Don't take that sinner from me

Chapter 6: The mind is a powerful thing

A/N: I own nothing except my mistakes.

Hermione had difficulty coming out of her dress the night before, but in the end, she had managed after jumping all over the place. Thank goodness that no one had been around to see that.

The following day, it wasn't until ten in the morning that she had woken up. The day before had completely drained her energy and so she allowed herself to sleep in to catch up with it again. After a loud yawn, she moved out of her bed and greeted the ball of fur that was laying at the end of her bed. At first, Snape was completely against bringing Crookshanks into his quarters, but after some discussion, he had given her permission as long as he would behave.

Upon opening her bedroom door, she noticed the dark figure sitting near the fireplace, reading a book she didn't recognize. Hurrying over to the bathroom with her supplies under her arm, she took a much wanted shower as she wanted to wash off the remainder of makeup she hadn't been able to wipe off yesterday.

With a simple wave of her wand, she had dried her hair and was surprised to see that it was hanging in loose waves. Apparently there was still a bit of potion residue left in her hair from all the bottles that were used yesterday. Not that she minded, it was nice for a change to not have her hair screaming for attention.

Hermione thoroughly brushed her teeth and got dressed up after drying her body with a towel. She opted for a pair of light blue jeans and a grey sweater, not wanting to overdo her outfit for the day. When she thought she looked decent enough, she brought her pajamas back up to her bedroom and was surprised to see Snape waiting for her at the wooden door that led to the Potions classroom.

He held out his left hand to her and she raised her eyebrows in surprise. "We're married, remember? I suppose word is out about yesterday. It would seem a bit odd to not hold hands." Snape clarified in an impatient tone and Hermione nodded slowly, "Right.." She said and grabbed his outstretched hand, feeling his wedding ring against her skin as a confirmation. They indeed were married – and Merlin, how weird that felt.

As they entered the Great Hall, they found that most people had decided to sleep in on the last day of their weekend as well, so by the time they were heading up, the Hall was packed with a lot of students, who stopped dead in their conversation upon seeing the couple entering the Great Hall.

Whispers concerning the news they had read in the Daily Prophet spread around them as they all confirmed it was true when they noticed the rings around their fingers. A younger girl at the Hufflepuff table gasped loudly: "Look at her ring, it's absolutely beautiful!"

A smile crept on Hermione's face and came to a stop when they had reached the place where her friends were seated. She turned to look at Snape, who had returned the smile. Yet, again, it had seemed to reach his eyes and she knew he wasn't faking it. The question as to why, was beyond her, however.

Hermione took a seat next to Harry and Snape walked off to the teacher's table. "Good morning, did you get some sleep?" Ginny teasingly sang and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Hermione's mouth dropped open as whispers filled the hall. People had been listening closely and must have gotten the impression she had been doing it with her teacher last night thanks to Ginny now. "Ginny!" Hermione accusingly hissed but Ginny just laughed and offered her the Sunday issue of the Daily Prophet.

Once again, she had made the front page. Underneath the title was a picture of them kissing, and Hermione was amazed to see how at peace the two of them looked. There seemed to have been no doubt as their lips had connected, both their features calm. There had been no sign of displeasure either, nothing showing that they weren't really in love.

THE SEALMENT OF THE DECADE ENCHANTMENT

Yesterday, we were pleased to attend the wedding of the lucky couple Hermione Granger and Severus Snape. Everyone who had attended, described it as a magical moment where the two of them had exchanged their rings and given their vows.

The article went on and on about the wedding, describing it in fine detail about how it went yesterday, and she turned the page and was met with yet another a picture that stood center of the paper. It was the one where he had been whispering in her ear, and she noticed how a blush crept on her cheeks as the corners of her mouth turned upwards into a smile.

The interview with Dumbledore was included on that page, but she did not feel like reading about his modified explanation of the enchantment.

Pretending like all eyes weren't on her, she casually grabbed a piece of bread and sipped on her pumpkin juice. "She looks different, don't you think?" A female voice spoke quietly from somewhere behind her, but it was loud enough to hear in the silent room. "It must be the hair." Another one commented. "Or perhaps it's because she finally got laid. I suppose that would take the edge off of her." A male voice spoke near her and people snickered. "I wouldn't mind doing her the way she looks now." Another male replied to his friend and Hermione's face scrunched in disgust. Filthy teenage boys, she gloomily thought and wheeled around as a voice drawled behind her.

"Watch your mouth, Mr Finnigan. That's not how you ought to talk about my wife." Hermione wheeled around, looking to her right and watched how Snape cocked an accusing eyebrow at Seamus, who was seated a feet away from her.

