Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Forbidden Rapture	By : Marionne25 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 49871 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and am not making money from this story.

Chapter List
- 63
- 64
- 65
Author's Notes:
Quite some days I've been having lately.
Several things have been happening all at once and well, driving me towards days of questioning my existence into asking myself when I'd have enough brains to get back on that chair and write again.
Hope all is well at your end of the world.
Barely there, almost there at the weekend.
We'll all make it through.
xx

Chapter Sixty Three
Victims of Fate

The sound of the shower water continued to spatter down from the inside of the bathroom.
But Hermione felt safe for the first time in days.
Snape was out and he told her that he wasn’t going to come home until sundown for a couple of business he had to tend to.
She agreed and was quiet, awaiting the whole time with great anticipation for him to leave.
She wanted to be alone.
She was never really alone in the cottage with him.
He was always watching her, always with her or his presence was simply always there that she felt that even her thoughts had no privacy at all.
It has been hours, days and perhaps a few weeks since their first intimate exchange.
It had occurred once and twice again.
Repeated a few more times until the point that Hermione had lose count and control of it anymore.
They didn’t speak about their relationship – he hardly ever spoke with her.
And she felt more miserable that way – not really knowing what’s going on out in the world and there in the cottage.
She felt she was going mad.
Her only solace was him and the very bit by bit of news and hopes he’d bring her.
Without him, she would be at total loss in the outside world.
If only she could leave him.
But she couldn’t.
Her life depended upon him whether she outright admits it to him or not.
She was absolutely barred from the outside world and without any means of contact except for Snape.
He would only tell her repeatedly that it was ‘unsafe’ and that the Dark Lord would immediately use her if he would find out that she was still alive or anywhere he could take her and then use her against Harry.
She had lost her wand and she felt that her magic was waning away as the days passed.
Snape wouldn’t really allow her and wouldn’t understand how much it meant for her to have her wand with her since he was very good with non-verbal magic.
But he was all she’s got and if she does something that would likely anger him or make him decide to just abandon her when he loses his patience with her, she didn’t know what to do.
She didn’t know where they were and she didn’t have her wand and enough magical strength and ability to get herself out of that place if he abandons her.
Her mind – it was all she’s got and she couldn’t even ensure that he wouldn’t be able to go through that and penetrate that if he desires to see it.
A weak physical and emotional state would make her mental state and capacity very weak and open for magical means of mental penetration which he was very good at.
Hermione closed her eyes and slowly sank down against the wall and cold tiled floor.
Her tears streaked down together with the streaming water from the shower.
Her cries were loud enough to tell of her pain but the sound of the shower drowned the sound out.
Yet no matter how heavy the water’s fall was, it couldn’t completely drown out her sorrows and her will to just die.
She was so lost and confused at the turmoil that was brought upon her.
What was she going to do now?
Harry and the rest of the Order of the Phoenix was nowhere within her reach for any kind of help.
There wasn’t any means to seek them out.
Were they looking for her?
Would they have believed that she was dead by now and had now stopped looking for her?
“Harry…” Hermione cried not knowing what to do anymore. “Harry.. I’m here.. I’m alive.. please..”
And the worst part of all her thoughts was the idea that she has not told him for the last time how much she truly, deeply love him and will forever just love him.
And now that she was in this situation, she could just forever lose him and the very thought that he was never going to find her ever again in his belief that she was gone.
She couldn’t let it.
She couldn’t let him forget her.
She couldn’t stay there forever.
There must be something – anything – she could possibly do to survive and get out of there and go back to Harry.
She needed to be strong, she needed to be the brilliant mind they all told her that she was.
She needed to rely with what little, with what handful of resources that she has in order to survive – in order to be strong enough to find a way and make it out of the cottage.
Hermione forced her mind to think clearly as tears steamed all the way down her cheeks as she downed in the taste of tears and water that continued to flow all over her.
She only had one goal – to survive by any means possible until she is strong and capable enough to get out.
And to do that, he needed to please Snape – to distract him, to go under his whims and wills.
It may be easy if she disregarded the probable currency to that.
But if she can control her emotions, if she can get it out of her head that he wasn’t guilty of anything, if she can condition herself to believe that he was a traitor, she would be able to muse him, to use him and get herself out of there.
She only needed to focus and ensure that her emotions wouldn’t rule her out.
She needed to make herself believe that he was guilty of everything there was and dislodge herself completely at the idea that he was good and feeling guilty every single time that he makes her feel cared for and protected at each moment they spent with one another.
It wasn’t going to be easy but she knew that she needed to give it a try.
She couldn’t just go down without a fight even if she no longer knew what was happening out in the world they were fighting for.
She needed to try.
For it killed her.
The idea that Harry would believe her to be gone would hurt him very deeply but that time would slowly ease him out and eventually, he would slowly live again and soon forget about them, forget her and as time would pass, he would soon move on with his life without her.

