Disharmony in the Dungeons

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 18 ~ The Question of Annulment

Hermione awoke the next morning aware of two things. One, Severus’ long arms wrapped around her waist possessively and two, his lean body spooned tightly around her back. She could hear the Potions Master snoring lightly behind her. She smiled for a moment, until the memory of the night before rushed back to her and her entire body flushed with embarrassment at how wanton and out of control she became, and what she had let Severus do to her.

But she had never felt like that before. She might have gone crazy if Severus had not done what he did. He made her feel incredible. He seemed to know what was happening to her, and he certainly knew how to stop it. Of course he knew. He was an experienced wizard. He had dealt with this kind of thing before. But gods, the man made her feel so hot when he kissed her. What would it be like to fuck him? He told her he would make her feel better than anything she had ever felt before. After last night, she believed him. If only his hands could make her feel like that, what could his body do? She shuddered strongly at the thought of it, feeling the heat again. Didn’t it ever stop?

Suddenly, Hermione stiffened. Severus had shifted slightly, his body sliding against hers. Against her right buttock she felt a strange throbbing. It was a pulse, like a heartbeat…then she felt hardness pressing against her, expanding, lengthening against her body and realized that Severus’ cock was resting against her ass, and he was getting an erection. From what she could tell, his organ was very long and thick. She felt a little fear about this, even as heat pooled between her thighs at the feel of him against her.

“A galleon for your thoughts, Mrs. Snape,” Severus said.

He was awake and aware of his cock pressing into her soft ass. When he woke up with her in his arms pulled tight against him, he couldn’t resist rubbing himself against her a little, and well the rubbing coupled with his memory of the night before had the natural effect. He could have pulled away and spared her, but he figured she had to feel it sooner or later. He had felt her stiffen when he throbbed against her. She probably was marveling about how big he was. Well, ‘marveling’ would be ideal…but ‘panicking’ was probably the better word to describe what the witch might be feeling. He stifled the urge to rub his cock against her softness. If he had been well, he would have rolled Hermione to her back, pulled up her gown and mounted her without ceremony. That was how you took care of a morning hard-on.

When Hermione didn’t answer him, Severus took a peek into her mind. He saw the image of a huge pink dildo. He smirked. She probably hadn’t seen a cock yet, though where she would have seen a dildo he had no idea. Probably some shop Ginny Weasley dragged her into. He was big, but he was nothing like the monster she was imagining.

“It’s not pink,” he said silkily. He could almost hear her blood sizzle as she blushed.

He loosened his grip on her and slid back, breaking contact. She turned over to face him, her cheeks still a hot pink.

“You shouldn’t be using your Legilimens ability like that. A person is entitled to some privacy,” she said a bit angrily.

“You shouldn’t be thinking such impure thoughts,” he responded

“I wasn’t thinking impure thoughts. How could I help imagining what I felt pressing up against me?’ Hermione said, frowning at him.

“That monstrosity in your mind was supposed to be a part of me?” he asked her, raising his eyebrows as he looked at her. She was lovely in the morning with her hair wild all over her head.

“Well…no. I don’t know. It’s what popped into my head,” she replied, blushing again.

“I’m surprised it fit,” Severus said, sitting up and wincing at the pain. It wasn’t as bad as last night, but still very painful. His silk boxers were tented, and Hermione’s eyes were focused on the raised fabric. Severus was big.

“Um Severus, how big is your…your..” she began

“My cock?” he completed for her

“Yes,” Hermione answered in a rather embarrassed voice. But she wanted to know.

Severus hooked his thumb in his waistband.

“Would you like to see?” he asked, yanking on it a bit. He knew she wouldn’t, but he felt devilish this morning.

“No!” Hermione said quickly. Then, “I don’t think I’m ready to see it. I just want to know how big it is?”

Severus looked at her.

“Why? Are you going to find a ruler and measure yourself to see if it fits?” he asked her, “because I can guarantee you…it will fit.”

Knowing Hermione, she would take his measurements right to a book and try to find out if he was the ‘right’ size he was supposed to be. Or if he wasn’t, how much over or under he was.

But Hermione was thinking about what the Headmaster said, about how Voldemort liked to watch Severus fuck because of his size. She was curious. And of course apprehensive.


“I overhead Pomfrey tell the Headmaster that the only part of you that wasn’t damaged was your…sexual organs, and the Headmaster said it was because…

“Because the Dark Lord appreciates my sexual ability,” he finished, his face darkening a bit.

“Yes,” Hermione replied.

Severus sighed. He really didn’t want to talk about this, but since he and Hermione were about to enter into a sexual relationship, she had a right to know about other aspects of his sexual life, especially since they were not likely to change as long as he was a spy for the Order.

“Hermione, I want you to understand something about a man’s sexuality. A man is capable of fucking women he feels nothing for. A man is a reactionary creature. He reacts to visual stimuli. Emotion is not necessary. Attraction beyond the accessible female body is not necessary. Do you understand this?”

Hermione nodded. Severus continued.

