Chapter Eleven: Delving Deeper

Hermione asked Severus to leave to get some rest after she assured him that she would be fine. She decided that she needed to time to think about her strange actions earlier that night and the only way she could accomplish anything was if she was alone. She watched as he retreated out of the room, her shoulders slumping under the weight of her actions and how much sadness she had caused the seemingly unaffected professor. She knew she had hurt him and she had felt terrible, but she didn’t know what to think about it all. Everything had changed so much that she didn’t know what to make of the strange events unfolding around her.

The week started out with the revelation that Voldemort was gone for good, and then she had been out for nearly a month, and during that period, lost one of her best friends and fiancé, to an ex-friend. And then… Severus Snape.

The world had shifted under the weight of the night Voldemort had been killed. It was a good shift for most, but somehow, Hermione ended up getting the short straw and was now the saddest and most deeply confused she had ever been. She now had a curse that threatened to end her life in a terribly torturing way unless she worked together with a man that was now clearly very upset with her and come tomorrow, would not be able to stand a few minutes time alone in her presence.

She wiped away the tears that had unknowingly escaped from her eyes. Maybe she did feel something towards the man that once had made her life miserable. She couldn’t imagine all-out loving him after only a week of caring that she had only received from her spoiling grandparents, but she felt herself feeling something akin to love. Gratitude, maybe?

Walking through the halls of Hogwarts was always a favorite for Hermione. Hogwarts was currently being rebuilt from the war. The school was in awful shape and it made her happy to know that there were people that cared enough to spend their time working on the school. Harry was one of them. It takes great magical strength to rebuild a school that is magically held together. She looked on sadly at the fallen walls outside the Great Hall. She opened the doors to the school and walked out to sit on the front steps of Hogwarts.

It was dark outside. Hermione had no clue what time it was and did not wish to find out for fear of it making her feel tired. She knew it was sometime between midnight and six in the morning. It was definitely closer to the six mark as she was beginning to hear birds chirp and could almost make out a slight lightening of the clouds. She sat in silence trying to review in her head the plan of action according to Severus.

She winced slightly at the sound of the name floating through her head. ‘He probably wants me to call him ‘Professor’ again.’ She thought and couldn’t fight the sigh that escaped soon after.

According to plans, they were going to have to find a spell that gives restfulness in sleep. That part was the easy part to understand. The hard part was going to be the conversion from English to Italian and then the removal of certain aspects of the spell. If it remained the way it was, just in Italian, then it would have the same affect as a sleeping potion would, except permanent, due to the sleep inducing properties of the spell. How exactly do you perform a spell that helps to induce sleep without having the spell contain the sleep inducing properties of the spell? It all seemed impossible, but Hermione knew that if there was a way to solve the riddle, she and Severus were capable of it. She knew he was easily the most intelligent person she had ever met, and she wasn’t called the smartest witch of her age for no reason.

It would be difficult for sure, and even more so with the tension that lay in blankets between her and the Professor. She wished that her brain would just allow her to forget the loyalty that she was supposed to feel towards Ron. She didn’t have to show that sort of loyalty anymore; He certainly wasn’t. It was only a matter of time before the two announced the date of their wedding and the birth of their first child. She could feel the tears threatening to fall again. She should be the one that is happily engaged still. She risked her life for her fiancé and she should be the one he is hopelessly in love with. She was so distracted in her many thoughts that she failed to notice the raved haired young man sit next to her.

She was resting her head on her knees when she first smelled him. Her head perked up instantly and she felt herself immediately leaning into his arms.

“Harry…” She said as she began crying into his shoulder. He gently rubbed his hands along her back and massaged her shoulders gently before slowly pulling her away from him and tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

“Hermione, are you okay?” He asked sweetly looking directly into her eyes. She shook her head solemnly and he frowned.

“I don’t know why my life has changed so much in so little time, Harry. Surely there has to be a reason behind it all.”

“If there is a reason, when it is all over you’ll be the first to figure it out, Mione.” He cupped her face and smiled again. “Until then, you need to figure out how to fix your sleeping problem. How is working with Snape going?” She felt her cheeks go red so she immediately turned away from him.

“I don’t know.” She muttered quietly.

“I’m not as blind as you think I am, Mione.” He said, not feeling resentment towards her, but kind of pitying her. “I can see the way he looks at you when you aren’t looking and it is enough to tell me how he feels about you and I think he-”

“No, Harry, don’t say it!” She covered his mouth childishly with her own hands, feeling that if he was unable to finish the sentence then it would be like nothing ever happened. Harry reluctantly pulled her hands away from his face, wondering why she was so upset to hear that she had the perfect chance to move on with her life.

“Can’t you see how much he cares for you?” He asked, rhetorically. “I am willing to bet that he would jump of a bridge for you, Mione. What is wrong with that?”

“I still love Ron! That is what’s wrong!” She stated scandalized that he would make it out that she should care for him too. Harry looked to his best friend wondering what could change her mind if seeing her ‘fiancé’ kissing another woman couldn’t. Would it take a wedding invitation? A baby shower invite? Something had to make Hermione see the sense behind Ron’s actions.

“How?” He asked, looking directly into her pain-ridden eyes and seeing the sadness about to overflow. He hated causing her stress especially in her condition, but she had to get over Ron. “How can you love him when he doesn’t love you?” Hermione’s eyes were red and puffy and leaking tears like crazy. Harry unknowingly let loose the dam she had built up in her mind that told her that Ron still loved her and that it was all a nightmare. Now everything was all too real for her. She found herself staring into Harry’s caring eyes once more and felt as he wrapped her in a bone crushing hug.

“Why?” Was all she was able to utter to before she began sobbing uncontrollably in Harry’s open arms.

AN: Sorry for the delay... I was home for spring break and lacking in the internet department... smiles.