Castaways on a Sullen Sea
By weasleywheezes

Chapter 17 – The Breaking Point

The Burrow, warm and happy, flashed into view, and Hermione saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea. Molly was the first to rise and greet her. "Hermione! Oh, come here, dear, I'm so glad you're back!"

Arthur stood slowly and nodded toward Severus. Darkness flashed in Arthur's eyes as he sized up Hermione's travelling companion. "Good afternoon, Snape."

"Arthur. Safe and sound, as I promised."

"Completely intact?" Arthur's eyes bore a hole into Severus.

"As promised," Severus said between clenched teeth.

Arthur smiled. "Good." He turned to Hermione, returning to mild-mannered Weasley patriarch. "Welcome back to the Burrow, love. Why don't you take your things up to Ginny's room?"

Hermione could hear the whoop of joyful voices in the other room. The clamour got louder and louder until standing in front of her were Harry and Ron. They had grown over the summer. Ron was now a lot bulkier and a full head taller than Harry. Harry, on the other hand, seemed to be all muscle, yet lean. The boys bear-hugged her, and Ron picked her up and twirled her. Only when Harry looked past Hermione's shoulder did he see Severus standing near the fireplace.

"Professor Snape? What are you doing here?" Harry asked quizzically.

Hermione grabbed Harry's hand. "Oh, Harry, Professor Snape was kind enough to escort me from the safe house."

Harry sneered. "Kind. Hmph. Anyway, Hermione, I bought some trinkets for you when we were in Hungary. Ron did, too. Come on!"

Harry and Ron dragged Hermione up the stairs to see the bounty they had bought for her, Molly following afterwards. Arthur sat back down at the table to finish his tea. Severus cleared his throat. "I suppose I should go back to my own home," he said, but Arthur interrupted him.

"Snape, I'll ask again," he questioned without looking at him. "You didn't take any liberties with Hermione?"

"No." Severus looked completely uncomfortable.

"Good. Now, let me ask another question," Arthur said in a hard voice. "Are you in love with her?"

"None of your business."

"I've made it my business, because no one else is going to. Are you in love with her?"

Severus gritted his teeth, his hand itching for his wand if Arthur were to retaliate for his answer. "Yes."

Arthur looked as though he was going to vomit. "Is she in love with you?"

Severus turned his back on Arthur and stared out the window. "She is in love with me. At least, she believes she is. However, I have not told her my feelings. I never will. It doesn't do to dwell on things of this nature. Now if you'll excuse me, Weasley, I am going home."

"You won't say goodbye to Hermione?" Arthur said chillingly. "You'll just leave her here without pleasantries?"

"I've said all I needed to say to her," Severus retorted, and then Apparated back to his home.

---

"Ron, you shouldn't have!"

Hermione was standing in front of a mirror in Ron's room, admiring a silver necklace with a carved purple amber pendant that he had put around her neck. Harry had purchased enamelled combs for her hair, but Ron's gift was extravagant. Ron smiled.

"Nothing's too good for our Hermione," Harry said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. He left the room.

"I had bought this for Emma, but you know how that went," Ron said.

"You should have given this to Ginny or your mom," Hermione said, "not to me."

"Why not? You're my best girl, Hermione."

"Ron, how long have we known each other?"

"Er, seven years," Ron stammered. "We met on the train, remember?"

"I know we met on the train," Hermione said impatiently. "Listen, Ron. How long did it take for you to realize I was a girl?"

"Hermione, that's not fair. You've always been a girl."

"Fifth year. Fifth year, you started to realize that I am a girl and not just another one of the guys. What changed, Ron?"

Ron turned a deep shade of pink. "Well, er…Hermione, I just thought you'd like this necklace. It suits you."

Hermione took the necklace off and put it back into Ron's hand. "Ron, it's really very sweet of you, but I will never love you. No amount of pretty gifts will make me love you."

Ron looked as though he swallowed Pigwidegon. "I…I'm not trying to buy your affections. You're my friend…"

Hermione unfairly snapped at her friend. "Ron, you know it's unwise to flirt on the rebound!"

"I'm not flirting!"

"You've been after me for years, Ron, and now you think you can get me because we're older and you think I'm lonely! Well, it's not going to work, is it?" Hermione screamed.

"Fine!" Ron yelled, his temper flaring. "See if I try to give you something nice ever again! Screw you, you heartless bitch!" He slammed the door in Hermione's face. Harry heard the fight and dashed up the stairs. He saw Hermione's face, white with shock, and he ran to hug her. Hermione collapsed into tears.

"It's all right, Mione. You can tell me."

"Ron hates me, and I don't blame him!"

Harry smoothed her hair back and patted her head. "Oh, Hermione, he doesn't hate you."

"He called me a heartless bitch." She choked on the words.

"What did you say to him that he'd blow up like that?"

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I accused him of being on the rebound…buying my affections with that necklace."

"Ron bought that necklace for Emma, but then she cheated on him, and let's face it, purple would look really terrible on Ginny or his mom. He's going through a rough time right now, Hermione. He had his heart crushed. You just have to humour him."

