《Fate Set Right》Chapter 34
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—————S—————
"Yes."
Such a simple word, yet the moment it left Hermione's mouth, it felt as though a dark cloud suddenly dispersed from over his head, taking with it a pressure that left him aching. Severus was off his knee and pulling her into his arms, his mouth on hers so quickly her elated giggles were born on his lips. And he smiled, still kissing her despite the minimal real estate such an expression gave to do so. Her arms were around his neck, and with her secured so snuggly to him, he actually felt buoyant enough to lift her off the ground and twirl her around.
She laughed more, music to his soul, and he set her down and pulled back so he could look at his fiancée, his future wife, his Hermione.
"I thought you were about to break it off," she said, only a bit miffed. She gave him a very light smack on his shoulders, but other than that, she didn't pull her hands away from him.
"I was prepared for it," he replied. "I want to marry you, but I had no idea if you still felt the same. If you wanted to take the next step."
"I have," she said, running her fingers along his hair despite its texture. The touch was reverent, and he nearly felt handsome, despite his physical flaws.
But her touch reminded him of something important. "Then I need to seal the promise," he reminded her, taking her left hand in his right and slipping the ring onto her delicate finger.
The silver ring with its cluster of diamonds around an emerald was a family heirloom that was meant to go to his mother but skipped her when she married Tobias. It was large on Hermione's finger, but it also looked right . He couldn't have imagined tromping off to a jeweler to procure whatever ring was in fashion, not to mention how much he loved the idea of a Prince family ring on her finger when the name he would give her was Snape.
"Severus, it's gorgeous," she breathed, staring at her hand in awe.
"It's not new," he stated.
"I don't care. The fact that ... you had to have gotten it from someone, and I would wager that someone was either your mother or grandmother. The fact that they let you give this to me..."
"Hermione, my mother adores you in her own way, and my grandmother is quite eager to meet you. The ring was practically shoved into my face when I went to the Prince Manor over the holidays to thank my grandmother. I regret that I wasn't able to come to you."
"Severus, you don't need to apologize for our lack of contact, honestly. You were going to see me at the Malfoy party; I don't begrudge you the chance to see your family."
"And that's one of the many reasons I love you," he declared, cupping her cheek and pulling her in for a deep kiss. The hum of approval on his lips only made him pull her closer, practically wrapping her in his robes.
His future wife. He had a future wife! An intelligent, fierce, strong, brave, beautiful future wife to share the rest of his days with. It had never felt so good to know Albus Dumbledore was fallible.
The old coot had been dropping hints and remarks throughout the whole year that made Severus doubt. He didn't believe a word about Sirius Black and knew from being inside his mind that Hermione could practically sit in his lap, and his reaction would be nothing more than a front. But there was Lupin, who he knew from Hermione's confession, had no qualms about making his feelings and intentions known. Hearing Albus say the two had grown close, even after the incident, had given Severus pause. Especially when he and Igor had been permitted to send letters so rarely. And, of course, he caught wind from the headmaster that the romance between Potter and Lily had ended. He had been disappointed but had said that it was inevitable with that damned twinkle in his eyes. Hardly anyone ever stayed with their Hogwarts sweetheart, and had he met any nice young girls in Voldemort's camp?
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When he asked, begged Nikola for the day off to attend Hermione's graduation, he'd worried terribly the whole time that it would be a stupid idea. His master permitted it, pleased his apprentice had passed his examinations with such high results, and Severus had to work up the nerve to Apparate to Hogwarts. And then, when he went to approach Hermione, who looked so lost and alone, he knew the headmaster was staring down at them. He decided, then, to only allow parts of his well-planned speech to go through his mind: ending things. Because he was ending them. He didn't want Hermione as his girlfriend; they were either going to move forward together or go their separate ways.
Severus was completely, utterly thankful she chose to go forward.
"Oi! Get a room, you two," Black's voice called out, bringing Severus back to himself.
He turned to see the Marauders and Lily coming toward them.
"I have one," he whispered to Hermione. "It's rented at the Leaky Cauldron."
"Presumptuous."
