Anti-lawyer spell: Only borrowing, not making any money with it, promise to
return (although condition should have improved no guarantee is given).
Please review in abundance, it's the only thing that keeps me going.
Summary: Sometimes dreams can become reality, the problem is deciding which ones and when that line has been crossed.
Many thanks due to my wonderful beta- Kellye you are a star!
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She rattled the handle slightly, vaguely hoping that it was simply being awkward. It didn't budge, he had indeed locked her out. Taking a big breath to calm her nerves Hermione called out to him.
"Severus? Severus, please open the door. I need to speak to you. I need to explain what happened. Please." The last word came out as a childish whine and she cringed hearing herself beg.
The door remained locked, the inhabitant of the room beyond broodingly silent. She could feel the wards around the door and knew that a simple Alohamora was not going to work this time. She needed to persuade him to open the door himself, or at least hire in Bill Weasley, ward breaker extraordinaire..she wasn't sure which scenario was more unlikely.
"Severus! Please let me in, I can't carry on without explaining this. We need to talk!" she called through the door, hints of desperation colouring her voice. She suddenly jumped back as written large across the door in flaming words a message appeared,
"GO AWAY!"
"Oh for Merlin's sake, stop acting like the Wizard of Oz and get your backside out here! We need to talk Severus. I can't do this alone. I love you, I want you in my life, and I am not letting you get away without at least talking this through!!" she yelled, bashing her fist on the door repeatedly in emphasis to her words.
Okay, not the measured calm approach she was trying to adopt, but he drove her mad, and he needed a kick sometimes, even if it was the door that got the punishment instead of him. The door remained locked.
Deciding to retreat and regroup, Hermione left, waking from her dream to find her fist red raw and tears drenching her pillow. Oh Severus, she thought, please, just give me one last chance.
Cassandra was stumped. Hermione had explained the gist of the headmaster's words and told her of the little scene in Severus' living room. She was now expected to come up with a plan which would extricate the reluctant professor from his room long enough for Hermione to persuade him of her undying affections and get him to reciprocate. This was not an easy task by any means, and had taken careful planning through several lunch breaks to discard all the unlikely, bad and just plain dangerous ideas which they managed to come up with.
"Well, the only choice I can see is that you go in person, forget this dreaming lark and take him by surprise, so to speak." Cassandra smirked at the sudden look of shock and delight which crossed Hermione's features.
"Of course! It is so obvious Cass. It is the only way. I'll need to speak to Headmaster Dumbledore and get his permission to sneak around. I could set a few wards so that Severus gets stuck in the same room as me. I could refuse to let him out until he talks to me! It is perfect. A perfect plan!" she trilled, her voice rising with her as she whirled around the staff canteen, her hair and white coat spilling out around her in her happiness.
"Hermione, are you alright?" a worried male voice intoned. She stopped spinning suddenly, nausea hitting her as her motion stopped, and looked straight into the spectacle-rimmed green eyes she least wanted to see.
"Harry?" she gasped, holding her heaving chest, suddenly looking both guilty and pleased, like a cat caught raiding Sunday lunch.
"Ron is just up saying hello to his Dad, he'll be down in a minute." Harry continued, pulling out a chair and looking at Hermione with increasing concern. "Are you sure you're alright? You look a bit .well, you looked nuts when I walked in, to be honest." He grinned slightly, watching as the red of her blush spread up her cheeks.
"I'm fine, just fine Harry. Just happy to have finally figured something out." she explained, forcing herself to keep eye contact.
"Uh, ummmm" Cassandra cleared her throat in an exaggerated manner.
"Oh, sorry Cass. May I introduce Cassandra Crump, she works with me here in the lab and has been totally invaluable. Cassandra, this is Harry, Harry Potter." Hermione waited for the realisation to sink in, waited for the look or the shriek of excitement, or at the very least a gushing hello. She was quite surprised when Cass restrained herself to a simple hello and handshake, although the following leer when Harry's attention had wandered put Hermione's mind at rest. Trust Cass, she thought. I like my friends to be predictable.
"Harry, you should have told me you were coming. I have already had lunch. Are you two around this evening? I could cook for you." There was a conversation that they needed to have, and the fewer onlookers the better. Hermione was not looking forward to this talk.
"Yeah, no problem. You get back to the grind stone, and Ron and I will pop around to yours about 7ish?" his voice rose slightly, questioning the time. Hermione simply nodded and kissed his cheek.
