Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on characters from the Harry Potter universe owned by J.K. Rowling.

Fire in the Belly

by Djinn

Part Ten

Hermione found Harry is his office. "I need a favor."

He eyed her warily. "Do I have to lie to Ron about it? He's just starting to calm down after you left last month."

"Yes. Sorry. One last time, hopefully. I need to borrow something. Do you have your invisibility cloak here?"

"Why would I keep it here?"

"Because you're too smart to leave it anywhere James might find it."

Harry smiled. "Well, that's true." He studied her, finally opened one of his desk drawers and pulled it out. "Why do you need it?"

"Rescue mission."

"Do you need help?"

She laughed. "Harry, this is why you will always be my best friend. You don't even ask what I'm doing first. You just want to know if you can help."

"Well, can I?" He handed her the cloak.

"No. I need to do this alone. But I'll tell you all about it when I'm done. It's something you probably need to know, anyway."

He seemed to be waiting for her to say more, and when she didn't, asked, "Where are you going to live, now that you're not at the flat?"

"Nepal."

"Oh." He frowned. "With the nuns?"

"Not exactly. I'll explain later, I promise." She held up the cloak. "Thank you for this. You have no idea what it means."

"Just bring it back when you're done."

"I will." She was overcome with a sudden need to hug him and walked around the desk, leaned down, and pulled him close. "I love you, Harry. I'm so glad we met all those years ago."

His smile faded as she pulled away. "Hermione, now you're scaring me. This rescue mission...what—"

"It's nothing. Really. Thank you." She smiled easily, walked slowly as if nothing was urgent, but once the door was closed, she hurried to the alley, and disapparated as quickly as she could. He would not have let her leave alone if he wormed any of the truth from her. Just to make sure, she Time-Turned an hour back. That should give her plenty of time before he could show up, intent on helping her—or stopping her, or possibly both, if he started wondering what kind of rescue mission needed an invisibility cloak.

She hurried up the walk and into the temple. Steeling her resolve, she walked over to where Tenzing sat. She noticed the other monks that sat nearby rose, bowed, and left them alone.

"Why do they do that?"

"Because I am in charge here. And they presume you wish to speak to me privately."

"You're in charge?"

Tenzing nodded. "How else do you think I got the great Minister of Magic to receive me?"

She processed that. She probably should have realized he was in charge, but he'd never said and she'd just assumed he was what he seemed to be: a lowly monk. Then again, that's exactly how he might see himself, position notwithstanding. "It's Tenzing Rinpoche, isn't it?"

"It is. But you can call leave off the honorific. I don't mind hearing my name by itself on occasion."

She sat in front of him. "So you were found on search, weren't you? The way Sonam is searching for Momo Rinpoche?"

"I was. Many, many years ago."

"Do you remember? Those other lives I mean."

"I have been on this earth a long time, Hermione. And I have learned to do things that some would consider astounding. It is a function of being one with the all, nothing I can claim credit for, other than through persistence and faith."

"Not a bad combination."

"No, not at all. Look at us, for instance. Who would have thought we would end up such good friends after our rocky start?"

She felt herself blushing. "I am sorry about the stupefying charm. It was stupid."

"No. If you were to do it now, knowing what you know, then yes, it would be stupid. But where you were then—well, you needed it, that's all." He met her eyes. "What else do you need, my dear?"

She didn't look away. "You know that I'm the one who goes back? To save Snape."

"Of course I know. I'm the one who gives you what you need. I just wondered how long it would take for you to figure that out. For the record, it took you less time than I thought."

She didn't answer right away and saw him smile, as if he was proud of her for not blurting out whatever protest came into her mind. Finally she said, "Time is confusing. And I think perhaps a bit limiting as a concept."

"That, my dear, is the wisest thing you have ever said." He laughed, the joyous laugh that had charmed her from the beginning, even as his non-answers had vexed her. "Do not question how the egg comes before the chicken. Time is not a line, but a serpent eating its own head."

"And a serpent is the problem. I healed Harry of Nagini's bite, but she didn't inject him with much venom, enough to make him pliable, not to kill him. Not like what she did to Snape."

"I know." He handed her a little silver bottle. "This is what you need."

She sniffed it cautiously. "It smells like dittany. Dittany won't work."

"This dittany will. It has something special in it. It will save him. Or rather, you will save him with the help of this potion."

