an unlikely match...

Hermione winced a bit, Did I just hear someone object?

All heads turto tto the door where the voice had come from, including Lady Snape who looked confused. Hermione felt her cheeks burning and jaw go a bit slack a moment. Snape
was also looking to the door with intensity, his own shock registering.

Charlotte came rushing down the aisle. Tears and makeup were promptly streaming down her cheeks as she looked to Austere with venom sounding from her lips.

\"How could you?\"

Hermione immediately let go of Austere\'s hand as if they were on fire. How stupid she had been. Of course Austere had had the affair, of course she had been so foolish to think better of him. Of course...she looked sidelong to Snape who was giving her a piteous look that she hated, immediately feeling even more foolish for being tricked.

Austere suddenly bristled, giving Charlotte a withering look as she whimpered a few feet away, her maid uniform askew as she looked to Austere with wide eyes and said in a small voice;

\"You said you loved me!\"

Hermione felt the tears pricking her eyes now as she clenched her teeth and held them back. Not because of her fiancées infidelity, but the mere fact that Severus Snape now felt sorry for her, him of all people.

Austere suddenly gripped Hermione\'s hands in his, grasping at her as she tried to pull away. \"She\'s lying.\" he hissed furiously, \"She\'s trying to get you angry.\"

\"Why would she want to?\" Hermione burst, trembling with fear and humiliation all combined. She hated it. She hated him. Her dark eyes were flashing as he took in her quivering chin. Snape moved closer now, moving to break Austere\'s grip upon Hermione.

\"Because I fired her.\" He urged and still she didn\'t meet his eyes. She refused to. \"She kept trying to get me to cheat on you Hermione...but I told her no. I told her I loved you too much.\" He looked up to the wizards at the back, presumably bodyguards. \"Get her out of here.\"

The two wizards nodded and stepping forward grasped Charlotte by her shaking shoulders as she tried to break free, kicking and struggling and cursing at them both.

\"He\'s lying!\" Charlotte screeched as she was dragged out of the ballroom, and through the doors. Hermione though, couldn\'t take her eyes off of the spot where she had just been standing.

All the guests were suddenly muttering to themselves and Lady Snape looked mortified. She was hiding her head in her hands and her shoulders were suddenly shaking. There were scandalous whispers everywhere and Hermione could well imagine the headlines of the Daily Prophet tomorrow.
Snape wedding ruined by groom\'s infidelity. It\'d probably show a picture of her crying beside Austere while Snape looked at her with pity. Bollocks.

\"Listen to me.\" Austere suddenly bellowed at her, causing Hermione to look up at him, and suddenly...his dark eyes seemed to swirl, hypnotizing her as she gazed at him. \"I love you. You love me.\"

Perhaps....perhaps he was right. Hermione found her head suddenly shaking, her eyes unblinking as she stared at him, nodding slowly as her lips parted to say \'yes\'.

\"You\'re wrong.\"

Hermione looked up to the face of Ron who had just exited from the second pew, his footsteps loud in the now silent ballroom as everyone stared at him.

Seems all the guests were utterly too entertained by this whole fiasco to walk out, or protest to the entire catastrophe. It was if they were watching some Muggle Game show that they had to see the end to. Quite unnerving actually.

Ron\'s light eyes looking sorrowfully to Hermione as she stood trembling at the podium. He walked gallantly to her with a small shake of his red head, glaring at Austere a moment and then glancing back at Hermione.

\"You don\'t love him Hermione. It\'s all been a trick.\"

Hermione blinked a moment, her heart thudding. \"What?\"

\"What?\" Austere roared, looking at Ron with his face
suddenly red. \"Just what do you think you\'re doing boy?\"

Ron ignored Austere for the moment, coming closer until all of the precession\'s eyes were on his lanky frame. He gave Hermione\'s listless hand a small squeeze before pointing to the far blank white wall.