She was hurting him.
Hermione knew that she was killing him inside.
But the pain that he was also killing her inside was something she didn’t expect enduring, least of all from Harry.

Her brown eyes focused at the nice view from the window where she stood.
London had always been beautiful – whether it was sunny, raining or snowy.
Today, it chose to give a gloomy sky with a touch of rain.
However, as time was passing, the sky was darkening and the temperature was getting colder by the moment.
The coming several hours would mark the crucial hours not only of her future but that of Snape’s.
She and Harry were going to go downtown to get his wedding suit and her wedding gown.
A simple lunch with the Weasleys before the wedding where she will take a final check with her wedding list with Fleur and Ginny whilst Harry goes down at the Ministry to confirm all security that he had requested for at their wedding day and the last things to be done and met before the wedding day itself.
Tears gleamed at the corners of Hermione’s eyes as she stared outside the window.
Sighing heavily, she moved away from it and slowly settled down her half-filled cup of hot chocolate down over the small end table in the living room.
She looked up and tried to not let her tears fall down her cheeks as she looked around the room, trying to look for something – anything – to distract her from her thoughts.
And then she saw it.
Hermione sighed knowing it was going to make her cry anyway.
She walked forward the corner of the living room where a small old cabinet was that has been dumped with different trinkets, Muggle collections and other random things of the Weasleys that they barely used.

There was an array of old photographs.
Hermione sighed heavily and picked up one of the frames.
The largest one of the group was the Christmas they had spent at Grimmauld Place.
It was pretty obvious that Harry had collected it and then had decided to put it up there at Grimmauld Place where it may have been dutifully placed aside by Mrs. Weasley through time.
Their smiles on the photograph had been epic.
It was taken right after their meal and in the middle of the time that they were opening their presents.
It was one of the most beautiful Christmas she ever had in her entire life.
Everyone was there.
Harry and Ron.
The Weasley children with Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley embracing one another at the side of the photograph as Mr. Weasley excitedly held a box with Muggle items that Harry collected and bought for him as present.
Lupin was at the corner holding a fresh new book that she, Harry and Ron had bought for him.
Fleur and Bill stood next to him, holding out their couple sweaters made by Mrs. Weasley.
Ginny and Tonks were over the floor holding out Crookshanks and Hedwig while the other Weasley boys surrounded them holding out their gifts with Moody giving a grumpy smile of his own with the rest.
At the side of the picture was Sirius, holding out a goblet of wine and proudly holding up a gift that Harry had given him and a Weasley sweater hung at the side of his arms that he hasn’t worn yet.
And next to him over the side of the couch by the carpeted floor sat Harry and herself.
She sat in between Harry’s legs while his arms were around her waist.
He had put on his Weasley sweater for this Christmas, a Gryffindor scarf from Ginny around his neck that he had tried to wrap as well around Hermione and a barely eaten apple pie in his hand that he never got to finish because of the twins’ jokes before the photo was taken.
But the most distinct feature of him in the photograph was his smile.
He was sporting the biggest and most beautiful smile in the photograph.

