Disclaimer: All characters, places, and spells belong to J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. The title to the song "Black Liner Run" belongs to Justin Warfield and "Adam 12" Bravin and Perfect Kiss/Flawless Records and Geffen Records. Copyright infringement is not intended.
A/N: I know it may look like the chapters are shorter, but I have removed nothing except for the lyrics of the songs I have chosen for each chapter. The song in this chapter is still the same, "Black Liner Run" by She Wants Revenge.
Calling of the Mate
Chapter 1: Black Liner Run
She liked her, she really did. But what she didn't understand was why the bubblegum-pink haired beauty didn't like her. It wasn't a secret that Nymphadora Tonks highly disliked the seventeen year-old Gryffindor – Hermione Granger. Nobody knew why, seeing as the know-it-all was liked by everyone and she never did anything wrong, everyone except for the now angry ex-Hufflepuff. What everyone else didn't know was that there was only one that had seen and understood what had naturally become the beginning of why Tonks would hate Hermione at first sight.
That was just who he was though, Severus Snape saw everything that went on around him. For years, he would stand in the shadows, becoming one with the darkness as he would watch and listen to every declaration of love, every argument between best friends, every lovers' spat, and every single deep dark secret that had been idiotically passed from one person to another. He used to blush at many of the aforementioned, until he learned how to control his emotions. It wasn't easy, but he had learned quickly how to put up a front for all to see.
On this night in particular, he was watching her, waiting for her to break down once again. He knew that she didn't understand why she was in so much pain, he truly felt bad for the girl. He really wanted to help her in her time of pain. It was a rarity for him anymore to feel that way, but there was just something so heart-wrenching about her pain that made him think of himself. She was sitting in the empty Astronomy Tower again, just like every night for the past three years. Every time she was there, she seemed to be in more pain than before, he knew what it was like, he went through the same thing when he had lost Lily fifteen years prior.
He stood there in the shadows, waiting, watching. He knew it was going to happen, the look on her face said it all. Then, he heard it, the barely audible cry and it was slowly getting louder, turning into a whole new pitch. Her high-pitched cry reached his ears and he almost let his hard mask slip away completely. He watched as she threw herself backwards against the wall. The cry came out, the tears streaming down her face caused her eyes to burn and puff up, she had stuffed half of her fist into her mouth in attempt to muffle out the cry. The black eyeliner that had neatly been etched around her eyes was now streaked down her face and for the life of him, he couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful yet sad she looked in that moment. All he wanted to do was take her away from the castle, away from the one person that was hurting her. And yet, he knew that he couldn't do that…not yet at least.
Severus quickly turned at the sound of a door being opened and a woman's giggling floated through the air and met his ears. The woman was being shushed by a man, the man was keeping his voice at a low level though and Severus was having a hard time trying to decipher who the man was. It didn't take long to figure out who it was though. Soon enough Remus Lupin came walking past Severus's little hiding spot, cheeks tinged a bright, sickly glowing pink. It was enough to make Severus sick to know that the werewolf was the one behind it all. Sure the man himself didn't know what he was doing, but it was the wolf that knew the truth, or at least part of the truth.
Severus stood, waiting for Lupin to descend the stairs of the tower, hoping that he hadn't heard the young woman's cries. Much to his disappointment Lupin had stopped in his tracks not too far from where Hermione was. Severus didn't move even though he wanted to. Dear Merlin above did he want to move. He wanted to intercept the werewolf and beat him to a bloody pulp. He hears Lupin call out Hermione's name. The poor girl looks frightened that someone has caught her at her weakest.
He watches her as she quickly tries to compose herself. Her face was blotched a deep red, making it evident that she had been crying. The full moon of course was coming upon them in just a little under a week, and Severus knew that Lupin could smell the saltiness of her tears. Severus watched Lupin approach the troubled woman and ask if she was okay. He was pissed that the werewolf even bothered to ask her what was wrong. It was plain as day written all over her face that she was definitely not okay. Hermione was a tortured soul that needed to be healed and cared for. Even Severus Snape knew that. Hermione told Lupin that she was fine and that she wanted to be left alone. Severus shook his head when the werewolf didn't grant her the request of being left alone.
The man instead chose to sit on the floor next to her and try to offer up comfort to her. Hermione eventually gave up on him leaving her side and just avoided saying anything or acknowledging him. Severus could hear Lupin try to engage in some form of conversation with her and so badly wanted to reveal himself just to grab Lupin by the neck and squeeze the life out of him. Hermione stayed against the back wall, unmoving and never meeting Lupin's eyes. Severus smirked at Lupin's many attempts to get Hermione to say something or to look at him. He just hoped that she wouldn't give in so soon.
To Severus, it looked like Lupin was losing his patience rather quickly. And as soon as his last nerve snapped he turned to take Hermione into his arms. At first she fought back, kicking and wriggling in his arms as he pulled them against the wall and slid down to the floor together. He wasn't letting go of her, no matter how hard she fought back, and eventually she went limp in his arms. Severus stood in the shadows and watched, enraged, as Lupin rocked her back and forth, speaking comforting words in her ear. Severus hated seeing her look confused and upset and just wanted to throw Lupin off of the tower. Over the years Severus became more and more confused about how he felt toward the young woman. On one side he felt protective of her, much like a father. On the other, if she wasn't already bound to someone, he felt as if he would be able to love her in the romantic sense.
