She bite her lip, finally looked down, and wrote:
Failed.
Without a sigh, without tears, without anger.
This is the ninth time.
Sigh, tears and cries aren't useful. The only thing she can do is to continue. She believes she can succeed.
It is not without reason that she is called the smartest witch of her age.
But of course, she is still disappointed. After all, she had believed that this time it would work for sure.
"Hermione?" A green fire lit up in the fireplace, and Harry's face appeared. "So, did you succeed?"
She only shacked her head, and stood up silently, arranging her notes.
"Mione," He said softly. "Maybe, you should give up. From what we know, it would take a miracle to make him well again."
She only looked at him in silence, until he bowed his head in defeat.
"I really can not understand you, Mione. Why are you still there? I thought that after war, everything will be as it was before. Me and Ginny, you and Ron, happy." He looked up again, and said what he wanted to say for a long time. "You don't need to stay there because you feel responsible."
Hermione shrugged.
"You don't understand, Harry. People change. Anyway, he's not a bother; you shouldn't talk of him like that."
Harry shacked his head.
"Maybe Ginny's right. Are you in love with him?" Even through the fireplace, she can see in his eyes the desire to be proven false.
But she didn't defend herself, and the silence is telling enough.
"Why? You know what kind of person he is: sarcastic, cruel… evil. Whatever he have done in the war doesn't deny the fact that he truly is an oily old bat. And now you are the best lawyer in England, Mione! You deserve better! Even before he's not good enough for you, and that's before he became an empty shell." Harry said almost cruelly.
This made her look up, with hurt in her eyes.
"Harry…" she bit her lower lip, without denying his words.
Because he is now indeed an empty shell.
He is still sitting there, as one on whom the light has never shone. But his spirit, his soul full of knowledge and wisdom isn't there any more. Whatever she says, he would do, but he would stop moving whenever she forget to tell him what to do, as would a lifeless doll. Maybe, she should already thanks God that he can breath without her help.
A living dead, that's what he is now. Worse that people that have received the Dementor's Kiss.
Because his soul, whatever is deciding his personality and his whole being, is locked up in the deepest part of his mind, imprisoned in him.
This is the last hateful thing that Fudge did before being thrown out of his office. He created a punishment worse that the Dementor's kiss. He made men's soul get lost in their own nightmares, locked in themselves, without the mean to communicate with anyone, or even to move. While they can see all the things that is happening around them, the prisoner can not even control his own movements, slowly going crazy in his own mind. Fudge saw in this Unforgivable the greatest discovery of the century, and even gave those living dead as gifts to the War Heroes.
As slaves.
When Hermione heard of this and tried to stop it, it was already too late fore Severus Snape. He was one of the first to receive the special treatment.
At that time, he didn't even have had a proper trial.
After that, Hermione did everything she could for him. She got him a proper trial, cleared his name, and even succeeded in getting him the Order of Merlin, Second Class.
But it was too late.
"…even if he was fine he may never be able to love you," Harry continued, without realizing her pain. But of course, maybe she's wrong, maybe he did know what he was doing, but he just didn't care. Harry is still hating Severus Snape with passion, and he even think that his love for his mother is a sin. "Hermione, don't waste your time on him. You know he had always loved my mother…"
She finally waved her wand, and extinguished the fire.
Hermione knew all this, but she doesn't want to resign yet.
Four years, and there is still no changes.
He had survived the war! He can finally live his life now. How can she surround… when everything is finally getting fine fore him…
Looking at his empty corps, a tear finally glided down her cheek.
Another year, she thought.
If, he is not getting well in another year, she is going to stop his torment herself.
This though made her bit her lip to blood.
A metallic taste filled her mouth.
Now, she is going to leave, and go to somewhere silent.
To a place where she can experiment everyday, to help him recover.
She already prepared everything. The luggage is done, and the house has been sold to a muggle couple a month ago. Her own saving itself can already support her for years, and that's not including the money she's going to get by selling the house. She has already decided to live in the cottage a parent left for her mother. She even went to Hogwarts sometime ago: Winky is now the first house elf of the Granger's house, and her job is to take care of everything in the house. To escape the Ministry's control, she even got an alternative wand – an unregistered wand – and a very memorable one too – Bellatrix Lestrange's.
None of her friends know her decision, because they would think her crazy.
But she's not.
She only needs a year.
And a miracle.
But Severus Snape has always been able to survive whatever the situation is, and have done things impossible for other men, so maybe this time he would be able to do so too.
Softly caressing his cheek, she kissed his front head, told him her plans, all she thought about.
They would travel as muggles. She would do experiments all days. She even already have found some possible cures.
She does not want his thanks. She won't care if he thinks that she should take care of her own business. She just wants him to live.
He had already missed 20 years of his life for the Greater Good. She wants to give him back all that remains.
Whatever the price is.
Getting up to prepare dinner, she suddenly laughs quietly.
Maybe she is crazy, doing a hopeless thing.
But she would still hope, because she cannot stop doing it.
Behind her back, a man that have been silent for too long time softly moves a finger for the first time.
...
(This is my first fanfic, and I know that my English is not that good. Review and leave comments!)