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This Is The Way The World Ends.	By : tulipsaside Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 7312 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- 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
- 14
- 15
- 16
Chapter 14. I Have Seen Enough to Know That I Have Seen Too Much.

Hermione rubbed her eyes tiredly as she sat finishing her History of Magic essay. She was the last one left in the common room, much to her delight. She could hardly bare the sidelong glances and incredulous looks that she had been treated to all evening. The rumour of what had taken place in the dungeon early, spread rapidly throughout Hogwarts. However, since only a handful of students was down there at the time, the students made up their own sordid particulars; all the same, the one about her casting an unforgivable before punching James was really going too far.

She stood to stretch before the sound of someone emerging from the boys� dormitory staircase made her stop and look up.

Severus stooped slightly to let his tall form come out from under the low archway. "Severus," said Hermione surprised to see him. She had thought he had gone to bed ages ago.

"Your salve," he said holding up another clear jar. He slid it onto the table next to where she was sitting.

Hermione smiled appreciatively, she had been disappointed when the jar had broken earlier.

"Thank you, Severus." she said the relief palpable in her voice.

She unscrewed the cap quickly, lifted the hem of her skirt a few inches, dipped her fingers into the heated balm and began slathering a sizeable amount onto her throbbing knee.

Severus let his gaze fall away from Hermione�s leg hastily.

"I hope it is effective," he said turning from her and heading back toward the stairs.

"Severus," she called after him.

He turned, keeping his eyes fixed above her head.

She looked at him, struggling for the right thing to say.

"I had one of the house elves send up tea earlier," gesturing toward the kettle and cups, "would you like to join me?" she said, aware of the blush creeping into her cheeks.

"That would be agreeable," he said sitting stiffly in the chair next to her. His eyes fixed on the fire to his right.

Hermione screwed the cap back onto the jar, already aware of the warmth seeping into her leg. She leaned back against her chair.

"That feels fantastic." she sighed.

"You should wrap it at night, to keep the heat in." Severus flicked his wand gracefully conjuring up a spool of gauze, and handing it to her.

She took it carefully from his hands.

"Thank you," she said again, he nodded once before turning back toward the fire.

"It really was very thoughtful of you to make the salve." Hermione delicately wrapped the fabric around her knee.

"It was no trouble," he watched her loosely wrap her leg. "You�ll want to wrap it tighter than that, you�ll end up with it around your ankle if not," he said pointing to where the fabric was sliding down her knee.

Hermione ducked her head in agreement unwrapping her leg before giving it another go.

Severus rolled his eyes as she began haphazardly covering it. "Let me have it." he said sternly, plucking it deftly from her hands before turning in his chair to face her.

He placed his hands lightly under her knee, winding the gauze tightly around her leg, tucking the last inch up underneath the bottom to hold it in place.

Severus ran his finger underneath the gauze stretching it a bit to give her room for circulation. He let his hands still, hovering just above her skin his eyes travelling the path her scar made from the side of her calf up and over before disappearing under the bandage.

He looked up at her, her lips slightly parted; she seemed to be holding her breath.

"Who, did this to you?" he barely spoke the words, but they sounded loud and raw in the room.

Hermione turned from him, it seemed indecent to be watched so thoroughly by him and then lie at the same time.

"It was an accident," she said quietly. "It wasn�t meant for me."

Severus looked as if he would ask her who it was meant for, but instead slid back in his seat and helping himself to the tea.

"I apologize and it was inappropriate of me." he said, setting his cup on the arm of his chair. She could tell by the way his back seemed to straighten and his shoulders tensed that she had offended him.

"Severus, it�s not that I don�t want you to know. I just, in the best of situations, it is hard for me to discuss it. I just can�t." she finished, aware that he was building an imaginary wall between them brick by brick, though no less solid, with every word she said.

"Please it�s not that I don�t trust you, you have to know that I do, and if I ever could tell you these things I would." His face had gone from one of deep concern to that of total indifference.

Severus nodded, placing his cup on the table and standing up from his chair ignoring her eyes on him.

"Please, you don�t have to leave," she said.

"Goodnight, Hermione." he said striding from the room up the stairs and out of sight, leaving Hermione starring at the empty stairwell.
The next morning found Hermione walking drowsily to the Great Hall for a quick breakfast before class. However, that was not to be as an irate Harry Potter stopped in front of her.

