Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Lions, Snakes, and Traitors, Oh My.	By : half_blood_princess Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 7717 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters therein. I am making no money from this story.

Chapter List
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“Miss Granger?” Hermione opened her eyes, groggily, to find Madame Pomfrey standing over her.

“Madame Pomfrey?”

“Yes, dear. Are you quite all right?”

“I…where am I?”

“In the Infirmary, dear. Harry found you unconscious in the Common Room and you wouldn’t respond. Do you know what happened to you?”

“No. The last thing I remember…well…I think I went to bed.”

Madame Pomfrey clucked her tongue like a disapproving mother hen, and walked away for a moment only to return with a vial of something lime green in colour.

“Drink this.”

“What is it?”

“Hangover potion. I think I know what caused this.”

“I most certainly haven’t been drinking!”

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Miss Granger. I’ve had much worse. This won’t be reported. Just take this and go back to your dormitory.”

“But I—”

“Drink up! I have other patients to attend to!”

Rolling her eyes, Hermione complied. Perhaps she did drink…Ginny had mentioned something about Butterbeer…but she didn’t even remember going to meet her at the Astronomy Tower. Something wasn’t right.

“Thank you, Madame Pomfrey.”

“Mmmhmm. I don’t want to see you in here again for the same problem, Miss Granger. Take care.”

All the way back to the dorm, Hermione searched her brain, trying to think of what it was that she’d been up to before Harry found her in the Common Room. Had she gone back to bed? She remembered seeing Professor Snape in the Infirmary, like she’d been instructed, and leaving to head back to Gryffindor House but then the rest was blurry.

Caught up in her thoughts, she began chewing on her right thumbnail, eyebrows narrowed in concentration.

There was a hallway. She’d woken up once. Woken up!

Something…someone had carried her back to the Common Room!

Bits and pieces started coming back to her.

Shit. She’d been Obliviated! But, by who?

As she reached the painting to give her password, her heart froze. It couldn’t have been Professor Snape, could it? Those were the parts that were hazy—what happened in between leaving the Infirmary and then waking up there again.

She shook her head. Nonsense.

But it pressed in the back of her mind, and she paused.

It was the only thing that made any sense at all.

Professor Snape had Obliviated her.

He was trying to keep something from her? What could it possibly have been?

There was only one way to find out.

‘Tomorrow morning’…she told herself ‘He’s going to tell me what the bloody hell is going on here!’

___

He could have kicked himself.

That Obliviate was sub-par. He knew it from the moment he’d cast it. What had Bellatrix always said? You have to mean it?

“You bloody fool,” he chastised himself.

He’d never really wanted to Obliviate the little tart. He could have lied to himself, but Severus knew that it was stupid to deny that he had some sort of feelings for the Granger girl.

He’d regretted casting the spell as soon as the words left his mouth.

Hermione had slumped over afterwards, a blank look plastered on her face, mouth slightly ajar, as if surprised.

Even though he tried to plant other memories in her mind, he found that Hermione was resistant. She’d probably had some sort of lessons to shield herself from attacks by Death Eaters or Ministry of Magic interrogations—bloody Order. After half an hour of Snape attempting to rectify the situation, Hermione finally passed out in his arms as he picked her up to deposit her somewhere safe. In an instant, she began snuggling—snuggling—against his collarbone. Her arms grasped for the fabric of his robes, and she sighed when her fingers entwined themselves in the soft black wool.

“Miss Granger, desist!”

She didn’t reply, but buried her face deeper in his neck.

In his arms, he suddenly realized how small and fragile she seemed. He hadn’t been wrong to call her a little girl. That’s just what she was. A child, despite her years. It was what they all were—even Potter. Part of him inwardly sighed, wishing they didn’t have to fight the upcoming final battle against Voldemort. As much as he detested Potter and Weasley—and sometimes Granger—they didn’t deserve to have their childhood wrested away from them as they had. Like he had.

“Listen to me, Granger. I know somewhere in that befuddled head of yours, you can hear me. Don’t you dare come looking for me again—I am dead to you, do you hear me?”

“Shut…up…” She mumbled, eyebrows furrowing. If Hermione could have seen his face, she probably would have laughed at him.

He couldn’t leave the old man out of this anymore. Dumbledore had to know what was going on. Apparating with her to Dumbledore’s office, Snape braced himself for the worst.

There he sat, tickling Fawkes underneath the chin whilst eating a Sherbet Lemon.

“Ah, Severus. I was wondering when you’d show up.”

“What?”

“You think I don’t know what’s going on in my school? Come now, I’m not the daft old man you believe me to be. I see you’ve Obliviated Miss Granger. I suspect it won’t last long, will it?”

Snape sighed. “No, Albus. It won’t.”

“Then I suggest you let me deposit her in the Gryffindor Common Room. This has gotten quite out of hand, Severus.”

“Indeed.”

“I was once in love with a student of mine, many, many years ago. I shouldn’t need to tell you that I waited until after they had left my tutelage before I pursued a relationship. It was well worth the wait.”

“Bloody hell.” Snape placed Hermione on the couch nearest the fireplace. “Fire me now and get it over with,” he said, staring at Hermione’s still form.

“Is that what you truly want?”

“Yes. It’s what I deserve.”

“I disagree.”

Snape whirled around, irritation and anger stamped on his features.

“Why the hell not?”

“Because I don’t think you had any ill intentions, and you’re both of legal age to make your own decisions. I think after all these years, I’ve learned to judge the character of someone quite well.”

