The Bet: Lion vs. Snake

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters; they are the property of JK Rowling. I am merely obsessed and like to borrow them occasionally, so please do not sue me. I am making absolutely no profit from this story.

A/N: I wish I could travel far and wide to give all those who left reviews a huge hug, but I can't. So everyone who left a review, take a moment to hug yourself, and pretend it's me doing so. Tee hee. The last chapter brought in a new plot twist I had not expected. Severus and Hermione are both so hard-headed, they just wouldn't follow my original plot. They went and made a bet over a Quidditch game without my permission! So this should be interesting, I'm curious to see where it takes me, lol. EnJoY!

Chapter 7

The Bet: Lion vs. Snake

The rest of the week went by without incident, and the entire school was thrilled that the attacks had stopped. Hermione was relieved, although she still couldn't understand why Severus had been sleepwalking in the first place, or how he had been able to stop it from happening again.

On Thursday, Dumbledore announced that the culprit had been caught, although he refused to reveal his identity. He also announced, to a cheering roar from the Gryffindor table, that all the Quidditch trophies had been restored. Hermione knew that Severus had told him what had happened, but she wondered whether or not he had told Dumbledore everything. Did Dumbledore know about them? Somehow, she didn't even care. Usually something like this would have driven her mad, but her mind seemed to have shut down.

Since she had left Severus' office, she had not allowed herself to cry. Hermione had always been a realistic person, and she knew that Severus could never love her. And so the only way she could stop the pain from completely consuming her was to push all of her emotions away. This entire week had been a blur for Hermione. She walked from class to class like a zombie, mindlessly performing her tasks. In Potions, she had sat in the back and stared at her desk or cauldron the entire time. She didn't have the nerve to look at Severus, and in turn he seemed to be ignoring her. He hadn't addressed her or yelled at her all week. Hermione almost hoped he would, any sign of normalcy would have made her feel better.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

By Saturday morning, the entire school was in an uproar. The energy flowing through the halls was affecting everyone. Today there was a Quidditch match, and the two top houses would be going head to head: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Every student and professor in the school was proudly displaying their house colours.

Hermione tried to forget her problems for the day, and she was feeling a little better sitting amongst her classmates in the stands. She had found a seat between Neville and Lavender and cheered with everyone else as the teams made their way onto the field. Harry, Ron, and Ginny were all on the team, so she wanted to be supportive.

"Hey, guys!" screamed Parvati over the roar of the crowd as she made her way over to them. "There's a bet chart going around, and I'm collecting any bets before the game starts. Interested?"

"Yeah!" shrieked Lavender as she dug through her pockets and pulled out her money pouch. "Put me down for eleven Sickles on Gryffindor!" Parvati took her money and turned to Hermione.

"What about you, Hermione? Any bets?" But Hermione wasn't listening; she was staring across the stands where Severus was sitting. I can't believe I forgot! she thought. I already made a bet... I made a bet with Severus!

"Hey, Hermione!" shouted Parvati. "I asked if you wanted to place a bet."

"Huh? Oh, umm, no thanks, Parvati. I already put in a bet," said Hermione, giving her friend a smile. Parvati then turned to Neville, and after he placed a bet, Parvati left. Hermione was still looking at Severus across the stands as the players lined up on the field. Suddenly, Severus looked her way, and their eyes met for the first time in a week. Neither one of them looked away, both lost in their own thoughts. Finally, they were forced to look away because the game had started, and players were blocking their views of each other.

Will he still honour our bet if Gryffindor wins? wondered Hermione. And what if Slytherin wins? Will he expect me to honour our bet?... Will I honour our bet? Hermione never gave her word to anyone without following through on it. She knew that if Slytherin won, she would keep her promise and never speak to the man she loved ever again. A shiver went through her body at that realisation, and Hermione pulled her cloak tighter around her. Of course, if Gryffindor won, she would not expect Severus to keep his word. She didn't want him to keep his word; that would mean that she would be stuck with him for an entire night. An entire torturous, heart-wrenching night.

Finding herself depressed by all these thoughts, Hermione turned her attention back to the game. It had only been a few minutes, but Slytherin had already scored twice, making the score 20-0. For the next hour, the stadium was filled with Slytherin cheers and Gryffindor sneers. The Slytherins were using more than questionable tactics, but poor Madam Hooch wasn't fast enough to catch them all. To make matters worse, Gryffindor had lost one of its Chasers in a Bludger collision. The score now stood at 90-10, in Slytherin's favour. Hermione was praying that Harry would catch the Snitch soon.

