Legal Shit: I don't own it. The goddess J.K. Rowling does. I am "borrowing" her characters and I do not promise to return them in a good state of mental or physical health. So there. One shot: 1,587 words!
One:
I sat alone in my room, waiting. I knew they would show up soon. It was the summer after my seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; the summer Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord.
The light from my window cast slow-moving shadows over my bedroom as a soft breeze played with the curtains. I still sat cross-legged on my queen-sized bed, staring determinately at the door. They were late.
Perhaps you are wondering, as would I, just who "they" are? They are a few select members of The Order Of The Phoenix. They were the members who were closest to me. They were very late.
I heard voices downstairs. My captors, and the voice of another, a voice I would recognize anywhere. A curse was shouted, followed by a sickening thud as a body presumably fell to the floor. Then, I listened as someone thundered up the stairs to my bedroom.
A jet of light shot through the keyhole, and my bedroom door flew open. There framed in my doorway stood a very haggard looking Severus Snape, in all his glory. The light flooding in around him gave him a sort of surreal glow, making his features more pronounced, his appearance more harsh.
But I knew better.
"You're late." I stated blankly, still staring at the once-empty doorway.
"The others couldn't come.," he panted, leaning against the doorframe.
"I surmised as much." was my dry response.
"Hermione, I do think we should be going now." Severus hissed.
"Yes, I suppose." I said, in a voice as blank and unnerving as his usually was.
I finally removed myself from the bed, walking past him into the brightly lit hallway. I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the light and scowled. The light made the house seem happy, and my childhood home was no longer a place of merriment and cheer.
"Hermione, when exactly did these cretins take over your house?" Severus asked.
"About two weeks ago." I said, leading him down the stairs.
"Should that explain the stench?" he asked silkily, gesturing to the half-empty bottles of Firewhiskey and take-out boxes littering the sitting room.
"No." I said shortly.
"No?"
"No. that would most likely be my mother." I said.
"You mother…" Snape repeated."
"My mother." I pointed to the couch.
Severus stifled a gasp. My mother's body was slumped on the couch, a blue tint to her pale skin and a shocked expression on her pretty face. They kidnapped me during the Final Battle, and held me prisoner in my own house. They disconnected the Floo and cast numerous wards and Anti-Apparation spells. They had killed her as soon as they broke through Albus' protective wards. She hadn't stood a chance.
"We'll have her buried." Severus said softly.
"No reason, funerals are expensive." I stated matter-of-factly, "She wanted to be cremated anyway."
"Y--Your father?" Severus asked quietly.
"Dead."
"Where--?"
"Pantry." I cut him off
"I see. Do you have everything?" he seemed keen to change the subject, I suppose I couldn't blame him.
I pulled my magically reduced trunk out of my pocket. He nodded, and I slipped it back in. He led me through the kitchen, over the body of a masked Death Eater, and out the back door.
"Hermione, are you all right?" he asked.
"I'm fine Severus. Quite hungry, but fine." I said calmly.
Severus nodded slowly, watching me with a worried expression before taking me into his arms and apparating into the night.
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We appeared on the front steps of a large and foreboding house, a gold number twelve hung crooked on the door. Severus pushed it open and led me inside.
The headquarters of the Order had changed dramatically since my fifth year. The once dark and dusty entrance hall was now brightly lit and welcoming. The portrait of Mrs. Black had long since been removed. I would have preferred her screaming to the now-impending silence.
"We're the only one's here." Severus explained quietly. "Potter and the remaining Weasleys are at St. Mungos, along with a few others. Everyone else is on assignment."
I gave a curt nod. That explained my late rescue. It also confirmed my suspicions. I felt my chest tighten. I, Hermione Elizabeth Granger, was very alone.
That single thought undid all of the emotional barriers I had put up around my mind. My blank and fearless expression crumbled and my lower lip trembled as a single tear ran down my cheek. I felt a warm hand on the small of my back as Severus led me into the kitchen.
"Some food." he said quietly, "Then bed."
