Escape From the Darkness: Chapter 11

Hermione walked from the dungeons, a smile on her face. Professor Snape—no, Severus—had just kissed her. Several times. "Wow…" she whispered aloud. It had been absolutely amazing. She had only been kissed a few times, all by Viktor Krum. But those had lacked the passion that she shared with Severus.
Hermione reached her room. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and realized that she was still grinning. There was also a light in her face that hadn't been there earlier in the day. She wondered if anybody else would be aware of the difference, or if it was something that only she would notice. It would probably be better if nobody could tell that she was in love. As wonderful as she felt, this was something that she had to keep secret. Otherwise… well, she could be expelled or Severus could lose his job. It would be a nightmare for both of them. Now that she realized that he felt the same way as she, Hermione didn't want to be apart from him. Even now as she sat alone in her room, he was all that she could think about.

Hermione sighed. Should she tell Harry? He was one of her best friends. She had confessed her feelings about Snape to him, after all. However, for now she would settle for pouring her heart out to Crookshanks. Harry had seemed depressed about Ron and she didn't want to rub what she had with Severus in his face.

What exactly was her relationship with Severus? Hermione wondered about this. They had kissed each other, but what if it meant something different to him than it had to her? The thought nearly sent her into a fit of panic.

She calmed down when she remembered the fiery look in his eyes when he told her that she was beautiful. The only time anybody had ever said that was after she spent several hours performing glamour charms. Hermione had never thought that anyone would consider her attractive without the help of magic. But Severus had been sincere, and that meant a lot to her.

She smiled when she thought of the moment she realized that Severus was interested in her. Only her.  She had been stupid in believing that Fleur Delacour was his girlfriend. Of course, Severus hadn't exactly helped her to dispel that thought. Despite the fact that he treated Delacour with the same sarcastic rudeness as he did to everyone, he hadn't denied their relationship. And it made sense—it was in his nature to take pleasure in making other people squirm. Even Hermione.

She rolled her eyes. She was in love with him, and had begun to accept every single part of him. Including the sarcastic and masochistic part. His shortcomings no longer seemed like negative qualities. I really have it bad, she thought. Although she was somewhat worried about whether or not his feelings matched hers, her intuition told her that they did. In the moments they had spent together in the dungeons after his kiss, everything had suddenly begun to make sense.

Hermione wasn't certain how long she had actually been in love with him. It had all come on so gradually that there didn't seem to be any exact time. She had begun to realize it throughout the summer, but hadn't wanted to admit it to herself until now. However, her feelings had changed so much over the past few years. She had disliked Professor Snape up until her fifth year. At that point, she had started to respect him, and even began to enjoy his class—despite his constant criticism. Potions was the only one of her courses that challenged her, and Severus had always been the only teacher who was stern with her. But that had pushed her to work harder, causing her to learn more than she would have ever imagined. Her respect had grown to admiration, which in turn grew to love.

The next day was a Saturday, so Hermione allowed herself the leisure of sleeping in. She awoke with a smile on her face. All of her dreams had been happy, which was a rare occurrence ever since the return of Voldemort at the end of her fourth year. She was still lying in bed, reflecting on one of her more pleasant dreams, when there was a tapping at the window. She opened it and was greeted by one of the school owls with a small note for her. A silly grin formed on her face when she read it. She scribbled a reply and gave it to the owl. She was now meeting Severus in his quarters for lunch. In fact, she had stayed in bed so long that it was nearing lunchtime now. Hermione bathed and dressed quickly. She spent a few minutes longer than usual on her hair and put on a skirt, rather than the jeans that she usually wore on non-schooldays.  

She cautiously walked down to the dungeons, not wanting to be forced to explain to anybody why she was there. Of course, she could always say that she was working on the potion with Severus. But she was dressed awfully nice for potion brewing. Luckily, she arrived after being seen by only a few people, none of whom had questioned her about her destination.

Hermione knocked on the door, and entered wordlessly after Severus opened it. Only after the door had closed behind them did he greet her. "Good afternoon, Hermione," he said, kissing her softly on the lips. She blushed quickly, realizing that she would have to get used to him kissing her. Not that she minded at all.

"Good afternoon, Severus." He led her to a small table that had been set up in his sitting room. "Wow! It looks wonderful," Hermione said with a smile as she looked at the feast that had been set up. "Where did all this food come from?"

