A/N-Sorry for the delay-life has interfered. I know this chapter is short-but we're heading towards the beginning of the end.
Hermione woke up the next day with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. It all came flooding back to her. She remembered seeing Severus, with another woman. She didn't want to go down to breakfast, but knew she didn't have much choice. She could go visit the house elves in the kitchen later, they would be more than happy to give her something to eat, but ever since her dabbling with S.P.E.W., she tried not to support that type of thinking. She got out of bed and took her time getting ready, trying to prolong the inevitable. She finally left her rooms and headed down to the Great Hall. The first thing she saw was THAT woman when she walked in. The woman was sitting next to Severus. She was in the middle of saying something to him, her hand on his arm. Hermione held her head up high and walked to the other side of the table, where there was an empty seat next to Professor Sprout.
Severus saw Hermione walk in and flinched. He couldn't get away from Jane and he really needed to talk to Hermione. He had tuned out what Jane was saying. Jane tapped his arm. "Severus, would you please escort me down into Hogsmeade today? I wasn't originally planning on staying long, but I've changed my mind and I'll need some robes."
Severus turned and looked at her. "I do hope you don't expect me to drop everything just because you've walked back into my life Jane."
"Severus! How could you think such a thing? I jst thought maybe you could escort me and we could catch up on old times."
Hermione sat next to Professor Sprout trying not to look miserable. She couldn't hear what was being said but Severus and Jane looked so cozy and intimate. As she started to turn away Severus raised his head and looked right at her with a look of longing on his face. Hermione looked at what was left on her plate, sighed and got up.
She stepped down and walked out of the hall. She didn't hear the footsteps behind her until she felt a hand on her arm. "Hermione, wait." Severus low voice said.
Hermione turned and looked at him, tears threatening to form. "How could you!" she hissed at him. "Knowing my past. I trusted you. Well, forget it. I don't want to hear your excuses." She regally turned and stalked away from him.
He started to follow her, "Hermione, please. It's not what you think."
She turned around. "I am not having this discussion with you. There are students around the corner and this entirely too public. I don't care what you think it was. I know what I saw. We're finished." She turned back and stormed towards her rooms, trying to hold back the tears until she got to them.
Severus took one more step towards her retreating back. Then he turned on his heel and swept down to his rooms in the dungeon. As soon as he walked in, he turned towards the bottle he had left on his table, poured a glass and started to drink. He downed the first one and quickly poured a second one. 'Damn Jane.' Just when he was finally moving on with his life and putting his past behind him, she had to come back in and muck things up. He had realized in his short time with Hermione what a mistake it was to ever had even taken up with Jane all those years ago in the first place. She was evil, and manipulative. If it hadn't been for her...he would have gotten out of the death eaters inner circle long before he had. She thought he could get closer to Voldemort and gain power. She had wanted to live vicariously through him, since she had been on the outer fringes of the circle.
He thought back to the days where she would come to his rooms and they would walk down to the outskirts of Hogwarts to apparate together to the meetings. He shook his head. He had to get her out of here before his relationship with Hermione was beyond repair. He knew she would try to be devious and stay. He sighed. He would have to go talk to Dumbledore. He unconsciously had poured himself a third drink and was in the middle of sipping it when he heard a knock on the door. He groaned because he already had a good guess as to who it was. So he muttered "Enter"
Jane came sweeping into the room. "Severus, are you read...what are you doing?" she asked pointedly looking at the glass in his hand.
"Getting rip roaring drunk and I'll thank you to take your little behind and get it out of my rooms." Snape growled at her.
Jane looked slightly surprised, then a calculated look appeared in her eyes. "Oh, this is all over that tramp who surprised us last night. Well I saw her sneaking around last night with someone who had dark hair. I don't think it was a professor here. You'd be better off forgetting her." Jane had done some homework this morning and found out that Hermione was friends with Harry Potter and she fully intended to lead Severus to believe that Hermione was sleeping around on him.
Severus turned "Get out, or I will throw you out."
Jane looked at him. "Fine, wallow in your supposed misery. I may or may not be around when you're done." She walked out of the room.
Severus glared at her retreating back, downed what was left in the glass and started on a fourth glass.
Hermione had made it to the safety of her rooms. As soon as the door closed behind her, she let the tears fall freely. She sunk down to the floor and sobbed. "Stu-pid potions profe-ssor. I should , sob, have, sob, known, sob, he wasn't what I, sob, thought he was."
She dragged herself off of the floor and headed towards her bedroom. She flopped onto the bed and continued to cry. She didn't hear the soft knock at her door.
Minerva stood outside the door. She heard Hermione's soft sobbing from within. Minerva ached for the girl. She had known from the beginning one or the other of the pair would get hurt. She sighed and turned away to go tell Albus the latest developments.