I am so sorry for the long wait you guys! I spent Labor Day weekend in Atlanta for DRAGONCON! And now I have to catch up on schoolwork and this story (and eventually my other story Obligation) as well as spending time with people who think I've disappeared and on top of that I was recently cast in a production of Tartuffe at my University, so I'm perrty busy… But thank you all so much for your patience and I hope you enjoy Chapter 35!

P.S. GingerMockingbird was my 500th reviewer! I've seen a lot on this site that writers will reward reviewers with things like a Oneshot based on the reviewer's challenge… And that sounds like a lot of fun to me, so if GingerMockingbird has a challenge for me, I would happily accept it! :}

…~*~*J*~*~…

"Was I being irrational?" Hermione asked her pretty redheaded friend as the two girls lounged idly across the brunette's mattress.

"Absolutely not!" Ginny replied adamantly. "Even if he didn't do anything with her, he still should have told you. It's just like you said. You told him about Sirius, so it's only fair. I mean, your life is literally in his hands, so you need to be able to trust him."

"But you don't think he actually did anything, do you?" Hermione bit her lip. She knew in her heart that Severus hadn't touched the girl, and yet that lingering jealous suspicion made her anxious.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "No," she said obviously. "It's Snape." She said it with so much conviction that Hermione had to smile. "But he still should have told you about it. He owes you that much after all you've been through for him. Gods! Why are men so stupid? It's as if he's completely disregarding your feelings and pushing you to the perimeter as if it didn't concern you!"

She had a point, Hermione admitted to herself. It wasn't fair for him to continue brushing her off that way. If it wasn't directly disrespectful, it at least meant that she was not showing enough respect for herself. After all, what self-respecting woman would stay in a relationship with a man who constantly dismissed her feelings as unimportant? Hermione groaned. "What can I do, Ginny? It's my own damn fault for falling in love with that selfish bastard. I'm not going to change him. But I can't change the way I feel about him either."

"Whatever you do, don't just go and forgive him right away. Sometimes you have to punish a man before he'll realize his mistake."

"Gods, I hate these games! Why does it all have to be so difficult?"

"That's the way of the world, love." Ginny reached over to pat the other girl comfortingly on the shoulder.

"Gods. I'm just… I don't know Ginny. I'm not angry. I'm just… so hurt, you know? I mean, I guess it was silly of me to imagine that we were equals somehow. He has all the power. I literally belong to him; mind, body, soul."

"I don't know, Hermione. I think you have more power over the old git than you think." Ginny smirked at the other girl. "Never underestimate the power a woman has over her man."

Hermione groaned. Severus wasn't her man, but how could she explain that to Ginny? Severus Snape was desperately in love with a ghost and she, Hermione Granger, invisible know-it-all, bushy-haired Brains of the Golden Trio, had no real claim to his loyalty. No; she was the one with the most to lose, here. And so, she was bound to be the one who was hurt the most as well, but understanding that did not keep the wound from throbbing.

"Gods!" Ginny shouted to the ceiling as she stretched back out across Hermione's bed. "It makes me want to punch his face in! He doesn't deserve you, you know. The man's a right bastard and he relishes that fact. And yet some perverse twist of fate stuck you with him. But is he grateful for that ridiculously unlikely bit of luck? Of course not! No, he continues on being the giant walking bat arse that he is, completely oblivious to your feelings, or else uncaring, and reaping the benefits like he's entitled to them."

Hermione snorted at her friend's description of Severus. "Do you know that he actually used Legilimency on me when I told him about Sirius? He relived the whole encounter through my mind! And then he had the gall to command me not to see or touch Sirius ever again!" Of course, he had retracted that particular order, but that wasn't the point.

"Are you kidding?! What an arse!"

"Yeah and then when he was telling me about Parkinson, he said 'I don't go running to you with stories about my Slytherins.' As if they come first! Which is exactly what Pansy and her posse told me when I ran into them!"

"Are you bloody kidding me!? That selfish stupid git! You should demand that he let you see his memory of that night. It's only fair."

"Oh come on, Ginny, he's a Master Occlumens. He could show me anything he wanted me to see. And besides…" she hesitated as a sudden surge of emotion choked her. "I never would have done that to him." Tears were creeping into Hermione's voice. "If our positions had been reversed and he had come to me the way I came to him about Sirius, I never never would have broken into his mind that way! He had no right!" A single tear broke free and slipped across her cheek.

"No," Ginny said, sitting up to wrap an arm around her friend, "he didn't."