"I have a few house-elf friends," he told her.

She raised an eyebrow. He didn't seem like the type to be making friends out of those creatures, but they were house-elves, after all. They liked people who ordered them around. Hermione frowned. After all of her efforts with S.P.E.W. and they still enjoyed being mistreated... As they ate, she began telling Severus about it, and how it had failed miserably with all except for Dobby.

 "Sometimes it feels so hopeless, Severus. They're born into servitude. They're actually happy to be slaves because it's the only life they know! I keep trying to make them see that they can live differently, and that there's a better life available, but it doesn't work!" Hermione failed to hide how upset she was. Great, she thought, now Severus probably thinks that I'm a foolishly idealistic girl and that my attempts have all been in vain. 

Instead of saying something of the sort, he took her hand in his. "Hermione, maybe I can try to help you. With S.P.E.W., I mean."

To say that she was shocked would have been an understatement. "You would do that?" She smiled, her mood suddenly brightening. "You, Severus Snape, the Potions Master who wouldn't give a word of encouragement if his life depended on it?"

"You know it's not in my nature to give support to students who don't deserve it," he told her with a sneer.

She rolled her eyes. "That ridiculous smirk no longer intimidates me, so you can just drop the charade when I'm with you." The expression on his face was a mix of confusion and horror, which caused Hermione to burst into laughter. She thought that he was going to give her another sneer, but he relaxed and gave her a smile instead. Her heart pounded. She loved the way that he looked with a smile on his face. This was mainly because it was such a rare occurrence. She blushed again when she realized that he was going to kiss her once more.

Hermione put her hands around his neck as he brought his lips to hers. It felt so nice…

They deepened the kiss, both of them oblivious to anything else, until…until someone gasped. Someone who was NOT Hermione or Severus. Hermione felt her heart sinking. It felt as though all of her worst nightmares were coming true.

***************

"I'm so sorry!" a voice said as Severus pulled away from Hermione. Selene. She wouldn't tell anybody. Would she?

"Selene!" Hermione cried after her. Selene froze and turned around.

"I guess you should come in so that we can explain," Severus said. He suddenly felt scared, a strange feeling for a former Death Eater. She was a careless twelve-year-old girl… what if she let something slip? He would lose his job, Hermione would be expelled, and the relationship that he had wanted for so long would come to an abrupt end.

Selene walked over to the couple. "What is there to explain?" she asked. "I've known about the two of you for a long time. This just confirmed my suspicions."

"You silly little girl!" Severus regarded her with peculiar amusement. "You've known about this for a long time? Despite the fact that it didn't begin until last night?"

Selene shrugged. "Well, I can't remember you ever having a girlfriend, and you always treat Hermione different than everyone else."  She paused for a few seconds. "I'm happy that you found somebody, Uncle Severus. And Hermione's the smartest and nicest girl I know, too." She gave Hermione a shy smile. Severus smirked. Selene had been hero-worshipping Hermione for months, which had always made him laugh. Just what he needed was his niece acting like a bossy know-it-all. Not that he didn't like the bossy know-it-all—he was no longer annoyed by it; instead he found it somewhat charming. Not that he would ever tell Hermione that. But having the two most important females in his life acting like that would be too much.

"You know that if you tell anybody about this, both Hermione and I will face the most dire of consequences. Both of our lives will be ruined!" He gave her a look that was usually reserved for the likes of Neville Longbottom. Selene nodded, a scared look on her face. Severus took pleasure in knowing that he was still able to intimidate his closest relation.

"Severus," Hermione said sharply. "Selene's won't tell." Her voice went back to its normal tone and her face softened as she looked at Selene. "I trust her not to reveal something so important to anybody else."

Selene was practically jumping up and down in jubilation when Hermione said this. "Of course I won't say anything! You can count on me, Hermione!"

Severus just looked away, frowning. He had been hoping to use a minor obliviate spell on the girl. He didn't want to involve his niece in this. She would be forced to lie, or at least to keep parts of the truth from others. Severus hadn't wanted to get her involved. But now she was, whether he liked it or not. He grumbled in response, which earned him a glare from Hermione. "All right…" he finally said.

