Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters. Making no money here, as they all still belong to their prospective owners.


Chapter Twenty-Two: All In

"Severus!" Hermione gasped as she felt his seed fill her. He grunted, rolling off to the side of her before collapsing onto his back. Panting, the two lay together, starting at the ceiling. After a moment, Snape gave a half-hearted chuckle.

"What?" Hermione asked.

Snape shook his head, sitting up on his elbows to better look over at her. "I'm just… surprised might be the term I'm looking for. Well, actually, shocked. But surprised sounds nicer."

Hermione stared at him, feeling the barest hint of self-consciousness edging in on her mind. "Surprised at what?"

"That you were genuine when you said you wished to continue this… this affair with me."

Hermione kept her sigh of relief to herself. Maybe, at a more appropriate juncture, she would remind Snape that she was a little inexperienced and wary about all this still. But, for now, she let it pass. Instead, she grinned over at him, rolling onto her side to throw an arm over his sweaty chest.

"You're… what I need, Severus. Without you, and your comforts of all kinds, I'm not sure I would have survived in this new world. Actually, I'm sure I wouldn't have."

Snape smirked. "Yes, you seem a little… reluctant to follow orders."

She grinned wickedly. "Never been one for slavery, personally."

He chuckled again, but curbed it with a serious look. "But… what happens when it's all over? When you've had your revolution?"

It would probably surprise him further to discover that this had, in fact, been a scenario that had crossed her mind. After all, all she had worked toward so far was the fall of Voldemort and his oppression and destruction. So, of course, she had considered what could happen in the wake of the Dark Lord's destruction.

"I think I'd like to continue seeing you," she said, decisively. "Form a real relationship."

She was right. He was quite shocked to hear this. His eyes had doubled, and he seemed unable to tear his gaze away from her. She smiled.

"Enemies can become lovers," she parroted his own words at him.

He smiled at her, and, again, Hermione would never cease to marvel at what a wonderful look it was on him. But, in a moment, it was gone with the chiming of a clock on the far wall of Snape's bedroom. "It's time."

They both rose, redressing and freshening up as best they could. The candles floating in Snape's bedroom had lit as soon as their feet had hit the floor, and Hermione would really have to ask him what charm he had used for that. But that was for later. Right now, they had a meeting to get to.

Fully dressed, they moved together downstairs and out the front door of the house. Hermione found it odd that she no longer had to hide herself in the shadows to attend these meetings, and she was fighting a serious urge to duck under the protective cover of a small tree right on the property line just out of habit. She managed, though, as they reached the apparition point.

"You should side-along me. To make everyone feel a bit better. That way, I won't know where we're going until we're there," Snape said.

Hermione arched a brow. "But… you'll know it once we're there."

"And how many of your friends do you really think will realize this immediately?"

Hermione pursed her lips. Only her. Maybe Ginny. She nodded. "Fine. Hold on."

They arrived just outside of the unused warehouse that had housed the first meeting that Hermione had attended. She ushered Snape into the shadows, wanting to do a bit of explaining before she brought him out to the group. She entered the building, leaving the door open a bit behind her so that Snape could hear, finding that everyone was already there, even Ron had snuck away from his new bride to attend. He seemed to be spending his time sneering at Draco, who seemed to be ignoring him for Ginny's sake.

It may have been Hermione's imagination, but she was sure that Ginny was finally starting to form a little bit of a pregnancy pooch around her stomach. It was kind of adorable on her, but it also served to remind Hermione of what was at stake. Neville turned as Hermione entered, and he looked somewhere between anxious and exasperated as he stared at her.

"What's going on? You said it was important. More information? What about the potion?" he said, apparently having been holding in these questions for a little bit.

Hermione held up her hands, palms facing out. "No, no. Nothing new, exactly. But I might have something better. I just ask that everyone is patient while I—we—explain."

"We?" Ginny asked.

At that point, as if they had planned it (they hadn't), Snape stepped into the light. In a flash, wands were out—those who still had them—and pointed right at his face. Those who didn't have wands anymore held up fists and began looking for blunt objects. Hermione—mirroring Ginny, she realized—stepped in front of Snape. She held up her hands again.

"Please! I can explain! He's one of us!"

"Ain't seen him at a meeting before," Ron huffed, wand still pointed.

Hermione glared in his direction. "You haven't been to every meeting, have you?"

