AN:/ Hello! I hope you're all having a great day! I'd like to thank everyone for their kind words, and thank those who offered me some help with my writing! This chapter reveals a bit more so I hope you enjoy! Many thanks to the following reviewers, Thorn, Slytherinvillain7, Zedoc, SevLover, notyetanotheralias, Severussnape1984, Moonlit Glitter, TequilaNervous, Always an Edward fan, ndavis77, and Guests. I hope you enjoy the plot thickening :D
Song: Scott Helman - Cry Cry Cry.
Chapter 4: Glitter.
"There's no use in talking to him," Draco sighed as he sat down on the sofa in the living room. Harry was kneeling on the floor helping James with his colourful jigsaw puzzle while Ron sat in the window reading over some papers.
"There is use in talking to him Draco," Harry said. "He might've picked up on some odd things before she divorced him."
"We've been searching for four years, and there's no sign of anything magical controlling her," Draco explained running a hand through his long hair. "Maybe she's always been this way-"
"'Mione would never be so heartless," Ron didn't look away from the parchment in his hand. "Are you forgetting that dark magic could be involved?"
"We've scanned her form multiple times—"
"And I'm sure a mighty wizard or witch could find a way to hide the magic from detection," Harry pushed his glasses up his nose. "All we have to go off at the moment is that the last person she was seen with before she asked Snape for a divorce, was a shifty looking man. Hermione is fiercely protective, maybe he threatened to hurt Snape, and she's doing it to protect him."
"We can throw around theories as much as we like, but we're no closer to the truth than we were four years ago," Ron disposed of the parchment and replaced it with another. "One thing we can be certain of is that it does have to do with Snape. Either Hermione is a good actress and fooled us throughout our childhood, or somebody wishes to hurt Professor Snape. I'd bet galleons on the latter."
"Daddy look!" James bounced on his knees. "I did it!" He banged his hands against the nine-piece jigsaw and grinned up at his father.
"Well done," Harry ruffled his dark blond hair and helped him to start the jigsaw all over again. "She would've been the best aunt..." Harry trailed off with a sad look on his face.
Draco joined them on the floor and placed a comforting hand on Harry's arm, then kissed his cheek.
"Kisses! I want kisses!" James flung himself at his parents. They embraced him with warm arms and kissed his head. The young boy climbed onto Draco, so they were nose to nose. "Can I have my glitter back now dad?"
They all laughed at the boy's sneaky attitude, but Draco refused to give him back the glitter.
"I have an idea," Draco's face suddenly lit up.
"What?" Ron asked still not looking away from the paperwork surrounding him.
"Why have I never thought to send you to see him, Harry," Draco turned to look at him. "Go to Hogwarts, pretend you're visiting Dumbledore and find a way to get into his quarters to talk to him. You have to take James with you—children make him uneasy."
"I'm not going to take James with me," Harry replied.
"Yes you are daddy," James chirped in excitement. "I wanna' see the castle!"
"Severus won't shout if there's a young child around," Draco patted James' head. "Trust me it's the only way to get through to him—"
"Got it! I actually found it!" Ron shot to his feet clutching a piece of parchment.
"What's going on?" Harry and Draco got up off the floor and joined Ron at the window.
"The Auror Department only kept a brief record of the visitors going inside Malfoy Manor. I have no idea why they stopped so suddenly, but take a look at this. The last entry was of two people entering; they are described as a bushy haired woman and a stout man. Ring any bells?" He raised a quizzical brow.
"Hermione and...?"
"The man last seen going into the bookshop," Draco added. "How did you manage to get ahold of these?"
"It's taken me four long years to persuade my boss to let me delve into previous records. It appears that your father must've put a stop to the Auror's watching over the manor—isn't it suspicious that there haven't been any entries since Hermione went in."
...
Severus took a seat in the staffroom and watched his colleagues move about in the lunchtime rush. There was an emergency meeting being held before lessons resumed—it meant he couldn't avoid her.
She was standing in the kitchen area sipping from a teacup. He noticed a few tremors rocking her hands, but she didn't portray any emotion on her face.
People thought he was heartless, but all they had to do was look at his precious ex-wife and see that he was far from it.
Severus watched her closely. He saw the moment something triggered inside her mind which caused her left eye to twitch, and she gripped onto the counter for support. Nobody else noticed her sudden pain. However, he wasn't about to aid her even though it hurt him to see her like that.
Her lips parted, and she took in a deep breath, then stood up straight and let herself return to normal. How odd. Severus picked back up the article he was reading, only looking up again when she moved to sit with Professor Hunderford.
"Good afternoon, Severus," Minerva took the seat opposite him with a smile.
"Afternoon," He grumbled. "Why has Albus called a—"
Her shrill laughter cut him off, and the newspaper scrunched up under his tight fists. Severus savoured her a glance only to regret ever looking. Hunderford had his arm draped over her shoulders, and he moved to kiss her cheek.
Merlin, he felt angry. So angry. His jaw tightened, and his teeth protested when he grit them hard. However, her left eye twitched again.
