The Fortress Within

It was later that same week that Albus Dumbledore dropped in on Severus
right after his last class of the morning


It was later that same week that
Albus Dumbledore dropped in on Severus right after his last class of the
morning. The Potions Master was in Hermione’s old rooms, checking on the Cito
Exsanguis Neco when the Headmaster entered the room. 
“Ah, Severus, how is the potion coming along?”


 


Severus finished taking the
temperature on the cauldron he was standing over and carefully cleaned the
thermometer before setting it aside.  “It’s
coming along nicely.  In two days,
we’ll bottle it and start all over again.”


 


“Very good,” Albus nodded.


 


“I doubt you came down here
just to check on a potion, would you care to continue?”


 


Albus smiled, “Never could slip
one past you, my dear boy.  How is
Miss Granger coming along?”


 


Severus carefully considered his
answer before speaking.  “Hermione,
both light and dark, are doing fine.  Her
dark side has been behaving, only making appearances in the evenings as we plan. 
Otherwise, as you can see, her classes are going fine, she appears to be
in very good control, given the situation.”


 


Still Albus pushed, “And the
nights?”


 


Severus stiffened, furious that
Albus had the gall to pose such a question. 
“Well, since you have the audacity to ask, I imagine you already know
the answer to that question.  Would
you care for a blow-by-by accounting?”


 


“Oh, Severus,” Albus scoffed
waving a thin, white hand, “Of course I know what is going on, my only
concern is who it is going on with.”


 


“It is
going on with Hermione, our Hermione.  Now,
I’m not sure what kind of perverse information you are fishing for, but you
had better get to the point and quickly.” 
Severus could feel his face was turning red as his blood pressure inched
up.


 


“Touched quite a nerve, have I? 
I’m sorry.  My only concern was that you had fallen in love with the
wrong woman.  They each are quite
charming in their own ways; but when this is all over and only one of them
remains behind, I am hoping it will be your Hermione and not the
Deatheater.”


 


Severus hung his head, ashamed by
the way he had spoken to his mentor.  “I’m
sorry, Albus.  It’s just that, I
don’t know…  I’m not so sure
we will ever be able to separate them.  The
Deatheater insists she is here to stay and I believe that once the mission is
over, she will go to any lengths to ensure she remains. 
It’s going to come to a fight between both of them.”


 


Albus patted the taller wizard
affectionately on the back, “Then I propose you give your Hermione
something to fight for when the time comes. 
Speaking of fights, that moves me to my next subject. 
The Ministry is sending a liaison here this afternoon to discuss what
will be required by the Aurors.  Poppy
is announcing in the Great Hall that Hermione and your afternoon classes are
cancelled.  Minerva has gone to fetch Hermione and we will all be taking
our lunch in my office while awaiting …”


 


A voice came from seemingly
nowhere.  “Albus, Severus???”


 


“Yes, Minerva?” both answered
in unison.


 


“I’m outside Hermione’s
classroom.  Harry Potter has arrived
and… Oh Albus, you two just better get up here fast.”


 


Severus started out of the room
running, but halted at Albus’ roar.  “Severus!!!”


 


Severus turned round, and his arm
was immediately caught by the Headmaster.  They
disappeared with a “pop.”


 


They reappeared outside the DADA
classroom.  Minerva McGonnagal


 was pacing the hallway, wringing her hands. 
From behind the closed door, they could hear two muffled voices. 
The cool, low voice of Hermione Granger, and the high pitched, panicked
squeal of The Boy Who Lived.


 


“She has the door sealed,”
Minerva offered as Severus moved to grasp the knob. 
“I haven’t been able to breach her wards.”


 


Albus Dumbledore sighed heavily
and with a wave of his hand the door sprung open.  For a moment, no one could move, shocked by the sight before
them.  The 3 staff members entered
to find Harry Potter bent over one of the desks unable to move from the neck
down.  His upper lip had been split,
a small pool of blood puddled under his chin. 

 


Hermione Granger was pacing
around him, clearly agitated.  “So,
what will it be, Potter?  Long or
thick?  Fast or slow?  I’m being kind, none of you Ministry bastards ever offered
me the choice.”


