Disclaimer: It all belongs to JKR. No infringement intended.

Rating: R for language and sexual situations.

Pairing: Severus/Hermione

 

Lightning Strikes

 

by Auror Borealis

 

 

Chapter 10

 

Callie watched out of the window of the Headmaster's office as Ron walked through the grounds with Cho. They walked close together, not hand in hand, but obviously deep in earnest discussion. Harry approached them, dressed for Quidditch practice and carrying his broom. Even from here, she could see the pleased smile on Harry's face, the uncertainty on Ron's. Ron smiled as Harry gave him a friendly clap on the shoulder and went on his way. Callie breathed a sigh of relief; she hadn't caused any trouble between the two friends with her interference, thank goodness. If only things had gone so well with her parents…

"I do not believe in paradoxes, Miss Snape," said Dumbledore, and she turned back to face him. "If you are here, such influence as you have in this time will only affect the future as it is meant to be affected. I know that Professor McGonagall disagrees with me on this, and has told you as much."

"But they hate each other, Professor. They would never have thought of each other – that way – without me to make them think of it. And now my mum's so sad, and my father is just so – so grouchy. I've just messed things up."

"It was, I'll admit, a bit – Slytherin – of you to arrange for them to be alone in such potentially romantic circumstances." He smiled. "But once you got them there, the rest was up to them. It is not your fault that things became somewhat messy."

"Messy? He completely botched it." Callie was amazed that she could feel so comfortable discussing this with the Headmaster, but she knew him well enough to know that it was because he wanted her to feel comfortable. She didn't know how he accomplished it, but it probably wasn't any great trick for the man who was almost universally acknowledged as the greatest living wizard in the world.

"I handed him my mother, all to himself, on a stormy night by a cozy fireside. All he had to do was be nice to her, and he couldn't manage that. He loves her in my time; he'd never treat her like that. And his moodiness doesn't upset her then, either." Callie had asked for, and received, the story from Harry – carefully edited for his listener's youth and emotional involvement. "I don't want them to split up before even get started."

Dumbledore sighed. "I cannot encourage an involvement between a professor and a student, of course. But I also cannot allow hostility to fester between them. While I believe that people should in general be allowed to solve their own problems, there have been times I should have interfered, and did not. When one lives as long as I do, one acquires many regrets; I do not wish to add to them if it can be helped." Callie was curious about his last statement, but did not ask him to explain it. He opened a drawer in his desk, and withdrew an object that looked a bit like a Remembrall, but was filled with what looked like tiny dials and gauges. Some of them were still, and some were spinning slowly. He handed it to her.

"Take this to Professor Snape, child. He'll know what it is, and what to do with it."

 

 

Snape regarded the Extemporis with misgiving. He had never used one before, had indeed never seen one before, except in books. There was only one possible use that Dumbledore could have envisioned when he sent it, but Severus wasn't sure it could make all that much difference. Technically the user (or users, he thought) stepped outside of time. Temporal relationships, such as that of teacher to student, for instance, ceased to have meaning. But one couldn't stay in the cocoon of the Extemporis forever, and the moment one re-entered the time stream, it was to find nothing changed. Whatever understanding they had come to, if any, he and Hermione would dance on the horns of the same dilemma when they returned. Assuming, of course, that he could convince her to go with him in the first place. He smiled slightly at the thought of inviting her on this particular date – or more to the point, the lack of date.

He wasn't sure at what point in his ruminations he decided he'd try. One moment, he was reflecting on the pointlessness of it all, and the next, he was striding to the kitchens to order provisions enough to last two people for a couple of days, to be delivered to his rooms. He did not assume they would stay that long; he only wanted to make sure that if they did, they would not be driven out by their stomachs. Now to see if the girl was willing. He did not summon her to the dungeons. Instinctively he knew that doing so would make her more difficult to convince. Instead, damning the gossips in advance, he took the unfamiliar path to Gryffindor Tower.

The Fat Lady looked at him dubiously as he stood in front of her.

"Good afternoon," he said.

"Good afternoon, Professor. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I've come to see Hermione Granger. Is she here?"

The Fat Lady considered for a moment. "I'm not certain." This was a lie, of course. She knew at any given moment who was in Gryffindor, and who was not. "I'll have to ask." She left the frame, and several long minutes later, Nearly Headless Nick drifted out of the wall.

"Are you on school business, Professor?"

"No, Sir Nicholas. My errand is personal."

The ghost nodded. "In that case, Miss Granger does not wish to see you."

Snape was not easily balked. "Could you tell her that I said 'please?'" Nick was nonplussed. He drifted back through the stone wall. When he reappeared, he did not clear the stone completely. He looked apprehensive.

"She wants you to say 'pretty please.'"

Snape scowled so fiercely that Nearly Headless Nick retreated almost all of the way back into the wall. Did she want him to kneel and kiss her feet, too? And would he do it, he wondered.

"Oh, very well. Pretty please."

The Gryffindor ghost vanished instantly. A few moments later, the portrait swung open, and Hermione emerged.

"Did you enjoy that, Miss Granger?"

She looked up at him defiantly. "Oh, yes. Very, very much."

This was not going to be easy, he mused. They walked away from Gryffindor, and he told her about the Extemporis. Unsurprisingly, she already knew all about them. What did surprise him was her ready acquiescence to his suggestion.

"When do we go?" she asked.

"I see no reason to wait, if you are ready. We'll be back as soon as we left, after all."

He led her down to the dungeons and into his rooms. A large basket was on the table; the House Elves were certainly efficient, he thought, but then again, that was why they were there. He took the Extemporis out of his cloak and held it in his left hand while he used his wand to bathe the small suite of rooms in soft blue light, marking out the area that would be affected by the Extemporis. He held up the little glass ball and pointed his wand at it, and the blue light disappeared. All the dials on the device went still.

Nothing appeared to be any different, but of course the Extemporis had worked as it should. They were now outside of time.

 

 

They sat once again in the chairs before the fireplace. He pointed his wand, and a fire sprang to life in the grate. None of them spoke for the space of what seemed at least an hour.

Hermione broke the silence.

"Why did you send me away?"

"Whatever may happen in the future, Hermione, you are a student, and I am your teacher. It would be unethical for me to become involved with you. No matter how much I want to."

"And you do want to?"

"I should have thought that was clear enough."

"No, not even close. You kissed me like – like that – and then you told me to get out. You told me to go do Harry, for god's sake. I don't know why I didn't. He's awfully cute."

The flare of jealousy didn't last long. He knew she was baiting him.

"You know why I had to make you go, Hermione. I regret having been unkind in doing so."

To his surprise, her hand came to rest on his. "I know. At least I know that now. I just thought you were being your usual evil self." He looked over to see a mischievous smile on her lips. He took her hand in his, gripping it tightly.

"I'm not your student right now," she said.

"Only because there is, technically, no 'right now.' The distinction is so slight, it hardly matters that it exists."

"It exists, all right." Hermione picked up the Extemporis and secreted it inside her robes.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure you appreciate the distinction you claim not to be able to see. We're not leaving here until you finish what you started. Or do you want me to think you're a tease?"

Gryffindors were known for their boldness, but this was breathtaking.

"Give me that, Hermione."

"Do you want it?" She stood and danced away from him, smiling seductively. "Come and get it."