Strong Enough
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Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
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324
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Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
34
Views:
8,850
Reviews:
324
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Ch 28 This Years Love
CH 28 THIS YEARS LOVE
Thanks to Zephyr
Big kisses at the bottom
Not mine, unfortunately.
“This years love had better last
Heaven knows it\'s high time
And I\'ve been waiting on my own too long
But when you hold me like you do
It feels so right
I start to forget
How my heart gets torn
When that hurt gets thrown
Feeling like you can\'t go on”
- This years love, David Gray
They were practically inseparable for the next month, while Hermione was supposedly recovering from her ordeal, unfortunately there was very little time for relaxing. There were a couple of students who showed an amazing aptitude for defence and so they had decided to run an advanced class for those who were interested at the weekend, as well as the normal lessons, patrols and potions. Severus had tried to talk Hermione into sitting the lessons out as he was worried that she was still weak from her attack, but she would hear none of it, insisting that, she was fine the day after the attack, and besides, if the students could be persuaded to show up on a Saturday then it was the least they could do to teach them.
Severus and Hermione were at dinner on one such Saturday. The enchanted ceiling showing the early evening sun setting signalled that spring had come to Hogwarts. Talking about possible deatheater hideouts, she had eventually told him where she had been and what had happened, leaving out the lead to Lucius, when Hermione found herself watching Ginny. The two women had come to uneasy truce after Harry and Ron’s visit, but were not as close as they had been. She was just pushing her food around on her plate and not talking to anybody.
Severus followed Hermione’s gaze. \"Have you spoken to her recently?\" He asked in a quiet voice.
\"No, not for a while,\" she said sadly. \"But then I haven’t really been here, have I?\"
\"Maybe you should try.\" He said, sipping his wine, then at Hermione’s surprised look. \"Just because she’s a Weasley it doesn’t mean that I dislike her.\" He paused and looked over to the young girl. \"Although I could have done without her little report to ‘the-boy-who-continues-to aggravate-the-shit-out-of-me’, she was only looking out for you.\"
\"You’re not going soft on me, are you?\" She asked, with a wry smile playing on her lips.
\"Not the last time I checked,\" he said silkily. \"But you can always come and check it out for yourself.\"
\"Hmm…\" She said, sliding her hand up his thigh, under the table.
He grabbed her hand. \"Don’t start anything you cannot finish,\" He warned jokingly.
She sighed and moved her hand away. \"I very rarely back away from a challenge, as you know,\" she said looking over her shoulder at Ginny. \"But I’m not going to be able to rest until I know what’s up with her.\"
Severus rose from the table. \"I’ll see you later,\" he said quietly.
\"I was wondering if you fancied a change of scenery tonight?\"
Severus raised his eyebrows. \"What did you have in mind?\" He asked in a whisper.
\"I thought you might like to accompany me on patrol.\" She shot back with a grin, she knew he had been thinking about other activities.
He mock frowned at her, it wasn’t quite what he was expecting, but if it meant spending more time with her then it was good enough for him. \"I have some potions that will need my attention at 11.00pm but I should be free by midnight,\" he said, \"Where should I meet you?\"
\"That’s fine, meet me at midnight by the lake,\" she answered, and with a quick squeeze of his thigh under the table she got up and walked over to where Ginny was sitting.
\"Hi Ginny.\" Said Hermione, sitting down in the recently vacated chair next to her. \"How are things? Enjoying it here as much as an adult as you did as a child?\" She asked, noticing the telltale dark circles under the younger girls eyes that were a sure sign of sleep depravation.
Ginny jumped at Hermione’s voice as though she had been deep in thought \"Oh Hi Mione...I mean Hermione,\" she stuttered, \"It’s great here I’m really enjoying it.\" She said in a very unconvincingly chipper manner.
Hermione frowned at her. \"O.K. Ginny, let’s cut to the chase,\" she said forcefully, \"I can spot fake enthusiasm a mile off.\" She smiled at Ginny, \"I ought to able to, I used to be the queen of it. So cut the bullshit and tell me what’s wrong.\" Hermione knew it wasn’t subtle, but it was the only way she knew to draw Ginny out.
