Love the Unloved

Chapter 10

The house was dark and smelt of mildew when Hermione and her Professor entered. Hermione was surprised that the house had been occupied only a few months ago. She turned up her lip in disgust and looked around at the furniture that was covered in moldy sheets that were probably white at some point. Hermione looked at her Professor to see him looking around the living room with an expression she didn't understand. It was almost as if he was afraid of the empty house.

The five year old boy sobbed as his father threw him to the floor and began to undo his belt. His glare was menacing as he stared down at the crying boy with cold hatred.

"Please Daddy…I'll be good," he pleaded softly. The man didn't say a word, but instead reached down and grabbed the boy, tossing him over the arm of the beaten down sofa and pulling his pants down. Without a word, he spit on his engorged cock and shoved it inside Severus who screamed like no other.

"DADDY!"

The man was merciless as he thrust into Severus over and over again, not caring about the blood that ran down the boy's legs. The boy cried in loud gasping sobs, hoping that his mother might show compassion for once and help him, but the help never came…

Hermione could see the terror in his eyes as he looked at the sofa that was sitting in front of them against the wall. Her brows furrowed and saw that his hands were shaking as well.

"Professor?" she called, but he did not respond to her. Swallowing, she slowly approached him and reached out, touching his fingers with hers.

"Professor?" she called softly, this time snapping him out of his thoughts. It took him a second to realize that she was touching him and he quickly snatched his hand away and glared at her.

"Stay here, Granger," he hissed and strode up the creaking stairs.

Hermione rolled her eyes and walked around the living room, looking at the decaying house that should be condemned. The kitchen was even more disgusting with dirty dishes in the sink and rotting food sitting on them. Flies swarmed around it and maggots crawled within the rot causing Hermione to gag and cover her mouth before she threw up. She didn't even bother to explore the rest of it. Hermione couldn't believe that her Professor, who was so strict on organization and cleanliness, actually lived in a house of such filth at one point.

The young Gryffindor walked down the hall and looked at the half opened door at the end of the hall. Having nothing better to do, she walked over to it and pushed the door open completely, only to find a blackened room with no light. It was the basement and there was something eerie about it. Walking a few steps down, she reached the light switch and flicked it on, but it barely lit the room. Hermione was about to peek over the rail when the stairs creaked loudly and suddenly gave way, sending her crashing from the basement stairs to the stone floor below.

A sharp pain coursed through her upper thigh and the left side of her ribcage, causing her to gasp at the intensity of it. Hermione sat up uneasily, tasting the coppery blood on her lips as she looked down at a protruding piece of wood in her thigh.

"Shit…" she hissed and looked around the basement for something that might be of use. Instead, what she found was frightening.

On the walls were several whips, chains, and other forms of what looked like tools for torture. She could see chains with cuffs on the ends of them hanging from the ceiling and on the wooden table on the other side of the room were strange cylindrical objects, some of them with sharp points on them, some of them plain, and some of them with what looked like razors. Not more than three feet from her was a rickety old bed with a molded mattress and underneath it was an old Hogwarts trunk. The name, Severus Trenton Snape was inscribed on it. Fear began to creep inside her and she looked around frantically until her eyes landed on a slip of paper sticking out from underneath an old school book. Hermione reached over and pulled it out, only to find that it was an old photograph. She flipped it over and with a trembling hand, brush away the dirt and grime.

Hermione felt her stomach lurch suddenly and she thought she would be ill if she looked at the image much longer. Then, she heard her Professor call for her and not knowing what else to do, she shoved the photo in her coat pocket so he wouldn't know she had seen it. She didn't know the healing spells that would treat the injury she had, but she lit the tip of her wand so she could see the damage that she had done to her thigh.

"Oh god…" she gasped and felt her breathing come out in short gasps as she tried not to pass out. She swallowed and looked up at the doorway seeing that she would not be able to get out without help. "Professor Snape!"