Ron's wand faltered as well as his expression. Hermione sighed. Taking a deep breath, she explained everything, allowing Snape to interrupt her with portions she couldn't explain as well as he could. He described the work he had done for Dumbledore—leaving out the why—and the real reason behind Dumbledore's death. That revelation seemed to knock the wind out of Draco, just a bit, but he said nothing. After a long round of story-telling, Hermione ended with, "Don't you see? This is it! We have a spy in the best possible position we could have ever hoped to have a spy in!"

No one spoke for a long moment, instead shooting one another questioning glances. Hermione knew what question they were asking most. It was the same one she had been asking all those months ago. Can we trust him? The first person to speak did so in a quiet voice, and it almost jolted Hermione to hear what he had to say.

"Crabbe was right," Draco whispered.

There was no malice in his voice. Just mild surprise. Like he honestly had no idea how Crabbe could have worked all of that out on his own. Hermione supposed she could understand that. Vincent Crabbe had never really been the brightest candle in the castle. But the slow build of guilt she felt growing in her chest was becoming distracting. Draco was staring at her now, like she might suddenly have the explanation as to Crabbe's disappearance. It was as if he thought, if Crabbe had been right about Snape, perhaps Crabbe's father had been right as well.

Hermione gnawed on the inside of her cheek. She should confess. She knew that. They needed to trust one another. They were a team, and a team had to work together. Otherwise, it wouldn't work at all. But, just as her lips parted to reveal the truth, Snape laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I would remind you, Draco, that you too are a traitor now."

Draco nodded slowly at that, making no signs of protest. Hermione released the breath she hadn't realized she been holding. Turning her eyes to Neville, their leader, she began, "We need to get Harry out of that cage, and Severus is our best chance."

"Severus?" Ron whispered, but Hermione ignored it.

"And how are we going to do that? He's always there," Ginny lamented.

"No, he's not," Snape said.

At this, even Hermione turned to stare. This was not something he had shared with her yet.

"What do you mean, Professor?" Neville asked.

"He's been travelling. He's searching. For what, I confess I do not know. But the Dark Lord is not always at Malfoy Manor, as it seems even its own occupants have been led to believe."

Everyone began to murmur, wondering. Hermione brought back the attention with a single nod.

"So, we should hold off. We should hold off poisoning Nagini or releasing Harry until we know he's gone," Hermione said. "It'll be much easier to do both of these without worrying about Voldemort popping up over your shoulder."

"That would be my advice," Snape concurred.

"But my father, and Aunt Bella, they'll both still be there. What should we do about that?"

Hermione could hear the hesitation in his voice. She supposed she could understand, on some level. No matter how much she loathed Lucius Malfoy or Bellatrix Lestrange, these two were still Draco's family. Hermione, truth be told, would rather just hex them. But, instead, she shook her head.

"A sleeping draught. That should keep them out of the way," she suggested.

Ginny flashed her a small smile. Hermione knew Ginny had no love for these two people either, but she, apparently, had grown quite fond of Draco. Snape's words—like the familiar lyrics of an old song—replayed through her mind again. Enemies can become lovers.

"And when will we be doing all this, exactly?" Ron asked. "How will we know when the Dark Lord is gone?"

"I will know," Snape said.

"And we're really supposed to trust that?"

Hermione face flamed. "You're married to Parkinson. And we still trust you, don't we?"

He blinked at her, appearing truly hurt. Hermione looked away. She knew she should care, and the thing was, she did. He was still her friend. Neville cleared his throat.

"All right. So, when the Dark Lord is gone, Snape—"

"And me," Draco put in.

"And Draco will kill Nagini and release Harry. We'll bring Harry to the safe house immediately after his release. Hermione, you can do that. You've been there."

She nodded. "I'll let Severus use my coin when he's going to free Harry, so you will know they're coming."

Ginny sighed happily. "Finally. A way to save Harry."

"It will require patience. To my knowledge, the Dark Lord is currently at Malfoy Manor, as he says," Snape said. "I only hear from him when he's leaving. We'll also have to move quickly."

Everyone nodded. After a beat of silence, Neville smiled, clapping his hands together once.

"All right. Let's do this!"

And Hermione was sure it would go down in history that this would be the first time that Neville Longbottom had ever willingly worked with Professor Severus Snape. This new world was a strange one indeed.