A/N: This is in response to a prompt by the wonderfully talented TycheSong. I am honored to take her idea and run with it. I hope you enjoy this tale. This story should be finished in three chapters. Reviews, as always, are welcome.

Chapter One

"You must do something Severus. You cannot keep moping around here like this."

"Honestly Minerva, I didn't think I would be around to do much of anything. It all seems a bit anticlimactic if you think about it." Severus sat down with a thud, without much of the flair that often accompanied his teaching robes. Wrapping the long robes around him like a blanket he seems to pout like a petulant child at his situation.

"Did you think it would be like in the muggle novels you read in your spare time when you think no one is the wiser?" Minerva took the seat opposite him and poured them another drink.

"Well, now that you say that I almost think it would have been better had I died on the floor of that dirty shack. I would have been painted as a Byronesque hero, having died for love. But no, that honor was robbed from me by some unknown do gooder."

Taking a long swig of her whisky Minerva rolled her eyes at the younger wizard. "You really are too much Severus Snape. One would think you would be happy to be alive. Finally free of all your burdens, living rather comfortably off the monthly stipend provided by the ministry and the returns for your autobiography. Why can't you just be happy?"

"Because this was not how it was supposed to end Minerva. I was supposed to go out in a blaze of glory…well not a blaze but you know what I mean."

"Oh yes, lying in a pool of your own shit and piss really spells glory. I just don't get you Severus. You are never satisfied. You are determined to be a miserable sod. Why can't you find some direction, you seem lost and on top of that you are becoming a nuisance. You have managed to strip every house of their points in a matter of weeks. This is unprecedented, even for you Severus."

"Well what should you have me do? I don't have a purpose anymore. I never planned for this. Someone robbed me of my glory. I wish I could find out whom so I could ring their necks!"

Minerva shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she watched Severus hold an imaginary neck between his long fingered hands and shake the air. His eyes lit up with glee as he strangled the imaginary person. If he only knew that she knew not only who had done it but had been sworn to secrecy. Hearing a soft cough behind her she knew it was time to end this tete-a-tete.

"Severus isn't it time for you to patrol?"

Ending his assault on the air between his fingers, Severus looked up from behind his curtain of black hair and nodded. Unwrapping himself from his robes and self-pity he finished the rest of his drink and marched from the headmistress's office.

"Oh Albus, what are we going to do?"

"Minerva, I have never seen him like this," Albus' portrait answered from behind her.

"We need to find a way to help him. Not even as a boy was he ever this miserable. He is petulant, arrogant and most of all…he is sad," Minerva said.

"I agree, I have never seen him this despondent. A man truly robbed of his destiny is a sad sight indeed."

"Indeed it is Albus, indeed it is."

As much as it would have given Severus immeasurable pleasure he could not take any more house points. Patrolling the corridors lost its charm as he could not be tasked to hunt down the little buggers and give them detention. Pulling the well-worn flask from his inside pocket he worked his way towards the astronomy tower. He was well into his drink when he arrived and after ascertaining that there were no students around he plopped himself on the balustrade and leaned heavily on the wall for comfort. He was broken and angry. Anger began to well in him again and he tossed the flask against the wall with fury.

"My honor was robbed from me and I have no one to rail against! Didn't I do everything I was tasked? Didn't I spill blood on both sides in an effort to please you?"

Severus knew not who he spoke to, his need was to vent and he did so with enthusiasm. His wand drawn he cast spell after spell, filling the small space with dust and dirt from the broken stone. Still this did not comfort him and soon he fell to a heap on the stone ground, his eyes stinging with unshed tears.

There in the furthermost corner of the small space there shone a small light and it piqued the curiosity of the despondent man. Rising to his hands and knees he crawled over rock and stone reaching the source of the light. There in the corner, hiding from mostly everyone was the dreaded mirror of erised.

He had lost track of the mirror after Dumbledore had removed it from the school. It seems the golden child had made his way to the mirror more times than was considered healthy and it had been whisked away to save his sanity.

