The Secret -
How the hell had he let this happen? Snape thought as he stood alone in the chamber. He felt his reaction to the Horcrux was partly to blame for making him think it was Lily giving herself to him. He struggled to come to grips with the knowledge that it was Hermione Granger's breast he was caressing with his tongue or her legs that he had spread wider to give his hips more access so he could thrust deeper into her. He could still hear Lily's voice in his ear begging him not to stop but to please keep going, and other times begging him to thrust into her harder; which he did while reaching underneath her to grab her buttocks and tilt her hips towards him. He stood there with a stupid grin on his face and a bulge growing in his pants when he thought of how he had brought Lily to tears when she orgasmed while he was inside her unmercifully pounding his stiff... No, damn it… that was Miss Granger you were unmercifully pounding, his inward voice screamed at him.
He quickly returned to his senses, a regretful moan echoing off the chamber walls. This cannot be happening, he thought bitterly. Suddenly dozens of memories flashed through his mind: young Hermione being sorted into Gryffindor; young Hermione standing in the corridor with Potter when he had asked them why they were indoors on such a nice day and the hurtful look she gave him every time he belittled her in class; and finally, the hurt and bitterness in her voice when she accused him of making love to her and then trying to take it back.
He had to find her, had to make her understand that what had transpired last night, although incredible, had been a huge mistake that must never be repeated. His breath caught in his throat when he thought what would happen to him if Professor McGonagall found out he had sex with a student, and while on school grounds no less. He wracked his brain to think where she might have gone and reasoned that Hermione was probably in the Great Hall right now. The urgency to find her and warn her to keep her mouth shut drove him from the Chambers at lightning speed and made him run faster towards the Great Hall than he would have thought possible. Suddenly, all his years as a double agent seemed like child's play.
As he sped through the castle towards the Great Hall, he was stunned by the amount of damage that had been inflicted upon it. All this had happened while he and Hermione...no, Miss Granger...he had to go back to calling her Miss Granger, had been making love...No, he had to put that out of his mind…it never happened.
He entered the Great Hall still at a run and upon seeing everyone, started walking, trying to catch his breath. He looked around at all the faces and was glad to see that many of them had survived, and their smiling faces meant Voldemort had been destroyed. He walked past the bodies of the fallen and was horrified to see Lupin and Tonks among the dead. They lay side by side holding hands in death as they had in life. He stopped and took a deep breath. Lupin had been the last surviving member of the Marauders. Well, Lupin hadn't actually teased him as much as James Potter did when they were younger. However, he was still the last of the four Marauders. Snape never thought he would outlive them.
Snape saw one of Molly's twins being treated for a burn to his chest while the other twin was making jokes, trying to lighten the situation. His heart ached with sorrow when he looked at the huge number of dead, not to mention the casualties that were bandaged or limping about. Damn it! He should have been out here fighting alongside them, instead of...
The Great Hall had been a buzz of activity until Ginny Weasley saw him and came to her feet clapping. Others saw her and joined in. Suddenly, Professor Snape was surrounded by the sound of applause and whistles. Stunned at their reaction, he kept walking further into the Great Hall with several people stepping forward to shake his hand or pat him on his back. During the final battle with Voldemort, everyone had heard Harry tell Voldemort the huge part Professor Snape had played, in Voldemort's looming downfall.
Snape spotted Hermione across the hall in Harry's arms. She was crying and he seemed to be comforting her. With dread he headed towards the couple, convinced that she had already revealed their secret. Snape got within earshot and heard Hermione say, "What will happen to their son? Oh Harry, I can't believe they are gone." Relieved, Snape didn't resist when Harry took one arm from Hermione and reached out to pull him into a quick embrace.
What was with this generation and their need to hug everybody?He thought briefly as he felt Hermione stiffen next to him and pull herself from Harry's arms allowing the young man to wrap both arms around Snape's waist. Snape patted Harry on the back and looked over at Hermione, jerking his head towards the right indicating that he wanted to speak with her away from the crowd. Hermione glared at him and pulled at Harry's arm.
"Let's go outside, Harry, I need some fresh air...it's so stale in here."
Snape glared back at her over Harry's head. Harry dropped his arms and Snape took that opportunity to take him by the arm and steer him towards the door.
"Good Idea Miss Granger, Mr. Potter looks like he could use some fresh air...it is rather stifling...in here." Hermione's mouth fell open in shock but Harry didn't seem to notice. He allowed Professor Snape to lead him out the door with Hermione bringing up the rear.