"See you then. Come on Cass, we're late." She grinned as Cass, safely out of sight of Harry, mimed exactly how she wanted to say goodbye.
Dinner was the usual affair of catching up on gossip, Ron's family news, and Harry's successes on the pitch. Hermione had decided to leave her news until all the cutlery and breakable china had been put back into the kitchen. If she was quiet, a little subdued when they asked her about her news, the boys didn't seem to notice.
The lull in the conversation was her opportunity, and so with shaking hands stuffed into her lap she tremulously began.
"Uhm, guys, there is something I had been meaning..that is to say, that I need to discuss with you. I need to tell you, before anyone else knows.um, finds out." she began.
"Finally! I was beginning to wonder when you'd tell us!" Ron exclaimed, grinning at her. "So, who is the father?"
"Pardon!" the indignant Hermione spluttered, "I'm not pregnant!" she lapsed into silence, scowling at the red faced Weasley who was looking apologetic and trying to disappear into his chair.
"What the hell made you think I was pregnant? I'm exactly the same weight I was last time you saw me." she grumped, her arms folded across the dinner table.
"Hermione, with the birth rate in the Weasley households, a guy soon learns the signs before any weight gain happens." He sounded slightly superior, which earned him a bigger scowl from the angry witch. "You just had this glow, you know, that certain happiness glow. I just presumed that it was the baby glow." He was whining now, desperate for her to forgive him slightly. "Sorry."
She was still making her mouth into a small pursed shape, looking slightly like she had just tasted a lemon. "Well, you're wrong, I'm not. The "glow" is cos I've realised something." She stopped, gathering her words and courage as she looked her two best friends in the face. "I'm in love."
"Great!" they both said, relieved that this normal happening was all that she needed to tell them. She had been scaring Harry, who was imagining all sorts of problems, so simply being in love was, for a split second, complete relief.
Hermione grinned, delighted by the sudden good humour, but aware that she had to complete her confession. She was expecting Harry's question, but his tone shocked her.
"Who is it Hermione?" he asked. It was a simple question, but the suspicion colouring his voice was thick, causing even Ron to fall into silence.
"I met someone." she began, valiantly trying to meet his eyes. "I know you won't like this, neither of you," she said, flicking her gaze from one to the other, "but, we make each other happy, genuinely happy. He's changed so much; he is not the man we knew."
"Hermione" Ron growled slightly, "Who?"
"Snape," she whispered, watching as shocked realisation crossed both their faces. "Severus Snape." she said again, a little louder this time, taking a perverse satisfaction in hearing herself say the words. "I am in love with Severus Snape, and the truly miraculous thing is," she paused for dramatic effect, watching the play of emotions on the boy's faces, "he is in love with me!" she finished smugly.
Their reaction was not exactly the one she had been expecting. No screaming accusations, no questions of her sanity, nothing but a stony silence. Both the boys seemed to be too shocked to say anything. Harry gulped, and motioned to Ron with his hand, and the pair of them rose to leave.
"Hermione. Hermione, I really don't know what to say." Harry stammered, his eyes blinking rapidly. "I mean, did you really think that little of us, that we."
"I wasn't thinking about you at all. I was thinking about me; about me and Severus. I'm sorry if it offends you Harry but."
"No," he interrupted, "it doesn't offend us Hermione. What offends us is that you didn't trust us enough to tell us before now. We aren't kids any more Mione. The path we trod to become adults was tough, tough enough to show us the man Snape is. I might not like him much, but I do respect him. We both do." Harry said, and Ron was nodding his confirmation.
"We watched him fight for our cause, knew about his spy activities, the danger he put himself in nightly for the cause of light. I know you weren't there for the final battle Hermione, but if you had seen him,... what he did for all of us. Maybe then you would understand." Harry's eyes glazed, dredging up scenes of mayhem and terror as he remembered that night.
"God Hermione!" the red head exclaimed, "How could you not realise that we would be there for you? How could you not trust us?!" his voice broke with the emotion he was bottling up. Harry touched his arm gently, giving what little support he could, sharing their sense of betrayal.
Harry took a deep breath and said, "If you are truly set on this path, then we will support you. But think Hermione, make sure that you are doing this for the right reasons. Make sure that you really mean it, cos I can't see Snape as the casual fling sort." He turned and started to move towards the door to collect their cloaks. "I really do hope this works out Hermione. I'll give you a call later next week." He handed Ron his cloak.
