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Marriage Vows	By : selened Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 23720 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Marriage Vows

Disclaimer: This
story was inspired by the Marriage Law Challenge on WIKTT. All Harry Potter characters belong to JK
Rowling and those with whom she has agreed contracts. This story was written for practice not profit.

Chapter Nine Marital Advice

The day of the Wedding dawned bright and clear. Severus breakfasted in his quarters and went
for a quiet walk down by the lake after classes had begun. On drawing close to the water he observed
the substantial figure of Melissa Graceworthy-Plank wading waist deep in the
water. Her clothes were by the bank and
she wore a Muggle style bathing costume.
She stooped down twice into the water.
When she surfaced a second time he shouted to her.

�Professor, surely there are easier ways of clearing your
head after a hard night.�

She turned to face him with a hearty laugh. �Sadly Severus this is mostly for your
benefit. I�ve a dead mermaid here. I spotted her when I flew the grounds
earlier. I was just giving her a once
over to make sure she wasn�t merely unconscious before I got her out of the
water. I don�t suppose you�d give me a
hand or throw me my wand? I think
she�ll do for parts.�

�You have such a charming way with words Melissa.�

�Hey, if you�ve no use for mermaid blood or scales tell me
now and I�ll forgo a lengthy and messy task.�

�I thought you�d leave this stuff to Charlie. Isn�t he supposed to be the gamekeeper?�

�Marriage is all about sharing, Severus. We did a swap this morning. He�s lecturing my sixth year elective class
on dragons, which he is more than capable of doing and I�m going to do the
dissection for him.es"> He doesn�t care for
things that look too human. This one
looks a bit young to be dead of natural causes and I�d like to satisfy myself
how she died.�

�Merpeople don�t normally come to the edge do they?�

�Not usually no but they tend to take dead and dying ones to
shore. Health reasons I assume. Are you going to cast Mobilicorpus or not?�

Severus cast the spell and levitated the body out of the
water. Melissa climbed out after it and
wrapped herself in her outer robe.

�Where do you want her?� asked Severus.

�I�ve put a small lab in the old stables. They weren�t being used much. Neither
Kettleburn or Hagrid really concentrated on this aspect of our work but it�s a
specialty of mine. You can take as much
as you think you can use and I�ll use my contacts in the business to trade the
rest. Dumbledore�s given me free rein.�

The two of them set off in the direction of the stables with
the body floating in their wake.

�How was your evening with the other ladies?�

Melissa laughed again.
�Don�t fret. We all gave
Hermione lots of advice.�

�Why doesn�t that reassure me?�

�Probably because you�ve known me since I was three. How was your party? Did Charlie pass on any tips?�

�We rather lost impetus.
I had a problem with one of my first years. Maria Abbott. I believe
you have met her.�

�Yes, odd little thing.
Did you just say she�s one of yours?
How can she be? She�s
Muggle-born.�

�That was rather the reaction of her housemates when her
parentage came up in conversation last night.
Fortunately the Head Girl was able to intervene before she got anything
more then a few bruises and a bloody nose.
Albus and I are going to see if we can get anything out of the Sorting
Hat later on.�

�Does the idea of having a Muggle-born in your precious
Slytherin worry you that much?�

�I have no problem with Miss Abbott personally but the job
of the Sorting Hat is to choose those Salazar himself would have chosen and he
hasn�t chosen a Muggle-born in a thousand years. Surely you can see it merits our attention.�

�Fair point Severus.
I didn�t mean to jump down your throat.
It�s not like you haven�t proved yourself is it. I mean you are marrying Hermione today.�

�And you think I�m doing that to prove myself?�

�No I think you love her.
Or you will soon, and she will love you.�

�I don�t know about that.
I�m hardly what she will have dreamt of. She could do better.�

�Possibly. Maybe
Charlie or me could have done better.
Maybe Molly could have done better.
It�s a Gryffindor trait to stick by a decision and to love what�s
yours. You have this idea that you�re
unlovable. I can guess where it came
from. Salazar may as well have decided
to choose kids from bad homes. He�d
have bagged the same ones. I remember
you picking me up and drying my tears when I fell over. Sirius Black never would have done
that. Four year olds remember a
kindness. An abused adolescent giving
comfort and affection to an irritating little orphan girl doesn�t seem
unlovable to me.�

�You weren�t irritating.
Not then anyway.�

Melissa laughed again.
�I�m only irritating when I�m right.�

�Do you know you laugh more than any person I�ve ever met?�

�That�s what loved people do. I may have lost my parents much too soon but I grew up here and
everyone made a fuss of me. Hagrid used
to let me ride in his pocket at night to go and see the unicorns. All the teachers were my honorary family.�

�I�d forgotten how much you loved Hagrid.�

�Oh I did. He was like a child in many ways himself. He was also an orphan here as a teenager. We
were both animal mad. He taught me so
much when I was a kid. He was a bit
random as a Professor I suppose but he did a wonderful job with the creatures
here. He was brave and devoted to the
school. It�s odd to live in his house
and not have him there.�

�I�ve upset you. I�m
sorry.�

�No. It�s good to
talk about him. It�s� well, you know
how it is. We celebrate because we�re
alive and the danger is over but we lost comrades right at the end and we can�t
feel all the feelings at once so we take turns with them.�

�Charlie�s a lucky man.�

�Of course he is. He
had to wait a while to find a woman who�d do his dissection for him. You�ll be lucky too. Trust me.�

�Dissection apart Madam, you are a romantic.�

�Another Gryffindor trait.
Let me show you my lab.�

Hermione had enjoyed a late breakfast with her parents in
their room. She had resisted the
temptation to seek out Severus after her mother had insisted it was bad
luck. They were interrupted by a
tentative knock on the door. Hermione
opened it to find Sybil Trelawney standing on the other side.

�Good Morning Professor,� said Hermione politely. �Can I help you?�

�Ah no Hermione. I
have been tempted down from my lonely retreat in order to be of service to you
child. My inner eye has seen clearly
and I have come to you in your hour of need.�

Hermione was acutely aware of the impression Professor
Trelawney was making on her Mum and Dad.
�Please come in Professor. Mum,
Dad, This is Professor Trelawney. She
is one of our Divination teachers.�

Mr Granger was the first to recover his manners. He held out his hand and greeted her
cordially. Professor Trelawney shrieked
and shied away from his hand. Mr
Granger tried and failed to hide his look of shock. He looked very carefully at his own hand as if to discern the
cause of her horror.

�Please excuse me sir.
I try to avoid contact with others as much as possible. You were not to know but my inner eye must
be protected at all times. I rarely
venture down from my exile in the North Tower but today I felt I must come for
poor dear Hermione�s sake. Child you
are taking a great risk. I know you do
not See yourself. You are closed to my
gift but be warned. Your marriage will
earn you both a great enemy. Is it
worth the risk to indulge yourself in the lusts of the flesh with this tainted
man? You have the power to save
yourself. Reject this man and his
carnal desires before it is too late!

�Poor dear Hermione� was fighting hard to contain her
irritation with her least favourite teacher.

�Thank you for your concern Professor but I am afraid this
marriage has to take place. An attempt
has already been made on my fianc�s life as a result of our engagement so we
are aware of the danger we are in. We
feel that I will be in more danger if I am forced to marry someone else.�

�You are resolved. I
had already seen that you would not listen to me but I had to try. My gift is a painful burden. I will leave you now to your fate.�

Sybil drifted out of the room and Hermione braced herself to
face her parents. Mrs Granger was
sitting ashen faced on the bed.

�Can that woman really tell the future?� asked Mr Granger
sombrely.

