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Chapter 11:

Severus Snape looked at the clock. It was well past noon. Poppy must have given him a strong potion last night. He winced as he tried to get up. The wounds he had received the night before from Regulus were bad, but he thought he could manage without going to Narcissa. If Voldemort had found out that Regulus had resisted his treatment, he would have been punished severely, and Severus did not want that on his conscience. Even though the man sent two Avada Kedavra curses at him, both without using a wand. Perhaps that was why they were so weak and Severus able to deflect them so easily. If he had not been so distracted with concern over Miss Granger, it would have been easier to detain the man. The potion he had been giving him was supposed to weaken his mental defenses. The man was resisting Voldemort's spells too well, and the Dark Lord needed him weak. It bothered him that perhaps all the time this man had been kept alive in captivity, he had been developing his mental strength. For that he was punished severely every day. Severus admired how the man fought. Voldemort had informed him of the death of his brother, showed him false images of the pain Bellatrix had caused him. The man never lashed out, never spoke. But his eyes turned white with hate. Narcissa hated to be at these events, Regulus and her had spent much time together growing up, and seeing him being tortured was more than she could bear. At least her husband would be shown mercy, the pain would stop after a few minutes.

Last night after administering the potion, Severus gave his report to the dark lord. Luckily, the man had no further requirement of him, and allowed him to return to Hogwarts. Severus apparated, but was so dizzy from the loss of blood from his attacks, he collapsed once he got inside the gates. The next thing he knew, he was in bed. SHE was there, perfectly calm, acting as if the day were completely normal. He forced himself out of bed and headed for the living room. On the side table beside his armchair, there was a note.

PROFESSOR,

Out flying with Hagrid. Be back before nightfall. Good enough? Or should I have added where exactly I was flying, why I was flying, and had an exact time of my return?

Severus growled as he crumpled up the note. He would tend to that issue later. In the meantime, he had to start on the next batch of potions for the Dark Lord. And deal with the last preparations for his classes. After finishing those, he would have two weeks free to do whatever. Unless Voldemort called him.

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When Hermione Snape returned home at twilight, Severus was in his study. She immediately went to the kitchen to heat up last night's dinner. She was proud of herself. She had ignored him all day, leaving him to hopefully regret that he had been so unkind the night before. She looked at her wrist. It was swollen and bruised where his fingertips had squeezed. She had meant to ask Poppy for a healing cream, but had lost track of herself while at Hagrid's. The day had been long, but she was determined not to go home until sunset. All she wanted right now was to eat a nice dinner, have a hot cup of tea, then go to sleep. As Hermione was about to cast a heating spell on the food, her evening plans went out the window.

"Miss Granger!"

"Yes, dear?"

"Do you not respect the fact that the reason we married was to keep you in the wizarding world AND to protect you from the creature wishing you harm?"

"Yes, I know that that. And yes I respect that. But you didn't have to yell at me! I told you I wasn't alone!"

"You were lying."

"Excuse me? And just what makes you think that? You weren't using occlumency on me?!"

"Miss Granger, I wouldn't have needed to. Have you ever heard of tells? You have plenty of them!"

"Ok, so what? I made a mistake, I didn't think it would be so bad to take a little walk down to Hogsmeade to pick up Christmas presents. I wasn't alone the whole time, I ran into Hagrid and he helped me. You didn't have to hurt me!"

"Miss Granger, if you think the way I talked to you last night hurt—"

"Not the way you talked, the wa—never mind. You didn't have the right to talk to me like that. I was trying to help you. Next time you're passed out by the gates, I won't risk my safety wandering the grounds to go get you."

"As well you shouldn't. I have been in much worse situations and I can assure you, I don't need your help."

"Then that's settled. Next time, and I'm sure there'll be one, I will leave you to perhaps die. Then I will be a widow, immune from the stupid marriage law, and will have to suffice with protecting myself!"

"That certainly won't get you far!"

"You're an ass, Severus Snape! You shouldn't be angry with me, I made a mistake. I learned my lesson, I won't do it again! Can we drop this? Or are you planning to give me det--?"