\"There\'s something you should see \'Mione.\"

Hermione felt her stomach drop further but curiosity winning over fear she cocked her head confused at Ron as he took a heavy sigh and retrieved his wand from his dress robes. He looked so utterly pensive it was painful; this wasn\'t the Ron that Hermione knew.

Suddenly Ron\'s wand started to light up at the end, Hermione\'s eyes were transfixed upon it a moment as she followed the beam of light that lead to the white wall, colors suddenly flashing upon it.

All of the wedding, Muggles and Wizards included looked to the wall as a sudden dark image of Harry, Ginny and Austere appeared on the wall, grainy but with decent enough picture. Accompanying the picture were rather loud voices, almost like a Muggle video recording.

Hermione watched the screen transfixed, her eyes taking in every detail. It was Ginny, Harry and Austere in what appeared to be a hallway, darkened in the night.

Hermione stole a glance at Austere across from her, he had turned ashen, his eyes bulging out of his head as he gaped at the screen, knowing if he protested he\'d immediately be guilty.



Ginny and Harry stared at the smirking prick in front of them, resisting the urge to throttle him. Ginny was the first to speak as her husband glared at Austere, who looked entirely too comfortable.

\"Why Hermione?\"

Austere gave a shrug, \"She was brilliant, charming, powerful witch, not bad in the sack and...\" he drawled, leering at them before answering, \"...She was in love with Severus.\"


The whole procession began gasping and muttering between themselves, the words of gossip fresh on the lips of almost every attendant of the infamous Snape wedding.

When she was a student!

...Just in it for the Snape fortune..

...Tsk tsk....that\'s what you get from a muggle/wizard wedding..

Hermione was oblivious to the scandal around her as she suddenly looked away from the wall and to Snape in surprise. He wasn\'t yelling at Ron to stop, or crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. Instead he was gazing at Hermione with a small apologetic frown as they locked eyes.

Suddenly Austere\'s deep voice broke their thoughts and their attention was diverted to the far wall.



I need that inheritance money and Hermione and Charlotte were supposed to be that link.\" Austere was almost pouting as he explained his dilemma, \"I tried to set Charlotte up with Severus then…then everything would have been perfect. We\'d be rolling in money. But no. Nothing. They were repulsed by one another. So of course I felt responsible...it was really my obligation to see she stayed satisfied...as well as Hermione of course.\"

Ginny suddenly moved forward and with a large whirling motion she slapped him across the face, glaring and spitting at him as Harry dragged her back from Austere\'s unpredictable anger.

\"How could you do this?\"

\"Easily.\"

Ginny was shaking with anger. \"You disgusting bastard. How doesn\'t Hermione know about all of this?\"

Austere grinned, looking at her with a look that conveyed the smug superiority he felt at this moment.

\"A little thing I like to call a love potion.\"



Austere didn\'t even have the time to duck as Hermione\'s hand came whirling up to slap him. It knocked his head back and had his ears buzzing as his head snapped to one side.

It left a large red handprint on his face as he winced and rubbed it tenderly. A pulled his hand back as if he were ready to take another swing at her, but deciding it would cause at least a hundred wands to be upon him, he declined.

Hermione though was in a mental fit, her head echoing as she realized that Austere never, truly cared for her. It had all been a charm, a bloody love potion that made her feel this way.

She saw Snape\'s sorrowful look and instead of feeling familiar sentiments she angrily looked to him in fury. He had known that he loved her all along, he had toyed with her as well. He was more than willing to ship her off with his brother...how could he?

\"You knew?\" Hermione looked to Snape outraged, throwing the veil from her and rushing at him with clenched fists. \"How could you? You knew all of it?\"

She went to punch his chest with tears falling down her cheeks, as he grasped her wrist effortlessly in his palm. Her words were halted, punctuated with small cries. \"Why...how could you, knowing...you loved me.\"

Snape dragged her closer to him, and suddenly felt herself pressed to him and looking to him through tears. She felt one slip down her cheek, and gasped slightly as his thumb brushed it away.

