Pretty Woman

Again, thank you to MetaMuse for beta reading!!!!

Chapter 5

Severus Snape showed up three hours later with Albus Dumbledore by his side. He found Luis Diego sitting on the couch with his son. They were both enjoying a drink. “Severus, you have returned.”

“Luis Diego, may I present Albus Dumbledore.”

“Sir, it is a pleasure to meet you. Your reputation far exceeds you Albus.” The two wizards shook hands. “Please have a seat. We have much to tell you. To begin, I have money, not because I am an outstanding, law abiding citizen, but because I know how to play the game. I may have given Lucius Malfoy the wrong impression, but when I spoke of family is the most important thingan can can have, he thought I was talking about pureblood wizards.” Luis Diego explained what had happened in the past three hours.

He reached behind and withdrew a wand. “Severus, this belongs to Hermione. Lucius had it on him when my men took him into custody.”

Severus jumped to his feet and Apparated to the suite. He knew Hermione could not Apparatehouthout her wand, so he hoped she was headed back there on foot.

Back in Luis Diego’s penthouse, Albus had asked where Lucius anllatllatrix were.

“Albus, I am a simple man. My family is my first priority. I know I have bent a few laws to become as successful as I am, but I take care of my own. I consider Hermione and Severus a part of my family.” He stood up and gestured that Albus follow him. “I am a man of some of the finest collections in the world.” Albus followed him into a room with a large aquarium. “I have one of the finest collections of piranhas around. Did you know they feed on flesh? Their favorite is human flesh, although that is a rare delicacy.” Luis Diego turned to admire his piranhas. Albus stepped closer and saw a finger on the bottom of the tank wearing a ring with the Malfoy crest.

“Yes, Luis Diego, you have a fine collection indeed.” Albus eyes twinkled.

~*~*~*~*~

Severus Apparated to the suite to find Hermione pacing the floor. She heard a crack and looked up.

“Lucius Malfoy showed up, so it looks like our business transaction has ended. I need my money so I can leave,” she said, not looking at him.

“Hermione, we need to talk,” he said, reaching for her, but she recoiled from him. She was gathering her clothes, trying to stuff them into her bag that was clearly too small. He didn’t know what to say or do, but he had to do something. “Hermione, I know what Lucius did to you.”

When her arms full of clothes, she slowly backup until she was flush against the wall. “He didn’t do anything except pay for his time with a whore.”

“You’re not a whore,” he snapped. Hearing his words, her breathing became rapid. Still not looking at him, her legs collapsed and her body slid down the wall. She was now sitting on the floor, holding her clothes. He saw her face for the first time and noticed the fresh bruises on her cheek, eye, and mouth.

“I am a whore. He paid me a knut for sex and you paid me two-hundred thousand dollars for sex. There is no difference.”

“He raped you Hermione. I don’t care if he paid you a million dollars, he raped you.” Severus moved closer to her, but she recoiled again, so he sat down on the floor, staying a good five feet from her.

“You asked me once about losing my virginity,” she looked at him with a scowl. He could see the shame and anger in her eyes. “I lost it to Sirius Black.”

Severus couldn’t hide his shock. “He was killed in your fifth year.”

“We were in his damned house for Christmas. After Christmas was over, Harry and I knew he was becoming depressed becausewoulwould soon be returning to Hogwarts for the new school term. Harry tried talking to him, but he put on a strong appearance and told Harry he was fine. I knew he wasn’t fine. I could hear him pacing the floor of his bedroom at night.

One night I decided to go and talk to him, figuring there was something I could say or do.” Her voice became angrier. “I sat down with him on his bed, reassuring him that he was important to the Order. I gave him a hug and he hugged me back.” She dropped her eyes down to the floor, refusing to look at Severus.

“He gave me a small kiss on the cheek. It surprised me, but I smiled at him. He must have thought my smile meant I wanted more. He then kissed me on the mouth. Did you know that was my first kiss? He forced his tongue into my mouth, almost gagging me. I tried to push him away, but he was too strong.”