"Come on mate, let's go. Our friend here has some serious thinking to do."
Ron nodded, "Bye Hermione," he said, the anger in his voice replaced with regret.
After the boys had left she sat on the sofa, knees pulled up supporting a large tub of rapidly thawing ice cream which she swirled with her spoon. She had given up trying to eat it at least half an hour ago. Her self righteousness had faded into a mire of guilt and self-recrimination. She felt absolutely horrible. She really didn't know Harry and Ron anymore, she still saw them as the boys, as two-thirds of the troublesome trio. That much was very clear to her.
She hadn't been there at the final battle, not in the melee of fighting on the castle lawns. When Poppy had been injured by falling masonry, Hermione had been pushed into the role of mediwitch to the hundreds of casualties streaming through the infirmary doors. Although at the time she had been champing at the bit to get outside into the fighting, she had in time come to terms with her role. She had recognised the greater contribution she had made as a healer, rather than a curse caster and found her conscience salved to some degree. Now though, now she regretted that she hadn't been there for them. She felt like she had been left behind, sheltered not only from the danger, but also from the knowledge and maturity that the boys seemed to have gained. The wound of her guilt was freshly open again and she felt as if she had betrayed them all.
The ice cream had dribbled down the side of the pot and left a cold sticky mess on her skirt. It's coldness on her thigh cut through her introspection to rouse her to action. Getting up, she deposited the pot in the bin and grabbed her wand, quickly cleaning herself and the flat. She had made her decision. She knew what she wanted. The boys were no longer a guilt-ridden obstacle in the path she really wished to tread. She was free.
Her next move, she thought, remembering how hopeless she had been at chess when she had played Severus before, would have to be approved by Professor Dumbledore. So bearing that in mind, she readied herself for bed, fully prepared to turn smartly out of Snape's rooms and find the headmaster.
Sometimes Hermione, she thought to herself, just sometimes the luck runs your way, and even I can challenge a master player. Please let that sometime be tonight, she whispered to herself, as she drifted off to sleep.
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Please review, it makes my day. ;o)
Please review in abundance, it's the only thing that keeps me going.
Summary: Sometimes dreams can become reality, the problem is deciding which ones and when that line has been crossed.
Many thanks due to my wonderful beta- Kellye you are a star!
Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss sssssssssssss
She rattled the handle slightly, vaguely hoping that it was simply being awkward. It didn't budge, he had indeed locked her out. Taking a big breath to calm her nerves Hermione called out to him.
"Severus? Severus, please open the door. I need to speak to you. I need to explain what happened. Please." The last word came out as a childish whine and she cringed hearing herself beg.
The door remained locked, the inhabitant of the room beyond broodingly silent. She could feel the wards around the door and knew that a simple Alohamora was not going to work this time. She needed to persuade him to open the door himself, or at least hire in Bill Weasley, ward breaker extraordinaire..she wasn't sure which scenario was more unlikely.
"Severus! Please let me in, I can't carry on without explaining this. We need to talk!" she called through the door, hints of desperation colouring her voice. She suddenly jumped back as written large across the door in flaming words a message appeared,
"GO AWAY!"
"Oh for Merlin's sake, stop acting like the Wizard of Oz and get your backside out here! We need to talk Severus. I can't do this alone. I love you, I want you in my life, and I am not letting you get away without at least talking this through!!" she yelled, bashing her fist on the door repeatedly in emphasis to her words.
Okay, not the measured calm approach she was trying to adopt, but he drove her mad, and he needed a kick sometimes, even if it was the door that got the punishment instead of him. The door remained locked.
Deciding to retreat and regroup, Hermione left, waking from her dream to find her fist red raw and tears drenching her pillow. Oh Severus, she thought, please, just give me one last chance.
Cassandra was stumped. Hermione had explained the gist of the headmaster's words and told her of the little scene in Severus' living room. She was now expected to come up with a plan which would extricate the reluctant professor from his room long enough for Hermione to persuade him of her undying affections and get him to reciprocate. This was not an easy task by any means, and had taken careful planning through several lunch breaks to discard all the unlikely, bad and just plain dangerous ideas which they managed to come up with.
