Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

A Living Secret ~ COMPLETED	By : Ms_Figg Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 43743 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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
- 15
- 16
- 17
Chapter 16 ~ Hat or Horcrux?

Severus reread parts of Hermione�s sixth year journal, going
over it carefully now and reading entries about other aspects of her life. There
was an ongoing issue with Harry using the Professor�s old potions book in class.
He was outdoing her marks and she found it unfair and thought the half-blood
prince must have been a terrible if brilliant person to come up with such
dangerous spells as Sectumsempra.

Snape frowned. He had needed that spell for protection. If not for the
Marauders, he wouldn�t have created it. He continued reading.

The Potions Master found it interesting that the witch and
Ronald Weasley were involved while she was secretly lusting after him. He
thought Ron might have been receiving the benefits of her naughty little secret.
He read carefully to see if Hermione and Ron had fucked, but he couldn�t find an
entry. He believed the witch would have added such a significant event in her
journal. She had written she kissed Victor Krum several times in her fourth year
journal, admitting she had run away when the Quidditch player stuck his tongue
in her mouth.

Shit. If she ran from a tongue�how would she react to a
throbbing, dripping cock as big as his? Severus smirked. This was beginning to
have an appeal outside of his mission.

He continued reading about her and Ron�s volatile relationship
and how she asked Cormac McLaggen to Slughorn�s party to make him jealous.

We were walking to the party and no one was in the corridor.
Cormac looked at me and said, �So you finally realized I was irresistible, eh
Hermione?� I just nodded, then the next thing I know he had me pinned against
the wall and started running his hands over my breasts and tried to kiss me. I
pushed him away and ran for the party. He was just horrible. I can still feel
where he touched me. I never should have invited him to make Ron jealous. I knew
it was childish�but Ron is such an ass, acting the way he does with
Lavender�snogging all the time...

The entry stopped suddenly and Severus noted a splash that had
splattered the ink. Presumably the witch had started crying and a tear caught
the fresh ink. Young love was such a pain in the ass. But the Potions Master
found it a bit funny that she was pining after Ron while fingering herself to
him in the middle of the night. Yes, witches�even young ones, were contrary.

He continued reading and found a rather long passage that
showed just how conflicted the witch really was.

I got carried away kissing Ron last night and came close to
shagging him because suddenly the Professor came to mind. I had my eyes closed
and it was easy to imagine it was the Professor snogging me�and when Ron started
touching me�it felt as if it were the Professor touching me and the next thing I
knew my robes were open, my blouse pulled up and Ron was working on my pants
button. He was very angry that I stopped him. He called me a tease and said it
was easy to see I wanted to be shagged. I couldn�t tell him Professor Snape was
the one on my mind. So I said I just lost control but I wasn�t ready yet. He
went to bed very angry at me�but I care about Ron. I just don�t want to shag
him�especially when I�m thinking of somebody else. It wouldn�t be fair to either
of us.

I�m trying to do the right thing a witch my age should do. Have a boyfriend my own age, develop a real relationship�one that�s healthy and normal. What I think about with the Professor is neither one. It is so dirty. He is so brutal and so�hot. What am I going to do? I can hardly bear to look at him sometimes now, because of how randy I feel. Going to class is becoming hell for me�and there�s nothing I can do about it. I�m the age of consent but there�s no way I can approach him. Either he�d have me expelled or laugh at me. Be cruel and sarcastic. I wish this would all go away, but it�s like a drug�thinking about him like this. No one would ever understand how attracted I am to him�even I don�t really understand it. I�ll be glad when I graduate and don�t have to see him any longer. If he�s out of sight maybe he�ll get out of my mind and dreams. I can only hope.

Well, he was certainly out of sight now, from Hermione�from
everyone. But he would have to find a way to rectify that. The wizard began to
think�how to lure the witch to him but protect himself from capture should she
decide to turn him in?

He considered Hermione�s strengths�which incidentally were
also her weaknesses. As the journal showed, she was secretive�he could use that.
She was also driven to seek out knowledge, and loved it when she knew something
no one else did. He could use that too. Above all, Hermione was curious and as
her early years showed, somewhat daring. She would take risks to get what she
wanted.

He could contact her in some way and tell her to meet him
someplace.

The wizard shook his head. If she told someone, they could be
lying in wait. He had to be sure she wasn�t being followed. Hm.

The wizard�s brows rose as an idea hit him. His eyes narrowed
as he considered the best approach. His head nodded slightly. Yes. Yes. That
could work if he did some preplanning.

He had plenty of Polyjuice potion and was sure he could get a
few galleons from Voldemort to grease palms.

He had a plan.

*********************************************

Two days later, Minerva was off to her seminar. She didn�t leave anyone in
charge since school hadn�t started yet, though no doubt Filch would be on guard.
Hermione accompanied her through the gate, stating she needed to go to Diagon
Alley and begin picking up her books. The young witch apparated while Minerva
utilized a port key to get to her destination.