\"I wanted you to be happy.\"

\"But...it\'s you who makes me happy.\"

\"Don\'t you mean \'made\'?\"

\"No.\"

Snape nodded, looking at her with a sorrowful smile on his lips. \"I found out too late Hermione. Or so I thought...\"

Hermione felt her heart thump hard against her ribcage, and suddenly all prior angry thoughts were replaced with the single fact that she wanted Severus Snape more than words could possibly say. She wanted to be his.

His delectable scent filled her nostrils and she suddenly felt more than safe just being near him. His hand trailed down to grasp her upper arm as he gazed at her gently. She saw as his head tilted down, preparing to give her a small kiss that had been scorching his own lips for far too long.

Suddenly a hand grasped her other arm, dragging her away from her true love, and whirling her around to face. Him. Austere the prick.

\"Let go of me.\" she growled, trying to scratch at him as she spat in his once handsome face. \"You disgust me.\"

It made sense...why else would a normally level headed young girl like herself fall for his lies time and time again if not under the influence of heavy magic? She was sick of being toyed with.

\'This was all a joke....I\'m a bloody joke....Austere never cared for me, he was using me for money...he was using me and I...\'

Hermione suddenly felt her stomach heave, and suddenly she threw up, quite undignified right onto the shoes of her former lover Austere. He gave a horrified look and then promptly began backing away and releasing his grip from her.

Looking to the door and knowing that he was caught, he suddenly prepared for it, charging with a speed that would amaze many. But not Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore had suddenly stood in the pews, and pulling out his wand from his dress robe, he gave it a whirl and croaked, \"Stupefy!\"

Austere promptly fell to the ground, eyes wide and as stiff as a board. Ginny and Harry were mumbling to themselves, looking beside themselves. Ginny\'s screechy voice from the scene playing on the far white wall suddenly drew Hermione\'s eyes to screen as she held in a sob.



\"How did you know that?\" Ginny ventured, \"You never speak with Severus.\"

Austere smirked, looking a bit like his brother as he did so. \"But Mother did.\"

There was a collective pause before Harry had to quietly question this seeming conundrum. \"I thought he hated her.\"

\"He did.\"

Ginny and Harry glanced at each other in confusion. \"Why would he write her then?\"

\"To tell Mother that he was going to propose.\"

\"What could go wrong then?\"

Austere gave an impressed chuckle to himself, \"You see Severus is very big on privacy. He didn\'t want me to know of anything. When he wrote mother explaining he had found someone he could consider really being committed to, he broke the old grudges against Mother, I\'m sure due to Hermione\'s eternal nagging. As a naturally curious young man I read the letters Mother was getting almost daily, I couldn\'t have Severus\' swooping back and having his big nose in everything over here. Everything I had worked so hard for.\"

Snape looked over to his Mother in surprise as she hung her head in sorrow. He was in disbelief, the woman he had thought was such a snake in the grass actually cared for him.

All this time he had berated and been cruel to her without ever knowing. She had tears in her eyes as she looked to her confused and now apologetic son, a small unspoken forgiveness in her eyes.


\"When I wrote Severus explaining to him that Mother had slipped up and told me everything he was furious. He was always convinced that I was trying to foul things up, but he was angrier at Mother for betraying him. So of course he severed ties with her and reluctantly began to correspond with me. In turn of course I heard of Hermione and he, and...\"

\"You decided to take away their one chance at happiness, you sick son of-\"

\"Watch it.\" he gave a withering look at the outspoken Ginny as Harry clamped a hand over her mouth, \"As I was saying...soon my all consuming thought was how to make them miserable.\"

\"What are you getting at?\"

Austere gave a small smirk, \"Who do you think broke the two of them up?\"



Hermione suddenly stumbled backwards, away from Austere\'s clenched teeth and fists as he lay on the ground, away from the lies he had been spewing for far too long. Away from the lust that was all too apparent in her veins when she now looked into Snape\'s eyes.


