All The Little Dogs



A tall, dark shape was moving across the well cared lawns of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Though it was already night, it was still possible to make out a male shape. That man, whoever he was, headed for a small almost unnoticeable door in the walls. After that he moved for a while more, until reaching a short distance from the borders of Hogwarts. Here, he plucked an object from his sleeve, and with a silent 'pop' was gone.



~*~*~*~



Hermione Granger was bending down over a cauldron, checking how her potion was progressing. It was supposed to be of a dark yellow color - but the bubbling mass in her cauldron was a dark pink color instead.
Ever the fastidious researcher, Hermione took out her notes and went over the progress once again - still not coming up with anything that she might have missed or mistaken!!! So immersed was she in her notes that the dark form entering her room didn’t even garner her attention. She was running her finger down the lines when someone cleared their throat behind her.

"Dear Merlin! Severus!" She exclaimed, whirling around and placing her hand on her heart, "you scared me."

"Well you should be more careful, it might have been anyone sneaking up on you," he answered with a slight note of humor playing in his voice. "What if I had been a burglar?"

"You know just as well as I do that no mere burglar could get through my wards that easily," she rejoined with a smile.

"You did nothing wrong with the potion, I assume that that's what you're checking your notes for," he said changing the topic.

"How did you know that I was looking for a mistake? The potion has to be yellow not pink!" she answered him stubbornly.

"I repeat Hermione, there's nothing wrong with the potion. Go and check it if you doubt me. I know this because I know you, and who knows you better than I?"

Hermione walked back to the potion and noticed that, indeed, it had turned into a dark yellow color--just the way it should be. Severus was right, it only needed some time to cool down.

"Once again, you are correct,” she grumbled, “and no, there's nobody that knows me better than you," she said walking back to him. "After all we've been working together for almost five years now, and we're getting married this winter darling," she finished and slipped her arms around his neck.

He leaned down intending to give her a slight peck on her lips, and smooth away her remaining frown-- he resurfaced more than a minute later.

"Hermione," he mumbled. "I think that we should continue this later."

"Why?" she asked dejectedly. "I'm very comfortable now, is there a problem?"

"Yes, love. Your cauldron is about to boil over. I rather like this apartment as it is, free of sticky substance, and I’ve no wish to be glued to the ground for the next two days either."

"Oh!" Hermione tore herself from their embrace and ran for the cauldron, taking out her wand. A frantically uttered freezing charm halted the flames under the cauldron. With bated breath they both watched as the potion calmed down and turned back to the yellow color.

"That was close," remarked Severus. "Mind telling me why on earth you are making super-glue for?"

"It's for my grandmother. She has been breaking things lately."

"Well that answers that....now where were we?" He asked with a glint in his eyes.

"I remember that it was somewhere very, very nice, but it will have to wait for a while longer," she said her expression turning somber.

"Yes, you are right. We must finish the potion for St. Mungo’s first."

"Thank you for understanding. We should probably start right away, then we will finish earlier, and have more time for other things afterward." She quipped, already taking out the ingredients from the cupboards.



~*~*~*~



After the war was over there was an unfortunate surplus of patients like the Longbottom’s in St. Mungo’s. The war had been hard on everyone, but three years ago the light side had finally triumphed. Harry Potter had destroyed He-Who-Is-No-Longer-A-Problem, with the help of a potion discovered by the two most highly regarded potions brewers in all of Europe, if not the whole world, Severus Snape and Hermione Granger. Few knew that on that same night their relationship had started. What began as a steamy night of passion between two kindred souls had quickly turned into something most people would call 'true love'.

Don't misinterpret the situation - their relationship was nothing to call a fairy tale. No, there had been many obstacles in the way. One of the biggest being the ever annoying Sirius Black. Nevertheless, they had faced it all and were to be married in a few short months.



~*~*~*~



"Severus?"

"Yes, my love."

"I want a puppy,"

"Sure, you can hav-" he cut himself off and stared at the woman lying next to him with shock. "You want a what!"

"A puppy, is there something wrong with that?"

"No. There's nothing wrong . But why?"

"Well... Neither of us has pets, and ever since I saw this adorable puppy in Diagon Alley I've wanted one," she smiled up to him-- a smile she knew would melt him.

"It's just that -- does it have to be a dog? Can't you get a cat, an owl, or some other animal?"

"I don't really want another cat. It would remind me too much of Crookshanks, and how he was killed..." her voice died off as she buried her face in his chest.

"So a puppy it is then, we could go and pick one out for you tomorrow. How's that my dear?" He certainly didn't want his soon to be wife to remember something like that.

"Tomorrow is fine," answered Hermione still sounding a little sad.

"Good than. Now let's go to sleep," and with that he flicked his wand and turned off the candles.



