The Rules of Engagement

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> Author's note 7/28/06 <
First off - You will be pleased to know there is a new chapter being beta read as we speak(or read). I thought I would explain the editing I'm doing.

In her review, WitchatHeart77 mentioned:

"My only problem is there are places where the words are either scrunched up together or missing and messed up... for instance if you were to say Severus..in places it comes out Srusus.. or rus rus."

That is one of the problems I'm fixing. It was a data corruption problem with AFF from a long time ago. I am also fixing a few other things along the way. PLEASE DON'T GET MAD IF THE STORY KEEPS COMING BACK TO THE TOP OF THE LIST, IT CAN'T BE HELPED.

(EDITED chapters are from the beginning and are listed as only the title, no 'chapter'# with it.)

Thanks for giving the story a read.

Glinda


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Mending
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Severus took Lupin down to his rooms in the dungeon. The werewolf was certainly in no shape to walk up all the stairs to his rooms in Gryffindor tower, and besides Severus’ potion stores were in his private quarters. They had waited several minutes in the entry hall for Lupin to catch his breath. It seemed to Severus to take a lot longer than it should have. Werewolves were known for their preternatural strength, so the fact that Lupin had carried the tall boy back from the village was not a surprise, but the effect the exertion was having on his body was. The man was paler than he had been, a sheen of perspiration covered his face and his usually rosy lips were nearly blue. The Potions Master made Lupin take several deep breaths before they started their descent to the dungeons.

Once back in his rooms, Severus removed the other man’s cloak and sat him down in the chair closest to the fire. The werewolf looked at him with a gaze somewhere between amusement and annoyance. He left the fair haired man to warm by the fire, as he went to his storage cabinet to mix the needed potions into one. A nutrient booster certainly, something to increase the appetite, a small bit of muscle relaxant and a drop of pepper-up potion. The resulting drink in the glass was a horrible greenish-brown color, but the wolf was going to drink it, every last bit, if Severus had to hold him down to do it.

“You expect me to drink that ?” Lupin asked with a grimace on his face, when Severus came back into the room.

“Bottoms up.” Severus said pointedly, handing him the glass. The man looked at him warily, but tipped the glass to his mouth. After drinking the contents straight down, Lupin shuttered, then handed the glass back as a small billow of steam began to pour out of his ears.

“Well . . . it’s not as bad as the Wolfsbane potion. What was in it ?”

“Some potions to make you feel better. Now sit back and allow them to work.” Severus instructed, as he went to wash out the glass and put it away. When he came back Lupin looked much improved. He lips had lost their bluish tinge, a mild flush had come to his cheeks and the light in his eyes had brightened. Severus went over and sat in the chair opposite.

“Are you going to tell her ?” The werewolf asked.

“Tell what to whom ?”

“Are you going to tell Hermione you care about her ?” Severus looked at the wolf sharply, but did not reply.

“Come on, Severus. I know the only reason you’ve taken any interest at all in my problems is because of Hermione.” Severus sneered back at him.

“Perhaps I merely have an academic interest in you. It is an intriguing problem for me to solve.” He said making Lupin laugh. It could be true, but it wasn’t.

“Perhaps. But it’s more likely that you’ve come to care for her. She has a right to know.”

“There is nothing for Hermione to know. She has made her choice.”

“Has she ?”

“You saw hpsetpset she was. She will be marrying Rosemond Green.”

“Really ?” Lupin said disbelievingly.

“Yes ! Really ! The pretty girl has, yet again, chosen not to be with me. Are you satisfied ?” Severus snapped back.

“Are you ?” Lupin said with aggravating calm. Luckily, a knock sounded at the door before Severus got any angrier. He walked quickly to the door and opened it to find the Headmaster there. Severus stepped aside to let the old wizard in, then closed the door behind him.

“Thank you, Severus, for looking after Remus.” Albus started, to which Severus only nodded. “I trust you are feeling better, my boy ?”

“Yes, I am. How is Rose ? That looked like a nasty crack to the head.” Remus said, beginning to stand, but a scowl from Severus made him abandon the idea. Albus sat in the other chair and Severus perched on the couch.

“Poppy said Mr. Green will be well again by morning. He has another wound on his leg, obviously the cause of his fall. Did you see anyone attack him ?” The Headmaster asked Remus.

“No, I saw no one, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t there. I was in town browsing in the bookstore for any new books they might have on werewolves.” The fair haired man said, cutting Severus a look.

“Not likely to find anything useful in the drivel they publish for the general pubic.” Severus commented. Remus nodded his head in acknowledgement, then went on.