She took a deep breath. "Don't tell him where I've gone. Ten years...it's a long time. I did it before, though, right? But...did I come back?" And how old would she be when she got back? If using the Time-Turner really did age someone?

"May I give you something? It will be permanent. Like this." He turned over his arm and she noticed for the first time that he had a tattoo. It was like the ceremonial tool the monks used, the one that seemed to be two crowns with the tops facing out on a short wand, symbolizing the thunderbolt of enlightenment. Only this had two wands, each with its set of crowns, forming an "X."

"Is that a dorje?"

"A double dorje. It will help you find your way there and back. Consider it...an amplifier."

"That's how you do it, isn't it? Spread yourself out so the spells can't find you?"

"No, it's not. But it is how I find my way back when I've ventured too far." He took her hand for a moment. "I will not tell Snape you are going, but you must."

"Why? He'll stop me."

"He will try. And you will prevail. Because you will do anything to save him. And he will know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that you love him. And you will know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that you would die for him if need be."

"How do you know I love him?"

"Why else would you go back in time to save him?"

"And all the while not knowing if he loves me." She looked down. "He still loves Lily."

"And you will do this anyway, won't you?"

She nodded. "He's worth saving. Even if I can never be her."

Tenzing pulled her into a hug, and she froze, surprised he would do this. "Be glad you can never be her. She was human, not some bodhisattva. Someday he will open his eyes and realize the perfect woman of his dreams is an illusion. Nothing more."

"But not today."

"Probably not today, no." He let her go. "May I mark you?"

She nodded.

"Hold out your hand, palm up."

When she did as he said, he settled his own arm over hers, clasping just under the elbow. She did the same, and suddenly felt a burning, like hot needles going very fast over her skin.

"It hurts," Tenzing said, sympathy in his voice. "I remember."

And then it was over. She held her arm out and saw a perfect replica of his double dorje.

"When you need it, visualize it being there on your arm. When you don't, visualize your arm the way it was. It will come and go—that is why you have not seen mine before now."

She visualized it gone and it faded away. She imagined it there again, and the ink darkened until the image was whole. "How does it work with the Time-Turner?"

"Make sure it is visible. Then imagine it radiating golden rays, like when the sun hits brass. Try it."

It took a while, but suddenly the image turned from an outline to being filled with what looked like liquid gold.

"It shines like the sun."

"No, it shines like the whole. The sun is but half of the whole." He smiled. "We use brass often here, not gold, not silver. Do you know why?"

She shook her head.

"Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. The orange of the sun and the silver of the moon. It is everything, in one very useful metal." He touched the shining tattoo on her arm. "Once it is glowing like this, you can use the Time-Turner. Each twist will give you years instead of hours. If you let the glow fade some—try it for me—it would give you months instead of years."

She got the brass to gleam less. Then she took it another step down.

He nodded. "Yes, days instead of months."

"I'll have this forever?"

He nodded.

"But I may not have the Time-Turner forever."

"It doesn't matter. You will have an interesting time discovering what else your mark will amplify. Now, go say goodbye to Severus."

##

Snape was practicing moving a feather with his mind instead of his wand. It was hard, so much harder, than the magic he had mastered so many years ago. He had to become one with the feather, not just order it about.

He slowed his breathing, reached out with his mind for the feather and felt nothing.

How in blazes was he supposed to become one with something that had no essence to speak of?

Then he thought of Tenzing's favorite saying. "Everything you need is within you."

So, maybe he wasn't supposed to become one with the feather out here. Maybe he was supposed to seek the connection internally. This wasn't such a strange thought. He'd long ago found the best cure for hiccoughs was to sink into himself and find the spasming spot on the diaphragm and...accept it, welcome it, surround it with—God, it sounded as whimsical as these monks to say love, but that was what he felt it was. And unlike when he'd tried other methods to stop them, like holding his breath or having a spoonful of sugar or drinking from the other side of the glass—all methods that were trying to force the hiccoughs to stop—going inside and becoming one with them gave them permission to stop.

And they invariably did. With no drama and none of the vexation of a spasm that had gone on too long and started to hurt—in addition to making that horribly undignified popping sound.

He sank into himself the same way he would have for hiccoughs. Pictured the feather, tried to recreate it as closely as he could. Then he visualized it floating gently off the grass.

"Wow."

