Chapter 10
For the first week after his return to Hogwarts, Severus saw little of Hermione. True to his word, he made a point of treating her very courteously whenever their paths crossed, but this was usually only at meals and, unfortunately, their usual seats were far enough apart that more than perfunctory conversations were impossible. If he could have moved his chair, he would, but as Headmaster, his was the one seat that could not, under any circumstances, be changed.
That being the case, he decided to try a more indirect approach. On the theory that she'd be more likely to grant him the fresh start he had asked for if he tried to make her duties more pleasant, he called a staff meeting, where he took her off night-time patrols for the remainder of the term. Hermione looked surprised at his announcement. When some of the other teachers grumbled, he told them it was their turn to shoulder some of the burden; it was hardly Hermione's fault that turnover amongst the staff was so low that she remained at the bottom of the seniority heap after three years. She couldn't be expected to do the least pleasant duties forever, could she? Their grumbling didn't stop completely until he pointed out impatiently, "Professor Granger has informed me she's considering leaving Hogwarts. I'm sure you'll all agree we would prefer she remain, and even if she doesn't, a more equitable division of duties will be implemented next term, anyway. Given that, I thought you'd prefer I make the change now in hopes of making her feel more inclined to stay put. Was I wrong?"
Nearly everyone present assured him he wasn't, and Hermione, who had been staring at him in surprise and looking like she wanted to announce that she had already given her notice, subsided, saying only, "Thank you, everyone. It will be nice to have a few months of normal sleep."
He also took himself off the patrol schedule. Before anyone could complain, he pointed out that he had done more than his fair share of patrols over the past eight years, and now that sleeping was a possibility for him, he deserved a few months' respite. Just to ensure there would be no misunderstanding, he made clear that both he and Hermione would resume patrols along with everyone else next year.
Then he announced some other changes to Hogwarts policies – most of which had been initially designed to annoy Hermione and hence implemented three years ago in anticipation of her arrival. For example, no longer would professors be restricted to checking only five books at a time out of the library. Madam Pince turned to glare at Hermione, as the rest of the faculty were more than content with that limit. Hermione, on the other hand, would happily borrow twenty – or a hundred – books at a time, and swear she needed every last one at hand in order to complete her research. With the new policy, she would now be able to work in her office, and thus avoid dealing with the glares of Madam Pince and the giggles and intrigues of the students who ventured into her corner of the library.
Next, he announced that faculty attendance at all Quidditch matches would henceforth be optional rather than mandatory, so long as at least three staff members were present at all matches. Since Hermione barely tolerated Quidditch, and the rest of the staff loved it, he knew she would never have to go to another match if she preferred not to.
That done, he waited a few days to see if she would stop avoiding him, as he had concluded she must be doing. It seemed odd to him that she was avoiding him more pointedly now than she had when he had treated her like his worst enemy, but in a strange way, that gave him hope. If she was avoiding him so assiduously, he reasoned, she must feel at some risk of being unable to stick with her decision to leave if she were to spend time with him.
When neither the change to her duties nor the removal of impediments to her research had the desired effect, he decided to try another route. He gradually began orchestrating seemingly chance meetings in the corridors, taking full advantage of his knowledge (as headmaster) of her schedule. He tried as best he could to start innocuous conversations, asking her how her classes were going, and whether there was anything in particular she thought he should include in the end-of-term book order for the library. She always answered politely, but she never engaged him in conversation longer than necessary.
At last, he decided he would have to try something drastic. Lucius was checking in with him frequently to see how his campaign was going, and it was getting irritating to have nothing of import to tell him. He needed to think of something that would force her to spend time with him – something she wouldn't be able to resist, but would still feel was her choice.
As Hermione stepped out of her office to make her way to dinner, she mentally groaned at the sight of Severus sweeping toward her, artfully dodging the students who filled the corridor. "Professor Granger, how fortuitous to run into you. I wanted to speak with you about something. Would you be available after dinner for a short meeting?"
Fortuitous, my arse, Hermione thought, but forced herself to say, "Of course, Headmaster."
