Author's Notes: I didn't think I'd get this updated today; I've had a terrible week with my youngest being poorly. I think I've had no more than 2 hours sleep a night for 3-4 days now so I'm beginning to turn into a grumpy cow! Anyway, onto more cheerful things! As you could probably sense from the last chapter, things are about to change! Hermione and Severus are about to go through some changes in their relationship and breakdown some barriers!
Disclaimer: You guys know the drill!
Chapter Seventeen
Hermione couldn't sleep that night. Every time she closed her eyes he was there. She could picture clearly, every single time he had touched her; from the day he had thrown her into the lake to pressing her into the wall tonight. She pictured his bare chest when she had seen him in his office and when she had healed him...
Good God, she was obsessed! How on earth was she going to hide this from him? He obviously wasn't interested in anything romantic with her; after all he would most likely dismiss it as a stupid school girl crush.
She let out a frustrated growl and tugged at her hair, how was she going to face him tomorrow if she hadn't had any sleep. She gave up trying to sleep and threw off the covers. It was midnight, deciding that she needed to relax and that no one else would be around she grabbed her robes and headed out into the dungeons with her wand lit.
Once she reached her destination, she quickly warded the door behind her and started the taps running. It didn't take her long to strip and sink into the colourful bubbles with a loud sigh of contentment.
After her resting in the water for a while, she felt suitably relaxed and made her way quietly back to her rooms to get at least a few hours sleep.
Severus Snape tipped his glass back, savouring the burn of his firewhiskey as it slid down his throat. Granger. Hermione Granger was a complete mystery to him and it was sure to drive him crazy. She had wormed her way into his life, forcing her way from annoyance to colleague and now possibly something akin to friend. His lip curled at the thought, bloody interfering Gryffindor's. In fact, even though she was more tolerable now, she was still an annoyance. She tortured his mind now, he found himself thinking of her more often than he should and more than once in a far more inappropriate way than he should.
She was perfect, intelligent enough to keep up with him and stubborn enough to put up with his less than civil nature. So bloody perfect...if it weren't for the fact that she was still so young and innocent. Far too innocent for the likes of him and she didn't even seem to notice!
He wasn't completely ignorant to human interaction, he knew he could have probably kissed her and seduced his way into her bed with little problems tonight. She was young, naive and impressionable in the ways of seduction.
He poured another glass, she was above such treatment. Hermione Granger was better than one heated shag, she would want the whole package and he was most emphatically not the man to give it to her. Lust he was no stranger to, he had sought out lonely witches to satisfy him often enough over the years but relationships and intimacy were not something he was comfortable with. He had never been able to trust anyone with the position he was in for so long and it had left him entirely clueless in that department.
To him, for the past two decades and perhaps most of his life even, showing your emotions was like wearing a weakness for all to see. A big sign saying "this is how to get to me" that he refused to wear.
The image of the young witch stood against the wall in front of him, not struggling, not afraid...staring up at him with those deep brown eyes. He slammed his glass down on the table in frustration and decided that it was time for bed.
"You want more blood?" Hermione asked two days later, when he stood in front of her holding a small glass vial.
"Only a couple of drops for testing," he clarified. "Molly also donated some blood for me to test."
"You're going to bleed my dry." Hermione mumbled, holding out her hand to take the needle from him. Instead he caught her finger and pricked it himself before catching the drops in a small crystal vial. "Ouch...why does it hurt more when someone else does it?" She snatched her hand back and sucked her wounded finger into her mouth.
He narrowed his gaze onto her finger for a moment, before bringing his focus back to his research and crossing back to his workstation the other side of the room.
"When you do it you are in control, you know the exact moment you are about to pierce the skin." He replied, using a dropper to place a single drop of her blood into a clear potion on his worktop. "Strange..."
"No luck then?" she asked.
"The magic in the blood is very similar between the two samples. Molly's magic is much more powerful than I ever realised...and I was aware that she was reasonably powerful before now." He murmured, his eyes never straying from his experiments.
"You say the magic is powerful? And similar?" she asked. He made a grunting affirmative noise in response. Hermione thought for a moment longer not sure if she wanted to voice her opinion and risk looking like an idiot, especially since he had most likely thought of the suggestion himself already. "What if Molly was a virgin when she became of age also?" He looked at her in surprise.
"Why have I not thought to ask that question..." he frowned. "I supposed because it is pretty difficult to imagine a virgin Molly Weasley..." Hermione let out a small laugh at that. "Would you send her an owl to ask her?"
"Oh yes, I'll just write 'Morning Mrs Weasley, by any chance did you wait until after you turned seventeen to have sex with your husband? By the way how is everyone? Love Hermione'" she replied rolling her eyes.
"Use my letterhead over there if it makes you more comfortable." He told her, waving his hand in the vague direction of his office. Hermione didn't bother arguing with him since he was obviously already lost in thought.
"Does that mean that Mr Weasley might have gotten a power boost also?" she asked some time later.
"It's possible." He replied. "The sharing of the power raised depends on a couple of factors. We have established that Molly is a very powerful witch and the similarities between your magical signature and hers and the common reaction to certain ingredients and magic leads us to believe that she may have been a pure adult. She was likely to receive a power boost either way once she was no longer pure, however the partner will only gain power if the...love is true."
"You looked like that was positively painful to say." The young witch smirked, heading over to his work station to take a look at his work.
"Yes well, there are few other ways to explain it. The power boost could also be reflected in several different ways, it could be specific to one certain area of magic or the power level overall or a combination of several new talents." He explained.
