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Lie to me (Original)	By : EvaBrick Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 15807 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I am not making any money from this. I don't own anything related to the Harry Potter series. The characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter List
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Hermione stretched her legs out on the ancient sofa in the attic. She’d made herself a small study out of the old, discarded furniture and rugs. She’d enchanted a large plant pot to emit false flames and heat to keep the chill off. She’d also dusted off a small bookcase and put a charm on it to keep her illicit reading material private… to the casual observer, the titles were boring and useless, but once a book was pulled off the shelf, it transformed into a dark arts tome. As a final touch, she’d gone back to Hogwarts and retrieved Snape’s evil, biting book to protect her tiny library.

The only problem with her attic space was the household ghoul, who liked to turn up now and then to try to chase her out of the attic. Fortunately, the ghoul was terrified of the biting book and generally hid in the corners, glaring angrily at the witch who had dared to clean up his dusty stuff.

The attic was devoid of Christmas decorations, which suited Hermione just fine… she didn’t see how the rest of them could be so happy when Snape had been missing for over a month. Remus and Arthur had been making some attempts to look for him, but a missing death eater wasn’t high on anyone’s list of priorities, even if he was their best spy.

Hermione snorted and tossed her potions book aside to pick up another one on occlumency. Becoming a “witch” as Snape had called it was easier than she’d thought… she didn’t have to pretend to be irritated with anyone because she really was irritated with the whole lot of merry-makers two floors below. How dare they sing and eat and laugh, when an order member was quite possibly dead somewhere? Didn’t they care? She shook her head… that was just it… they didn’t. Arseholes.

There was movement near the top of the stairs but Hermione didn’t even bother to turn her head. “Don’t press my buttons, ghoul, or I’ll send the book after you again. Can’t you find some other house to haunt? Your services are clearly not required here.”

“I believe you’ve hurt its feelings, Miss Granger,” a low, silky voice said.

Hermione whipped around with her wand ready in her hand, but froze when she saw Snape standing next to a rather dejected-looking ghoul. The ghoul turned and floated slowly off through the wall, like its feelings really had been hurt. Hermione lowered her wand and hurried over to the exhausted man.

“Master Snape?” she gasped. “What happened to you?” In a sudden burst of emotion, she reached out and hugged him. After an awkward moment, his arms circled around her and she breathed him in. He smelled like fresh earth, old moss, smoky potions, and… blood. She stepped back and felt his torso all over, trying to find the injury. His coat was torn and his vest was caked in flakey, dried blood. He made no attempt to still her hands.

“It’s not mine,” he said, carefully. His eyes scanned her face as he searched for a reaction from her.

Hermione bit her lip and let her hands fall away. “What did he make you do?” she asked.

He shook his head, indicating that he wouldn’t tell her. “I was punished,” he said. “And not just for the dark mark… I haven’t provided him with anything useful in some time, so I suppose I had it coming to me.”

Hermione squinted in concentration as she tried to probe his memories with her limited occlumency skills. She’d never had anyone to practice with, so she wasn’t sure if she could do it, but then the images came. A vision of Voldemort hitting Snape with the crucio filled her mind. Then Snape was lying on the floor of a prison with rats crawling over him. Then he was standing in his prison cell, brewing a potion - he looked thin. Then she saw Snape pick up a dagger and there was screaming and so much blood.

“That’s enough,” Snape said, firmly, as his mind slammed shut and the images stopped coming. He looked down at her with the same coldness he’d shown her back at Hogwarts and then he turned and stormed down the attic stairs.

*****

Snape sank down in the hot bathwater with a hiss of pain. The dried blood left his skin and made the water pink. “Scourgify,” he mumbled, and suddenly the water was clear again. Years of teaching potions had made that wandless spell a necessity.

He grunted and sank deeper in the water. He was getting to old for this. He was too old to take the beatings, too old to play both sides of the field, and too old to waste so much time avoiding his pretty apprentice. He’d left before any anger or pity could appear on her face and he’d avoided her at dinner and after the order meeting. He didn’t need the tears, the lecture, or the out-and-out rejection. He snorted and shut his eyes. Maybe now the little fool would understand how terrible a dark arts potion was.

“Master Snape?”

Severus sat bolt upright in the water and reached for his wand. He cursed as he saw it resting on the edge of the sink, just out of his reach. He really was getting too old for this. The air in the corner seemed to move - a disillusioned person was hiding there.

“I’m not looking,” Hermione said. “I just wanted to give you a healing potion.”

