Spoilers: Goblet of Fire
I received my first flame yesterday :( Ah well, I guess it had to be expected (which doesn't mean I like it). So, let's be clear once and for all. I welcome any constructive criticism, because I know my writing is not perfect. As for flamers, they can scour the dungeons without magic while I study Potions with Severus! Anyway, it didn't stop me from continuing the story (though I can't say I'm satisfied with this chapter, but if I keep rewriting it, it will soon be longer than the whole fic!) Oh, and one last thing: this story is not canon with The Order of the Phoenix.
Rosmerta: I hope I didn't make you wait too long :) And yes, English is my second language. I'll make the changes about the pronouns as soon as I can (though it will always seem funny to me grin)
Danric-Lover: yes, I wanted to surprise people. I don't wish to be to predictable :) Please, no drastic measures! I'm nice, see? :)
Lashmi: yes, I agree, the chapter was loaded with events, but I wasn't that sure I could last two chapters on the subject... And I thought that maybe, you would want to know the answer :)
"Miss Granger, please do not share your fantasies with us!" snapped Severus.
"It's not a fantasy!" she shot back, matching his anger with her own. "I know how your lips feel against mine, I know how they taste and I know that you know mine too. Deep down inside of you, you know. Don't you dare to deny it!"
Realising what she had just said, she put her hands on her mouth, her eyes wide. Their gazes remained locked for a moment before she dropped her eyes and her hands and clenched the armrests of her seat, her cheeks a flaming red. Severus kept looking at her, at her lips he had watched so often recently and he remembered… that he never wondered how they tasted, because he already knew.
He blanched and the twinkle in Albus's eyes disappeared.
"Maybe if we started from the beginning…"
She looked pleadingly at him and his voice turned dry.
"Miss Granger, without any other explanations than the words you just said and Severus's reaction, I will have to expel you and sack Severus."
She started and paled, shaking her head in denial.
"Then Miss Granger, maybe you should elaborate on your answer."
She sighed and looked down at her hands, now resting in her lap.
"It began after the Christmas holidays in my sixth year. I was… uh… by the Forbidden Forest and–"
"What were you doing there?"
She cringed and mumbled something incomprehensible.
"Try again."
"I was practicing my flying skills for my Animagus form."
Severus wondered how many shocks he would be able to stand before turning mad.
"What form is it?" asked Albus, sounding rather interested.
"Sparrow hawk," she murmured.
"Which explains probably why Filch never managed to catch you in the Astronomy Tower after curfew," said Severus dryly, pulling himself together.
"So, you were by the Forbidden Forest…"
"Yes. Professor Snape suddenly appeared and collapsed on the ground. I… I landed, transformed back and went to him. He seemed rather… delirious so I… I took him in my arms and comforted him," she said in a whisper.
A young woman was by his side, talking to him, but he couldn't hear the words. He couldn't even see her face, though her voice sounded familiar. He was hurting so much he couldn't think clearly and he wanted to get away from Voldemort, to go back to Hogwarts, to his dungeons and forget the pain. He felt hands on his shoulders and tried to claw at them. Words were whispered in his ear, repeated over and over, until they finally sank in his mind.
"You are safe."
He looked at Hermione and remembered the first words she had written after the accident in Defence Against the Dark Arts. You are safe. She looked away, guiltily.
She forced herself to continue.
"He… told me a lot of things, about his spying, how he wanted to die but you made him promise not to kill himself… During this time, I never let go of him. After a while, he… he truly noticed me, not just as a comforting presence and he… he kissed me."
Severus groaned and hid his face in his hands.
"Did… did I try something else?" he asked without looking up.
"Yes," she admitted, turning red. "I… I stunned you before you could though."
"Miss Granger, I'm sorry–"
"I know you were delirious," she interrupted hastily, her cheeks flaming.
"What happened next?" Albus probed, looking without sympathy at Severus.
"I waited for the night and levitated him back to his quarters. Then… I cast a Memory Charm on him and left."
"How could you enter? You don't know my password!"
Hermione blushed furiously.
"I made you give me the password…" she said with a small voice.
They were in front of his door, Severus's body floating next to her. Sighing, she took her wand and murmured:
"Enervate."
He opened his eyes when he felt a breath on his lips.