It was too bad that Dumbledore had never acted in his favor that way. Many a night was spent before the mirror, pining away for all the things life had denied him. The woman he loved, a free life, love and honor. All of these were dangled before him only to be taken away cruelly. There as he knelt before the mirror all he saw was his reflection. His robes dirty and tattered, the white stone dust marring his once pristine black clothing. His face dirty and tear streaked he was a horrid picture of what he once was, his long fingers bloodied and dirty from his attack on the room.

Soon the image before him began to swirl and take shape. The shape that it immediately began to take was very pleasing to the male eye. Severus cocked his head from right to left to try and decipher the image that was playing just outside of sight. Straining his vision he drew closer to the mirror, willing it to show him the face of the woman. Leaning against the frame he peered closer as the shape faced away from him, bent at the waist she rummaged through boxes and books in search of something.

"Ah fate you are a cruel mistress, once again denying me any satisfaction. Not even now at my lowest will you grant me a reprieve."

Shaking his head and rising to his feet, Severus looked away just as the image of the young woman turned and stared in his direction. As he turned away the image was once again nothing more than the reflection of the empty room and a retreating figure.

The next day began with much of the same boring routine that it always did. Regardless of how much Severus wanted things to change, he did nothing to change his situation. He had taken the job as potions master after the final battle and had made no changes to his life at all. He refused to accept any accolades for his part in the war and had very unceremoniously mooned reporters that had showed up at his home at Spinner's End. He was by all intents and purposes the same bastard he always was, regardless of his reputation for loyalty and unrequited love. In all honesty he didn't think what he had done was that grand. He had kept a promise to Dumbledore in exchange he was granted his freedom. His stupidity had cost his friend her life and the least he could do was protect her son when the time came. Did that mean he had to be nice to the boy? No, and he wasn't. Severus Snape had been a right bastard to not only Potter Jr but also to his orange friend and their annoying swot of a know-it-all Granger. Now regardless of how many years had passed since the final battle, Severus still held grudges against the three. They had been a thorn in his side from day one and he was hard pressed to find any reason to let bygones be bygones.

All attempts by Potter to contact him after the battle were summarily ignored. There was no need to talk, no need to share in their common link. The dark lord had died and there ended any and all obligation Severus Snape had to Harry Potter. As far as he was concerned the boy that lived to annoy, could go live and annoy someone else. The same could be said about the other two.

However just like his life up to that moment, not everything was that easy. It seems that Minerva just could not do without her favorite cub and a few years after graduating from university, Miss "Question Me to Death" Granger had returned to take on the position as deputy headmistress and muggle liaison officer. Since her arrival she had gone out of her way to make life easier for all students, muggle and pureblood alike. Her first act was to abolish house favoritism. Severus Snape had to concede that the move had made life easier for many students but he would be damned to hades and back if he ever told her that.

She didn't talk to him much more than just to say good morning and good evening. To be honest, he didn't know what to expect when she arrived. He imagined she would be the same clingy and annoying student she had been while under his care but he found that she was anything but. She exuded confidence and determination. She walked with her head high and was fearless in her person.

Severus Snape hated it.

She had everything he didn't.

She was loved.

She was respected.

She was everything he wasn't.

She was personable.

She was confident.

She was pleasant.

He would have been okay with all of this had she not returned to the school. Out of sight, out of mind was the adage. However, she had embraced her role at spokesperson for the new ministry. Her position at Hogwarts guaranteed that the children would never again suffer the indignities that they had suffered while Umbridge was at the school, not to mention what they had suffered while he was headmaster.

There had been a few times in the last two years since her arrival that she had attempted to speak to him regarding an upcoming school event and he had all but barked at her to leave him at peace. After the third failed attempt she decided that using Minerva as an intermediary would prove more favorable.

As it was mentioned earlier, Severus Snape had made no attempt to change his life but as fate would have it, he would have no choice but to make a change.

He would need the help of the last person he ever imagined needing and it was yet unknown to him as to the reason why.

