Chapter 10

Severus leaned back in the chair of his office, his eyes roving over the contract he had drawn up. The Malfoys were certainly on the right track with the idea of it.

He had spent the last few days working on it, it wasn't a contract per se, more a set of guidelines for the relationship he and Granger would have to pursue if they were going to stop her death.

It sounded ridiculous thinking of it that way. Still, he had written out his expectations and what he wanted out of it and had added things he thought she might want or expect and left space to make amendments.

He still thought Granger should have been making the first move, since it was her problem, but he was well acquainted with her stubbornness. She wouldn't approach him and just speak about it with him like an adult. He would have expected better from her.

Over the past few days he'd been able to overcome his anger, he'd gathered all the information he could, and he had come to see this didn't have to be as torturous as serving the Dark Lord. He doubted he would ever love her, but that was no reason they couldn't have an amicable partnership. Besides, with this relationship, he would be able to get something he had always wanted.

He picked up the contract, he had resolved to get this over and done with as soon as possible. If Dumbledore was right, the girl had likely added a lot of time on with her Time Turner. It could run out any day. Or perhaps she went easy on it and had more time than they were giving her credit for. Unlikely. Even if she did run out of time, it would be a slow and agonizing process before she died, so there was still enough time to save her if word were able to make it to him.

He picked up the parchment and rolled it up. The girl was likely at the Burrow or Grimmauld with Potter.

She had featured in the Prophet again with the bloody boy, his Godson and his Godsons apparent mate according to Lucius. They'd made quite the spectacle of themselves. Although, Severus had to admit, she had looked rather stunning in the photos.

Was the nature of her relationship with Potter what the Prophet claimed? Because he would certainly not tolerate infidelity. Their inevitable relationship would be borne out of necessity rather than any real desire for it, but it would be monogamous.

As for how they explained things to the public, because it would get out eventually, they could either feign a love match, or come clean about her Veela heritage. Each one had its pros and cons.

At least if they explained about the Veela problem, he wouldn't be as harshly judged, he certainly couldn't be accused of taking advantage of a student. Although that wouldn't exactly stop the accusations, they should be significantly less than if he was just coming off as a dirty old man who preyed upon his students.

But on the other side of that argument, he would rather people not know that the girl was forced into this, even if it hadn't been him that forced her. There was just this sting of humiliation in that.

He flooed to Grimmauld, which Potter in his oh so infinite generosity had left open to Order members should they need a place to stay, so most of them still had access to it.

He knew instantly the house was empty, it had that feel about it.

He left via the front door and found a secluded place to apparate from, reaching the edge of the Burrows wards. He was allowed through, like Grimmauld, the Weasley's had left it open to Order members.

He went up to the front door and knocked only to have a rather frazzled looking Molly Weasley answer it. She gave him a bright smile, if a bit laced with exhaustion and worry, likely for her son.

"Hello Severus, come in come in I'll get you some tea."

"That won't be necessary. I am looking for Miss Granger, is she here?"

"No she isn't, she's spending Christmas in Australia with Harry and Teddy," she informed him.

Australia? What on earth was she doing in Australia? And with Potter. Playing happy families with him and his Godson? How stupid could she be? To go so far away from the only people who might have a chance to save her life should she need it.

"Thank you for your time Mrs Weasley."

With that he stalked off and apparated back to Hogwarts. He would just have to wait until the girl returned from her holiday, it shouldn't be too long now.

xXx

Stepping onto the Platform nine and three quarters always felt like taking that first step home. She would be sad to leave Hogwarts when the time came.

Hermione and Harry had dropped Teddy off with his grandmother yesterday upon arriving back in England. They had spent a nice few days in Australia and had nice tans to show for it. They had indeed spent Christmas day at the beach, all day parked under an umbrella and going back and forwards between that and the water. Teddy'd had a blast. It was his first time at the beach and he loved running, well, waddling away from the waves as they came in shrieking in childish delight.

They had spent yesterday and last night at the Burrow catching up with the Weasley's. Ron's nurse was indeed a very attractive woman who seemed to have obliviously ensnared Harry and most of the male Weasley's. Hermione liked her, she seemed and nice and she was very good at her job. Ron was doing so much better and they were even talking about sending him back to school, though he wouldn't be able to play Quidditch any more. And he would have a lot of stuff to catch up on, but he would get a lot of help so he would be able to achieve his N.E.W.T's.

They had even discussed - as a joke Hermione was sure - how to go about cheating for Ron, a way to trick the system.

It was actually quite fun to discuss, overcoming the obstacles and challenges such a feat would require. Of course, Hermione would never do it, or allow any of her friends to do it either. They could get into so much trouble. That was the kind of stupid stunt that could ruin lives.

