center Harry Potter and the Amulet of Power /center
Summary: Harry Potter is in his 6th year at Hogwarts. Right off the start of summer holiday he is captured by Voldemort. There is a mysterious new student at Hogwarts this year that transferred from Durmstang and she holds some interesting secrets. Harry is a sixteen year old with all of the love problems that come with his age. He struggles with the meaning of love and has some tough decisions to make. And if he chooses wrong, everything could come crashing down around him…
Genre/Category: Action/Adventure/Romance
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related characters belong to JK Rowling and Warner Brothers Entertainment. I have no wish to claim it as my own. Yet, the plot and original characters of "Harry Potter and the Amulet of Life" are all my own.Ships: HPHG HGSS HPGW GWDM (Love triangles all around!)
A/N: Be a responsible reader and review!
Chapter Ten – In Unexpected Company
Hermione woke up the next day at one in the afternoon. She put on her dressing gown and went down to the kitchen to make some coffee. Then, she heard a noise in her darkened living room. She grabbed a pan and snuck into the vicinity of the noise she had heard. She saw a figure of a man sitting in their rocking chair and looking at the fire that was almost out. She lifted the pot up to strike the stranger and crept towards him, not making a sound. Suddenly the man whipped his head around and lunged away from where Hermione had swung the pot.
When she began to walk closer to him to hit him again he spoke out. "Hermione! It's me, Severus. Please out that down, I'd rather not have a concussion."
"Serverus? Really? Then why are you in my living room? How do I know you're not someone else using Polyjuice potion?"
"Miss Granger, you may watch me for an hour if you'd like to verify that I really am your Professor or you could just call Dumbledore. He sent me here hours ago to watch over you while your parents are out."
"Why is it so dark in here? It's one in the afternoon!"
"I darkened the windows since you have no shades in here. It was getting a bit hot and I like it dark. Like for example, why I live in the dungeons at school."
Hermione furrowed her brow and fidgeted, thinking what to do with this man in her living room.
"Okay, I'll believe you. But I'm going to call the Headmaster. And if you make any motions towards me I'll decapitate you with this pan. OH! And your wand, please."
Snape scowled and handed her his wand and sat back down in the rocking chair.
"Would you like any coffee? I just started making some."
"Yes, that would be nice. I like mine black."
After Hermione made the coffee she gave Snape's his and began reading in the living room. After reading the paper she moved onto a book on medicine and then one on ancient magic. One thing popped out to her in the ancient magic book. It was a spell for conjuring more power and special forces. It looked incredibly dark though and she suspected that was the reason of her lure to it. She had read that Dark Magic can be very compelling and terrible to some wizards. It could take them over.
"What's that you are reading, Hermione?" She noticed that he had started using her first name lately.
"This book on ancient magic. It's so old that it doesn't even have a title. I got it at this strange shop in France when I was visiting my Aunt a few months ago."
"Ah. Just be careful of the spells in there. Make sure you ask the Headmaster, myself or McGonnogal before you try it. A lot of the spells have some bad outcomes that you may have skimmed over. You just need to be careful."
"I feel so restless…we've been sitting in this dark room reading for two hours now. It's beautiful outside, too. Am I allowed to take the boat out on our lake?"
He raised an eyebrow and frowned. "Hermione, you know I'm not supposed to let you go out. Wouldn't this time be better used for some training or studying of some kind?"
"All work and no play equals insanity, sir." He frowned again and thought deeply about it.
"Alright…" He said, giving in. Hermione smiled and leapt up and hugged him suddenly, catching him off guard. He just froze as she held him a moment longer and then let go. She started to blush.
He hadn't been hugged like that in ages. The last time he got a hug might have been from his mother before she died. He didn't see much of women and when he did it was purely physical, usually. But Severus Snape did not cuddle. He shuddered at the thought.
"Um…I'm sorry sir."
"Yes, well, bottle your enthusiasm some. You can only go if I go with you and we need to come back before it gets dark." To his surprise she still seemed quite happy about being able to go out on her boat.
"No problem. At least I'll have some company! I'll go change and get the boat ready. We'll be departing in ten minutes. Okay?"
"I'm sorry, I must have thirty or so. So in thirty?" He offered.
"THIRTY!" She whined. "Why?"
"I um…just ate."
"No you didn't."
"I uh…have to um…shower."
"Why? We're just going out on the boat. You'll probably end up having to shower when we get back."
"Just…because." He snapped.
"Well, okay! Don't have to get all angry about it…" She joked.
OH MY GOD was I just flirting with SNAPE? Gross… Hermione thought to herself.
