Chapter 3: Aftermath
Severus sat on the curb, his head in his hands. His clothing was streaked with a number of substances, and his head had bits of burst tomato still sticking to it. Hermione stood in front of him, making soothing noises as she Scourgified him gently.
A small moan of humiliation escaped his throat, but other than that, it was hard to tell how he was feeling with his face hidden like that. Hermione's heart throbbed with sympathy, even though she knew that he'd done his share of terrible things. It didn't justify this, though.
The walk through Wizarding London had been a fiasco. Severus had been completely right. It was basically a walk of shame designed to create a target for those angry and disenfranchised by the war who had been targeting the Ministry instead. Hermione had hoped it would be better than that in practice, but it was as though someone had put up flyers to advertise their departure. Thousands of wizards and witches were on the sides of the streets, many who were wearing outfits that looked as though they'd come from outside Wizarding Britain just to see a Death Eater in the flesh. Severus had walked quickly, his head down, seemingly unable to hear the jeers and threats from the people on the sidelines. There had been some angry people in the crowd who'd tried hexes and jinxes, but at least there'd been a barrier put in place on either side of the street that had absorbed the curses and kept people from getting too close. This seemed to make the crowd more angry, which had led to them throwing things, all of them unpleasant.
Hermione had deflected most things with her wand, and the Aurors on duty had responded against some of the more violent instigators, but she'd noticed how they hadn't spent much effort shielding Severus from being pelted with the more humiliating and harmless substances. His back and shoulder were coated with dragon dung, which stank of sulphur, and his hair had been hit with a swarm of rotting vegetables that had been launched from a garbage can by some cruel bystander. Hermione had heard the Aurors laugh when a banana peel had hit Severus across the face, its center sticking to his nose like a yellow and black octopus.
"That's the worst of it," Hermione said, trying to control the quiver in her voice. She was fairly certain they hadn't been followed, but she still didn't let her guard down, just in case. Once they'd crossed over the point that Kingsley had set aside for Apparition, she'd wrapped her arm around Severus, hating how he stiffened at her touch, as though expecting her to hurt him. There was no time to go slow and let him process it, though, and she'd Side-Along Apparated him away just as a volley of owl pellets shot towards where their heads had been.
"This way," she said, starting out in front of him. She knew that he was still trying to compose himself. Even though there was a lot of travel and certain danger ahead, she couldn't fault him for being upset. She was actually amazed how well he'd handled the shouts and the abuse from so many. It was obvious that Severus was not the sort of person who enjoyed being the center of attention at the best of times, and this was a far cry from that.
Even though Hermione knew that she wasn't the main target, she'd heard a fair amount of abuse being hurled upon her as well. Everything from her mind to her body was insulted, and many still had called her "a Death Eater's Whore," which kept drawing her mind back to Bellatrix slipping the knife into her skin, branding her for life.
No. Hermione would never allow anyone get that close to her again.
Next time...next time she was certain that she would fight back. She wouldn't lie on the floor like some helpless, screaming victim. She'd logged the time in the Ministry's combat rooms. She'd gotten to the point that defensive spells were nearly subconscious and she was able to raise a shield charm before she saw the threat. That, and the copious amount of bottles and tools she had stored in the bag attached to her belt with a Permanent Sticking Charm, a bag that only she could access (anyone else would open the bag and find themselves with a handful of stinging nettles), Hermione knew that she was ready. Having a wizard who was not only a famous Death Eater but powerful in his own right as well to back her up was just the cherry on top. Hermione had never hated him the way her schoolmates had. Sure, he had moments of being unfair and cruel, but so did every professor she'd had in school. Now that Hermione knew that he hadn't even wanted to be a professor in the first place, it made even more sense why he was such a bitter, angry person.
Hermione took a deep breath and stretched as wide as she could, which lessened the tension in her body but did not remove it completely.
"Where are we going?" Severus was next to her, his head and shoulders drooping forward with shame.
"You obviously need to be cleaned up better than magic can accomplish," Hermione said with a shrug, "I'm merely taking us to a safe place where we can both take care of any necessary hygiene needs before we start our journey. Now, keep up. We aren't going far. I just needed to be sure that we aren't being followed."
Glancing around to make sure the coast was clear, Hermione pulled her wand and cast a few detection spells, shooting them into the sky. They would be invisible to muggle eyes and very difficult for most wizards to detect unless they knew that they were there.
Nodding with satisfaction, she turned the corner and led them to a house in the middle of a residential street.
