Summer passed quickly. The castle was rebuilt better than ever. Anyone who could got involved with the project. One thing no one could do was extinguish the flames engulfing Dumbledore's portrait. Although Minerva and Harry tried, the other portraits in the office would only say that Dumbledore truly got what he deserved. If Phineas Nigellus Black was smug about his rather vague responsed, no one really could tell the difference between that and his usual mode of address.
Harry quickly got over his snit about the flaming portrait when Phineas steered him toward a book in the hidden library that told of a potion that would remove a Horcrux from a living being without harming them. Of course, it required the person brewing the potion to only have the host person's good in mind. Apparently, Dumbledore was not capable of that course of action.
Which Minerva commented on after hearing about this. "No wonder Albus said he wouldn't remove your scar, even if he could."
After that, Harry extolled the virtues of the unknown portrait-burning perpetrator to anyone who would listen.
Severus Snape laughed so hard he set his recovery back a few weeks when he was told what had become of Dumbledore's portrait. When he finally returned to the Headmaster's office (being cleared rather quickly after Harry threatened to move to California and become a beach bum if they did anything other than pardon Snape) Phineas told him exactly what happened.
When Phineas got to the part of the invocation that named the people Hermione was asking justice for, Severus interrupted.
"Potter, of course."
"Listen, you misbegotten son of a cur, you didn't let me finish." Phineas interjected angrily. "You! You were the second person. You probably don't even appreciate that."
Severus was stunned. He sat at the large desk thinking about the actions of the little Gryffindor. Well, not so little anymore, she was certainly an adult. It took a full grown witch to invoke the iDico Justicia./i He knew of the spell, but the fact that it could punish the caster if they were wrong kept most people from even thinking about it. He decided at that point to see what he could do to cultivate Hermione. Even if all they became was friends, he thought she would be a good person to have around. He might have a second chance, but he was still a Slytherin.
Hermione spent the summer coming to grips with the unexpected consequences of her invocation. She could tell when people were lying to her. She hadn't realized the extent of this while she was in Australia retrieving her parents. Once she found them and gave them the code phrase, they were very pleased to see her alive. They had truly enjoyed their year off. Since they had actually told some people they were taking a sabbatical it was not hard for them to return to Britain. But they were planning to keep their home in Australia for vacations. They did enjoy it there.
Once they got back to Britain, Hermione started to notice the fact that she could "see" lies. The custom agent at the airport was tired of happy people and certainly didn't mean it when she wished the Grangers a good afternoon. The taxi driver was not pleased with his tip, but then again, he had almost killed them on the way home. And Ron, Ron did not mean it when he told Hermione he had missed her.
"Who were you spending time with, Ron?" Hermione asked wearily.
"No one, Hermione, just George. I was waiting for you to come home!" Ron prevaricated, starting to sweat.
"Ron, please, don't lie to me. We have not done more than have one kiss. We have been best friends for 7 years. Just tell me what is going on." Hermione insisted. She wasn't pleading, but she wanted an answer. A truthful one.
Ron crumbled under the gentle pressure. He started to speak rather rapidly, as though he feared he would get hexed in the middle. "A girl came in to the shop a few days after you left. We started talking and found we got along well. She's British, but her parents had her educated at Beauxbatons because they were afraid of Voldemort. Her mother is Muggle-born, you see. She is sweet, Hermione, you'd like her. She loves to cook, she wants a large family, and she thinks I'm smart. And she's willing to wait to see if this thing you and I felt during the battle was real or not." He was almost in tears by the end of this. Since he had not been hexed, he was afraid of what Hermione was going to say.
"Ron, I don't cook. I don't want more than 2 children. And I do think you are smart, but I don't think you do as much as you can with it. I love you, but I don't know if I'm in love with you. I don't know if we are really passionate about each other, or if we were caught up with the adrenaline from the battle. I wanted to try and see which it was, but considering what you said about this girl, I just don't think it will work out. Not as more than a short thing. And I don't know if I'm willing to compromise our friendship." Hermione stated this kind of wonderingly. She wasn't sure what she was going to say when she started speaking, but this felt right.
"Why don't we try this, Hermione?" Ron said. She looked at him questioningly. "Try wha..." When she opened her mouth, Ron leaned in and kissed her. It was sweet, and kind of sad. It felt like the end of something.
"I think you are right, Hermione. We don't have a grand passion. A relationship between us could be easy, because it is comfortable and we are used to each other, but it wouldn't be the best thing ever." Ron said this matter-of-factly.
