When the Stars Fall

NINE: Snape's Observations

News about Hermione's outburst spread throughout Hogwarts. By lunch she was a celebrity. Colin Creevey even wanted a photograph. The entire student body (with the exception of the Slytherins, for obvious reasons) was in awe of her. She told Ron and Harry that Gryffindor had lost seventy-five points and that she had a mysterious detention.

Ron's mouth fell open. "You mean Snape isn't going to McGonagall to request your immediate expulsion? I thought for such you'd be sent packing!"

She motioned for Harry and Ron to lean in closer. They did and Hermione spoke in hushed tones, "Snape is an unregistered thought-reader, like us. He doesn't want anyone to know. Oh, and I asked him about his son..."

"Bloody hell! You didn't!" Ron practically bellowed.

Harry shot him a look and said, "Lower your voice and let her finish."

"Well, you can imagine the shock effect that had, but he recovered quickly, and gave me detention on Thursday night at eight o'clock. Of course we never discussed the terms and conditions of my detention," she finished and then took a sip of her pumpkin juice.

"Knowing Snape it will be awful. He's good with cruel and unusual punishment. Just hope he doesn't hand you over to Filch to serve detention. Filch likes watching students polish all the awards and trophies this place has won over the years. I never want to look at another dirty trophy in my life," Ron shuddered at the memory of the detention he served with Filch when he'd been a second year.

"Enough about detention. Did you say Snape was a thought-reader?" Harry asked.

Hermione smiled approvingly. "Good to know that one of you can stay on task. That's precisely what I said..."

Before Hermione could continue however, McGonagall came out of nowhere, tapped Hermione on the shoulder, and demanded a word from her. Hermione blushed and looked at Harry and Ron. She looked terrified, and then she glanced at the Slytherin table and saw the dread in Draco's eyes. His knuckles were white from the grip he had on his goblet of pumpkin juice. She shook her head, hoping that he got the message to stay out of it.

Draco nodded and then noticing how the Slytherin table looked from him to Hermione he took a deep breath and then sneered, "Oh, look, Potter, your little pet mudblood is going to get kicked out. How apt. It's justly deserved. How dare a filthy little mudblood strike a respected professor? Pity, now how are you and Weasley going to pass your N.E.W.T.S?"

The remark cut Hermione to the bone, but she knew he had to do it. She noticed Ron and Harry stiffen, turn toward the Slytherin table, and glare at Draco.

"Say that again you great bouncing ferret! Call her that again!" Ron shouted from across the dining hall.

"Aw, does ickle Weasel have a crush on the mudblood? Do something with all these people present. Well, come on!" Draco said with a laugh, although the laughter never reached his eyes.

Ron jumped up from the table and started toward Malfoy in a rush. Before Harry realized what was happening Ron froze and fell to the floor like a great statue. Harry rushed over and noticed Ron's eyes moving around frantically. Harry looked up and saw Hermione holding out her wand and trembling. Malfoy was looking at Hermione too. She'd just put a spell on one of her best friends to spare her him from a justly deserved punch in the face. She'd put Weasley in a full body bind. It had happened so fast that hardly anyone had heard her say, "Petrificus Totalis!"

McGonagall looked at Hermione in a moment of shock, then she turned to Harry and said, "Well don't just stand there, get him to the hospital wing. As for you Miss Granger, my office immediately, Mr. Malfoy, I will send for you next."

From the staff table Snape watched the entire incident with interest. He was curious about the sudden change in Granger's behavior, and he noticed that she'd put the spell on Weasley to protect Malfoy. Suspicion filled Snape. What did the girl know? What was going on? He knew he was close to figuring it out. It was right under his nose, he just had to put it all together.

He watched as McGonagall led the girl through the doors and into the hallway. Granger turned around and mouthed the words, "I am so sorry." No doubt to Potter to relay the message to Weasley. Yes, something was indeed going on and Snape would find out soon enough.

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Hermione didn't show up for dinner that night, which filled Harry with fear and dread for her. He could understand why she'd stopped Ron, although, it was hard to believe she'd done it for Malfoy. The entire school was speculating on what was going to happen to Hermione. When they didn't see her at dinner they were certain that she'd been expelled. Harry was the first to return to Gryffindor, having left dinner early. Ron was still in the hospital wing, so Harry entered Gryffindor tower alone. Much to his surprise Hermione was there. She was sitting in one of the plush red velvet chairs by the fire, and she looked highly distraught.

