Part 11

Beth Ann - You can't think of any more blackmail threats? Wahaha- I mean, what a shame. g

Anastasia, Dantae Ophydain, Jenny, Mykerinos, Tracy, - Thank you!

It's Never Us! - Trust me, you cannot compare me to the great JKR. I am but dust under her feet, really!

Snape81 - Yes, perhaps I made Sirius to be a bit nastier than he should have been, oops.

Strega Brava, Tegan - Well, I hope this chapter will live up to your expectations.

Zoe - No, no, don't panic...



A/N: I have tried to keep Sev in character for this chapter, but if you think I've failed you may blame me.

Later that night.....

A favourite pastime of Filch was to patrol the corridors with Professor Snape (and Mrs Norris of course), looking for Students Out Of Bed After Curfew. He took a sly pleasure too in watching the Head of Slytherin reduce a caught student to a cringing mess with a few acid words. Tonight though, when Filch made his periodic reports to him he noticed that the professor seemed unusually restless - edgy, even, but Filch knew better than to enquire.

While he unfortunately lacked powers that would qualify him as a proper Slytherin, Filch did have an unerring instinct to know when and where truant students were, and tonight was no exception. He had just seen two students make their separate ways towards the Astronomy Tower, but instead of heading after the miscreants immediately, he felt that this particular job would be one that the Potions Master would enjoy, oh yes. With Mrs Norris padding silently alongside him he hurried up to Professor Snape who was silently patrolling a corridor near the library.

"It's a bonanza tonight, professor and no mistake - I just spotted some of them Gryffindor brats heading up to the Astronomy Tower - the ones always causing mischief!" Filch smirked, rubbing his hands together.

Professor Snape's head turned to his, the moonlight shining through the windows casting his profile into sharp contrasts of light and deepest shadow.

"It's probably Potter and Weasley again," Severus said grimly. "Let's go."

Filch smirked. "No sign of Potter - but it's that Weasley all right - and Miss Hermione as well - I could tell it was them both. Probably up to a bit of you-know-what!", he cackled. (Catching students 'in the act' so to speak was priceless)

Professor Snape froze for a moment and there was the sound of a faint, indrawn breath, then he spoke and his voice was its usual soft deadliness. "I'll deal with this - alone."

Filch smiled greasily. "Happy hunting, professor," he said - but the other Slytherin had already turned away swiftly, his black robes flying around him as he swept away down the corridor to the tower.

Meanwhile, under the moon and on the tower a question was asked and answered, and then Hermione, quiet and self-contained in her plain black robe and plaited hair, stayed behind to breathe the night air. Ron had left and for now she needed some time to compose herself. She had made her choice and now she would live with it.

Eventually she sighed and turning around went to the stairs, making her way down as silently as possible - she had had the feeling on her way here that Filch had spotted her. The last thing she felt like was a detention.

However, when she was at the bottom of the stairs she saw to her alarm a tall, thin and familiar shadow detach itself from the darkness. It was Professor Snape, the last person she wanted to see right now. He stared down at her through narrowed dark eyes and involuntarily Hermione flinched and took a step back.

An unreadable expression flickered on his face for a second then he curtly said to her "You know the rules by now - come with me", and turning walked away, not bothering to check if she was following.

Alternating between feeling churned up inside and fuming at his arrogance, Hermione bit her lip and followed him down to the dungeons, keeping as much distance between her and him as she could. A torch set into the walls of the dungeon stairs flickered to life as they silently passed by - Professor Snape had not bothered to say another word to her.

Hermione had been in this situation before; most Gryffindors had. If Professor Snape caught you after curfew, he took you to his classroom and made you sweep the floor with a toothbrush or sandpaper the desks if he felt there was too much gum or graffiti on them. His view was that if you had the energy to sneak out at night then you would be able to carry out any task he thought of.

Severus was acutely aware of the wariness with which Hermione followed him, unable to forget the brief look of horror in her eyes when she had seen him. What had happened between her and Ron? He wondered. She had come down alone and he had not sensed Weasley's presence nearby.

Hermione uneasily wondered what onerous task he would set her this time. Once they reached his classroom and he had called fire to the fireplace with a single barked word, he turned around to her, his arms folded across his chest and his face grim.

"How serious are matters between yourself and Weasley?" he demanded.

Hermione was taken aback and stared at him in shock. She hadn't expected him to say this! Then her chin lifted. "That's none of your business!" she said defiantly.

His eyes glittered. "As I've just caught you out of bed after curfew, and that you and Ron were seen going up to the Astronomy Tower, I think it is my business," he said curtly.

