Circle of Love

Draco touched Hermione's arm and nodded towards Mariah. “I need to speak to Professor Snape alone,” He said and kissed her cheek. “Why don't you and Mariah find Potter and Ginny?” He asked, and Hermione looked into his eyes and nodded. “I won't be long,” he added and turned to look at Snape.

Severus was still arranging the potion bottles back into a semblance of order. His shoes crunched against the glass that still littered the floor as he moved. He heard Draco's words, and turned to see the girls leaving.

“Come on Mariah,” Hermione said and touched the other girl's arm lightly with her hand. Mariah's eyes still held the shock over the news she had received, the news she was still trying to process in her head. Her father had killed her grandfather- and her brother had helped. But it had all pretty much had been planned. It also made sense to her now why Snape hadn't fought back that first day when she had hexed him. Everything she had been told her all her life were lies. But had she been told those things- or had she just assumed them all, making it grow in her own head until she had made them heroes? There is so much sorting out to do, she thought with a huge sigh.

“Okay,” Mariah said shortly and with one last look at both men, she left the room. Hermione lingered to look at them also. What price had Snape paid by telling them? Her eyes gazed at Draco's back as he stared at Snape. By his very stance she could tell the anger that raged in him, and almost wished she could stay- but he needed to fight this battle alone.

The door closed behind the girls and Snape began to sweep the glass up with a broom and dustpan. The soft click had him pause a second, but then the broom once again made a swish sound. The glass tinkled against the hard plastic of the dustpan, and the silence between the two was deafening.

“Why?” Draco's voice finally hissed in a low tone. His anger boiled over watching the the professor clean, and he pulled his wand out, “Tergeo.” He said, and smiled grimly as the remaining glass disappeared from the floor.

“Why what?” Snape asked and set the broom aside to turn and look at Draco.

“Why wait two months to tell us?” Draco seethed out, barely holding the anger in as his fist clenched at his sides. “Why didn't you just run off with my mum- why lie?” He asked sadly. “Things would have-”

“Simply put Draco,” Severus cut in with a raised hand. “I waited in hopes that there would be a glimmer of friendship between the two of you that could withstand the news. Tell me- you think she would have liked hearing it back then? I think not. She needed that time to get to know you. To at least learn that everything she knew of you was not all as it seemed.”

Snape moved closer to Draco, his arms folded over his chest. “Don't you think your mother and I talked out every option? Giving up our child to Albus Dumbledore to place with trusted strangers was a hard choice to make.” His fingers tapped lightly on his arm as he watched Draco's face.

“Running off with your mum would have had worse repercussions than you could ever imagine.” Severus continued, his own tone low. He had expected the questions, and sighed in actually hearing them. “First- your father and Aunt Bella would have hunted us down until they found and killed us. They were as ruthless back then as they are now. I was with them when they hunted Regulus Black down. It was part of my initiation into the club, so to speak.” His laugh came out humorless as he remembered Black's execution, “If we had managed to get away, we'd have been on the run for the rest of our lives. Would that have been better for Mariah?” He asked rhetorically, “Secondly- you, Draco Malfoy, wouldn't exist.” He thought of Mariah under Lucius Malfoy's care and held back a shudder. A Bellatrix clone, he thought with a sigh.

Draco stood speechless as Snape talked. Everything that he said rang with an air of truth to it, and even in his anger he could only agree with it. It burst a bit of it, but he held onto a shimmer of it. “Why tell us at all then? Why didn't you leave us in the dark?” He asked, all the respect he had for this wizard warring with his anger. He wanted to strike out, but this wasn't Potter; he wasn't the Gryffindor.

“In all honesty, you have your know-it-all girlfriend to thank for this burst of knowledge.” Snape admitted in a low hiss of his own. “She gave me until New Year's Day, and then she'd have told you. I still wanted to wait.”

“Why?” Draco asked, and settled to sit on the table that stretched out in front of the one that acted as Snape's desk.

“I was selfishly hoping she'd accept me also.” Snape said, sitting on his own desk. “For twenty years I've been holding this secret. I never expected her to be restored to us, and when she walked through that door and flipped me- it was from the shock of seeing her that held me back from a counter curse. Your mother's eyes staring back at me, in the fiery anger I'd seen a few times. My daughter stood before me- and she was beautiful. Then you and Granger walked in, and she pointed her wand at you also. She needed time Draco, to adjust to it all.”

Draco watched Snape as he talked, and for the first time realized the actual depth of the affections this wizard had held for his mum. For a brief second, the mask had dropped from Snape's face- and he looked totally different. There was the unguarded man of the picture, a sadder version with the past filled with pain reflected on it. His mum had been a fool to walk away from Snape to do what his grandparents had expected of her. Things would have been better if she had stayed with the boy in the picture, but the Fates had weaved a different thread into all their lives.

“You'd have been my father if you'd run off,” Draco said in a low tone, “I'd have liked that.” His admittance came out slowly. Everything Snape had done through the years to protect him and guide him came to mind, the last being his Vow with his mother. All the little things he had done while ordered to lead him to the Dark Lord had been the things that had slowly opened his eyes to the truth of what Voldemort truly was. The risks he had taken with all the young Slytherins- some had followed out of the old ways, most still fell into the trap.

“As would I have, Draco.” Snape's mask went back into place again, and he stood up. “I've made a lot of hard choices in my life- and I accept all the repercussions for them. You have a chance with Miss Granger that I could only have dreamed of with Narcissa.”