Hermione smiled at him, looking at her best friend through a shimmery sheen of tears. "You grew up, Ron! I want to meet your girl. What's her name?" And with that, the two friends sat and discussed their whole summer apart.
Hermione was getting used to the prevarications and little white lies that people used every day. She generally tried to tune out the little image in her mind that told her that she wasn't hearing the truth. She also figured she would look in the Restricted Section again to see if there was any documentation about this phenomenon.
Severus was also busy during what was left of the summer. He researched everything he could on iDico Justicia/i. He found that there were two general side effects. One is the one that Hermione was already experiencing, although he did not know that. The other, well, that one was more intimate. It seemed that if the caster could find a true passion, the flames would enhance their experience somehow. There weren't any details about what the enhancement would be in any of the literature, though.
Severus had to abandon his research at that point. He had to get the school ready for the new school year. Especially to try to get people in the right classes. Last year's seventh years were given the chance to return as full time students, or as part of a self-study group. NEWTS would be offered in January and then in June as usual.
Hermione decided to do the self-study. The professors were available for any questions during some set periods, the library was available, and she could get some peace. Harry was going to join the current seventh year class. He wanted to be in class with Ginny. Ron decided to take the bye the Ministry offered, and went straight to Auror training. He didn't last past the first set of tests and went to work with George.
The first week of school, all the returning "eighth years" were called into the Headmaster's office. Harry reported that he had a rather enlightening discussion about all of Dumbledore's machinations regarding both himself and Severus. He also told Hermione that the Headmaster was willing to set aside some time to tell him stories about Lily. He was quite pleased with this development.
Due to the fact that all the people who had spoken to the Headmaster only had good things to say, and they were all being truthful about it, Hermione was looking forward to speaking with Severus.
"I hear you have a flair with fire, Miss Granger." Severus greeted Hermione as she entered his office.
Hermione looked up at him with her eyes widening.
"Don't worry, Miss Granger, I will keep your secret. I admire the courage it took to invoke iDico Justicia/i, I recognize the talent necessary to have done so successfully, and I appreciate the fact that it was done partly on my behalf." Severus spoke this with a slight rasp in his normally chocolate velvet voice.
"You truly mean that, sir!" Hermione sounded surprised.
"Ah, I see you have encountered the first of the known side effects, Ms. Granger." Severus's lip quirked upward as he practically saw Hermione's thoughts at his statement.
"Are there more, sir?" Hermione questioned him. "I'm sorry, I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds."
"Do not worry Miss Granger. In your situation, I would also have some questions. And in the privacy of this office, you may call me Severus. I believe you have earned it." Severus responded, again with that quirk of his lip.
"Then you should call me Hermione, si..I mean Severus." Hermione was amazed by the way this was going. And he had not lied to her, not once.
"Well, then Hermione, the only other documented side effect is an enhancement of true passion. Am I to assume that you have also experienced this? I was told you were seeing Mr. Weasley." Severus tried not to sound too curious with this statement. This was the only person in his entire life who was not his mother who did something for his sake without wanting something back.
"No, Severus. Ronald and I decided that we were better off as friends. I have yet to find a true passion." Hermione was intrigued. The Headmaster was still not lying to her. But his reasons for this line of questioning were not clear to her. Was he really interested in her?
"I had better not take up any more of your time, Hermione. If you need access to any of the books here in my private library, please just let me know with a note. I am sure you will be quite ready for your NEWTS in January. And after that, if you find you are interested in apprenticing to anyone here in the castle, or would just like to continue your studies until you decide, you are welcome to stay for the rest of the school year." Severus wanted to get to know the woman with the strength to cast iDico Justicia/i and he wasn't above using any means to do so. After she took the NEWTS in January, she wouldn't technically be a student any more.
Hermione left the meeting elated. She would have access to Severus's library. He seemed to be quite interested in her, as a person. She always respected the man, and was almost heart-broken to think that her trust had been broken when he killed Dumbledore. But now, now she could see a bit of the man behind the black robes, and she was fascinated. She always did like to solve puzzles.
Those first few months back flew by. Hermione, along with Neville, Draco (who was allowed to return, with restrictions), Susan, Hannah, Lisa Turpin and Daphne Greengrass all took their NEWTS in January. Afterwards, Hermione decided to stay in the castle. She wanted to see what she could do with Advanced Arithmancy and Charms. She also wanted to see what she could do with the Headmaster. By this point, they had spent many an afternoon in quiet companionship with the books in his collection. On occasion, they argued over some article in a potions journal. Never once did he lie to her. Even if his answer was simply that he did not wish to discuss a certain topic, he always told her the truth. She was quite ready to see where this relationship might go, given a chance. She had figured, correctly, that nothing would happen while she was his student.
