Nothing belongs to me. Everything belongs to J. K. Rowling. A lot of quotes from Rowling, J. K., 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix', Bloomsbury Publishing: London, 2003, pages 564—571.

The OWLs went past like a breeze. Hermione was incredibly nervous and spent the last weeks fretting in a panic, but Severus held her as often as he could and tried to calm her down, knowing full well she'd pass with excellent marks. They tutored each other in everything, revising together every chance they got. He'd heard people were already betting on which of them would get the highest scores in total and in which subjects, though he didn't reveal it to Hermione and hoped that nobody would.

The Defence OWL was his favourite: he filled the parchment with his cramped and tiny hand-writing, and it was still much longer than required. He crouched low above it, trying to concentrate on it instead of his girlfriend, who was seated quite close by, or the Marauders. The questions were very simple, such as 'five signs to recognise a werewolf', by Merlin! Severus had to refrain from snorting. An idiot could pass this test.

After Professor Flitwick collected the parchments, he awaited for Hermione. She now seemed relaxed and relieved, sharing his sentiment that the test had been ridiculously easy. They made their way outside, close to the Black Lake, and went through the OWL paper, chatting about tomorrow's test in Transfigurations: they'd soon begin to revise.

"Hermione, come here!" Lily hollered from by the lake, where she sat with her friends, cooling their feet in the water.

Hermione groaned quietly, but kissed Severus on his cheek, got up and went to see what Lily wanted, promising to be right back. Severus began reading the paper, wandering slowly away, knowing Hermione would soon catch up, when the voice of Potter stopped him dead on his tracks.

"All right, Snivellus?" Potter asked loudly. Severus tried to snatch his wand but before he could do anything, Potter had managed to remove his wand with an Expelliarmus. He tried to dive for it, but an "Impedimenta!" from Black restrained him, and he fell helplessly onto the lawn, panting. Several other students began to gather around to watch.

"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" Potter spat out in vicious tone.

"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment. There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word..." Black quipped snidely. Several people watching them laughed. Then, suddenly, just as Severus was about to begin cursing, Hermione arrived. His firecracker of a girlfriend had moved so quickly she seemed to appear out of nowhere, and her fist smacked against Potter's nose with a resounding crack. Blood pooled from Potter's nose, and he fell down on his backside. Hermine released Severus with a swift Finite and went to help him up, but before she managed to get to him, Black had cast a Levicorpus and Severus found himself dangling from the air by his own Jinx. It'd been a hot day and he only worn underpants. Not his best pair either.

Lily also arrived, belatedly, and looked quite livid. "You leave him alone!" she screamed at Potter. "What's he done to you?" For a moment, though, Severus could see her lips twitch to an amused smile at the sight of his pallid legs and his worn underpants, before she managed to suppress it.

"What the fuck, Granger?!" Potter yelled, ignoring Lily for his bleeding nose, "You broke my bloody nose!"

"I'll break more if you don't leave him alone," Hermione promised and released Severus with the Liberacorpus.

"Snivelly needs his girlfriends to defend himself, just like he needs her to clothe himself. Did Granger's parents pay for the robes, Snape? Are you her pet project?" Black jeered.

Suddenly humiliation blossomed inside Severus. "I don't need anything from a couple of Mudbl..." he choked the word off, but it was too late. Too much of it got out. Hermione stood stiff as a plank, with tears in her eyes, and Lily looked livid.

"Apologise to Evans!" Potter screamed from the ground, but Hermione kicked him and then took the two strides to reach Black. Black tried to back away and raise his wand, but before he could do anything, Hermione's knee slammed with his crotch. Black's eyes went cross, he let out a whimper and slouched to the ground, and the male spectators winced in sympathy.

"Fine," Lily spat. "We'll just leave you to it then, Snivellus," she said, and dragged Hermione along. Hermione didn't struggle, and Severus knew he'd used the word he should never had said, that he'd made the worst mistake ever, but she was going with Lily.