Ginny looked at her friend dejectedly, \"I am just afraid Hermione, this war seems to have gone on forever, and the whole wizarding world knows that we are gearing up for a big finish, one way or another,\" she looked down, tears filling her young eyes. \"There are so many people I love out there fighting, for us, for themselves and I know that not all of them will come back.\"
Hermione knew that her friend wasn’t being completely honest, but didn’t really think that she had the right to demand answers from her. \"Listen Ginny,\" said Hermione with a hint of sadness in her voice. \"I know that we’ve grown apart over the years, and that I’ve changed, but I still regard you as a friend and would like to think that you would come to me if you ever needed to talk,\" she finished in a open invitation.
Ginny smiled at Hermione suddenly, a real smile. \"Thank you,\" she said sincerely.
Hermione patted Ginny awkwardly on the hand and rose to leave.
\"Hermione?\" said Ginny, as gh pgh plucking up the courage to say something to the tough, hardened witch in front of her.
\"Yes?\" answered Hermione, turning back to face the young mediwitch.
\"I just want you to know that I am sorry for the trouble I caused with Harry and Ron\" she said, ignoring Hermione, who was waving it away as if to say ‘what’s done is done’, \"and that I think that you and Professor Snape make a remarkable couple,\" she said, almost embarrassed.
\"Yes,\" said Hermione, standing, \"But a couple of what? The answer to that remains to be seen.\" She said, smirking over her shoulder as she walked away.
Severus stepped out of the entrance hall onto the grounds and stood for a moment, taking in the fresh air. It was just after midnight and the sky was peppered with hundreds of stars, like pinpricks of light through a black velvet cloak.
He watched the figure by the lake and frowned. His life was so simple before she came back. He didn’t know whether he loved or hated being in love. He just knew that he was. He loved it when she smiled at him; he hated the fact that he became irrational with fear and jealousy when she was gone. He loved that she would defend him, whether he needed it or not, He hated that she had so much pain and anger inside her and he couldn’t stop it. He loved it when she crept into his rooms at night and he hated it when she crept out in the morning. He loved and hated that she was so intelligent that she had an answer for everything and he loved and hated the fact that he knew he would do almost anything for her.
He sighed, smiled to himself and began to make his way over to his lover. He would just have to take it one day at a time.
She had seen his silhouette, as he stood at the doors and thought about the relationship she found herself in. He was fiery and dangerous, highly intelligent and slightly unhinged, like her, she was in love with him, completely, but it was making her different somehow, softer maybe, and she was worried for him, for herself. She didn’t know if she could be the fighter she had been and have these feelings. They had put themselves in an even more dangerous position by being together and falling in love. If Voldemort found out, he could use either one of them as bait for the other. She watched him making his way over to her, and she knew that she would follow to wherever he was.
She heard a sound from across the lake, in the forest, and spun round. It wasn’t unusual to hear all kinds of noises at night around Hogwarts, but this had sounded like a human grunt. There shouldn’t be any humans in the forest except Hagrid and she had just seen him and Fang going into his hut.
Severus came up behind her and noted the tense set of her body.
\"Hermione?\" he said quietly
She didn’t turn around, but nodded slightly. He stood right behind her, until they were practically touching and adjusted his eyes to the darkness around them, trying to see what she was looking for. Suddenly the clouds in the sky parted revealing a quarter moon. It wasn’t much but it gave them some light.
There was another movement in the forest and they both saw the flash of platinum hair that could only belong to one family, in the moonlight. If it were possible, Hermione tensed even more, her breath, cloudy in the cold night air, coming out in sharp streams.
\"Lucius.\" She snarled, and started to sprint around the lake.
\"Oh shit.\" Said Severus, seeing that Hermione meant to go into the forest after him. He pulled his wand and ran after her.
~*~*~*~
Hermione was standing at the edge of the forest when Severus caught up with her.
She was standing very still, eyes closed.
\"What are you doing?\" Said Severus, softly.
\"Shhhh!\" She said, head tilting to one side. Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she went running straight into the forest.
Severus ran in after her, but soon lost her, as she was so fast. He was worried about her. He knew that she could take care of herself but if Lucius had come onto the school grounds, then it was a sure bet that he was more dangerous than usual. He pointed his wand at the castle and a series of red sparks shot out of the end and wound their way towards the castle and Dumbledore.
Hermione was having trouble breathing. She was running so fast to catch up with him. All she could see were flashes. She thought, that if she didn’t catch up with him soon, she would have to stop or her lungs would burst. She didn’t know whether Severus had followed her in or not as she hadn’t slowed down enough to see. She didn’t mind if he hadn’t, as she was used to fighting on her own.