�Not really. She�s
always predicting doom and gloom and misery,� said Hermione heavily. �She always used to talk about Harry like
that. She thinks it�s a safe prediction
that something will go wrong.�

�How does she keep her job?�

�She�s under the Headmaster�s protection. She can �channel� spirits but she can�t
control them. She goes into a kind of
trance and doesn�t know what she�s said.
Seers are so rare the Headmaster needed to keep her here. Melissa had to move in with her last year so
she could witness any prophecies. They
drove each other nuts. Firenze does
most of the teaching. You�ll meet him
later. We�re having the wedding in his
classroom. Believe me I�d be more
worried if Trelawney was predicting we�d make the hundredth anniversary and
have a dozen healthy sons.�

�Is it worth asking Professor Firenze for advice?� asked her
mother.

�I don�t think it would help. "> Firenze sees fates of nations over centuries. He doesn�t do tea leaves. I don�t like divination. It�s a tradition to teach it but it�s not
something most of us can learn. I think
most of the people who do it just like to feel they�ve got one up on everyone
else.�

�Does that apply to Firenze?� asked Mr Granger.

�Well he�s different.
He�s not really a person as such.
He�s a centaur.�

�Do you mean he�s half man half horse? Is that what you�re telling me?�

�Well that�s what he looks like but please don�t say that to
him. Most centaurs refuse to
acknowledge any similarities with humans or horses. Firenze comes from the colony in the Forbidden Forest. He became an outcast because he was friendly
with people at the school.�

�Is the Forbidden Forest that woodland over there?� asked
Mrs Granger who had moved to stand beside the window.

�Yes. It�s land
reserved for habitation by Magical Creatures.
We�re only supposed to go there with an adult. Melissa and Charlie keep an eye on it but they have to be careful
because some of the creatures are dangerous.�

�So what other so-called mythical creatures live here?�
enquired Mr Granger.

�I tell you what.
Let�s go down to the library and I�ll show you some books. If you ask Charlie or Melissa later on they
might be able to show you some creatures tomorrow.

Later that morning Severus and Albus had their meeting with
Maria Abbott. Severus picked her up
from the infirmary and delivered her to the Headmaster�s Office. The three of them sat down in armchairs.

�Now Miss Abbott,� began Albus, �Professor Snape and I have
dealt with the boys who hurt you last n.

�Thank-you,� said the little girl primly.

�Miss Abbott, did you understand the things those boys were
saying last night?� asked Severus quietly.

�You mean the �Mudblood� thing,�

�Yes Miss Abbott that is what I mean.�

�Well it�s something to do with me having ordinary parents
obviously. I know because of
whereabouts in the conversation he used the word, but that�s all I know.�

�Thank-you Miss Abbott.
You are correct. Mudblood is a
rude word used to describe a witch or wizard who comes from a non-magical
family. People who use the word are
usually people who come from families which have only had witches and wizards
in them for hundreds of years. They
like to think that it makes them better witches and wizards because they come
from that kind of family.�

�And does it?� chipped in the little girl sharply.

Albus had a twinkle in his eye at the way this child was
holding up her end of the conversation against the usually overbearing
housemaster. Severus paused for a
moment before answering.

�No I don�t think it does.
Some Muggle-born children are more powerful than pureblood children;
some are not. Of the two most powerful
students in school at the moment one is Muggle-born and the other had a mother
who was. I cannot speak for my
colleagues but in my classes no Muggle-born is the worst student.�

�So why do they use the word �Mudblood� in your house?�

�Nearly all the children in my house come from pure-blood
families and their parents have taught them not to like children who aren�t
from those families.�

�So this is going to keep happening then is it?�

�I sincerely hope not.
Miss Abbott do you understand the Sorting ceremony?�

�It splits us up into houses.�

�When this school began it was run by two Witches and two
Wizards. They wanted to teach magic to
people who could learn but they didn�t agree about which children to
teach. They decided to have four houses
and choose their own students. The
Sorting Hat was enchanted to choose children for their houses after they
died. Now Salazar Slytherin was a
pure-blood. He mainly taught pure-blood
children and refused to teach children without at least one witch or wizard as
a parent and in a thousand years no Muggle-born child has ever been sorted into
Slytherin.�

�Until me.�

�Yes Miss Abbott, until you.�

�So I�m not wanted.�

�I wouldn�t have said that but the Headmaster and myself are
rather confused about how this happened and we were hoping to find out why the
Sorting Hat put you in Slytherin. Now
the hat won�t talk to us about your sorting but it may talk to you; so we would
like you to put the hat on again and see if you can persuade it to explain
itself to you.�

He picked up the Sorting Hat and held it towards the
girl. She took it from him and placed
it on her head where it covered most of her face. She kept it on for several seconds before removing it.

