Warning: This chapter contains some content not suitable for people under sixteen.
The Midnight Hour
CHAPTER TEN: Unearthed
As winter settled firmly around Hogwarts, so did an atmosphere of Christmas cheer. It was common knowledge that the Christmas holidays were soon to come and preparations were being made. Ginny was going to Grimmauld place and had it on good authority that Harry, Ron and Hermione were instructed to do the same.
Ginny sat on her bed doing some homework for Professor McGonagall and talking to Hazel.
"You know," Said Hazel "You've been pretty quiet lately!"
"Have I?" Ginny asked passively.
"Yeah." Hazel affirmed thoughtfully. "What's going on? We haven't talked much lately." Ginny put the stopper on her ink bottle and set it down on her bedside table.
"Nothing." She lied trying to fool her friend, unfortunately Hazel could see right through her. She couldn't exactly tell her friend that she was in a relationship with their potions master, and ex death eater in his late thirties.
"Ginny, I am your best friend. We tell each other everything. What ever it is you can tell me, what you say does not leave this room. Promise." Hazel said seriously, Ginny laughed.
"No, really Hazel, everything is fine." Ginny told her with all of the honesty she could muster.
"You have a boyfriend, don't you?" She asked, Ginny rolled her eyes.
"No. I don't." Ginny sighed.
"Yep. Sure. I believe you." Hazel said standing up, she turned to walk away.
"Okay, okay… I'm dating Professor Snape." She stated, Hazel turned to stare at her. After a few moments of tense silence Hazel burst out in laughter.
"No, really Ginny, who is it?"
Severus sat at his desk in the potions classroom supervising the detention of Padma Patil. He was all ready to leave for the trip Dumbledore had planned for him, and he was left with a week before he left to tell Ginny. He was determined to tell her during the remedial lesson she was due to have in ten minutes, but was still trying to find the right words. In the past week their relationship had grown. He found that he was more comfortable with the fiery redheaded Weasley that he was with anyone else he had ever known. He was happy to sit next to her and not talk, or not kiss, or not touch. Just being with her was enough for him. As his relationship with her grew, so did the difficulty of telling her about his mission.
"Professor?" Called Pavarti, he looked up at her.
"Yes Miss Patil?" He drawled.
"Do you know if Flourish and Blotts would have any good study guides for potions?" he sneered at her.
"You need a study guide? If you need a study guide I suggest you rethink your position in my class. And, do I look like Flourish and Blotts to you? Why don't you write them an owl instead of wasting my time?" he hissed, she put her head down and scrubbed at a potion phial. "Your detention is over Patil." He drawled with a dismissive wave of his hand, she ran out of the room and he was left to his thoughts.
Exactly ten minutes later he heard the door open and watched as Ginny Weasley walked through the door. She kissed him on the cheek and leant against his desk.
"So…" she said looking around, he pulled he wand out of his robes and summoned a chair. Just get it over with.
"Take a seat my love." He told her, with a trademark sweet smile she sat on the seat.
"What's wrong?" She asked, putting her hand on his knee, it sent shivers through his body.
"Nothing is wrong. I… just want you to look at something for me." He told her, he opened the cupboard beneath his desk and pulled out a bag with twenty-four potion phials in it. "Can you identify some of these for me?" He asked, she took the bag from him and looked at the contents of the phials.
"Well, that one is Vervei Lattus… wow, you can smell it through the glass. Maybe veritaserum… Draught of the living death… Felix Felicis…" She trailed off into silence and he nodded.
"Very well done." He said, touching her hand.
"Why do you keep them here? Anyone can get them!" She said with a questioning look.
"They are not normally kept here, I just wanted to show them to you." He said evenly, Ginny raised her eyebrows.
"Why do you want to show them to me?" She asked, he closed the bag and put it back under the desk.
"I wanted to show you what I am taking with me." He told her. "So that you know I am well equipped."
"I know you are well equipped." She hissed cheekily before a confused expression plagued her face. "Wait a second, where are you taking them?" He held her hands tightly.
"Professor Dumbledore has asked me to go on a mission for the Order." He said, looking around, Ginny's jaw dropped.
