Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Broken Dreams	By : onecelestialbeing Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 34536 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 13
Disclaimer: I make no money from this story, own nothing of Harry Potter, haven't met any of the people (except Alan Rickman and sadly that was brief)

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
"So have you two tossers decided that you know us again?" Hermione asked, looking across at her two friends.

They hadn't been at the Three Broomsticks for all of five minutes when she soundly lit into Harry and Ron.

"Sorry, Hermione," Ron told her looking slightly shamefaced. "They keep us bleeding busy with the Auror training. We've barely a moment to ourselves."

"That's a piss poor excuse and you know it," she snapped.

"You're right, Hermione. We could have done a better job at staying in touch," Harry conceded.

"Yes, well," she muttered, peering down into her butterbeer.

"Harry Potter, your head is still full of Wrackspurts," Luna said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Four pairs of eyes turned to look at the serene blonde witch, who was busy slurping the foam off the top of her butterbeer.

"Really, Luna? Thanks for telling me," Harry replied politely.

Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Harry muffled their snickers behind cupped hands. Even though they were accustomed to the random things that came from Luna's mouth, they never failed to be amused.

"So Hermione, how are things with the old Slug?" Ron asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes, taking a large gulp of her drink before speaking. "A right nightmare," she replied with a groan. "Either the man disappears for hours, or he's so deep in his cups that he doesn't know his arse from his elbow."

"Not much difference there," Harry said with a smirk.

The atmosphere at the table had been anything but easy. Luna was being Luna; peering around nonchalantly and absorbed in her own little word. However, it was clear that there was unspoken tension between the other four occupants.

Hermione idly played with the handle on her mug, unsure of what to say. It had been some time since she'd been able to have a proper chat with Harry and Ron. When they'd come for her mum's funeral the day was stressed, and both boys clearly felt awkward and out of place, not knowing just what to say to their friend.

Their butterbeers were finished in an uncomfortable silence, and the group stepped out of the Three Broomsticks and into the frigid air.

Harry and Ginny had gone off ahead for a bit of privacy, leaving behind Hermione, Ron and Luna.

"I dunno why my sister is giving Harry a hard time," Ron said conversationally, looking ahead at the two who appeared to be deep in heated conversation.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out where Ron was going. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I don't know why she has to go round with other blokes," he answered. "It's not right."

"You cannot be serious. First you didn't want them to date, and now you do?"

"Well…it's different now," he went on, sounding unrepentant. "People know who me and Harry are. How does it look to have my own sister blowing him off?"

"Ronald, I swear your middle name should be 'hypocrite' instead of 'Bilius'," Hermione snapped. "So what do you expect, Ginny to sit around like a good little witch while Harry decides if he fancies her or not?"

"I suppose."

"You know what I think? I think you've taken one too many Bludgers to the head if you honestly believe that drivel."

"Well, it's not right," Ron grumbled, refusing to see reason. "We saw her with that bloke, and I'm telling you, it doesn't look right."

"You and Harry need to grow the hell up," Hermione shot back, turning away from Ron. "I'm not discussing this anymore with you, so you might as well change the subject."

"All right," he conceded. "You and I should go out some weekend, you know, just the two of us."

"What for?" she pointedly asked, noticing the faintest flush appear on the tips of Ron's ears. Right before leaving for Auror training he hadn't wanted to be bothered with her, and she wondered what suddenly changed.

"Dunno. Suppose we could catch up for old time's sake."

Hermione inwardly floundered for a moment, unsure if she should agree. Furtively looking over at Luna, she found the young witch perched on a bench, reading an issue of the Quibbler, surprisingly holding the magazine the right way up.

"All right, sure," she said after a while.

Hermione half-heartedly listened to Ron saying that he'd owl her to find out what day they'd meet. Just then, Harry and Ginny walked back over, both of them bearing less than cheerful expressions on their faces.

"Ready to go?" Harry ask Ron, a forced smile on his face.

"No matter, I need to get back and study," Ginny said to no one in particular.

After terse goodbyes were exchanged, the girls headed off back to the school, Hermione unable to notice that Ginny didn't turn back to look at Harry.

