The next evening he found her outside the library. It was the beginning of term, but he knew she would be there when all the other students were shunning study for social activities.
She was pale and her eyes were sunken, he noted. Not sleeping and throwing up a great deal, no doubt, thought a detached Severus.
"Come along, Miss Granger," she heard him say before she even saw him.
"Where are we going, Sir?" she asked.
"Doesn't matter, does it? You would follow me anywhere," he paused his long strides and turned to watch her catch up. "I'm right, aren't I? You would follow me anywhere. For the good of the Order," he said mockingly.
"Of course I trust your judgment, Sir," she shot back.
"Insolence? Miss Granger?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Perhaps I was infused with it, Sir..... It could be something from the genetic material I received as part of the impregnation."
He looked at her more critically now, and registered that she had changed recently. Noticeably older now, more experienced, and certainly wiser than her peers, she knew when she could press her advantage... even with him. She did not lack for courage, he decided. But he laughed inside at the sight of her pulling herself up to her full (and decidedly lacking) height.
There was a lot of fight in her. Determination that did not waver. She had that desire to take on the world that was so common in the young, and no way to do it. Until Albus had snared her in some daft plan.
And now he was snared as well. Determination and the drive to fight? he thought to himself. Things he had been without lately. Is that what Albus had seen? Not just that he was in danger of losing the Dark Lord's trust, but that he was in danger of losing the will to finish this war? So, he had been used to inject into her the child. And Albus hoped she could instill in him the fight to see this through?
Well, to the hell with that, he thought shaking his head. And then he realized he was still standing in the hallway outside the Headmaster's office staring at the little chit. And that she was staring at him.
He stepped past her to the entrance of the Headmaster's office, and uttered the inane candy-referenced password with a note of disdain. He motioned for her to proceed him up the stairs and she did, feeling his eyes on her back.
The headmaster raised his head and his eyes were vaguely unfocused as the pair came closer. Hours bent over the parchments on his desk had left him blurry-eyed.
"You've gone too far, Albus," Snape said with venom.
"What is it, Severus?" the old mage asked weakly.
"This. Your child incubator. Your latest sacrifice," he hissed as he took Hermione by the arm and brought her ungently to the fore.
"Severus," the old man tried. "We are near the end, but all of our work will be for naught if we can not keep you firmly placed with Voldemort. What I've done, had to be done. Miss Granger is of age. And as an adult, she has considered this. She has volunteered to take this on."
"You are going to tell me this was her idea? There is no mistaking this. You have twisted her to your will. Can't you even admit that?" he implored the older man. In frustration with the Headmaster, he told him, "Get Minerva!"
"It's done, Severus. You'll see the sense of it, if you only try," Albus insisted. "Bind her to you to keep your secrets. Let her be a conduit for information in darker times."
"This is a mistake, old man," the younger wizard said.
Settling in to be ignored, Hermione sank into a chair. Severus crossed in large strides to the fireplace, roughly grabbing Floo powder to call for Minerva. The edge to his voice brought the Deputy quickly.
"Albus? What is it?" Minerva said anxiously as she stepped from the Floo.
Albus managed only a sigh. "Severus, requests your involvement."
"Miss Granger is pregnant, Minerva. Did you know that?" Severus announced without preamble.
"Good God, no," the older woman said with a sad shake to her head. After a long pause she managed, "What are we to do, Hermione? The Board will not let you stay here once they know. That is.... if you intend to continue the pregnancy."
"I do," Hermione managed solemnly.
"And the father?" Minerva pressed gently, standing close to Hermione now.
"Strange situation, actually," Severus chimed in with his dark appreciation for the absurd.
"Please, Severus. Let the girl talk. And in fact, unless there is a Slytherin involved, I would ask that you leave," Minerva said bitterly.
"It seems I should stay then," he answered seeming oddly pleased.
"Who is the father?" Minerva asked Hermione, trying to ignore Severus.
"I am," came the potion master's voice from behind her.
Minerva whirled around and slapped him across the cheek before either of them knew what she had done. It was not that the old witch necessarily thought Severus capable of such a thing, but the perverse way he delighted in the telling of the story provoked her emotional response. She was at her wit's end with the man and his actions lately.
Hermione jumped in her chair she was so startled, but Severus merely smiled as he passed a hand over the reddened spot on his face.
Dumbledore was finally roused from his inaction.
"Minerva," the old man called out, rising from his chair. "He didn't lay a hand on her. You need to understand," he tried. But the witch's eyes burned with fury. "There is magic behind this and things were done without Severus' consent. The last time he was laid low from a Death Eater summons, I extracted genetic material from him. It was used to make Miss Granger pregnant as a means of restoring Voldemort's trust in him."
Her mouth agape, the older witch began to pace. She turned to her old friend and told him simply rather than scathingly, "You have taken incredible liberties, Albus. Severus could have you prosecuted for this." She stopped her pacing and gingerly lowered herself into a chair. Then turning her head, she called out to the potions master, "I am sorry, Severus."
He simply nodded in reply, the contentious spirit gone from him.
"I know we talked of ways to strengthen Severus' shaky position with Voldemort, but Albus....this is untenable!" she told him angrily. Distractedly, she then turned her attention to the student beside her. "Hermione, this should not have been. You need to consider how dangerous this is for you. And a child... at your age, Hermione? That is not a decision to make lightly."
"I have not made this decision lightly, Professor," Hermione insisted. "And I want to continue with the plan. I believe it will work and that makes it worth doing. Things need to change for Professor Snape or he won't be safe. If he is seen as having taken up with me, no one will think the headmaster guides him. I can work with him..." Here Snape openly snorted from his post a few feet away. But Hermione continued undeterred. "I will help Harry without anyone's notice, as I will no longer be a student. And, I will report back to the Order with the information the professor brings me..."
"No one else must know of this arrangement," Dumbledore commanded as he regained more of his old self. "If Miss Granger is satisfied with how the plan is progressing and is willing and able to continue, then we continue. When it comes time to reveal her pregnancy there will be more to be done."
"And when there is scrutiny applied to this scheme, Albus, what then?" Severus argued. "You have let her martyr herself for nothing because the lack of a relationship is transparent."
"If you need to pass for a couple and you fear your playacting skills will not suffice, than I suggest some practice is in order. I am trying to save your life, Severus," Albus stated sharply. "Can't you agree to THAT?!"
"As it serves you, Headmaster," Snape said formally and all too sarcastically. He bowed and left abruptly.
"He doesn't CARE if he lives through this?" Hermione asked once the door closed behind him.
"He doesn't expect that he will, girl. He believes himself a tool whose usefulness will end... and soon," Minerva said sadly. Minerva stood and motioned for Hermione to get up and walk for the door. Without a word to the headmaster, they departed together.