"That I was going to need a place to drown my sorrows after your rejection, away from Karkaroff? Yes, I presumed as much. But there are better ways to put it to use now, aren't there?" he said, brushing his nose against her curls and making her giggle.
"Oh, the pair of you are so sweet-looking, it makes me feel sick," Black egged on as they came within proper speaking distance. "You look so happy, and—"
"Is that a ring!" Lily demanded, and Severus enjoyed the instantaneous and various reactions from the onlookers.
Pettigrew frowned thoughtfully but said nothing as he stared toward the lake. Potter looked like a petulant child that didn't get what they thought they deserved. Lily was doe-eyed and near tears, hope alighting her features. Black looked like he didn't know who to be more pleased for. And Lupin, oh, Lupin looked utterly devastated.
"Severus asked me to marry him!" Hermione confirmed gleefully, showing Lily her hand.
"Oh, it's lovely." Lily smiled. "But Sev, honestly? Slytherin colors?" she teased as she handed Hermione's hand to Black.
"I don't think I'd have been a fan of red and gold for myself, to be honest," Hermione said just before Black gave a long, low whistle.
"Goblin-made silver. And they don't cut stones like this anymore. Well done, Snape. I imagine it's a family ring, but this is worth more than most wizards have in Gringotts."
"Which Death Eater did you snatch that from?" Potter snarked, and Severus was surprised to see Black shoot him a derisive look.
"Snape's magical half comes from the Prince family," Pettigrew spoke up. "Isn't that right, Snape? You're part of an old pure-blood line. The last one, I believe."
"I am," he replied, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end as something about the way Pettigrew stood, the way he spoke, seemed quite out of place for him.
Potter scoffed, but said nothing, his eyes falling on Lily.
"Well, heirloom or not, it's beautiful and I cannot be happier for the two of you," Lily said, and Severus regretted that Hermione actually stepped away to embrace their friend and allowed Lily to accost him as well.
"Congratulations, Severus," Lupin said, and despite a wariness from Black, he stepped toward the couple with an offered hand.
Severus looked down at the offered hand, to Lupin, smirked and decked him.
The crack of his fist hitting Lupin's nose was utterly satisfying, the feel of the cartilage breaking wonderfully cathartic. Any time the werewolf had crossed Severus' mind since he read about him kissing Hermione, he thought of what it would be like to show Lupin how the men of Cokeworth dealt with blokes who tried to steal their women. Reality was actually better than the dream.
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"The hell, Snivellus!?" Potter screeched, wand pointed at Severus.
Hermione had her wand drawn nearly as fast as Severus had his, and Black was a beat behind them, making it clear that, should Potter decide to take on Severus, it would be three against one.
"Remus had it coming, Prongs," Black replied, raising his other hand in an attempt to placate his friend. "Not like Severus had a chance to deck him for February before now."
"It's true," Lupin replied. "I'd have done the same."
"It was a kiss," Potter whined like they were being unreasonable.
"It was assault," Hermione chided, turning back to Severus. "Which I already hit him for."
"Yes," Severus acknowledged, knowing that Hermione was implying it wasn't necessary, and not wanting to have to say that it was.
She tried her damnedest not to grin, but she couldn't help it and she shook her head at him.
"Mr. Potter, while I'm aware you're no longer a student, I will kindly ask you to put your wand away," Minerva said as she strode toward them, taking in the scene with a cautious eye. Delia and Bob were behind her, frowning at the Marauders they hadn't met. Bob eyed Lupin's bloody nose with a suspicious glare.
"For you, Professor," Potter relented, holstering his wand and straightening his graduation robes before gesturing for the rest to follow. Only Pettigrew and Lupin obeyed, and Potter seemed genuinely hurt when Black sauntered up to Delia.
"Mrs. McGonagall, lovely as always. No little rascal today?"
"Ollie's with Bob's brother," she replied with a warm smile. "It's good to see you Sirius. You've stayed out of trouble?"
Minerva scoffed loudly, and Black had the good sense to not deny it.
"I believe you're about to gain a son-in-law," he said, clapping Bob on the arm before he stepped past them.
Delia turned to them and beamed, just as Minerva said, "It's 'bout time, lad. Only asked fer permission back in February."
