Disclaimer: J.K.ROWLING for the characters. Thank you!
P.S: Thanks guys for the review. I changed some stuffs and this is what I got at last. Thanks!!
Chapter Three: The Fall
---------------------------------------
(In the Cafe)
------------------------------------------------
Hermione giggled to herself, eyes closed and leaning back into the sofa. She remembered everything as if it was just yesterday.
"May I know what is so funny, Ms Granger?". A silky voice rumbled through her and send shivers down her spine. She smiled wide. She knew that voice anywhere. Even if it was in a crowded place full of women gossiping, children screaming and the men drunk and laughing, that single voice could do wonders for her. It would only take her a few seconds to find out where he was.
"Severus..." She open her eyes slowly. Standing in front of the table she was at, was a tall man with black eyes and silky, long hair. He was wearing dark green turtleneck with black textured pants. It was when Hermione stood up to get close to him did she realise why it was textured.
"Jeans? Severus? Are you seriously wearing Jeans?"" Hermione exclaimed, trying to stiffle a giggle. Severus merely smirked and look down at his jeans then back up t Hermione.
"Lee-bise - You like it?" Snape said. Hermione laughed out loud.
"Its Levis, Severus - and Yes, I love it!" She said and hugged him. Snape quickly returned her embrace and they just stood there in each others arms, not wanting to let each other go. When they did, Snape swoop down and kissed Hermione right smack on her lips and pull back. They then sat down on the sofa and cuddle against each other, kissing and nuzzling. They didn't even noticed four guys walking into the cafe and stopped halfway, looking at them. Sirius and Remus quickly pushed Harry and Ron out of the cafe, seeing their shocked face at the presence of their ex Potions Master kissing their Best Friend, and chuckled when both boys tried to run past them to have a better look. Hermione managed to pull herself away from Snapes' arms and pouted at him. Snape raised his eyebrows in question, seeing her sudden reaction and chuckled. He loved it when she does that.
"What?" he asked, smilling at her.
"Ms Granger? How many times did I tell you to stop calling me that?" Hermione tilted her head, asking. She then gave him a quick light punch on his chest.
"Its Hermione to you! And if you ever slip that up again - - " Snape gave a chuckle and pulled her in his arms again, muffling whatever she was saying into his chest.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me." Snape said, making her giggle again. It was not always that you get to hear your Potions Master apologise to you. Its like having your Chemistry teacher talking to you about the wonderful weather. Snape pull back a little to look at her.
"And may I ask - again - what is so funny?" Hermione just shook her head.
"Nothing, you apologised and .. - Nothing."
"Ah - And before that?" Snape asked, reaching out for her hands and carressing them with his thumb lightly. Now it was Hermiones' turn to raise her eyebrows in question.
"You were giggling to yourself before I called you. What was that about?" Snape asked and leaned in to lay his head on her shoulders. Hermione just shook her head and smile.
"Nothing - Just remembering the time when we were finally together. The time we actually started all this" Snape chuckled again.
"You mean after the fall?" Hermione nodded and fell back into her memories.
------------------------------------------------
(Five Months Ago)
Bursting into the room, shocking the patients from the war, Hermione quickly ran in to find her potions master. It had been three days since she passed out from the war and was relieved to hear that Voldermort was dead. He was gone. No longer exist. Even though she was happy, her heart felt broken. She was worried. Not of whether Voldermort will return again but of Severus Snape. She ran in, pass Madam Pomfrey before reaching his ward. Hermione flipped the curtains open and saw Snape in his bed, pale looking and was asleep. His breathing was deep and she couldn't help but sit by his side. She touched his face gently, afraid that she would hurt him. He flinched a little but then relaxed and fell back into deeper sleep. Hermione shook her head, trying to fight back her tears. How she wished she could have saved him.
------------------------------------------------
(Two Days Before)
She remembered that she was taking down three Death Eaters that had ganged up on Neville. She remembered hurling curses at the three of them, but missed another curse being sent towards her by Lucius from the other end of the castle. She launch herself towards a padded area of the ground and turned to send a curse towards him but failed as she saw a dark blue light erupt from his wand and was headed towards her.
Suddenly she felt darkness engulfed her. She didn't feel any pain or anything, but just pressure on top of her. Was this death? Was this how it feels? Funny how people complained about being afraid of death. This feels weird! Then she smelt something. Something ...sweet - Something sweet yet raw. Like - coffee.
Coffee. Black Coffee. Sweet smelling yet raw to the senses.
Coffee?? Erm... Coffee??
Was she suppose to be smelling coffee when she died??
Funny how nobody had informed so.
Oh please, how could they when they are already dead? You expect them to rise from the grave, screaming 'Death smells like Coffee!!!'
Then, her mind started to reel. Coffee? Who would - - Professor Snape!!
Hermione felt Snape breathing heavily on top of her, before pulling himself away from her. In the dark, she could see his face contort in pain as he got up to his feet in such quick motion and blasted a curse towards Lucius but missed.
"Severus!! You traitor!! You coward!!!"
Lucius raged, sending another curse towards Snape, but he ducked and send one back to Lucius, which got him straight in the chest and he was sent hurtling through the air and smacked viciously onto the castle wall before falling in a heap.
