Yuleride

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 9 ~ Accepted

As Snape walked back towards the dungeons, he thought about his method of trapping Hermione into this situation, by taking advantage of her fear. It could be considered dastardly, and it was . . . but Snape learned from the Master Manipulator.

And he was no Slytherin.

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Once again Snape was on a hilltop. It was dark outside and wind whipped around him. He was desperately waiting for someone . . . someone who would help him.

Then a blinding, jagged jet of white light flew through the air. Snape had dropped to his knees and his wand flew out of his hand.

“Don’t kill me!”

“That was not my intention.”

Any sound of Dumbledore Apparating had been drowned by the sound of the wind in the branches. He stood before Snape with his robes whipping around him, and his face was illuminated from below in the light cast by his wand.

“Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?”

“No—no message—I’m here on my own account!”

Snape was wringing his hands. He looked a little mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him.

“I—I come with a warning—no, a request—please—”

Dumbledore flicked his wand. Though leaves and branches still flew through the night air around them, silence fell on the spot where he and Snape faced each other.

“What request could a Death Eater make of me?”

“The—the prophecy. . . the prediction. . . Trelawney. . . ”

“Ah, yes,” said Dumbledore. “How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?”

“Everything—everything I heard!” said Snape. “That is why—it is for that reason—he thinks it means Lily Evans!”

“The prophecy did not refer to a woman,” said Dumbledore. “It spoke of a boy born at the end of July—”

“You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down—kill them all—”

“If she means so much to you,” said Dumbledore, “surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?”

“I have—I have asked him—”

“You disgust me,” said Dumbledore, contempt in his voice. Snape seemed to shrink a little. “You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?”

Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore.

“Hide them all, then,” he croaked. “Keep her—them—safe. Please.”

“And what will you give me in return, Severus?”

“In—in return?” Snape gaped at Dumbledore

After a long moment he replied, “Anything.”

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Snape frowned slightly at the memory. Albus Dumbledore had also given him a choice of sorts. The wizard wasn’t as benign as everyone thought and the truth came out about him thanks to Rita Skeeter. Dumbledore would not have agreed to protect Lily Potter if Snape had not promised to do anything he asked.

Then, Dumbledore didn’t save her.

He didn’t save any of them.

Harry could have died as well if not for the magic of his mother’s love. Then Dumbledore kept him alive all those years at Snape’s expense, just to sacrifice him in the end.

What made Snape the angriest was that Dumbledore probably knew that Lily’s love would protect her son and make him a Horcrux, a weapon he could use against Voldemort. If the old wizard didn’t know for sure, he had at least hoped.

At least Snape would give Hermione a new life, if she accepted his offer and if not, he would at least give her a new experience a sight better than what she was used to.

It was more than Dumbledore had done for him.

Gryffindor house. The house of the Honest and Brave. Pahh!

Snape snarled to himself as he entered his office, then his study to find Hermione on the sofa, white-faced and looking as if she wanted to flee. He strode up to her and put out his hand. She blinked at him.

”My mirror,” he said coldly.

Hermione handed Snape the mirror and watched as he walked over to his desk and put it away. Then he walked back to the sofa and stood over her, his face devoid of expression.

”I suppose you watched through the mirror,” he said to the witch, who nodded.

”Mr. Weasley is gone. It is time for your answer,” Snape purred.

Hermione had been desperately thinking, trying to come up with a way out of this without breaking her oath. She had something although she didn’t know if it would work.

”Severus, you told me once that you would take an oath promising not to approach . . .” she began.

”Are you mad, witch? I promised to take an oath, but you HAVE taken one and that supersedes my promise. Stop trying to wiggle your way out of this. Have some courage! Some conviction, damn it! Some sense of honor!” he snarled at her.

”Honor? You can talk about honor, you . . . you Slytherin?” Hermione yelled at him, then let out a shriek as Snape snatched her off the sofa by one arm and shook her, his face contorted, his eyes wild.

“Gryffindor House is the most misrepresented House at Hogwarts!” he screamed at her, spittle flying. “Noble, brave, loyal! Oh yes. That is the house that produced Peter Pettigrew, who betrayed his friends, murdered innocent people and let Sirius Black take the blame. although he was a bully and a coward also. And let us not forget Percy Weasley, who turned his back on all of you to serve a corrupted Ministry! None of them had any honor!”

