Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Days of Future Past : Edited & Complete 11/20/11	By : Remarkable Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 12304 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I own nothing pertaining to the Harry Potter fandom or its affiliates. No monetary gain is acquired by the publication of this work of fiction.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Severus came home well after dark. It had been a very long day and he was tired and irritated. Although he wasn't expecting a doting wife or a hot dinner, he at least expected to see her curled up in the lounge next to the fire with a book from his personal library. There were many favorites amongst the stacks she adored and was her nightly routine to revisit her old, leather-bound friends.

The lounge was cold and dark. Thinking she may have retired early, he shrugged and nuked a couple of pork pies before heading up the stairs with a bottle of Firewhiskey under one arm and the steaming hot pork pies in the other.

"Hermione?" he called, kicking open the door to the bedroom. "Hermione, you didn't clean the kitchen like you were supposed to, Lucius Malfoy is going to drop by to discuss the merger and-"

The empty, unmade bed greeted his glittering black eyes after a muttered, 'Lumos.'

Worry wasn't the first emotion to strike at his heart. It was rage; uncontrolled, dark and dangerous, obsessive jealousy. If she wasn't in the lounge, and not in his bed, than she was someplace she shouldn't be, and his overactive imagination went riot with the image of her in another man's arms, thrusting into her, kissing her- his wife!- and she screaming his name instead of her husband's.

Abandoning the food and drink on the bedside table, he gripped his wand and strode determinedly through the house, searching the grounds thoroughly as well. She was nowhere to be found. Severus blasted a rose bush in his only neighbor's yard. The do-gooders were always asking after him and had been immensely meddlesome in the past year. It was bad enough he had to work with Mr. Spaniel now, with the merger, but his wife Mandy was his new boss. It pissed him off to no end and taking his rage out on them by blasting their roses eased it just that tiny bit to allow him to think.

He stalked up the steps to his home and caught a glimpse of parchment sticking out from under the rug on the front porch. Picking it up, he saw it was addressed to him in Hermione's lovely, flowing manuscript. He sneered and snapped the sheet open, its crisp vellum soothing beneath his worn, calloused fingertips.

Dearest Severus,

By now you have come home and found me gone. You've undoubtedly cursed me and imagined the worst. Rest assured I am safe, not that I feel as if you care anymore, but will be staying indefinitely at Malfoy Manor in Narcissa's guest quarters. She's been very kind to me over the years and is one of the only true friends you've allowed me to stay in touch with.

I believe it is in both of our best interests to spend some time apart. There was a time when I believed that you truly loved me. I haven't seen nor felt that love in a very long time. The man I once fell in love with has turned into a bitter, sarcastic and cold man that loves no one but himself. I understand your need for privacy, but your need to put up this façade with your own wife has broken my heart.

I cannot live with a man that does not appreciate what is right in front of him. I love you Severus Snape, and as much as I want to be your wife, I refuse to give everything to a one-sided marriage when my own husband cannot even return the simplest of courtesies or affections.

You have one month to decide if you wish to reconcile. Over the course of the month I expect you to court me properly and show real progress in pursuit of dealing with your emotions. I don't know you anymore. If you decide you'd rather dissolve our marriage my signature is already on file at the Ministry. All you have to do is put your name to the decree and everything will revert back to you. As this is what I am expecting you to do anyway, I have erased my magical signature from the wards and settled our joint account at Madame Malkin's and Slug and Jitters. You'll find the receipts in your desk drawer, top left. Password is Bezoar.

I wish you every happiness, Severus. I will never stop loving you.

