Several Months Earlier...
Chapter 1: An Arrangement of Sorts
{A/N: Had to do my best to reedit this chapter given the vast number of mistakes made previously...}
MY Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy...-S.S.
The Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts Castle, Wizarding World...
Hermione Jean Granger's amber eyes flicked back n forth as she studied the crisp white parchment layed out before her. She had read it over at least a dozen times and still she couldn't force herself to accept that it had all been real. She took a deep breath and layed the parchment onto the desk below her and signed it. When she looked up from the rather large desk fitted with all sorts of paperwork piled in a significant tower and various knick-knacks and candies of all sorts in various colors. She could see the lean figure clad in his usual ebony robes with his back pressed against a far off wall and his lengthy but equally ebony clad arms folded across his lean chest. He had been fixed with an impassive expression with the exception of the scowl that appeared after the young Gryffindor witch had finished adding her signature to the parchment. The "Greasy Git" himself, had been in a rather foul mood since he had lost the well placed argument to The Headmaster about his participation in this "utterly pathetic and shamefully farce oriented arrangement," as he so cleverly put it.
"Severus." said the voice of Albus Dumbledore, who gleamed at him through his half-moon spectacles that matched his rather stylish light blue robes with half-moon shapes imprinted upon it in silver. His infamous lengthy white beard swayed as he turned his attention to the brooding younger wizard in question.
In one swift motion, Severus S. Snape had ventured close to the older wizard's desk, he bent over the parchment rather stiffly. His rumored greasy raven color hair hung in such a way that it seemed to curtain around his seemingly unappealing angular face and hid all but his notoriously hooked nose. The Potions Professor had had been quite pale and his fingers, which Hermione had found herself drown to staring at on more than one occasion, had been quite long as they wrapped around the freshly dipped quill Headmaster Dumbledore handed to him.
Snape glared at Hermione Granger, making her turn red and shift her focus to her trembling hands that rested in her lap as she sat in front of The Headmaster's desk. Her reddish brown curls fell forward resting on her shoulders and curtained around her small face and neck. Dumbledore had not been impressed by his Potions Master's intimidation tactic. The girl had been through quite enough as of late and his constant bullying had been the last thing she needed at a time like this.
"Severus!" said the elder wizard in a rather chilling warning tone.
The Potions Master grumbled and quickly jotted down his signature in his usual dark spidery had dreaded this stupid morning from the moment he awakened and now here was the icing on the cake that was fitting description of his miserable life's lowest moments...so to speak. Between fighting a war with Voldemort and teaching numerous hive minded dunderheads, he had so little free time if any that wasn't spent chasing after Harry Sodding Potter and his "Golden Gryffindor" mates. Now he was suppose to put up with being married to an insufferable know it all because that idiot Fudge thought this was the best way to end hostilities between Pure-blooded and Muggle-Born wizards and witches. No doubt the moron thought this was a stroke of genius, forcing them to marry in a mandatory fashion would be ideal for producing a line of witches and wizards better than anyone had ever come before them. Sodding idiot. All he managed to do was usurp a lot of rights that allowed Pure-bloods to freely kill off their Muddle-Born rivals under the petty pretension of being married.
Snape had known for a fact that the despot Voldemort got a real kick out of the new policies. They made his twisted agenda much more attainable with the Ministry of Magic's unwitting assistance. If Dumbledore had not roped him into this farce, Hermione Granger would have been in a very bad way, especially since she was the brains of the Golden Trio and Potter's token "Mud-blood". Death eaters all around had been clamoring for her hand, killing each other for the honor and no doubt Voldemort's supreme favor.
The Potions Master turned his attention away from his thoughts and back to the matter before him.
"There." he said defiantly grinding his teeth. "You have my signature."
Dumbledore picked up the parchment looked over it quite carefully and smiled with the warmest of intentions.
"Excellent." he said with his blue eyes set in that notoriously annoying twinkle. "Now, all I need for you to do is seal the engagement."
Snape growled at this. The very implication causing his blood to boil in his already heated veins.