Avery and Mulciber arrived with their wands drawn, and Lupin held out his hand and restrained Potter, who'd struggled up. "Come along, James, Sirius," Lupin said quietly, "It's not worth it. Come on." The Marauders left and the crowd began to disperse, leaving Severus, Mulciber and Avery alone.

"All right, Snape?" Avery asked.

"Yeah," he replied quietly, "yeah. I just... I need to talk to Hermione." The others nodded quietly and the three walked towards the castle, Severus feeling miserable, humiliated and, most of all, afraid that Hermione might not forgive him. He'd promised to never use that word, and he really, really needed to apologise.

Severus waited by the portrait of the Fat Lady, hoping that Hermione and Lily would come out so he could apologise to them. He was feeling truly miserable, and the Gryffindor students leered at him as they walked past him, but none of them would allow entrance to their common room for the Slytherin.

After a while Alice Prewett came out with Frank Longbottom, her boyfriend, who was a sixth-year. Severus had asked them to send the word to Hermione and Lily and asked them to come out so he'd be able to apologise. Prewett and Longbottom had begun dating at about the same time as Hermione and Severus: they adored each other, were never far apart and excelled in the same fields, their interests almost never conflicting. They excelled in Defence, and their grades in Defence were usually almost as excellent as Severus' and levelling with Hermione.

"Sorry, Snape, Lily said they don't want to forgive, nor do they want to talk to you. She said you need to go away and leave them be," Alice said, looking conflicted and troubled.

"Look, we heard what you'd said, what you called them. Lily is livid," Longbottom said, "but we also think you should know that Hermione wasn't with her when she said those things. Hermione is more forgiving than Lily is, and I think Lily wanted you to think Hermione wouldn't want to talk to you."

"Where is she?" Severus asked, swallowing thickly.

"We don't know, but I suspect she's in the library, as per usual. No guarantees. That was a rotten thing to say, mate, but we both think Lily shouldn't speak for Hermione like that, when Hermione is your girlfriend. Lily isn't the type to forgive things, but Hermione..." Longbottom shrugged.

"Good luck, Snape," Prewett added. "I also think love should be more forgiving."

Frank Longbottom offered his hand for Severus to shake. "Good luck from me as well. You're a Slytherin and you're still willing to apologise to a Gryffindor: we respect that. I suck as Potions," Frank Longbottom confessed with a grimace, as if Severus wouldn't have noticed how many cauldrons the Gryffindor had melted or blown up, "but if you and Hermione ever want to have some extra group training in Defence..."

Severus shook Longbottom's hand carefully, and offered them a small smile. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind and suggest it to Hermione, if she forgives me."

Severus finally found Hermione at the library. She wasn't in their usual table: she was curled up in a corner of two shelves at the back of the library, and her eyes were red and a bit swollen from crying. She was also quite angry. Severus sat on the floor close to her, although not right next to her, as he usually would have.

"Hermione... I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry, love. Please forgive me?" he begged.

"That was rotten, Severus. A rotten name to call me. I'm supposed to be your girlfriend! Is that really the way you think of me?"

"No! It slipped, and I'm sorry. I was scared and humiliated and helpless without my wand. You heard them yourself, Hermione, and you know what they call me. Greasy git... before you got there, Black said I'd left grease stains on my exam parchment."

"I know, I heard that too. I hate them, Severus. I hate James Potter and Sirius Black. I'm going to talk to Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster himself if I need to. The bullying has to stop."

"It won't help. I'm Slytherin and the Headmaster favours Gryffindor students. And McGonagall won't take sides with a Slytherin student, she's your Head of house. Besides, it's not like Dumbledore's much involved with the school these days anyway. They say he's doing something with the help of some Aurors, like Alastor Moody."

Hermione shrugged. "I'm still going to try. And besides, I'll Hex Potter and Black to next week. Pettigrew too, for snickering like that."

"You'll forgive me, Hermione? Please..."

"Of course. But make sure it's the last time I hear that word out of your mouth, Severus Tobias Snape."

