A/N: Thanks to 'ooihcnoiwlerh', 'XoxMountainGirlxoX', 'Lilo', 'aredente farfalla' and 'sweet-tang-honney' for their reviews. It means a lot to me guys!

Now, I'm not going to keep you guys from reading the chapter any longer- Enjoy!


Chapter 11 - Frozen


I can't feel my senses
I just feel the cold
All colours seem to fade away
I can't reach my soul
I would stop running, if I knew there was a chance
It tears me apart to sacrifice it all but I'm forced to let go

Within Temptation - Frozen


Only his shallow breathing gave away that he was still alive.

Hermione quickly cast a drying-charm on Lucius. She didn't dare to use a heating-charm as well. The man was clearly suffering from hypothermia and he would most likely go into shock if he was warmed up to fast. Instead she took of her cloak and covered him. Then she took her wand and levitated him. Hermione made sure not to move his limbs – She had once read (thank god for books) that that might push the cold blood towards his heart. She regretted flipping him over earlier, as that might have done just that. When she had found him she had panicked and it had been an impulse but now she hoped that she hadn't caused any further damage.

Hermione got up of the cold ground and her eye fell on the walking-cane that was on top of the left one of the two graves. She reached to pick it up and her eye fell on the name on the headstone.

Severus Tobias Snape

January 9, 1960 – May 2, 1998

"cineri gloria sera est"

"So that's where his body went." Hermione thought. A few hours after the final battle people had gone to collect his body but it had been gone. At first people had thought that he may be alive after all. But then his portrait had appeared in the headmistress' office – much to said portrait's dismay.

Once she touched the cane that now held Lucius' new wand she felt a strange tingle that went from her hand through her entire body. It was not the feeling she had had when she had picked her wand. This wand was loyal to Lucius but it seemed to acknowledge her. Having no time to think about what this meant she flicked her own wand and the floating unconscious body of Lucius Malfoy started to move ahead of her towards the Manor.

After about 5 minutes she had passed the lake again. Hermione was out of breath from trying to keep Lucius steady and trying not to slip on the icy ground at the same time. She knew that she would be able to call one of the elves and ask it to apparate them from here, but there was no way Lucius could be apparated in his condition.

Taking a deep breath Hermione continued her way towards the Manor. On the clear ice-free paths she could speed up a little and thankfully it only took her ten minutes to get there.

As she entered the main entrance about half a dozen house-elves crowded around her. Hermione hadn't called them but they had probably seen her approach. The elves did not say anything but simply walked with her towards Lucius' rooms, worrying over their master. Once they reached the rooms one of the house-elves opened the enormous door but none of them followed her inside.

Hermione entered and found herself in a sitting-room that had the size of a small ballroom. On the far end of the room where two doors. She had never been inside her husband's rooms and so she randomly opened one of them. To her relief it was the correct one and she now found herself inside a bedroom. She quickly threw back the velvet green sheets of the bed and manoeuvred her unconscious husband on it.
When he was on the bed she manually started to take of his dirty and freezing cold clothes, leaving only his underwear on. Having read a lot about first aid she knew what had to be done and it made her feel nervous. She quickly took of her own shoes, hoody, shirt and muggle jeans, leaving her only in her undergarments.

Her practical mind knew what had to be done and also that she might already be to late. Hermione put all her self-consciousness aside and slipped inside the bed next to him. She pulled back the covers and moved to press her skin against his. His skin was freezing cold and the feeling of his cold skin gave her goosebumps. She swung her arm across his chest, feeling the many scars that where on it, and tried to find the pulse by pressing the fingers of that arm against his neck. She found it but noticed it was even weaker than before. Hermione felt a rush of panic. What if she had been to late? She obviously couldn't take him to St Mungo's. She decided to do the best thing she could think of and turned onto her side, putting her leg across Lucius' legs and trying to make as much skin-contact as she could. Please, let it not be to late, please she prayed silently.

After a few very long minutes she could feel his heartbeat getting steadier and his lips seemed to get a bit of their normal colour back. Then she called for a house-elf. The elf seemed a bit shocked and quickly turned around, it's back facing the bed now. Hermione didn't blame the elf. After all, she was half naked and in bed with a unconscious Lucius Malfoy.

"What's your name?"

"Lana, Madam"

"Very well, Lana could you please fill the bathtub to about halfway? And make sure the water is room temperature. It's important that it's not to warm."