"You cannot possibly be serious." he said not at all hiding his outrage at the intended implications on the part of his employer.
"Severus." said Dumbledore with a flash of warning.
"She's still my student Albus!" replied Snape uneasily. "Besides...I don't make a habit of kissing brazen Gryffindor witches."
At this Hermione looked up at her Potions Professor and future husband in utter shock.
"W-We have to kiss?" she asked utterly nervous.
She began to fidget in her seat clearly as uncomfortable as Snape had been about what was to come. Dumbledore gave her a soft smile in a bid to reassure her that she had been in good hands despite Snape's apparent tact in making her believe otherwise.
"I know he would like you to believe the contrary Miss Granger, but Severus' bark is worse than his bite." said The Headmaster in a pleasant tone.
Snape's obsidian eyes shifted to the young Gryffindor witch. If she truly believed the old fool then she was really in peril. The Potions Professor could be quite nasty in terms of temperament when he wanted to be. His subsequent employment at this school and Dumbledore's considerable power in comparison to his own had been what kept his truly darker impulses at bay.
"I assure you Miss Granger, believing anything The Headmaster says about me can be a fatal mistake." he chimed bitterly.
Dumbledore rolled his eyes not at all impressed with the younger wizard's use of his position of power to intimidate the already terrified young witch into submission.
"Ignore him." he said pleasantly. "Severus, has always been one to try to put people off."
"Worked for me so far." chimed Snape folding his arms across his ebony clad chest once more.
"Well, this time it isn't." replied Dumbledore. "Miss Granger, I am afraid that time is of the essence."
"Don't I get some say in this?" asked Snape bitterly.
"Severus, Miss Granger is in need of your help." replied The Headmaster. "You are under my employ...you will do this or do I have to remind you of the conditions for which I accepted your presence in Hogwarts in the first place."
"Blackmail Headmaster?" asked Snape incredulously. "How very Slytherin of you."
"Would you like me to remark to Miss Granger here about your own very Gryffindor idealism?" asked Dumbledore with an arched eyebrow as if daring the younger wizard to continue his duly noted defiance.
Snape closed his mouth and settled for a low grumble that sounded a bit to Hermione like he wanted to say: "I hate you old man."
Dumbledore only smiled brighter and shifted his focus toward the young witch, who had been looking at her husband to be with a head full of unasked questions.
"Severus is a good man despite what he tries to portray." continued Dumbledore seeming to follow her train of thought. "He is also in the best possible position to help you, Miss Granger."
Hermione nodded in a bid to collect herself.
Logically, she had worked out all the facts and concluded Snape her best chance in various possible outcomes. It was just still a little daunting to know that she would soon be married to the cruelest, snarkiest, domineering, git, bastard in all creation. Not to mention the fact that he would still be her teacher. She could barely look him in the eyes before when he was just being terrifying from a distance, let alone waking up next to him.
"I'm ready when you are, Sir." she said summoning her Gryffindor courage.
Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled in glee. His smiled still bright and wide. Hermione looked at him and couldn't help but smile to. Perhaps she was drawing strength from the headmaster. He had been a Gryffindor after all. The Slytherin of the hour glared at both of them and stalked over with a malicious scowl permanently plastered across his pale face.
"Let's get this over with." he grumbled. "And Miss Granger, if I hear any infamous tales of what happens between us in private...I won't hesitate to hex you into oblivion."
Hermione looked at him in shock.
"Y-You can't hex a student!" she said appalled.
"No, I cannot hex a student, but I can hex an adult witch, especially if she happens to be my wife." replied Severus with a malicious gleam in his already menacing obsidian eyes.
Hermione had been running down a list of school rules and regulations in her head and had not taken notice when The Head of Slytherin slinked his way in front of her and kissed her while her mouth was open causing her to freeze up intensely. The pale lips of The Potions Master lifted into a wicked smile against her soft pink lips and he pulled her in closer wrapping his rather lean arms around her in a swift motion that further took her breath away. She quickly noted the scent of herbs and fresh earth seeming to radiate off his person as well as the warmth of his trademark ebony robes dangling from his thin frame in the wake of his embrace like the wings of a bat as they enveloped her own slender form.