"Don't worry," Hermione said, as she dropped the wards around the house, "It's safe. My parents are still in Australia, but I got to keep their house. The utilities are still running, so use as much hot water as you'd like. You can go upstairs and leave your clothing in the hamper outside the door. My robes need to be laundered as well, so I'm going to change and start a load."
Hermione opened the door and they entered, Severus taking the lead as Hermione locked and warded the door.
"You can go up the stairs. The bathroom is on the left."
Severus nodded silently before looking up at her, as though he'd only just remembered something.
"Can...I...have it?" he asked, his eyes wide with an intensity that made Hermione shiver, though she wasn't sure if it was out of fear or pleasure.
"Oh! Yes, here you go," she said, summoning his wand from her bag and pointing at the silver band around the tip. "This is the Limiter. It should allow for you to cast most of your regular spells, but if you'd like to practice, I've turned my parents' old bedroom into a training room, so you can practice with it once you're washed up."
"Thank you. Er….Hermione?" His voice was suddenly filled with shame and Hermione found herself furrowing her brow in confusion.
"What's wrong?" she replied, wondering why he suddenly seemed so nervous, shifting his weight from side to side restlessly as he stood at the foot of the stairs.
"I...only have these clothes," he said finally, his face growing scarlet with embarrassment.
"OH!" Hermione exclaimed, feeling stupid for not having realized this. If she was laundering his clothing, he would be…no. She couldn't even think the words.
"I have a couple of my dad's old outfits in the attic," she said finally, "They may be a bit dusty but they'll be clean. I'll bring them down for you and leave them outside your door."
"Thank you…" he trailed off and turned, his footsteps so soft on the stairs that he seemed to be gliding up them instead of walking.
Hermione merely shook her head and followed him after she heard the bathroom door slam. She changed in her room and then threw the soiled robes in the hamper, noting that he'd placed all of his clothing into the bottom already. She traveled down to the laundry room and set to work rinsing and spraying the soiled clothing in the large sink by the washing machine before setting them inside the washer to run. Her work done there, she went up to the attic and fetched a set of clothing that she knew would be far too big for Snape, but it would do in the interim. She pulled out a belt for good measure. It wouldn't do for him to worry about his trousers falling down with every step.
The thought made her giggle, despite herself.
She deposited the clothing in front of the door and called out to him, letting him know that the clothing was there and that she'd meet him in the kitchen after he was finished.
Then, Hermione set to making tea and slicing up some fruit. She made a couple of finger sandwiches as well. After all, she wasn't sure when she'd next get the chance to eat home-cooked food. She'd pulled the milk from the fridge and stood, nearly crying out at the ghost-like visage of Severus standing at the entrance to the kitchen. The trousers were an ivory and hung on his thin frame. His ankles were showing, as the legs were slightly too short. He was swimming in the light gray hoodie, which said "Cambridge" on the front in big, golden letters, but for some reason, it was his hair, which had been braided back and secured with a pink hair tie that Hermione supposed was one of her own, that surprised her the most.
"I've never seen your hair back like that," she admitted, feeling herself blush slightly even though she couldn't stay why she would do such a thing.
He shrugged. "My hair was wet and I don't trust myself with muggle hair dryers. Drying charms always leave my hair even more greasy than usual, which is the opposite outcome of a shower, or so I've been told. This way is the only method I've found to keep my hair from tangling or dripping all over my clothing while it is like this."
Hermione nodded, gesturing at the food on the table.
"I made something to eat. Please help yourself."
He nodded silently and sat at the table, which filled Hermione with a strange sense of nostalgia and amusement. Nostalgia, because she remembered her father sitting at the table in that hoodie, reading the newspaper, and amusement, because the idea of Snape sitting at the table in her childhood home wearing such an outfit was nearly enough to set her into a fit of giggles.
She'd sat down across from him and was nearly finished with her second cup of tea when she realized he was staring at her intensely. He hadn't eaten much, and half of a forgotten sandwich sat on his plate as he steepled his fingers in front of him, looking like he was about to say something.
"Hermione," he said, at last, and she nearly jumped out of her chair.
"W...what?" she replied, coughing on the sip of tea she'd nearly inhaled.
"I...forgive me...I have to know," he said, and suddenly his wand was in his hand as though he'd drawn it out of nowhere.
"What are-?" Hermione stood and tried to summon her wand to her hand, which lay on the counter where she'd left it as her stomach dipped and churned with a sick sense of foreboding.
"This won't hurt much," Severus said flatly, his wand tip nearly touching her nose.
"No...stop...I-!"
"Obliviate."
