Unforgettable

Chapter Eighteen –

Hermione shifted uneasily in the uncomfortable wooden chair. Harry had assured her that she wasn’t in any kind of trouble, but she still had no idea why she was here. Harry had kept coughing so much that she’d barely understood a word he had said. Severus had looked dark, almost unreachable.

His scowl had been firmly in place ever since Harry had shown up. He was brooding. She had witnessed that brooding scowl so many times during potions class. So many of her fantasies were built around that scowl…and that classroom.

The door opened and excited chatter shattered Hermione’s reverie.

“Did you really hex Ron when you found out?” Ginny asked excitedly as she walked into the room.

“Yes,” Luna replied dreamily and followed the redheaded witch into the room. “Now he has the morning sickness.”

Hermione stood, her smile hesitant. “Ginny! Luna!” she exclaimed, relief clearly showing in her face.

Ginny smiled knowingly. “You too?”

“Me too, what?” Hermione asked.

“You’re pregnant,” Luna stated matter-of-factly.

Hermione gasped. Only Severus and her reflection knew of her condition. And since her mirror couldn’t go anywhere…She was going to hex Severus until he pleaded for mercy. Unfortunately, he’d probably enjoy it!

“N-no, I’m not,” Hermione stammered.

Just as Hermione lied, Tonks entered the room and closed the door gently behind her. “You’re not what?” she questioned curiously.

“Pregnant,” whispered Hermione, her face ashen and lifeless.

Conjuring some more chairs, Tonks frowned. “Are you certain, Hermione? Severus informed me that you were…” Tonks unrolled a parchment and perused the writing. “…with child.”

She could feel Ginny and Luna’s curious stares. Now she knew. If she needed to keep something a secret, she couldn’t tell him anything. She didn’t want anybody to know. Not only was she single and pregnant, she had no clue as to who the father was.


“I’m afraid that he is mistaken,” Hermione stated, pulling out her chair and sitting down.

Ginny sat next to Hermione and grasped one of her hands and gave it a squeeze. “Hermione, it’s okay if you’re pregnant. Both Luna and I are. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Luna nodded in agreement, sitting across the table.

“It’ll be awesome,” Ginny continued. “Our children can go to Hogwarts together, and –”

Hermione pulled away from Ginny and laughed. “I am not pregnant,” she repeated slowly.

“Oh really?” Tonks’ voice asked behind Hermione. “Then how do you explain this?”

She hadn’t seen the Auror go behind her. Hermione gasped when Tonks placed her wand on the table, the tip of it a glowing pale blue. Indignation and fear crept through her. This was worse then Snape proposing to her. Now all she needed was for Rita Skeeter to write an article and publish it on the front page of the Daily Prophet.

Tears threatened to spill onto her cheeks so Hermione swiped at them angrily. “No one was supposed to know,” she whispered. “I –”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Hermione,” Luna sighed. “We’re all pregnant.”

“And…unmarried,” Ginny whispered.

Hermione sniffed and looked at Ginny. “Harry’s the father, right?”

Ginny nodded, her eyes shiny with tears.

Hermione turned to Luna. “And Ron’s the father?”

Luna smiled. “He’s got the morning sickness to prove it.”

Ginny and Tonks started laughing, but Hermione bowed her head.

“I wish I would have thought to hex Harry with the empathy curse,” Ginny sighed wistfully.

Hermione listened to the banter, her patience and nerves wearing thin. She felt horrible. She felt wicked. She felt like a harlot who flitted from man to man in search of sexual conquest after sexual conquest. Her problem, of course, was that she couldn’t get enough of Severus. Luna had Ron, and Ginny had Harry. Sure, Ginny may be at odds with Harry, but at least she knew who the father of her baby is.

“I almost feel sorry for my brother,” Ginny continued. “First you hex him, and then I blackmail him. Mum and Dad will go ballistic when they find out.”

Listening to the friendly exchange, Hermione felt a new batch of tears threaten. She could feel Tonks’ watchful stare.