"Yes, love, I promise."

Hermione smiled, and Severus shifted to sitting next to her, slipping his arm around her shoulder, and Hermione snuggled into him, burrowing her face to his chest.

"I felt so humiliated," Severus confessed quietly. "I also noticed Lily forced away a smile when Potter hung me upside-down and my robes..."

"Potter and Black are immature prats," Hermione said, snuffling, and pulled a handkerchief from a pocket. "I like seeing under your robes, but I'd prefer to keep the view to myself," she added mischievously.

"Why you..." Severus drawled and tickled his girlfriend, who muffled a giggle, hoping they wouldn't earn a chiding from Madam Pince. Severus kissed the crown of her head, earning a mouthful of her curly hairs for his effort.

"I love you, Hermione."

"I love you too, Severus."

"Longbottom and Prewett sent me here, actually. I waited outside the Gryffindor common room, and Lily had asked them to say that neither of you, she nor you, wanted to forgive me or even talk to me."

"I never said that!" Hermione defended herself.

"I know. Longbottom told me that much. He thought it'd be fair I should know, since you're my girlfriend and he felt Lily spoke for the two of you without consulting you."

"Frank's really nice. Both he and Alice."

"Agreed. He actually said that we could train for Defence, the four of us."

"Really?" she asked.

"Really, I think he meant it too. He's always seemed honest."

"He is. I like him."

"Oh really...?" Severus drawled, squeezing his girlfriend closer.

"Not like that, you prat!", she chided.

"I know. I've always thought Longbottom is a dunderhead, what with the destroying cauldrons all the time, but I think it'd be really nice to train in Defence with them. I heard they're really good."

"Yes, they really work well together."

"I'll have to apologise to Lily later when she calms down."

Hermione made a non-committal sound and snuggled against Severus, as he leaned his cheek against her warm head and smelled the lovely scent of her unruly hair.

They saw very little of Lily Evans that summer: Lily refused to forgive Severus, and when she'd heard Hermione had forgiven him, she refused to speak to her either. Hermione tried to reason with her, attempted to make her understand how humiliated Severus had been when he'd lashed out, but Lily broke off her friendship with both of them, refusing the speak with them at all. She'd refused to sit in the same train compartment with them, refused to even look at them, and when they accidentally saw her in Hermione's neighbourhood, she turned the other way.

They both received ten OWLs and an O in each and every one of them: the results thrilled their Professors. The Grangers and Eileen Prince arranged them a celebration for their achievement, and they visited Germany that summer for the holiday, as well as spent a week at a seaside resort. Eileen also joined the Grangers and her son by the seaside.

Three days after the holiday began, Hermione and Severus lay in Hermione's bed, side by side, sated and spent, kissing languidly. Neither of them mourned their simultaneous loss of virginity. During the rest of the summer they spent hours like that: exploring, touching, with pleasured gasps and delighted caresses, confessions of love and declarations of loyalty and devotion whispered gently or gasped in passion.

The summer marked several first occurrences and new experiences for Severus: the first visit to Germany, his first taste of Muggle beer, the first holiday trip he made together with his mother, the first time he ever heard Eileen Prince laugh out loud happily. But what he'd remember the most about those days was the taste of Hermione Granger's skin.

The train ride back to Hogwarts for their sixth year was different from all the others. Lily wasn't with them and the Marauders didn't bother them: they sat in a compartment side by side, Hermione safely tucked under his arm as he caressed and bounced her wild curls with his long fingers and fought back a smile. Oh how he'd miss waking up next to her: the dormitory in the dungeons would be lonely and chilly compared to Hermione's bed, and sometimes his own, on all those times they'd woken up pressed together, sometimes sweating from his skin being pressed against hers while they'd slept.

They'd brought books but neither of them was reading: Alice Prewett and Frank Longbottom joined them in their compartment not long after the train departed from King's Cross. Prewett had matured a lot since they'd all been first-years, when she'd been just a tittering, gossiping little brat hanging by Lily's side. Dating Longbottom, who was a year above them and would soon be preparing for his NEWT's, had matured her: the duo worked together in everything and were nigh inseparable.