To her credit, Hermione did go to Diagon Alley and picked up
one book, then slipped into Knockturn Alley rather quickly, disillusioning
herself and disapparating to Godric�s Hollow and Harry. She didn�t have her
necklace with her.

When Dobby answered the door, Harry was standing behind him,
dressed in all black. A black, long-sleeved shirt, black trousers, black socks.
Even his trainers were black and he wore a black cap. Hermione laughed as Harry
looked down at himself then at her.

�You look like you�re going to steal the Crown Jewels,�
Hermione said, smiling.

�Really?� Harry asked, pulling down the cap over his face and
revealing there were two eyeholes and a mouth hole in it. Hermione cracked up.

�Really Harry, you�re going overboard. Your invisibility cloak
is enough,� the witch said, holding her stomach as Harry grinned beneath the
mask.

�I may have to hide in the shadows or something,� he said, �I
want to blend in.�

�Harry, it�s going to be a straight run. I have a fireworks
stink bomb I got from Wizarding Wheezes that is set to go off about twelve at
the other end of the castle. Filch will be there with bells on. Then we can
sneak to the Headmistress� office, use my password, get in and look for the
Horcrux.

Harry blinked at her and pulled up the mask.

�We?� he asked.

Hermione scowled at him.

�Of course we,� she said sharply, �I�m not going to let you do
this alone. You might need help.�

Harry looked at Hermione for a moment, then nodded. He did
need her with him. Then he thought about what she said about the firework/stink
bomb.

�What in the world is that?� Harry asked her, �A
firework/stink bomb? Who would want something like that?�

Hermione grinned.

�Obviously Fred and George. Actually, it�s call a �BangBoom
Bomb.� It�s their own creation. First�it draws people in with a fantastic
display of fireworks�almost like the one they used in the castle when Umbridge
was here�with dragons, flying pigs, displays like that. Once everyone gets close
enough, then the stink bomb goes off�catching them all. It�s terrible,� she said
as Harry laughed.

�Fred and George are geniuses,� he chortled as he thought
about Ron�s siblings. Weasley�s Wizarding Wheezes was their joke shop in Diagon
Alley. They did great business because they were so sick and twisted and came up
with the weirdest things.

�Filch is going to have bugbears,� Harry laughed. Then he
sobered as he thought about what it was they were going to do.

�You�re sure the Horcrux is in the office?� he asked Hermione.

�Completely sure. We just have to find out what object it is
and destroy it,� Hermione said, hoping it wasn�t the Sorting Hat. Destroying it
would throw Hogwarts into an uproar. Plus the hat was like a living piece of
history, though Hermione wasn�t sure it was truly �alive.�

�All right,� Harry said, raring to go, �Are you ready?�

Hermione nodded.

Dobby walked up, his eyes wide and worried.

�Be careful, Harry Potter, sir,� the elf said, his ears
flattened. Harry patted Dobby on the head.

�Don�t worry Dobby. This isn�t quite like facing a
basilisk�though Filch is pretty damn close,� he said, �You just take care of
things here. I�ll be back in the morning to tell you all about it.�

Hermione shook her head as Dobby gave Harry a little nervous
smile.

�Yes, Harry Potter,� the elf said.

He watched as Harry slid on the invisibility cloak then what
remained of his legs become a shimmer. Harry had grown and his legs stuck out at
the ends of the cloak a bit. So he would disillusion himself as well. He
adjusted the cloak to hang a little farther down behind and walked close behind
Hermione so she shielded his shimmer. It was awkward but it beat hunching down
and walking, which hurt his back after a while.

The two friends departed the house and disapparated to
Hogwarts.

Filch was the one who answered the gate. Hermione groaned.
Filch had a habit of hanging on to the gate and just opening it wide enough for
someone to slip through then would close it swiftly, unlike Hagrid, whose gate
attendance was just as wide and magnanimous as he was. The half-giant would open
the gate wide to let others enter.

So when Hermione stumbled into the gate and made Filch fall on
his bony ass, the squib was livid as Harry slipped through behind her unseen.

�Clumsy girl!� Filch hissed as he struggled to get up, his
scraggly hair all over his head as he grasped at the gate for leverage.

�Oops. Sorry Mr. Filch. I must have tripped over my own feet,�
Hermione sang out, hurriedly moving away from the gate before she burst out into
laughter, which would only aggravate the angry caretaker more. When she was far
enough away, she did start laughing.

�Oh gods, that was hilarious,� she said.

�Yeah it was,� Harry�s disembodied voice said, floating close
behind her, �I�ve wanted to knock Filch on his ass for years.�

�He�s lucky he didn�t break anything though. He seems so
fragile,� Hermione said, sobering a bit as she thought about Filch hobbling all
about the grounds.

�He�s fine. His bones are knitted together by meanness, pure
meanness Hermione. Believe me,� Harry replied.

Hermione shook her head as they entered the castle.