The next thing Hermione Granger noted was just how warm his often cruel pale lips had been against her own. The Potions Professor held her like this for maybe ten seconds before he released her. She faintly remembered the swirl of magic surrounding them as their lips connected sealing their engagement. The young Gryffindor witch had no idea that a very Slytherin thought passed through the mind of her betrothed. He had the opening to slide his tongue into her waiting mouth, but a glare from a very observant Albus Dumbledore suggested that if he were to attempt to do just that...he would have more than a few words for him later on. A pity. Well if the opportunity presented itself again no way he was going to pass it up a second time.
The Potions Master pulled back released the now limp witch from his twisted embrace. Hermione looked at him feeling quite dazed from the effects of what had been her very first kiss.
Who knew The Potions Master could Kiss like THAT?
Snape noted her surprise and made his way back across the room and folded his arms rather melodramatically. He seemed bored and unconcerned now that this marriage agreement business was out of the way. The young Gryffindor witch turned her attention back to The Headmaster, who had been still smiling despite his annoyance with The Potions Master a moment ago.
"Well Miss Granger, it appears that everything is in order." he said calmly.
"When do we have to...?" she started barely recognizing her own shaken voice in the wake of Snape's kiss. "When do we get married?"
"Within one week..." replied Dumbledore evenly. "I believe that should be plenty of time for the both of you to have everything squared away."
"A WEEK!?" Hermione and Snape said shocked in unison.
"Yes." replied Dumbledore. "Unless something occurs that would mean the ceremony is to be rushed."
Snape looked at Hermione and then back at Dumbledore. No rushed was not something he wanted this farce of a wedding to be. He had only a week left of his life as he knew it and he wanted to bask in it before the invasion of know-it-all Granger. The brooding wizard had enough to worry about besides planning a wedding and if Fudge and his cronies at the Ministry Of Magical Offices remained in power this meant he would be stuck with "the ol' ball and chain" until his death; which at the moment could be a possibility of being sooner rather than later with the mood The Dark Lord has been in lately.
"You'll both need to bring one witness each." instructed Dumbledore as if he were merely giving a lecture.
"What?" asked Snape clearly more annoyed than when this started.
"Of course the both of you understand that this arrangement has to remain a secret for Miss Granger's protection." said The Headmaster. "We will need two people to vouch for the authenticity of the marriage, I would prefer we have all our as the muggles say "ducks in a row" before the ministry official arrives."
"In that case, I'm bringing Lucius Malfoy." replied Snape. "There's no way I'm getting married surrounded by Gryffindors."
"An excellent choice my boy." said Dumbledore perking up at the show of enthusiasm on the part of the younger wizard.
"Excuse me?" asked Hermione feeling her temper for the first time since this whole ordeal began. "Lucius Malfoy?...as in that foul loathsome little cockroach Draco Malfoy's father?"
"The very same unless you know of another by the name of Lucius Malfoy and father to Draco?" replied Snape not at all phased by her reaction. "He will be my...how do you muggles put it..."Best man" given my obviously forced involvement in this farce of a marriage."
"Have you two forgotten what he did to Harry and Ginny Weasley during second year?" asked Hermione. "He's the reason Tom Riddle's diary almost killed them and half the school, don't let me get started on the chamber of secrets being reopened...I was petrified for Merlin's sake!"
"By all means don't get started." replied Snape uncrossing his arms. "Complain all you like Granger, but I will not marry you if Lucius is omitted from this ceremony."
"Severus." said Dumbledore warning once more.
"I'm bringing Lucius and that's that." said Snape bordering on the lines of a petulant child's insistence. "It's one of the only two concessions I'm asking for during this farce of a wedding to a bloody know it all Gryffindor witch whom couldn't think her way out of a wet paper sack if her life depended upon it...one would hate to see what her life would be like if all books were destroyed and she couldn't sate her already arrogant brain with more fact spouting!"
