When All is Lost One is Found

Chapter 143: The Lost is Found

When All is Lost, One is Found

Author: Rinoaebastel

Chapter 143: The Lost is Found

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and gain no profit from this fanfiction other than writing practice. JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.

AN: This story may contain scenes taken from the Harry Potter movies and books, but it's not exact dialogue, just rewording of dialogue or omission. It is not marked.

IT'S NO SCANDAL!

Hermione Granger and Severus Snape Together!

Their romance is one forged in the midst of war as partners to aid Potter on his quest to vanquish you-know-who. Denial, respect, silent love.

Their true story revealed by the two lovers themselves!

-/-/-

He read the title for the sixth time that day. The article was published a few weeks ago, only days after their interview, and he'd finally managed to get a copy. Apparently, it was the second best selling paper in history, with Potter's tales being the first.

He wished it hadn't been necessary to print, but at least it broke a record of some kind. It also gave him a look back on a rather good part of his life. Until the interview, he hadn't thought too much about how their relationship had developed. The article laid it out and chronologically in crisp black writing.

But their story wasn't just there for them, it was laid bare for the world to see. For the world to hate and throw their arrogant judgments upon them. They'd expected a response, and they were right in doing so. The day the paper was distributed they were inundated with hundreds of messages via owl. He didn't read many but a surprising amount weren't negative at all. The ones that were would've hurt deeply had they actually given a damn.

When they'd gone out directly after the article was released, some people looked at them as if they were a sideshow in a muggle circus. They got a lot of shocked expressions as well. But most people didn't seem to react or even pay attention. He had to admit that the smiles and friendly greetings from some people had been lovely and had overshadowed the negativity. The people who had treated him decently before treated him the same now, and that was something he was immensely thankful for.

Then, the more they went out, the less people paid them any attention, and the owls, both negative and positive, faded for the most part.

Gossip still flared up sometimes, but it always faded quickly when someone else did something more scandalous. If Hermione knew about it, she wasn't saying anything to him.

What they said about him didn't bother him, he was used to such treatment, it was the names they called her. Their hypocrisy angered him as well. Some of the people speaking them had done far worse things that she'd ever done.

He hoped she wasn't privy to it. He was tempted not to talk at all about it, but she would want to know what was being said and she trusted him to tell her. Lately, she'd been absorbed in studying for her N.E.W.T.S, so he would put it off until after the tests.

She claimed that he distracted her, so she kept away from him a great deal. He chuckled at the thought. She'd tried to come in the afternoons and study there while he was busy brewing. She reasoned if both were busy they could just enjoy each other's presence, but it didn't work that way. Her natural curiosity took over and she became more interested in what he was brewing than her studies. He only saw her in the evenings when she spent the night with him in his quarters.