Severus hesitated a moment before bursting through the door. He had not spoken to Hermione since their confrontation the other night and he was afraid of what she might say. Her accusations had been completely undeserved, but it was wrong of him not to confide in her. It hadn't been deliberate. He honestly hadn't thought that it was important enough to tell her. And after all it wasn't as if they were married. Severus cringed. He was lying to himself. Had he been in her position, he would have wanted to know. Hell, when Sirius had taken advantage of her, he had practically attacked her with rage. Of course, to be fair, what Sirius had done was far worse than Miss Parkinson's pathetic attempt at seduction. Severus reached for the doorknob as he reached the conclusion he had been drawn back to in every argument with himself since their fight: he ought to apologize to the girl.

As he swept into the room, it was immediately apparent that Hermione was absent. He frowned at that. It was three minutes past the start of the lesson and she was typically early to every class. "It seems Miss Granger has not deigned to present herself punctually this evening," he said. "Am I to assume that one of you carries some written excuse of illness or tragic accident from the little know-it-all?" Anger was beginning to edge into his voice. He had worked himself up to an apology and she hadn't even bothered to show up to the lesson.

The three Gryffindors shook their heads warily. "We haven't seen her," Miss Weasley told him.

"We even checked the library," Potter agreed.

Severus scowled down at them, but even their simultaneous withdrawal from him did not assuage his temper. Ripping his wand from his sleeve, he removed the Disillusionment spell from his ring in one swift motion and engraved a message on its golden surface. Where are you? It read. And then he waited. And as he paced angrily back and forth across the front of the room, the four present students began to fiddle nervously, exchanging worried glances.

His own impatience grew to worry soon enough as well. She hadn't responded. Perhaps she had not noticed the message. Shall I Summon you? he asked. No response. Severus was pacing anxiously as the minutes ticked by, and there was no sign of her. "None of you have seen her?" he asked. They shook their heads. "And you checked her bedroom?" Miss Weasley nodded.

An inexplicable surge of fear swept through him at that thought. He was powerless to contact her. She could be anywhere. She could be hurt. Something might have happened, and he wouldn't know. Why won't she just respond?! But it soon became clear that Hermione was never going to respond, and Severus was at a loss about what to do. "She hasn't been wandering off, has she?" he asked, the worry creeping into his voice. He turned to his godson. "You haven't seen her either, Draco?" If any of his Slytherins had touched the girl, Draco Malfoy would know it. But the arrogant blond gave Severus a strange look and shook his head.

Answer me or I'll Summon you, he told her. It was almost too long a message for the little ring, but Hermione Granger had good reading eyes and would certainly be able to read the tiny print. That thought gave him a little hope for a moment, and then caused his fears to weigh on his chest when she still did not respond. He swallowed the knot of fear tightening in his throat at the thought that his messages could be delaying her rescue and brought the tip of his wand to the inside of his forearm.

In an instant the girl was collapsing in a heap in front of him with a muffled gasp. She met his eyes and he watched fear turn to defiance in the time it took him to assess that she had not been in any danger at all. And rage began to swirl inside of him, stirring the tumult of emotions that he had been feeling of late and directing them at the defiant figure at his feet. "You are late," he told her in a deep growl, his every muscle tensed with anger.

She only lifted her little chin and responded coolly; "I know."

The lesson was a flurry of hellfire. Hermione did not think his anger was justified. If anything, he should be apologizing to her for his recent behavior. She owed him nothing, and he needed to remember that. And being late certainly did not warrant 25 points from Gryffindor and the foulest mood she'd seen from Severus since the incident with Sirius.

But the moment the lesson was over, Hermione had made a hasty retreat before their professor could call her back and interrogate her some more. In fact, she was so determined to get away that she arrived back at the Common Room a good ten minutes before the rest of her friends. When they finally stepped through the Portrait Hole, she had already written three inches of her latest Transfiguration essay.

"Wow," was all Ginny could say. "I can't remember when I've ever seen Snape so angry."

"I can think of a time or two," Harry murmured glumly. "What was all that about, Hermione?"

"We know what it was about!" Ron interjected before Hermione had a chance to answer.

"Oh shut it, Ron! You don't know the half of it!" his sister snapped.

"Don't be stupid, Gin! You heard what he said!" Ron hissed.

Hermione frowned in confusion. "What who said?"

"Don't worry about it. Ron was misinformed," the other girl assured her.

"Blood hell, Ginny! Not you too!" Ron was disgusted.