He was smiling like there was no tomorrow.
She was smiling herself – sporting her sweater that matched Harry’s, a small fresh notebook and quill in one hand that was half open from the gift wrap from Lupin, a set of new quills from Ron in a box lay by her side, a Gryffindor scarf from Ginny, a small bracelet from France from Fleur hung around her wrist and a beautiful wrapped gift from Harry she has yet to open that he had in his hand that was around her waist.
It was a picture perfect photograph.
It was one of the best Christmas she’s ever had.
And it was also the last Christmas that they were all happy and together.
Hermione couldn’t help the tears around her eyes at the thought of how this photograph still embed raw emotions in her and yet this has been taken a very long time ago – like a lifetime ago.
The changes that happened between each individual and the lives that were still present in the photo but were no longer with them in real life – it was such a wreck in the heart.
She was never going to see them again.
She was never going to see them all this happy again.
She was never going to see Harry this genuinely happy ever again.
They were going to get married but they were never going to be this happy.
Hermione held the picture tight in her hand and took it from the top of the shelf it has been standing and dusting through time.
She held it carefully in her hands, touching it dearly and recalling all the memories of the day this picture held.
It wasn’t just the Order of the Phoenix and the Golden Trio – it was her family for as long as she could remember.
She knew that she can no longer bring back the years she’s lost with them and the years that were.
She knew that marrying Harry won’t bring him back either and Snape evading the Dementors would certainly not make her feel better.
Snape rotting in Azkaban while he evades death and wait until his mind rots in there doesn’t even mean anything at all.
If any, all damages have been done the very night that the ambush had taken place.
Not only to her, to Harry, to their friends and not even just to Snape – all of them have been tangled and miserably damaged by that night.
It wasn’t just her nor Snape and Harry – it was each and every one who had loved them or were connected to them in some way.
Looking through all of it, Harry was the very first victim of it all.
She believed that Harry doesn’t mean what he was enduring – he was as much as a victim as she was; the only difference was that neglect and abandonment from their friends had been his unfair punishment that caused and was causing him his sanity.
He was a mere victim of neglect by the people who believed that the world needed him more than he needed any of them, least of all, more than he needed himself.

Snape may not be innocent, but that never meant that he wasn’t ever a victim as well.
Ten years – ten long years of taking her, isolating her from the world – when if he wanted to, he was intelligent enough to create some means and way to let the Order know of their situation – of her situation.
But he didn’t.
He was enduring what debt he had to pay – because whether he meant well at the beginning or not, he always had the power to whirl her fate for the better and he chose differently.
Despite that she had vouched for him in the court, somewhere in the depths of her logical mind she knew that he could have done something but he chose not to.
It wasn’t that he was evil, but he was just as human as the rest of them were.
He might have taken her for his so-called protection which he had done so marvelously at the beginning but Hermione knew that he could really have done something else, something more for them – for her.
But he had fallen ill-victim into despair in their overwhelming and frustrating situation that he had lost all sense of responsibility and had succumb into emotions that he had been detached of – or rather been bottling up - for so long with no one else but himself.