"That is enough Severus!" said The Headmaster in a stern manner. "Now, you mentioned that you only have two concessions?"
"That is what I've said." replied Snape bitterly. "Given the circumstances I believe I am entitled to them."
Dumbledore seemed to study him for the longest time. Then he sighed rather tiredly.
"Very well Severus." he said conceding the point. "What's the other concession?"
"If I have to wear a ghastly ring on my finger I would prefer it be silver." replied Snape. "Anything close to a Gryffindor color and I walk...I'd rather have the Dark Lord crucio me to oblivion than be associated with that drab house, especially if I cannot take the basted thing off."
"Done." said Hermione surprising the two bickering wizards. "But, I think you should know that I'm bringing Professor Lupin."
Snape's eyes widened. He had hated Remus Lupin since he had been a boy, it had been enough that the sheepish wolf had been his bloody work colleague during the third year now it was just insulting to have his presence anywhere near him.
"You what?" he growled becoming visibly upset.
"You're bringing Lucius Malfoy to our wedding." replied Hermione not at all intimidated by The Potions Master's rage. "So I think it's only right that I bring Professor Lupin."
"Very well my dear." said Dumbledore smiling again. "Lucius and Remus will be the only ones present this wedding, and everything is to remain a secret so please be on your best behavior...both of you."
Snape glared at Hermione barely able to stifle his rage.
She gave him a smug smirk and he looked up at The Headmaster.
"Can I go now or do you need to draw blood next?" he asked impatiently.
"That's more Poppy's department I think, Severus." replied the old wizard. "Yes, I believe everything is in order...you may go now."
Snape glared one last time at Hermione Granger.
Cold and potentially murderous obsidian meeting warm and hopeful amber for a moment time seemed to stand still.
This was the future Mr. and Mrs. Snape, Ministry of Magic and Voldemort be damned.
The Potions Master rolled his eyes as he looked away and swept swiftly out of the open door. His shoulder length raven hair bouncing and falling in a floppy curtain as his ebony robes billowed rather intently behind him.
Hermione thought she heard him mutter something under his breath along the lines of "Sodding Gryffindors" and "She would invite the sodding werewolf."
Hermione turned her gaze to The Headmaster.
"I think Remus is a good choice my dear." he said softly. "If you don't mind my asking...despite the obvious potential to get a rise out of Severus ...why did you chose him?"
Hermione took a breath.
"Well." she began with her eyes gleaming. "I've always like Professor Lupin and no doubt Harry and Ron are opposed to the idea of me marrying Professor Snape; they can't really keep a secret let alone their tempers in check; Ginny also would not want to be in the same room as Lucius Malfoy no matter the setting and because I figured he could keep Professor Snape in line since they have a history and he knows him better than I do...plus as you put it...there is the potential to get a rise out of the greasy Slytherin git...since he intended to do the same with me concerning sodding Lucius Malfoy."
Dumbledore let out a hearty laugh that seemed to be infectious as Hermione found herself laughing as well despite feeling no where near like any of this had been a laughing matter.
"Well my dear, it seems Severus has finally met his match." he said softly.
Hermione had not really understood him but believed he meant when it came to out maneuvering his Slytherin tactics.
"I suppose so." she replied casually.
Dumbledore smiled brightly at her.
"Have a good day Miss Granger." he said.
"You too Headmaster." replied Hermione politely before she got up from her seat.
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The Great Hall, Hogwarts Castle, Wizarding World...
The Great Hall had been packed with students and all the staff members had been present and accounted for...well all with the exception of Professor Snape. Hermione had found it curious that he had been absent as they all ate dinner. She had been surrounded by numerous students from Gryffindor house and two of which had been her very best friends. Harry Potter had been thinking about Voldemort as usual and the looming battle with the despot that had hung over his head since the moment of his birth. His messy dark brown hair had been grown out and appeared to be quite lengthy as he looked down at his plate. He had still been quite lean but showed signs of bulking if he slipped and adopted Ron's diet. His green eyes shifted from the various students and staff members back down to his plate. It always appeared the young wizard had the entire world on his shoulders and occasionally the weight would bare down on him.