"What is the password?" murmured a soft voice, her lips brushing against his.
His hand went behind her neck as he kissed her longingly before answering:
"Nocturnis."
He didn't remember what happened next.
"Why… why didn't I remember any of this before? I've had dreams recently, I thought they were only dreams…"
She shifted uncomfortably.
"I didn't put a full Memory Charm on you, because you would wonder too much. It's just that… the more you think of what happened, the more the memory escapes you. And… I am a trigger to your memory," she admitted. "I didn't know we would be spending so much time together."
"Take off the charm," he commanded harshly.
She sighed and obeyed. His eyes grew wide as the blurred memories stopped to shun him.
He looked up, finally noticing he was in the arms of a woman, who was cooing gentle words to him. He felt comfortable and, for once, wished the feeling didn't go away. He snaked an arm around her waist. She seemed surprised, but didn't stop him. He pulled her to the ground next to him and buried his face against her, breathing her fresh scent. Her arms closed around him and she hummed a soft tune, rumbling under his cheek. His hands began to go up and down her ribs in a caressing motion and still she didn't push him away, running her fingers through his hair instead and continuing to hum.
He lifted his head a bit and his hand pushed her robes open. Seeing the uniform of a student didn't stop him, though he would never touch a student in his normal state of mind. He heard a sharp intake of breath and looked up into the fearful eyes of Hermione Granger. He stared at her for a moment before lowering his lips to hers. She didn't scream in disgust, she didn't shove him away, she just remained perfectly still as he deepened the kiss. His kisses grew more urgent as he wanted her to respond to him. Her hands started caressing his back in a relaxing movement, easing his pain away just with her concern, her lips moving under his. He was used to pain, but not to gentleness, and it was overwhelming his senses. He nuzzled her neck and began exploring her body with his hands…
Once again, Severus buried his face in his hands, trying to hide his shame.
"Miss Granger," he said, his voice muffled, "I can't tell you how sorry I am and I forgive you for stunning me that day. I wouldn't have been able to face the guilt had you not stopped me."
"I know," she said quietly. "That's why I cast the Memory Charm."
"You kept the secret since the Christmas of your sixth year?"
She nodded.
"May I know why, Miss Granger?" asked Albus.
"Isn't it obvious, Headmaster? I was near the Forbidden Forest, I'm an unregistered Animagus, I was out after curfew, I stunned one of my professors before casting a Memory Charm on him and I seduced him to get the password of his private chambers. I think I broke the record of 'how many rules to break in less than two hours to be sure to be expelled from Hogwarts'. Even Harry didn't manage to accomplish that much in seven years."
The Headmaster leaned slightly on his desk.
"Did you use Severus's password more than this one time?"
"Albus, this is a ridiculous question! I change my password every week!"
"This time you didn't," murmured Hermione, cringing at the implications.
He paled. His password was still 'Nocturnis'.
"Why… how…"
"Because you somehow remembered giving it to someone. You just didn't remember who."
Hermione was close to tears now, inwardly howling with despair.
"Did you use it, Miss Granger?"
She closed her eyes in admission.
"Every week. Every Saturday, I would borrow Harry's cloak and come in the dungeons to make sure he would come back from whatever mission he was on."
Severus stared at her, horrified.
"Sometimes, I thought… that there was someone here with me, whispering to me, trying to comfort me… They weren't hallucinations now, were they? You were really here…"
Her eyes were locked on an indefinite spot under Albus's desk as if it held the key to everything.
"I was. Sometimes, I would heal some of your wounds. I had found healing spells in a book. Most of the time, I would simply stay until you fell asleep."
"Charming my sleep," he said accusingly.
She nodded without looking at him.
"Yes," she agreed. "I wove the dream-catcher spell around you every Saturday evening."
"I wondered for so long why I was so rested on Sunday morning, why I hadn't had my nightly nightmares… Gods, I didn't even think of casting this spell on my own!" he exclaimed bitterly.
"Miss Granger, are you sure Professor Snape wasn't aware of your presence? I don't remember him keeping the same password for so long. If he didn't remember whom he gave it to, he would probably have changed it."
"Albus, I didn't know!" Severus protested immediately.
He looked at the Headmaster and his voice strangled in his throat.