"Well, the only choice I can see is that you go in person, forget this dreaming lark and take him by surprise, so to speak." Cassandra smirked at the sudden look of shock and delight which crossed Hermione's features.
"Of course! It is so obvious Cass. It is the only way. I'll need to speak to Headmaster Dumbledore and get his permission to sneak around. I could set a few wards so that Severus gets stuck in the same room as me. I could refuse to let him out until he talks to me! It is perfect. A perfect plan!" she trilled, her voice rising with her as she whirled around the staff canteen, her hair and white coat spilling out around her in her happiness.
"Hermione, are you alright?" a worried male voice intoned. She stopped spinning suddenly, nausea hitting her as her motion stopped, and looked straight into the spectacle-rimmed green eyes she least wanted to see.
"Harry?" she gasped, holding her heaving chest, suddenly looking both guilty and pleased, like a cat caught raiding Sunday lunch.
"Ron is just up saying hello to his Dad, he'll be down in a minute." Harry continued, pulling out a chair and looking at Hermione with increasing concern. "Are you sure you're alright? You look a bit .well, you looked nuts when I walked in, to be honest." He grinned slightly, watching as the red of her blush spread up her cheeks.
"I'm fine, just fine Harry. Just happy to have finally figured something out." she explained, forcing herself to keep eye contact.
"Uh, ummmm" Cassandra cleared her throat in an exaggerated manner.
"Oh, sorry Cass. May I introduce Cassandra Crump, she works with me here in the lab and has been totally invaluable. Cassandra, this is Harry, Harry Potter." Hermione waited for the realisation to sink in, waited for the look or the shriek of excitement, or at the very least a gushing hello. She was quite surprised when Cass restrained herself to a simple hello and handshake, although the following leer when Harry's attention had wandered put Hermione's mind at rest. Trust Cass, she thought. I like my friends to be predictable.
"Harry, you should have told me you were coming. I have already had lunch. Are you two around this evening? I could cook for you." There was a conversation that they needed to have, and the fewer onlookers the better. Hermione was not looking forward to this talk.
"Yeah, no problem. You get back to the grind stone, and Ron and I will pop around to yours about 7ish?" his voice rose slightly, questioning the time. Hermione simply nodded and kissed his cheek.
"See you then. Come on Cass, we're late." She grinned as Cass, safely out of sight of Harry, mimed exactly how she wanted to say goodbye.
Dinner was the usual affair of catching up on gossip, Ron's family news, and Harry's successes on the pitch. Hermione had decided to leave her news until all the cutlery and breakable china had been put back into the kitchen. If she was quiet, a little subdued when they asked her about her news, the boys didn't seem to notice.
The lull in the conversation was her opportunity, and so with shaking hands stuffed into her lap she tremulously began.
"Uhm, guys, there is something I had been meaning..that is to say, that I need to discuss with you. I need to tell you, before anyone else knows.um, finds out." she began.
"Finally! I was beginning to wonder when you'd tell us!" Ron exclaimed, grinning at her. "So, who is the father?"
"Pardon!" the indignant Hermione spluttered, "I'm not pregnant!" she lapsed into silence, scowling at the red faced Weasley who was looking apologetic and trying to disappear into his chair.
"What the hell made you think I was pregnant? I'm exactly the same weight I was last time you saw me." she grumped, her arms folded across the dinner table.
"Hermione, with the birth rate in the Weasley households, a guy soon learns the signs before any weight gain happens." He sounded slightly superior, which earned him a bigger scowl from the angry witch. "You just had this glow, you know, that certain happiness glow. I just presumed that it was the baby glow." He was whining now, desperate for her to forgive him slightly. "Sorry."
She was still making her mouth into a small pursed shape, looking slightly like she had just tasted a lemon. "Well, you're wrong, I'm not. The "glow" is cos I've realised something." She stopped, gathering her words and courage as she looked her two best friends in the face. "I'm in love."
"Great!" they both said, relieved that this normal happening was all that she needed to tell them. She had been scaring Harry, who was imagining all sorts of problems, so simply being in love was, for a split second, complete relief.
Hermione grinned, delighted by the sudden good humour, but aware that she had to complete her confession. She was expecting Harry's question, but his tone shocked her.
"Who is it Hermione?" he asked. It was a simple question, but the suspicion colouring his voice was thick, causing even Ron to fall into silence.