"So he doesn't love me?"

"I didn't say that. He loves you, like I love you, but his crush on you ended a long time ago. Forgive him for being harsh, Hermione. Go in there and take the necklace back. We can't stay mad at each other forever, can we?"

Hermione smiled and hugged Harry tightly. "I suppose we can't. Come with me for moral support?"

---

She sat alone in the corner, watching Molly knit a scarf for Ginny. Why did he just leave? She thought. Couldn't he have at least said goodbye? She was terribly hurt.

Arthur stared at her like a hawk. He knew what she was thinking about, and it angered him even more than when he had found her standing with her arms around Severus' neck. He wished that he could have taken Hermione's place in that scene, then ever so slowly, suffocated the professor. How it would have brought him pleasure to see those dark eyes roll back in that greasy skull.

He roused himself back to reality. "Hermione, love, are you all right?"

"Yes," she replied listlessly. "I'm just thinking."

"You know what goes well with thinking? Knitting," Molly said. "What do you say you give it a try?"

"Not today, Mrs. Weasley. I think I'm going to see what the boys are up to." Hermione rose to her feet and walked up the stairs. She heard her two best friends muttering. The sound was coming from Ron's bedroom. She knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in!" she heard Harry say.

She cracked the door open and peeked inside. Ron and Harry were playing wizard's chess. Harry was wearing a pair of flannel pyjamas, and Ron was wearing only a pair of knit shorts. He was shirtless; the freckles on his back looked like a Pollock painting. Hermione marvelled at the way her friends had developed over the summer, but especially Ron. She never dreamed that the boy she grew up with would turn into such a strapping young man. "I was just wondering if you could entertain an old friend?"

"Of course, Mione. Anything for you," Ron said, as he threw a pillow at her and moved over a few inches for her to sit down.

The trio sat quietly for a while as Harry deliberated on a move. Ron was balancing his chin on the palm of his hand, waiting for Harry's effort. Suddenly, Ron sat upright.

"Hermione, you never did tell us where you were this summer."

"Oh, well, I don't know if I should, Ron. It was a safe house."

"Mum had us worried. I thought you had gone to live with …erm, well," Ron looked at Harry pleadingly to jump into the conversation.

"She kept saying it was a den of wolves," Harry added.

"It wasn't a den of wolves. My host was very pleasant."

Harry and Ron looked at each other. "Come on, Hermione, you can tell us," Harry said. "It's us. Harry and Ron. Best friends are supposed to share everything."

"Yeah," Ron said. "And that includes where we spend our summers."

Hermione swallowed nervously. "Do you swear that you won't overreact?"

"Swear it!" the boys said.

She looked around, kneading her hands into the orange shag carpet. "I was at Professor Snape's."

Harry basically shrieked; Ron spat in disgust. "Snape! You had to be alone with that greasy git?" Harry said.

"You swore you wouldn't overreact!"

"But…but…Snape!" Ron exclaimed, and spat again. "He's pure evil!"

Hermione's eyes flashed. "He is not evil! He's kind and he's thoughtful and intelligent…he's more than he lets on."

"What the hell is wrong with you, girl? Ever since last year, you've been weird about Snape," Harry said. "What do you know that we don't?"

"There's a lot I know that you don't, Harry. Professor Snape is a noble man and you'd do well to remember that."

"Noble? Do you remember all the times he's been unfair to us? To you?" Harry said heatedly. "Remember all the times he insulted you, Hermione? The unwarranted detentions? And now, you want us to believe that he's this noble creature?"

She grimaced. "He's changed."

Ron shook his head. "A leopard never changes his spots. Never. You can't just pretend that he spent our seven years at Hogwarts trying to make nice. He's probably planning something evil and heartless and he's trying to get you in his good graces."

"Never! Severus would…"

"Severus?!" the boys shrieked again. "Severus?"

"Yes! Severus! He's more than a professor to me, he is my…"

Ron interrupted her. "Friend? Snape is your friend? Maybe that run in with Malfoy was worse than I thought."

"Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about, Ron!"

"Maybe I do, Hermione! You're acting strange, you think I'm in love with you because I'm nice to you, you're calling Snape 'Severus'…you've gone mental!" Ron yelped.

Hermione's eyes blazed with anger, not unlike the type of look Professor Snape would have given him. "I said shut up, Ronald!"

"What, you've got some soft spot for Snape?" Harry questioned.

"Not a soft spot, Harry…"

"My god! I was right! You have gone mental!"

"Shut up, both of you!" Hermione screamed. "I know exactly what I'm talking about! I love him!"

The room was deathly silent. Ron stared at Hermione with a type of disgust on his face. He tried to speak, but he couldn't seem to make sense of what he wanted to say. Harry, on the other hand, turned away from Hermione, preferring to stare out the window. Hermione sat gripping the pillow that Ron had given her, tears streaming down her face. It was Harry who finally broke the silence. "I can't believe you would betray us this way, Hermione."

