Chapter Six: The Last Debate

Disclaimer: I don't own anything belonging to the Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings universes. Thanks to my alpha/beta team of morethansirius and sshg316.

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Hermione went down to breakfast the next morning a bit tentatively. Given how things had gone the night before, she seriously considered having breakfast in her room. However, students would be arriving back at school tomorrow, and classes would begin the next day. That just left today to soothe hurt feelings left from last night's book club meeting and to figure out what was going on with Severus. Not to mention any last minute preparations for class on Monday. Oh, and checking on a couple of dormitory issues before the Gryffindors return tomorrow. She gave a mental shrug of her shoulders. Well, it all has to get done... There were times she missed her colour-coded schedules.

She found a seat next to Pomona at breakfast. "Good morning, Hermione!" Pomona greeted her cheerfully.

Hermione gave her a relieved smile. "Good morning, Pomona. I felt so badly about how the book club meeting ended last night. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, I should be the one to apologize. People just like to bring up Hildegard Bridgewater to annoy Hufflepuffs. I don't know why I let it get to me like that last night. You and I know that there's nothing to all that."

Hermione just nodded. She had heard of Hildegard Bridgewater being the only evil wizard to come from Hufflepuff House, but she didn't know what counter-arguments Pomona was referring to. She was longing to ask Pomona, but she didn't want to bring up last night's discussion any more than she had to. She decided to visit the library later and do some research. I'll just put it on the list, she thought, privately rolling her eyes. She knew that was going to have to wait, perhaps for days.

With one item ticked off her mental list, she determined to move on to the problem that was troubling her even more. She had noticed Severus coming in and sitting at the other end of the table. He had apparently inhaled his breakfast because he was already getting up to leave. "Severus," she called. She thought he paused for a brief second, but then he continued on his way.

She didn't want to make a scene in front of their colleagues, so she excused herself to Pomona and followed Severus from the Great Hall. When they were both in the hallway, she called clearly, "Severus!" He continued to ignore her, and she knew that he must have heard her. Frustration filled her. How are we supposed to solve anything if he won't talk to me? "Severus Snape," she called again, her annoyance evident in her tone, "are you afraid to talk to me?"

That stopped him in his tracks. She saw his fists clench before he took a deep breath and slowly turned around to face her, his face a blank mask. "Actually, yes, Hermione, I am afraid to talk to you."

"Why would you be afraid to talk to me?" she asked, bewildered.

A look of hurt flashed across his face before he forced it behind the blank mask. "That's right. You would have no idea, would you?" Sarcasm had entered his tone.

Hermione massaged her forehead with her fingertips. This is not going well. Her frustration level had reached new heights. "Severus!" She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Very deliberately, she said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Severus's nostrils flared as he took in a long breath and let it out through his mouth in an exasperated sigh. His voice was resigned as he said, "That's a good act, Hermione, but I saw you with Beekman."

"Beekman?" She cast her mind back to the last time she saw James and then remembered her cup of coffee with Edward on New Year's Eve. "Do you mean Edward? How did you know...? Were you spying on me?" She saw that flash of hurt again as she apparently confirmed whatever Severus was thinking. "Wait a minute." She held up her hand for silence while she tried to think. "You saw me with Edward. That means you must have been planning to go to Harry and Ginny's party. You Apparated to the area early and saw me talking with Edward. But instead of coming up and talking to me yourself, you just left. Is that what happened?"

"I know we didn't make any official decisions about our relationship. I thought the things we said on Christmas Eve indicated a certain level of trust and... commitment that I guess you don't feel."

"That's not true!"

"I spent 20 years serving a man who was an expert at keeping secrets. I can't... live that way again. And you're keeping secrets, too. Look at how you've avoided telling your parents about who you are all these years. And now Beekman. I can't be in a relationship like that, Hermione."

"Severus, I'm not keeping any secrets about Beekman!" she almost shouted. She took another deep breath. "But you're right. We both need to let ourselves trust again if we're going to be happy. I have to let myself trust my parents again, and you have to learn to trust me." She looked him straight in the eye. "Maybe you don't believe me, but I just want you to know that I am not playing with your feelings or dating Edward Beekman. I really care about you."

Severus stared down at her intently. "I want to believe you, but..." He shrugged his shoulders and looked away.

"Well, that's something, I suppose." She didn't know what to say to him. Good-bye sounded so final. And she suddenly realised she didn't want final with Severus; she wanted forever with Severus. I'm in love with Severus Snape, and I think we just broke up. She turned and walked away because she was afraid she was going to cry in front of him.

As she passed the door to the Great Hall, Pomona, Septima and Minerva joined her. Septima looked back and then turned to Hermione. "Severus?" Septima asked her softly, her tone laced with surprise.

"Severus?" Pomona echoed. "Hermione, not Severus. You should be with someone who makes you laugh. You've had to deal with so much seriousness in your life already. Severus is a good man, but he really has no sense of humour."

