Disclaimer: Would J.K Rowling really be on here submitting stories as of which she already owns? Somehow…I don't quite think so…
Warnings: Yeah so it's a slash…don't read it if you don't like it…it's not rocket science!
Pairings: Harry/Draco
She was squirming under the look he was giving her. She didn't fully understand why he hadn't said anything for over 5 minutes. She was truly confused. She looked back up at his face again and winced. His eyes were glazed over and his mouth was awkwardly hung open. His hand was still frozen in mid-air where he had left it after hearing her idea. She looked around the room, and then back at his hand. She began to frown. She started staring at Snape's hand intently, almost as if she were trying to make it move. It twitched slightly and her frown lessened. She actually thought it was stuck there. Hermione thought maybe she ought to speak soon, try and see if maybe the 7th time of calling his name would work, seeing as the first 6 times most obviously didn't.
"Professor Sn-" she tried to begin, but was cut off by Snape clearing his throat. Ah, it lives.
"Give me a minute." Snape said quietly.
"I've just given you 5!" she said harshly.
"Well give me another 5! Think of what you've just asked me to do. Have you any idea how dangerous this is, on how high this ranks on the scale of ludicrously stupid ideas?" Snape began to rant. Hermione thought she'd better cut him off before he started talking about how her 'Gryffindor courage was going to her head.'
"That Gryffindor courage is going to your head!" Snape yelled. There it is.
"I understand that what I'm asking of you is a lot. I do. But I'm not asking for me. This is for Draco. You know, your godson? The boy you believe has a constant light shining out of his butt?" Hermione said. Snape simply glared.
"This is fine talk from someone asking for my help." He reminded. Hermione sighed and apologised.
"I'm sorry. I am. But I know how much you care for him, so why you insist on pretending he isn't that important to you, I just don't know. As soon as I told you where Draco was that night, you couldn't get back on the field fast enough, despite Dumbledore's warnings. He can be a right snarky little so and so sometimes but, we all love him very much Professor. We can't just leave him this way." Hermione thought it best to try and appeal to his caring side, knowing that sometimes Draco got his way just by bringing up memories or talking about feelings. It worked for him. It didn't work for her.
"Listen Miss Granger. That potion is dangerous. Dangerous to find its ingredients, dangerous to make and dangerous to take. Which you very well know I'm sure. I can understand you not caring about my well-being but Draco's? Have you any idea how much this will hurt? Have you even explained it to him, has he any clue?"
"He knows what he needs to." She replied.
"Which is?" Snape asked.
"That if there is something actually wrong with his Orb, it can't be fixed. Unless-"
"Unless he gets a whole new power source, which is practically impossible at this stage of his progression, his Orb is still growing!"
"You think I don't know that already? I am very, VERY aware of the risks and complications and everything else this entails, ok? You think this is easy for me, to even be suggesting something like this? This could backlash so badly he could die, or worse-"
"Become a muggle." Snape said despairingly. He was quiet for a long time before he said, "I cannot be a part of this Miss Granger. I will not put his life back into danger when he has just spent 15 years trying to get out of it. I am sorry." And he truly was.
He stared at her long and hard for some time while she sat back in silence. Her leg was bouncing up and down incessantly whilst she thought. Snape knew Hermione was an extremely smart witch; he always had, so he was confused as to why she was even bringing this up. The actual motion of making an Orb visible was one of the most painful things a witch or wizard could go through, almost as painful as the Cruciatus curse itself. Taking a magical person's whole being and presenting it for the world to see was not something that came easy.
Finally Hermione leaned forward and said, "What other choice do we have?" Her voice broke slightly towards the end of the question and she stood up and walked over to one of Snape's many shelves full of weird things. She needed to hide her face, it always revealed when she was about to cry. "I'm sorry Professor, it's just... For the last couple of weeks I've felt completely useless. During the lead up to the battle, all I was asked to do was make sure everyone's wands were clean and polished and working at their best. I asked to do so much more, but Dumbledore told me I was too valuable to have out on the field. If the worst were to happen, there were a 'select few people' he needed to know were out of harm's way, so they could do what needed to be done in the future. It was cruel, and pointless, and at first I didn't get why he was making people like me and Blaise Zabini stay inside like 'good little witches and wizards'.
