THREE

That night, Hermione was moved down to the dungeons as quietly as possible and Draco was ordered not to mention it to anyone. He quickly agreed.

Hermione fell asleep in Severus's arms on the couch. They had been talking about how dense Minerva could be and how well Hermione would have to act to not let anything slip to Ginny; even with Hermione mute to everyone except him, the redhead was incredibly observant. He carried her to the spare room-now her room- and set her on the bed, covering her up.

The next morning, Hermione woke and went out to the sitting room, rubbing her eyes and trying to remember how she had gotten to the bed. Severus was sitting in an armchair, reading. He looked up as she entered.

"You've got Double Potions in an hour. Are you eating in the Great Hall this morning?" he asked.

"I wasn't really planning on eating. I hoped I could get away with a shower and then go to class." She answered, meekly.

"No dice. But the shower is a smart idea. It will calm your nerves."

Damn it, why does he always see through me?

She nodded and went to the bathroom they shared. A set of clothes were already waiting for her. The water was warm against her skin and it calmed her shivering. Severus was right about the nerves.

When she was clean and dressed, she opened the bathroom door to the smell of bacon, eggs, and melted cheese. She followed it and was met by Severus at the coffee table in front of the same couch she had fallen asleep on the previous night.

"Did the house elves bring this down here?"

Severus shook his head. "I can cook, you know. There's a kitchen in the back part of my chambers."

"I… didn't know that, actually." She sat on the floor on the other side of the table and started eating the omelet that waited for her. She saved the bacon for last.

"You honestly thought I would let you leave these rooms without eating first? You need to keep up your strength for Potions. And other classes, of course."

"And so McGonagall doesn't skin you alive for thinking you're not taking care of me, you mean?"

"That too. I may not like her right now, but I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that woman's wand."

"Neither would I, but I will do it if I have to. To protect you, I would do anything-'' Hermione stopped herself, eyes wide. She looked at the floor. She hadn't meant to say that out loud to him.

"Hermione, I'm the one who's supposed to be protecting you. I don't think I could live with myself if you got hurt again."

She looked up at his pained tone. Brown eyes met obsidian ones. She stood and hugged him. "Severus…" She looked into his eyes once more before she closed her own and pressed her lips against his softly.

He froze for a moment, not expecting her kiss, but responded. After a couple of minutes, he pulled away. "Hermione… we can't." He whispered.

A look of hurt flashed across her face. "You don't want to?"

He shook his head. "It's not that. It's about what happened to get you in this situation in the first place. I don't want to do anything to compromise what progress you've made. And there are rules set by the governors, not to mention what Minerva would do if she ever found out."

Hermione backed up a few paces and put her hands on her hips, fuming from the last half of his speech. "I don't give a fuck what Minerva thinks! The last time she voiced her opinion, it nearly got me killed!" She lowered her voice. "I can't live without you, Severus. Please don't make me."

Severus get up from his place on the couch and held the tops of Hermione's arms in his hands. "I will never make you do that. But I can't risk you being treated any differently than everyone else."

"I already am! Everyone walks on eggshells around me afraid I'll snap and kill someone! You're the only one who doesn't do that!"

He drew her in and held her against him. "I'm so sorry, Mia. Just… give me more time. It's been so long for me… and not long enough for you…"

Her heart fluttered at his new name for her, unique to him. No one called her that. She wrapped her arms around his waist and drank in his scent. "We should probably get to the classroom. Class starts in ten minutes." She said quietly.

He let her go and she went to get her bag from her room. Severus left first, then Hermione two minutes later.

She sat at her desk, looking over her book and he sat at his, marking assignments as the rest of the class filed in.

Draco took the seat next to her and looked her over with his eyes. "You look okay, but are you really?"

She smiled at him and nodded. She looked at the blackboard as Professor Snape wrote the instructions on the board. She didn't know how he managed it, but he never got any chalk dust on his clothes.

She wrote on parchment and handed it to Draco. You get the ingredients; I'll start calculating how much of each we need for the base of the potion.

He nodded and went to the store cupboard. Hermione looked at the board, deep in thought. She quickly found the amounts and wrote them down on a separate piece of parchment.

Draco came back and they began prepping the ingredients. She passed him the paper with the amounts on it. He checked his textbook with the ingredients on the board, crossed off the ones he had already added, and handed the parchment back to her.

She let out a small yelp when it was snatched out of her hands. A pug-faced Pansy Parkinson held it up in the air.

"Professor Snape, Granger was passing notes to Draco!" She ran up to his desk and placed it in front of him, a triumphant look on her face.

He looked it over before writing something on it and handing it back. "Miss Parkinson, this is an ingredients list. Kindly give it back to them. And 10 points from Slytherin for running in the classroom."

With a look of pure hatred, Pansy shoved the paper in Hermione's hands and flounced away.

Written at the bottom was a message that only Hermione would understand. Time? Draco looked confused, but Hermione glanced up to nod once at Snape.

An hour later, they handed in their potion. Between Hermione's intelligence and Draco's steady hand, it was undeniably perfect.

Professor Snape dismissed the class after rewarding Hermione and Draco with 15 points each. She allowed him a small smile before leaving with Draco.

The next hour in Defense Against the Dark Arts, their assignment was simple: successfully disarm their opponent. Hermione got paired with Pansy, who began her verbal assault immediately.