Draco may have been another story, but he isn’t separate from the fact that he was also a victim of their tangled situation.
He had to endure year of emotional suffering for ‘not being good enough’ for his father despite the façade he had to the world that he was a wealthy boy, from the old-gold and traditions family that he absolutely needs nothing from anyone.
But he needed love.
He needed to be truly loved.
And even if he had all the galleons in the world, he couldn’t have bought that one thing he also deeply, secretly desired.
He had suffered growing up – forcing himself to be detached from his own feelings , from making his own choices in fear of being rejected by his own father.
He grew up doing things he didn’t want to, he had to believe in things he didn’t even really understand and he had gone through circumstances for which he did have a choice to leave if he wanted to.
Draco had fallen victim into being unloved by the people he had.
He had endured the loss of people he never really had and the only person who ever truly loved him, he had severely lost as well.
And because of all these, he would suffer for the rest of his life trying to prove himself that he was worthy of something – of someone – even if he needs not to prove anything for he had always, always been more than enough.
Hermione quietly sat over the couch, still holding the photograph in her hand and staring at Harry’s smile.
She would always love him, always.
It wasn’t that her love for him had lessened over time or had differed though the years – it didn’t and will never be anything shorter or less than what it had always been.
It will always just be there, deeply embedded inside of her and will always be a part of her. She would always love him no matter how bad to worse things had escalated – bringing out the monster in him that was created by all their unfortunate fate.
Loving Severus Snape never meant she had forgotten him or had ever loved him less.
If any, he will always be her first love.
And Snape.
There was Severus Snape.
She despised him at first especially when she didn’t understand the circumstances from which they were put in.
She had despised every bit and moment with him at the beginning because he had taken her from her loved ones in order to ‘protect’ her and them from what possible occurrence the curse may bring out.
Snape had taken not only a big part of her life, but her life and possibly the rest that it ever would be.
He had taken everything she had, she ever was and ever will be.
No amount of apology, of years at Azkaban nor time that will ever come to pass will ever bring back the years that were wasted and lost.
He had taken her life away from him in belief that he was preserving it for the greater good, for the better cause.
Had she forgiven him?
Ofcourse she had; she always did.
She had loved him.
It may have been a different kind of love than the one that she has only for Harry, but she has loved him nevertheless.
And she knew that she will unlikely forget all that were back at the cottage and in her own belief, even if she is Obliviated, inside of her – she would never forget all the feelings that she had for him and the circumstances they had shared with one another.
In spite and despite it all, she will always be grateful of his sacrifices despite that they had all gone wrong in his lack of correct judgment in times of their despair.
His demise had arrived not at the moment he had realized his love for her, but at the moment that he lost faith that things would still be better, that there was still hope in their situation.
And as painful as the truth may be, Hermione knew that he had to pay for what he has done.
Whatever his reasons were - no matter how logical it was at the time it had all been convenient for him or for the both of them – taking her away from all of them, keeping her and isolating her from the world – for whatever reason of all his actions it would never ever be called valid.
He would and he needed to pay his rightful dues at Azkaban in his time.
She would love him too, differently, but she will not be a liar never to admit that even just to herself through time.
And in order to right all his wrongs, in order for all of them to heal, in order for their peace of mind, Hermione knew that he needed to go to Azkaban and the only thing she could ever do for him out of her love, is to ensure that he is saved from the Dementors.