Severus tried moving closer, but she yelled, “Don’t touch me!” Throwing her clothes out of her hands, she continued. “He lifted my nightgown, telling me hoautiautiful I was. I closed my eyes, trying to wake up because it had to be a dream, but it wasn’t. I felt him enter me. The pain was awful. I couldn’t move under his weight. All I could do was cry. When he finished, he told me, ‘I’m glad somebody cares.’ I was under the roof of the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix and they couldn’t even protect me!” she started rambling.

“Love, ha! My mother learned after twenty years of marriage there was no such thing as love. Sex was just a tool to provide men with a physical release. I slept with a few of my Johns and every time I felt nothing. I perfected my memory charms so when they woke in the morning, they thought they had a fucking fantastic time with a whore.”

“Hermione - ”

“Shut up! Everything was perfect until you came along!” She jumped to her feet and began pacing again. He slowly got to his and watched her. “It was supposed to be a quick memory charm and it was over. I collect my money and they leave. But you,” she stopped in front of him. “You made me feel something!” she shoved him. “You made it feel good!” she shoved him again. “First you made my body react to you. It’s not supposed to feel good! Then you made my heart respond to you. Every time I saw you, my heart felt like it was going to burst. I kept telling myself I’st ast a whore and he is paying me good money. Then Lucius came along. He put it all back in prospective. He made me remember that I am not supposed to feel anything.”

She collapsed on the floor again. This time she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Why did you make me love you?”

He dropped to his knees and was kneeling next to her. He took her in his arms, afraid she would pull away again, but she didn’t resist. “Hermione, it wasn’t supposed to be love, but it happened. I can’t explain it but it happened. I wanted you to feel something more than the other women I had paid to be with, so I made sure that I pleasured you along with me. What I didn’t expect was to fall in love with you.”

She melted into his arms and cried. All the pain, all the anger, all the hurt came flooding out of her. She cried for a long time while he patiently held her.

Finally, she quieted down. He thought she had fallen asleep, he turned her over to so he could carry her to the bed. As he moved her, she turned to look at him. He gently wiped her tears and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

“Do you really love me?” she whispered.

“Yes, I really love you,” he said. She moved so she could sit further on his lap and face him better.

Placing her hands on around his neck, she smiled at him. “I love you too.” She then placed her lips on his and kissed hith ath all the passion she felt for him. He held the rest of the night.

~*~*~*~*~

Severus and Hermione returned to the Santiagos’ Penthouse the next day.

“Oh Hermione!” cried Elena, ing ing her tightly, “I cannot express how sorry I am.” Hermione hugged her back. It wasn’t until now that she realized the importance of needing a mother figure.

“I’m okay Elena,” she whispered. Elena squeezed her tighter before letting go.

“Hermione, you are a very strong young lady and I will pray that your strength and courage sees you through this.”

“Thank you Elena. Your words are very comforting. How is Luz?”

“She is shaken up, but she will be fine. Come with me, please. The girls want to see you.” Hermione followed her into another room.

In the meantime, Severus was visiting with Luis Diego and Albus.

“Luis, I must apologize for the deception we portrayed during our visit,” began Severus, but Luis Diego held up his hand, stopping him.

“Severus, I must apologize too. The second you Apparated here, to Las Vegas, my men were following you. I knew from the beginning that Hermione was not your wife, but she was clearly of some importance because you immediately found her to assist you with this ‘project.’ I do have to admit that Lucius Malfoy chose just the right words to mislead me into what the uprising really stood for. Bottom line is Severus, you and Hermione both saved my family and I will never forget that. The deceptions that occurred before this are forgiven.” He held out his hand to Severus. Severus accepted his hand and shook it. “We are family,” said Luis Diego.

“Family,” said Severus. He turned to Albus. “Did the Aurors come to take Lucius away?”

“No Severus, they will not be taking him to Azkaban,” smiled Albus.

“Don’t tell me the bastard escaped!” hissed Severus.

