Unexpected Places

Snape convinced Hermione to wait to tell Draco until they knew if Lucius was truly Alex’s father. Nothing good could come of a half truth, he told her because soon Narcissa would no longer be Alex’s mother. Hermione only agreed because if Lucius was the father, Draco would no doubt want to raise his brother as a Malfoy. That was something she would fight tooth and nail. It would be better if the child belonged to another man.

Things went on as usual until one Saturday about a week later. Hermione was sitting on a blanket on the beach of the lake, watching the sunlight on the waves. Alex lay beside her watching the leaves in the trees and anything else that caught his eye. She didn’t see the tall dark haired man watching over her from the trees. She also didn’t see the blonde young man walking her way. She was lost in her thoughts and daydreams.

Draco sat on one of the corners of the blanket, startling her for a moment. She hadn’t been aware of his presence.

“Mudblood.” He greeted.

“Ferret” she replied mildly. Although he still called her that, it didn’t mean the same thing to her. She knew Draco didn’t mean it the way he did in their second year and she didn’t let it bother her anymore. He rarely used it and never in front of anyone else. They both knew Harry and Ron, as well as others would be quick to hex.

“Have you found the boy’s father yet?” he asked conversationally. She gave him a quick glance but didn’t think he knew anything. She hadn’t even told Harry and Ron about Narcissa, so she didn’t think Draco could know.

“The potion has two more weeks. We’ll find out then who he is.” She answered. He nodded and seemed to be steeling himself for something. She found out a moment later what it was when he spoke.

“If it doesn’t work out with the father, then I will help you raise him. He will need a father.” He said. She stared at him stunned. She knew he didn’t know who the child was. He couldn’t possibly and yet he had just offered to raise him. Her eyes narrowed. Draco was a Slytherin so there was obviously something in it for him. As if reading her mind, he smirked.

“Of course, we would have to marry and I would adopt him.” He said slyly and she understood. This was his way of getting her back. He wanted to be with her. She was stunned at the idea.

“But Draco, you don’t even like me.” She protested and he shook his head.

“Hermione, I love you. I have been in love with you since third year when you slapped me. I went out of my way to torment you because I didn’t know any other way.” He told her. “that and because it annoyed Potter and Weasley so much.” He finished honestly.

She shook her head, stood up and began to pace. “We broke up, Draco. It didn’t work between us. All we did was fight and shag. That would not be a life for a married couple or a baby.” She told him, still pacing. He stood up and stopped her.

“I can change. I want to be with you, Hermione. I will even be a father to your child. I will do what it takes.” He said, almost begging. She looked up into his eyes.

“It wouldn’t work, Draco. I don’t love you. I couldn’t do that to you or any children we would have. It wouldn’t be fair not to love their father.” She said gently. He shook his head and she knew he didn’t believe her. She didn’t know what to say or do to make him believe.

He stepped closer to her, grabbed her by the hair and kissed her. She didn’t kiss back at first but his lips were so insistent that she couldn’t resist. His tongue dipped into her mouth and she suppressed a moan. Despite their differences, he knew how to get a reaction from her. Finally he pulled away.

“You can’t deny you want me, Granger. The next step would be love and I promise you will one day love me.” He said before releasing her and walking away. She watched him go, her hand on her lips and tears in her eyes. She knew it would never work and didn’t know how to show him. She lay on the blanket and cuddled up to Alex and began to cry. She cried for her son, whose mother had been killed and then he had been abandoned. She cried for Draco, who she knew she could never love like he wanted and she cried for herself and her uncertain future.

Not far away, a certain Potions professor watched her. When Draco had come up to her, he had cast the disillusioning spell on himself and had moved closer. To better protect her, he told himself, refusing to recognize it for a lie. He heard what Draco had said and her response. He had been aware that they had a relationship over the summer, however brief. And he had witnessed its fiery end but he had not known that his godson was in love with Hermione.

Snape worried for Hermione. Despite changing sides in the war, Draco was still the same spoiled brat he had always been. When he wanted something, he got it and if he couldn’t get it, he made sure no one else did. Lucius was the same way and his son was a lot more like him that anyone wanted to admit.

