The Rose Garden
Chapter 7 of 9
ancientgirlSeverus finally reaches the rose garden, but is he too late?
ReviewedAll canon characters belong to jkr.
Thanks to June for all of her help and suggestions.
The Rose Garden
Hermione sat on one of the stone benches in the Hogwarts rose garden. She looked at her watch for the tenth time in as little as fifteen minutes. It had now been over an hour since she sent Severus her final note. She frowned, thinking that perhaps it had been too much for him. It may not have been a good idea to sign using her initial “H.” Surely he would have figured out it had been her all along. No doubt he decided to steer clear of her, not even giving her a chance. Oh yes, Hermione knew that it would take time for him to cozy up to her feelings. After all, even though he had been very cordial to her during her time at Hogwarts these past six months, it wasn’t as though he had given her any indication that he even thought of her as anything other than just another ex-student. She realized it was time to let go of the dream, and slowly stood. Sighing heavily, Hermione allowed the tears to fall freely down her cheeks, then slowly turned towards the path leading back into the school.
Severus ran up the halls like, well, like a bat out of hell. He couldn’t believe that it had been Hermione the entire time. She was in love with him. Him! And from the looks of it, she had been in love with him for a very long time. He slowed down as he thought back on what his last note said. It said that she feared she had not left a very good impression of herself. Did she think he disliked her? He snorted. ‘Why would she think that?’ he wondered. Suddenly he stopped. ‘Well, for one thing, you never bothered to say a kind word to the girl.’
He shook his head as he slowly made his way to the rose garden. She wasn’t a girl anymore, and he knew it. Oh, how he knew it. He admitted to himself that many a time his eyes would linger on her a bit longer than they should. He’d been cruel to her while she was his student, often calling her a silly girl and an insufferable know-it-all. He groaned when he then remembered telling her that he saw no difference in her teeth after a particularly nasty hex during her fourth year, courtesy of Draco.
And yet, she loved him. He who was nothing but a snark wrapped in a black robe. While he was a stranger to courtship and the art of loving and being loved, Severus decided that the prospect of having Hermione Granger in his life was something he was looking forward to. Without even noticing, he quickened his pace.
Hermione reached the edge of the garden. She took one last look behind her, and thought she saw a black figure standing in front of the stone bench where only moments before she herself had been sitting. She blinked the tears from her eyes and wiped her cheeks. Slowly she walked back, hoping it wasn’t her imagination running wild.
Severus arrived at the rose garden only to find it empty. He bowed his head and dropped heavily on the stone bench. He was too late. No doubt Hermione tired of waiting on him. Either that or she came to her senses. For one brief moment he had allowed himself to dream, and now his chance was gone.
Hermione approached him quietly. She looked for a moment at his profile, so full of sadness it made her heart ache. With the softest touch, she reached to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.
“Severus,” she whispered.
Severus turned his head and saw Hermione’s moonlit face. There was a glow about her as she smiled uncertainly. He stood and looked at her, not knowing what to say.
“You came,” she said nervously.
“Obviously.” He bit his tongue and berated himself silently. ‘Well done, you git. Be nice to her.’ His inner voice would have to be faster than his acid tongue. “I mean, yes, Hermione. I’m here.” He smiled, hoping it would make her feel more comfortable.
For her part, Hermione didn’t let his remark phase her one bit. His snarkiness was part of why she loved him so much.
“I hope you aren’t upset with me,” she said. “It’s just that, I’ll be leaving here soon and graduating. I’m not really sure what I’ll be doing next, but I wanted to at least tell you how I felt.” She looked at him, then shyly bowed her head. “I guess I wanted to know where I stand with you. I mean, do I even have a chance?” She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, and thanked the gods above that the night hid the blush she was sure was evident on her face.
Severus was amazed. Never in his life did he think someone would ask him for a chance. She was asking him if he would allow her to love him. Had it not been for gravity, he was sure he would have floated away out of sheer joy. He placed one hand on her shoulder, and the other under her chin so he could lift her head slightly. Her deep brown eyes looked into his, and he knew that he was lost.
“I would say you have more than a chance, Hermione.” He leaned towards her, wanting to finally kiss the lips he had felt only through charms via the letters she had sent him. She felt soft and warm, and he knew that while he was not in love with her at that very moment, in very little time he would be.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I know it was a bit short, but I wanted it to be its own chapter. I've finished this story and will be posting the last two chapters by Friday.
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Latest 25 Reviews for Your Secret Love
116 Reviews | 6.39/10 Average
Very entertaining. Very funny as well .
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
Thank you.
OMG! I rolled at this chapter. The Ron incident where Severus kept catching Ron staring at him was funny, but this was unreal....
