Hermione was startled out of her pity party when she heard a throat clear. Looking up, she was surprised to see Snape there. His eyes looked sad, but also to a degree, knowing, and Hermione realized that he must of heard what Voldemort had said as well. He raised a finger to his lips, instructing her to be quiet, before he gestured for her to come with him.
They silently walked up the three flights of stairs. It was a floor she hadn't explored yet, but he took her into a quiet library, which had a very inviting couch, which the pair proceeded to sit on.
Now that they were alone, Snape conjured some tissues and called for a house elf. He asked that the elf bring them a dinner of grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup be brought to them in the library for dinner. The elf apparated away.
Snape gave her a sad smile. "You looked like you needed someone to talk to," he said finally, his voice deep and comforting.
Before he knew what was happening, Snape's arms will full of a sobbing Hermione Granger. He wasn't sure when she became so familiar with him, but he found that he didn't really mind. He let her cry against his chest, and ran his fingers through her wavy hair, until she had quieted down enough to talk to him about how she was feeling.
She jumped into an explanation of how hurt she was that Voldemort was so apathetic to her, when she could still remember how loving he'd seemed to her in the Diary. She explained about the persistent ache that she felt in her heart, and how hopeless everything seemed now. "I wish that I was still living in that blasted Diary," she admitted, sullenly. A forbidden sentiment, he was sure.
"There will be other men in your life, Hermione," Snape said quietly once the girl had stopped sobbing on his chest. His cloak was now wet with her tears, but it was nothing that a subtle spell couldn't erase. He was keenly aware of what she was feeling, but he didn't want her to stop living now.
"You don't understand Professor! I love Tom Riddle," Hermione desperately pleaded. "I didn't want to fall in love, but I did, she admitted." Hermione's eyes seemed to become prettier with tears in her eyes. Her toffee colored eyes were more vibrant somehow.
"Yes, but Hermione, the Dark Lord is no longer Tom Riddle. It will take time, but you will find someone new. Someone who isn't willing to give you up," he promised, hoping that he was easing the worst of the girl's fears. He gave her a rare smile. "Theo is going to be here this weekend. He is Professor Sinistra's second favorite student." He hoped that Hermione wasn't opposed to a bit of matchmaking from her old Potions Master, because he had often thought privately that Hermione and Theodore Nott could be well suited to one another.
Hermione smiled a little at that. Snape clearly understood that intelligence was an important factor to her. Also, she had always found the boy to be handsome. Soon, though, her face darkened once again. "But what about the baby? I am damaged goods - knocked up by the Dark Lord. No one will want that kind of baggage. He's ruined me."
"Well, that is true, it is something to consider. But you don't want someone who won't also love your child as well as you. And I think you will find that several men here will be attracted to playing father to the Dark Lord's child," he said, his face going a bit dark.
Hermione recoiled in horror. "What do you mean?" she demanded.
"I just mean that they might think that they could get some favor from the Dark Lord should they step up and take responsibility," he answered, before giving her arm a squeeze. "And, I will always be here to help you with the child."
Hermione smiled again. "But what about you, Professor? Don't you want a woman in your life? Surely, she won't like the idea of you helping me. Don't you want children of your own?"
Snape tried to turn his grimace into a smile, with little luck. "Hermione, I have loved only once in my life. There can be no other woman for me," he told her, unused to being so vulnerable with another person, but knowing that Hermione needed to hear the truth right now.
"Lily," Hermione stated more than asked. Severus mused that she was a very astute witch.
Severus sighed. "Yes. I sometimes feel like my heart died with her. And as for children...I like to think that if I would have had a daughter, she would have been a lot like you."
Hermione could already feel herself brighten at the suggestion. Although she was still heartbroken, it was nice to know that Snape cared for her, even if it was purely paternal. They spent the remainder of the evening in the library with each other. The mood slowly lightened, and Hermione felt a lot better by the time she walked up the stairs to her room. She decided that she would do what Severus suggested. She would open her heart to love, and if it happened to be with someone besides Tom Riddle, so be it.
And while she still had her figure, she wasn't going to hide it.
She turned the knob to her door, and let out a shrill cry when she came face to face with a growling wolf, that was bearing its teeth at her. "Petrificus totalus!" she shouted, and the wolf became immobile. The door to the room next to hers swung open, and revealed the Dark Lord, still fully dressed from the day in an imposing black robe.