Severus had searched the upstairs and found a box in his father's old bedroom, hidden in the cracked wall on the far left hand corner. It had made him queasy to see his father's sick perversions again. Severus had thought he had collected all of it, but apparently he hadn't. Once he had grabbed the box and shrunk it to fit in his pocket, he quickly left the room and hurried down the stairs.

"Miss Granger?" he called, but received no immediate answer. Frowning he walked out into the living room when he suddenly heard her pain filled cry.

"Professor Snape! Professor, please help!" she cried, tears streaming down her face.

Severus felt his stomach clench uncomfortably when he found that her voice was coming from the basement. Fear engulfed him first before he became furious. He knew he shouldn't have left her there by herself.

Hermione heard him cursing her name as he came down the corridor toward the basement door and she felt a mild relief knowing that he was going to help her even though he was probably angry with her. She looked at the dirty floor and grimaced at what she was probably sitting on. There were dark brown stains all over the floor and it made her uneasy. She looked from the different torture devices to the floor and back up again, barely registering that Professor Snape was repairing the stairs. With a trembling hand, she whispered an incantation on the brown stains on the floor, hoping that it wasn't what she thought it was. When the tip glowed red, she felt herself gasping for air again and looking frantically up at the stairs for Professor Snape.

"Professor! Please, hurry!" she gasped.

"If you hadn't been nosing around, you wouldn't be in this predicament!" he snapped angrily as he hurried down the steps.

He quickly strode over to her and knelt down to help her. He thought perhaps she had sprained her ankle but when she cast 'Lumos' on the injury, his eyes widened a fraction. He pointed his wand at the injury and looked at her.

"This is going to hurt," he said quietly. Hermione nodded and ground her teeth but when he magically removed the piece of wood, she screamed loudly as the pain seared through her body. Hermione tried her best not to cry like a baby in front of him, but the pain was too much and she could hear her sobs echo against the walls.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to come down here!" she cried.

"Miss Granger, calm yourself," he said firmly and waited as her sobs quieted and she looked at him with big, round, doe like eyes that were glazed over with tears. He felt his chest tighten as he remembered being as terrified and pain filled as she was. Severus noticed the trunk and old book and quickly shrunk them down to fit in his pocket before looking back at her solemnly. "I can seal the wound, but I have nothing for the pain. I can give you a pain potion and a healing salve when we get back to Hogwarts."

"Alright," she sniffed and wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her up. He slipped an arm behind her knees and the other around her back as he cradled her and carried her up the stairs.

Severus had to use all his mind power to suppress the horrors of what had happened in that basement. He didn't realize that his young apprentice could hear his heart beating wildly in his chest as he hurried out of the house, having gotten everything that he needed.

It was a painful trip to Hogwarts as Hermione had to grit her teeth against the pain. Her thigh was searing as he hurried to his Potions lab, but she buried her face in the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent and trying to ignore the pain. He smelt of sandalwood and spices, putting her senses in overdrive. The soft skin of his neck was against her face and all she would have to do is turn her head just a fraction and she could press her lips to his pale skin. It was extremely tempting.

Severus could feel her breath against his throat and tried to ignore the stirring sensation in his groin as he entered his lab and set his apprentice down on the desk, knocking the scrolls and essays to the floor. He hurried to his storeroom and grabbed what he needed. Handing the pain potion to her, he watched as she downed it in one gulp and sighed in relief.

"I am going to remove your pants," he said and waved his wand. Her pants disappeared and reappeared on his chair, folded neatly despite the dirt and tear in them.

Hermione felt her cheeks burn as she realized she was wearing her emerald green, lacey, thong knickers. She flinched when she tried to sit up and it didn't go unnoticed. Professor Snape vanished her sweater as well, again making it appear folded and next to her slacks. When he looked back at her, his eyes widened a fraction.

"Lift your arm, Miss Granger," he said with a frown and when she did, he noticed the purplish brush on her ribcage.

"It hurts," she whispered.