Most Sincerely,

Hermione Granger-Snape

Crumpling the piece of parchment in one hand, he ignited it and let it fall to the pavement and burn out. He pulled his legs up the stairs and sat on the same edge of the bed where Hermione had cried. He opened the bottle of Firewhiskey, skipping his meal, and promptly drank the contents until the bottle was empty. When the last drop hit his tongue, the bottle clattered to the floor and shattered as Severus passed out cold across the rumpled, dirty sheets.

x x x x x

Severus reported for his first day of work at the new headquarters for the combined venture. Going from being his own boss to working under one was aggravating, not to mention infuriating that Lucius hadn't told him that not only was his neighbor Dan Spaniel going to be his brewing partner, but the man's wife was in charge of Lucius' portion of the enterprise. Holding the larger share of the company, that made her his boss.

He was determined to forget about his shattered marriage and concentrate on his true passion; potions. Severus planned to take note of the stores and bring some of the more potent potions home with him so he didn't have to face the emptiness of the house in a sober frame of mind.

"Severus! Good morning!" greeted the tall, blond-haired and blue-eyed Dan. The man was everything Severus was not; handsome, rugged, chipper, outgoing. It was no wonder then he had attracted a vivacious, pretty young wife about Hermione's age with the brains to match. He was sure that if he had allowed it, his own wife and Mandy would have become fast friends.

Severus didn't answer and walked right by the man's extended hand. He had no intention of becoming friendly. Business was business and that was all he was concerned with.

"Shall we?" he indicated impatiently. "There's a full day's work to be done, and you've already wasted five minutes of it with your useless drivel."

Hardening his face, Dan turned his back on the greasy git and went to his own side of the spacious, meticulous and finely equipped lab.

Smirking to himself, Severus set to work on his own orders and soon lost himself in the swirling colors, fumes and science of the art that was potions making.

So his days went by in a blur. During the day he worked in tense silence with Dan Spaniel and at night he took potions that took his mind away to places where he didn't need to think or remember anything about his life. He neglected his appearance and forgot to eat. After a week of the declining hygiene and worsening temper, Snape was surprised when Mandy pulled him aside from his work in the middle of a delicate potion.

"What is the meaning of this, witch?" he snarled. "Don't you realize that if I'm interrupted during this stage of the process it will ruin an entire week's worth of work?"

Mandy's pouty lips pursed with irritation. "Dan can handle it. He is a Potions master as well, Severus."

Jaw aching to hold back a scathing retort, he followed the slim woman into her office.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Snape?" She rounded on him as soon as the door was shut, throwing up a warding and silencing spell for good measure.

"I am sure I have no idea what you are referring to, Madam," he replied tightly, body ram-rod straight, shoulders aching and fists clenched at his sides.

"Drop the act. Everyone knows you're a fucking bastard, but I know there's a brilliant professional beneath your crusty exterior. You're not doing yourself any favors by coming in here trying to stink us out of the office. Besides, even you should know that by not bathing you risk tainting the product."

All he could do was stare in shock at the feisty little witch. How the pushover of a partner he had, could put up with her vicious tongue, was beyond him.

No one stood up to Severus Snape. They either ran in terror, held their tongue or got out of his way, which was exactly the way he liked it.

Hands on her hips, she continued to stare him down. He could snap her neck with one hand, yet the bitch had some nerve thinking she had any business prying into his personal life.

"I will remedy the problem concerning my personal hygiene immediately, Madam, but any other topic not concerning the business is strictly off limits." It was costing him a great deal of mental anguish not to bite her head off for impertinence.

"Very well, but if you continue to act like a total asshole around my husband you'll be answering to your business partner instead of me, and trust me when I say Lucius has my back on this one." Looking smug, she turned her back to him and began ruffling through correspondence on her desk, absently petting her personal tawny owl perched next it.

"You're dismissed," she waved vaguely.

Sneering at her back, he gave her the two-fingered salute before returning to his duties.

By the middle of the following week, even though his personal hygiene was in compliance and clothing up to dress code standard, Snape's behavior was worse than ever. His constant berating of Dan had become a tiresome affair for Mandy and she wasn't putting up with it anymore.

Calling both of them into her office, she slammed the door with magic so hard it nearly went through the other side.