Harry rushed over, threw his arms around her, and said, "You're still here! I thought you'd been expelled for certain!"

She looked up with tears in her eyes. "That was such a stupid thing to do. How is Ron?"

"He'll get the feeling back in his legs by tomorrow. He's a bit miffed about the idea of you putting him in a full body bind, but he'll come around in a few days or so. So what did McGonagall say?" Harry let go of her and sat in the chair across from her, relief flooding through him. He was glad to know that she wasn't being expelled.

"She wanted to know about my conduct in Potions. Apparently Snape won't tell her a thing about what happened and all she knows are the rumors that are going around the school. She even went as far as to ask if I was planning on poisoning the Potions Master. I almost choked. Then, of course, she wanted to know why I'd used such a drastic spell to stop Ron from attacking Malfoy. As you can imagine, that was not easy to answer. I simply said I didn't want Ron getting into any more trouble. She didn't seem satisfied with my answers, but she didn't question me any further. Oh, she also took an addition twenty points from Gryffindor, and gave me two additional detentions to be served with Snape," Hermione answered.

"At least you're still here though. You haven't been expelled," Harry replied.

Hermione snorted. "But it's only a matter of time at the current rate I'm going!"

Harry and Hermione talked for a long time. Discussing the sorts of torture Snape was devising for Hermione's detentions, and speculating on when Ron would ever forgive her. Harry even told her some of the funny things that Dudley did at home, considering how thick the git was he would do anything if it involved sweets. Hermione was laughing by the time the rest of the Gryffindors entered the common room. The Gryffindors, however, just looked at her in fear. She'd turned on them. She'd put a spell on Ron, who was only defending her.

Hermione got up and approached Ginny Weasley, but Ginny just glared at her, then spat out, "How could you do that to Ron? He was only going to put Malfoy straight for insulting you!"

"Ginny, wait you don't understand," Hermione called after the girl as Ginny ran up the stairs and to her dormitory.

Everyone else just sort of turned their backs on her and talked in hushed tones. Harry walked up to Hermione and put his arm on her shoulder. She pushed away from him and ran up the stairs to her dormitory. Once there she slammed the door shut behind, crawled into her bed, closed the curtains, curled up on the mattress, clutched her pillow, and cried. She'd never meant to hurt Ron. Why did it seem as though following her heart meant betraying people she cared about. Then she recalled Draco calling her a filthy little mudblood. She cried even harder at that, although she knew it had been necessary. It was obvious that the other Slytherins were growing suspicious of Draco. Still the insult had hurt.

Eventually exhaustion sunk in, and Hermione fell into a restless sleep.

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Thursday had arrived quickly enough. As it was, Hermione had Double Potions, Ron wasn't speaking to her, and all of the Gryffindors seemed to be afraid of her. What made Double Potions considerably more dreadful than usual was the fact that Snape was going to have them make a potion to make a person reveal their innermost secrets. He would certainly want the students to test their potions.

As she entered the class she noticed how the Gryffindors all looked down at their tables or in their books, while the Slytherins glared at her. She took the empty seat next to Neville and sighed. Neville looked at her nervously, but didn't dare say a word. He might have had a short memory, but he could recall the time when Hermione had put him in a full body bind back when they'd been first years.

Soon the bell rang and Snape entered the room. Class began. They were beginning to gather ingredients, crush herbs, and put them in their cauldrons to brew the potions that would supposedly make a person reveal their innermost secrets. Snape walked through the aisles over looking the progress of each student's potion. He complimented Malfoy, criticized Harry and Ron, badgered poor Neville and then stopped dead at Hermione's caldron. She'd just finished cutting up some dried adder's tongue to add to her potion, she'd used her right hand to brush them into her left, and that was how Snape had noticed the mark, the crescent scar on her left palm.

He grabbed her hand, the dried adder's tongue falling on the floor. All eyes turned to Snape and Hermione. His eyes glared at the scar and then he met her toffee brown eyes with a piercing black gaze, a chill ran up her spine. He finally let go of her hand, practically threw it down, and then growled, "Granger, my office now!"