"What were you thinking? We have to be careful, she says. Don�t bring any attention to yourself she says, and then what does SHE do? No, you weren�t thinking were you. You weren�t thinking what kind of damage this caused what I�d have to go through afterwards."

"Harry, I understand you are furious." Starting to feel her own anger rising.

"I�m beyond furious, Hermione." he said seething.

Hermione shook her head, "All right, beyond furious then. Let me explain,"

"I don�t need to hear it again, Hermione. What I want to know is, why all of a sudden you�re starting fights and lying to teachers?" He asked giving her such a dirty look that she would not have thought him capable of, had she have not seen it herself.

"Starting fights!" she shouted. The rest of the students were starting to stare and she could see James, healed but his nose slightly puffy, and Sirius smiling smugly at the Gryffindor house table behind Harry.

"You heard me, it�s all quite coincidental actually. You being sorted into Slytherin and getting all cosy with Snape and now attacking�"

"How dare you, Harry!" she hissed, "You think whatever you like, its plain you have no room left to listen to the truth." She turned from him storming out of the Great Hall whipping pass Severus and ignoring him as he entered for breakfast.

"Hermione?" he asked, as she hurried across the floor toward class.

She was half way there by the time Severus caught up with her.

"What has happened?" he asked, reaching for her arm.

She wrenched it away before swinging around to face him.

"Harry!" She practically screamed, "and Black and Potter, and Dumbledore, and every other foul, loathsome, and bigoted, argh." She let out a frustrated huff.

Severus looked slightly bemused at her outburst, "While I agree with your sentiments, I would ask that you please clarify what exactly happened?"

"He accused me of," she blushed slightly. "He said I brought about what happened yesterday, that I attacked James, wouldn�t let me explain, and just assumed it must have been my fault because his precious fa- friends," she recovered quickly, "would never give cause for such an attack even though he KNOWS exactly what they did!"

She gave a strangled cry in the back of her throat, "How can you stand it!" she said staring at him. "The discrimination, the contempt, the out right hatred, while I notice it�s generally you they seem to fixate on; the other students in Slytherin seem to have a hard time as well. It�s horrible, this prejudiced thinking and looks of mistrust. That all Slytherins must be dark wizards, just vipers in waiting."

"It is the fate of our house," he said tearing his gaze from her and smoothing down his faded robes, ignoring the comment about himself. "You endure it and persevere."

She shook her head slowly.

"He is angry, Hermione. Give him time to see he is in error and he will apologize."

Hermione snorted, clearly, Severus did not know Harry very well. �This will not end quickly, he is very stubborn, and he sees me as a personal insult now."

"Then it is his lost." he said quietly.

Hermione smiled shyly at him as the door to the classroom opened.

"Severus, Hermione. A bit early today I see." said Slughorn good-naturedly.

They walked in taking their usual seats together. Severus began pulling his book and parchments out when Lily stopped in front of their desk.

"That was really horrible what you did," she said glaring at Hermione and for good measure Severus as well.

Hermione schooled her face into a mask of confusion, "I don�t know what you�re talking about."

Lily gritted her teeth, "James was in the hospital wing for hours, his nose all swollen." She stopped looking at Hermione waiting for her to confess. Hermione kept staring at her.

Lily huffed impatiently. "I found it hard to believe he broke his nose because he tripped, especially since he fell on his back." Her whole face was red with anger.

"These things sometimes happen, Lily," said Hermione.

Lily looked ready to pounce.

Severus stepped closer to her, "You�re making a scene. What�s done is done." he said, turning back to his desk and sharpening his quill.

Lily stared at him for a moment before hissing, "They were right about you, I should have never wasted my time." She turned from their table and took a seat where James and Sirius usually sat.

Hermione looked at Severus, his hands had stilled their sharpening and he looked preoccupied, before resuming, carving his feathered quill into a dangerous tip.

"Don�t listen to her, she�s just bitter," she said soothingly not sure how much good it would do, since Severus seemed to ignore her and gone back to writing in his book, waiting for class to start.

Hermione walked quickly up toward the Astronomy tower. She was running late and needed to hurry or she would miss the bell, Professor Sinistra had a habit of locking tardy students out of her class while she handed out the quizzes resulting in a nice round zero for the day. Hermione had never once been late for a class, though that was largely due to her classes being relatively close together. Here however, she went from Herbology out on the grounds all the way up to the astronomy tower. Her knee, thank Merlin, was feeling surprisingly fit since the salve Severus had given her and she was sprinting up the stairs, slightly out of breath. She had just reached the bottom of the tower and if she could manage the next twenty-three steps in four minutes, she would be there just in time. However, like everything else that had happened so far that day, it was not to be. A hand shot out at her pinning her against the wall, her back scraping the stones.