Snape turned back to the potion cabinet and warded it. His wand hand dropped to his side when he felt the touch on his back. He turned slowly to look at Draco again. His eyebrow quirked in question, and his eyes blinked but he clasped the hand tightly that was offered him.

“Thank you, sir.” Draco said with a nod, and turned to leave the room. Would he himself have the strength to go through what Snape had at his age? He nodded his head, for he realized he already had when he faced his father to save Hermione with Remus that day. He hadn't even known his true feelings for her back then. His love for her now only bolstered his desire to keep her safe, with his life if need be.

Hermione stood by a window gazing out, the snow still falling lightly. It did little to obscure the view, and she watched the three in the backyard. A snowball went flying from Ginny's hand towards Harry but he ducked and it whizzed harmlessly over his head. She could almost hear Ginny's shout and Harry's laughter, as evidenced by the body language. She smiled, and kept an eye towards the hall as she waited. Finally she became totally engrossed in watching the antics outside, and her forehead leaned against the cold glass. Her fingers tapped lightly against the sill, and she waved when they saw her looking down at them.

The arms that wrapped around Hermione's waist and the chin that softly rested on her shoulder had her leaning back with a sigh. Her hands reached down from the windowsill to clasp Draco's hands with a gentle caress. She felt his breath on her neck, and she turned her head slightly to kiss him.

“I thought you'd be with Mariah,” Draco murmured against her lips, and he felt her turn in his arms. His hand reached up to brush her back from her face and he kissed her again. He felt the passion well up in him and he held her tighter.

“Ginny suggested a snowball war- and Mariah's eyes lit up at the thought. She needed the distraction, some time to think it all out in her head,” Hermione replied when they broke apart. Her head laid on his shoulder, and she felt his arms loosen a bit. Draco's eyes watched the figures outside now as he held Hermione, his cheek softly nuzzling into her hair.

“Yeah, we all have some thinking out to do. Shouldn't you be out there yourself? It looks like fun,” Draco asked her, and a chuckle bubbled in his chest when Mariah smacked Potter in the face with a snowball. Potter chased her around, and Mariah ducked behind Ginny and pitched another snowball at him. Some hope there yet, he smirked at the thought. Potter was his ally now, but seeing him pelted with snowballs was kind of funny.

“She's in good hands.” Hermione said, and turned again to gaze out the window. “I wanted to wait for you.” Draco's chin went back to her shoulder, and they silently watched the play outside for a few more minutes. A snowball pelted the window, and Ginny looked up at them with laughter on her face. Her hand beckoned them to join them outside, but Hermione shook her head.

“Thank you for helping Severus make up his mind,” Draco whispered into her ear. “I understand the dangers of it all now.” He was still feeling a bit of the shock of finding out his sister was alive. “It's weird knowing she's been an ocean away and alive all my life. Growing up, going to school- boyfriends! Wonder....” He grew silent for a moment, “I missed a lot. Sanders has been a good brother to her.” He was jealous of the fact that Cal had been able to watch her grow up, but in the same time grateful she had him.

“Wait until she realizes she's older than you, and tries to boss you around.” Hermione laughed, and leaned even closer into him. “She'll adjust, and she'll need both you and Caleb in her life.”

“He charged me to watch over her,” Draco said, and kissed Hermione's neck, “If I had been as observant as you, I may have figured it out all my own.” He felt her laughter against him and he huffed. “Come on Kitten, you know-”

Hermione turned in Draco's arms again, and kissed him. Her hands ran through his hair, and she rubbed up against him. “Maybe,” She mumbled against his lips, “Maybe not,” She continued to kiss him until all thoughts fled and all they could think of was each other. His hands ran up and down her curves, and she laughed when he hit a ticklish spot. It turned into a moan when he moved to a different spot.

“Bedroom?” Draco asked with an arched eyebrow when they came up for air. Her head nodded and he swept her up in his arms with a laugh. His head thrown back he headed towards the stairs. Her giggles answered his laughs back.

Draco laid Hermione gently on the bed in his room after entering it. His eyes gazed into hers as he laid down next to her. Slowly his fingers undid the buttons on her shirt, and he felt hers working his own out of their holes. He bent low to kiss her lips before trailing down to follow the buttons' path of her open shirt. He was rewarded with her small gasp of pleasure, and he smirked before moving back up to claim her lips with his. Kissing passionately, they finished their hasty disrobing.

Finally, breathlessly entwined naked with her beneath his covers, he held her and just breathed in deeply of her essence. Barely moving, he raised his head to look at her face. Each of their movements brought a different expression in her eyes- and he reveled in passion that darkened their brown color to chocolate. His own eyes were a smoky gray to her, and she tipped back her head at the sight. His breath stopped for a moment before he lowered his face to nip and lave at her exposed neck. “I love you,” Draco murmured between kisses. He felt her fingers caress his cheek and he looked back up. Her smile was soft as she gazed back at him, “Love you too.” She whispered with a small catch in her voice.

Hermione's nails raked lightly along Draco's back, and her small gasps of his name came out quickly. With one last arching of her back to get closer to him and his own soft cry of her name breathed out against her ear, they rolled over and he held her close. He could feel her heart beating against him, and his arms wrapped around her her tighter.

With a smile on her lips, Hermione gently traced a pattern of their initials on his chest before looking up at his face. His eyes were looking to her, and his breathing slowed. Their love for each other shown in their eyes, and he thanked the Fates for weaving this thread into his life.

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Thanks for reading this chapter- if you get the chance, drop a review, they make me smile. ~~juls