"So, would you like to train together in Defence this year?" Longbottom soon suggested. "I heard you're really good, Snape, and we know how good Hermione is. She's great in everything she does, really. but Alice and I want to be Aurors together, and we want to train to fight as a pair. We've been training together, but it'd be great to have another pair train with us, see? So, join us?"

"Is there a place to train?" Severus asked. "Without being disturbed," he added after only a moment of thought.

"Yeah," Longbottom said, "there's an excellent abandoned classroom in the fourth floor. We'll show it to you. We've a permission to train there."

"I'm in," Severus acquiesced. He'd spoken about the matter with Hermione over the summer, after Longbottom had first suggested training together. Longbottom, being in the year above them, could show them more advanced spells. Hermione hadn't been close to either of the two, but had grown to appreciate them, and they'd been very fair when they'd told Severus that Hermione hadn't sent the message to leave her alone.

Severus had again tried to apologise to Lily in the platform, but she'd told him she wasn't interested in his excuses. Potter's gang had been hanging about and had smirked openly. Severus was sad he'd lost one of his two oldest friends, but when he honestly thought about it, she'd caused so much problems with her jealousy of his relationship with Hermione. Perhaps it was inevitable, he thought. And now, though he was feeling very sceptical about it, Hermione had suggested he might actually make two new Gryffindor friends in Prewett and Longbottom.

"Me too," Hermione said and nibbled at her lower lip. "Can we start this week? We'll be able to compare our schedules tomorrow."

Severus pulled her lip gently from between her teeth like her always did, and Hermione smiled sheepishly at him. The gesture had become so familiar it was subconscious these days. He pulled out a few sickles to buy Hermione a sugar quill off the candy cart when it came around: she'd probably never learn not to nibble at her quill or her lip, but he'd try anyway.

"No, don't add the Fluxweed yet!" Severus said, catching Frank's wrist before the elder boy could add the chopped Fluxweed into his cauldron. "Not yet. You need to stir the cauldron first, five times clockwise, then counter-clockwise, then twice clockwise again. Then add the Fluxweed. It's well chopped, though." Longbottom let out a sigh and began to stir his brew, keeping an eye on the surface. "You're not doing too badly, though. You have trouble concentrating?"

Longbottom flushed and nodded. "It's Alice, you know? I start thinking about her and then I just mix things up. It's been like that since the day we met. I wasn't this bad when I was a first-year."

"Well, the practice in brewing will help, but I think what you really need is concentrate on following the instructions and blocking out the thoughts of Prewett. You've no affinity at Potions, so you're better off following the written instructions to step by step and to the letter. I myself experiment, but it's risky and you need a lot of talent. I think the first thing to do is clear your mind of her, and then read the instructions two, perhaps three times before you begin brewing."

"Right," Longbottom said, adding his Fluxweed to the cauldron. "Does that look right?"

"Yes, acceptable. Now you need to let it simmer for five minutes. Lower the flame a bit... no, not that much. Yeah, that's better," Severus said, estimating the height of the flames under the cauldron.

Severus had offered to tutor Longbottom by helping him brew the potions he might be tested on. Longbottom needed a N.E.W.T. in potions to be approved into Auror training, and though he had barely passed his O.W.L exam in potions, a failing mark in N.E.W.T.s might put a stopper to his dream career. Longbottom wasn't as hopeless as Severus had presumed: his mind simply tended to wander to Alice Prewett at any given moment. It was easy to see how utterly besotted he was: he'd flush, begin to stammer and do something monumentally stupid, like add something from wrong a jar into his cauldron, or forget to count his stirs.

