Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Emancipation	By : BadGirlgoesworse Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 14093 -:- Recommendations : 5 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Anything recognisable does not belong to me. Story is based on the books by JKR and inspired by other writers of this genre. I do not make any money with this story.

Chapter List
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VISITS
Hermione Granger found herself suddenly awake. It was about four or five in the morning she could tell from the pale light shining through the windows. She lay on her side in her hospital bed pondering the lingering alarm that kept her from going back to sleep, or what woke her up in first place, when she saw it.
Mirrored in the glass door of a cabinet at the opposite wall was a human shaped shadow standing at a column about two beds behind her. Her heart leaped into her throat as she watched it carefully making its way towards her. Her wand was within reach on the bedside table, but there was no way she could grab it unnoticed, so she stayed as she was and feigned sleep, observing the approaching figure through half closed lids.
It seemed to be a boy about her age judging from his height, dark hair, Slytherin uniform.
Who the hell is it? Zabini? No! White skin...
He stepped into the light from the window right behind her. Theodore Nott.
Hermione did not know much about him, being rather quiet and exceedingly shy he was easy to overlook. And since he did not belong to Malfoy’s gang she had no contact with him other than sharing classes. Furthermore, she had gotten the impression that he was not quite right in the head. Not like he was retarded or something, on the contrary, he seemed intelligent and capable as a wizard, but there was something not quite normal about him nonetheless.
Socially inept... well, she was not the one to point fingers at that, but he behaved childlike at times, too childlike for a boy his age, like his development had been arrested.
Damaged...
She was old enough to come up with quite a few possible reasons for that, especially in a son of a Death Eater, and could not help but feel sorry for him at times.
He stepped closer yet again, halting at the foot of her bed and she was able to see the reflection of his face almost clearly now.
The expression Hermione was met with was beyond anything she could have ever imagined to be directed towards herself. He was looking at her like she was the embodiment of all his dreams, his deep blue eyes lit with an unearthly fire flickering with admiration, desire, sadness, anger, protectiveness and something sinister she could not identify.
“My Lady, why do you punish me with distance?”
Not able to decide if she should be afraid or fascinated she watched him reach out for her, not touching though, just running his hand over her body from foot to shoulder, only inches from her covered skin.
“Am I not worthy of your notice?”
She had to suppress a shudder, of what exactly she had no presence of mind to register.
“I’m not a Lion, it is true, but does it mean that I’m worth nothing?”
His fingertips dove lightly in to her hair, combing it with sensual slowness.
“I don’t believe you are this cruel.”
He knelt down and buried his face in her hair fanned out on the pillow, whispering passionately.
“Let me show you how much I love you,
Let me avenge you, kill those who brought you pain!
I shall not ask much in return.
I’d wish you see me! Just look at me and see me! Is this too much?”
She lay completely still, not daring to breathe until he finally rose and went away.
Hermione looked over her shoulder to make sure she was alone and sat up trembling.
Sweet Merlin and holy gods! I can’t believe it!
Scratch not quite right in his head, this boy was completely psychotic! And obviously obsessed with her as well!
She had to admit that it was actually flattering. Ron and Harry have sworn vengeance for her too, but this was someone who might make good on his word to the letter. A son of a Death Eater in love with her, a muggleborn! This was either hopelessly romantic or just further proof of how unhinged he truly was. And that was exactly where she was torn in her feelings. What should she do now? Should she do anything in the first place? What did she want?
Hermione Granger had always prided herself on being a realistic and down to earth sort of girl. She knew therefore quite well that being a bookworm and a bossy know-it-all did not raise her stakes to land a boyfriend sometime before she was old and wrinkly. Her looks had improved over the years, it was true, the teeth were now normal and the hair manageable, with the help of a few spells and potions of course, her body was not bad either. It did not change the fact though that she absolutely detested the Quidditch loving, empty-headed specimen of the opposite gender, which this school seemed to be crawling with. Harry and Neville were alright she supposed, but Harry was like a brother and Neville was with Luna now. She had checked out a couple of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, but had been disappointed even there. She had not dared to turn towards Slytherin so far.
And here was this boy, kneeling down before her, reciting poetry and all but begging her to give him a chance! Except for shyness he was very much her type, intelligent and good looking, with dark-brown hair and tall, lean physique. Love of books and learning aside, she was a hot-blooded girl, almost woman now, and bar of some snogging with Viktor never had a boyfriend before.
Fact remained though that this boy was also very much damaged goods and she had a feeling that should she get involved with him it would be for keeps, since he would never ever let her go.