As he watched her cry, he felt something else. Something he hadn’t felt in such a long time. He felt the urge to comfort her, to tell her it would be alright, to hold her and protect her, and this scared him more than anything else ever had. He had grown attached to the young woman in the last weeks. The child as well. He found himself in a better mood when he had been with them. The day always seemed brighter after lunch.

He watched her and wondered if he should ask her out on a date. He didn’t know if she would agree but he thought maybe he would try. She was still a student but she was of age so it didn’t violate any of the school rules. He watched as she gathered her son and the blanket and made her way back to the castle. He waited until she was out of sight, ended the spell and followed her.

No one noticed the emerald green gaze that had witnessed everything.

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Hermione was quiet and withdrawn for the rest of the day. Harry and Ron did what they could to make her smile but it didn’t work and early in the evening she retired to her rooms. She had to patrol the halls that evening so Dolly came to stay with Alex until she returned. She wasn’t in the best of moods so any students caught out were punished swiftly and harshly.

Just as her patrol ended and she was returning to her room, a man stepped out of the shadows and in her path. She started for a moment but had her wand drawn and the first syllables of a hex on her lips before she realized it was Professor Snape. She put her wand away and glared at him.

“You should know better than to sneak up on someone, Professor. You might get hexed.” She warned. He smiled.

“I know, Miss Granger but I didn’t think it prudent to shout at you from the end of the hall. I might warn the students that their strict Head Girl is on the prowl.”

She laughed softly. “Oh yes, perhaps you should have warned your Slytherins. I took so many points tonight, that it should be a record.” She mocked.

His eyes narrowed and then he finally shrugged. “They deserve it if they got caught. I will get the points back I’m sure.” He murmured. “But that is not why I stopped you. I had a question for you…” he paused and she raised an eyebrow.

“Next Friday, would you like to go to dinner with me in Hogsmeade?” he said slowly, carefully. She gave him a considering look.

“May I think about it, Professor? It is kind of sudden.” She said thoughtfully. She had never thought of him like that (or so she told herself).

He nodded once. “I await your answer, Miss Granger. Have a wonderful evening.” He said before disappearing down the hall, silently cursing himself. He was sure he had just ruined the friendship he had with the young woman.

Hermione went up to her room and absently dismissed Dolly. Alex was sleeping peacefully so Hermione lay on her bed. This day had had been very strange, she thought. First Draco’s profession of his feelings and now Snape had asked her on a date. She knew it would not break any of the school rules. She had made sure to study any rules about student-teacher relations when she was still twelve and had a crush on the idiotic teacher Gilderoy. She had made many plans for them, she thought shaking her head. Oh the foolishness of youth.

She considered what might happen if they went on a date but couldn’t think of anything further than dinner and even that was just an extension of their lunches together. She didn’t feel that way about him… or did she? Lately her daydreams had included a tall, pale man dressed all in black. He was always in the shadows but now that she thought about the details, he reminded her a lot of Snape.

She groaned and hit her pillow with her fist. Why did men have to be so difficult? She lay there thinking of what to do. Harry and Ron would have puppies when she told them who she was going on a date with. Draco would likely have a fit but maybe it would help him to see she was moving on. She hadn’t dated anyone since him so maybe it would help him see she wasn’t waiting for him. She was wondering where Snape would take her when she realized in her mind she had agreed to go.

She lay in the dark trying to sleep but couldn’t. She finally realized what was bothering her. Snape had seemed so disappointed when she had asked for time. She wondered if he thought that meant she was trying to think of a nice way to tell him no. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret for hurting him. If she had given her instinctive response it would have been a no, but she had thought about it and decided to take the chance. She knew he thought she was rejecting him.

She lay in the dark for a while yet and still couldn’t sleep. Finally she made up her mind that she would tell him her answer tonight so she wouldn’t feel bad anymore. She summoned Dolly to stay with Alex and left the Head student quarters. She made her way down to the dungeons where she knew his rooms were.

As Head Girl, she had to know in case of an emergency. The door to his rooms was inside his office, cleverly hidden by a bookcase. She had giggled when she had first seen it. It was very like a Muggle mystery novel. She opened his office door and tried to decide what to do next. Should she knock? She also knew there was a long hallway beyond the bookcase door to another door. She didn’t know if the Professor would hear her knock.

