Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Frankenstein.
A/N: This is a little Halloween story I've been working on, a bit of a re-telling for Frankenstein in the Harry Potter world. It has three parts. I will post on Fridays. I would love to hear what you have to think - should I keep posting? Thanks!
Severus Snape was five years old when he left Spinner's End and came to live at Hogwarts. His mother had been dead not even a week when the odd old man with a long white beard, bright blue eyes and purple robes came to collect him. His mother had been a witch, but his father was only a muggle and he didn't have the necessary skill nor desire to raise a child to be a young wizard. Severus tried not to cry when he left his only living family, but his father didn't seem too upset to be parted with him.
Severus had loved his mother the way any son does. To him, she was beautiful, with her pale skin and dark black hair. He remembered how she smiled when he asked her if she was Snow White, from the story. But when it was not just the two of them, his mother never smiled. Even as a boy, he recognized that she was deeply unhappy.
When the silly old man – Professor Dumbledore, he was called – brought him to Hogwarts, he quickly forgot the unhappiness of his previous life and enjoyed his time at the large castle. There were two other little boys that lived there as well. One was his own age and one was a year younger. Apparently, their father had died their mother couldn't bear to have reminders of her dead husband following her about.
The three of them looked rather similar with their pale skin and dark hair, except Sirius and Regulus had curly hair, where Severus's was dark. Plus, the two brothers had gray eyes, while his were dark as pitch. Still, the three of them became brothers, living at Hogwarts together.
Severus didn't get along much with Sirius, but he did love spending time with Regulus. Sirius wasn't nearly as contemplative as the other two boys and preferred to spend time playing practical jokes on Severus and Regulus and even Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore never complained, instead quietly laughing at Sirius's tricks and sneaking him sweets.
They would spend hours exploring the edges of the forest, collecting plants and flowers and climbing trees. Severus would tell Regulus stories about how wonderful his mother had been, and how she'd been the most beautiful woman in the world. He would tell him about how his mother had been a princess, Snow White, and that being with Severus made her happier than anything.
Regulus would tell Severus about his own father, how he was big and strong and scary to others, but not him. Regulus explained that his father was called Orion and he had been his favorite person in the world. Once, they snuck out of the castle and stared up at the sky. The white stars seemed to illuminate the vast emptiness of the black sky. Regulus pointed out each star in the constellation Orion and told him that was where his father was, always watching down on him and Sirius.
That night Severus cried when he returned to his bed, trying to remember his mother's face, but it was all blurry, pale skin and dark hair. He didn't even know his mother's name.
Life trickled by slowly at Hogwarts, but Severus was progressively obsessed with the idea of bringing his mother back to life, just like Snow White. He knew that he could not give her a true love's kiss, but perhaps there was something magical that could imbue her with life again. After all, he could already summon things, change the color of Sirius's hair, and make easy potions. Surely when he was a bit older, he would be able to perform even more complicated magic.
He promised himself that he would work hard at his studies, so that one day he could bring his mother back from the dead, so that he might be together with her again.
Severus Snape was eight years old when the girl came to live with them at Hogwarts. She was a scrawny thing, five years old, with teeth too large for her face and mousy brown hair that was bushy and seemed to have a life of its own. She was called Hermione Granger.
Hermione was in awe of the castle that the three of them lived in with Professor Dumbledore. It was massive compared to her family's home and had plenty of nooks and crannies to hide and read in. It even had a huge library, filled with books on all kinds of subjects. Hermione was more in awe of magic, and the fact that she was a witch. It seemed preposterous to Severus that you could spend so long performing accidental magic and not know you were a witch. She delighted endlessly in summoning things to her, like books from tall shelves.
She was a rather intelligent little girl, but being that he was an eight year old boy, he had almost no time for her. Regulus hated her and frequently would push her down or repel her with a stinging hex to leave himself and Severus to their own playtime. It would make her cry and Severus often thought about how lonely she must be.