"I suppose you're going to ask me what that was about," she finally said.

"No," Hermione answered honestly. "I figure if you want to tell me you will. Although, you know your brother has a big mouth."

"It'll be okay, Ginny," Luna told her reassuringly.

"Thanks, Luna," she replied stiffly. "And if it's not, then, oh well. I don't give a damn if he was the Chosen One. I refuse to cater to his every passing fancy," Ginny continued in a sour voice.

"Well, if it means anything to you, when Ron tried to complain about it I told him off," Hermione offered. "He finally shut up, and then he said that he and I should go out-alone."

"Really?" Ginny asked in disbelief, her eyebrows knitted together.

Hermione threw up one hand, throwing the redhead a dubious glance.

"Well, it's only natural for people to want what's not readily accessible to them," Luna said from between the two, making Ginny and Hermione nearly stop walking to look at her.

"You know, she has a point," Ginny said.

"Yes, well...maybe," Hermione grumbled, thinking about when she'd boldly kissed a certain dark haired wizard only for him to send her away. "Do you need help studying for your N.E.W.T.s? I've a few hours free."

"Yeah, I might as well, while you have the time. Who knows? Slughorn might take the entire week off and have you teaching all of his classes," she jeered with a grin.

Hermione had told Ginny about being left alone in the classroom, omitting how she'd cried in front of the headmaster a few hours after.

"Oh, don't remind me!" She still hadn't gotten over being chastised as a result of his poor judgment. Still, she'd been thankful for the harsh advice Snape had given, and made sure to be extra vigilant in the upcoming week.

Once the three were tucked away in Hermione's room, they sat curled up on her floor not far from the hearth, surrounded by a books, scraps of parchment, and a tea tray.

Ginny and Luna had their wands out, practicing Charms with one another. Hermione had her head buried in a sheaf of parchment, trying to discern half of the Potion Master's squiggly handwriting.

After having received a sound verbal lashing from his predecessor, she'd hunted down Slughorn and forced him to hand over his weekly lesson plan, which she duplicated with her wand. She positively refused to be cornered off and chastised by the headmaster again.

Thinking about Severus instantly made her rehash their shared, heated kiss in the abandoned laboratory. She'd only kissed two boys before - Viktor Krum and Ron - and neither made her feel so much as an inkling that she felt when Severus captured her lips with his.

His scent lingered in her shirt for another day, and she was mournful to send it down to the laundry. It hadn't mattered that he'd aggressively shoved her against the wall before planting his hot, open mouth on her neck. The memory alone was enough to make her breath short and the area between her legs feel prickly.

Hermione was still at a loss as to why she'd been bold or, one could possibly argue, crazy enough to kiss the dark wizard. His mood wasn't actually mercurial. There was no denying that Snape was nearly always surly and unyielding.

Nevertheless, Hermione had a niggling feeling that there was a reason for her sudden gravitation towards the man. After all, she was a Virgo and everything in her world had to make sense.

Another week passed by, with Hermione dashing about collecting ingredients, working on her own projects, and as she'd foreseen, overlooking Slughorn's classes.

Deeming the man useful as a lump on a log, she'd personally checked on each student's work in the classrooms, desperately wishing to avoid any catastrophes. She'd caught a second year adding too much belladonna to his cauldron, and then later that day, a sixth year Slytherin leisurely dumping in porcupine quills with his cauldron still over the flame.

Hermione had to run over and put out the fire, yelling for the students to move out of the way right before the cauldron exploded. At her wit's end, she'd given the young man an extra assignment on the care and handling volatile ingredients in the laboratory.

She was trying to catch her breath when the dismissal bell rang, overhearing the student mutter to his friend that she was as bad as their former Potion's professor.

Hermione bristled at the comment but found that she didn't care all that much. Had a student become injured she would have had to explain just how it happened, and then send an owl to their parents.

Already having enough experiences with Slytherin students to last a lifetime, Hermione knew that if the daft boy named Liam had blown his fingers off, she would have been blamed for his negligence.

