Severus and Hermione's Saturday only got better. Hermione herself had a slight skip to her step as she went to lunch. Severus, while he never in his life skipped, he did feel more powerful. Almost like he could take on the Dark Lord, himself. He scoffed at the idea. He'd expected Hermione to miss breakfast and sleep in, almost forcing her too, however he asked the house elf Dobby to leave a plate for her. 

Dobby was all to happy to help the secret couple, being 'Potter's friends'. Severus didn't have the heart to tell the elf that he disliked Potter. He had sworn Dobby to secrecy when he popped into Severus' office when he was called. 

"Dobby will keep Master Snape's and Miss Hermione's secret until he dies, sir," the elf squeaked. Severus breathed a sigh of relief as he left the office and Dobby to care for his sleeping love. 

Lunch was as eventful as breakfast was, only difference was Severus physically felt when Hermione walked into the Great Hall. He looked at her, smiling to Potter and the Weasley's as she went to sit by them. She started piling food on her plate neatly, eye brighter and far less maddening than they were this morning. Severus almost smiled at the thought of this morning, but held back, scowling instead to a first year Slytherin that looked his way. 

The said first year gasped and fixated on his food, as if it had suddenly grown arms and legs. Severus felt a small satisfactory feeling course throughout his bones. He started eating his lunch in silence, ignoring his colleagues trivial gossip about their students. Suddenly, he felt two pairs of eyes on his persons. Turning, he saw Hermione staring up at him from her spot at the Gryffindor table, a look on her face he couldn't exactly place. 

Second was Dumbledore from down the table. He took a glace to Hermione then to Severus himself and lowered his head to look at him over his half moon spectacles. Severus swallowed his pumpkin juice hard, knowing he would be visited in his office before the night was out. He sighed and pushed his food away. He stood up and bid everyone farewell. He then retreated to his office. He had papers to grade. 

He hoped Hermione would spend time studying and being with friends, however, a knock to the door coupled with a fleeting What are we going to do today? in his head and he knew that Hermione was indeed outside the door. It was quickly followed by a Bollocks! Dumbledore is here. He stopped grading at once and put on his best scowl. 

"Miss Granger, has he asked you to enter yet?" Severus could hear Dumbledore get closer to his door. 

"No, Professor, not yet," she stated, sounding a little scared. She never was scared of Dumbledore before, probably only scared of what he would think of her once he found out they had 'consummated their prophecy'. 

Without knocking, Dumbledore opened the door to Severus' office and motioned for Hermione to go in first. She shyly thanked him and walked in, giving Severus a wide eyed look momentarily before her face went back to normal. Severus sat in his chair, arms folded, quill in its ink well, third year essays on boggarts in front of him half marked. 

"Albus," Severus greeted dryly. 

The older man dipped his head and sat down in the chair opposite Severus' cheerily. Hermione stood facing both men awkwardly, not wanting to sit in the other chair beside the headmaster. Severus didn't chance looking away from Albus to Hermione, even though he wanted to. Hermione on the other hand looked from the headmaster to her lover in turn fearful of what was going to transpire. 

"Severus, Miss Granger, I apologize for intruding on your day together, however I must talk to you about something. Something I only just recently confirmed by the portraits in my office." He talked as if it were normal for the two to be alone together on Saturdays in Severus' office. 

Hermione perked up at the chance at knowledge, which earned a slight snort of annoyance from Severus. She glared at him out of the corner of her eye, not saying a word. He, only then, chanced a look at her, a small glint of teasing in his own eyes. "Something you wish to say?" He asked in his professional voice. She rolled her eyes and fixed them on the Headmaster once more. "Sorry, sir, you were saying," she said pleasantly to the old man. 

He chuckled at the exchange before starting, "The prophecy about your magic, obviously grows by closeness. Being apart from another without the proper...confirmation...of said magical love, will dwindle magic until beings are near squibs."

"Albus, you already know that we know of this unfortunate clause in our prophecy. Why tell us what we already found out ourselves?" Severus asked in a bored tone, as if he wished he were anywhere else but here. 

Albus' gaze fixated on Severus. "Because my dear boy, confirmation of the prophecy is a binding contract. For all intents and purposes you are bonded for life."

Severus scoffed, "Once again, we knew this."

