Hello,

Thank you so much for your reviews, I really appreciate hearing from you. And I was glad you like the part from Snape's POV, there will be a part (possibly the whole chapter) in the next chapter.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas wherever you are! I'll be at home (Stockholm, Sweden) celebrating with my family and relatives. We decorated our Christmas tree yesterday so now I'm really excited about Saturday (we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve in Sweden).

Andrea xxx

Starlywarly: Thank you. It makes me happy knowing that someone who's gone through a similar experience as Hermione likes the way I write about it. I have no personal experience of scars so am just writing about them as how I think I would react if I had one.

Veronica Mitchell: Good question. When I posted my first fic here, years ago, I did it this way because I noticed that's how everyone else did it. Now, I think I prefer this way (probably because I'm used to it) and because I think it's quicker than using the PM system.

That said, you're all free to PM me if you want to :)


The first two weeks of their project went past quietly. Hermione came down to the dungeons on their scheduled days and nights and spent the time reading, after two weeks she had managed to get through almost all the assigned books and was to start on the last one. Snape usually left her alone in his sitting room, he was often in his study marking essays but sometimes he would in the laboratory brewing potions for the infirmary. On the evenings, he would usually return around ten o'clock and then they would have tea and coffee and discuss what she had read. Hermione had been surprised to find that Snape was actually a decent teacher when he didn't spend half his time insulting her. Instead, he took his time explaining theories to her, even going over them another time if there was something she didn't understand. Two weeks after her first dose of the Navitas elixir, Snape had wordlessly handed her another dose, saving her the trouble of asking for it.

On the first couple of days of their project, she had found it hard to drop her glamour charm and had pretended to forget about it, hoping Snape would just let it go. Instead, Snape had simply given her a stern look and bent his head slightly as if to point it out to her. He refused to address her before she had taken it off, something she had found very infuriating at first. By now she had reached the conclusion that the less fuss she made about it the quicker she could get started on her reading and so she had taken up the habit of removing her glamour charm as soon as she entered his office. It felt very odd indeed, to be able to enter his office when he wasn't there, not to mention his private quarters. Usually, when she stepped into his office it was empty and she found it rather disconcerting to stand there alone, it was far from cosy after all, and so she usually hurried into the unarguably more comfortable sitting room. She had sat in the same sofa ever since the first night, two weeks ago, and she had quickly come to think of it as her sofa. Snape usually sat in the chair next to it.

On this particular day, it was Friday night and it was the eleventh time Hermione was in the sitting room. She had been here for three hours already and had yet to see any sign of Snape, whom she presumed was in his laboratory. The book she had just finished was called "Subtle offensive potions – how to cause harm without your victim noticing". Needless to say, Hermione was not surprised that the book could not be found in the Hogwarts library. Apart from dark potions books, such as this one, she had also read books concerning curses: "Obscure slicing curses and how to learn them", medical potions: "The 100 most common healing potions" and scars: "Scars caused by magic – can they be healed?" By now, she had a general idea of how the healing process of a scar through potions was meant to work, when it was possible to find the right ingredients for the curse or hex.

Hermione recalled their conversation on Monday night. They had been sitting in his sitting room, sipping their usual drinks – tea and coffee.

"So, basically there is no ingredient that all scar removal potions and salves contain?" Hermione concluded and looked at Snape for confirmation.

"No, there isn't."

"And, in theory, in order for a potion to remove a scar caused by magic, the dose as well as the quantity of each ingredient in the potion or salve would have to be in exact proportion to the magical pattern in the affected area of the skin?"

"Indeed."

"But how come basic scar removal potions work without anyone knowing the magical pattern?"

"The reason behind that is not entirely clear but most potioneers believe that it is because the dose is larger than the amount required by the magical pattern of the skin. Larger doses than necessary do, however not, work on scars caused by rare curses or hexes."

"How does one find out the magical pattern?" Hermione asked, pinpointing their problem immediately.

"If I knew that, our job would be done," Snape said dryly and took a sip of his tea.

"What is a magical pattern anyway? There was no real explanation in the books and all I gathered was that it seems quite abstract."

"As you already know, our magic is embedded in every single part of us. Even though the magic of different people look similar, each individual has her own magic – or magical pattern."

"Like the lines we have on our palms?" Hermione suggested.

"Yes, I suppose that it is a decent metaphor."

"The book clearly stated that the magical pattern is different in a magically scarred area, is that because of the magic of the curse or hex?"
Snape nodded his confirmation.

"So, basically, all we need to do is find a way to look at the magical pattern."

"Don't forget I've already spent months on this, and I've yet to succeed," he said curtly as though she had just accused him of being stupid.

"Of course, I simply meant that there is only one thing we need to focus on, I didn't mean to insinuate that it is an easy task. I, for one, haven't got the slightest idea of where to start, I need to," she said but was interrupted.

"Do some more reading?" Snape suggested and his lips crooked into what looked like a resemblance of a smile. "Indeed, Hermione, what would you do without books?" he teased her.

"Very funny," Hermione said with a chuckle. "You know, if you wanted to insult me for my ah, what was the term you used the other night, yes, my 'childish obsession with literature' as it made me 'escape the harsh reality of the real world', you better hide your own books first, because I have reason to believe," she continued in a dramatic voice and gestured towards the bookcases, "that you share my obsession," she finished with a smirk.

"Oh, those are just for show. I have a reputation to uphold," Snape replied with an amused glint in his eyes.

"Do you now? Let me guess what the reputation holds," Hermione said and pretended to contemplate the matter for a moment. "That you are a vampire who does nothing but read all day and night? Or perhaps you are pretending to be a scholar and you therefore have the library of a scholar so that you can fool anyone who walks in here?"