Friday evening, Hermione found herself desperate for some quiet time and slid off to the library after dinner. Madam Pince shot her an annoyed look when she pulled out dusty, old tomes that were nearly half her height and stacked them on her favorite table.

Hermione had to reassure the miserly old woman that she was not a student out after curfew before she was finally left alone.

Nearly two hours into her perusal, the dour librarian returned, indelicately hinting that she was leaving for the evening.

"I can lock up when I leave," Hermione told her, closing one book and pulling over another, sending up a cloud of dust. "I'm still trying to find-"

"Young lady, it is of no concern of me. I am locking up and that is final."

Hermione opened her mouth to protest when none other than the headmaster walked in.

"Is there a problem?" he asked archly, peering at the puffed up elderly witch.

"Yes there is, headmaster," she snapped. "Not only does this insolent young lady refuse to leave, but she must have mistaken my library for a dormitory! I will not have anyone sleeping in here."

Hermione fought the urge to roll her eyes, yet closed the new book and added it back to her stack. "Well at the very least, may I leave them here and come back for them tomorrow?" she asked.

"Absolutely not!" Madam Pince said soundly completely affronted as if Hermione suggested starting a bonfire with the tomes. "You will put them back where you found then and then take your leave!"

"Go on, Miss Granger," she heard Severus urge from behind her.

Pushing her chair back with more force than necessary, Hermione gathered up the pile of books and returned them to their original place. Retrieving her belongings from the table, she walked to the door of the library and found Madam Pince waiting there with a pinched face, along with the headmaster.

The elderly witch waved her wand with a flourish, shutting off all the lights in the library before turning and haughtily walking away.

"I wasn't finished!" Hermione groused, thinking about the two other books she hadn't made her way to.

"No matter. You weren't going to find what you were looking for," Severus told her, already walking down the hall. "Now come along."

"What am I going to do now? Slughorn gave me that assignment and I'm not nearly-" she griped.

"Last I checked, I spoke English and not Gobbledegook," he replied without sparing Hermione a glance.

'Why did I even bother?' Hermione asked herself, pausing to yank her cloak over her shoulders. She'd gotten overheated in the library from casting a warming charm over her work area, but now that they were in the drafty corridors the chilly air make her break out into goosebumps.

"By all means, Miss Granger, feel free to move at a glacial pace," Severus continued when he noticed that she'd stopped walking.

Both eyebrows raised high up on her forehead, Hermione followed behind the headmaster, trying to not step on his trailing black robes.

On their way through the dim castle, Severus managed to find two Gryffindor students snogging behind a suit of armor. He'd taken points and gave them both detention before sending them off to their dormitories.

"They would have to be in my house," Hermione mumbled under her breath. She hadn't even noticed the students as they must've heard the approaching footsteps and silenced themselves, but their stealth hadn't been missed by the headmaster.

"At least when you skulked about at night, it was to sneak tomes out of the restricted section," Severus told her.

Hermione laughed under her breath, remembering that the man missed nothing. "Yes, well it was unlikely that I'd be sneaking around for a snog," she said. "I'm the one everyone came to as a last resort for homework, not midnight trysts in an alcove."

If Severus picked up on her self-deprecation, he didn't respond to it.

Docilely following behind the headmaster, the two soon arrived at his office. Hermione was surprised when he led her inside, directing her to his sitting room. Remembering what happened last time, she took painstaking care to not annoy the wizard.

"Here," Severus said, walking away from his overflowing bookshelf to push a tatty looking tome on the table in front of her. "I think you'll find this more suitable for your work."

Wordlessly looking up at the professor and back down to the book, she eagerly flipped open the pages, pausing when she found the material she'd been searching for.

"Thank you," Hermione said quietly, pulling the book onto her lap and slowly poring over each page.

"You're welcome to stay here and use it quietly, as well as anything else on the first two shelves," Severus continued, gesturing to the books lining the wall opposite them.

Nodding her head in comprehension, Hermione curled up on the sofa, tucking her cloak around her legs.