 


Severus was the first to move,
advancing on the furious young witch, “Granger, what in the hell do you think
you’re doing?”  He stopped just
short and glared down at her, doing his best to look intimidating.


 


She smiled sweetly up at him,
“Ah, Snape, you’re just in time.”


 


“Just in time for what. 
Are you planning to, um, er…..”


 


“Buttfuck, the term I used was
Buttfuck.  Yes, I was just about to
do some transfiguration that would make even you proud, Minerva. Something on a
very grand scale.”


 


Severus ignored the scared groan
from the desk behind him.  He gazed
down at the Deatheater and noticed a twinkle in her eye.  The witch was angry, but it was obvious she meant no serious
harm.  She was playing with Potter.
He winked her and turned around.  “Well,
Granger, I must say I am quite tempted to let you proceed. 
I have to admit, the thought of seeing Potter with something rammed up
his ass has been something I have dreamt about, and not in a lascivious manner,
either.” 


 


Albus kept his face straight, even though it was obvious
he realized her jest as well.  “OK,
children, the time for fantasies will come later.  Right now, we have more important things to discuss. 
Minerva, will you take Hermione to your quarters and order some lunch. 
Severus, you and I will accompany Mr. Potter to my office.  Hermione, we’ll see you in say half an hour.”
 


“Yes, Albus.” 
Her face had fallen at her fun being brought to an end. 
She followed Minervam thm the room.


 


Severus called after her, “Oh, and Granger, do try to
behave yourself when we next meet.”
 


Albus waited until the two women were gone before
releasing Harry.  The young wizard
turned immediately on Severus, “Just what in the hell was that all about? 
What, in Merlin’s, name have you done to her?”
 


Every last bit of joviality was
gone from Severus’ head in an instant. Suddenly he had the boy up against the
wall, his forearm forced under his chin.  “I
have done nothing to her, Potter.  What you saw was your own warped creation, not mine. 
You were supposed to have been her friend.” 
He ignored the ugly blue color of Harry’s face, “What a gallant show
of friendship.  Let’s rape her, let’s cast crucio on her, hex her, beat
her.  C’mon guys, she’ll be
better for it in the end.  Well, good
friend, you have created a monster.”


 


“Severus, that is enough.” 
Albus spoke low, but commanding.  “Put
him down, this is not the place to discuss such matters. 
Come along Mr. Potter.  There
are a few things that need to be explained to you before we begin our
meeting.”


 


Severus led the way to
Dumbledore’s office, allowing his temper to cool by having the man out of his
sight.  Once seated, Albus began to
explain the situation at hand.  “Severus,
Minerva, and I have all been, shall we say lucky enough, to have shared very
important parts of Hermione’s memories.  Particularly
those that involved the Ministry, yourself, and her training. 
To say that I am disappointed in you would be an understatement, Mr.
Potter.  That is neither here nor
there.  As a result of your education
Hermione has developed a sort of other personality, alter ego if you will. 
She was born of anger; anger at you and anger at Voldemort. She is most
likely the only form of Hermione that you will be allowed to view until this is
finished.”


 


“Well, the bitch certainly
knows how to throw a punch.”  Harry
lifted his napkin and dabbed at the still oozing wound.


 


Severus could see that Harry had
nearly pushed Albus too far. He stepped in,” Be warned, Mr. Potter, that witch
is very powerful and very a.&nb.  It
is in your best interests not to cross her, antagonize her, or corner her. 
Her fast mind, magical skills, and taste for blood and violence have
charmed even Voldemort himself.  I
am certain she would gut even you in a heartbeat if pushed far enough. 
Since none of this is in any way her fault, I am certain we could come up
with a convenient excuse for your demise, as well.”


 


Harry blanched ever so slightly
at the approving nod from the Headmaster.  “What
of the old Hermione?  Is she still
here?”


 


“She is here most of the time, Mr. Potter. 
In fact it was only your presence here today which has brought her change
upon us.  There is one more thing I
want to make perfectly clear to you.”  The
Headmaster spoke slowly, making sure Harry did not miss a word, “Not one hint
of Hermione’s condition is to be taken from this meeting. 
Not only have I viewed her memories; but with her approval I have sealed
them in a Pensieve as well.  If any
of this is spoken of outside of these walls, I will call Rita Skeeter over here
and the truth will be plastered all over the Daily Prophet before you can say
Crucio.  Do you understand what I am
saying?”
 


