Disclaimer: The Potterverse is not of my property. We must thank J.K. Rowling for creating such a wonderful world. The story and others, however, are mostly mine.

Summary: The war was over, and although many lives were lost, one of them was just taking a nap. Literally. However, the countless casualties suffered by the magical world seriously threatened it with extinction. But the Ministry of Magic will make sure that such a thing never happens. No matter what it takes.

Warnings: Snamione (Severus Snape / Hermione Granger); Alternate Universe; possible Out of Character. My first language isn't English, it's Spanish. This may contain grammatical mistakes that I'm willing to correct. This is my first Harry Potter fanfic, please be gentle (?)

Initial notes: Hi. First of all, I would like to acknowledge the support I received. I really appreciate it. Everything will get better soon, I hope. Read you down there.


Life is a waltz

Traitor


When he awoke, it took him a while to accustom his eyes to the dim light of candles that lit the room. He shifted slightly in place, feeling a bit uneasy.

He could see then that he was not alone. Lightly snoring, Hermione sat beside him, asleep. He made a small grimace. He was a little surprised that she had stayed there long enough to fall asleep.

With a weary sigh, he did his best to straighten up without making a sound, but had to contain a gasp of pain that literally burned in his chest while trying to move. He guessed that his attackers had placed some sort of curse for the pain to last longer than usual.

He groaned, and could see his wand at his side, on the nightstand. He reached out to take it, but in the process he could not help pushing a vase full of water, causing a noise when it crashed into the ground.

He watched the girl flinch at once, waking up disoriented, looking around with concern and alert, until finally she noticed him, as he looked at her with a grimace.

"You should be resting" then she muttered, rubbing her brown eyes and letting out a small yawn

"I could say the same" said Snape, raising an eyebrow, before finally taking his wand. "I do not need to be here."

As he just started to get up, a pair of small hands stopped him, and with the same amount of delicacy and firmness, took care of laying him on the bed again, stealing a snort from him.

"Granger…"

"Am I 'Granger' now?" she questioned, looking at him with some seriousness on her face, before she sighed heavily. "It will only take a couple of hours until dawn, and you can get up and run if you wish. Meanwhile, stay there."

Severus rolled his eyes, but honestly he felt too tired to start an argument with someone as stubborn as Hermione. He just stayed there, watching contemptuously the bandages he was wearing on his chest.

"I'll stay here, but only because I'm tired" he muttered with a sigh of resignation. "You should go."

"As I've said, it's just a few hours before dawn. I'll probably have problems if I'm found out there at this hours."

"And where will you sleep?"

The girl was silent for a few moments, in which he could almost guess the thoughts running through her mind by just looking at her. Finally she stood up and pulled out her wand, pointing at him.

His basic instincts screamed at him to take his wand to defend himself, but he had no time to do it, because almost immediately he noticed that she was actually pointing to the bed. And he could notice that as a result, it widened until it was big enough for the two of them.

"I'll sleep here" she said, keeping her wand and approaching

"With me?" asked the man, and for a couple of seconds he felt like the stupidest person in the world for making such an obvious question

"Unless you intend to move to another bed, I think so."

Severus was completely still for a moment, almost stiff. He watched the young Gryffindor lift the blankets that covered him and settle in the newly transfigured bed, pulling out her wand to double the only pillow that they had.

"I don't recommend sleeping in a sitting position" she said, leaning back and settling better into place with a slight yawn. "It hurts my back a little after that."

The man made a grimace with his thin lips. He was not used to sharing his personal space that way. And although the girl had transfigured the bed so it had enough room for both, he could still feel the closeness.

He sighed heavily, leaning back finally in place, staring at the ceiling over them in silence. He knew if he did not, he would receive a talk from the girl on how 'we should get used to this'. And he was not willing to give her that pleasure.

After a few moments of silence, he gave her a sidelong glance, only to find that she was still awake, staring at him with her big, shiny chestnut orbs, closely watching the huge scar on his neck that Nagini had left.

"Are you actually mad for what I said the other day?"