~*~*~*~



A tall dark figure was making it's way towards the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If you had been there the previous evening, you would recognize him as the same figure who had gone the other way in the darkness. Still, it was impossible to make out whom the lone figure was. Tonight, instead of the darkness there was an oppressive fog .
If you were still watching the man, you would see him jerk to a sudden halt and look to his left. In a minute, he falls to his knees, and his ear splitting screams shatter the night. Never fear, there is no need to help with what is causing him scream so horrifically.
After a time he gathers himself, and faces his attacker. He stands, and resolutely approaches the ponderous oak doors of Hogwarts.



~*~*~*~



When Severus awoke he looked down at the sleeping form of Hermione and just had to smile. It wasn't often that he felt so happy. He had already given up hope of finding some peace and happiness in his life, and then Hermione had entered it. She had turned his whole world upside-down and changed him as a man.

He was still harsh on his students, but he didn't have preferences as far as houses went. At Hermione’s insistence he no longer picked on students like Neville Longbottom, instead assigning them a tutor. Unfortunately, he still he held a grudge against Gryffindors, but since his fiancé and most of her friends were from that house he curbed his disdain.

Placing a kiss on her forehead he silently slipped out of the bed and began to gather his clothes. He took a quick shower and headed back to Hogwarts, not before he'd transfigured Hermione a black rose and placed it on his pillow.



~*~*~*~



Severus was walking back toward Hogwarts his thoughts still with Hermione. A puppy?

Well I'll have to get used to the thought I guess...

He walked on and didn't even notice something creeping up on him. It was too late to react when he felt a presence of someone or something to his left. His hand automatically found his wand and tightened on it as he whirled around to face whatever it was.

He was very surprised, when he saw Hermione standing there.

"What are you doing here, I thought that you wouldn't be coming here until next week?" he asked her, surprised.
She didn't answer him, instead he saw himself walking up behind Hermione and bend down to kiss her neck. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight playing in front of him, it all seemed so surreal. There was something different about whoever was impersonating him, but he couldn't place it. He started to raise his wand just as the doppelganger moved his hands to caress her neck. That's when he understood what was wrong- that man was wearing Death Eater robes. He was about to use Petrificus on him when he tightened his hands on Hermione’s neck.
With a silent snap Hermione fell to the ground, eyes wide open and her head at a very unnatural angle.

Severus fell to his knees letting out an anguishing howl. In his head he kept repeating two sentences,

I will not become a murderer again. Hermione's not dead. I will not become a murderer again. Hermione's not dead. I will not...

He had repeated it for so long he couldn't even think of how much time had passed. However, he had gotten one thing straight. He wasn't a murderer, he had redeemed his wrongs long ago. He would never go back to being such scum again. Whoever this was he wasn't going to believe that his beloved Hermione had been killed by him, no IT.

He was no longer afraid that he would ever turn back to being something like that again. A small mocking laugh issued from the grim parody, and Severus faltered. He stood tall, and looked in it's eyes.

"YOU ARE NOT ME!" he shouted and walked to Hogwarts, away from the monstrosity.

Hearing a slight crack behind himself he almost smacked himself for being so stupid.
What else could it have been... This is what he still had doubts about, he was still afraid that he would turn back to the darker side of himself and do something horrible like that. It was said that you needed a spell to defeat that creature, but it dissapeared just as well when you got over your fear. They were supposed to worsen your fear and make you go insane with it, not help you defeat it. But it had been different this time. Hermione had convinced him about his real self, but deep down inside he had still had his doubts. It had taken this little incident to make him come to terms with it and put that part of his past just where it belonged to. The past.

A boggart. But of course.



~*~*~*~



Hermione was sitting in Florean Frostecue's Ice Cream Parlor, waiting for her fiancé. Tapping her foot she took another look at her watch, noticing that he was already five minutes late. She took another spoonful of her ice-cream when someone sat down next to her.

"Hermione. I apologize for my tardiness, but Albus kept me," he said a little out of breath.

"Oh. What did he want?"

"He has a request for you."

"Really, what would that be?"

"He wants some of your glue. He broke his favorite cookie jar again, you know how he is about fixing his things with magic. 'If you break it you better work a little on repairing it'. Hmph, typical Albus"

"The blue one with the golden ornaments?"

"Yes, that's his favorite."

"I always liked the cookies in that one. Of course I'll give him some glue. You'll take it to him in the morning," she said, finishing her ice-cream. “Let's go get my puppy now!"

Severus got up after her, and together they walked to the Magical Ménagerie. They took quite some time looking at all the different puppies. He was scared that she might pick that black one that looked a lot like Sirius Black's animagus form. In the end they exited the shop with a small black and white pup.

Before apparating back to the flat, Hermione handed the little dog over to Severus. When he tried to object she quieted him by reminding him that she never could apparate all that good with someone else with her.

When they were back at the flat the puppy seemed confused at first but then looked up at Severus from his arms, and gave his cheek a nice wet lick before jumping down and bounding off to explore.

"I think it's safe to say that he likes you."