Harry nodded, but offered no
other words.


 


As if on cue, there was a knock
on the door and Hermione walked in.  She
was now dressed in jeans, a tank top, and heavy boots. 
Over the tight fitting tank, Severus noted, she wore one of his white
button down shirts with the sleeves rolled up and a knot tied at her waist. 
Hermione flopped down on the sofa and threw one of her legs to dangle
over the arm.


 


She had her Potions Master smirk
on her face and she eyed Potter with narrowed eyes.  “I guess you have filled him in on our little problem,
correct???”


 


“Ever perceptive, aren’t you,
Granger?”  Severus moved to sit
next to his partner, both to offer a bit of support and to be close enough to
grab her if she tried anything.


 


“Well, then, lets get this over
with.  The quicker we do the quicker
we can get out of the room.  I find
that something in here really reeks.”


 


Severus took over here,
“We’ll tell you what you need to know, Potter. 
On December 20th the Deatheaters will be apparating here to
kill Albus.  They will meet a pretty
instantaneous death upon their arrival.  What
we need from you are Aurors and a lot of them. 
You will have to come in very small groups at night. 
Enter via the Forbidden Forest.  Voldemort
is constantly watching the castle and he may be able to pick up on that many
apparitions.  Once in the castle,
you will be secreted away in the dungeons until the night of the 20th.”


 


“It is up to you and Albus to
come up with a game plan for Voldemort’s demise. 
Hermione and I will apparate with him directly to the Great Hall to slaughter
our Headmaster.  He will not be
expecting to find himself alone there.  He
is very weak since your last encounter and it should be a relatively easy job to
put an end to him.  We will also
need someone to volunteer to take Polyjuice.  They will need to apparate to our location as Lucius Malfoy
and inform the Dark Lord all is secure at the castle.  I would advise you that it not be you, Sirius, or Weasley for
obvious reasons.” 


 


Severus was met with a sharp jab
in the side, “Taking away all my fun, Snape?”


 


Harry had been listening,
silently.  Now he had some
questions.  “Just how do you
propose to arrange all of this with Voldemort?”


 


Before Severus could speak,
Hermione was on her feet.  “How?
How? I’ll tell you how.  I
have spent months now whoring myself to Lucius Malfoy. 
I have done everything for Voldemort; been sodomized, raped, beaten, and
forced to kill.  Now I have proven
myself worthy to that demon.  You
could say I am the Gods Damned Queen of the Deatheaters! 
I have his ear now.  He
listens to me and he listens to Severus.” 
At the sound of his name, Severus knew the Deatheater was gone and that
Hermione was venting the anger she had suppressed for far too long. 
“Don’t you worry how this is going to happen. 
If I speak it, it will happen.”


 


“While we are at it, Harry, I
want to make one thing perfectly clear.  When
this is all over I never want to set eyes on you again. 
I may have been pretty stupid once, and believed everything that you told
me.” She began her assault on Harry, moving closer with everyone word thrown
at him.  “You told me, 
‘We need a woman to do this, to go in and seduce them and become one of
them.’  Well you know what, just
as many Deatheaters enjoy men as women.” 
Harry was on his feet now, backing up against the bookshelves behind him.


 


Still she continued her advance. 
Tears had begun to burn down her cheeks, “Why didn’t one of you
volunteer for this job?  Why? 
Because none of you were the naïve, little, over-achieving know-it-all
that I was.”  She stood inches
away from the tousle-haired wizard, screaming in his face, “I thought I could
handle it, I really did.  I was
wrong and you, my best friends, should have known I was wrong.”


 


Her voice dropped to almost a
whisper as she realized, “You did know it and you just didn’t
care.”


 


Hermione spun around and ran. 
Before Severus could even get out of his seat, she was gone. 
He walked over to where Harry was standing, eyes wide, jaw slack, staring
after her.  “Welcome to the world
of having to face up to your past actions, Potter. Behold, I give you The Boy
Who Lived.   I just hope
you can sleep at night.”  In a
flourish of black robes, he was gone, as well.