"Yes, because there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people walking through this room every day," he said in a dry, but amused, tone. "But yes, you figured out my secret – I don't know how to brew any other potions than the ones on the syllabus," he continued in a melodramatic whisper.

"So I could just take any book I wanted to?" Hermione stood up and walked over to a bookcase. "Seeing as you don't enjoy reading as much as I do, they're a waste of space here," she said with a teasing smile and pulled out two thin old-looking books from the bookcase.

"Please do, I'm certain those two books will hold your interest for weeks, if not months. They really are some of the best books ever written," Snape said seriously and waited for her to read the titles of the books she held.

Hermione looked down on the books and snorted out of annoyance.

"Damn, why couldn't I have picked any other books than 'Quidditch through the ages' and 'Fantastic beasts and where to find them'?" She put them back in the bookcase.

Snape gave a light chuckle upon seeing her annoyed

"Why do you even have these? I always thought you were as fond of Quidditch as you are of 'foolish wand waving' and the second one, well, that has got to be the worst book on the subject. It's really only suitable for first years," she said and smiled slightly when she saw him chuckle.

"You said it yourself. Only suitable for a first year – well I've kept both of them since."

"But still, 'Quidditch through the ages'?" Hermione questioned with a hint of distaste as she walked back to the sofa.

"Hermione, have you ever thrown away any of your books?" Snape asked knowingly. "Or do you keep them stored somewhere?"

"Touché," she muttered. "Except I don't own 'Quidditch through the ages'," she said and raised her chin in a snobbish pose.

"Not that I have to explain myself to you, but it was a gift," Snape said in a mock-indignant voice.

"Fair enough," Hermione conceded. "Actually, you should say 'touché' to me, because you admitted to being as fond of books as I am," she said and her mouth formed into a satisfied smirk.

"No, for all you know, those are the only two books I've kept for that long," Snape protested.

"Really," the Gryffindor replied doubtingly and stood up as if she was going back to the bookcase.

"Fine, now I will say 'touché'," he muttered in an angry voice but his eyes were sparkling with amusement. "What gave me away?"

"There are two kinds of people, the ones that keep every book they've ever owned and the ones that throw the books they've read away. For someone who claimed to belong to the latter group, you knew an awful lot about the former," she explained and leaned back in the sofa.

"Yes, well, why throw away a book you might need some other time," he asked rhetorically.

"My sentiments exactly."

Hermione smiled as she recalled the way his eyes had sparkled with amusement. She put down the finished book and heard a sound come from the laboratory. A moment later Snape entered through the door to the laboratory, looking rather tired.

"Good evening," Hermione greeted him and gave him a smile.

He nodded at her, took off his cloak and opened a small cupboard that was built-in in one of the bookcases. He took out a bottle of brandy and a glass before he looked at her and raised the bottle questioningly at her.

"Why not," she said and watched him fetch another glass. Instead of sitting down gracefully, which he usually did, he sank down in his favourite chair and filled both glasses generously. He wordlessly handed her one. She raised her glass in a silent toast and took a large gulp. The liquid burned more than a little in her throat but she relished the feeling. Normally she wasn't too fond of brandy but tonight it tasted surprisingly good – she assumed it was a different brand than the ones she had tried before. She looked over at her professor and was surprised to find that he had closed his eyes. She seized the opportunity to give him the once-over and noticed that he looked very tired, almost exhausted. His hair hung limply on both sides of his face and looked quite oily, as if he had been standing over potions fumes for hours. Knowing him, he probably had. He chose that moment to open his eyes and gave her a cautious glance, having noticed that she had been staring at him. It was obvious he didn't like the attention.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked and looked at him strangely. The concern in her voice was evident.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he snapped at first and then looked as if he regretted it. He took a big gulp of his brandy and turned to her once more. "I am simply tired," he settled on and leaned back in his chair, glass still in his hands.

"Rough day?" she asked softly.

"I suppose you could say that," he said in a hoarse voice.

"You can tell me if you want," she said simply and looked down at her glass, giving him a moment. By now, Hermione had learned a few tricks when it came to talking to the man. There was simply no point in asking him to tell her about his day in a straightforward way; he would only refuse to reply. Instead, the trick was to show him that she would be willing to listen, but that he didn't have to tell her if he didn't want to.

Snape was quiet for a few minutes and seemed lost in his own thoughts. He seemed to relax more and more by the minute, a natural consequence of the alcohol. He refilled his glass and took another sip.

"Yes, I suppose I could," he finally said and looked her in the eyes. "I did something unforgivable on this day, nineteen years ago," he began and his eyes turned dark as if he was reliving the memory of that night. "10 December 1979."

After he had been quiet for some time, Hermione realised that the memory must be too painful for him to discuss.

"And the memories come flooding back, every year?" she asked softly, not wanting to upset him.

"I can't sleep," he admitted and looked at a spot on the wall over her right shoulder.

"On the night before?" she inquired.

"And the one following." He was quiet for another minute or so and then put his glass down on the table and rose. "You're welcome to stay here but I think I have to be alone, good night," he said and walked towards his bedroom.

"No, I'll go, these are your quarters," Hermione said in a soft voice and walked over to the door leading to his office. She was reluctant to leave him in this state but realised that it was none of her business, if he wanted to be alone in his own quarters, there was nothing she could do about it.

"Good night, Severus," she said softly and exited through the door as she replaced her glamour charm.


A/N: The part about magical patterns is stolen from an amazing fanfic I read some time ago but I've unfortunately forgotten the name of it and the author, if any of you know which one I mean, PM me and I'll give credit where credit is due. The concept of magical patterns will, however, be more similar to the genetics us muggles are used to =P than the way it was written in the other fanfic.