Hermione was determined not to make this easy for him; angry at the bittersweet yearning she was starting to feel for him again.

"All right, you've caught me", she said shortly, looking at him levelly. "Tell me what desks you want scrubbed this time and I'll get on with it."

Professor Snape glared down at her. "He's not good or worthy enough for you - surely you can do better than him!"

Now Hermione was furious. Professor Snape had set out to seduce her and had hurt her - now he thought he had the right to criticise the people she went out with! All right, she was sorry for his past but pity only went so far. "Well, I can't see anyone 'worthier' than him!", she retorted. "Especially in here!"

Professor Snape's face froze. "Hermione, listen...."

But with her pent-up hurt rising to the surface finally, Hermione was determined to wound. "If you really want to know how 'serious' it is between Ron and I, then known this - just before he told me he wanted the rest of his life to have me in it, permanently", she snapped. "I've always dreamed of having a lovely wedding dress," she added.

Professor Snape's head jerked as if she had slapped him. "A wedding", he said hollowly.

[What's happening?] Hermione thought with a bewildered and growing horror. She had entertained improbably daydreams where Severus had declared that he loved her and had begged her forgiveness, a suitable soundtrack by John Williams playing melodramatically in the background. But now, watching spirit as well as temper visibly drain from him, it was not so enjoyable to watch at all.

She had expected a caustic reply from him, not this pained response as if...as if he did care for her.

"I deserved to hear that, didn't I?" he continued in a flat, dull voice utterly unlike his usual silky one and his eyes were glittering in a strange way. "I hurt you when I shouldn't have, and now you really are lost to me." He turned away and drifted over to the fireplace, straightening his shoulders with an effort as he stared down into the flames. "Just go - there won't be any detention", he said quietly.

He realised he hadn't felt this...upset since he had discovered Clara's betrayal. But this time it was all of his doing. His fault. The dream he had had wasn't just a warning, but a promise of an event to come. No..

Hermione felt a tear run down her cheek and she walked slowly up to him. "I turned Ron down", she said softly.

There was a sudden silence then Severus turned his dark head a fraction in her direction. "What did you say?" he said queerly.

Hermione coughed to clear her throat. "I uh, couldn't marry him. Not now, not ever. There's someone I can't quite get out of my mind yet, you see", she said quietly, softly placing a hand on his back. He slowly turned, and on his pale cheek Hermione saw a faint gleam, as if a tear had run down his face.

"You still care...even though I hurt you? You're crying..." he said in a strained voice and with a slightly trembling hand he reached towards her face to pat the tear away. Hermione quivered under his touch and he paused, clearly thinking that she was repulsed by his touch, but she reached up and clasped his hand, staring at his face searchingly. Did he care for her or was he just reacting from wounded pride?

"There's part of me that still cares for you, Professor, I can't help it. But would it really have mattered so much if I had married Ron eventually? You never said you cared for me, you know." Her words were said simply and flatly, but in her eyes there was sadness.

He spoke with an effort, as if the words, though genuine, were hard for someone of his nature to utter. "I apologise for wronging you...I was cruel without cause. It wasn't until I saw you with Weasley did I realise I had lost something of great value after all. I..love you."

There was a lump in Hermione's throat that prevented her from speaking - though she would have been at a loss at what to say to ease the bleakness on his face. In the end she simply stepped up to him and embraced him with silent forgiveness, laying her head against his chest. She heard him give a deep, shuddering sigh and then felt him carefully embrace her in return as if she was fine china, his dark head resting over hers.

No words were said in this, two people seeking to know each other again, or to perhaps know each other properly for the first time. Hermione turned her head slightly, rubbing her cheek against the soft black cloth of his robes and the black buttons that ran up his body. She inhaled and smelt the exotic scent of spell ingredients that clung to him.

For his part Severus knew sheer relief at holding the Gryffindor in his arms again, and disbelief as well at the second chance he had been improbably given. Life was good for once. She had turned Weasley down. He would have victory over Sirius and perhaps get to laugh in his face. He inhaled the pleasant scent of her hair and ran his hand gently down her back.

He wanted to kiss her, but just a single kiss this time. No rushing. He brought his hands up to gently clasp her face and tilt it up to his, saw the wary consent in her cinnamon eyes as he bent to kiss her. Just one kiss.

He wanted to kiss her. Hermione let him, and she could tell that it would be just a simple kiss. No rushing. It was better this way, she knew. Just one kiss.

But when their lips met, their denied yearnings and love for the other flared in them, and they saw the knowledge of this in the others eyes as they froze and stared at each other.

Just one kiss? Who had they been fooling..