A few weeks after his drunken rage at the astronomy tower, he once again found himself at the foot of the mirror, flask in hand, ministry parchment in the other. He needed to marry. It had been a requirement of all freed former death eaters. He looked upon the mirror again and begged to see the solution to this ridiculous situation.

The mist began to swirl again and the form that had haunted his dreams the last few weeks began to form again. The tight fitting bodice, the pencil skirt and high heels all complimented by a copious amount of chestnut curls that flowed from the head of the yet unknown face, bountiful breasts and hips that begged to be caressed all tortured him to hardness.

"Do not toy with me mirror, I demand you show me her face. I demand to see the person that can help me out of this predicament!"

He adjusted the tight bulge in his trousers as he once again struggled to make out the face of the unknown woman. No sooner had the words left his mouth did the mist clear away and the face made itself known.

"No…it can't be her. Anyone but her," Severus Snape cursed the day he ever set eyes of this damned mirror. It had haunted his nights, one too many times and now, to see that this woman was the object of his desire was some sort of cosmic joke. It couldn't be. He desired someone to help him, not someone that would pity him. The defiant Gryffindor stared out at him from beyond the depths of the mirror. Her arms crossed at her chest, her chin held aloft, exposing the creamy flesh of her neck and collar; she was the picture of wanton defiance. This could not be the same Gryffindor he knew. This had to be a trick, a hex gone awry in the mirror.

Smashing his flask against the teasing image he stood and walked back down to his rooms.

The mirror repaired itself and the swirling image of Hermione Granger disappeared once again into its deepest recesses.

For the next few weeks the image that Severus Snape had seen in the mirror had haunted his every waking moment. But now it had a face, a face he knew too well. It did so because the woman in that mirror was not the same woman that haunted the halls of Hogwarts. The Hermione Granger that existed in his world was mousy, annoying and a frigid prude. Her ill-fitting robes and homely appearance paid her no favors with the male population. While she was loved by many for her contributions to the war, that love did not extend into her bedroom. Severus often observed her eating alone beneath the tree outside on the grounds, if not he would see her sitting alone in the library pouring over ancient texts in search of Merlin knew what. Severus Snape wondered just how the woman could help him. Maybe she could get the law repealed? He doubted even she had that kind of influence over the minister, no matter what she had done for the war effort.

Severus Snape however did not have the luxury of wondering how else she could help, he wondered if she would be willing to enter into a contract with him. Become his wife on paper only. She had been used to taking on lost causes. He could appeal to her humanitarian nature.

Sod it all. He would not beg her. Severus Snape was too proud to beg. He would not ask her to help him. He would just wait and see what the ministry did. Surely a war hero would get some preferential treatment.

Surely.

"Severus Snape, you are here before us today due to a flagrant disregard to an official decree. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Minerva shifted slightly on the hard wooden chair and watched the proceedings with trepidation. For months her potions master had ignored owl after owl from the ministry demanding that he comply with the marriage wellness act. The deadline had arrived and passed and still he had not found a suitable witch to take as a wife. Minerva was adamant that he comply. She could not afford to lose him for the school year and to be honest she knew he needed a good witch by his side.

But Severus Snape was a proud and disagreeable man. There was no convincing him that he needed anything. Now he would pay the price.

Sybil Trelawney had even tried to speak to him about the order. She had offered herself as a possible candidate only to have Severus chase her from his classroom. No one had dared approach him since.

Now he faced incarceration. Minerva looked over to Albus' courtroom portrait and raised an eyebrow. The painted image of her former lover and friend was deep in conversation with one of the court officials.

"Well Snape, have you gone mute? Answer the query posed by the court or face further sanctions."

Before he could answer the question, the doors to the courtroom opened and in walked a ministry messenger. He approached the bench and passed a sealed parchment to the head wizard in charge before leaving.

The head wizard, an old man named Smiley broke the seal of the parchment and perused the document before calling the court to a short recess.