Not that he had intentions to talk about it specifically, but he literally could not think of anything else to start a conversation. He had never been very good at it, and he could confirm it when he saw the grimace that appeared on the lips of the girl.

"What you said wasn't very nice" she murmured, shrugging her shoulders slightly before releasing a long sigh of weariness. "Although I suppose it's kind of truth... I know I can become attached to my books too much sometimes."

The young Gryffindor girl was silent then, and he decided to wait until she decided to speak again. Just as he was about to say something, she continued.

"When I received my letter from Hogwarts, I promised myself that I would be the best of the class. I feared that if I did something wrong, they would send me back home soon" she sputtered, burying her face in the pillow. "Then I realized that was ridiculous... but still I kept on doing so as much as I could."

Severus remained silent when she did, and once again, he decided to wait. He turned to her to see her, and noticed that she was still hiding his face. He let out a long sigh of resignation, before turning back to the ceiling above them.

"Then we're talking about fear of rejection" he murmured after a moment, closing his eyes with a tiny grin on his lips. "That's why you try to attach yourself as much as possible to what's previously established to avoid any failure."

This time it was the girl who was silent, but she didn't hide her face anymore as she settled better, watching her teacher with curiosity. Maybe he couldn't feel it, but it seemed like he did, because almost immediately he continued.

"When I was still a student here at Hogwarts, I had a similar... 'fear'" he said wearily, and it was obvious he did not like to use that word. "I really did not want to go home. So I decided to show what I could do better. In those days I was very good at creating new spells. I think now I've lost my touch."

Finally he opened his dark eyes once again and turned to her with an expression that was hard to read in his sallow face.

"What I mean is that each person has their own ways to deal with their problems" he concluded then, before taking his eyes away from her once more. "And you should not give much importance to what I, or others, think of the way you chose."

Hermione tried to avoid it, but couldn't, and a faint smile crossed her lips. When she noticed that her teacher closed his eyes again, she thought he was trying to sleep, and so she was silent. She was then entertained with the scars that she could count in the body of her companion, not counting that those that seemed fresh.

There were many, and she could not tell if they had been caused by a sharp object, or some spell. She was watching a pretty big one that ran up his arm and away into his back. Only then she was set back in the huge bandage that covered the top of his chest.

"What happened to you?" she questioned then, realizing too late that she had broken the silence that had settled in the room

Severus let out a sigh that seemed full of frustration, but instead of asking her to shut up in a very ungracious manner, he turned to her with a slight frown.

"I think it's pretty obvious that was attacked" he hissed almost inaudibly, gulping dryly. "And before you ask, yes, I know who were my attackers."

"They were Death Eaters, right?" she blurted almost automatically, watching him with a critical eye, as if to guess his thoughts that way. "If so…"

"Yes, they were Death Eaters, and no, you are not going to do anything about it" interrupted the man, in a tone of warning in his voice. "But you can do something for me. Help me get rid of these stupid bandages."

Hermione could not help but acquire an expression full of curiosity about his order, and straightened to see him better. She was still somewhat stunned by the newly received information, and the obvious concern as a result, and he came out with something like that.

"I think these bandages are there for a reason..."

"Just do it, Hermione."

Although she hesitated, finally she decided to do what he was asking. Biting her lower lip a little, she began removing the bandages carefully, trying not to cause him any pain, attentive to his expressions as she did.

"They Knew that every Wednesday I go to Hogsmeade to buy ingredients for my potions. Someone told them, I'm sure about that" he sputtered absently, as if he were talking to himself rather than to her. "I was taken by surprise. I was stunned and locked in a basement. I was there for a whole day."

"Without eating?" she said, alarmed, although she knew it was a pretty silly question. "You need…!"

"Pomfrey already took care of that with a potion. You worry about those bandages" Snape muttered, almost in a grunt, before returning to his previously vague tone. "When they returned, someone came with them. It was Avery. He was a classmate of mine at school, and apparently he is their leader now. They tortured me for hours. Then they left me right on the edge of the school's territory. They did not want to kill me. It was just a warning. But before that, I'm pretty sure I wrote something, right here."