"Shall I escort you to the Great Hall?"
She couldn't politely refuse, so she fell into step beside him. An awkward silence threatened, until he asked, "How is Miss Parker's project coming along?"
She glanced sharply at him. Miss Parker was the student to whom he had questioned her integrity mere weeks earlier. "Fine, thank you."
"Excellent. I'm glad you've taken her under your wing. Has she discussed with you her desire to continue her studies?"
"No. I assumed she and Mr. Bulstrode would be announcing their engagement. I was led to believe they were promised from birth."
"Ah, well, they were, but of course, times are changing, and I recently pointed out to both families that it could only increase their standing if she were to apprentice with a renowned war heroine and establish herself in a prestigious career before she marries and starts procreating."
"She wants to apprentice with me?" Hermione asked, stunned.
"Well, naturally. You're the highest-regarded Arithmancer in Britain."
"But … isn't she worried I might steal credit for her work?"
He looked a bit chagrined. "Not since I explained to her that I was merely taking my particularly foul mood that day out on you, and had no reason whatsoever to question your integrity."
"Really?" Hermione made no effort to hide her astonishment.
He seemed to take it in stride, answering nonchalantly, "Of course. I can't expect you to allow me to make amends if I don't ensure you suffer no ill effects from my past behaviour, can I?"
"N-no … But you do understand I'm still not sure I want to …" her voice trailed off.
"Yes, of course. That's no reason for me to stop attempting to correct things."
They arrived at the Great Hall just then and Hermione didn't have an opportunity to comment further. However, she was so stunned by his admission that she wasn't sure she could form coherent speech at that moment anyway. Instead of proceeding immediately to his chair, he walked her to hers before saying, "I shall see you after dinner, then. Enjoy your meal."
Watching him seat himself, she thought about his behaviour since he had returned from hospital. He really did seem to be making an effort to make her life more pleasant. She had always suspected some of the policies he had insisted were for everyone's benefit were really intended for her specific detriment, and the way he had called a staff meeting so soon after asking for a truce and then proceeded to lift the policies that she found most troublesome seemed to confirm it. Thinking of it now reminded her – she would have to let George know she wouldn't need a Skiving Snackbox, after all, now she could just decide not to go to Quidditch without a reason beyond not wanting to go.
As Neville slipped into his usual seat beside her, she forced her gaze away from Severus and smiled a greeting.
"Hey, Hermione, what's new?"
Relieved for the distraction, she allowed herself to be drawn into conversation with her long-time friend.
As Severus ate his roast pork, he surreptitiously watched Hermione. He was finding it rather surprising that she was still stubbornly trying to avoid more contact with him than was necessary. If he recalled correctly (and he was sure he did), she had occasionally fallen out with one or another of her friends, yet they had always seemed to patch it up. She even appeared to be on good terms with her former paramour, and he had heard that break-up had been nasty enough to send her fleeing Britain for France.
No matter, he was certain he had now hit upon the perfect inducement – one she wouldn't have been able to resist had he been the Dark Lord reincarnate. Yes, his new plan was flawless.
After dinner, he approached Hermione. She was laughing at something Neville had just said about a student's reaction to detention tending to the corpse flower that was the latest greenhouse acquisition. "Hermione, are you ready for our meeting?" he asked.
"Yes, of course," she replied, putting down her tea and standing. "See you later, Neville."
"See you, Hermione." The young man looked askance at Severus, who ignored it. It was quite clear to him, however, that his entire staff thought he was Up to Something as regarded Hermione. Which, he supposed, wasn't entirely surprising, considering his past behaviour toward her had been anything but subtle. He idly wondered why she seemed to so effortlessly make him forget himself.
Shaking the disturbing thought away as they walked toward his office in silence, Severus revisited his plan one last time. No, he hadn't missed anything. She would find it impossible to turn down his request.
By the time they reached Severus's office, Hermione had half-convinced herself that he was about to drop the other shoe – or dragonhide boot – most likely on her head. She was still finding it hard to reconcile the cordial, even charming, man he had been presenting for the past few weeks with the nasty git he had been for the entirety of their earlier acquaintance.