She decided to go inside and knock on the inner door. She opened the hidden passage and made her way along the corridor in darkness. She didn’t think of using Lumos to light her way. Several times, she lost her nerve and turned back, only to berate herself and move on again. Finally it seemed like hours before she reached the door. When she lifted her hand to knock, the door opened silently. Hermione peered in but didn’t see anyone.

She hesitated only a moment before stepping in the doorway. Immediately she was seized by someone from behind the door and a wand was pressed to her neck. She froze, knowing it was Professor Snape by the smell of sandalwood. He always smelled like that when he was not brewing potions.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on people, Miss Granger. You might get killed. Or worse, expelled.” He whispered in her ear with a soft chuckle. He released her and she turned to face him, blushing furiously. Obviously he had heard about her early year priorities.

“I wasn’t trying to sneak, Professor. How did you know it was me?” she asked as he lit a small candle, throwing the room into a mass of flickering shadows.

“I thought it was a student in my office at first. And then when you opened the secret door, I thought you were… an enemy. When you went back the first time, I thought you might have changed your mind. When you went back the second, third and fourth times I realized you must be a Gryffindor and the only Gryffindor to dare me in my lair at three in the morning would be you, Miss Granger.” He teased, hoping that she had not come to refuse him.

She grinned at him and studied him in the flickering candlelight. He was not a traditionally handsome man but he was striking. Strike fear into the hearts of his students, she thought with a silent giggle. She liked the way he looked, she finally decided. He watched her with a blank look on his face, desperately wondering what she was thinking.

“Yes, by the way. I came to tell you. I didn’t want to leave it until morning because… well… I wanted you to know.” She said finally. Snape opened his mouth to say something and then closed it. He wasn’t sure he understood what she was saying. She could see the bewilderment on his face and realized she hadn’t explained herself fully.

“Yes to the dinner. You will have to let me know what to wear. I didn’t want to wait until morning to tell you.” She clarified. His expression cleared and he smiled.

“Well, then, thank you, Miss Granger for giving me an answer so swiftly… Do you always sneak into someone’s rooms to give them an answer?” he teased, relieved. She blushed.

“No Professor, I just didn’t want to wait to tell you. I’ll go back to bed now.” She turned to go and something wound around her feet, tripping her up. She braced herself to hit the ground but didn’t. She fell against a hard warm chest instead. His arms had gone around her and she wondered at how good that felt, to be held by him before something else caught her attention.

His head had dipped down and his lips were pressed firmly against hers. She opened her mouth slightly in a gasp and his tongue swept in. She was lost in his kiss and melted against him, feeling nothing but desire for the man holding her. He finally ended it and they were both breathless.

“Wow, Miss Granger.” He murmured.

“Hermione” she told him. “After that, you should call me Hermione.”

He chuckled and she could feel the vibrations in his chest. The bare chest she had her hands on.

“Yes, well, you still have to call me Professor.” He said with a smirk and she laughed pulling away from him.

“What tripped me?” she asked, looking at the floor but she couldn’t find anything. He looked down and shrugged.

“I didn’t see anything. I just caught you.” He said.

She sighed. “Well then off to bed with me. I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch?” she asked. He nodded and closed the door behind her when she left. He leaned up against the door and reached down to stroke his hardened cock. He briefly wondered if she had felt it before he went to bed.

Hermione ran down the hall, out of his office and to her room. She flew up the stairs, barely giving the portrait time to open before running through and dismissing Dolly, who informed her that Alex had been fed and changed. She was glad he wasn’t sleeping with her anymore because the moment Dolly left she stripped down and climbed into bed.

That kiss had been so hot, she thought, reliving it in her mind as her hands roamed her body. Her fingers played with her nipples, tugging on them and moaning as they hardened. Soon it wasn’t enough and she slid one of her hands down between her legs. She had been wet since leaving Snape’s quarters and had only become more so when stimulated. She slid a finger inside herself and began to move it. It felt so good, and she moaned. Soon she slid another and then another until she had three fingers inside her. She moved them back and forth, her other hand still playing with her breasts. She thought of Snape, lying between her legs pounding her until she couldn’t think anymore. She thought of him looming over her, talking to her with his sexy voice and finally came. She lay in the aftermath, her fingers still wet with her essence and wondered what the real thing would be like. She fell asleep like that.