"What about me?" Ginny returned.

"You're all in love with Snape of a sudden and don't want to listen to the bloody evidence!"

"I am not…" Ginny began, but Hermione cut her off.

"Will someone tell me what is going on?!" she shouted a bit too loudly. A few heads turned toward the little group and they fell silent for a moment.

"Alright," Harry murmured quietly, "but let's move. Too many ears." The others agreed and followed the Chosen One to his four-poster where they all settled down before closing the curtains around them.

"So…?" Hermione prompted.

"So," Harry repeated with a sigh, "it was Malfoy. After you and Snape ran out of the room he told us all that he knew why you were angry. He said it was because you were jealous." He hesitated. "Apparently, Pansy Parkinson has been telling everyone and their uncle that…" he bit his lip, but only paused for a brief moment before cutting to the chase, "that Snape tried to seduce her."

Hermione's jaw dropped.

"It's rubbish, of course," Ginny reassured her anxiously.

"Bollocks!" said her brother. "I say maybe old Snape's decided he likes sleeping with his students and maybe he should try it with one he likes a bit better."

"Ron!" Harry and Ginny hissed at once. The comment hit hard, however unfounded it may have been.

"She's only spreading rumors," Ginny murmured gently, placing a comforting hand on the other girl's shoulder. "She's probably angry that Snape rejected her."

"More like he's angry that she rejected him!" Ron bit back.

"Shut it, Ron!" Ginny shouted. "Hermione, you know that's not true. Besides, why would Snape seduce Pansy in his own office?" She gave Hermione a pointed look.

"Who said anything about his office?" Ron demanded. "It coulda been anywhere!"

"You're right, Gin," Hermione said at last. "She's probably making it up to get back at Severus and make me jealous."

The boys suddenly had twin expressions of revulsion. "Severus?" Ron hissed in disgust.

Hermione felt the heat rising in her cheeks. "Yes, Ronald. That's his name."

The boys shared a look at that, but Ginny turned her attention away from them. "Anyway, she's a stupid whore and we're going to repay her for this someday. Maybe we'll tell everyone she got drunk and made out with Filch. Would you like that?"

Hermione's laugh was twisted by a shiver of disgust. "It doesn't matter," she sighed. "I just hope this rumor doesn't spread too far."

"Small chance of that," Harry told her apologetically.

"I can't believe the lot of you," Ron told them. "You have proof right in front of you and you still don't believe it. Soon you're all going to find out how wrong you are about that greasy git."

"Ginny," Harry began calmly, "why don't you take Ron for a little walk?" The young lovers shared a look before Ginny nodded and reached for her brother's hand.

"Let go of me!" Ron protested. But Ginny was having none of that and soon Hermione and Harry were all alone.

"Hermione," her friend began, "you know I'm the last person who would ever take Snape's side, but I agree with Gin in this case. He doesn't want Parkinson. Why would he when he's got you?" He smiled awkwardly at Hermione and she smiled back as sudden tears began to sting her eyes. Then Harry's brow furrowed in thought. "He was worried you know. When you didn't show up. He kept asking if we had seen you. And he even asked Malfoy. I… I could tell he was worried about you. And it wasn't until after you appeared that he got angry."

"Really?" Hermione whispered; her relief painful in her chest.

Harry nodded. "I think…" he hesitated. "It's like he's weirdly protective of you." The dark-haired boy caught her eye and Hermione could see the conflicting emotions behind his calm façade. But his words meant more than she could say. "I didn't want to believe it," he admitted, "probably because Snape is such an awful bastard and I still don't know if we can trust him. But I've never seen him like he was today at the lesson. It was crazy, Hermione, I think he was actually afraid." The green-eyed boy seemed to marvel at this realization and the astounding implications as Hermione watched.

"Afraid?" she repeated, prompting him for more information.

"Yeah," was all he could say, but he looked up at her with such comprehension that she knew he had finally realized the strange truth that Professor Snape was not pure evil as the entire school seemed to believe. "Hermione," he said hesitantly, meeting her eye, "I think… I think he cares about you." Even as he said it, he seemed perplexed by the very concept, but Hermione could not hold back a smile.

"You think so?" she asked him, relief flooding her senses and a palpable joy filling the cavity of her chest.

"Yeah," he said again, marveling at the word. "Yeah, I do."

…~*~*J*~*~…

:}

I know it's a short chapter, but I wanted to go ahead and give you something while I continue to work on the rest of the stuff I was going to include. But once again thank you all for your patience and support and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!