Sirius would take her under his wing, having much more tolerance for a swotty know-it-all to follow him around. Still, the pair of them were too different. Hermione was an introvert and enjoyed spending her time reading and learning, whereas Sirius wanted to go out exploring, getting into mischief and breaking things. Hermione adored following the rules and so Sirius and Hermione spent the majority of their time arguing, but together none the less.
Hermione was a muggleborn girl, Professor Dumbledore had told him. Apparently, her parents were muggles called dentists and Hermione's bouts of accidental magic caused too much for them. It caused too many questions, she didn't have any friends of her own and they were exasperated. When Professor Dumbledore came to their house to take her away, they were relieved that she would be with her own kind, more accepted and have friends to play with.
They didn't know about Regulus, who was cruel and called her a mudblood, a word that Severus had never heard of before. Professor Dumbledore scolded him and Sirius had given him a black eye, saying that their sister was just as much a witch as they were wizards. After that, Regulus was mostly kept in line, but he still wanted nothing to do with Hermione.
Severus didn't think of her as much of a sister.
Severus Snape was thirteen years old when he was sent away to learn under distinguished Potions Master, Horace Slughorn. Professor Dumbledore had noticed that Severus had an aptitude at making potions from a young age and decided that with more training, he could become a very accomplished brewer, maybe even a master himself.
Hermione was also good at brewing and she frequently helped Severus in his experimentation. They would spend hours at a time, working side by side in the little potions laboratory that Professor Dumbledore had set up for him. She would diligently prepare ingredients for him, neatly cutting, dicing and crushing, and Severus would experiment on new techniques to make the potions work better.
Hermione would give him an exasperated look when he deviated from the instructions, but he would try things anyway. Then she would get that pinched look on her face when his improvements worked. He tried to explain his reasoning behind the switches, but she'd just put her hands on her hips and say "But the instructions say…"
Severus would roll his eyes and continue work anyway. Still, he was happy to have a partner in the endeavor of potioneering. Regulus was absolutely shite at it because he didn't have the patience to complete anything properly. He never took the time to choose the best ingredients and he always stirred to fast, sometimes completely forgetting what number he was on. His results were mediocre at best, explosive at worst.
Despite Hermione's exuberant help with his academic pursuits, during play time, Severus continued to brush her off in favor of Regulus, leaving Hermione to fend for herself, or to put up with Sirius's whims. Still, Hermione seemed to adore him, and it didn't stop her from trying to spend time with him.
Professor Dumbledore had made the announcement at dinner one evening after seeing the improvements Severus had made to the Skele-Gro potion. His work was at the level of a prodigy and could no longer wither at Hogwarts, as Severus had surpassed what Dumbledore could teach him. Severus had swelled with pride at hearing that. Here he was, a thirteen year old boy, and Professor Dumbledore was one of the greatest wizards of all time.
Hermione had sobbed at the dinner table and the enchanted ceiling above the Great Hall where they ate began raining so hard that actual drops of water breached the barrier and misted on the four of them. "I don't want Severus to leave."
"It will be okay, Hermione." Professor Dumbledore told her, soothingly. "Soon you will be beginning your own focused classes."
"Can't I go with Severus? I am good at potions too!" She begged and it did tug at Severus's heart strings.
Professor Dumbledore just shook his head. Hermione continued to cry making Severus feel uncomfortable, but he didn't know what to do to make her feel better. Eventually, Sirius pulled her into a hug and whispered to her about all the fun things they would do together once Severus left. He promised to read with her in the library every night that week. This dried her tears, but sadness seemed to follow Hermione everywhere she went.
On the day that Severus was to leave, Regulus went out and hid in the forest and wouldn't say goodbye to him. Severus had searched for nearly an hour before deciding to return to his room. When he returned, he found items that he had painstakingly packed in his trunk strewn about his room. Annoyed he flicked open his trunk and found Hermione hiding inside. When she looked at him guiltily, he felt his anger dissipate.
He lifted her from the trunk and set her on her own two feet. "Well, are you going to help me pack this back up?" He asked expectantly.
"Oh, won't you take me with you Severus?" Hermione asked, tears welling up in her eyes.
