A/N: I finally went and saw 'Beauty and the Beast' yesterday, it was fantastic and I cried almost the whole way through it...has anyone else seen it yet? Once again thank you all! I hope you're all still enjoying the story, I'm happy with how it's progressing, if you have any questions, please just ask! Enjoy!

A/N: Chapter Warnings – Potential mentions of sexual assault, violence, bad language and sexual situations.

Chapter 43 – Mornings, Articles, and Potions

Hermione opened her eyes and frowned for a moment as the memories of the previous night came flooding back to her. She had been spooked last night but she wasn't going to let it get to her. The Slytherin's had always been that way towards her and called her names. She had grown a thick skin and she would put last night behind her.

She looked up to see Severus still asleep, his arms still wrapped around her. She remembered how he had been so gentle with her last night and taken so much care with her; he'd helped her bathe and had comforted her. She looked around the room and noticed that he had even managed to get her wand back, and had got a fresh change of school uniform and her school bag for her. She was very thankful for her Severus, he was beautiful inside and out and looked so peaceful when he slept. However, a very masculine body part was wide awake and was practically demanding her attention. She gave in to his bodies demands and gently stroked him.

Severus groaned as he woke, the tell-tale feeling of arousal was flowing through his body and when he opened his eyes his suspicions were confirmed by the little minx that currently had her hand wrapped around his dick.

He sat up and kissed his Hermione on the cheek.

"Good morning love" he moaned out through the waves of pleasure.

"Morning" she giggled back.

"Are you hungry?" She asked him seductively.

Severus rose to the bait when she started gently nibbling his ear.

"Ravenous" he replied leaning in to kiss her.

She abruptly took her hand away and stood up from the bed.

"I will fetch us some breakfast then" she laughed.

Severus blinked; his still half-asleep mind was trying to catch up with what had just happened. As he watched her walk out the room in only his boxers and one of his shirts, left unbuttoned, he growled.

"Tease" he yelled after her in good humour.

He could still hear her giggling away at her own antics.

Severus got out of bed too and stretched, the dull ache in his abdomen reminded him that his bladder needed to be emptied. However, another ache a bit further south of his abdomen, let him know that his bladder's desire would have been impossible. He sighed as he looked down at his still rock hard cock.

"And you can pipe down and all" he said to his stubborn masculine pride.

He then left the room in search of his minx and found her happily sipping a cup of tea; she smiled at him when she saw him.

"You're evil" he said to her jokingly.

"Yup" she grinned at him playfully.

"Maybe I should teach you a lesson on finishing what you've started" he said in his seductive voice.

Hermione shivered, she had fully intended on giving Severus what he wanted this morning, and she was looking forward to it actually, until she noticed the time. The both of them had managed to sleep in later than intended, and breakfast had already begun in the great hall. She knew that they didn't really have enough time for even a quickie. They both needed to get ready for classes.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be a tease but have you noticed the time?" She asked.

He looked at the clock that he kept in the middle of the mantel-piece that surrounded his fire place. He nearly choked on his coffee and his eyes bulged from his head.

"Fuck" he yelled as he ran to the bathroom and began to get ready for the day.

Hermione was about to point out that he was a wizard and could have used magic to help him get ready but it was more entertaining to watch the great Severus Snape, run around in a near state of panic.

Hermione went into the bedroom and found her bag with her clothes in it. With a couple of flicks of her wand, she was fully dressed, hair tied back and ready to go about her day. She just needed to brush her teeth and wash her face.

When Severus exited the bathroom a few minutes after he'd entered it and quickly walked to his bedroom, he was stunned to see Hermione dressed and ready to go. He was confused for a moment.

'Didn't females normally spend ages getting ready?' He thought to himself.

Hermione noticed his shock and laughed at him as she held up her wand as if to say "we're magical you numpty".

Severus flushed bright red as he eyed his own wand which was still on his bedside table.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid! Call yourself a spy and you go and leave your bloody wand behind" he muttered to himself as he moved towards his wand.

Hermione was still laughing as she left the room to go to the bathroom.

A few minutes later they were both ready to go and Severus kissed his Hermione.

She sighed contentedly as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Are you alright?" He asked her.

"You startled me when you hurtled yourself through the living room" he told her.

"I'm sorry I scared you" she whispered back.

"I think I was more worried about what had scared you if anything. You were so pale and you looked like you were running without actually seeing. I didn't know what was going on" he confided.

"Thank you for everything Severus" she said to him.

Severus went to open his mouth when Hermione spoke first.

"I know, I know, 'there is no need to thank me' and all that but seriously Severus, I am very thankful" she told him.

He nodded and smiled at her.

"Come on or else we will be late and Minerva will wring my bloody neck. You may want to disillusion yourself as students will probably be wandering around the corridors.

Hermione did as he suggested and the pair of them moved towards the entrance to his rooms. Severus opened the door and paused in the doorway, giving Hermione enough time to slip out.

