Chapter 14

Hermione sat in the windowsill of her dorm, staring onto the Hogwarts grounds. It was the middle of the night and three other girls in the room were fast asleep, leaving the brown-haired witch to wistfully listen to their quite breathing and light snores. Oh, how much, she would give for such peaceful slumber!

Hermione pulled her night gown tighter around her body. The nervous energy thumping through her veins left her muscles stiff and her body shaky, and no amounts of blankets and warming charms helped.

It was now less than two days until her wedding. Tomorrow evening her parents would be arriving to the castle and the day after she would become Mrs Hermione Snape. Even thinking about this made her heart clench. It had been almost two weeks since the trip to her parents and during those two weeks she hadn't seen much of Snape.

She went to him the day after the visit to say that she liked the vows but caught him exiting his office on the way to see Dumbledore. She had to convey her message in the corridor and be satisfied with his curt nod of acknowledgement. For the next two days she hoped that he would call for her but instead received a short note from Snape stating that he had to go away on business and would not be back for five-six days. That was eight days ago and her worry was growing by an hour.

Where did he go and why was he not back yet? What had delayed him? Was he in danger? And if he wasn't why didn't he send her a note. During the day she was busy enough to push such thoughts aside. But at night, when everything around her was quiet she was unable to suppress them. That's why she was watching the apparition point in the distance for the last two hours.

It was a typical Scottish rainy day and she did not hope to see anything but it somehow made her feel closer to him. Hermione looked at a little globe that she always kept with her these days. A bit of clever wand work helped her to put a confundus charm on a remembrall. Now it glowed red indicating that Snape, her forgotten something, was not at Hogwarts. Hermione was proud of her achievement but it did nothing to relieve a gnawing feeling that settled in her stomach every time she checked the little ball.

Quietly casting tempus she realised that it was already past two and with a sigh decided to go to bed to at least give her tired muscles some rest. Just as she was arranging her blankets, she pulled out the ball from under her night shirt and her breath caught in her throat. It was completely clear… Hermione rubbed her eyes thinking that her wishful thinking had caused her eyes to deceive her. But the ball remained the same and Hermione's brain kicked into action.

Without hesitation she pulled her nightgown over her night shirt and rushed out of the room. Adrenaline flooded her system as she practically ran through the common room pulling the invisibility cloak that she had borrowed from Harry and draping it over herself. She had to see him, to make sure that he was indeed safe and back at Hogwarts.

She sprinted through the halls towards the dungeons and stopped only for a moment to lift the wards protecting the potions classroom. Not surprisingly it was completely empty and she ran through it and knocked on Snape's office door. She waited with baited breath for him to open it, surely he could not have been already asleep, but there was no sound coming from the room. Frustrated she knocked again and waited counting seconds by her own heartbeat. When no answer came, Hermione turned the handle and to her surprise the door opened.

"Professor Snape," she called out pulling the invisibility clock off, figuring out that he was less likely to hex her if she had alerted him to her presence. She was disappointed to see that the Potions master's office was completely devoid of his presence. She knew that the entrance to his chambers was somewhere in this room but she had no idea where. Without any specific direction she started to circle the walls looking at the specimens lining the shelves but not really seeing them. She was in front of a particular nasty looking creature when the wall behind it shimmered and opened into a dimly lit corridor. She carefully proceeded down it and stopped at the entrance to a large room with plush furnishings. After the chill of the dungeons it was surprisingly warm but Hermione hardly registered it, her eyes focused on the tall figure in front of the fireplace.

"It is done, Albus, and there is nothing you could do about it at the moment." She heard Snape's voice. "Plus it's not like it came as such a surprise."

"I would still like to discuss the details, Severus," she heard Headmaster's reply.

"And you'll get them but in the morning," the potions master's voice was cold. "Now I would like to get the grime of Azkaban off my skin so I suggest you have a lemon drop and restrain your curiosity for a few hours." Without waiting for reply, Snape broke the floo connection and the fire roared to life with a new vigour.

