Bonds of Affection

Severus led the way to the boundary of the estate. Hermione, Ron and Harry trailed about a dozen feet behind, and Harry continued to hound his friends with questions. Finally, Hermione snapped at him,



“Stop that, Harry, right now!”



“Or at least,” Ron mused, “Ask us something we can actually answer.”



“Fine,” Harry muttered. “Hermione... the truth...How long have you known?”



She looked at him apologetically. “I suspected from the beginning, but then... later thought I had been wrong... when your relationship... with Snape... began to... evolve...”



“You. Suspected. From. The beginning.” Harry said pointedly. He resisted an urge to give her a sound smack on the back of her head.



Hermione sighed deeply. “Harry... listen to me. I don\'t like slavery. I mean.. playing around is one thing, but – real enslavement? No. I don\'t even like to see house-elves enslaved. So ... when I was helping you, you know, to get emancipated and such, I only did it because I thought for sure Dumbledore would never let it happen. I was certain Dumbledore would rather burn the entire school to the ground than let one of his students drink something that Voldemort had concocted. Especially with a mystery ingredient! I was sure that Dumbledore would hide the potion, or switch it for something else – or something! I thought the worst that would happen, you\'d drink something else, spend a few weeks of your summer away from the Dursleys, then realize that you are not enslaved, and ... well.... what harm would that do?”



Harry grumbled quietly under his breath. Hermione\'s reasoning was... logical. Of course.



“And then?” Harry prodded.



“Well, Harry, then, when Ron and I came to visit you... we saw... the ... you know..” She lowered her voice slightly. “After he had caned you... it was so horrible... Then ... then I became convinced that I was wrong, and that there was a slave-bond, after all....” she smiled sheepishly. “I never in a million years thought you\'d ... you know... ask for something like that on your own. For no reason.”



Harry found a deep blush spreading through his face. “Surprise,” he said dryly. “And then?”



She took a deep breath again. “Well.. then I was fully convinced that there was a slave-bond... So I went to search for the information on that mystery ingredient... I was fully convinced there was a bond, until Ron and I came to stay at the Manor with you two... then it was just an emotional rollercoaster. One moment, you two were almost egalitarian with each other, you know, teasing each other, and everything seemed normal.. and I\'d become convinced that there was no slave-bond. Then you\'d show up with something like that damned slave-brand, and I\'d think that for sure there was a slave-bond...” she sniffled pitifully. “I really didn\'t know what to think...”



“That\'s when she had a nervous breakdown,” Ron muttered. “She totally melted down on me. It was spectacular.”



“I thought Harry was going to lose his soul and die!” Hermione cried indignantly.



“And that it was your fault, for helping him with his stupid plan to drink the potion,” Ron said helpfully. “Serves you right, Hermione, you know. Always trying to be ten steps ahead of everyone else.. guess what everyone else\'s game is, and beat them to the punch.”



She gave him a defiant glare. Harry laughed softly and patted her back. “You must have really gone nearly mad, Hermione,” he said peacefully. “All this time... the ambiguity... not knowing if I was dying or not... thinking that if I was dying, it was partially your fault.... you really are too smart for your own good.”



She muttered something almost spiteful under her breath, but then laughed out loud. “I suppose,” she said meekly. “Anyways... after I had the meltdown... we went to Dumbledore... and he saw that I was on the verge of guessing, and saw that we both were completely miserable... so he told us everything. Before we had a chance to guess. But then, we became unable to tell any of it to you.”



“Of course not,” Harry mused. “Do I dare ask who placed the Fidelius charm on all of this?”



Hermione smiled apologetically.



“Right then,” Harry smirked. “You know, you could have saved yourself a great deal of anguish, if only you had listened to me. I kept telling you two that I didn\'t feel any slave-bond... You just couldn\'t believe me, could you?”



Hermione shrugged. “Well, the bond was supposed to be imperceptible, right? And... you know what they say. Actions speak louder than words.”



Ron nodded agreeably. “You know, Harry, all kidding aside, your feelings for Snape are unusually strong. And sudden... And the differences between you two... So really, what were we supposed to think?”



Harry could see that his friends had a point. He himself did not quite know what to think – the intensity of his feelings was absolutely overwhelming at times; in fact, so overwhelming that he himself hadn\'t questioned there being a slave-bond of some sort. His feelings for Severus defied all reason, all logic – and yet, they were there. He really did want to belong to him, to be his.



Harry lowered his eyes. “I\'m not sure where those feelings came from,” he said finally. “Maybe it\'s just the Imprint.”



Hermione looked at him doubtfully. “Maybe,” she murmured. “But that raises another question: Why did you imprint on him?”



“What do you mean?” Harry muttered.



“What I mean, Harry,” Hermione said patiently, “Is that Lucius\' ramblings aside, you are not a duck, or a goose. You are a person. You shouldn\'t have imprinted on Severus, without some kind of... predisposition to it.”



Harry looked at her with amusement. “Let me say this again, Hermione: you really think too much. You can\'t find answers for everything in the universe. Who knows why two people fall in love, or become attached to each other? Personally, I am just glad it happened the way it did.”



She smiled a little and nodded to him. “Me too, Harry. All in all, the obvious weirdness of the situation aside, I think you two are good for each other.”



They reached the boundary of the Estate where Severus was already waiting for them. Along the boundary, having received the message carried by Harry\'s Patronus, teams of Aurors, and some members of the Order were beginning to Apparate, ready to storm the Castle and capture any remaining Death Eaters. Severus spoke to the Aurors briefly, and pointed them to the wooden enclosure that still contained the incapacitated Lucius Malfoy.



While he was still speaking to them, Harry started tugging on his sleeve impatiently. “Stop dawdling,” Harry demanded. “Come on, we\'ve done most of the work for them already. They can take it from here. Let\'s go save Dumbledore\'s life and get some answers.”



Severus smirked. “Patience is a virtue, Mr. Potter,” he said, the familiar contemptuous sneer already returning to his lips.



Harry threw his arms around Severus\' neck and whispered in his ear:



“I will be sure to remind you of that next time I am \'deigning to pleasure you\', Severus.”



To Be Continued...