In a moment of compassion, Severus brushed the tear from her eye. "I can't take you with me. What would I tell Master Slughorn?" He tried to think of a way to cheer her up, before thinking of one. "Will you write to me, while I am gone?"
Hermione blushed and nodded enthusiastically back at him. "Of course I will, Severus. Will you write back? Will you visit?"
"I'll visit when I can." He told her with a smile. With his trunk packed once again, he levitated it out of his room and into the entrance hall where Professor Dumbledore was waiting with the coach, Hermione following close behind him. Sirius was waiting there as well, to say goodbye, but he honestly thought that Sirius was rather glad to be rid of him. There was still no sign of Regulus, so by the time his trunk was packed on the coach, he'd no choice but to leave.
Once he was alone in the coach, he found himself feeling very alone for the first time since he came to Hogwarts.
There were two other children under Potion Master Slughorn's tutorage with Severus. One was a red haired girl called Lily, who was the same age as him. The other was a blond boy called Lucius who was two years older than Severus. He liked them both immensely.
Lily was a muggleborn girl. Severus told her all about his sister Hermione, who was also a muggleborn. Lucius snuffed at this, but didn't say anything about it. She was very good at potions as well, but Severus found that they didn't work together as well as he worked with Hermione. They were constantly butting heads over what to try next.
Lucius quickly became his best friend. He was smart, good looking and rich. He apparently didn't need to complete pursuits in academia, but his father thought it would be a good way to keep him focused until his betrothed came of age. Lucius was a good potioneer, but didn't have the creativity that Lily and Severus had. It didn't seem to bother him though.
He wrote Hermione once a week at the beginning and she wrote back just as frequently. Regulus had scribbled an apology at the bottom of her first letter, and wrote that he missed Severus. Hermione told him about the banal goings on of Hogwarts and asked him about his research. It made him long for Hogwarts.
Soon, he became quite busy with his work, and sweet Hermione's letters were answered with less and less frequency. She still wrote once a week, but after a while her writing also dropped off, until she only sent him letters on his birthday. Severus was ashamed to say that he never wrote back.
Severus Snape was fifteen when he first fell in love. It seemed as if one night he'd gone to bed and woken up the next morning to meet a beautiful creature. Lily Evans had fiery red hair that he longed to grasp within his hands, allowing its silkiness to run between his fingers. Her eyes were a sparkling green and unlike anything he'd seen before. They always seemed to hold a smile for him. Her skin was pale like cream and unblemished by a single freckle.
He found himself staring at her in lessons, unable to tear his eyes away from the creature before him. How was it possible that he'd never noticed her beauty before? She'd even caused him to burn a batch of pepperup potion to his embarrassment.
Even better for him, it seemed as though she liked him too. She always laughed at his jokes, complimented his intelligence and he loved when she said his name the way that only she did. "S-ev!" Oh, to hear that made his heart beat so fast that he was certain that she could hear it.
Severus was sure that he could spend the rest of his life with this woman, if she'd have him.
Severus Snape was seventeen when he had his heart broken.
He had been sent out by Master Slughorn to find Lily who'd walked into the village on her day off. A rather big order had come in and so it was all hands on deck. He wandered around for nearly an hour before he spied his red haired girl sitting on a bench with a man with messy black hair.
As he approached them, he noticed that they were kissing each other. He felt as though his heart was being ripped straight from his chest, and he desperately fought off the urge to cry. He stood in front of the pair, but they were too wrapped up in each other to notice his presence. "Sorry to bother you, Lily, but Master Slughorn needs us for an order."
The boy, who looked very arrogant and annoyed. "And who are you?"
"Severus Snape." He replied, keeping an even voice. "I am Lily's friend."
"That's odd. She's never mentioned you before." The man stood and help Lily to her feet. He kissed her again, uncaring of his audience, and allowed his hands to stray to her bottom. It was crass and humiliating. "I swear Lily, once we are married, your free time will be your free time. No filling orders if you don't want to." And then he left.