The first week after the NEWTS, Hermione was sitting quietly in the library, when she heard footsteps. She looked up, and there was the Headmaster.
"I need to speak to you, Miss Granger. Please come with me to my office." Severus ground this out painfully, then turned on his heel and walked out the door.
Hermione quickly gathered up the books and other materials that she had on the table and followed him. His tone of voice worried her.
"Did I do something wrong, Severus?" She asked him plaintively when they arrived in his office.
"No, Hermione, you did nothing wrong. But I did not want anyone in the library to hear me address you informally." Severus's explained.
"Oh, you worried me. I was so afraid I had offended you somehow." She didn't know what else to tell him.
Severus quirked his lips upward.
"Hermione, I wondered, would you be willing to accompany me to dinner tomorrow evening?" Severus looked at her hopefully.
"I would love to, Severus. What is the occasion?" Hermione responded with a smile.
"My birthday, actually. I feel like I have a second lease on life, and would like to share the day with my best friend." Severus turned away from her after saying this.
Hermione sat there with her mouth open. Then she realized he wasn't lying. He truly saw her as his best friend.
"I'm so sorry I don't have a gift for you, Severus. I didn't know it was your birthday." Brightest witch of her age, but she couldn't think of anything more to say.
"You need not get me anything, Hermione. Your presence will be quite enough." Severus injected his hope for more than friendship into the tone of his voice.
"If you say so." Hermione responded with a smile. "What should I wear?"
"A nice Muggle dress, we are going to a restaurant in London." He declared slightly mischievously.
Hermione left his office bemused. She went up to the dorm, where she ran into Ginny and Harry.
"Hey, Hermione! What does that look mean?" Asked Ginny. "You look like you just got asked out on a date!" Ginny laughed.
Hermione just smiled.
"Wait, you really were asked on a date! Who was it?" Harry queried excitedly.
"Severus."
There was dead silence. Then, being the good friend that she was, Ginny said "What are you going to wear?" They went up to go through Hermione's wardrobe.
The next day, Hermione was dressed in a beautiful but simple midnight blue dress, with a low back and a swirly hem, her hair was up, and she had a silver bag and shoes. She looked even better than she did for the Yule ball her fourth year. She had received a note to meet Severus at the front door at 7PM. She started out of Gryffindor tower, and was followed by Harry and Ginny and most of everyone else, because they were quite curious as to where she was going, and who she might be going with. Harry and Ginny refused to say.
She reached the door, and saw Severus dressed in a well tailored grey suit, with a white shirt and a dark blue tie. His hair was tied back. He looked absolutely striking. He looked up and saw Hermione, and she saw his breath catch. She smiled at him and when he reached out, she placed her hand in his.
"Shall we go, Miss Granger?"
"But of course, Headmaster." Hermione smiled again when she saw the looks on most every one's faces. Harry, Ginny, and oddly, Draco all just looked bemused.
Hermione and Severus had a wonderful dinner in a small Italian restaurant in London. They, as usual, had quite a bit to talk about. And they enjoyed each other's company.
Severus apparated them back to the gates of Hogwarts. As they walked slowly back, Hermione said "I really don't want this night to end. I thought this was going to be what I could have with Ron, but that would have never happened. We never could talk about the same things. With you, though, Severus, I can be myself." Severus practically preened hearing this.
"I hope this is the beginning of something long-lasting, Hermione. I had to wait until after your NEWTS. I want you to know that being able to tell Harry about Lily, I was able to let that part of my life go. I am hoping that this, with you, will be something real." Severus waited for Hermione to respond. He figured it was too long, and said "I understand if you don't want this, Hermione." But something in him started to die as he said that.
"That is the first lie you have told me since we came back to Hogwarts, Severus." Hermione had tears running down her face. "I would like to see what will happen next."
Severus gently took her face in his hands and leaned down and kissed her. It started off sweet, then grew into something passionate. And as that happened, they were both taken with a feeling of fire, of joining. They could almost feel what the other was feeling. It was amazing.
"You truly are incomparable, witch! The things you have accomplished astound me. And now I know why this phenomenon was not described. There are no words."
"No, Severus, there aren't."
Hermione never did regret finding that invocation and setting Dumbledore's portrait on fire. And it took him almost another full lifetime before he repented enough to quench the flames.
A/N: iDico Justicia/i = I call Justice