"You said I wouldn't lie to you. But you don't trust me now…"
The pain of betrayal in the dark eyes was almost impossible to bear and Albus found himself looking away. Severus was used to betrayal and mistrust, but he had never expected them coming from the Headmaster.
Hermione didn't understand immediately what it was all about, but then she flushed in anger and humiliation.
"Headmaster, I refused to say anything exactly for this reason! Professor Snape was delirious when we… we met by the Forbidden Forest and he wasn't aware of anything that happened afterwards. I can't do much but helping the man who accepts to be tortured to protect us seems to me the least I can do! So expel me if you want to do so, but don't fire him for something he didn't even know about!"
She suddenly seemed to realise she was shouting at the Headmaster and she looked down, biting her lower lip.
Albus looked at the two persons sitting in front of him. Severus, shocked to the core by his betrayal and Hermione's revelations, not doubting them, yet trying to reject them. Hermione, still refusing to look up to anyone, just having admitted that she had broken several times in a teacher's private quarters – and that she had broken several other rules on the way.
"I doubt this is all there is, Miss Granger," he said sternly. "Earlier, you were ready to be expelled without saying a word and, if I'm to believe Severus's reports, you did your best to be incapacitated two months instead of only three weeks, hoping, I suppose, to reach graduation without having to answer the questions. You threatened to use Stupefy on yourself were we to force you to write anything down. You lost your Head Girl position and yet, everything seemed of no importance to you, except keeping this secret. Why are you so intent in protecting Severus?"
"In Hogwarts: A History," she began as Severus snorted softly, "and be glad I read it, it is mentioned that teachers are to be sacked if they… assault students. So I knew what he was risking and I… I didn't want him to be sacked because of me when it was clear he was delirious."
He looked at her thoughtfully and she knew he wasn't convinced by her answer. She wasn't convinced herself.
"So you hid the whole thing. Were you planning on saying anything?"
She shook her head, looking at her hands in her lap.
"Miss Granger, may I ask you exactly how you feel about Severus? I think he asked you the question himself, but never got the answer."
She glared at him.
"Forgive me, Headmaster, but this question has nothing to do with the current subject. I expect to receive my letter of expulsion before the day is over?"
Albus contemplated the situation and took a decision he hoped he wasn't going to regret.
"There won't be any letter of expulsion, Miss Granger, and since you seem concerned with Severus's fate, you will be glad to hear that he won't be fired. As you said it yourself, he was delirious and unaware of the situation. As for you, doubtlessly your ordeal was a sufficient punishment for whatever rule you broke, that and the confession. And Severus forgave you for the stunning spell."
Relief spread quickly over Hermione's face.
"Thank you, Headmaster."
"Nevertheless, should you have a detention with Severus, another member of the staff will be present during the detention," he added sternly.
She nodded and stood up. She looked at Severus, then back at Albus. Hidden by her robes, her hand brushed against the Potions Master's arm.
"I am sorry."
Severus answered by the two words he had never thought he would say to a student.
"Thank you."
She left quickly before saying another word.
"Well, it seems this day is full of surprise. How are you feeling, Severus?" Albus asked, rising from his chair and coming to the Potions Master.
"I wish I never made you this promise. Though considering what just happened, I don't see what is keeping me from breaking it."
Albus lay his hand on the younger wizard's shoulder.
"Severus, I'm sorry for failing you in this test of trust," he said softly. "The situation seemed to call for more cunning capacities than Miss Granger is known to have."
Severus snorted.
"So the cunning Slytherin is once again proven guilty when opposed to the righteous Gryffindor."
Albus flinched, remembering only too well the incident with Sirius at the Shrieking Shack.
"I only hope that time will show you how sorry I am for doubting you, Severus," he replied.
He went back to his seat and took a lemon drop. The twinkle was back in his eyes when he said:
"I'm very impressed with Miss Granger's abilities to keep everything secret, even from me."
"It must be the first time," said Severus with a forced laugh.
"Miss Granger seems apt at doing things nobody ever thought of before or simply didn't manage," replied Albus, looking at the younger wizard thoughtfully. "For example, I'm sure she will break every record for her NEWTs."
"That she will," agreed Severus.
And she did.
Almost done! I hope you liked this chapter!
