Disclaimer: If only I did own it.

Author's Note: At the end, and large because it includes many acknowledgements to reviewers.

Chapter Five: Math, Science, History...

"Hermione, wait," Ron caught her wrist as she reached the stairs.

She looked pointedly at his hand until he let go of her arm. "Mione, you can't be seriously considering accepting Snape... He's old enough to be your father! And he could hurt you," Ron shifted nervously from one foot to the other as Hermione simply looked at him for a moment.

"Ronald," Hermione's tone made Ron cringe, "I thought we discussed that nickname, as well as exactly how much I loath it."

Ron apologised without looking directly into her eyes. Instead, he suddenly seemed to find his shoes quite interesting indeed.

"Further," Hermione continued, "I truly do not appreciate being told what I can and cannot do. Regardless - the decision that I make will not be influence by anyone. That is, it will not be the choice of Professor Dumbledore, and it will not be your choice, either. In addition, my father is forty-seven years old, and I highly doubt that Professor Snape is nearing that age, not that it matters. Lastly, I believe the Professor has had plenty of time to 'hurt me' in the past six and a half years, if that were his purpose," with that, Hermione left him standing at the bottom of the stairs as she made her way up to her little makeshift study.

Shrinking the contracts to the size of her little finger, she slipped the scrolls into the pocket of her robes. She took a deep breath and descended the stairs again, this time to go in search of Severus Snape.

The man in question had spent several minutes in a virtually silent discussion with the headmaster, both wondering at the girl's meaning.

Dumbledore had finally sighed and said, "She rather reminds me of you at that age, Severus. Only, she has rather seen too much to be innocent."

"Perhaps, Albus," Severus returned, "reminding you of me is not the quality that would be best for Miss Granger," Severus turned for the door.

"Severus?" Albus stopped him briefly, "perhaps you should learn her first name."

Severus merely raised an eyebrow as he swept off to the kitchen. IF ever there was an evening requiring coffee, it would be this one.

When Hermione found him, Snape was unfortunately not alone. Seated in various positions around the room were Remus, Kingsley, Sirius, Molly, and Tonks. The man himself was drinking what appeared to be very strong , from the expression on his face.

"Professor?" Hermione intoned from the door. The attention in the room seemed to very carefully not turn to her or shift to him.

"Miss Granger?" he returned, before taking another sip of coffee.

"I wondered, sir, if I could have a word," Her eyes took in the other occupants of the room before she finished the thought, "privately."

Severus drained his coffee and nodded, following her from the room.

She slid the parlour doors closed behind them before turning to face him. "Your father," she began, "he-"

Severus cut her off, "Is quite fixated on the idea of my producing heirs to the family name and holdings. Being particularly nasty and troublesome and meddling in the rest of my life is merely a bonus for him. He has attempted to use you as a pawn to both ends." He was looking at her quite closely.

"Hermione nodded slowly at this, "And your mother?" she queried.

"is, I believe, taking some measure of wicked pleasure from this. She has a rather twisted sense of humour," he was almost murmuring the last to himself.

"What are Ron's chances, or mine, if we were to attempt to thwart the other bids?" she asked

The Professor didn't look up as he asked, "How many were there?"

"Nine, without yours or Ron's," she responded.

"Three weeks, perhaps. A month, at most. Two weeks if Lucius acts on his own," Severus Snape looked at her, not with pity, but comprehension of the difficulty.

She merely nodded again, taking a seat near the coffee table, "Perhaps I should just leave the magical world and go into hiding with my parents," she murmured

Severus gave her a hard look as he spoke " You would never stand a chance without magic, Miss Granger. Not against Death Eaters, and particularly not against an angry and vengeful Lucius Malfoy. It would be foolish to consider it, as well as wholly unnecessary."

"What else is there, then?" she asked, "I couldn't possibly ask you to-"

Again the Professor cut her off, "I do not believe that it is traditionally the woman who does the asking, Miss Granger, so I would hope not," he said.

Was this Snape-humour, she wondered? She looked up, hearing what she thought was a trace of amusement behind his words. "I could not possibly ask you to place yourself in such a position," she finished, firmly.

Severus began to speak softly, facing away from her, "My father is an insufferable nuisance. However, I see absolutely no reason you should not take advantage of that fact. Certainly, there is no need to ask me to put myself in a position that I am offering to assume."

Hermione's head snapped up and she stared at her Professor's back for a moment.

Receiving no response, Severus continued, "In any scenario, your parents will need to be protected regardless, Miss Granger."

"I warded the house heavily before I returned to Hogwarts this year. My parents are quite fine. Barring the Fidelius Charm, they could not be safer." she returned.

The silence in the room was weighted and thick for a long moment.