"That wasn't what I was planning, but hey, it worked." Snape mumbled to himself before turning to run off. His footing caught hold of something and he tripped on the thing, falling forward with a thump. He heard a groan and pull back up to see Hermione below him, face in pain.
"Ms Granger! Why - What - Shit! Why didn't you pick yourself up when you were down! You didn't expect somebody to come and try picking you up amongst the curses are you?? Selfish, Foolish Girl!" Snape exclaimed angrily as he tried to get up from her, and before he could do so, a flash of green light nearly missed his head and a Death Eater a few feet away from them fell victim to the Killing Curse.
Snape fell back down on Hermione before pulling himself up again, wide eyed at her. Hermione managed to smirk up at him.
"Remind me to remind you to thank me for saving your life by missing the Killing Curse because you tripped on me and fell hard. And remind me to remind you to apologise to me for calling me a selfish, foolish girl for saving your life." Snape rolled his eyes and got up once again before running off to send a curse back at a Death Eater who had tried to Crucio a first year student.
Hermione got up and ran towards Luna and tried to push her away when a yellow light came towards her and they both fell down. Luna turned to Hermione and smile.
"Gee - I didn't see that one. The Knargles might have blinded me for a moment. Thanks!" Luna said and got up to send a charm at a Death Eater. Hermione shook her head and dueled with another two Death Eaters nearby.
For what seemed like hours, Hermione managed to take down as many Death Eaters she can and saved as many students too. Finally, and unfortunately, Hermione found herself in one of those "Damsel in Distress" moment again, after losing her wand when she tripped and fell face first. She groaned but suddenly was brought back up by her hair and she screamed in pain.
"That will teach you a lesson, Mudblood!" Lucius growled in her ear and pulled her up again. She heard him growled again,
"Cru-cio.."
Lucius laughed out loud when she began to writhed in pain and fell down on the ground. Her body felt as if she was ripped into different pieces and heard her screams ripping through the air. Then, as unexpected as it came, it left and Hermione managed to pull herself together, breathing raggedly and tried to pry her eyes open. She could only see little of the scene, her visions blurred but she knew who it was. A tall dark figure was dueling with the blonde only a few feet away from her. She tried to get up but fell back down, her strength clearly drained away from her. As she groped blindly in the grass, she felt something long, something familiar. Something hard.
Her wand! She quickly grabbed it and pointed to Lucius Malfoy, who had managed to crucio Snape. Snape was writhing violently on the ground, trying to resist the curse but failed.
"Traitor! You deserved this! The Dark Lord will be pleased to see me eliminate you! A Traitor!! CRUCIO!!!" Lucius raged again and laughed out, seeing Snape violent arched his back and fell back hard and writhed again. Hermione couldn't help seeing Snape being tortured, so she thought of something before an idea came to her mind. If Lucius is using his favourite curse on Snape, Let her use Snapes' favourite curse on him.
"Sectumsempra!!" Hermione screamed. Lucius suddenly fell to the ground, grabbing his wand arm and gritted his teeth. He saw Hermione pointing her wand at him and he quickly grabbed his wand with his other hand and pointed at her.
"Somnus Infinitas!!"
"Torpeo Artus!!"
Lucius Malfoy was thrown off and fell back. He could hear the sounds around him but he couldn't move. Damn it! Hermione had cast a Numbing spell on him. He couldn't feel his limbs and he felt like screaming. But in the back of his mind, he smiled, remembering the spell he had cast on Hermione. Somnus Infinitas. Sleep Eternity spell. That would take forever to lift the curse. Indeed, Hermione felt the curse go through her body and stayed that way. She heard somebody cry out for her but she couldn't reply. She then felt her eyes drooped heavily and fell back, asleep.
Snape had finally overcome the after effects of the Cruciatus spell and tried to get up. When he did he heard Lucius cast a Sleep Eternity curse to someone he didn't recognise. It was when a recoil of a Numbing Spell did Snape realise who it was. He screamed out her name but it was too late. She was engulfed by the spell and fell back. Snape heard himself growled in frustration and propped himself up. He grabbed his wand and tried to send a few more Death Eaters down before crawling towards Hermione. She was knocked out cold and Severus tried to get her up. He propped her up on his lap and pointed his wand at her. Before he could do it, he saw her eyes fluttered open for a while, before smilling at him weakly.
"Severus... I... L-Love... Y-ou..."
Severus felt his breath stuck in his throat when he heard her express herself to him. It wasn't the right time, he knew it, with all the curses flying around but he couldn't help himself. He reached down to cup her face and smiled at her sleepy face.
"I love you too...".
He leaned in to kiss her lips. Oh the soft kiss, the soft lips. Hermione bit on his bottom lip and he shivered, holding her closer to him, feeling the warmth between them combine.
As soon as they left each others lips, Hermione heard Snape groan in pain. She tried to open her eyes and saw Snape rolling beside her, writhing in pain again. Obviously he was under the Crucio attack but this time it was three Death Eaters who conjured the attack at the same time. Hermione saw that it was Avery, Crabbe and Goyle who had attacked Snape. Hermione could hear him howl in pain and she couldn't bear to hear it. It was then when she fell into her deep slumber, with Snape screaming beside her.