Thirty-Two

Again, apologies for the delay in posting and responding to reviews. Christmas etc intervened.

I find this a touching chapter, and I enjoyed writing for McGonagall. As I say in the summary, this is a love story, not a story about scandal ... these two should be allowed to begin a happy future together, don't you think ... let us see ...

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Hermione and Severus sat in front of McGonagall.

The Headmistress of Hogwarts initially said nothing, and sat with her hands clasped in front of her on the desk, looking down at her fingers.

Hermione felt like a Second Year again.

Severus' face flinched imperceptibly.

They dared not even glance at each other.

For what seemed like an age, they sat in silence, save for the ticking of several clocks.

At last McGonagall looked up, her eyes moving from one to the other. Her voice broke the silence, causing a jolt to Hermione's core.

"How long has this been going on?"

She was insistent and terse, but she remained calm. It was almost as if she was inquiring about some stolen potion ingredients.

Hermione shifted uncomfortably and at last looked at Severus, unsure if she should answer or not. He stared straight ahead. She opened her mouth to speak, but just as she was about to, his words cut across hers.

"Since October."

McGonagall's face flickered a little. There was a further silence. She seemed almost unsure what to say. Then the Headmistress shook her head and looked sharply at them both.

"I hardly need to tell either of you that relationships between teachers and students are forbidden. If I was to follow the law of the school as it stands it would result in instant dismissal for the teacher and expulsion for the student."

More silence. McGonagall tensed further. She turned sharply to her Potions Master. "Severus?"

He at last met her eyes and spoke, clear and distinct. "I do not regard Miss Granger as a student."

The Headmistress sighed. "I accept that you have moved beyond the bounds of what I would regard as being a student, Miss Gr ... Hermione. I myself encouraged you to dress in your own clothes, invited you to sit with the staff at high table. Indeed, after all you have been through, it is impossible for me to ascribe the term 'student' to you. But you rejected my offers, Hermione. It was your decision to retain your uniform and consort entirely with the other pupils. As such, in their eyes, you are one of them. And therefore, this ... situation ... puts me in a very awkward position. They will regard this as a student-teacher relationship. How can I let that pass?"

Hermione, for once, could not think of anything to say.

McGonagall sighed again before turning to Snape.

"And you, Severus. Do you not see the ethical and moral problems here? You were in a position of responsibility over this girl."

"Excuse me, Professor McGonagall." Hermione's voice rang through the air, suddenly and forcefully. "I am no longer a girl. I stopped being a girl when I witnessed the death of my best friend's godfather, when I spent time living rough, evading capture, seeking light in constant darkness, when I was tortured to within an inch of my life by Bellatrix Lestrange at Malfoy Manor. Clearly Severus understands that, even if you do not."

They both turned to look at her with clear surprise at her sudden declamation. McGonagall at first bristled, but as Hermione's words sank in, her face relaxed and she lowered her head.

"I am sorry, Hermione. You must understand that, as Headmistress, I am concerned for the welfare of all in my charge. I have to ask you ..." she shifted uncomfortably, before looking her in the eye, "did Severus ... initiate this ... did he set out to seduce you?"

Hermione felt Snape drawing himself up in his chair next to her. "No! No, not at all. Of course not." Her mind rapidly replayed the start of their relationship. She had to admit that the first time they had had intercourse was not a moment she wished to impart to her headmistress, but she knew full well that as far as seduction was concerned, it was she who had made her feelings abundantly clear from early on. If anything, she had seduced him. "Please, Professor, Severus would not have done anything if it had not been for me. I wanted this. I ... needed this."

McGonagall looked at her attentively and with concerned respect. She lowered her head, mumbling, "Of course," then raised it to Severus, who was looking most aggrieved. "I am sorry, Severus. I was not suggesting any coercion on your part. I merely had to ask, you understand." She shook her head with a sigh. "What a fool I have been, not to have seen it. I dimly recall an incident in the corridors a while back involving you two. And you have been so ... happy of late, Severus ..." She looked thoughtful for a moment. Hermione and Severus glanced at each other.

Silence descended over them again. It was clear McGonagall was unsure how to proceed. It was Snape's voice that sounded next.

"You shall have my resignation in the morning."

McGonagall darted her head up to his. "Severus ..."

"I was preparing to hand it in anyway. This has necessitated me doing it earlier than expected, that is all."