He opened his eyes. The feather was not just floating, it was actually moving in time with the soft sound of chanting and bells and gongs coming from the temple. It was, to be honest, quite a lovely sight.

Hermione sank down next to him. "You're getting good."

He shrugged. "It's not as if I'm working with lead weights. A feather is, after all, feather light."

"Can't you ever just accept a compliment? And a feather is the heaviest thing of all if you're measuring your soul against it."

He held out his arm where the dark mark lay as a scar now, not a tattoo. "I lost my soul. Remember?"

"Don't be daft. That's just a mark." She held out her arm and as she stared at her inner forearm, a mark of her own became apparent.

"What have you done?"

"Tenzing gave it to me. He has one, too. It's an...amplifier."

"I'm afraid I don't have room for one." He ran his fingers over the dark mark, smiled ruefully.

"You wish that were gone?"

"More than anything."

"Then let me." She reached for his hand.

"And how are you going to accomplish what so many others have not been able to, Granger? The mark is permanent."

"You really are a stupid man sometimes, Snape." She was clearly angry. "Give me that," she said as she twisted his arm so the dark mark showed fully. She slapped her arm down on his, tattoo to scar, and clasped her hand around his arm just under the elbow.

He found himself doing the same.

"You don't have to wallow in this." Then she closed her eyes, and he felt power surge between them, and her arm become blindingly, horribly hot.

He moaned and she whispered, "I'm sorry. It'll only hurt for a moment." Then he thought she said even more softly. "I think."

She thought? He tried to pull away but she was surprisingly strong for being so slim. He felt something jolt through him, and he was overcome with dizziness.

And a feeling of utter, wonderful lightness. As if he'd never, ever lived in the dark.

That faded quickly, but the peace remained even as the shadows he truly was comfortable living in returned.

She pulled her arm away. "Look at it." Her voice was full of awe—and extreme self-satisfaction and not a little surprise. "Look at what we've done."

We. She'd said it with no apparent thought. He looked down at his arm, was stunned to see his dark mark gone. And in its place, the same mark as she wore.

"You're the advanced one. Play with it while I'm gone. Visualize it not showing on your skin, then showing. Visualize it glowing gold—only it's brass. Did you know brass blended night and day?"

"You're babbling, Granger."

She laughed. "I know. I'm nervous."

He could feel his smile drop. "I'm sorry if all that touching made you twitchy."

She punched his shoulder. "We really need to work on your self esteem. I'm scared because I have to do something, and you aren't going to like it, and I'm not sure it's really that achievable—except, well, I did it once, didn't I?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I have to go back. And save you."

"I'm sitting right here."

"Yes, but I think that's because I went so far back, and it's hard to tell where the present line stops and the future line begins. Or...something like that. It's not easy like rescuing Sirius was. The timeline was so short then. It was a breeze to figure out the points of origin." She met his eyes. "I was the one who rescued you. That was my perfume you smelled."

"You cannot Time-Turn ten years, Hermione."

"But I did. I know it. And you know it, too. It's the only thing that makes sense." She stroked her new tattoo. "And this will help. Tenzing told me."

"Tenzing is an old woman when it comes to interfering. He's as bad as Dumbledore." Except he wasn't. Tenzing didn't seem to have any goal that Snape could see. If he was using them, it wasn't at all apparent why.

And Tenzing appeared to actually like him. Snape had spent his whole friendship with Albus wondering what he saw in him. And then, at the end, it had been apparent. Snape had been a tool, a weapon, a pawn to be moved around Albus's chess board. But never, ever just a man. Never just a friend.

"I have to go." Hermione touched his face. "I wish I could go even further and give you Lily back. Make your life better."

"My life is as it is." That, at least, he had learned from his time here. "It may not have been a particularly pleasant life, but it is mine. And I made my own choices and walked my own path."

She took his hand. "Still, I wish I could."

"You have already made it immeasurably better simply by being in it the last few months."

She smiled. "I love you. I just want to say that in case I don't come back."

"You don't have to go."

"I do. I'll feel like I let some other Hermione down if I don't."

He wanted to stop her. Wanted to forbid her to go. But she would just Time-Turn back a bit and go from there. He knew her—and it is what he would have done if someone tried to stop him under similar circumstances. "I hate time travel."

"Believe me, I do, too." She started to get up, and he could tell she was surprised when he stopped her.