It'd been a peaceful year: Potter was chasing after Lily at full steam, Black had managed to catch Marlene McKinnon, and with Professor McGonagall running the school, the bullying had gone down considerably. Headmaster Dumbledore was barely ever seen: he was working on something with a few Aurors, and when he was spotted, he was accompanied by the old Auror Alastor Moody, who was missing a leg and an eye, and had a creepy magical eye instead, something that occasionally spinned to weird directions. They said Dumbledore had something to do in the war against the Dark Lord Voldemort, but there was a lot of gossip flying around and nobody really knew anything — and if they did, they weren't telling.

"We can work on some kind of technique for you to concentrate. Hermione might have some ideas," he suggested, and Longbottom nodded gratefully.

"I'm going to ask Alice to marry me when I graduate," Longbottom confessed. "Then we'll marry when she graduates. We can plan for the wedding during her last year, I'll arrange most of it..."

"You're sure she'll accept?" Severus teased the elder boy with a slight smirk.

"Merlin, I hope so," Longbottom sighed. "If she does... will you stand by me, as "best man"?

"Really? Don't you want someone from your own House, like Potter, or Lupin?"

"Potter's a tosser and so's Black. Lupin just follows them around. Will you? I've no problem you're a Slyth. You're OK. And Alice will probably want Hermione as her maid of honour anyway, they've grown really close."

"I'd be honoured," Severus said quietly, fighting away the feeling of being touched by Longbottom's gesture. "Now, one more minute. Do you have the Lacewing Flies prepared? Excellent. Now..."

"We studied the Patronus-charm this week," Frank Longbottom told his friends. "Professor Darklake is a retired Auror and he said we should learn it, though it's not on Hogwarts syllabus. He'll probably teach your class too, later, he said he would. Producing a fully corporeal Patronus is rare and not everyone can produce one, but the shield-forms are useful too."

"What's a 'Patronus'?" Alice asked curiously.

"It's advanced Magic. You can use it against Dementors, for example, which is why you too should learn it since you want to become an Auror too, love. They can be used as a shied against Dementors. They eat happiness and good feelings, and a Patronus produces those but a Dementor can't harm them, so a shield-form Patronus can be used to protect you from one and a corporeal Patronus can drive them away. And they're... the shield-form in just a kind of silvery mist that comes out of your wand, but if it's fully corporeal, it takes the form of an animal."

"Did you manage to make one? I mean an animal." Hermione asked.

"Yes!" Frank replied proudly. "I got a shield-form almost immediately, but managed a fully corporeal Patronus at the end of the lesson. Not many of us did, and Darklake said it shows that I have some powerfully happy memories and a chance to become an excellent Auror." He beamed happily.

"Memories?" Hermione queried.

"Yes, to produce a Patronus you need to concentrate on the happiest memory you have while you cast, like this..." Longbottom drew his wand and concentrated, then cried: "Expecto Patronum!"

A silvery white hound seemed to leap from the tip of Frank's wand. It bounced around the room before it faded again. The others looked at in in awe.

"Beautiful!" Alice cheered and jumped up to hug her boyfriend. "What kind of happy memory did you use?"

"A memory of you, love," Frank said and gently ruffled Alice's blonde hair. "Remember, the memory has to be powerful. Now you try."

The three of them tried. Alice managed to create a shield-form. Severus and Hermione looked at each other in the eyes, and Severus thought of the passion he'd shared with Hermione, he thought of swimming with her in the sea, first in France, and this summer by the seaside...

"Expecto Patronum!" they cried, and they both gasped as a silver form of an otter leapt from both of their wands. The animals danced in the air as if they were swimming in an invisible ocean, circling around each other happily, touching gently. Severus noticed that his was slightly larger than Hermione's, perhaps a bit more angular like he was, but the two otters were clearly a mated pair.

He looked Hermione in the eyes, both their eyes sparkling in delight and happiness as their otters gambolled around them, slowly fading as their concentration faltered.

"You both have the same Patronus!" Alice cried, slightly unnecessarily, Severus thought. "Is that usual?"

"No idea," Frank confessed. "We'll have to ask Professor Darklake. That was really cool though! You both did it faster than I did."

"Perhaps it's the same kind of memory used?" Hermione suggested. "We spend our holidays together and often swim in the sea? There must be something about this in the library..."

