CH 4

Harry stared into Ron's eyes expecting fear or repulsion at what he had just told him but Ron's expression never gave way to disgust, never showed anything but consideration and compassion.

"He saved me in every way a person can be saved. He saved me from evil, from my silent misery; he took away the pain and replaced it with hope. He saved me from myself, my own self-destruction no one else could see. He noticed and succeeded where others were powerless to stop it."

"After that night I refused to wallow in shame for things I had no control over. I realized I was not only hurting myself, but also you and Hermione."

"We were fine, Harry. We were just so worried about you…"

"I shouldn't have given you a reason to worry. I should have seen the forest for the trees but I was too blinded by guilt and everything that had happened to see. Talking with Professor Snape allowed me to sort through my thoughts and feelings, clearly and rationally."

"I'm glad. I missed you, you know. Dad would never tell me what happened to You-Know-Who. He told me he was destroyed and that's all I needed to know."

"Well, of course he wouldn't. I still can't believe they had expected me to use that curse in the first place. I could barely cast the killing curse let alone something that awful. You need hatred to cast the Avada Kedavra but the Morte Severa required malevolence. I didn't have that within me. At least that's what Sev believed."

"You aren't evil, Harry."

"He isn't either, Ron."

"But he couldn't have performed that curse if he wasn't."

"I have had a lot of time to think about that…about a lot of things actually. I believe evil isn't something you are, it's something you do, a tool to be used like any other mechanism of power. Evil is defined by the atrocities one commits; Voldemort was evil because of what he did. His actions were facilitated by malicious intent. Evil is external. It depends on how you use it whether you are dictated as evil. Severus wasn't influenced by evilness within him. That is the difference. He molded evil into something different, a weapon to destroy evil, not create more in the world."

"Too bad the world doesn't think that way. Snape wouldn't even be in prison if that were true."

"You're absolutely right, Ron. Absolutely right…"

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The party of five arrived at the Headmaster's office without further ado filing in quietly. Harry's gaze immediately flickered to Snape who stood in the middle of the room still surrounded by the Aurors, for all intense and purposes, looking unfazed by the proceedings. As Dumbledore walked past him, he let his hand rest on Snape's shoulder and, cast his attention towards Fudge. Hermione stood back by the door, her hands clasped together in front of her, leaning against the wall clearly interested in what was about to unfold. Ron never left Harry's side.

"Now, Cornelius. I would appreciate it if you could direct your Aurors elsewhere for the duration of this meeting."

"I do not think that is wise to…"

"Severus isn't going anywhere, I assure you. He is still bound."

"As you wish. Gentlemen," Fudge motioned for the five men to leave the room.

Once the door closed with a click Dumbledore asked, "What is the meaning of this marching into my school and making a public spectacle out of one of my teachers? A matter such as this should have been handled in private, by premeditated council with the board of governors. I do not appreciate you waltzing in here in the middle of breakfast on a Sunday morning upsetting my students."

"As I said before Albus, we have a material witness to Snape's," he gave the man a loathsome look, "unsavory practices. He has been consorting with a minor right under your nose and you cannot protect him this time, Dumbledore."

"I will have you know he has given sixteen long years of faithful service to this institution and not once has his character been called into question on…"

"That does not help his credibility. He is a Death Eater…"

"Was!" Harry spat.

All eyes turned on him but he only met one set of eyes. Green pleaded with black. 'Please, Sev…don't let them tear us apart.' He offered his mind up to his lover. Harry was no better at occlumency than he had been after fifth year but he did know how to unlock his mind for other's perusal. Snape's eyes squinted and gave his head a slight jerk telling Harry not to try anything.

"He isn't a Death Eater and hasn't been for more than twenty years!"

"Enough! I am familiar with his case history, Mr. Potter…"

"You are accusing him to get him sent to Azkaban on false charges! You'd say anything to get the last remaining Death Eater locked up in prison!"

"You are out of line young man!"

"He never touched me!"

"We have evidence to the contrary."

"You mentioned a witness, Cornelius," Dumbledore cut in, "Who is it?"

Hermione spoke up from behind Fudge's form. "I saw them together, Headmaster," she stated stepping forward to stand in front of the man in the middle of the room. She looked up at Snape, "You were right, professor. There was someone in the shadows that night."

Harry's breath caught it his throat. He had been out pass curfew just a few nights ago to meet Snape at his office door when rounds were completed. Harry would wait under his invisibility cloak until Snape returned from stalking the halls and would follow the man through the door when he opened it for entry.

That night in question he only waited long enough for Snape to enter the dungeon corridor before he threw the cloak over both of them. He pressed himself against Severus, leaning them both into the wall.

"Not here."

Harry reached up and planted a kiss on Snape's lips. "I know…"

"Someone was following me."