She came to a clearing in the forest and stopped. She had lost him. She tried listening for him again. It was an exercise that Willow and Tara had taught her. To block out all surrounding noise apart from the thing you were tracking. She had found it useful in the past and up to a point today. But now there was nothing.
She slumped down in the middle of the clearing, trying to catch her breath, when she heard something moving towards her through the trees. She looked up and saw two thestrals grazing nearby.
She watched them in amazement. It was the first time she had ever actually seen them. Their skeletal frame and leathery wings gave an eerie air to the forest.
She noticed they were licking the ground and pulled herself up to investigate. They looked up as she approached but didn’t leave. She looked to where they were licking and saw blood, she followed the trail of thestrals licking thoundound and saw a body, lying in a ditch, platinum hair the only thing showing besides the death eater robes. She drew her wand and dropped silently into the ditch, cautiously approaching the figure. She nudged the figures leg, nothing. She wasn’t falling for that though. It was quite possible that he was playing possum. A loud crack nearby made her look up and see another death eater, in that split second, two people had their wands pointed at her heart, and removed their masks.
\"You?!?\" Was all she said as she felt the body bind that had been cast take effect.
Dum Dum Dum!!!!!
PotionsMistressM - I love your reviews MissM, you know that!! and I have completely forgiven you for not reviewing the other one sooner!! love ya xx
LovesThePotionsBoy - *Blushes* Thanks xx
RedWritingHood - It was always my intention to have Hermione be the stronger one of the two, as that is how I see them. xx
Deb - Thanks so much, I thought it was about time they came clean with each other!! xx
WizardingAngel - Thanks. I’m not going to leave it like this, don’t worry!! xx
LadyRed - Ah yes, the Buffy characters, they have, in the past been the subject of a flame or two. It was pure laziness on my part that I couldn’t think up convincing character names so I stole them, without thinking that there were more people than just me who would notice!! Sorry for the confusion!! Hope you like the rest!! xx
Thanks again for the reviews, sorry for the short chapter. I am hoping to be back on this a bit more now that the other one is finished, and the only other thing I have to write is that damn challenge!!
Kisses
GrrArrg
Thanks to Zephyr
Big kisses at the bottom
Not mine, unfortunately.
“This years love had better last
Heaven knows it\'s high time
And I\'ve been waiting on my own too long
But when you hold me like you do
It feels so right
I start to forget
How my heart gets torn
When that hurt gets thrown
Feeling like you can\'t go on”
- This years love, David Gray
They were practically inseparable for the next month, while Hermione was supposedly recovering from her ordeal, unfortunately there was very little time for relaxing. There were a couple of students who showed an amazing aptitude for defence and so they had decided to run an advanced class for those who were interested at the weekend, as well as the normal lessons, patrols and potions. Severus had tried to talk Hermione into sitting the lessons out as he was worried that she was still weak from her attack, but she would hear none of it, insisting that, she was fine the day after the attack, and besides, if the students could be persuaded to show up on a Saturday then it was the least they could do to teach them.
Severus and Hermione were at dinner on one such Saturday. The enchanted ceiling showing the early evening sun setting signalled that spring had come to Hogwarts. Talking about possible deatheater hideouts, she had eventually told him where she had been and what had happened, leaving out the lead to Lucius, when Hermione found herself watching Ginny. The two women had come to uneasy truce after Harry and Ron’s visit, but were not as close as they had been. She was just pushing her food around on her plate and not talking to anybody.
Severus followed Hermione’s gaze. \"Have you spoken to her recently?\" He asked in a quiet voice.
\"No, not for a while,\" she said sadly. \"But then I haven’t really been here, have I?\"
\"Maybe you should try.\" He said, sipping his wine, then at Hermione’s surprised look. \"Just because she’s a Weasley it doesn’t mean that I dislike her.\" He paused and looked over to the young girl. \"Although I could have done without her little report to ‘the-boy-who-continues-to aggravate-the-shit-out-of-me’, she was only looking out for you.\"
\"You’re not going soft on me, are you?\" She asked, with a wry smile playing on her lips.
\"Not the last time I checked,\" he said silkily. \"But you can always come and check it out for yourself.\"
\"Hmm…\" She said, sliding her hand up his thigh, under the table.