“You are aware of my role in the Order, and that I am a spy pretending to be a servant of the Dark Lord. My role requires me to do his bidding, to do things I would not normally do. If I were to refuse him, he would not consider me a loyal servant and kill me. I do my best to get out of the worst of what he would have me do, such as participate in the revels sexually, though I kill the women they torture and maim. But this is an act of kindness, believe me. But the Dark Lord is a voyeur, and likes to watch the sex act. He often employs me to entertain him by having sex with female deatheaters.”

Severus expected Hermione to at least look upset by this, but her face remained calm, attentive and non-judgmental. He went on.

“Some men might think this to be an enjoyable requirement of serving the Dark Lord, but when you are forced to perform like some kind of trained beast in front of an audience there is no pleasure in it. For the most part he wants me to brutalize women willing to be brutalized, and to keep my position, and to serve the Order I do as he asks me.”

His black eyes met hers.

“I want you to understand, Hermione, that it is a soulless act, and there is no desire there. I invest nothing but my body. I might as well be one of those robots you described,” he said quietly

Hermione continued to listen to him, her face passive, showing no inkling of what she was thinking. Now came the crux of the matter. The truth of how he felt about her. He couldn’t give the witch a declaration of love. This was the best he could offer. He hoped she would understand. He swallowed then continued trying to convey what he needed her to comprehend.

“But when it comes to you, Hermione, I am invested. I’ve known you since you were a child. I know your mind, your thought processes. You have lived with me here in my rooms and given me challenge, stimulation and companionship. I have killed for you. I have suffered for you. I look at you and every nerve ending stands at attention. You make my blood boil. I get visions in my mind how beautiful you will look under me, and think how good it will feel to be inside you, how satisfying it will be to pierce your sweet curvaceous body over and over and hear you cry out my name. There is a difference, Hermione. I ache for you. I want to give you pleasure that will make you feel as beautiful as you are to me, and take my pleasure from you. You are the real thing, Hermione. A woman I truly desire.”

He brought his commentary to a close with a final plea for understanding and acceptance. He knew very well this could be the moment she turned from him.

“I am hoping that you are mature enough to see the difference between the acts I am forced to perform to help the Order, and the act I want to share with you. I am hoping you not will not hold my service to the Dark Lord against me, or deny me because of it. I am already denied so much because of this service.”

Severus looked at Hermione intensely, waiting to see if his service to the Order would once again cause him to lose something important. Waiting to see if his sacrifice would cause her to change her mind.

“It must be terrible to have to serve Voldemort,” Hermione said softly.

“There are better things in the world, yes. But if the wizarding world is to be saved, someone must be willing to be a spy within his ranks. Someone who can hide his true purpose. I am the only one who can do this. Many lives are counting on me, Hermione,” Severus said.

Hermione ran a hand over the Potions Master’s angular cheek.

“You are so noble, Severus,” she said softly.

Severus snorted.

“I can’t say that Hermione. There is a dark side to anyone who serves the Dark Lord. I am afraid I have a very dark side that shows itself in many unsavory ways. Ways that are hardly noble. Terrifying ways,” he replied. “You haven’t been made privy to my darkness. Maybe a tiny, insignificant bit in class when I am displeased. You see the kinder side of me, and that is most likely because of what I want from you. I assure you I am not a nice wizard, Hermione,” Severus replied.

“You’re nice to me,” she responded.

Severus looked at her soberly.

“But how nice will I be after I’ve had you?” he asked her, knowing that such a question from him could change everything.

Hermione might take it as a warning that he would not continue to be kind after taking her virginity. He wasn’t sure if he would or not. But he suspected he would want her more than once. Already the idea of his rooms returning to normal didn’t please him. He had gotten used to her being there, constantly rummaging through his library, sharing meals with him and debating hotly for hours. Things were more pleasant for him now than they had been for many, many years. True, he still served the Dark Lord, but his marriage to Hermione was accepted. Even approved of. Then, there was their upcoming intimacy. This marriage situation was much better than Severus ever imagined it could be.

“You’re going to annul our marriage afterwards, aren’t you?” Hermione asked him quietly.

Severus’ chest grew tight. He hadn’t expected her to bring up the overturning of the marriage law yet.

“I presume you are anxious to return to your single and free life,” he replied not answering the question directly, trying to find out what she wanted to do.

“Going back to Gryffindor Tower doesn’t excite me as much as you may think it does,” she responded, looking at him a bit hesitantly. What would he say if she told him she wanted to stay here, with him? Would he look at her like she were crazy?

Severus looked at her, his heart starting to beat fast. Was this young, beautiful witch saying she wanted to stay married to him?

“And why is that?” he asked her.

Hermione looked at him. Should she confess how she felt? She didn’t think she could tell him. It was one thing to blow up at Ron and blurt it out, or tell her parents in a great rush of emotion…but to directly tell this dark wizard who didn’t want to marry her in the first place that she wanted to stay with him was daunting indeed. Hermione hesitated. Maybe she didn’t have to tell him. Maybe she could show him.