Turning to the rest of the people in the Hall, he darkly said: "Now, if anyone feels the need to talk badly about my wife, can personally tell me all about it when serving a month's worth detention." He looked threateningly around the Hall and the snickers had died.

Snape's eyes rested on Hermione and he softened his features a bit. "Shall we?" He asked and Hermione nodded, glad to leave the staring of people. Getting up, she grabbed his left hand once more and followed him through the corridors down to the dungeons.

Once out of sight, she immediately let go of his hand, earning a quick side glance from her husband until he pulled himself together once more and she noticed his features turning cold and expressionless again.

"As the headmaster has requested, we shall start our Occlumency classes this very morning. It will only be a matter of time until the Dark Lord requests to see you." Snape said, a glazed look on his face as he pointed at the chair in the Potions classroom. "Sit down." He ordered and Hermione cocked an eyebrow, "Whatever happened to good manners?" She felt herself becoming annoyed by his sudden changes of behaviour, and was unable to keep the comment to herself. "Sir.." She hastily added as her courage faded upon his icy glare.

She could see himself fighting his fury, and decided to follow his command nonetheless, albeit for the sake of not wasting their valuable time. He was right; for all they knew they could be expected by Voldemort in a few days.

"Occlumency is the magical defense of the mind against external penetration. An obscure branch of magic, but a highly useful one." He began coolly, taking his wand out of his robes as he approached her chair. "When working for the Dark Lord as a spy, it is a must for he shall not be able to differentiate the truths from the lies once this skill has been mastered correctly."

"I will attempt to penetrate your mind, and you will attempt to resist. Prepare yourself." He raised his wand at her and Hermione's instinct was to reach out for her own wand to protect her from the one who raised it at her, but she resisted that urge as she reminded herself that this was not going to do her any harm.

However, Snape had seemed to notice the fast motion of her hand moving to her wand out of instinct and commented on it:"Stand up, Granger. You may use your wand in attempt to defend yourself in any way you can think of." Hermione nodded and stood up, grabbing the wand from her pocket and raised it at her husband.

Trying to clear herself from any emotion, she heard him say: "Legilimens!" And her mind started digging up memories from her earlier years. She watched how her classmates laughed at her once more as she shared her knowledge at elementary school. Listened to the comments that were thrown at her in a hurtful matter as they strode past her.

Then the scene changed, turning to her years at Hogwarts. Sobbing, she had left the cubicle – only to be greeted by a troll that was ready to kill her. Next thing she knew, she was once more met with the yellow eyes staring back at her through the mirror she was holding – the basilisk in their second year.

Hermione watched in horror as she relived the memory of the Dementors surrounding Harry and Sirius. With a groan, she fell hard to the floor as her knees seemed to have failed her. Wiping the sweat of her forehead with her arm, she pushed herself off the floor.

Snape stared back at her, his expression indifferent as he spoke lowly: "Let's go again, Legilimens!" The spell hit her before she had time to prepare and she was thrown right into the scene at the Department of Mysteries again. The scenes kept changing: going from Ron's snogging with Lavender not so long ago, to the fight with him at the Yule Ball, back to when he got hurt at the Wizard Chess in the Chamber of Secrets.

Once more she fell to the ground, and cringed at a snapping sound. Her wrist that tried to catch her body and had fallen into a very uncomfortable position, yet it did not feel broken to her. "Control your emotions.. focus, Granger." He waited impatiently for her to get up once more, and hit her with the spell the minute she was back on her feet.

Harry was spilling out his deepest concerns about Voldemort, all throughout the years. "Focus" a distant voice said, but Hermione seemed to be unable to as the scene changed. "You filthy little mudblood." Draco had spat, over and over again on multiple occasions.

The memories stopped and he caught her just before she fell to the ground once more. "You're not trying." He said sharply and pushed her into the chair near the window. "I am trying." She said through gritted teeth, now understanding why Harry had such difficulty with mastering the skill. It was a lot harder to close your mind than she had thought, especially if Snape had so merciless treated the matter.

"Legilimens!" Repeated scenes played of Harry and Ron always turning to her for help at her schoolwork. She had watched as they had dropped their essays near her and then went on with fun things. It's not like she didn't mind doing it, but she at times did feel a little used. Felt that they perhaps sometimes only befriended her because of her brain – not that she ever mentioned this, of course.

The scene changed to the Black Lake, where she shared her first kiss with Viktor Krum, and that seemed to trigger something in Hermione. She did not want her husband to see her failed attempt, but had no clue on how to shield herself from it.

So she opted for an easier matter, and covered it by another memory she focused deeply on, willing herself to go into the detail of discovering the horror that happened four years ago. Where it had turned out that she had the wrong hairs and had turned into a cat.