"Hermione, I don't need Lily. I...love you."

"Oh, that's so very sweet of you. And also a lie." She kissed him—and he suddenly wished they'd done more than kissing. Why hadn't they done more? "But it's a nice lie." She stood. "Wish me luck? Please?"

"Good luck, my dear."

She pulled out the Time-Turner, patted her pocket as if checking for something, and then she pulled out a folded piece of silvery cloth and shook it out. It was a cloak, and when she put it around her shoulders and pulled it tight, she disappeared.

"Can you see me?"

"No, but if that's Potter's invisibility cloak, that's the idea, isn't it?"

"Okay. Ready, then." She pushed the hood back a bit and one side of the cloak away, and stared down at her arm. The tattoo began to glow, brighter and brighter until he had to shield his eyes.

"Oops, I think that might be decades, not years." She grinned sheepishly. "Me coming on too strong: imagine that?" The tattoo began to fade till it was still a bright gold but did not hurt his eyes.

She stared at him. Seemed to be memorizing him. And then she seemed very far away. He could almost imagine what she was seeing. Him, in that damned Shrieking Shack. Dead. Or nearly so. If she saved him, then only nearly so.

She turned the Time-Turner ten spins back and was gone.

He instantly felt hollow inside—and stupid. Why had he let her go? How could he have let her go?

He stood, stalked around the temple complex until he found Tenzing. "How dare you!"

"She would have it no other way. I made sure she had what she needed to get the job done."

"She thinks I'm redeemable, you daft fool. She thinks she can save me from more than just death. Make me a better man."

"Severus, she thinks nothing of the sort. Do you know what she said to me? 'That you were worth saving.' Does that sound like someone looking to make you over?"

Snape took a deep breath. "She shouldn't have gone. I shouldn't have let her."

"As if you could have stopped her. She's a lovely, vibrant woman who cares for you. And more importantly is every bit as quick and intelligent and determined to get her way as you are. If she went back to save you, it's because she wants to—and it's because she loves you."

"Well, she shouldn't. What good have I ever brought anyone who loved me?"

Tenzing looked him square in the eyes, put both hands on his shoulders, and said, "My friend, tell me: who in this life has loved you? Who have you ever had the luxury of hurting that way?"

Snape felt as if Tenzing had stabbed him.

"Until now," the monk said softly. "Until you found this place at this time with this woman. Until you came here to be with us. You are where you are because this is the place you should be. If you hurt her or not: so be it. At least try."

"I'm not sure I can."

Tenzing nodded as if this answer was not unexpected. He turned to go, then looked back. "Did she tell you she has left her husband?"

"What? No."

"Yes, several weeks ago. Do you know why she didn't tell you?"

Snape shook his head.

"She thinks it is because she believes you do not love her. And that is true—she does believe that you will never let her in completely while you can remember Lily. But that is not why she left him. It is because finally Hermione is making a choice that is strictly for herself. Whether or not you decide to be with her if she gets back from this rescue mission, is entirely up to you—and will have no bearing on the fact that when it was time to make the choice, she chose growth instead of stagnation. The most humane way she could."

"If she gets back?"

Tenzing's look sobered. "There is no guarantee she will come back. She saves you, that much we know. But does she exist past this point? Only time will tell."

Snape felt his stomach knot. He had far too much experience with people he cared for not surviving. "Make sure she does come back." He could barely get the words out.

"I can only do so much, my friend."

Snape stared at him, unwilling to believe that. "Make sure she comes back, Tenzing. Or there will be hell to pay."

##

Hermione pulled the cloak around her as she materialized in the Shrieking Shack. Snape lay before her, Harry, Ron, and her much younger self staring at him.

Harry knelt down, needed something to put the blue essence in. Hermione remembered this moment. She'd handed Harry an empty flask when all along she'd had the dittany in her bag and never once considered using it on Snape.

He'd been the enemy, after all. The hated one.

Voldemort's voice sounded all around her, and she'd been expecting it so she didn't jump but the other three did. They took off, leaving Snape alone.

And still breathing. If they'd only bothered to look.

"Idiots," she murmured under her breath, then she pushed the cloak over her shoulders, impatiently shoved the hood off, and pulled the enhanced dittany out of her pocket.

Snape lay unmoving and she knew that could be a side effect of the poison. He'd said he'd been blind, so she cleared her throat gently as she knelt next to him.