Ronald Weasley had been making an utter pig of himself as usual scarfing down portion after portion that seemed to be piled high on his various plates. His classic charm and Weasley red hair had been lengthy as well. He seemed to have gained a bit more confidence over the years after his voice got deeper and his body filled out enough for him to play Quidditch. His blue eyes flickered almost as unsettling as The Headmasters whenever it had been meal time.
Hermione found that she couldn't really enjoy much of her meal thinking rather nervously about the upcoming wedding to a certain absent Potions Master. Her mind wondered back to her husband to be.
Where could he be?
It was unlike him to be absent from dinner in the great hall.
He would show if only to unnerve her.
How could he pass up a chance to glare murderously at the Gryffindors to the point of making them uncomfortable?
The absence of Professor Snape had done wonders to bluster the confidence of many of the houses. Only the Slytherin table seemed to be out of sorts with the reality. Especially one Draco Malfoy who's gray eyes scanned the hall with a flash of worry. The young albino wizard looked up at the staff table where his favorite professor should have been seated and seemed to be a world away as Crabbe and Goyle snickered and jested about Ron Weasley and Potter's latest blunders.
Blaise Zabini watched Draco intently as did Pansy Parkinson.
"Something wrong Draco?" asked Blaise sensing Draco's worry.
"I hope not." replied Draco not taking his eyes off the table. "Let's just say that not seeing Professor Snape at the table is a bit unsettling."
Blaise looked over the table.
"I agree." he replied in a bored tone reminiscent of Lucius Malfoy. "Our Head Of House being late to diner is rather disconcerting."
"I'll say." chimed Pansy Parkinson finally contributing to the conversation. "Professor Snape's usually never late."
Despite the unsettling absence diner passed relatively quickly.
Hermione Granger headed back toward Gryffindor tower alone and lost in her own sea of wayward thoughts.
In one week she would be Mrs. Severus Snape.
If her friends knew they wouldn't speak to her.
If the school found out she would be a laughing stock.
That was if Snape didn't kill her first.
The walk through the common room up to her bedroom had been an agonizing one. She had managed to stifle the urge to cry since she first found out she had been selected by that stupid law. One year would have made her exempt if only she hadn't used that time turner. With her world in danger of crumbling around her, Hermione Granger the brightest witch of her age crawled into her empty but quite comfortable bed and balled her eyes out until she fell into an exhausted sleep.
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Severus Snape's Quarters, Slytherin Dungeons, Hogwarts Castle, Wizarding World...
Severus Snape had been laying on his back unconscious in the center of the front room to his lonesome private quarters. The bitter wizard had been sprawled out amid bits of broken furniture, flung papers, and shattered glass.
The illustrious Potions Master had gotten blind drunk and started having flashbacks of his misspent youth and certain close calls with unwanted werewolves. He had greatly resented the fact that Dumbledore had twisted his arm into this arranged marriage and that he invoked a moment of utter weakness on his part to seal the deal.
Snape had nothing against Miss Granger, she was a brilliant young witch with a bright future ahead of her. He could even over look the fact that she was an insufferable-know-it-all (well mostly). It had been fine and dandy with him if the witch came to him for protection, but what he did not look forward to was the other aspect of marriage that The Headmaster and the so called brightest witch of her age seemed to have glossed over.
He would have to have engage her.
In a perfect world, he would have been married to the young witch in name and gone about as he pleased, Sadly, the aspect of the marriage by wizarding standards has changed significantly over the last few centuries with the dwindeling wizarding population and the threat of war looming over the horizon. He would be forced against his will and driven to bed the young witch, whom would no doubt be forced to accept him against her will in return.
Contraception spells and potions were off limits and the chances of getting a newly broken in witch pregnant had been staggering.
He was in no way ready to be a father no matter how good the trim would turn out to be.