 


Severus searched for over an
hour.  Finally he found her in the
third floor corridor on the right hand side. 
She sat by the trap door, hunched over her knees and rocking. 
She heard his footsteps and turned a tear-smudged face up to him. 
Severus dropped to his knees and gathered her in his arms.  How long he held her in his arms, he didn’t know. 
Minutes, hours, time was inconsequential at that moment. 

 


Hermione had her hands tangled in
the front of his tear soaked robes.  “This
is where it started.  We became a
family here.  At least I thought we
did.  So many adventures; we were
always there for each other.  How
could they do this to me?  And you,
always yelling at me, berating me. Nasty, greasy, git.  Here you are, all that I have left.”


 


Severus stood with her in his
arms. He cast and invisibility spever ver them both.  The students in the corridors were unaware of them as he
carried her to the dungeons.


 


He sat with her on the bed, his
back against the headboard.  Severus
still hadn’t spoken a word to her. He was afraid to speak, afraid of the words
that were fighting their way from his heart. 

 


Hermione turned herself in his
lap, until she was facing him.  Her
arms wrapped themselves up and underneath his to come around his back. 
His hands began to work on her back, much as she had done for him the day
before.  He felt her relax against
him with a sigh. 


 


Severus grasped the two sides of
his shirt that she was wearing and his hands pulled against each other until he
heard a tear.  At the sound, she
stiffened and sat up.  He moved a
hand to the back of her neck and rubbed there until she fell back upon him
again.  With the shirt now torn down
the back, he was able to work her stressed muscles more effectively. 
Long fingers played up and down her spine.  
He soon realized she was asleep.  He
slipped his wand from his sleeve and with a wave, her blanket floated into the
room to cover them both. 


 


They sat that way for severhourhours.  Severus watched the sunset
through the window.  He dared not
move, for fear of waking the exhausted woman in his lap. 


 


When the shadows had finished
their march across the room, Hermione stirred. 
She pulled back her head to look at him.  Her hands came out and she studied the buttons on his coat as
she undid them, one by &nbs  She
repeated the process all over again with the shirt underneath.


 


When she reached the last one,
she ran her hands up his exposed chest to his shoulders and slipped the clothing
down.  Severus unwrapped his arms
from her long enough to pull his hands free of the material.


 


When her task was finished she
focused her silent gaze on his mouth before moving to taste him. 
The intensity of her movements, her gaze, had him struggling to breath,
to move, to remain still.  When she
moved from him, he cried out as if wounded. 

 


Hermione smiled gently as she
removed her clothes.  Understanding
dawned on him and he quickly shed the remainder of his own as well. 
She returned to straddle him, their pose very similar to that in which
she had slept.  She made no move to
deepen their contact, just looked at him.  Her
hands traced lightly up his arms and across his collarbone. 
She tilted her head and studied the whirls of hair on his chest as
feathery fingers brushed through it.  Hermione
smiled at his sharp intake of breath as her nail raked every so quickly over his
nipple.


 


Intrigued thi this, she bent her
head to take one in her mouth and seemed to delight in the groan which escaped
from his mouth.


 


Severus’ body shook with the
effort to restrain himself.  He
allowed her free reign over his body.  She
explored, caressed and learned him in a way no other man had ever allowed her to
do.  Hermione had the knowledge, but
had never been given the chance to put it into play in anything but a violent
and corrupt setting.


 


She learned of teasing, of
giving, and even of taking.  All
softly learned lessons absorbed at her leisure. Hermione drug him to the edge
and back, over and over again until he thought he would die of the need. When
she finally, mercifully lowered herself on him, he was able to muffle a spell in
the crof hof her neck as she cried out at their joining. 
With his core numbed just the slightest bit, he was able to continue on. 

 


Hermione set the pace; Hermione
controlled him that night, mind, body, soul. 
Together the spell shattered and she traveled with him riding the waves
as one until their sweat-slicked bodies lagethgether, complete.


 


 


 


 


 


 
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