I laughed so hard. Thank you!
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
Thank YOU, for reading it! I'm happy it made you laugh!
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
Thank YOU, for reading it! I'm happy it made you laugh!
that poor man, what tortureyou're putting him through!
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
LOL, it was fun though. :)
this chapter gave me the giggles! Cant wait to continue!
I absolutely loved this story. Great job!
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I am quickly running out of things to say in my reviews without sounding like they are all cut and dried. This was a very cute little story. The varying secret romances going on were very entertaining.
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
Thank you as always. It makes me happy to know others are enjoying my stories. It's very nice of you to go through them all.
I've read this before but needed a quick "pick me up" and this filled the bill perfectly. I just adore everything about this story - the humor, the "secrets", the wonderful characterizations of everyone, and the sweetness of it all. A true favorite. Don't know why it wasn't marked as such before now, but I'm correcting that oversight right now! ^.~Thanks so much for sharing the fun.
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
Thank you. I always love hearing people read my stories to pick them up from a bad day. I wrote many of these stories to give people a smile, and something to laugh with
loved ron's insecurities! thanks
Haa Haa = Loved how Minerva took care of Albus and the part about Ron fainting was funny - good chapter.
Love it - Love it ... what a way to have them get together - so creative and so romantic.
Oh crap - hold my side - this was funny. I loved the part where he said that he was going to his room to oblivate himself - now he is off to the rose garden.
Oh man - this chapter was hysterical - I loved the whole thinking it was Albus part and the internal chant of just kill me - poor man - HAAAAAAA HAAAA.. sorry.
LOL - Ron must be terrified thinking that everyone must think he is a tosser. Poor guy - now he is going to have a complex.
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
It's fun messing with Ron's mind. He's such an easy target.
Extremely sneaky - poor Severus thinking it is Ron and Ron dreading every minute of Hermione's assignment. Too funny.
Fantastic chapter - I read one of your stories - I had to come and read some others so I started with this one. What a neat way to enclose a spell with a kiss - fantastic and I can say that I have never read this one in fanfiction.
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
I hope you enjoy this story. I love adding comedy in my stories and I wanted to make something unique here.
Fantastic ending... I can see Lucius freaking out over his son's arrangement. I loved the story.
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
Thanks for reading the entire thing and leaving such wonderful reviews. I'm glad you enjoyed it all.
A very sweet story. I cheated--I started reading Your Secret Love at Owl and I wondered if you posted at Petulant. Of course I found the completed story here. Yeah! Thanks for the enjoyable read.
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
LOL, yay then! I'm glad you liked it. I've got all of my stories here and they are all completed. I thought about posting this on the OWL site, but I read their faq's and I got the impression that they might frown upon that. Since I'm new there, I didn't want to press my luck.
If you read anything else, I'd love to know what you think.
Thanks for taking the time to come over here and read the entire story.
haha very funny
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
I'm happy it gave you a laugh. I put Severus through a bit of abuse, but it was fun.
Hahaha I love the idea of secret love. I also like the idea of whispering wings, quite charming. Having Albus convince everyone to go to club med is bloody brillant. I also lurve the idea of all of Severus' close calls, or brushes with love (instead of death).
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
Thank you for leaving such a lovely review. I'm very happy you enjoyed this.
I wrote this because I'd been reading so many stories that were just so dramatic. I felt the need to laugh and put Severus through some funny situations.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this.
I couldn't remember if i finished this. It was great to read again.
Happy New Year.
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
Happy New Year to you too!
I had fun writing this one. I felt bad putting Severus through all of that, but it really was enjoyable.
Aw, that was a cute ending. Very nice; the chapters were a bit short, but that was the style in which you were writing. It worked well for you. Good job.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwLovelyCheers Moepi AKA Michèle
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
Hey, you read it on one shot. Thank you.I'm very happy you enjoyed it.
Yeah Ron, everybody does. I like your characterisationCheers Moepi AKA Michèle
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
LOL, poor Ron.Thanks, I know I tend to veer slightly way from completely canon in my fics, but that's what fanfiction is for.
Hermione is rather Slytherin here. Manipulating poor Ron. Ha ha I like it stupid Ron bitten by Hagrid's pests erm pets. Cheers Moepi AKA Michèle
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
Yeah, I think Hermione certainly has some Slytherin qualities in JKR's stories. I think she's pretty much a good mix of all of the houses actually.
Apart from the slight slashiness of the story I liked it and found it mostly funny!Especially Dumbledore becoming a travel agents for Wizards! That's hysterical!
Response from ancientgirl (Author of Your Secret Love)
Thanks. I'm glad you liked it. I had to add the little bit of slashiness, just to be different.