Strong Enough

CH 24 ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL

Zephyr, A thousand thanks!

Thanks at the bottom

Not mine, Hers (As you well know!)

\"We don\'t need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it\'s just another brick in the wall.
All in all you\'re just another brick in the wall.\"

-Another brick in the wall, Pink Floyd


The start of term arrived, and with it a fierce snowstorm. Hermione was watching it from the entrance hall. She had been on her way to class, having missed breakfast, because she overslept, but couldn’t stop herself from watching the swirling snow flakes outsides. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t hear Severus approaching, behind her

\"Good morning Miss Granger,\" he said smoothly, startling her, she smiled and turned to him.

\"Good morning Professor Snape.\"

\"Ready for the first lesson I see,\" he said, looking her up and down appraisingly. She was in full ’I’m a tough nut so don’t fuck with me’ mode. The full mask of make up was back in place, her long hair pulled tight in a high ponytail, a long sleeved black t-shirt, black jeans and those boots. She was an impressive figure and she took his breath away.

\"Ready as I’ll ever be, you?\" she replied giving him the once over. He was dressed in his most severe, potions master outfit, all black, well cut trousers, high neck shirt and long dress coat, with his robes open over the top. Now that she was looking for it, she could just see his tattoo peeking out from the top of his shirt, and she felt a shiver go through her at the thought of the body underneath all those clothes.

\"Shall we?\" he said, gesturing for her to start walking. Most of the students were still at breakfast the the halls were mostly deserted as they walked up to the seventh floor, side by side in silence. They had both missed each other but neither could find the right words. Now that the lesson plans were all set, there was no reason to keep their emotional distance from each other. But how to approach the subject?

Severus smirked to himself as a thought entered his head \"Nice boots,\" he said quietly, staring straight ahead.

Hermione smiled to herself and lowered her voice in case anyone was listening. \"Why thank you professor. If you are a good boy today, and don’t antagonize the Gryffindors too much, you might find them wrapped around your waist by sunset.\"

Severus stopped walking and just stared at her in shock. She carried on walking as though they had been discussing nothing more than the weather. He pulled himself together and, in a few long strides, had caught up with her.

\"Well Miss Granger, that is an interesting proposal,\" he said in a low voice, \"but I think that, I would prefer them wrapped around my neck.\"

Hermione felt faint and her stomach tightened. If she hadn’t been sure that this man was her equal before, she certainly knew now.

They came to a standstill in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, both breathing quite hard, and were surprised to see that the large door was already visible.

Usually they had to think very hard about something they needed before the door would show itself. Confused, they carefully opened the door and stepped inside, both gasping at what they found in there.

There was a huge four poster bed in the middle of the room. Hermione walked around it and saw that it was covered with black silk sheets, there were candles lit everywhere, and an array of sensual massage oils. \"The sheets are a nice touch, Severus.\" She said smiling at him.

He picked up one of the bottles \"Massage oil, Hermione?\" They had been so caught up in their emotions, that they had projected their need onto the room.

They both looked at each other and then at their watches, \"Damn.\" They said in unison and both started to laugh.

\"We will come back to this, another time,\" said Severus, slyly as they both turned their thoughts to teaching the D.A. The bed slowly disappeared and the D.A trainioom oom came into view.

They walked to opposite ends of the room and turned to face each other, arms folded and faces blank. They looked into each other’s eyes. Time to get serious, they had to teach these children all they could or they might end up getting killed.

The seventh year Gryffindor/Slytherin students started trickling in a few at a time. They took in the sight of the two teachers, who looked like they were about to face off to each other, and immediately chose ends. The Gryffindors all sat at Hermione’s end, the Slytherins by Severus. There was a big gap in the middle of the room, separating the two houses.
Once everyone was in and settled on cushions and beanbags, Hermione nodded at Severus. She had always known that Severus had a flair for the dramatic and he had been quite interested when she suggested that they start with some muggle literature/drama to try and get the two houses worktogetogether.

In unison they slowly walked towards each other and passed each other, coming to a halt at the opposite ends they started at.

\"Montagues,\" said Hermione, her voice clear and strong. The whole class turned to look at her.

\"Capulets,\" said Severus, without breaking eye contact with Hermione.