Austere gave a mighty snort, \"You think those sickening love birds would have really broken up if it weren\'t for me? Gads, Severus probably would have married the Mudblood. Its sickening really, marriage. The whole ordeal.\"

\"So you broke them up? How?\"

\"I simply wrote a small letter to Snape, laced with a certain \'suspicion spell\', that had him doubting if his feelings for Hermione were true. The stupid git never suspected that I may have read up on the subject. But I saw the way he looked when I casually mentioned I had been using magic with Muggles and decided to keep a lid on it. A few days later I got a letter from Snape explaining that he had broken it off with Hermione and oblivated her.\"



Now Hermione was in a fit, the tears now freely falling from her eyes as all the guests looked to her with sympathy.
But more truth flashed onto the screen...



\"Why, why would you do that?\" Harry ventured, trying to understand the motivations of the twisted creature in front of him. \"Your own brother...\"

\"Because I loathe him.\"

\"Why?\"

\"Because I was born into a trap. Because Severus was the bastard son who marched off and joined the dark army whilst I had to stay behind, the good, perfect son. You don\'t think I ever WANTED to be a wizard?\" YOU think I WANTED to be a muggle? Go into boring bloody Muggle medicine? My parent\'s wouldn\'t LET me go to Hogwarts because my bastard of a brother. I had to stay behind because my parents were worried that I\'d turn out like him. Because of his selfishness, my life was ruined.\"



Lady Snape looked to Austere with a shake of her head, and stood wobbly on her thin legs. She was growing older, her sons seemingly for the first time now saw what had become of her. She was gnarled, and alone.

\"Austere.\" she sobbed loudly, \"I never knew...I wanted what was best for you.\"

Austere was cold, his arms crossed in a Snape fashion as he shook his head angrily. \"No. No you didn\'t Mother. You did what didn\'t scare you, you did what convenienced you. You didn\'t want another DeathEater for a son did you?\"

Snape winced at the words as Lady Snape shuddered with tears, \"I didn\'t want you to get hurt.\"

Suddenly a voice interrupted on the screen, and Ron\'s arms began to ache as he held the wand at eye level, staring into it as if transfixed with the images in front of him.



\"And so yre tre taking Hermione down with you?\"

Austere gave a shrug, \"Why should I care? She was supposed to be my leverage. The money was the one stupid thing that was going to make this bloody life bearable. I was going to retire with Hermione to some small, little Wizarding community since she was a witch. We would be rich. Life would finally be just.\"

\"Well Austere, evidently you didn\'t learn enough.\"

\"Excuse me?\"

\"We know about your moronic plan.\" Harry said darkly, \"And you can be sure we\'re going to tell Hermione. You can act smug about her being stupid and that she won\'t catch on. But you know what? There\'s a failing to your little plan.\"

\"Is that so?\"

\"Yeah. Hermione\'s fallen for Snape all over again.\"


Hermione\'s face went red as she looked shakily to Snape. He was looking in surprise to her as well, as if a light had suddenly went on in his brain and reflected in his eyes. He took a tentative step towards her but the scene on the wall raged on causing Hermione to break their gaze.



\"Hmmm, I suppose I\'ll just have to take care of that then won\'t I?\"


Harry and Ginny who had been silent this whole time were clinging to each other, gazing at the wall as if they were watching a movie in a Muggle cinema.

Their eyes and mouths were wide in mute horror, and they suddenly understood why they hadn\'t hated Austere so much this morning, why Ginny had offered Hermione that advice...



\"As you\'re about to discover, I\'ve learned some things from my dear brother.\" he sneered, pointing the wand at the two of them and with a flick of his wrist he hissed the immediate spell that came to mind.

\"Obliviate.\"



Suddenly the screen went black and Ron lowered the wand, turning to Hermione with a tear in his eyes. \"I\'m sorry Hermione...I couldn\'t let you do it.\"

\"GET OUT!\" Dumbledore\'s voice suddenly sounded out to the hall, \"MUGGLES AND WIZARDS, IT IS TIME TO DEPART!\"

There was a giant cluster of shouts and squeals as everyone scrambled to get out, looking at the aged wizard in moderate fear. Lately it seemed that Albus Dumbledore had gone quite far off his rocker.

