Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Interesting	By : EvaBrick Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 20800 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or anything else related to the Harry Potter franchise. I'm not making any money from this story. All credit goes to JK Rowling.

Chapter List
- 8
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Hermione stepped out of the shower and checked herself in the bathroom mirror. The green stain that had coated her face, neck, and hair was gone.

“Much better, dearie,” her reflection said. “That green muck was absolutely hideous. What did you blow up this time? I felt the vibrations.”

“An invisibility potion,” Hermione said as she dried her hair. “Severus is still downstairs, trying to salvage the cauldron.”

“Ooh! You’d better put on some lipstick,” the mirror said with a wink. “He’s been over for dinner three times this week and I haven’t heard any smooching!”

Hermione rolled her eyes and hurried into her room to find something to wear. She put on her last pair of stockings, a dark blue dress with a flower pattern, and fastened her wide brown belt around her waist. The dress was a little low cut, but she was getting dangerously low on clothes, since she’d started learning some of the hardest potions. She pulled her hair up into the usual twist and then hesitated for a moment before grabbing some lipstick from her purse.

The mirror was right… since Ron’s visit, Severus had been around considerably more often, and on the nights he stayed for dinner, they’d talked for hours on the couch in front of the fire. Dobby usually stayed to eat with them, but he liked to spend his evenings with a butterbeer at the pub, so generally, she was alone with her dark potions master. The first two nights, nothing had happened… he’d taught her some useful spells and a few nasty hexes, but on the third night, they’d sat a bit closer together and he’d tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, then trailed the backs of his fingers down her arm to her hand. He’d lifted her fingers to his mouth and kissed the tips. They’d sat in comfortable silence with her small hand folded in his until it was time for him to patrol the hallways at Hogwarts.

“I knew you’d be back,” her reflection said, smugly, as Hermione stepped back into the bathroom to apply the lipstick. The reflection looked her up and down before adding, “That’s more of a summer dress, isn’t it?”

“It’s all I’ve got left!” Hermione sighed as she blotched off the extra lipstick with a cloth.

“At least put some earrings on,” the mirror complained. as Hermione tucked away a couple of loose strands of hair.

“I’m just going to the lab,” Hermione said. “It’s not worth dressing up for… and stop giving me advice - you’re only a mirror!”

Her reflection recoiled like it was offended. “I’m a very old mirror,” it said. “And I haven’t always been stuck in this nasty little bathroom, thank you very much! I’ve been in better places than you’ll ever see!”

“Oh, I suppose you were Queen Victoria’s mirror,” Hermione said, sarcastically.

“Er, well no,” the mirror said, “but I’ve helped more than a few girls land a man. You could learn a few things from me, I’ll have you know.”

Hermione folded her arms and cocked her head to one side. “Like what?”

“I thought you weren’t interested in anything an old mirror had to say,” her reflection sniffed.

Hermione forced herself not to roll her eyes. Was she really going to have to apologize to a mirror? “Alright,” she ground out. “I’m sorry… please advise me.”

Her reflection brightened right up and grinned.

*****

Snape folded his arms and frowned at the woman who stood before him in the shop. She was shaking like a leaf and her eyes darted nervously around like a rat. “Madam, I will not provide you with any more pepper up potion, now or ever.”

“B-b-but I n-n-need it,” she twitched. “I-I-I have th-th-three k-k-kids to f-f-feed and I work-k-k the night-t-t shif-f-ft.”

“I will not supply addicts, Madam,” Snape said. “I must tell you that I am legally obligated to notify St. Mungo’s of your situation, so you should expect some correspondence from a ministry addictions counselor in the near future.” He took the protesting witch by the elbow and guided her to the door. “Good evening, Madam,” he said as he closed it behind her.

“F-f-fuck you, you b-b-bloody d-d-death eater!” she screamed from the street. She pulled her wand from her pocket as a crowd gathered.

The apothecary shop door swung open and Snape stepped out into the street with his wand drawn. “Go ahead,” he said, icily. “Make my day.” The spectators gasped and scattered like sand in the wind, rushing for open alleyways and shop doors.

The woman paled and froze like a statue, except for her shaking hands. Her mouth opened, but she was too afraid to speak.