She looked down, pausing before continuing solemnly, "I cannot imagine Hogwarts without you, Severus. It will be a sad day when you leave, but ..." she sighed deeply, "I think that, under the circumstances, your resignation may be the best course of action to take. I do not wish to dismiss you, Severus. If that is what you wish, then I have to say, it will make things much easier for us all. And ... far be it from me to put ideas into your head, but you may find that when you date your resignation letter, you mistakenly put the wrong date on, that of one or two days before the ball ..." She looked at him over her spectacles, a slight twinkle in her eye. If they could announce that he had resigned before his relationship became public, it would temper some of the scandal which was sure to engulf the school.

"Hermione must be allowed to sit her NEWTs and she must not be expelled. That would be ludicrous." Severus spoke abruptly and forcefully.

"Of course. I will need to examine fully all that has happened here. But, I must tell you, I have only a minor influence in the outcome. The governors will make the final decisions. Hermione, I will endeavour to portray you as something beyond a student to the governing body, as indeed you are. You have only a week left of school and the exams are public wizarding exams, anyone can take them. It is not up to the school to decide whether you can take them or not. There is no question that you shall sit them, and if I have anything to do with it, no question that you will not be expelled from Hogwarts. You have been such an extraordinary student, I want you to leave with your reputation intact."

Hermione managed a small smile at the Head. "You know as well as I that I have courted controversy throughout my time at Hogwarts. Why not end in the same way?"

McGonagall smiled slightly, then sighed and removed her spectacles, rubbing her eyes. "Unfortunately, the matter of your little ... liaison ... is only half the story of the evening. If anything, the far more serious and immediate issue is the matter of your wand raised to the throat of a student, Severus."

"You have my resignation, what more do you want?"

"Unfortunately, the governors may decide to hand out more of a punishment." She sighed, her features registering regretful displeasure. "Severus ... did you have to do it in front of the entire student body, staff and some of the most eminent wizards in our land?!"

Severus remained remarkably cool. "The boy was vile. I only regret not following through with what I had in mind."

"And what did you have in mind?" McGonagall was clearly curious.

Snape raised an eyebrow to her and opened his mouth to speak. She shook her head quickly, holding up her hand. "Never mind." After another sigh, she continued. "But Severus, what warranted your anger and reaction?"

"Filmore was behaving with gross indecency, bordering on assault, to Hermione. I tried to stop him, at which point he proceeded to insult both Hermione and myself in the crudest terms. It was clear that he had consumed considerable amounts of alcohol. He has grossly violated several school rules and should be expelled immediately."

"Mr Filmore's behaviour will be the subject of careful scrutiny, I can assure you. If that is the course of action that needs to be taken, then of course it will be. I would like both of you to write and sign a statement detailing your version of what took place this evening." She sighed again and brought a hand up to rub her eyes wearily before glancing up at Dumbledore's portrait. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully, apparently oblivious to everything that was going on. "Dear oh dear. Sometimes I do wish my illustrious predecessor was here to sort these matters out."

"I was your illustrious predecessor," Snape hissed tersely.

McGonagall looked startled and dropped her head, "Yes, yes, of course, Severus ... slip of the tongue. But you know better than anyone that we never use our wands to enforce discipline in this school."

"Alastor Moody did to Draco Malfoy in Fourth Year!" Hermione suddenly piped up. "He turned him into a ferret. He wasn't punished for that. Severus didn't even say a word."

"Hermione. The incident to which you refer was in fact dealt with most seriously. You may have been a privileged recipient of much of the inside information of what goes on in this school, but may I tell you, there was, and is, an awful lot that goes on which you do not know about." Hermione hung her head shamefully. "In any case, that wasn't strictly Professor Moody - it was Barty Crouch Jr. May I reiterate – our staff do not raise their wands in anger to students." Her gaze turned coldly to Severus who looked at her with a haughty lack of concern.

"The action was merited under the circumstances, I can assure you."

"It sounds as if there were mitigating circumstances, I concur, but I still have to instigate the disciplinary procedure, you know that. As you are resigning, any punishment will most likely entail a loss of earnings or in the worst case ..."

Severus face tensed. "Go on."

McGonagall breathed deeply. "If the governing body conclude that you have brought the school into disrepute, they have the power to strip you of your wand for a time."

"But that's ridiculous!" exclaimed Hermione.