The pair of them walked back to Slughorn's. "You are…affianced?" Severus ventured, annoyed that she hadn't told him. For two years she'd sent him private smiles and shared in little jokes with him. Every time she touched him his heart had accelerated in longing and he was positive that they were the best of friends at least.
"Yes, that's James Potter. We will be married in the spring." Lily told him sweetly.
"You shouldn't let him treat you like that, pawing at you in public not caring at who sees." Severus said, revealing his vitriol.
"I don't see how it's any of your business, Severus." She responded cooly.
And that was it. It was too painful to continue their friendship and he was only just able to continue to work with her until she left in the spring. The day that she left to marry that tosser, he felt dead inside.
It was the first time, in a long time, that he thought about his mother. He thought about his promise he made in childhood to bring her back from the icy grasp of death. From that day on, death was his obsession.
Severus Snape was eighteen years old when he had the stroke of brilliance that a potion might bring someone back from the dead. All this life, and specifically within the last two years, he'd thought that a spell would be the method to instill life into someone. He'd become obsessed with the idea and pondered endlessly about how wonderful it would be to have that kind of power, to give someone breathe and vitality again.
He'd stumbled upon the idea one day when he was working on developing an antidote to Draught of the Living Death. He figured that if he were able to put together ingredients that would bring someone back from a potion that would kill, given it had enough time to work, then perhaps it could be used to bring someone back from other forms of death – arnica to reduce the inflammation that dead bodies were prone to, feverfew to purge infection from the body, turmeric to counteract disruption of the liver.
He'd brought up his theories to Lucius, casually. At first the other man didn't think much about it. Lucius had recently received a portrait of his intended, one Miss Narcissa Black, that he had been mooning over for weeks now. Severus would admit that she was quite beautiful, but after his heart had been destroyed by Lily Evans, he never wanted to love again. It was all the better, seeing as he was assured that no one would love him back either. How could they, when he himself recognized how ugly he was, with his large, hooked nose and sallow skin?
Still, Lucius quickly saw that Severus was quite intent on making this work and began to guide and assist him with his endeavor. Severus's focus of his potions mastery was antidotes, while Lucius's was mind potions. Seeing as veritaserum was already quite perfect, there was little for Lucius to add to it, leaving him with a lot of spare time.
Soon, Lucius began asking if there were a way that you could bring someone back who'd died from the Avada Kedavra curse. It made Severus shudder to think of it, but it had possibilities. It was an evil curse and he couldn't begin to think of the ramifications of bringing back someone who'd died from such dark magic. Would they even be the same?
He kept that in his mind while he worked on perfecting his potion for other kinds of death. He'd been successful in reanimating one squirrel that had just recently died, but the creature was demented and ran about in circles, without its mind, until Severus finally took pity on the poor beast and killed it again.
He confessed this to Lucius, feeling horror roil in his stomach at what he'd created. He couldn't bare the idea of bringing a human back to that kind of an existence. After much discussion, Severus came to the conclusion that at least part of it was due to damage to the soul. Without your soul, you'd be mindless, pointless, listless. He thought of his mother, a blur of black and white, though, and pressed on. To see her face again…
At this time, Lucius again brought up the idea of reanimating someone who'd died from the Killing Curse. This seemed even more horrifying to Severus as the curse killed the soul of the victim. How could you go about bringing someone back to life without a soul? That was exactly what he wanted to prevent.
It seemed as though Lucius knew more than he was letting on and continued to guide Severus this way and that. Severus was annoyed, wanting his damnedable blond haired friend to just tell him what it was that he was trying to achieve. Still, Severus worked on a potion that would bring someone back from the Killing Curse. Some of the ingredients that he tried were unorthodox, and Severus felt a twinge of guilt. Sure blood magic wasn't illegal, but it was highly frowned upon. Still, he set those qualms aside, obsessed with his task, and tried them any way.
Once he was quite certain he had something that might bring someone back to life, he brought up to Lucius the lack of the soul, and how that was necessary to bring someone back without damning them to an unlife. It was then that Lucius played his hand.
