Love is Blind

Chapter 30

Dinner at Hogwarts had never been so annoying for
Severus. The incessant chatter of his love’s redheaded best friend was going to
drive him insane. His godson, said redhead’s husband, was sitting beside him
glowering at the two women. Severus smiled to himself at the realization that
Draco was more like himself than like Lucius. Lucius would have been in the
middle of it, trying to seduce one or both of the women, even if one wasn’t his
wife. Draco, on the other hand seemed just as annoyed as he did.

When dinner was finished, Severus invited Draco and
Ginny to his chambers for a drink while he gave Hermione her treatment. He was
all business. Hermione could feel her heart break at the cold bitter tone he
was using andhow she was added as almost an afterthought She wondered if that’s
all that would happen tonight, just the treatment and a swift boot back to her
own lonely bed. Ginny could feel the air change around Hermione and knew in an
instant that she guessed right about a relationship between the potions master
and his apprentice.

Draco and Severus were walking ahead of the women
and Ginny put a reassuring arm around Hermione. “So I was right, huh?”

Hermione turned her face toward the other girl.
“About what exactly?”

“You and Severus?”

Hermione’s face blanched. She wanted to tell Ginny
that she was madly in love with him, that he proposed, that she wanted to spend
the rest of her life with thrk, rk, brooding man. But something was holding her
back. Severus said he loved here wae was wearing his ring, but it seemed like
he didn’t want her near him with Draco and Ginny around. Why? Was he ashamed?
Embarrassed? She nodded resolutely to Ginny who had started to become worried
after Hermione’s long silence before responding.

“What is it Herm?”

Hermione stopped and looked at Ginny. “I think I’m
just going to go to my rooms. Tell Severus I’m not up to my treatment tonight.
I will meet up with him sometime tomorrow.” Her head hung down as she stepped
away from her friend and headed back toward her chambers. Ginny grabbed her arm
lightly before she could get too far away.

“Hermione, what is it?”

“I just need some time to think. Come down later,
OK?” Hermione said as she pulled her arm from Ginny and walked faster down the
hall to her rooms. Ginny stood there dumbfounded. What just happened? Ginny
watched her friend walk away and she turned toward the direction of the
dungeons. Severus had better be ready to deal with an angry Ginny Malfoy,
because something did not seem right. Not right at all.

Severus and Draco had sat down in the wingback
chairs by the fireplace, each with a brandy in their hands. Draco smiled when
he saw his lovely wife walk in, but his face changed immediately at the sight
of the fire in her eyes and the lack of another woman accompanying her.
“Where’s Hermione?” he asked softly.

“She went back to her rooms.” She turned to Severus.
“She said that wasn’t feeling well and that she would meet up with you tomorrow
for her treatment.” Severus nodded, his face struggling not to bely his
concern.

After a few moments of silence, Ginny had had
enough. “SEVERUS SNAPE! What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Draco
stared at his wife. He couldn’t believe she was standing over the most feared
professor at Hogwarts, yelling at him. Draco knew that Ginny must really be
pissed, so he kept his mouth shut. Best to keep it shut than chance having to
sleep on the couch.

“What do you mean Mrs. Malfoy? I am sitting her
enjoying a brandy with my godson. What’s wrong with that?” Severus glared at
the fiery young woman trying to intimidate her. He didn’t need her butting her
nose into business that she had no reason to be in.

Ginny calmed down after a few deep breaths.
“Severus, I know about you and Hermione. Do you think I am that stupid? I saw
the ring on her left hand. I know you have been helping her since the accident.
I know that when you asked us for help replenishing your stores, you were
happy, undeniably happy. I figured it all out. Why were you so cold to her just
now?”

Severus was silent; he didn’t realize that he was
acting like that. Looking back at dinner, he nevr spoke to Hermione after Draco
and Ginny showed up. He invited the two of them down for a drink while her
treated Hermione. He didn’t even acknowledge her beyond that. She must hate him
right now. He hung his head and ran his fingers through his hair, staring at
the floor.

