A Sacrifice for Love

Neville woke in Snape’s office. He smiled and stretched, not seeming at all uneasy. He sat up and saw Snape glaring at him from behind the desk. He gave him a cheerful smile, trying to look sheepish.

“Good morning Professor. I am sorry about last night. I don’t know what happened.” He said earnestly. Snape sneered at him and Neville was surprised to find he wasn’t scared. Not that Snape wasn’t still frightening, but with Hermione on his side, he felt he could handle anything. He stood up and stretched.

“I had better get to the common room. Thank you Professor for your kindness.” He said before leaving. Snape stared at him suspiciously, wondering what had made Neville so cheerful. He suddenly had a very bad feeling that things had gone terribly wrong.

Hermione dressed and went down into the common room. Surprisingly, Harry and Ron were already awake. They greeted her cheerfully asking how she slept.

“Oh, I slept wonderfully. I had the loveliest dream.” She watched them closely, trying to figure out if they had known about Snape’s potion. Ron, of course, was easy to read. He was innocent. Harry was a little harder but she finally decided he hadn’t known.

“What did you dream?” Ron asked, impatiently. She realized he must have asked her several times.

“Oh, it was wonderful. I found out someone was in love with me. It was someone I had feelings for already.” she gushed girlishly and watched Ron make a face. Harry was staring at her suspiciously. He could always tell when she was lying, but this time she wasn’t lying. Not yet anyway.

She started to say more but was interrupted when the portrait hole opened. Neville came in, looking disheveled and a little sleepy still. He gave Harry and Ron a lopsided smile and sat in the chair next to where Hermione was sitting. To their surprise, he grabbed Hermione by the hips and pulled her into his lap, kissing her deeply. They gaped at her in shock.

She pulled away from Neville to laugh. “I told you to wait until I told them.” She said playfully before turning back to the boys.

“I was going to tell you that Neville and I are together. We shared something special last night and discovered how we felt about each other.” She told them with a straight face. Even so, Harry and Ron expected her to laugh and say the joke was on them. This was Neville, for Merlin’s sake. He was definitely not the type of person they would expect her to fall for, but she didn’t deny it.

They watched her kiss Neville again. Neville whispered something in her ear and she giggled, blushing and looking at Harry and Ron with a little embarrassment.

“We have been spending so much time together in the Library, mostly studying.” She said. Neville gave them a shy smile, looking very pleased with himself.

“What about Snape?” Ron blurted, almost desperately. It was hard to think of Hermione with Snape but in his eyes a relationship with Neville would be worse. Neville was his friend and it would be extremely awkward to hex a friend if he hurt Hermione.

Hermione glared at him. “What do you mean? I tried and he wasn’t interested. I have decided to cut my losses and move on.” She said coldly.

Harry watched her and Neville. They acted like a couple, but something was off. He didn’t know what it was but he would watch. He also felt sorry for Snape, all of a sudden. He had made a mistake and now it looked like he would pay the price. He had lost Hermione. Harry didn’t want to be in the same room when he found out.

“Let’s go to breakfast. After last night, I am starved.” Neville said softly, mostly to Hermione. She smiled at him and nodded.

“Me too. Are you ready?” she asked Harry and Ron. Ron nodded immediately, not surprising anyone. He was ready to eat anytime. Harry shrugged slightly, his mind racing.

“I will meet you there. I need to see Hagrid.” He said. They nodded and left the common room.

Harry waited until they were out of sight and turned down another hallway, one that led to the dungeons. He ran down the hall, hoping he wasn’t too late and he wasn’t. Snape was still in his office, going over papers. The door had been open, so Harry just stepped in.

“Haven’t you heard of knocking, Mr. Potter?” Snape drawled, without looking up.

Harry ignored him. “I came to tell you something about Hermione.” He panted, a little out of breath. Snape looked up, concerned. Longbottom had been fine this morning so he had assumed nothing had gone wrong with the potion.

“What is wrong with her?” he demanded and despite Snape’s tone, Harry was pleased. Snape really did care for her.

“Well, when she woke up this morning, she and Neville announced they are together. It seems they dreamed about each other last night” He watched with interest as Snape’s face paled even more than normal.

“I see... and do you think they are telling the truth?”

“About being together? ... I am not sure. I have never seen Hermione with anyone before, or Neville either. It could be true. What are you going to do about it?”

Snape gave Harry a cold look. “I don’t see her with him for long, Mr. Potter. Shouldn’t you be at breakfast?” Harry took the hint and left the room. Snape looked at the door, perplexed.

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“He isn’t much like his father is he?” Amy mused. “I mean James would not have done anything like that for any of his friends, would he, if it meant consorting with the enemy?”

“I don’t know. I know he loved his friends. Honestly, I don’t think any of them would have done anything to make Snape happy. Maybe Peter, but you never know.”

