"Why on Earth?" She sputtered as her mind reeled. She watched as Snape raised an eyebrow in mockery, "Who would-?" She corrected.
"A more apropos line of questioning." His voice sent a delicious shudder through her. Or was it the Spigons?
"I thought that pact was outlawed…"
"It lives on in certain circles."
"Does it have something to do with the potion? Is it for, well… Lord Vold-" Snape's rough hand encompassed her lips with ease.
"You shall not speak his name." He asserted as he revealed the dark mark, now writhing on his forearm. Her eyes moved over the black, seemingly liquid, boldness of it back up to his urgent eyes. "Seek reason. Why would he form a pact with me when he has this hold on my soul already?" She slowly nodded, feeling his hand move with her and remove itself at the same careful speed.
She saw his eyes linger on the place where his hand was, and in that second he seemed to memorize everything she had to offer. His gaze shifted to rolling his sleeve back over his porcelain skin.
Her hand stopped the process. "You don't have to hide it," She suddenly felt embarrassed at her brashness, "from me, Sir."
"Foolish girl." He ticked in his dark humor. "I myself do not like to look upon it." He smirked. "Not everything is about you."
She huffed and a bit of hair flew out of her face. "Please, at least give me a hint to what's going on here." She pleaded she he turned for the door. "Or, so help me, I will badger it out of you."
For a moment he looked afraid. Which to tell her? Was it the pact or potion that was the lesser of evils? "But, in a way, this potion is related to Hogwarts' star pupil."
She felt a bitter pride at his statement. "What? It can't be meant for me." He could see the gears turning behind her eyes. It was a favorite pastime of his during testing sessions. "Then it must be…" She inhaled sharply, "Harry! Is something going to happen to him?" Her hands pressed to his robes. "Is he in danger?"
"Always." Snape drawled with a bitterness of his own.
She did not catch his wit and continued to cling to him, "What's going to happen? Do you know something? Is he going to… die?" Her voice hitched as he eyes grew red and desperate.
He'd seen that desperation mirrored in so many of the faces that had fallen before him, before the Death Eaters. Pleading for answers, for comfort that would never come before the life was snuffed out of their eyes forever.
He convinced himself it was some act of contrition to put the girl at ease. He reached out to grasp her curls and bring her head to his chest in some form of a protective embrace. He was quite unpracticed, he'd hoped she couldn't tell. "Be calm." He wasn't sure if he was asserting to her or himself.
She took a deep breath as her fear and confusion became a blank slate upon inhaling his sent. Parchment, smoke, and various herbs of sophistication. Him. It was him. And there was nothing that would ever compare. The broadness of his chest surprised her, along with the sound of his blood coursing through his aorta behind the comforting dark fabric of his robes. It was not as thick or scratchy as she guessed it might be. She suddenly felt his hand smoothing down her mountainous locks. And she looked up at him cautiously, questioning.
His look was the same as hers. They shared an infinite moment pondering the various futures that could occur in the next few moments before he spoke again, "Are you steady now, Miss Granger?"
She swallowed. "I'm not sure anymore."
"Neither am I." His voice changed in a way she could not name. He took a step back from her. "Let us say that your homework is to adjust to that new normal. Let my words sink in and find an answer for yourself. Now if you please."
She could see his fist clenching and unclenching on the hand where the vow was woven… He had something to fulfill. Fine. If he was going to be a Slytherin about it, then so was she. She stepped back and he looked at her in passing curiosity as he strode by.
She cast a Mufflatio on herself after he exited the door. She had already placed a tracking spell on his cloak when they were touching. She was going to find out the definition of what exactly her new normal was.
Her wand was heating up as she approached her professor's voice in a secluded corridor, late in the evening. There was another voice sharply grating against his rigid tone. She would recognize that arrogance anywhere. Malfoy. They had always seemed to be in sync and now they were arguing? Wait… Weren't they related in some way? Yes, she had heard the boy bragging that Snape was his Godfather. For a second she wished that Severus had been placed into Hufflepuff all those many years ago.
Her back pressed against the clammy stone as she struggled to make out their words. She heard Snape urging about a 'task'. Malfoy was inciting that Snape 'bugger off' and let him deal with things his way. Sending Malfoy to complete a task… That had to be the unbreakable vow. And what would happen if he didn't do as asked? It seemed simple enough. Then again, it had to be something awful to seek Snape as assurance. The vow seemed to be physically constricting her professor's arm, would it cut off his hand, or even worse? She would be spending some late nights in the library again.
Suddenly there was a hush over the hallway as the soles of feet catching gravel on the stone floor. One of them was walking off in a mood in the opposite direction, while the other would certainly be heading her way. "Fudge." She cursed under her breath. She hadn't even heard what the task was about. Was it even worth it? Could her Gryffindor conscious handle it if she wasn't found out? Oh, she wished that she had the forethought to take Harry's invisibility cloak.
She pressed herself against the wall, straining to blend in, knowing that any verbal spells would certainly get her noticed.
"Granger." She heard from behind her tightly closed eyes. Oh dear. Was this really the lesser of the two evils? She heard him cast the Notice-Me-Not spell.
Her eyes fluttered open, feigning ignorance.
His hands slammed the wall on each side of her, pinning her in place. "If you really are the brightest witch of your age, did you think I wouldn't notice your juvenile tracking spell?"
She swallowed. "I apologize... I only sought understanding."
"How much did you hear?" He prodded.
Her voice was meek, "Draco's task…"
"Did you hear it?!" Snape spoke through his teeth. Merlin, it sounded painful. It had to be dreadful.
"No." Her eyes searched his for understanding.
His knees seemed to buckle under him in thanks. He sank to the ground and she sank with him. His breathing was fast and shallow.
"Professor…" She pleaded, sensing his agony. "Severus…" She soothed.
"Make it stop." He asked no one. "I can't… Make it all go away."
His face was a void of despair that she could no longer stand. Hermione knelt on the granite floor as her hands softly cupped her teacher's face, although he wasn't home. Her kiss began slowly and gently, as if breathing life into him. He tilted his head upwards in response. She traced her tongue on the corners of his mouth, begging for the entry he allowed her. She tasted him hungrily, giving him every ounce of warmth that she had to bring him back from the brink. And his night gave into her day. He responded in earnest, searching her insides and abandoning the inhibition that gave him nothing but pain. She moaned at his onslaught as he pressed her against the wall, feeling her down to her hips, grasping them as if they were an anchor to the earth. Her mouth was water after a drought, and he was the only one allowed access. He noticed her hands as well, inexperienced, drawing a map of him within her mind. Without warning, they dipped below his belt. Undoubtedly, they could both feel what swelled there. He groaned at the touch he hadn't felt in so long yet wanted so desperately. This awoke him from his trance. After all these barren years, here he was, as hard as the floor they knelt upon.
He swiftly grasped her hand and held it in his as he struggled to regain control of his head. For what reason he couldn't recall. "Hermione." His voice was thick as she answered him with swollen lips and inquiring eyes. "I don't want you to hate me." She shook her head, but he continued. "I was wrong. You can't do this alone. Perhaps neither can I… anymore. Before we go any further, I need you to know how the end of this school year will be the end of your youth, and the Wizarding World as we know it."