"A mission? When? Why? Where? When did he ask you?" the words tumbled out of her mouth uncontrollably.
"Yes, a mission. I leave in five days. I don't know when I am going. Dumbledore asked me two weeks ago." He answered all of her questions, he could see a glimmer in her eyes, he wanted to hold her.
"You've known for two weeks?" She hissed, he nodded. "And you tell me now?" She asked, he nodded again, expressionless. "And it is for the Order as well. You could get hurt, or killed. And you tell me now?" She said standing up.
"It has been hard to tell you, Ginny." He hissed somewhat soothingly.
"This has something to do with Death Eaters hasn't it?" She asked, he looked away from her. "It does. Are you stupid? Are you insane? Those people are evil scum sucking maggots, they would think twice before avada kedavra-ing you. You could get killed." She hissed, aware that she could not raise her voice lest it echo throughout the entire dungeon.
"I am not stupid Ginny, I know they are evil. I have to do it. They think that I am still loyal to them-"
"Are you?" She asked interrupting him.
"No. Now you are being silly. I need to do this, Dumbledore would not have asked me if he knew it wasn't necessary. I don't know where I am going or what I am doing. All I have been told is that I will be back after a week or so." He told her calmly. She looked up at him, tears welling up in her eyes.
"You could get killed." She whispered, before the first tear escaped her eye, quickly followed by a second and third, he pulled her against his chest and kissed her forehead tenderly.
"Everyday people risk being killed, my love. It is a fact of life." He whispered, hot breath caressing her ear.
"I'm talking about you." She whispered and beat her fist against his chest, he lifted her chin up so he was looking her in the eye.
"I will come back safely. I promise." He whispered, looking deep into her eyes. "I have a reason to live." He kissed her deeply as tears flowed freely down her face, he lifted her onto his desk and kissed her more, winding his arms around her waist lovingly. He wished that the moment could last forever, but was drawn back to reality when she pulled away from him.
"Please don't go." She whispered looking away, he shook his head and held her cheek in his hand.
"I don't want to go, but I have no choice. Sacrifices have to be made." He told her, she hugged him tightly and cried into his chest.
The thought of loosing Severus tore Ginny's heart apart and sent pain thundering through her body. She hated him for accepting the mission, risking his life, but, at the same time, she loved him for it. As she cried into his chest she realised how much he meant to her, she held onto him tightly, hoping in vain that it would keep him by her side. She knew she would have to let go, she knew she would have to say goodbye. He stood up and took her by the hand, leading her out of the potions classroom and into his office, near the blazing fire. It's warmth made her feel a little more comfortable. She leant against the edge of his desk and he held her close.
Severus did not know what else to say. Each tear that rolled down her cheek forced a weight upon his heart. He kissed her softly, running his hands through her hair and caressing her lovingly. She responded by kissing him more passionately and pulling him closer. He pressed himself against her body and she moaned softly, holding onto him tightly. Ginny pulled Severus closer, he pulled away from her kisses.
"Ginny." He hissed, caressing her face "I have to, you know."
"I don't want to lose you." She murmured, he kissed her softly.
"You wont lose me. I promise." He told her before pressing his body against her and kissing her. When he pulled his lips off her he stood up straight.
"I love you." She whispered softly.
The next morning Ginny woke up and got dressed quickly, then walked down to breakfast without talking to anyone. She had nothing to say. She was, instead, left to her own thoughts about Severus. She was sure that this was not going to be an easy mission, none of the missions for the order ever were. She knew without asking him that she would not be able to contact him while he was gone, and she would be able to ask Dumbledore if he was okay, because he was not aware of their relationship. She sat down at the Gryffindor table and poured some porridge into her bowl. She looked up at the teachers table and saw Severus eating some toast, he looked up at her and nodded his head in acknowledgement. She looked away from him and prodded her porridge.
After a short while Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived at the breakfast table, Ron and Hermione holding hands somewhat awkwardly. Ginny looked over at her brother with raised eyebrows. He grinned maniacally and let go of Hermione and walked over to Ginny.
"Ginny! Guess what!" He said excitedly.
"You asked Hermione out?" She asked with a clueless expression. He looked crestfallen.