"What the fuck is your problem, Snape?" she yelled, past the point of endurance with the man. What Lucius Malfoy had seen in this fucker to be friends with the pathetic excuse for a man all these years was beyond her. She still couldn't believe what such a sweet witch as Hermione had seen in him before marrying the evil git.

"Such language coming from a pretty little mouth, so uncouth," Snape sneered, baiting her. He didn't give a flying fuck what she thought about him. It wasn't as if she could actually fire him. Arms crossed, he raised one eyebrow to see what she would do next.

He wasn't expecting a left hook from Dan that sent him sprawling.

Panting harshly, hand shaking, the mild-mannered wizard stood above Snape with a split set of knuckles and a very satisfied look on his face. "Gods that felt good," he panted. "I've been dying to sock it to you from the first day you walked through that door."

Mandy merely raised her own brow in return, sending Snape back a mock two-fingered salute. "You get back what you dish out, Snape. You made the rules, not us."

Touching his bottom lip, his fingers came away bloody. Wiping them on his robes, he slowly stood and righted himself, smoothly his robes while addressing the pair. "Now that the childish antics are out of the way, can we discuss this like reasonable adults?"

Mandy turned to her husband, eyes wide with disbelief. "NOW he wants to talk shop," she gestured incredulously. "Well, wonders never cease."

Freshly irritated, Snape tapped his fingers against the palm of his other hand. "What do you want, witch, and be quick about it. I've got potions to brew."

With a sigh, she gestured the two men to sit and she took her seat behind her desk.

"I want you to tell me what the problem is you have with Dan. You've been nothing but horrid to him since the day you walked through that door. If you are unwilling to discuss the issue I will have no choice but to reprimand you and place you on mandatory probation, effectively reducing your shares in the company to twenty percent for the duration."

"Twenty percent!" he roared, on his feet once more. "But I own forty percent of the company! You can't do that!"

"Oh, but I can, Severus," she replied calmly, handing over a neatly prepared portfolio. "It's all right there in the fine print. Any wizard venturing into a partnership under the guise of employee relinquishes the right as to the hiring of personnel, disciplinary action and subsequent consequences of said action. When you gave Mr. Malfoy the right to be your employer, and by extension, myself, you forfeited any decision concerning how this place is run save potion secrecy clauses, any alterations or improvements to said potions and how they are marketed. In effect, Mr. Snape, you are an employee the same as Dan, thus, you are hereby censured for your actions. If I do not see improvement in your behavior over the next three weeks I will be forced to terminate your employment with the company and reduce your rights to ten percent share, no voting privileges with the board and royalty income only. Do I make myself clear?"

Gripping the edge of her desk tightly while doing his best to tower over her and glower his hatred at her, he answered her with the only word that came to mind that wouldn't get him pushed out the door right then and there. "Crystal."

"Good. Back to work then." She smiled sweetly at him as he whirled to leave, his robes billowing as he stalked out the door.

"Oh, and Severus?" she called out after him. He stopped in his tracks without turning. "Do be a good boy and finish up the Longbottom account today. Luna's having her baby soon and they need an extra batch of prenatal supplement and revitalizing solution."

Inclining his head to the side, he continued on to the lab and disappeared to the other side of the wall where he wasn't in her line of sight.

Dan sighed. "Do you think that'll keep him in line?"

Mandy sat back in her chair and shook her head. "Not for long, I'm afraid. Not for long."

Indeed, it was only the following Monday before he was in Mandy's office again, shouting at the top of his lungs at her, telling her what a worthless, rotten, conniving evil bitch she was and that she wasn't going to be given the satisfaction of firing him, because he quit.

Face red, pulse in his neck throbbing violently, Mandy was sure that if his blood pressure rose any higher he was going to suffer either a heart attack or an aneurysm. Either way, it was sure to be an improvement over his present frame of mind.

