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Torment Completed	By : Kvarta Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 31713 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction. Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling. This story is purely for entertainment purposes, no money is being made from it.

Chapter List
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A/N: Big thank you, to my beta Loki God of Evil she did her magic and made this chapter better.
Time passed slowly, each minute dragging, felt like hours. In fact, it was more like an eternity. Draco was sat quietly, slightly distancing himself from her. Though he still observed her, eyes narrowed as he glimpsed at her discreetly. He wondered why he was here, with her. Deep down he knew… No, it wasn't like he'd shared friendship with her, but… he could understand the nightmares and bad memories. And they brought the sense of distant comradery.
She was still sitting, hunched over, hugging her knees to her chest and lightly rocking. She wasn't crying or sniffing just watching the white marble floor. Her eyes occasionally flicking up and down the length of the room.
"I don't blame you, you know?"
He nearly jumped, her whisper sounded loud in the almost absolute stillness of the room. "Blame?" He repeated confused.
"Yes, for… When I was here during the war. I don't blame you. I blame your father a bit, I blame your au… Bellatrix. I blame myself for letting my guard down." She took a breath, recomposing herself. "But you saved Harry. Why?" she directed her slightly unfocused eyes on him.
"I didn't want any of it." He muttered. "I… I had no choice. Not after…"
Why am I talking with her?
"Neither did I." She replied. "I didn't want any of it. I still don't understand. Why is it so bad to be Muggleborn, what so wrong with it?"
Draco gulped, that was one question he didn't have a good answer for. Not the type of answer she would like, anyway. "Truth?" He asked, buying time. "Or do you want the most commonly repeated lines?"
"Truth. Propaganda… No! Both I think..." she sounded distant, her eyes directed at the ceiling and a brand new Venetian glass chandelier that hung.
"Pro… What? Never mind." Draco laughed softly. "Common excuse was - Muggleborns were lower beings, their blood muddied. They had no lineage to speak off, no rich ancestral heritage. Father says they have no understanding, they corrupt our ways." He gulped, unsure of how his reply would be taken. It was all he had ever heard during his years in Slytherin, as well as in his childhood home.
She just nodded, almost thoughtful in her musing.
"I… I can't approve all of it, but, I can understand how that appealed to the Pureblood families."
"Truth is - I don't know." he breathed out last words. Her head jerked to him. "I'm honest Granger. Ever since I was born I was never encouraged to socialise with Half-bloods. Before school, I'd never even met a Muggleborn. I always listened to adults talking about it, whispering it like it was some dirty secret that the magical community were ashamed of."
"Who?..." she asked, a trace of fear and sadness in her eyes. "Who whispered about it?"
"Others. Adults. Family friends. But not Severus. He never said a word, even if he was regular here."
"How you all could believe in that. He...Voldemort… he was half-blood himself!"
"He also was a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin." Draco stated. "The idea isn't new, Granger. That idea originated during the Dark ages, it came from Salazar himself. I can't tell you about the first time, but now… I think it was different. Our parents were afraid of him."
"You called me a Mudblood in our third year." It wasn't reproachful, nor a scathing remark it was just a statement, a painful observation that had caused her upset at the time.
Draco nodded. "I did. Why wouldn't I? Everyone around me repeated that word, called everyone who was Muggleborn like that. I was raised to believe that you were all - unworthy."
"But you don't now… you didn't… After the Ministry… You believed… Do you still believe?"
Draco could see that she was struggling. He sighed. "I don't know what I believe. You bested me in all classes - that wasn't much of a reason for me to like you."
"That is not the answer nor the incentive to hate Muggleborns," she said, frowning at him whilst subconsciously rubbing her forearm under the sleeve. "No reason at all."
Now that he thought about it, he never saw marks on her arm. He knew that dagger. "I don't hate Muggleborns, I just don't have a high opinion of them, there's a difference. Besides, I'm not one for blood and torture. Not even for killing."
Why am I defending myself? I did nothing wrong?
"Then why did you…" she pointed at his left arm.
"And what was I supposed to do?" He snapped. "Allow my mother and me get killed?"