Snape got up from his chair and went to the guestroom where he was presumably staying. She guessed his job was watching over her. Oh great he must be ecstatic about that…spending his summer babysitting.
When Hermione got into her bikini and cover up she went downstairs to see that Snape still hadn't come out yet. After prepping the boat she went back inside again and found him in the living room. It looked as though he wasn't doing anything. He appeared to be waiting for the thirty minutes to go by. She shook her head and waited with him.
"Can we go now, Professor?" Hermione whined as the clock struck 3:30.
"Yes, yes. Let's go, Hermione."
As Hermione was untying the boat from the dock Snape started to talk to her. "You know, Hermione, for the summer you could call me Severus or even Mister Snape. Professor is rather tedious while I'm here. And just 'Snape' is a bit cold."
She was surprised. It felt weird to call him anything but Snape or Professor Snape. But she accepted it nonetheless. "Alright, Severus." He gave her a small smile and relaxed on one of the seats in the shaded part of the boat.
After they got out into the middle of the lake she took off her cover up and laid out in the sun on her deck. She could feel Severus' eyes on her. Hermione cringed at the thought but was surprised she wasn't more disgusted.
Severus couldn't help but look at her. She was utterly beautiful and had really grown into her body. She was gorgeous. The sun reflected dozens of hues of browns in her wavy hair and accentuated her curves in a very flattering manner. He was drawn back to a time when he was young and in love…a time when he was so drawn to a woman's beauty…Felice's beauty…
It was a hot day and the first of his summer vacation before sixth year. He was at Hogsmeade and was dying to get out the heat. When he got to the Three Broomsticks Severus sat down at his table and contemplated what to order from the menu. Just as he had ordered his meal the door opened and e subconsciously looked over to see who was coming in. His meal no longer mattered to him.
She was gorgeous.
He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He felt his jaw hang off of it's hinge as he marveled at her. She was tall and had long, black silky hair. It was the darkest black he had ever seen in his life. She had perfect skin and a thin body accentuated by full breasts and great curves. As he was looking her over he couldn't keep his sight away from her eyes. They were like nothing he had ever seen before. They were the lightest blue with a dark blue or black rim. But, no matter how out of the ordinary they looked it seemed they didn't look bad on her, they looked stunning. She looked stunning.
After ordering her drinks she turned around and Severus' eyes met her light blue ones. He colored slightly, knowing he'd been caught looking at her, and clasped his jaw back into place and tried to pretend that he wasn't just gaping at her.
She walked over to his table and his heart skipped a beat and she sat down across from him. He stopped breathing for a moment and didn't know if he was capable of speaking. It seemed like he had forgotten. And as hard as it was before to keep his eyes off of her it was just as hard to stop looking at his plate and face her.
"Excuse me sir, do you mind if I sit here with you? I thought it would be a bit lonely for us both to eat alone…" She asked him with a light Bulgarian accent. He found it incredibly sexy.
"I…um…er…sure…I guess if you er would uhm like to I guess and I um…"Severus looked up at her and his face was crimson as she started giggling.
"Do you speak English, sir?" She asked through her giggles. Those damn giggles, he thought.
"I um…yes. I'm sorry. I'm not too eloquent today. I—I don't know what's come over me…" Severus finally got out. He usually didn't lose his head when talking to good-looking girls but for some reason he was starting to now.
"Why were you looking at me before?" She asked, with curiosity written all over her face.
Severus choked up and could feel himself starting to blush profusely. "I'm sorry, I just thought I might have recognized you from somewhere…" He lied.
"Really?"
"Um…yes."
She raised an eyebrow at him and started sipping her liquor.
"Well, I thought you were…" Severus forced out, being cut off by the girl.
"Attractive?"
"Basically." He wanted to scream out that he thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and he wanted to sweep her off her feet and kiss her senseless but instead he bit his tongue and turned red again.
"Well, my name is Felice Benzler. What's yours?"
"I'm Severus, Severus Snape."
"Oh, do you go to the school over here, Hogwarts?"
"Yes, I'm going to be in my seventh year this upcoming school year."
"Ooh. I just graduated this year actually. I'm here in England with some friends on a little celebration traveling. Though I might want to work somewhere around here. I love London. I grew up here…"
"What school did you go to?"
"Durmstrang. I liked it. But it was bloody cold up there. I would have liked Hogwarts better."
He looked at her dreamily as she sipped the rest of her liquor down and noticed how defined all the features in her face were.
"So, are you doing anything tonight, Severus?" She asked, breaking his daze.
"I um…no…well…I told my mum I'd make some potions for her, but that could wait."
