Thank you to my lovely reviewers:
Corgi1, texasjeanette, asdf, nerd-girl, kateri1, emmapotty, MONA, GT, Glorfindel of Gondolin, Remo Con, Crystal56, Sassygirl, Ariana Dumbledore, SithelfJen, TommyBoy182, flack, lilith, Minerva-Severus-Dumbledor, earnest, Kaaera, Cassie7, and Lyla Snape.
(Please read my other story "Starting Over". It's not getting reviewed and that makes me awfully sad :( )
AN: This story is a continuation of all those fanfics in which Harry and Severus are forced together by a "Soul Mate" potion (or spell), usually masterminded by Albus Dumbledore. I've never written such a fic myself, but after having read more than my share, this plot bunny just wouldn't let me be. I've chosen to remain true to the variety of fics I'd read which sported this particular plot so Harry is an Auror, Sev is no longer teaching at Hogwarts, and the rest you will find out in due time…
Warning: HP/SS Slash! Language.
He Who Knows BestChapter 4:
Hermione waited patiently for Harry to continue, noticing the tears well up in his troubled eyes. Harry sniffled self-consciously and rested his head on his palm before speaking up.
"He didn't even talk to me." Harry paused, reminding himself of the sequence of events that followed.
"I found him staring out the window when I returned and 10 minutes later he was gone. Just packed his bag and ran away."
"He mumbled something about us talking it over once we've had some time to figure things out."
Another long pause.
"I don't even know where he is, 'Mione. He couldn't stand to be near me."
Harry's voice was broken. He rubbed his tear-glazed eyes and whispered: "It's all over now".
The brown-eyed witch wrapped her arms around her sobbing friend and rubbed small circles on his back, trying to soothe and comfort him as best she could.
She could only imagine how painful this must be for Harry. She was so furious with Dumbledore for having pulled such a scheme! And Severus! What a git, leaving Harry like that, as if the past 15 years counted for nothing. So what if they weren't soul mates? Did that erase their feelings for one another? Did it wipe out their memories or hearts? And what about Luke and Ariel? Some father Severus turned out to be…
Harry managed to calm down a bit and he pulled back from Hermione's embrace. He eyed her suspiciously and asked:
"What about you guys? You seem to be taking it all in stride, this morning."
The clever witch's expression turned pensive.
"My husband informed me, in no unspoken terms, that he wasn't letting me go because of a mere technicality." Hermione announced.
"He said Dumbledore's spell may have been what caused us to bond, but that our feelings for one another were what made us stay together all these years."
Hermione's lips tightened into a thin smile.
Shaking her head in disbelief, she added: "Who would have ever imagined Draco Malfoy turning into a sentimental sap!".
Harry's shattered gaze was laced with envy. He was happy for Hermione that her world hadn't crumbled down as his had, but he couldn't help being jealous of Draco's atypical reaction. Why couldn't his Slytherin see things that way?
"That's wonderful, 'Mione" Harry managed to say, avoiding eye contact with his friend.
"What about you, though?" he added quizzically.
"Did you have any second thoughts after hearing Albus' confession?"
After all, he remembered quite well that back when the so-called spell informed Hermione and Draco that they were soul mates neither one was pleased by the outcome.
Hermione shrugged as she replied:
"I thought so, at first, to be honest. Naturally, the first thing that dawned on me after hearing it was all a hoax was that I'd been tricked into a loveless marriage with someone I virtually despised…but then Draco helped me realize those thoughts belonged to an 18 year old Hermione Granger.
That's no longer who I am.
I'm Hermione Malfoy. I've been with Draco for 15 years and I can't imagine my life without him. It may have taken us a while to get there, but we fell in love in the end." Hermione let out a sarcastic laugh as she removed a loose thread from her robes.
"I thought about breaking things off for about an hour. That's actually what we'd been arguing about when you dropped in to pick up Ariel."
Harry nodded, understanding the reason behind Hermione's contrasting appearance the previous night and this morning.