She widened her eyes at him, confused, shaking her head. "No. Of course not, I can understand that. But," she sighed "I'm not judging you - I'm trying to understand, that's all."
"I was punished." He whispered, horror even now was evident in his cracked voice.
"But you didn't do anything wrong!" She protested, confused by his outburst.
"And that matters how? My father failed him, ended up in Azkaban. He was forced to reveal himself before time."
How naive is she?
"But surely…" she started, he cut her off before she had a chance to finish.
"Surely? My father made a mistake, someone had to pay. The entire family was held responsible, even my aunt." Draco had never talked about this with anyone, but now it seemed to him that he couldn't stop the words from coming. "I was supposed to take my father's place. I was ordered to kill Dumbledore. Dumbledore! The wizard he couldn't kill himself."
"But if you'd gone to Dumbledore… If your entire family… He would've protected you, I'm sure of it." She protested.
She is so… She can believe in that.
He felt anger, at her, just anger and powerless. The same way he felt back then. "Like he protected your parents? Like he would help Malfoy? Like he protected Potter's parents?" He snapped, shaking his head. "You might have trusted him, I never did though."
"Point taken," She said, her voice sad.
"Mother did all she could. She even went to Severus. And if I was less of a full...than I was… If I... " his voice breaking.
He had to take a few calming breaths. "But I was a fool then. And he told me that I was being bestowed with the greatest honour. That I was saving my family. And that I'd make them and him proud. Obviously, my aunt was ecstatic, elated. She was instantly on my back; teaching me Occlumency and duelling Death Eater style." He stopped abruptly, he felt he'd already said too much.
"Look, if Severus… I… I honestly don't care about you, but… You have to help Severus. It seems like you are the only one who can. And for that, you have my full support."
"That seems to be my mistake…" she mumbled, her gaze lost.
Draco was confused. "What?"
"I care. I care even for you. I don't like you, but I care. I care for everyone, even your father and I'm so very close to hating him." Her voice was still lost. "How… how did he get that injury? Your father?"
"He wasn't injured." He replied, baffled with her sentimental confessions. He shouldn't have said anything, but he couldn't stop himself. "The Dark Lord cursed him when he was out of Azkaban."
"Oh. I'm sorry." She said, quietly.
"Why?" he tilted his head.
"I didn't know...It was hard for your side as well."
"You don't understand, Granger. There is no *my side*." his voice was sharp, there were no mincing of his words. "My side was survival. Do you know why I lied that day?"
"No, I thought that you didn't recognize Harry" she whispered, blushing.
"Oh, you did a good job on him. But not that good. I recognized him alright," he said smirking.
"Why then?"
"At the time it seemed like it would be better if Potter won. I didn't want to spend my life answering to a maniac or my insane aunt. I knew I'd probably end up in Azkaban, but at the time Azkaban sounded like a better option." He shook his head. "It is not like I changed my mind about what I'm believing in… But, I don't know what I believed in the first place. What I knew at that time - I didn't believe in all that he was selling us."
Hermione was quiet but she didn't look repulsed by what he said. "I know what your mother asked from Severus. It's why she came to the Hogwarts hospital wing. The unbreakable curse was slowly killing him. Your mother came to release it."
"I didn't know that." Draco was shocked. "But that is more the reason, you have to help him. Why are you helping him anyway?"
"I…" she appeared almost scared to say. "At first, I had to. No specific reason - he survived so I had to. Later, well, I mean now… He is too good to just let him die. Besides your father, no one was ever good to him. Someone had to." Hermione sounded sad, almost on the verge of tears. "Now, he… He seems happy, and I don't know… What if we can't wake him up? What if he doesn't want to return to reality?"
"Then we will take care of him." He stated firmly.
She shook her head. "No. He's my responsibility."
"Then why are you sitting here, with me? Why aren't you up there, with him?"
"I had to know," she whispered. "I had to know if I was still afraid of this place. This room."
"And?" He probed for an answer. "Are you?"
She shook her head again. "No. It's not pleasant to be here, too many bad memories… But I'm not scared. I am not panicked anymore." A ghost of a smile danced on her lips. "I am better. Not yet fully fine but as good as it can get under the circumstances, I think."