He grabbed her hand. \"Don’t start anything you cannot finish,\" He warned jokingly.
She sighed and moved her hand away. \"I very rarely back away from a challenge, as you know,\" she said looking over her shoulder at Ginny. \"But I’m not going to be able to rest until I know what’s up with her.\"
Severus rose from the table. \"I’ll see you later,\" he said quietly.
\"I was wondering if you fancied a change of scenery tonight?\"
Severus raised his eyebrows. \"What did you have in mind?\" He asked in a whisper.
\"I thought you might like to accompany me on patrol.\" She shot back with a grin, she knew he had been thinking about other activities.
He mock frowned at her, it wasn’t quite what he was expecting, but if it meant spending more time with her then it was good enough for him. \"I have some potions that will need my attention at 11.00pm but I should be free by midnight,\" he said, \"Where should I meet you?\"
\"That’s fine, meet me at midnight by the lake,\" she answered, and with a quick squeeze of his thigh under the table she got up and walked over to where Ginny was sitting.
\"Hi Ginny.\" Said Hermione, sitting down in the recently vacated chair next to her. \"How are things? Enjoying it here as much as an adult as you did as a child?\" She asked, noticing the telltale dark circles under the younger girls eyes that were a sure sign of sleep depravation.
Ginny jumped at Hermione’s voice as though she had been deep in thought \"Oh Hi Mione...I mean Hermione,\" she stuttered, \"It’s great here I’m really enjoying it.\" She said in a very unconvincingly chipper manner.
Hermione frowned at her. \"O.K. Ginny, let’s cut to the chase,\" she said forcefully, \"I can spot fake enthusiasm a mile off.\" She smiled at Ginny, \"I ought to able to, I used to be the queen of it. So cut the bullshit and tell me what’s wrong.\" Hermione knew it wasn’t subtle, but it was the only way she knew to draw Ginny out.
Ginny looked at her friend dejectedly, \"I am just afraid Hermione, this war seems to have gone on forever, and the whole wizarding world knows that we are gearing up for a big finish, one way or another,\" she looked down, tears filling her young eyes. \"There are so many people I love out there fighting, for us, for themselves and I know that not all of them will come back.\"
Hermione knew that her friend wasn’t being completely honest, but didn’t really think that she had the right to demand answers from her. \"Listen Ginny,\" said Hermione with a hint of sadness in her voice. \"I know that we’ve grown apart over the years, and that I’ve changed, but I still regard you as a friend and would like to think that you would come to me if you ever needed to talk,\" she finished in a open invitation.
Ginny smiled at Hermione suddenly, a real smile. \"Thank you,\" she said sincerely.
Hermione patted Ginny awkwardly on the hand and rose to leave.
\"Hermione?\" said Ginny, as gh pgh plucking up the courage to say something to the tough, hardened witch in front of her.
\"Yes?\" answered Hermione, turning back to face the young mediwitch.
\"I just want you to know that I am sorry for the trouble I caused with Harry and Ron\" she said, ignoring Hermione, who was waving it away as if to say ‘what’s done is done’, \"and that I think that you and Professor Snape make a remarkable couple,\" she said, almost embarrassed.
\"Yes,\" said Hermione, standing, \"But a couple of what? The answer to that remains to be seen.\" She said, smirking over her shoulder as she walked away.
Severus stepped out of the entrance hall onto the grounds and stood for a moment, taking in the fresh air. It was just after midnight and the sky was peppered with hundreds of stars, like pinpricks of light through a black velvet cloak.
He watched the figure by the lake and frowned. His life was so simple before she came back. He didn’t know whether he loved or hated being in love. He just knew that he was. He loved it when she smiled at him; he hated the fact that he became irrational with fear and jealousy when she was gone. He loved that she would defend him, whether he needed it or not, He hated that she had so much pain and anger inside her and he couldn’t stop it. He loved it when she crept into his rooms at night and he hated it when she crept out in the morning. He loved and hated that she was so intelligent that she had an answer for everything and he loved and hated the fact that he knew he would do almost anything for her.
He sighed, smiled to himself and began to make his way over to his lover. He would just have to take it one day at a time.
