I beat you think this is going to have a sad ending don't ya?
Chapter 12: The Great Awakening of Hermione Snape
Snape held Hermione close and continued to cling to her even though Auror's were starting to pour through the open front gates of Hogwarts only moments after the end of Lord Voldemort. He looked up and saw the group of people who'd gathered around him before looking back down at the lifeless body in his arms. Carefully he rose to his feet and staggered toward the entrance of the castle. He was going to take Hermione up to the hospital wing and Poppy could examine her more closely. Maybe he wasn't right, maybe she wasn't dead. But as he climbed up the front steps he saw light. White light, it didn't seem to be coming from the newly shinning sun but more from the ground.
Looking down he noticed that it was coming from Hermione. Slowly she began to lift out of his arms as if floating lightly toward the sky. He let her go watching as she hovered only a few feet above the ground and turned so that she was vertical. Her arms spread out to her sides and her head lolled back her mouth falling open. The group watched as something silvery came out of Hermione and formed a small ghostly looking ball.
Almost instantly Snape noticed what it was. He'd seen it several times when the Dark Lord had ordered an innocent victim to be kissed by the Dementor's. The ghostly silvery ball was Hermione's soul. Stepping forward he reached out to touch it but someone pulled his hand away. Looking down he saw it was Harry.
"Don't…touch it." He stammered watching as Hermione floated in front of them suspended by nothing but air.
"Her soul is leaving her body Harry. We must do something to…I don't know put it back." He snapped at the young boy who shook his head.
"No, we shouldn't touch her." Taking a deep breath Harry attempted to explain something Hermione had told him months ago when they'd been worried about his connection with Voldemort. "The way she was following Voldemort around it appeared as if he might have attached her to him. Don't ask me on what level or anything like that but there was this invisible bond between them, similar to the one I had. I could see it in her face when the fighting started. She was felling what he felt. Seeing the scene as he saw it. I know because I was seeing the same thing." Pausing he stared at Hermione for a moment silently watching as her soul floated in front of her and she floated a little higher away form them. "My connection was an older one and became less powerful in the end but hers…well, she was not used to the connection like I've had to be. It was too much for her and in the end when that connection broke it caused her so much pain that her body couldn't handle it. I don't know why it didn't kill me like it did her." He looked up at Snape and he could see the guilt in the younger man's eyes and reached out gripping his shoulder in a shaking hand.
"For the same reason that I didn't fall to the ground in pain like the other Death Eaters when the Dark Mark was taken away." He turned his gaze back up to the floating body of the woman he loved. Tonks and Lupin had appeared from the crowd and found Harry and Ron safe. They looked up at Hermione as she floated a little higher in the air. Tears sprung to Tonks' eyes as she watched the young girl she had grown rather fond of floating lifeless with her soul visible out of her body.
"Merlin's beard, what happened to her?" Lupin asked looking from Hermione to the women standing as his side that had broken down in tears and was now crying silently into his shoulder clinching his robes. Harry explained the connection and how it had been too much.
"What an awful death." Tonks whimpered looking up from Lupin's shoulder and whipping at her eyes. Lupin reached over and with a flick of his wand produced a handkerchief. Her muttered thank you was lost when Ron spoke.
"Look!" He practically screamed drawing everyone's attention back to Hermione. Nothing had changed about her but her soul was slowly inching its way back toward her as if it was about to go back inside of her. Everyone seemed to take a breath and hold it at the same time watching as there was another sudden blast of light and Hermione's soul reentered her body and Hermione started to spin in the air. The blast of light was strong enough to send the ones standing closest to her (Snape, Harry and Ron) backward onto the stone steps.
Snape covered his eyes as another burst of light engulfed Hermione.
"What in the hell is going on?!" He scream as he watched Hermione float a little higher into the sky still spinning so fast that all he could make out was her hair. Fear clinched his gut as he watched from the ground as she continued to spin faster and faster still. Then there was a third blast of light that caused everyone in the area to cover their eyes and several of the girls shrieked at the sight.