"What is the purpose of your shrieking?" he demanded, though didn't appear to be too irritated with her. Was he worried about her safety?
"Why is there an extremely large wolf in my room?" she asked, unable to control her anger. Had someone tried to attack her, she wondered?
"Oh, yes. This is Thor. He is your new familiar," Voldemort answered, his tone a bit sheepish. Hermione just looked at him in shock, clearly waiting for him to elaborate. "Well, Nagini told me about your familiar being...absent...and Fenrir was kind enough to gift you with one of his pack. Thor will both serve as your companion and protector. Now, he probably doesn't appreciate being placed under a spell," he scolded.
Hermione watched in complete awe as Voldemort released her spell without moving a hand or his lips. She was supremely impressed. She a finite wasn't the hardest spell, but she had never even seen Dumbledore use wandless and wordless magic.
"It would be nice to have a little bit of a heads up next time," she said, jutting her chin out at him. She knew that he'd given her a gift, but she had been scared nearly half to death!
Voldemort, who was undeterred by her stance, gave her a very pointed look, until she went back into her room and shut the door behind her. The wolf was looking at her and growling softly. Hermione slowly approached it, taking comfort that she still had her wand to defend herself. Slowly, she put her hand out in front of her, and Thor slowly walked over to give her hand a sniff.
After smelling her and determining that she didn't pose an immediate threat, the giant wolf stopped growling at her, but watched her every movement with predatory eyes. She walked over to her wardrobe and changed into her pajamas for the night. The wolf jumped up on the foot of her bed and lied down, his large blue eyes never leaving her body.
Hermione walked over to her bed, and slowly pulled back the covers before slipping into it. She bumped the wolf with her feet and he growled at her. "Jeez, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," she said to the wolf, hoping to calm him down a bit. Hermione was so nervous with such a large vicious animal at her feet that she barely got a wink of sleep.
Hermione flounced down the stairs to catch breakfast. Realizing that Bellatrix had been a bit more devious than she expected, Hermione had worn a tight white blouse with a blue cardigan and another set of grey trousers. She tried to hide her disappointment when Voldemort was not present at breakfast, having been curious to know what his reaction to her outfit would have been.
Even more unfortunate was that the only available seat was next to Draco. She didn't want anything to do with him after what had happened the day before, but she plucked up her courage and sat next to the blond boy anyway.
He cleared his throat as soon as she sat down. "Hermione. I wanted to say sorry for how I mistreated you yesterday. It wasn't right, and it won't happen again," he told her, glancing every now and then towards Bellatrix and her dark, sparkling eyes. Hermione noticed he was blushing a little bit, but when she looked into his eyes, he seemed to be really sincere.
Since her talk with Snape the day prior, Hermione had decided that she would try to put her past with Malfoy behind, eventually. She really needed a friend here, and Draco might be her only option. "Thank you Draco. Apology accepted. I am sorry that I made you kiss the ground I walk on," she answered. She was quiet for a second before continuing. "Want to call a truce?"
Draco gave her a small smile. "Yes, I would like that very much," he agreed easily. The two students sat chatting until Bellatrix finally broke into their conversation, telling Hermione that her Ancient Runes lesson was about to begin. Hermione felt her breath leave her. This would be her first class with someone she had "interacted" with from the past and she was nervous to know what they would think.
She found her "professor" in the library where she had had dinner with Snape the night prior. She smiled hopefully seeing the much older version of the man she called Teddy. His hair was a nice shade of gray, but his brown eyes were still as lively as ever. He had gained a little bit of weight, no longer the tall, slender young man he used to be. "Hello, Mr. Nott," she greeted politely as she entered the room.
The older man didn't seem to recognize her, so she was unsure if he had seen their interactions. "You may still call me Teddy, if you'd like," he said, eventually, his voice a bit more gravely than the last time she saw him. Hermione instantly blushed. She knew then that he did remember. She wondered what he thought of her kissing him, even if it was not truly him.
She came over and sat down at the table with him. He had a piece of parchment out in front of him. "I understand that you are quite accomplished with Runes, but this will be a test of your abilities," he said simply, before sliding the bit of parchment in front of her.
Hermione took the quill and paper from him. Her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, noticing that it was a blend of several kinds of runes and from varying periods. It would be challenging but she knew she could do it. A half hour of quill scratching later, Hermione handed him back the test and smiled.