"Pomona," protested Minerva.

"He is a good man," Hermione agreed. "He has a brilliant sense of humour. And he's a great kisser. And I don't just like him; I love him!" She burst into tears.

Pomona looked distressed that Hermione was in tears, and Septima seemed intrigued that Severus was a good kisser.

Minerva put her arm around Hermione's shoulders. "Come on, dearie, I've some chocolate biscuits and tea in my office. We'll talk it over."

~~o~~0~~o~~0~~o~~

Tea and chocolate biscuits and sympathy and talking had led to a plan. As Minerva pointed out, Severus was not walking away from Hermione, but he was convinced that Hermione was walking away from him. "Make it clear that you're not," was Minerva's advice.

The longer Hermione thought about that, the more sense it made. Why wouldn't Severus assume she would walk away when things got tough? Lily had, and Dumbledore had. Everyone from the Order had deserted him during that last year of the war. This idea Severus had that she was keeping secrets might just be a defence mechanism, but it was something that could be straightened out over time. Making him believe she would be there for him, no matter what, was a trickier problem to solve.

She tried over the next several days...as much as she could without his cooperation...to act as though they were any other couple who had an issue to work through. She spoke to him whenever she could. She asked his advice on various matters. She tried to find thoughtful little things to do for him.

Pomona and Septima tried to be helpful as well. One or the other would often sit next to Severus at a meal until Hermione came, at which point she would give up her seat so that Hermione and Severus could talk. They switched hall patrol duty so that Severus and Hermione would end up patrolling the Hogwarts corridors on the same evenings.

Finally, Severus complained to Hermione. "I can't go anywhere without Pomona and Septima and even Minerva coming up and telling a story about how wonderful you are, how loyal. Why are they trying to push us together?"

"Believe it or not, they want me...they want us...to be happy. If you're going to be involved with me, you have to learn to deal with my friends."

"Who says I'm going to be involved with you?" Severus turned, his robes billowing, and walked away. But Hermione noticed that he asked that question in a snarky tone, not a sullen or resigned one, and she thought she detected a slight spring to his step as he proceeded down the hall.

~~o~~0~~o~~0~~o~~

About a week after returning to Hogwarts, Hermione was at breakfast. She was sitting next to Severus...thanks to Septima...when an owl flew into the Great Hall. "That's Harry's owl," Hermione said with some excitement.

"And Potter's owl is always cause for rejoicing," Severus commented. He had taken to conversing with her through ironic comments, but Hermione thought this was better than not speaking to her at all. It was far better than speaking with that resignation he had shown when saying he couldn't be in a relationship with her.

"Maybe the baby's arrived!" The owl had landed on the table in front of her, offering its leg, and Hermione unfastened the message before giving the owl a bit of breakfast. She expected the owl to fly away, but it stepped over to Severus and offered him the other leg.

"It must be something else. They wouldn't be sending me baby news," he commented as he unfastened the little scroll.

"Mine is," Hermione said after opening her scroll and skimming over it. She smiled. "Ah, a little boy."

"Whom they've named James Sirius," Severus responded. "I've got one, too," he said, waving his letter towards her. "But I can't imagine why they would invite me to the christening of a child who is named after two people I despised."

"I think I know why they invited you," Hermione said tentatively, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. She leaned toward him and spoke quietly, "I told them that we were seeing each other."

"You told them what?" Although Severus tried to keep his voice down, his voice and manner drew eyes from all over the Great Hall.

"Do you think we should talk about this somewhere else?" Hermione asked, looking down at her plate.

Severus noticed the attention they were getting and said through gritted teeth, "Small dining room?"

"Fine," Hermione agreed. They stood and left the Head Table with as much dignity as they could muster, considering that they were drawing looks and whispers from their students and colleagues.

Once they had reached the small dining room, Severus said, "Explain."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at his tone. Severus rolled his eyes a little but said, "Please."

"I told Harry and Ginny at their New Year's Eve party. I was hoping you would come, and I didn't want Harry to ask you uncomfortable questions. Once I told Harry and Ginny, I had to tell Ron and Luna. Besides, you seemed worried about their reactions. I thought if I told them, then you wouldn't have to be concerned about it anymore."

Severus looked confused. "You told them we were seeing each other?"

"In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I should tell you that my parents know as well. I told them at Christmas. I'm sorry if that makes you uneasy now, but after Christmas Eve, that's what I assumed." Severus wore a curious expression. "Severus?"

"It appears that I had some mistaken ideas. Frankly, I'm not sure how to react at the moment, but you and I both have classes to teach in a few minutes. Do you mind if I take a little time to think before we finish this conversation?"

"No, you're right. We should finish this when we have time to talk." Hermione felt more encouraged than she had in a long time. Standing on tiptoe, she gave Severus a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Have a good day, Severus."