She broke into waves of undulating cries that seemed to settle into the blood of her best friends. Ron rushed to comfort her. "Hermione, please, don't cry. Please. Let's talk about it," he said in a hushed tone that was very much unlike him.

"I never meant to hurt anyone," Hermione gasped. "I didn't betray anyone."

Ron patted her shoulders. "I know. We have to talk this through." He looked at Harry. Can't you at least try? he mouthed to him.

"Hermione," Harry said haltingly, "Please…just…I'm sorry, Hermione. I didn't mean to yell at you."

Ron hugged her and handed her a handkerchief. "I want to know if you realize what you said. Do you know you said that you love Snape?" She shook her head in the affirmative. Harry shuddered. Ron ignored him. "Could you tell me why?" he asked, even as he tasted the bile that was coming up with every word.

"Severus isn't the person you think he is, Ron. I've been with him for the past few months. I've learned about him. He's…he's the bravest man I've ever known."

Harry swallowed hard. "No one ever said he wasn't brave, Hermione."

Fresh tears fell from heavy eyelids. "Harry, you have no idea. I saw him after a Death Eater sabbat. It was so cruel. I cannot imagine how he does it, how he's done it all these years, how he can continue to put himself in this situation."

Ron smoothed her hair back from her forehead. "Tell us a little, Hermione. Tell us what you've seen."

"They beat him. I only saw him a week after the meeting, but it was still horrible. His entire face was nothing but a giant bruise. I cannot imagine the damage they inflicted on him, what it looked like when it was new. Even in his pain, though, he tried so hard to take care of me. I know you can't believe this, and Harry, I'm sorry if you feel like I have let you down, but it was never my intention to hurt anyone. He did nothing to me. He knows my feelings. He's tried to stop them. He thought maybe I loved him because he saved me…"

"Wait. Snape saved you? From what?" Harry asked.

Ron's eyes grew wide. "Malfoy. Snape found her after Malfoy's attack on her."

"No, Ron. He saved me. Severus stopped Malfoy from killing me. Didn't you know?"

Harry and Ron looked at each other for a long while as Hermione gently wept in the crook of Ron's arm. Finally, Harry spoke. "Professor Snape did that for you?"

"Yes."

"So, you began to have these feelings for him after he saved you from Malfoy?"

"Before. I can't lie to you, Harry. Those long hours of working with him so closely, you can't help but have feelings."

"Even…but you…you know how I feel about Snape," Harry began.

"Just because you don't like the professor, doesn't mean that our Hermione should feel the same. We're all different. Besides, if he stopped Malfoy, his little pet rat, from attacking her, doesn't that mean that there's something good inside of him anyway?" Ron asked fiercely. "I still don't like it, but I can't do anything about it. And Hermione is the same person she has always been. I trust her judgment. It's never done me wrong."

Harry pondered that fact for a moment. His emotions were getting the best of him, but he also knew that Ron was right. Hermione had always been the most grounded of the trio. It was her wisdom and guidance that helped them all through Hogwarts. Still, he couldn't help but ask the question that burned deep inside of him. "You've kissed him?"

She didn't respond. Ron and Harry looked at each other. "I guess that means yes," Ron whispered.

"Anything else that Ron and I might need to know about?" Harry asked slowly.

"No," she said, and Ron and Harry both sighed with relief. Harry and Ron both tried to dance around anything that Hermione would deem uncomfortable to talk about. Ron was bursting with questions about Snape and what he was like outside of school. Harry, on the other hand, wanted to know more about Gromnett, the house-elf. Hermione and the boys talked deep into the night. When she finally left Ron's room, she went to sleep with the feeling of a person who had a great weight taken off of their chest. Harry and Ron, however, whispered to each other long after their friend had gone to bed.

"It's no wonder your mum was losing it, Ron. I wonder what Dumbledore was thinking?"

"I wonder if he even knows?"

Harry rubbed his eyes, fighting sleep. "Of course he knows. It's Dumbledore we're talking about. He knows everything. Ron, what are we going to do?"

Ron clucked his tongue. "To be honest, Harry, I'm not sure we can do anything. It's not our place to tell Hermione what to do. She's her own person."

Harry thought about it for a moment. He had always thought of Ron as being the silly one and Hermione the wise one. Harry's summer with Ron in Eastern Europe changed a lot of his ideas about his best friend. Ron, although prone to practical jokes (as all Weasleys were), had a kind of wisdom that had grown over the years, especially since the encounter with Voldemort at the Department of Mysteries. Ron's intuition seemed to grow stronger over time, and Harry relied on his friend's council. Everyone seemed to notice it, even Hermione. Harry knew that Ron spoke the truth, but it was hard for him to admit it. Then, he remembered what he said to Hermione earlier that evening: We can't stay mad at each other forever, can we? Ron and Hermione were his best friends, and he loved them even when they were complete prats.

"I just want to make sure she's safe."

Ron smiled, yawned. "We all do, Harry. Now, let's go to sleep. It's 3:00 in the freaking morning."