She leaned back into her pillow staring up at the ceiling. The question was then, was she desperate enough to latch on to the first best one she got or should she just leave it be?
xxxoooxxx
Severus came slowly to awareness and blinked sleepily rubbing the grit out of his eyes. He could hardly remember the last time he had felt this rested, or had slept undisturbed through the night in the first place. No wonder though, since his bed seemed to be drenched in cushioning charms, as all of his sitting room furniture for that matter, ever since the bonding. He almost didn’t recognise his quarters stepping into them yesterday morning. Not that they have been dirty before, but now the very stone walls seemed to gleam with polish, not a speck of dust anywhere, not an item out of place. Even the bloody air felt clean and fresh, with a subtle smell of pine. How she knew pine was his favourite was beyond him.
He pulled his wand from under his pillow and cast a Tempus. Quarter to ten. He shot upright staring in disbelief, breakfast was nearly over and he had overslept. Overslept! For the first time since... he blinked, he could honestly not remember. Sighing heavily he moved to get up. The luminescent globes on the walls sprang into full intensity as soon as his feet touched the... He blinked and looked down. A rug, an emerald green one with tasteful silver embroidery to match his duvet. It had not been there yesterday.
He had left the floor bare, since the cold stone usually helped to wake him up in the morning. Looking around he could not see an uncovered spot anywhere. Not able to decide if this was good or bad at the moment he proceeded to his unnaturally gleaming bathroom for a well deserved shower. The state of his hair would be most likely a point of gossip in the staff room today, with it being absolutely clean due to not bending over a cauldron since the crack of dawn.
Standing under the warm spray Severus could not help but feel strangely unbalanced. The life he had known so far had been pulled forcefully from under his feet, leaving him hanging in the air only seconds from a painful impact. Admittedly, it was not what had bought on his current state, as he was quite used to that procedure, rather the fact that he was unsure if the impact was going to be painful this time.
Out of the bathroom and into a set of fresh clothes he walked into his dining room to order something to eat, only to find it arranged and waiting for him already. And not just the usual Hogwarts fare, but rather everything he actually liked and seldom got here. Severus sat down staring at it, a warmth spreading through his chest he could not quite identify, even though it felt familiar somehow.
A knock sounded through his chambers, startling him. Composing himself he stood up to answer it, the wards telling him the visitor to be Minerva.
“Good morning, Severus, you have not attended breakfast, so I decided to pay you a visit instead.”
She seemed to be apprehensive about something he could tell.
“Good morning, Minerva, as you can clearly see, I am still among the living,” he drawled in his usual fashion. “Is there anything else you wanted?”
“May I come in?”
He stepped aside and gestured for her to enter.
She moved into his sitting room stopping abruptly and taking it in with raised eyebrows, did not comment though, following him to the dining room.
“Join me?” He asked gesturing towards the table now set for two. He really loved that elf.
“Yes, thank you,” she said clearly unsettled now, taking the seat next to him and looking him and the set up over with furrowed brows.
Whatever she was thinking she had decided to keep to herself for the time being. They poured themselves tea and started on breakfast in Severus’ case.
“Albus informed me about appointing you as the next year’s Defence instructor,” she got straight to it.
Severus chose not to comment taking a careful sip instead.
“And you are just going to take it?” she burst out indignantly.
“I am in no position to refuse,” he answered calmly not looking at her.
Minerva watched him, resignation taking over. After screaming into Dumbledore’s face for half an hour she had no words left it seemed, not even to express how disappointed she was with Albus lately.
“I thought he...”
“You were wrong!” Severus cut her off glaring angrily. As was I, he thought looking away to rein himself in. He was not going to fall apart in front of her!
She looked at him full of sorrow, feeling the weight of his bitterness settle heavily on her heart. There was no telling what consequences the curse would have in his case.
Her eyes flashed angrily. This was not to be tolerated! She would never tell this to his face, but he was the son she never had and she would not let him go into danger unprotected! She called upon the forces of earth, accessible only to those who bore children.
Dana, oh Great Mother, hear my plea! Grant my son Thy blessing, as he had been without Thy touch for far too long!
Feeling the power gathering in her core she rose and stepped in front of him. Severus looked up startled when she took his face into her hands and bend down to kiss his forehead, transferring the Blessing of the Mother. Satisfied she departed without a word leaving a bewildered Severus behind, staring after her, not noticing the rune of protection disappear into his skin where her lips had touched him.
xxxoooxxx
Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna were sitting around Hermione’s bed and talking amicably about nothing of importance, which she was quite glad about, since it distracted her from thinking about the last night’s visitor. Pondering this whole mess was giving her a headache, yet she simply could not get rid of the warm feeling in her gut the memory of his smouldering eyes and his hand in her hair was giving her. Nor could she prevent that feeling from spreading lower actually, she thought fighting a blush and concentrating back on what Ron was saying.
