I don't own anything. J.K Rowling does.
WARNING: Mature themes brought up so if you are less than 18 and / or easily triggered by mature content DO NOT READ THIS STOORY. You have been warned.
Chapter 9
It was 6 a.m. when both of them woke up. They clung to each other before going down in silent to the kitchen. "What would you like for breakfast Hermione?" he asked softly. Normally, he would have called her 'love' or 'sweetheart' but not this time. This time his heart ached with hurt each time he thought about having to leave her and calling her by those sweet names only increased this burning sensation in his chest. "I don't know, coffee and toasts maybe. Don't put yourself into too much troubles. We have to get back to Hogwarts quickly so nothing that takes too much time to eat." She replied. Her voice was filled with sadness. She too felt this burning ache in her chest that made her want to scream at the top of her lungs how unfair this life was. But she knew that would do nothing but pain her and maybe him even more.
When Severus had finished readying the breakfast, he placed the table so that they would both be sitting next to each other. He then invited Hermione to sit and remembered he had something for her. He went back upstairs telling her not to worry and came back. He held in his right hand the small black box he had brought back from the dungeon. He opened it and inside was a ring. "Hermione this ring belonged to my mother. Today, I am giving it to you in a sign of my love and devotion to you. It is not a proposal more a token of my love." Hermione was taken aback. She knew that she couldn't marry Severus for the moment as he was a Death Eater and if he was to marry her now, their whole plan would fail. "Thank you Severus, I will wait for you my love and don't worry, we will see each other again. It is not a farewell, only a goodbye." She was very touched about his gesture. The times when he spoke to her about his mother, she could feel how much he loved her and how much he missed her. They ate breakfast while making idle chats and after they had cleared the dishes and were ready to leave the cabin, she placed her lips on his and kissed him slowly. Before the kiss got too heated, he pulled back and grabbed her by the arm.
Without having to ask her, she nodded and she felt being pulled once again into void. It took her a few seconds to regain her spirits before seeing the familiar surroundings of the headmaster office. They then heard a small knock on the door. Severus directed her to his private quarters and she went in without asking. She had closed the door and had placed her ear against the door. She heard the Scottish accent of Professor McGonagall. "Severus, Harry Potter is in my office, can I bring him up?" she asked. "You may do so Minerva. Thanks again for your cooperation. The Wizarding World is in great dept towards you." He replied his voice sounding sympathetic. "It is nothing at all compared to you. I shall come back in a few minutes." With that, Hermione heard the door of the office open and Severus opening his private quarters door.
"Love, as you heard, Potter will be here in a few minutes. I would be lying if I told you that it didn't pain me to see you go, but I have the hope of seeing you very soon." When he finished, Hermione reached in and kissed him passionately. He responded and they snogged for a couple minutes before Hermione Accioed her things and packed them in her beaded bag. They heard a couple knocks and when Severus told them to enter, she saw Harry standing in the doorway. "Blimey 'Mione, it's been a long time." He said. She hugged him tightly and let go a few moments after. "Mister Potter, before you go. Take care of Hermione for me. She's all I've got." Hermione ran up to him and kissed him not caring of Harry's presence. In this moment, she only cared about the black dressed one that was standing in front of her. She then let go off of him and went back towards Harry. "I will Sir, you have my promise" he said even though he was a bit puzzled at the moment, he knew that what the two of them had in between them was more than some kind of casual love. It was deep true love and he didn't want Hermione to suffer more than she already had.
With that he showed his arm to Hermione and when she nodded, he Apparated away from Hogwarts. Severus had given him that privilege so that they could both Disapparate without being chased by the Death Eaters inside the corridor. When the both of them landed in a small clearing, Hermione went inside the already set up tent and placed her stuff back onto her bed. Harry daren't speak to her, not wanting to rub salt in the wound by talking about her relationship with Snape. He sat at the table and Hermione gave him a small journal. "Hey Harry, I researched a bit about Horcruxes when I was at Hogwarts. You can read that and if you don't understand something, you can tell me and I'll try to explain it to you. I'll begin preparing lunch." She had swallowed hard and retained her tears when she had spoke about Hogwarts. Images of her peaceful reading sessions with Severus flicking through her mind. She shook the memories away and went towards the small kitchen area turning the camping gas stove on.