"How dare she do that in front of you?" Minerva whispered harshly. "Does she not care about your feelings?"
"That's the whole point, she doesn't care," He hissed, and looked away from the pair.
Minerva poured some tea from the pot and levitated the milk to pour into her cup. Severus felt her eyes on him but didn't acknowledge her because he knew she was going to want to talk more. I'm done talking about it.
With Minerva sat opposite him it brought forward a happy memory he wished to forget:
Severus stiffened when the food coated his taste buds. She'd been right when she said she couldn't cook. He watched Hermione poke her tongue out to lick the food on her fork—she immediately squirmed away in disgust.
"I'm sorry," She dropped the fork on her plate. "I followed the recipe word by word...how did I mess up?" She scratched her head and moved to retrieve the recipe book.
It had been four months since the Head Girl first asked him how he was, and somehow, her caring words had blossomed into a friendship.
Hermione frequently visited his quarters to tell him about her busy days and how she didn't feel prepared for her exams. He even had to listen to her blabber on about Potter becoming secretive about things.
She'd offered to make him dinner; it was an unexpected development to him, but he'd said yes when she looked at him innocently. He was starting to notice that she could get him to do a lot of things with a simple look.
It was weird to him that she spent so much time in his presence. He often thought that she wasn't here out of choice—maybe it was a joke to her?
Severus looked at her bewildered face, then scolded himself mentally. Hermione wasn't capable of such cruelness, and she genuinely seemed happy whenever she visited him. He didn't have much to offer when it came to conversation, but when he did, she listened intently.
However, the war was an untouchable subject. It became apparent they both had trouble discussing it.
"I'm sorry that I ruined dinner," She sighed and slammed the book shut. "I don't know why I thought my cooking skills had improved," Hermione levitated the plates from the table and refused to make eye contact with him.
Was this the part when he should offer her kind words? Severus shifted in his chair. "You are an abysmal cook," He said, and her eyes flew to his. "However, you make up for it in all your academic subjects. If being able to cook is something you wish to do then I will teach you."
"OK," Hermione bounced on the tips of her toes in excitement. "You'll truly teach me?"
Severus allowed his eyes to wander over her rosy cheeks and contagious smile, then nodded his head.
"Thank you," She ran around the table and quickly pressed her soft lips to his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, sir."
His body went rigid. Had she just? Severus shook his head. It must've been an accident, why else would she kiss his cheek. Merlin, it was only a quick kiss. Yet, she'd managed to ignite a feeling he'd long forgotten.
Severus pulled himself away from the memory and noticed that Albus had entered the room and started the meeting. It didn't take him long to finish—something about a suspicious man seen lurking around the border of Hogwarts.
He made the journey down to the dungeons only to be chased by her cackle as it echoed down the halls. She'd given up stalking him with her friend, and he was left to return to his quiet sanctuary.
Or so he'd thought.
Severus sensed something was amiss when he opened the classroom door and saw a young child giggling on the floor. "What the fu—"
"Don't swear in front of him!" Potter's angry voice cut him off.
"Did Draco send you?" He grumbled in annoyance.
"Yes," He replied. "This is James by the way."
What was he supposed to do? Shake hands with the child?!
"That's lovely Potter," He drawled. "What do you want?"
"We need to talk about Hermi-"
"I told Draco I have nothing to say concerning that subject," Severus marched past Potter and took a seat at his desk.
"You used to be a spy. How can you not see that something is wrong with her?" Severus felt the urge to crack his knuckles.
"I was a spy," He said flatly. "From that, I learnt that some people are cruel for the sake of being cruel," He forced down the harsh words he wanted to throw at Potter, and let his long hair fall in front of his face.
"Daddy," James waddled over and wrapped his arms around Potter's leg. "Can you buy me glitter?"
"I'll buy you some later on, but you have to promise not to tell your dad," Potter patted his head, then frowned at Severus. "The person your wife is now isn't who she truly is. I think that you believe you're unlovable, so when she broke your heart, you refused to look at what was standing right before you."
Severus could tell that Potter was hiding something from him, and it angered him more.
"Did Lucius contact her again after the first letter he sent?"
He didn't respond, just stared blankly at the mess on his desk.
"Did he?" Potter pushed.
Severus still refused to answer.
Merlin, for the first time in his life he had to admit that Potter may be right. Was he ignoring the truth because he believed himself to be unlovable? Good things didn't last long for him, so when she'd delivered the divorce papers, it had been a taste of reality. He'd known it was coming his way.
Had Lucius contacted her after the first letter? He might have, but she'd never mentioned it to him.
"Do you have any glitter?" James ran up to his desk and placed his tiny hands on the edge. "Whoa...daddy he scary-"
"That's quite enough!" Potter blurted out in panic and picked up his son. "Have dinner with us tomorrow night. There are things we need to tell you…" He waited for a response, but Severus continued to stare daggers at his desk. "Bye, sir."
Potter left the classroom, and when the door shut behind him, Severus sighed and buried his face in his hands.