"Yeah. How did you know?" Ginny shrugged and so did Ron. He sat down on the seat next to her. "Ginny, are you okay? Hazel told me that you haven't been yourself lately." Ron asked, Ginny forced a smile. Ron wasn't usually the brother she had deep and meaningful conversations with, when they were at the school, she talked to Fred and George about almost everything. Even is Fred and George were still at the school she wouldn't tell them, she couldn't.
"Yeah, I am fine. Hazel's just a prat. I think it is just PMS." She said, Ron scrunched up his nose and gave her a kiss on the cheek before walking over to sit next to Hermione.
When breakfast was over Ginny hurried to the dungeon for her potions lesson. She walked in to find that she was the only one in the room so she sat in her normal spot. Five or so minutes later Severus walked in the door and straight over to his desk. He opened his book and begun to look in the cupboard under the desk for some potion ingredients. After a few minutes he emerged and saw Ginny sitting in the back row. He stalked over to her and stood in-front of her desk and looked at her.
"Say something." He said softly, she looked away from him, determined not to cry.
"What do you want me to say?" She asked bitterly, he reached out and held her hand.
"Ginevra, don't be angry with me. This is why I didn't tell you earlier. I didn't want you to be angry for two weeks." He explained, she shrugged.
"It would have been the same either way." She told him matter-of-factly. He leant over the desk and kissed her on the cheek.
The door opened and Hazel walked in.
"Ginny! There you a-" she stopped, she saw Severus kissing Ginny on the cheek. Hazel looked around awkwardly and backed out of the room. Severus looked at Ginny.
"Go after her." He hissed, Ginny stood up quickly, knocking over the chair, and ran out of the room in pursuit of Hazel. She called out after her, but Hazel kept running. Fortunately running wasn't Hazel's forte, so Ginny managed to catch up before she reached the great hall. Ginny gripped Hazel's shoulder, panting.
"Y-You were s-serious…" Hazel panted looking at Ginny, Ginny held onto her shoulders tightly.
"Can we go somewhere else?" Ginny asked, panting and fully conscious of the students around her. Hazel nodded and they walked towards the Gryffindor common room. After they stepped through the portrait of the Fat Lady Hazel stopped and looked at Ginny.
"What did I just see?" She asked, trying to be calm. The one or two students left in the common room looked up at them. Ginny grabbed her hand and led her to the dormitory. She sat on her bed and put her head in her hands. "Ginny." Hazel said firmly, "What did I just see?" She asked. Ginny was speechless. She opened her mouth, wishing she could say that it was just a trick of the eye, that Severus was just leaning on the desk. She closed her mouth. Hazel brought her hand to her mouth. "So, he was kissing you?" she asked, Ginny looked away from her and nodded.
"Just on the cheek." She whispered.
"Just on the cheek?" Hazel repeated. "Just on the cheek?" She yelled, Ginny looked up at her friend, who was obviously shocked. "Ginny! He is a teacher. You are a student. You are sixteen. He is… wait, how old is he?" she asked, Ginny wasn't to sure of that herself.
"Late thirties.." She told her, Hazel scrunched her face up.
"Late thirties? Ginny he is probably the same age as my dad. And it is illegal! Did you know that? Did you stop to think about that?" She asked.
"Hazel- I know. But-"
"But?" Hazel interrupted. Ginny felt really unintelligent.
"But… Hazel. I- look, it just happened, okay?" She said.
"OKAY? What, you want me to be fine that my best friend is seeing a teacher? Snape, of all of them, Snape? I cannot believe you want me to just accept it. How long has this been going on?" She asked.
"Almost a month." Ginny said, resigning to tell her nothing but the truth.
"For Merlin's sake…. No wonder you have been acting so strange. Oh, Ginny!" Hazel plonked herself on the bed beside Ginny. "Am I the only one who knows?" she asked, Ginny nodded. "Oh my. That's lucky. Ginny, it has to stop." Hazel said, Ginny shook her head. "Ginny it is silly. How do you know he isn't using you? He is forty. He is old, not to mention a complete and utter prat."
"Hazel, I don't care how old he is, and he isn't really that much of a prat. Just to students."
"Ginny, you are a student."