~~o~~0~~o~~0~~o~~

Due to the christening of Harry and Ginny's baby, the decision was made to have the book club meeting a week earlier than the scheduled time. Hermione was a little worried that it would rush people to have to get Book Five done sooner than usual, but she was assured that with all the action and battle scenes, the reading went fairly quickly.

Hermione asked each of the book club members what they had liked about Book Five.

Sybill liked seeing Pippin and Merry each on his own, each taking a part in the war. "It's like watching your students growing up. It's very fulfilling to see them reaching their potential." Hermione hadn't realized Sybill felt that way about teaching. At least, I can respect that attitude. That made her feel better. She hated not being able to respect her teachers. One of her greatest embarrassments was still her misguided crush on Lockhart.

Minerva's comment brought Hermione back to the discussion at hand. "I liked the fact that Eowyn snuck off to battle. She needed to be part of the activity, and what a part she played!"

Severus said, "I thought the Headmistress was supposed to be neutral about house affiliation. That was a Gryffindor comment if I ever heard one."

Minerva just smiled. "You wouldn't expect me not to be true to my nature."

Septima sighed. "Yes, Eowyn was heroic, but it was so sad that she joined the army because of her heartbreak over Aragorn. At least, Aragorn understood that and felt badly about it."

Bathsheba looked at Septima with confusion. "How is it better that Aragorn knows she's in love with him? That's just an embarrassment for Eowyn."

Septima just shook her head. "Eowyn's a Gryffindor, no doubt. She took her chance on basically telling Aragorn how she felt, but Aragorn didn't feel the same way. I agree that no one wants to be in that position, but he feels badly about it. That's better than if he didn't care one way or the other."

Hermione carefully did not look at Severus. She had revealed a lot to him in their last conversation, and Septima's remarks were hitting a little too close to home.

"Since this part is less about romance and more about battle," Severus said pointedly, "as a Slytherin, I applaud their attempt to divert Sauron. The plan to attack Mordor directly is audacious and seemingly suicidal...rather Gryffindor...but at least, they're making an attempt."

"Yes," agreed Ivy. "I rather think Sauron is a Gryffindor. He's so obvious. The Mouth of Sauron, for example, is just a creepy and obvious way to say 'I'm evil.' I have to respect that he showed them Frodo and Sam's things. That certainly demoralized them."

Bathsheba responded, "It makes me think that Frodo and Sam are still all right. Otherwise, he would have shown them something more gruesome. I expected Sauron to be creepy, but I thought the death of Denethor was even creepier. He was completely unhinged."

Pomona commented, "The story shows so many people facing death bravely and with honour. I suppose the author needed to show a contrast in the death of Denethor. I never liked him anyway."

Cuthbert said thoughtfully, "I thought it was interesting to see how the various characters faced death...some with despair, some with bravery, some with honour, some because they couldn't face life anymore. My favourite part of the chapter was that ghosts got to do some of the fighting, too."

"Are you ever sorry you're a ghost, Cuthbert?" Hermione asked.

"No, I never had a family outside of my Hogwarts students, so I could never imagine anything else would be better than staying and teaching here."

It wasn't too much later when the meeting broke up. As Ivy was getting ready to leave, Minerva said innocently, "Ivy, I was wondering how Edward is doing."

Ivy blushed. "How do you know about Edward?"

"James mentioned it, of course."

Septima immediately picked up on this. "Ivy, you're seeing Edward Beekman? He certainly seemed like a nice young man when I met him at the Christmas party."

"You do know he is a Muggle, don't you, dear?" asked Pomona.

"I'm well aware of that, Pomona," Ivy responded. "Now if you will please excuse me, I'll say good-night."

Septima, Pomona and Minerva left soon after, leaving Hermione and Severus alone. Hermione was standing near the door, having seen her guests out. Severus came to stand next to her. "Did you know he was seeing Ivy?" Severus asked.

"No, oddly enough, Ivy doesn't confide in me. I hadn't seen Edward since the Christmas party until we coincidentally ran into each other at the coffee shop. He was telling me funny stories about finding the perfect present for his new girlfriend, but he never mentioned Ivy."

Severus winced, then took her hand in both of his. "It seems I couldn't have been more mistaken in my assumptions on New Year's Eve. I apologize, Hermione."

"I accept your apology, Severus, but I wish you would have asked me about it and given me a chance to explain." She stared down at their joined hands for a moment before taking a deep breath. "We each have baggage left over from the war. I wonder if you would be willing to help me with mine."

"What do you mean?"

"I've asked my parents if I can stay with them during the weekend I go to London for the christening. I've known since Christmas that I need to tell them about the war, but I've been trying to get the courage. I'm so afraid I'll lose what little I have with them. I think I could face possibly losing them if you were with me. Will you come with me, Severus?"

Gently he cupped her face with one hand and looked down at her tenderly. "I'll be there with you, Hermione."