Hey guys!

Sorry it has been so long since I updated but I'm back at Uni now so I'm going to have to be taking long breaks in between chapters now. Sorry!

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Chapter 10: The Choice

Hermione couldn't believe that she was already back and walking through the halls that she had come to know so well. Even though she hadn't wanted the summer to end she was glad to be back at Hogwarts. Every time she came back it always felt like coming home. She was now on her way to Severus' office, she was going to be a tad early but she didn't really care because she had so many things that she wanted to tell him. It was quite odd when she thought about it. It had only been two days since she had last seen him and she already had a million things that she wanted to share with him.

As she reached his door she could hear voices coming from his office. Not wanting to interrupt in case it was someone that shouldn't see her down here visiting the professor at this time of night, she decided to wait outside. She found a dark corner that was still in view of his door and disillusioned herself for safety. She knew that the meeting wouldn't last much longer Severus knew that she would be there soon. After about five minutes his door opened and Draco Malfoy walked out looking as if this is the last place he wanted to be. Hermione thought this odd considering how much Draco had looked up to Snape in the past.

"Draco! Do not walk away from me!" Severus said with anger in his voice.

Draco turned around to look at Snape. "I can do what ever the bloody hell I want Severus, I make my own rules now." He said as he walked away leaving an enraged Severus behind him.

Great exactly what I need an angry Severus Snape! Hermione thought to herself. After a moment Snape still hadn't moved from the doorway. "I'm not going to stand here all night Miss Granger are you coming in or not." He said in a strained look on his face.

Hermione reappeared with an impressed look upon her face. As she walked passed him into his office she said, "How did you know I was here?"

"It is quite easy to train yourself to see poorly made disillusionment charms."

Hermione rolled her eyes at that comment.

"You know Miss Granger it is considered rude to eavesdrop."

"Stop calling me Miss Granger it doesn't sound right. And you know perfectly well that I wasn't eavesdropping! I was waiting for your discussion with Malfoy to end I couldn't hear a thing either of you were saying, that is until Malfoy opened the door."

"How very polite of you." With that he went to his desk and sat down in his chair. It was obvious that whatever had just occurred between he and Malfoy had him stressed out Hermione decided that it was time to lighten the mood. Maybe she could get him to cheer up a bit. Well as cheery as Snape could ever be that is.

"So I guess congratulations are in order." She said with a wry smile.

"What are you talking about?"

"You getting the DADA position of course! I forgive you of course for not telling me earlier, I know that you just wanted to see the shock on my face."

"I don't know what you are talking about. I didn't tell you because it was none of your business to know beforehand."

"You can't lie to me Severus I saw you give me a triumphant look when you thought nobody was looking." She said with a knowing smile as she walked over to the seat across from his. "So why didn't you move your office as well?"

"For a few reasons. Slughorn requested larger rooms than the ones the potions teacher is normally given, also it is where my lab is and where we will be doing most of our work. But most of all it is because the dungeons go with the persona that has taken years for me to build." He said with a glint of humor in his eyes.

"Yes I can see how the other office might clash with your reputation. For all we know you could be a perfect gentleman that has always been in the wrong atmosphere." She said giggling at the thought.

"Would you care for some tea?" Severus asked suddenly.

"Yes please." Before she had even finished answering he had snapped his fingers and two cups of tea appeared on his desk.

"Oh!" Hermione said startled as Snape handed her a cup of tea.

"Thanks."

He inclined his head in answer.

"So…Harry told me something this evening after the feast."

"If you are about to lecture me on taking points off of Potter stop now I will not change my mind on the matter."

"No…. actually I wasn't going to bring that up, but since you have I will just say that you really shouldn't have done that. You know the only reason he was late was because Malfoy had attacked him."

"There is no proof of that being true." He said taking another sip of his tea.

Hermione gave him a disbelieving look. "Don't patronize me Severus we both know he did. But that is besides the point I wanted to talk about what happened before that."

