Strong Enough

CH4 MY OH MY


Thanks at the bottom

She owns em blah blah blah!!

( ) means someones thoughts


\"What on earth is going on in my heart,
Has it turned as cold as stone,
Seems these days I don\'t feel anything,
Less it cuts me right down to the bone,
What on earth is going on in my heart\"

- My Oh My, David Gray

Severus could not sleep. In fact he hadn\'t even tried. Hermione Granger was coming back to Hogwarts.

He had, before her parents died, thought that maybe she would return to teach one day and found that he had been quite looking forward to having her as a colleague. She would definitely be a refreshing change from most the the other professors. By the time she had finished her sixth year, Snape had become quite fond of her, if such a thing was possible. The \"Insufferable know-it-all\" had vanished and a quite extraordinary young woman was taking her place. He had even gone as far as letting her help to brew Lupin\'s wolfsbane potion a couple of times for extra credit. She had challenged him with interesting questions and he found that her intellect almost matched his own, there was also the fact that she had become quite beautiful in the transition from girl to woman. Then her parents had been killed, and he couldn\'t stop it

He slumped down in an armchair by the fire in his study, looking into the glass of brandy he had just poured himself. As long as he lived he did not think he would ever forget the look on her face when Dumbledore broke the news to her about them. He had seen a lot of emotions in his time, pain and terror, anguish and hate. It was once something he loved to see and on occasion even caused but he had never seen it all together on one face before, the way he had seen it on Hermione Granger.

She changed after that. Understandably so. She withdrew from everything and everyone, even her beloved \'dream team\' until Dumbledore approached them both a few months later about Defence training. The headmaster was worried that this sort of grief and rage was exactly the sort of thing that Voldemort could use to turn her to his side. She had eventually consented and for the rest of the school year he had trained her. He had taught her everything about combat, magical and otherwise, that he knew, and by giving her a purpose, something to focus on, slowly she began to fight and come back to life again.

Not the same of course. The Hermione Granger he had come to look upon as not so much of a pain in the arse was gone, but she was back all the same. She finished school and graduated with her friends, at the top of her class

Snape swallowed his drink down and stood up slowly, feeling about eighty years old instead of the forty years he was. The shaking was less now and he started towards his bedroom. She was coming back, to protect them, or rather to protect Dumbledore. He knew she hated him, he could even remember the exact moment she told him.

(She was lying on the floor of an unused classroom, gasping for breath.She had been trying to throw off the Imperious curse for about two hours and was refusing to call it a day, even though he could see how much she just wanted to go to her room and sleep. He had walked over and peered down his nose at her as if she were something he had just trodden in.

\"Well, well\"

He sneered

\"At last, something \'know-it-all\' Granger can\'t do\"

He was goading her. He knew she was exhausted, but she was so close to getting it. They had only been training together for a month and the grief and hate was still obvious on her face.
She had looked up at him, still trying to get her breathing under control and hissed at him \"I just want you to know SIR, that I hate you, you are an evil, sadistic bastard\"

He smirked at her \"Is that your way of telling me you have had enough for today?\"

She pulled herself up and jutted out her chin \"Never\" She said defiantly, looking him dead in the eye \"Do it again\"

And he had. He commanded her to lay on the floor, curl up in a ball and stay there. He watched as she battled internally for a moment or two, and then, still staring straight into his eyes, in a clear, strong voice, she said,

\"Never\"

They stood for a moment just staring at each other.She was sweating and her hair was sticking out wildly, but she had her hands on her hips and a triumphant look on her face, and a thought came to him, even as her sneered and dismissed her, that she was the strongest person he had ever met in his life.)

He had looked into her eyes that day and seen it all. She would never lay down, never give up, she would fight to the death for those she loved and those she had lost, And she hated him.For everything he had been and everything he still was. Well why shouldn\'t she? He still hated himself, every minute of every day. He had often wondered what would have happened had they encountered one another on the battlefield. Would she have let him go to carry on spying or killed him where he stood with the moves he had taught her?

He stood and stretched his long frame. If Dumbledore thought there was a war raging outside the castle walls, he hadn\'t seen anything yet. She was a grown woman now and as much as he secretly respected what she had achieved, in school and out of it, if she still managed to be a fiery little bitch and trigger his temper every time he saw her, he would not be held accountable for his actions.

As he climbed into bed and forced himself to swallow a dreamless sleep potion, for at least a couple of hours rest, his last thought were that, yes, she would have indeed killed him, as he would have expected her to.


Thanks to:

Andrian
Zephyr
Nesscafe
Kayla
Rilla
Celticwitch
Lady Aidil
Hannah
Susan

Your reviews mean such a lot to me, and they are the reason I am still writing this story!!

Big kisses to you all!!


I know it\'s taking a while but I got a bit carried away with their thoughts and feelings, and I don\'t really want to cut any out. But I assure you they do come face to face soon and then the games will begin!!
GrrArrg