Severus had been right; the corridors were quite busy with students going to breakfast. When she got to the main floor, the one with the great hall on it, she made a quick side trip into the girls' bathroom. She noticed it was empty and quickly removed the disillusionment charm. She then left the bathroom and headed for breakfast.

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Upon entering the hall she walked towards her spot next to the boys, and just about noticed that the noisy hall had gone from people talking normally to more of a quiet murmur.

She briefly and imperceptibly glanced at Severus and was nervous to find that he looked angry but also he was looking at her worriedly, although she would be the only one who would notice that.

The boys were also looking at her with similar expressions as she took her place at the table.

"What's going on?" She whispered to them.

The boys glanced at each other before handing her a copy of the 'Daily Prophet'. She looked at the front page and became nervous when she saw a picture of herself and a picture of Sirius Black smeared across it. The pictures were captioned with the heading 'The Girl who Lied' and the article was, unsurprisingly, written by Rita Skeeter. Hermione began to read the article:

Former Azkaban escapee, Sirius Black, has been recaptured and placed back into the prison. It has been nearly 3 years since his escape so, what is he doing back there?

Anonymous sources have confirmed that he was returned to Azkaban by Alastor Moody, the ex-Auror, last Saturday afternoon. It is believed that he has been placed back in the prison due to the sexual assault of Hogwarts student, and the best female friend of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger.

According to my sources, Sirius Black is angry at the charges and has been repeating over and over that the Granger girl was lying about the sexual assault. Apparently, it is true that Sirius Black and Hermione Granger engaged in sexual relations, but Black is confirming that it was entirely consensual from both parties and that the accusation that it was sexual assault was just a cry for attention from the Granger girl.

As there has been no trial yet, and no witness testimonies or a scrap of evidence that has been brought forward to convict Black of the crimes he has been accused of, it leads me to believe that the Granger girl is just looking for attention after all, let's look at the facts.

1. Hermione Granger enters Hogwarts at age 11 and as soon as she learns who Harry Potter is, she attaches herself to him.

2. Hermione Granger is an unpopular, unattractive, schoolgirl and the friends she has made at Hogwarts are through her association with Harry Potter.

3. Hermione Granger, just last year she was seen getting cosy with famous Bulgarian Quidditch player, Viktor Krum. (The two were apparently dating unofficially before separating at the end of the summer term last year).

It appears to me that Hermione Granger enjoys seeking the attention of dangerous men and there is no one more dangerous than the sexy, seductive, Sirius Black (let's face it ladies). So, if Hermione Granger did happen to come across the Azkaban escapee at some point in the last year, then it makes perfect sense that she would be willing to involve herself with him.

Furthermore, Peter Pettigrew, the wizard who Sirius Black was believed to have murdered, was apparently spotted just yesterday in Knockturn Alley (see page 4). Now the Ministry is trying to deal with the public outcry because it seems as if the Ministry may have made a mistake in condemning an innocent man to a life sentence in Azkaban. The situation is being looked into and dealt with as I speak.

I feel that now this 'alleged sexual assault' charge has been made publicly known, it will bring sympathy towards, and help, Sirius Black's case. After all, the Ministry may have made a mistake once in regard to Sirius Black, who is to say that it hasn't happened again?

My personal view is that Hermione Granger is an attention seeking liar, she willingly spread her legs for the dangerous and sexually attractive, Sirius Black and when she started to have regrets about the situation, so she claimed sexual assault. She has already been involved with Harry Potter and Viktor Krum and it sounds as if she is just bored and looking to cause trouble.

So my dear readers, I would love to know what you believe about this story. If you have anything to say or any information about this story, please send me an owl and I will post your replies and any reliable information as the story develops.

Eat your heart out Hermione Granger, 'Whore of Hogwarts'.

(This article was written, edited, and published by Rita Skeeter)

Hermione dropped the paper, everyone knew, everyone knew what had happened with her and Sirius Black. She silently fumed, and willed herself not to cry knowing that all of Hogwarts was now openly staring at her. She hated Skeeter, the woman had it out for Hermione but one thing Hermione did agree on with Skeeter was the fact that she was an unpopular schoolgirl. Hermione knew that because she was unpopular, most people were likely to take Sirius' side, especially now that the whole murder sentence, for the 'death' of Peter Pettigrew, was practically crumbling. Sirius was surely going to get public sympathy and support.

Hermione noticed Ron and Harry looking worriedly at her but she promised herself she would not let the whole of Hogwarts see her vulnerable.

She calmly picked up her knife and fork and began to dig into her breakfast.

"Have you boys done your homework for potions this morning? You know Professor Snape is going to kill you otherwise" she chastised them as she normally would.

Harry and Ron took the hint and followed her lead in going about their normal routine.

"You know us Hermione, always leave it til the last minute" Ron grinned at her.

Hermione sighed exasperated at them but grinned back at them anyway.

The rest of the hall, including the teachers were fairly subdued for the rest of breakfast but soon the near silence was broken by the bell ringing, signalling that students should be making their way to classes.

