Chapter 13:

He hadn't left. The nurse had told him to leave and had even threatened to put something in his food. Of course, this caused Severus to not eat. After two days of not having meals, she groaned and gave her blessings for him to stay by her bedside. Hermione, of course, was starting to be as fit as usual, but she wasn't allowed to leave until that night. Why? He wasn't sure. Why he had stayed by her side was even more unknown. It wasn't like him to be clingy. He never had been, and he had thought he never would. He was always passive and casual about things.

There was a big difference between obsessive and clingy. She could be on his mind all the time, but that didn't mean she had to be by his side all the time. It didn't mean that she had to be aware of the control she possessed over him. Severus preferred his thoughts being obsessive rather than his body. He preferred his alone time. He was one of those people who enjoyed it more than he enjoyed being around people. People were a nuisance. People caused you trouble. People ruin your life.

But she wasn't just a random person. No, he yearned for her touch. He wanted to be around her. Even if that meant being infuriated beyond belief. Even if it meant him hating himself for it. That was far beyond the point now. He had already gotten past all of that. He managed to admit to himself that he was being incredibly selfish by keeping her around him, by his side, preferably her lips on his. He had a lot of free time while Hermione was on sleeping potions. Too much free time. His thoughts became spastic (which was so incredibly uncharacteristic for him that he wondered if indeed the nurse had slipped him something), his emotions raging. He thought about his life, about his past, about his future, about the course of action he would take toward the scum that caused her to be here.

It was never smart to leave a Slytherin to their own ministrations for so long. They certainly weren't thinking about cooking and baking while their eyes were lit on fire, a smirk crossing their face. No, no, no.

So, when that night finally came, Severus helped Hermione out of bed and held onto her hand while they walked out of the Hospital Wing. He wondered to himself what rumors the Marauders had started if any at all. He didn't expect Sirius Black to be able to keep anything to him about Severus, but since this involved Hermione, he wasn't sure. Only Lily and Remus had come to visit after the confrontation. Potter and Black were probably off being angry at the world somewhere else. That didn't bother him at all. What bothered him was that Hermione was bothered.

She seemed sad and upset that they hadn't come anymore, but she tried to hide it. He didn't expect any less of her, though. She had to put on a brave face, but he knew the truth. The truth was that being friends with the stubborn arses was important to her. When he fully realized that, he knew what he had to do. After dinner that night, he would have a nice chat with Potter and his right hand man about their behavior.

He couldn't think they were being unreasonable. They were Gryffindors, after all. They had foolish pride that would go with them to their grave. For them to realize that they had lost one of their own to a Slytherin, let alone their arch nemesis since they came to Hogwarts, was mind boggling to them. If she was any useless, replacable Gryffindor, he was sure that they would've discarded their friendship by now. But this wasn't just anyone. It was Hermione Granger. She was talented, brilliant, beautiful, and she was one of the most stubborn, idiotic people of the whole pack. She definitely wasn't replacable.

"I'll walk you to the Gryffindor table, if you wish." He offered, knowing it would be futile to tell her to skip dinner all together. The werewolf and the red-head were expecting her, and she wouldn't dream of not facing the school.

The first day, she had walked in with her head high. Now, it would be much harder if people knew of their relationship. It would probably be more difficult for her, psychologically, than it would be for him. If he was shunned, that was fine. Hell, it would be better than fine. If she was shunned, it would kill her. They'd both have to deal with physical threats. Then again, she had managed to come out of a confrontation alright.

"No. You go on to your table, and I'll go to mine. I'll meet you after dinner though, right?" He looked over to her and noticed that she looked as determined as ever. The only difference was that she had a pleading look in her eyes, like she needed him to confirm that he would indeed see her after the meal. His heart panged.

He nodded. "Of course." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it before letting go and opening the doors. They walked through silently before Hermione wished her goodbyes.

There wasn't any kind of a dramatic silence like he half expected. Hogwarts was filled with people who needed drama to fill their lives, but tonight everything seemed perfectly normal. He internally sighed a breath of relief. That was a good sign for him, and it was an excellent sign for her as well. He walked to the far end of the table where he usually sat and sat alone.

He wasn't lucky enough for it to last too long. Hudson slid down a few seats from where he was sitting with two sixth years and two seventh years. His red, shaggy hair was covering his eyes, but it wasn't enough to hide the normal twinkle he possessed. This child would be the first Slytherin version of Dumbledore. Severus tried to ignore him as he spooned himself out some mashed potatoes. He couldn't ignore the piercing eyes for long, that damned twinkle bothering him to no ends.