He waited until she was certain that Master Slughorn was gone for the day, and then warding the area, and setting up their little laboratory with silencing charms to boot. It made the hair on Severus's arms stand up. Lucius told him of a man, who was able to place bits of his soul into objects, but who had died many years ago. He was an extremely powerful wizard and one who would have done anything for control. He told Severus of how the wizard, called Lord Voldemort – self-stylized, Severus was sure, as he'd never heard of a Lord Voldemort across England, Wales or Scotland – was ruthless and unyielding in his endeavor of domination. His plan was to assert wizarding dominance over the mindless muggles. But, he had been killed, by none other than Professor Dumbledore, many years ago before he could realize his dream.
Lucius said that, through repeated use, an object could become tainted with a remainder of a person, could hold a piece of their very essence. If the soul had already been ripped through some traumatic experience, even better. A diary, frequently written in, a necklace, well worn, a cup, drank from daily – any and all of these things could hold a piece of us. The thought alone made Severus want to smash the tea cup that sat on his bedside table.
Still, he thought of his beautiful mother, and how she had brushed her hair every evening with the same brush, lovingly detangling the black hair. And his mother certainly had had trauma in her life, why Severus's own muggle father was the cause of most of it.
When Lucius brought him the diary of Lord Voldemort, Severus was overcome with the evil that he felt in the object. He didn't wish to hold the black leather bound paper for more than a few minutes. But, Severus took the object from Lucius, wrapped it tightly, and placed it at the bottom of his trunk. He promised his friend that he would renew his work, and bring back Lord Voldemort from the grave.
Severus was twenty years old when he returned home to Hogwarts. He'd just freshly received his potions mastery and was quite proud to show it off. Lucius had left several months before to prepare for his nuptials, as his beloved Narcissa would be coming of age soon.
When Severus had received Hermione's letters, he was surprised. She usually sent him one extremely long epistolary for his birthday, which spanned several rolls of parchment in her small, neat, looping handwriting. She would tell him in banal detail about the goings on of Hogwarts – Regulus was studying astronomy, but he didn't care for the centaurs, Regulus had taken a House Elf, which Hermione found most distasteful. He wanted to say that it annoyed him, but he read each and every word with fondness.
But when he read this missive, which arrived in late September, he was shocked to read that Professor Dumbledore had died of natural causes, and that his presence was requested at home, for the funeral. In his mind, Professor Dumbledore had been ageless, but at the same time, he'd always seemed like a rather old man. He could see Hermione's tears on the page where it had smudged the ink.
Dutifully, Severus had packed up his trunk and set off back to Scotland, to Hogwarts, to home.
His carriage ride was long and lonely. When he'd left Hogwarts all those years ago, he wasn't nervous at all. Instead he was filled with eagerness, excitement at getting to learn new things from a Potions Master. But now, he was a Potions Master himself and returning for the funeral of a man who was more like a father to him than his own father had been.
He felt ashamed that he hadn't even thought much of the rag tag family that he'd left behind. He'd been too absorbed in his own ambitions and desires to pay them any mind. Regulus had been like a brother to him, but he'd left without so much as a good bye. And sweet Hermione, he still remembered how she'd hidden herself in his trunk to go with him. Would they even remember him?
Severus had changed much in the seven years he'd been away. When he'd left he'd just been a boy, gangly and awkward. He'd grown much taller in the years since, and while he was still quite lanky, he'd grown into his body. He never grew into his nose, which was crooked and large and his teeth were more yellow due to the copious amount of tea he drank.
After an indescribably long time, he finally arrived at Hogwarts once again. He'd barely had time to set down his trunk before a small girl – no woman, from the feel of her soft breasts pressed against his chest – launched herself into his arms. "Oh Severus, I am ever so happy to see you."
Hermione looked up at him with bright eyes. She was wearing a black mourning gown, but it could do nothing to diminish her beauty. Her skin was pink like the new morning's glow and her cheeks were flushed. Her brown eyes, which he'd always remembered as being a mud color, were sparkling and more golden than he ever recalled. Her frizzy brown hair, long since tamed, was now curly and wild, like she'd just woken from slumber. She was like Sleeping Beauty. Was it truly possible that this enchanting creature was the same girl he'd left behind all those years ago?