McGonagall looked at her with sad resignation. "Indeed, it is regrettable, but that is how the governors are fully entitled to act, if they see fit."

Severus sneered slightly. Neither option sounded attractive.

Silence fell upon them again. At length, McGonagall rose and crossed to look out of the window. "It was such a wonderful ball as well. I haven't enjoyed myself so much for as long as I can remember." A deep sigh escaped her. "Still, I don't imagine it spoiled the enjoyment of anyone else there, apart perhaps from Mr Filmore. I should think most people, from the youngest First Year to the Minister for Magic himself, found your little incident the best entertainment of the evening. I suppose I have to be grateful to you both for that."

Hermione managed a small laugh. McGonagall turned back to face them. "It won't be easy for you both now. There will be whisperings and mutterings and giggling. You still have a week to go here, and you, Hermione, have exams to focus on. Can you do that?"

"I am used to focusing on academic work in difficult circumstances, Professor."

McGonagall smiled to herself. "Yes, I suppose you are."

Severus had turned to the young woman next to him. He reached over and took her hand suddenly. Hermione looked at him in surprise and smiled warmly.

The Headmistress continued. "What possessed you to let your guard drop tonight? You have clearly been so careful until now."

Hermione was not sure what to say, although she had not doubted the appropriateness of their disclosure. It just felt right. She looked up at the Headmistress, trying to think of how to express it.

"It was time." Severus spoke suddenly and simply next to her. She turned and looked at him with deep love and affection, and gently leaned over and planted a kiss on his lips.

McGonagall frowned a little, but not with disapproval. Her expression melted into a small smile. "And now, you two ... what happens now?" she asked with genuine concern.

Hermione answered. "We intend to move to London together. I have accepted a job at the Ministry. Severus will find employment when he can."

"Your reputation as a wizard precedes you, but you know I will always write you a glowing reference, Severus."

Hermione looked suddenly concerned. "You don't think this – incident - will affect our employment chances do you?"

"Oh no. I shouldn't think so, Hermione. It is of no relevance to the Ministry of Magic. They do not see you as a schoolgirl, and certainly do not see Severus as a schoolteacher, believe me. In that, they are far more enlightened than us in our little academic bubble. If anything, I should imagine it will have done you a lot of good, Severus."

He raised an eyebrow to her. She smiled at him. "Oh yes ... it will be encouraging to many people to know you do have a heart after all."

"I think a lot of people know that already," Hermione said softly, squeezing his hand.

McGonagall sighed one more time. "Well, I suppose I had better deal with Mr Filmore now. Let us hope he has sobered up enough to be able to give me a coherent account of what happened. Please could I have your statements by first thing in the morning. I would recommend discretion, but I do not see the need for you to keep away from each other entirely. In fact, the more we can make this appear to be an acceptable and ... normal ... relationship, the better." She did not look entirely convinced by her words. "I would advise, Hermione, that you dress in your own clothes for the final week, as I had wanted all along. I would also like you to sit at high table. I shall try to pass you off as ... 'one of us', shall we say. Although, I admit, it seems that we are locking the stable door after the horse has bolted." She sighed yet again. "When I have gathered statements from everyone I need to, I will present it to the governors. I will, however, recommend that they go easy on you. I am, after all, human. That will be all for now."

Hermione and Severus rose to leave, but before they could she called them back. "Oh, and ... good luck, you two. I have to say, when the dust has settled, I hope you find true happiness. You both deserve it and, despite having to deal with the fallout, I find it strangely satisfying that you two, my most brilliant student and my most brilliant professor, should ... find each other. Far be it from me to dictate that academic convention should have prevented you from coming together. It seems strange, Severus. I had always imagined you and I, two lonely old teachers, ending our days here. It seems I was wrong." She smiled tenderly at him.

Hermione looked over at her Headmistress. "Thank you for everything, Professor. I am so sorry for the difficulties we have caused you. That was the last thing we wanted." She glanced at Severus for him to corroborate her words. He looked at her for a moment, not entirely sure what she expected, then seemed to come to his senses and turned to McGonagall.

"Indeed ... my apologies, Minerva."

The Headmistress gave him a faint smile.

"Goodbye, Professor McGonagall," Hermione said, her hand on the door.

"Good evening, Headmistress," Severus concluded.

With that, they clasped hands tightly and walked down the stairs, leaving the Headmistress of Hogwarts School all alone in her study, staring out of the window.