Her nails dug into the armrests of the chair as he lifted the spell. There was something dancing around in his eyes as he watched her, for a moment, he looked intrigued. "Please, sir, can we continue sometime later?" Hermione panted as she tried to relax her body, but found it extremely painful to do so because of her tensed muscles.

Snape lowered his wand, "Tomorrow after dinner you shall see to me immediately." He said and Hermione nodded and took a glimpse around the room, her eyes resting on the working bench where Snape had given her the note to a potion she was brewing only a week ago.

"Sir?" Hermione asked uncertainly and his head snapped in her direction, eyeing her intently. "Yes?" She hesitated for a while, but got snapped out of it when Snape impatiently asked: "Well, are you going to ask me that question or are you planning to waste my time all day?" Hermione coughed and shook her head.

"I was wondering.. why did you pass me that note with the correct instructions for the potion we brewed last week.. sir?" She meekly asked and he cocked an eyebrow, "Surely you would know, Granger." But Hermione shook her head, "I'm afraid I don't, professor." He seemed a bit unsettled by the designation but didn't comment on it.

"Until recently, I was your Potions teacher. It would have seemed rather suspicious if my fiancé had failed to brew a potion, wouldn't it?" Hermione let out an understanding sound as it clicked and nodded her head in embarrassment, feeling stupid for not coming up with that reason herself.

Hermione got out of the chair, and swayed a bit on her feet as she started to feel a little light headed. Her eyes automatically glided to the clock on the wall and noticed it was already nearing two in the afternoon and so she headed for the archway that led to the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Snape asked and Hermione turned to look at him. His expression had totally changed compared to yesterday, yet, she thought she saw a slight hint of confusion coming out of his expression. She knew it had nothing to do with where she was going to, but she couldn't quite figure out what exactly confused him either.

"To the library." Hermione replied simply and he nodded in approval. "Why, thanks that I am allowed to move in this castle." She muttered under her breath. "I heard that, Granger!" Snape yelled after her and Hermione chuckled as she walked up the spiral stairs, hurriedly getting away from the gloomy dungeons.

As she was currently wandering on the second floor, she decided she'd look something more up about the Occlumency when she arrived at the library. Even though she had searched the entire library already last year, she still thought it might do good to check once more since the situations had changed. Perhaps she'd read something useful that would help her in the process of shielding her mind.

Her legs suddenly started to move on the spot without her permission, dancing on its own accord without her being able to stop it. Laughter was heard behind her, and Hermione had difficulty turning around to see the girls.

When she managed at last, she saw Pansy Parkinson with tears in her eyes from laughing so hard, along with Millicent Bulstrode and Daphne Greengrass. Hermione glared at them as Pansy sneered, "Not so brave now, are you? Where is your husband, mudblood? Or is he sick of you already? I wouldn't blame him – after all, who'd like to sleep with filth?" The women screeched with laughter and Hermione wanted to reach for her wand, but seemed unable to do so because of her body.

The laughter suddenly died and Hermione watched in disgust as bogies flew out of the girls' nostrils, and they all ran in the opposite direction in distress. A loud laugh was heard and Hermione noticed the red haired girl coming to her. "Here, let me help you with that." Ginny said and pointed her wand at Hermione, muttering the counter-curse.

Her feet slowed down until they were firmly on the ground again and Hermione sighed, "Thanks, Gin." Ginny shook her head, "Don't mention it." Ginny joined Hermione as she continued her walk to the library, but Ginny was wise enough to not enter with Hermione. She would most likely be in there for hours, and Ginny didn't really have the patience for that.

"Look," Ginny began in a serious tone as they stopped right in front of the entrance to the library. "I think you ought to discuss this with Snape, he's their Head of House, I'm sure he can put a stop to it. Otherwise they'll think you're easy bate and continue doing so." Ginny advised her and Hermione forced a smile, "Yes, I think I'll do that, thanks Gin."

The Weasley girl smiled in satisfaction and they said their goodbyes. Truth is, she wasn't going to tell Snape at all. Shee doubted that his threat to his students would help, and it would only make Hermione appear weaker. But she wasn't quite sure how she was going to handle the situation either.

Walking over to the right section, she started to collect all sorts of books regarding Occlumency. Yet, as she skimmed the books once more, she came to the conclusion that there truly was nothing more useful than she had already discovered last year.

The large clock on the wall informed her that it was nearing five in the evening, and she decided she'd pay a quick visit to Harry and Ron.