Severus sighed, realizing it might be a bit before he could sneak Hermione off to the Leaky to celebrate.
"I won't allow it," Dumbledore said as simply as he would decline a cup of tea.
"I wasn't asking for your permission," Severus snarled, glaring at the old man. "I'm merely telling you that Hermione and I plan to wed."
"And I won't allow it," Dumbledore repeated. "I have said, time and time again, Severus, that you cannot have attachments. Should something happen, should a choice be presented between Hermione and the greater good—"
"Are you expecting her Occlumency to fail? Or for her to foolishly march into a Death Eater gathering declaring herself a Muggle-born? When will there ever be a choice between Hermione and the greater good?" Severus demanded.
"I'm not sure if your other master will think you're fully loyal if you're mar—"
"My other 'master,' as you so wonderfully refer to him, was so pleased by the news of our pending marriage that he practically demanded Lucius Malfoy hold a party in our honor," Severus spat back. "Because marriage to an old pure-blood family—"
"She's not a pureblood."
"And I'm not an idiot. I know she's not. My mother fucking groomed her so she would appear otherwise. But the Dark Lord thinks she's a lost heir to the Granger pure-blood line, and he's pleased that she's joining the last of the Prince pure-blood line. He wants to celebrate it, as he has all of his followers' unions."
"And you don't find that the least bit suspicious?"
"Why would I?"
"The man does not understand love. He cannot," Dumbledore said as if Severus should suddenly see the error of his ways by such a revelation.
It was, in fact, something Severus tried very hard not to scoff at. Of course the Dark Lord would not understand love.
"He may not understand love, but he understands marital relations and how children are born. And for a blood supremacist, a new generation of purebloods, or nearly so, is something he wants. Most of these marriages are not love matches anyway, so why should it matter?"
"Severus, I'm sorry. You must call off the engagement."
"Like hell," he snapped.
"Then I will have to make sure a wedding cannot take place," he casually threatened.
"And how will you arrange that, exactly? You're neither her guardian nor her caretaker now that she isn't a student. She could apprentice anywhere, so if you think taking that away from her will somehow deter us, it will not. You have no real pull in the Ministry, none that will allow you to falsify records." And there was the subtle change, the hardness in the old man's eye as Severus easily guessed what the bastard was trying to do. "Short of killing her, you cannot stop us."
"There are ways," Dumbledore said with a shrug, his eyes twinkling again as if he had not just tried to interfere with another man's life. "Now, have you news?"
"There were six new initiations three days ago. No one spoke, and because they were what the Dark Lord—"
"Tom," Dumbledore interrupted.
Severus sneered. "What the Dark Lord refers to as ... outer circle. Those who are worthy enough to wear the mask and bare the Mark but are just a special sort of lackey until they can prove themselves. It's what made me realize that there was a reason I and the others were selected for the positions we are in. It's either for talent or money, which leads me to believe the Dark Lord would be crippled if he lost his funding." Here, Severus paused. He'd been debating sharing this with Dumbledore for quite some time, not knowing if the old coot actually knew who his mother was, or the status of his family. But in for Knut ... "I asked my grandmother, Ena Prince, to not give me my inheritance until after my mother passes. She'll continue funding my apprenticeship, that was nonnegotiable, but she agreed. I don't want the Dark Lord to think I can be another bottomless vault he can leech off of."
"And what does Tom need money for?"
"The usual: food, shelter, blackmail. Nothing out of the ordinary."
Dumbledore nodded. "The new Death Eaters?"
"Young," Severus replied. "Newly graduated, only four are Slytherins, from what I could tell by their voices."
"The other two, foreigners?" Dumbledore asked.
"No, English. Familiar, though I don't think I've met them enough to know who they are by voice alone."
Dumbledore stroked his beard as he tilted his head, humming thoughtfully. "Outcasts of their houses, I would wager. Unpopular or poor," he sighed, and Severus refrained from rolling his eyes at the old man's lament. "It is as it is, I suppose."
