AN - I own nothing! I'm just borrowing from J.K. Rowling!

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Chapter 23

Lucius watched his wife Narcissa make some preparations for dinner as he stood in the kitchen. Order members and the staff of Hogwarts were invited for dinner. It was planned between him and Minerva. They thought it was best that they too know about Severus, before they made it public. The dinner wasn't going to be formal, but more casual.

"That should be them," Narcissa said as she heard the doorbell ring.

Lucius stopped a house elf from answering it, and told him he would do it himself. When he opened the door, he was greeted loudly by the Weasleys and Hagrid, while everyone else simply said their hellos. "Where is your youngest son?" he asked Molly, noticing that Ron was missing.

"He's with the kids," Molly replied. "I made him stay home and babysit them."

"What are we celebrating for?" Sirius asked.

"Just a simple gathering of friends," Lucius replied. He didn't know how to exactly break it to them that Severus was alive. He looked at Minerva who also seemed unsure of how things would go. No doubt that they would be shocked, most especially when they knew the truth about Severus and Hermione.

"Well, well, well," Severus drawled as he slowly descended the master stair case. He was in his khakis, Birkenstocks, and a white button down shirt that was only buttoned halfway down. In his hand, he held a big bag of open Ruffle potato chips. He smirked when he saw the jaws drop as faces turned towards him. Instead of students gaping at him like fish, they were actual grownups, making it even better to look at. "Hello mutt," he sneered at Sirius. "You're still as ugly as ever." He reached into the Ruffles bag, and munched on a salty chip.

"S-Snape?" Sirius stammered as he stared at the dead man standing in front of him. He blinked his eyes a few times, trying for them to focus. Perhaps they were playing tricks on him, or maybe he was just sleeping and having a bad dream.

"You-You're alive?" Arthur asked in disbelief.

"I am," Severus replied, as he reached into the bag yet again.

People stared at him for a moment. Was this really Snape? He seemed so casual. It wasn't possible.

Minerva walked up to Severus and kissed him on the cheek in greeting.

"You knew?" Remus asked.

The older witch shook her head. "Only recently."

"Where's Hermione and Draco?" Harry asked curiously.

"They're in the media room, along with a lot of junkfood. Pizza and hotdogs included." Lucius replied. "It's what Hermione requested. The Yankees are playing against the Red Sox I think. You young ones should go there."

"Cool!" Fred and George said together as they quickly headed down the hall to the media room, followed by their siblings.

Harry stopped right next to Severus, and looked directly up at him. "Good to see you again Professor." After that, he followed the others.

"So where the hell have you been all along?" Sirius asked Severus.

"None of you business Black," Severus replied. He then walked out of the foyer and headed towards the kitchen, planning to help the Lady of the house out with the cooking.

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The media room had state of the art muggle equipment. Around the room, blue plush sofa beds wrapped around the room against the wall. It really seemed as if all the sofa beds were one, when they were really a few big pieces. The floor was black and carpeted. In the middle, there were around five beanbags that were also blue. In the front of the room, hung the largest HD flat screen tv they made. It came with a surround sound system—four speakers hanging up from the corners of the ceiling in the room.

"It's almost starting!" Hermione said excitedly as she sat up in the sofa with a large pillow behind her back. She had a Yankee cap on, a shirt, and even waived a flag in her hand as if she were in the game. If she were in New York, she would've probably attended the game. Whenever she was there, and there was a game, she made it a point to try and attend the game when she was free.

"Go Yankees!" Draco shouted out loud, which was later accompanied with a wolf whistle. He wasn't a die-hard baseball fan like Hermione, and was more into Quidditch. But he knew a lot about muggle sports, and did watch them on occasion.

"Hey guys!" Hermione greeted loudly when she saw her friends walk in. "Come on Ginny, sit here," she said patting the space next to her. She smiled at Harry who smiled at her in return as he sat down next to his wife. The rest made themselves comfortable too, grabbing some food and drinks.

"Can you believe Snape's alive?" Harry asked.