Hermione was cut off when Severus grabbed one of her waving arms and pulled her closer to him. Her eyes went wide, she wasn't sure what he was doing. Then he gently took her right hand. He had noticed the bruises. After a moment, he let go of her hand and left the room. Hermione shook her head. 'Thanks for the apology, hubby. At least he left.' Hermione cast her heating charm and sat at the table to eat her dinner. She had barely taken her first bite when Severus came back. "Give me your hand."

"No. I don't particularly feel like throbbing anymore tonight." Hermione returned to her food.

"Give me your hand." He said it gently, but firm enough that to assert that it was not a request. She sighed, held out her hand to him. He looked it over, gently touching each of the bruises. Then he pulled out a healing salve and applied it to her wrist. Immediately the swelling went down, and the bruises slightly faded. He kept rubbing, making sure the salve was entirely absorbed before he let go of her hand.

Very quietly, "I should not have been so rough with you."

Hermione didn't need to hear the words 'I'm sorry' to know this was an apology.

"No worries. It's over now. Looks way better already. The bruises are nearly gone. That was a pretty powerful salve, Poppy's cream would have taken at least an hour or two."

"It's my own variation. There is always a canister of it in my bathroom, if you should need it. I will prepare a batch for you, but it takes a few weeks to prepare the main potion ingredient." Severus stood up to leave.

"Wait, um, I made you dinner last night. You obviously weren't up to eating though, so I put it in the fridge. You should eat with me, you know, so it won't go to waste." Severus hesitated, but after Hermione insisted he sat down to eat with her.

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Three days went by without further spats between the couple. Severus mostly stayed in his potions lab, and Hermione finished reading the year's textbooks. Severus had said nothing about the Christmas decorations. He didn't despise the holidays as much as he pretended to, but if he made even one comment that implied otherwise, Dumbledore would have a field day with his office, and likely force him to take a bigger role in his ridiculously over the top festivities. All the children that stayed behind for the holidays would be celebrating in the great Hall, and he did not wish to be forced to attend. He usually didn't decorate his home for the holidays either, but he didn't mind her decorating. It was tasteful, not too much.

"Knock, knock. Okay, I'm ready to go to my appointment."

"Hmm? What appointment?"

"My doctor appointment. I would have just gone to poppy, but she doesn't have a lot of training in the baby department. I figured since you don't want me to go anywhere alone, you should go with me… I really did try to get someone else, but Ginny doesn't get back for almost two more weeks and I didn't want to try to explain to Hagrid—"

"That's fine. I was just preparing ingredients, anyway. If you should need me for things like this in the future, I would appreciate better notice. If I had been brewing any number of potions that require constant attention, you would have had to reschedule."

"Yea, sorry. Just didn't know how to tell you, then it was time to do it."

"Indeed. Let's go then, shall we?"

The doctor's office was on Candlelight Alley, just two alleys over from Diagon Alley. Hermione had only been there once before, and she had gone with Ginny. They had looked her over to make sure she and the baby were in good health, prescribed her vitamins, talked to her a little about what she was to expect, and before she had taken a breath, sent her on her way. She hoped this experience would be similar.

"Miss Gran—I'm sorry, it Mrs. Snape now isn't it? Congratulations, dear. Is this your husband?"

"Thank you. Yes, ma'am."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Patricia, the healer's assistant. He will be right back, just needed a quick breath of air. Busy time for babies, you know. Now how did you two meet?"

"Well, I, uh, we—"

"I'm her professor."

"Oh. My, my, ethics are going right out the window aren't they?" the witch gave a nervous smile to Hermione, "Well, like I said the Healer will be back soon. I will escort you to room one to await him." The witch motioned for Hermione and Severus to follow her.

"I will wait out here." Severus watched as Patricia led Hermione through the door. He enjoyed making the witch uncomfortable. It served her right for asking too many questions. He was rather surprised she had made the comment about ethics. In most situations he would have agreed with her. A professor should never get involved with a student. A moment later, she returned with fire in her eyes.