Finally, realizing that he'd been staring at her, he spoke. "I am delighted to see you as well, Hermione. Though I wish it was on more pleasant terms." He looked around the entrance hall. "Where are Sirius and Regulus?"
"Why don't I show you to your room? I can explain along the way." Hermione told him with a grimace.
Severus agreed and began to levitate his trunk down to his rooms, where he'd spent so many nights sleeping previously.
Hermione explained that she and Sirius both studied Transfiguration with Professor Dumbledore, but that she also indulged in some Arithmancy study. She told him that Sirius was off on his vision quest, to determine this animagus form. She was beautiful when she explained the human to animal transformation and told him that she hoped to begin her own study as well. She confided that she had considered tracking Sirius down, but that she'd decided against it seeing as Professor Dumbledore would have wanted Sirius to continue with his task.
Severus thought darkly that Sirius and Hermione had become quite close, but he felt oddly relieved at the idea that it was more a sisterly devotion she felt for the elder Black brother.
"Regulus will be joining us for dinner later this evening." Hermione said tritely. "He has been studying astronomy with the centaurs in the forest, and so he sleeps through the day."
They entered his room, and he found it exactly as he left it, but clean. His sheets were turned down and he wanted nothing more than to curl into the bed and sleep. Hermione sat down on the edge of the bed and he tried not to think of her in such an improper manner. The black dress she wore clung to her feminine curves and it was quite a distraction.
"Honestly, I don't know what's gotten into Regulus lately. His mother died a year or so back and he's changed ever since then. She sent along a box of family heirlooms and an awful house elf called Kreacher. He's taken to wearing this giant emerald locket that was said to be owned by Salazar Slytherin himself. And Kreacher follows him everywhere, practically hero-worships Reggie, but he hates me. He's constantly calling me mudblood." Hermione said dejectedly.
Severus looked aghast. "Surely Regulus doesn't call you that?"
"No, he hasn't called me that in years, but he never stops Kreacher from doing it." Hermione said darkly. Then she shook off the morose pall that had fallen on her face. "Well, I ought to let you get cleaned up for dinner, then Severus. I am so glad you are home." She told him with a genuine smile on her face.
Severus felt his heart clench at her sincerity. She was so sweet and pure, she wouldn't possibly think of having such a dark and brooding husband as himself, but it didn't stop his mind from conjuring the possibility.
When he arrived at dinner, Regulus and Hermione were already seated at the long table. Regulus was also wearing all black, save the huge locket on his neck, with its heavy silver chain. Regulus hugged his old friend – more brother than his own brother – and apologized again for not seeing him off all those years ago.
Regulus was a slight man and several inches shorter than Severus himself. He was very good looking, though, Severus could objectively say, with wavy hair dark as pitch and dark eyes. He could still see traces of the boy he remembered.
Watching Regulus at dinner, though, made Severus painfully aware that he didn't know Regulus at all. He watched in disgust as the dirty little house elf fawned over Regulus, preparing his food for him and ignoring the other two at the table. When Regulus was eating, the little beast, with a tea towel for its loincloth, whispered and muttered about filthy mudbloods sharing the table with his pureblood master.
The locket around his neck was the most troubling of all. It seemed to glow with an unnatural green light and there was something undeniably dark about it. Whenever Severus seemed to look at it for too long, Regulus would grab the emerald locket in his hand, almost unconsciously. It was disturbing, to say the least.
The funeral passed without incident. It was raining heavily, but the three of them trudged out to the grounds to the little cemetery nearby Hogwarts. Regulus and Severus stood silently, in quiet contemplation, but Hermione's tears could be heard even over the din of the rain.
Severus took the opportunity to allow her to lean on him. He ran his fingers through her damp curls and tried to be too pleased with the situation.
