Disclaimor: All things Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling.
Thank you Corazon for all your help and advice with this story and beta reading it!
Chapter 37
Studying for N.E.W.T.s for the four 7th years went excellent, also with all the extra lessons, Lupin and Severus were able to work in studying during some of the breaks to help them. The four knew they would do well on the N.E.W.T.s, but of course Hermione wanted better than good she wanted the best. She manipulated Severus into helping her even more, late at night when they were alone. Severus was enjoying the time with her no matter what they did; the couple was even able to make some interesting games out of studying.
Voldemort still called Severus and Draco semi-weekly but there was not much abuse, just now and then as a reminder. Voldemort would test Draco to make sure that Severus was teaching the young Death Eater. To Severus' delight, Voldemort would tell him what other areas to teach the young man in. Severus would teach Draco, of course but also the rest of the students and the defense spells needed for the new curses.
Black was still trying to charm Hermione and make her see the mistake, at least in Black's point of view, in being with Severus. She would ignore him and go on with whatever she had planned. She had to control herself several times from not hexing the man; Severus was also stopped by her several times when Black was trying to move in on Hermione. Black tried to kiss her on the cheek a few more times, but she was able to advert it. He did manage a few touches here and there, nothing serious but something she didn't want. Hermione would have said something to Black by now but she didn't want to cause friction with the rest of the teams. If after graduation he persisted he would regret it. Severus had more faith in his relationship with Hermione that he stopped questioning her if she wanted to be with someone else. He was still jealous but he wouldn't doubt Hermione. He even got a few laughs at Black's expense.
The man still demanded to be present for Harry and Hermione's private training and Severus put him to use by making him as the tartget for the two young Gryffindors. Hermione felt a little guilty for the pleasure she took from cursing him, but it was a great way to relieve stress. Severus dueled Black on several occasions when showing Harry and Hermione new curses or defenses, Black always managed to land on his arse though.
Severus still gave Hermione private training alone for the practice of avoiding curses so no one would find out about their new abilities plus they enjoyed the workout it gave them. The two were dueling very aggressively when Harry and Black came in. Severus and Hermione decided to meet an hour earlier to train alone. They usually wouldn't before the lesson with Harry, but time was so busy for both of them, except at night they arranged it then. Unfortunately Black wanted to be early, hopefully to catch Hermione without Severus so they caught the two dueling.
Curse after curse was thrown at the other. The two were either dodging the curse with advance gymnastics or powerful counter-curses or rarely with a shield. It was amazing watching the two. Both were graceful, quick, and powerful with flips, rolls or using magic to block curses. Severus and Hermione were using their wands but their other hand would also fire off powerful curses. Even though the two were immune to the curses they were throwing, it was for the practicing of just throwing the curses and blocking. Severus wanted Hermione to be able to throw the curses without hesitation and this allowed her to practice without fear of injuring her dueling partner. Harry and Black watched in silence, taking in the spectacular view.
It was only a few seconds before Severus realized they had company, *Love, Potter and Black are early.*
~Do you want to stop?~
*No, we planned on 15 minutes of dueling, lets finish.*
Hermione replied with a vicious curse at her lover and they continued to duel, allowing the two visitors watch.
After the 15 minutes were up, the two stopped. "Potter, Black what are you doing here early?" Severus demanded while walking over to Hermione.
"We thought we would get some practice in," Black answered. "What about you?"
Severus conjured up a glass of water for him and Hermione while she did a quick spell on each of them so they didn't look like they just spent an hour of intense training. Severus and Hermione started walking towards the other wizards but Severus ignored Black's question.
"Answer me Snape, why are you and Hermione early and dueling?"
"I do not answer to you," Severus sneered.
"Hermione, will you please answer my question," Black asked smoothly.
"Professor Snape was training me," Hermione simply answered.
"But your lesson doesn't start until 6," Black pointed out.
"Harry and mine start at 6," Hermione turned her attention to him. "Ready Harry?"
"Yep. Let's warm up." Harry made to move across the room with Hermione.
"Wait a minute! I demand to know why you were dueling Hermione, Snape? And that duel didn't look like practice but real. Those curses you threw are dark curses," Black said loudly.
"It was a real duel and those were powerful dark curses. I see you are learning from Lupin," Severus sarcastically said.