When Snape looked back up he noticed that Hermione was slowly floating toward the ground but there was something different about her. He moved forward and then the light that had been suspending her in thin air narrowed down to a point over her heart. He reached out and caught her as the light disappeared and she fell into his waiting arms.
Pulling her close with one arm he reached up and laid his hand over her heart. Where there had been no heart beat before now there was a steady beat that was getting stronger and stronger. There was a faint groan and he pulled back looking at her face. Her eyelids fluttered and then her eyes burst open and she took a beep breath. She looked around as if for a moment she didn't realize where she was. Her eyes were glazed and unfocused. She turned her head trying to take in everything at once. Her eyes landed and focused on Snape who was staring at her but staring back at him wasn't the woman he loved.
Her eyes, there was something different about her eyes. They were no longer the deep sinful brown he remembered but a bright vivid blue that covered her whole eyeball. And her hair was no longer the tangled, bushy brown mess it had once been but a silky black mass that hung down to her knees. Her face was the same but several other things about her had changed. Her skin seemed lighter, almost like alabaster and her small frame seemed still slimmer and more willowy. Everything seemed to have changed about her but when she spoke it was with the same voice of the women he'd loved. Though she sounded dreamy and as if she was not herself. She stood up and like Voldemort floated above the ground. She seemed to be surveying the damage that had been inflicted by the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. A single crystal blue tear spilled out of her blue eyes and dropped off the end of her chin and shattered on the cold stone of the castle steps. It was as if the tear had solidified while it fell.
"Hermione?" Snape asked unsure what was going on. She turned her head and frowned at him as she glided forward.
"No, I'm Lena, the spirit of souls." Ron stepped forward and circled around her looking her up and down. She turned her head around looking at him and then looked back at the group of people who were staring at her.
"I've heard about you. I think Hermione told me about her." Ron said with a look of concentration that Harry had never before on his face. "Yeah, she said that she had read about you in one of those damned books she was reading when we were looking for You-Know-Who. Remember Harry?" Harry shook his had. It had probably been one of the many times that he hadn't been listening to her because he was more focused on something else. "Well, she said that there was a legend that you would appear as someone who had been wrongfully killed. She told me that you chose the person based on their deeds in their lives and that you had the power to bring them back." The spirit of Lena looked at Ron and smiled.
"Sounds like this Hermione was quite a woman." Ron dunked his head and blushed kicking softly at the grass with one foot as he put his hands behind his back to fidget. Harry knew that Ron was not used to being smiled at by someone as beautiful as Lena. As Harry stood there he noticed that all trace of Hermione seemed to have faded other than her voice. He watched Snape out of the corner of his eye. The man looked as if he might pass out and roll all the way down to the black lake. Harry reached over and grabbed his arm when he swayed slightly.
"She is." The harsh whisper came from Snape and Lena turned around quickly to look at him. She smiled affectionately as if she were greeting an old friend or lover.
"I would imagine that you would think so. She loved you very much." The use of Hermione in the past tense caused Snape to see red and if it hadn't been for Harry hold his arm he probably would have charged forward and attacked the woman who had taken over his loves body. She had no right to do it, even if she was a spirit. It didn't mean that she could go around taking people's bodies and using them as she wished.
"I…" But Snape was cut off when she held up her hand. It was not because he respected the woman enough to listen to what she said. Hell no he wanted her to bring back his wife as she had been so that he could give her the proper burial that she deserved. But when she held up her hand his tongue tied itself into knots as if he'd been cursed. He looked at her slightly annoyed but nevertheless his attention on her.
"I don't need a lecture Severus. But I will tell you how this works. I'll give you Hermione back if you can give me one good reason that you need her. Not that world needs her or her friends and family. But one reason that you and you alone need her." Lena looked at Snape her bright blue eyes. He stared and without even thinking about it said the first thing that came to his mind.