Hermione deeply believes that by saving Snape’s life from them, she was always saving Harry’s life from what ill-fate he may further succumb into if she does not stay with him.
But what of her?
What of her then?
She could no longer think for herself.
As logical or illogical she had been, she could no longer think for herself.
Maybe that could be dealt with later on – but at the moment, she needed to save them both.
She was hurt and was destroyed physically, emotionally and mentally – maybe even beyond repair.
But things she was very sure of – she had loved both men too deeply, too much that she was willing to overlook their flaws, was willing to forget herself in order to save them both.
Because in spite and despite it all, whether she had been taken for all those years, whether she had to make illogical choices now – she knows the Hermione Granger that she always has been. And that Hermione Granger, the one that had lived and loved them both, the girl who she had always been even before those ten long years - will always sacrifice herself no matter of the currency life demands of her.

The place had been a total wreck as he arrived.
He wasn’t sure whom to call first because he knew that he knew that he was the best person already to be there at that very moment.
“Harry?” Lupin called out as he entered the mess that was Grimmauld Place.
It had always been dirty and with the sense of abandonment but Molly and the rest of them had tried their best to make it look better and to put it into a good living condition for all of them.
And now, it looked somewhat worse than it had always been.
The air of loss and despair were quite distinct all over the place.
It was no longer just Sirius’ loss now; it was also Moody’s, Hedwig’s, and the other Order members.
It was also Ron Weasley’s recent passing.
But most importantly, it was the loss of Hermione Granger.
It has just been three days since Harry had been taken out of St. Mungo’s and was presently recovering from the weeks he had been there.
It has been weeks since the ambush and yet it feels very fresh in their memories.
“Harry!” Lupin called out again around the house as he took the stairs for the second floor.
Since getting out of the hospital, Harry had requested to be alone and had requested he take the rest of his ‘recovering days’ at Grimmauld Place instead at the Burrow with the Weasleys where he could be fully tended to by everyone in there.
But he requested to be alone, he desperately wanted to be alone.
It wasn’t advised by the Healers since he had shown signs of slight depression in his denial that Ron was gone and that Hermione – missing as she may be – may also be dead.
But Harry had begged Lupin and being the father figure and present Order leader, he had all the say on the matter.
Lupin agreed for Harry to take his recovery period at Grimmauld Place under the condition that he was to stay there with him and that other Order members or Weasley member would be able to visit him from time to time.
Harry agreed without another word.
Three days later and Lupin noticed his failing emotional stability.
He had done nothing day and night but wait for news of Hermione.
He would always ask for the Daily Prophet and send owls at the Ministry inquiring to Kingsley and the other Aurors for any development.
He would barely eat but he would stay up late for hours and stay up late by the fireplace waiting for anyone who could possibly bring him any news of Hermione’s whereabouts.
But their search for her wasn’t only getting pointless and pointless with each passing day, but was also beginning to be a miserable failure.
There was no trace of her.
There was no witness, no body found, no magical means of finding and tracing her.
Nothing.
It was like she had vanished into the face of the world without any trace.
But how?
It was like she had purposely been drained off the surface of the world for there was absolutely no trace of her.
She had her wand with her- with her intellect and skills, she could as easily send message to them for rescue if she needed one.
And if by any chance she had lost her wand, she had all other means of reaching for them.
And if by worst case scenario that she had lost her wand and was physically unable to seek for rescue but was still very much alive, there would be something – anything.
And if she has been taken by death – shouldn’t there be any body floating at the waters of London from which she had fallen after the attack?
Nothing.
Absolutely no trace of her as if she never existed to begin with.