When they reached the bottom of the steps they stopped and turned to each other. Hermione looked up at him and burst into tears. She wasn't sure if it was with shame, relief or just nervous exhaustion. It didn't matter. He moved swiftly to her and embraced her firmly in his arms. She closed her eyes and felt herself enveloped in thick black comfort.

At length, he lifted her head and kissed the tears away from her face. "It's alright ... everything is alright."

"I don't want your wand to be taken away."

"Neither do I, but ... there are other ways of using my magic, and it would not be for long, I should imagine."

She admired his resilience. She looked up at him, searching his face. "Why do you think we let it out tonight, of all times?"

"Like I said ... it was time ... I could not pretend anymore, I did not want to."

"It was I who started it. I said your name."

"Yes. Once again ... de profundis."

His eyes had moved from hers, and were staring far beyond his surroundings. It was her turn to lean up and kiss him.

"Thinking back, it probably would have been better for me to have simply taken McGonagall's advice and not lived as a student from the start. That way, we probably could have been together as a proper couple from the word go."

He suddenly focused back in on her and looked down with a smirk on his face. "Yes ... but where would have been the fun in that?"

Hermione playfully slapped him a little, but could not deny the truth of his words. Their relationship had developed, initially at least, due to the dynamics between them: his authority over her, her seductive resistance. While they were in the school, they knew it was the only way either of them wanted to be. The dangerous encounters, the many times of near discovery, the looks across classroom and dining hall; she had never known anything so intoxicatingly exciting.

It was only now, now that their relationship had deepened immeasurably, that they had reached a point at which they were both so content with themselves and each other, when they knew their time at the school was coming to a close, that they were able to move on. Revealing themselves had been the most natural thing to do at that point. The incident with Lawrence had merely been the catalyst.

Hermione smiled up at him again. "So ... no regrets?"

"Certainly not ... although, I would have regretted cursing the fool. It would most likely have resulted in a spell in Azkaban and therefore away from you."

"You wouldn't have cursed him."

He looked at her, curious at her trust in him. "Oh yes ... I would have done ... had you not stopped me."

His voice had adopted a chilling edge. She spoke quickly to pull him back. "And what were you going to say? What was the curse, Severus?"

A faint smile flickered around his mouth. "Let's just say, it involved a certain part of his anatomy, the word 'Minimus' ... and a cockroach."

She giggled and rested her head against his chest. "That is evil."

"You once told me you thought I was evil."

She looked up at him again, staring deep into his eyes. "I was wrong. But anyway, like I have said ... there is no black and white."

He cocked an eyebrow at her enigmatic words, before turning and offering his arm to lead her away.

They strolled through the corridors. They could dimly hear the music in the great hall still continuing. The ball was winding down, but many people were still dancing. They did not pass any students or staff as they made their way to his rooms. Hermione was glad; she would deal with that in the morning.

But on turning into the corridor leading towards his classroom, they came across the pale, limpid eyes of Filch's cat. They looked at each other, a slight smile on their faces.

"He won't be far behind. I know from past experience," Hermione said wryly up to Severus. "Do you think he knows?"

The shuffling footsteps of Argus Filch approached louder and louder.

Severus suddenly pulled his arms tight around Hermione's waist and leant down, kissing her passionately and deeply in the middle of the corridor.

When they finally broke apart, they turned to find the Hogwarts caretaker staring at them with an expression of that of a constipated gargoyle, frozen in his agonised frustration for a thousand years. Severus smirked and muttered down to her, "He does now."

He took her hand and led her past Filch, glancing down past Hermione's backside at Mrs Norris as he went.

"Lovely pussy, Argus."

Hermione found it impossible not to dissolve into giggles before they were out of earshot.

"God, that was so mean. You are a cruel, cruel man."

"Well then, you must set about redeeming me forthwith." He pulled her into him and kissed her once again.

They broke apart and she smiled up at him. "I can't believe we were never caught ... in flagrante, so to speak. None more so than earlier tonight in the corridor."

"Hmm ...by then, I don't think I really cared if we were, to be honest."

"Oh god, can you imagine if McGonagall had found us like that!"

He smirked. Hermione was thinking about their earlier coupling. "It was so good, Severus - one of the best, and ... there have been quite a few."

He gazed down at her. "You looked - look - extraordinarily beautiful tonight."