"Because without her I have no purpose, I have no reason to live. Without Hermione, I'm nothing. Just another coward, another weak man to walk this earth and who has had the only love he's ever really known ripped from him." Another of those crystal blue tears leaked out of the eye of Lena. It fell and shattered like glass on the stone front steps just as the other had.
"You are anything but weak and cowardly Severus. I can see it in your eyes. You have an inner strength that you only have when you're with Hermione. Hum, its funny really. A man who has spent his whole life almost in solitude, has had love ripped away from once before, has served a mater of evil and one of good for many years. Someone who doesn't seem to deserve any happiness but at the same time deserves all the happiness in the world. It's funny that you should find that happiness in such a young inexperienced woman, someone who easily half your age. Someone who until the day of your marriage hated you, or at least thought she did. What's even funnier is that there was always something inside you both, something that called to the other. Something that will never die. You must look inside yourself Severus. Tell me why you loved her more than life itself." Snape looked at the group of people who had gathered around him and Lena. He wasn't going to spill his guts in front of the whole school. "Don't be afraid. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Looking up into the blue eyes of the spirit he felt the words come flowing out of him.
"I loved her more than life itself because…because she…she loved me even though she knew my flaws. She loved me through everything and I know that when I die, I'll die with her name on my lips and her love in my heart even if I don't get her back." He felt the hand that Harry had been gripping his arm with tighten as if in reassurance. He looked away from the woman before him and at the young boy beside him who had tears in his eyes. He looked at the rest of the people, McGonagall had buried her head in Dumbledore's shoulder, while Tonks had hers buried in Lupin's chest and his arms wrapped protectively around her. Ron was staring at the spirit as if mesmerized by the sight of her while his arm came around Lavender who had just appeared out of no where. Ginny Weasley came running up the hill toward Harry who let go of Snape to run toward her.
Snape's eyes followed him and when the young boy picked the small red head up and spun around while kissing her he felt the ping of loss. Looking back at Lena he pleaded with her silently and she smiled at him.
"I think you should have her back." As she spoke she rose higher starting to turn slowly and the white light that had engulfed Hermione moments ago engulfed Lena. She began to spin as fast as Hermione had. They watched but nothing could be seen. She was going to fast and then with a blast of light as bright as the ones that had emitted from Hermione several things happened.
The chunked of the wall from the castle glowed and sprung back up into its place looking as if it had never been removed. The bodies that had lay dead and strewn across the front lawn of the school all took a deep breath and opened their eyes. There were cries from several of the other students who had been standing around just watching and they rushed forward to check on their friends and lovers as the Auror's started to round up the last of the confused and newly awakened Death Eaters. The dust that had been Voldemort didn't move.
Snape's eyes looked back up as the light dimmed and eventually went out and found that Hermione was once again herself and was floating back down to earth. He raced forward and caught her just as she dropped down into his arms. She looked up at him and he noticed that the pendant that Harry had put on Voldemort's chest now hung around her neck on a thin golden chain.
"Necessary love will destroy unnecessary evil." He repeated as he stroked the charm that hung between her breasts. She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I love you." She whispered to him as he held her close, afraid that if he let her go she'd float away again.
"I love you as well my dear." He said pulling back to look down at her. She was smiling and tears were forming in her eyes as he held her close. He felt his own tears beginning to well and looked out over the scene that only moments before had been ghastly and horrid. He watched as Auror's took Death Eaters away by the bundles and several of them pleaded that they had been under the Imperius Curse. Snape smirked as he watched Malfoy and Bellatrix being led away and both shouting that this was not the end, to which Harry answered with a string of curse words worthy of a sailor. The headmaster, whom Snape had known to scowled at the use of such language in or around his school, let out a great laugh and was soon joined by everyone.