The trip to Hogwarts was carried out in conversation about their holidays. And Draco had proposed to Luna, who of course had said yes. She actually seemed really happy, Draco too. Lucky buggers.

Hermione sat with Harry, Ginny and Neville at the Gryffindor table while they ate that night, Hermione doing her damnedest to ignore Snape's presence. Though she'd spent a few good minutes drinking in the sight of him when she'd first arrived. And he had snapped her doing it, had actually quirked a brow at her too. She had promptly blushed and snapped her eyes to her plate. God he probably thought she was some stupid school girl with a crush. How humiliating.

After dinner though, the shit hit the fan. At least that was what it felt like to Hermione. Snape stalked up to her and stared down his nose at her.

"I would like a word with you in my office," he said.

Hermione just nodded, not actually moving though.

"If your finished..."

Oh, he meant now. She looked at her plate. Damn, it's empty. She should have attempted to eat more. She rose to her feet and followed him, pretty sure she'd left her stomach behind. She supposed he wanted to berate her for what happened before the holidays, or at least tell her to keep her mouth shut about it.

They marched to his office in silence and as they entered it, the torches and candles within it flared to life. He took a seat at his desk and gestured for her to sit as well. Hermione obeyed, her posture rigid. Severus could practically feel the nerves pouring off her in waves.

He had already gone over this meeting in his head a thousand time. Being confrontational was not the way to go, flinging about accusations and getting angry would only cause more problems than not. He didn't know how much her Veela instincts would suppress her temper to appease his, but he would still rather get through this conversation without a fight. He was able to look at the picture, now that he had taken the time to overcome his anger and analyse the situation. He hoped Miss Granger had the maturity to do the same.

He stared at her a long time and she couldn't help but fidget under his scrutiny, bouncing her leg up and down a little at a very quick pace. Why wouldn't he just get on with it?

He finally slid a Calming Draught across the table to her.

"Drink this," he ordered.

"I've already had one recently," she told him. Though it was true it was losing it's potency considering how long she'd been on them.

He only nodded and drank his own. It would help fight the impulses being near her created and hopefully prevent the flaring of tempers.

"I believe we have something of importance to discuss," he said.

"Look I'm not going to say anything about what happened before the holidays-"

"That is not what I am referring to," he cut her off.

"Then what-?"

"Do not play dumb."

It didn't come out as snappishly as it normally would have, the Calming Draught doing it's work. Though he had wanted to get through this with level heads and a minimum of anger, some of it did still simmer underneath and stupid questions like that would bring it up again.

"Your Veela heritage Miss Granger," he told her.

Her eyes widened a fraction before narrowing. "Professor McGonagall."

"Professor Dumbledore actually."

"Bloody meddlesome."

She muttered it under her breath but he still caught it.

She leaned back in her chair and let out a breath. "So you know... All of it?"

Severus nodded.

Her hands gripped the edge of her seat, either side of her thighs. "Please don't say anything."

"I have no intention of advertising your condition to the wizarding world Miss Granger," he said irritably.

"No I mean, just...don't reject, don't accept, just don't say anything."

"And how would that help the situation?"

"I'm not looking to help the situation," she said softly. Her eyes grew glassy as the tears welled but she refused to let them fall. "I made my decision, I've accepted my circumstances."

"You fear my acceptance," he said, his voice flat.

She didn't respond, but the look in her eyes was confirmation enough. His acceptance would likely undo everything she'd gone through to get her to the point of accepting her own decision.

Until this moment he hadn't actually thought about how difficult it might have been.

He had thought that perhaps she was just being dramatic, a drama queen. Even after speaking with Lucius, the reality of it just never really hit him except for how it affected him. He may have briefly touched on what it meant for her, but he had never lingered on it. It must have been grating to lose so much control of your own life, especially someone as tightly wound as her. A few words from him could undo her.

Severus had felt like that once, under the service of both his masters. Very little of his life was his own.

He let out a sigh and unrolled the contract. "I have taken the liberty of drawing this up, I believe it benefits us both and I have left space for you to add anything you feel is a necessity." He saw her actually shrink away from it. "Read it Miss Granger. Consider what you are doing very carefully, the people you are hurting and who would mourn your loss, the potential you are throwing away..."

She hesitantly took it much to his satisfaction. Guilt... He could wield it just as well as Dumbledore could.

"Can I have a few days?" She asked.

Snape nodded and she rolled it back up to read in the privacy of her room. She rose to her feet and headed for the door.

"Why did you not call in the life debt Miss Granger?" His question halted her mid step.

"I had no choice in this matter. Do you honestly think I would take away yours?"

"You took it away the moment you decided not to tell me."

She turned back to look at him, her expression troubled. "I suppose I did. I never really thought of it like that. And look, about the life debt, if I knew how to undo that magic, I would. Considering all the times your intervention has saved our lives, you don't owe me."