Hermione knew the headmaster was leading up to something big. She kept her mouth shut, eyes going back and forth to the two men in turn with hungry eyes. "Severus, you know that having a binding contract to Miss Granger at this time would spell danger for you at Tom's feet." 

There was silence. Severus completely forgot in the moment the immense danger he'd put on them both. And for what, a few moments pleasure? He inwardly cursed himself for being weakened by his own feelings. Severus knew that Albus already knew somehow of their eventful morning, but was polite enough to not say anything. He wracked his brain trying to think of an excuse to tell the Dark Lord, should something be found out. 

"Severus, why?" was all Dumbledore asked after several moments. He had a gentle voice, like a grandfather speaking to his newborn grandson for the first time. It made Severus flinch with guilt. 

Hermione was a tad slower than the men, only just, however. She stood up straighter with a brave face. "Sir, if I may, the prophecy and magical awakening was never going to go away. We were barely skirting by with what we could do at the time. It was a mutual and legal decision between two people."

Severus barely heard her. He was still deep in self loathing guilt. 

"Miss Granger, it is much more complicated than what was thought this morning," Albus stated in a casual, yet warning tone. He glanced at Severus, who tore his eyes from a crack on his desk to the headmaster. "Would you like me to explain, Severus?"

He shook his head and turned fully to Hermione. "Hermione," he began, "The Dark Lord is better than I at Occlemency and Legilimency, I can barely keep my own shields up on a good day. But on a bad day, he tortures. If at all he feels I am not doing my job well enough, my shield will fall, and spill everything."

Hermione heard clearly the warnings that Severus was telling her. He was in danger, however, she trusted magic. She trusted their love, their bond. She knew Severus felt her presence at lunch, and she his. It wasn't the sleep that had cured her of her slight madness from not sleeping. It was them. Their new bond had cured her sleep deprived mind. "Severus," she retorted in the same tone, "Do you trust magic?"

The question caught both Dumbledore and Severus off guard. Severus thought about it for a long moment, under the watchful eye of Dumbledore. Magic hadn't kept Lily alive, in fact it was what took her from him. However, it was what united them when they first met. "Magic has its limits, darling," he whispered. 

"Dumbledore has trust in you, the order has trust in Dumbledore and Harry, who has trust in magic? Who do you trust in?" Hermione inquired. 

Without missing a beat, Severus responded, "I trust you."

Dumbledore's eyes glinted with knowing, as if he knew all along how this little meeting was going to go. The glint didn't go unnoticed by Severus, who held back a sneer. Cheeky old man, he thought. Hermione's eyes shone with laughter. She had heard him. "Severus, Miss Granger, I implore you two to take care. The other teachers and students mustn't know a thing. Apart from Miss Weasley."

Hermione bowed her head in slight shame, earning a chuckle from the man. "Headmaster, I trust magic, I trust our bond to protect us. Surely their is something that could help us further."

Dumbledore shrugged with an innocent smile. "If I were a magical bonding prophecy, I would hide myself deep in a restricted section Divination book."

Hermione all but ran out the door, but was stopped by a ward on the office door suddenly, forcing her to turn around in a huff to Severus. His wand was out and casually pointing towards the door with a glint of merriment in his eye. He scribbled a note and held it up. "Forgetting something?"

She furrowed her brows before nearly hitting herself in the head. Of course, the note to go into the restricted section. She gave herself a good cursing before taking it out of Severus' hand, reluctant to let his touch go, before hurrying out the un-warded door. Dumbledore smiled at her leaving. "Severus, I'm happy for you, son." 

There was that gentle voice again. It clawed at Severus like a hippogriff to an insulting being. "We were both virgins." 

Dumbledore, for the first time ever, looked slightly shocked. "Really, being in Tom's inner circle, you have had the pleasure of entertaining certain women for years." 

Scoffing, Severus had ran a hand over his face. "Lies. Light touching was all I've ever done before today," he confessed, looking down at the crack once more. 

"I see," Albus started slowly, approaching with caution. "Have you told her?"

The man never responded except for a small nod of his head. Dumbledore took that as his leave. Severus spent another ten minutes gathering his loose thoughts about him and placing them back in their cages before turning back to the essays in front of him. 