Severus watched on in a raging fit, he wasn't sure if it was jealousy or protectiveness or both, but he definitely didn't like the way Lupin was holding her. He really wanted to get out of there, he needed to get out of there, he just couldn't. He couldn't stand the thought of leaving her alone with the werewolf. Severus couldn't stand the fact that he was just standing there, watching, when he could be protecting her from the pain that Lupin had been causing her all this time.
Severus waited until Lupin had finally given in and left, at Hermione's request. He was able to finally breathe easy for the most part, the moment Lupin had left. Now he had to wait for Hermione to either fall asleep from exhaustion or to get up and go to her dormitory. It wasn't a first for either for Severus. He always waited to see what she decided to do. And once more, it looked as if she was going to fall asleep. Severus was well prepared for this to happen. As soon as she fell asleep, Severus came out from the shadows and picked up the damaged girl. It was late enough for the students to all be asleep and as a professor of the school, he had access to all of the common rooms if needed.
He made it quick work to get Hermione to her room, tucked into the soft blankets of her four poster bed, and pulled the drapes around her bed closed to ensure her some privacy. The other girls in the room were sound asleep and Severus was thankful for that. He definitely didn't want to frighten anyone by barging in with a limp Granger in his arms. And Severus didn't want to feel like he had to explain himself. He had done this so many times over the years for Hermione that he was surprised that she hadn't figured it out yet, that someone was obviously there for her, even though she couldn't see him. She had to have known that there was someone taking care in making sure that she was safely back to bed every night. Surely she knew that someone knew about her nightly breakdowns. Severus just wished that she would figure it out. She's a smart girl; she will figure it out soon enough. He thought to himself as he walked out of the Gryffindor common room.
The moment Severus stepped out of the Gryffindor common room he could smell the werewolf. He chose to ignore Lupin, even though the man didn't make himself known in the darkened corridor, and made his way back to his chambers in the dungeons. Severus wanted to, bloody hell did he ever want to just turn around and slaughter that fucking monster. Not for his own pleasure, oh no, but for Hermione Granger. Severus wanted justice for the young woman. Soon enough Sev, soon enough. He kept telling himself.
Severus couldn't find it in himself to care that someone had caught him coming out of Gryffindor common room, perhaps had even seen him enter said place with Hermione Granger in his arms. Severus wanted to laugh. He decided to go along with the were-man, letting him think that he wasn't aware that he was being followed. The severity of the evening's activities, though, made the moment far from laughable though. Severus looked forward to the day that he would be able to face Lupin himself, punish the man for what he was doing.
Severus had made it to the door of his chambers when Lupin had finally made himself known, not that he didn't know that Lupin was already there. The man came out of the shadows just as Severus began to take down the protective enchantments that kept his rooms protected. "How is she Severus?" The werewolf sounded upset. "Do you know what is wrong with her?"
He couldn't keep the sneer off of his face. "Even if I knew, why would I tell you?" Severus knew that Granger would probably know about him after tonight. It didn't matter. He would soon be taking her away from all of this. And then, maybe then, Lupin would finally see what was wrong with the girl.
"She's my friend, Severus. I'm worried about her." The man sounded desperate to know what was wrong with the young woman.
Releasing a snort, Severus countered Lupin's little heartfelt comment. "I'm afraid that I cannot tell you that. That would breach the confidentiality between me and my patient." With that, Severus entered his rooms and slammed the door in the werewolf's face, feeling only a little victorious in the matter.
Sitting in the wing backed chair t that sat in front of the roaring fire of the sitting room, Severus took a swig of the glass of brandy his overworked hand held delicately. Almost as delicately as he had held Hermione Granger. Severus had thought out so many ways he could take her out of this place, a place that he had called home since he was a boy. He knew that if he was to take her away at any time, it would raise questions, people would worry, and he would be once again put up for the job of searching out a part of the Golden Trio. It would be laughable to him though, considering he would have the young woman in hiding. He'd come up with plan after plan, the man that was supposed to be dead, the man that he saved, the man that he was hiding in his own home had helped him come up with so many of the plans. The man also knew what had happened on the night in question. He was terribly upset with his friend, so much that he had switched over to Severus' side of the fence. He never thought that would ever happen to him, but he was indebted to him indefinitely.
Severus took it upon himself to try and get some sleep after finishing off his brandy. The bed of which he laid upon was comfortable enough, but usually not enough to comfort him to sleep. For the longest time, he could only stare at the ceiling and think about the broken girl that lay in the opposite end of the castle. His heart ached for the young woman, ached for all that was ridiculously real and painful in her life, ached for the reality of the situation that she had unknowingly put herself in, ached for the love that she might never feel. That night, Severus slept, dreaming of a day that Hermione Granger would be free and happy. If only he could get her to run away with him.
