Deliver Me

SUMMARY: SS/HG, Dr/GW, RW/BZ (in this story Blaise is a GIRL) tangled in a web of lust & loathe, romance is bittersweet - love & could there ever be trust? WARNINGS (I don't write disturbing things, but it's better to warn you anyway, just in case): Mental/emotional torture, one attempted rape and some medium violence. COMPLETED/EDITED/EPILOGUE ADDED - A/U - started after the release of GoF, contains some OotP, most everything after is disregarded in order to preserve the ongoing story.

Prologue

"Let's Go! Will you hurry it up?" Harry Potter shouted at Hermione Granger from the Gryffindor Common Room.

It was a cold, snowy night in mid winter, but that didn't seem to matter. Harry, Hermione and Ronald Weasley were all ready for a night on the town in Hogsmeade. A new nightclub had opened called Mystic Mayhem and the 7^th year weekend curfew of 2 a.m. couldn't be more happily received.

It was 8:30pm, they were running an hour late for dinner and Harry was going to strangle her if she didn't hurry up. The three of them had been best friends since their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Nothing romantic even happened between them, they were like siblings, or soul mates for that matter, their bonds were tight and as smooth as ice. They would do anything for one another, no matter what. Ron and Hermione had a small fling in their 6th year, but it didn't last long, and didn't end badly, they both knew they were destined to just remain friends.

"I swear, Hermione if you don't get down here in two minutes I'm going to go up there and get you, dressed or not! Hermione!" Harry yelled, affronted at Ron's immense laughter.

"And what are you laughing about?"

"She'll be coming down soon, keep your pants on! You know she had good reason for getting dressed late. Besides you know how girls are," Ron said.

"She should have been here sooner. No one asked her to spend an extra hour in the library trying to get ahead in Potions," Harry muttered.

"True, Snape wouldn't give a damn. He never did, but you know how she is...obsessed!"

"You said it," Harry said, on his way to the girl's hallway, "Hermione, I'm coming in, you better have clothes on!"

Just as he was about to open her door, she opened it for him, and the sweet smell of her perfume snaked into his nostrils.

"It's about time," he grunted.

"Time for what?" she asked ever so sweetly, grinning at him.

"You're late."

"I thought I was early," she joked.

"Ron's waiting, let's go," and with that they left.

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Walking in, Mystic Mayhem was just like any other nightclub in Hogsmeade. Loud music, excessive smoke, strobe lights weren't in shortage. Between the black lights, the diverse crowd and the amazing drinks selection, Ron was very happy.

"This place is fantastic!" Ron shouted.

They danced because it felt good just to let loose and feel the world drift away. Getting lost in the beats, the partial darkness, and loosing themselves to the music was a nice vacation from the war that was being waged outside. Not to mention fall semester exams were fast approaching.

An hour before curfew, the trio left Mystic Mayhem and decided to take a small walk through the village before using the public Floo Network back to the castle.

Stopping for a drink in an open café, Hermione paused. "I'm glad we went out tonight."

"Yea, I agree...this weather sucks though, terrible for quidditch," Ron agreed.

"Is that all you ever think about?" she laughed.

He grinned sheepishly at her before turning around to face Harry.

"Hey Harry!" Hermione shouted, hitting him in the face with a snowball.

"I'll get you!" he balled up some snow in his fists and threw it back at her, only it didn't hit her, rather it was Ron.

"Ugh! Harry!" said Ron tossing snow at whoever was nearest too him starting a friendly snowball fight.

By the time they got back to the castle, which was warm, they were soaking wet and laughing a little too loud.

"Shhhh, you'll wake everyone up," Harry hissed, trying to maintain some kind of composure before bursting out with laughter again. They had had such a good night together, he didn't want it to end.

"What do we have here?" an icy voice said, catching their attention.

Standing in front of them, arms crossed was a glaring Professor Severus Snape.

"Pro-Professor Snape, we were just going to our common room," Ron stuttered, choking on a laugh.

"It's a bit late isn't it?" Snape said dryly glaring at Ron, "and why are the three of you soaking wet?"

"Wet sir? Snow and.... just umm- Curfew, sir, we still have 30 minutes!" Harry spit out before wishing he didn't.

"I was not addressing you Mr. Potter; speak when you are spoken too." He eyed them harshly, not before Hermione attempted to muffle a giggle.

"Miss Granger," he drawled icily.

"Yes sir?" Hermione asked fidgeting under his glare.

"Would you care to share your joke with the rest of us?"

"Umm, no, Professor, its just it's so late, already, and I think the nighttime is making me a bit foolish."

He raised his eyebrows to that, 'What a ridiculous excuse,' he thought to himself.