�Well,� said Severus impatiently. �What did it say?�

�It says that it knows a Malfoy when it sees one and trying
one in Ravenclaw worked out badly.
What�s a Malfoy?�

Severus was lost for words at this point. A Malfoy in a Muggle family? He could not miss the obvious reference to
his late wife either. The Headmaster
took control of the situation and intervened.

�Malfoy is the name
of an old Wizarding family. The Sorting
Hat thinks you are related to them.
Professor Snape is also related to the Malfoy family although I think he
would prefer not to be related to some of them. Is that not right Professor?�

�I cannot disagree with that Headmaster. I think it will be better for you, Miss
Abbott, if you keep your link to that family quiet until we have had time to
investigate it. The head of the family
is awaiting trial for trying to murder me and his son is the young man who gave
you that nosebleed yesterday. In the
meantime we will tell the other members of the house that you are related to me
but that you had wanted to conceal it.
That should prevent any more bullying from the pure-blood children. We will try to investigate as soon as
possible but I am getting married later today so we may have to wait until next
week to see your parents.�

�I think Severus you might invite your new found relative to
the ceremony. After all no other
relatives of yours will be there.�

�I think that sounds like a good idea. Perhaps you will introduce her to some of
the other students who are attending Headmaster.�

�I think that can be arranged. Run along now Miss Abbott.
You can go to your dormitory. I
will see that the Slytherin prefects are informed about you.�

Maria got up and left.
The two men stayed sitting in their armchairs until she was out of
earshot.

�She does look like a Malfoy,� volunteered Albus gently.

�She looks like Olivia.
I can�t believe I needed the hat to see it for me. It�s like seeing a ghost. I feel quite sick. It�s worse than when Potter arrived looking the image of his
father. Where did she come from and
the
the hell did she end up with Muggles?�

�I am intrigued by the fact that neither of us saw the
obvious until the hat pointed it out.
As you say the resemblance is quite uncanny. We should have seen it.
Draco too must have seen pictures of his Aunt.�

�You think the child has been magically hidden?�

�I think it is a possibility. Next week you must go to visit her Muggle family. Take Melissa with you, as she is their
contact. Melissa is too straightforward
to pick up on anything they are hiding but they will not be able to keep it
from you. Use Legilimency if you need
to. It�s possible they have received
altered memories. Try not to let this
distract you today Severus. Take a
break now to prepare yourself mentally for the ceremony. Miss Abbott has been hidden for eleven
years. A few more days will make no
difference. Hermione has to be the
focus of your thoughts today.�

�You are right I know.
Miss Abbott will have to wait and I will retire to my rooms until the
ceremony. I will see you later on.�

He got up and left the Headmaster�s Office. He passed the library on his way to his
chambers and caught a glimpse of Hermione pouring over a book with her father
and whispering in his ear. He lingered
for a moment until he became aware that Madam Pince was watching him observing
his fianc�e with amusement. He turned
and continued on his way.

A/N

Sabrina- Thank-you for taking the time to give me feedback.

Seshat- Thank-you for your thoughtful comments. As you have probably noticed I was not able
to incorporate the challenge requirements for getting Severus and Hermione
together. My version of Snape doesn�t
lust after his charges and wouldn�t be able to build a relationship with her if
someone had contracted them together against his will. This being the case I had to have a
pre-existing thaw between them for him to empathise with her and feel the need
to help her.
- 9
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Marriage Vows