A Sacrifice for Love

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Hermione and Draco finally stopped laughing and Hermione felt a sick jolt in the pit of her stomach at the look on Professor Snape’s face. He didn’t say anything, just glared and even Draco felt a twinge of fear. In contrast, Harry and Ron looked as if they had just been hit by the Confundus charm.

“Err... We were studying...” Hermione tried to explain. She realized her arms were still wrapped around Draco and pulled away. The three looked at her blankly.

“The silence spell...” Draco reminded her. She flushed and with a wave of her wand, stopped the spell.

“Twenty-five points from Gryffindor and Slytherin for inappropriate conduct” Snape said, his teeth clenched. He did not understand his sudden feelings towards her and it made him angry.

When Potter and Weasley had come to him, searching for Hermione, he had felt an uncontrollable panic. She could have been kidnapped or hurt or lost. He had firmly pushed that feeling aside and gone to look for her. Having Potter and Weasley following him did not make anything easier and when a student said he saw her with Draco, he had felt an irrational anger. Not at Hermione- no, he mustn’t call her that- Miss Granger, but at Draco Malfoy.

Draco watched the emotions play acroos his godfather’s face in astonishment and almost laughed. Snape was jealous and he was trying to fight it. He glanced at Hermione and saw she was watching him but did not see anything but anger in Snape’s face. A plan began to formulate in his mind.

“Hermione wanted me to go over some of the classes she had missed with her. She knew to come to me instead of Potter and Weasley.” He said smoothly, drawing Snape’s attention away from Hermione. “We were laughing bout some of the things that had happened in the past.” He explained, rubbing his nose noticeably.

Snape relaxed so slightly that Draco thought he was the only one to notice. “It is late, Miss Granger. Perhaps you should return to your own common room” he snapped.

Hermione picked up the book and held it to her chest so he would not see what it was. She walked past him, to where Harry and Ron were standing. Before exiting, she turned back to Draco. “Thank you for your help, Malfoy. I have another project fi you would like to help me with it, as well.” She glanced meaningfully at Snape, who had not turned.

Draco glanced at Snape’s now emotionless face and nodded. “I would be glad to.” He said without hesitating. Snape’s face darkened and with a small wave, Hermione and the others left him to face his godfather’s wrath.

Harry and Ron didn’t say anything for a while after the left the Slytherin common room. They didn’t know what to say. It looked to them that they had come upon Hermione snogging Draco Malfoy. They had said otherwise, but why would they have put a silence spell up and why had they been holding each other? Finally Hermione stopped them.

“I asked Draco to help us with my...” she paused, not sure what to call it anymore. Ron groaned.

“Why did you have to tell him? Don’t you think he will tell Snape?”

“Professor Snape!” she corrected. “Draco knows him as well as anyone, since he is his godfather. He may know a way to go about this. And for your information, he was helping me with potion research.” She said primly, racing ahead of them to hide her smile.

The rest of the night went by quickly. Hermione put the journal in a safe place, promising to research it more the next day. Draco was likely correct, she hated to admit. The potion may have another name. She slept a dreamless sleep.




Snape was another story. He lay in his bed most of the night, tossing and turning. The feeling he had experienced when he had seen Hermione and Draco together had been a new one. He had wanted to curse Draco until he begged for mercy for even touching her. He wanted to curse himself for feeling this way about a student, much less Miss oh so perfect Granger. He couldn’t help it, it seemed.

When she had walked by him in the common room, he had noticed tendrils of her hair had fallen from her ponytail and were caressing her cheek. He wanted to push them back and run his fingers where they had been. That was the least of what he wanted to do to her.

He wanted to make her scream his name, he wanted to touch her and tease her until she was begging him for more. He wanted to hold her close while he was inside her, moving until she came again and again, looking up into his eyes.

He swore loudly and got out of bed. She was a student and not someone who would even look twice at him, had it been otherwise. She was a bloody Gryffindor at that. With purpose, he poured a special potion from his private stores. Soon after, he was able to sleep peacefully.

The next morning, he was in a black mood, but none of his students noticed, except for Hermione and Draco. When he came into class, they had their heads together whispering and remembering the scene from the night before made Snape even angrier. He could hardly believe he had lost control of his thoughts. He couldn’t believe he had daydreamed about Granger.


“Today, you will be brewing a Draught of Peace. Can anyone tell me the difference between a Draught of Peace and a calming potion?" Of course, the bloody Gryffindor Princess had her hand in the air, waving it around. He ignored her and loomed over Neville Longbottom. He sneered at him.

“Well, Mr. Longbottom? You dared to take my class again, why don’t you tell me?” He was satisfied to see Neville pale.

“I-er- don’t know!” he squeaked. He had only agreed to take the class when Professor Slughorn had been teaching. Madame Sprout told him it would be good to learn how the plants he loved were used in the magical community.

“Twenty points from Gryffindor for being completely clueless. Yes, Miss Granger?” he said finally, knowing from past experience that if he did not acknowledge her, she would likely blurt out the answer anyway.

“A calming potion calms your emotions so you can think clearly, Professor. A Draught of Peace takes away your... warlike tendencies and aggressions. It was used in the Great Peace talks of the-“

“Enough! I don’t need the history as well. Twenty five points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all, Miss Granger.”

He tried to ignore the hurt look on her face, but when Draco reached out and patted her hand sympathetically, he growled.

“Fifty points from Slytherin for showing compassion” he hissed. Draco sat up in surprise and then his eyes narrowed. He had just... So that was the way of it, huh? He smirked.