“What is it, Hermione?” Tonks questioned. “You have nothing to worry about. Severus obviously intends to marry you.”

Ginny gasp and Luna guffawed.

“Is that why Professor Snape was looking for you?” asked Ginny. “He’s the father of your baby!”

Hermione wished it were true. She buried her head in her hands and let the tears flow freely. “No,” she cried, “he isn’t the father. I don’t know…who the…father…is.”

“Severus has to be the father,” Tonks insisted calmly. “He’s obviously under the influence of the lust potion. Why else would he file the complaint against you?”

Hermione sniffled, her eyes wide with surprise. “What complaint?”

--

Severus stared at the offensive object and pushed it away. “I have my own Pensieve. I absolutely refuse to use a public one.”

“You’re the one who filed the complaint against Hermione! Once you filed the complaint, we were required to bring Hermione in for a rebuttal. Then you disappeared with her, so I pushed the parchment through for the warrant. We can’t actually arrest her until you provide the proof in the Pensieve.” Harry remarked with a scowl. “We need to look at your memory in order to see if you have a valid complaint.”

Severus jumped up and started pacing the length of the visitor’s lounge. “What is taking so long? What do they want Hermione for? She did nothing wrong!”

Harry sneered. “Then do you wish to withdrawal your complaint?”

Severus ran a hand through his dark hair in frustration. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Potter?”

How much longer would he have to suffer like this? He was so close to his goal. He stared at the hourglass and continued pacing.

“I shall withdraw the complaint once Hermione is bound to me,” hissed Snape, his aggravation growing.

The prat sat back in his chair and smiled at him. “Perhaps if you hadn’t Obliviated her, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Shut up, Potter,” Severus exclaimed. “Who are you to lecture me?”

“I’m Hermione’s friend,” Harry warned softly.

Smiling, Severus stopped pacing and leaned over the table. “An unfortunate fact which I will remedy once she is mine,” he leered menacingly in his best make-a-first-year-cry tone.

“I may not be able to tell her what you did,” Harry replied, “but she will find out. It’s only a matter of time.” Harry sat forward as if daring Snape to enter his mind.

“Tonks is pregnant too. It didn’t take her long to figure out where and when she was poisoned with the lust potion. When she found out Ginny and Hermione were pregnant, she took her findings to Moody. There is now a formal investigation underway.”

--

“What complaint?” Hermione repeated the question. What had Severus done now?

Tonks sighed. “The complaint has yet to be processed. It will probably be withdrawn now that you and he have patched things up.”

“Firstly, Severus is not the father of my child. I think I would remember if…if…we…well, you know. Secondly, we have not patched things up,” Hermione stated logically. This entire conversation was insane.

“There is nothing to ‘patch up’ between us,” she finished and bit her bottom lip from commenting further. She could feel the blush rise in her cheeks. This was insane and embarrassing. Hermione prayed that her dignity would remain intact through this episode. Ginny and Luna were watching the exchange like they were taking mental notes for the gossip column, and seeing as Luna’s father was the editor of The Quibbler, that was not a good thing.

“Well, Sev is under the impression that you swore you would marry him,” Tonks informed Hermione as the Auror leaned back in her chair. “He came here yesterday to file the complaint that you reneged on an oath.”

“Surely, there’s been a misunderstanding,” Ginny chuckled nervously. “Hermione would never agree to marry Snape.”

Tonks placed several scrolls on the desk. “Whether or not Hermione did or did not agree to marry Snape is not at issue here. I’ve come to discuss what the three of you remember about the ball several weeks ago.”

Ginny had the decency to blush while Luna smiled wistfully.

Tonks cleared her throat to continue. “Have any of you felt compelled to…copulate with a specific wizard and or multiple wizards since the ball?” Tonks’ cheeks turned a pale pink to match her hair.

“Ronald is insatiable when he isn’t having morning sickness,” Luna stated unperturbed by the question. “I can’t seem to keep my hands off him.”

Ginny bowed her head a mumbled into her chest. “Just Harry.”

