Chapter 11

A/N: Thanks to my awesome betas, luvsev and WriterMerrin

***

Valentine's Day was a red-letter day for Hermione and her timeline. Lily did not accept James Potter's invitation as his date; however, she did dance with him, which was a triumph in the boy's mind and Hermione's as well. Lily also danced with Severus...much to Hermione's disappointment. The tension was thick and electric. Who would win Lily's hand?

In the meantime, Lily kept Hermione confused by her attempts to be close to her. Hermione would wake up at night with Lily snuggling against her. Sometimes, she would start kissing her, and before Hermione knew it, their nightgowns would be off, and they would be kissing, touching, and bringing the other to orgasm. They never spoke, just the gasping of Lily's voice could be heard as she whispered Hermione's name and the soft moans of Hermione as she climaxed over and over.

James Potter began a campaign to sweep Lily off her feet. He was quite the fool at times, doing ridiculous things to try and get her attention. He had stolen a Snitch and played with it constantly to draw attention to himself. He rumpled his hair often and swaggered, talking boastfully about his latest Quidditch moves whenever Lily was in view. He even began to hex people in front of her, just to show off his magical prowess. Hermione groaned inwardly at these ridiculous displays. Lily treated him like dirt. She was not impressed with his boasting and strutting. She had made her peace with Snape, and the three of them were back together, studying, talking, and hanging out like old times.

O.W.L.s were upon them, and the pressure was overwhelming. Hermione had worked out a studying timetable so they could work effectively and also have free time to let off steam and relax.

A couple of weeks before O.W.L.s were to begin, Severus finally got James with his Levicorpus spell, which shocked many people and gave him some respect amongst his fellow Slytherin brothers. All Hermione could do was stand back and shake her head. She felt there was a train crash coming their way, and she could do nothing but watch it happen and see who survived the wreckage.

***

One day, after a grueling Defense Against the Dark Arts examination, Lily dragged Hermione out to the lake to have a dip. They were joined by a number of other fifth-year girls. Soon they were lightly splashing each other with their feet and laughing heartily. Hermione stretched her arms and neck and caught Avery standing off alone, in the shadow under a grove of trees, smirking evilly. He caught Hermione's eye and beckoned her to come to him. Hermione felt compelled to join him.

She took out her feet and shook off the excess water. She started putting on her socks and shoes when Lily said, "Hey! Where are you going?"

Hermione didn't want Lily getting involved. She just made up an excuse about forgetting something and for her to relax and enjoy herself.

"I'll be right back!" she assured her.

Lily went back to chatting with the other girls as Hermione cautiously made her way into the grove of trees where Avery laid in wait.

"Avery," she said curtly.

"Miss Granger," he said genially with a slight bow. "I am so glad that you could join me for the festivities."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "What 'festivities'?" she asked suspiciously.

Avery crossed his arms as he leaned against a tree. "You know, I think I have more respect for your mind than half of the girls in Slytherin," he said with admiration in his eyes. "I think far too many people underestimate you. I know that you are aware of the Dark Lord's intentions...that Severus is being groomed for his service."

Hermione tried to look neutral. She had figured as much; however, it didn't make the situation any easier to accept.

Avery continued as he looked out amongst the various groups of students enjoying their post O.W.L exam day. "Severus doesn't realize it, but he will be given his test. How he performs will either bring about his acceptance or rejection by the Dark Lord. Those who displease the Dark Lord, well..." He left his sentence open-ended as he spread his hands in mock helplessness.

"What test are you talking about?" she demanded as she gritted her teeth.

Avery continued to look out over the green. "We have indulged Severus for far too long in his obsession with Mudblood Evans. It is time that he officially announces his allegiance," he said with a knowing look at Hermione.

Hermione tried to reach into the depths of Avery's blue eyes. They were cold and impenetrable. She couldn't read anything in them.

"What are you going to do to him?" she whispered.

Avery chuckled. "Don't worry, Miss Granger. I am more than positive Severus will not let us down. I just thought you would appreciate the...how do Muggles say it...ah! 'The behind-the-scenes look,'" he said smugly.

"What have you done?" she breathed as she glared at him.

"It's not what I have done, Gryffindor! It's what your housemates have agreed to do," he whispered as he looked down at her viciously.

He turned his head and grasped Hermione's chin forcing her to watch. "Look, Hermione. Look at the brave Gryffindors! I have made an arrangement with them. That James Potter is very enamored with that Mudblood Evans chit. He can have her. It's time for Severus to release her from his protection and let her come under someone else's," he explained.

