In Demand

I think you know you


I THINK YOU KNOW YOU LOST THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE
 

Several nights later found Severus Snape trying to relax in
his sitting room.  Seated in a wing
backed chair by the fire he was trying to read the latest issue of Potions
Master Weekly.  No matter how
hard he tried, though, his mind would not remain on the periodical in front of
him.  Staring into the fire, he was
still trying to work out the meaning of her words “I will make sure, should
the situation ever arise again, I am prepared for whatever the next man, wizard
or muggle, throws at me.” 
 
Suddenly Headmaster Dumbledore’s head appeared in the
fire.  “Severus, could you please
come to my off&nbs  We have a
situation that needs your attention.” 
Severus could not help but hear the note of panic in the old wizard’s
voice. 
 
Leaping to his feet, he grabbed a bit of floo powder from the
crystal bowl on the mantle, called “Headmaster’s Office”, and stepped quickly
through the flames.
 
Albus Dumbledore sat quietly behind the desk, a grave look
upon his face.  “Ah, Severus, thank
you for coming so quickly. Please, have a .”
.”
 
As he moved to a chair in front of the Headmaster’s desk, he
noticed they were not alone in the room. 
Minerva McGonnegal stood quietly near the doorway.  Harry Potter was frantically pacing the
perimeter of the room, mumbling something that sounded like,  “I just don’t know what she was
thinking.  If I could have figured
that out, maybe I’d know e she she went.”
 
“Mr. Potter, please take a seat.”  From the tone of Albus Dumbledore’s
voice, Severus could tell the graveness of the situation.  Albus was not one to get so easily
annoyed with the Boy Wonder. 
“Minerva,” he gestured to a third seat near the fireplace.  “Quickly now, Harry, tell us exactly
what Hermione told you.”
 
“She filled me in on what happened in the dungeons last
week.  But instead of being really
upset about it, she was kind of treating it as a lesson.  She’s been going on and on about how she
needed to do some work, to prepare for something like this.  Said she couldn’t learn what she needed
to here at the castle.  Said with
what Professor Snape did to Sirius, no male here would ever come within 10 feet
of her.  Said she needed to get out
of here, that she was going crazy,” Harry paused, realized that he was rambling,
and took a deep breath before continuing. “She’s been pouring over all these
magazines, Witches Weekly, muggle Cosmopolitan, you know, estrogen
magazines.  Tonight, after dinner,
she said she was ready to move on to some more ‘hands on’ studies.  I never thought for a minute that she
would actually leave the grounds.” 
He looked pleadingly to Severus, “ If I had known, I would have stopped
her.  You have to know that.”
 
Severus gave him an incredulous look, but said nothing.  “She’s left the castle, and this
le foe fool didn’t see it coming. 
If this is our savior against Voldemort, is it any wonder the Dark Lord
still lives?  Gods where has she
gone?”
 
Albus ran a hand slowly down his beard, deep in thought.  He sighed deeply, “Since I am sorely
lacking in estrogen of my own, I shall defer to you, Minerva.  Any clue what is going on in our
Hermione’s head, any idea where she could be?”
 
Minerva McGonnegal looked down at her hands folded primly in
her lap and thought for a moment. 
She raised her head and spoke with careful words.  “Never having experienced, thankfully,
what Sirius Black has put that dear girl through, it is difficult for me to know
exactly the frame of mind she is in. 
I’ve thought long and hard about the situation, trying to put myself in
her shoes, trying to find a way to help her.  Mind you, this is only speculation,
Albus.”  The headmaster inclined his
head in a gesture for her to continue.
 
Minerva cleared her throat and fixed pain-filled eyes onto a
distant point in the room.  “In the
7 years I have known Hermione Granger I have seen her fail at something only a
handful of times.  The polyjuice
episode comes to mind.  If I recall
correctly, she spent the summer following her second year analyzing hair
structures and developing a spell to quickly project an image of the owner from
just a single hair.  A spell the
ministry uses quite often now when performing certain investigations.  She views the unfortunate episode of
Sirius Black as a failing on her part. 
I’m not saying she holds herself responsible for his reprehensible
actions, more that she views her inability to see it coming and to control the
situation as a failure on her part. 
As such, she is in search of the knowledge that she feels she is
desperately lacking in.  She is now
aware that her first encounter was not what it should have been.  I believe she feels that she needs to
learn from that mistake, correct it, and in turn learn to be the one in control
of her feelings and reactions.” 
 
Minerva stopped, clearly becoming uncomfortable with the turn
her explanation was taking.  She
forced herself to continue, her voice wavering a bit, “In essence, how to be the
one in control of a sexual encounter. 
She has also slammed the door on any emotional reactions and is not even
considering them into her equation. 
We are all adults here, and as such, we do understand how important
emotions are in a the relations between witch and wizard, man and woman.  It’s been obvious for the past couple of
weeks that she is not thinking clearly. She is setting herself up to fail
again.  As to where she has gone, I
can’t be sure of her exact destination, but wherever it is, she has gone looking
for a man.”
 