Severus Snape was taken to the holding cell at the lowermost level of the ministry to await the rest of his trail. During this time he had one visitor.

Hermione 'Sodding' Granger.

"What do you want?" He didn't bother to look up from where he sat in the shadows of his cell.

"It is simple. You and I will marry and it will keep you employed at the school and out of prison."

"Is that so? And what makes you think I would have you?"

"It is of no consequence whether you would have me. It is what it is. Either you accept this proposal or you will go to prison. I don't see a queue of witches waiting to take you on your sorry arse."

"I think I will take my chances on the rock, thank you very much."

"Have it your way Severus, but do try to remember that many of your old associates are at Azkaban. Not all of them were as lucky as you were in avoiding prison sentences."

"Lucky? You think I was lucky, you insolent bitch!" Severus Snape stood and stormed to the bars of his cell. Had they not been there he imagined he would strangle the witch until the very last bit of breath was torn from her lungs.

If he thought he would scare her by approaching her like this he was mistaken. She didn't even flinch. She adjusted her oversized robes and patted the severe bun at the back of her head. All she was missing to complete the mousy librarian look was a pair of black rimmed glasses. Severus mentally chuckled at the utterly ridiculous the image in front of him compared to what he had seen in the mirror. Obviously that mirror was in dire need of repairs. Come to think of it, Miss Granger was the one in dire need of repairs.

"I will have you know Severus Snape that I do not fear you. You are a disagreeable, annoying, snarky bastard and I have no grand illusions that you will change for me or for anyone. This will be a marriage on paper only and for both our benefit."

Severus Snape decided he would humor her. He needed to know what if any benefit she would get from this arrangement, so he asked her.

"It's simple Severus Snape. I plan to be minister one day. Marrying you can be seen as a way of uniting the old world and the new world. You are looked upon as a dying relic of a time gone by; an honorable soldier, while I am seen as the future of our world, a strong muggle looking to unite us all in acceptance and tolerance. Together we would make a formidable team."

"A dying relic? You truly know how to sweet talk a man. No wonder the wizards are beating your door down."

"I will not dignify your snark with a response Severus; I care little for your opinion. I didn't care for it as a child and I sure do not need it as an adult witch. You were never kind to me as a student but in making this offer to you I am being more than kind, I am showing pity."

"I neither need nor want your pity witch!"

"That's what even sadder Severus. Pity is all you will ever have from me. Take it or leave it. You have until the end of the recess to make your decision."

With that said she turned and left. She would not take his bait. She would not fight or argue with Severus. He was a waste of her time. The only regret she had was that she had not allowed him to die in that shack. A promise she had made to Dumbledore had forced her back to that dirty dingy room. She had poured her magic into his wounds and saved him. She had altered his memory with Minerva's help and made her vow to never reveal her part in saving his life.

She hated him.

He had made her school life a living and breathing misery.

She could still remember the way his cruel words cut through her. There was no excuse for this. A man bullied so much by others as a young man should have known better. She had not deserved it. None of them had. He was not teacher material. He was condescending, mean, obnoxious and she couldn't stand the sight of him.

That didn't explain why her stomach curled in on itself every time she was around him. The palms of her hands would sweat and she could feel the hair at the back of her neck stand on edge any time he was in the vicinity of her person. It had been this way since she had saved his life.

As much as she loathed him, she hated herself more for being so weak.

"Answer the question Snape. Do you bind yourself to this witch willingly?"

Hermione waited, her hand clenched at her side as she waited for him to answer. They had been here immediately after his release from Azkaban. It had taken a week in the dank prison for him to accept Hermione's proposal to marry. His lip was split and his eye was bloodied from the beatings he had received from not only the prisoners but the guards as well. He learned rather quickly upon his arrival just how many former students resented being made to clean dirty cauldrons.

His normally velvety voice was raw and scratchy, his tongue bruised and bitten from the attacks. He was lucky to be alive; it had taken the guards three days to notify the ministry of his need to speak to Granger.