Gesturing toward a comfortable chair, he took the chair next to her rather than sitting behind his desk. Hermione was surprised – he did nothing unintentionally, so apparently, at least for this meeting, he preferred to avoid emphasising the inequality of their relative positions.
When they were settled, he offered her a brandy, which she declined. Best to keep her wits about her when dealing with him, she was sure. He must have guessed her thoughts, because he summoned a house-elf and requested tea and biscuits. When she had begun nibbling on a chocolate biscuit, he said, "I'm sure you're wondering why I wanted to speak with you."
"I confess to a certain curiosity, yes," Hermione said carefully.
"I have a proposition for you," he began, watching her closely.
"What sort of proposition?"
"During my recent stay at St. Mungo's, a research question occurred to me that I haven't been able to put out of my mind. Unfortunately, I don't have all the necessary expertise to conduct the research without assistance."
Intrigued despite herself, Hermione asked cautiously, "What sort of research question?"
"You're aware the Dark Lord used some sort of Dark Magic on Nagini to ensure her venom would continually evolve, thus rendering impossible any single anti-venin for her bites?"
"I had heard that, yes. I understand they developed a method of taking a venom sample from the wound and developing an individualised anti-venin for each individual case?"
"Yes, that's true, but it occurred to me that much of my suffering in the last eight years would have been avoided if an antidote could have magically detected the properties of the venom upon administration, and automatically adjusted itself to maximise its effectiveness in countering those properties." He shrugged. "Now that I'm feeling more myself, I thought it might be worthwhile to see if it could be done. After all, the Dark Magic remains, just waiting for the next Dark Lord to come along and put it to use."
Hermione stared at him, fascinated. "That's brilliant, sir! Have you any idea how you would go about it?"
"Well, it would involve some potions work, obviously, for the base, and some Defence Against the Dark Arts research for the spellwork to imbue it with the sort of intelligence, if you will, that it would need. I have that expertise, obviously, but it would be far more efficient if you would help me with the Arithmancy component. I'm reasonably skilled in the field, but I have a feeling this calls for more complexity than I could manage."
Severus waited, keeping his face impassive, for Hermione's response to his request. It wouldn't do to let her know just how badly he wanted her to accept. For a moment, she looked too stunned to react, but then his patience was rewarded. He was slyly amused at her obvious effort to rein in her enthusiasm for the idea. She was clearly struggling to maintain her professional dignity as she said seriously, "Yes, I'd be happy to assist you in such a worthwhile endeavour."
"Excellent," Severus said smoothly. "Shall we agree on an initial schedule of meetings so we can plan our research?" He remembered catching sight occasionally over the years of a colour-coded appointment book on her person, so he assumed she would like a schedule, and a plan.
"Of course," Hermione said with barely suppressed eagerness. "When shall we start?" Suddenly, her face fell.
"What is it?" Severus asked as patiently as he could manage.
"It's just … well … I suspect this project is going to take months, perhaps even years. There's no guarantee I'll be here to complete it. Perhaps you should …"
He interrupted as politely as he could manage; he didn't want her following that train of thought. "Even if you leave, we can still work together on this. That's what Floos and Portkeys are for."
"But what if –"
"Hermione, if you'd rather not do it, just say so. I'd prefer it if you would, of course – I think you're the most qualified person to work on this with me – but I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
That did the trick. "No, no, of course I want to do it. I just don't want your research to be delayed later if I leave."
Severus had to restrain a smirk. For the first time since giving her notice, she was speaking as though it wasn't entirely certain she would leave come end of term. He said, "Don't concern yourself with that at this point. If you leave, I'm sure we can work out a way to continue our research at a distance. Or, should you decide at some point you don't wish to continue, I assume I can count on your assistance in finding and updating a replacement?"
"If it proves necessary, I'm sure we can find someone appropriate. Thank you for the opportunity, Severus. Oh, this is so exciting!" Severus was amused to see she had apparently given up any attempt to contain her excitement.
"Very well, shall we meet for tea tomorrow and begin working out our research plan?"