A Sacrifice for Love

Hermione paced in front of him, still caressing the whip he had used on her. She was quiet for a while, just pacing and when she finally spoke, her voice was soft and casual. No one would have been able to tell she was beyond angry, except maybe Harry and Ron, who knew her best.

“You find pleasure in hurting women. Torturing them. I studied torture... I study everything I can, but when I saw your rooms in the dungeon it horrified and shocked me. So many devices to hurt someone. I had to see what they were and how they worked. I had to know. It is my flaw, having to know everything.”

She sounded as if she was having a normal conversation.

“I had to look through Dark Magic books to find out some of them. What horrible things you do to women, Lucius... the last month has not gone well for me.” She said the last part wryly.

“I died to save Professor Snape, you know. Just hopped in front of the killing curse. I was brought back. I thought I was under a spell that had made me fall in love with him. We had one wonderful night together and then it was ruined. There was no spell, my love was real, but he didn’t believe me. He said I was bad in bed.”

She stopped pacing and gave him an amused look. “Like I would be bad at anything. And then he followed me around, making me and my friends miserable, making me hate him, making me want to punish him.”

With every other word, she waved her hand and a welt appeared on Lucius’s body. Some of them were light and some of them had already started bleeding. She stopped and looked at her handiwork for a moment. It looked as if she had been whipping him.

“New spell I invented. Isn’t it precious? It allows me to visit the same pain upon someone that he inflicted on others” she said. Lucius had screamed when she had done it, but the spell wouldn’t allow him to make any noise. He had been whipped before, usually by Voldemort when he had displeased him but this had hurt more than the actual whip. It felt as if he was being flayed alive.

“He followed me. I wanted to punish him, to show him I could be happy without him so I threw myself at Draco. Now, Lucius, I imagine you think you know your son well, but I have to say he is a wonderful kisser but very persistent. I did notice he had a certain code of honor. I imagine he got that from Narcissa?” She waved her hand more and more wounds appeared. Blood was beginning to run down his sides and stomach.

“But then Snape changed it all with a Dreamflower potion. Neville messed it up but that was alright because it gave me a chance. I wanted to hurt him, like he had hurt me. Of course I love him, I don’t think I will stop but I did want to hurt him, to show him he doesn’t have a chance with me.” Absentmindedly, she continued the spell that wounded him, lost in her own thoughts.

“My plan was simple. Seduce him and then reject him, like he did me. I had a potion but I can’t use it because of the baby. I was using Neville as a shield to at least draw attention away from my plan...” she finished the last softly, her anger almost gone. She sat down on the bed wearily.

“Things never go as planned, do they?” she said with a sigh. She looked up at the bloodied man pinned to the wall. She may not have used the spell much but she could tell he was in great pain.

“I loved him since the third year when he tried to save us from Remus. I think that is when I began, anyway. How could he do this to me?”

Lucius saw the anger in her eyes again and knew he was a dead man. Snape wasn’t here for her to pour her anger onto and he was. He just hoped it would end soon. She stood again and glared at Lucius.

“Men.” She growled before waving her hand again.

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When the world stabilized, the group found themselves in a dark hall. Some of the wall torches were lit but the place had a dark forbidding feeling.

“Malfoy Manor...” Draco murmured, recognizing the hallway. It was where his father had kept women who interested him before he took them to the dungeons. Snape had heard his comment and paled. They stood in front of the door for a moment before Snape reached out and flung it open. What they saw surprised them to say the least.

Lucius Malfoy was pinned to the wall, covered in blood. He looked at them with fear and surprisingly, hope. Hermione was standing in front of him, glaring at him.

“Hermione? Are you alright?” Snape said frantically, rushing over to her.

“Severus? What are you doing here?” she asked, confused. She looked beyond him to see the others in the doorway. Draco kept looking between her and his father trapped on the wall. His face was even paler than normal.

With a wave of her hand, Lucius came off the wall and was flung at the people in the doorway. Harry and Ron caught him, but fell back as they did. Hermione used this chance to shut and lock the door with her strongest warding spell. He was not going to get away this time. The others could just wait.

Outside the room, they stared at the door in surprise. Only Harry and Ron had known she was so powerful and they had kept her secret like she had asked. It came as quite a revelation to the others though. Draco couldn’t take his eyes off of his father. He knew his father’s strength and if Hermione had turned the tables on him, she probably could have taken on Voldemort herself.