When he pointed to his own chest with his index finger, Hermione's eyes widened, and she hurried as fast as possible to get rid of those annoying bandages. Moments later, she had managed to remove them all. There was indeed a single word etched on his chest.

"Traitor" she read aloud, with a look of horror on her face. "That's what it says."

Severus rolled his eyes, with a snort. He already expected something like that, but he just wanted to check. He shrugged slightly, but after a moment, he shuddered.

Colours rose to his face when he discovered the girl was caressing his scar gently, using for that only her fingertips. He was not upset by her actions, but a little uncomfortable. He cleared his throat loudly to point it out.

Apparently it worked, because the girl pulled her hand almost immediately, startled and acquiring a furious blush on her cheeks. She quickly looked away, trying to hide her embarrassment in vain.

"You should... you should do something to take it away" she muttered after a moment, finally daring to look at him again

"I do not see why or how" he quickly said, quite pleased with himself for getting rid of the ridiculous and nearly invisible blush that his cheeks for a few seconds. "It is clearly very dark magic, and taking into account all the scars I have already… it's just a drop in the ocean, or whatever they say out there."

However, Hermione seemed not yet sufficiently convinced. He was prepared to refute any notion that she might have, or would like to verbalize. However, she said nothing more.

She just lay back again in bed, but this time, he could see that the distance between the two was considerably smaller.

"I'll get rid of that scar" she said then with a completely confident tone, forming a small smile. "I promise."

Severus was ready to deny her words, but before he could release the words in his throat, she bent over to silence him. He grimaced against her lips. Definitely he did not like being interrupted, but he could complain about it later.

The young Gryffindor girl pulled away just after a few moments after, giving him a tiny smile before returning to accommodate by his side, placing her right hand on his shoulder and letting out a small yawn.

"Then you're not upset anymore?"

He could hear a brief chuckle from the girl, plus feel her warm breath hitting the skin of his neck. But he received no more response than that from her.

Severus sighed, tired, and decided he could take the few hours that remained to rest. And so he did.


When she awoke, Hermione felt more tired than when she was asleep. She could not even process the curious and disapproving look that Madame Pomfrey was dedicating to her when she awoke and rose sluggishly.

After asking permission, she quickly used the bathroom, and without further ado left the place as fast as she could. Depending on the time she had seen on the clock, she hardly she had time for breakfast and order her stuff for her classes.

She went to the Great Hall, wondering if she should be flattered that Professor Snape had not made a sound too outrageous not to wake her. As she just approached the Gryffindor table, she could see Harry and Ron quickly approaching.

"Where were you…?!"

"Lavender said McGonagall brought you out of the room...!"

"... and then you did not come back all night!"

"What happened…?!"

She raised one hand to ask some silence. She could almost feel an incipient headache installed on her. She sat down, immediately pouring herself a bowl of oatmeal, while both boys were accommodated on either side, watching curiously.

She let out a weary sigh, rubbing a hand over her face before speaking.

"McGonagall took me to the infirmary to see Severus..." she muttered, raising her hand once again when I knew they would try to interrupt again. She glanced at the staff table, and immediately turned away when she saw that he was there. "I just slept in the hospital wing."

Both boys were silent for a few seconds before speaking again almost at once.

"Is he alright?"

"So you slept with him?!"

Hermione breathed a sigh of resignation, knowing she should have expected questions like those and more from them. She nodded slightly.

"Yes, he is alright" she said, watching Harry with a tiny smile, before turning to Ron and hitting him lightly on his arm. "And yes, I slept with him... but not like that!"

"Hermione, what happened?" questioned Harry almost immediately, as the redheaded boy rubbed his arm a little, but actually he did not feel any pain.

The girl glanced at the large clock in the dining room, and seeing the time she decided to eat some breakfast before answering. She had less than twenty minutes to go to Gryffindor Tower, organize her books and assignments, and then go to her first class of the day.

"He was attacked. They were Death Eaters" she said then in a somehow hasty tone, wondering for a second if her husband would want them to know or not. She shook her head, trying not to think about it. "They tortured him."

Harry remained silent for a few moments, which she used to eat a little more of her oats. As she wiped her lips with a napkin, she came up to look at the staff table again.