"And what would that be?" He said raising an eyebrow.

"I would have thought Malfoy would have told you. I thought that is perhaps why he had come down here in the first place."

"Obviously Miss Granger he didn't." He said his patience wearing thin.

"Is it true? Is Draco a death eater? Has he given him some sort of mission?"

Snape said nothing for a moment as if he was making some sort of decision. And then suddenly he looked at her and said, "Yes the Dark Lord has made Draco a death eater. It is more of a punishment for his parents after they failed so miserably at the ministry at the end of last year, he wants them to watch their son suffer."

"And does he have a mission?"

"Yes but I'm not at liberty to talk about it please don't ask me. If you don't believe me you can go ask Dumbledore he will tell you the same."

"Severus don't be ridiculous of course I believe you. Why do you look so surprised? We are friends Severus and I trust you. End of story."

"I'm sorry it is something that I am still getting used to."

They sat in silence for a few moments both sipping at their tea. Hermione could tell that he had been surprised by her last statement, she couldn't blame him really she was sure that it had been a long time since anyone but Dumbledore had had complete trust in him. The thought of Dumbledore instantly brought a question to mind.

"Severus?"

"Hmm?" He said drinking his tea.

"What happened to Dumbledore's hand?"

"That is the reason that I had to rush out the other week, when Faux came and got me. Luckily I was able to help him in time if I had arrived only five minutes later he would probably be dead. Stupid old man thinking he is invincible."

Hermione knew that the last comment was said because Dumbledore was the closest thing he had to a real family. During one of their talks over the summer Hermione had gotten Severus to talk about his family a little. And from what it sounded like he really didn't have any. She then snapped out of her reverie realizing that she had been silent for too long.

"Well thank goodness you did get there in time." She said reassuringly. At that moment she wasn't sure what she had said but his eyes suddenly darkened and he became quite still. Hermione in a desperate need to lighten the mood once again tried to find something to talk about. "I'm so happy to have my desk back, I actually kind of missed it." She said as she walked over to it sliding her finger along the edge of it.

"It has only been two days since you have last seen it. I highly doubt you could have missed it that much."

Hermione then sat down at her desk and summoned some parchment, ink, and a quill all from Severus' desk. Before the quill even touched the parchment Severus said. "What on earth do you think you are doing?"

"I have to choose my classes tomorrow and I am trying to find a way that I can fit Care of Magical Creatures into my schedule."

"Why on earth would you want to continue with that subject? I don't remember you ever expressing an interest in taming wild beasts."

"Contrary to what you may think I do not tell you everything Severus. I really liked Care of Magical Creatures." She said trying to sound convincing. She didn't succeed.

Snape smiled slyly at her. "Oh Miss Granger don't tell me you are taking this subject simply to please Hagrid."

Hermione looked up at him guiltily. "I don't want to hurt his feelings! And the class isn't that bad."

"Don't kid yourself Hermione you hated every moment of it and you know it."

"How could you possibly know how much I enjoyed or didn't enjoy the class? It's not like you were there. And I have never spoken about it."

"I saw you a few times working with the creatures." He said trying very hard to keep from laughing.

"You were spying on me?"

"No of course not the first time was just by chance I was making my way to the greenhouses like I did every week and I just happened to see you. It was… amusing."

"And what about the other times?"

"What do you mean the other times?"

"You said the first time what about the other times?"

"Well I still only saw you while I was walking to the greenhouse but….. you could say that I may have planned it so I could watch you get frustrated." He said with a smirk.

"You learned my Care of Magical Creatures schedule so you could watch me mess up?"

"It never happened in my class it was fun watching your face get all red with anger it was especially fun during the year Hagrid was raising the skrewts." He chuckled darkly.

"Hagrid's SKREWTS! You have been doing this for that long!"

"Hermione you are over reacting. It really wasn't that often and it was not as if I stopped and stared it was just something for me to watch as I made my way across the field."