Both of them felt the magic coiling in the air between them and within them before Severus felt a weight lifted, the bond severed. He released a shuddering breath as he looked at her, her expression surprised, but not a hint of regret. She wouldn't have been able to erase the life debt if she hadn't truly meant it.

Her surprise morphed into a small, wry smile. "I never would have thought it would be that easy. Now that the life debt is gone and you truly owe me nothing, do I still have to read this?" She waved the rolled up contract.

"Yes, because it still stands regardless."

Hermione nodded and left the room. Severus stayed where he was, still stunned. Never would he have given up such leverage as a life debt, yet she had. Even though it had been accidental, it couldn't have been done if she hadn't meant it.

He leaned back in his chair. That was not how he had intended it to go, but he felt it was successful. He couldn't force her to choose life, but it seemed her hold on her decision was a tenuous one.

He had meant what he said though. There would be many who would be devastated by her death. And she truly was throwing away a lot of potential, the girl could be anything, do anything she set her mind to. Whatever career she decided to pursue, she would likely rise to the top of. And an affiliation to her, through marriage obviously, would benefit him as well.

xXx

Hermione got up to her dorm and headed straight for her room, just giving Draco a shake of her head before locking herself inside. He had likely seen Snape cart her off from the Great Hall at dinner and wanted to make sure everything was ok, or he was just curious.

She just wasn't up to talking to anyone yet, she needed to process her conversation with Snape and everything it meant for her.

She wanted to live yes, and her Veela was thrilled. Though he hadn't said it exactly, this was acceptance. But she had to wonder if he knew what he was really getting himself into. A life time with her. He could barely stand her.

She had always thought it was likely he would accept her out of some sense of duty, but part of her had believed he would reject her too. It really could have gone either way in her mind. Some days she was so sure he would accept, others that he would reject and so she truly had taken the decision from him entirely and tried to ensure he would never know.

Was that...manipulative? Was she as bad as Dumbledore or Voldemort? To a lesser extent maybe. Definitely to a lesser extent actually, but still, had she been in the right? Maybe this was just one of those situations where everybody was a loser no matter what they did.

Still, she applauded herself on keeping her cool for the most part while dealing with him, though the Calming Draught she had downed before dinner had probably helped immensely. But even so...

She eyed the contract sitting in front of her on her bed, it was still rolled up. She was a little afraid of opening it actually. Who knew what it might say? Would it have been better to read it there with him so she could discuss any concerns right then? But then, that might look like she was accepting his offer of his acceptance of her.

That didn't sound right. She frowned and tried to rephrase that in her head before giving up. What was the point?

Just read the damn contract Hermione.

Maybe...maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Or maybe her self preservation instincts were kicking in and she would end up accepting whatever he offered whether it was a crap deal or not.

She was hesitant about opening it though, that would be like changing her mind wouldn't it? But Snape did have a point. She didn't want to leave all her friends behind, there had already been so much loss. Did she really want to give her friends one more person to mourn? And she just flat out didn't want to die. There was so much she wanted to do with her life, she had wanted to change the world. The wizarding world anyway. Find the cure for Lycanthropy, equal rights for magical creatures or something, maybe invent something that could defend against the unforgiveables, just...something epic anyway.

In one swift movement Hermione unfurled the contract and set it out before her. She skimmed it first, before going back over and reading every detail. Then read it again in shock.

It was actually pretty fair. There were a few points she would need to discuss with him, some things that she really had to wonder 'why?' But all in all, it wasn't so bad. He'd really taken the time to think it all through. How long had he known about her anyway?

It started out pretty good, he wouldn't deny her what she needed, nor would he blackmail her for it etc, along similar lines to Draco's contract with Luna.

However, it got a little weird when it brought up bindings, apparently he wanted them to get married, this was a bit of a shock. She couldn't understand the 'why?' of that.

And it went on about children as well, how they would bear his name. If they were married, they would have his name anyway. Towards the end it spoke about her refraining from using her pheromones on him. She couldn't even control that. But in return for that, he would curb whatever tendencies or habits affected her Veela negatively, within reason of course. It was all so strange. There were definitely some things that needed to be discussed. If she decided to accept.

Who was she kidding? Practically the moment he offered she'd changed her mind about choosing death. Turned out she wasn't as strong in her convictions as she believed. Was that weak?

"Ugh!"

She flopped back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She missed being a regular old, if of slightly above average intelligence, muggleborn.

Draco!

Draco knew Snape pretty well, maybe he could provide insight. Maybe there was something she was missing here. Snape had to have wanted more than this for saving her life surely. But did she want to let him in on this recent development? He would probably try and persuade her to take it. But she had pretty much decided to, so would it really matter? But she didn't want to blindly accept it either. Hence the need to talk to Draco.