Hermione stood still stunned by the way her husband-to-be had just spoken to the Headmaster. As if she was watching a film, she saw the dark wizard gingerly lower himself onto the armchair positioned in front of the hearth as he stretched his hands towards the fire. Without turning his head, he spoke.

"You should not be here, Miss Granger."

She wasn't surprised that he noticed her presence and stepped into his living room fully, "I came to check that everything was alright," she explained simply. "You were supposed to return three days ago and I was worried."

There was a short pause as Hermione studied the back of his head and then he spoke in a cold tone, "As you can see, everything is fine and will be even better when you return to your dormitory. We are not married yet and your presence here is unnecessary." Though the words were intended to bite, his voice lacked its usual sting and he sounded more tired than anything. Hermione's worries blossomed in her heart.

She carefully came closer to the fireplace hoping that he would look at her. "Are you OK?" she asked tentatively stretching her hand to touch him but not quire daring. Her eyes drifted towards his hands that were still held in front of the fire and being in such close proximity she was able to see that they were shaking slightly.

Hermione forgot all about her restrain and rushed to kneel next to his chair, "Are you hurt, Professor?" She grasped his hands and nearly gasped at how cold they were.

Snape pulled his hands away, "Don't touch me," he hissed, not turning his head so all that she could see was his profile partially concealed by his hair.

Hermione's heart sank: he'd never so visibly recoiled from her touch.

"Please," she tried to keep her voice soothing, "is there anything I can do? Perhaps call Madam Pomfrey?"

"No!" his hand shot out and clasped her shoulder, the coldness immediately starting to sip through her night gown.

Fear gripped her heart. "Severus, please," she whispered, "look at me. Let me help you."

His hand dropped from her shoulder, "I think I already said, Miss Granger, that I want you gone from here. That would be the best help you could provide at the moment."

"Not until you look at me."

"Get the hell out," he snapped raising his voice and she jumped slightly, but didn't move.

"No! You are not well. You don't have to tell me what had happened but I am not going anywhere until I know that you are alright." She lowered her defiant tone and continued calmer, "Your hands feel like ice and you are shaking. We need to warm you up, I could make you tea and bring extra blankets, and if you'd like I'll cast warming charms as well…" she made to get up but froze when he turned his head to her.

"When would you, Gryffindors, learn that sometimes your help is not wanted?"

Hermione just stared - Snape's face was completely devoid of colour with his skin -ashen grey instead of its usual pallor white and his lips - a translucent line. The biggest change, however, came from his eyes that lost its clarity and shine instead turning into two murky pools deeply sunk in the sockets. Framed by his black hair, his face reminded her of the images of zombies that she had seen in the muggle horror films.

"What happened?" she couldn't contain herself, "What did he do to you?" Unconsciously she raised her hand to touch his face but he pulled back and her hand instead landed on his chest.

Snape sneered, "The Dark Lord did nothing to me. But as you probably heard I had an excursion to Azkaban to free the imprisoned Death Eaters and had to take precautions to avoid Dementors' interest in my persona," his lips twisted into a humourless smile, "It's not like I could have cast a patronus to keep them at bay. This," he lifted his shaking hand slightly", is just a side-effect of a potion that would pass soon enough."

Hermione swallowed with some difficulty, trying to piece together what he'd just told her. Ever since her third year she had read everything she could get her hands on about Dementors and found out that there was only two ways to fight them: either full bodied patronus or the darkest magic imaginable. She had also read that Death Eaters were not able to cast patronuses which left them with only one way to avoid being affected by Dementors – becoming as foul as the creatures themselves by artificially filling their magical auras with dark magic. There were potions known that could temporarily alter the magic of a person but they were known to be highly dangerous and Hogwarts library had no further information about them. However, the content of Grimmauld Place's book collection was much more extensive.