Another hour passed, and things did not look any better for Gryffindor. Being one Chaser short was really hurting them, and they just couldn't manage to score. Slytherin's cheating tactics continued, and although Madam Hooch kept penalising them whenever she could, they were quickly making up the lost points. The score stood at 150-10. Hermione was constantly scanning the skies, watching Harry and hoping that he would spot the Snitch first. Suddenly, all at once, everything exploded; the two Seekers were both diving for the Snitch while the Slytherin Chasers headed uncontested towards the goal hoops. And then it happened.

"Slytherin scores! And Harry caught the Snitch! Gryffindor caught the Snitch!" screamed the announcer. "The final score is 160 to 160! We have a tied game! This is unbelievable, ladies and gentlemen! Hogwarts hasn't had a tied game in over twenty-one years!" The Gryffindors erupted into cheers and applause, extremely relieved that they had not lost. The Slytherins on the other hand were extremely angry, and they were shouting insults across the field.

Hermione remained seated, in complete shock, the standing crowd around her completely covering her. What happens now? she wondered. If we tied, then that means that our bet is meaningless, right?... I suppose it's for the best; this way neither one of us has to be put in an awkward position. Hermione then stood up, hoping to get a final glance at Severus to see if she could gauge his reaction, but when she finally saw through the crowd, she found that his seat was empty. Well, I guess that's it then, she thought sadly. It really is over.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Everything was quiet as Hermione made her way through the halls of Hogwarts. The students had been given permission to go to Hogsmeade, and apparently everyone had taken advantage of it, including the professors. Hermione was quickly returning to her depressed self, as she dragged her feet up the stairs towards her room. She was halfway up when she heard it.

"Hermione." A silky drawl carried through the silence to reach her on the stairs. She froze, afraid to turn around and find that she was dreaming. It can't be him. It can't be Severus. This has to be a dream, she thought.

"Hermione, please, look at me." This time she was sure of it; there was no doubt in her mind that Severus was standing behind her. She slowly turned around to find him standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking right at her. His eyes held something that was foreign to him... It almost looked like desperation. But it couldn't be...

"Professor," she said as evenly as possible, although she had a feeling that some of her emotions had leaked out in her voice. "Can I help you with something?" Severus sighed heavily and closed his eyes for a moment, his posture slightly loosening.

"That was an interesting match today," he said plainly as he lifted his head up to look at her again. "I certainly did not expect them to tie."

"Neither did I, Professor," she said politely, still trying to figure out why he was talking to her. Then as an afterthought, she added, "I expect you were disappointed in Slytherin today." He looked at her for a moment, as if considering what she had said.

"I was disappointed," he said with a nod. Hermione just stared, but then a thought occurred to her, He probably wants me to keep my promise anyway. He wants me to promise him that I'll never speak to him again. Why else would he be so nice? As those thoughts went through her head, her eyes began to well up. She closed her eyes to stop the tears from falling, but it was no use. The tears were coming whether she wanted them to or not.

"If you would like, Professor, I will keep my promise to you just the same," she said desolately. If this is what he wanted, she was going to give it to him; it was all she could do for him. "After all, Slytherin did out-perform Gryffindor today. If it weren't for Harry, we would have lost. I will keep my word, and I will never speak to you again, sir."

"Hermione, that is not what I want," said Severus as he shook his head sadly. "As a matter of fact, I came here to concede to you." The shock of his words were evident in Hermione's face. She was about to ask a question, but Severus put a hand up to stop her. "We Slytherin are a despicable bunch, Hermione. We rarely admit defeat, and we will do anything to win. If Madam Hooch had caught all of the fouls my team performed today, we would have lost. So, technically, Gryffindor won today's match." Severus then looked up at her, waiting for a reaction, but it never came. As much as Hermione was shocked, she was even more confused. She honestly had no idea what to do or say.

Realising this, Severus moved up the flight of stairs until he was standing in front of her. He was a step lower than her, but their faces were perfectly even. Severus moved his hand up to her face and gently began wiping the tears from her cheeks. Hermione lifted her head to look at him, and for the first time, she could see compassion in his eyes. His features were so sad. Hermione had never seen Severus like this, and before she realised what she was doing, she had thrown her arms around his neck and started crying uncontrollably into his shoulder. The tears that she had been holding back came flooding out; all the loss and desperation that she had been suppressing all week were finally being released.

