I'm on a roll! And Lucy is back!

CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

As the wedding day drew nearer and nearer, so did NEWT's. The wedding was just two days after the testing was finished and Hermione didn't know which she was more stressed about. She was pretty sure that she knew her subjects but there was always more that could be reviewed a seventeenth or eighteenth time. There were always more books to be reread. More than once Hermione found herself waking up where she had not previously fallen asleep. When she remembered pausing to rest her eyes in the library she opened them in her bedroom. When she had been reading to Lily and Luke while they sat in their swings she awoke again in her bedroom. When she had been making final calculations on her Arithmacy paper and only set down her pen to relax her hand she awoke, you guessed it, in her bedroom, all three times beside her peacefully sleeping fiancé.

At the point where there was only one week until the wedding and testing was being started Hermione was sitting outside the school near the lake after taking her first exam. She watched the surface of the lake ripple as the wind fluttered her hair. She took a deep breath. The twins were spending the day with Madame Pomfrey as Hermione had testing and Severus had to watch the students take their exams. And he was bored out of his skull. He was walking back and forth between the rows of students making sure they wouldn't cheat. He was just there for the show though. All the student's papers and quills were charmed so they would sabotage all of the answers if they cheated.

An owl flew down and landed beside her lifting it's leg for her to take what was tied to it. She did so and the owl flew off, she unrolled the parchment and begun to read it. With each word her heart sank.

"Hello Miss Granger, I hope your exams are going well. I have taken it as my responsibility to personally invite myself to your wedding, all you need to do is add my name to the guest list. That shouldn't be too hard, should it? If you don't do as I say, there won't be a wedding to go to. I hope you understand. With my regards, Lucius Malfoy."

She stared at the paper shaking with rage. She folded it carefully, stuffed it into her pocket and started off to her potions exam. Before she took care of Lucius she had to take care of her fiancé's exam.

After finishing her exams for the day Hermione told Severus that she was going to study in the library a few hours. Instead she slipped out of Hogwarts and apparated straight to Malfoy Manor. She marched up the stairs and knocked on the door. A house elf opened the door. He sniffed the air a few times and hissed at her before disappearing.

Hermione looked around before stepping into the house and closing the door behind her.

"Ah, Miss Granger, I do apologize for that, Hif doesn't like filth." He sneered at her before guiding her to the sitting room.

"How can I help you?" He asked sitting across from her, idly twisting his cane. He eyed the snake charm around her neck closely. Hermione wordlessly pulled out the letter and handed it to him.

"I see you got my owl. You do understand, don't you?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"No. I see no reason for you to ruin my wedding day by showing up." She hissed.

"Now, now, Miss Granger." He said as if speaking to a child. "I would never dream of ruining your special day. There's just the matter of our agreement." The aristocrat eyed her.

"We've made no agreement." She glared.

"Oh, but we did," he stood up, "from what I understand you would do just about anything to save your family from harm." He sneered down at the Gryffindor. "It's in your nature." He cooed as if her wanting to protect her family was a bad thing.

"That does not mean we made an agreement."

"Miss Granger, the agreement is that to keep your family safe you will do anything that I will ask. Do you understand?" The bottom of his cane was placed under her chin and pressed against her neck.

"I understand." She said with stony eyes. He pressed harder.

"Sir." He growled.

"I understand, Sir." She choked.

"Good." He removed his cane and smiled down at her.

"You're learning very quickly, Miss Granger. Why don't you go back to Hogwarts and study. I hear there are some tough exams tomorrow." He patted the girl on her head as if she were an obedient dog and left the room. Hermione took the signal that she was no longer welcome and left the Manor quickly before apparating to Hogwarts. She walked back to the castle-like building slowly.

Severus watched from his perch in the astronomy tower as Hermione trudge up the path in the dark. He wondered where she had gone. He assumed she had gone to St. Mungos to visit Neville Longbottom. The boy, after slaying the Dark Lord's snake, was hit with a Crucio by none other than Bellatrix. He was now nearly as insane as his parents.

Hermione walked into the library, she really had wanted to get some studying done before she went back to her chambers. As she read through a book on charms theory a though struck her. What if Severus had come looking for her while she was gone. What if he asked her where she went? She could tell him she was in the bathroom. But what if he had looked for her multiple times? She sighed. Maybe she could say that she went out. Where would he believe that she went though? Maybe if she said that she went to St. Mungos. He would never go with her to visit Neville so she had stopped asking. That would work. She wrote a quick letter to Lucius before leaving the library.

"As long as you leave my family alone I will cooperate with you. Do not come to my wedding, it will call attention to our agreement as you put it." Her quill scratched the parchment roughly. She was afraid it would rip through. "I will meet you after the honeymoon, at a location of my choosing. Reply to me only at night." She rolled it up, went to the owlery and sent it out before she could lose her nerve.

She returned to the chambers late that night and Severus was waiting for her.

"You're still up?" She asked closing the door behind her. He grunted as a response. She cocked an eyebrow.

"Are you okay?" She eyed him closely.

"Where did you go tonight?" He questioned. She shrugged lightly.

"I went to visit Neville, I'm still hoping he'll get better. Do you think he ever will?" She sat beside him and crawled under his arm.

"You know there is a very small percentage of people suffering from the affects of the Crucio that recover." He pulled her closer to him. He wanted to comfort her. He was getting better at it.

"I know, it's just, he's a hero. He helped end the war and he doesn't even realize it." She was genuinely upset about Neville's circumstance. She sighed again heavily. What was she doing? She was lying to Severus. A marriage built on lies would never last. This was Severus Snape, a man with a temper. However this was Severus Snape, and he would never charge into something blindly, without thinking about it. He would be mad about her sneaking around behind his back, but maybe he could help. She took a deep breath.

"Severus." She ventured.

"Yes?"

"Lucius has been in contact with me." She started. He stiffened and pulled away from her.

"What do you mean, 'been in contact'?" He narrowed his eyes.

She shifted and sighed. "He sent me an owl telling me that he will be attending our wedding," she paused, "well, I didn't want him doing that so I decided I would just drop by his house." Severus's face was impassive. When he spoke his voice was low and dangerous.

"Hermione, how many times do I have to tell you not to put yourself into danger? That man will hurt you. What were you thinking?" She moved away from him.

"I'm sorry. I just, I didn't want him hurting our family. I think, I think I may have done something incredibly stupid."

"You think?" He stood up. "Hermione, how many times have you been in contact with Lucius?"

"Uh, well, the first when he kidnapped me, then when he sent me the owl, then I went to his house to confront him…" She paused, and seemed to shrink into the couch. "and then I kind of sent him an owl agreeing to assist him with whatever he wanted as long as he didn't harm my family." She whispered. Severus's eyes were black and Hermione saw them flicker angrily before he hid behind his mask again.

"Sometimes you can be so stupid!" He hissed. She felt stung but knew he was right and he was angry.

"I was just trying to keep Luke and Lily safe!" She cried out.

"There are other ways. You should have come to me." He left her standing in the center of the room and came back with his cloak.

"Where are you going?" She asked worriedly.

"To rectify this situation." He answered.

"No, please don't go alone. Please, Severus, don't leave me." She hurried after him, her features very distraught. He turned and his eyes softened.

"I'll be back Hermione, I promise, I will always come back." He kissed her forehead. "I'll tell you not to wait up for me, but I know you will anyways."

Hermione held onto his shirt and stood on her tiptoes to reach his mouth.

"I'm sorry Severus. I just wanted to keep our family safe."

"I know." He replied and with a heated kiss he left. She stood in the living room staring at the door until one of the twins awoke and started crying. She turned on her heel and started for the nursery.