"Marry? Have you lost your mind?" she slapped a hand to her mouth. Gods, she hated it when she was shrill. She could not help it. He had torn it from her. "We barely know each other!"
An elegant hand came down hard and fast on the table with a loud smack! "Would you prefer Azkaban, Junior Undersecretary? No plans to be Minister for Magic on an island in the middle of the sea." Sterope's voice had gone cold, her tone a dangerous sort of calm. The kind that came just before a storm. She had stood then, in her movement to hit the table. Hermione had jumped away from the sound, shocked.
Snape had merely sat back in his chair. "I told you she would not approve."
The younger of the three raised a hand in pause. "Wait, wait. Please, sir-Prof-Master Snape. I need a moment to think," she mumbled, her breath leaving her in a rush of air. "Spouses cannot testify against one another according to Wizengamot law. It is forbidden. A simple marriage would easily be annulled and you would be called to court as witness. We must- Oh."
His face was blank, entirely unreadable, though his eyes... Merlin, his eyes had a fire in them that made her face go rosy. "Very good, Miss Granger, you got there quicker than I thought you might." Her tummy did not curl deliciously at his praise. It did not. "Though, again, you were always a very... eager pupil."
Her lip was caught between her teeth as she denied a squeal. What on earth was happening? The world was turning turtle. Severus Snape was asking her to marry him to keep her from prison. A consummated wizarding marriage was impossible to break. Only death could undo it. To destroy the magic in a bond would be to rid oneself of one's own magic, effectively becoming a Squib in the process. The Ministry would not dare demand it of them and risk losing two of the most powerful war heroes in decades...
Circe's little pigs, it was brilliant.
Though there was still the issue of... her. Would they carry on after her marriage to the wizard? Would they be man and wife in title only? She had about a million questions running through her mind and the only one that came out was a strained, "You wouldn't object?"
Sterope simply stared, her perfect brows furrowed, an ever so familiar line forming between them. "Why would I oppose my brother's marriage?" she asked, dumbfounded. "To a witch he's been eyeing, no less."
He gave her a warning glare that she pointedly ignored.
Hermione gaped, the colour in her face draining. The anger simply disappeared, replaced by shock. "Your brother?"
Snape smirked, his eyes never leaving her. Yes, he was quite caught with the little witchling before him. "Miss Granger, allow me to introduce you to my best-kept secret,"
Sterope grinned victoriously. "I'm a Shafiq by marriage. A Prince by blood. Mother wanted nothing to do with Tobias after he drowned in his own vomit. I was born five months later and was given her maiden name. Severus was already 8 years old."
Baffled, she met Snape's cunning gaze, his eyes bright and alight with mischief. Wicked man. He had enjoyed her surprise.
Deatheater Severus Snape had an Auror sister no one knew about.
How had they managed?
She frowned, the wheels in her head spinning fast as she came up with more questions quicker than she could ask them. "Where were you during the war?"
Sterope shrugged. "Here, working. Keeping my nose out of trouble. I was of no use to anyone dead. My ties to the Princes ensured I was left alone, my ties to the Shafiqs left me with enough money to buy anyone else off."
"An Auror sister..." she caught his hand, gripping his fingers tightly and he lifted a brow at her movement. "Aren't you full of surprises? This day keeps getting stranger, doesn't it?"
He lifted his shoulders. "I fear it is about to get even more strange," he reminded gently, turning his hand over her own to tap her fourth finger. "Your answer, witch?"
In the chilled basement corridor, Hermione shivered and stared hard into his eyes. There was no mockery there, just concern and something... safe. He wanted to keep her safe. Which was far more than her last fiancé had bothered to offer. There was also that little curl of desire that flip-flopped in her belly at the thought of the Potions' Master. It had been there for quite some time now. To know that it was reciprocated to some degree made her heart skip a beat. She drew her courage and held it to her like a life raft, she took a breath and the look in his eyes changed. There was pride there, now. Pride and... lust.
With a murmured "yes", Hermione accepted her second marriage proposal.