"Mr. Snape! I will have you know that you are disgusting! To involve yourself with a student may not be illegal, but you should be ashamed of yourself nonetheless. Maybe you didn't take advantage of her position, but it's too easy for that to have been the case! Now, she is pregnant. You likely only married her for that reason, and now you won't even be supportive enough to go with her to her appointments! You would leave your wife to deal with these things on her own! If you only knew the things pregnant women go through, and to have to do it without the support of her husband is just awful! There's a special place in hell for men like you!"

"Is there a problem, Patricia?" the doctor had walked into the office with hands full of lunch and nearly dropped it.

"Your assistant was just pointing me in the direction of my wife's room." Severus walked towards the door she had taken Hermione through just moments ago, leaving her and her boss alone.

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"So, what did she say to you?" Hermione asked before biting into her turkey and avocado sandwich. She had convinced Severus to go out to eat before going home.

"What makes you think she said anything to me?"

"You came into the appointment with me, and I swear you looked like you were on the verge of laughing."

"I think I really like that woman. She's not afraid to speak her mind."

"I speak my mind, you don't like that."

"Because you are a student, talking back to her professor. Not a woman who was valiantly defending something she believed in."

"And she believed in…what?"

"She believed there is a special place in hell for me." A slight smile crossed his face as he recalled the woman's rant.

"What? That's awful! Why would you smile at that? Surely you don't believe that? She's such a sweet woman, why would she say that about you?"

"Because she believes a professor should not take advantage of his students, and a man should take care of and support his wife."

"That's your fault. Why did you go and tell her I was your student? I could have made something up."

"As I've told you before, you have tells. Lying does nothing for you."

"So you could have lied. Besides, you didn't take advantage of me, you're helping me, not hurting me."

Severus flashed back to the night their lives had changed forever. It was amazing to him how she always skipped that part. She acted as if that part didn't exist, and he was being some sort of hero. It made him angry in a way, how she had forgiven him so quickly. Lily had never forgiven him for his verbal sin towards her, and he felt Hermione should not have forgiven his towards her either. His mind wandered to their wedding night. How could she have been comfortable with him touching her?

"Earth to Severus Snape."

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"You were staring at me all creepy. I figured you got lost in space."

"Indeed. Are you finished? I'd like to finish the potion ingredients I was working on."

"You never take a day off do you? We've been married for, let's see today is the thirteenth, the wedding was on the second, eleven days and the only time you took off was the weekend we were on the cruise."

"The problem is?"

"You're a workaholic. It's a disease." Severus was starting to get annoyed.

"Miss Granger, are you—"

"Stop calling me Miss Granger. That's not even my last name anymore."

"Hermione. Please refrain from interrupting me. It's horribly annoying. Let's leave now."

"Fine. Sorry. But this is a great café right? I told you it was awesome."

"Yes, they make a very good sandwich, good choice. Are you ready to apparate?"

"Can't we go look in the some of the shops? I haven't got to spend much time in this alley, it's pretty."

"Perhaps next time. I really must finish those ingredients before the alabrex roots dry up."

"Okay."

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Hermione was cooking dinner when Severus abruptly entered the kitchen. She had made a pie, and the crust from scratch so she was covered in flour.

"I have been summoned. Please refrain from checking the grounds this evening."

"Good luck. If you're back late, I will have a plate of food for you." Severus gave a slight nod before turning to leave the room, his robes swirling around him.

The Malfoy's mansion was crowded. It was celebration. The dark Lord must have achieved something great. Draco approached him.

"The Death Eaters found a member of the Order. They have been torturing her all evening. I don't know who it is, but I think she's related to that Lavender chick at school."

"Hm. That's exciting, anything else?"

"The Dark Lord got really excited about something this afternoon. Why he chose not to summon you until now, I don't know. But he demanded a celebration. Mother has been preparing all day, and father was sent to round up 'guests'."

"Indeed. Where is he now?"

"In the study with Lord Voldemort. He just came back with a mix of muggles and mudb- and muggle-borns." Draco flinched, as he expected punishment.

"Stupid child."

"I hope you know your wife is a month younger than I. So, if I'm a child, then-" Draco silenced himself once he saw the punishing stare of his Godfather. "You might want to take the ring off."