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The Slytherin's and Umbridge went about their business in a smug ambience, they were thrilled to see the 'golden girl' knocked down a peg and degraded and humiliated in front of the whole wizarding world.

To make matters worse Hermione's first class was potions, shared with the Slytherin's. As they were waiting outside Professor Snape's classroom, the Slytherin's had begun talking about her. The words 'whore' 'liar' 'attention seeking slut' and their new personal favourite 'mudslut' were being tossed around and Hermione could not have been more thankful when Severus showed up, nearly ten minutes earlier than he normally would for the lesson. He told the students to sit and prepare for the lesson. He noticed that Harry and Ron had taken a seat either side of Hermione in a defensive and protective manner and that Draco had opted to take the seat behind her, so he was literally watching her back.

Severus tried not to look openly worried about his Hermione but it was difficult, she looked lost and scared again and some of the sparkle that she had back in her eye had dimmed again and he could think of nothing more in that moment than wanting to find the Skeeter woman and show her what 'dangerous' really meant.

He could hear the class murmuring about the article and sending subtle glances in Hermione's direction. He knew he needed to get them to stop.

"As...interesting...as this morning's events have been. I now insist that you focus on your lessons" he began in that disinterested teachers voice of his.

He then sent subtle glances in Hermione's direction as he spoke the next words to the rest of the class.

"If I hear any of you breathing a word about anything other than potions, then I can promise you there will be hell to pay. If you feel that you cannot restrain yourselves from idle gossip, I suggest you leave now and you can come back and tell me all about it in, what I guarantee, will be the worst detentions of your lives. You have been warned" he glared at the class.

The class all nodded shakily at Severus' tone and he knew that he had regained the class's attention.

"Now, onto today's lesson..." he said as he wrote the ingredients down on the board and told the class to get moving.

Hermione was thankful for Severus' words. They may have sounded like a threat to the class but to her, she understood the underlying message in his words. Severus had meant that if he heard anyone talking about the article then they would have him to answer to, that if they had anything to say about the article then they would talk to him about it and not Hermione and above all, he was subtly telling them all to leave her alone. She knew the Slytherin's would understand that last part too and she hoped that, after Severus' words, they valued their lives more than they valued gossip from Skeeter.

She knew this was going to be a long day.

As predicted, Hermione went through the school day accompanied by whispers, stares and insults; it was just like first year all over again. Of course, the students were going to side with Sirius Black; it gave them something to do and a reason to make another person miserable for their entertainment. Hermione sighed, why can't life just be simple?

Hermione entered the common room, it was dinner time and Hermione did not feel like eating and so she opted for the quiet sanctuary that was her dormitory instead. She lay on her bed doing her homework assignments and allowing her thoughts to drift. There was nothing much else that she could do, Ron's birthday was coming up soon so she decided to figure out what she would purchase for him. She was thankful to both Ron and Harry this year, although they had been a bit awful to her when she needed them, they were here for her now and for that, she was thankful.

Soon, her dorm mates came back from dinner and paused upon seeing Hermione doing her homework. They went and sat on Parvati's bed and had a very loud discussion about the article.

"Well, it is true what it says about her in here, she did latch herself onto Harry and Krum pretty quickly" Lavender 'whispered' to Parvati.

"I know, to be fair, she had it coming. You shouldn't dish it out if you can't take it back" Parvati agreed.

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes, knowing that the two girls were sneaking glances at her. Hermione decided that she couldn't stay there with them all night and their bitching so she picked up her books and her bag and headed for the library, ignoring her dorm mates stares as she did so.

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She got half-way to the library before deciding that she would risk another disillusionment charm and make her way down to the dungeons and to the room that she and Draco often met in. She cast the charm and slowly made her way down.

"I wondered if I would see you down here tonight" Draco said as she entered the room.

She shut the door behind her and Draco gave her a big hug. They sat down on their sofa and were quiet for a while.

"Are you alright? He asked her.

She shrugged.

"Better than I thought I would be but not great" she admitted.

"It will be alright, something else will come along eventually and they will latch onto that gossip and they will practically forget about this. They're just attacking you because it gives them something to do in their boring lives" Draco told her.

"Also, I did try to warn you, I had heard the other boys in my dorms talking about the situation. Apparently one of the guards at Azkaban that has been dealing with Black's situation is a cousin of one of the sixth years and needless to say once the information got out and into the hands of the sixth year, there was no stopping it. I tried to do some damage control and I went to warn Severus about it this morning but he had already left his rooms when I got there. But then with the article, I really don't think it would have mattered much" Draco said sadly.

"It wouldn't have mattered, not with that article but thanks Draco, I appreciate the gesture all the same" she said, she really was happy to have found a friend in Draco.

"Also, I have a present for you that I think you will like" he told her.

She looked at him with a ghost of a smile on her face.

"Yeah? What did you get me-"she started to ask, but was cut off when the door to their sanctuary opened and an apparent stranger wandered in.

"Ah Severus, right on time" Draco grinned.