Black stepped forward with wand ready pointed at Severus, "You could have hurt her!"
"Sirius, don't," Hermione commanded walking in front of Severus. Harry moved to Black's side trying to get him to cool down, because he was being a fool. Harry could see that while the duel between Severus and Hermione was real they knew what they were doing.
"Potter, get your godfather under control," Severus snarled.
"Snape, tell me why you were dueling Hermione like that!"
"It's part of my training," Hermione answered.
"Why wasn't Harry here then? You two are to be trained together," Black stated.
"Harry is here now for our training."
"Why were you being trained alone?" Black demanded.
"Because they couldn't find another time to train alone," a new voice coming from the door said.
Harry and Black turned to see Dumbledore walking to them. Hermione and Severus knew he would be there at six. He wanted to see how progress was going with Harry and Hermione.
"Albus, why is she being trained alone though?" Black asked lowering his wand.
"Because they have been doing so since Christmas. Now Sirius, why was your wand pointed at Hermione?" Reprimand could be heard in his voice.
"She stepped in front of Snape, he was my target."
"Why was Severus your target?" Dumbledore asked.
"Snape was throwing curses that were almost as dangerous as the Unforgivables. The two were dueling for real," Black informed the Headmaster.
"It is quite amazing to watch them duel isn't it?" Dumbledore grinned.
"You knew of this?" Black surprisingly asked.
"Yes, I set this room up for them the day after Christmas. They needed a space for training," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
"Harry didn't ask for lessons until middle of January I thought?" Black was confused.
"That is correct."
"You knew Harry was going to ask for lessons and built the room weeks ahead of being needed? What was the purpose of that?" Black asked.
Severus snorted.
"I was hoping he would ask but I built the room for Severus and Hermione to train. When Harry asked to be trained also, they agreed it was easy enough for everyone to use this room," Dumbledore said to clear up the misunderstanding.
"Why would they need a room to train?" Black asked, confused on that point.
"Because they asked. Now Harry, Hermione, do you believe you are ready?"
"Yes, but more practice never hurt," Harry answered.
"Then let's see," Dumbledore said.
To Be Continued...
Thank you Corazon for all your help and advice with this story and beta reading it!
Chapter 37
Studying for N.E.W.T.s for the four 7th years went excellent, also with all the extra lessons, Lupin and Severus were able to work in studying during some of the breaks to help them. The four knew they would do well on the N.E.W.T.s, but of course Hermione wanted better than good she wanted the best. She manipulated Severus into helping her even more, late at night when they were alone. Severus was enjoying the time with her no matter what they did; the couple was even able to make some interesting games out of studying.
Voldemort still called Severus and Draco semi-weekly but there was not much abuse, just now and then as a reminder. Voldemort would test Draco to make sure that Severus was teaching the young Death Eater. To Severus' delight, Voldemort would tell him what other areas to teach the young man in. Severus would teach Draco, of course but also the rest of the students and the defense spells needed for the new curses.
Black was still trying to charm Hermione and make her see the mistake, at least in Black's point of view, in being with Severus. She would ignore him and go on with whatever she had planned. She had to control herself several times from not hexing the man; Severus was also stopped by her several times when Black was trying to move in on Hermione. Black tried to kiss her on the cheek a few more times, but she was able to advert it. He did manage a few touches here and there, nothing serious but something she didn't want. Hermione would have said something to Black by now but she didn't want to cause friction with the rest of the teams. If after graduation he persisted he would regret it. Severus had more faith in his relationship with Hermione that he stopped questioning her if she wanted to be with someone else. He was still jealous but he wouldn't doubt Hermione. He even got a few laughs at Black's expense.
The man still demanded to be present for Harry and Hermione's private training and Severus put him to use by making him as the tartget for the two young Gryffindors. Hermione felt a little guilty for the pleasure she took from cursing him, but it was a great way to relieve stress. Severus dueled Black on several occasions when showing Harry and Hermione new curses or defenses, Black always managed to land on his arse though.
Severus still gave Hermione private training alone for the practice of avoiding curses so no one would find out about their new abilities plus they enjoyed the workout it gave them. The two were dueling very aggressively when Harry and Black came in. Severus and Hermione decided to meet an hour earlier to train alone. They usually wouldn't before the lesson with Harry, but time was so busy for both of them, except at night they arranged it then. Unfortunately Black wanted to be early, hopefully to catch Hermione without Severus so they caught the two dueling.
