Beth Ann - You'll have to see!
clarity, JoeBob1379, Mara456, Raija Darknight, - I'm glad you liked the last chapter!
DarkFire, Kylee, Ripper - Thanks for liking my story!
Debbi - Wow, that's the biggest review I've ever had, thank you! (bows) Yes, I would have loved to wipe snow from his face as well.
gorgegirl - You'll find out, I promise.
Moi - I giggled at your description of Hermione as Hermi-Wan Kenobie, very amusing.
snapefan51, Zoe - Yes, I've tried to give Hermione a few brains and some wariness of Sev.
Tegan - Yes, at times I am the Queen of Evil Cliffhangers, with still a few to come (evil laugh).
Part 8
Alarmed, Severus saw he was losing ground with Hermione and sought to regain it. This wasn't going as he had planned! "Hermione, you would want for nothing!" he said, his voice low and insistent.
Hermione stared back at him, her face pale as she silently cursed herself for being a fool. She felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dashed at her face. He wanted her, that was true - but there was no love on his part. Oh, it was tempting to say yes, she would be his mistress, but at the end of the day she would feel like a whore. If the love in the relationship was one-sided, then perhaps even that would turn to bitter ash in her heart.
Silently, Hermione cursed Professor Snape's fiancée, the treacherous Clara. Was blame to laid at her feet for twisting the professor's heart? Was this Clara's fault?
She realised she had spoken these last words aloud when Professor Snape's face froze, and the temperature in the classroom dropped abruptly.
"Clara - you know about her?" he said slowly, his eyes narrowing and turning a flat, hard black.
Hermione bit her lip. How could she have been so careless? "Yes," she said hastily, "but only because I accidentally overheard a conversation about her, once."
There was a look of anger and betrayal in his eyes. "You knew all along, didn't you, you wretched girl," he said through gritted teeth. "That's why you gave me that cake the other day - you felt sorry for me!"
"No!" Hermione protested in alarm, but he didn't listen. "I don't want your pity!" he snapped, looming over her. "Get out of here!"
Hermione flinched. "Severus, wait," she said, calling him by his first name. His eyes glittered coldly and he folded his arms across his chest as if he was in pain. "That's 'Professor' to you. And I believe I gave you an order!" he hissed.
Hermione blinked, then turned and fled the classroom before he saw the tears that were starting to run down her face. As she ran up the stairs away from the dungeons she heard the crash and tinkle of something being flung against a wall behind her.
Wanting the refuge of her tower, she ran along the empty corridors, the cheerful Christmas decorations hanging along the walls somehow seeming to mock her.
A shaggy dog that was resting in a patch of weak winter sunlight in an unused classroom saw the distraught girl rush past, and perking up his ear gave a questioning bark. Leaping to his feet in human form Professor Sirius Black hurried out of the classroom, his messy robes flapping and a look of grim worry on his face.
Hermione paused when she heard Sirius call her name. Hurriedly she managed to put a questioning expression on her face, but was unable to hide the misery in her eyes as she turned and faced him.
On reaching her he looked at her questioningly. "Hermione, what's wrong? You looked like the hounds of hell were chasing you."
"Nothing," Hermione said tersely.
Sirius snorted. "Nothing, hell!" Then as he looked at her closely, noting the direction she had come from and her swollen mouth, his face grew grim. "You went to see Snape and he hurt you, didn't he? Why, I'll go and rip his...", he paused when Hermione raised her hand sharply to silence him.
"Professor, don't. He didn't hurt me, not in the way that you think," she said wearily. "I was a fool, that's all. But what I want to know is whether you know anything about Clara, and what she did to him. I have to know."
A refusal to tell her anything was on his lips, but then out of pity Sirius relented. He had warned her about Snape and instead she had chosen to discover the truth of his warning the hard way. Poor kid, she certainly deserved better than that. He gave a gusty sigh. "All right, I'll tell you what I know. But some of it isn't pretty," he warned as he led her to the empty classroom he had been in.