Albus nodded slowly, his mind wrapping around the words that
had been offered.  “Severus, leave
immediately.  There are still a few
bands of those loyal to the Dark Lord. 
If she is recognized they will stop at nothing to snatch her away.  Go first to Hogsmeade. Traveling by
broom would be quickest.  The
residents will not allow me to drop the apparation wards they have
erected oundounding the town. 
Their last experience with the Deatheaters has left them with an
understandably bad taste in their mouth. 
If she left the area, she would have had to hire a carriage in town.  There are no trains traveling at this
time of night.  I don’t have to tell
you to be careful. I know of more than a few of Voldemort’s followers who
would be most pleased to get their hands on you as well.”
 
YOU SAID I WAS THE BEST YOU EVER HAD
 
“Yes Headmaster.” 
The Potions Master rose quickly, crossed to the fireplace and tossed a
bit of floo powder in.  He spoke
clearly into the green flames. 
“Accio cloak, Accio broom,” which brought the called items flying into
his hands.  Wrapping the cloak
securely around his sholders and double checking that his wand was secure, he
crossed to the window.  He threw the
stained glass double window wide, stepped up on the sill, and sat firmly on his
broom.  He looked back at each
person in the room.  “I’ll bring her
back.”  He spoke determinedly,
leaving those watching no doubt that he would.
 
Harry approached the window and watched until Professor Snape
was just a speck of black.  After
pulling the windows closed, he turned to the Headmaster and asked, “If Severus
is in danger as well, what difference would it have made if I went after
her?” 
 
Albus Dumbledore removed his glasses and rubbed his
temples.  “Minerva, would you please
alert the staff to keep their eyes out for Severus and Hermione’s return?”
 
“Of course, Albus. 
At once.”  She was out the
door quickly.  She had an inkling
about the discussion that would follow. 
“Wizards have such fragile egos.”
 
“Harry sit down.”
 
Harry returned once again to sit opposite the
Headmaster.  Chin held high and
spine straight, he listened to the older wizard.
 
“Harry, this is a very delicate situation.  Hermione is confused right now.  She has experienced very conflicting
feelings at the hands of Sirius. 
What should be ideally for any woman a very tender experience was
painful.  Instinctually she is
looking to correct that.  Besides
the fact that Severus is better equipped to deal with the dangers of this
situation, he is also better equipped to deal with her instincts.”
 BECAUSE I\'M IN DEMAND

“Are you saying you want him to sleep with her?”  Harry cried, face contorted with
anger. 
 
“I am saying that this is now a very adult situation, needing
to be dealt with as adults.  If I am
correct in my observations, while the two of you are very close friends, you and
Hermione have never had any kind of a romantic interest in each other.  Is that accurate?”
 
Grudgingly, Harry nodded in agreement.
 
“I have also observed that lately Severus is having a much
harder time controlling his emotions. 
He feels horribly guilty about what happened to Hermione and cannot help
but show it.  This tells me that he
cares a great deal about her, and his need to protect her is quite obvious.  He is prepared to do whatever he has to,
to make this up to her.”  Albus was
treading very shaky ground now, but there was no turning back.  “I think in this situation he may be
better prepared to meet her needs.”
 
As expected, Harry took Albus’ words as a direct attack on
his manhood.  “I think I’m just as
prepared to meet her needs as he is.”
 
Inwardly Albus grinned at how ruffled Harry’s feathers had
become.  “Typical, young,
hormonal wizard.”   “But
you are not in love with her.  And
after everything that she has been through, love may be the only way to lead her
back.”
 
Clearly horrified by the last statement, Harry jumped to his
feet, placed both hands on the desk in front of him, and roared,  “Are you saying that overgrown bat is in
love with her?”
 
Dumbledore was pushed too far.  Rising to his feet, he took a similar
stance and roared back at him. “Mr. Potter, that overgrown bat, as you so
eloquently put it, has risked his life time and time again for you, for me, for
all of us.  He has suffered through
physical torture, unforgivable curses, and mental anguish to try to end
Voldemort’s reign.  He has proved
himself as a man and has denied himself the physical comforts we all need to
protect the people he loves.  He has
distanced himself from joys of life for so long, he doesn’t even remember how it
feels to love someone, at least not consciously.”
 
Regaining a modicum of his former control, Dumbledore took
his seat and continued evenly, “Similarly your friend has also put a barrier up
and decided that emotions will play no part in her analysis of the more intimate
of life’s little joys.  I believe
that, together, they may be able to heal the wounds that the evils of this world
has inflicted so cruelly on each of them and be able to, at least, be a comfort
to each other. ”
 
Shocked, Harry dropped back into his seat.  His mind whirled and twisted and tried
to make sense of what he had just heard.
 
“I expect that no matter what happens, you will be supportive
of Hermione and will not interfere. 
It is quite possible that the impressions I have been getting are wrong,
that Severus will simply return her to the castle, and nothing further will come
of this.  Either way, it is not your
decision to make.  I believe you had
best return to your room.  I will
let you know when they return.”
 
Harry only nodded and quietly left the room, shocked at what
he had just heard.  He was sure of
one thing, “I’ve never known Albus’ instincts to be wrong about anything,”
he thought.  And although it
sickened him a bit, he also knew that if the Headmaster trusted Hemione’s heart
to Snape, he had to as well.