The potions had to be brewed with the use of some of the darkest ingredients such as werewolf or vampire blood and usually required human sacrifices in order to reach full potency. The thought of Snape making and ingesting such potion made Hermione feel nauseous and she quickly started talking in order to stop the bile rising in her throat.

"You've altered your magical aura with a potion and now its action is waning making your magic readjust itself. And since you are not a Death Eater - it's a lot worse for you than others?" her question was more like a statement.

"Five points to Gryffindor, Miss Granger," Snape sneered. "Now since you satisfied your curiosity, could you please get the hell out of here and leave me alone. I have a few very unpleasant hours ahead and do not require an audience for that."

Hermione stayed quiet for a moment trying to desperately remember what she had read about magical auras and their changes. Her encyclopaedic knowledge came in useful once again presenting her with a solution. Without a second thought, she quickly got up, her hands already undoing the knot on her gown.

The noise must have alerted Snape as he turned his head to look at her. "Miss Granger, what in Merlin's name are you doing? Seize this immediately."

Ignoring his words, Hermione pulled her gown off. She then kneeled in front of his chair and started undoing the buttons of his robes. Snape simply gaped at her for a moment for once lost for words and then his ice cold hands roughly pushed her away.

She lost her balance and landed on her bum in front of his chair, "Have you lost your mind, you idiot girl?" he hissed.

Hermione just glared at him, "No, I have not. The best way to diminish the side effects of this potion is to give you a sort of a transfusion but instead of blood, I will be sharing some of my magic. It will counteract the darkness within you and help you return to normal. The easiest way to initiate such magic exchange is skin to skin."

"And that what you want to do…" he scowled, "Haven't you forgotten something again? A small thing as asking my opinion or have you decided that if I've been ordered to marry you, you don't have to bother with such trivialities!"

His insult was well placed and his words stung her but she did not let it divert her attention from the task at hand, "You are not being fair," she replied calmly, "I only wish to help you and I don't see why you would object."

His scary ethereal eyes stared at her for a moment, "You don't see why I would object? Do you really think I am such a bastard?"

His words completely confused her and it had to have shown on her face, because Snape frowned, "Don't tell me you don't know, Miss Granger. How hopelessly naive are you?" When she didn't respond he continued sounding sorely exasperated, "The exchange of magic is one of the innermost connections possible between a witch and a wizard. It is a joining of souls on a deepest level and almost always results in physical intimacy."

This was most certainly news to Hermione and for a moment she considered the consequences but then simply shrugged. "So what? We are going to be doing it anyway in less than forty eight hours. Why not now, if it helps you?"

The next moment she found herself jerked in front of his chair, his ice cold hands forcing her to kneel in front of him, their faces mere inches apart. He then let go of her and gave a light wave with his trembling hand. Hermione gasped as the glamour spell fell; his eyes had lost their murkiness but the usual black depth of his irises now had a bright red rim around them. "Look at me, my dear Gryffindor. I am brimming with dark magic, the dark magic that flows through my Lord's veins as he kindly used it in the potion I took. It is surging through my blood and is so strong that I can't use my wand because I might just kill somebody and would for sure curse you with an unforgivable." His colourless lips twisted into a cruel smile, "Do you really want to lose your virginity now when I would brutalize you like a mudblood you are."

He pushed her away from him almost violently, "It takes everything in me to control myself and not to hurt you and unless you get the hell out of here in the next ten seconds, I would stop fighting myself quite so hard."

Hermione scrambled to her feet, grabbing her robe with shaking hands and ran to the door. There she stopped for a second, her eyes brimming with tears as she saw him bury his face in his hands. "I am so-so sorry," she whispered and then took off down the corridor.

She only stopped when she was back in her dorm. She climbed into her bed and punched the pillow with her fists. Why, oh why, did it have to be so difficult? Everything had just started to get back on track. They were supposed to spend the last two weeks in peace getting to know each other better.

