The Fortress Within

Severus rose early the next day and slipped out of bed


Severus rose early the next day and
slipped out of bed, not wanting to disturb Hermione with his tossing and
turning.  After showering and
dressing in the bathroom he headed to his office, pausing long enough to quietly
plant a kiss on the woman sleeping in his bed.


 


After several hours of grading essays
he felt a pair of soft arms slip around his neck and a warm mouth settle on his
earlobe. “Good Morning, Severus.”  Severus
paused only long enough to realize just how nervously he waited each morning to
hear his name fall from her lips.


 


In a smooth motion, Hermione found
herself in Severus’ lap.  He was a
bit disappointed to find her showered and dressed for the day as well. 
“Decided to sleep in this morning, hhhmmmmm?”


 


Hermione toyed with the buttons on
the front of his robe, “Yes, it seems I was allowed to sleep in. 
Rather odd waking up alone, nothing poking me in the back.”  
From the devilish look in her eye, he could tell she was toying with him.


 


Severus feigned a growl and took a
nip at her bottom lip, pulling back quickly as she moved to deepen the kiss. 
“Now, now, I don’t believe you want to go there, my dear. 
Who knows what you still may get poked with, the day’s still young.”


 


A very full, exquisite lower lip
poked its way out.  “I didn’t
say I didn’t enjoy it, I just said it was odd.” 
He felt her smile as he found her mouth and proceeded to kiss her
senseless.


 


They heard a cough from the classroom
door and within moments the morning was shattered. 
Harry Potter stood in the doorway.


 


With a leap Hermione was out of his
lap and had begun to pace.  She
didn’t have to say a word for Severus to know that the Deatheater had taken
over.


 


Severus rose is fis feet and moved
between the two.  “What in the
hell are you doing here, Potter?” 


 


Harry looked a bit embarrassed and
even more nervous.  “I’ll just
say this quickly and then leave.  Albus
and I talked for a long time yesterday.  With
his help, I prepared this for you.  What’s
contained in it will never be enough and for that I’m truly sorry, Hermione. 
I doubt you’ll ever be able to forgive me, or that we can even get
passed all of this.  But maybe, we
can at least tolerate each other’s company for short periods. 
Someday.”


 


Severus found a pensieve being thrust
into his hands and Harry ran from the room.  When the sound of his footsteps had faded to nothing, Severus
turned around and sat it on his desk. 


 


Hermione walked slowly up to it,
eyeing it as if it would leap out and bite her.


 


“You don’t have to do this,”
Severus offered.


 


“Oh, but I do. We need to know.”


 


For a long time, she stared at the
footed bowl.  Then her hand moved,
inching its way toward the swirling mists. 
Stopping just short of touching it, she lifted her eyes to Severus. 
“Will you go with me?”


 


For the first time, the Deatheater
reached out to him.  He took the
hand that was offered and together they made the journey.


 


When the swirling mists cleared they
were surprised to find themselves at a Dark Revel. 
Harry was standing near the group, invisible to the throng of Deatheaters. 
Through Harry’s ears they could hear the Dark Lord. 
“Tonight we welcome a new servant.”


 


Harry’s eyes darted to the space
next to him, and they heard a whispered voice. 
“It’s true, then.”  Sirius
Black stood next to Harry, his form similarly cloaked.  “Reinforce the Silencing Spell and move slowly, don’t run
into anyone.”


 


Carefully, Harry wound his way
through the group.  Murmurs rolled
through the group from front to back as a figure worked it’s way to the front. 
“Ronald Weasley, fall to your knees before your Dark Lord,” came the
voice of Lucius Malfoy.  Harry
halted once, unsure, only to feel a tug on his arm as Sirius urged him forward. 

 


Their progress was slow as the people
in the group moved constantly, trying to get a better view. 
Lucius continued on, “Do you pledge your allegiance to Voldemort?”


 


Ron’s voice was soft, but sure,
“I do.”


 


“Kiss my robes,” Voldemort
commanded.  “Very nicely done,
Weasley.  Rise and receive your
mark.”


 


They were nearing the front, now. 
Ron was on his feet, head bowed in subservience. 
He thrust his left forearm out.  With
a flourish of his wand, Voldemort split the fabric to reveal freckled skin. 
“Take my brand, knowing to betray it will mean your death.” 

 


They reached Ron just as the wand
touched his skin.  They grasped him
by either arm and apparated together.


 


The three men appeared again in the
Shrieking Shack.  Instantly, Sirius
reached up Ron’s sleeve and grabbed his wand. 
It took a moment for Ron to gain his bearings and when his did, he turned
on Harry.  “What do you think
you’re doing?”


 


“Me, Me?? 
What in the hell do you think you were doing, Ron?”


Ron stormed over to the window and
for a minute looked as if he would throw it wide and jump. 
Instead, he spoke viciously, “I don’t know. 
Getting out from underneath your shadow for one thing. 
The famous Harry gods-damned Potter. 
I wish I had never seen you at the station that day. 
I have spent seven years following you around like a puppy. 
Harry defeated the Dark Lord again. 
Harry the Tri-Wizard champion.  Harry
the famous seeker.  All summer long,
Ginny carrying on about how wonderful you are. 
I’m so sick and bloody tired of it.”


 


Severus and Hermione could feel
Harry’s heart breaking.  “I
never knew.”


 


Ron turned wide eyes on him. 
“You never knew?  I should say not.  You
were always so caught up in what everyone was saying about you. 
Did you ever stop and think, even one time? 
At least Hermione had the brains, she could stand almost near the top of
your pedestal.  I had nothing. 
At least he offered me something.  A
place, a purpose, meaning.”