“...seen Malfoy this morning?” he crowed in delight. “Not so cocky anymore with daddy disgraced publically and shipped off to prison, is he now!”
He was referring to the advertisement of all captured Death Eaters’ names and their sentence in the morning paper of course.
“Oh Ron, you know very well they won’t stay there long anyway,” Hermione could not help pointing out. “So, I guess it’s actually not that much of a deprivation.”
“Nonetheless,” Neville insisted. “The damage to his family’s political and social standing is quite sizable.”
Harry nodded surprising her. He did not comment though, looking distant. They talked some more about the reactions of their peers in general, until her lunch arrived via house-elf and made them take their leave for today. She didn’t really mind staying here alone, since her trunk and books were brought down for her. She actually had time now to go through all the readings she had checked out from the library ages ago, but never got to them with everything else on her mind.
Speaking of books, she thought eating her soup, she really should do some research on mental illnesses to try and get some insight into what she was dealing with in Nott. Preferably some muggle scientific publications, seeing as the wizarding world was very much behind in that particular field.
Hermione put her spoon down sighing in resignation. There it was again. She was considering it. Seriously considering it!
Just can’t make it easy for yourself, now can you, girl? Why don’t you take Ron or some other nice, stupid bloke? He and a couple of others have been making eyes at you for a while.
Speaking of the devil, the door opened and Ron sneaked inside making his way towards her.
“You’re done with lunch already?” she asked confused.
“No, I’ll go later,” he sat down in the visitor’s chair closest to her. “I needed to talk to you alone.”
She nodded and put her tray aside.
“Has Harry talked to you, about you know..?” he shifted uneasily.
He meant Sirius she supposed and shook her head.
“He hasn’t talked to me either,” he furrowed his eyebrows.
“Ron, just give him some time! It has been only four days,” she implored immediately.
“But he has talked to Neville, Hermy,” he whinged annoyed. “We are his best friends! Why the hell is he talking to Neville?”
She stared at him in disbelief. And here it was, the reason she could never be with Ron, or any other idiot for that matter. For all his impressive strategic thinking he was thick as brick more often than not and had the emotional range of a spoon to boot. Not even mentioning the fact that she absolutely HATED that nickname he had dubbed her with.
She shook her head sadly and adopted a tone she would use to explain something to a child.
“Ron, he has talked to Neville, because he’s an orphan just like himself, and is the most likely person to have even the slightest idea of what he is going through.”
“He’s not!” Ron protested vehemently. “His parents are still alive!”
Hermione closed her eyes and turned away giving up. There was no use in talking to a wall.
“I thought you’d understand,” Ron spat angrily getting up to leave.
“I do understand, Ron!” She glared at his back as he stormed out. “I understand only too well,” she whispered to herself.
Sighing she pushed the tray further away not hungry anymore. Granted, Harry was not behaving the way she had expected. He was quiet, but not sullen, rather retrospective; he was distant, but not brooding, if she didn’t know any better, she would call it calculating; and he was not depressed, calm and sad, yes, but not actually suffering. Harry had changed she could tell, for the better in many ways, but it also worried her that she might not know him anymore.
Then she would try and get to know him again, she decided. He was and always will be her first and best friend.
xxxoooxxx
Severus had been anticipating this visit the whole day actually, waving Draco into his sitting room without decorum and pouring them both a glass of wine. He could not bring himself to give him Firewhiskey, even if the situation might excuse it. They sat for a while in silence, just enjoying the opportunity to drop their masks, or Draco could at least, without fearing any consequences.
“How on earth could this have happened?” Draco finally burst out halfway through his second glass.
“Carelessness, Draco, what else,” Severus needed to tread carefully here, knowing full well a wrong move would cost him greatly. “They became too confident in their success and have underestimated Potter’s power.”
“Potter’s power,” Draco snorted disdainfully.
Oh, this was not good, Severus needed to nip that in the bud. He slammed his hand on the table between them, startling his godson violently.
“Don’t make your father’s mistakes!” He looked right into his eyes conveying the seriousness of this statement, but concealing the meaning. The boy needed to find his way on his own, whichever one that would be was now beyond Severus to decide.
Draco stared at him wide-eyed for a moment, but then turned away sighing. “I will try not to.”
Severus heart bled for him behind the mask of placidity, if only I could believe it!
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Emancipation