“Well, they are talking, so I guess we have to wait.” Harry said, trying to make himself comfortable. Ron had moved the unconscious Malfoy into the middle of the hallway after checking to see if his injuries were life threatening. They weren’t although they did look extremely painful.

Draco sat next to Harry on the floor. “This is Malfoy Manor, I could call some house elves to bring us something.” He mused.

Ron snorted. “And do you want to end up like dear old Da, over there? You know how Hermione feels about house elves.” He said scathingly. Draco winced and didn’t mention them again.




Hermione just stared at Snape, her gaze impassive and emotionless. Here was the man who had tormented her and haunted her dreams. His own face was impassive but she was looking into his eyes and she saw he was not as emotionless as he looked.

“Did you think the Dreamflower potion would work? That you could seduce me in my dreams and I would just fall into your lap whenever you wanted?” she asked coldly. If she hadn’t been watching him so closely, she wouldn’t have seen him flinch.

“I hoped it would be a start.” He answered his voice strong and steady. For a moment, he almost wished it was Voldemort he was facing. Hermione could bring him to his knees with some well placed words, something the Dark Lord had never been able to do.

Her eyes narrowed and she watched him thoughtfully. “What do you mean?”

“It was my way for us to talk without... interruptions. Privately. It was just the beginning.” He said silkily. She shivered slightly as the sound washed over her.

“Beginning of what?” she asked stubbornly and was rewarded when Snape rolled his eyes.

“Of a relationship, you stubborn girl. I thought it was because of the bloody potion, that night and...” he trailed off, not really wanting to reveal so much of himself. Not wanting to put himself out there so she could reject him.

Her eyes widened slightly and her heart began to pound. Was he going to say what she thought he was going to say? Could it have been this easy to fix, she thought.

“That night and what, Severus?” she asked implacably.

He took a deep breath. “It broke my heart. I have lo-liked you since your sixth year, Hermione and it broke my heart to think that the... affection you felt for me was because of a potion. I pushed you away to protect myself and you.”

She gaped at him, astonished. “Protect me? From what?” she demanded, her anger showing in her voice.

His gaze darkened with an unnamed emotion and he looked away. “If your emotions had been caused by a potion, then... when you were yourself again, you would have hated me for taking advantage of you. I didn’t want that.” He explained. She could hear the tension in his voice.

For the first time in a month, she felt her pain disappear. He hadn’t been trying to hurt her, he had wanted to protect her. She reached out a hand and grabbed his own. He looked up at her in uncertainty.

“I love you and it isn’t a potion making me say this. I... there never was a Snow White potion. Amy made it up. Do you want to be with me? Do you want me?” she asked.

His eyes had narrowed when she mentioned Amy but he didn’t say anything. That could come later. He nodded. “More than anything.” He admitted.

She smiled and leaned up to kiss him. He pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers in a possessive kiss. When they finally broke away, she smiled. “Well, dearheart, I have something else to tell you.”


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Neville had made himself comfortable on the floor near the others but he kept giving the door fleeting glances. Any minute now, he thought, it would come. He knew the others had noticed his nervousness and he also knew they thought it was because Hermione was his supposed girlfriend and alone with Snape. He decided to tell them the truth.

“Uh... yeah... Hermione isn’t my girlfriend and she is pregnant with Snape’s baby, not mine.” He said in a rush. The moment the words were out of his mouth he heard Hermione’s voice in the room.

“He did what?!!”

Neville took a deep breath and did the smartest thing he had done all day. He apparated to Hogsmeade.


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“Well it looks like I win.” Amy said smugly. Her companion frowned.

“How do you figure?” he asked doubtfully.

“My Slytherin brought them together. Do you doubt it?” she asked, pointing to an unconscious Lucius Malfoy.

The young man just gaped at her and then started laughing. “You can’t claim him. He isn’t a student.” He protested.

“It doesn’t matter. That was never in the rules. They only said I could use Slytherins and you could use Gryffindors. He was a Slytherin.” She said firmly, determined to get her way. He rolled his eyes.

“Fine, you win. I still say you cheated. He shouldn’t count.”

Amy wrapped her arms around the man she had come to love and grinned up at him. “Don’t be a sore loser.” She said playfully, pulling his head down for a kiss.

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A/N Gah! this was really hard to write so I hope you enjoyed it. And yes, Hermione Malfoy, you have my permission to print it out. I don't mind what you do with it as long as you like it.