To Teach

Disclaimer:The characters in this story are all JK Rowling\'s. I don\'t own a single one. I\'m borrowing them for a little debauchery, then, I\'ll give them back.

Faith: So does that make you Hope and Faith?? *everyone groans* Ok, that was horrible...I really shouldn\'t try humor...

Phoenix: You don\'t think I\'d do that, do you?!? *smiles innocently*

Kaitlin: Your questions are answered in this chapter, promise. =D Thanks for reading!!

Papaya: muah!! I just love your reviews! I admit, I\'m not the tease, though. It\'s my muse. She\'s the heifer that forces me to stop where I do...swear.

Mai Malfoy: Squeeee!!! Thanks for the review!!

Relicwitch: Firstly, HAPPY BERFDAY!!! (I know it\'s late, but...) *LG puts two pointy birthday hats on her head and then one on Relic* If I give you a dragon for your gift will you name him Norbert? =D This chapter will answer a few of your questions, but I\'m net telling which ones!! :P

DarkRose12: *grins* Last chapter was a bit of a twist, wasn\'t it? *giggles* Just you wait....


ON WITH THE CHAPTER!!


Dumbledore transfigured the large rectangular table into a smaller round one so that everyone would be closer to each other. Harry sat down on Severus’ left. Hermione immediately planted her butt in the open chair next to Harry with Ron beside her.

Throughout the meal, which was roasted pork loin with potatoes, green beans, and yeast rolls, Severus glared from Hermione to Harry and back. Hermione smiled sweetly at him while Harry looked at his plate. He was quiet for the most part, only speaking when spoken to.

Harry caught his lover glaring at the young woman to his left and suddenly he realized why he was also being glared at. A smirk spread across his face as he looked at the older man. Harry winked at him and looked at Hermione shaking his head. She reached over and laid her hand on top of his as she grinned.

At this gesture, Snape growled. Harry put the hand Hermione held over his mouth to stifle the giggle that threatened to escape. When it finally did, the young witch burst out laughing with her friend and everyone at the table looked at them. Harry immediately blushed and waved his hand in front of his face. “Hermione said something funny, sorry for the outburst.”

Ron gaped at his two friends with an astonished look on his face and asked, “What did you say ‘Mione? I haven’t seen Harry laugh like that in years.”

She was still chuckling when she answered, “Nothing, the moment has passed. It wouldn’t be funny now.”

Ron shrugged and went back to eating, listening to the twins explain some of their new treats.

When everyone was full, Dumbledore smiled and said, “Well, ladies and gentlemen, this wouldn’t be a birthday party without…”

With that, a huge cake appeared in front of Harry with twenty-five candles on the top, already lit, and ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY’ across the top with two wands crossed in the middle. The young wizard groaned and then laughed. “You aren’t going to sing, are you?”

The wizened wizard stood, and motioned for everyone else to. “Of course we are,” he answered smiling with that damnable twinkle in his eyes.

Harry groaned again and put his hands on his face to cover up the blush that crept up. He looked through his fingers as everyone laughed out the birthday song. “Make a wish,” Hermione chuckled as they finished.

Harry looked to his right at Severus, who was still sulking, and then to each person at the table, finally ending with Hermione. “I have everything I could possibly wish for right here, a family.”

He looked at his lover one more time and with tears of joy in his eyes, blew out the candles. Everyone feasted on cake and the conversation was never-ending. Suddenly, Hermione jumped up and swept past Harry trailing her hand along his shoulders. She grasped Severus by the elbow and subtly tossed her head toward the door to the other room. The older man scowled but got out of his seat. “I’m stealing Severus away for a few moments, we’ll be right back.”

She hooked her arm through his and led him outside where she promptly dropped his arm and stepped back one step. Hermione pulled a small package from her robes and tapped it. She pulled a cigarette from the package and immediately struck her lighter. After taking a drag, she offered Snape one, “Fag?”

He shook his head and waved her off, “No, I quit years ago.”

Hermione shrugged her shoulders and replaced the pack. After taking another drag, she said, “You’re jealous.”

The scowl on the older wizard’s face deepened as he crossed his arms across his chest. “And what, pray tell, do I have to be jealous about?”

Rolling her eyes, the young woman answered, “Don’t try these bullshit games with me. You know just as well as I does that Harry loves you.”

“And what on earth makes you think that there might be something between us? That suggestion is ludicrous!”