She rolled off her bed and went to the door. Draco was still in their common room flicking rolled up balls of parchment at one of the ornaments resting on their coffee table.

"I see you're being real productive," she said, dropping onto the sofa beside him.

"Aren't I always?"

She handed him the scroll. "Have a read of this and tell me what you think."

Hermione watched his expression as he did so, but it didn't really change much. Slytherin's seemed to take the whole 'stone faced' thing seriously. But occasionally she would catch something, a very marginal widening of the eyes at times, a slight furrowing of the brows, things she would have missed if she hadn't been looking for them. One time his mouth actually dropped open a bit.

"This is from Uncle Sev?" He finally asked. He recognized the writing, but he had to be sure.

She nodded. "Got it from the man himself, from his hand to mine. And you appear to be in as much shock as I was."

"Well, yeah. I've never known him to be so generous to someone outside of my family."

Hermione breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank God, here I thought I was just being a real harsh judge of character, but if you're thinking the same... So what's going on?"

Draco was looking rather perplexed now as he skimmed the contract.

"Well, there's no magic to this so it won't be binding, no terrible consequences if one of you breaks it."

"I figured the no magic thing was because of those last couple of points, about my pheromones and his habits. He must know I can't control them, a magically binding contract to enforce something I can't control would just be ridiculous."

Draco nodded his agreement, it made sense. "But these other points... He's actually being quite fair."

"I know. Why?"

Draco thought about it for a long while before a slight smile crossed his face. True, Severus didn't like Hermione and Draco truly would have expected harsher terms. Had it been almost anyone else, Draco wouldn't have been so surprised.

"Because he has to spend his life with you."

She frowned. "I know, shouldn't that make him angry?"

"I would have thought so too. But this way, he's trying to set the tone of your...relationship. Equal terms, something you can both be content with... He doesn't want to fight. He's fair, even generous with family. Congratulations Granger, Uncle Sev shifted you to the 'family' category."

"That's it? Really?"

Draco nodded. "That would be my guess. Uncle Sev has always been able to look at something and see the bigger picture, always a million steps ahead of everyone else. He's trying to make the transition easier. Not just for you, probably more for himself, but still..."

It did make sense when he put it that way. Why would he make things harder on himself just to make them harder for her? She was aware he had a petty streak when it came to certain people, and she was one of them usually. But being at odds with her for the rest of their lives would serve no purpose and in the end, would it really make anyone happier?

"So what are you going to do?" He asked.

Her mouth opened, then closed and she looked at him a long time. "Probably... I want to discuss some of these points with him but probably...I'll sign it."

Draco let out a relieved breath. "Good. I thought you might be stubborn about this."

She sent a rather venomous scowl his way.

"Don't look at me like that, you know you're too stubborn for your own good."

"I admit I'm stubborn, but too stubborn for my own good? I think you're exaggerating."

Draco scoffed and rolled his eyes, but he kept his mouth shut, not willing to argue with her. He was actually just really relieved his friend wasn't going to die. He didn't have so many that he wouldn't feel the loss keenly.

"When are you going to go and speak with him?"

"Tomorrow maybe, I want to take the night to really think it over."

"What's there to think about Hermione? Why are you so keen to die for this?"

She gave him a flat stare. "I didn't mean whether or not I would take him up on this, I meant to think about any other points that need to be brought up or clarified."

"Oh, yeah, that's better than what I was thinking then."

"Clearly."

He eyed her up. "You don't seem very happy."

"Just...scared I guess," she shrugged. "I don't know how this is all going to turn out and it terrifies me. I mean, there's a lot to consider. The public's reaction, the Board of Governors, I doubt they'll be happy about a teacher screwing his student." Draco winced at the idea of them doing pretty much anything other than arguing with each other. "My friends? The Weasley's? How are they all going to take it? The rest of the student body when they find out...Snape and I are public figures since the wars end, I doubt we can keep it hidden for long. And then there's the relationship itself. He loves Lily Potter and even though I don't love him, there's still this part of me that's jealous. I can only ever be with this one man and his heart belongs to someone else and has done for over twenty years. How am I supposed to compete with that? Can I even hope we could be something real or is that only going to hurt me in the long run when I realise it can never happen?"

"Merlin I'd hate to be you."

"I'm not particularly enjoying being me right now either," she huffed.

"Not for your situation, but your mind...it seems to come up with some pretty negative scenarios quite quickly. Does it ever stop?"

She shrugged. "I have to sleep sometime. Besides, it's become second nature to think of everything that could go wrong first."

"Why?"

"It's how I kept us alive. It's easier to turn a bad situation around if I've already prepared for it. Obviously it's a habit I haven't broken."

"Well you better break it, Severus is negative enough already, can you imagine the pair of you together?"

She whacked him on the arm. "Ha ha bloody ha."

"I'm not joking."