He silently read over her translation, making approving remarks every now and then. "You have passed. Well then, the Dark Lord would like you to translate this tome. I am not entirely sure what the dialect is, but it is very old and from the very north of Norway. It will be important that we complete it, but we have a few weeks, perhaps months to complete it. I know that this will not be the most traditional runes class you will have taken, but I will be here to help you, should you need it."
Hermione nodded, and they set about discussing the different options for how they should try to translate it. They worked together for another hour, before Hermione became distracted, and they simultaneously stopped working. Biting her lip, Hermione could no longer hold in the discussion she wanted to have with him. "So, Professor Snape told me that Theo would be stopping by this weekend?" she asked, hoping the question did not bely her interest.
The older Nott simply gave a small noise of agreement in response.
"Is he going to be staying here? Do you think that he could get a better education here than at Hogwarts, like the Malfoys?" she continued, unsure if she should hope that he would be living there or not. It wasn't as if she'd ever spoken to him much.
That got Nott's attention. "What? Hmm? No, no of course not. He is simply coming for a visit. He made Head Boy after all. Far more useful for the family for him to stay there," he explained smoothly.
"Oh, that's wonderful! I will have to congratulate him. His grades were always rather close to mine, so it certainly doesn't come as too much of a surprise. I wonder who made head girl..." she trailed off. Hermione frowned then. She would have been Head Girl, she was sure of it. If only Dumbledore hadn't put her in such a terrible situation and then decided not to practice what he preached. "Well, I had better get going to my transfiguration lesson."
Hermione stood, and went in search of the next room she would be learning in. She knew it was a study, and that it was on the fourth floor. She tried to remember who it was that was supposed to be, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember who was meant to be teaching her. She opened the door, but her teacher was the first to speak.
"Mud- Granger," he said simply, looking at her with a devious grin.
"Dolohov," Hermione responded with a tone of equal hatred. He was as burly as she remembered, but his dark hair was a bit curly and rather attractive. He still had some scruff on his face, and his eyes were still a light, sparkling green.
"Admiring the view?" he asked, cockily.
"You look more...presentable when you have taken a bath and aren't fresh from the Dementor's embrace," Hermione tried to respond with ice in her voice, but she was sure that it sounded more like a compliment on his undeniably attractive appearance. He looked forbidden, and it excited Hermione.
"I see you have recovered from my curse," he stated, his mouth forming into a smirk, pleased to remind her of the pain she'd gone through at his hands.
"Yes, well, you couldn't do much damage with a non-verbal curse," Hermione lied through her teeth, wanting to wipe that cocky smirk from his face. He had done real damage, and she never wanted to take those awful potions again. They tasted foul and had a lot of side effects that she didn't like.
"You know, Granger, I have to tell you how much it pleased me to know that you were going to choose my father in your dream world to be your husband?" he said, taking a step closer to her, invading her personal space.
Hermione snorted. "And why would that be? You wanted me to be your mommy?"
"No," Dolohov answered with a big smile on his face. "Because, I knew what you were doing. You were projecting your subconscious thoughts of me onto the character. You were choosing the danger and … raw sexual energy you felt for me. It made me realize that all of those dirty, delicious things I told you about in the Department of Mysteries left a lasting impression," Dolohov finished whispering into her ear once again, sending a shiver up and down her spine.
Hermione colored. It was true, the things he had told her had opened her eyes to a whole other side to sex that she hadn't been aware of. It had made her a little bit curious, but it didn't make her desire him...did it? "What are you, some kind of Muggle pop psychologist now?" Hermione asked defensively, stepping away from him.
Dolohov just continued to grin at her lasciviously. He knew that he had won - this round only, if Hermione had anything to say about it.
The tension was finally broken when Draco entered the room. Dolohov told him off about being late for lessons. Dolohov didn't make any more advances or innuendoes, until the lesson was over. "Now you two, I would like an essay...let's say, one foot...on the uses of transfiguration in the bedroom by your next lesson. And it had better be adequate, Granger, or I will have to take you over my knee and give you a spanking," he teased, not hiding the way that his eyes were drinking in the curves of her body.
Draco's eyebrows shot up, nearly all the way to his hairline, surprised at the flirtatious behavior of the older Death Eater. Hermione quickly gathered her things and left the room, not waiting for Draco to follow after her, too embarrassed to begin answering any of the questions that the other teenager might have.
Maybe she would need to bring Thor to her next lesson to teach Dolohov not to mess with her.