Once they were both seated at a table, Sirius conjured up a gently steaming plate of potato wedges with sour cream on top (A/N - very tasty in winter!) to appear in front of Hermione. "Dig in, you look like you could do with some food right now," he said gruffly.
"Thanks," Hermione said gratefully, reaching for the hot food.
Sirius looked thoughtfully down at the desk that was covered with countless initials scratched into the wood, idly tracing an ink-stained finger over ones he had put there once as a teenager as he gathered his thoughts.
"It was before your time of course," he said slowly. I'm only telling you what I've heard from others, including Dumbledore. After he broke away from Voldemort, Snape had a hard time fitting into life here. Well, most of it was because he was an arrogant git like he had always been and the fact that hardly anyone trusted or liked him, and still don't to this day."
"Then one day a woman called Clara Thistledark turns up on the doorstep of Hogwarts, looking half-dead and terrified. A gorgeous blonde she was apparently, once she cleaned herself up. Well, she had been a minor Deatheater but had broken away like Snape had, seeking shelter here because she knew Dumbledore had been lenient with Snape. Snape was one of those who questioned her, but found a kindred spirit in her, and she in him or so he thought."
Hermione stared at him intently. "I heard they were engaged, and that he found her with another man..."
Sirius grunted. "That's only half the story. It took a while but eventually they were inseparable, and Snape being smitten with a woman for the first time in his life asked her to marry him. At Christmas they were spending the holidays together in that drafty castle of his up north, but on Christmas Eve the whole ugly truth came out when he found her in bed with a servant. It was all part of a plot, you see."
Hermione looked confused, shocked pity in her heart. "What do you mean, a plot?"
Sirius looked grim. "Clara had never left Voldemort, Hermione. She was a willing tool for his revenge on Snape, the Deatheater who left him, and she took pleasure in telling Snape this and that he was ah, a lousy lover before she apparated back to her master."
"After you and Harry defeated Voldemort, Snape took great pleasure in making sure she was sent to Azkaban with the rest of the Deatheaters."
"She died a year later."
clarity, JoeBob1379, Mara456, Raija Darknight, - I'm glad you liked the last chapter!
DarkFire, Kylee, Ripper - Thanks for liking my story!
Debbi - Wow, that's the biggest review I've ever had, thank you! (bows) Yes, I would have loved to wipe snow from his face as well.
gorgegirl - You'll find out, I promise.
Moi - I giggled at your description of Hermione as Hermi-Wan Kenobie, very amusing.
snapefan51, Zoe - Yes, I've tried to give Hermione a few brains and some wariness of Sev.
Tegan - Yes, at times I am the Queen of Evil Cliffhangers, with still a few to come (evil laugh).
Part 8
Alarmed, Severus saw he was losing ground with Hermione and sought to regain it. This wasn't going as he had planned! "Hermione, you would want for nothing!" he said, his voice low and insistent.
Hermione stared back at him, her face pale as she silently cursed herself for being a fool. She felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dashed at her face. He wanted her, that was true - but there was no love on his part. Oh, it was tempting to say yes, she would be his mistress, but at the end of the day she would feel like a whore. If the love in the relationship was one-sided, then perhaps even that would turn to bitter ash in her heart.
Silently, Hermione cursed Professor Snape's fiancée, the treacherous Clara. Was blame to laid at her feet for twisting the professor's heart? Was this Clara's fault?
She realised she had spoken these last words aloud when Professor Snape's face froze, and the temperature in the classroom dropped abruptly.
"Clara - you know about her?" he said slowly, his eyes narrowing and turning a flat, hard black.
Hermione bit her lip. How could she have been so careless? "Yes," she said hastily, "but only because I accidentally overheard a conversation about her, once."
There was a look of anger and betrayal in his eyes. "You knew all along, didn't you, you wretched girl," he said through gritted teeth. "That's why you gave me that cake the other day - you felt sorry for me!"
"No!" Hermione protested in alarm, but he didn't listen. "I don't want your pity!" he snapped, looming over her. "Get out of here!"