"What did you do?" she demanded angrily.

"I made a trade, Miss Granger. It happens all the time. Severus can no longer keep his plaything. She is a distraction. However, Regulus has been most useful as liaison. He made arrangements for a formal change of protection from Severus to James Potter."

Hermione was incensed. "Do you mean Potter has dared?"

Avery laughed heartily. "James Potter? The Gryffindor Golden Boy? Oh, no! He's far too noble and good for such an agreement. No, this exchange took place between Sirius Black and myself. Oh, Sirius! You can take the wizard out of Slytherin, but you can't take the Slytherin out of the wizard."

Hermione was pale with fear. "I just don't understand why you all insist upon making Severus your pet!" she seethed.

Avery weighed her concern in his mind. Hermione could tell he wanted to make things plain to her. "Hermione," he began, "Severus never had a chance. From the day he was sorted into Slytherin, he had been marked. We have this ritual you see." He explained when Hermione's face grew confused.

"We have a ritual that takes place at the beginning of every school year. It helps to sort out the hangers-on from the truly talented and gifted. From Severus' testing, we were astonished at his abilities. He is a truly powerful wizard. Not only merely powerful, he excels in dark magic. You could say he was born to do it. That kind of ability cannot go unchecked by the Dark Lord. He was placed amongst the names of those with extraordinary talents. So you see, Severus never really had a choice. It was to either accept his destiny to be one of the Dark Lord's followers or live an agonizing existence."

"What do you mean by that?" Hermione asked timidly.

Avery's face grew cold and hard. "The Dark Lord does not fight, as you Muggles say, 'like a gentleman.' He takes those you love from the bottom up and kills them. Oh, perhaps he may underestimate the depth of feeling... the person may not care. However, he will reach that one person that cannot be given up. Severus would never forgive himself if he knew he was the cause of poor, sweet Lily Evans' demise."

Hermione continued to gaze upon him, horrified.

Avery chuckled. "Severus is a Slytherin. He knows how worthless his blood status truly is. Imagine, a half-blood, or really a quarter-blood! His witch mother, sired from a Muggle, continued to contaminate her line by mating with a Muggle herself. Severus is barely one step higher than a Mudblood, and he knows it well."

Hermione gritted her teeth lashed out at the bigot. "You think power and cruelty can win over love and what is right?"

"Oh, please, Miss Granger, recite the precious lyrics to that Muggle song, what is it? 'All you need is love'?" he said, mockingly.

Hermione was fuming. "Your Lord may win the battle, but he shall lose the war. I know it. Severus may continue to play your games, but his heart will never belong to you!"

The young wizard's face softened. "That may well be, Hermione. However, I can assure you his heart will never be accepted by her."

He pointed towards the group of witches frolicking in the water. Hermione's face fell in sorrow. She wasn't shocked or surprised. She had always known this day would come.

Avery looked on Hermione's anguish with pleasure. "Now, will come the coup de grace! Watch and see everything come undone. After today, everything will change."

"What makes you think that Severus will accept this 'exchange'?'" she sneered.

Avery looked soberly into Hermione's eyes and brushed a stray lock from her cheek. "Oh, my dear girl, Severus has absolutely no idea what will happen. But rest assured, when the moment comes, he shall do what is expected of him."

Avery cast a Disillusionment Spell around them and ordered Hermione to be silent. "Let's get a bit closer, shall we?" he asked.

Hermione stood and watched as James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus sat on a bench. James was playing with his Snitch and rumpling his hair. Lily was still relaxing with the other girls. Suddenly, she saw Severus walking across the green lawn; he had his face buried in a piece of parchment and deep in thought. Suddenly, Hermione saw the look of the hunter in Sirius' eyes.

"Now, it begins," Avery whispered as he placed a firm grip on Hermione's shoulder.

Hermione was helpless to intervene as the orchestrated fight played out in front of her. James and Sirius were both humiliating and torturing Severus as he lay on the ground struggling against a jinx.

Then, as if timed to perfection, Lily raced over and screamed at James and Sirius to leave him alone.

"You think you're funny," she said coldly, "but you are just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter! Leave him alone!"

"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid," said Lily.