A tiny voice inside told her that she had just got to know another side of her future husband. She saw him in his full scale Death Eater mode. But then another thought formed in her mind that made her feel incredibly guilty and sad. Even when he was artificially filled with such powerful dark magic, Snape still did not let it control him. And chose to bear the pain alone instead of hurting her or anybody else in the process. Tears streamed down her face. He was here in this building… so close to her! He was suffering… and she could not even help him…

She had cried herself to sleep that night and when she woke up in the morning her heart was laden with sadness, guilt and fear. Had he recovered? Would he be angry at her?

She was grateful that she was released from classes due to her upcoming wedding. Hermione waited for the other girls to leave the dorm and then took a long shower, trying desperately to sort out her emotions and thoughts and decide whether she should go and see him or just wait till tomorrow. She was just out of the bathroom when a house elf dressed in a silver- embroidered green towel appeared and with a deep bow handed her a box. "From Professor Snape, Miss," he squeaked.

She took it with trembling hands and when she opened it, her breath caught in her throat. This was the most beautiful jewellery set she had ever seen. Something she had never thought of being able to wear. On the rich black material lay beautiful long earrings and a matching bracelet. Large emeralds were nestled in the midst of tiny diamonds encased in white gold.

But the most important were the words on a note written in his slanting hand writing.

"Dear Hermione,

Everybody has good days and bad days. But what happened yesterday does not have to affect tomorrow.

I would be honoured, if you wear this set on our wedding day."

S Snape."

"Will there be an answer, Miss?" the elf bowed once again.

Hermione scrambled around for a piece of parchment and a quill. She scribbled a brief note and handed it to the elf. He popped away and she allowed herself a small smile. She was a quick learner and noticed that her fiancé had an appreciation for briefness. That's why she wrote only one word, "Agreed," and had no doubt that he would understand the relief his words brought to her and that she was trying to convey the same.

Twenty four hours later found Hermione cooped up with Ginny and her mother in the private rooms of the Gryffindor's Head of House with Professor McGonagall going back and forth between the Great Hall and the make-shift bridal suite.

Hermione's make-up and hair were already done and her friend was just finishing closing the little buttons on her wedding gown. When the brown haired witch looked at herself in the mirror, even with her nerves as tensed as they were, she had to admit that she looked beautiful.

Her gown had a fitted body, open shoulders and wide flowing skirt that in acknowledgement to her marrying the Head of the House of Slytherin, was embroidered with little pale green leaves that had a silver thread for a stem.

Hermione had refused Narcissa's offer of her house-elf's help, but together with Ginny, they managed to turn her hair from wild curls into elegant waves that were pinned at the top of her head and from there falling around her shoulders, leaving her face completely clear. Her make-up was subtle, done in earthly tones, with a delicate line drawn around her eyes making them seem huge and emphasizing the colour.

All in all Hermione had to admit that opposite to her appearance at the Yule Ball in her fourth year, she looked like herself, just a lot more pretty.

Ginny finally finished buttoning the small silver buttons and stepped back admiring her friend, "You look beautiful Hermione," she said sincerely, "absolutely gorgeous."

The older witch smiled nervously. "Thanks Ginny. You are very kind."

"It's an absolutely truth, honey," her mother chipped in. "You are stunning…And the jewellery Severus has given you is such a great match for your ring. It's very thoughtful of him."

Hermione nodded quietly and just then Professor McGonagall bustled into the room with Hermione's father in tow. "Are you ready, Miss Granger?" she asked.

Hermione looked at herself once again in the mirror. She was as ready as she ever was going to be. With a light smile and a nod, she placed her hand in the crook of her father's arm and left the room.

Hi. I am sorry for such long delay in posting this chapter. Sometimes life just gets in the way as they say. I hope this was worth the wait. I know it's not the wedding that I promised. But it felt right to add something beforehand. Anyway, I am writing the wedding now and hope to post it fairly soon.

As always, reviews are very welcome!