"Draco proved how noble a character he truly has last night, Harry.
I am well aware of the fact that you simply tolerate him for my and Severus' sakes, but my husband looked me in the eye last night and asked me to ignore the truth. He practically begged me to pretend I hadn't heard the shattering confessions of the old man who'd brought us together… so that he wouldn't contribute to tearing us apart."
Hermione's eyes were brimming with tears, but her tears were quite the opposite of Harry's. Her piercing brown eyes shone with relief and emotion.
"Merlin, Harry. This whole fiasco may have ended up bringing us closer together!"
Seconds after voicing her last statement, Hermione regretted it. She felt awful for flaunting her happiness in Harry's face, considering how Severus had reacted.
"I'm so sorry, Harry" the abashed witch mumbled in a remorseful tone.
Harry shrugged at his friend and added, sarcastically:
"Nonsense. Just because my husband dumped me faster than you could say 'Animus Ligare Act' doesn't mean you're not entitled to your happiness."
Hermione chewed her bottom lip nervously, not quite knowing how to respond to Harry's acerbity.
The thick tension in the room was overrun by a loud yell, echoing from the hallway.
The two friends rushed to the door, opened it and peered outside. Pansy Longbottom was marching down the corridor huffily, yanking her young daughter, who looked like a mini replica of her voluptuous mother.
"If I never see you again it will be too soon, you dim-witted, pathetic excuse for a wizard!"
Her denigrating comments were aimed at her chubby husband who was following them down the hall. He nearly tripped over his own foot when his wife turned to face him. She sneered nastily at him and shrieked:
"For 15 years I allowed you to touch me, you revolting toad! I had to listen to your lame opinions and watch you humiliate yourself and me in the process, thanks to your moronic nature, but NO MORE! Do you hear me Longbottom? NO MORE!!!"
Neville leaned against the wall in fear of falling to the floor. He grew so pale as he stood there, listening to his wife ridicule him in public, not managing to defend himself.
Harry and Hermione watched as their mortified friend keeled over and fell to the ground. They rushed over to see if he was alright, but not before Hermione faced Pansy, glared at her with rage evident in her eyes, as she said, in a calm and steely voice:
"You had better disappear from my sight this instance Pansy Parkinson, or I will not be responsible for my actions, you despicable bitch!
And if I ever have the misfortune of laying eyes on you again, you will suffer the full force of my undiluted wrath!"
The frantic look of fear that flashed over Pansy's face was priceless. She pulled her daughter's arm forcefully and fled in terror.
By the time Hermione had made her way over, Harry was crouching by the flustered Neville's side. Neville hadn't exactly fainted, but the stress of the confrontation was too much for his poor nerves to handle. He looked adoringly at Hermione and thanked her sheepishly for standing up to Pansy, on his behalf.
Harry helped Neville to his feet and the three Gryffindors shared an awkward silence, not knowing how to react to that which had just taken place. Finally Neville looked up at them and while shifting his weight from one foot to the other, managed to say:
"To be honest, I'm actually relieved."
Harry and Hermione directed identical questioning glances at him, to which he replied with a half-smile:
"I've spent the past 15 years petrified of my wife. Now I can finally rid myself of that pushy cow!"
Neither of his friends could help the laughing fit this brought on, as Harry patted Neville on the back and squealed in between hiccups of laughter: "So much for Albus' intuition, eh mate?"
By now Neville was also laughing hysterically, finally allowing himself to indulge in the sense of relief and freedom which overwhelmed him.
He had been freed from the presence of a woman he couldn't stand.
Once the three calmed down, Neville looked at Harry and asked:
"How are you and Snape taking the news?"
Harry's expression darkened instantly, as a wave of pain and betrayal hit him in the gut. For a moment he had almost forgotten his life was practically falling apart, while enjoying a laughing fit with some old school chums.
Hermione motioned for Neville to drop the subject.
The bumbling wizard felt so guilty for having brought it up in the first place that he thanked them again for their assistance, and turned to return to his suite.