He was looking at her too, but he stood, almost leaving the Great Hall. He pointed to his chin, and she hurried to clean up some oatmeal that had escaped from her lips. She could almost swear she had seen him smirking before turning around.

"We have to do something about it" said Harry, startling her slightly as she left her concentration. "Those Death Eaters must be captured as soon as possible."

"Harry, mate, I know that now you... 'appreciate' Snape" muttered Ron, with a small grimace on his face full of freckles. "But I think he probably knows how to defend himself."

"It's not for him, Ron" he replied, and Hermione could tell by his voice that he really was angry at that moment. "It is for all of us. I think after all we've done to achieve peace, that's the least we deserve."

The three were silent for a few moments, and Hermione took the opportunity to finish her oatmeal hastily, casting a sidelong glance at the clock. Now she had fifteen minutes.

"I'm going to stop them, or at least I'll try" said Harry, standing up with a determined expression on his face. "I would love for you guys to join me... but you can do whatever you want."

Without saying anymore, they him observed turn around and retreat, leaving the Great Hall almost hastily. Hermione could feel Ron's eyes on her, and she could only turn to him with an arched eyebrow.

"Without you, we will die in two days. Or just one" he suddenly said, with a grimace. "Think about it."

The girl saw him quietly get up and follow in the footsteps of Harry to leave. Hermione sighed heavily, rubbing both hands on her face with some frustration.

Just when she thought her life could be quiet for the first time in years, she realized that probably that was not in the plans of destiny for her.


Endnotes: Hello again. I feel a little better; I just needed a readjustment in my medication. If all goes well, I'll get better soon :) Thanks for the words of support, they are very welcome.

About the chapter, at first I did not like it much, but after polishing some details of the plot, I managed to fix it :P What do you think? You can tell me with a review, and I'll answer those now.

bats coffee freak: Thank you! You are going to find out soon enough!

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DutchGirl01: Thanks a lot, I hope you liked this one too!

bookowl26: Hahaha, I know, right?!

Amarenima Redwood: Thank you, glad you liked it. Feel free to PM me too if you need to talk.

Kanameshaoran: Muchas gracias, en verdad. Me alegra mucho que te gustara, espero que este también te guste.

superfan: Hello! Thank you very much. I'm getting better now, but thanks for your good wishes! :)

Hope Leslie Hermnharry: Don't worry, I'm not giving up just yet. Hope your daughter is doing great, thanks for reading!

RhodaBush: Thank you, I'm deep in therapy right now. Thanks for your support, hope you liked this chapter.

PumpkinKitten: Well, he's fine now, and you know what happened to him… for the other stuff, you'll have to wait.

Uncle Voldy: Thanks a lot! I really hope you liked this chapter too!

dmeb: I'm indeed felling a bit better now. I'm doing my best to keep hanging on. Thank you… and now you know the answer to at least one of your questions.

notwritten: Thank you very much, I really appreciate it!

Guest: Thank you! Your words are very inspiring, thanks for sharing them with me. I think writing is my way of dealing with this. Overall, thanks for your support!

Sassyluv: Hahaha, well, I guess not! Hope you liked this chapter!

Cassell: Awww, well, thank you very much! I'm very flattered by your words, just thank you again, glad you're enjoying the story so far!

Special Thanks to…

Loki's Awesome Mortal Wife, Hope Leslie Hermnharry, Jenifael09, roamingbecca, IHEARTHBK12, Lady Themis, bookowl26, Blood Red Gun, Cassell and sevfan27 for adding this story to favorites!

Lady Themis, Debesele, Jenifael09, Kanameshaoran, KitsuneTurner, Nastka, absurdjewel, ninienna, penelope90, roamingbecc, ErinCullen, Muggs7, bookowl26, geowynpnn, Blood Red Gun, Cassell and sevfan27 for following this story!

those who read but never comment. Did you know that according to the internet, a person blinks about 25 thousand times per week? (?)

Well... I think that's all for now. You know, thank you very much for reading and commenting, it is very nice to feel the support and the result of my efforts. Take care.

Read you soon!


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