After they said their goodbyes to Selene, Severus turned towards Hermione. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea after all," he mumbled, even though he didn't believe it. A look of horror and sadness crossed her face. He lifted his voice slightly. "Now I have Selene lying for us. This isn't something we will be able to tell anyone about." He closed his eyes. "And you're still a student. I'm twenty years older than you, Hermione. Twenty years! Can you really picture yourself with an old man like me after you finish at Hogwarts?"

He could see tears and a hurt look forming in her eyes. "How can you say such a thing, Severus? I can't picture myself without you!" She turned, beginning to walk away.

"Wait, Hermione," he said grabbing her hand. She stopped, but didn't turn around. He could see that her face was becoming wet with tears. She wouldn't look at him and Severus felt an absolute sense of despair. He hated himself for hurting her, for making her cry. What a selfish bastard he was! "Please, don't leave… This is so hard for me. I've never been in love with anybody, and now… with you…a student, of all people." He cursed himself for sounding like an inarticulate fool. He always knew how to speak so eloquently about potions, but was completely at a loss when it came to love. He only managed to sound like a sniveling idiot.

He dropped her hand and she turned to look at him again. "I'm in love with you too, Severus," she told him in a shaky whisper. He ran his fingers across her cheeks, wiping her tears away. Then he kissed her forehead.

"Hermione, we have to be careful. If anybody else finds out about this…" She nodded. It was an unspoken agreement that they were to be discreet. Severus spent the remainder of the afternoon sitting on the sofa while Hermione rested her head on his shoulder. His arm pulled her close to him, his hand mindlessly stroking her hair. They didn't speak. It wasn't necessary; both of them would have been perfectly content to remain in that position forever.

"Thirty seconds until we add in the last of the wormwood mixture, Hermione!" She gave him a questioning glance and he nodded. It was the final step in brewing the Life Draining Draught, and the unselfish part of him which had begun to emerge in the past two months took over. He was actually allowing another person to have the privilege of completing one of the most powerful potions he had ever brewed. Not that Hermione was just anybody. The time since the day they had been discovered by Selene had completely flown by. They had pursued a relationship with the utmost secrecy. He had always been a private person, so none of the other teachers had suspected anything was amiss. Hermione had been a different story. Severus had been furious when she told him that she had revealed her feelings to Potter. Finally, after she assured him that Potter didn't know anything else, he had stopped arguing with her about it.

He watched Hermione carefully beginning to pour the wormwood infusion into the rest of the potion. She gave him a triumphant look when she finished. Severus actually smiled, which he had been doing a lot lately. It was a completely foreign feeling. At times he looked in the mirror, asking himself, 'who are you and what have you done with Severus Snape?' He was, for the first time in his life, happy.

"That's it," he told Hermione, then pulled her into his arms. The two of them had worked relentlessly for three months. And now they were done. Severus hoped that all of their hard work would pay off, and that the potion would do its job in aiding in the Dark Lord's defeat. It was strange; they rarely spoke about Voldemort, despite the fact that they had been brewing a potion for him. Perhaps it was because they both knew that Severus could be summoned at any time… and there was always a chance that he wouldn't return when that happened. The knowledge of that made the moments they spent together even more precious. Who knew if Severus would live to see another year, or even another day?

The two of them spent the rest of the night talking—mostly about their potion—until Severus noticed that Hermione's speech was laced with yawns. He looked at his wristwatch. It was after midnight already!

"Hermione, I'm going to walk you back to your dorm. I don't want you getting into trouble with Filch for being out after curfew." She nodded. Most of the students were home for the Christmas holidays, so there was really no chance of any of them seeing Hermione with him. As they walked through the corridors, Severus unthinkingly held Hermione's hand. When they were about halfway to her room, he realized that if they did run into Filch, it would look strange for him to be holding the hand of a student. He reluctantly released it.

They reached the Head Girl's room. It was not inside the Gryffindor dormitories, although it seemed closer to Gryffindor any of the other Houses. "Goodnight, Severus," Hermione said, looking up at him expectantly.

He smiled at her. "Goodnight, Hermione." He kissed her quickly on the lips, and then pulled away, ready to leave. However, she laughingly pulled his face back to hers, grabbing him in a passionate embrace. Severus kissed her back eagerly and deeply. They finally moved apart, smiling at each other. "Goodnight," he whispered again, then turned around, a smile on his face, his entire body filled with warmth.

He was utterly shocked to find himself face to face with an irate Minerva McGonagall.