Curse after curse was thrown at the other. The two were either dodging the curse with advance gymnastics or powerful counter-curses or rarely with a shield. It was amazing watching the two. Both were graceful, quick, and powerful with flips, rolls or using magic to block curses. Severus and Hermione were using their wands but their other hand would also fire off powerful curses. Even though the two were immune to the curses they were throwing, it was for the practicing of just throwing the curses and blocking. Severus wanted Hermione to be able to throw the curses without hesitation and this allowed her to practice without fear of injuring her dueling partner. Harry and Black watched in silence, taking in the spectacular view.
It was only a few seconds before Severus realized they had company, *Love, Potter and Black are early.*
~Do you want to stop?~
*No, we planned on 15 minutes of dueling, lets finish.*
Hermione replied with a vicious curse at her lover and they continued to duel, allowing the two visitors watch.
After the 15 minutes were up, the two stopped. "Potter, Black what are you doing here early?" Severus demanded while walking over to Hermione.
"We thought we would get some practice in," Black answered. "What about you?"
Severus conjured up a glass of water for him and Hermione while she did a quick spell on each of them so they didn't look like they just spent an hour of intense training. Severus and Hermione started walking towards the other wizards but Severus ignored Black's question.
"Answer me Snape, why are you and Hermione early and dueling?"
"I do not answer to you," Severus sneered.
"Hermione, will you please answer my question," Black asked smoothly.
"Professor Snape was training me," Hermione simply answered.
"But your lesson doesn't start until 6," Black pointed out.
"Harry and mine start at 6," Hermione turned her attention to him. "Ready Harry?"
"Yep. Let's warm up." Harry made to move across the room with Hermione.
"Wait a minute! I demand to know why you were dueling Hermione, Snape? And that duel didn't look like practice but real. Those curses you threw are dark curses," Black said loudly.
"It was a real duel and those were powerful dark curses. I see you are learning from Lupin," Severus sarcastically said.
Black stepped forward with wand ready pointed at Severus, "You could have hurt her!"
"Sirius, don't," Hermione commanded walking in front of Severus. Harry moved to Black's side trying to get him to cool down, because he was being a fool. Harry could see that while the duel between Severus and Hermione was real they knew what they were doing.
"Potter, get your godfather under control," Severus snarled.
"Snape, tell me why you were dueling Hermione like that!"
"It's part of my training," Hermione answered.
"Why wasn't Harry here then? You two are to be trained together," Black stated.
"Harry is here now for our training."
"Why were you being trained alone?" Black demanded.
"Because they couldn't find another time to train alone," a new voice coming from the door said.
Harry and Black turned to see Dumbledore walking to them. Hermione and Severus knew he would be there at six. He wanted to see how progress was going with Harry and Hermione.
"Albus, why is she being trained alone though?" Black asked lowering his wand.
"Because they have been doing so since Christmas. Now Sirius, why was your wand pointed at Hermione?" Reprimand could be heard in his voice.
"She stepped in front of Snape, he was my target."
"Why was Severus your target?" Dumbledore asked.
"Snape was throwing curses that were almost as dangerous as the Unforgivables. The two were dueling for real," Black informed the Headmaster.
"It is quite amazing to watch them duel isn't it?" Dumbledore grinned.
"You knew of this?" Black surprisingly asked.
"Yes, I set this room up for them the day after Christmas. They needed a space for training," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
"Harry didn't ask for lessons until middle of January I thought?" Black was confused.
"That is correct."
"You knew Harry was going to ask for lessons and built the room weeks ahead of being needed? What was the purpose of that?" Black asked.
Severus snorted.
"I was hoping he would ask but I built the room for Severus and Hermione to train. When Harry asked to be trained also, they agreed it was easy enough for everyone to use this room," Dumbledore said to clear up the misunderstanding.
"Why would they need a room to train?" Black asked, confused on that point.
"Because they asked. Now Harry, Hermione, do you believe you are ready?"
"Yes, but more practice never hurt," Harry answered.
"Then let's see," Dumbledore said.
To Be Continued...