They walked back to the middle of the room, and faced each other. Hermione began to speak,
\"Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene.\"

Severus continued, \"From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.\"


\"Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, a muggle playwright, you will all pick up a copy before you leave and you will all read it.\" Said Hermione, finally breaking eye contact with Severus. \"It is first and foremost a love story, but the underlying theme is thmagemage people can do to each other with a hate that has been handed down through generations.\"

She stepped aside and Severus came forward. \"There are no Slytherins or Gryffindors in this room. No one here is any better than anyone else.\" He said looking around at the surprised faces of the students who were staring at him like he had grown a second head.

\"We will now pair you up, and the person you are paired with will be your partner from now on. For practicing, for training, for anything to do with D.A, is that understood?\" asked Severus. The students all nodded.

\"When I call your names, stand up and join your partners,\" said Hermione, pulling a scroll out of her jeans pocket, \"Fred Herbert and Sarah King,\" she said clearly.

The rest of the class started to mutter quietly. Severus and Hermione had talked a lot about the two students, and although Hermione was wary of the boy, but Severus had complete faith in him and thought that this might help them to address their issues.

\"Is there a problem?\" asked Hermione, coldly, the room went quiet again and she carried on calling out the names until everyone was paired up. Despite saying that there were no Gryffindors or Slytherins, they had still matched up the pairs, choosing one from each house.

\"Now, we are starting from scratch again,\" said Severus, slowly walking around the pairs. \"As we need to see what you can do together, are there any questions before we start?\"

One of the Gryffindor girls who had caused Fred and Sarah so much hassle muttered, \"Yeah, hre wre we going to stay alive being taught by a teaching aide whose only a couple of years older than us, who used to be a geeky, book worm, and wears Halloween make up all year round, and the greasy old potions master who never leaves the dungeons for fear of sunlight and looks like he‘s in desperate need of a shag.\" She and her friend snickered, ignoring the smug looks on the faces of the two Slytherins they were supposed to be paired up with.

Before they knew what was happening, everyone had moved away from them, leaving them in the middle of the room. They looked up to see Severus and Hermione staring at them, hands on hips.

\"When I called out your names into pairs,\" began Hermione, \"Professor Snape cast a spell on you all, so that you are unable to discuss what goes on in this room with anyone else but yourselves, likewise if you are discussing these classes or practicing and someone who isn’t in them, over hears you or stus ups upon you they will only hear you talking about Quidditch or Witch weekly.\" She paused for a moment, trying to contain her anger at her old house.

Severus saw this and continued. \"What I believe Miss Granger is trying to say,\" he said in his silkiest tones, \"Is listen and learn, because here is the truth about your ‘very young and made up, geeky’ teaching aide and…\" He swept over to where the two girls were standing, and now not laughing at all… \"The ‘greasy, old, desperate’ potions master…\" The sneer was back on Severus’s face and for once Hermione didn’t blame him.

They had decided during their preparations that, if they thought it would help, they would tell the students about what they really did.

\"I am Hermione Granger and I did go to school with you,\" said Hermione looking around at the students who had been in their second year when she was in her seventh. \"Some of you may know that Voldemort killed my parents. When he did I decided not follow my dream of becoming a professor here. Instead I enrolled in Auror training.\" She looked around, making sure she had the full attention of the class.

\"Myself and the other teaching aides are the best team of aurors the Ministry has to offer. I am,\" shelkedlked over to the girls, \"the highest ranked field agent in this country, and just in case you were wondering,\" she sneered, her face inches from the girls, \"this scar on my face isn’t Halloween make up and I didn’t get it from reading a book.\" She turned her back on them.

The whole class began to talk amongst themselves.

Severus cleared his throat and glared at the class, on the inside he was mentally applauding Hermione. He had never seen her hold a room like that, and he was very impressed, but now it was his turn.

The students were looking at him like he was a muggle car crash, they weren’t sure they wanted to see what he had to say but they couldn’t tear their eyes away.

\"I am Professor Severus Snape, potions master and Slytherin head of house at this school, as you are all aware…\" he paused for effect, \"What you may not be aware of, is that I used to be one of Voldemort’s deatheaters.\" The room was deadly silent as he rolled up his sleeve to show them the dark mark, burned into his arm.