Ginny came and sat next to him and put a reassuring
arm around him. He didn’t flinch. “Sev, did you think we wouldn’t approve? Why
didn’t you tell us?”

Draco shook his head to clear his thoughts and stood
up to look at his godfather and wife. “What didn’t he tell us, Gin? What the
hell is going on? Why am I always the last to find out anything? Uncle Severus,
what’s going on?”

Severus looked at the blond man standing in front of
him. “I just screwed up the best thing that has ever happened to me, all
because of my imbedded sense of self-preservation. I am in love with Hermione.”
Draco and Ginny both smiled. “I didn’t mean to treat her like that, but I can
see why she left. I didn’t even acknowledge her presence. How stupid can I be?
I…”

“Severus, were you afraid of what we would think?”
Draco asked as he knelt down in front of his godfather.

“I don’t know,” he growled. “I guess, I am not used
to people seeing this side of me. The school is used to it now. But you had
always seen me as this mean, terrifying bastard. I guess I was afraid to let
you see that I’m not like that anymore.”

“I never thought you were terrifying. Dominating,
maybe. Annoying, definitely. Scary, sometimes. But never terrifying,” Ginny
said softly, trying to lighten up the mood. Severus glared at her, and she
laughed.

“See what I mean? I can’t even scare you anymore.”

Ginny leaned closer to him and whispered, “Severus,
you never scared me in the first place. Just because you have fallen in love,
does not mean that I would feel any different about you. Obviously you still
are a bit of a bastard, or your, dare I say, fiancé wouldn’t be locked up in
her room.”

“Fiancé!?” Draco yelled.

Ginny looked up at his clueless expression and
sniggered. “And to think, you were one of the brightest minds to come out of
Hogwarts. Of course his fiancé, did you not hear what I said about a ring on
her left hand?”

“Well, he didn’t say anything. I apologize, but I
never thought that Severus would get married. I just thought that if they had a
relationship it was just…you know?”

Ginny stood up and slapped her husband’s arm, in a
not-so-playful way and looked down at Severus who was staring blankly at the
fire. “Severus? Am I correct in assuming that was an engagement ring on her
finger? Or is my prat of a husband right?”

Ginny stared at him, willing him to look up at her
and tell her the truth. Eventually he did, and his black eyes bore into hers.
“Yes, Virginia, I asked her to marry me.”

A squeal of delight came from the redhead and she
swooped down onto Snape and hugged him tightly. Draco looked awestruck at his
godfather. “You better go fix this, or she won’t marry you. Gryffindors are
stubborn as hell, believe me,” Draco said, receiving a well-deserved glare from
his wife. He realized that he would indeed be sleeping on the couch for that
comment.

Severus stood up and brushed imaginary lint off his
robes. “I’m an idiot. I love her. I shouldn’t care about what anyone else
thinks. I hurt her and I need to fix it.”
He strode out of the room, leaving a very amused couple in his wake.

*

Hermione had made it to her room in no time at all.
She immediately collapsed on the bed, willing herself to cry. The damned
bandages covering her eyes were annoying her and she just wanted to rip them
off. She was sick of being blind, of being a charity case. Is that what she was
to Severus? He swore to her that wasn’t the case. She violently pulled her
bandages off and her eyes were flooded with a warm light from what she assumed
was the window.

Well, the third potion must be working, it seemed
that her eyelids were indeed separated. She could see blurred colors around
her, but was still unable to make herself blink. She laid down on the bed,
burying her face in the pillow, trying to block out the setting sun. Wallowing
in the darkness, she didn’t hear the door to her chambers open.

Severus stood in the doorway, silently watching his
love sobbing into her pillow. Before he could enter and start to comfort her,
she raised her hand up to her neck, ripped something off and through it out
into the room, straight toward him. He caught it before he hit the floor and
opened his hand to see the rose necklace that he had given Hermione that day in
Hogsmeade. His heart broke as he watched her bury her face again into the
pillow. He fingered the charmed flower and brought it to his nose. It still
smelled just as it had that day when he placed it behind her ear.