Severus wrapped his arms around her tightly, wanting so much to comfort her and protect her from the harshness of the world, to protect her from the cruelty of his world. They stood on the stairs for what seemed an eternity, simply content to be in each other's embrace.

Severus knew that if they stayed there too much longer, though, the students would begin returning, and they would be forced to go their own ways. He didn't think he could bear being away from her, not now, not when she needed him.

"Hermione," he whispered gently in her ear, "come to my room with me." It was not a command, simply a request, but either way Hermione didn't care. She just wanted to be with Severus; she would follow him anywhere he wanted her to. She gently lifted her head off of his shoulder, gave him a soft smile and nodded. She didn't think she could have talked at the moment even if she had tried.

Severus placed his arm around her shoulder protectively as he tenderly led her down to his rooms.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

An hour later, Severus was sitting in his armchair by the fireplace as he watched Hermione fast asleep on the sofa next to him. When they had gotten to his rooms, he had held her while she cried, and finally feeling drained, she had fallen asleep. Severus was now watching her peaceful face as he contemplated the events of the past two weeks.

He had been impressed with this witch for a very long time now. Ever since she had solved his potion riddle to help Harry reach the philosopher's stone back in her first year, he had known she was something special. Her intelligence, meticulousness, and persistence had always amazed him. However, he had never really seen her as a woman - not until that Sunday at Hogsmeade. He had spotted her being dragged through Honeydukes by her two friends and was shocked at her appearance. She had been wearing a one-piece denim dress that was quite form-fitting. He could still picture those long legs, her perfect hips and her ample breasts. This was not the same little girl he had been teaching all these years. How is it that he had never noticed these changes before now?

It did not take Severus long to figure out just how flawless she was. Not only had she blossomed into a gorgeous young woman, but she was also brilliant beyond words. Plus, Hermione had proven her strength and loyalty many times during her years at Hogwarts. Not to mention, that her skills in potions were far above average and could potentially rival his own. Their mutual love of research alone could keep them entertained for hours. If she were mine, I would never let her go, Severus had thought. If she were mine, I would treasure her and care for her as she deserves to be cared for. But even as those thoughts had gone through his head, he had also realised that she was his student, and in reality, she could never be his. He couldn't even allow himself to consider such a possibility.

She would be perfect for me, was the conclusion he had drawn that day. Unfortunately, there is no way she would want a man like me. Not only am I old enough to be her father, but I have been nothing but her bastard Potions professor since she met me. I have been extremely cruel towards her. I'm not sure I would even know how to be nice if I tried. My past holds so many dark secrets, and my life has been so tainted that I am certain no woman could ever want me. Not to mention my horrid looks; if my nose were any larger, it would consume my face. There is no way Hermione would ever want me... but Merlin, I want her.

That's why I went to her room that night, thought Severus now. I so desperately wanted to be near her. But that had been his sub-conscience acting, not him. The real him had pushed the idea completely out of his mind; he had never given it a second thought. His years as a Death Eater had taught him great control over his thoughts and emotions, and his ability to suppress them was uncanny.

However, despite his best efforts, all these feelings had come flooding back when she had met him for her Saturday detention. That outfit she had been wearing was extremely fetching (and the green colour of her shirt had not gone unnoticed). As they had walked up the mountain, he had been keenly aware that she kept falling, and he wanted nothing more than to turn around and help her. But he couldn't allow himself to touch her; if he had, he wasn't sure he would have been able to let go. Her clumsiness should have been aggravating, really, but he couldn't help but find it endearing. In the end, her clumsiness had proved his undoing. The kiss they shared had been like nothing he had ever experienced before, and it had taken everything he had to pull away. Walking away from her crying figure on the floor had been the most painful thing Severus had ever done. He would have taken ten Cruciatus Curses rather than experience the pain he had felt that day. I had to end it, though, he had thought on the way down the mountain. Hermione had no idea what she was doing; she was tired and confused. She will go back to her room tonight and vomit at the memory of it. But Merlin, I've kissed women before... yet it has never been that intense. I must be even more obsessed than I thought.