Hermione rubbed her forehead and then took a deep drag on her cigarette. “Where would you like me to start? Hmm? First, there’s the glazed over, goofy look that Harry’s been giving you. Then there’s Severus Snape’s patented death glare number three that you were giving me. Oh, and the fact that Harry hasn’t smiled in years is also a pretty good indicator.

“Look, I know Harry better than everyone. I know things about him that he doesn’t like to admit to himself. I could tell you things about his childhood that would make your skin crawl. I. Know. Harry.”

Severus watched the young woman rant with a bewildered look on his usually emotionless face. “Death glare number three?”

The witch threw her cigarette down at her feet and stepped on it, putting it out. “Yes, death glare number three, the one you reserved for Neville when he blew up a cauldron in class. Did you hear a word I said?”

Snape looked at her and laughed. Hermione visibly relaxed at this and shook her head. “Look, it’s obvious Harry told you that we were lovers; the key word being ‘were’. How much exactly did he tell you about that?”

His expression turned serious as he looked away from the young woman beside him toward the full moon. Severus sighed. “He told me you were his first, and well, that’s it. Would you care to elaborate possibly? And, do tell why you insist upon touching him and sitting in his lap and doing all of those other things.”

Hermione smirked. “Ten points from Slytherin for being such a jealous bastard.”

The wizard next to her narrowed his eyes, but remained silent. With a chuckle, Hermione began her story.

“It all began in seventh year. As you know, I was Head Girl, but what you don’t know is I’d developed a taste for the boys of Hogwarts. All of the teachers gushed about brilliant Hermione and how she was going to finish school and go off to university, blah, blah, blah. Well, I had different plans. It did not take long before every male in the school was knocking on my door in the evenings or begging me to meet them in a broom closet or even in the prefect’s bathrooms. I discovered a side of myself that year that changed everything. I rather enjoyed being a sexually liberated woman of the late 20th century.

“One night, after detention with you, Harry came to my room. He was angry at something you did or said, or well, there wasn’t much that you did or said that didn’t get under his skin, then. Anyway, we sneaked into the room of requirement that night under his invisibility cloak. The two of us got pissed just sitting there talking and making fun of you.”

Hermione pulled her cigarettes out again and slid one out of the pack. Severus gracefully took the cigarette from her lips before she could light it and pulled his wand out, lighting the tip as he took a drag.

The young witch sighed and took another out and lit it before she continued. “Any way, I ended up transfiguring the couch we had been sitting on all night into a bed. Harry did things to me that night that made my toes curl. I almost died the next morning when he told me he was a virgin. We met in the room of requirement every Friday night until he defeated Voldemort. We’d talk for hours on end, get pissed, and shag like minks.

“During our late night talks, Harry confessed many things to me. The one thing that stuck in my mind was the fact that his aunt and uncle never touched him except to hit him. Until Ron and I, he’d never been hugged. I made a promise to myself that night to let him know just how much he was loved by giving him what he never got. For someone who was never loved, never shown love, Harry’s got a remarkable ability to love those around him wholly and completely. With him, it’s all or nothing. When I sit in his lap, he always sighs contentedly and begins to stroke my hair, even though, I hate it when people touch this tangled mop. It relaxes him and it opens him up. He’s starved for human contact.

“I blame those god damned muggles and their ‘beat the magic out of him’ attitude! Did you know that he also has no self esteem? I’ve never seen anyone who had such feelings of worthlessness in my life. During our late talks, he confessed to me that he was terrified of filling the prophecy. ‘How can anyone love a murderer?’ he’d ask me. He’d be close to tears thinking about what he had to do, and then, he’d be depressed for two days afterward. I even caught him in his bunk one Saturday morning trying to cut himself. He’d transfigured an old toothbrush, of all things, into a straight razor.”

She noticed the look of horror on the wizard’s face and shook her head. “Look at his left shoulder. I know it’s scarred because he wouldn’t let me heal it. It’s the crescent shaped one that goes from practically the front of his armpit to the back, over the top. I doubt he’ll tell you what happened if you ask, but it won’t hurt to.”

Hermione put her hand on Severus’ arm and smiled sadly. “If anyone can get the real Harry back, I’m certain it’s you. We probably should be getting back in or they might think I’ve kidnapped you.”


A/N: I\'m not sure I like this chapter. It was really, really hard to write. Let me know what you think, of course any suggestions would be appreciated. =) *huggles her readers* Thanks my readers!! You guys are the bestest!