"Quite," Severus said as the fireplace turned green. Alastor stepped out, shaking soot from his clothes. Severus smiled, a small thing that only lifted the corner of his mouth. He'd developed his Occlumency more over the last year, and now he found himself always wearing a mask, barely showing any emotion unless he was around someone he trusted completely. Hermione, Alastor, and Minerva were about the only ones who'd seen his true range of emotions. The McGonagalls, Black, and Lily were only getting half of him. The rest, well...
Dumbledore fell with the rest, of course.
Alastor saw him sitting in one of the chairs across the headmaster's desk and gave Severus a knowing smirk. It kind of made him look frightening.
"I hear congratulations are in order, Snape," he said as he hobbled toward Severus.
The young wizard stood, taking Alastor's hand. He was a bit taken aback when the grisly Auror pulled him in for a firm, quick embrace with a pat hard enough to knock the wind out of him.
"Alastor, you can't honestly think they should wed," Dumbledore said nonchalantly, though something in his posture said he was certain he could sway Alastor.
"They should," Alastor said. "Know where I heard it from?"
"Min," Severus said, already knowing it was highly likely the witch had been telling anyone and everyone she could that he had asked her permission for Hermione's hand.
"Aside from her," Alastor said, cuffing Severus upside the head good-naturedly. "The Prophet ."
Dumbledore shot Severus a glare, but he shook his head. He had no idea how his engagement had wound up in the Prophet , since he hadn't done it himself. And as happy (and very enthusiastic) as Hermione was over the engagement, he doubted she would have put a notice in the paper without telling him first.
"Seems someone felt the need to have it added to the social section."
His mother? Grandmother? The McGonagalls? Or maybe...
"Narcissa Malfoy," Severus concluded. He looked at Alastor as the man frowned. "Hermione and I were in Diagon Alley, celebrating her graduation and our betrothal, when we ran into the Malfoys. Hermione's ring is an heirloom, Narcissa spotted it and the next thing we knew, we were invited as guests of honor to a party to announce our pending nuptials. Which, I must say, makes it all the more amusing that she would go and put an ad out."
"You're going to attend a function with Death Eaters, and hadn't thought to inform me?" Dumbledore asked.
"To be frank, no. Considering I don't typically attend said functions on your commands, I hadn't thought to mention it. And since, as of now, it's merely a night of too much wine and dancing, I hardly thought it necessary."
Dumbledore stared at him coldly, and Severus stared back. He felt the niggle of intrusion at the edges of his mind and scoffed. Try, old man. Try.
When Dumbledore got nothing but day-to-day nonsense, he nodded and conceded. "Very well. You've made your point, Severus. If something happens, you will inform me at once."
"Of course," Severus agreed, barely keeping the sneer from his face. His ironic bow, however, was too good not to resist. He walked away.
Not marry Hermione? Because the bastard wanted him alone and miserable? No, he would do no such thing. Unless...
The image of his older self in Hermione's mind flashed in his mind: sneering and so utterly displeased with her. It was faded around the edges, but he was starting to see the older version of himself in the mirror every day.
But what if the reason you looked so bloody miserable is because she leaves you? What if Dumbledore convinces her to leave you? She knows the future, she knows you from then, so what if she knows...?
He couldn't finish the thought.
—————H—————
Witches and wizards gathered in their finery, dancing and twirling and mingling in shades of navy, green, gray, and black. The ballroom was exquisitely decorated, reminding Hermione of the Disney films her nana used to watch with her when she was a little girl. There was the heady scent of wine, chocolate, and rich foods mingling in the air, and a wonderful mix of chatter and music. It was wonderful, and it was all for her and Severus. It was also painfully overwhelming.
Her head ached from keeping her Occlumency walls up for so long, all while allowing her happiness to remain skimmable. On top of that, there was the need to remember all of her pure-blood etiquette. Hermione Granger never forgets a thing, of course, but putting on a believable act was much more difficult than she'd anticipated.
Severus was currently with Lucius, Rodolphus Lestrange, and a couple others, and to avoid looking like she couldn't function without him, she hung off to the side. She offered smiles to those who smiled at her, but for the most part, they all left her to herself. She was a Gryffindor, she supposed, a rare find among them this evening. So rare, it seemed, that she didn't recognize anyone from her own house.
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