“Well?” Snape drawled, in his bored way. The woman hesitated, then turned and ran down the street, weaving from side to side as she went. Snape snorted and turned back to his shop. Hermione stood in the doorway with her wand drawn and he quirked an eyebrow up in amusement. “Were you going to defend me?” he teased.

Hermione followed him back inside and bunted the door shut with her hip, then locked it. “Actually, I pulled it out when I heard someone screaming about a death eater. I was in the back of the shop and didn’t realize she was referring to you… I thought…” Hermione shook her head and fanned her face with her hand to slow her pounding pulse. It was nearly five, so she flipped the open sign to closed. “I guess I’m a little jumpy after the war,” she shrugged.

“You’re not the only one,” Snape said softly as he walked behind the counter and pulled a ledger out. “There are plenty of people who are terrified of me because of this.” He tapped his sleeve over his dark mark and flipped the ledger open to the back page. He took a quill and wrote “BLACKLIST” across the top.

Hermione moved behind the desk and stood at his shoulder to watch as he made some notes She could feel the heat radiating from his body and wondered if she was too close… no, the mirror had told her to stand as close as possible. She swallowed a snort - she couldn’t believe she was getting love advice from a piece of glass. “Are you going to enchant the book?” she asked.

Severus tried his best not to look down his apprentice’s dress. He’d never seen her wear that one before, but he liked it. It was more feminine and sweet than her usual outfits, but it reminded him of how the girls used to dress when he was a young man. Her flowery shampoo drifted to his nose and he did his best not to inhale it… even after her shower, he could smell the potion smoke on her.

“Yes,” he said. “It’s high time we created a list of trouble-makers. Anyone whose name goes on this list will not be able to enter the store, even if they’re in disguise or using polyjuice.” He pulled his wand from his sleeve and pointed it at the page, then paused. “Do you know how to do this?”

Hermione shook her head. “Some of the girls at school used to enchant their diaries to keep people from reading their secrets, but I never kept one.” She realized that she was still clutching her wand and she tucked it into her leg holster.

“Hm,” Snape chuckled. “That’s dime-store magic that anyone with a little know-how can break through. Let me teach you something that isn’t in the Hogwarts curriculum.” He went into the lab and came back with a small knife, which he used to prick his finger. He squeezed three drops of blood onto the page, scourgifyed the knife and passed it to his apprentice. “The spell requires your blood as well,” he explained. “Only we will be able to read the book.”

Hermione swallowed hard and then took the knife. “This is dark magic, isn’t it?” she said.

Snape merely shrugged. “We’re only enchanting a book,” he said. “Not all dark magic is about making virgin sacrifices and murdering puppies.”

“But some is?” Hermione gasped.

Snape rolled his eyes and tapped the book, impatiently. “Three drops,” he said. He watched as his nervous apprentice pricked her finger and squeezed out the blood. She sucked the wounded digit into her mouth and eyes her master warily. Snape pulled his wand from his sleeve and pointed it at the ledger. “Stop looking at me like that, would you? I’ve never killed a puppy!” He muttered an incantation and the blood soaked into the page. Snape wrote the addict’s name in the ledger and then tucked it under the desk.

*****

Dobby collected the dinner plates and set them in the sink. He waved his little hand and they started washing themselves and flying into the cupboard. He went into his cupboard under the sink, got his favourite sock hat and pulled it onto his head as he headed for the door.

“Sees you in da morning, Missy Granger!” he shouted before slamming the door behind him.

“Good luck, Dobby!” Hermione called as she poured two cups of tea.

“Good luck?” Severus asked.

“He’s in a darts tournament at the pub,” Hermione explained. She laughed at the strange expression on her master’s face. “Everyone needs a hobby,” she giggled. They carried the tea to the couch and took their usual positions.

“Do you have any hobbies?” Snape asked.

Hermione shrugged and sipped her tea. “You mean other than eviscerating cursed woodland creatures for potions ingredients?” she asked. “I’ve been checking the discount rack at Madame Malkin’s nearly everyday. I’ve gone through more dresses since I became your apprentice than I did in my whole life before.”