"I did understand, once the battle started. It was an absolute mess. There were moments when I honestly thought the Light were going to lose, and I would be called into action, and I would be scared out of my wits, not knowing what to do. Just before I had gone to find Harry and Draco the day of the battle, I had been in the library, reading up on all the things Protectors were meant to do. Because that's what he made me, didn't he Professor?" Hermione turned her head and looked towards Snape, who hadn't moved or said anything since Hermione had started talking. He nodded solemnly. She grimaced slightly and sniffed. "Yes, I thought so. Dumbledore gave me all these tasks and told me I was the only one that could possibly do them the way he needed them to be done. He said the same to Zabini, Chang and Finch-Fletchley. One of each I suppose.
"I was given this huge responsibility of taking care of the survivors, and I still take that responsibility very seriously Professor. Draco is a survivor. I have to help him in the only way I know how, and that is to find out what is wrong and stop it. He is my best friend, and I love him, and this is the ONLY way I have thought of to help him." She sniffed again and put her head down. She walked over to another shelf, one closer to the door, and was silent for a while. Suddenly she said, "You know what, you don't have to agree, now I come to think of it. I'll do it myself. I'll go and find those ingredients on my own; you and I both know I can. It's a part of me Sir, this need to help people, and Dumbledore saw that. This is the way it has to be done. Unless you have some other idea?"
Hermione paused and waited for an answer. She didn't get one.
"No. I didn't think so." And without turning around, Hermione walked towards Snape's office door, opened it, and left.
Harry was actually in a really good mood. His love was perfectly fine, soon he would be getting all the help he needed from Snape, he still had an amazing best friend, and he had just knocked a practice Divination exam out of the grounds. 'Though that's not really that hard to do anymore, what with Professor Trelawney crying all the time.' She had lost her classroom during the war, and now had to work in the dungeons as they were the only place with classrooms available. She was depressed because the dark, dank walls were "messing up my Aura! How am I supposed to work in this cold, dreaded environment?" and so on and so forth. It was sad really. If a teacher couldn't teach in any classroom, they didn't deserve to teach in Harry's opinion.
Overall though, he was having a pretty good day. He was on his way up to see his beloved in the hospital wing when he saw Hermione walking towards him. 'Oh he looks so happy,' she thought to herself. 'I don't want to ruin this great mood he's in. But I have to. He has to know.' She put a fake smile on her face and embraced Harry once they had gotten close enough.
"Hey 'Mione. Where are you off to?"
"Actually I was looking for you. Can we talk about something real quick? In there?" she asked, pointing towards an empty classroom.
"Yea sure." Harry replied, wondering what this could all be about. They entered the classroom, Hermione first and Harry following, putting her near the window and Harry near the door.
"So what's this about?" Harry asked. Hermione looked over at him and sighed. He could tell whatever she was about to say wasn't something she wanted to say, but was going to anyway. It was starting to scare him a little.
"Harry... Snape won't help."
Harry stared at her for a few seconds before shaking his head slightly. "Sorry, I don't get you."
She tried again. "Snape isn't going to help with the potion. He says it's too dangerous."
Harry didn't ask her to repeat it again. Truthfully he had heard her the first time, but was just hoping that when she said it the second time, he would hear something else. "I don't understand. Too dangerous?"
"There are certain ingredients needed for this potion to be made successfully, ingredients that are in places that are much too hard or dangerous to get to. Trying to obtain them could be harmful for anyone."
"Hold on, it's Snape we're talking about here. He was a spy for most of his adult life, he put himself into countless dangerous situations several times a week for the sake of wizardkind, and now you're telling me he's not willing to do it again, for the sake of his godson!" Harry demanded. "How much sense does that make?"
