth will be thrown through the veil in exchange for the mutt's body and soul, the potion allows for the sacrifice to be accepted." She looked thoughtful. "it cannot be all bad to bring him back, he will owe you a life debt Sir." Snape looked slightly cheered at this. "That is true miss granger how very slytherin of you."

She smiled slightly thinking of how close she and Severus had become. After a month of working on the potion she learned that the potion master was very similar to her, he loved books and held an insatiable love for research just like her. He possessed a sarcastic sense of humor and dry wit that she found very appealing. The night after they brought Sirius back from the veil, she followed him down into the lab

(Flashback)

She watched him pour a glass of fire whiskey and down it quickly before pouring another. "Are you okay sir" he threw himself into an armchair, "No Miss Granger I'm not okay, I just rescued my childhood enemy from death and the first thing he does is insult me." Hermione sighed and reached for the bottle of fire whiskey and refilled his glass before summoning one for herself.

"Miss granger what do you think you are doing." Hermione smirked, "I am eighteen almost nineteen years old sir, due to time turner usage."

They sat quietly Severus drinking quite heavily when he suddenly spoke up "miss granger, I feel that perhaps in private it may be alright for you to call me Severus." She smiled and inclined her head "and you may call me Hermione."

Several minutes later she looked up to see him sleeping soundly, she pulled the glass from his hand and quickly transfigured the chair into a couch and conjured a blanket and covered him with it. She headed into the lab and quickly brewed a simple hangover potion. She placed the vial on the table next to the couch and drew the blanket tighter around him. She hesitated slightly and then bent down and placed a kiss to his forehead before turning and retreating swiftly.

That had been the turning point in their relationship, from that point on they had spent every day working in the labs. No one at grimmauld was any wiser about their activities, they assumed Severus was locked in his lab and that Hermione was somewhere in the dusty library.

Meanwhile at Hogwarts Severus Snape sat in his quarters thinking about the enigma that was Hermione Granger. He did not doubt that he knew much more about her life than her dunderhead friend's Potter and Weasley. He had stumbled onto one of her biggest secrets quite by accident,

(flashback)

It was three o'clock in the morning when an alarm went off alerting Severus that the wards on his lab had been breached. He paused in the doorway, when he saw who was inside, Hermione was curled into a ball in his favorite armchair sobbing and hugging a pillow to her chest. "Hermione are you okay" she looked up tears streaming down her cheeks and shook her head. In three steps he had crossed the room and was kneeling in front of the chair. "What is wrong child" She just sobbed harder, he drew her to his chest before picking her up and sitting in the chair placing her into his lap. He stroked her hair and held her to him. Finally she sniffled and drew in a breath

"Did you know my parents are dead," He drew in a shocked breath, he had no idea. "No one knows Severus I didn't tell anyone, death eaters attacked the house in January, they were killed by most of the inner circle." He drew her closer and held her tight. "They would be so disappointed in me; I became the very person they did not want me to become." Severus was confused what had she done. "Hermione tell me what happened, they wouldn't be disappointed in you if anything they should be proud."

At his words she curled closer to his body and began to cry harder, her sobs racking her small body as she cried. Severus sat quietly murmuring words of comfort into her ear and rubbing circles on her back. Finally she sniffled and looked him in the eye " The headmaster knew about my parents, and he never told me, I had to find out from my neighbor, When I questioned him, he told me he hadn't wanted to upset me and in turn upset harry and burden him." Severus stared in shock "that bastard how could he be so callus" Actually he knew the headmaster well, and this is something that Albus had no problem doing, he would disregard a young girls feelings in an instant if it could serve the greater good, he himself had been subject to the headmasters manipulations many times.

He shifted her closer to his body and rocked her slightly waiting for her to talk again. "They asked me one thing in this war and that was to not become a killer, I disobeyed them, I couldn't see any way around it, we couldn't afford for them to recover."

"Who, who couldn't recover." She drew herself up to look him in the eyes and pointed her own wand at herself saying "Legimmens"

He was instantly drawn into her mind and her memories of the finally battle, He watched in awe as she ruthlessly cut a path through the death eaters leading Potter and Weasley to where the dark lord was battling Dumbledore. He stared in shock as Lucius Malfoy fell to a well placed cutting curse to the neck; she took down Dohlov and Avery with blasting curses to the chest and spine. She dispatched Greyback, who was fighting Mad-eye Moody, with a bizarre silver mist that seemed to kill him instantly. Finally he watched as she guarded Potter and Weasley's backs as they foolishly taunted the dark lord. Bellatrix Lestrange burst through the fighting and launched a curse at potters turned back. Hermione whirled and deflected it she quickly ended the duel with a wordless killing curse, as Bellatrix fell Hermione turned back to voldemort just in time to yell a killing curse of her own to join with Potter's and Weasley's.

He withdrew from her mind in shock, she had been the one responsible for the deaths, it was one of the greatest mysteries after the battle no one in the order had claimed responsibility for the deaths of the inner circle. This tiny slip of a girl had done what many could not, she had beaten some of the best duelists in Europe and she had done so in secret. Her idiot friends had not even realized what she had done.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by Hermione's voice. "…just leave me I did something so unthinkable, they would all be so disappointed in me." He cut her off "Miss Granger you did absolutely nothing wrong. You had no choice you had to protect your life and your friends, No one has to know what you did if you do not want them to." He paused considering "I am proud of you Hermione you did your house proud that day, you fought like a lioness protecting her cubs." At this she smiled slightly "they are like kids sometimes aren't they." He nodded "they do not deserve you." He looked down to see her asleep, he disillusioned them both and carried her to her room and placed her on the bed and removed her shoes before drawing the covers over her. He stood looking down at her for a moment before placing a chaste kiss to her forehead and whispering "goodnight little lioness" He stood in shock of what he had done and fled the room.

