Bittersweet

III.


“Miss Granger…” His silky voice would never cease to arouse her. Hermione couldn’t escape the possibility that she’d never be rid of her growing lust for the man.

“Yes, Professor Snape?” There, that was easy enough.

“I…” For a moment, Snape actually looked uncomfortable. He damn well should be, too, cornering a student in the corridor in the middle of the night! It was a good thing that Hermione’s duties required that she patrol the halls at night, much like certain teacher.

Snape realized the absurdity of the situation, and forced himself to continue as eloquently as possible. Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t a probably possibility at the moment.

“Thank you, Miss Granger. Although I haven’t been directly informed, I have the idea that you had a hand in…” Snape gestured at the Order of Merlin pinned to the front of his robes. “…this?”

Hermione blushed a deep crimson reminiscent of her house colors. “It wasn’t any less than you deserved, sir. Minister Fudge merely needed reminding of everything that you did for the side of the Light.”

Snape’s eyebrow quirked upwards. “You must have been very persuasive, Miss Granger. I imagine that your methods in convincing the Minister were much like that of… Slytherin?”

Oh, Gods. That sexy smirk! Hermione nearly fainted dead away at the deviously dashing look on Snape’s face.

“I am surprised… yet very impressed,” Snape went on, his voice growing softer. “I hope to see more of this… behavior… from you in the future.”

As if suddenly aware of how close her Potions Master was, Hermione cautiously took a step backward. The look in Snape’s eyes was bordering on the obscene. After a moment, he took pity on the poor, nubile Gryffindor and turned as if to leave. Turning back for a moment, Snape’s next words surprised Hermione more than anything else he’d said that night.

“It’s a pity you weren’t sorted into Slytherin, Miss Granger.”



Taking back control of her (normally) fully-functional brain, Hermione leaned back against the cool stone wall to reflect on what had just occurred. She now had more than a hunch that Snape had been affected by Ron’s ill-used spell. From the Latin translation of the words themselves, Snape should have fallen in love with her as soon as he saw or touched her (Hermione couldn’t be too sure which would have been needed to trigger the amorous reaction). However… The word destino made her ponder whether maybe the spell took fated love into account? Snape’s destined love? That perhaps any love that would have eventually sparked would have been simply nudged a bit earlier than intended? There were just so many ideas to think over…

The pounding in Hermione’s ears upgraded to a minor headache, inspiring our lovely heroine to seek out chemical assistance, be it from Muggle pain relievers or a potion.

Somehow, the idea that Snape fancied her made Hermione want the dark, sexy man more than she would have ever thought possible. Clearly, obvious interest was one of her turn-ons.

Suddenly realizing that she was roaming the halls in the middle of the night for no particular reason except to search in vain for headache relief, Hermione decided to return to her quarters. If a few Hufflepuffs got away with a midnight snog, there wouldn’t be much harm done.




‘I’ve finally gone off my rocker. I really have,’ thought Hermione, pacing her rooms in a furious manner. Fifteen minutes of tossing and turning in her luxuriously soft bed convinced her that she wouldn’t get much sleep that night. She couldn’t get the events of the few hours before out of her head.

The looks on Snape’s face couldn’t be described as anything but lecherous, yet not in a the way that Humbert Humbert (or more appropriately, Dolores Haze) would have been associated with. There was no way that Hermione could deny that Snape had some sort of attraction for her. Whether it was lust or love, she wasn’t certain. Hell, she wasn’t even positive that the spell had even affected Snape’s feelings for her at all!

Snape. Now, that was somehow odd. And why wouldn’t it seem odd? She’d been contemplating the man’s sex appeal and possible interest in her and she couldn’t even bring herself to call him by his given name in her head!

‘Spineless, Granger. Completely spineless. Gryffindors are meant to be brave, courageous! Ignorant of any dangers! Uncaring of any consequences!’

That was it. Snape (Severus!) clearly fancied Hermione, be it for her mind or her body. Why not just have a little fun and ignore the consequences?

Hardly Gryffindor. Maybe Hermione could be the Slytherin that Sna--Severus craved.



She wouldn’t bother with attempting a repulsively short skirt or a blouse with a neckline between her tits. No, Hermione would act no differently than she normally would. If she did, it would be that much easier for someone to discover her lascivious intentions. Her behavior, though… Her once-praised Gryffindor morals and values would go rushing down the toilet, along with Moaning Myrtle (Poor girl…).