Hermione was ushering her depressed friend back into his suite when she heard her husband's voice from behind.
"Still here, are you?" the blond man drawled arrogantly, as if he had caught his wife 'slumming'.
Harry didn't have the energy for one of his and Draco's routine spats. He dragged his heavy feet into his suite as both Malfoys followed him in.
"So where's your smarter half?" Draco baited him again.
Hermione elbowed Draco and whispered in his ear, "Severus walked out on him, last night".
That silenced the blond wizard. He'd come too close to losing his Hermione last night to joke at the expense of Harry's marriage being on the rocks.
"Sorry Potter." Draco offered stiffly, feeling uneasy by the whole situation.
He turned to face his wife and added: "Guess I'll leave you to it then. See you later, baby."
Harry stalked into the bedroom and began packing his belongings. He couldn't wait for the children to return so that he could say goodbye to Luke and he and Ariel would be on their way back home.
* * * * * * *
Moments later Draco Malfoy materialized at the entrance to "The Unforgivable".
Severus had taken him to ease his sorrows at the seedy joint, back when the two Slytherins were still trying to come to terms with their new spouses.
Draco had a hunch that he just might find the old bat hiding out there.
He swung the creaking door open and asked Yvonne if she'd seen Snape around. The matron gave him Severus' room number while adding that plying the old drunk out of bed would be a difficult feat to achieve at such an ungodly hour of the day.
Draco scoffed at her and hurried up to find Snape.
The door to his room was locked, but Draco had little trouble breaking through the weak locking charm. He entered and found Severus draped on the bed, with his eyes half open, staring into space.
" 'Lo Professor, sleeping in this fine morning?
Snape didn't move. He grunted loudly and quickly resumed his staring game.
Draco conjured up a pot of black coffee and offered Severus a cup.
Snape shot a disgusted look at the cup he was offered and hissed: "Leave Malfoy!"
Draco seemed unnerved by this intimidation antic. He knew Severus well. The man was probably nursing a fierce hangover while attempting to plan out insanely vengeful ways of making Dumbledore pay for his betrayal.
"Time to get up, Severus." Draco said in a determined tone. He produced a small vial from his cloak pocket and handed it to the man sprawled on the bed.
"Drink it. You'll thank me later."
Severus recognized the vial as one of his own hangover cures. He grabbed it and drank it so quickly it gave him a dizzy spell.
Within moments the raven-haired wizard was on his feet casting a cleaning charm on himself, as well as on the formal robes he was still wearing. He thanked Draco for the potion and stood across from the younger man eyeing him suspiciously.
"You've left her, I presume?"
"Of course not. I'm not a fool."
Severus sneered at Draco's reply.
"And I am?" he asked acidly.
Draco met Severus' glare, as if rising to his silent challenge.
"It certainly seems that way, doesn't it?
Merlin knows I have never understood what you saw in the Potter prat, but are you seriously about to forget about him just because of what the old nutbar said?"
Severus tensed up at hearing Draco's direct reprimand.
"Were you actually listening to what the 'old nutbar' said, Draco? Did it escape your 'Grangerized' mind that we were lied to? Deceived? Forced together for no good reason?"
"Fuck Severus! What difference does it make what brought all of us together? You're rationalizing just like Hermione did at first! Who fucking cares if the spell never existed? Why can't you morons accept that what's truly important is the lives we built together? The way we feel about each other…our children."
Severus felt a pang of guilt when Draco mentioned children, which is what made him go over the deep end. The normally restrained, reserved wizard lashed out at his friend in a pained, almost hysterical tone:
"You listen to me! What matters is that the choice was taken out of my hands, just like in every other aspect of my pitiful life! My one and only friend stabbed me in the back, trapping me in a golden cage – forcing me to love the one person I wanted to hate!"
Draco was taken aback by Severus' heated response, and before he knew it, the older wizard whizzed passed him and left the room.
Draco tried following his footsteps, but he was too late. By the time he exited the pub, there was no trace of Severus Snape.
TBC
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