She had seen his silhouette, as he stood at the doors and thought about the relationship she found herself in. He was fiery and dangerous, highly intelligent and slightly unhinged, like her, she was in love with him, completely, but it was making her different somehow, softer maybe, and she was worried for him, for herself. She didn’t know if she could be the fighter she had been and have these feelings. They had put themselves in an even more dangerous position by being together and falling in love. If Voldemort found out, he could use either one of them as bait for the other. She watched him making his way over to her, and she knew that she would follow to wherever he was.
She heard a sound from across the lake, in the forest, and spun round. It wasn’t unusual to hear all kinds of noises at night around Hogwarts, but this had sounded like a human grunt. There shouldn’t be any humans in the forest except Hagrid and she had just seen him and Fang going into his hut.
Severus came up behind her and noted the tense set of her body.
\"Hermione?\" he said quietly
She didn’t turn around, but nodded slightly. He stood right behind her, until they were practically touching and adjusted his eyes to the darkness around them, trying to see what she was looking for. Suddenly the clouds in the sky parted revealing a quarter moon. It wasn’t much but it gave them some light.
There was another movement in the forest and they both saw the flash of platinum hair that could only belong to one family, in the moonlight. If it were possible, Hermione tensed even more, her breath, cloudy in the cold night air, coming out in sharp streams.
\"Lucius.\" She snarled, and started to sprint around the lake.
\"Oh shit.\" Said Severus, seeing that Hermione meant to go into the forest after him. He pulled his wand and ran after her.
~*~*~*~
Hermione was standing at the edge of the forest when Severus caught up with her.
She was standing very still, eyes closed.
\"What are you doing?\" Said Severus, softly.
\"Shhhh!\" She said, head tilting to one side. Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she went running straight into the forest.
Severus ran in after her, but soon lost her, as she was so fast. He was worried about her. He knew that she could take care of herself but if Lucius had come onto the school grounds, then it was a sure bet that he was more dangerous than usual. He pointed his wand at the castle and a series of red sparks shot out of the end and wound their way towards the castle and Dumbledore.
Hermione was having trouble breathing. She was running so fast to catch up with him. All she could see were flashes. She thought, that if she didn’t catch up with him soon, she would have to stop or her lungs would burst. She didn’t know whether Severus had followed her in or not as she hadn’t slowed down enough to see. She didn’t mind if he hadn’t, as she was used to fighting on her own.
She came to a clearing in the forest and stopped. She had lost him. She tried listening for him again. It was an exercise that Willow and Tara had taught her. To block out all surrounding noise apart from the thing you were tracking. She had found it useful in the past and up to a point today. But now there was nothing.
She slumped down in the middle of the clearing, trying to catch her breath, when she heard something moving towards her through the trees. She looked up and saw two thestrals grazing nearby.
She watched them in amazement. It was the first time she had ever actually seen them. Their skeletal frame and leathery wings gave an eerie air to the forest.
She noticed they were licking the ground and pulled herself up to investigate. They looked up as she approached but didn’t leave. She looked to where they were licking and saw blood, she followed the trail of thestrals licking thoundound and saw a body, lying in a ditch, platinum hair the only thing showing besides the death eater robes. She drew her wand and dropped silently into the ditch, cautiously approaching the figure. She nudged the figures leg, nothing. She wasn’t falling for that though. It was quite possible that he was playing possum. A loud crack nearby made her look up and see another death eater, in that split second, two people had their wands pointed at her heart, and removed their masks.
\"You?!?\" Was all she said as she felt the body bind that had been cast take effect.
Dum Dum Dum!!!!!
PotionsMistressM - I love your reviews MissM, you know that!! and I have completely forgiven you for not reviewing the other one sooner!! love ya xx
LovesThePotionsBoy - *Blushes* Thanks xx
RedWritingHood - It was always my intention to have Hermione be the stronger one of the two, as that is how I see them. xx
Deb - Thanks so much, I thought it was about time they came clean with each other!! xx
WizardingAngel - Thanks. I’m not going to leave it like this, don’t worry!! xx
LadyRed - Ah yes, the Buffy characters, they have, in the past been the subject of a flame or two. It was pure laziness on my part that I couldn’t think up convincing character names so I stole them, without thinking that there were more people than just me who would notice!! Sorry for the confusion!! Hope you like the rest!! xx
Thanks again for the reviews, sorry for the short chapter. I am hoping to be back on this a bit more now that the other one is finished, and the only other thing I have to write is that damn challenge!!
Kisses
GrrArrg