Hermione snatched her arm away, her brown eyes full of fire as she faced the snarling wizard.

“It was the choices they made that led them wrong. They had the qualities. They all made bad choices, that’s all! And Percy, it was courageous for him to return and fight by our side at the end! That’s what mattered! That’s what made him a Gryffindor! Peter’s personal choices are what ruined him, and even he died rather than kill Harry at the end. He sacrificed himself, choked to death by the evil hand that Voldemort gave him because he hesitated! He didn’t want to kill Harry. And Sirius was just young and stupid when he targeted you. He had to mature. That didn't make him unworthy, just human! So don’t attack my House!” she screamed back at him, stamping her foot. “If you have an issue, take it up with me!”

Snape calmed, looking at the angry witch, a small smirk on his face.

”There it is,” he said softly, looking down at her. “There is the fire that was slowly going out. Hermione Granger, you are magnificent when you are standing up for what you believe. When you are adamant, sure and ready to battle. This is the witch that I want to resurrect. This is the warrior I want by my side when I am facing dangerous odds. This is the woman you are meant to be.”

Hermione blinked up at him, taken aback for a moment. She was panting and her heart was pounding. She hadn’t screamed at anyone in ages, though there were many occasions she had wanted to and would have been justified in doing. It felt damn good not to back down.

“Sit down,” Snape said quietly.

Hermione sat down on the sofa, trying to recover. But she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her. Snape sat down beside her, and gently moved her bushy hair out of her face so he could clearly see it.

”Now that you have tried unsuccessfully to manipulate your way out of your Oath to me, what is my answer,” he said silkily, “Will you come with me on my journey, or will you give yourself to me tonight?”

Hermione looked at him.

”For how long, Severus? Will I be locking myself into servitude if I agree to go with you now?” she asked him softly.

Snape shook his head.

”Help me find and study one potion. If after that, you decide the life is not for you, I will let you go and recoup nothing of my expenditures,” he said to her softly.

Hermione studied the wizard’s face. He didn’t look quite so harsh now.

”And if I decide to . . . to . . .” she said, unable to finish her sentence.

”Then, I will do my best to undo years of your being unappreciated witch, and show you what it means to be with someone to whom your responses and pleasure matters. You owe yourself that much, Hermione Granger. Afterwards, you will be free to go and consider what lies before you with a much more enlightened . . . attitude.”

And probably a very gap-legged walk. But Snape wasn’t about to tell her that.

Hermione stared at the wizard. His oily hair curtaining his face, the hooked nose, the cruel mouth. He was so pale, so . . . so unlike Ron. But he was also very thin. More than likely the rest of him was thin too, including his cock. And maybe he’d be quick since he said it had been some time since he’d been with a woman. She noticed a look of displeasure wash across Snape’s features. What was wrong with him?

What was wrong was that Snape was in her mind. He had slipped in subtly. He was good at that. So, she was hoping he was thin all over eh? Not to mention might have a hair trigger. Well, he’d show her if she accepted him. There was nothing thin and quick about him in this situation.

”Your answer,” he snapped impatiently.

Hermione considered him. He could kiss, that was for certain . . . and he had evoked real desire in her that night. He had evoked something that was missing when she was with Ron. Ron. Poor Ron.

”Think of yourself,” Snape hissed at her, “Think of what is waiting for you when you leave me, Hermione. Now is your opportunity to learn something new, something you can use as a gauge against what you have now. What will it be, witch?” Snape said, fervently hoping she would agree to intimacy with him.

Her little ‘thin’ thought really rankled the wizard.

“Choose!” Snape demanded now.

Hermione felt her throat beginning to tighten a bit. The Oath was urging her to give an answer now in response to Snape’s impatience. It was his right to get an answer, and obviously the Oath agreed.

Hermione blinked and stood up.

”I still need to consider traveling around the world with you,” she said softly, Snape’s eyes beginning to glint.

Hermione drew in a deep breath.

”So I think we should go to your bedroom,” she said softly, her heart beginning to pound again.

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A/N: Yes! Good choice Hermione…but … that little ‘thin’ thought is probably going to cost you. Lol. The dialogue between Snape and Dumbledore was taken directly from “Deathly Hallows” with a few slight alterations in perspective and is not my own. Thanks for reading.