Chapter Three: The Black Cravat

She watched Severus for any sign of movement. He'd been immobile since breakfast, had missed lunch and his somnolence might even encroach on dinner. At least he was breathing; she had checked, several times.

Boring . . . boring . . . boring, she thought for the hundredth time. She stretched her legs out, crossing them at the ankles and propped her head on the back of the chair, looking up at the wooden ceiling planks. Not even one book had been left in the room and she had checked everywhere, even underneath the mattress. The Ministry had ensured, as best they could, that there would only be one activity available for the inmates imprisoned in this room. She looked over at Severus, again, but he was still not moving. With nothing to do, her mind kept wandering back to Ron and why he hadn't come for her yet. And with that thought, tears plumped at the corner of her eyes. With the tears came the resolve to divert her thoughts and she scanned the room, again. Boring . . . boring . . . boring, she recited in her mind for the hundred and first time.

Standing, she meandered over to her scribblings on the wall. She had written July 7 in block letters at the top of one column of stones, planning to keep track of how many days it took them to get out. It hadn't been twenty-four hours yet. Just after dinner today, she would add July 8 next in line, at about the same time of day they had been locked up in this stupid room. Moving along the wall, she scanned her other notes. There was the chimney question Severus had mentioned. But how to answer it? Just after breakfast she had poked her head into the fireplace to check if any light could be seen up the flue, but it had been pitch black and if there was a bend somewhere, she wouldn't have seen anything anyway.

Now she went back and stood in front of the hearth. Why would it matter if the chimney vented physically or magically? As she mulled over the question, she studied the fireplace again. Wizards used it for warmth, for light, sometimes for cooking, and for . . . Flooing? She wracked her brain for details about the Floo Network. Fireplaces that could Floo had to be vented physically to the outside; magically vented chimneys couldn't even transport nargles. The fireplaces used had to be put on the Network by the Ministry - and surely they would have blocked this one. But Severus would have realized that and he still asked the question. What else? Floo Powder. Hm. Discovered by Ignatia Wildsmith. The sap of the Floo plant is collected, dried and ground into a silvery green powder. The powder is then thrown into the hearth flames and oft times - not all of it is burned up! That could answer Severus' question, but she would need him to test it out. In the mean time, another experiment occurred to her.

She got up, snatched his cravat off the table and returned to the fireplace. Taking the length of silk by one end, she squatted in front of the hearth and held it in the center of the firebox. If physically vented to the outside, a small draft of air up the flue might be detectable. She watched the silk closely, not sure if she had enough light to be able to see it move, black fabric against blackened masonry. After a few moments she shifted to prevent aching ankles and accidently dropped the cravat into the ashes left over from the last fire.

"Oh, damn," she muttered. "He's going to kill me."

Better find out what she's up to now, he thought when he heard her swear. He opened his eyes, even though he felt like going back to sleep. Rolling onto his side he was surprised to find that his robes were draped over him. As stealthily as possible, which was considerable given his background, he slipped out of bed and stepped up behind her. She was rubbing furiously at his cravat, smearing ashes over the entire thing. She swore again. The fact that she had retrieved his robes from the bathroom and used them as a blanket to keep him warm would moderate his response. Somewhat.

"Hermione?"

She froze, there on the hearth, his black cravat, now mottled grey, dangling from two fingers.

"Severus?" she said, twisting to look up at him. He stared at her, a sudden sensation of deja vu sweeping over him. He tried to process the feeling as he watched her stand up and hold out the length of splotchy black silk. He frowned.

"I'm speechless."

"I really don't believe that," she scoffed. He couldn't entirely suppress the smirk that tried to pull at his lips.

"I cannot for the life of me imagine what you are doing."

"It didn't work anyway," she sighed, bunching up the cravat and handing it to him. With pursed lips, he ran his hand over it, casting a cleaning spell as he did so. He then looped it around his collar, to be tied later.

"I think this fireplace has been used for Flooing in the past," said Hermione. "If that's true, a little bit of unburned Floo powder is left behind after every transport. Can you collect that magically? If enough exists, one of us might be able to Floo out of here."

"Do you really think they would have left this fireplace connected to the Network?"

"We're dealing with the Ministry here. If they think we don't have access to Floo Powder they might not have bothered disconnecting it."

"That's actually an astute and possibly valid observation . . . "

"I'm not a know-it-all for nothing. It does have its uses from time to time," said Hermione.

He quickly turned toward the fireplace to prevent her from seeing the smirk on his face. Holding out one hand he said, "Accio Floo Powder." Tiny puffs of dust erupted from the ash mound and Snape ended up with a very small palmful of the silvery green powder.

"It worked!" She did a little dance. "The chimney runs all the way through!"

"Calm yourself, Miss Granger . . ."

"Hermione."

"Calm yourself, Hermione." Snape corrected. "We have to check if it's still on the Network."

"Right!" She snagged one of the chairs and attempted to shove it into the fireplace. Snape sighed.

"Patience, witch," he grumbled, and pulled it from her hands. "I'm not going to have enough energy to duplicate a chair if this doesn't work. Here." He took one of her hands, dumped the Floo powder into it and then went to the bed. He stripped one of the pillows of its case. "We can try this . . ." he turned back toward the hearth and, just like the towel the previous day, the pillowcase disappeared from his hand and returned itself to the pillow. "Or not." He was confused. "I wonder why they cast such enchantments."

"So we won't light a fire and use the Floo?"