"I'm sure it does. I will take care of that as well," he said coldly, trying to keep his gaze from falling onto her breasts. He was surprised to find that she had not worn a bra and was now only in her skimpy knickers, sitting on his desk. Not wanting to be caught looking inappropriate, despite the Headmistress's lack of concern, he cast a locking spell on his door.

"It's cold in here," she said softly.

"Unfortunately, the potions I have on stasis are temperature sensitive so I can not change that," he said. "Now, lie back so I can fix this."

Severus watched her do as he asked and swallowed hard as her nipples stuck out against the cold. He felt himself become hard almost instantly and did his best not to show what kind of affect she was having on him. He quickly dipped his fingers into the salve and applied it to her bruised ribcage, causing her to grimace. The pain potion never took the pain completely away but it did dull it somewhat. He swallowed and continued to rub the salve on her skin until the bruising began to fade and she started to breathe regularly again.

"You know, Miss Granger, this is entirely inappropriate," he said, glancing at her breasts again.

"What is?" she asked, looking at him. This time he pursed his lips and gave her a level look.

"Do you not realize what this looks like? You are my student and you're naked on my desk," he snapped.

"I am an adult and your apprentice who got injured and is being treated in a professional matter. It would be no different if it was Madam Pomfrey with the exception that you're a man," she replied.

"Hmpf! Just cover yourself, Miss Granger," he ground out and watched out of the corner of his eyes as she threw her arm over her breasts and mumbled something under her breath. "What did you say?"

"I said that it's not like you haven't seen me naked before," she said and saw his eyes turn to slits.

"That doesn't mean that I want to see you again, woman! I've been trying to wipe the image from my mind!" he said coldly and was about to apply the salve when Hermione grabbed her wand and dressed herself with a quick wave. She grabbed her coat and limped to the door that would lead to the corridor and to her rooms.

"That's it!"

"What are you doing?" he asked icily, still holding the salve. She whirled around and glared at him despite the glaze over her eyes.

"I'm making sure that I don't linger in your presence anymore and give you another reason to be disgusted with me! Is this what gets you off, Professor?" she snapped.

"Watch it!"

"Why don't you answer me? Do you really enjoy making people feel like absolute shit?" she yelled. "Why do you have to tell me you're disgusted with looking at me? Am I really that fucking hideous?!"

"I-"

"On second thought, don't answer that! I don't want my self-esteem going any lower!" she said angrily and stalked out the door, limping toward her rooms. "It's no fucking wonder that you can't get a bloody girlfriend!"

Hermione was angry and hurt as she entered her rooms, cursing his name. She wiped the tears away and threw her coat onto the couch and went into her room. After stripping down, she cast a repairing spell on her pants and cleaned the blood and dirt from them, making them look new again before going to her bathroom. A shower was what she wanted right now.

Severus Snape was furious as he stalked into his room and grabbed a glass of his fire-whiskey. He believed that she should never have gone with him to that house and he should have taken her straight to Madam Pomfrey. Now he was thoroughly angry with the girl for not only yelling at him but for being so damn tempting with her perfect breasts and lush lips and it leaving him with a painful erection. He didn't want to have thoughts like this around anyone. Sex was not a part of his life. It never had been but this young woman was causing him to think thoughts he didn't realize he was still capable of having. Now all of a sudden, Hermione Granger becomes his apprentice and one look at her sends his body into overdrive and he wasn't sure that shagging her would solve the problem. She had gotten underneath his skin and acted as though she cared about him, forcing some of the ice around his heart to melt ever so slightly and he was sure that she was playing games with him. It had to stop.

Angrily, he rolled up his sleeve and ran the blade across his skin, hissing loudly as he watched the blood gather up in the deep wound, spilling over the sliced skin. He took another gulp of his drink and then furiously threw the glass into the fireplace, shattering it against the stone.

"Fucking wench!" he spat and glared at the door, debating on what he was going to do.