After that night he held a new respect for Miss Granger, after their third year in school she had changed she went from a know-it-all to teachers dream, she never raised her hand unless called on and quietly did all of the assignments in her usual perfect manor. She had changed outside of class as well; she wore long dresses that were stylish and very becoming, the common style of upper-class witches, and carried herself with a sophisticated elegance. Severus groaned, he should not be thinking of Hermione like this, He could no longer refer to her as Miss granger in his head, she would always be Hermione to him. He could not afford to be thinking thoughts like this, He had come to value her company and looked at her as a friend, he would not complicate that with misplaced feelings she could never return. And she was his student for Salazar's sake, even if she was almost nineteen.

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The sorting feast was its usual chaotic mayhem. Ron shoveled food into his mouth at an alarming rate and he and harry retold the final battle with increasing exaggerations every time. She sighed and picked at her dinner. After the feast she hugged her boy's goodnight and deflected Ron's attempt at a goodnight kiss. He had been harboring feelings for her since fourth year, and she had liked him as well for a little while but stopped halfway through fifth year. If she was honest with herself she was harboring feelings for a certain potions master but he would never return her feelings she was sure of it.

She woke up early the next morning and sat curled in one of the chairs by the window reading a potions book that Severus had recommended over the summer. They had decided to carry on during class as though nothing had changed between them. She imagined classes would know be quite amusing now knowing how his sense of humor worked.

At breakfast they received their schedules and she didn't even have to look at hers to know what class was first, Ron announced it.

"Bloody Hell we have the greasy git first thing and with the slytherins. Snape first thing in the morning." He moaned and stuffed an entire sausage in his mouth.

"Ronald his name is professor Snape and be thankful that he even let you into his NEWT class."

Ron mumbled something through his mouthful of food and she chose to ignore it. "Come on boys we have to get to class." She rose and left the hall not even looking to see if they were following her. "What's up with her this morning?" she heard Ron ask. "I don't know maybe its girl issues." Replied harry with a shrug. Hermione whirled around her wand already in hand and pointed at Harry's chest.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER I am not having girl issues" with that she jabbed her wand once causing harry to sprout cat ears and a tail that looked suspiciously like Crookshanks 's and she turns and stalked towards the dungeons. Ron blinked "I am not even gonna try and understand her," He turned and looked at harry sniggering.

BANG the dungeon door slammed into the wall and Severus swept into the room scanning for missing students. Potter and Weasley were missing, but Hermione sat calmly at her desk setting up the necessary materials. "Miss Granger where are Potter and Weasley." She looked up "I believe they are at the Hospital wing, sir"

He set the class brewing a difficult sleeping potion and started graded papers at his desk. Twenty minutes into class. Potter and his sidekick burst through the door out of breath and looking rumpled. He stood ready to ream them out when he got a better look at potter. The boy was sporting cat ears and a bushy bottle brush tail, that looked suspiciously like Hermione's ginger monster that she called a cat.

"POTTER, WEASLEY what is the meaning of this, Why does Potter have a tail. Fifty points from Gryffindor Take your seats." As the boys slunk into their seats he stared at Hermione until she raised her eyes to meet his. Her eyes were sparkling with mirth, he looked from potter to her, and she gave a tiny nod. The corners of his mouth quirked upwards slightly but his eyes danced with mirth later he would give ten points to Gryffindor.

As she brought her complete bottled potion to his desk, he inspected it briefly; it was perfect and completed in about half the time her idiotic classmates. He stared into her eyes using legimancy to tell her "come back at 7 I want to show you something." She inclined her head with a slight nod and graced him with a small smile before leaving the room, no doubt heading for the library.

After finishing her dinner she stood whispered to the boys she was going to the library, NEWTS were only 2 years away now and she needed to study, and headed to the dungeons. She knocked on the classroom door and heard his quiet, "Come in Miss Granger" She entered and threw up a silencing and privacy ward behind her. She smiled "good evening Severus." He grabbed her hand and brushed a light kiss across her knuckles. She blushed prettily and smiled.

Inside Severus's mind he was berating himself, she was his student what was he doing. He turned and offered her his arm, she took it. "Come with me I want to show you something." He led her through the door of his office and into his private quarters, he opened the door to his right and allowed her to precede him into the room.

She gasped Severus had led her into his private library. It was a room as large as the potions classroom and the walls were completely lined with full bookshelves. The only furniture was two cozy looking armchairs near the fireplace. She turned to look at him silently asking for permission to explore the shelves. Severus looked at her and smiled releasing her arm. She trailed her fingers along the spines taking in all of the rare titles. "This is wonderful thank you for showing this to me." She turned and smiled at him.

"Feel free to read whatever you want, you are welcome here any time you like I will give you the password to the hallway entrance."

Hermione smiled and selected a thick potions tome before settling into the arm chair across from Severus. They quickly fell into a comfortable silence and read late into the night.