Alice and Frank both chuckled when Hermione mentioned the library, and Severus' mouth curled at the corners.

Before they finished that day, Alice Prewett had also managed to produce a corporeal Patronus, also in the form of a hound, just a bit smaller than Frank's.

The mood at Hogwarts had been tense for the whole year. Lucius Malfoy approached Severus again at Slughorn's Christmas Party, and seemed more than slightly irritated when he saw that Severus once again attended with Hermione and seemed to be going strong with her. He repeated Severus his offer of sponsoring his further studies, and yet again Severus replied that he'd consider it. He'd spoken with Hermione about it, and while she didn't want to tell him what he should or shouldn't do, she did admit she didn't like Malfoy's.

Severus didn't want to hurt her feelings by telling her what Malfoy had told him about the girls with "purer blood": Malfoy actually had one with her, one who was obviously meant as a present of sorts for Severus. She was quite pretty, Severus would admit, a French girl called Evolene, schooled at Beauxbatons, and though in the typical Slytherin and pure-blood way nothing obvious was said, it was clear she was meant for Severus. The look of revulsion on the girl's face was subtle and quite well hidden, Severus thought, and he politely greeted her and then immediately and very politely introduced her to Hermione, placing subtle emphasis on their relationship status. The girl's eyes flashed with subtle gratitude, though she clearly considered the Muggle-born Hermione below her.

Malfoy had also flashed the possibility of learning more about the Dark Arts, and finally flashed the possibility that Hermione might be hunted and hurt if Severus declined the invitation to join the ranks of the Dark Lord when he graduated. While Severus liked to study the Dark Arts as much as he could, Malfoy's attitude towards Hermione meant too much for him. In his fifth year he'd even invented a Dark Curse of his own, the 'Sectumsempra', but Hermione had looked very troubled when he'd described it, and Severus had removed the ink from the book he'd scribbled it to with a quick spell. She laughed at the prank-curses he'd invented, like the one that he'd used to make Pettigrew's toenails grow to a grotesque length in a matter of seconds, and he had invented a spell that made a piece of paper fold itself into a shape of a flower. Hermione had loved that one: it had been a little birthday present for her, designed only for her.

The thought of Hermione being hurt and hunted though... that was frightening. He didn't wish the frighten Hermione with it so he never spoke about it with her, but the very thought made him grow cold all over. Would he have to join the Dark Lord, just to protect Hermione?

Then, just as their sixth year was drawing to a close, the news hit Hogwarts: Headmaster Dumbledore had been killed in a battle.

The Headmaster had barely been seen the whole year, and when he'd been spotted, he looked very tired and old, grim and determined. The news shook Hogwarts like a storm and the gossip ran wild, until Deputy Headmistress McGonagall made an announcement in the Great Hall: Albus Percival Wulfrick Brian Dumbledore had died a hero, bringing down the Dark wizard Voldemort along with him.

Many had died and many more were injured: dozens of the Dark Lord's followers, 'Death Eaters', were captured and sentenced to either Azkaban or to be kissed by Dementors. For the whole year the Headmaster had been collecting cursed objects called 'Horcrux' which had stored small pieces of the Dark Lord's soul: Dumbledore and Auror Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody had managed to track them down using complex spells and destroyed them, before they collected a group of loyal and trustworthy Aurors and attacked Lord Voldemort where he was hiding. In a massive battle Voldemort and Dumbledore had faced each other and cast a succession of curses so powerful that many of those who'd come too close had died where they stood. Some Death Eaters had managed to evade capture, but most were either killed or awaiting their punishments.

Headmaster Dumbledore was buried in a white stone grave at the grounds of Hogwarts, and hundreds of witches and wizards came to pay their respects and to mourn him. Severus attended with Hermione.

Afterwards they met a crying Professor Slughorn. The usually jolly man seemed devastated, but looked at Severus with solemn eyes and asked to speak with him in a couple of days. He could only say "He did this so that love, love like yours, could be protected."