Sugar and Spice
Chapter Seven
(Disclaimer: I own no Harry Potter titles and I'm making no financial profit off of this work.)
XxX
Hermione's eyes fluttered open and her eyes quickly adjusted to the low light. She sat up, but let out a cry of pain as her knees ached when she bent them. She quickly lay back down and surveyed her surroundings. Hermione was defiantly not in her dormitory, nor in anywhere she could previously identify. She sneezed suddenly and became aware of the pounding headache echoing inside of her. Letting out another cry of pain, she sank down more into the unfamiliar bed she'd been laying in. Frankly, at this moment, she didn't care where she was- the pain was almost unbearable.
Footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor as Snape came into view. He wore what he always did, along with his cold expression.
"About time you awoke, Granger." He said, setting down a tray of vials next to her bed on the floor.
"Where am I?" She asked.
"My private chamber." Snape replied, noticing her surprised expression. "Why do you look surprised? You expected a cold bat cave…?"
Hermione chose not to reply to that, not wanting to admit she envisioned his chamber to be something similar to a cave. But his room was quite the opposite. One of the four walls was a bookshelf, lined top-to-bottom with books. A sofa sat in front of an unused fireplace and the bed she was lying on occupied the last wall that the door wasn't placed on. The walls were a deep green and everything else seemed to be either green or black. Quite cozy, to say at the least.
"How long have I been out?"
"One and a half days." The professor replied. "Potter takes care of you at night and I do when I can during the day."
Hermione nodded and watched him mix two ingredients together into a vial and add it to the tray below her.
"Drink all of the potions on the tray." He commanded.
Unsurely, Hermione took each potion one-by-one, ignoring any gruesome flavors or disgusting scents. About five minutes later, she set the last empty vial onto the tray and lay back down again. She was exhausted.
"Why was I asleep for so long?" Hermione asked.
"The Dark Lord's presence was overwhelming for someone as weak as you are." He sneered in reply. "You're still mentally and physically exhausted from being unused to experiencing pain."
"Why did He suggest raping me?" She asked softly with caution.
"Are you stupid? If you were with Lucius Malfoy, raping you would be his only intentions, other than serving his Maser, of course."
"Why the hell are you so rude to me?" Hermione was indeed exhausted, but she could only put up with so much torment. Even the night when everything happened, he had previously insulted her. "I could refuse to go if and when he calls and have you get punished! Give me one reason why I shouldn't. You've been nothing but cruel to me."
Snape paused, glaring at her, intrigued at how fiery her temper was. " It would be an utterly foolish thing to do, Miss Granger. Dumbledore wouldn't be proud of his little star Gryffindor now, would he?"
Hermione needn't reply.
XxX
The next three days went by and Hermione went back to her usual schedule as her aching slowly faded. Harry and Ron both went out of their way to make sure she was okay and got almost everything she wanted. Hermione's love for her two best friends only increased over these few days, but mostly for Harry. Ron seemed too occupied with other matters nowadays and seemed to be outgrowing the other pair of the Golden Trio. Ginny was now one big ball of sadness thanks to the fact that Harry had broken up with her, and it didn't help that he wouldn't provide an explanation as to why.
On Tuesday, there was word of a Valentine's dance approaching and who was going with who and what everyone would wear. Rumors and gossip circulated around Hermione, but no one seemed to bother to tell her about it or ask her what she was going to wear or with whom she'd be attending. The Gryffindor felt left out, but it was defiantly not the first time.
Hermione made her way to the common room to knock out her homework and found Harry sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, staring at it intently, apparently deep in thought.
"Harry?" He jumped as Hermione drew him out of his thoughts.
"Oh, hey, 'Mione." He replied, giving her the usual hug. "How was your day?"
"Same old, same old."
"Did you hear about the Valentine's Dance coming up? It's next week." Harry said, turning to face her.
"Yeah, I did. Everyone's so excited about it." She paused. "Why?"
"Well, I was, uh, wondering if you'd like to go with me…?"
Hermione was surprised, but couldn't help but to smile. "I don't know what to say, Harry."
"Say yes, then." He replied softly, his eyes eager and full of hope.
"I don't know. Voldemort could call me the night of the dance." Hermione pointed out. "But if I accept, will we be attending as just friends…?"
Harry's eyes met hers and held her gaze. "Are you willing to be more than just friends?"
"Are you willing to keep us a secret?" She asked. "If word gets out, some inside source could reach Voldemort and he'd pressure me to get information out of you. Ron, of course, could know, but no one else."
"I am willing."
"Than there's your answer, Harry."
"So you'll go to the dance with me?"
Hermione nodded smiling.
"And you'll be my girlfriend?"
Hermione's gaze faltered. "I don't want to hurt you, Harry. Voldemort could kill me if he wanted. I may be gone or out for days like I was. A relationship like that wouldn't be fair to you at all."
Harry's eyes filled with a hurt understanding. "I understand." He said. "But am I still allowed to kiss you?"
Smiling, Hermione nodded as Harry's lips crashed into hers.
XxX
Hermione had spent hours preparing herself for the dance, but was still unsatisfied with her appearance. She felt out-of-place without her curly hair, which she had straightened and empty without some sort of sleeve on. Her dress was a black halter with a sash she could hold around her arm all night, concealing her Dark Mark. Her makeup was done with natural-looking shades, nothing too drastic.
Letting out one final breath and slipping her wand into a concealed pouch inside her dress that she had made, Hermione exited her dormitory and descended down the staircase into the common room, where Harry and Ron were waiting.
Harry's mouth had nearly dropped to the ground when he saw his friend, for he was never seen her figure so… well defined before. The dress was well fitted and flaunted her every curve perfectly. As Hermione reached the bottom of the stairs, both Harry and Ron broke out into a slur of compliments.
Blushing, Hermione accepted Harry's arm and exited the common room, making their way into the Great Hall.
It was as if their usual Great Hall had been transformed. Everything now was either pink, red or white, sprouting hearts and cupids everywhere. Many tables were set off to the side, circling a vast empty circle that was reserved for dancing.
Hermione walked with Harry to a table where Neville sat with a girl from Ravenclaw, dressed in a chic blue strapless dress. Ron had managed to snag Kayla Zuni, who was also a Gryffindor. Everyone chatted for a while, too nervous to get up and dace when slow songs played.
"Would you like to dance?" Harry asked bravely.
"Sure."
Nervously, Hermione allowed herself to be pulled onto the dace floor and was busy positioning herself to hear the music start. A fair amount of couples had joined them now, all swaying close together to the beat. Harry gently pulled Hermione closer to him and looked into her eyes, smiling.
"You look beautiful tonight-"
But a sudden pain shot through her arm, echoing through her body. It took her a moment to realize that Voldemort was calling her.
Hermione's eyes met with Snape's from across the Great Hall, and she knew that she must go.
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A/N- Wahoo! Yay for fast updates! I was going to have Hermione say yes to Harry, but I thought it'd be too much of a burden for both of them, so I decided against it. Thanks for all of the reviews, please keep them up!