He conjured up something to eat and we dined in silence. I didn't take note of what he'd prepared as I quickly finished. He set his half finished plate aside.
"Sleep?" he whispered, I nodded.
"D'you mind if I stay with you tonight?" I blurted, then suddenly dreaded his answer, "I don't think I can be alone."
"No, I don't mind. In fact, I insist." he said softly. "But I think it would be best if we stayed at the castle."
My head lifted at the mention of Hogwarts. I nodded and he took me in his arms again. We Apparated into Hogsmeade, where we entered The Three Broomsticks. Madam Rosemerta gave us a surprised look as Severus gently but firmly led me to the fireplace and we flooed to his private quarters in the dark dungeons of Hogwarts.
I glanced around, taking in the rich black furnishings of his sitting room. He placed a hand on my arm and pointed to a door. I pushed the door open and was greeted by his bathroom. Grateful for the chance to wash and scour my body, I went about my usual nightly rituals, with perhaps a little more scrubbing than necessary. I took my trunk out of my pocket and returned it to it's original size with a wave of my hand, pulled out a few things and dressed for bed, folding my muggle jeans and t-shirt and putting them in the trunk.
I returned to the sitting room clad in my baby blue nightclothes. Severus was sitting on a couch, wearing black pajama pants and a t-shirt. He stood when he saw me enter, and I followed him to his bedroom.
"Goodnight, Hermione." Severus said, handing me bottle of Dreamless Sleep Potion.
"Thank You, Severus. Goodnight."
I climbed into bed next to him and downed the potion in one swallow, having just enough time to put the bottle on his nightstand and sink into the pillows before succumbing to sweet, blissful sleep.
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"Hermione?"
"Yes, Severus?"
It had been two week since my escape. I was still as emotionally withdrawn as I was when Severus had first rescued me. I would speak only to him and Albus, and after spending two weeks in the safety of his quarters I still hadn't told him a thing about my visit to hell.
And it was driving him mad.
"Dammit, woman!" Severus roared, "How can you be so bloody composed! Talk to me!"
"No." I said simply, sitting down at his bed.
"Yes!" Severus argued.
Big Mistake. Harry and Ron would have known better. Even Fred and George wouldn't have argued with me when I was wearing that particular expression. But Severus Snape was an audacious, aggressive man. Damn him to eternal torment.
"You insufferable, egotistical, arrogant, bigheaded, overbearing, sarcastic, cynical, demeaning, derisive, intolerable prick!" I yelled, getting up to look him defiantly in the eye, which I had to stand on the bed to accomplish.
"Are you quite finished?" he was now surveying me amusedly.
"No! You are also a haughty, stuck-up, conceited, proud, pompous, biased, prejudiced, brainless git!"
I took a deep breath and lowered my tone of voice. I counted to ten. I recited the table of contents to The Standard Book Of Spells, Grade Seven. I went to my "happy place", complete with fountains of chocolate and peppermint stick trees.
It didn't work.
It hadn't taken me long to realize how good Severus Snape looked in black sleep pants…and nothing else. That, ironically, did seem to work. I had been on edge and withdrawn for two weeks. I knew the perfect way to release all of that pent up energy.
"I just wish you didn't have to look so damn good in the process." I purred. "It dampens the effect."
Severus simply stared at me blankly for a moment. He tiled his head to the side, looking at me curiously. A slow, sexy smile lit up his features. I had never seen Severus Snape smile. It was a turn on.
He reached up to grab my waist and pulled me off the bed, placing me gently on the floor in front of him, his hands never leaving my sides. He looked at me intently for a split second before capturing my lips with his.
Severus deepened the kiss and picked me up to lay me on the bed. I felt his tongue flick against my lips before he pulled away from me slowly, supporting himself with a hand on either side of my shoulders so as not to crush me.
"Will you talk to me now?" he whispered.
"If I have my way, talking will come tomorrow morning, along with sore muscles."
Severus made no argument, and his lips found mine again. Our kisses became deeper and more urgent. I was right; Severus Snape was the perfect person on which to release my pent-up energy.