Hermione had looked all through the restricted section on Divination. Every book in the section was pilled high in front of her like a shield. She had Divination Uses and Truths open in front of her, skimming it very quickly. She'd love it if Severus was helping, but it wouldn't look right for him to be talking to her outside of their classes or 'remedial lessons'. 

She'd looked through several books cover to cover before Madam Pince shooed her out for the night, not before letting Hermione take a few books, letting her leave the rest for tomorrow. Hermione thanked the woman before making her way to Severus' office, wanting to drop them off so no one caught her reading this in the common room. She had standards to abide by. 

"Enter."

She entered with the books balancing in one arm. Severus, who had finished grading and was working on the next lesson for the first years, hadn't looked up at his love's entering the office. When she cursed and dropped the books was when he looked up. Several books were laid about on the floor where they fell from Hermione's hands. "Light reading?" 

Hermione glared at him, bending over to pick up the books, her backside to Severus. While before he'd been slightly distracted, now he couldn't fathom finishing his work. His eyes trained solely on Hermione. He let out a groan before he could stop it. She turned to him, knowing full where his mind had turned. Sitting up, he cleared his throat and went back to his work. 

 "Dumbledore gave me that hint and I picked a couple books to look through them. Madam Pince told me I could come back tomorrow as well, per the note." Hermione explained, setting them in his chambers on a chest. "Couldn't take them to the common room because I simply don't want to be seen with Divination books." 

Severus nodded in understanding. He knew that she hated the subject, so reading books of the same subject was almost crossing a line if it wasn't for their benefit. Suddenly, his left arm started to burn. The Dark Lord wanted him. He looked at Hermione, who was standing in the dooreway to his chambers. She couldn't feel the mark, but knew when it burned him. He stiffened and went from relaxed to worried every time. 

Without a word, Severus went to his fireplace and threw in a handful of floo power. He stepped in as shouted, "Malfoy Manor." He didn't know when Hermione would go back to her common room, but he trusted her to be gone by the time he got back. 

The Dark Lord was pacing the room when Severus stepped into the Dining Room. "My Lord," Severus greeted with a bow. 

He wasn't acknowledged. Instead they stood there for several minutes, Severus barely daring to breathe. The Dark Lord was staring at his snake, almost as if talking silently to her. "Severus, I have been doing severe thinking. I think Granger needs to be turned over to our side."

Severus nearly fainted. His love becoming close to the Dark Lord? Never. "Why's that my lord?" He asked gently. 

The Dark Lord turned to look at Severus, "Potter cannot function without Granger." He said it so sweetly that Severus shivered. The Dark Lord started pacing again, thinking further. 

Daring not to move, Severus waited. "What would you like me to do, sire?" 

"Befriend her, Severus. You've befriended a mudblood before. Do it again." 

Severus wanted to curse the Master for calling Hermione that. However, he held his tongue, and his shield. He hadn't been away from Hermione for more than an hour, but it felt like three days without her. His shield was weakening. He tried to keep thoughts of her in a locked cage, but it was weakening him. He couldn't figure why he was suddenly so weak. 

For a second, he thought something had to have happened to Hermione at the school for him to go weak. An image of the two of them in bed that morning crossed his weakening mind. In an instant, the Dark Lord was on him, wand drawn and pointed at his neck. "What was that I saw?" The look on the Dark Lord's face chilled Severus to the bone. 

With no answer, the Dark Lord cast crucio on Severus, who buckled and opened his mouth in a silent scream. He twitched upon the floor, pain searing through his entire body. He's gone through this before, but not this weakened.  "Severus," the snake like man started with a hiss, "what was that?"

Severus thought quickly from his place on the floor, face nearly pressed against the cold stone. Part truth was what got him through as a young child with his abusive father. "Granger and I have had relations, master." He panted hard from the pain. "I thought Granger would be of no use to Potter if she had been distracted."

The Dark Lord gave a slight noise that made Severus think he might be safe, therefore, his love would be safe. "How did it go?" Clearly the man wanted details. Details of Severus' first time with the woman he loved that he clearly wouldn't give. 

"She is smitten, my lord," he responded honestly. 

"Hmm, Severus, as angry as you made me, you have also pleased me. Continue with the Granger girl."