"Lana will do that Mistress" the elf replied and it hurried over to a door in the corner of the room. Hermione could hear the water flowing and after a remarkably short time the elf was back.
"The bathtub has been filled Mistress, is there being anything else that Lana can be doing for Mistress?"

"Thank you Lana, could you please go to Wizzy and help her to put Esmeraude to bed in the nursery?"

"Ofcourse Madam, Lana will go do that now." the elf replied.

"Thank you" Hermione said, but the elf had already left.

She felt for Lucius' heartbeat again. Yes, it was definitely getting stronger. Also Lucius' had started to shiver, something Hermione knew was a good sign. His body had started fighting of the cold and he would probably regain consciousness soon.

She slipped out of the bed, walked over to the bathroom and opened the door. Inside she saw a sunken bathtub that had indeed been filled to about half way.
She walked back into the bedroom and once again levitated Lucius. She didn't dare to take of his boxershorts so instead she left them on and slowly lowered the man inside the tub. As she did this she herself went to sit on the edge of the tub, putting her legs on either side of Lucius' shivering frame so she could keep him into a sitting position.

She took up a sponge and started to gently wash the dirt of Lucius' face and hands, heating the water with a few degrees every couple of minutes. Slowly Lucius' skin turned from death-pale to his normal pale and his lips turned their normal colour. He grunted but did not wake up.

After Hermione was done washing him she grabbed a bottle of shampoo and started to wash his hair which was also covered in dirt. When she was about half way Lucius regained consciousness. His eyes flew open and she could feel his body stiffen.

"It's okay, don't worry." she whispered. "It's just me"

"H-h-her-hermione?" Lucius asked, still shivering.

"Yes"

"Why...what...?"

"I think I am the one that should be asking you that, but don't worry about it for now." She whispered.

Lucius didn't argue and allowed her to return to what she had been doing. He leaned his head against her hands as she massaged his scalp.

"Aquamenti" she said when she was done, rinsing the shampoo from his hair with the water that had started flowing from her wand.

"Do you think you can stand up?"

Lucius simply nodded. He slowly got to his feet and climbed from the tub, heavily leaning on Hermione's shoulder for support. He did not comment on the little amount of clothing they where both wearing and Hermione was thankful for that.

She cast a drying-charm on him and then on herself and summoned two of the dark-green dressingrobes that hung from a hook on one of the walls. She slipped into one of them and then helped Lucius to put his on as well. Still without speaking she took his hand and guided him back into the bedroom, urging him down onto one of the chairs that stood there.

Hermione grabbed a hairbrush and started to work on her husband's long locks. She felt the soft silky strands of hair cares her fingers as she carefully untangled ever single one of them. When she was done she walked back towards the bed and noted that the house-elves must have already changed the sheets as there was no trace of dirt on them. Walking back to Lucius she helped him up and walked with him towards the bed. It felt strange to fuss over him like this. He did not seem the type of person to show his weaknesses or accept help. Perhaps he was more shaken about the event than she realised. Lucius allowed her to put him in bed and closed his eyes, releasing a sigh. Hermione now took the chair that stood inside the room. She felt awkward just wearing her undergarments and a dressing robe but she had no intention of leaving him out of her sight right now. After a few minutes his breathing evened and she took the gamble. She non-verbally summoned her clothes and quickly put them back on. Then she asked one of the house-elves to bring her some tea and a couple of books. She settled in for a long wait.


Lucius twisted and stirred in his sleep. He was having nightmares, as usual. He woke up after what felt like hours, sweat was dripping down his face and he felt slightly disorientated. He half-opened his eyes and realised it was dark outside. He must have slept through the rest day. He wanted to reach out to grab his cane so he could cast a tempus-spell but before he had the chance there was a damp cloth on his forehead. He propped himself up on his elbows and saw a girl – no, a young woman- with bushy hair sitting next to his bed.

"Here, drink this". His wife's voice was a mere whisper. He felt a cup being pressed to his lips. The purple liquid inside it smelled familiar. Thankfully he gulped the dreamless sleep potion down. The last thing he remembered was falling back into the soft pillows and giving in to sleep.


When Lucius woke up once again he felt relieved. He was grateful for a night of much needed sleep. The past weeks had been a disaster. Writing down his story during the day gave him nightmares at night. The death faces of his wife and his best friend, their empty eyes staring at him, those visions hunted him. And the thought that he had done the same to so many others made it worse.