The class was silent as Hermione slowly trudged towards Snape's office and he stalked after her. She walked in and then he turned to the class and snapped, "Continue with the potions! They will be tested by the end of class!"

With that he slammed the door of his office shut and went to sit behind his desk. His black eyes met her toffee ones again and he took his chin in his hand and watched her, he looked as though he were lost in deep thought. Silence filled the office, as dread filled Hermione. Finally he slapped his hands down on his desk causing her to jump and then his eyes darted to her left hand and he said, "So which one is it? Who is the father of the dreadful child you're carrying?"

"Excuse me?" she snapped and then stood up, anger outweighing her fear.

"I assume it would be Potter or Weasley. And what other reason would you have for such a hasty marriage? Love?" he said with a derisive laugh.

"I'm not pregnant! And I did NOT marry Harry or Ron!"

"Oh, then who was it? Longbottom? Or was it someone from another house? You do know the rule of Hogwarts that states all married students must be in the same house? It must have been done over the summer... You didn't marry a muggle using such a powerful wizard ceremony? I'm sure you're aware of the consequences of doing so," Snape was almost gleeful.

"I didn't marry Neville, and I didn't marry a muggle. Why should it concern you anyway?" she snapped.

He glared at her. "Do not take such an insolent tone with me. I know you're hiding something. So whom are you protecting? Tell me now and there will be no consequences."

"I can't! Now either give me another detention or send me back to class so that I may finish with my potion. I really need to add my adder's tongue."

"Very well, we shall discuss this further tonight, during your detention. But I'm telling you now that it is best to tell me who this groom of yours is. Protecting him will not help you," Snape said as Hermione walked out of his office.

Unfortunately she'd had the door open as he'd mentioned her having a groom. All eyes were on her, and then a pug faced Slytherin girl named Pansy Parkinson said, "Her have a groom? Who would marry something as filthy as a mudblood like her?"

Draco had to bite his tongue and clutch the table to keep from saying something or walking over to Pansy Parkinson and putting a dent in her pug face. Both Harry and Ron looked worriedly at Hermione, Ron having forgotten the incident involving the body bind, and Neville just looked at her with his mouth hanging open in shock. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan (of Gryffindor) looked from Hermione to Harry and Ron and were wondering which one she'd married. They whispered back and forth, a bet started between them. Dean put his money on Ron being her husband, and Seamus put his money on Harry.

By the end of class everyone knew that Crabbe slept with a teddy bear, and Neville had started sprouting scales because he'd added adder's fang instead of adder's tongue to his potion. Snape sent Neville to the hospital wing and deducted ten points from Gryffindor for "Longbottom's blunder", and then the bell rang. The students were speculating about Hermione once again, this time wondering about this mysterious groom they'd heard Snape mention as she'd been walking out of his office.

That day didn't seem to pass by quickly enough for Hermione after that. It seemed that every corridor she walked through people gawked at her and spoke in hushed tones. At lunch, several Gryffindors asked her about her husband and gave speculative glances toward Ron and Harry, but Hermione told them that she hadn't married Harry or Ron.

At dinnertime Hermione went to the library instead of Great Hall. She didn't want to endure any more questions regarding the rumors about her or her marriage. In the library she did some research on thought-readers and found some pretty interesting cases of thought-readers. According to one of the books she'd found Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of the Ravenclaw house had been a thought-reader, she thought that it was peculiar that something like that hadn't been in Hogwarts a History.

After a while a thought occurred to her. She looked at the clock over the door of the library and nearly choked. It was two minutes until eight. She quickly went to the counter, checked out the books, and made a mad dash to the dungeons where Snape and his office were located. She barely made it on time. Snape looked up from the book he'd been reading, snapped it shut, and then made a gesture for her to sit down. She looked at him suspiciously and then took a seat.

"Well, Miss Granger, or should I change your title to Mrs.? Are you going to reveal your groom?"

She shook her head. "I can't tell you who he is. He and I both agreed to keep it a secret."

"I suppose now would be a good time to test your secrets revealing potion then. I took the liberty of taking a draught from your potion. I assume that you have no fear of drinking it?" his voice was icy.

Her eyes widened. "Why do you want to know? It's not important!"

"I will decide what is and isn't important. If it isn't important, then you would have given me his name!" Snape snarled.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Draco walked into Snape's office. He looked at Hermione and then turned to Snape. "You wanted to see me?"