It was no wonder that his sub-conscience had brought him back to her that night. When he had woken up in her room, he had been so confused and befuddled he hadn't known how to react. Fleeing was the only thing he could do. Her words about 'screaming his name in the throes of passion' had haunted him; he could not make any sense of the situation. When she had shown up at his office so early the next day, he was so ashamed and angry with himself that he could not face her. All he could think about was getting away, but seeing her crying on his office floor reminded him of abandoning her in the cave the day before, and he could not bring himself to send her away.

Hermione's explanation of her sleepwalking theory had made a lot of sense; too much sense to ignore. Severus had wondered why he had been waking up sore and exhausted all week. Every morning when he rolled out of bed, it had felt like he hadn't been sleeping, but rather like he had been running a marathon all night.

Even now, as he sat there watching Hermione sleep, he could still recall with vivid clarity the words she had whispered before leaving his office. How could she possibly love me? he had questioned. She was just young, inexperienced and confused. She only thinks she loves me, was the conclusion he had drawn. However, he had watched her carefully this past week, without her knowing of course, and had witnessed her depressed behaviour and mindless movements. The more he watched her, the more he wondered if maybe she had been telling the truth.

That morning, he had been sitting in the Quidditch stands, remembering the bet they had made. He had asked that she never speak to him again in the hopes that he could then forget about her, and she could move on with her life. Thinking back on it now, he was no longer convinced he had made the right decision. When he had met her eyes across the field, he had found himself wishing that Slytherin would lose. And for the head of Slytherin house to wish for such a thing was crazy desperation indeed. As the Slytherins had scored again and again, Severus had been cursing himself for teaching them such slippery tactics. A sense of relief had overtaken him when the game had tied. In that moment, he made up his mind; he was going to take a chance on Hermione. He had spent his entire life helping others and making sacrifices; and as selfish as it sounded, he wanted something for himself. If she ended up rejecting him or leaving him later on, then so be it; at least he would have tried.

He had walked back into the castle, intent on finding Hermione. As he entered the castle, he had spotted her on the staircase. He had watched her for a moment as she slowly made her way up. Some uncertainty had started to creep into him, but he soon felt the uncontrollable need to call out her name. Severus hadn't even been sure what he was going to say to her, but in that moment he knew the truth. He wanted her, despite consequences. There was no denying what his entire heart, mind, soul, and body were screaming. Do I love her? Of course not, I could never love someone, but I do care about her. I could care about her immensely, given time, was what he had been thinking, right before he wrapped his arms around her.

It had been a little over half an hour since Hermione had fallen asleep, and she was beginning to stir on the sofa next to him. She opened her eyes and stared at Severus; it took her a moment to remember where she was, but as it came back to her, she smiled. Severus moved to sit next to her on the sofa. Hermione remained lying down, looking up into his deep black eyes.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked her softly as he brushed her cheek with his fingers.

"Much better," she whispered as she tentatively placed her hand over his. Severus leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I'm not going anywhere, Hermione," he whispered back to ease the question he knew she must have been thinking.

"Severus, can I ask you something?" asked Hermione hesitantly.

"You may," replied Severus with a nod.

"After I told you about your sleepwalking, it suddenly stopped, and I was just wondering how you did it." Hermione was still worried that it might start up again; she was afraid that this time Severus could hurt himself in the process.

"I'm afraid that I can't explain that to you without telling you how it first started," explained Severus. "The instant that you explained to me that the first attack took place on Saturday night, I knew exactly what had been happening. You see, on Saturday morning, I was in the Forbidden Forest gathering potion ingredients. Unfortunately, I came face-to-face with a centaur.

"I know most centaurs in the forest, as I go there quite often to collect potion ingredients. This particular centaur was named Siyamak, and I knew him to be one of the friendlier centaurs. But friendly or not, centaurs cannot be taken lightly. You must show them great respect or risk your life. I was not in a particularly good mood that day, so I simply ignored him and kept walking. In a few short leaps Siyamak was in front of me, blocking my path. He accused me of being rude and arrogant. My only response was to tell him to get out of my way."

"Oh, Merlin," squeaked Hermione as she sat up abruptly. "Severus, you didn't! How could you do something so dumb? He could have killed you!"