"It's going to be all right," she said softly as she poured the dittany on the puncture wounds Nagini had made. It took forever, but they finally closed.

"Who?"

"You're going to be sick for a while. But you're not going to die. You need to find shelter as soon as your vision comes back. Lay low, do you understand me? It will be dangerous for you."

He nodded. She considered that progress compared to the corpselike way he'd been lying before.

"This is important, Severus. Do not get caught. And in ten years—in 2008-you must go to the temple in Nepal."

"Which temple in Nepal?"

"It's just outside of Katmandu."

"There are a hundred—" His voice abandoned him.

"I know there are a hundred bloody temples there. Would you let me finish?"

He nodded weakly.

"Ask for Tenzing at each one. It'll be a good exercise. They'll be Tibetan monks and nuns. You'll know by the yak-butter smell—it's a lot like popcorn."

She could see he was fading out. "2008. Nepal. Tenzing." She couldn't help herself; she leaned down and kissed him. Made sure it was the best kiss she could give him—let Lily compare with that.

He moaned—happily, she thought.

She touched his forehead. "You're safe here for now. I'm pretty sure no one comes back here during the rest of this battle. But leave as soon as you're strong enough to apparate, do you understand?"

He nodded. As she got up to leave, he reached out for her hand. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now get well and keep your head low." She was afraid that seeing him lying there so helpless would distract her from the focus needed to make a ten-year jump, so she walked out into the hallway and nearly ran into one of the Death Eaters, trying to find a bolt hole, apparently.

The cloak wasn't back on all the way; she was clearly visible.

The Death Eater lifted his wand.

She reached for hers, felt the familiar slide of the polished wood.

They attacked at the same time. The streams of energy did not cross and engage each other, so they each got direct hits: she to his chest, he to her stomach.

He fell and did not get up. She was sent to her knees by the pain, held her hand against her gut and could feel blood seeping.

"Damn it all." She tried to push herself to her feet and the feeling of tearing skin made her stop. She could feel even more blood.

She had dittany. But it had something else in it. Would it be safe? Why hadn't she asked Tenzing what he'd put in the mix? Although he would have just answered with another question.

She got the flask out. Most of it was gone, used on Snape. But she put her fingertip against the lip and turned it, then gingerly laid her finger against her stomach.

The burning was immediate. Dittany did not do that. She shoved the flask back into her pocket: it was useless.

She held her arm out: the tattoo wasn't even visible. She tried and tried to make it show up. It didn't.

Panic filled her. Why hadn't she practiced more? She never just winged it, why in blazes had she started now?

Then she imagined Tenzing's voice, his joyful smile. "Focus," he seemed to be saying.

She stared at her arm, focused on her breath, calming her heart rate, slowing the blood loss. The ink began to appear. When it finally was whole and dark, she worked on filling it with the golden light.

The best she could get was a dun color.

"Please?"

Nothing.

She thought of home. Of her parents who were frightened of her. Of Ron who hated her. Of her children, who were probably confused why she wasn't there with them.

The ink started to fade.

No, good things only. She thought of Harry. Of his friendship. Of Ginny and how she didn't seem to hold Hermione's abandonment of Ron against her. Of Sonam and his quiet, earnest way of explaining things. Of Tenzing and his interminable questions. Of Snape.

Of Snape.

She imagined a happy life with him. A life where he loved her. A life unfettered and full of challenge.

The tattoo began to change to a deeper color, golden and brighter with every second. When it finally hit the right color, she turned the Time-Turner ten turns in the return direction.

She arrived back in Nepal, where she'd left Snape. He wasn't there and she started to laugh. At least, she'd made it here. To die, probably, but she'd made it back.

"Hermione," Tenzing's voice rang out, and then there was the sound of running.

She felt strong arms lift her up, heard Snape say, "She's hurt badly."

She smiled at him. An "I've lost a lot of blood and am quite giddy" smile. "You're still here."

"Where else would I be, you nitwit. After your daring rescue."

"Didn't go so well afterwards."

"You got back, didn't you? Now stop talking and let us work on you."

His very worried face was the last thing she saw before she blacked out.

##

"Will she be all right?" Snape asked Tenzing, as the temple healers worked on her.

"I think so."

