Shaken Up

A/N: As always, big thanks to everyone who left me a review for last chapter. I wasn't expecting such a big response and it really made my week! I think I have the most kick ass readers in the fandom!

No alert reader notes this week, but I wanted to thank SouthernWitch69 for being such an encouragement and for making me giggle. Sun, you rock my socks!

I didn't think I'd be able to post this soon, but Vaughn gave me the best birthday present ever! A prettied up chapter all ready to post! (Vaughn rocks!) So here I am, less than an hour before I officially turn 41, and I'm posting a new chapter. I love birthdays! I will warn you, I am having a big birthday weekend of fun, so review responses may be slow this weekend. I promise I will answer every single one as I have time. So happy birthday to me, and happy reading! :)

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Truly great madness can not be achieved without significant intelligence.

-Henrik Tikkanen 1924-1984

As strong hands gripped her shoulders and spun her around, the scream that Hermione had been trying to voice died in her throat. Even in the dim light, she could tell who was holding her. Standing before her with wild eyes and flaring nostrils, Severus Snape gripped Hermione's upper arms so tightly that it hurt. As Hermione opened her mouth to ask him to release her, Severus shook her so violently that her neck snapped back and forth.

"Stupid little whore!" he snarled. "You brainless little whore! What the bloody hell do you think you are doing? Do you take me for a complete and utter fool? The other whores may be blind as bats, but not me! What in Hades were you thinking, trying this fool stunt? What were you thinking?"

Severus' shaking of Hermione had quieted as his voice had risen with every sentence he uttered. By the end of the speech, he was simply holding her tightly as he shouted into her face. When Hermione tried again to speak, he gave her another violent, bone rattling shake.

"You weren't thinking at all, were you, stupid little whore? If you had a brain in that foolish head of yours, you wouldn't be throwing your life away on a fool's errand! Stupid! Little! Whore!" he shrieked, giving her a rough shake to punctuate every word.

"Severus," Hermione managed to choke out, "you're hurting me!"

"What do you care?" he said coldly, before shaking her again. "You're about to go blow yourself up, aren't you? So why does it matter? What's a little pain before the big death? What's a little shake between friends before you go and throw your life away? Why shouldn't I just kill you right now and save you the trouble?"

Despite his fury, Severus did not kill Hermione. He did something far more startling. Pulling her tightly against his chest, Severus bent his head and kissed her. It was not a tender kiss. In some ways, that kiss was as violent as the shaking had been. Severus' kiss was brutal, demanding, and brief. All too soon he was leaning back to fiercely shake her again.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he shrieked. "Answer me!"

When the shaking slowed down enough that Hermione felt she could risk a few words without losing her tongue to her clacking teeth, she tried to reply.

"It has to be destroyed I'm the most expendable no one else to do it," she said in a breathless rush.

"Expendable? Rubbish! How long do you think those two brainless whores inside would last without you?" Taking his hand off of her bruised biceps, Severus took a hold of Hermione's head just as firmly. "How am I to manage without you, little whore?" he asked, his voice breaking. The anger in his eyes fled and his expression was full of both sorrow and fear. "I am mad, little whore. The last of my sanity hangs by a gossamer thread. If you throw your life away like the foolish Gryffindor you are, how shall I stop that last strand from breaking? What shall I do without you to help me remember myself?"

With tears running freely down her cheeks, Hermione did her best to convince Severus that this was the only answer. "I don't want you to lose yourself! I don't! But that cup has to be destroyed and there's no sense putting it off. If I do not make this sacrifice, who will? What shall we do, pull straws to see who gets to die for the cause?"

"But you don't have to die, you stupid whore! No one has to die! Haven't you got a smidgeon of brain rattling around in that empty head?"

Clasping both hands on Severus' arms to steady herself, Hermione stood up on her tiptoes to look him in the eyes. "What are you taking about, Severus? Alastor himself tried to destroy a Horcrux and it killed him."

"Oh, I've heard you talking about that wooden-legged whore. Poor whore got himself blown up, didn't he? Serves him right for being a fool! Constant vigilance my arse!"

Doing her best to ignore how ill Severus spoke of the dead, Hermione tried to keep her mind on what was important. "Are you saying there is another way?"

"There may be," Severus replied, his eyes slipping away from her face as he concentrated. "I think there may be. Tell me, little whore, why is it so hard to destroy the Horcruxes?"