But soon, a name on one of the headstones caught his eye, as he tried to remember where he'd heard it before. Tom Riddle. With a chill that extended to the bone, which certainly wasn't from the rain, he knew it was also on the diary at the bottom of his trunk.
In the weeks following Dumbledore's funeral, Severus was like a man possessed working on his potion. It consumed nearly all of his waking thoughts and it haunted his dreams. Now that he was so close to creating a solution, it was the only thing he could work on.
That and his relationship with sweet Hermione. Luckily, there was a lot of overlap between the two, as she was quite insistent on spending time with him as well. They had quickly fallen into old habit of her assisting him with the preparation and location of ingredients, while he worked diligently over his cauldrons.
He didn't tell her what he was making exactly, just telling her that it was an antidote to the Draught of the Living Death. She was quite interested in his calculations and helped him refine some of the amounts needed for the potion, as well as suggesting some ingredients that he hadn't thought of before. She'd even suggest blood magic, though the blood of an animal. He'd forgotten how extensive the Hogwarts library was and did find several tomes that he hoped would be useful to him.
He never allowed her to be with him in his laboratory while he tested the potion, telling her that he had to test it on live animals and she didn't want to see them in pain. Horrified at the idea of spilling innocent blood, even of an animal, she left Severus alone to test it.
Slowly, over the weeks, the potion was coming along nicely, and he was able to bring back birds, squirrels and even rabbits. He thought he might try it on a dog soon, before he tried to bring back the man buried in the cemetery. The only issue that remained was that the animals were clearly demented, having lost their minds and it was horrific to imagine putting a human through that. Still, he figured that he would be able to kill the human he brought back should any issues arise.
His relationship with Hermione progressed as well. She was a delight to talk to, about pursuits intellectual and otherwise. Sometimes they would ride about the grounds on horses and discuss arithmetic principles and sometimes they would sit in the parlor by the warm fire and Hermione would play the piano.
At first, he was positive that someone as beautiful as Hermione could never love him, but he slowly saw the pure devotion in her eyes that she held for him. She was consumed with his person and he would be lying if he said he didn't love it. He was reluctant to encourage the relationship, the sting of Lily's rejection still fresh in his mind, despite happening years ago. He was also painfully aware of how different the pair of them was. Hermione was full of life, vivacious and funny. She'd ditched the mourning robes and had begun to wear bright blues and purples which complemented her lovely complexion. He, on the other hand, was dour, ugly and obsessed with bringing someone back from death.
But she remained utterly devoted to him, and slowly he found himself giving into her light touches and demure smiles. The first time they kissed, they had been caught outside riding during a sudden rainstorm. Once they were safe in the barn, Hermione had laughed so prettily that he couldn't help himself but bend over and place a kiss on her cheek. She'd blushed and smiled and quieted her laughter.
Once after dinner, when they were sharing a warm brandy in front of the fire of the library, Hermione had wedged herself right next to him on the couch. They sat there, content, reading for hours, until finally, staring up at him with those hazelnut eyes of hers, Hermione planted her lips on his own. They were soft and smooth and everything he'd imagined it would be.
Another time still, after Kreacher had been particularly nasty to Hermione, he walked her back to her rooms. He'd dried her tears from her cheeks and placed his lips to hers in a show of comfort. But it seemed that comfort was far from her mind when she pressed her body tightly to his and ran her tongue along the seam of his lips. She explored his mouth with an abandon that had him curling his toes in rapture. It was everything he'd dreamed of and more. The soft press of her breasts against his chest had him pulling away, for fear that he'd expose his hard desire for her.
Severus wanted nothing more than to be devoted to Hermione forever, but first he needed to attempt his potions, to call something back from the dead, to play god among wizards, to master death. He needed to do away with this obsession so he could once again rejoin the living. After sufficient testing, he was ready to attempt the potion on the body that rested out in the cemetery.
He'd selected the night of All Hallows Eve, as the centaurs had a sacred ritual that night and so he could count on not running into Regulus in the forest. He'd given both Hermione and Regulus a mild sleeping draught with dinner, so they both retired to their rooms quite early.