"I met someone." she began, valiantly trying to meet his eyes. "I know you won't like this, neither of you," she said, flicking her gaze from one to the other, "but, we make each other happy, genuinely happy. He's changed so much; he is not the man we knew."
"Hermione" Ron growled slightly, "Who?"
"Snape," she whispered, watching as shocked realisation crossed both their faces. "Severus Snape." she said again, a little louder this time, taking a perverse satisfaction in hearing herself say the words. "I am in love with Severus Snape, and the truly miraculous thing is," she paused for dramatic effect, watching the play of emotions on the boy's faces, "he is in love with me!" she finished smugly.
Their reaction was not exactly the one she had been expecting. No screaming accusations, no questions of her sanity, nothing but a stony silence. Both the boys seemed to be too shocked to say anything. Harry gulped, and motioned to Ron with his hand, and the pair of them rose to leave.
"Hermione. Hermione, I really don't know what to say." Harry stammered, his eyes blinking rapidly. "I mean, did you really think that little of us, that we."
"I wasn't thinking about you at all. I was thinking about me; about me and Severus. I'm sorry if it offends you Harry but."
"No," he interrupted, "it doesn't offend us Hermione. What offends us is that you didn't trust us enough to tell us before now. We aren't kids any more Mione. The path we trod to become adults was tough, tough enough to show us the man Snape is. I might not like him much, but I do respect him. We both do." Harry said, and Ron was nodding his confirmation.
"We watched him fight for our cause, knew about his spy activities, the danger he put himself in nightly for the cause of light. I know you weren't there for the final battle Hermione, but if you had seen him,... what he did for all of us. Maybe then you would understand." Harry's eyes glazed, dredging up scenes of mayhem and terror as he remembered that night.
"God Hermione!" the red head exclaimed, "How could you not realise that we would be there for you? How could you not trust us?!" his voice broke with the emotion he was bottling up. Harry touched his arm gently, giving what little support he could, sharing their sense of betrayal.
Harry took a deep breath and said, "If you are truly set on this path, then we will support you. But think Hermione, make sure that you are doing this for the right reasons. Make sure that you really mean it, cos I can't see Snape as the casual fling sort." He turned and started to move towards the door to collect their cloaks. "I really do hope this works out Hermione. I'll give you a call later next week." He handed Ron his cloak.
"Come on mate, let's go. Our friend here has some serious thinking to do."
Ron nodded, "Bye Hermione," he said, the anger in his voice replaced with regret.
After the boys had left she sat on the sofa, knees pulled up supporting a large tub of rapidly thawing ice cream which she swirled with her spoon. She had given up trying to eat it at least half an hour ago. Her self righteousness had faded into a mire of guilt and self-recrimination. She felt absolutely horrible. She really didn't know Harry and Ron anymore, she still saw them as the boys, as two-thirds of the troublesome trio. That much was very clear to her.
She hadn't been there at the final battle, not in the melee of fighting on the castle lawns. When Poppy had been injured by falling masonry, Hermione had been pushed into the role of mediwitch to the hundreds of casualties streaming through the infirmary doors. Although at the time she had been champing at the bit to get outside into the fighting, she had in time come to terms with her role. She had recognised the greater contribution she had made as a healer, rather than a curse caster and found her conscience salved to some degree. Now though, now she regretted that she hadn't been there for them. She felt like she had been left behind, sheltered not only from the danger, but also from the knowledge and maturity that the boys seemed to have gained. The wound of her guilt was freshly open again and she felt as if she had betrayed them all.
The ice cream had dribbled down the side of the pot and left a cold sticky mess on her skirt. It's coldness on her thigh cut through her introspection to rouse her to action. Getting up, she deposited the pot in the bin and grabbed her wand, quickly cleaning herself and the flat. She had made her decision. She knew what she wanted. The boys were no longer a guilt-ridden obstacle in the path she really wished to tread. She was free.
Her next move, she thought, remembering how hopeless she had been at chess when she had played Severus before, would have to be approved by Professor Dumbledore. So bearing that in mind, she readied herself for bed, fully prepared to turn smartly out of Snape's rooms and find the headmaster.
Sometimes Hermione, she thought to herself, just sometimes the luck runs your way, and even I can challenge a master player. Please let that sometime be tonight, she whispered to herself, as she drifted off to sleep.
Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss ssssssssssss
Please review, it makes my day. ;o)