"Maybe you'd like to go out with me and my friends tonight? A little night on the town? Don't worry, we're not too wild." She gave him a mischievous smile, which made him melt into his seat.
"That sounds…great. Should I meet you here? What time?"
"Uh…eight would be good. But I've got to be going. See you then!"
"Bye…"
She was the love of his life. Felice was his first and his last. She took his virginity and he took her sorrows and worries away. There had only been one bump in their relationship. Felice had been raped when she was out late one night by herself and ended up pregnant. They worked through it and by the time the baby was to be born Severus was excited as she would allow him to adopt the infant. It would be as if it were his child. He couldn't contain himself. But, despite many attempts, Felice died bearing the child. It was a girl. A black haired girl with shocking blue eyes, just like her mother. It had been the saddest day of his life. It had plagued him unto this moment.
He did not get to keep the child, as no account of Severus' planned adoption of the girl was noted before labor. So the adoption agency's first choice was to give her to family, and not the mother's boyfriend. That day he lost the love of his life and a daughter. He felt no need to keep in touch with the girl, as he wasn't a part of her life. And last he heard she had been shipped off to Durmstrang and lived there most of the summer, also.
He snapped out of his reverie when Hermione got up from the deck in her bikini. She giggled inwardly when she noticed she had an effect on her Professor.
"Want to go in now? You look bored." Hermione said.
"I'm fine. But, we should go in. It's starting to get dark."
Hermione pulled the lever to pull in the anchor but a few seconds after reeling in it made a loud noise and stopped. She went over to inspect and noticed that the machinery was jammed.
"What happened?" Inquired Severus.
"The anchor won't reel in properly. I guess it wasn't lubricated enough."
"Can you fix it?" He asked as she went through a compartment under one of the seats.
"Bloody hell! I'm out of lubricant. Unless you can pull it in, I'm afraid we'll either have to swim back or stay on the boat until someone comes out for us."
"Can't you call the coast guard?"
"We're in the middle of a lake, not an ocean."
"Oh."
"Can't you perform a spell to make the anchor lighter so we can reel it in by hand?"
"Not through the water, why don't I just sever it off?"
"So we need to get a new anchor and chain and put it all back together? I think not." She snapped. "Well, I'd use my cell phone but I don't have any service out here for some reason…maybe you could transfigure something into a boat with oars?"
"Transfiguration isn't my specialty. Potions is, remember?"
"Well, I've got some food. We could camp out here for a while. My parents will notice you, me, and the boat is gone and come out looking for us eventually."
"Your parents informed me they would not be getting home until very late, they're going to some Dentistry Convention after work."
"Oh yeah…then we could just sleep out here. If you let me use your wand I'll transfigure some stuff into blankets and these chairs fold out into a bed."
Severus scowled and handed her his wand. After making some blankets appear she suggested that she might try to summon things from her house to use on the boat. She tried but was unsuccessful.
When it got dark the sky was gorgeous.
Hermione sat on the back of the boat and looked out onto the vast sky and Severus came over to sit next to her. It was an intimate moment shared by them both and he couldn't help but worry for her and her relationship with Harry. He couldn't imagine her being tortured by a death eater for kicks or to get information out of her. He would die for her. Maybe Dumbledore had felt his protectiveness over her and his students in general and that's why he assigned him to Hermione. At first he was angry that he had to baby sit most of the summer, but now, he wasn't sure he minded. Sure, he could be researching for the book he's going to write or creating new potions but he was quite content with Hermione.
Severus was surprised at his draw to her. She was just another student, a fifteen-year-old one at that, and yet he still felt like she was a colleague. She didn't act like she was fifteen, but like she was twenty. He didn't understand how she could be so close with Potter and Weasley. They didn't seem to appreciate her and understand her very well.
Well, She's probably more like sixteen and a half if you consider she used that time-turner in her third year… he thought to himself, trying to make his feelings for her acceptable.
He looked at her profile in the moonlight and marveled over how different she looked. She was a beautiful girl, no a beautiful woman, whom he wanted to start kissing passionately. He knew that would be very irresponsible and he's end up regretting it though. She would jump away from him in disgust and think him some creepy old man he thought to himself.
Hermione rested her head on his shoulder and starting drifting off to sleep. After a few minutes she seemed to be out and he put his arm around her shoulders and put a blanket around them. After drawing her close to him Severus didn't ever want this to end. He knew he should part from her and leave her to sleep on her own but he couldn't bring himself to.
Maybe it was fate.
He soon fell to sleep against his will, with Hermione resting on his chest. There couldn't have been anything that felt more natural to him.