He nodded. "I did all the re-checks. We can present our findings to Poppy tomorrow." Draco changed the topic. He felt like he'd just ran a marathon - exhausted. All he wanted was to return to bed and sleep.
Her head raised in one sharp motion, her expression changed from sad and lost to hopeful. "Yes. Let's!"
"But first we need sleep." he offered and she nodded, unfolding from her curled up position, she stood.
He followed her example. Exiting the drawing-room, he noticed that she glanced back and whispered to, the now, empty room. "You don't scare me anymore, I'm not afraid of you."
Draco stayed quiet. Secretly he was happy: that meant that she won't protest much when he would set his plan into motion. For that, he'd need Potter's help. They were quiet. He escorted her to Severus's room and stayed at the door, lingering until she climbed to her bed and nodded to him.
~ S ~ S ~ S ~
It was time. Severus took one long slow breath through the nose and equally slowly released it. Schooling his face in an unreadable cold mask, he opened the door with determination. And with a sharp and brisk pace, he approached the head of the table.
His eyes ran over the faces of gathered school staff. There were a few new faces but mostly his longtime colleagues were convened. Most of them he could even call friends, to a certain degree.
'Could have called - past tense.' He reminded himself while his heart constricted painfully.
Many of those faces looked at him with unhidden anger and hatred. He avoided looking at Poppy or Minerva. He hadn't just lived and worked with these people for years, he'd also grown up with them too. It was bloody hard to pretend at this moment. But, this was no time for weaknesses.
Among all those faces were the Carrows, the new addition to the staff, appointed by Dark Lord himself.
He cleared his throat and the sound echoed through the dead silence of the room.
"I will keep this meeting brief. The purpose of this gathering is to get you all familiar with the new rules and new staff members. These new rules are non-negotiable. Rule number one - no interruptions while I'm speaking." He raised his hand noticing that Minerva was preparing to speak. "Minerva McGonagall will stay in the position of Deputy Headmistress of the school. Alecto Carrow is our new Muggle Studies professor. Amycus Carrow is new Defence Against Dark Arts professor."
He paused, no one made a sound so he continued. "Also, Defense against Dark Arts will change into Dark Arts." he paused again.
Most faces were the picture of pure shook and refusal, but again, no one made a sound. He nodded and continued to speak.
"The punishment system will change accordingly. While taking off points will stay, each and every deduction along with detention won't be active until I give my approval. I and I alone will determine the nature of detention and who will conduct it. Any divergence or disobedience will be severely punished."
He paused again, gauging the effect his words were having. Shock and refusal melted into stubborn rejection. They were ready to fight him. Good, as long as it was not open rebellion. He would need to drive that to the point, effectively.
Alecto snickered. Ah!
"If anyone is in disagreement with new rules he or she may hand me a resignation letter and I'll see to it that an adequate replacement is found." He pointed at the Carrows.
Alecto snickered again.
"If you decide to stay, I will not tolerate any objections to my methods or disrespect. Again, each transgression will be punished."
Last words were a threatening hiss. Alecto was still snickering. Good. He raised his wand narrowing his eyes. "Starting now. Crucio."
Alecto shrieked and twitched, banging her head on the desk's flat surface before she sunk under the table. He didn't hold her for too long, but it did feel almost therapeutic, cathartic, in a way.
He wouldn't use this type of punishment on any of the old staff, but - a little intimidation and conditioning would go a long way. And serve to prove his point.
Releasing Alecto from the curse, he lowered his wand. He still held it visible as he gazed around the room. "Any questions?"
Deathly silence.
"This meeting is adjourned. I wish you all a pleasant day."
Turning on his heels, he left the room without a single glance back. Still, he managed to notice that Amycus was sinking down to help his sister but nobody else moved to assist.
A cruel smile twitched on his lips. Good.
In the quiet of the corridor, he felt a cold sweat running down his spine. Pain cut him, from the hollow of his heart to the knot in his gut. No time. There were things he had to do.
Severus's eyes opened. An almost painful grunt escaped from him before he could prevent it. No, no, no. Not my memories. Not again.
He felt a motion on the sofa. And a soft exclamation!
"Severus! You are back"
Shit.
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Torment *Completed*

Torment Completed