Snape wrapped his arm around Harry's middle and fumbled with the lock on his door before pulling Harry inside his office

"What exactly did you see, Hermione?" Ron asked. "I mean, you could have been mistaken…"

"Mistaken, Ronald? There is only one person in this school I know of that owns an invisibility cloak."

Snape made a sudden movement and strolled over to the window, looking out over the lush green landscape the spring weather had created.

"So you immediately assume Harry and Snape were going at it?" Ron asked skeptically.

"I would follow Harry when ever he would leave the dormitory at night. He always headed towards the dungeons."

"That still isn't conclusive, Hermione!"

"Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, please." Hermione and Ron stepped away from each other not saying another word. "I think the only way to settle what has been transpiring between them is to ask."

"What were you doing with Professor Snape in the dungeons, Harry?" Dumbledore asked carefully.

"I…I went down there to study on occasion."

"You could very well have studied in the common room or library earlier in the day. You didn't have to resort to sneaking into Snape's office for some studying," Hermione argued.

"I could have but I didn't want to. We became…friends…he would let me come and talk to him, and study."

"A likely story," Fudge clipped.

"It's true!" Harry's voice cracked, relaying his nervousness.

Dumbledore posed the same question to Snape.

"He did visit me often…to study and discuss things."

"Why don't you tell the Minister and Headmaster about your time in the southern wing of the seventh floor. You know the abandoned classroom at the end of the hall, Harry?"

Harry blanched. "You were there?" His voice shook.

"I witnessed everything and I have a pensieve to prove it."

"You can't use pensieves as evidence. Memories are nothing but fabrications of the imagination." Ron piped up.

"Veritaserum then, I will swear under veritaserum that I saw you and Professor Snape in a compromising position that involved you bent over a desk as..."

"That will do, Miss Granger," Dumbledore's expression immediately turned to stone; the ever-present twinkle slowly dwindled and disappeared.

Snape reached up and clutched the windowpane, his knuckles drained of color as he increased the pressure of his grip on the stone.

"What is she talking about?" Albus insisted. "Severus? Harry?" Harry stared at his shoes kicking at the grey smudge blemishing his tennis shoe.

"I told you this is how it would end, that it would never last, did I not, Harry?" Snape spoke low, his voice husky. "I tried to see reason, struggled to deny the feelings I knew were developing for you. It became increasingly difficult to stave off my desire as time elapsed, as our relationship continued to foster. I will be honest and admit I was weak. I was incapable of pushing you away because I simply did not want to. I needed…took what you so innocently offered me. I let my emotions rule my judgment, abandoning my principals and morals."

"Is that a confession, Mr. Snape?" Fudge interrupted.

"No, just an admission."

"Did you or did you not carry out sexual indiscretions with Mr. Potter?"

"He did nothing I didn't ask for. He never touched me without my permission," Harry defended.

"That is irrelevant to the argument at hand. Any familiarity beyond that of a student/teacher relationship is strictly forbidden. I trust you are aware of the bylaws of this school, Mr. Potter? I know Snape is."

"So it is true then?" Dumbledore looked intently between the young man of seventeen and his thirty-seven year-old Potions Master. "Well?" he snapped causing the three students to flinch. Harry spoke up before Snape got the chance to answer him.

"I love, Severus."

Hermione made a choking sound at the back of her throat; Ron keeping his focal point locked on his teacher. Snape whipped around, clearly shocked by Harry's frank declaration…or the flippant use of his given name. Ron couldn't tell either way.

"Who instigated this?"

Snape sighed. "I did."

"No, it was me! I kissed you first! I started it. I was the one who pushed you to give in to me."

"How long have you two been involved?"

Snape answered this time, "Only three months."

"Harry's been sneaking to the dungeons long before that," Hermione countered.

"Three months," Snape repeated. "We've only been sleeping together for three months. Nothing sexual happened before March."

"I must say, I am very disappointed in you, Severus."

A heavy weight settled on his chest constricting his breathing. Harry's insides pulled tight, his stomach lurched making him sick. They were going to take Severus away from him. They saw him as a child molester, nothing but a rapist in their eyes. He tried to catch Snape's eye, he wanted to know what he was feeling but the man refused to look at him, keeping his eye trained at something in the distance through the high arched window.

"Under the circumstances, Severus Snape, I have no choice but to remove you from your position as Potions Master at this school…"

"No!" Harry shouted.

"You may take him into custody, Minister. You have my full cooperation in this matter," He finished, his voice dangerously flat.

"NO!" Harry ran forward towards Severus. Fudge intercepted him pulling him back away from the prisoner.

"No! Severus! Let go of me!" He fought against the Minister's hold on him.

Fudge whispered a spell and the door to the office flew open and in marched the Aurors. "Take him to the gates," he ordered.

"Severus! Look at me! Please!" He begged.

Snape made no attempt to argue or fight off the Aurors. He had closed his eyes bowing his head in defeat.

"Severus!"

Before he could be pulled through the door way he finally looked right into Harry's eyes.