He hurt her. He knew it. He didn’t mean to. He had
no excuses for it. Slowly, Severus walked toward the bed and sat on the edge.
Hermione sat up and turned toward him. His breath caught in his throat when he
saw that she had removed the bandages. He could see a sliver of brown from
under her eyelid and he smiled.

“Severus?”

He moved toward her and wrapped his arms around her
body. “Yes, love. I’m here,” he whispered into her hair.

“Are you embarrassed by me?”

He sighed deeply. “No, my dear, I am not embarrassed
by you, I am embarrassed by myself. I am sorry Hermione. I didn’t even realize…
No, I have no excuse. I should not have treated you as an afterthought. You are
never an afterthought. I love you more than anything.”

Hermione buried her head into Severus’ chest as he
squeezed her tighter. “I’m not used to being in love, Hermione. I have always
been a hard-ass when it comes to Draco. I think subconsciously I was afraid for
him to see me in love, afraid he would think I’d gone soft. I’m sorry love.” He
tried reassuring himself more so than her. He kissed the top of her head
lightly. “Please come have a drink with us. You don’t have to have your
treatment tonight, but I want you there. Please?”

She sat there silently, breathing in his scent. She
wasn’t sure if she wanted to go down there. It hurt what Severus did. Yes, he
apologized, but her heart still ached at the reality of it. She raised her head
toward him, she could see his skin through the blurry slit between her eyelids
and smiled. She could see him. Every bit of anger or anguish that she felt a
moment ago was gone. She could see him. It didn’t matter that he looked like a
blurry blob of flesh covered in a mass of black. She could see him.

She raised her hand to the side of the flesh-colored
blob and rested it on what felt like his cheek. “Severus, I can see you,” she
whispered, her voice still carried a tone of astonishment. She saw a blur of
white come across the expanse of flesh tone. “I love it when you smile,” she
whispered before leaning up to kiss him.

Severus was speechless. She could see him. He looked
at her and smiled. When she said she loved it when he smiled he kissed her
softly on the lips. He noticed that her cheeks were wet and brought his fingers
to her face. His voice caught in his throat. “Hermione, you’re crying,” she
whispered a wip wiped her tears away.

Hermione raised her own hands to her face and traced
the trail of her tears down her cheek. She couldn’t help but feel a surge of
something akin to pride well up from her bosom. He loved her, and he found the
treatment for her, and she could see him. “It’s working. Severus. I was afraid
I would never be able to see you again, and if this is all I get to see, I will
be happy with it.”

He cradled her face in his hands and kissed her
passionately. “I think we have some celebrating to do. Lets put your sunglasses
on for tonight and join my godson and your best friend for a drink.” She
nodded, smiling, tears still streaming unchecked down her face. He helped her
up and out of her chambers. He elation he felt at the success of the treatment
intensified the love he carried in his heart for her. He wrapped his arm around
her waist tighter and she leaned into him.

“Severus, what made you come to my rooms?” she asked
innocently after walking almost halfway in happy silence.

“Your redhd sid siren of a best friend laid into me.
I was sincerely afraid she would hex me for hurting you. I was almost to the
point of hexing myself. I’m sorry Hermione.”

“I forgive you, you insufferable prat. Just don’t
let it happen again,” she teased as he opened the door to his chambers.

Before she could brush past him, he grabbed her and
kissed her softly. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” She smiled and returned his kiss,
just a bit more passionately. After a few moments, they were interrupted by the
sound of someone clearing their throat, followed by a grunt that Severus
assumed was from an elbow in his godson’s ribs by his wife.

Hermione giggled against Severus lips. “Can we
continue this later, without the peanut gallery?”

“Most assuredly,” he promised as he swept her into
his chambers and poured everyone drinks.