“I ran into Rose in the book shop. He was buying a copy of ‘Alchemical Quarterly’ for Hermione.” Severus raised an eyebrow to this, but did not comment. “He left the shop first. I wasn’t far behind, but I only heard him cry out as I came out of the door and saw him fall, hitting his head. There were not many people on the street, but all who were there came over to the boy. I thought it best to get him back here as quickly as possible.”

“Quite right, my boy. It does not sound like a tactic Lucius would use.” Dumbledore said, turning an inquisitive brow to Severus.

“It is not. Lucius would not waste an opportunity by inflicting a relatively harmless curse. I would lay my bets on the younger Malfoy.”

“Draco ?” Lupin asked. Severus nodded.

“I assume Draco only meant to placate his father by the curse, the resulting head injury was not foreseen.” Severus said. The other two men sat looking thoughtful and occasionally shaking their heads. There seemed to be little more to say on the matter.

“I understand Poppy has not as yet found an answer for you.” Dumbledore asked, gazing over his spectacles at Lupin.

“No, but Severus is working on a few theories of his own.” The old wizard turned his attention to the dark man with an amused quirk playing at his lips.

“Indeed ?” Dumbledore said.

“I merely observed that it may be an illness relegated to werewolves. It may very well be that I am wrong.” Severus said irritably.

“Well.” The Headmaster said getting up. “I must go to the Great Hall. It might be best if the two of you ate here. When you are feeling better, I want you right off to bed, Remus.” The werewolf chuckled lightly and nodded. Severus stood to see Dumbledore out. At the door, he had to ask the question that had been upper most in his mind.

“How is Miss Granger ?” The old wizard’s eyes darted to Severus as if trying to read something in his countenance.

“She is well. I gave her leave to stay in the infirmary as long as she likes. She wished to stay with the boy even though he is not likely to wake before morning. An admirable sentiment.” Severus grimaced internally.

“Yes.” Was his clipped answer. Dumbledore smiled gently, nodded to each of them, then left the room.

Severus ordered dinner for Lupin and himself from the kitchens. At the moment, Severus did not want company, not that he often did, but right now he wished to drown his dashed hopes in a rather large bottle of firewhiskey that was waiting in his cupboard.

The two men ate in near silence, except for Severus’ urgings for Lupin to eat more. But it was not a completely uncompanionable silence and soon Severus was pouring their after dinner coffee. Lupin sighed heavily, then cast Severus a serious look. He seemed to be weighing his options of a respectable topic of conversation. Setting down his cup, Lupin asked the worst possible question he could have at that moment.

“Do you still think of her ?” Amber eyes held his darker ones and Severus felt his heart begin to constrict.

“Who ?” He asked cautiously, hoping against hope the fair haired man was referring to someone else. Anyone else.

“Aubrey.” Lupin said softly. Severus sat back in his chair as if he had been punched, his heart racing and breathing becoming uneven.

“I . . .don’t . . . . I have work to finish.” The dark man stood and made foe ese escape of his office. “You can see yourself out.”

Severus fled the room without looking back. He leaned heavily on his desk trying to calm his breathing. Aubrey. Sweet Merlin, he could not think about her right now. It was too much, too long ago, too many memories, too much pain. Out. He needed to get out of here.

Leaving his office, Severus walked the corridors of the castle almost blinded to the existence of other humans inhabiting the same space. He eventually found himself in the Astronomy Tower, the cold night air biting into him. It felt good. It felt good to feel any other kind of pain, than the one in his heart. He closed his eyes.

“Aubrey.” Severus whispered. It had been many years since her name had fallen from his lips. Feeling the familiar tears well up in his eyes that always came with thoughts of her, he let them fall. Silently. He had the right to morn for her, if nothing else. He leaned against the wall for a long time looking up at the stars and letting tears wet his face.

Cursing under his breath, Severus began pacing the tower. He wanted to be angry at Lupin. Anger was familiar, less painful. The damn wolf knew better than to bring up the long dead sweet Hufflepuff of their youth. What did Aubrey have to do with the current situation anyway ? Aubrey had left him, Hermione had chosen someone other than him. And what did Lupin mean ‘was he happy’ ? The choice was not up to him. Women did not want to be with a man like him.

Finally the cold drove him inside, where he took to wandering again, though now his head felt a bit clearer. It wasn’t long before he found himself standing at the doors of the hospital wing. When he realized where he was his brow furrowed. He hadn’t meant to come here, had never thought about seeing Hermione, yet knowing that was why he had come.

Severus sighed deeply. Why did he feel such a loss ? The girl had never been his to begin with, and it was not as if he had tried to win her affections. Not really. Maybe it was that he had shared that part of himself that he kept carefully hidden from others at all times. And she hadn’t turned away from him. That thought made him suddenly need to see Hermione badly.