“No, he didn’t escape.” Albus pointed to the aquarium and Severus cautiously walked over to it. He eyed the fish for a while before noticing Lucius’ ring at the bottom of the tank and sitting next to it were the remains of a human bone.

Severus turned to Albus and then Luis Diego, displaying a smile neither one had seen on his face before. “Very nice,” he said quietly.

Hermione walked into the room and straight to Severus, but nodded to Luis Diego and Albus.

“I am indebted to you my dear. If you should ever need anything, just ask and it will be yours,” smiled Luis Diego.

“Thank you,” she politely replied, clearly not expecting this kind of greeting.

“I am sorry for what happened to Luz. I should have - ”

“No Hermione, do not ever apologize for what happened. You saved my baby and my family. Don’t ever forget that.” Luis Diego took her by the hand and kissed the back of it. He then turned to Severus and whispered so only he could hear, “If you know what’s good for you, you will not let her go.” Severus smiled and nodded.

They said their good-byes. It was clear that the Santiagos had a family business that wasn’t approved by most. After his own indiscretions, Severus felt he was the last one to be judging this family. Hermione agreed. What they did was illegal, but compared to Voldemort, well, to each their own. They returned to Hogwarts.

~*~*~*~*~


It had been a week since Lucius Malfoy died. They finally left Las Vegas. Severus had convinced her to stay with him in the dungeons until school started.

“I’ll stay with SeveSeverus, but don’t think this gets you out of paying me $200,000 dollars.”

“Hermione, I would never cheat you out of your money that was well earned,” he smirked. She gave he a sly smile. “When I returned here to inform Albus about the Santiagos’ true motives, I set up an account at Gringotts in your name.”

She was surprised, but pleased that he had done this already. Just then an owl flew to her with a letter. She untied it and the owl flew away quickly. Opening the letter she read it.

Dear Hermione Granger,

It is our pleasure to inform you that you are the sole recipient of the Severus Snape scholarship fund. Your tuition and fees along with books and dorm will be paid in full as long are attending any university of your choice. Congratulations!

Sincerely,

Severus Snape
President of the Severus Snape Foundation for a Higher Education

“Severus.”

“Yes.”

“What is this?”

“You are the one receiving an education. I assumed that you could not only read but you could also comprehend.”

“Severus,” she said more sternly, but her voice softened. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Just say thank you.”

“Thank you Severus.”

~*~*~*~*~

When the school term began, Hermione moved out of the dungeons and back to campus. She was still trying to deal with the mental anguish of being raped by Lucius. It felt good to know he ended up at the bottom of the fish aquarium with Bellatrix, but it didn’t completely erase the scars. She took classes through out the summer and continued writing Severus on a regular basis. He knew when she was ready that she would return. Until then he supported her by writing.

It was after that first Christmas that she knew, without a doubt that she had to be with Severus. He had been such a solid foundation of support for her. Not only did she love him, she needed him. She realized that life was nothing without him.

Entering the dungeons, unannounced, she knocked on his door.

“Enter!” he yelled. She smiled at the voice that would have normally brought her fear, instead brought her comfort. “And it better not be a Gryffindor or I’m taking all your house points away!”

“I’m afraid it is,” she answered cheerfully.

He quickly looked up from his desk to see Hermione standing there. “Hermione?” he said, not believing she was standing here, in front of him.

“In the flesh.”

He stood up and walked from around his desk, straight to her. He hands immediately cupped her face, lifting it so her eyes met his. They stared at each other for a moment before she spoke.

“Severus, I don’t want to be without you. I can’t be without you. Please tell me you still love me.” eye eyes were so full of love, clearly showing her desire and need for him. He gave her a rare smile.

“Hermione, I love you and I will always love you.” He pressed his lips to hers and together they melted into each other’s kiss that was full of passion and love.

She realized there was such a thing as love, as did Severus. Together they loved each other, living a simple life without Death Eaters but a challenging life full of learning, loving, and laughing.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed my version of Pretty Woman!

Hugs,
Corazon