When the ballroom was empty only Dumbledore, Lady Snape, Austere (stupefied), Snape, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Harry remained. They seemed so small in the large ballroom, and Ginny was near hysterics.

\"I didn\'t remember any of this until now.\" Ginny had tears streaming down her face as she screeched, coming up to hug Hermione on the podium as the two girls held in sobs. \"Hermione...if I had known before, I neve-\"

\"How could you have?\" Hermione shook her head sadly, \"How could any of us known?\"

She hugged Ginny tightly, and freely let her go as Harry came up, running a hand through his dark hair and nodding. They hugged collectively, Ron bashfully joining before the broke off, wiping teary eyes.

\"Thank you Ron.\" She whispered, taking his hand and squeezing it softly before he blushed and nodded. \"But how did you...?\" she trailed off, \"I thought you were always out with your Quidditch fan girls.\"

\"Well I was on my way out to well...see Fleur.\" Ron went red and shrugged as Hermione smirked knowingly. \"I happened along Austere, Harry and Ginny and well...\"

\"Why didn\'t you tell me sooner?\" Hermione\'s words held no malice, just confused concern. Ron looked to her solemnly, a look that held more wisdom that she had ever given him credit for.

\"Would you have believed me?\"

Hermione nodded, \"I understand.\" Suddenly she stopped, looking at Austere\'s rigid body and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

\"Wait a moment, why aren\'t I in love with him anymore? Is the charm...er potion worn off?\"

Suddenly a dark voice sounded next to her, \"Undoubtedly.\"

Hermione turned slowly to meet the eyes of Severus, he was nearer than expected and she felt her heart thumping painfully. She had learned much from that small recording of Ron\'s, Snape had cared for her. Truly. She gave him a weak smile that he returned with a small nod.

Ron, Ginny, Harry and Dumbledore suddenly looked to the doors, and soon with a small nod and muttering they were apparated into the kitchen, talking animatedly.

Back in the ballroom, it was quiet, tense.

\"Austere has never been that talented in potions.\" Snape said sternly, looking to his brother who lay on the ground mute and rigid as if rigamortis had set in. \"Hearing the declaration of truth undoubtedly wore it off. Your free of that now.\"

\"I suppose I am.\"

She was going to speak to him once more, the rest of the world seeming to have suddenly flown out the window. But Lady Snape\'s voice soon broke the reverie as she looked to her youngest son with pity, as would any mother.

\"My baby.\" she had fallen to her knees, rocking his stiff body to her as her tears fell onto his seemingly waxen cheeks. \"I\'m so sorry Austere...I never knew.\"

Snape strode over to her, the woman he had loathed for so long because of the snake she held. She was engrossed in emotion and didn\'t notice Snape until he was directly beside her.

\"Mother.\" he said softly, for once not caring that everyone could see him. Lady Snape sniffled, looking up with hopeful eyes. He stood her upright, brushing off the ends of her robes respectively. \"I was wrong.\"

\"Oh....Severus.\"

No more words were spoken, and none needed to be. Snape bent over and kissed his mother\'s furrowed brow as she suddenly let out a chocked sob and flung her bony arms around him.

He looked taken aback and automatically gave her a small pat on the back that shook with anguish. Hermione proudly stood, watching the scene with glassy eyes.

Soon they parted with Snape giving his Mother\'s hand a final squeeze, and going to stand near Hermione. Her skin tingled at the mere warmth from his body a few steps away, and she felt deliriously freed.

It was over.

The nightmare, the lies, everything...everything? Would that include Snape\'s feelings for her? Now that this was all over, would he want to just move on? Her heart couldn\'t take that...

\"Could you...\" Lady Snape suddenly motioned to Austere and Snape who nodded briskly undid the charm on Austere, glaring as he did so. The younger man shook, turning blue and then back to a fleshy tone.

Austere gave a large shake of his head of his quivering body, brushing off the coldness that had surrounded his body and shakily stood.

