Summary: Hermione graduated from Hogwarts 2 years ago and is now twenty. War rages on and she builds barriers around her heart.
Genre: Angst/Romance Rating: Mature/Lemon Warnings: This is very OOC. If you want the characters just the way they are in the book, stop now and click on the back button. This is also AU. If you do not like it, do not read it! Now for those who want to, enjoy!
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I Don't Believe In Love
Chapter Twelve: Harry Knows
Minerva McGonagall was growing restless with the continuous relationship of Hermione Granger and Severus Snape. Her gut was telling her that this was all a bad idea. After some more minutes of thinking, she decided that Hermione would not be safe in Severus' company.
She decided she would have to do something about it, no matter what Hermione would tell her.
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Severus was having a very lousy day. It was as if the whole student body decided to be idiots for the day, and blow up, melt, and vaporize as many cauldrons as they possibly could.
He decided that it got even worse, when Harry decided to give Hermione a surprise visit.
"So how is Hermione doing?" He asked.
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" He snapped.
It was not that he still despised the boy; old rivalries were just too hard to give up. Suddenly, Harry's expression turned serious.
He immediately took the hint and gestured to an empty classroom.
He closed the door, locked it, and cast a silencing charm to ensure privacy.
"Something is wrong. She is one of my best friends, I can feel it. She's depressed even though she keeps on smiling." Harry said seriously. Gone was the boy, here stood Harry the Auror.
"Are you aware of her second job?" Severus asked.
"I know that she's a spy." Harry shrugged.
"Are you aware of the training that she had to endure despite the fact that she volunteered for it herself?" Severus' mind was bellowing at him. Hermione would hate him forever if she found out that he told Harry.
"All I know is that it is similar to auror training." Harry was truly curious now. Snape shook his head.
"If you wish it, I will show you the training, and how she is treated as a death eater." He could hear Hermione screaming in his mind.
Harry thought about it for a few moments. He certainly wanted to see what made his friend so upset. But a strong girl like the one Hermione is upset because of this...He nodded. "Show me."
"Very well, my office." And with that, Severus left without another word.
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Harry remembered the last time he was in this office. Oh, he remembered it well.
He observed Severus walk to the fireplace, grab a handful of floo powder, say "Headmaster's office, Pop Tarts", and come back with Dumbledore's pensieve. Harry grimaced when he saw the pensieve. He still remembered what he saw in Snape's memories.
Severus smirked when he saw Harry grimace. He set the pesvieve down on the desk, and began gathering his thoughts. One by one, he pulled silvery strands from his temple with his wand. One by one, he put them in the bowl.
When he finished, he looked at Harry, and gestured at the bowl. Harry hesitated for a moment before plunging in.
Severus waited for Harry to come back. Relieving those memories were hard.
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Severus finally saw Harry coming out of the pensieve. The boy-who-lived collapsed. He started rambling, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. One-third gasping, one-third sobbing, and one-third choking, his words were incomprehensible.
"Merlin...Hermione...Never...Moody...Kill...Voldemort...Suffer...Why her?...My dear friend." He finally gasped out. His body shook with tears. Severus handed him a potion.
"Calming draught." He simply said when Harry looked at him with a tear-streaked face.
After Harry calmed down, he asked Severus about Voldemort's apparent interest with Hermione.
"He wants Hermione as his wife," Severus said bluntly. "That is precisely the reason I asked you to kill him. Not only to save the world, but to save your friend from a life worse than death as well."
"You love her, don't you?" Harry looked at Snape.
Snape barked out a laugh. "I do not know, nor do I care of what you think, Mr. Potter. Nevertheless, love is not real. Lust perhaps, is a better word for it."
"How can it be lust when you are aware that you cannot be intimate with each other, and yet you still continue to pursue this relationship?" Harry reasoned.
"If it is so, then I have loved your mother." He laughed self-depreciatingly.
"My mother?" Harry was shocked, and it showed.
"Your father and I were rivals in many things, Lily being one of them. In the end, she chose your father. If she had not, you may not be standing before me now as Harry Potter but as Sebastian Snape." Snape walked around, conjuring a bottle of fire-whiskey and a glass. "It was one of the reasons I decided to be a death eater. I stayed away from muggle-borns, but now another one is in my life."
Harry pondered on this. "Then how do you explain my mother's love for me? The reason I lived." Harry was sure he could not answer this.
Severus downed his drink, and then said. "It was ancient magic. Most ancient magics call for a sacrifice. Her willingness to protect you from harm may have triggered the magic."
Harry was speechless. The man was Impossible!
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Hermione arrived at the courtyard. It was cold. She wore heavy robes tonight. She saw Severus' outline from the disillusionment spell. He was lying down again.
She lay beside him. "Hermione?" He asked.
"Hmm?"
"I showed Potter." 'This is it. She's going to hate me.'
Hermione looked at him. He was waiting for an answer. "It's fine. I trust you."
Severus sighed in relief.
Hermione snuggled up closer to him. He lay on his side, facing her, his face propped up by his hand. He smoothed out her short hair and caressed her cheek, tracing her jawline to her chin, then up to her lips, where She opened her mouth to let his finger in. He slipped his finger in her mouth. She bit him lightly, then started to swirl her tongue around his finger, and sucked a bit. He groaned lightly, barely disturbing the night's silence. He pulled his finger, and then licked it, tasting her. She moaned breathily. They did not move any further than that. The spell would block them.
Neither one of them noticed a tabby cat, sitting in the shadows.
(Smirks and Snarks finally shows up. They are holding a list that states:
The Spell
1. No direct contact from the neck down to the mid-thigh. (does not include arms)
2. Hugs are allowed.
3. No sex or any variation of it.
4. Holding hands are allowed.
5. The spell will only be cancelled when the caster removes it or if the caster dies.
"Ssstupid ssspell." Snarks hissed. "Yeah. Ssstupid rulesss too." Smirks agreed. They slither away from the courtyard.)
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Thank you so much to those who reviewed. You guys are great. I got 3 ideas! The whole story is all planned out now. Yay.
JTBJAB: Thanks for the idea. I might use another teacher too.
the-dealer: Thank you. I will.
lydia: Oh don't worry they will get together.
MistressOpalIris: Yeah they're my fav too.
Angelbabe385: Thank You!
Aleatha515: Thanks.
sexiprincess1228: They would in one epilogue.
Poppins: You saved my story! Thanks.
Mish Michelle: Lol. Harry will. hmmm...assignment...Loved your story btw...hmmm...
Varcolaci: Yeah he is vain. He is the embodiment of evil...I like that.(smirks and snarks says hi!)
Thank you guys for reading my story! By the way,there will be two endings and two epilogues. You guys just choose which one you would like to read. I will post both sad and happy endings and epilogues. (Smirks and Snarks waves tails) Review. Please - Darque