Slughorn had given her research on another obscure potion, one that she hadn't been able to find much information on. She scoured his books as well as many in the library, her last resort being the few that she'd been forced to put away before reading by Madam Pince.

Hermione wondered why it didn't dawn on her to ask Severus for his succor, then remembered their last two meetings.

Slightly lifting her head, she saw Severus sitting across from her, also reading. It nearly reminded her of the two sitting in living room, both engrossed in their respective books.

Severus wanted to laugh to himself when he noticed Hermione furtively glancing in his direction. Stealth had never been her forte, and it amused him to say the least.

His brief assessment was much less conspicuous than the young witch's. Hermione was paying rapt attention to the book he'd lent, chewing on her bottom lip with the tome balanced on cloak covered knees.

It had been difficult to not think about the young witch on a regular basis, but after that night in the laboratory it had proved damn near impossible. Going to her room in the middle of the night that night only added to his distress.

Severus had just placed the potion as well as the rest of Hermione's belongings on her little bedside table when she'd cried out in her sleep. He had every intention of turning around and leaving back through the Floo when she began screaming into her pillow, in between the harsh outcries mumbling what sounded like his name.

Unable to ignore what he'd heard, Severus made his way back to Hermione's bedside, peering down at the distressed young woman. The sheet was low and twisted around her hips, exposing her slender torso that was only covered by a dainty pale blue bra.

Severus was met with a desperate urge to turn away and put as much distance between him the young Potion's apprentice as possible. However there was a small part of him that was unable to leave her in a subconscious, anguished state.

Pushing her damp curls out of her face, Severus felt that Hermione had also broken out into cold sweats in the midst of her dreaming. He cast a drying charm on her body before pulling the sheets and duvet up to her neck. His hand had been lingering by the mark he'd left on her flesh, something that he was unable to resist leaving when Hermione turn and nuzzled her face into his palm. Her cries instantly tapered off into soft whining before she feel into an undisturbed sleep..

Severus found it ironic that he was able to comfort the young woman, even if she was unaware, considering that he was the reason for her subconscious horrors.

An hour later Severus felt his eyes protesting at its lengthy usage and set his book down. Looking across at Hermione, he saw that she was fast asleep, her arms still wrapped around the oversized book with it clutched to her chest.

Knowing that she needed the rest, Severus wasn't particularly pleased to have to wake her. The staff at Hogwarts most likely missed the fatigue in the apprentice's eyes, but Severus hadn't. She'd been running herself into the ground every day, her workload doubled because of her less than stellar mentor.

Still, he had to admire Hermione's moxie as she never complained, intent on handling everything thrown her way.

"Miss Granger," he called across the room. Shaking his head to himself when she didn't answer, Severus called out her name again.

'Damn,' he thought. It was as if she'd taken a sleeping draught; nothing would make her stir.

Finally getting up and walking over to the sofa, Severus shook Hermione's shoulders until her befuddled brown eyes opened.

"You need to return to your room," he said when her eyes finally focused on his face.

"No," she protested sleepily, closing her eyes and slithering back down onto the sofa.

Nearly growling, Severus clutched onto Hermione's shoulders and yanked her back upright, causing her eyes to snap back open.

"Why did you do that?" she nearly howled in outrage, becoming more lucid. "I haven't had a decent sleep in ages!"

"Did you expect to sleep in my sitting room?" Severus snapped back, glowering down at Hermione.

"Can we...like we did back at my house?" she asked feebly.

"Absolutely not."

"Please? It'll be like before and I swear not to tell anyone. It's just that...I find I'm able to sleep easier next to you."

'For the love of Merlin, this chit treads a fine line,' Severus thought to himself. He'd found comfort sleeping next to her also, but reasoned that since it happened at her house no one would be any wiser. To share a bed at the school was a different matter altogether.

"Do you know what it is you're asking of me?"

"Please? I promise I won't kiss you again," Hermione continued, swallowing hard after realizing what she'd just said.

Shaking his head, Severus felt as if he was about to tie his own noose. Still glowering at Hermione, he waited for her to stand up and then walked over to the hearth in the sitting room.

