Inside

Chapter Six: It Can Never Be

Snape's POV

"Mister Malfoy, she was trembling with pain!" Minerva went on furiously. "You've no right to be practicing such a thing at school, let alone at home! Or at all, for that matter. I have half a mind to simply drop your detentions and expel you right now."

"However, Minerva, such an action as that rests in the Head of House, which, in this case, you are not." Albus pointed out.

"No. But if I were…" she trailed, clearly too spiteful to continue.

"I think," I began as I paced once more in front of the fire with my hands crossed behind my back. "That we ought to hear what happened, through Mister Malfoy's point of view, before any punishment should be established."

"As I told Professor McGonagall," he began. "I was just walking up to the castle with a bunch of others, as we'd missed the carriages, and we were just talking. Then I started on about how I'd invented something over the holiday, but no one believed me; said I was just trying to impress them. So I pulled out my wand to show them, not aiming it at anyone, well, intentionally that is. And the next thing I know Granger is screaming and there's blood all down her, and Weasley's shouting at me."

"Tell them what else you told me, Mister Malfoy," Minerva added.

Draco let out a sigh before obliging. "I said that, that if I'd been aiming for Granger I'd of aimed somewhere else," he finished, looking defeated with his hands at his sides and his head angled downward towards the ground.

"Due to your immature stupidity and enlarged ego, Mister Malfoy, Miss Granger lost a considerably vast amount of blood and gained a vastly, extraordinarily large amount of scars on her left forearm, which, will be there for life because of you," I told him, now facing him. "Inventing things at your age while is impressive is highly frowned upon. You are underage and thus under educated, some may argue that you are even stupid. And seeing that all you did, according to Professor McGonagall, was laugh at your mistake, I'd argue quite strongly that my previous assessment is an understatement."

"No need for an attitude here, Severus," Albus said.

"Believe me sir, if I had an attitude you would all know," I told him calmly, keeping my true anger incased inside of me. "I think it would be prudent, then, Mister Malfoy, to give you not only a months detention, but two, or three months, or however long it takes to make you understand what you did and to knock some well-needed sense into you."

"What!?" Draco proclaimed, ripping himself from his seat and looking at me furiously. "That is completely unfair! I said it was an accident, didn't I?"

"You said yourself you'd have aimed differently if you'd been meaning to hit Miss Granger, Mister Malfoy," I reminded him. "Now take your seat, and don't make my generous suggestion for punishment dissipate into something else."

"Yeah," he huffed. "You call that generous."

"How is this then, if you call my offer so generous, or too generous, which is what I am getting at. No, I think it would be better served to give you an on-campus suspension. Consisting of removing your wand from your possession and forbidding you to attend any classes for one month. And then, after that month, I, along with Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall will discuss and see if any further action ought to be taken."

"It – was – an – accident!" he fumed while balling his hands into tight fists.

"Which could have taken someone's life!" I shouted. "Now hand me your wand, Mister Malfoy, you are excused. And," I added as he ripped his wand from his inner robe pocket and held it out to me. "If I hear of you using or borrowing anyone else's wand, or asking about certain class subjects, you will be expelled. Have a good dinner."

"I must say," Albus began after Minerva and Draco had gone. "That was not at all the response I was expecting you to have on Mister Malfoy, he's always been one of your favorites. Has he not?"

"He has."

"So why the sudden change of heart towards him, Severus? Did you grow to care for Miss Granger over the holiday? Because it seemed to me your interest in this matter was anything but passive."

"My interest is purely out of the safety of the student body here at Hogwarts, Albus. What Mister Malfoy did was extremely foolish, and it could have been anyone whom he hit with that ridiculous curse; I'd have reacted the same way for any other student."

"I see," he nodded. "So as long as that's settled, there is a feast awaiting us in the Great Hall."

"Where were you?" Hermione asked as Ron shoved another helping of roast beef into his mouth.

"I was in a carriage," Harry told her while loading his plate. "Why? Weren't you?"

"No," she shook her head. "And neither was Ron, we missed them along with a few others… including Malfoy."

"Malfoy? Really? Didn't give you any trouble did he?"

"Well there's a reason I'm still in my muggle clothes Harry," she shook her head. "My blood soaked muggle clothes."

"Oh," he paused in his action. "Oh, you are, I didn't even notice. How'd that happen then? You two get into a brawl or something?"

"Harry!" Hermione laughed in frustration before throwing a roll at his head. "No! We didn't get into a brawl! Ron, help me!"

"He attacked her, mate!" Ron told him after swallowing his food. "A nasty homemade curse at that, the bloody bastard. Nearly killed her she bled so much! I'd of jumped him and shown him a few tricks of my own had McGonagall not shown up when she had."

"Homemade curse? But Malfoy's still underage, isn't he? How'd he come up with that when schools only just started?"