Snape began to pace, occasionally stopping to watch what the healers were doing. Hermione looked just as she had when she'd left—no sign that traveling ten years to the past and back again aged a person—but she was terribly pale.

Tenzing moved over to his side, gently took him by the arm, and steered him out. "Come, my friend. You are unnerving them with all your glares."

"I'm not leaving her."

"We'll be just out here." He drew Snape outside to the steps that led up to this part of the temple. "She's a very strong woman. She made it back, which was the hardest thing. She made it back in that condition."

"I know." He turned to glare at Tenzing. "She should never have gone in the first place."

Tenzing apparently decided not engaging was the wisest course of action.

Sonam came rushing up the stairs, stopped when he saw them sitting there. "She's not..."

"She's alive," Snape said. "No thanks to this one."

Sonam closed his eyes and exhaled loudly. He appeared to be exceedingly fond of Hermione. Snape suddenly found himself wondering just how fond. Did these monks takes vows of celibacy?

Hermione would have told him if she'd been carrying on with Sonam, wouldn't she?

Sonam sat down on a lower step, leaning against the wall and letting his legs extend along the step. "What happened?"

"Wand fight. Stomach wound."

Sonam grimaced. "I hate those." At Snape's confused look, he said, "I was a wizard before I came here."

"Oh. I didn't realize."

Tenzing laughed. "And with that one statement, Sonam's credibility just took a giant leap, didn't it? If only I could claim such a thing."

"You have credibility. It does not prevent you from being entirely annoying, but you have it." Snape looked up as one of the healers came out. "Is she...?"

"Awake." The healer eyed him somewhat nervously. "She's asking for you."

He was up and inside before the healer could say more. He found she had been moved to a bed, was tucked in well, her wild hair streaming over the pillow. "How are you?"

"You should see the other guy."

"Is he dead?"

She nodded.

"Excellent. Will save me from stealing your Time-Turner and hunting him down."

She smiled. "Would you do that?"

"Well, I don't know what he looks like. I suppose I could invade your mind to find out and then go hunt him down."

"Can you wait till I'm feeling stronger?"

He nodded and sat in the chair an attendant brought over. "I was extremely worried."

"I was, too." She blinked hard, and he realized she was starting to cry. "Oh, bother, I swore I wouldn't do this."

"It's all right to cry. You don't have to be strong all the time."

"Says the man who never cries."

"I cry. Just not where anyone can see me. I wept like a babe after I killed Dumbledore." He looked down, then met her eyes. "I'd have done the same if you hadn't come back."

"Really?"

"Of course, you ninny. Don't you know how much you mean to me?"

She shrugged, then made a face. "Ow."

He leaned down, being very careful not to put any weight on her, and kissed her. "I love you, Hermione."

"Tell me that when you're not getting over being scared I was going to die." She smiled. "Now kiss me again."

"I believe you have a quota."

"Kiss me, damn it."

He kissed her. Then he whispered in her ear. "Sonam was extremely concerned for you. Are you sleeping with him?"

"Yes," she whispered back. "I have a weakness for bald men in maroon and yellow robes." She laughed and then immediately moaned. "Oh, bloody hell, that hurt."

"Serves you right."

She looked at him and said softly, "I am not sleeping with him. He's my teacher. And my friend."

"Good."

"So you would mind?"

"I would most definitely mind." He touched her face, hoped she wouldn't realize he was doing it to reassure himself that she was real and warm and alive.

That he hadn't lost her.

"It's okay. I'm still here." Her eyes were full of something that he wasn't used to seeing. He realized it was compassion.

And love.

"Go to sleep, dearest. I'll be here when you wake."

"You need sleep, too."

"I'll be here when you wake. No arguments now." He took her hand in his when she seemed to be fighting him. "Indulge me, Granger."

"Fine. What I put up with." She was smiling as she drifted off.

Snape heard footsteps, saw Sonam coming up. "She's going to be fine."

"Good. I would miss her if anything happened." He looked at Snape. "I trust I do not have to give the standard warning of 'If you hurt her etcetera etcetera etcetera,' do I?"

"What are you? Her minder?"

Sonam nodded. He smiled at Snape then left him alone with Hermione.

Snape sat at her side as he'd promised, making sure she was comfortable—even as he grew less so in the hard chair.

He was unaccountably touched when an attendant brought him a cup of tea.

Yak butter, of course. But beggars couldn't be choosers.