"It's not just that Harry, it's a bit more complicated than-"she tried to explain, but Harry cut her off.
"No I'm sorry Hermione, but this is an outrage! How can he be so blasé about his own godson's wellbeing, how sick and twisted is he?"
"Oh come now, that's a bit much don't you think?" Hermione tried to defend Snape, not because she gave a crap about him, but because she didn't want Harry repeating to Draco that his godfather doesn't care about him. That wasn't the case at all. He cared too much about him.
"No, I honestly don't think it is! I just, I don't understand. He has some explaining to do, and I'll be damned if he tries to ignore me. He will give me answers." Harry said determinedly. Then he shook his head. "Not right now though. I'm not in the right frame of mind to go and harass him; I need to be a lot calmer than this. At this moment in time, I am going to go and see my boyfriend, because I made him a promise last night, and I intend to keep this one. Thanks for telling me Hermione, I have to go." And with that Harry was gone.
"Wait, Harry! It could kill him... It could kill Draco." Hermione whispered to an empty room.
Draco was bored. He had been in bed for over 12 hours and no one had been up to visit him yet. He would have gone downstairs and tried to find someone interesting to talk to but Madam Pomfrey had all but glued him to his bed. She had gone down to Snape to get more ingredients and didn't want him moving until she had the time to check up on him. Really he felt fine, and he had tried to tell her that before she left but she was having none of it. "You are not to move from that bed young man, do I make myself clear?" He had nodded but anyone with two brain cells could tell as soon as she walked out the door he would be up and out before you could say "sucker". She had known this and taken the necessary precautions. She had told him if he moved to try and get out he would find himself not being able to move very much at all. He had called her bluff.
Now he was stuck. And he was not a happy bunny.
He sighed and looked around. He may as well do some thinking while he was trapped in here. What could his father possibly have done to him? Nothing that would kill him … Lucius still wanted his name to continue on and there's no way it could with his only heir dead. 'Or does he even care about that anymore?' He thought to himself. 'Could he really hate me so much that he would put his whole livelihood on the line … just to see me suffer?'
"Don't think about it so much babe, it can wait a while."
"Jesus Christ!" Draco turned as best he could in his position and gaped at Harry. "Harry! How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that!"
Harry just laughed and went to join Draco on the bed. "Sorry, I thought you heard me come in … But honestly, don't think about him. He's not important right now."
Draco just stared at Harry. "I'll never understand how you know what I'm thinking. I'm not gonna lie to ya, it's a tad bit creepy." he pouted.
Harry laughed. "You find it hot and you know it." Draco just stuck his tongue out.
"It's because we're bonded Draco. In a way that is near impossible to describe. Plus, I spent a lot of time watching you from afar; you'd think I would learn a little bit about how that mind of yours works." Harry said smugly.
Draco sighed and said, "I suppose. It just sucks that I can't read your mind." He looked up at Harry and was about to go on complaining when he looked at him properly. He stared for a few seconds and then frowned slightly.
"I may not be able to read your thoughts but I can tell when you're pissed as hell. What's happened?" he asked, taking Harry's hand. Harry sighed and decided there was no point trying to deny it to him. Draco could always tell when Harry was lying anyway, there would be no point. But that didn't mean he had to tell him right then.
"I'll tell you later. Right now though, didn't I promise to make a certain someone scream out in painful pleasure?" Harry knew he was only using sex as a distraction but he didn't need Draco knowing what a bastard his godfather was at this moment in time.
"Oh yes you certainly did … but slight problem. I'm glued to the bed. Can't move much at all apart from lying down and sitting up." Draco announced with obvious regret.
"You know what … that's all the better," Harry grinned, and started his slow descent up to Draco's lips. He chuckled as he heard Draco growl deep in his throat and began to pleasure him like only he knew how.