Severus went down to his potions laboratory to retrieve the cauldron and ingredients he'd already prepared. Holding that damned leather book in his hand gave him an eerie feeling of this being an awful, terrible idea, but he'd already come to far to turn back now. He set off into the rain on foot, towards the cemetery. The rain that had fallen all day long had been transformed into a thunderstorm.
The first crack of thunder frightened him. It seemed as if Mother Nature were telling him to turn around, begging, pleading with him to go back. He shook his head though, and continued, making his way to the cemetery, using the lightning in the sky to guide his path. In the eerie white light of the sky, the cemetery seemed to have taken on a sinister quality, but he didn't mind. Instead he placed a drying charm on the cauldron to keep it safe from the rain and got out the shovel.
Despite his well placed drying charms, the ground was still quite muddy. The first penetration of the dirt with his shovel filled him with an anticipation like nothing he'd known. It was slow work, but he was quickly making headway. His arms and back ached, but he pressed on until he felt the pine box beneath him.
Eager, he pried the box open, and moved to stand within the coffin. He was certain this was some kind of desecration to the dead, but he was like a man possessed. Inside, he found only bones remained. "So you are the man Professor Dumbledore killed? I wonder what you'd done to him." He murmured quietly to the skeleton. The skull was somehow grotesque to look at with its perfect white teeth still intact.
Jumping out of the grave, he used his wand to levitate the bones from their resting place to near the cauldron. Taking aim and the little burner beneath the suspended cauldron, he lit the fuel so that he could commence with brewing.
Severus rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He didn't care that he was soaked to the bone or that his lower half was covered in grave dirt mud. He reverently placed the bones into the large pewter cauldron, before adding ingredients one by one - ingredients that his loving Hermione had so meticulously prepared.
What would she think if she saw him now? A grave robber? Would she see only madness, a man possessed by death? Or would she see his pure genius? Surely the wizarding world would recognize him as one of the greats on the scale of Merlin for his masterful feat. He would have job offers and grants of money to continue his research and he could give Hermione the life she deserved. He could have his mother back and see her smile again.
The bones had already dissolved into the boiling liquid, when he needed to perform the blood sacrifice. It was truly inspired to consider the blood sacrifice, as Hermione had suggested, but animal blood wouldn't suffice. No, he needed blood of a witch or wizard, imbued with magic. He cut the palm of his left hand and watched as the drops slid off his hand and into the massive cauldron. The chalky white liquid was transformed into a vivid green, unnatural in its hue.
Finally, all that was left was to add the book, add the piece of soul to the potion. The book seemed to sing as he held it in his hands, seductive whispers telling him to put it in the cauldron. It sounded like Hermione's voice, but like he'd never heard it before. A lover's caress. Severus knew what he had to do, and tossed the diary - Tom Riddle's soul - into the boiling mixture.
He watched as the contents began to boil and hiss, great bubbles popping and spitting. The green liquid lost it's shade until it turned a black color that had Severus feeling ill to look at. Then, as quickly as it began, the reaction stopped, living still black water in the cauldron.
That was it.
Severus instantly fell to his knees, overcome with the weight of his failure. Why didn't it work? His heart ached and his mind raced and he was ashamed that months, nay years, of dedicated work had been for naught. Not to mention that the book that Lucius had given him was destroyed beyond repair. Oh, what would become of him now? He wasn't a genius or a god. He was merely a foolish man.
Aiming his wand at the flame beneath the behemoth of a cauldron, he extinguished the flames without pomp. He was disgraced.
Sighing, Severus wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers. At least no one was here to witness his humiliation.
Then a noise startled him. He'd become accustomed to the patter of the rain and the rumbles of the thunder, but this...this was a scratching, that sent dread to the pit of his stomach. He looked up at the cauldron and was shocked to see a white hand gripping the edge of the pewter.
Standing, triumphant and elated, Severus whispered first, more question than fact. "It's alive?" Seeing movement of the hand, he again shouted. "It's Alive!"