“Severus, when I first came home from the infirmary…Ron was pushing me to pack and leave the dungeons, and I didn’t want to go because you weren’t back…well I didn’t want to go for a number of reasons, reasons I gave Ron and some other students that were here. It’s hard for me to tell you, but if you look, you can see my reasons for yourself. If you use legilimency,” she said softly.

“Are you sure?” Severus asked her, his black eyes searching her face. Lovely.

“Yes,” Hermione replied.

“Very well,” he said, placing his fingers against her temples.

The Potions Master watched as Hermione exploded at Ron and told how much better life was with him and why. He also saw that she would miss him greatly if she left. Then he moved through her thoughts until he saw her visit with her parents. He didn’t have Hermione’s permission to do this, but he was a Slytherin…why would he ask permission? His eyes widened as she bravely told her father the truth of what had happened to her, what he had done to Lucius for touching her. He faltered as she told her parents that she didn’t want the marriage dissolved, and that she thought she loved him. Loved him? Good gods.

Severus lowered his hand, and looked at her. If she wanted to stay married to him, then there were some very, very hard conditions she would have to be willing to meet.

“Hermione, you want to stay with me? As my wife?” he asked her quietly.

“Yes. The thought of going back to how I was, alone, misunderstood, and not appreciated is terrible. You make me feel good about myself, you support me and you challenge me. I’ve never had that before and it won’t be easy to let go of. I do want to stay, Severus,” she said.

“Hermione, if you stayed with me…Voldemort would want you to take the Mark and help him win the final battle. This would be after you became a Spells Mistress. You would be under his power like I am…however…

Severus looked at her consideringly.

“You could also become a spy for the Order and help me to gather information, gauge his weaknesses, maybe take him down in the end with some spell before he is strong enough to wage the Final Battle. But it is a dangerous job as you know. If you were discovered, we both would die very horrible deaths. But it would be years before he required your service. I could teach you occulmency to keep him from discovering your duplicity. Also, since you will have a skill he wants, you could probably make your joining conditional, so he could not order you to do such acts as he has me do. You could be excused from participating in the Revels for example. He would accept that, you being muggle-born…”

Severus fell silent. If Hermione stayed with him and indeed did become a spy, they might together be able to find a weakness in the Dark Lord and bring him down sooner. She was a very intelligent witch and an original thinker. She would be an asset to both him and the Order if she accepted this. But it was something that required courage, dedication, and selflessness.

Hermione looked at him.

“I could make him stop using you to entertain him,” she said quietly, “I could make that a condition. As your wife, he wouldn’t think it odd I would want that.”

“Yes,” Severus said, his heart growing hopeful.

Hermione looked at him, her eyes intense.

“But Severus, if I continued as your wife…would you love me?” she asked him.

There was the question that could stop the world.

“Hermione,” he said, “I cannot tell you that I would love you. I don’t know if I am capable of love like you imagine it. But I would treat you kindly and with the respect due a wife. I would act the proper husband as much as it is in my power to be. Voldemort still uses me, so there would be times I would have to be with other women as much as I would like to be free of that duty. But I would choose no other woman over you. You would have my faithfulness as much as I could give it, my protection and my passion.”

Hermione thought about this. Severus was offering her, for all intents and purposes what a husband who loved her would offer. Maybe over time he could admit to loving her. Severus was a snarky bastard, but he was always a wizard of his word. She had learned that much over the years. And she would like to help bring down Voldemort. Severus had been working alone at this for years, suffering the Dark Lord’s wrath and tortures. If she joined the Dark Lord, she could stop or minimize the punishment the Potions Master went through. And her life would have a noble purpose.

“Do you think I could really become an accomplished Occulmens?” she asked him.

“Well, the way you snuck around Hogwarts hiding your rule-breaking over all these years and convincingly pretending to be a goody-two-shoes, I say there is a good chance that you would be quite an accomplished Occulmens. You already have shown the aptitude for hiding the truth without actually lying and would have four years to study the art. If you apply yourself to it as you have done your other studies I am certain you will learn to hide your thoughts and memories effectively,” Severus answered her.

Hermione considered.

“I would like to help you, Severus. I want to remain your wife,” she said simply.

“Then remain my wife you shall,” he replied, his black eyes shining.

Hermione and Severus lay there quietly for the next hour, staring up at the ceiling, each alone with their thoughts but together in their purpose. A union had just been formed that could shake the foundations of the wizarding world itself. A liaison that could be the most powerful asset of the entire Order, and best hope for the destruction of Voldemort outside of Harry Potter.

And Severus Snape would never be alone again.

After a while, the Potions Master felt Hermione stir. He turned his head to look at her and found her staring at him intently.

“So,” she said, “You never did tell me how big you are.”

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A/N: Ah, the marriage situation has been resolved in a very interesting way. Hermione staying with Severus and eventually helping him in the fight against Voldemort. Notice though, how she didn’t forget her original question. Lol. Now that’s focus. Lemons on the way. Please review.