"Well that's the thing with homemade magic, it doesn't exist yet so there's no way to prove its real magic because there's no way of knowing if it will actually work. But, in this case, and as much to my displeasure and rotten luck, it did."

"I'm really sorry Hermione; if I was there I would of sh-"

"Attention students," Dumbledore cut off Harry as he took another stand behind his podium. "I must apologize for the inconvenience of two speeches this start of term, but there is something that has been brought to my attention that I must not let stand silent… You all know how our world works. You may not - under any circumstances other than serious emergencies - use magic outside of school until you are of age, seventeen. No – Matter – What.

"A student was very seriously harmed here tonight, by a curse. A homemade one. Now, both the victim and offender know who you are, and perhaps others do as well. And while I have your attention, I cannot stress enough the seriousness and danger of making such a thing, let alone while you are not yet seventeen.

"We could have had a death here tonight, and all because of a careless and unwise decision," Dumbledore went on, but the words were no longer able to penetrate through Hermione's ears. Instead they turned into an intangible background noise.

"I have to go," she said softly as Ron and Harry looked over to her with worry. "I just – I've got to go. I can't be here."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Ron asked as he leaned close to her, his breath brushing against her ear.

"No, I'll see you in the common room later. Take care of the first years, will you? I need some air. – Don't you dare follow me Harry Potter," she added quickly as Harry began pulling himself from the bench in synch with her.

My eyes followed as she strode quickly down the Great Hall and out of sight, and I noticed Minerva standing with her eyes on the same spot as mine.

"No Minerva, I am the one who talked with Miss Granger about what happened. I shall be the one to see what this is about, as I have already had a private discussion with Albus, I know all what he is going to say."

"She is in my House, Severus," she pointed out. "And as I am also female and have a unique relationship with Mister Malfoy I am sure I can relate to her more. I am sure she would feel more comfortable discussing whatever the reason she left with me, rather than you."

"Though you make a good argument, Minerva, Mister Malfoy is in my House. So whatever problem Miss Granger has with him I will be more than willing to pass the message onto him."

"Oh, very well," she gave up, lowering herself back down to her seat. "But if she shows any sign of discomfort, come get me and I will see her."

"Will do, Minerva," I told her before walking away from the staff table, and exiting the room from the back entrance.

"I smell like rust," she said softly from a small distance away. "But all you smell is the salt don't you Crookshanks? Oh, no, don't lick it! That's disgusting Crookshanks. Honestly, don't you eat enough food without having to have Mummy's blood-stained clothes as well? Oh, right, go on then, go find a nice juicy mouse."

"Miss Granger," I said softly as I made my way towards her. "You're not supposed to leave while Professor Dumbledore is making his speech."

"You scared me," she breathed quickly. "And he… he already made his speech, I don't need to hear another one. Besides, it's nothing I need to hear that I don't already know."

"Be that as it may… I am going to have to give you a detention."

"What!?" she burst out. "By what means!? I didn't do anything wro-"

I silenced her by placing my index finger over her lips. "I know, but I am Professor Snape… and our history here, well, how would it look if I didn't give you one for doing something I wouldn't normally approve of?"

"Easily, I was the one who was hurt. And, Malfoy has detention as well; I refuse to be in the same room with him ever again. Professor Snape, no, I'm sorry, but I won't. And besides, how would it look if you did put me in detention, just from leaving a speech from Dumbledore that everyone knew was bound to upset me in the first place."

"I suppose you are right," I sighed while dropping to my knees in front of her. "But I just… I have to be alone with you, I just have to. And I see no other way to be."

"Why would you want that?"

"You know why, Miss Granger," I told her while looking over at her trembling face. "You know."

"I know," she huffed out a soft laugh. "I just… Professor, you know we can't… we can't. It can never be," her voice cracked on her last word, and I reached out to take her hand; she did not pull away, but instead, went easily with it.

"Because I am your Professor and you're my student?" I asked her. "Do you think I really care about that? No one would know, no one would even suspect. We hate each other, remember? No one would suspect a thing, not ever."

"I… know," she moaned out softly as I began slowly kissing her cupped hand around mine. "But think what would happen if someone did find out."

She squeezed her fingers around my hand as I lifted my head to look at her. "Then I'd be taken away, have my teaching license revoked… but I would have you."

"I am not worth any of that," she told me seriously. "None of it."

"Is it any consolation that I don't care of the risk?"

"No," she told me softly, pulling her hand from mine and sliding herself back up the wall. "I'm sorry Professor… but it can never be. Regardless how either - or both of us - feels… please understand. I can't be with you." As she turned to walk away from me she placed her hand over her mouth and a tear rolled down her cheek. A sob filled my ears as she disappeared behind the corner, and her footsteps became quick and loud, indicating that she had began running.

"I love you…"

TBC