“You will pair up to make this draught. It uses rare ingredients that I do not want wasted.” He turned and glared at them. He noticed Draco had already moved over to sit next to Hermione and he smiled.

“Mr. Malfoy, I believe you should pair up with Mr. Longbottom. I do believe he could use all the help he can get. Miss Parkinson will be Miss Granger’s partner.” He said with dark amusement. It never failed that Longbottom’s potion exploded. It would teach Draco a lesson.

Draco bit back a smile. He knew exactly what Snape’s problem was, though no one else seemed to notice. To everyone else, he seemed to be his usual snarky self. Draco could see that partnering him with Longbottom was supposed to be a punishment.

To Neville’s embarrassment, and Snape’s consternation, Draco said “Hermione, if Neville blows me up, will you cry for me?” He had said it softly, but in the deadly quiet of the room, it was as if he had shouted.

Hermione gave him a confused smile. Was he flirting with her? And why? She noticed Pansy stiffen next to her. “Oh I doubt it, Malfoy. I mean what would I miss? The only thing I could think of would be the competition in class.” She replied flippantly.

She turned to the board where Professor Snape had written the instructions and began to work on the potion. Snape hid his smile. Oh poor Malfoy, he lamented sarcastically. He had to give Hermione points for seeing through Malfoy’s obvious attempt at seduction. He ignored the voice in his head telling him once again he was jealous.

Unfortunately for Draco, he worked well with Neville and they produced a passable potion. This caused Snape to seethe with fury. For once in his life, well maybe this was more than once, he had hoped to see a student blow up a potion. He wanted to send Malfoy to the infirmary so he would stay away from Hermione.

“Mr. Malfoy, you will have detention tonight and for the rest of the week. Be here directly after your last class.” He practically snarled as they got ready to leave. Draco nodded, knowing exactly why. He didn’t mind. It would work in with his scheme. He was almost whistling when they left class, but he didn’t want to be too obvious.

Hermione, Harry and Ron dropped back to talk to him. “Blimey, what was his problem today?” Ron said, eyes wide. Draco glanced at Hermione and smirked.

“He told me last night he had been seeing a witch and they... argued” he lied quickly. He almost laughed when Hermione’s head swung around.

“What!” she said at the same time as Harry and Ron. They all looked at each other and she giggled.

“Is he seeing someone?” she asked quietly. Draco shrugged.

“I’m not sure. He said something about females, though when I asked, so that is what I assumed. What is this project you want me to help with? I don’t know if I can, because of detention.”

Hermione nodded and looked up and down the halls. They were alone. She quickly explained it to him and he stared at her in amazement. This was not what he had expected and he wondered if there were more she had not said.

This changed his plans, but not much. They agreed to meet in the time before the last class. Draco had History of Magic and did not think Professor Binns would miss him at all. The others could get out of their classes, at least for an hour or so, because of who they were. It must be good to be a hero, Draco thought wryly.

An hour later they were ensconced in a quiet cove of the Library, a good deal away from Madame Pince. Hermione had outlined her plans to find someone for Professor Snape and they were trying to help her come up with the details.

“Obviously intelligent” Draco pointed out.

“He’s tall” Ron said helpfully, making a face. Hermione jotted it down quickly and turned to Harry.

He frowned. “Err... he has a sense of humor?”

Draco laughed and immediately covered his mouth. It would not do for them to get kicked out.

“Sure, Harry, if you like being laughed at when he trips you up.” Ron said dryly

Hermione glared at Ron for a moment. “He just has a twisted sense of humor, Ronald. I have seen you laugh after you tripped someone.” She defended. Draco laughed again.

“He’s dark” said a small voice from behind a bookshelf. Draco, who was closest, lunged and dragged a wide eyed Pansy Parkinson from her hiding place.

“I know what you are doing and if you don’t want me to tell, you had better let me join you” she said slyly. Hermione glanced at Draco to find out his thoughts and found him staring at Pansy in admiration.

“I don’t care.” She said impatiently. This was harder than she thought “As long as you help.”

Pansy smiled and Hermione was surprised to find Pansy was very pretty when she smiled. She noticed that Ron had noticed as well.

“He is dedicated, loves children and long walks on a moonlit night.” Pansy said helpfully.

They all gaped at her in surprise and Hermione’s eyes narrowed. How did Pansy know this? Pansy gave them all a sweet smile, that on a Slytherin, looked completely out of place. When they did not comment, she laughed.

“Dedicated, to which he gave his life for the Order. He works here so women will believe he loves children, hopefully they won’t find out the truth until the last possible moment and you would have to believe he loves moonlit walks because he is always prowling the halls searching for kids past curfew.” She said.

Hermione began to giggle, while the boys stared at the Slytherin girl in shock. Pansy gave them a triumphant smile. They had always underestimated her. Especially Draco Malfoy, who was looking at her as if she had grown another head.

“Fine then, is there anything else anyone wants to add before I send it?” They were silent so she began to write her notes into an organized paragraph.

“Fine. This is what I have. ‘Tall, dark and handsome wizard who is dedicated and intelligent looking for a witch to spend time with who enjoys a good sense of humor and who loves children and long moonlit walks. Please send an owl to the below address.’” She read.

When she looked up, she couldn’t understand the looks on her friend’s faces. Harry and Ron looked like they had been slapped and were going to be sick. Draco looked strangely triumphant and Pansy looked as if she had just solved an important puzzle.

“What?” she asked concerned.

“You... You think Snape is handsome?” Harry asked in disbelief.