Placing back the books she had read, she made her way up, stealthily avoiding students by jumping into shadows. This is ridiculous, she thought as she went into hiding for the umpteenth time. I shouldn't be hiding, I have every right to walk down these corridors as well.

Retreating from the shadows, she held her head up high and gave a steely glance to anyone who dared to meet her eye. She was not going to have any of it, and sure as hell not from a few second or first years.

"Password?" The Fat Lady asked and Hermione uncertainly spoke: "Baubles." To her relief, the password hadn't changed yet and the Fat Lady permitted her entrance and she timidly stepped over the threshold, feeling an immense relief to be back at the place she had spent most her time at Hogwarts.

Looking around the common room, she didn't catch any sign of Harry or Ron, however, she did catch a glimpse of Neville working on a plant of his. "Hey Neville." Hermione said with a smile as she approached him and he smiled up at her. "Hi 'Mione! How are you doing?" He asked kindly and she sat down next to him on the floor. "I'm doing pretty good, thanks, how are you, Neville?"

"I'm alright! Look at what I found at Hogsmeade yesterday!" He happily exclaimed as he held up a book and passed it on to her. She flipped through the pages and politely smiled, "That looks really good, Neville! You'll be able to do great research on your plants with this one!" Neville joyfully nodded in agreement and was studying his plant again, flipping through the book to find similarities to what he saw.

"Um, Neville, have you perhaps seen Harry and Ron?" Neville thought for a second and then shook his head. "Harry just left, but I don't know where he went. And for Ron, he seemed to leave with Lavender a while ago." Neville apologetically said and Hermione's face fell.

It's not like she had a crush on Ron, but she wouldn't deny that over the years some feelings had started to boil. "They're a thing now?" She tried to ask subtly but miserably failed. Neville nodded a little awkwardly, "Yeah, sorry Hermione.." He apologized and Hermione chuckled lightly, "No need to be, Neville. I'm happy for Ron, he deserves to be happy."

Neville smiled sheepishly, "And so do you, Hermione. I really hope the school will come to terms with you and Professor Snape. I mean, I'm not fond of the man – but, if you love him, I will accept your feelings." Hermione smiled gratefully at him and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, Neville, that really means a lot to me!"

"Dinner will soon be served, you fancy going with me?" Hermione proposed and Neville nodded as they both stood up. She listened to his talking about the plants she wasn't interested about at all, but didn't object either as the walk with him made her feel quite less alone. It was weird not to roam the castle with her two best friends, and she felt like she was failing them miserably as well now that they didn't see each other as often anymore.

Hermione's eyes automatically glided to the staff's table and caught a glimpse of Professor McGonagall smiling at her, which she returned. Then, as she moved her eyes a bit more to the right, she noticed the dark haired man watching her as she entered with Neville. He smiled teasingly at her, as if his mood hadn't switched at all that day.

However, to keep up their play, she grinned cheekily at him before taking her seat next to Neville. A little later through dinner, Harry and Ginny had showed up, followed shortly by Lavender and Ron. Yet, out of all of them, Ginny had been the only one she had managed to make some contact with. The boys had briefly acknowledged her presence, but then continued their conversation as if she wasn't even there in the first place.

Prodding around with the food on her plate, she wondered if she had perhaps done something wrong to earn this attitude from them. Surely they couldn't still be upset about the marriage, could they? She had expected them to understand by now.

A burning feeling made her look up and Hermione looked at the source of the stare: Snape was looking at her intently and nodded at his own plate, and then looked back at her. Managing to put two and two together, she reluctantly put the pushed around potato in her mouth. This had seemed to satisfy him as he looked away again and continued to eat his own food.

Hermione's mind whirled painfully as she tried to understand her former Potions Master. One second he seemed somewhat manageable, the other moment he seemed to have connected with his earlier self that had seemed to dislike her greatly, and now he was showing concern for her even though he didn't need to at all. They weren't being watched, for everyone was too hungry to even bother paying attention to the newly wed couple.

"I'm going to bed." Hermione announced, but no one had seemed to heard her. Ginny and Neville were in deep conversation with each other, Ron was being distracted by Lavender, and Harry was chatting with Luna.

Feeling a little confused, she left nonetheless without shooting a back glance, hurrying out of the Great Hall and took the familiar road down to the dungeons. She muttered the password to the quarters and immediately headed for bed.

With a sigh, she tried to calm her mind as she was now curled up in bed with Crookshanks by her side. Willing to rid herself of any emotion, she tried to think of nothing. Of course, that didn't work very well so she opted for a different approach; she imagined herself outside sitting on freshly mown grass, taking notes on her new parchment as she relished in the smell.

And without her noticing, she fell into a very peaceful sleep, where for once her spinning mind was at rest.