Hi,
thank you for taking the time to read this story.
Of course, I don't own anything in the Hogwarts universe that Jo Rowling created (except maybe some ideas I wrapped around her characters). Since I just got really bogged down on another writing matter, I try to find distraction in translation of this finished story.
This story had been my first publication two years ago. I am German, I write in German - and as I said I did this translation by myself (and with the help of some digital house-elves, of course). I am sure there will be mistakes and strange sounding sentences, maybe even words the translator made up on the spot. I would be happy to receive a hint and ask for your forbearance at the same time.
If there is any Beta out there who wants to jump in, please send me a message. All Betas I had looked up had stopped working and I gave up on that a bit.
My German writing is notorious for its long sentences and with a certain stubbornness I say 'I like it that way'.
But not at any cost. I don't want to be a nuisance and I have learned shortening the sentences after some chapters. And I am still learning...
It would be extremely helpful if you like the Hermione / Snape pairing (both adults!) ...
The rating is set to M, where it will stay for a longer time. I will change that to MA in time.
This Severus is not interested in minors at all - including THAT - and I fully support that.
The story begins in the 5th year, shortly after the founding of Dumbledore's Army. The plot is - largely - parallel to the known events up to the Battle of Hogwarts. After that, the story goes into an other direction for understandable reasons.
The plot goes over six years and a total of 70+ chapters which I plan to translate at least once a week.
If you like it.
And now it starts.
Chapter One
"Excuse me, Sir, may I speak to you for a moment, please?"
Severus Snape couldn't believe it when he heard the nervous voice behind him, which he recognized all too well. It was Sunday afternoon, he was on his way to the Quidditch pitch to make sure that the Slytherin team used the practice time - and maybe a little more - to add a significant number of house points in the upcoming game next weekend. This was the only chance to counter the points arbitrarily distributed by the Headmaster to the other houses for unspeakably ridiculous achievements. Being the Head of the House he couldn't afford to appear helpless on this point in front of his Slytherins - and their parents - even if the House Cup circus seemed highly excessive given the problems in real life at the moment.
And in the middle of this unpopular job of getting Slytherin House at Hogwarts the respect it deserved, now that.
He paused for a moment and Hermione was sure he had just closed his eyes in annoyance even though she could only see his back. Then Severus Snape turned around with a jerk and his cloak slowly and impressively followed his movement.
With an expressionless face, he looked at the student in front of him, who not only held his gaze, but also managed - to her own grim satisfaction and his slight astonishment - not to stuck out her chin defiantly as usual. More than once that rebellious gesture had almost driven him mad in class.
"Miss Granger. I am sure that you will find your Head of House's undivided attention for each of your problems, so that my involvement will not be necessary. Even if that - which I fear - will not prevent you from raising your question, I would ask you to come to my office before class, which unfortunately will already take place tomorrow. "
With that he turned back to go, but Hermione hurried past him and stood in his way.
"Sir, please, I know how much I get on your nerves, but I really can only turn to you. And I've been waiting for an opportunity to speak to you outside of Hogwarts because ... well ... I - I always feel like there are more secret listeners there than I can see. "
The Potions Master stared speechless at the determined girl in front of him. His anger at the presumptuous behavior of the young Gryffindor mingled with amazement at the apparent deviation from everything he was used to from her.
"Miss. Granger. "
The pause between the two words boomed in Hermione's ears.
Severus Snape leaned down slightly and looked her straight in the eye. Usually not even a Draco Malfoy could stand this intense look for any longer time. Snape had always been amazed at how few people are able to look back into someone's eyes directly. Hermione couldn't help but panic a little, too and knew only too well that Snape could read exactly that in her eyes. At the moment when she thought that she could not stand the piercing and illegible look a second longer, the professor straightened up with a sharp inhale and spoke to her in a low and dangerously cold voice.
"I doubt that there is an explanation for your inappropriate behavior and I can only advise you to choose your next words very carefully."
Hermione swallowed nervously, trying desperately to control her voice. She cleared her throat and scraped up all the rest of her courage to convey to her professor the sentence she had practiced in her head countless times over the past few nights. There couldn't be a better opportunity.
"Sir. I ask you to teach me Defense Against the Dark Arts outside of school hours, please."
With grim satisfaction, Hermione noticed the brief flash of a stunned look, which, however, immediately disappeared. The notorious steep line grew on the Potions Professor's forehead between his eyebrows and his eyes narrowed to slits. The hiss that came out of his mouth now lived up to the house of which he was the Head of.