They strolled towards what was left of the bridge while Harry briefed Snape on everything that had occurred during the night. Harry used his hands to animatedly tell his story while Snape kept his hands clasped behind his back in his scholarly mode. They stopped on the bridge; Harry and Professor Snape facing each other while Hermione leaned against the railing feeling like a third wheel. Snape was congratulating Harry on his victory when Ron and Lavender approached them while holding hands. Snape was amused to see Hermione bristle at the couple's approach. Hermione caught his amused gaze and narrowed her eyes at him. She stood up as the couple approached and hugged a surprised Lavender Brown and then Ron who was pleasantly surprised at Hermione's attitude towards Lavender. Snape leaned back against the railing and watched the performance through hooded lids wondering what she was trying to prove. Snape looked back at Harry and was aware that Harry had been looking from him back to Hermione as if wondering what had caused this change in Hermione. He looked at Snape suspiciously and was about to ask what Professor Snape and Hermione had been doing all night. Suddenly, Snape felt flustered. He had to think of something to take suspicion off of them.
"Miss Granger and I had trouble locating the Chamber of Secrets," Snape blurted and wanted to kick himself for appearing too obvious.
"Why did you go there?" Ron was asking.
Hermione started to answer, but Snape quickly said, "Miss Granger had the idea to use a Basilisk fang to destroy the goblet. She remembered that Harry had killed the one in the chamber. She pulled the skeleton's fang and we used it destroy the goblet."
"Bloody, brilliant Hermione," Ron said with his arm now wrapped around Lavender's shoulders.
"Sirius always said you were the brightest witch of your age." Harry declared.
Professor Snape made a snorting sound and Hermione glanced at him quickly. He immediately cleared his throat and tried to pass the sound off as a cough. Hermione wasn't fooled. Harry looked at them again, still feeling like something had happened between the two.
Ron was oblivious to everything and said, "What are you going to do now that you have the elder wand, Harry?"
Professor Snape stepped away from the railing and looked at Harry. He had forgotten about the wand. It seemed as if Harry did, too. With a start, Harry pulled the elder wand from his pocket and asked Hermione to hand him his broken one. She dug around in her bag and extracted his broken wand still wrapped in a piece of cloth. He took the broken wand from her and used the elder wand to fix it. To everyone's amazement, his old wand was repaired right before their eyes. Harry felt his repaired wand hum in his hand and knew it was completely restored. He placed his old wand in his pocket and to Ron's horror broke the elder wand in two.
"Harry, why?" Ron called out.
Harry went to reply but Hermione said, "If he kept it, he'd spend the rest of his life dodging or possibly dueling every wizard that wanted to possess it." Snape looked over at Hermione and was impressed with her reasoning. Harry threw one piece to one side off the bridge and other piece off the opposite side.
"I would have at least taken it for a little spin and seen what it could do." Ron said longingly.
"Oh Ron!" Hermione said rolling her eyes at him causing everyone, including Professor Snape, to laugh.
"You have a nice laugh, Professor; you should do it more often." Harry said, instantly making Snape feel uncomfortable.
"Wait," Ron said, "You haven't finished your story. What happened after you destroyed the goblet; we didn't see you guys until this morning. Snape started to answer when Hermione cut him off.
"The doors to the Chamber sealed shut and we were trapped inside."
"You make that sound like a bad thing, Hermione," Ron said, "I wish we could have went to the Chamber instead of the Room of Requirement. Crabbe nearly burned us alive. We managed to save Draco and Goyle but Crabbe didn't make it. The Chamber would have been more preferable, we would have made good use of all that alone time." Lavender giggled and nuzzled Ron's neck.
Harry's breath caught in his throat when he caught the brief glance that passed between Professor Snape and Hermione. No, there's no way...Harry's mind was screaming at him. Was it possible that Professor Snape and Hermione had indeed made good use of their time in the chamber? Professor Snape suddenly looked very uncomfortable. He announced that he should return to the castle and see if he could start helping with the clean up. He sailed past Harry and startled Hermione slightly as he snatched her by the elbow, forcing her to accompany him. Hermione was fairly running to keep up with him but managed to turn and give everyone a brief wave before continuing on into the castle with Professor Snape. Ron and Lavender were oblivious to this as they were busy snogging. Through suspicious eyes Harry watched their retreating figures and vowed that he was going to get Hermione alone and ask her what happened while she and Professor Snape were locked in the Chamber. Harry pondered over their recent behavior; nothing happened between those two, right? For some reason, though, Harry had trouble convincing himself of that.
Two weeks flew by in a blur. All the students had been sent home except for Harry and Hermione. Harry stayed at the request of the new Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. The Minister needed Harry's help in sorting out everything that had happened during the last few months before the war. Hermione stayed because she had obliterated her parent's memory of her and couldn't go home. The Weasley's had offered for Hermione to move in with them, however Professor Snape was adamant that Hermione stay at the castle and help him with repairs or Hogwarts would not be ready to open in time for the Fall classes to begin. Professor McGonagall was surprised at Professor Snape's sudden interest in Miss Granger's assistance, never having heard him ever say a kind word about the girl. She reasoned that perhaps Hermione had proved herself invaluable to Professor Snape. It wasn't until the shields were fully restored that she feared she had found the real reason. She, of course, carried out her duties and informed the Minister.