James� hand was tight around her throat. "Where�s your beloved Snivellus now?" he purred, his face uncomfortably close to hers.

Sirius stood on the bottom step checking what Hermione knew to be the Marauders Map.

"In class, where I assume you should be." she said, her throat starting to ache.

"You think you�re so clever?" His other hand was hovering just above her thigh.

Hermione was very aware that she was in a dangerous situation. While she did not think, James would be the kind of person to despoil a resisting woman in a dark hallway. She was not tempted to find out.

"What do you want?" she asked, with a hint of boredom in her voice, hoping it would overshadow the shaking fear that she was sure he could hear.

"I can think of a few things," he said teasingly, his fingers playing with the hem of her skirt, his mouth close to hers and his arm crushed against her oesophagus.

"I think you should make up for your little performance yesterday, why don�t you kiss it better?" he said. His nose nuzzling against her cheek and his eyes flickering toward her mouth.

She could feel the fear starting to rise in her chest. The hair standing on the back of her neck amplifying how frightened she was becoming. Sirius had taken his eyes off the map and stood watching James.

"I think it�s the least you could do," he whispered. "Don�t you think, Sirius?"

Sirius grinned, "At the very least." he said with mock etiquette.

"James, please don�t. I apologize for yesterday, there�s no need for all this." she could hear her voice starting to rise higher, her rational mind working quickly running the chances of James Potter actually doing something like this, something so vulgar. Pranks and jinxes were one thing but this was borderline inhumane.

Sirius was standing closer now, watching intently as James ran his hand around the rim of her skirt.

Hermione began to shake, uncontrollably. She felt more fear here than she had any other time in her life, not even on the grounds of Hogwarts fighting Death Eaters.

Suddenly, Sirius slammed against the wall, slumping down on the floor. James turned toward him loosening his hold on Hermione, before he to was pinned against the wall. Severus had his hand around James� neck his wand pointed brutally in his throat.

"I swear if you ever touch her again, I will kill you," he whispered in a deadly calm that denied anything but a raging fury. She could feel the surge of barely controlled magic rippling in and around him.

Severus made slash in the air and James too fell against the wall before sliding down next to Sirius.

He looked fearsome, Hermione noticed. Even his old and faded school robes could not take away from the remarkable figure he made. His eyes where hooded and narrowed, his hair hung in sharp angles about his face. His breath was coming in short uneven gasps, and his wand held tightly in his hand as if ready to fight. It was the most welcoming sight she could have imagined, knowing that this wizard had come to help her.

Hermione sank to the floor, half out of exhaustion and half out of relief. She could not control the trembling or panicky tears that streamed down her face.

Severus knelt next to her, looking worried and helpless.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked.

Hermione shook her head that he had not.

Severus� hand lifted slowly to her neck, where bright red welts were beginning to appear. He gritted his teeth.

"He won�t get away with this. I don�t care if the Headmaster does expel me, Potter will not go unpunished."

"Severus, no, please. Its over, let�s just leave." she whispered, her voice cracking slightly.

He opened his mouth to argue but stopped quickly as he took in her pale and shaken form.

"Come," he said softly helping her off the floor. "I�ll take you back to the common room."

Hermione stood unsteadily, gripping onto Severus as he helped her down the stairs.

"Thank you," she whispered starring at him her eyes wide and sincere.

Severus nodded, "I had tried to get here sooner. I was in class and if it had not been for Pettigrew bragging about Potter getting the last laugh I would have been too late." He said thickly while placing his hand on her back but drawing it away quickly when his hand touched something wet.

"You�re bleeding," he said showing Hermione where her blood had dampened his hand.

"It�s nothing, only a scratch." She steadied her hand against the wall for support as she climbed down the steps.

"Hermione, a scratch would not have gone through three layers of clothing," he said sternly.

"Please, Severus, I just want to get as far away from here as possible right now. I promise you can examine me, call St. Mungo�s if you wish, just please, I can�t stand to be here one more moment."

"Of course," he said. "Though the common room is too far, I know of a place we can go."
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This Is The Way The World Ends.