The collective gasp around the room would have been comical if the situation hadn’t been so serious. \"I left Voldemort many years before his current return, and turned spy for Professor Dumbledore, a job I took up again when Voldemort returned, I am the third highest ranked potions master in the world.\" he finished.

\"Professor Snape is also the man who trained me in defensainsainst the dark arts and in my opinion the greatest authority on it,\" said Hermione, coming to stand next to him, not seeing that he was staring at her.

\"So there you have it. If there is anyone here who does not think we are qualified for this, there’s the door…\" No one moved. \"Good, now listen up, and listen good, this is serious and this is dangerous, you are learning this because there is a good chance that the school will come under attack. We can’t protect you all, but if we can train you, then you can protect yourselves and the younger students. Professor Dumbledore thinks you can do it, we think you can do it. Don’t let us down. When the time comes, let the other side know what it really means to be part of Dumbledore‘s Army.\" She said finally

\"Get into your pairs. We are going to start with simple disarming spells. We are going back to the beginning,” said Severus.

As the students started practicing, Severus approached Hermione, \"Thank you.\" He said quietly.

\"What for,\" She asked, still watching the two girls who had tried to cause trouble and were now seriously practicing with their Slytherin partners.

\"For believing in my ability to teach defense,\" he said, almost embarrassed.

She had forgotten that it was the position he had always craved. She looked up at him and shrugged. \"It’s kept me alive for the past five years,\" she said simply, giving him a small smile.

In the corner of the room, protected by a powerful ‘do not notice’ charm, sat Albus Dumbledore. He was surprised that they had chosen to tell the students so much, but realized that they were nearly adults and could handle it. He added his own spell, to stop their remaining secrets getting out. As he sat and watched the determined faces, he couldn’t remember a time when he had been more proud of Slytherin and Gryffindor, students or teachers.


Ladies, My thanks to:

Megan Andres ; Welcome. Cookies eh? I\'ll consider it! Thanks for reading and reviewing, please keep it up.

Deb ; Thank you, thank you, thank you. You seem to care about this fic as much as I do. I\'d never considered doing this as a sequel but it seems to be what the reviewers want, so who am I to argue?! I will think about it carefully, I promise, and big kisses for having enough faith in me to think me capable of more stories and for always reviewing and making my day. I will definitely drop you a line if I have anythmoremore for you xx

Nesscafe ; Thank you my love. I sincerely hope that it never gets dull for you, and if it does then please tell me. I agree that they needed a little bit of happiness, but not too much though *Evil grin* I have noticed that we are still awaiting the second chapter of \'Confessions\' I am still waiting patiently!! You will let me know when it\'s up, won\'t you?xx

Red Writing Hood ; I\'m glad that cheered you up a bit, I like to keep my reviewers happy!! and nothing keeps them happy like a lemon scented chapter. What did you think of the D.A class then? I don\'t think I could have made them into bigger drama queens if I tried!! But in my mind, that\'s how it went! xx

PotionsMistressM ; And to you, the highlight of my day, I say thank you for your kind words. Spooky connection is right, you always know the right thing to say. So I havu tou to blame for the fact that I can\'t get Doris Day\'s version of \'Let it snow\' out of my head eh? Evil!!You posted!! wonderful start to your story, am thoroughly enjoying it. Please let me know when you update and thank you again xx

Flick ; Welcome and thanks for reviewing. You must be exhausted after reading all that in one go!! Why do you think it is going to end badly? You might be right, but I\'m not telling!! please keep reading and reviewing.

DrowningOphelia ; LOL I actually think that would have been quite funny, but they had to have some down time, they couldn\'t just keep hurting each other like that. Not without a break anyway *evil grin*

Kait ; Welcome and thank you. I\'m glad that you like my Hermione. She is my uriturite character in the books and I think that you can do so much with her as a character. Please keep reading and reviewing.

Em ; I’ve got five tattoos!! Think hard before you get one, not to sound to much like my mum but once you’ve got one that’s it, you’re stuck with it!! Thanks for the review xx

Well, that’s another one done. Hope you liked it. Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews, they really do make a difference.
I have just signed up on Yahoo, so I am available for chat on there as well, if anyone is interested, as grrarrg1660. This is providing, of course that the damn computer stays working, as it being very temperamental at the moment!!
Kisses
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