"Well… he isn't a prat to me. I don't expect you to understand. Don't ask me to end it. I wont. And please, for my sake, don't tell anyone." Ginny pleaded, Hazel sat in silence for a long while and thought, Ginny's heart beat uncontrollably. After ten minutes of silence Hazel spoke.
"Ginny, you are my best friend," She begun, Ginny looked at her "don't think I approve of this. I never will. But, if it makes you happy…" she trailed off and Ginny leapt at her, hugging her tightly. Hazel laughed.
"Hazel, you can't tell anyone." Ginny whispered.
"You have my word on that." Hazel said confidently before she and Ginny stood up, to walk down to the common room. "Is he a good kisser?" Hazel asked, Ginny reddened. "Wait a second. I don't want to know. Don't tell me… I don't want to know a single thing about anything!" Hazel said awkwardly.
"This is panda hair." Severus said to his sixth year class, holding up a small phial with a few wisps of hair in it. "It is incredibly rare and incredibly powerful. Ancient Chinese wizards used to use it in potions, but now that the panda is an endangered species, it is near impossible-" The door swung open and Ginny and Hazel walked in, Hazel avoiding his eyes tactfully. "Where have you two been?" He asked.
"Sorry sir, there was a burning orphanage and I had to use my cloak to douse the fire and save the muggle babies." Ginny said sarcastically.
"Ten points off Gryffindor. And Miss Weasley, please don't think that your good work for the orphanage has gone astray, as a reward I will see you in detention." He drawled, Ginny grinned.
"It's a date professor." She hissed, the room erupting in laughter.
"Silence!" Severus hissed, Ginny looked at him and nodded, letting him know that Hazel wasn't going to tell anyone. There was a slight glimmer of relief in his eye.
When the bell rung at the end of the lesson the class filed out, and Ginny stayed behind, urging Hazel to go ahead. Severus walked over to her.
"I had a talk to her." Ginny told him, he looked at her questioningly.
"What did she say?" He asked, heart beating rapidly.
"She said that she doesn't approve of it." She told him, his shoulders fell and he looked away. "But she said if is makes me happy." She smiled and he looked at her. "Have you got a class in here?" She asked, he shook his head and she leant across the table and kissed him passionately. "Oh." She said standing up. "She also promised that she would tell anyone." She added before skipping out of the room. Severus slumped against the desk, relieved.
Ginny and Hazel sat in the library that evening, doing some research for their history of magic lesson. Ginny was flipping through a book about the history of Goatsmede, a small town that persecuted witches. Hazel was chewing the end of her quill, bored.
"I cant believe it." Hazel said, looking at Ginny.
"I know! Some of those muggles were bloody prats." Ginny agreed, Hazel shook her head.
"No I am talking about you and…" She said, Ginny looked around to make sure there was no one eavesdropping. "Its so weird… Why him? Why not Hagrid- oh- well, that was a bad example… what about Firenze, he is pretty spunky."
"Hazel, he is half horse." Ginny said dismissively.
"Good point. What about Flitwick? Too short. Binns… a ghost. Dumbledore… do you think anyone knows how old he is?" Ginny shook her head. "Well, at least you know that if things don't work out with Snape you always have Filch." Ginny shuddered. "Wow Gin, you didn't have much to choose from." Hazel said, Ginny rolled her eyes.
"I didn't choose him because he was a teacher." Ginny said quietly, Hazel laughed and then stopped abruptly.
"Oh, what about poor Harry?" She asked with a frown. Ginny glared at her.
"He had more than five years. It is his own fault." Ginny said "He has missed his opportunity." Hazel shrugged.
"I guess Snape could scrub up nicely if he tried." Hazel said with a laugh, Ginny got back to her work.
Ginny walked into the dungeon, ready for her detention only to find that Severus wasn't there. She walked out of the classroom and towards his office. She knocked on the door and was relieved to hear his voice from behind the door beckoning her to come in. She walked into his office and straight over to his desk, she kissed him deeply.
"Is everything okay?" he asked when she pulled away, she nodded.
"Yeah. Hazel's all right. I am pretty sure she won't tell anyone." Ginny sat on his desk and he wrapped his arms around her. "Will you be back before Christmas?" She asked, he nodded.