"Make haste, Miss Granger," he told her when she stood looking at him curiously. "You may bring the book if you wish."

Hastily wrapping her cloak around the tome, Hermione followed Severus into the hearth and they disappeared of a flash of bright green.

"Sir, I don't mean to sound daft but where exactly are we?"

Hermione was surprised when they stepped into the Floo, coming out into what looked like another sitting room. The room held dark, wooden bookshelves that stretched wall to wall and an upholstered sofa with a small coffee table in front of it. The hearth that they stepped out of was low burning, and the mantel was bare.

"Are we in the dungeons?" she asked, noticing a faint green glow from a far window after Severus failed to answer her question.

"Not so daft," he dryly replied.

Hermione looked around, getting an eerie sense of déjà vu. "I didn't know you stayed down here."

"As that is none of your concern, why would you know?" Severus asked, brushing past Hermione and running one hand down the bookshelf. The two halves parted, revealing a darker space behind it.

Impatiently beckoning for Hermione to continue walking, he led her into another portion of the suite.

Severus' room was nearly like hers, save for the absence of personal items. He had a four poster bed with velvet curtains, a large dark blue eiderdown and comfortable looking pillows lining the headboard. There was a mahogany beside table on which lay an empty glass and a stack of three books. Across the room was a tallboy and bureau, made of the same dark wood and one high wingback black leather armchair next to a smaller hearth.

"The lavatory is across the hall," Severus said gruffly, interrupting Hermione's appraisal of the room. "I suppose you'll need something to sleep in."

"Umm...yes," her voice trailed off. Hermione then remembered the things in her arms and began awkwardly looking around for a place to sit them.

Severus walked over and all but snatched the book and cloak from Hermione's arms.

"Where's your wand?" he asked after setting her things on the armchair.

Reaching into her back pocket, Hermione wordlessly handed it over.

"Miss Granger, first you willingly invite a dark wizard into your bed, then you hand him your wand without protest? I'm shocked."

Not knowing how to take the headmaster's statement, Hermione did the next best thing and remained silent. Severus then pulled her right hand out, flicking her wand at it and making the nightgown that she remembered leaving hung up in her lavatory appear.

Hermione shot Severus a surprised look, nearly keeling over when the corner of his mouth lifted in what she presumed to be a smirk. She then crossed the hall and went into the simple but neat lavatory.

Making hasty work of stripping her clothes off and changing into her nightgown, Hermione padded in bare feet back into the bedroom. The room was pitch black as Severus had already turned out the lights.

Remembering where the armchair was, Hermione dumped her clothes on top and then walked over to the bed.

'Great,' she thought. She didn't know which side Severus was on and it was so dark she couldn't hold her hand up in front of her face if she wanted to.

Thinking of her next best option, Hermione clambered onto the bed at the foot.

"Ouch! Dammit, Hermione!" Severus growled when her knee pressed flush against his eiderdown covered leg.

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked in horror. "I couldn't see you."

"I gathered as much," he replied, his voice still laced with discomfort. "It's bad enough I'm letting you sleep here, now you're intent on maiming me."

"I would never do that," Hermione easily replied, patting her way until she reached the top of the bed. She nearly swooned after curling up beneath the warm eiderdown, her head nestled most comfortably into the pillow.

"Severus?" she asked after a length of silence.

"The rules still apply; no talking unless you want to get put out."

"I just wanted to tell you...you're not as dark as you think you are. I don't think you ever have been."

Hermione then closed her eyes, almost immediately dropping off to sleep.

Severus, on the other hand, lie awake musing her words for a while before he was overtaken by slumber.

Severus' own body rhythm woke him in the morning. His room was dimly lit save for the glowing hearth as there were no windows.

He felt warm air being steadily blown onto his left shoulder, and found that Hermione was curled up next to him, her sleep mussed curls draped about as she used him as her pillow.

Grousing when he realized her breasts were pressing through her nightgown and against his bicep, Severus pushed the duvet back and tried getting out of bed, only for Hermione to cling tightly onto him and burrow her face into his arm.