"If you say so Severus." She said obviously not agreeing with him. "Would you like me to start messing up in DADA so you can see me get frustrated now that you wont have the luxury of watching me do so during Care of Magical Creature's?"

"That reminds me. Hermione I have to warn you that you cannot act differently towards me at all. Our relationship has to appear the same to everyone, even your friends. If even one of your friends notices you saying too many nice things about me or that you by accident say my first name or something similar they could mention it to someone and who knows who could end up hearing it. There are many dangerous consequences if any gossip about us is spread. I have my reputation as a muggleborn hater that I need to protect, somebody might want to harm you to get to me, or the Dark Lord could find out and kill me for betraying him."

Hermione was silent for a moment, those were indeed serious consequences. It was scary to think how a rumor could end someone's life.

"You should talk about me behind your back and-"

"But that would be out of character for me I have always stood up for you throughout the years. I can't just suddenly change my opinion of you."

"Well then don't say too many nice things about me, I wouldn't want people thinking that I'm friends with a Gryffindor." He said shuddering.

Hermione made a face of mock horror, she then slapped him on the arm playfully and said, and "I'll have you know that it is an honor to be friends with a Gryffindor We are loyal and very trustworthy friends!"

They both laughed for a moment and then Severus went on to say, "Just so you are aware I will not be changing my behavior towards you at all. I'm sure you understand how odd that would look if I ever awarded the Gryffindor know-it-all points."

"Don't worry Severus I never thought that you would suddenly become Mr. Bright and Cheery towards me, or towards anyone for that matter. And you don't have to worry about me I will play my part. I will raise my hand every time, help Neville with his work so he doesn't blow us all up, and ask as many questions as I always have."

Severus rolled his eyes at her. He had forgotten what being Hermione Granger entailed.

"We also need to set up a schedule." He took out a piece of parchment and started writing down the days of the week.

"We will need to meet at least four or five times a week in order to get anything done. Because I must be in my office until five we wont be able to meet until after dinner. What is the shortest amount of sleep that you need to function properly during the day?" He said finally looking over at Hermione.

"Well… at least six hours so I will need to be in the dorm around midnight. But I could probably do five if needed. Also I was thinking that just because you have to be in your office doesn't mean that I can't be in your lab working on things that I can do on my own. Once dinner is done we can both go back to the lab and start on the things that require both of us being there."

"Yes…. That might work out quite well. But you will need that time to do all of your homework-."

"If you give me Sunday off I should be able to get everything done."

"Okay so we will not meet on Sundays or Thursday. And we will start our Saturdays after breakfast. As for the week days you may come down to my lab before dinner if you are able to otherwise we will see each other after dinner."

"That sounds good. I only have one question."

"Only one? I find myself in quite a shock."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. I was just wondering how I am supposed to get to your lab during the day without being seen. I was almost seen this evening and it is much later than I would normally be coming down."

"Don't worry I have spoken with Dumbledore about this problem. He was kind enough to change some of the castle's structure to fit our needs." Without saying another word Snape started walking towards a bookshelf he touched his wand to one of the old and dusty looking books and muttered some words under his breath that Hermione couldn't quite make out. Before Hermione realized what was going on the bookshelf had moved revealing a stone corridor. As soon as Severus' foot hit the floor torches on either side of the wall ignited lighting the surprisingly long corridor.

Finally Severus came to a stop and Hermione was luckily able to stop herself just in time so she didn't end up running right into him. She was about to scold him for stopping so suddenly but she was distracted instantly when he opened the door to reveal his lab.

It was beautiful, unlike the lab at Grimmauld Place the worktables were made out of oak while the sinks were made out of what looked like pewter.

"Severus it's gorgeous!"

"Yes, I thought you might like it." He said with a satisfied smirk.

"Like it? I love it!" She said trailing a finger over the worn in tabletop.