Her current problem was that he had called her bluff. There was no way they could lose his brewing capabilities. The company would be behind and bankrupt within a month if they lost him. There was also no such clause in the contract. Mr. Malfoy had simply given her free rein to deal with Snape's temper as she saw fit, and she had taken advantage of it. She hadn't been sorted into Slytherin for nothing, despite having married a Hufflepuff man.

Palms open and upturned on her desk, she sounded resigned when she finally spoke, as he was clearly waiting for her response.

"Look, Snape. I admit. What I told you was a load of shit."

He smirked and backed away from her desk a few steps. "That's what I thought. Nice try, Mrs. Spaniel, but next time you might want to try not averting your eyes when you tell a lie."

Lucius had been right. Snape was a piece of work and she would have a hard time competing with a spy of twenty years. Maybe she was going about this the wrong way.

Taking a deep breath, she came out from around her desk and leaned against the edge. She would appeal to the egotistical bastard in him to come to a compromise. It was the ace in her sleeve and she had no other ideas on how to deal with this impossible enigma named Severus Snape.

"We both know you're the best in the business, Severus," she said softly, toying with the end of her long hair.

Severus' eyes flickered from her eyes to her fingers and back to her gaze once more. "I'm listening," he replied tersely.

"I suggest a compromise. I will appeal to Lucius for separate labs. Dan will be given his own accounts, and you will be given yours. As senior brewer, you get first pick of accounts with my say as final, and you can pick your own hours and suppliers."

A gleam appeared in his deep, fathomless black eyes as she continued speaking.

"You leave Dan alone and bring any problems to me. I am his wife, I will deal with him. He's been screwing up because you're up his arse all day, every day."

She ignored his knowing smirk.

"As long as you keep up with your accounts, you stay out of his hair and he'll stay out of yours. In exchange I want you to be respectful at all times. Barring that, at least keep your negativity to yourself. Agreed?"

"I can live with that," he said slowly, fingers caressing the five o'clock shadow on his chin. "But there's one thing I've always wondered."

Having noticed the change in his countenance, she inhaled sharply when he stepped in close to her, far past where the personal boundary was normally drawn. His lips mere inches from her own, he studied her with those intense, pooling black eyes that glittered like a hawk in search of prey. "What is that?" she whispered breathlessly, captivated by his sudden closeness and intensity. Now she could understand what drew Hermione to him. If this was how he seduced women, then Merlin help the witch within his grasp. Like her. Oh boy.

Lowering his lips to hers, he mouthed the answer against them, his voice pitched so low she almost didn't hear them. "I've always wanted to know what that delectable, filthy mouth tasted like for myself, just…. This…. Once…"

Drawing out the last three words, he closed the tiny gap separating their bodies and crushed her to him in a captivating, spine-tingling, bone-chilling kiss that sent heat pooling in her abdomen and wetting her knickers in the span of several heartbeats. The passion he poured into the kiss was nothing she'd ever felt before and knew she'd never feel again. Never wanted to feel again. She loved her husband. Her husband!

Pressing her hands into his chest, she pushed against him futilely while he continued to plunder her mouth.

"No, Mandy. Don't push me away. You want this, I know you do. I've seen the way you look at me."

He trailed kisses down her neck and collarbone, one hand caressing the curve of her waist, the other groping her ripe, round bum where it was pressed into the desk. His erection pressed against her urgently, hot and hard even through their combined clothing.

"No, no!" she cried, beginning to strike him with force. She dug around at her side for her wand but his hand captured hers and brought both her wrists above her head. With a wandless incantation he had her suspended lightly from the ceiling.

"What- what are you doing?" she asked, now just a tiny bit frightened. He really was a loose cannon. Maybe she had been wrong to push him so far in the past. Another tiny part of her wanted to find out what he had in store for her, but she knew she could never act on it willingly.

"Let me go this instant, or I'll- I'll"

"You'll what? Call for your husband? He's left for the day. I took over his last project." Seeing her startled gasp made him chuckle. The bitch was going to pay for thinking she was better than him. Just as he'd make Hermione pay when he found her.

