Say You Love Me

Disclaimers: All characters are property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros. This is a work of fanfiction and I am making nothing. Yadda,yadda,yadda.

Chapter One
Shocking Developments

Severus Snape glared at himself in the mirror. Today was his wedding day and he was not pleased. The dark lord wanted him wed and it was either accommodate his wishes or be destroyed. He did not dare risk all of the work that he had done for the Order. They were too close to winning the war at the moment and he was too valuable to them to lose, or so Albus had said. When Severus had tried to argue that wizarding marriages were forever, Albus had reassured him that a solution would be found to his dilemma once the war was over.

Easy for Albus to say, Severus thought sourly, picking a bit of lint off his formal robing. He isn\'t the one having to be married to someone that he doesn\'t love. Not that he knew anything about love - it was strictly for fools and he was not a fool. His lips curled into a sneer. Foolish notion that\'s what love was. The one time in his life that he had allowed himself to love had turned out badly, and he\'d vowed never to be caught in that trap again.

The mark on his arm was aching. He rubbed it absently, knowing that he must depart immediately. He\'d ignored it too long as it was. The increased pain meant that the dark lord was getting impatient, and no doubt, angry with him. His wedding awaited his presence, to be followed by dark revels afterward.

His footsteps echoed in the empty hall as he followed the concealed path that he\'d been down so many times before. He ignored the few students that were loitering about the grounds as he emerged from the doorway that immediately dissolved behind him at the back of the school, walking quickly down to the gates and disapparating outside them.


~*~

Hermione Granger was in the library, surrounded by dusty books and scrolls of parchment. Her quill was busy, scribbling notes in small writing in order to squeeze as many words on the parchment as possible. Professor Snape had loaded on the homework, having been in a foul mood all week for some unknown reason.
It didn\'t really bother Hermione that he had glared and muttered to himself more than usual--- she was used to him. In order to avoid aggravating him further, she had decided that rather than give him extra footage of parchment, she would simply write smaller and get her entire report into the three feet he\'d required.

Tension at Hogwarts was running high among the students and staff alike. It was hard for some of the students to concentrate since the war was coming close to an ending. Life had changed at the school in the last year or so. Hermione had spent more and more time at 12 Grimmauld Place and less time on her studies than she had intended.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead. They were all growing up too fast. The life that she\'d lived with her parents in London before receiving her Hogwarts letter now seemed far away and unreal to her. This last year in school, many people were pairing off, some even discussing marriage. Except for her. She was too busy, too distracted, and too involved in her studies to allow matters of the heart to rule her head and body. A small part of her wished to be groped in a corner of the halls just like the other girls, but those feelings had been shunted aside for more practical ones.

Hermione was working on the last of her report when Harry came in. He sat down next to her, murmuring:

\"Snape\'s been summoned again.\"

\"How do you know?\" she whispered, glancing around the mostly empty room to ensure no one was listening to them.

\"Seamus and Ron were outside, trying out Seamus\' new broom, and they saw him leave.\"

\"Maybe that\'s why he was more nasty than usual this week.\" Satisfied that she had written enough, she rolled up the parchment she was working on.

\"Snape\'s always nasty, Herm, and you know it. He would probably be nasty even if he wasn\'t doing what he\'s doing.\"

\"He can\'t be all bad. He wouldn\'t be helping the order if he were. And besides that, Dumbledore trusts him.\"

Harry could think of no reply to that. Dumbledore did indeed have a way of trusting individuals that Harry would never trust in a million years. Snape had been with the Order for many years, and had survived rough times.

\"I feel sorry for him,\" Hermione continued, packing her book bag. \"I\'ve seen his mark, and his pain from it must be as bad or worse than yours from your scar. Professor Snape may be mean, but that doesn\'t mean that he\'s all that bad.\"

Harry propped his head on his hand and grinned at her.

\"If I didn\'t know better, Hermione, I would swear that you are trying to take up for the git.\"

\"I\'m only trying to be fair, Harry.\" She stuffed the last of her books into her bag, and swung it onto her shoulder.

\"Where are you off to now? Ron and I raided the kitchen and nicked some snacks from the house elves. We got enough for you as well.\"

\"Sorry, but I have some more studying to do. After all, we have our N.E.W.T.S. at the end of this year. It wouldn\'t hurt you and Ron to take studying a bit more seriously. Don\'t you want to do well?\"

\"It doesn\'t matter as much to us as it does to you,\" Harry replied. \"Besides, I may be dead.\"

\"Don\'t talk that way. The order is protecting you, and so far you\'ve survived.\"

Harry followed her out of the library and up the many stairways before continuing in a low voice:

\"Yes, but someday there will be a final battle and people will be killed.\"

\"I don\'t want to think about it,\" Hermione couldn\'t help thinking about how strange it would feel if Snape were killed. They\'d already lost Sirius and countless other wizards and witches in the battles.

