A/N: I'm sorry it's been so long, I've had a lot of things happening. Also I've been binge watching Grey's Anatomy, and that's kinda been taking up all my free time. I'll try not to let too long go again without me writing. Please forgive me, I'll do better. Hope you all enjoy the newest chapter! Much love- Bookworm
Neville took the news about as well as Hermione had, and sat staring at his food with a disturbed look on his face. When McGonagall walked Malfoy into the Great Hall, wearing apprentice robes, Neville's face became a sheet of white as he stared at him.
"Why?" Neville whispered, turning to look Hermione.
"She wants to give him a chance." Hermione said, staring down at her own plate.
"Yes, and it won't hurt the two of you to do the same. He came to the hospital when you lot were ill." Severus said, leaning forward at the table to look at them both.
"He came to the hospital for you." Neville pointed out, shaking his head.
"He checked in on both of you though, did he not?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow at them. Hermione felt the slightest tinge of guilt enter her stomach and let out a sigh.
"He gets one. One chance. For you." She told Severus evenly in a whisper as McGonagall introduced Malfoy to the school at large. She glanced over at Neville, who nodded in reluctant agreement before turning his attention back to his plate. They were almost done with their meal when they heard a throat clear behind them. Hermione, Neville and Severus all looked behind them to see Malfoy standing there.
"Yes?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows.
"I was wondering if I could speak to the two of you during first class?" Malfoy asked Hermione and Neville.
"I teach first class." Hermione said shortly, turning back to her nearly empty plate.
"I can teach your class one more day." Severus told her casually. She turned to Neville, hoping that he had a reason to not go either.
"I'm not officially back yet. This next week you can't use any magic on the plants, and well…" He held up his still burned and bandaged hands and Hermione let out a sigh.
"Is McGonagall okay with you skiving the first class of your apprenticeship?" She asked him, turning back in her chair to face him.
"I already spoke to her about it." Malfoy said, nodding.
"Fine." Hermione said through clenched teeth. "Just… Come down to my chambers after breakfast." She told them. Both Malfoy and Neville nodded in agreement, and Hermione shot Severus an angry glance as Malfoy went back to his seat.
"Love, hear him out." Severus said to her, placing his hand on hers under the table. She gazed into his eyes for a moment before nodding. "Really listen." He told her.
"Okay." She agreed, nodding.
"Thank you." Severus said, giving her hand a squeeze before standing from his seat. "I'll see you after class. There's a free period, and we have a few things to go over." He told her. She nodded, and watched as he walked away.
"I'll never understand the two of you." Neville said, shaking his head.
"Oh you will, you just haven't found that person." Professor Sprout said from the other side of Neville, making Hermione laugh at his horrified face.
"I don't want to find my Snape." He said softly.
"Oh not Professor Snape- oh never mind." His master said, sighing and turning her attention elsewhere.
"Come on, we need to get this lot to their classes." Hermione said, gesturing down to the students and standing.
"Right, yeah." Neville said, relieved. They walked down to the long house tables and started warning students that they would need to finish their food and start making their way to their classes, as the bell would be ringing shortly. They paused to chat with a couple students, but otherwise had the hall cleared in less than five minutes. Hermione and Neville were leaving the Great Hall when Malfoy ran to join them at their side.
"Sorry, I would have given you a moment, but I have no idea where your chambers are." He said after seeing the look of annoyance that had crossed Hermione's face.
"No, it's fine." Hermione said, giving him a tight smile. She kept silent as they walked, as did the other two, wondering why Malfoy wanted to talk to them in the first place. He had done his fair share of talking through the years, what on earth did he need to talk to them about? It was probably just a show for Minerva and Severus. She unlocked her door and entered first, trusting that Neville and Malfoy would after after her.
"Shut the door." She said, not looking back. Whoever entered last did as they were told, and shut the door. She flicked her wand, and listened as the door locked. "Now," She said, taking a seat at her desk and turning to face Malfoy and Neville. "What did you need to talk to us about?" She asked, pulling her wand from her pocket and holding it tightly as she placed her hand onto her thigh.
Malfoy raised his eyebrows at her bold gesture and took a seat in one of the empty chairs next to the fireplace. Neville took the last empty seat, watching Hermione apprehensively. She smiled at him reassuringly, and watched as he relaxed slightly.