******************************************

Everything went off pretty much as planned that night�the BangBoom going off at
around midnight and Filch hobbling to the area and beating at the fireworks with
a flaming broom. Flitwick had to come help him, casting water at the sparkling
burning displays from the tip of his wand. Both of them were caught in the
horrible stench that followed. Filch�s cursing could be heard throughout the
castle as Harry and Hermione, both disillusioned and crouching under the
invisibility cloak made it to the gargoyle that blocked the stairwell to
McGonagall�s office.

�Pretty kitty,� Hermione whispered from under the cloak.

The gargoyle leapt aside and they quickly mounted the stairs,
the statue jumping back in front of the stairwell immediately.

The Headmistress� door was locked, and for a moment Hermione
was afraid that she had put a powerful ward on it�but a simple �Alohamora�
opened the door. The moment they entered, Hermione placed a spell on all the
portraits in the room that made them become as stiff as real paintings. Harry
looked at her appreciatively as they removed the cloak and disillusionment spell.

�You know, I didn�t even think about the portraits,� he said
to her.

�That�s why I�m here,� Hermione said a bit smugly, �They won�t
remember anything.�

Harry was sneaky, but not as thoughtfully sneaky as Hermione.
She considered everything.

�Good,� Harry said, pulling out his necklace.

Hermione still didn�t have hers on. She was very serious about
not putting it within reach of Harry.

Together, starting with the farthest portrait, they slowly walked the perimeter
of the office, looking down as the sliver of Voldemort�s stone. As they drew
closer to Minerva�s desk, the stone grew warm and began to emit a dim light.

�Oh no,� Hermione breathed.

They were approaching the Sorting Hat.

Harry walked behind the desk and looked up at the hat which
was on a high shelf. He pulled out his wand.

�Accio Sorting Hat,� he intoned, and the hat flew down into
his hands.

Suddenly Harry started, jerking visibly. The stone glowed
brightly, and felt very warm�just this side of hot. Together, bathed in crimson
light, both Hermione and Harry looked at the hat he held in his hands.

�What�s wrong, Harry?� Hermione asked him, noticing his spasm.

�I�I feel a little throb around my heart. It isn�t painful but
it�s like a second pulse. Do you feel it?� he asked Hermione as he sat the hat
down on Minerva�s desk.

�No,� Hermione replied, looking at Harry thoughtfully for a
moment.

�You know Harry�you might be feeling the presence of
Voldemort�s soul fragment. Remember how Dumbledore said some of his essence was
passed on to you the night he tried to kill you and failed? Well, a person can�t
be in the presence of his own soul fragment or he suffers great pain. Something
about being in proximity with the original soul. Maybe you can feel the fragment
but not the pain since you have some of Voldemort�s powers. Maybe that�s why the
Headmaster wanted you to find and destroy the Horcruxes. You�re connected to
them,� she said, her eyes wide as she looked at him.

�Maybe,� Harry said staring at the Sorting Hat, �But
Hermione�what are we going to do about the hat? It�s definitely a Horcrux. If we
destroy it�then there will be no way to sort new students. Hogwarts will either
be shut down or the houses filled with students that don�t belong there.�

Hermione couldn�t help thinking that after all these years, Hogwarts should have
developed some kind of questionnaire or some other alternative to the Sorting
Hat.

The Sorting Hat remained silent. Possibly because it wasn�t
addressed directly. Hermione was glad. The last thing they needed was for it to
break out in song. The stone continued to glow, red and ominous.

�We have to destroy it, Hermione. There�s nothing else for
it,� Harry said, backing away and pointing his wand at the shabby, bent hat.

Harry was just about to cast the Reducto spell when Hermione
grabbed his arm.

�Harry�Harry wait,� she said to him, �Let�s just leave it here
for now. We know it�s a Horcrux and it won�t be going anywhere. We can come back
for it later after the rest have been destroyed. Maybe by then we will find a
way to remove the soul fragment without blasting it to bits. It can be used for
the Sorting this way. As long as we know what it is, we can do something about
it at a later date.�

Harry blinked down at her for a moment. Yes, that did make
sense. He was a bit relieved. He didn�t relish the idea of leaving Hogwarts with
no way to sort students. He put his wand away.

�All right, Hermione,� he said as she levitated the hat back
to the top shelf, no worse for wear.

The two once again disillusioned themselves and covered their
shimmering bodies with the invisibility cloak. They slowly moved toward the
door, then Hermione removed the spell on the portraits. The paintings didn�t
even open their eyes.

They left Minerva�s office.

They didn�t destroy the Horcrux, but they knew where it was now. If last came to
last, they could reveal the hat�s nature to the Headmistress in order to acquire
it. But there were four more Horcruxes to find first.

That could take a while.

******************************************

A/N: Thanks for reading.

A/N/N: A reader was kind enough to point out to me that Severus no longer taught Potions in Hermione's sixth year and I made the correction, changing Potions class to Defense Against the Dark Arts class in her journal when she describes how she feels about the wizard. Thanks Christina. ****
- 15
- 16
- 17
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

A Living Secret ~ COMPLETED