Severus remembered when Hermione had done something similar when they were back at his house. He'd forced an extra strong calming draught down her throat and she'd fallen asleep almost immediately afterwards, leaning against him in the process. She'd nuzzled her face into his arm but he chalked it up to the stress that she was going through as a result of her mother's death.

But what was her reason now? No one had ever come to Severus for comfort, be it consciously or subconsciously. Yet even in the midst of sleep Hermione seemed intent on keeping him in place next to her in bed.

Feeling a sliver of his resolve crumbling, Severus pulled the eiderdown back up into place and lay perfectly still.

Hermione's presence was more than merely tolerable, especially when she wasn't firing questions away at a rapid speed. The sensation of her soft weight pressed against his side didn't hurt either.

The sound of her quiet breathing filled the room, a noise that Severus found nearly comforting. It was times like this that he was glad he'd kept his own chambers in the dungeon. As headmaster he was able to Floo to anywhere in and out of Hogwarts as he pleased; which was how the young witch would need to return to her own room.

Severus didn't keep any paintings in his sitting room or bedroom, knowing their penchant for gossip. It was bad enough he'd had to contend with their bickering and unwarranted opinions on a day to day basis in Albus' old office. He had no intention of dealing with cranky, ancient wizards in his personal haven if he could help it.

Just then Hermione's head shifted, her steadied breathing changing as she stirred awake.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she stammered feeling too nervous to look at Severus, unwinding herself from around his arm and shifting over.

"No matter, Miss Granger. Since you're intent on boldly taking liberties you might as well stay where you are."

Hermione pondered his statement for a minute, deciding to move her head back into place. Shifting her head slightly she found that Severus was lying flat on his back, his eyes closed and the eiderdown covering much of his chest.

It was at that moment that Hermione realized it was her second time sleeping next to Severus, yet she'd never seen him in his nightclothes.

The thought of seeing him in something other than the austere black suits nearly seemed like taboo, and she was unable to resist lifting the edge of the duvet and peering beneath.

"Silly girl, you should be careful not to look for things that you're not ready for," he told her without opening his eyes.

"I only wanted to see your pajamas," Hermione replied unrepentantly.

"Why the bloody hell for?" Severus demanded, his tone failing to meet with the harshness of words.

Hermione froze for a second, seeing two black eyes looking directly at her. "Why do you think?"

"For the love of-" he grumbled, sitting up and shoving the eiderdown off his body. "Satisfied?"

Hermione crossed her legs beneath the eiderdown, intently peering at his sleepwear. Severus wore a simple pair of black long sleeve flannel pajamas, much like the ones she'd seen Harry and Ron don.

"Yes; it just dawned on me that I'd never seen you after you'd gotten out of bed at my house," she explained.

"Maybe that's because I didn't need my former student seeing me in a less than proper state. While we're at it, I hope your intrusion dispelled any notions you had about me sleeping in a coffin, hanging from the rafters or anything else your lackwit friends have tried to convince you of."

In spite of the man grousing at her, Hermione found Severus' appearance to be somewhat comical at the moment. His usually lank, ebony strands were slightly ruffled, one section kinked and sticking up in the back. Even though he was frowning at her, his face seemed less dour, a full night's rest having settled some of the fine lines in his features.

"Now if you're done with your appraisal, I'd like breakfast. I've already wasted enough time in bed with you clutching onto my arm like a child with their teddy bear."

Hermione was unable to feel insulted; his words only encouraging her humor. Biting down hard on her bottom lip to keep from laughing, she slid out of the large bed, hissing when cold air swirled around her bare ankles.

Severus had also gotten out of bed when he noticed Hermione shivering from the loss of warmth. Picking up his wand from the bedside table, he flicked it in her direction, causing a pair of thick, black socks to fall down into her hands. He then busied himself with slipping into a bathrobe that looked as if it had seen better days.

"Come along, I don't have all day," Severus said, already walking out of the bedroom.

With a smirk, Hermione hurriedly slipped the too large socks over her feet and followed behind.
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Broken Dreams