“Harry.” Lupin gasped as he reached the second floor..
One door was ajar – the room from which Hermione had stayed in at the course of the weeks before the ambush.
He sat on the floor by the bed and was holding something in his hand.
It was Hermione’s scarf she had the night of the ambush.
It was all that was left of her.
“Harry.” Lupin worriedly whispered as he entered the room and tried to get him up the floor.
He didn’t look up at him, he didn’t even show any sign that he knew of his presence in the room.
His eyes had dark circles around them and the smear of tears were all over the sides of his face.
It was two in the morning when Lupin got a call from his overnight shift at the Ministry from Mrs. Weasley’s Floo that there had been no answer from Harry for the past hours at Grimmauld Place.
Seeing his form at the moment, Lupin knew that when he left him that morning, he had been on the very same state and had not moved a muscle at all.
His wheelchair lay askew by the side of the room.
He had obviously attempted to try to walk again when the Healers said that it may take time and therapy to do so.
It was killing Lupin to see him this way – hopeless and helpless as the war draws closer in.
If only he could carry his burden – but he couldn’t.
And he knew that Harry still had to carry the burden of saving the world despite his present condition and the greatest loss he had to endure.
He would never admit it to Harry, but he is the first to believe that Hermione could truly be gone for good.
And that couldn’t be – he couldn’t bear for Harry to realize that – it would destroy him.
It would destroy the boy for which he had promised himself to love, guide and protect as a son.
It wasn’t that the world needs Harry.
But it was because he couldn’t bear lose that one person he truly loved and cared for – that one person who is the last reminder of the bestfriend who always loved and took good care of him no matter what he was.
He couldn’t bear to lose Harry – not to the Dark Lord who has tried to kill him, not to the world the boy is trying to save and most importantly, not to girl’s untimely death that will become the boy’s downfall.
He cannot lose Harry at the loss of Hermione.
He would mourn for Hermione and would deeply regret losing her in this war but he couldn’t take it any longer if he looses Harry as well.
If he would find any trace – the little most trace and evidence – that Hermione was still alive, he would take it and would do anything to get the girl back.
But until that happens, until it was there for the taking, Harry was the main priority in his hands.
Harry had to survive the war despite all the losses that they had already endured.
“Harry, you need to sleep.” Lupin gently said kneeling over the carpeted floor and staring at the boy.
His eyes were focused over the scarf, hands touching the Gryffindor colours.
He was surely reminiscing Hermione, desperately wondering where she was at the moment.
“Harry, please.” Lupin said slowly reaching for him and touching the back of his hand.
The boy remained unmoving to his gesture.
“Hermione would not want to see you like this.” Lupin gently said feeling the burden in his heart as he watched Harry in this state.
Thoughts and worry reeled inside Lupin’s head at Harry’s present condition.
He was lost already in the reality they were in and that just couldn’t be at the moment.
“Harry…” Lupin desperately whispered again. “Please. You have to move on. You have to live.. Hermione would want you to live.”
Still there was no response as if he couldn’t hear him.
But what if he could really no longer hear him?
What if he had already lost all the good sense that was left in him?
“Hermione will..” Lupin slowly began, voice constricted in his own throat. “Harry, I promise you that we would look.. look for her. We will find her, Harry.. please.”
Still no response.
Lupin heavily sighed, tears straining the side of his eyes already as he moved closer to the boy holding the back of his hand.
“Harry, please..” Lupin desperately called for him. “You can’t stay like this.. you have.. we have to fight for her. She would not want you to live this way. Please.. I promise you that we would find her. I promise you, Harry.. we would find Hermione.”
Lupin waited but there was nothing.
And just when he was about to let his hand go, Harry spoke.
“I had her.” Harry’s voice was barely a whisper. “I had her.. she was with me.. I made her come with me at the flight.. I was-“
“Harry, nobody wanted what has happened. Nobody will ever know the outcomes and circumstance of the war – please don’t punish yourself-“
“I promised her that I would protect her and I failed her.” Harry whipered.
Tears trickled down his face but his eyes remained focused over the scarf.
A tear fell off Lupin’s face.
“We will find her. We will fight for her. And to do that, you can’t stay here – you can’t stay like this..”
“I have.. I shouldn’t have taken her with me at the flight.. she should have gone with you as planned.. she would have been… she would still be here-“
“Harry, please don’t think this way.” Lupin said pressing his hand firmly. “Harry, pelae.. please don’t think this way.. nobody wanted what happened..”
“I will never see her again.” Harry gently cried. “I promised her that I will protect her. I made her come with me that night.. I made her.. I lost her.. professor Lupin, I think I’ve lost Hermione.”
Harry slowly looked up at him and Lupin’s tears had fallen.
Never had he seen those emerald eyes – that very face that resembled his father – so despairingly broken beyond repair.
“Harry, please..”
“Professor Lupin, I think I’ve lost Hermione..” Harry cried like a little boy.
His voice carried all the burden and regret and all the dark and inevitable harmful thoughts inside his head.
“Harry, we will carry through.. we will fight for her. Please fight, please fight back..you have to get up, you have to… Hermione would not want you this way.”
Harry’s emerald eyes slowly looked up at him again, tears gleaming at the side of his face.
“It’s my fault, professor.. It’s all my fault..”
“Look at me.” Lupin quietly said holding his gaze. “It’s not your fault – nothing is ever your fault – none of these. We would fight, you hear me? We would take her back – we would find her-“
“I can’t – she’s gone – she was – her hand, I’ve lost her hand – and I just – I promised her I would protect her-“
“And I promise that we would find her.” Lupin seriously said. “We would find her.. I promise you that we would find her but please.. you can’t stay this way.. Hermione wouldn’t want you to be this way. Harry, you’re strong, strong enough to withstand anything.”
“I’ve lost her.” Harry whispered with all pain and regret evident in his eyes. “Professor Lupin, I think I’ve lost her and I will never ever see her again.”
Lupin opened his mouth to say something but slowly, Harry began to cry hard butt soundlessly, slowly kicking and shaking, convulsing in his despair.
Lupin could no longer hold back all his tears.
He moved to him, pulled him closer and like a father tending to a son who had lost a fight, he tightly held Harry who tightly held the scarf in his hand and cried as hard and as painful as he could in his dear mentor’s arms until his silent tears turned into frightening wails of pain that was even more painful at Lupin’s cry at the night of the full moon.
And thus, Lupin himself had fallen into becoming a victim of being self-righteous - of the same fate that tangled them up from a bad situation into worse in his fear of losing Harry Potter, in fear of losing his bestfriend James all over again.