When she had arrived at the prison she did not let the shock of his presence affect her. She merely laid the forms before him and left before the ink had dried on the parchments.

He mumbled his assent and the binding magic swirled around their wrists, binding them together. Once the bond was cast she turned from her new husband and walked out of the ministry and back to her rooms at the castle. She issued a written statement to the press regarding her nuptials and prevailed upon them to respect their privacy in this special time.

She could still feel her heart pounding as she closed the door behind her and collapsed to the floor.

'What have I done?'

Severus Snape had never been one to get his way. Why should marriage be any different? It wasn't as if he had anything to live for. If marrying the mousy Gryffindor would keep him from having his asshole handed to him by ex-death eaters then so be it. They would not be required to consummate the marriage. They did not need to live together in the same rooms. They were free to do what they each wanted and what Severus Snape wanted right now was to get pissed drunk in the same place as he always did.

The floor of the astronomy tower felt as hard as it always did. The mirror sat before him, taunting him once again with the swirling image of the newly minted Mrs. Snape. She rummaged once again through a box of papers while reaching up for a book atop the high shelf just outside her reach. Each time her body teased and tempted him in ways he never imagined. The curves of her luscious breasts outlined through the almost transparent white shirt thrilled him, haunted his waking moments. This was not his wife. This was a succubus, a wicked apparition set to drive his libido and his mind on edge. He shifted on the uncomfortable floor as he adjusted his straining erection. The image turned to him and released the wild tangle of her curls free from the confines of her chignon and smiled at him. She walked seductively to the edge of the mirror, beckoning him with her body, her mouth, and her eyes.

He released the placket of his trousers and drunkenly struggled to release himself from his confines. The soft skin of his erection felt heated against his calloused palm. He spit on his hand and gently tugged at the hardened flesh. As he did so, the darkened image of a man entered the frame of the mirror and stood before his mirror wife. His mirrored wife dropped to her knees wantonly and released the hardened prick from the dark clothed stranger's trousers. The tight pencil skirt rose high on her thighs bearing her stocking clad thighs and lace covered mound. Severus increased the tempo of his strokes to match the rhythm of her head engulfing the stranger's cock. The dark stranger caressed her hair before pulling her roughly up and kissing her. Her plundered her mouth with his tongue as his hand ripped her blouse open, exposing her half covered breasts and hardened nipples. Pulling the breasts roughly from her bra he tugged on them as he pulled her skirt further up her thighs. The dark stranger wore dark leather gloves; its contrast against her creamy flesh was intoxicating. He saw the stranger tear the knickers from her body with such force that Granger gasped as she pulled him closer. Her mound was bare and Severus could see the glistening drops of moisture on her glorious cunt as she spread herself on the desk behind her. The darkened stranger knelt before her and feasted with zest at the altar of her body. Severus stroked harder and faster as he felt his balls tighten. He watched with the curiosity of a voyeur as this dark stranger stood and drove his hard cock into the waiting cunt of the mirror image of his wife. The stranger ran his hands down her chest taking her nipples in his mouth, sucking them in time with his thrusts. He didn't make love to Granger he fucked her with zest and vigor and she reveled in his rough ministrations.

Severus watched in confused misery as the dark stranger came on Granger's tits and the result of his own orgasm dried on his stomach.

The name that fell from his lips as he came surprised him the most.

It also surprised Hermione as she watched him from the archway of the darkened room. His back arched and his hips thrust into his hand as he gripped his hardened cock and pumped it in long strokes. She was almost going to reprimand him, to shout at him for pleasuring himself like that but when she heard him say her name as he came, she froze. Her hand against the cold stone wall she turned away from the disheveled man that lay sprawled on the floor of the tower. Her breath came fast and her stomach lurched as she scrambled to get back to her rooms. No sooner had the heavy wooden door closed behind her that she retched onto the pristine floor of her room. Sliding down against the door she wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve as she struggled to deal with the images that flooded her mind and the feelings that wracked her body.