Hermione flinched. "Severus, wait," she said, calling him by his first name. His eyes glittered coldly and he folded his arms across his chest as if he was in pain. "That's 'Professor' to you. And I believe I gave you an order!" he hissed.
Hermione blinked, then turned and fled the classroom before he saw the tears that were starting to run down her face. As she ran up the stairs away from the dungeons she heard the crash and tinkle of something being flung against a wall behind her.
Wanting the refuge of her tower, she ran along the empty corridors, the cheerful Christmas decorations hanging along the walls somehow seeming to mock her.
A shaggy dog that was resting in a patch of weak winter sunlight in an unused classroom saw the distraught girl rush past, and perking up his ear gave a questioning bark. Leaping to his feet in human form Professor Sirius Black hurried out of the classroom, his messy robes flapping and a look of grim worry on his face.
Hermione paused when she heard Sirius call her name. Hurriedly she managed to put a questioning expression on her face, but was unable to hide the misery in her eyes as she turned and faced him.
On reaching her he looked at her questioningly. "Hermione, what's wrong? You looked like the hounds of hell were chasing you."
"Nothing," Hermione said tersely.
Sirius snorted. "Nothing, hell!" Then as he looked at her closely, noting the direction she had come from and her swollen mouth, his face grew grim. "You went to see Snape and he hurt you, didn't he? Why, I'll go and rip his...", he paused when Hermione raised her hand sharply to silence him.
"Professor, don't. He didn't hurt me, not in the way that you think," she said wearily. "I was a fool, that's all. But what I want to know is whether you know anything about Clara, and what she did to him. I have to know."
A refusal to tell her anything was on his lips, but then out of pity Sirius relented. He had warned her about Snape and instead she had chosen to discover the truth of his warning the hard way. Poor kid, she certainly deserved better than that. He gave a gusty sigh. "All right, I'll tell you what I know. But some of it isn't pretty," he warned as he led her to the empty classroom he had been in.
Once they were both seated at a table, Sirius conjured up a gently steaming plate of potato wedges with sour cream on top (A/N - very tasty in winter!) to appear in front of Hermione. "Dig in, you look like you could do with some food right now," he said gruffly.
"Thanks," Hermione said gratefully, reaching for the hot food.
Sirius looked thoughtfully down at the desk that was covered with countless initials scratched into the wood, idly tracing an ink-stained finger over ones he had put there once as a teenager as he gathered his thoughts.
"It was before your time of course," he said slowly. I'm only telling you what I've heard from others, including Dumbledore. After he broke away from Voldemort, Snape had a hard time fitting into life here. Well, most of it was because he was an arrogant git like he had always been and the fact that hardly anyone trusted or liked him, and still don't to this day."
"Then one day a woman called Clara Thistledark turns up on the doorstep of Hogwarts, looking half-dead and terrified. A gorgeous blonde she was apparently, once she cleaned herself up. Well, she had been a minor Deatheater but had broken away like Snape had, seeking shelter here because she knew Dumbledore had been lenient with Snape. Snape was one of those who questioned her, but found a kindred spirit in her, and she in him or so he thought."
Hermione stared at him intently. "I heard they were engaged, and that he found her with another man..."
Sirius grunted. "That's only half the story. It took a while but eventually they were inseparable, and Snape being smitten with a woman for the first time in his life asked her to marry him. At Christmas they were spending the holidays together in that drafty castle of his up north, but on Christmas Eve the whole ugly truth came out when he found her in bed with a servant. It was all part of a plot, you see."
Hermione looked confused, shocked pity in her heart. "What do you mean, a plot?"
Sirius looked grim. "Clara had never left Voldemort, Hermione. She was a willing tool for his revenge on Snape, the Deatheater who left him, and she took pleasure in telling Snape this and that he was ah, a lousy lover before she apparated back to her master."
"After you and Harry defeated Voldemort, Snape took great pleasure in making sure she was sent to Azkaban with the rest of the Deatheaters."
"She died a year later."