Severus looked at his hand. He had gotten used to the ring. It fit comfortably and he had hardly noticed its presence since the wedding. He slid it off, and put it in his pocket. He gave a curt nod to Draco, then headed off to the study to see why he had been summoned.

"Ah, Severus. Good to see you answer so quickly. You've no work this evening. Tonight, we are here to celebrate. I have received word of a prophecy that will destroy my enemies, and although I am not quite sure how to approach it, I feel that a bit of merriment is in order. Bellatrix, why don't you go get Severus a drink?"

"Yes, my lord."

"That's all right. I'm perfectly capable of getting my own drinks." Severus didn't trust for one minute what that woman would put in his drink.

"Severus, I insist. Bellatrix, do as you are told." Bellatrix nodded at her master and left the room.

"Severus, I feel as if I have been neglecting you. You work so hard for me, and I would like to reward you. Anything you like, it shall be done."

"My lord, I wish for nothing other than your success."

"My faithful servant. I will find an appropriate reward for you. In the meantime, please enjoy the party, have a go at the blood traitor. Be sure not to kill her though, I've a message for her to deliver to her comrades."

This confused Severus. Why not just deliver it through him? "My lord?"

"Oh, nothing to worry about. Just more of a joke, a fun show. I've a new spell to use on her."

Severus just nodded his head. He would not question further. Bellatrix returned at that moment and brought Severus and her master their drinks.

"Cissy has asked to speak with you when our Lord is done with you." Severus turned his head to the snake-like man.

"By all means, Severus. Bellatrix, you stay here."

Severus found Narcissa in the kitchen. She was overseeing the elves, who were preparing that evening's feast. Severus used this opportunity to look for the house elf that had entranced him, but not single elf had extraordinarily long fingers.

"How is my cousin?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Severus, for years I thought he was dead, and now all I see of him is when the dark lord sees fit to torture him. I just want to know how he is. I love my family, Severus."

"I have not seen him today. But he was well enough on our last encounter."

"Will you bring this to him?" Narcissa pushed a plate of food towards him.

"I believe he is being fed enough to nourish him."

"Barely enough to keep him alive! Please, it isn't much, and tool the dark lord is using to guard him will not question you." Severus nodded. It was a bad idea, but it was hard to refuse his friend when she wanted so desperately to help her family. Besides, it would get him out of listening range of the screaming order member. At least she would make it through this alive. But under what conditions? His mind wandered to the Longbottoms. He shook off the images of the couple being tortured to insanity, and forced himself to focus on the current situation. He passed the guard without even acknowledging him. He was a new deatheater, recently recruited by the dark lord himself. His only duty for now was to guard Regulus.

"Regulus!" Severus waited for the prisoner to show himself before he held the plate out. "A gift from your cousin."

"Bellatrix?" the man eyed the plate curiously, but made no move towards it.

"Bellatrix would sooner kill you than provide you with sustenance. Narcissa."

"I don't believe you. How do I know it's not poisoned?"

"I can assure you that the dark lord does not wish you dead."

The man dashed forward and grabbed the plate. Severus left the man to enjoy the only real meal he would likely eat until he was out of this situation. Which, if Severus had planned things right, would be another month or so. The dark lord wished to have him weakened enough to put him under the imperius and make his way to Grimmauld place. Since he already knew where it was, he didn't need the secret keeper. For Severus, the trick was a few mind spells to remove the imperius. It would be difficult, but he should be able to remove the curse before Regulus would be able to report back to Voldemort. Severus' eyes dimmed as he made it back to the party. The ballroom was full of death eaters and he could the strangled screams of the 'guests'. There must have been at least a dozen. Above their screams, he could hear the high pitched cackling belonging to Bellatrix. She always took such pleasure in these parties.

"She's already killed two of the muggle-borns, and you haven't even been gone for ten minutes."

"Draco? Why aren't you enjoying the festivities?"

"All the screaming gives me a headache. Your excuse?"

"I'm tired."

"You're not getting out of it that easy. Remember the last time Avery tried to leave the party early? Mother was bandaging all the wounds from the slicing curses that YOU inflicted on him. Yeah, you're going to have to stay until every last one of them is dead. I believe that's eleven. You wouldn't want to offend our master when he made such an effort to throw a beautiful party, or he might decide to let Avery get some revenge."

