A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters

This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Fantasy February Day Twenty-Two

Villain: If my loved ones can't stop me, you can't either!

Hero: Bold of you to assume I ever liked you.

Villain: I thought we had a thing-

Word Count: 644

Hermione glared at him, her eyes burning with emotion. She'd lost control, Severus knew that much for certain.

"Don't even bother, Severus. If my loved ones can't stop me, you can't either," she stated, her words echoing through the chamber. Severus shook his head. She was right of course, but to be lumped in with her loved ones, with Ron and Harry... that shook him. He'd only ever showed hatred to the girl, calling her names, insulting her. Now she was a powerful magical entity and he couldn't help but admire it.

"Bold of you to think I ever liked you, or cared about you," he snarled. She had lumped in with her loved ones. She must have thought he cared about her, that she meant something to him. He would never have given her a second thought then. Now... now he was staring at her with awe in his eyes. She'd unlocked so many ancient secrets within an hour, she'd become something more dangerous than he'd ever imagined.

"I thought, I thought we had a thing- Maybe I misread things, but you snarking at me, noticing every little detail, if only to shred it to pieces and watch me run from the room crying. Why would you even bother to see me if you didn't care?" she asked. Her hands were glowing. She was losing control of the magical energy she'd absorbed in an attempt to save the school. Severus had watched the magic flow through her veins, turning them from blue to violet, watched her eyes change from loving to dark. Power corrupted. He knew that better than anyone. Hermione had taken on a man who had made himself a God. Hermione had become his replacement. She wasn't light anymore, she was darkness, chaos incarnate. She could control life and death in a blink of her eyes. Severus wondered if she would kill him now. She had every reason to. He knew her plan, to irradiate everyone who had ever hurt her, to destroy the whole movement that had created her in the first place.

"I snarked at you because you were a know it all child who wouldn't shut her mouth," Severus stated. It was true, well, it had been true then. Then he had made an enemy of himself.

"Too bad, I liked you, Severus. At least, I was starting to. My father used to call me names too, you know. Little insults disguised as love, thought you were the same. Insult me now, Severus, see what happens," she taunted.

"You're still a little know it all with too much book knowledge to do anything properly," he stated. He closed his eyes, waiting for her to strike him down. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes. Hermione was standing before him. Her face nearly touching his. The white scraps of fabric she wore waved slightly.

"I know you don't mean it," she purred, running a fingertip down his chin. "I wish you did. I wish you could love me, like I want you to, like I love you."

"I thought you said I didn't matter to you," Severus stated, realizing how close she was, how easy it would be to destroy her. He couldn't. He couldn't kill her, the idea of taking her life, it would only make his completely empty and meaningless. The locket dangled around her neck, a souvenir of the man she'd destroyed. Severus grabbed it, yanking it from her neck. It was warm to the touch. Before he had time to think, he was conjuring up fiend fire, the deadliest thing he could think of. The locket burned black as Hermione collapsed against him. He caught her, put out the fire before it had a chance to spread, and prayed to every entity he had ever heard of that he'd done the impossible and saved her.