"There are several reasons," Hermione said suddenly, "I want a career that requires me to have my freedom. You are a Death Eater for all intents and purposes. I'm at least eighteen years your junior. My parents would never even remotely agree to the idea. And, quite frankly, I'm impossible to live with," she hadn't yet moved at all, "I also happen to be your student, in case we've all forgotten that little detail," she finished.

Severus looked mildly amused, "What makes you believe you wouldn't have that freedom? Perhaps you haven't noticed, but in the midst of this war, ages seem to matter even less than usual in the Wizarding World. And I assure you, you could not possibly be more difficult to live with than I am, having lived alone since leaving school."

Hermione suppressed a small snort and then asked, "And the fact that I am your student?"

"I'm sure there is a way to use that to a general advantage," he responded silkily.

"Hmph. A student and teacher will cause an uproar," she bit out.

"And isn't that what you are quite good at, Miss Granger? Causing uproars?"

She studied him quietly for a moment, before a slight smirk began to appear on her face. Beyond that, it was decided as quietly and smoothly as one could possibly expect from one very stubborn, barely adult witch who was trapped and one grumpy potions professor that most considered more of a punishment to encounter than Voldemort.

Which, as one would know by now, is not very quietly or smoothly, when one is contained within a house full of redheads, one of whom has put forth a countering offer of marriage. For Ron, listening outside the door wasn't a matter of right or wrong, it was a matter of what he felt he wanted, and thus had to have. So midnight found one Harry Potter and one Ronald Weasley witnessing the engagement of their most detested mentor and their closest friend. Upon hearing no response from his female companion, Mr. Weasley thought it would be wise, for some reason, to burst through the parlour doors and shout, at the top of his lungs, "YOU CAN'T ACCEPT HIM, MIONE, YOU BELONG TO ME!" with no warning. ...only to trip and fall on his face once having the words out of his mouth.

Hermione Granger sat down heavily on an armchair and put her face in her hands. What in Merlin's name could she have possibly done to offend the heavens so throughly? This thought was the one that made her rise and carry herself up the stairs to her bed for the evening. All the excitement and upset could surely wait for the next morning to break loose, couldn't it? If it could not, well, that was simply too bad! Hermione was going to sleep.

Author's Note: (warning, long. Very long) I want to take a few (many) lines to thank all of you for reviewing and adding this story to your favourites and Author Alert lists. And perhaps a small suggestion. Without further procrastination, let us begin:

Bella: who knows who she is. Thank you, darling girl, I love you dearly, and I hope to speak to you about this again soon!

d0nquxi0te: I'm so glad you think so! And I'll be continuing just as soon as I can.

HappeeGoLuckee: Happy that you like it! I'm trying very hard to continue, but I haven't got a Beta for the story any longer, and ex roommates burned all my notes and outlines!

Bella's-Choice: On the verge of loving it? That is high praise indeed! So glad that you think it's interesting, and I know I didn't update 'soon', but I did update three times in three days, so I hope you come back!

LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL: You think it's brilliant and amazing? I... you, my friend, have just made me blush. I hope you liked this chapter!

use2b2t2: SO glad you liked it! I hope you'll like this as well, it begins to be... more intense from here on. Oh, and do you prefer to be addressed as your username, or as 'Mare'? I wouldn't want to offend.

EEG: I'm blushing again. Thank you so very much for telling me that you appreciate my work! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much!

CrazyBlonde-SupernaturalRocks: Oh, you are sweet! Thank you dearly, the reviews are helping motivate me a great deal! I'll try to update as soon as I can.

And last, but certainly not least:

Loyd1989: I really... don't know how to respond to you... You're wonderful for my ego, what's left of it! Devoured? Maturely written? The characterisation is somewhat working? Really? My word... I hope I haven't disappointed you with this latest chapter, because you may very well have earned my lifelong devotion. I think Snape is misunderstood in many fics, but I do try to stay true to his character, and Hermione is my favourite of all, so I hope that I don't butcher her. Please, let me know what you think of this chapter as well!

And now for the list of people who have either favourited or put this story on alert lists, you have my deepest thanks, truly. Thank you to:

2angelwings, LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL, lullabyexgoodnight, Slam2k, use2b2t2, xteamxjacobxbabyx, CrazyBlonde-SupernaturalRocks, kbox8, MEL799, Michaela1153, and MrsDSalvatore

And very last of all, I would ask those of you who read this story to please, go read my other little story Daylight Robbery. It's an Alternate Universe/parody type thing, written in short little chapters, and meant purely to entertain. Something light and hopefully funny, for when this story starts to get more intense and less... happy.

You have all given me some motivation, and I appreciate every one of you. I read each and every review, and respond to them all as well. I feed off of the reactions to my writing, it's the only thing that makes me finish anything!

and please, everyone: Read & Review! It's extraordinarily motivating to my writing. (My muse is Blaise, he's mildly lazy, and a bit of an attention hog.)

-Anda, very happily, and thankful.