Now his mind felt oddly clear and calm. He sat up and grabbed his cane that stood against the bedpost. "Tempus revelio" He said, his voice thick with sleep. The little digits glowed green in front of him. '04:45'.

Lucius groaned. Now he was awake he wanted to do useful things, not lay in bed. But he knew that if he would get out of bed now he would probably not be able to do anything anyway.

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, he'd go back to sleep later but right now he needed a glass of water. Only then he noticed the small figure that was curled up in his armchair. A pale face surrounded by a lot of hair. Closed eyes rimmed with long dark lashes, slightly parted perfectly-shaped lips. A stray lock of hair slightly moved on the rhythm of her breath. The book she had been reading had fallen to the floor next to a half-empty cup of now cold tea. After a few minutes Lucius realized that he still sat on the edge of the bed, staring. He could not stop the flood of emotion that overcame him.

This beautiful young woman was his wife. She had given up everything she had. She deserved to be worshipped for what she had done during the war but instead she had left her friends behind, to marry a war-criminal and to be the mother to a child that wasn't hers. Of course he had known all this, but only now the full impact of just how much she had sacrificed hit him. How was it possible that a woman who was so young had the strength to do such a thing? Was it possible that she truly was so good or was there something else behind it? He didn't know and it bothered him. He couldn't really think of other reasons why she would be with him. They had barely known each other, they weren't in love with each-other and the other day when he had told her they still had money she had honestly looked surprised. What was wrong with this girl?

The slytherin within him hissed that there had to be something she was after. Surely no-one would put up with all this for nothing. Everyone always had their own agenda. It was something that he had learned very young, he had seen it with his parents, at Hogwarts and later at the ministry and within the ranks of the Dark lord. Everyone lied, cheated and manipulated just to get what they wanted. And certainly no-one did anything for someone else if they didn't get at least something out of it themselves.

'But maybe, just maybe' an other voice said 'maybe she really is that selfless'. Somewhere that made sense. She had gone through so much to defeat the dark lord, knowing the risk and willing to sacrifice even her life to protect others. And then he remembered something Draco had told him about her fight for the rights of house-elves. It had seemed so ridiculous at the time, but it did show what kind of person she was.

So, did that make him yet an other pity-project? He really didn't know any more.

Lucius got up from the bed and walked over to where the girl was sleeping.

He tried to remember what had happened the day before. He remembered going to visit the graves of Narcissa and Severus. He remembered the feeling of pure despair that had overwhelmed him. He even remembered falling to his knees and crying as reality came crushing down on him. And then a lot of nothing. The next thing he remembered was only a short flash in the darkness. He had been laying on something soft, probably his bed, covered in blankets and there had been something warm against his side and across his chest, comforting the burning cold in his limps. Had that been Hermione? Was it possible? He knew he had probably suffered from hypothermia. Did she know how to treat that? Did that mean...wow. If what he thought was true then the girl was truly surprising him. He had thought she would be an example of virtue. But then again, perhaps she was. This woman seemed so innocent that she could actually be a virgin. Maybe this was just an other token of how selfless she was. Putting her embarrassment aside in an attempt to save him.

Then he remembered her hands on his skin as she bathed him, her finger in his hair as she had washed and later combed it. She had been so soft and gentle with him. It fascinated him. they had been married for a few months now, but they barely knew each other. And still she had taken care of him.

He decided he'd get to know her. He wouldn't fall in love with her, he told himself, he couldn't do that to her. No, Hermione would have to settle for a marriage of friendship rather than love. But she had known that. Actually, it was probably more than she expected. Yes, that was the way their marriage would be, at least, for as long as that marriage would last. He didn't want to admit it to her, but turning himself in would very likely turn into a death-sentence, or at least a dementor's kiss.

Just a little longer he sighed to himself, than all my debts will be paid and I'll get the peace that I desire so dearly. Lucius wouldn't admit it to anyone else, but he was tired, so tired.


A/N: "cineri gloria sera est" means 'Glory paid to ashes comes too

late.' I know it sounds like a grim statement but it suits the situation and I think it's the kind of dark sarcasm that suits Snape as well.

Thanks for reading the chapter and please review. My muse seems to be way more inspired when I get reviews!

Next chapter will contain more interaction between Hermione and Lucius and Hermione will contact Ginny again. Stay tuned!

Love,

LoversCure