"Fine. You want to play dirty, Snape? I can play dirty."

Caught off guard, he was completely unprepared when she squinted and whispered a wandless, "Legilimens!"

Every wall he had ever erected to protect his secrets were torn down in the face of this powerful witch. If he had thought himself the most powerful Legilimens alive at this point in time he was proven dreadfully wrong. Mandy tore through his mind like a child through a mess of candy floss at a carnival. His miserable childhood flashed before his eyes, every sordid detail replayed in stereo, culminating in his father stabbing him in the back for defending his mother and culminating in Snape's murder of the psychopathic bastard. The subsequent betrayal of his mother by taking her own life when he was but fifteen. The taunting of the Marauders. His oath to the Dark Lord, and then to Dumbledore. His many years as a spy and hated teacher, living and wallowing in his own misery and misguided sense of justice.

And Lily. She saw his Lily and the cross he still bore concerning her death and self-blame for it. How he took it all out on the woman who really held his heart; Hermione. His brilliant, fearsome, vivacious, beautiful, one-of-a-kind Hermione. The one who had seen through all of his defenses and wormed her way into his heart. His heart beat for her, every breath he took was for her; in the beginning. Time wore on and he had allowed the days of the future to begin to recede into those of the past. As if in a trance, he was living his life in much the same way his own father had, minus the child and most of the violence. He had begun to pine for the innocence of his youth, letting the anger and hatred for all those that had done him wrong, consume him. He began to take Hermione for granted and push her away; taking away his trust and affection, the good times they had shared quickly becoming a thing of the past. And so he also, day by torturous day, pushed her away as his behavior and attitude grew worse until he no longer recognized the woman he had married as she became a hollow shell of herself, wilting under the self-sacrifices she bore him in the name of love. And in her eyes, seen through the eyes of another, his heart shattered into a million pieces when he at last saw what he should have seen the day she left; the resignation and hopelessness in her eyes. She had given up on him, almost, and here he was having a pissing contest with a human being half his size, wasting the only chance he had to save his marriage and connection to the one person who truly loved him. Just like he did when he was a Death Eater.

Like a rubber band snapping into place she released him from the unwanted invasion. Erection long forgotten and gone, Severus just stood there, knees weak and trembling, head aching and mind spinning a million miles a minute before he muttered, releasing Mandy from the confines he had placed her in. Somehow, he knew that it had all been for show. If she had wanted, the witch probably could have not only have freed herself but blasted him to kingdom come as well. If this little display was any indication, her powers probably rivaled Hermione's in nature and he had severely underestimated her. It was no wonder Lucius snapped her up for the job; the man had an eye for talent.

With newfound respect in his heart and more than a little embarrassment at the predicament, Snape muttered like a recalcitrant first year, "My apologies, Madam. I trust….. under the circumstances we can keep this little incident between us?"

Mandy crossed her arms and sighed. "She loves you, you know."

"What?" was all he could say. "What?"

"I said, she loves you. Hermione loves you. You're a fool if you don't think I didn't know about this from the very beginning."

"Of course you did," Severus said, shaking his head.

"Go to her. Tell her you love her."

"I can't do that!" he protested. "If I tell her I love her she'll know!"

"That's the point you lousy git!" she yelled. "Go and fucking tell her you love her already and end this misery for the both of you. Jesus fucking Christ how thick can you be, man?"

"I can't tell her I love her because she'll never believe me," he said sadly, turning away so she wouldn't see his eyes mist over. A small hand on his shoulder made him close his eyes, reminding him of someone else who should've been the one comforting him but for his dastardly attitude toward life.

"Go to her. I'll back you up. If she doesn't believe you, know that I know the truth and I won't let you down. Alright?"

Nodding so as not to reveal the frog that had commandeered his throat, Severus patted her hand and shuffled back to the lab to finish his potions for the day and go home to ponder what his next move should be.
- 1
- 2
- 3
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

Days of Future Past : Edited & Complete 11/20/11