Harry had attempted to get Hermione alone several times over the past two weeks, however, Professor Snape always appeared out of thin air, his cape billowing behind him as he snatched her away for some important project or dismissing her entirely while leading Harry away to share some tidbit about Harry's mum or ask Harry questions regarding the Ministries progress on restoring order. Harry had been trying to tell Hermione that her parent's had been located and their memories restored but he could never get a word in edgewise with Professor Snape around.
They were starting their third week of repairs when Snape was summoned to the Headmistress' office, shortly after lunch. Upon entering, he was surprised to see Kingsley and Harry in attendance. Harry excused himself and left the office without looking at the Professor. Snape felt a sense of dread when he was asked to take a seat.
"The night of the war, an alarm went off in the Chamber of Secrets; however, it did not register until all the alarms were reinstated a few days ago." Professor McGonagall began.
Snape closed his eyes in dread. He had forgotten about those damn alarms. Mad-Eye Moody had installed them to go off alerting the staff to any fornication that was occurring in the castle. It was to cut down on the chances of a student being molested or young lovers taking a risk that would result in an unwanted pregnancy.
He opened his eyes and looked towards the Minister, "I can explain..."
Professor McGonagall waived his explanation away. "You do not owe anyone an explanation. You and Miss Granger were consenting adults," she paused quickly and put her hand to her throat "Miss Granger was consenting, was she not?"
Snape narrowed his eyes at her, "Very consenting..."
Professor McGonagall blushed at his implied meaning and said, "That is not the only reason that we have called this meeting. Several threats to your safety have come in to the Ministry, anonymously of course. The Ministry of Magic feels we should hide you somewhere for a few weeks until they can sort this out."
"A few weeks?" Snape looked from one to another, "You must be joking." They both shook their heads no and Snape continued, "Where do you think you can hide me to keep me safe?" A look passed between them and Snape began to think that he wasn't going to like this.
"Well, it just so happens that Miss Granger's parents have returned home and had their memories restored. They are anxious to see their daughter and…meet their future son-in-law." Snape felt like the air had been sucked out of the room.
"They have been told that their daughter is engaged to her former Professor. They are aware of the age difference and seeing as how Miss Granger's father is 20 years older than her mother; they do not see a problem with you being older than her." Shacklebolt explained.
"Got this all figured out, do you?" Snape said through gritted teeth.
"Look Snape," Shacklebolt said a little heated. "The Ministry is well within their rights to insist that you marry Miss Granger due to you deflowering her," Professor McGonagall sat down at her desk heavily and placed her head in her hands. It hadn't occurred to her that Miss Granger must have been a virgin when professor Snape... Snape felt his face flush with embarrassment, when he saw Professor McGonagall's reaction.
He brought his attention back to Shackelbolt as the Minister was saying, "Or risk having your wand taken away and all magic stripped from you. You would then be on your own to live out the rest of your life in the Muggle world never again able to cross the barrier."
Professor Snape was shaken to his core...magic was his life.
"What If Miss Granger doesn't agree to take me home and present me as her future husband?" Snape stared at Kingsley with a smug look of satisfaction...he had found the kink in their plan. His smile quickly faded when Shacklebolt said, "She'll agree if she wants to see her parents again and retain her magical powers"
Professor Snape sat back in his seat a defeated man and looked from McGonagall back to Shacklebolt. "Besides your previously stated reasons," Snape asked quietly, "why the big hurry to unload me on Miss Granger?"
Professor McGonagall nodded at the Minister and he began to lay out the Ministry Of Magic's, "Muggle and Half-Blood Marriage Law." Snape couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"So let me get this straight...six months from now, a law is going to be passed that will force wizards like me and Miss Granger to marry a muggle-born in my case and a half-blood or full-blood in hers and start producing babies?"
"Yes, with weekly copulation required to guarantee success." At Professor Snape's stunned look, Shacklebolt said, "We've lost too much magical blood in this war. If the pure bloods keep breeding, we will risk having nothing but squibs and all magic will be wiped from the world.
"So by creating a forced breeding plan, you hope to keep that from happening." Snape said condescendingly. Shackelbolt waived his comment away.
"The way I see it Professor Snape," McGonagall interjected, "You and Miss Granger can take this time to really get to know each other. I mean how would you feel if Miss Granger was forced into marrying someone like Mr. Draco Malfoy?"