"I was shocked myself as well," Hermione replied honestly. She was worried how Harry and a few others would react towards her relationship with Severus. She didn't want them to be mad at her. No matter what, she was with Severus and would stay with him, but she wanted other people to be happy for the both of them as well.

"And throwing the first pitch tonight is Adam Michaels himself, son of Governor Ellen Michaels," the sports caster's voice spoke.

Hermione stiffened as her eyes focused on the television. She watched Adam walk to the pitcher's mound, and wave to the crowd in greeting, along with some flying kisses the some women that were screaming at him in excitement.

"Hermione?" Draco called her with worry when he saw how she reacted. He knew exactly who Adam was, and helped his Father dig up some information about him.

"And there is our Governor," the male voice continued to speak as the broadcast camera changed from Adam to Ellen. Ellen stood up, and waved her Yankee flag in the air, making everyone in the stadium roar out loud with their clapping.

Hermione whimpered for a moment, and slid away from Ginny, moving towards the corner. She grabbed hold of one of the pillows, and held it in front of her, hugging it tightly. Images of Adam being on top of her, and hitting her came crashing at her.

"Hermione!" Draco said as he went to her right away.

"Hon, what's wrong?" Ginny asked worriedly as she moved to sit next to her friend.

"Say something," Draco told Hermione as he placed his face inches from her. When he saw her look beyond her shoulder and shut her eyes, he turned his head back towards the others. "Turn it off!" He then ran out of the room, to get Severus as quick as he could.

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"So where were you this whole time?" Sirius asked Severus as he chopped up the red peppers. He and a few others decided to help out Narcissa with dinner. Having a barbeque outside next to the pool was always fun.

"Like I said, none of your business," Severus sneered, adding some salt and pepper into the clam chowder.

"Professor Snape!" Draco's voice could be heard shouting. And then he was in the kitchen in a second. "It's Hermione—" he didn't need to continue on saying anything. Those two words had Severus run out of the kitchen right away.

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"I hate him, I hate him, I hate him…" Hermione repeated like a mantra as she leaned her head on the cool wall.

"Hate who?" Ginny asked, as she continued to rub on Hermione's arm for comfort. She wasn't sure who she was talking about, or how to comfort her, when Hermione seemed like she wanted to distance herself away.

"I hate them, I hate them…"

Severus burst into the room, and quickly went to Hermione when he saw her. He brushed away the curls from her face, tucking them behind her ear. "Hermione?" he said softly.

Ginny moved away, giving Hermione and Severus space. When she looked at Harry, he had the same frown as she did.

The other guests followed after him. Some entered the room, while others remained outside the open door. All of them had worried looks and curious glances on their faces. What did Severus have to do with Hermione?

"He can't hurt you, I promise," Severus spoke. Even though he didn't know exactly what happened, he had a feeling it had something to do with the Michaels. "I'm here, we're all here. Nothing's going to happen to you."

"Severus…" Hermione sobbed, when she threw her arms around him.

Severus tried to hush her as he rocked her in his arms. "I'm here now, I'm here."

"Hate him… them…" Hermione cried.

Severus placed a finger on her lips. "Don't. It's not good for you or the baby. Don't think about it and stress over it anymore. If there's any stressing, let me do that for you." When Hermione didn't stop crying, he carried her up in his arms, and out of the room, ignoring everyone's glances.

"What was that all about?" Tonks asked curiously.

"Hermione's case," Draco replied. He reached for the remote control and turned the television back on. The Michaels family was still being shown as both Adam and Ellen waved at the crowd together.

"Case? What case?" Harry asked, not liking the sound of things.

"Attempted rape," Lucius replied, hearing gasps from everyone.

"Is that them? I thought you were going to take care of them Lucius?" Minerva asked venomously as her eyes narrowed on the television.

"This weekend. The Governor won't know what hit her, and Michael will regret the day he lived," Lucius replied.

"And what about Severus?" Remus asked. "What does he have to do with it?"

"He's the father of her child," Lucius replied. "They've been going out for some months now."

That was another shock for everyone else.

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AN – Sorry, it's been a long while since I updated this story. Hope you guys are still reading this. Review!