\"It\'s reality, Herm.\"

\"So I know.\" Hermione removed the wards from the door to her room that she occupied as Head Girl. Harry followed her in as she sat the book bag on her desk. Crookshanks jumped down from the bed, purring and rubbing against their legs.

\"Hi, Crooks,\" Harry said, bending down to scratch the half-kneazle on the scruffy head. \"War always breeds death.\" He was somber, thinking about his own parents and the circumstances of their deaths. \"I\'m not afraid to die, not if it will free everyone else from being Voldemort\'s servants.\"

Green eyes met worried brown ones. Hermione hugged him, afraid not only for Harry, but also for everyone.

\"Don\'t cry,\" Harry said, smoothing her hair. \"At least if we do survive this, there\'s a good chance that we might happy.\"

\"I wasn\'t going to cry,\" she said, letting go of him to retreat across the room and look out the window at the darkening skies.

\"Come and have some food. You can watch Ron and I play wizard\'s chess.\"

\"No thanks, Harry, I just want to be alone tonight,\" Hermione admitted.

\"Okay, but if you change your mind, we\'ll be in the common room.\"

\"I thought you had a date with one of the Hufflepuffs.\"

\"I thought I did as well but she canceled on me.\"

\"I\'m sorry.\"

\"Not your fault,\" Harry said cheerfully. \"Since you don\'t want to watch I guess it will be all the boys.\"

\"Is Draco coming?\"

\"Ron went to see if he was about. He\'s not too bad since he nearly got killed this past summer. His dad is still disowning him.\"

\"Poor Draco. At least he\'s better off now than he was. He would have joined the Death Eaters for certain.\"

\"He may be an embarrassment to his family, but I\'m glad he is.\" Harry left Hermione at the window, thinking silently that she had gone mental, worrying about Professor Snape.

~*~

\"You are late, Severus,\" the cold voice, barely a hiss, said. Glowing red eyes were mere slits that glared at him from under the hood that covered the sparse hair on his head. Voldemort held out a be-ringed hand. Severus knelt, kissing the ring lightly.

\"Forgive me, Lord. I had school business that kept me,\" Severus lied smoothly.

\"Since this is your joining ceremony, I will not cast the unforgivable. Your bride has been impatiently waiting your arrival.\"

His bride. The thought of the two words made him ill. He had no desire to marry knowing that he would never be a caring husband to any female. Voldemort had invoked his own marriage law, demanding that those Death Eaters unmarried must find a witch of comparable breeding to marry. Thirty marriages had been performed the first two days.

Severus had managed to disappear, ostensibly to teach at Hogwarts, but in reality he was avoiding the issue, hoping that his position as a \"spy\" for Voldemort would keep him from marrying. It was useless to resist, as he had found when he was summoned and the cruciatus curse performed on him as a reminder of how dangerous it was to disobey Voldemort.

He also found, to his displeasure, that a bride had been chosen for him. He didn\'t dare refuse any further, considering that Voldemort had punished him very little compared to some of the things done to him in the past.

One of the Death Eaters who functioned as a Minister stood patiently waiting for Severus to approach the dais where he stood. Jaw set firmly, Severus came to his place before Bartholomew. His bride stood ready as well, her face far back in the hood of her blood red robes. Matching blood red nails graced white, lithe hands, one of which curled around his arm.

Fighting the urge to throw the hand off, Severus forced himself through the ceremony. Once it was over, he removed her hand.

\"Why darling,\" Ecclestia said sarcastically, her black eyes gleaming at him as she pushed her hood back, \"I\'m your wife now. You\'re supposed to love me.\"

\"Never,\" Severus hissed back under his breath. \"You know how I feel.\"

\"Your feelings must be put aside. Since we are wed for all eternity, I would suggest that you get used to playing the besotted husband.\"

\"I am returning to Hogwarts.\"

\"Excellent idea, Severus,\" Voldemort came up to them, placing a bony hand on each shoulder. \"Take your bride back and make sure she is introduced to Dumbledore.\"

\"Begging your pardon, Lord, but it was my understanding that I would continue my own life.\"

\"You understood wrongly, my son.\" The sneaky smile that graced Voldemort\'s features widened. \"Ecclestia will accompany you and aid you in your mission for us.\"

\"I do not need supervision. My job is dangerous enough as it is.\"

\"Oh, but I think that you will do much better with some on-site supervision. Now, be off with you. I have other matters to attend to.\"

Voldemort made it clear that both he and his \"bride\" were dismissed. Severus glared at Ecclestia, who smiled smugly back, arms crossed over her thin, wiry body.

\"Come along, Ecclestia. I shall give you instructions that will be obeyed once we get on Hogwarts ground.\"

\"You are mistaken if you think that I will take orders from you, Severus,\" she snapped coldly back. \"I am here to make sure you do your work for the dark lord, and I intend to do just that.\"