Hermione couldn’t believe it. They knew! The Ministry knew about the lust potion. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or afraid.

Tonks waited for Hermione’s reply, oblivious to the younger witch’s inner turmoil.

The ball! Something had happened at the ball! An image of Severus standing by the punch bowl flitted through her mind. His typical Slytherin mechanizations to bed her set wheels of cognizant, precise emotions racing through her mind. For the first time in weeks her intellect was unfettered by the driving lust that thrummed through her veins.

Had Severus spiked the punch? Were his words over the last few days meaningless?

Hermione shot out of her chair and walked to the door.

“Where are you going?” asked Tonks. “We’re not finished here.”

Hermione’s eyes flashed angrily. “To find Snape,” she murmured ferociously. “I want some answers.”

Ignoring Tonks’ protestations, Hermione stalked through the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in search of her lover. Doubt slivered through her conviction as she harnessed the lustful instinct to claim Severus. That would lead her to him. He would give her the answers she sought even if she had to cast an Unforgivable on him.

“I must speak with her,” Severus’ voice bellowed down the hallway

“Hermione!” Tonks shouted after her.

A door swung open forcefully and Snape stormed through it with Harry close on his heels. Harry was coughing.

“Unless you are going to charge me with something,” Hermione shouted, “leave me alone!”

Another door flew open and Moody limped into the hallway with his wand drawn. He pointed it between Hermione and Severus. “All of you, in my office now! For Merlin’s sake, Potter. Take a cough potion or go home!”

Severus stared at Hermione, his obsidian eyes boring into her brown ones as if he were pleading for forgiveness. “This is pointless, Alastor,” he stated, his inflection low with meaning. “Miss Granger and I have reconciled and I wish to withdraw my complaint.”

“Complaint! Reconciled!” Hermione scoffed. “What are you talking about?” Her cheeks were flushed with anger and she could feel her heart hammering in her chest.

“Now is not the time, my love,” Severus purred convincingly, trying to pull Hermione into his arms.

The endearment angered her further as her memory swirled in images that were long forgotten. He was standing by the punch bowl.

She approached the levitating punch bowl with wary hesitation. Snape was sulking next to it, glass in hand and staring at various couples as they danced around the floor. If it wasn’t for the desperate thirst she felt, she would never have approached the refreshment stand.

“Accio Cup,” she said, waving her wand with a smirk. After all he hated foolish wand-waving. Scooping some punch into her cup, she took a small sip and tried not to gag.

“Get away from me!” she hissed and pulled away from him. “I can’t believe you. You did it! You’ve lied to me all along. You put the lust potion in the punch!” Hermione pulled her wand from her sleeve and pointed it at Severus as if her life were in mortal danger.

Moody stepped in front of Hermione. “I’ve heard enough,” he stated gruffly. “Relinquish your wand, Severus. You’re under arrest.”

She couldn’t see him, but Hermione heard the dangerous tone of Severus’ words. “It is unfortunate, Alastor. As usual you have jumped to the wrong conclusion. Miss Granger’s accusation is based on circumstantial evidence at best.”

Hermione peered around Moody, her eyes locking with Severus’.

“You may want to bring George and Fred Weasely in for questioning,” Severus droned. “They are the ones who spiked the punch with their combination lust-love potion.”

--

Harry could feel the instant rush of relief once Snape had spoken the truth. The oath he had sworn was null and void. Taking a deep breath and grinning at Snape, Harry spoke. “He’s telling the truth. He made me take a wizard’s oath,” Harry wheezed, his sides still cramping from all the coughing. “Fred and George did spike the punch.”

Harry took Hermione by the shoulders and turned her to face him. “He’s the father, ‘Mione. He Obliviated you so you wouldn’t remember.”

*****

A/N – Yes, it’s an evil cliffhanger and I hope it will be worth it. Leave feedback and feed the muse. I’m currently writing the next chapter so the next update may take a week. My apologies, but I’m working overtime against my will. Thanks to all who left feedback. It is greatly appreciated.