"If they thought that far in advance, they would have swept the hearth as well. I suspect there must be another reason for the disappearing linens. I suggest we wait until they bring us dinner and use a piece of bread for our experiment." He removed the cravat from about his neck and smoothed it out in his palm. "For now, let's keep the Powder on our persons." Hermione nodded and dusted off her palm into his. "While we are waiting," he twisted the cravat to secure the Floo powder and shoved it in his trouser pocket. "I'd advise you take advantage of the facilities and partake in another shower."

"Are you saying I smell?" Hermione glared at him. Or tried too. He rather had the market cornered.

"You reek of gnome. I can only surmise that had something to do with the reason you took your ring off. Since you showered yesterday, it is not you, technically, that smells. Pass your clothes through the door and I'll use a few cleaning spells on them while you are otherwise engaged, uh, occupied. I'll hang them on the doorknob afterward."

"Oh. Then that's actually an astute and possibly valid observation . . . Severus." She smiled and turned toward the bathroom. She certainly was intent on wearing out his first name.

Hermione stepped inside the bathroom and quickly stripped. She decided to keep her bra and panties and wash them herself when she was in the shower, but handed everything else, muggle jeans, t-shirt, socks and trainers, to Severus through the barely cracked door.

The hot water felt good running over her body, but she didn't dally, quickly cleaning herself and her unmentionables. Shutting off the water she grabbed a towel, hastily dried herself and wrung panties and bra to squeeze out extra water. Her hair was clean enough, so that had stayed in its braid. She tried a wandless drying spell and was pleased that her underwear was damp and not wet when she put them on. Then she turned to the door to retrieve her cleaned clothes.

No clothes.

What, had he become distracted? She looked around the rest of the bathroom, nothing. Opening the door a bit she poked her head out as best she could without exposing her barely clad body.

"Severus, are you done with my clothing?"

"I left them on the knob." He was sitting at the table, his back to her. He had donned his jacket.

"They are not here."

"Ah." He looked up at her, the furrow in his brow disappearing. "The puzzle resolves itself. That's about as subtle as Hagrid with a head cold." He stood up and walked to the bed. "I fear you have fallen victim to another Ministry plot." He picked up his robes and brought them to her. "The linens are enchanted to stay in the bathroom or on the bed, so you can't use them in place of the clothes they took from you."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Put these on and I'll see what I can do to adjust them for you." He handed his robes to her through the door.

Disgusted afresh at the Ministry, she pulled them on over her shoulders and tried to wrap them around her with some modicum of modesty. That morning she had been surprised at how soft they felt. Now, against her bare skin, they felt decadent. On her, they were voluminous. No wonder he billowed wherever he went. She took a deep breath and stepped into the bedroom, dragging a black train behind her. She didn't expect her cheeks to get so hot standing in front of him.

He looked her up and down. She did her best not to let her face get any redder. Walking around behind he took hold of the fabric back of her thighs. She swallowed a squeak. The robes seemed to move around her by themselves for a few moments and then he stepped back. They now came to about her ankles and seemed to be a bit smaller on top.

"Oh, that's a fashionable length," she said, trying to ease her self-consciousness.

"I dare not attempt anything more drastic without a wand. You might end up with nothing and we don't want to give them the satisfaction."

Just then the food arrived. Juicy slices of roast, mashed potatoes, a few vegetables and some hard rolls appeared on the table, piled on two plates.

"Excellent! I was hoping for rolls," Severus said as he snagged one and headed for the hearth, pulling his cravat from his pocket. He placed the roll in the center of the firebox and held his hand over it. It burst into flame. Carefully, Severus, took a few grains of Floo Powder and tossed them on the tiny fire. Nothing.

"It would have turned green if the Network was connected, wouldn't it?"

"Yes."

"Well, that was a waste of time."

"Time seems to the one resource we have plenty of," Severus said, shaking the rest of the Floo powder onto one corner of the mantel. Disappointment weighed heavily on her shoulders as they sat down to eat. Noticing that he had used his own bread roll for their Floo experiment, she stood, picked up hers and leaned across the table to plop it on his plate.

"You missed lunch."

She noticed a look of surprise on his face and looked down. The ill-fitting robes had fallen open down the front, giving him a comprehensive view. Mortified, she quickly snatched the edges of the fabric together, feeling her cheeks pink. His eyes were back on the meal, but he pulled his cravat from off his neck and handed it to her.

"You need a belt." She nodded, looped the silk about her waist and tied the rebellious fabric down tight. She plopped down in her seat and resigned herself to an embarrassing silence for the rest of dinner, but an echoing thump issued from the fireplace. Severus put out his hand and a book flew from the hearth which he deftly caught and placed on the table, the title facing her. "From my private collection."

"Arithmancy: Solving Singularities! Hogwarts doesn't even have a copy of this! How on earth did you . . . what else can you Summon?"

"Anything that I know the general location of and that can fit through a chimney."

"That will be crucial if we're in this for the long haul." She felt a rush of gratitude. With Ron and Harry, she had always been the brains of the operation. It was nice having someone to share that responsibility with now.

She reached out to pick it up, but hesitated. Food and books didn't mix as far as she was concerned. "After dinner."

"Thank you for that."

"Thank you, Severus. For everything." She eyed him carefully. He was starting to flag again. The rest of the meal was passed in silence and then he retired to bed, under the covers this time, and was asleep in short order.

Hermione went to her notes on the wall and marked July 8 in her calendar column. For the rest of the evening, before the lights went out, she perused the book Severus had Summoned. If they had access to reading material, she could stay here almost indefinitely. She brought the book to bed with her, not knowing if the Ministry could confiscate it overnight. She hoped not.

Drifting off to sleep, she thought it curious that an old book could bring such comfort.