The sudden realization that he could be responsible for a family while being at war with The Dark Lord had hit him and before it he was burning through his supply of both his fire whiskey and inconspicuous muggle brandy. The drinking got to such a state that his long repressed childhood decided to rear it's ugly head and torment him until he went on a rampage in a fit of unbridled temper and smashed things until his heart was content.
{ The walk up to Spinner's End had not been a pleasant one. 15 year old Severus Snape continued toward the house anyway. The stench of the poison filled river and the closed mill not far behind made his stomach queasy. The green hue that blanketed the dark and dismal atmosphere of The Snape family home had done little to inspire friendly engagement. Severus continued up the path wearing an old black t-shirt with the logo of some relevant rock band plastered across the front. He had old black jeans that had been rather loose fitted with a hole around the knee and worn dingy trainers that had once been white.
His lank raven hair covered his face and fell to his shoulders as he made his way toward the commons. A small sketch pad had been tucked rather protectively under his right arm as he strode along with his stomach in knots after having sent time with Lily Evans again. He had been quite content until he stepped onto the familiar back roads that lead to his home.
The front door had been open when he got there. A feeling of dread filled him and he dropped his sketch book on the porch and rushed inside. The living room had been the scene of utter chaos as Severus ran through back toward the kitchen. He had been treated to the unnerving scene of his father standing over his mother with his fists balled. In an instant a horror washed over him that made anything the dark lord was capable of in his later life pale in comparison. He rushed his father pushing the man into a wall and dropped down to his knees looking at his unconscious mother. There had been blood everywhere from both parties but not enough to constitute murder.
"M-Mother." said Severus with his voice cracking as fear threatened to choke him. "M-Mother please."
Eileen Snape had not been a very big woman to start with. Her son the spitting image of her with his father's massive height and raging temper. Her raven hair had been pulled into a messy ponytail and she wore an old cotton dress with various small print flowers and what use to be a white apron. On her flat feet had been common brown shoes with no specific design.
Tobias Snape whirled around on his son clutching his cheek. He had made contact with the wall when the young wizard pushed him. He grabbed the younger Snape by the throat and proceeded to choke him out on the kitchen floor. Severus struggled against his father's rage feeling his own start to build in the process. Tobias laughed at this. He seemed unaffected by his son's seething.
"You finally got some balls boy?" he asked bitterly. "Let's see what you got then freak."
Severus elbowed his father in the stomach causing the man to release him. He went on the offensive punching the hunched over man and beating him until he drew blood. It had only proved to intensify Tobias' already known rage and he retaliated giving Severus a blow to the stomach and a shot to his jaw. The young wizard doubled over and crashed to the floor in agony. Tobias continued to beat him enraged until young Severus slipped out of consciousness. }
The present thirty-seven year old Severus Snape's obsidian eyes sprang open and he immediately felt the throbbing of a headache. His body had been quite sore and his vision blurred for a moment. He had not had a night like that in quite some time and the years had seemed to catch up with him as a result of it.
In reaction to the pain, Snape closed his eyes to try and relieve some of it.
"Accio wand." he said in a rather gruff tone.
The Potions Master's sleek black wand came to his trembling pale hand instantly and he flicked it in a lack-luster gesture.
The room had been repaired to it's original state and he continued to lay on the floor for a moment before forcing himself rather painstakingly to his feet.
Five o' clock shadow had been evident on his pale face and he turned toward the many glistening bottles in his private bar.
He turned up the remainder of the fire whiskey and drank it down rapidly. There was to be a wedding between himself and his current student Hermione Jean Granger in one week. He could hardly believe that he was to wed a beautiful young know-it-all Gryffindor witch whom annoyed him more in the past few years of his teaching at Hogwarts, the brightest witch of her age and she was of Muggle-born origin. His Pureblood ancestors will be rolling around in their crypts. His Muggle father would know doubt raise a glass in his honor.
"Way to go freak." he'd say. "Things are finally looking up."
Snape turned up his own glass and drank down the fire whiskey.
"Indeed they are, Tobias." said Snape aloud and rather sarcastically. "Indeed they are."