\"Go to hell. All of you.\" he gave Hermione a long, lingering, hateful look. \"Especially you, you pathetic little mudblo-\"

The word hadn\'t even exited his mouth when Snape suddenly rammed his fist into his younger brother\'s jaw. The impact knocked two of Austere\'s back teeth out as Lady Snape and Hermione watched in horror.

Blood splattered onto the floor, catching the end of Snape’s robe, along with two pearly teeth. Snape, obviously disgusted, suddenly straightened up; brushing his robes off dignified and holding a wand to Austere\'s throat, then directed him to the first pew.

Austere clunked down painfully on it, nursing his swelling jaw. \"Mother, how can you stand idly by and let him beat me?\"
Hermione against all better reason felt a sense of pride at being defended, by Snape. Her Snape.

\"Don\'t you remember who he was?\" Austere shouted angrily, pointing at his older brother in anger. \"The Death-\"

\"Shut up Austere.\"

Lady Snape stood before her son looking at in him awe, as if she couldn\'t believe this was her son. Love can only guide a Mother so far before she realizes she has a bad seed on her hand. Though part of her felt responsible.

\"What?\"

\"I said. Shut. Up.\" she was angry then, \"Severus may have had a shady past m\'boy...but I have the utmost respect for him. I don\'t care what he did, my love is unconditional.\"

Snape looked a bit embarrassed at this, grimacing a bit as he crossed his arms over his chest, looking at his brother and Mother. Hermione drew a bit closer to him, wanting to be nearer to him. He saw this and offered a small smile as he uncrossed his arms.

Lady Snape tsked at her son as he sulked, frowning at Hermione and glaring at Severus in front of him. \"Let me go.\" He growled, preparing to stand before his Mother began.

\"Spite and jealousy have left you with nothing Austere...You could have married Charlotte, left Hermione with Severus and you two would have been richer than your wildest dreams.\"

\"I don\'t care much for money Mother.\" Snape offered lightly.

Hermione knew he\'d never say anything so contrite as \'I have the most valuable thing right here.\' But the way he was looking to Hermione said it all.

Austere gave a sulky shrug, interrupting their moment.
\"Severus needed to pay.\"

\"You selfish bastard.\" Lady Snape suddenly burst as Austere looked to her in surprise, along with Hermione and Severus. \"I may love you son, but this is too much.\"

\"Just what are you saying?\" he spat, his dark eyes flashing as he sullenly sat, pouting like a little boy who hasn\'t gotten the chance to go to Hogsmeade.

\"That it\'s time you, my spoiled little boy, were punished.\"
Austere looked shocked as his seemingly frail Mother suddenly swooped down upon him and grasped his ear firmly in between her fingers. His eyes flew wide as he grimaced in pain.

\"Ouch...\" he hissed, \"What do you-\"

\"First my dear boy.\" Lady Snape was saying harshly, dragging him up from his chair as he hissed. \"You are going to apologize to all the guests gathered outside.\" they had reached the door, \"Secondly...\"

The door swung shut behind them, an image of Lady Snape leading Austere outside imprinted on Snape and Hermione\'s minds. They could hear her still yelling at him from where they stood. Alone.

It was silent then, only the minimal sounds of breathing. Hermione felt a small blush rise to her cheeks as she looked to him breathlessly. All of this had been leading up to this, this pivotal moment. Her and Snape.

But...how were they to proceed?

Snape seemed a bit out of sorts, going to speak and then stopping. It didn\'t matter that they had shared so much in the past; it was if they were starting again all over. It was a bit strange, Hermione in her wedding dress with her hair all disarray and her wedding dress ripped. Severus in his new outfit, which had acquired a bit of Austere\'s blood at the end of the cape. How dramatic. What a pair.

\"Hermione...\" he said somberly as she looked to him intensely. Was he going to bugger it all up? Was he going to tell her it wasn\'t worth it? Was he going to say goodbye?...

\"Would you care for a walk?\"