“You’ve been wrong before.”

“Rarely, my dear boy. Rarely.”

Snape scoffed at the usage of dear boy. He felt like he was a randy teenager again in the Headmaster’s office, after being caught for snogging.

“Severus…you can’t simply Obliviate one’s feelings for you away. Miss Granger is quite the brilliant young woman. She’s made her mind up that she cares for you and I suspect more, though she probably hasn’t realized it yet.”

“What do you recommend I do, then, Albus? Should I entertain her crush? Once she realizes what a monster I truly am, she’ll bugger off like she ought to…”

“Like Lily did?”

“Don’t you dare speak her name!”

Dumbledore sighed. “I cared for her too, Severus—though in the way a father would care for his child. You weren’t the only one who lost someone you cared for deeply.”

“If you’d put them under protection like I begged you to, she’d still be alive!”

“And she would still be James Potter’s wife. Severus, please. You know nothing could have been done to save her. It wouldn’t have mattered where I moved them; she was destined to die protecting her son so that he could one day defeat Voldemort. Don’t do this.”

“Goddamn it, Albus!” Snape roared.

Dumbledore stood from his desk and approached Snape slowly.

When he reached the younger wizard, he placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Severus. I know you’ve been under a great deal of stress, and…I’ve treated you as a pawn in this game. But you’re more important than you know. Voldemort’s defeat is not possible without your help. Or hers.” He looked down at Hermione.

“Don’t be afraid to let people into your heart, Severus. You’re not as stonehearted as you believe.”

“When will you give up, Albus? I’m not good. I’m not one of your little soldiers.”

“I never expected you to be. But evil? Evil doesn’t care, Severus. Evil isn’t conflicted with decisions such as these. Evil takes what it wants without concern for the horror and pain it inflicts on others and leaves behind. You should think on that.”

Dumbledore summoned a House Elf, who took Hermione to the dorm, leaving the two men alone.

“You’d better think of something to say to Miss Granger when she comes to find you again, which she undoubtedly will once she discovers you tried to Obliviate her.”

“What I did to her was reprehensible.”

“What you did was a mistake, and one you will not repeat while she is under your instruction. I have faith in you, Severus. You are both adults, and you’ll make the right choices.”

Snape found himself outside of Dumbledore’s office before he could speak, and he cursed as he kicked the stone wall in the hallway.

___

Hermione waited—impatiently—outside the Potions classroom the next morning. It was still relatively early, and the sun had only risen a half-hour before.

Out of all the things Snape was prepared to deal with that morning, Hermione Granger wasn’t one of them.

“Professor?”

“Miss Granger. May I ask why you’re outside my classroom at this hour of the morning?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“It can wait.”

“No, it can’t. This is important, and I’m not leaving until you talk to me.”

He shoved the door to the classroom open and didn’t bother to try and shut it. She would have been relentless, and he knew what was coming. It didn’t matter—Hermione slammed the door shut behind them.

“Since you refuse to leave me alone, what is it?”

“You know what it is. You Obliviated me last night!”

He whirled around, throwing his books on the floor in front of them, making Hermione jump. The conversation from the night before still haunted him, and he wasn’t in the mood to discuss silly crushes and infatuations.

“You’re goddamn right I did, you daft girl!”

“Why?”

“Well, at least that worked.”

He raised an eyebrow as she pinched her nose, not unlike he was known for.

“Please. Please—what did I do? What happened?”

“You’ll be better off not knowing.”

Though she tried to stop them, tears started to flow down her face.

“Please, I need to know what happened. I have this hole in my memory and I’m frightened. Was…was I raped? Did you find me? Who took me back to my room? I don’t remember drinking, but Madame Pomfrey…I just…this isn’t me. Why did you Obliviate me?”

“For gods’ sake, girl. You weren’t harmed, at least not physically.”

“What?” Hermione wiped her eyes.

“Do you remember anything after you arrived at the Infirmary yesterday evening?”

“It’s blurry.”

“I’ll fill it in for you, Miss Granger. You and I nearly shagged on a bed in the Infirmary. I don’t know why you felt like I should be the target of your silly girlish fantasies, but I suspect it would never have happened if I hadn’t been injured. It was a mistake, and you’re to forget it. I almost gave in, but fortunately, I regained what little sanity I had left to put a stop to it. Any man in my position would have given in much sooner.”

She stood, open-mouthed, staring at him.

Piece by piece, the memories came flooding back.

“Oh my gods. It’s true.”

She blushed.

“Now you know. Is your curiosity sated now, Miss Granger? You snogged the greasy Potions Master. Don’t tell your friends, for they will certainly think less of you. Don’t worry. It won’t happen again.”

“Wait just a bloody minute! If I remember correctly—and I’m lucky I remember at all—you were into every second of it! And my girlish fantasies? Why am I not capable of having legitimate feelings for—”

“For me? Because, it’s not possible. I took advantage of you as my student and you weren’t in a position to stop me. Now stop arguing with me and get the bloody hell out of my classroom. You won’t be under my instruction any longer, Miss Granger. I have made arrangements for you to take Potions lessons from another professor.”

“Wait!”

“I told you to leave. I expect you to be gone once I return from my office.”

He slammed his office door behind him.

_____

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! More to come soon--I'm graduating from college this month, so I've been horribly busy. I still have some work to do after I walk, next Sunday, but I'll try to update between now and then. Thanks for being so patient!
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Lions, Snakes, and Traitors, Oh My.