"This lab is set up exactly as the other so there is no need for a tour you should be able to find everything quite easily. You will have access to the lab and my private quarters. I assume that your fear of me dieing on the floor needing your help is still alive and well, also I know that you will want to use my library from time to time to do some research so it only makes sense to give you access to them as well."

He was rambling and Hermione knew it, it was obvious that he didn't want to admit that he just wanted her to have access to his private rooms. Hermione decided to just let it go and let him blame it on her concern for his life.

"Through this door is my study." He said as he opened the door to let them in. He then led her over to a portrait of a lion on top of a grassy hill, which at present was asleep.

"And this," Severus indicated to the painting. "is how you will get down to my lab. This is a secret passageway that Dumbledore created it leads to an unused corridor near the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. Dumbledore and I decided that it was too dangerous for you to be seen coming down to my office so often or to be walking back up all alone late at night. So he decided that it was best to create this passageway for you."

Hermione stared in wonderment. She had no idea that passageways could just be created like that, but to be fair she had never really thought about it before. It was definitely something that she would have to look into.

"Hermione I must insist that you tell no one about this passageway it could be very dangerous for you or myself if anyone found out that there was a secret passage way to my private quarters and that a Gryffindor student was using them."

"Don't worry I wont tell anyone." She said finally looking up at him.

"All you have to do is touch the painting with your wand and think of the password and it will let you enter. So choose one now and then touch your wand to the canvas and think of only the password."

Hermione nodded as she closed her eyes and touched the tip of her wand to the canvas. After a moment the painting swung open to show yet another long corridor this one however was at a slight incline.

"Don't worry it is not a long walk. Dumbledore has put some spell on it so it is only about a two minute walk."

"Oh well that was quite nice of him. I'm sure I will appreciate it a lot after a full days work! Well I guess I better get to bed then it's already quarter past eleven! Good night Severus see you tomorrow." She smiled at him and then walked through the portrait hole and disappeared.

zzzzzzzzzz

SPOV

He was now sitting in front of the fire alone and thinking about what was to come this year, when suddenly there was a knock at his door. He knew it was Dumbledore nobody but he and Hermione had access to his wards and the latter had just left through the portrait.

"Come in." He said not taking his eyes off the dancing flames.

"Severus my boy! Bright and cheery as ever I see. How did your meeting with Miss Granger go?"

"Quite well she has only just left. She was quite pleased about the secret passageway."

"Splendid! Glad to hear it."

"Headmaster there is something that I feel I must confess."

Dumbledore sat down in the chair across from Severus folded his hands on his lap and smiled his twinkley smile at him. "What is it that you feel you need to confess Severus?"

"Tonight when Hermione came down here she confronted me about Draco. Potter apparently thought himself a spy and overheard Draco boasting to his fellow Slytherins that he had a special mission from the Dark Lord himself. Hermione confronted me about it and… well I don't know why actually, but I ended up telling her that it was true and that he has actually been inducted into the Dark Lords ranks." At this Severus stopped and leaned over putting his head in his hands. Still looking at the floor he whispered as if he was only speaking to himself, "I just couldn't bear lying to her anymore."

He looked up and met Dumbledore's gaze, "I didn't tell her what the mission was but knowing her she will eventually figure it out."

"Yes I believe that you are right. But Severus I must let you know that I agree with your decision. It was the right thing to do. She deserves to know at least some of the truth. I think that she deserves to know even more-"

"No! No! I will not tell her that! It is too soon I don't want her to know yet."

"Severus it is your choice when to tell her but you must not prolong it for too long. Just remember Severus that there will come a time when you wont have the choice anymore don't you want her to find out on your terms?"

Severus looked at him with a pained expression but said nothing. He knew the old man was right. He usually was when it came to things like this.

"I will leave you now Severus. Just think about what I have said. Get some rest Severus you look exhausted." And with that he was gone, leaving Severus alone with his thoughts.