3. Suspicions

Chapter Three: Suspicions

Albus Dumbledore was in a rare mood, not at all his usual smug self. All right, he had to admit that he was feeling a bit smug about Severus and Hermione finally finding their way into each other's arms. After all, he had seen that one coming for quite some time. That boy was quite transparent to him, even if he seemed elusive to everyone else. And it was about damn time, too. He was quite sure Severus was going to blow a gasket someday and soon. If anyone was in urgent need of a good shag, it was Severus Snape.

Actually, the headmaster had been quite shocked and upset when he heard Severus' claim that there was a spy at Hogwarts. How could he have been so naïve? He had been so sure that his wards were invincible, that all the charmed minutiae that littered the castle were impervious to tampering. It would have taken someone with much time and patient determination to discover the counter spell for each one. He felt positively foolish. For a brief moment or two, his self-imposed anger battled with the self-satisfaction he felt at his ex-students' budding relationship. He sat sipping his lemon-infused tea, and eventually, as was his wont, the happier emotions bubbled to the surface. After all, he reasoned, now that he was aware a spy existed, they were really in less danger and could even use the knowledge to their advantage.

Severus surged into the kitchen with Hermione following in his wake. Their movements complement each other perfectly, Albus mused as he observed the two take seats on opposite sides of the table, facing each other. Severus, as usual, played to the dramatic, entering a room like a dark and ominous tempest, ready at any given moment to whip things into a frenzy. Hermione, on the other hand, was the calming presence, the eye in the middle of the storm. Albus was beside himself with sheer joy, and his eyes glittered and sparkled across the table at the couple.

Severus rolled his eyes at the elder man. Honestly, why the bloody old buzzard found his sex life so sodding interesting was beyond him. He will probably claim that he "saw it coming" and it was "about damn time he had a good shag" and all that. Bloody old fool. Perhaps if Albus Dumbledore would go and have himself a good shag, he would stop interfering in everyone else's love lives.

He looked across the table at Hermione, who was down to business as usual. Her unruly curls cascaded down her back, reminding him of how they felt tangled in his fists as her talented lips surrounded his cock. The memory only served to make him inconveniently hard again. Albus' twinkling glance, however, curtailed it in an instant. Albus Dumbledore could be a poster boy for impotence as a form of birth control. Without a doubt.

"Well, children." The headmaster beamed at each in turn. "This is a serious situation, but I believe it can be used to our advantage if we can find out who the spy is. Severus, I assume you did not see or hear anything that can help us?"

"Unfortunately not," he responded ruefully. "It was spoken of, but I never saw the individual. After last night, it is quite obvious that the Dark Lord does not trust me in the slightest and, in fact, has probably been uncertain of my loyalty for quite some time. It goes without saying that when it is discovered I am still alive, there will be consequences."

The headmaster sat silent for a long moment, his chin resting on his steepled fingers. The cogs were turning double-time in that old brain of his. He desperately wanted to retain Severus as a spy, but he just could not see how to do it without risking the younger man's life.

"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione spoke urgently in a whisper. "You cannot send him back. I...I won't let him go. He will be killed. I...you simply cannot do that to him."

Albus swiveled his gaze in her direction. Such fortitude in such a small frame. A true Gryffindor. He had no doubt that she would do anything in her power to prevent him from using Severus as a spy. Albus sighed deeply.

"No. No, my child, I will not send him back," he replied, slightly defeated but knowing that he could not in good conscience do so. Removing his spectacles, he massaged the bridge of his nose, trying to think, to remember anything, any little detail that would guide him in the right direction. Obviously he had missed something. Whoever the spy was, he was good.

"The way I see it," Severus spoke finally, "we have two candidates: it must be either Pucey or Higgs. You took them both on within the last year, and I cannot imagine that this has gone on for much longer than that. My suspicions, of course, rest with Higgs."

"Or," Hermione said slowly, eyes widening, "it could be Penelope Clearwater."

"Miss Clearwater?" Severus countered sharply. "Whatever makes you think it is Miss Clearwater? She was a Ravenclaw, for Merlin's sake. She is so timid, so innocent, so incapable of..."

"But, Severus, have you forgotten?" Albus interrupted. "Miss Clearwater's parents were both in Slytherin before they were killed and she was adopted by her Muggle relatives. In fact, her father was a suspected Death Eater up until Tom killed him. It was not a well-known or even widely-advertised fact. I believe that our Miss Clearwater definitely has a motive and the ability to carry out something like this. She certainly is quite clever, and I prefer to believe that it would take someone with her level of intelligence to break my wards and disable my charms."

The room fell silent as each member pondered the possibility.

Their ruminations, however, were shattered quite rudely when Harry threw open the kitchen door and unceremoniously dumped his satchel and broom in the corner. He looked and smelled like he had not showered for at least two weeks.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione scolded. "Why do you always have to leave your things lying about?"

"That's what house-elves are for, aren't they? Winky! Where is she anyway?" Harry smiled. He loved to tease Hermione. He went over to give her a giant hug.

"Oh, no, you don't, Mister Potter!" she squealed. "You are not getting a hug from me until you take a long, hot bath with lots of bubbles. What have you been doing anyway? Sleeping in a dragon's lair?"

"You're not too far off," Harry laughed. He backed off under the pretense of desperately needing some tea. He poured himself a cup and glanced at the trio sitting around the table. "So, please enlighten me. To what do I owe the pleasure of having both the headmaster and Potions-professor-slash-double-agent present in my kitchen?"

Severus opened his mouth to exact a most fitting reply when he felt a firm foot connect with his shin. He closed his mouth promptly and glared at the admittedly beautiful offender seated across from him. He exaggeratedly mouthed a silent "What?!" in her direction. His demeanor was anything but innocent.