Amy turned to her male companion and smiled. “Yes, well, it doesn’t matter now does it? What is done is done and we can’t change the past. We can however alter the future to suit our needs.” She said with a Slytherin smile. Her companion laughed and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

”Some more than others, my dear.”
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Hermione and Neville followed Ron to the Great Hall. Neville looked a little nervous but Hermione squeezed his hand reassuringly. She knew people would doubt the relationship and she didn’t care. Her plan would go flawlessly, with or without Neville. He was just an added bonus.

When they entered the Great Hall holding hands, she heard the murmurs start. The last month or so, people had speculated about her and Draco. They were always together and had been found in some compromising positions, but only when Snape was near. She knew everyone had thought they were together, just trying to be discreet. Her little show with Neville today would dispel those rumors.

She sat as close to Neville as possible and he wrapped an arm around her. Ron watched in horrified fascination as they fed each other, laughed, whispered and kissed. He was completely sure they were not lying. They were now a couple. His eye caught Draco’s and he had to bite back a grin.

Draco looked as if someone had punched him in the stomach. He gaped at the new couple with his mouth open. He thought he was going to be sick. He looked at Pansy, who was sitting next to him. She was eyeing the couple suspiciously. Something didn’t seem right to her and she was going to find out what was going on.

When breakfast was over, Hermione and Neville stood. “We have some... uh... studying to do, right Hermione?” Neville hesitated over the word studying and Hermione smiled at him. She was surprised he was such a good actor.

“Yes, we do. Come, Neville.” She practically purred and then dragged him out of the room. When they got to the hall, she stopped and laughed.

“My-oh-my, that was fun. Come on, we have work to do.” She continued to hold his hand as they walked down the hall. Neither noticed the person in the shadows watching them intently.




When they reached the Room of Requirement, Hermione made certain no one could see them and she opened the door. It opened onto an opulent bedroom but neither of them gave the bed a second glance. It was part of the plan. They went into a side door that led to another room, a potions laboratory.

Hermione began to gather the ingredients they needed for a particular potion. Neville watched her for a few moments.

“Hermione, what is the point of us pretending to be together. I understand the rest of the plan...but...”

She gave him a patient smile. “Well it will get Draco off my back for one. He can be annoyingly persistent but he will not pursue someone in a relationship if they are happy. Another reason is your future girlfriend. She needs to see you as boyfriend material so she needs to see you as someone’s boyfriend. And the third and most important reason, if we sneak off, people will assume we are doing so to snog. They won’t guess what we are really up to.”

Neville nodded. “I see. So what is your plan for Harry and Ron? We talked about Snape last night but not them. Did you send the letter?”

Hermione smiled mischievously. “Yes, I did. And as for Harry and Ron, well... I decided to tell Ginny what they have been doing and let her deal with them. She knows some wonderful hexes.”

Neville began laughing. It was a completely evil thing to do to them, he thought. Ginny was quite handy with her wand and he had been the target only once, but once had been enough. Ginny loved Hermione like a sister and although Harry and Ron were only trying to help, Ginny would not be happy with either of them. He couldn’t wait and could only hope he was present.

Hermione grinned at him and turned back to the potion. It was one she had found in Amy’s journal and she thought it would do well in this situation. She didn’t want to hurt Snape, just irritate him for hurting her. Her relationship with Neville would help some. She wanted him begging for her forgiveness.

Several times today she had wondered what would have happened if his potion had succeeded and he had been in her dreams. She carefully measured out the ingredients needed and poured them in the cauldron. The concoction turned a dark purple.

“Well, I just have to let it simmer for three days before I add in any more ingredients.” She told Neville. As she turned to face him, she suddenly felt faint. Neville caught her before she fell.

“Are you alright?” he asked as he helped her into the other room and to the bed. She sat down gratefully.

“I think so...”

He gave her a concerned look, mentally going over what he knew of the potion they had experienced last night. Dizziness wasn’t usually one of the side effects but it was not a well known potion. Something could seriously be wrong with her.

“You need to see Madam Pomfrey. That potion could have done something to you.” he said firmly, ignoring her protests. He dragged her out of the room and down to the Infirmary.

Madam Pomfrey was sitting at her desk, reading Witches Weekly when Neville burst in, dragging Hermione with him. Hermione looked decidedly green and was out of breath.

“Something is wrong with her.” Neville announced to the School Medi-witch. He turned to Hermione. She opened her mouth to deny his claims and immediately vomited all over him.

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A/N Sorry about the delay in posting. I have kinda hit a block in where the story is going. When I started I had a specific plot in mind but alas, the characters had other ideas and now they won't speak to me. I will try to post again ASAP Thank you for reading and if you can, don't forget to review.