Sirius mumbled something to James and then caught Severus just as he about to reach for his wand. His reflexes were too late, and Severus hexed James with a Slicing Hex. Hermione gasped as James' face turned to pure hatred. He shouted, and in a split-second, Severus was up in the air. They lifted him up by his own spell, the spell that Severus had once tried on her. He was dangling upside down, and his underwear was on display for everyone to see. Hermione was horrified. She wanted to cry and hex the lot of them for humiliating him.

The crowd was cheering and laughing. Tears poured down Hermione's cheeks. She reached for her wand, and Avery brought his wand to her neck. "No you don't, Gryffindor. You will watch this to the bloody end!" he swore.

Hermione watched as James, Sirius, and Peter howled with laughter. The only one who wasn't laughing was Remus. He remained seated on the grass looking at a book. Hermione turned to Lily, waiting to see what she was going to do when suddenly she saw a flicker of a smile from the corner of her mouth. Lily was enjoying it!

"Not such the sweet, delicate flower, is she now?" Avery whispered into Hermione's ear.

Hermione glared at him and continued to watch. Several people continued to watch the fight.

"Let him down!" said Lily.

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"

Hermione closed her eyes in pain as Avery laughed softly at her side. "Bravo, Severus!" he said gleefully. She reopened them in time to see Lily screaming at James.

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just gotten off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can...I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK."

She turned on her heel and hurried away.

"She's crying," Hermione whispered.

Avery sighed. "She's so very tiresome, that girl. She's just angry with Severus, and she's lashing out at James. It's so sad to see inter-house squabbling! Of course, it's always the innocents that suffer."

Hermione glowered at him. She knew exactly what he meant. James, Lily, and Severus had been played for fools in order for Avery's and Sirius' own selfish gains. They made her sick!

She turned back and saw that Severus was back up in the air. She turned to Avery as she saw the underwear being jerked from his thin body. "Stop it! You've gotten what you wanted...just make it stop!" she shouted angrily.

Avery said nothing as he released the Disillusionment Spell from them. He said nothing as a jet of light blasted from his wand, knocking James, Sirius, and Peter off their feet. The Slytherins and Gryffindors were all fighting now. Spells, hexes, curses, and jinxes were being cast from every direction.

Hermione watched Severus as he adjusted his underwear and robes, scurrying off in embarrassment and fear. Hermione waited until he was safely a great distance away on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She softly walked up behind him and saw he heard the crunch of her footsteps. He jumped and brandished his wand, pale and angry.

Hermione raised her hands. "I was held by Avery. He forced me to watch it all." More tears poured down her cheeks. Severus lowered his wand.

"Don't you pity me!" he raged as spittle flew from his mouth, his hands curled into shaking white fists

Hermione looked at him sadly. "I hated what they did to you. I wanted to hex all of them!" she yelled.

He sank to his knees, and an anguished cry tore from his mouth. Hermione flew to the ground and held him as he cried bitterly into her lap.

"She'll never forgive me! Never, never..."

"...You don't know that, Severus!" she reasoned with him.

He pushed away from her. "Don't I? Wasn't this all a part of the plan? I've now passed my test. I've proven my loyalty to the Dark Lord. Lily will now be safe with Potter," he said bitterly.

Hermione took him by the shoulders. "This doesn't necessarily mean the end for you two! You can explain it all to her, you can!" she insisted.

He bent over again and lay on her lap. "I can't, Hermione, I get so tongue-tied, I can't think straight!" he said as he continued to cry in anguish.

Hermione was firm. "You'll hate yourself for the rest of your life if you don't at least try to explain how you feel!"

"I hate myself now," he whispered.

Hermione shook her head. "NO! Stop that right now! You will explain, you must! No matter the outcome, you have to try!" she insisted.

Severus picked himself up from her lap and looked at her desperately. "Did you hear what I said?" he asked sadly.

"I saw and heard it all, Severus," she whispered as she wiped the tears off his face with her robe.

"Do you hate me, Hermione?" he whispered.

"Severus, is there really a difference between pure-bloods and Muggle-borns?" she asked.

"No," he mouthed.

Hermione smiled. "That's all I need to know. I won't give up on you. No matter if everyone hates me for it, I promise I will never abandon you."

He held her to him, holding her tightly as if he were afraid she would disappear if he let go. He cried soundlessly, sobbing as she laid his head into her lap. Hermione stroked his hair and forehead and hummed lightly. Soon, he was soothed into sleep, and Hermione watched over him in his repose.

A/N: Passages in italics are taken directly from JKR's Order of the Phoenix. Much thanks for Rowling's hard work.