"I wanted to clear the air. I know that… I know that I can't fix what I did in the past." Malfoy said, glancing back and forth between her and Neville as he spoke.
"You want to tell us that you've changed?" Neville asked, skepticism written all over his face. Malfoy nodded hopefully.
"And we're just supposed to take your word for it?" Hermione asked, staring at him.
"Well… No I suppose not. Look, I'm willing to work for it. I want to be here. I don't want to just be known as a Death Eater. I was forced into that, it was never my choice." Malfoy told them. Neville leaned forward, his eyebrows knitted together.
"What do you mean, you were forced into it?" Neville asked. Hermione glanced at him, then back to Malfoy, who took a deep breath and shut his eyes.
"I said no. At first. I didn't want to be a Death Eater. My whole life my father had tailored me to be one, but right after Voldemort returned, I realized that it wasn't what I wanted. He was evil. I might have thought that I was better than people with mixed blood, but… What they were doing? It was too much. And I don't think that anymore, by the way." He said, pointedly looking at Hermione, who furrowed her brow.
"Keep going." She prompted him.
"Right. Voldemort took our house, to use as his headquarters. Father wanted to send me to Durmstrang, he thought some of my classmates were being bad influences on me, making me turn away from the family. I got my dark mark right before sixth year… after being tortured for almost the entire summer." Malfoy said. Neville's eyes went wide, but Hermione still didn't want to believe him.
"You could be pulling this out of your arse, how can we trust you?" She asked him. Neville stared at her, surprised, before looking back to Malfoy.
"You're right…" Malfoy sighed, standing. Hermione twitched her wand to follow his movements, and he raised his arms up in an innocent gesture. "Do you want proof?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at her. She eyed him for a moment before nodding once, giving him permission to continue. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt and removed it, turning so that his back was facing her. Hermione's hand flew to her mouth at the angry red scars that were stretched across his back.
"Oh." She whispered. Malfoy shrugged his shirt back on and sat down as he finished fastening the buttons.
"I had tried to leave the Manor, but I was stopped and taken down to the cellar. They kept me down there, taking turns doing that, until I agreed to take on the mark and the task of killing Dumbledore." Malfoy told them, looking down at the floor. "My mother tried to stop it, but it didn't work."
"And why did that make you realize that blood doesn't matter? How would that make you realize that you needed to change?" Hermione asked him carefully.
"It wasn't that. I could mostly handle the torture, but Hermione, it was you that made me rethink everything. While Voldemort was more terrified of Potter, every other Death Eater was terrified of what you could do. I realized that everything I had been fed through the years was wrong. You are muggleborn, but your magic… well let's be honest- it surpasses most people's. You made me realize that I was wrong. Not to mention how shite Crabbe and Goyle were, and they were purebloods." Malfoy said, shaking his head slightly.
"You…. you have changed… haven't you?" Neville asked, amazed.
"I've tried. Of course, I'm not perfect, but I want to fix things. I don't want either of you to hate me for what I did in school, even though I know what I did was terrible. If we are going to be colleagues, I don't want us to be on bad terms." Malfoy told them. Hermione finally set down her wand on her side table and bit her cheek, thinking deeply.
"Are you going to bully the students?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You mean like my godfather?" Malfoy asked, smirking at her. A slight blush crept into her cheeks, and she rolled her eyes at him.
"No, I mean like you." She said. He took a deep breath and brushed his hair out of his face as he let out a sigh.
"No. I won't. I don't want to be like I was in school, I want to be different. I'm not the same man, I'm not a child anymore." Malfoy said.
Hermione bit the inside of her cheek, thinking deeply. He had been a ferret during school, but what if he meant what he was saying? Could someone like Malfoy really change? She thought back, he had come to support Severus when she and Neville were in the hospital. Her mind went to the battle of Hogwarts, at the end he had been on the side of the students, he had left the battle with his mother, but he had been standing with the students when they had thought Harry to be dead.
Hermione looked to Neville, who had been staring at Malfoy. He met her gaze and raised his eyebrows questioningly. She gave him a slight nod, and he nodded back.
