A/N: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling

Chapter Three

She sat reading in the library when he came in, his robes billowing out behind him and the door slamming shut without his even touching it. Looking up, she expected to see a look of anger directed at her. She had surmised that Snape had been included on the list because all the male Order members had been. He could have hardly expected that she would choose him. But instead of anger, he merely sneered at her.

"I hardly thought you were such a masochist, Miss Granger."

"Sir?" she asked, confused by his reaction.

"You do realize what marrying me will entail?" he asked snidely, sitting in the chair across from her.

"If you mean enduring cutting comments regarding myself and my friends, its something I have become immune to over the last seven years," she said somewhat snidely herself. If she was to marry him, she would have to start standing up to him and she resolved to start now.

"Well there is that," he conceded, "but I was referring to my other profession."

"Yes, I did consider that," she admitted, "But after seeing a certain number of your colleagues on the list, I decided that this is strategically the best move for both of us. You can tell one side you married me to gain access to important information and the other side so that you could protect me."

"That is what I gain, but what do you get?" he asked pointedly.

"Simple, Professor McGonagall offered me an apprenticeship I would otherwise have to turn down," she said.

He sat, staring at her, seemingly in shock at her shrewd logic.

"It seems to me then we should pick a date," he said finally.

She was amazed at how easily he had acquiesced; knowing that other concessions later in the marriage would not be so easily won. To ensure that the marriage even took place, she thought it wise to proceed quickly before either one of them changed their minds.

"I think as soon as possible would be the best, don't you?" She watched as he sat back, tapping his fingers against the arm of the chair and murmuring dates and days as he made mental calculations.

"The fourth," he declared, "That is the earliest."

She nodded, that date worked for her. It was just over a week away, but she didn't need much time to prepare. If she had known she would be moving straight back to Hogwarts she would have left her trunk there, but it wouldn't take long to pack it again.

"Here or at Hogwarts?" she asked.

"Hogwarts," he answered, "The headmaster can oversee the vows and then you can move your things."

"That will work. I'll insist that Ron and Harry be there as well," she said the last part quickly, trying to gauge his reaction. He frowned at her.

"If they must. I suppose it would be suspicious if they were absent," he noted dryly, "And your parents?"

"I think not," she had already considered the thought of her muggle parents at her wedding. They would be angry and confused about why she was marrying in the first place, trying, she was sure, to convince her to leave the wizarding world. And meeting Snape would only further convince them they were right. No, she would visit them and give them the news after the fact, when it was too late for their pleas and entreaties to have any effect on her decision. It would be hard enough to answer the astonished outcries she was sure to face from Ron and Harry, but at least they would not tempt her to leave.

"Then it's settled," she stated matter of factly.

If Snape thought her exclusion of her parents was odd, he didn't comment but just nodded curtly before standing to leave. He stopped shortly at the door, wheeling around to face her again, "Your tactics may be somewhat Slytherin, Miss Granger, but you will need all of your Griffindor courage to be married to me."

And then he left.

She shivered at his last words. They pierced the heart of the matter, forcing her to look at what she was considering doing for the first time. Yes, she would have her apprenticeship, but she would also have Snape.