"Before then." He said with a smile. She ran her fingers through his hair and caressed his cheek.
"I… You wont be able to contact me will you?" She asked softly, he held her hand in his own and brought it up to his mouth, he kissed it softly.
"No." He said kissing her hand again. She tried to force a smile, but failed. He reached up to touch her cheek. "Don't worry, I will be back before you notice I am gone." He whispered before pulling her lips onto his own. He kissed her passionately. When they pulled apart she slumped down on a chair and put her head in her hands. Severus stood up wand walked over to her, he put a cold comforting hand on her back. "Ginny, I will be fine. I promise." She looked up at him.
"You can promise these things Severus, you can promise all you like, but it doesn't mean you will be okay, they are just words. How will I know if your okay? You cant contact me. What if you don't come back on time, how am I meant to know if your are still alive? I can't ask Dumbledore can I? I can't ask anyone in the order. They don't know about us. They wouldn't tell me anyway." Ginny growled in exasperation. Severus lifted her face so he could look into her eyes.
"I promise Ginny. That is all I can say. I will be back exactly seven days after I have left, as soon as I have returned I will send you an owl. I'll have to go straight to the headquarters, so I will probably see you anyway." He explained rationally, she nodded half-heartedly, not believing him. He rolled his eyes.
"I'm sorry, but I am sure you'd be the same if you were in my place!" She told him, he shook his head slowly.
"No, I think I would be happy to have you out of my hair." He said sarcastically, she raised her eyebrows.
"Oh… Would you?' She asked with a laugh, he nodded and she stood up to place her own lips against his and kiss him passionately. He wrapped his arms around her and stroked her back, she moaned at his touch. He pulled away from her and his lips curled into a smile.
"I don't think I have ever loved anyone as much as I love you right now." He whispered before kissing her again.
Ginny woke up the next morning to the sound of a sneeze somewhere in the vicinity of her bed. She rubbed her eyes and looked around, sincerely hoping not to see the knobbly knees of Dobby the house elf. She was not in the mood for his antics at that particular moment. She was partially relieved to see Hazel sitting on the end of her bed, but at the same time she was wondering why her friend was sitting there staring at her awkwardly.
"Hazel are you okay?" She asked slowly, Hazel nodded slowly.
"Okay, tell me if I was dreaming or not. I have this weird feeling that I walked in on you and Snape kissing, and you told me you were going out… I was dreaming right?" Hazel asked frantically, Ginny shook her head.
"No. You weren't dreaming. I'd be a bit worried about you if that is what occupied your mind while you were sleeping." Ginny said as she sat up. Hazel sighed and nodded in agreement.
"Ginny…" she begun slowly.
"Yes?"
"You haven't done anything… you know… er- stupid, have you?" She asked.
"Me? Do something stupid. Remember Hazel, I am the one who takes after Fred and George." Ginny laughed.
"Uh, Ginny. Not the best example." She said and pulled her hair off her face, Ginny shrugged.
"Okay, now we have that sorted out, do you mind if I get dressed?" Ginny asked, Hazel nodded and wouldn't budge when Ginny tried to kick her off the bed. "I would like some privacy." Ginny said nodding towards the rest of the dorm.
"Oh. I see, you have a love bite, don't you?" Hazel asked, Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Hazel, you said you didn't want to know anything about my relationship." Ginny reminded her, with a vague nod Hazel stood up and walked away muttering "I don't want to know, I don't want to know." Ginny stood up and got dressed.
In the afternoon Ginny and Hazel trudged down to the dungeon, feeling thoroughly let down by a lecture they received the previous period by Professor McGonagall. They were told by their transfiguration teacher that the entire class was most likely to fail the course, and that if they did they would ruin their education, and their entire life.
Ginny opened the door and let Hazel walk through first before they made their way to their usual desk. They plonked down on their seats simultaneously and put their heads in their hands. The rest of the Gryffindor class entered the room in the same was as Ginny and Hazel had. The Slytherin class and their head of house followed shortly after. Severus went to his desk and sat down, he looked around with twinkling eyes.