Hermione felt as if she were back in Potions class, so familiar was his manner. "Because of the soul inside. The binding of a piece of soul into an object makes it too strong to easily break."

"Very good. Five points to Gryffindor," he said with an evil grin. "Think, whore! If the soul makes it unbreakable, what should you do?"

Suddenly, the answer seemed crystal clear to Hermione. "Take the soul out first?" she said tentatively.

"Remove the soul, and the cup is only a cup. As breakable as any cup."

"But what about that bit of soul? What happens to it?"

"It should return to its owner, if my understanding of the matter is correct."

"But won't that make him stronger?" Hermione said, aghast. "If he gets half his soul back..."

"Does the old whore seem weak to you now?" Severus snapped. "He only has a sliver of his soul; does he seem less powerful to you? Splitting his soul made the old whore less human, not less powerful."

"Of course. You're right. He'd never do something that would weaken him, but I can't imagine he's all that concerned about his humanity."

"Exactly."

"But how do we do it? How do you separate a bit of soul from something? That's not anything that I've come across in my research. Do you know how to do it?"

Severus' gaze slid away from her face as he muttered to himself. "I should not show you...I'd risk so much to show you, but you'll blow your fool head off if I don't." His eyes returned to her face as he let go of the death grip he had on Hermione's head. One hand wandered to her shoulder as the other crept to the back of her head and wound its fingers into her hair. "I can't let you, pretty little whore," he said softly. "I can't let you blow your fool head off."

Pulling Hermione to him, Severus leaned down and kissed her again. This kiss was as different from the first as night from day. It was gentle, loving, almost reverent. Hermione found herself drawn into the kiss, responding without thought as she wound her arms around his neck. Knowing that she should not take advantage of Severus while he was ill, she still could not help herself. Never had she been kissed with such feeling. She would not have stopped that kiss even if she could.

All too soon, Severus drew away from her. His eyes hardened again as he looked at her, and his arms slipped back down to clutch her tender upper arms.

"Please," she begged, "please don't shake me again!"

Severus' only reply was a roll of his eyes as he stood, looking at her warily for a moment. "She says that she'll listen to me, but who can say?" he muttered to himself. "I've too much to do to be looking after whorish Gryffindors at all hours of the night."

"Severus, I won't blow myself up, I promise!"

Still looking wary, Severus turned towards the house. "House-whore!" he called. "Get your arse out here, you're needed!"

With a soft pop, Kreacher appeared on the back step. "What is the dark man wanting of Kreacher? Is he wanting some nice tea?"

"No, house-whore, I won't be needing any tea. See that cup lying there in the grass?"

"Yes, sir. Kreacher sees the shiny cup."

"Take that cup and hide it. Don't let anyone but me touch it, do you understand? Don't let this whore," he said, giving Hermione a very gentle shake, "even see the blasted thing; do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Kreacher said with a chuckle. "Don't let missy whore see it!" In a flash, Kreacher scuttled over to the fallen cup, scooped it up, and with a final gleeful laugh, he vanished with a pop.

"Come with me," Severus said gruffly. He then proceeded to take Hermione's hand and practically drag her into the house and to the lav. Stopping in front of the potions cabinet, he dropped Hermione's hand before sorting through the potions he found there. As he uncapped various phials and sniffed the contents, Hermione finally found her voice.

"Do you think it was wise to trust Kreacher with something so important?"

"The house-whore knows that if he crosses me, he'll just be another head on the wall. Take your blouse off."

"What?" Hermione screeched.

"I said, take your bloody blouse off! Stubborn Gryffindor whores," he grumbled to the potions cabinet. "Always causing a fuss over the littlest things. Yes, yes, you're quite right, but there isn't much to do about it, is there?"

Hermione realized two things. One, Severus was obviously completely knackered. Two, the potions that he was selecting were healing potions. She might as well take off her blouse. Severus wasn't asking her to do any more than she had asked of him during his first day at Harry's house. Gritting her teeth, she pulled her knit top off over her head, leaving on her fairly plain white bra.

Turning towards her, Severus looked at her bra, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Are you going to take that off?"

"There is no need for me to take off my bra!" Hermione snapped. "You hurt my arms."

"Can't blame a bloke for trying," Severus muttered with a sigh. "Drink this," he said, holding out a phial.