Snape chuckled and adjusted his seat so he was turned more toward her. “The best spell I ever learned was how to transfigure a curtain into a shirt,” he said. “Of course my master would get out the broomstick when he saw the missing curtains, but I had to have something to wear.”

“Why do you laugh about that like it’s funny?” Hermione asked. She crossed her legs at the knee and twisted to face him properly.

Snape shrugged and sipped his tea. “He was a very old man and he’d lost a lot of upper body strength. I was black and blue for years, but as beatings go, his weren’t that bad. After getting the crucio from the dark lord on a semi-regular basis, I find my frail old master and his broomstick somewhat amusing.”

Hermione swallowed and leaned back against the arm of the couch to look at her master. “What’s it like?” she asked. “I mean… I’ve seen it, but what’s it like?”

“Crucio?” Snape drawled. His face suddenly looked frighteningly dark and Hermione shivered.

“It cannot be described,” Snape said, coldly. “Be glad that you don’t know.”

Hermione finished her tea and set the cup and saucer on her coffee table. “I shouldn’t have asked,” she said. “I’m sorry… I just… I just wanted to know more about you.”

Snape raised an eyebrow and set his cup down too. “Why?” he asked.

Hermione felt her face go red and she looked at her hands for a moment before summoning her Gryffindor courage and looking back to his face. “Because you’re interesting,” she said. “And… I… I like you.”

Snape looked into the fire for a long moment. “I can show you a memory, if you like,” he said. “But I must warn you that it would be wiser to leave it in my head.”

Hermione swallowed again. “Show me,” she said.

Snape held out his hand and she took it without hesitation. “Clear your mind and focus on my eyes. When it feels right, say, “legilimens,” and I’ll let you into my mind to see one memory. Don’t try to look at anything else.”

“I won’t,” Hermione said as she moved to sit next to him. Snape didn’t respond, but sat still while she settled herself and looked into his eyes. How was she supposed to know when to cast the spell? The air felt still and heavy around them and she noticed that she couldn’t feel the heat from the fire anymore. Snape’s eyes seemed to get even darker and she felt consumed by the blackness. She felt like she was falling, and then she realized that he had opened his mind to her and all she had to do was step forward. “Legilimens,” she whispered.

In a flash the blackness of his eyes consumed her and she felt like she was spinning through nothingness. Then a stone floor materialized under her knees… no, not her knees… Snape’s knees. She was viewing the memory from inside his body.

Hermione saw Snape’s familiar hands on the floor - he was kneeling. She felt his black hair brush against her cheek as his head dipped down in a groveling bow. She tried to look up, but couldn’t. She was only witnessing things as he’d seen them and couldn’t move his body.

“Severus,” a familiar voice hissed. Fear shot through Hermione like a blast of lightening. Voldemort! “I am getting tired of your excuses, Severus.” Hermione could feel Snape’s muscles tense and his heart rate go up like he was expecting something. And then it came. “Crucio!” Voldemort hissed. The pain was like nothing Hermione had ever felt. It took her a moment to realize that the terrible screaming was coming from Snape. The torture went on and on… and Hermione suddenly wished that Voldemort would kill her to make it stop. Why wasn’t Snape begging for death?

And then it was over. Hermione was back in her own head, in Snape’s arms, clutching his shoulders like a lifeline. Hermione trembled as she remembered the pain. A strong hand ghosted across her back in a soothing gesture.

“Are you alright?” Snape asked in a voice so soft and gentle that it made her tremble again.

Hermione rested her head on his shoulder and soaked up his warmth. “Why did he do that to you?” she whispered.

“On that particular occasion, he was angry that I was unable to find out who the secret keeper was for the address of the cottage you stayed in after the death of your parents,” Snape said.

Hermione leaned back so she could look her master in the eye. “But… you were the secret keeper,” she said.

“Yes, I remember,” Snape said. The corner of his lip quirked up in amusement.

“And you didn’t tell Voldemort anything,” Hermione mused. She closed her eyes in shame. “I would have told him everything, just to make it stop. You saved my life…” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Why did you suffer like that for me?”

Snape tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, hesitated, then pulled her to him. His lips pressed against hers and when he felt her fluttery sigh against his skin, he knew that there was no going back.
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Interesting