She went through the small of the food they had and when she found the dragon meat in the bottom of the cooler and a little cauliflower, she couldn't retain a little sob. This sob changed into a smile. She saw herself back at Hogwarts cooking the soup and then giving it to Severus. His lips curled into a smile. She prepared the soup and a few minutes after went to the table where Harry was sitting. "Hey 'Mione, is it alright if you explain me what's between you and Snape?" he asked.
"Yeah, well. You know he rescued me after I was… raped by Draco Malfoy. He mended to my injuries and on in the night, I was planning to go and find you but he came just in time to stop me and tell me that you were found. Then you know what happened, you told me to come along but Severus told us that I was too weak for the moment and that I needed to rest. So, after we left I went to sleep and I had this strange dream in which I was attacked by a group of Death Eater which included Malfoy. In my dream, I was reliving my rape but this time someone saved me. In my dream, Severus saved me from Malfoy but was then killed. When that happened, I said in my dream that I loved him and that I needed him. I woke up screaming and when I saw that he wasn't really dead. Harry, I was so glad that it only was a nightmare because I realised I did actually love him. So after, I kissed him and he responded. I will spare you the details but I think you can guess what happened next." Hermione had said those words while Harry looked at her with big round eyes.
"'Mione, although I don't understand what is going on between you and Snape…" he began but was cut short by Hermione "Professor Snape or Severus but not Snape Harry" "Alright, Professor Snape then. But how Hermione, have you thought of Ron Hermione? Have you thought how he will react when he learns that you're with Sna… Professor Snape?" he was so annoyed. How could she bare to be with him? "I have thought about Ron, Harry. If he truly is my friend, he will understand. It might take time but he will as you do understand the feelings I have towards Severus. Because underneath that mask he puts on in front of the pupils, he is a wonderful man and…" she had sparkles in her eyes as images of the past weeks flicked through her mind "No details please Hermione. By the way this soup is delicious. I just wanted to ask something about your notes. What is this symbol at the end of each texts you copied?" he asked trying to change the subject. "Well, I am asking myself the same question. I searched every book and I couldn't find the meaning of the symbols. But I found those signs next to each text that had something to do with Horcruxes or very Dark Magic. I don't think they are here by chance. I think they are more a sign placed by someone maybe Tom Riddle even, but that is just a guess. But we have some planning to do." She continued. She banished the finished bowls of soup to the kitchen area and took a map out of her beaded bag. "So, we are going to Godric's Hollow to find the Gryffindor Sword. We have many reasons to believe that Bathilda Bagshot is the one who has it in her possession. We will be Apparating in front of the church and then search for her house. If she has it, we will collect it and come back here as quickly as possible. As I believe that Voldemort would expect us to be there and we can't really face him for the moment as if we did we would most certainly be the one killed." She finished her explanation pointing spots on the map in the same time.
"Okay, what do you want to do this afternoon 'Mione?" he asked "I have created a few spells with Severus, and I would want you to learn them. That is if you don't mind and feel well enough to learn them." She said, her voice showing the determination she had to teach the new spells quickly. "Go ahead, 'Mione. Teach me stuff I don't know" he replied himself happy to finally do something else than warding and rewarding the tent while listening to the radio.
"Ok, the first of the three spell is Brunchius. Its purpose is to stop one's breathing until they faint. The counter curse is Respirare. To cast it: you point your wand at your opponent's chest and make a droplet shaped drawing in the air while saying Brunchius Blocus. For the counter curse, you reverse the drawing and say Iterum Respirare. Understood?" she had demonstrated the curse with a thin and long wand looking stick. Harry knew that she did so as not to cast the spell inadvertently. It had happened once while demonstrating a Levicorpus Curse to Ron. Harry had found himself dangling in the air before Hermione had realised her mistake and casted the counter-curse.
They practised the curse for a little while. Harry managed to master it quite quickly, it had only taken him 3 hours to do so. It was night when they finished their practising session. Hermione was happy about his progress. They got back into the tent and prepared the meal together. One hour later, they both went to bed and turned the light off.