It was true. If he tried to leave early, Voldemort would likely make him suffer for a much longer period of time than this party. He hoped Bellatrix would just get it over with. The screaming would echo in his dreams until the next party. They entered the ballroom to attempt to look interested in the current party game. Deatheaters were playing hangman, and happily getting every possible wrong answer. The man would be left hanging this round was a muggle. A doctor from the look of him. He was nearly unconscious, but looked shocked and scared at the scene before him. With each wrong answer he was magically elevated towards a rope hanging from the ceiling. Before he made though, Bellatrix got bored and began to use the cruciatus on him. After thirty minutes, Draco pulled out his wand and aimed it at the man. Severus put his hand on the wand.

"Save your soul for a worthy killing."

"It's worth it to silence him."

The man's screaming stopped, but Bellatrix let out a wail as his body fell from the ceiling on top of her.

"Cissy! If you wanted a turn, you should have just said so!"

"I'm tired. Just kill them and be done with it."

"Awww….but Cissy…I was having so much fun. Fine." Bellatrix sent ten more Avada Kedavra curses around the room, ending the torture and mayhem in the ballroom. There was a mass whine coming from the other death eaters, and Narcissa rolled her eyes.

"One word of this to Our Lord and I can assure you that none of you will receive treatment the next time he sees fit to punish you!"

The room silenced. Narcissa was the reason most of them still had limbs after a punishment from their lord. Narcissa turned to her son. "Preserve your soul my son. The time will come soon enough for you. Go to bed now."

The crowd dispersed, and Severus went home. It was after ten when he entered his quarters. There were a few candles lit, bringing a dim light to the room. She had left a note on the coffee table, telling him that his dinner was in the fridge and she was in bed. The door to her room was open just slightly. He looked in on her. Her peaceful appearance made the whole night seem to wash away. He made his way to the kitchen to retrieve the dinner she had made for him. He rather enjoyed her cooking and, though he would never tell her, looked forward to their dinners together. After dinner, he washed up, and checked on Hermione once again. He didn't know why he felt the need to check on her, his quarters were perfectly safe. But he had never had a houseguest before, and didn't really know how to behave. He stood there for a moment, allowing the dim ray of light from the living room to rest gently on her face. She really was beautiful.

Her eyebrows furrowed suddenly, and her soft expression turned to pained fear. Her breathing quickened. This wasn't unusual, she had nightmares pretty frequently. He waited for it to pass. After a minute her face softened again, but her brows remained furrowed. Her hand flew to her mouth, as if she were stifling a scream. She pulled her sheets close to her chest, and then pushed them violently away. Severus hadn't seen this kind of reaction before, and he wasn't sure if he should wake her. When she started thrashing, he approached her bed. He knelt down beside her, and gently shook her arm. She gasped and lurched backward, then opened her eyes. Severus meant to step back, afraid he had frightened her further. Before he could move, she leapt forward and threw her arms around him.

"You're okay! I was so scared, it was so real and you were-there was nothing I could do and- oh, I'm just glad you're okay!" Hermione half leaning off her bed, her arms gripped tightly around his neck. She began sob.

"Hermione, it's all right. Everything is okay, and you're safe."

"I dreamt they wanted the baby, and you were trying to protect her, and they, they-"

"It's okay. No one wants to hurt your baby. You're safe, the baby's safe. Just relax, it was just a dream." He was running his fingers through her hair, as if trying to brush away the anxiety that riddled her body. She still held her grip tightly, and Severus was afraid that she was going to strain her back if she remained in her awkward position. He eased forward, bringing himself to sit on the bed beside her. He put one arm around her shoulders, and he used the other to keep caressing her hair. After her sobbing subsided, she pulled away to look at his face in the dim light. She brought her hand up to his cheek, and just looked at him for a moment. His features remained hard, emotionless, and she couldn't read his face. His hand still held onto her hair. She kissed his cheek and put her head back on his shoulder. They stay like for some time, Severus barely taking in air until he felt the soft, rhythmic breathing that let him know she was asleep.