Harry always felt like he was drowning whenever Severus would lock eyes with his. He was once again lured into the darkness, seduced by the intensity of the gaze transfixed on him. With the same deliberation those orbs would rake across his naked body following spidery fingers trailing along his curves.

"I'm sorry, Harry." Snape's jaw tensed up. He only ever did that when he was trying to maintain control over himself. The battle was lost when a single tear fled the cavern out of the corner of Snape's eye and, slipped down his skin, the trail glimmering in the sunlight gazing through the window.

"Sev…Don't go…Don't let them take you…I need you…" He fought against the man holding him back. He wanted to run up to Severus. He wanted to touch him one last time, to kiss away the last hour and return to their haven.

"Remember when it rained, Harry," Snape said. Everyone stared at him as though he was mad except for Harry who understood the implication. The unspoken vow hung, suspended in the air.

"In the water, I'll remain…" he replied.

Cornelius Fudge and Albus Dumbledore followed, the Headmaster pushing Snape through the door. Harry legs gave out when his lover disappeared past the door, his knees slamming hard on the marble floor.

'Remember when it rained…' A strangled cry slipped past his lips. He squeezed his eyes shut still able to see Severus's eyes glancing over parchment at him, still looking at him as he rode out his orgasm as he writhed beneath his body; he could even feel Severus still watching him as he slept.

A hand laid itself on his back much like Snape had done so many months ago when he had broke down. He shook off the hand even so knowing Snape would never be able to touch him again.

"Harry…"

He looked up at his best friend, the boy's own face mirrored his own distress. They heard soft footfalls draw closer to them. Ron straightened up at his girlfriend's approach but Harry remained on the floor breathing becoming more and more erratic than before.

"Go away, Hermione!" Harry growled.

She didn't budge. "I can't believe you, Harry…I mean…You've done some pretty stupid things in your life, but this! What were you thinking! Were you even thinking at all!"

"Shut up!" Ron suddenly yelled at her. He finally understood Harry's sudden change, his transformation from the android he had been after Voldemort's defeat and saw, just as quickly, Harry's will give in and retract back into his shell

"Have you any idea what you've done!"

"Oh, what I've done?"

"You've pissed his life away! Not mention Professor Snape's!"

"He is longer a professor…"

"Yeah! Thanks to yours truly!"

"Are you honestly defending him, after what he did to Harry!""

"He never hurt Harry!"

"How can you say that!"

"He never hurt me," Harry croaked still perched on his hands and knees on the floor.

Hermione gazed at him quizzically, almost accusatory.

"What?" He looked up at her. "I'm not going to apologize for what we did. What we shared…"

"What did you share with him exactly, besides his bed?"

Harry snorted and, stood looking down on Hermione given his considerable height. "It wasn't about sex."

"There never should have been any sex in the first place."

"Why, just because he was my teacher?"

"Among other things…It's just plain wrong! Why can't you see that?"

"Love isn't wrong!"

"He didn't love you!" She spat.

"How the hell would you know how he felt?"

"Because he showed you just how much he loved you by fucking you on a desk!"

"Stop it, Hermione!" Ron grabbed her arm pulling her away from Harry.

"He was using you, Harry! Can't you see that?"

"I initiated it! Not him! I wanted him to fuck me!"

He stepped up close to her, his nose an inch away from touching hers. "I begged for it," his gust of breath blew at her hair that had fallen in front of her eyes. "I waited five long months to feel his naked skin against mine…It felt incredible having him inside me, knowing that I loved him, and that he loved me back."

He backed up a step, "What pisses you off, more, Hermione? The fact that I am gay or the fact that I am gay with Snape knowing you wanted him for yourself?"

He expected it, but the hand that slapped his face hurt more than he thought it would causing his neck to snap sideways.

"Yes, Hermione. He knew…"

"What's he talking about, Hermione?" Ron asked. They had been dating since the end of their fifth year.

"Tell him…tell him who you thought of when you two were together. Whose name you would have rather been screaming instead of Ron's?"

Hermione's eyes filled with tears.

"You wanted it to be you on that desk underneath him instead of me. Jealousy has driven you mad and it has taken the only thing I ever truly loved away. You've ruined his life because he chose me. How much did you love him, Hermione?"

"You don't know anything, Harry…" she replied, quietly.

"You had no right, absolutely no right to take him away from me. He was mine. He chose me." Harry punched his chest. "…and now he's gone…The man I love…is…"

Harry swung around and punched the wall repeatedly ignoring the immediate pain that shot from his knuckles and made its way to his elbow. Blood oozed from the abrasions covering fist. Harry stared at the red dripping down the wall, staining a trail to the floor.

"I will never forgive you, Hermione…" He left then. He walked out of the office and rode the stairs down to the hall. Ron followed not long after, leaving Hermione alone and single.

Yay! New chappie! What did ya think? Still have promise, you think? Please read and review….