"Fine." She said, turning her attention back to Malfoy. "You get one chance. I want to see the change Malfoy. I want you to surprise me. If I hear one word about you mistreating anyone, I will take it to the headmistress and see to it that you are dismissed." Hermione threatened him. She watched him as he nodded slowly three times.
"You have my word." He said.
"No offense Malfoy, but your word means nothing to me. Show me. Now please leave my chambers." She said, standing and gesturing to the door. Malfoy stood, and with a nod to Hermione and Neville, walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.
"What do you think?" Hermione asked, shifting her gaze from the door to Neville.
"Honestly? I don't think he's lying." Neville said carefully.
"But?" Hermione asked, sensing the hesitation in his voice.
"We'll just have to wait and see I suppose." Neville said with a shrug. Hermione nodded and stood.
"We should go, I need to figure out how much Severus has damaged my students." She said with a small smile. Neville chuckled and shook his head.
"I'll see you at lunch?" He asked, and she nodded as she opened the door for them to exit as students rushed past the door to their next class.
Hermione made her way to the potions classroom, where she found Severus cleaning up his desk from the class that had just ended. He raised his head as she entered the room, and a flick of a smile played on his face as he turned his attention back to the desk. Hermione leaned her hip against a table and folded her arms as she watched him silently.
"How was your little chat?" He asked as he put the last student's vial into a box to be graded later by Hermione.
"It was just fine." Hermione replied, admiring Severus as he took a seat behind the desk. He raised an eyebrow at her, and Hermione's breath seemed to catch in her throat.
"Are you alright?" Severus asked, watching her. Hermione paused for a moment before nodding and walking over to Severus. She lifted her hand and brushed his hair back, it looked much better this way than letting it fall around his face. "Hermione?" He asked, his brow furrowing.
"I love you." She told him softly.
"And I, you." Severus replied, his features softening ever so slightly. Hermione leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, resting her hands gently against his collar. Severus hesitated for a moment before responding to her show of affection. He placed his hands on her waist, and pulled her slightly closer to him, making her knees rest against his leg. Hermione's heart beat heavily against her chest, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Hermione…" Severus whispered, breaking their kiss and resting his forehead against hers.
"I know… you wanted to discuss.. something." Hermione said softly with a smile at him. Her heart raced when she heard a slight growl come from Severus, who pulled her lips back to his and began kissing her once more. She felt him remove his hand from her waist, and heard the unmistakable click of the lock on the door, and she smiled against his lips.
"Severus.." She muttered against his mouth. He replied with a groan and pulled her into his lap. She gasped at this development and at this sudden shift, he had never behaved this way toward her before. He continued to kiss her, until Hermione placed her hands on his chest and with a sigh, he pulled his mouth from hers, though he kept her firmly rooted on his lap.
"Well… hello." Hermione said with a grin as Severus took a deep breath and pushed his hair back with one hand while the other stayed rooted on her waist.
"I'm sorry." Severus said, slowly moving his hand from her waist, she shook her head and patted his arm gently.
"Don't be sorry. I just thought you wanted to talk?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I do. We do." Severus said, shifting a little in the chair and clearing his throat. Hermione took the hint and stood up from his lap. "I wanted to talk to you about our lesson plans. Since I took over your class, your plans have gotten a little off." He said, reaching onto the desk and grabbing a few papers.
"Letting my class fall behind, are we?" She teased, grabbing the papers he held out to her and taking a seat across from him at the desk. She looked at his notes, and her eyebrows shot up. "What did you do? Why are my classes a week behind?" She asked.
"They don't listen to me…" Severus muttered, staring at the papers in front of him. Hermione let out a laugh and shook her head.
"How? How do they not listen to you? You are Severus Snape." She asked, and he let out an exasperated sigh.
"I think you might just be more stern than me with your students. When we worked together you were more relaxed than I was, then I took over your classes and… you run a tight ship." Severus said, sounding exasperated. Hermione allowed a small smile to play on her lips and tilted her head slightly.
"Well, what can I say? I learned from the best." She told him, shifting her gaze back down to the lesson plans in front of her. After reading over them, she let out a sigh and grabbed a quill, determined to fix it, and made a mental note to speak to her students about Severus.