Together they reentered the castle and Hermione made for the dungeon only to be stopped by Ron, Lavender, Ginny, Harry and several other students. Several Slytherin's even stopped to speak to the girl. Snape noticed that even Pansy Parkinson, a girl that Snape knew for a fact did not particularly care for Hermione, stopped to talk to her and tell her they were glad she was okay. Reaching inside his pocket Snape withdrew Hermione's wedding ring and walked toward her, the crowded parted and he smiled at her as she smiled back. She had never looked more beautiful to him.
"I think this belongs to you." He said holding it up for her to see and she smiled.
"Yeah, I was wondering where it went after Mr Malfoy and Draco took me out of the castle." There was a gasp and Snape paused in slipping the ring back on her finger. The tall blonde haired boy who had been trying to sneak past the group and into the dungeon's stopped and turned to look at Snape. The boy gave a nervous smile and laugh to which Snape just glared and reached for his wand.
"You have two seconds before I start putting holes in you and removing body part." Draco gave a terrified little scream and started down the hallway where he was caught by two Auror's who were helping gather the students back inside. Owls were starting to come in left and right dropping letters on top of the heads of students and some even landing on shoulders and nipping at the student's ears. Dumbledore who had been watching from the doorway to the Great Hall with McGonagall at his side stopped the Auror's as they dragged Draco toward the door, a look of utter horror on his face.
"If you would be so kind Bagshorts and Bengle to let him go and let me handle him. He is still a student of Hogwarts after all." Once again a very un-Dumbledore like look came onto his face and did not go unnoticed by the students and faculty that were waiting in the entrance hall for further instruction. The Auror's looked at each other then pulling out their wands bond Draco.
"Where would you like him headmaster Dumbledore sir?" The only female Auror that Harry had seen besides Tonks asked. Dumbledore seemed to consider for a moment before taking a step toward the grand staircase. He paused at the bottom and turned to find McGonagall dutifully following him. The Auror's also heading up the stairs after him.
"Minerva why don't you send word down to the kitchen and tell the elves to make a grand dinner, even bigger than the end or beginning of term dinner." There was a mummer among the students and Snape slipped his arm around Hermione who was pushing her forgotten wedding ring back into place on her finger. "And I'll be down shortly after I have finished with Mr Malfoy." He turned and with the Auror's following him started up the stairs. But he had barely started before McGonagall called up to him and stopped his progress again.
"Oh, Albus." He turned and looked at her, an eyebrow raised and she gave a smile the likes of which no student at the school had ever seen. It was smug and they seemed to know what she was going to say before the words even came out. "I told you so." The was laughter from the students, though none but Hermione knew what they were laughing about and Dumbledore gave another great laugh before winking at her and turning to start toward his office again.
Hermione turned to Snape and slipped her arms around his waist looking up at him. She smiled just as smugly as McGonagall had just done to Dumbledore.
"And I do believe that I told you that I'd never leave you." Snape rolled his eyes and smiled down at the woman in his arms.
"Let's just say that I learned my lesson." Be bent down and pressed a kiss to her lips pulling back and watched as her smile grew into one worthy of a Cheshire cat. "You are always right." He told her and she turned toward the Great Hall. Grabbing his hand as she went.
"Damn right." With that he laughed and picked her up in his arms carrying her instead of toward the Great Hall toward their dungeon rooms.
Things at Hogwarts were going to be very interesting from now on. Hermione smiled up at Snape who wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her and made her laugh. Things were about to get very interesting indeed.
THE END!!!!!!!!!
That was the last chapter. The next one will be the epilogue and I'm thinking I might do a sequel thing that follows the life of their only child, a daughter named Tiffany Minerva Snape. Sorry had to throw myself in her some how, even though Lena is modeled after me. Though there is nothing willowy and slim about me and my eyes are not completely blue. I hope you liked and I can't wait to hear what you thought. Tell me please. Sorry it's taken so long to finish but I've been having some internet issues. Love ya'll and I can't wait to hear from you.
-KC