 


“Purpose, meaning? 
Ron look at your arm.  LOOK
AT IT!”


 


A shock of flame hair fell across his
eyes as Ron looked at the slightest hint of a serpent’s head burnt into his
flesh.  The sudden realization was
evident as his mouth gaped open.


 


Harry continued on, urged by the
crack in his facade   “In
case you don’t remember, that’s the start of the Dark Mark. 
You’ll recall seeing it on Snape’s arm as well and you know the
torment it has caused him.”  At
the mention of Severus, Sirius’ face turned dark and he slipped from the room.


 


“He’ll never escape it no matter
how hard he tries.  There’s no
going back once you take it.  Think
about it, Ron.  How wonderful is his
life?  How happy is he?  He realized his mistake too late.  It’s not too late for you. 
That mark is not complete.”


 


Ron sank into a chair, still studying
the serpent.  Finally, tormented,
tear-filled eyes rose. “I’m sorry.”


 


The mists swirled around them once
again.  They appeared in Sirius’
office at the Ministry.


 


Harry was furious. 
He was screaming at his Godfather’s smug face. “You can’t be
serious.  You want me to do what? 
This is Hermione we’re talking about. 
Remember, my friend?”


 


“Oh, I remember your friend
Hermione.  I also remember your
friend Ron.  If you recall, I helped
you pull him out of there and I kept my mouth shut about the entire incident. 
Now, I give you a choice.  This
may be our last chance. Either you go along with this or I will reveal all. 
Not only to the Ministry, not only to Ron’s family, but to the Daily
Prophet as well.  Picture the
headlines.  “Best friend of Harry
Potter turns to You Know Who.”  What
will that do to him, to Ginny, to the rest of his family.”


 


Harry backed off, staring at Sirius
with incredulously,  “You
wouldn’t dare.” 


 


Sirius scoffed at him, “Oh
wouldn’t I?  Try me. 
Hermione will not be forced to do this, she will have a choice and if she
says no, than so be it.”


 


“She won’t say no. 
She’ver ver back away from anything that was thrown at her. 
It’s not in her nature, it’s too much like failure.”


 


With a half-smile and raised eyebrow,
Sirius nodded his head slowly, “That’s what we’re counting on.”


 


More mist engulfed them and once
again they found themselves with Ron.  “Harry,
you can’t mean what I think you mean.  I can’t do that with Hermione. 
I can’t do that to Hermione. 
No way!”


 


Harry’s head was in his hands as he
sat in Ron’s living room.  Nervous
hands drug through his perpetually messed up hair.  “Ron, if we don’t, Sirius is going to tell everyone about
that night.  The Ministry, the
paper, your family, everyone.”


 


Once again, things swirled and they
were face to face with Hermione herself.  “Hermione,
you don’t have to do this.”


 


Hermione looked at Harry, seemingly
shocked he would suggest such a thing.  “What do you mean I don’t have to do it? 
Of course I do.  It’s my chance to make a difference in this whole thing. 
I’m going to do it, and I’m going to get it right. 
Now, let’s go.”


 


“Crucio.”


 


Before they were released from the
mists the last time they saw one more scene. 
Harry Potter sat alone in his bedroom. 
Tears flowed freely and Harry was rocking himself. 
One word rasped from his throat over and over again. “Hermione.”


 


Their minds tumbled from the pensieve. 
Hermione gripped the edge of the desk to regain her balance. 
“Well that certainly was a bit of an eye opener. 
Doesn’t go quite far enough to merit any sort of forgiveness. 
Still, it explains a lot.”


 


She paused for a moment, forming a
thought “Did you know?  About Ron,
did you know that he had almost turned?” Her tone bordered on accusatory.
 


Severus replied bitterly, “No, I
didn’t know.  It must have been
during one of my many falls from grace.”
 


 


 


Severus lowered himself into a chair. 
“Imagine, the thought of turning out like me was what dissuaded Weasley. 
Idiot, you think he could have figured that out on his own.”


 


Hermione took the seat on the
opposite side of the desk.  “You’re
not so bad, Snape.  They don’t
know you as I do.”


 


“Oh well, that means a lot coming
from you.”


 


“I figured it did. 
I think I’d like to go for a walk. 
We have a lot to absorb.”  Hermione
rose and walked outside.  Severus
trailed behind her, allowing her some privacy, but still not trusting her on her
own.  Especially since Potter was most likely still on the
property.


 


Hermione strolled down to the lake. 
For a long time she stood looking out across the water. 
Severus noticed when her shoulders went slack and began to shake a bit. 
Taking this cue, he moved up to stand behind her. She didn’t say a
word, just leaned back into him, allowing his body to support hers. 
It was chilly and neither one of them had thought to grab a cloak. 
Still, he just waited.


 


Finally she spoke. 
“Must have been a tough choice for him. 
Trading one friend for another.”


 


Severus bent forward, his mouth close
to her ear, “I suppose it was.”  His
arms came around her, cocooning her in his warm embrace. 

 


This seemed to satisfy her, at least
for now.  After a few more minutes
she turned and wrapped an arm around his waist.  “We had best be getting in, it’s getting cold out
here.”


 


They walked together back to the
castle, each with an arm around each other. 
Neither cared about the students who saw them.  Hermione leaned her head against his shoulder, “I’m
really tired.”


 


“I know.  We’ll go back and you can lie down for a while.” 
The exchanges between light and dark always left her drained. 
It was now something he expected, a part of his life; just as she was now
an inseparable part of his life.