Recognizing it as a general healing draught, Hermione uncorked it and quickly downed it. It tasted strongly of anise, and she had never been a fan of anise. When she was done, Severus gently rubbed a muscle relaxant onto the skin of her arms before drawing his wand and healing the many bruises.

"Did I hurt you anywhere else?" he said gruffly to the door of the potions cabinet.

Raising her hand to Severus' cheek, Hermione turned his head until he looked at her. "No," she said gently, "I'm fine now. I expect that if I had caught you about to blow yourself up, I would have reacted rather strongly as well." Releasing him, Hermione quickly shrugged into her top. Taking Severus' hand, she led him out of the lav and down the hall to his room. "It's past time for you to get some rest, Severus. Why don't you lie down for a bit?"

Though he dutifully went to the bed and lay down, his expression was stormy as he lay there in his trousers and shirt. With a sigh, Hermione went to the bed and perched on the edge of it. She had made every effort to get Severus to change into night clothes, but he insisted on sleeping in his trousers.

"What's wrong?" she asked, leaning forward to brush the hair from his face.

"If I'm sleeping, who will keep the stupid little whores from blowing themselves up?" he growled.

"You've taken the cup from me, love. I promise you that I will not do anything else to speed my demise while you are asleep. All right?"

"I suppose," Severus said sleepily.

"Goodnight, Severus," Hermione said. Leaning down, she gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "Thank you for not letting me explode myself."

"Just see that it never happens again," he said gruffly as she walked to the door. Then, much softer, he said, "Goodnight, pretty little whore."

Leaving Severus' door slightly ajar, Hermione went to her own room and prepared for bed. Sleep didn't come easy to the witch, despite her exhaustion. Every time Hermione closed her eyes, she found herself fixated on three kisses. Eventually, she turned over and at last found sleep.

The next morning, Hermione woke with a start. Her first thoughts were of Severus and of what had happened the night before. Eager to ask Severus about how he might be able to help her with destroying the Horcrux, Hermione took a shower in record speed and headed for the library.

As it was a Saturday morning, Ron and Harry were sitting on the sofa reading. Harry had a copy of the Quibbler, and Ron had a Quidditch magazine. A tea service sat on the table, as well as a plate of toast. This was the three friends' usual habit on a Saturday morning. The first one up...usually Hermione--would either make the tea and toast or try to talk Kreacher into doing it. This habit had not changed since Severus had come to live with them, only now no one had to make the tea. Severus was always up before anyone else and was always successful in bullying Kreacher into doing whatever he wanted.

Already hard at work with his parchment and his books, Severus sat at his desk, a large cup of tea at his elbow. Nodding a good morning at the boys, Hermione hastily grabbed a cup for herself. Just as she was beginning to cross the room to where Severus worked, Harry interrupted her.

"Bloody hell! Where's the blasted cup gone to? It should be right there on the mantle!"

"It was there yesterday," Ron said, also alarmed. "I made a fire-call last night just before bed and it was right there!"

Shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot, Hermione tried to think of something to say that wouldn't start a huge row. "Er...well, you see..."

With a certain wicked glee, Severus took over, and it was clear that he didn't give a fig if he got Hermione into a row. "I had Kreacher hide it," he said conversationally. "I didn't want the stupid little whore to make another attempt to blow herself up. Kreacher!"

Before Harry and Ron could close their gaping mouths, Kreacher scurried into the room. "Yes, dark master?"

"The cup I gave you last night, fetch it and give it to The Whore Who Lived."

In a thrice, Kreacher was back with the cup. He dutifully gave it to Harry, though he made terrible faces while he did so. As soon as Harry retrieved the cup, Kreacher disappeared with a pop.

"I'd keep it away from the little whore, were I you," Severus said in a tone of conspiracy. "You never know when she'll go barking again and attempt to do herself in."

"Hermione," Ron said sternly, "what in blazes did you try to do?"

"Yes, do tell us, Hermione," Harry said just as strongly. "I'd like to know if I can return this to the mantle, or if I'm going to have to hide it again in case you get any more insane urges."

"It wasn't an insane urge!" Hermione snapped. "Someone has to destroy the blasted thing! After careful, logical deliberation, I decided that I was the best choice to do it!"

For the next two hours, Severus Snape smiled wickedly as he worked at his desk while Ron and Harry read Hermione the riot act. It was clear that she wouldn't be making any more such "noble" sacrifices anytime soon.