Oh, but leave it to Albus to muck things up. If they had been paying attention rather than making eyes at each other, perhaps Severus or Hermione could have stopped the next words out of the headmaster's mouth. But, alas, they were not so fortunate.

"Ah, my dear Harry," the headmaster laughed. "And why, pray tell, should I not join such a lovely couple for breakfast?"

Harry looked up sharply at the headmaster, meeting those ever-twinkling eyes. The horrified expressions on both Hermione's and Professor Snape's faces told the rest of the story. Harry spluttered tea out of his nose, choking and gasping for breath.

"Couple?" he hacked out between laboured breaths. "Couple?! Since when are you two a couple? Hermione?" Harry looked at her, and then the panic set in. "It is definitely not nice to play a joke on me when I haven't had any sleep in over two days. Oh, that's it: I'm hallucinating! It's the only thing that makes sense!"

"Severus, close your mouth. It is quite unbecoming of someone your stature," Albus chuckled. He was enjoying this immensely. Severus' mouth snapped shut as he glared at the old man. If ever he had felt like using an unforgivable on someone, now was certainly the time.

"Harry, calm down," Hermione soothed, trying to dispel some of the tension that had crept into the room.

"No way, 'Mione. I will not calm down," he snapped. "Professor Dumbledore has just told me that my best friend is involved with...with...with this..."

"Harry Potter," she began to scold in her most motherly voice, but got no further when the other half of the "couple" decided to put in his two cents.

"Oh, do get a grip on yourself, Mister Potter," Severus began. "I cannot see what is so distasteful about your best friend and...what was it you wanted to say? Let me wager a guess. Giant overgrown bat? Greasy git? Whatever your preference is this week, Mister Potter, you insult your so-called best friend by neglecting to notice that she is a positively attractive woman. Yes, Potter, even to a man like myself. I honestly believe it has been her misfortune to be surrounded by dimwitted boys like yourself who cannot see past their own self-important noses long enough to discover how completely and utterly irresistible she is. I, for one, am finding it quite impossible not to snog her senseless at every possible opportunity."

Hermione gaped at Severus in shock.

"Please close your mouth, Miss Granger. It is unbecoming of someone your stature," Severus mimicked the headmaster's earlier admonishment.

"Right, then," Hermione added with a smirk, still looking straight into her temperamental lover's eyes. "I suppose you had better get used to it, Harry. It seems I quite fancy this...what did you say Severus? Overgrown bat?"

Looking slightly green, Harry rolled his eyes as Hermione and Severus exchanged glances. The headmaster was even less helpful, laughing and twinkling and shrugging his shoulders. Harry excused himself, abandoning his tea for that long, hot shower.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In Hermione's opinion, it took unforgivably long for the headmaster to take his leave. She had a sneaking suspicion, actually, that he took his sweet time just to torture them. After Severus' little speech to Harry at the kitchen table, her hormones were in overdrive. No man had ever said anything like that about her, or to her, before. She felt most certain that a small token of appreciation was in order.

As soon as Albus disappeared through the kitchen door, Hermione turned to Severus with a predatory look in her eyes. Smirking, he looked down his nose at her as she slowly backed him up against the counter.

"Is there something I can do for you, Miss Granger?" he purred as her body pressed up against his.

"As a matter of fact, there is," she hissed as she reached up, pulled him down, and attacked his mouth with unabashed enthusiasm.

Severus grabbed her around the waist and pulled her closer as his lips fought back with equal fervor and his heated tongue insistently wound its way into her mouth. His arousal pushed against her stomach and he growled as she mewled into his mouth. She could feel Severus' inner war, wanting desperately to have her right then and there. Hermione suddenly found herself lifted onto the countertop, her knees spread, and a darkly handsome man with a very persistent erection pressed between her legs.

"Severus, not here," she gasped between kisses.

"Hmmmm. You are quite right, my dear. We wouldn't want to further damage Mister Potter's delicate sensibilities, now would we?"

Hitching her legs about his waist, he locked his lips onto hers and stumbled toward the kitchen door to continue what had been started in his room without interruption. He tried valiantly to retain his dignity, but it was terribly difficult with a woman attached to him in such a manner. He shoved the door open with his hip, letting it bang against the wall and proceeded through, only to run into a short, rather rotund woman bustling toward the kitchen.

"Oh! Oh, dear!" the woman exclaimed.

Severus and Hermione released each other's mouths instantly at the sound of Molly Weasley's voice. She stared at them in utter shock, her face red as a beet, and her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Severus chuckled as he dropped Hermione to her feet beside him.

"Oh! Mrs. Weasley, good to see you," Hermione squeaked, her voice at least a fifth of an octave higher than it usually was. It was all Severus could do not to shock the poor woman further and laugh outright. He wouldn't want to ruin his reputation, after all.

"You, too. You, too," Molly sputtered as she spun and quickly disappeared into the kitchen. "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" was all the two heard as the door swung shut behind her.

"I suppose we can be absolutely, positively sure everyone will know about us now." Hermione grinned as she grabbed the lapels of Severus' shirt and pulled him down to her once again. "Now, where were we?"

"I believe," Severus muttered as he planted kisses around the edge of her earlobe, "that we were just about here. And here. And here."

"But, my dear Severus, you most surely have forgotten. I believe we were right about here." She grabbed his balls, squeezing them lightly and running her palm up his considerable length. He groaned and closed his eyes as his firm length jumped in her hand.

"Well, then, let us most certainly pick up where we left off, shall we?" he murmured as he picked her up once more and headed for his room.

~End Chapter Three