Chapter Ten

"No, no! Please don't do this." She thought at him. She didn't know if it would work, she doubted it would, but it was worth a shot.

He nodded towards Hermione. "I'm sorry, but I have to."

Hermione panicked, what was she going to do? He was going to tell them everything, every detail of just what had been happening at their "tutor" lessons throughout the year.

She was sweating, heavily. She had to get out of there, find a way to leave discretely… But then Snape pointed towards Ron, and said "Hold her down."

Ron was confused, but he put his arm around Hermione. She felt warmer with him there, even though she knew it wasn't love making him do that, it was curiosity.

Then Snape began. "I oppose this marriage because I don't think Miss Granger should marry Mr Weasley."

A loud "Obviously!" came from somewhere near the back. Snape silenced them with a single glance.

"You see, Miss Granger and I were having an affair for the last four months of school. She, how you say it, 'broke up with me' when school ended, to focus on being with Ronald. And, over the course of that time, I grew to… care for her."

"While she was still at school?" someone asked.

"Yes, while she was at school."

Hermione's parents chimed in. "That's against the law! We can have you… um, arrested for this!" her mother screeched. Hermione wasn't entirely sure Mrs Granger wanted him tried as a wizard or Muggle.

"That's my little girl! She's eighteen! She's barely old enough to be marrying Ron here, and you are telling me she was sleeping with you while she was at school? And you let this happen?" The last statement was aimed at Professor McGonagall.

"I had no idea this was going on. Trust me, if I had, I would have put a stop to it immediately." She looked at Snape like he was gum on her shoe.

Harry and Ginny were sitting with their mouths wide open, but then Harry came to Hermione's defence. "There is no way Hermione would have done this of her own accord! He must have… somehow, um… tricked her into it." He worded carefully, not wanting to let on to the muggles the nature of the rest of the guests.

Neville Longbottom stood up near the back. "Give them Veritaserum! They would have to admit to it then."

"Veritaserum?" Every Muggle asked.

"Oh um…" Then he whispered to McGonagall, and she nodded.

"All of Hermione's family, except for her parents, I would like you to go inside to have some snacks."

They all begrudgingly did so. McGonagall pulled a small vial out of her bag. "I always have this in my bag. I think I got it as a present once but never had the chance to use it… It would be of great use now though."

Hermione struggled against Ron's grip, but he was stronger than he looked. Squirming pretty much confirmed her guilt though, because if nothing was going on she clearly wouldn't want to get away.

"Bring them over here." McGonagall ordered. Snape walked up freely whereas Hermione was pulled along by Ron. She was sweating so much most of her make-up was running.

After fighting for a moment, they managed to restrain Hermione enough to get a couple of drops in her mouth. Snape put it in his own mouth, he was glad for everyone to hear the truth.

McGonagall's questioning began. "Were you sleeping with Professor Snape?"

"Yes." The gasps seemed louder than she expected them to be.

"When did this begin?"

"Around October last year, when he gave me my detention. Afterwards, when he came back, we slept together."

"Did you try to stop it at any time?"

"Yes, I got him to put a memory spell on me so I'd forget; only a few months later, I remembered."

"How did you remember? It's very hard to undo memory spells."

"I found evidence that he was right. I found my bracelet in his room, and after he told me, I knew there would be no other explanation for it being there."

"Wait, he told you?"

"Yes, on Valentine's Day, he kept me back after class and told me of what happened. I didn't believe him, but then I found proof he was right. And, we slept together again."

Ron seemed to have one question he was dying to ask: "Do you love him?"

"Yes."

"How much?"

"Not as much as I love you."

They redirected their questioning to Snape. "Were you sleeping with Miss Granger?"

"Yes."

"And why did you remind her when she wanted to forget?"

"Because I wanted her to remember. I had feelings for her."

Mr Granger looked like he wanted to slap him. "She's my daughter! She's eighteen! I wanted to ignore the fact that she was having sex with Mr Weasley here, but with you? I thought Hogwarts was a safe school! Not a school where the teachers can treat the students like sex slaves."

Hermione felt her jaw drop. That was a huge accusation.

McGonagall ignored it though, and continued with what she was doing.

"Did you ever try to make yourself forget about Miss Granger?"

"No, because Memory Charms on oneself is very advanced, even for an adult, and… I didn't want to forget."

Mr Granger jumped on Snape. He punched him in the mouth, and then pulled his long hair. He tackled him to the ground, and then kicked Snape in the face. All the while, Snape wasn't even trying to defend himself.

The fighting continued. "No, stop please! You'll kill him!" Hermione cried, but the fighting didn't stop.

Eventually, Mr Granger was pulled off Snape, but Snape wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing either by the look of it.

Ron let go of Hermione, knelt down beside Snape and felt for a pulse. He couldn't find one.

"He's dead."