"Believe me, Hermione," his voice full of regret, "I am fully aware of that. It was a foolish thing to do. Fortunately for me, it was Siyamak and not one of the younger centaurs. He simply asked me to apologise and bow before him to show my respect. When I refused, he began uttering some nonsense poem, something about uncontrolled emotions and being cursed under the sky of the moon. It's obvious now that he had placed a curse on me, but at the time I did not realise it. Siyamak then moved from my path and told me that when I wish to get my life back, I simply needed to seek him out and apologise."

"Oh, Severus! You can be such a dunderhead sometimes!" hollered Hermione. Severus cocked his eyebrow at her.

"I believe you are stealing my vocabulary, now," he said in a low growl. "What's the matter, the know-it-all can't think of any original insults?" Hermione simply laughed at this comment. Somehow she thought that his insults were cute and endearing now. She was seeing Severus in a whole new light. Not sure how he would react if she were to talk back, she decided to play it safe.

"So then when I told you about your sleepwalking, you went into the forest and apologised to Siyamak?" asked Hermione, and Severus nodded.

"He found the whole situation quite amusing, actually," said Severus with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "He said he was surprised I had figured it out so soon. Siyamak was even more shocked when I told him I had woken up during one of the events; he explained that it would take an extremely powerful emotion to pull me out of my sleepwalking state." Hermione averted her eyes and tried to hide the smile that was threatening to emerge. Severus' deep chuckle caused her to snap her eyes back to look at him again. He was obviously letting his guard down, so she decided to do the same.

"Now see what happens when you are rude, Severus. It gets you in all sorts of trouble," she said in her best lecturing voice. "Don't you regret it now?" To her surprise, he just smiled at her; she had never seen him smile before, but she liked it.

"Hermione," he said gently, "how can I regret something that brought you into my arms?" Hermione looked at him, astonished.

"You... you want me?" she asked uncertainly.

"I care about you, Hermione," he confirmed tenderly. "I have for a while now. I just wasn't strong enough to admit it to myself, and it took a centaur's curse to help me see it."

"I want you too, Severus," she said without hesitation, "and I always will." Hermione had wanted to tell him that she loved him, but wisely decided that it was far too soon for her to say it. She had whispered it to him in his office, but she doubted he had heard her.

As the two looked into each other's eyes, an understanding formed between them, and they both knew that this was for real. Severus leaned forward and captured her lips in a soft embrace. Their lips slowly explored each other as Severus pulled her into his arms. Hermione parted her lips allowing his tongue to claim her mouth. The fire in her stomach was taking her over as the kiss deepened. Severus relished having her in his arms, yet he wanted so much more. The kiss was quickly intensifying, and Severus realised he was losing control. He slowly pulled away from her lips and placed a few more gentle kisses around her mouth before pulling away completely.

"I do not want to lose you, Hermione," he said, and then added a little more seriously, "However, you are still my student." Hermione was opening her mouth to protest, but he placed a finger over her lips to quiet her. "Don't worry, love, I'm not letting you go, but I do want us to take things slowly. This is the first serious relationship either one of us has ever had; and being student and professor will make things even more complicated." Hermione nodded to show she understood, but she couldn't help smiling at the fact that he had just called her love. He, however, did not seem to have noticed, so she chose not to say anything.

"I think that perhaps it is best that we limit our relationship to kissing," explained Severus, "just until you graduate."

"I'll try, Severus, but I can't promise anything. After all, you are one tempting piece of man-meat," Hermione joked as she winked at him, a sly smirk on her face. "I just might try to seduce you a few times; my self-control isn't all that great, you know,"

Severus chuckled. "You are not going to make this easy on me, are you?"

"Don't worry, Severus," she giggled. "There are only six and a half months left before I graduate."

"Oh, Merlin," moaned Severus, "I don't know if I can last that long." Hermione laughed as she pulled him down for another kiss.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

A/N: Yeah! Finally the two stubborn lovers are together! *tears of joy* Hope you liked this chapter; it was very difficult to put together. Trying to make Severus give in to his feelings while still keeping him in character is very difficult. Please let me know how I did. I always enjoy reading your comments. Even if it's just one word, I really want to know what you think. I know most of you were probably expecting Hermione to win that bet, I'm sorry if I disappointed you, but I felt it was more important for Severus to make the move on his own.

Just two more chapters to go! And a happy holiday to everyone!

Lotsa Love, CyanaWhite