Hermione finished her shower and toweled dried her hair before walking into her bedroom completely naked and sifting through her small bedroom bookshelf for her magazines from the muggle and wizarding world. She angrily flipped through it, finding several models whom were virtually perfect and stared at them before looking at herself in her tall mirror. She had magazines all over the floor and was looking at them before looking herself over critically. She frowned at her body, knowing that she wasn't perfect but she had never thought that she was unattractive until now.

Hermione sucked in her stomach, compared her breasts to the models, looked over her thighs, and checked out her bum. She kept telling herself that Professor Snape was just putting up a defensive barrier, but it didn't stop her heart from aching. Fresh tears spilled over her cheeks as she tried to figure out what it was about her that he didn't like.

Who am I kidding? This is Professor Snape we're talking about. He'll never love me…

The young Gryffindor hadn't noticed that the Potions Master had entered her rooms and was now standing in the bedroom doorway watching her. She didn't get to see his usually dead expression flicker with regret as he watched the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You're an idiot." The deep baritone voice startled the witch causing her to cry out. She quickly covered herself with her hands and gave him a menacing glare.

"I'm not an idiot! Now get the hell out!" she screamed.

"Yes, you are, Granger, and you better watch how you talk to me!" he snapped.

"Why?" she asked, not knowing what else to say.

"You are comparing yourself to these idiotic swats!" he said gesturing to the magazines.

"Well, what the fuck else am I supposed to compare myself to?" she spat.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for speaking to me like that and you do not have to compare yourself to anyone!" he replied, glaring at her.

"Oh really? Why is that? Is my hideous appearance so bad that no one matches up to it?" she sneered.

"I do not find you hideous, you insufferable woman!" he yelled.

"Then why did you say what you said?" she asked in a low hiss.

"Because I do not want to have inappropriate thoughts about my apprentice who is also my student and half my age!" he snapped angrily. "I may be a right bastard but I am a man, Miss Granger, and I am not infallible."

The full impact of what he had said set in and Hermione swallowed hard, trying to keep the lump in her throat down. She hadn't realized that he might actually find her attractive after all and just wanted to suppress whatever reaction he might have to her physically.

"Sorry…" she mumbled, not wanting to look at his penetrating gaze.

"To hell with your apology, woman! Lie down on the bed so I can put this fucking salve on your injury before the Headmistress fires me for hurting her precious Gryffindor," he spat and watched her limp the bed and sit on the edge of it. "I said, lie down."

Hermione did so and watched as he dipped his fingers into the jar and bent down over her lower half and rubbed the salve on the purplish area where the wood had protruded. Through half close lids, she watched him and noticed his eyes flicker toward the spot between her legs. He glanced up at her face, but she didn't appear to be looking at him, but instead the wooden headboard of her bed. However, when he looked back down at what he was doing, he didn't notice that her eyes had followed and were watching him carefully.

It was then that Hermione noticed he was not wearing his black coat, but rather the crisp white shirt and his black trousers. She also saw that there were blood stains on the inside of his left arm although he was trying to hide it. Hermione wished she could say something but she knew it wasn't a good idea especially with the lines she had already crossed. Her eyes strayed down his torso to his hips before settling on his crotch where much of her attention had been focused lately. She was shocked to see the bulge that was shifted to one side and ran just a little down his pant leg.

Thank god for tight pants!

The long cylindrical shape gave her a pretty good idea just how big he was and it was more than adequate. In fact, it was a little frightening but what she considered the most was the fact that he actually could achieve an erection so that much was functional. It was also quite a warming feeling to know that she was the cause of it despite her prior belief that she had disgusted him. It was now very apparent that she didn't.

Once he finished applying the salve, he stood up quickly and left the room. Hermione had noticed the flush in his cheeks and the grip he had on the jar of salve. He didn't even say anything to her and that was enough to tell her that he was embarrassed. Sitting up on the edge of the bed, Hermione looked down at her healed thigh and thought about his fingers against her skin. The feeling of desire she had for him was more than she could describe and she wanted him desperately.