I Will Always Find You

Reviewers:


TaintedAngel: Now now, I can\'t write on command! LOL I will try and get this churned out as fast as I can. I\'m glad you liked it and sorry I dissapointed you on the kiss part. LOL

EmZ: Thanks, I\'ll try and remember to e-mail you with updates; but I am pretty terrible at remembering to do that, so you might just want to check on the story once in awhile.


JTBJAB: Glad you liked that line! I laughed for like ten minuets after I was done writing it just from picturing the look on his face! LOL


Jenn: Thanks. I\'m glad you like the pace and all. Thanks for the review!


Sunflower: Slowly but surely my dear. LOL


slytheringriffindor21: Glad you liked \'em! Hope this one is just as good.


sarah: Well, Hermione doesn\'t really get it yet. She will soon! (Hopefully in this chapter!) LOL


maddy: Thanks hon! *Blushes* you are too kind! LOL



Chapter12. Tell Me A Story

Hermione was still snickering over what had happened in the dungeons. She was on her way up to her room in Gryffindor tower.

Professor Snape had been chatting with her amicably and forgotten his potion. That was the last thing she had EVER expected to see.


Usually he was so concientious. But he had let the potion boil over. She\'d started laughing with his exclamation of, \"Aw shite!\" and it had been terribly hard for her to stop.


He\'d also surprised her by giving her a grin and saying, \"Oh yes Miss Granger, laugh it up.\"


That had only made her laugh harder and she\'d nearly fallen out of the chair. As it was, she was still wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.


Who knew that Professor Snape had a sense of humor? She certainly hadn\'t. It was sort of refreshing to know that there was more to him than the cold person he presented to the world.


She felt so much better than she had since the attack. She hadn\'t laughed so hard since the pseudo Professor Moody had turned Malfoy into a white ferret and bounced him off the floor.

Ron and Harry had waited up for her and called her over as soon as she came in the common room.


\"Wow \'Mione! That must have been some meeting. You look great! Sure it wasn\'t a guy you were with?\" Asked Ron teasingly.


\"No I was down in the dungeons with Professor Snape,\" she said.


They looked at her like she had grown a second head.


\"What?\"


\"But you look so happy. Like you\'ve just been snogging some lucky guy...Oh please tell me you weren\'t snogging Snape!!\"


\"No I wasn\'t, Ronald!\" She replied angrily, putting her hands on her hips. \"He was talking to me and he let a potion boil over on accident. It was really funny and I spent about twenty minuets laughing about it.\"


\"And he didn\'t hex you or take points or give detention?\"


\"No, he thought it was pretty funny too,told me to laugh it up.\" She started giggling at the thought.


\"Okay who is this person you\'re talking about and what did they do with the real Snape?\" Asked Harry.


\"He\'s not so bad Harry. He\'s been wonderful to me since I got attacked. Of course if he knew I was telling you this he\'d probably give me detention for the rest of the year.\"


\"Not to mention the house points,\" Ron grimaced.


\"Too right,\" Hermione agreed. \"Best not to tell anybody or Griffindor will definitely lose the house cup this year.\"


\"Why were you meeting with him anyway \'Mione?\" Asked Harry.


\"Oh I\'m assisting him on Wednesdays and Fridays. Nothing big, just grading papers so he can brew potions for the hospital wing.\"


Hermione had decided to tell Ron and Harry what was going on. It would be hard for her to get away from them twice during the week without them getting suspicious.


\"Well if he was making a potion, why was he talking to you and not paying attention to it?\"

\"\'Cause I was having trouble reading one of them and I called him over to look at it and we started talking about Malfoy and Crabbe and Goyle.\"

\"I still don\'t understand,\" said Harry. \"He acts like he hates all of us.\"


\"He doesn\'t,\" Hermione replied. \"He just has to act that way because of Voldemort and the death eaters.\"


\"Oh.\"


Both boys looked as if their world had been turned upside down. Hermione sighed, \"Maybe I shouldn\'t have told you this.\"


\"It\'s okay \'Moine. I just feel wierd about him not hating us. It\'s like a law of nature or something.\"


\"Well, if it makes you feel better he said he does hate you two,\" Hermione offered.


\"Yeah, oddly it does,\" said Ron.


Hermione sighed. \"You two are impossible. I\'m going to bed.\"


They called goodnight after her and she shook her head. \"Imagine, being happy because someone hates you,\" she muttered.


~*~


Severus grinned to himself as he cleaned up the last of the ruined potion. Normally he would have been very upset about it; but it had all been worth it to hear her laugh like that.


Laughter was not normally one of his favorite sounds; but hearing her laugh so freely because of things he had done and said was wonderful.


Her face had been more open and happy than he\'d seen it since the night she had been raped.


His insides clenched with anger at the thought. No matter how much the man had been crucioed that night, it wasn\'t enough. He wanted to rip him to shreds for even looking at Hermione, not to mention what he was actually done to her.


He thought back to her laughing face just minuets earlier. He\'d sent her off to bed and told her he\'d finish the few essays she hadn\'t marked yet.