"I have never seen such a depressed looking group of Gryffindors." He stated, "It is thrilling. It is almost enough to make me give you house points." The Gryffindors narrowed their eyes angrily. "Well, on a completely different not, I need to tell you that I will not be here next week. I have a funeral to attend overseas." He looked at Ginny "and I will be back after the holidays so there is no excuse for not doing your work." Her housemate's faced brightened significantly at the news, but Hazel looked at Ginny strangely.
"Who's funeral is it?" Asked Kyrrin, a Slytherin girl who Ginny wouldn't trust any further than she could throw her. Severus looked at her through narrowed eyes.
"I don't believe that concerns you." He hissed before beginning the lesson.
After their potions lesson Ginny and Hazel were on their way back to the Gryffindor common room, when Hazel grabbed Ginny's arm and pulled her into an empty classroom.
"So, Snape's going away, right?" She whispered, Ginny nodded and took her arm away from her friend.
"Yeah" Ginny replied looking at Hazel questioningly.
"Aren't you a little shocked… sad even?" Ginny put on a brave face.
"Don't be silly Hazel!" Ginny said flamboyantly "It's only a week." She said before walking out of the room.
Two days passed uneventfully, Ginny and Severus only saw each other during class time and Ginny missed his company dreadfully. She was painfully aware that he was due to depart in two days and the event loomed over her like a dark cloud. She woke up on Saturday morning and looked outside her window, the snow was coming down hard creating a bleak white blanket across the grounds. She forced a smile as she got out of bed, hoping that it would help her outlook on the day, it didn't. She pulled on her clothes. She walked down to breakfast and sat down with Harry, Ron and Hermione.
"Because if you feel left out Harry, you can just tell us!" Hermione was saying, Harry just shrugged and kept eating.
"What's going on?" Ginny asked as she stuffed some toast into her mouth.
"Oh, nothing." Ron said reddening, Harry rolled his eyes.
"They are worried that while they are sucking face I'll feel left out." Harry explained to Ginny matter-of-factly, Ginny laughed.
"I know an easy solution for that." Ginny said waving her hand in the air dismissively, the three other students looked interested. "Just have a threesome!" Ron choked on his toast.
"Ginny!" He cried, banging his fist against his chest, Harry laughed and Hermione went a deep shade of scarlet.
"Well, other than that I don't know what you can do." She said contentedly, taking a bite out of her toast.
"Well, I agree with Ginny. You know Ron, I have always found you rather attractive." Harry joked.
"I didn't know I looked like Ginny!" Ron retorted, Harry stopped laughing immediately and looked at him scathingly.
"Hey. Are you Ginny?" Asked a second year Slytherin boy with the upmost disgust. Ginny looked over at him and nodded. "I could tell you're a Weasley, but then again, who couldn't?" Harry stood up menacingly.
"Get to the point kid." He said angrily, the Slytherin boy saw the scar on his head and looked away.
"Snape says to give you this." He threw a piece of parchment at her face and stalked off. Ginny opened it and read Severus' writing;
Remedial Potions Lesson: 6:30
Ginny Weasley, Gryffindor
Hermione read the letter over Ginny's shoulder and raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"I thought you were doing okay in potions." She stated, Ginny shrugged.
"Guess not." She replied before taking a large bite of toast.
That evening Ginny made her way down to her remedial potions lesson with mixed emotions, she was happy that Severus had created a lesson for her, but wasn't able to draw her attention away from his departure. Her footsteps echoed down the long, cold corridor. She reached the door and opened it, she looked inside to see Severus and Professor Dumbledore sitting talking. Dumbledore looked at Severus, and then at Ginny and then back at Severus, he frowned and wiggled his mouth before speaking.
A/N: There you go, the long awaited for chapter. He tells her, happy? Okay, this chapter has taken a lot out of me but I am glad to get it out. The new chapter will be fun to write, because there are some things that I have been planning for ages that are going into it. Well, I'd like to thank you for your review very much, I treasure each and every one.
Until Next Time,
Sinister Spiders
(P.S Wendelin the Weird wanted me to tell you that I Atalanta Zora have been writing this story on my own recently. I will not change the account it is in, because it is a dual account, but she just wanted me to tell you.)