Opening the door, Severus quietly walked into the dimly lit ward. The beds were empty, save for the one holding the raven haired youth. Hermione sat at the boy’s bedside holding his hand and speaking to him softly. As he watched, her graceful hand went to Green’s face and brushed back his hair, then the boy kissed her hand.

Severus sighed inwardly. How often had he lain in the hospital wing, half delirious with pain, wanting nothing more than to have such a woman comfort him in such a way ? He slipped back out into the hall before he was noticed. The stray thought came to him that the new pain of loosing Hermione, was overshadowing the old pain of loosing Aubrey. But the thought of Aubrey also brought guilt. Severus was going to make sure Hermione was safe, if he had to strike Lucius down himself.


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Hermione sat on the hard wooden chair next to Rose’s bed holding his hand and rubbing it gently. She wasn’t quite sure how long she had been there watching his angelic face relaxed in sleep. She sighed, then felt him squeeze her hand.

“Rose ?” Hermione whispered softly. He let out a low groan and turned his head towaher,her, then his eyes flickered open, only to squeeze tightly shut again against the pain in his head.

“Hermione ?” Rose asked, his voice deepened by sleep.

“Yes. How are you feeling ?”

“Like a hippogriff landed on my head. What happened ?” He asked, opening his eyes again.

“You don’t remember ?” She didn’t know if she should tell him everything.

“Not much. I was talking to Professor Lupin in the bookstore, I went out into the street and . . . . well that seems to be the lot. I don’t remember anymore.”

“You fell and hit your head.” Hermione said, thinking it best to leave out any mention of being attacked. “Madam Pomfrey left this pain relieving potion for you in case you woke up.” She said indicating the small blue bottle on the bedside table.

“Not just yet. That stuff knocks you out and I want to enjoy your company a while longer.”

“What were you doing in the village anyway ?” Hermione asked.

Rose’s face began to light up with a smile, only to bring on another groan. “I was getting something for you. It’s in the pocket of my robes. Can you get it ?”

Hermione looked through his robes that were neatly folded on the next bed. In one of the pockets, she found a periodical that had been reduced for easy carrying. “What is it ?”

“‘Alchemical Quarterly’. There is an article in it about the Thaddeus White book we bought. I thought you might be interested.” Hermione looked at the hopeful yet painful expression on his face.

“Rose, you didn’t need to do this.”

“I know I didn’t need to, I wanted to get it for you. And I didn’t mean to stand you up tonight.” He said, his roguish smile peeking through.

“You didn’t. I happened to be in the entry hall when Professor Lupin brought you in.” She said, then brushed away a lock of hair that had fallen into his eyes. “You gave me quite a fright.”

Rose stared at her, then pulled her hand up to his lips, kissing then lightly. “You know me, anything to spend more time with you.”

“Let me give you the potion, so you can sleep. I’ll stay for a while, if you like.” She said. He nodded his head tiredly.

Hermione helped Rose to sit up slightly and held the bottle to his lips. When he had drank all the potion, he let out a sigh and lay back on the pillow, his sleepy eyes gazing at her.

“Sleep now. I’ll see you in the morning.” She said. Rose gave her a contented smile and closed his eyes, falling asleep quickly. Hermione waited about a half hour to make sure he was comfortable, then she headed back to her room. Morning could not come soon enough.

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Severus stood in the Headmaster’s office, glaring out the window. He had not been at all surprised by Dumbledore’s summons this morning.

“Why don’t you take a seat, Severus ?” Dumbledore asked kindly.

“I prefer to stand, thank you.” The dark man all but snarled back. Closing his eyes, Severus took a deep breath. Too much of his emotions were filtering through, he needed to get a hold on himself. Then he heard the door open.

“Ah. . . . Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Green. If you gentlemen will please take your seats ? So good to see you looking better today, Mr. Green.” Albus commented.

“Thank you, Professor Dumbledore. Sorry to have been such a bother yesterday.” Green said with a hint of embarrassment. Severus turned to observe Draco and Draco’s eyes darted sharply to the Ravaw baw beside him. That was all the confirmation Severus needed of the younger Malfoy’s involvement in yesterday’s attack.

Silently, Hermione came into the room a few minutes later, looking as if she had not slept a wink all night. She is beautiful, he thought to himself and wondered how a week ago he had not recognized that fact. Her countenance was controlled and almost solemn. She sat in the chair next to Draco and Severus sat in the last, as they had been the day this adventure had begun.

“I understand you have made your decision, Miss Granger.” The Headmaster stated. Hermione nodded, then looked at her hands. Why did she look like a woman receiving a death sentence ?

“I have decided to accept the petition of . . . . . . . . . . Severus Snape.” Hermione said in a clear voice.

Oh.

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~ Please take a moment to review ~

Glinda




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