“Ready?” Lupin asked by the door.
“She’ll be out with Fleur in a moment.” Bill said as he straightened his robes and placed his wand in his pocket.
Lupin quietly nodded at him and Bill responded accordingly.
“This is dangerous.” Bill quietly said. “What we all agreed to do for them, for her today.”
“We don’t have a choice.” Lupin quietly said. “He’s the only one who can help the whole situation. He promised it wouldn’t take longer than necessary.”
“But what good would it be?” Bill asked him. “What good would it still be?”
The doors opened and Fleur and Hermione came out ready to take their jaunt at London to get her wedding gown.
“To us nothing.” Lupin quietly said as he smiled and stared at Hermione with Fleur walking to their direction. “To her? Everything.”
Bill looked at the very spot where Lupin was staring at Hermione.
She was smiling and was obviously trying to hide her growing despair by the days, by the hours.

They had arrived at the street where the wedding shop was and where they were to meet Harry and Ginny who had come to pick up their rings after its final touches.
Harry smiled happily as they arrived by the door of the shop with rings and quickly walked towards Hermione’s direction.
“Sorry, it took a while.” Hermione said as Harry placed a kiss at the side of her face and was smiling excitedly back at her.
“It’s alright.” Harry said taking her hand and nodding at Lupin and the rest in acknowledgement. “We’ll see you later?” Harry asked them.
Lupin and Bill nodded.
“We’ll be back after two hours.” Lupin said as Bill bid Fleur a kiss over the cheek. “We’ll just check back some things at the Ministry and meet you over for lunch.”
“The girls will lead Hermione to the wedding gown shop. I have to tend to something.”
Hermione quickly looked back at him.
“I thought you’re coming with us?” she asked him. “I thought you said-“
“I have somewhere to tend to.” Harry quietly said. “Something came up. I need to tend to it but I’ll be right back on time for lunch. I might come earlier than professor Lupin and Bill.”
Bill and Fleur looked at one another but Lupin took one glance at Bill in an understanding.
“It’s alright.” Fleur said with a short smile for Harry. “We’ll make sure the dress fits her perfectly well.”
“Yes, I’m sure.” Harry said turning to Hermione. “Can I just have one moment with her, please?”
Fleur and Lupin looked at one another.
“Ofcourse you can.” Fleur said staring at Ginny who looked as clueless as the others did.
“We’ll meet you at the shop.” Fleur said kissing Bill as he prepared to Disapparate with Lupin.
They nodded at them and Ginny and Fleur walked down the street while Lupin and Bill disappeared.
“Let’s go?” Hermione quietly said turning to Harry with a smile.
He smiled back at her and kissed her over the forehead.
“I’ll meet you over lunch.” Hermione said as Harry opened his bag and pulled something out from it.
“I want to show you something, ‘Mione.” Harry said with a proud smile.
Hermione stared at what looked like copies of the Daily Prophet.
“Open them.” Harry said staring proudly back at her, obviously excited about something.
She wondered whether it was a news article about their wedding again.
“Come on.” Harry said handing the two copies over.
She smiled at him and reluctantly took both papers in her hands.
She slowly opened them and read the newspapers.
At first, she thought it was a mistake – but then she realized that both papers were indeed dated a day after their wedding day.
She looked up at Harry with narrowed eyes, waiting with a glimmer over his eyes.
She turned her attention back to her book and read through the front page article.
A large photograph of Snape was plastered over both papers.
But there was something else.
The other paper had a large photograph of their wedding at the and the second major article was that of Snape’s judgment by the Wizengamot which were years of imprisonment at Azkaban.
The other paper held the same article except that it was front page news and that the headlines was different – that he was about to receive the Dementor’s Kiss at first light.
In this edition of the paper, there was nothing about their wedding.
She looked up at Harry with a bewildered expression over her face.
“Well?” Harry asked her with a smile. “Did you like it?”
“Like it?” Hermione asked him. “I don’t even understand it.”
Harry chuckled at her and took both papers from her and folded them neatly back inside his bag.
“I’m not kidding.” Hermioe seriously said. “I don’t understand this, Harry.”
Harry smiled back at her and gently held her hand in his.
It was scary – his smile, the gleam in his eyes – it was like he was different all over again.
“The edition of the paper the day after tomorrow will be largely based on you, ‘Mione.”
“Based on me?” Hermione asked him back. “Why would it be based on me?”
But it didn’t take her another to realize what Harry was trying to say.
Her eyes widened and Harry smiled even more as she already got what he was trying to say.
Harry had Snape’s fate in his hands – he had the Wizengamot to do what he wanted them to do based on Hermione’s decision on marrying him or not.
Even at the last minute of it all, Harry wanted to ensure that Hermione was going to marry him - that she was going to be his.
“Come.” Harry said as he smiled at her and quietly dried her falling tears at the side of her face with his own fingers as she kept her gaze tight and locked on him.
Hermione was at loss for words.
“Come, ‘Mione.” Harry said putting away the stray of hair over her face. “Now, dry your tears because I don’t want them to think you’re being forced on this marriage, alright? I mean, you do want to marry me and you will marry me, right?”
Hermione didn’t answer and Harry didn’t wait either.
He moved forward and kissed her hand and pulled her into him as he moved her to bring her to Fleur and Ginny.
Hermione could barely breathe as her anger was rising inside of her – as her emotions were overwhelming her at that very moment that she was walking towards her dress gown with Harry holding her hands tightly and smiling at the people they passed by.
Hermione knew the answer to that question very well.
For whether she marries him or does not marry him – she already knew what the day after’s Daily Prophet edition would come out for Snape’s fate wasn’t in the Wizengamot’s hands any more but would be based at her ‘I do’ down the aisle in several hours’ time.
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Forbidden Rapture