Snape looked away hoping they didn't notice how much that idea bothered him. Why should he care about what happened to Miss Granger? The thought of her crying out in pleasure while he made love to her popped into his head and he had to admit, he wasn't sure he'd want anyone else to have that besides himself.
"Either way," Professor McGonagall was saying, "You still need to lay low for a while and this is the best way. No one will think to look for you at the home of Miss Granger's Parents."
Hermione walked into the room but stopped when she saw him sitting there. He looked down at the floor and she thought about turning to flee from the office.
"Please be seated Miss Granger, we have much to discuss." Professor McGonagall said, indicating the seat next to Professor Snape.
Professor Snape sat stone faced while Minister Shackelbolt and Professor McGonagall explained how they knew she had given her virginity to Professor Snape, the night she and the Professor were trapped in the Chamber of Secrets.
"We had no idea the artifact would have that effect on us when we destroyed it." Hermione said barely above a whisper.
"Told you..." Shackelbolt said to Professor McGonagall, "I knew it had to be something like that."
Snape narrowed his eyes at the Minister for implying that Miss Granger would only have given herself to Professor Snape if she was under a spell or something.
"I acted of my own free will where that was concerned." Hermione said as Snape threw a smug look at Shackelbolt.
"I think the Horcrux just magnified my feelings of vulnerability."
"What?" Professor Snape hissed at her.
She ignored him and continued, "We were two consenting adults seeking comfort in each other's arms."
Professor McGonagall smiled compassionately at Hermione.
Snape was seething. "That's not what you were saying when I was on top of you..."
"Professor Snape!" Professor McGonagall cried, "A little decorum, please."
He saw Hermione sitting next to him with a pleased little smile on her face. He controlled his rage and smiled to himself while thinking of ways he could get even for her little remark.
Shackelbolt had moved on to the Ministries plan to repopulate the wizarding world as Snape watched Hermione for her reaction, a little smile playing about his lips. He couldn't wait to see her reaction when...
"What? Bloody Hell; are we in the dark ages?"
There it was…the reaction he knew she would have. She was fuming over the part about the Ministry tracking a married couple's weekly love making to ensure couples were actually trying. Hermione whipped around and looked at Snape. His smug smile quickly changed to a frown as he tried hiding how much he loved her discomfort at the news.
"Oh, you're just loving this aren't you...Sir?"
Snape had a feeling she had been getting ready to call him something else. Feeling a bit daring he lifted his chin and said, "It's me or Draco Malfoy, Miss Granger...take your pick."
Hermione turned back to face McGonagall and fought to catch her breath. Snape briefly thought that if he were a nicer man he would try and make this a little easier for her...no, she made the crack about her being vulnerable and implying that he had taken advantage of her weakness.
"How long do I have to make a decision?" She was asking.
Snape who had been leaning back in his chair sat up straight. Was she actually asking for a deadline to decide between him and Draco? He started to panic as he thought of Hermione Granger slipping through his grasp. He didn't realize until now that he wanted the girl. Draco was still young and had plenty of opportunities to find someone. Snape knew he wasn't a handsome man and realized his only chance at having a beautiful, young wife was sitting next to him.
"Miss Granger, Hermione if I may, the Minister does have some good news." Snape said nodding towards the minister.
Shackelbolt went on to share the good news about her parents. Hermione sat there quietly with tears streaming down her face.
"And there's more good news," Snape said quickly, "Someone's threatened to kill me...I mean that's not the good part. The good part is that the Ministry has arranged for us to stay with your parents for a few weeks. The Ministry has told them you and I are engaged to be married and they want to meet me and see that I'm a nice..." Snape was trying to put a good spin on the news and felt that he was failing miserably.
"So, if I want to see my parents again I have to take you with me and introduce you as my future husband." Hermione stated dryly.
Snape narrowed his eyes at her, "You don't have to make it sound like a bad thing, Miss Granger. Plenty of women would like to take me home to their mothers and..." Snape saw Professor McGonagall hide a smile behind her hand and glared at her. He whipped his head back to Hermione.
"Fine, I know you need a place to lay low for a while, but I have never lied to my parents. That's why I had to obliterate their memories. If I take you home with me I will tell my parents that we have begun to question our relationship and are taking a small vacation with them to see if we can make it work."
"Wonderful!" Shackelbolt shouted causing everyone to jump. "Please go to your rooms and start packing, you'll leave in three hours."
Hermione rose from her seat and without looking back, exited the room.
"You better be nice to her and her parents, Severus…." McGonagall said to his retreating figure.
"Yes, yes, yes...I'll have them eating out of the palm of my hand," He called back as he departed the office to pack. He knew how to work people. He would have them begging him to marry their daughter in no time….