She was so strong. He knew of girls that had spent months in St. Mungos after being raped. Yet she was here and doing fine.


He sat down to mark the essays she hadn\'t finished and for once was not in a bad mood.

When Friday night came along he had no essays for her; but when she arrived he asked if she would like to assist him in making potions.


She readily agreed and he set her to work cutting up the ingredients for a healing potion. She was relaxed and he covertly watched her as he set up the cauldron.


\"Tell me Miss Granger, what are your plans after you leave Hogwarts?\"


She looked up, startled. \"Well, I was thnking about going around to look at the different universities. I\'m not sure which subject I want to pursue yet.\"


He nodded. \"Looking at the schools first is a wise choice, Miss Granger.That way you\'ll know which school to go to when you do choose.\"


She smiled a little. \"I don\'t know why everyone expects you to know what you want to do with your life when you\'re eightteen years old.\"


He smiled. \"I can see your point. At that age I was very sure I wanted to pursue a career in potions; but that was all I was really sure of.\"


She glaced at him. \"Were... were you....\" she trailed off.


He looked up at her. \"Was I involved with Voldemort then?\"


She nodded, her face coloring slightly.


\"Yes I was,\" he sighed. \"I joined the ranks the summer before my final year.\"


\"Can I ask why?\" She said softly.


He sighed, \"Let\'s finish the potion and then I\'ll make us some tea and tell you about it.\"


\"You don\'t have to..\"


\"I\'ll tell you about it,\" he repeated firmly.


She felt badly for asking; but she was very curious about why he had joined Voldemort in the first place.


They worked in silence until the potion was finished and bottled.


\"Come with me,\" he said simply and led her out of the classroom and through a passage into his office. She expected him to stop there; but he continued into his sitting room.

\"Please have a seat,\" he indicated the couch and Hermione sat down. She was forcibly reminded of the last time she had sat on the couch and she grimaced.


Professor Snape didn\'t notice as he was conjuring tea, and she collected herself. By the time he turned around she was all right and actually found herself enjoying how comfortable the old leather couch really was.


\"Here.\" he handed her a cup of tea and offered her the sugar and milk.


When they were both settled he began to talk, \"When I was a child my family was heavily into the dark arts. My father was an abusive man. He never hit me as I recall. He saved the physical violence for my mother. When I was seventeen he killed her.\"


Hermione gasped.


He continued as if she hadn\'t made a noise, \"He was beating her and he snapped her neck. After that he went to Azkaban and died two years later.\"


Hermione was crying by then. \"That\'s terrible.\"


\"I was so depressed. My mother was the only kind person in my life aside from Professor Dumbledore and Sera. I was angry. My mother had not dabbled in the dark arts. Her marriage to my father was an arranged one. She was the last of her line. I was angry at the world then, and I had heard other Slytherin students talking about Voldemort, so I decided to join him.\"


Hermione waited in silence.


\"After I did, I began to regret it. I knew that my mother would have been so dissapointed in me. But I was just an angry kid looking for an outlet. After I became a Potions Master I went to Dumbledore, and he turned me into a spy. Voldemort was pleased that I was working at the school. Said I could be useful as a spy for him as well. And then Potter got rid of him and I thought it was the end. But it wasn\'t. And you know the rest, I\'m sure.\"


She nodded. He was staring into his tea cup and she tentatively reached over and took his hand.


He was startled and looked up at her.


Severus looked into Hermiones eyes. He\'d expected to see pity in them; but only saw understanding, for wich he was very thankful. He wanted no ones\' pity.


\"Thank you for telling me.\" she said quietly.


He nodded. \"Thank you for listening.\" he hesitated and Hermione knew he wanted to say something else. Her hand tightned on his.


\"Was there something else?\" she asked. She liked the feeling of her hand in his and she had begun to register the way he was acting around her. The things he said and did and his body language had finally clicked into place for her. She also knew that he didn\'t share such intimate things with anyone.


She wasn\'t expecting him to do what he did next.


\"Hermione...\"


Her first name coming from his lips was a shock to her; but she liked it. A lot.


He seemed to realize what he had done and quickly supplied, \"I mean, Miss Granger...\"


\"You can call me Hermione. I like it.\"


He gaped at her and she grinned. \"Wow, I never thought to see you speechless, sir.\"


He scowled at her; but it was very ineffective. \"Okay Hermione then.\" he looked down. \"I\'ve been noticing you since that night. Before I was wrapped up in other things. But when I saw you there,helpless and hurt it made me so angry. I was even surprised at how angry I was.\"


She nodded. \"I noticed you\'ve been looking out for me. I thought it was a bit odd;but...\"


\"Hermione, would you mind if I kissed you?\"


Her breath caught in her throat. \"Umm.\"


He began to take his hand out of hers, sure she was about to reject him; but she caught at his robes and pulled him over to her.


When her searching lips touched his he felt like he was home.


AN: I know, I know, an evil cliffhanger; but I am limited on time at the moment. Every time I turn around someone wants me to do something else, so I am writing this when I can. I hope this didn\'t suck, and I will try and get the next chapter up as soon as I can. Love, peace and chicken grease! ~Angel