"Dismissed."

They scurried away, and when they knew they were out of hearing, the three of them busted out with laughter.

"What was that!" laughed Ron.

"Seriously, and you missy couldn't keep your damn mouth shut!" Harry teased.

"I couldn't help it, blame it on Ron he was the one making me laugh," Hermione said.

"Me? I was not. That man makes me uneasy," Ron shuddered.

"Don't we all," Harry noted, as they walked through the portrait hole.

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Back in her room, Hermione took off her clothes and headed for the shower. As much as she enjoyed Mystic Mayhem she didn't need her hair to smell like it.

Turning the water on, it was warm, and softly cascaded down her back. She preferred showers to baths because of the endless run of water which she thought was more soothing. Closing her eyes she let the warmth encase her.

Hermione put on her pajamas and her night robe and went back into the common room with a textbook, sat in front the fire and started to read. She couldn't sleep and the only problem was she couldn't read either. Her night has been too much fun and was having a very difficult time concentrating. Her thoughts kept rolling over the evening's events. She knew time with her best friends was scarce; particularly in light of the war.

To calm her nerves she decided to make herself a cup of tea. It normally made her feel better and was an old remedy to all problems she inherited from her mother.

She walked over the mini-kitchette area of the commonroom, to find the tea box empty. She sighed assuming Neville had another breakdown, used the last one and forgot to replace it.

Knowing Madame Pomfrey never minded anyone taking tea bags, coffee and coco from the Hospital Wing, Hermione decided to get some.

The hospital wing was empty strangely enough. No major incidents and an empty hospital wing made for a larger selection of nighttime snack to steal from. Hermione was having a hard time trying to figure out which type she wanted. Chai, Lemon, Green, Earl Grey -- they were all so enticing, so she decided to take one of each, stuff them in the pockets of her robes.

As she approached the common room entrance she noticed the Bloody Baron and Sir Nicholas, two of the many Hogwarts ghosts, were roaming around just before she got to the portrait of the Fat Lady to enter the Gryffindor common room.

"Ah Miss Granger, out a little late aren't we?" the Baron said upon seeing her.

"Yes, just went for some tea. I couldn't sleep."

"Tea...tea... I remember when I could have drank tea," he over dramatized.

"I love Chinese...charming," Nicholas stated and the Baron added, "Simply."

"Miss Granger?" Nicholas asked.

"Yes?"

"Boo!" The bloody baron screamed, before twirling himself around her and passing through her, with Sir Nicholas making ghosts sounds and trying to knock her off balance until she was so dizzy, she saw herself double over to the floor.

Two strong arms caught her and she held on to them...tightly.

Hermione let out a sigh as the voice of the warm body held her and hissed to the Baron and Nicholas to, "Move away from here now!"

The dizziness hasn't subsided as the strong arms holding her hauled her back into a standing position. She didn't trust herself to stand on her own and held on a little longer.

"Miss Granger, would you kindly let go of me."

"I-I-I'm sorry," she started letting go and turning around before gasping, "Professor Snape!" She promptly let go of him, only to stumble backwards into the wall.

"Yes, miss Granger, now that you have regained some balance, do tell me what you are doing out of bed. It's almost 3am," he asked.

Severus let his eyes glance over her body. He was particularly amused by her pink fuzzy slippers. Typical adolescent female, he thought.

"I, couldn't sleep, so I went to get some tea from the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey always has extras of everything, and let us take our share, and then I was coming back but and Sir Nicholas and that blasted stupid err The Baron he-"

"That's enough Miss Granger! Ten points from Gryffindor for missing the curfew, another ten for not looking where you were going, and falling unceremoniously in the hallways. Now if you are done gallivanting through the halls, good night!" he snapped.

"But Professor-"

"Would you like to make it another 20?" he sneered, "I said good night Miss Granger."

"Good night, sir."

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A/N -- I started writing this story a very long time ago, and at some point around Chpt. 21 I stopped writing and never updated. A few people kept encouraging me to finish the story, and I eventually did. It's not the epic ending I was originally planning on writing, nor it is drawn out into a larger epic story, as I was originally planning. Somewhere in the middle of my writing, my plans changed and I just decided to keep the story focused on SS & HG; that's how I ended it too. The writing style changed over the course of the story too, and this is mostly due to the fact that I matured as a writer, and a story I started five years ago in one distinct style, turned into another. I hope you have enjoyed what you have read, and are happy with the outcome.

Also, I recently decided to go back to the very beginning of the story and try to make everything flow more, by editing and BETA-ing a whole lot more.

Thank you for the lovely reviews, and encouragement to finish the story.

xx.