"Why won't you talk, Mudblood? Snake got your tongue? Expelliarmus!"

Hermione easily blocked the spell, a dead look in her eyes.

Infuriated by the lack of reaction, Pansy shot another spell, aiming just behind Hermione's shoulder. "Bombarda!"

Hermione screamed when the cabinet behind her exploded. She fell to the ground, shaking violently, hands covering her face. Draco was a few feet from her side in an instant.

"Damn it, Pansy! 20 points from Slytherin! You were supposed to disarm only!" Draco spat at her. He knew Hermione would lose it completely if he came any closer. "Professor Lupin, we need Professor Snape."

Lupin nodded and sent out his Patronus. He also knew the only man that had a hope of getting near her now was Snape. He didn't exactly know why. All he was told was that she had been attacked and he had been the one to save her.

It didn't take long for Snape to burst through the door. "Class dismissed." He snapped. Everyone scrambled to get out of the room as fast as possible. He waited until no one was left except Draco and Lupin before kneeling next to Hermione.

She screamed again, fighting him. Her eyes were wide open, but unseeing. She was reliving the attack.

"Hermione, listen to me."

She whimpered and shook her head. She looked directly at Draco and began to cry.

He followed her gaze. "Draco, get back. You're the one she's scared of right now." When Draco was hidden on the other side of the room, he turned back to Hermione. "Hermione, listen to my voice. It's not his. My eyes are not his. Look at me, Mia."

Her eyes shifted over his face. She slowly reached out a hand and ran it over his face and through his hair. "Severus…" she whispered.

By this point in time, Lupin was shocked that Snape hadn't taken off points for touching him, ignoring him, and using his given name all in less than five minutes. "Why is she scared of Draco Malfoy?"

Hermione flinched at the name and started hyperventilating and shaking all over again.

Severus pulled her into his arms. "He can't hurt you anymore, Mia. If he comes near you, I will kill him myself." The next sentence he directed at Lupin. "I think it would be best if you just called him Draco."

"Were you the one that attacked her?" Lupin demanded of Draco.

"Are you mad? This is the work of my blessed father! I may be twisted slightly, but I would never take a woman by force!" Draco snapped back.

Hermione's cries could be heard muffled by Severus's robes. He was whispering to her, trying to calm her down.

"What's going on with Severus and Hermione, Draco?"

"I'm not completely sure. They're a mystery to me. She won't talk to anyone else but him and neither of them like to be separated from the other. McGonagall tried to, but Hermione attempted suicide twice in less than six hours. In Potions this morning, Pansy took one of our papers to him, saying it was a note. He wrote on the bottom of it and told her to give it back. There was only a one word question. Time?"

"What did she do?"

"She looked at him and nodded. After that, she brewed a perfect potion and turned it in, as always."

Lupin shook his head. "I'm not sure what it means. I have a hunch, but he'd take my head off if it was wrong. If you can watch Hermione, I can watch Severus."

"I can only watch her during class. She was moved out of the Tower for obvious reasons."

"Where is she now, then?"

Draco shrugged, going with the most obvious and most believable lie. "I don't know. The only ones who do are Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore. I'd go to Dumbledore if you really want to know, though. Snape won't tell you and they want nothing to do with McGonagall."

"What did she do to them to make Hermione react like that?"

"She believed he would take advantage of her, so she went to Dumbledore. She separated them and Hermione lost it. Snape was hanging on, but I could tell he was about ready to follow the same path. I'm not sure what else keeps them together, but I know it's powerful. More so than any of us."

They heard the shuffling of robes and turned to see what it was. Snape was helping Hermione up. His eyes weren't cold, but hers were dead. Even with him around, she was starting to slip.

"Draco, who did this?" He asked.

"Pansy. I already docked points."

"How many?"

"Twenty. It's all I could take without looking suspicious."

"It's not enough. Merlin, I never thought I would say that about my own house, but this is insanity. It seems we need to have a house meeting."

Hermione was taken back to the dungeons under the pretense of helping Snape with a potion, and every single seventh year Slytherin was gathered in their common room. Including Draco. Both he and Snape looked extremely pissed.

"It has come to my attention that during a certain Slytherin/Gryffindor Defense class a cabinet was blown up, causing one of the Gryffindors to react." Snape's voice didn't rise in the slightest. "This past summer was a horrible one for said Gryffindor. Next time any one of you feels like blowing something up near her- don't. Miss Granger is not a witch to be trifled with. She can run circles around the entire lot of you without lifting a finger."

Draco took his turn to speak. "Granger is also Head Girl. She can and will take as many points as necessary to get this through your heads."

"How can she take points if the little chit doesn't speak to anyone?" a girl called out.

"Let me rephrase that sentence, Loraine: I will take as many points as necessary to get that through your heads. Slytherin or not, I don't want to go to my dorm to a pissed off Gryffindor. It got me punched once and I'm not keen on letting it happen again." Draco folded his arms, daring anyone to speak against this. No one did.

"As much as I don't want to lose the House Cup again this year, I will back Mr. Malfoy in his decisions about this. So I suggest you all get a grip and focus on more important things other than the Head Girl." Snape's eyes swept across the faces of his Slytherins and left, robes fanning out behind him.

Draco followed and went to give Hermione her homework. He shook his head. There was no way his godfather was involved with the Head Girl.

Right?