He took her hand and led her through his classroom, which she for once felt strangely detached from, and into his private rooms. Then he stood her in the middle of the room and walked around her, gazing at her encased in the red satin of her dress. He removed his wand and continued to walk in leisurely circles, moving it up and down over her body as he went.

"What are you doing?"

"Removing all trace of him."

She allowed him to continue silently. His eyes bore into her body as he moved, as if he himself was cleansing her, not his wand.

At last he stopped and placed the stick of wood upon a side table. Then he crossed to her, looking over her in satisfaction, and took her waist in his hands. Severus simply held her for a while, the palms of his hands moving slowly up and down her body. Then, inclining his head, he kissed her long and slow. She thought he would never stop. She did not want him to.

After an age where they simply stood together, lips and tongues caressing and tasting each other, as if for the first time, he pulled back a little and turned her around in his arms. His head descended to the sensitive spot where her collarbone rose to her shoulder and his warm, firm lips nuzzled there. Then she felt his hands at the base of the laces on her dress. He tugged and they loosened. Her lungs filled naturally with air as the tightness of the bodice was relieved. His long fingers continued to pull at the laces and she felt them being removed from their eyes, one by one. Then when they were parted completely he spun her around again, and watched in awe as her dress tumbled to the ground, revealing her breasts full and warm before him.

Severus stood quite still and stared at them, rising and falling slowly and regularly in the dim candlelight. To him, it was an image of complete perfection. Hermione unclasped her stockings and removed them and the suspender belt. Soon she was naked before him. Then she moved forward and reached up her hands to his buttons. It took her a while to undo even the first few, and he opened his mouth to assist her with magic, but she anticipated what he was doing and lifted a finger to his lips. She turned her head back to the long coat and continued in her task, delighting in it. She was reminded of Rose's words of earlier, now formed in her head with a slight variation ... "So many buttons ... all the time in the world ..." She worked her hands steadily down his torso. He was breathing rapidly now as the naked woman with her smooth pliant fingers opened him to her.

She reached the sash at his waist and undid it. It fell to the ground and she continued down, down, kneeling as she got closer to the end.

At last she had completed her task. It had taken several long minutes, not that either of them had objected. It had been an act of complete devotion. Hermione stood again, and saw the black material parting naturally. She reached up, almost reluctant to divest him of it. But her hands rose to his shoulders and she pushed the heavy garment gently off them. It tumbled in dark curtains to the floor. She now undid the white linen shirt beneath, although this took no time at all in comparison. This in turn slid off his shoulders. Apart from his shoes, which he had removed himself, he was wearing nothing else and now stood naked and erect before her.

She moved into him, feeling him pressing against her belly, but ignoring it for now. She lay her head on his chest and his arms enclosed her into him, as hers came up high on his scarred back.

Then his knees bent a little, and he moved an arm beneath her hips, while the other came round her back. Hermione felt herself being picked up and carried through into his bedroom. He placed her on the bed and lay beside her quickly. Then almost reverentially he lowered himself to her breast. With a look at the soft mound before him, he brought it into his mouth and suckled at it. Hermione drew her hand up to his hair, stroking and soothing.

Her nipple swelled in his mouth and tingles of delight flowed through her to her core. She granted him his indulgence and tried to suppress her own need. But she need not have feared, as she soon felt languid fingers, stroking, parting and probing. She knew she was slick with desire, but the pleasure he brought from her while at her breasts filled her with such sublime happiness, knowing how he loved feeding off her tight pink nipples, that when she came, it was as if her body had dissolved into a cascading flutter of rose petals.

At length he moved up to her again, kissing her tenderly and bestowing a whispered, "I love you," in her ear. She smiled, repeating it back to him, and felt him slip into her. She was so wet that he glided in in one easy, fluid movement, taking her almost by surprise.

His eyes closed and he breathed, waiting, feeling, being. Then slowly he started to move along her, his eyes opening again and holding her gaze, his face a mere breath from hers. Their pleasure grew quickly, Hermione unable to distinguish herself from him.

Then silently, in hushed wonder, they came together, the moment both elusive and overwhelming. It was as if it had been wrought through the profoundest magic, but was in fact an instant of complete humanity.

They lay still, simply looking at each other. Time passed them by. Then Severus lay down beside her, still buried deep in her being, and they fell asleep.

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Peace at last ...

Only a couple more chapters to go. LL x