Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

The Reckoning	By : Snapeoutofit Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 22043 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: All characters and settings are the creation of JK Rowling. I own nothing of Harry Potter and make no money from this story.

Chapter List
- 1-One
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
- 14-Fourteen
- 15-Fifteen
- 16-Sixteen
- 17-Seventeen
- 18-Eighteen
- 19-Nineteen
- 20-Twenty
- 21-Twenty One
- 22-Twenty Two
- 23-Twenty Three
- 24-Twenty Four
- 25-Twenty Five
- 26-Twenty Six
- 27-Twenty Seven
- 28-Twenty Eight
- 29-Twenty Nine
- 30-Thirty
- 31-Thirty One
- 32-Thirty Two
- 33-Thirty Three
- 34-Thirty Four
- 32
- 33
- 34
“Sweetheart,” Severus called from the sitting room, his silky voice bellowing through the house. “Have you seen my copy of A Practitioner’s Guide to Wandless Magic?” He was shuffling books around as he searched the shelves. Turning around to the coffee table, he picked up the copy of The Quibbler that had been left open on the table for days. Beneath it was his book.
“Never mind, I’ve found it,” he said as he sat in an adjacent wingback chair. Hermione, however, was already on her way from the kitchen to help.
“Where was it?” She asked as she sat down in the chair beside his.
“Beneath The Quibbler,” he replied without looked up.
Hermione chuckled as she picked up the magazine. She had been intentionally leaving it open and within eyesight since they received the issue in which their pregnancy announcement was printed.
She read the interview again, as she had done countless times, and smiled. Luna had replied to Hermione’s owl almost immediately and said she would love to help, but would prefer to publish an interview over a simple statement. Hermione knew this was because Luna wanted to twist the knife a little deeper when taking this jab at The Daily Prophet, so she didn’t mind. They invited Luna to their home and she published a two-page spread that included an introduction written by Luna, the short interview, and a few simple photographs.
The issue immediately became the most ever sold since long Harry was undesirable number one. Emblazoned in bold letters across the spread read the headline: HOGWARTS’ HEADMASTER AND PROFESSOR HERMIONE GRANGER-SNAPE SHARE THEIR LIFE, THEIR LOVE, AND THEIR STORY. Beneath the title was a lovely photograph of the pair smiling in their sitting room.
“I hate it,” Severus had bellowed when he first saw the issue. Truthfully, he had hated it since Luna showed up at their doorstep for the interview and commented on how quaint their home was.
“Severus,” Hermione hemmed with frustration. “This is perfect. We shoved this whole mess in the Prophet’s fac—”
“I wanted to make a simple statement. Fine print, if you will,” Severus tossed the magazine onto the kitchen counter and ran his fingers through his hair. Hermione watched him and tried to understand. Luna’s publication on the pair had been better than she had ever hoped.
“But,” he continued, “now my life is plastered all over this, this, tabloid, and” he took a steadying breath, “I don’t know how I allowed this to happen.”
Hermione understood what he meant, but ultimately, his reaction frustrated her. The story was better than fine; and it was certainly better than what The Daily Prophet would have concocted. She eyes him bitterly before taking a deep breath.
“I’m going to Harry and Ginny’s. I’ll be back by nightfall.” She turned on her heel and left before Severus had a moment to protest. He could tell by her tone that she wasn’t quite angry, but that she was refusing to have any conversation with him at the moment. She did this sometimes when she thought he was being irrational.
He stared at the door for a long while before picking up the magazine once more. He read the print and looked at her smiling face. She was right, the publication was good, but ultimately their relationship was leading him to share much more of his life than he had ever intended. He had always been a fiercely private man, and that hadn’t changed in the slightest. Now the public had eyes into his sitting room for Merlin’s sake and he hated it.
He sighed deeply before pouring himself a small measure of Firewhiskey from the cabinet. He took it in one swallow as he looked at Hermione’s smile in the photograph. She was alight in such a way that it made his knees week. She radiated off of the page.
He knew he’d need to swallow this. He was the Headmaster after all, and he knew taking the position made people interested in him. Hell, even though he hated to admit it, he knew that people had been interested in him ever since the war ended and the truth was exposed. He hated every bit of it, but that didn’t make it any less true.
He filled the glass again and took it to the very same chair in the sitting room that he occupied for the photo in the magazine. He took a sip as he sat and tried to read the article again with a less-hateful taste rolling over in his mouth.
The introduction was what turned him off in the first place. Written in first person from Luna’s perspective, it made him grind his teeth when she mentioned approaching the “quaint home” and being “welcomed to their humble sitting room.” She commented on how Hermione had set out a lovely tea service and was beaming. She said the couple “radiated love and excitement” which Severus knew was embellished. When she had arrived to conduct this process he had been anything but “radiate”. He tried to ignore the fact to accept the sentiment.
The interview was straight forward enough. That part hadn’t bothered him too much. They discussed how Hermione and Severus’ relationship developed after the war, what they love about one another, and ended with the announcement of their child. He took another sip of his drink. If nothing else, he was impressed by Luna’s talent for writing.
He hadn’t left the house to do anything more than go to the muggle shops on the corner since the issue hit newsstands. He was dreading being seen in public now that his whole life had been laid out on coffee tables across wizarding Britain. He was certain his life story was being discussed and debated in pubs and alleyways. His next visit to Diagon Alley would be a real trip, that was for certain.
He flipped the paper closed and placed it down on the table. He sighed deeply, knowing he had little else to do until Hermione came back. He finished his drink and took a book from the cluttered shelf. Returning, he settled in for an evening of reading.

That was nearly a week ago. Now that Severus has accepted the reality that the story had been read by nearly everyone, he wasn’t as bitter. He still refused to go out into wizarding public, though. Frankly, he probably would have stayed in most of the summer regardless, but Hermione decided she’d had enough of her husband’s reclusiveness. It was as if all the confidence he’d gained in the last few years had withered away and she hated it. She understood that he was having difficulty with the fact that he felt his privacy had been invaded, but ultimately she didn’t care. She had been out numerous times since the issue was released and the response she got from other witches and wizards was always positive. She was finished.
“Severus, would you have avoided your errands this long had it not been for this,” she asked rhetorically as she gestured to the open spread on the coffee table. “Because I think not.”
He put down the newly located book and eyed her carefully, but said nothing. He knew very well what to infer of her intent. He’d known she wouldn’t let him hide away in a hole forever.

She stood angrily at his lack of response and, as she did, her hip jutted to the left and her arms folded across her chest. He looked up at her over the edge of his book with concern in his eyes.

“Mr. Snape, I’d love for you to take me to dinner tonight. There is a new Italian place off Diagon Alley that looks delicious and I’ve been craving authentic pizza.” She licked her lips cartoonishly to really drive home her point.
Severus sighed. He put his mug down and stood up. Walking around the table, he stood in front of her and rubbed her shoulders lovingly. They both relaxed a little.
“Would you like to go to dinner, Hermione?”
She smiled and a blush crept across her face.
“I heard there is this new Italian place off Diagon Alley...” he continued and his face moved closer to hers; the smile widening even more.
“You truly are some devil...” she murmured in a whisper as his hands wound their way into her hair. He smirked at his own cheek before capturing her lips in a passionate kiss that left her breathless.
- 32
- 33
- 34
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Reckoning