“Merlin’s left nut,” Snape grumbled. “Did you have to hide in the bathroom to give it to me?”

“Well, you wouldn’t speak to me, so how else was I to do it?” she said, irritably. She let out an exasperated sigh and added, “Finite incantatum.” The shimmering air vanished and she appeared in front of him with one hand firmly over her eyes. “Here,” she said, as she held out a purple potion in her other hand.

The water sloshed as Snape leaned out of the tub and took it from her. Her spare hand moved to cover the first that was over her eyes and she moved carefully toward the door. “I’ll leave you to it, then,” she said.

Snape uncorked the little bottle and smelled the potion. “This is provita sanguine, he said, incredulously. He poured it into the bath and watched it turn white and start to foam. “This is a very complex potion, Hermione.”

She paused by the door. “I know,” she said. “I’ve been practicing it… in my secret place. I have a whole cauldron of the stuff in stasis.”

Snape lifted his arm out of the water and watched the scratch marks fade away. The sacrifice had fought hard. “Where did you get the virgin’s blood?” he asked. “Miss Weasley? Poppy was always after me to make this for the school, but finding an adult virgin was always a problem.”

“Uh… It’s mine, Master Snape.”

“Really?” he said. “I had my money on that Bulgarian twit. Minerva was going out of her way to see that you got lots of detentions and extra work because she was afraid that her star pupil would wind up… in the club.”

Hermione snorted and Snape turned to look at the young woman who still had both hands clapped firmly over her eyes. The foam had covered everything but his head and shoulders so he wasn’t particularly concerned with her seeing anything. “I’m decent, if you want to open your eyes,” he said.

Hermione hesitated, then moved her hands away. She blinked in the light for a moment, then sat down on the laundry hamper. “Krum was too pushy,” she said. “It scared me, to be honest.”

Snape sighed as the hot water took some of the stiffness out of his sore back. “Young men can be very impatient… most girls will usually give in to it.”

“Not me,” Hermione snorted.

“Not I,” Snape corrected absently. He shut his eyes for a moment… he was so tired.

“Not I,” Hermione whispered. She stood up and walked to the door. “Come up to the attic when you’re done. I need to know how to collect pixie dust.” With a flick of her wand, she disillusioned herself. The door opened, then closed as she left.

*****

Hermione sat up when she heard Severus’s familiar footfalls on the attic stairs. The senior order members had decided to call a last-minute meeting and she’d been waiting for him for hours. It annoyed her to no end that they wouldn’t let Snape rest when he was so visibly exhausted. most of them had spent the day at Christmas parties, whereas he had actually worked and suffered.

“Don’t you ever sleep?” she asked, as he approached.

Snape flopped down on her couch and stretched his legs out as she often did. “Occasionally,” he muttered. “Where’s your ghoul?”

Hermione smirked and sat in a nearby chair. “We had a talk. He’s haunting my secret place now. I think he’s quite happy about it, actually, and so am I… he’s like a guard dog.”

Severus chuckled and shook his head. “Smart girl. Although it’s too bad that he won’t be here to keep your friends out of the attic.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and snorted - she’d been practicing the move for a while now and had it nearly right. “They don’t need to know he isn’t here,” she said. “Besides… they’ve been giving me lots of space lately.”

“You don’t smell like you’ve stopped bathing,” Severus mumbled. He sounded like he was falling asleep.

“I will never stop bathing,” Hermione giggled. “But I’ve been getting gradually more disagreeable lately and I’ve been out with Liam a lot.” She watched Severus’s chest rise and fall and wondered if he’d actually dozed off. Her eyes ran down his chest, groin, and legs - he’d definitely lost weight. When she looked back to his face, she was surprised to see two dark eyes looking back into hers.

“I hope it’s just a mask and that you’re not really getting bitter,” he said. “Don’t wind up like me, Hermione.” They held each other’s gaze for a few long moments and then he said, “Pixies are mean and dangerous. They only appear on the night of the full moon in meadows with wildflowers. You have to get the dust in the first minute after midnight.”

“Where can I find them?” Hermione asked.

Snape frowned. “There are more werewolves around that the senior members of the order want you to know, Miss Granger. It’s too dangerous for you.”

Hermione matched his frown and crossed her arms. “They should include us in those meetings.”

“Yes,” Snape agreed, much to her surprise. “Why haven’t you found a way to listen in? You won’t make much of a spy if you can’t figure something simple like that out.”

“What makes you think I haven’t?” Hermione smiled sweetly and sat back in her chair. “Now tell me where can I find pixies.
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Lie to me (Original)