Hermione was set on her mission: Acquire and Seduce Severus Snape for Nefarious Purposes and Avoid Getting Caught by Dumbledore. She couldn’t for the life of her decide on an acronym she liked best, so she kept the title lengthy.

Enough of that, though. On to the plan!

She couldn’t decide how better to present herself to the enigmatic wizard than to jump in front of his lovely, dark form and scream, “Take me NOW!” She hardly thought it was the absolute best thing to do, but didn’t Slytherins loathe subtlety?

‘I’ll just make sure not to embarrass myself with a pathetic reaction when he turns me down,’ she thought glumly.


‘Since when did Miss Granger care?’ Snape’s mind was reeling over the possibilities. ‘Might she even (gulp) care for me? I represent everything evil and tarnished, and she still feels compassion and, dare I hope?, admiration for me!’

When he was around Hermione Granger, Severus Snape couldn’t help himself. Her overwhelmingly beautiful presence smothered his rational thought and shoved him at her with nothing but his baser instincts to attempt to use to persuade her to care for him in return. How could anything be accomplished in this manner?

He’d have to be damned lucky, that’s how. ‘Stranger things have happened,’ Snape thought with a frown.



Hermione’s day passed without any major occurrences, much to her displeasure. This wasn’t as great a tragedy as it seemed at first when she remembered that she had corridor patrol that night.

The stone walls seemed no less grim and damp than usual, and the portraits were as nosy as ever, but something inside of Hermione sparked a fire inside her. Her anticipation grew with each minute that she continued to envision her fantasies as real life. Walking through the castle in which she’d spent years of her life seemed almost surreal. Hogwarts at night felt unfamiliar, almost unsafe.

Almost as if on cue, Hermione felt an arm wrap around her waist and pull her into the shadows. She was relieved to smell the familiar scent of potions ingredients and sweat.

“Eager tonight, Miss Granger?” Snape’s hot breath warmed her ear, causing Hermione to shudder delicately.

Finding her words, she responded as steadily and unaffected as she could. “Yes, Professor Snape. I am.”

Snape’s feral smile seemed to glow in spite of the darkness. “Very well, then.”

Hermione’s breath was taken away by the voracious lips that attacked her own. Now this was how it was meant to be! To be kissed by those lips, that tongue… And he put his entire body into the passionate embrace! Hermione felt like she was in Heaven.

Minutes of snogging must have gone by before Snape remembered where the two of them were and drew Hermione further back into an alcove. Shadows, after all, can only be of so much help.

Panting slightly, Hermione reached up for another kiss, yet this one was softer, more gentle. Snape’s hands traveled from her waist up her back and then down again to caress her hips. Hermione’s small hands found the top button of Snape’s coat and moved to unfasten it when his hands stopped her.

“Wait. This isn’t right…” Looking up at the dark man, Hermione saw for the first time in her life that he looked truly perplexed.

‘Oh, right. Student, teacher, snog, impermissible… Right,’ Hermione thought sarcastically.

Snape looked amused. ‘RIGHT! Snape’s a Legilimens! Right…’

“Yes, you’re quite right. I am a Legilimens. However, you’re also quite left.”

“What?”

“The problem of you and I kissing is actually nonexistent. You are above the age of consent and it appears to me that you weren’t unwilling.”

“Why did you stop, then?”

Snape smirked at that. “For the simple reason that I never wish to find myself even partially undressed in a Hogwarts corridor. Quite dirty, you know. My room would be preferable.”

Hermione’s eyebrows shot skyward. “A-alright.”

Snape’s smirk softened into a warm smile. He looked almost handsome, in a way…

“Follow me.”



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Author’s Notes: I’m sorry this took a while. For a couple weeks, I forgot I even had an story in progress, I was so wrapped up in reading other fan fiction! If anyone’s gone mad with waiting (Although I highly doubt it), then I apologize.

Before, I thought I was sure about how I’d end this story. I’ve had a few more ideas, so it may be longer in coming, especially since I write this as the inspiration and ideas come to me.

I apologize, also, for the short length of the chapter, but I wasn\'t sure when if I\'d fall out of \"The Zone\" before I\'d finish it. I felt like I should post something sooner, rather than later. I needed this out NOW!

Thanks for the read… If you’d like me to continue updating, review. It really does help me to write if I know for certain that there’s an audience out there waiting. I like having my ego stroked as much as the next person (Constructive criticism will ALWAYS be appreciated, as well… As long as it’s constructive).

Until Next Time…