"But they've been married for years, childhood sweethearts...they must have been in love." She frowned.
"Casual relations are still frowned upon in wizarding Britain today Hermione, imagine what it was like twenty years ago." He shrugged.
"You're saying they might have married before they were truly in love?" she asked.
"It is very likely. Most of your pureblood peers will be married within the next few years because it is expected, that if they are in a serious enough relationship to be expressing themselves physically, then it should be serious enough to marry." He said indifferently. "Two decades ago, if you were openly in a relationship beyond school, a marriage was expected."
"And I thought the clothes were a bit behind the times." She sighed. "Not that I believe in casual relationships of course but...if you're getting married just because it's the done thing then I don't believe you should marry. It should be the couple's choice; after all it's their day." She picked up a few lose pieces of parchment and scanned the elegant but somewhat hurried writing on them.
"I thought it was the bride's day." He snorted.
"I guess that depends on the bride." She retorted, she smiled thoughtfully thinking about her parents. "My parents got married in their local church with only my Uncle and the old lady down the street for witnesses because their parents kept sticking their noses in and trying to make their wedding into a massive event. My parents didn't want that, so they just went and did it, my mum still had a pretty white dress and my dad wore his best suit...there's a photo of them about to board a train on their wedding day that my Uncle took. They look so carefree and happy in it, so in love that you just know that they'll always remember that day as their perfect day. I want that." Hermione felt a hot splash on her hand before she realised she was crying. How she missed them...
"I am sure your day will come." He said, not noticing her tears or her hands starting to shake.
"But they won't remember it will they?" she whispered hoarsely. Finally he noticed that the witch stood hardly a metre from him was upset. He took in her fingers gasping the edge of the worktop and the wet track on her cheek and moved hesitantly closer to her.
"Why would they not remember such a thing Hermione?" he asked, touching her arm. He knew the answer, he could guess that much already but he needed to hear her say it.
"I took their memories away; they don't know who I am...who they are." She said her voice breaking as she turned into his chest. He almost leapt backward in surprise at her seeking comfort in him. Her hands now gripped his robes and her forehead pressed against his chest. "All those memories that people cherish...like the family days out or just stupid things like sitting around playing a board game or watching a TV show while eating take away...I took them away."
"And you made it irreversible." He sighed, dropping his arms stiffly around her small frame.
"You saw what happened to all the witches and wizards that were considered blood traitors or muggle sympathisers, they couldn't be found." She replied. "If I'd have made it reversible then Voldemort would have still found them somehow I'm sure of it...reversible charms tend to weaken with time and do you honestly think that anything less than a full obliviate could erase a mother's child from her mind?"
"No." He agreed, dropping his chin on top of her head and squeezing her for a brief moment before releasing her and urging her onto a nearby stool. "However...hope may not be entirely lost. Hermione, I am certainly not going to tell you that is possible to reverse an irreversible obliviate, however if it were possible for anyone, it would be you."
"You're going to have to explain that one to me Professor." She said quietly.
"As it stands at the moment, you are a pure adult which means you are more powerful than many witches and wizards, when that is no longer the case you will be even stronger, you also are extraordinarily gifted with charms and most importantly the connection is that of a parent and child. If it is possible, one day for the charm to be reversed, you will be able to do it." He assured her.
"Professor Dumbledore always did say that love was the most powerful magic that we have." She smiled weakly. "I'm sorry about breaking down like that...it wasn't very professional of me."
"I think we can call it a day today." He waved off. "Lunch?"
Hermione couldn't help but be aware of every movement of the dark haired wizard eating on her right. He remained silent throughout the whole of lunch and didn't once look in her direction but she still found herself aware of him. She tried to focus on her conversation with Minerva.
"I have some wonderful news for everyone once all the staff return in September." The older witch beamed at her. "But since you started the whole thing I thought I'd let you in on it first."
"Really?" Hermione asked grinning back. "What did I start?"
"The ministry have been pleased with your apprenticeship and are aware of the staffing issues that we have at the beginning of the school year...also taking into account that good and willing Professor's are often in short supply and few students choose to continue education they have given us funding to take on two new apprentices next year." She smiled excitedly.
"That's amazing!" Hermione exclaimed. "So we won't be so short staffed?"
"Well...sort of. They will not allow us more than two apprentices at once, so we will be advertising for one in September to start as soon as a suitable candidate is found and then another the following September." She explained.
"That way you'll be taking on a new apprentice every year but since an apprenticeship normally lasts for two years, you'll have two apprentices at all times." Hermione nodded.
"The first apprenticeship will be in either charms or transfiguration, since I need to give up my classes to allow more time to my duties as Head Mistress, I also have to step down as Head of House at some point so as not to appear biased. Concessions have only been made due to the lack of staff." She said. "And Filius has expressed the desire to retire more than once in the last year but I convinced him waiting until everything had settled down would be a great help to us. But in the long term not all apprentices will be hired as a Professor here, instead they can go on their way with their new degree and knowledge ready for a position elsewhere."
"Anyone in mind yet?" Hermione asked.
"Not yet." She replied. "It'll be brought up at the staff meeting and then we'll advertise but we will also suggest anyone we think may suit the position and send out an enquiry."
Hermione clutched her stomach unexpectedly as a sharp pain came over her. She frowned and wondered why she would be experiencing pain, when she knew full well that her period wasn't due for another two weeks. The pain fortunately passed fairly quickly and she excused herself politely to make her way outside for a nice walk in the sunshine.
Author's notes: So they have taken the step of admitting to themselves that they want each other :D Not long now until one of them cracks!