"Are you forsaken by all good spirits, Granger? Is that an idea of the great Mister Potter or has his world-saving mania rubbed off on you in the meantime? Do you think I have nothing else to do but give a student tutoring so that she can impress those hopeless imbeciles that she calls her friends? "
Hermione had expected his rage - and yet she herself felt anger well up when the professor once again let himself be guided by his dislike of Harry instead of really listening to her. Not even now, when she was standing alone in front of him, was he able to at least tentatively assume that she could be a living being in its own right. This injustice made her blood seething and before she knew it, she interrupted him in an equally angry tone that gave no indication of the uncertainty she had just felt."Sir, with all due respect. It's not about any childish student crap. You know best what is in store for us. And you know best that Professor Umbridge's classes don't deserve the name of Defense Against the Dark Arts. We are kept completely defenseless and this happens apparently according to a plan.
Please, Sir, please understand... I ... I don't ask for your lessons just for myself. It would be ... well ... no one would be surprised if ... if the notorious know-it-all would also teach the others in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Nobody would know where the knowledge really comes from when ... when we ... "
Hermione was horrified to find that she was stammering. The firmly anchored will not to leak anything about Dumbledore's Army took its toll. She fell silent, took a deep breath and concentrated on the exchange of looks with her professor, who was staring at her as if she had just announced that after the House-elves she now wanted to free the Dementors.
What exactly was it that made Severus Snape at that moment not just give Hermione Granger an annoyed snort and a brief analysis of her linguistic abilities and then just leave her standing to go about his original plan - he couldn't tell.
Her tempered but palpable anger interested him because he did not understand the reason for it and it suddenly seemed to him that he was looking at her properly for the first time in ages.
As annoying as Hermione Granger was as a student, she wasn't stupid or haphazard - and she wasn't a child either. The look she gave him revealed a range of emotions; There was anger in it, defiance and fear, but also something pleading and important. Something she believed she had to do even though she was afraid.
He no longer found anything childlike in it, even if, with the best will in the world, he couldn't see the young girl in front of him as an adult.
Something was going on here. The secrecy and foreclosure of whole groups of students from all houses except his own was not half as secret as they probably imagined. Those brats would manage to get right underneath the wheels of fate. And even if that didn't even bother him very much personally, he still had to know what was going on. A surprise that would undermine his position vis-à-vis the Dark Lord was even less affordable than a lost house cup.
Hermione was amazed at how much easier it was now to face the professor's intense gaze. The anger had faded and given way to a thoughtful but deeply suspicious expression. His frosty tone was correspondingly unchanged.
"I have no idea what you are trying to talk about, Miss Granger, and I am unwilling to listen to your babble any more."
His gaze passed over her head and focused on an approaching group of Gryffindors who had obviously lost out to his Slytherins and had now left the training field. Ronald Weasley's hair shone bright red between them - and at the same moment said one spotted the unusual teacher student talk in front of him.
Severus Snape couldn't help closing his eyes in annoyance for the second time that afternoon, he pulled himself together and stared again at Hermione, who was now standing in front of him, clearly worried.
With interest and astonishment, however, Snape noticed that her unrest was because of the unmistakable approach of her classmates - and not because of him or their conversation. Any defiance was gone from her gaze and she looked at him in silence and pleading. Interesting.
Loud enough for the approaching entourage to hear, he snapped at the student in front of him in his best teacher tone.
"Trying to gain an advantage over your classmates in this improper way will cost your house five points. Also, to counteract your selfish behaviour with at least a minimum of community benefit, by tonight you will be replenishing the stocks of river grass and wild honey lavender that were depleted by Mr. Longbottom's pitiful attempts at brewing. I expect the cleaned ingredients to be delivered to my office by seven o'clock this evening. And now spare me a pitiful monologue about the necessity of a long dinner in the Great Hall. See it as a lesson about the benefits of moving within a community instead of feeling inappropriately above it."
He stared at her and saw a tiny smile that was in strange contrast to an absolutely convincing choked out "Yes, Professor Snape.". She had understood. The Potions Professor whirled around and left Hermione to her fate to explain the loss of house points to the already bad-tempered Gryffindor crew. Walking back to the castle, he heard Weasley's excited voice.
"Hermione, what was that? Why is Snape taking points from us, man, about dinner, he can't do that, you have to tell Dumbledore ... "
"Ron, stop it, I'm sorry. It was my own stupidity, I should have known that Professor Snape recognized a book from the Forbidden Section. I thought I could read it during your training, I couldn't have guessed that he would appear here."
He was too far away now to understand any more, but what he had heard was astonishing enough for him. He had noticed that Granger was carrying a book; it was a demanding guide on learning non-verbal spells in self-tuition with the somewhat cheesy title "The Art of Dark Silence". A difficult book that Ronald Weasley or his Quidditch companions would never again get as close to as they had been now, but it was by no means from the Forbidden Section.
Miss Granger had lied.