Snape sneered. "Yes, we are going to test the effects of Miss Granger's secrets revealing potion and then the two of you are going to be working on an antidote for hemlock. I assume it would be a fit punishment for Granger to work with you since she detests your company, although it's a pity that you must suffer her company in turn. I'm sure you would do your utmost to make her as miserable as possible though."

"Why would you make such an assumption? And you don't have to test her secrets revealing potion to find out who she's protecting," Draco said.

"What? Who is she protecting?" Snape asked in bewilderment.

"Me," Draco answered.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Snape snapped.

Draco smirked and then held up his left hand. Snape's eyes widened as he stared at the crescent scar on Draco's left palm, it was identical to the one on Hermione's left palm. He leaned back in his chair, completely silent for a few moments.

"You fool. Have you any idea what the Lunari Ceremony means? You will never be rid of her! You're bound to her for the rest of your life, and look at how you've hated her for the past six years. There is no escaping or undoing this. How did this even happen?" Snape's voice shook in anger.

Draco looked at Hermione and then she spoke, "Professor, I know you're on Dumbledore's side and he trusts you a great deal, so I'll put my faith in Dumbledore's judgment. Draco and I got married this summer. He's been living with me since he ran away. I found him unconscious at my front door and I couldn't leave him there. Then a couple of days later he..."

"I asked her to marry me. My father wanted me to take the dark mark, but I don't want to follow in his footsteps. I know he's on the losing side of the battle and I'm not like him. I've never truly been like him. I've questioned my faith in my father for a long time. I heard him plotting the murder of Hermione at the beginning of the summer. He wanted me to be the one to kill her. I couldn't, so I ran away and somehow ended up on her doorstep. I asked her to marry me because I knew my father would disown me for it. However, it's more complicated now," Draco finished for her.

"And why is that, Mr. Malfoy?" Snape asked, his eyebrow rose in curiosity.

Draco looked up at him with narrow eyes. "Because I care about her. You don't know what she's done for me, what she sacrificed. That's why I don't want anyone to know about our marriage. If my father found out, he would no doubt disown me, but he would probably want to kill us. It's bad enough that he's plotting her death, but he would go through with it more quickly if he knew."

"You're probably right. Lucius has always been a man of action when a sufficient amount of motivation presented itself. He is already angry about your disappearance over the summer. I'm surprised he isn't at Hogwarts to see you. You're probably correct in assuming that he would arrange your deaths the moment he knew about this. It's certainly unexpected. However, the rules can't be changed. One of you will have to switch houses. Imagine, Granger, oh, excuse me, Mrs. Malfoy as the newest Slytherin," Snape said.

"But no one will know except for us, and if we don't tell anyone then there will be no need for either of us to switch houses," Hermione said.

"I assume Potter and Weasley know," Snape said and then considered what Hermione was saying. "Very well, as long as we, Potter and Weasley included, are the only ones that know about this then the secret is safe, but if this does become common knowledge then one of you will switch houses and there will be a formal ceremony. I assure you that I am very good at keeping secrets. Oh and Granger, is this the reason behind your becoming a thought-reader."

"Yes."

"Then I can safely assume that Mr. Malfoy is a thought-reader as well."

Draco looked at Snape in shock, "Yes, and how did you..."

Snape's lip curled in a cold smile, "Really Mr. Malfoy, how do you think I know your little secret? I must admit that you hid your marriage well, but that isn't your only secret."

"You're a thought-reader?" Draco asked, apparently he'd had a hard time believing Hermione when she had first told him, but having Snape himself admit it made it a fact.

Snape nodded, "And it would be wise if you kept that to yourself."

With that having been said, Snape sent them out of his office and into the classroom where they spent the remainder of Hermione's detention working on hemlock antidotes. By the time they'd finished with the antidotes it was one in the morning. Snape dismissed them and they walked up several flights of stairs and then parted at the entrance to Gryffindor tower. As Draco headed off in his own direction Hermione said the password ("Bandyhook", it had been changed recently because Peeves had overheard Neville saying it and went screaming it all up and down the Slytherin hallway) and quietly slipped into the common room. Then she crept up the stairs and into her dormitory. She heard the snores of the sleeping girls and silently tiptoed to her four-poster, quickly changed into her nightgown, and then went to bed.