"And how may I possibly be of assistance to you tonight, Hudson? Mockery? Ridicule? Or would you like to delve into my personal life with your crude assumptions and idiotic comments?" Severus whispered, turning to him.

"Severus, why so angry? I have yet to even do anything to you tonight that you would consider mockery or ridicule." He paused to deliver a dramatic sigh, "That's what you think of me, is it? Is that what you wish for me to do? Is it a request? A hope? A dream? Do you dream much, Severus?" He ended, a smirk playing on his face as he grabbed a biscuit.

Severus couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You've got quite an active imagination and a diluted sense of humour."

"Oh but Severus, I happen to know that you consider me something along the lines of tolerable if not better. I can see the lack of hatred in your eyes when you roll them! You forget that I too am a Slytherin and can read facial expressions." He said.

"Are you taking lessons from the crazy old man on how to drive people insane? You've gone from tolerable to being insufferable." Severus growled. "But get on with it. Why are you actually here?"

"I'd like to congratulate you on finally making it official and public with one Miss Hermione Granger." Severus' head snapped back to him. So, everyone did know. Then, why wasn't he being attacked at the moment by heated glares and underhand curses? "No, do not worry, Severus. Everyone got off the initial shock, and most think it is just a rumor started by Black."

"I noticed nothing abnormal when I walked in."

"Of course, you didn't." Severus turned to him and waited for him to elaborate. He didn't.

"Elaborate."

"Black and Potter are having kittens about the whole thing, though. They broke out yelling a few days ago right here in the Great Hall. We thought they had gone mad. Evans had to give detentions to them and yell a few choice words before she ushered them out. Quite brilliant. That's how most people found out. They only mentioned that you were with her in the infirmary. People assume you have some sort of friendship or acquaintanceship. I don't think most people realized the implications of how deep the relationship actually goes. We don't have the brightest people here. And the people who are bright mostly don't care. Our housemates… that's another problem all together." Hudson clapped him on the back, squeezing his shoulder before standing up. "I'm off. I've got last minute homework to do. All of yours is sitting on your bed. I recommend starting on it."

He nodded, his thoughts starting to reel. To be honest, Severus half thought that the second he stepped into the room that Slytherins and Gryffindors alike would be trying to murder him. No one seemed to care. They knew they were friends but didn't care. How could Slytherins possibly not care? They must've gone mad or not catch onto it. And then it hit him.

They were either playing with his head, or they thought he was using her. He looked over to a group of Deatheaters and stared for a second, his black eyes determined to get their attention. When two of them looked over, they nodded at him, smirking. Bloody hell. Now he had to spy on her or something of the equivalent or else they would kill him. The Dark Lord had surely found out that he had a Mudblood companion. He assumed it was to get inside information for a raid or something of the sort. If he didn't provide the information, they would both be killed.

Fuck. He hadn't thought about that either. He had spent his time in the infirmary, his thoughts scattered, his only remaining energy being used to try to figure out how to get revenge on the bastard that put her there. Now, he was out of the infirmary. He had to deal with real life. He had to deal with the consequences of his actions. He had to deal with the danger he put himself and her in. He had to deal with the mess he had created. He had to deal with the bastards that helped create it. Potter and Black. Merlin, damn them.

Severus pushed away his dinner, feeling sick. He tried to search his mind for any memory of when the next Deatheater meeting was. He had to talk to Hermione before then. He had to do something to fix this. Should he stage a public fight with her to make the Slytherins think he wasn't in ranks with her anymore? He was losing his wits. That would be stupid. He knew couldn't do that. Now that he had spent days with her by his side, he didn't think he could go back to only talking to her nightly. He had to be around her for his sanity. So, what could he do?

Well, first he had to talk to Black and Potter. He had to fix what was wrong between them and Hermione. He could even possibly get some sort of approval (that he truly didn't want) and get information from them. No. That wouldn't work. They would never be able to talk to him civilly, and he would never be able to look at them without hatred in his eyes. He could deal with Evans and Lupin, but there was no way in hell he would deal with Potter and Black. No way in hell.

So, what could he do? You-Know-Who could call for him at any second, and if he didn't have some sort of cover story or fake plan or reasoning, he was as good as dead. She was as good as dead. That left him with two options: Dumbledore or death.

He contemplated this for a second before he resigned and chose the first.

A/N:

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