A Bead In Darkness

Severus had been very busy in the weeks leading up to Christmas, but once the students had left he could finally relax. The castle was nearly quiet, with only a few students remaining over the holidays, although there were more of them around than usual partly due to families being torn apart due to the War. He had several Slytherins that had lost a parent either due to raids or imprisonment, but other houses had their share of parents killed by Death Eaters.

Unfortunately, the Narcissa potion was no closer to a solution than previously. He had not been able to properly incorporate the unicorn blood or horn since the first base he tried wasn't suitable for that ingredient. Developing a new base would take at least two months and require several long days with intense focus although he did have a few ideas that he wanted Hermione to look at once she had signed the Apprenticeship contract. He was painfully aware of time ticking away. They needed to get it right, Narcissa wouldn't be able to withstand too many attempts either.

No matter what he was doing, his thoughts kept straying to her. Hermione. Miss Granger. His soon-to-be apprentice. That first encounter back in September was something he had initiated completely on a whim, due to boredom, temporary post-war insanity and a desire to make her uncomfortable, but somehow their connection had grown since then and now he found himself missing her fiercely. She actually seemed to appreciate his company, against all odds and prior experience, and he enjoyed the time with her as well. Appreciation, or was it more than that already? Although he had told her that he had no claims on her, if she would come and say that she had found a … a boyfriend, his heart would surely shatter, especially if she was still his Apprentice at the time. But how could he possibly lay any claims to her? Surely a younger, more handsome, lively young wizard would come by and snatch her up, someone with an easy smile and actual people skills?

Reviewing the war memories had actually been good for him too. He had thought that he wasn't too badly affected by the events but viewing them again together with Hermione had made him able to objectively observe what had happened. She hadn't judged him or flinched from his actions, and he hadn't spotted any major errors in what he did. The nightmares and insomnia that usually plagued him had almost completely receded, he realised with some surprise, either due to their Pensieve sessions or simply due to the presence in his life of a young witch with impossible hair. He didn't miss Albus much either, but rather found he could think of him with that sort of fond remembrance one might have for old relatives once they had passed. The old Headmaster had been badly affected by the curse on his hand during the last school year, requesting that Severus be the one to kill him, not that he had agreed of course. It was as if the old man had sought, and given, absolution with that final act of wiping out the Dark Mark on Severus, Draco and Lucius.

He'd visited Prince Hall once more. He was still mad at Aemiliana for springing the whole estate on him like that, but as Draco had pointed out there were no hidden clauses in the documents at either the Ministry or Gringotts, save for the perfectly reasonable request that Aemiliana wasn't to be cast out from her home. She had apologised to him for springing it on him that way and showed him a bit more of the estates and grounds.

~x~x~x~

The following Tuesday he made the trek up to the Headmistress' office after breakfast. The NEWTs had started the previous day, and he had heard from Pomona that the students seemed to have managed well on Herbology. He had promised Minerva that he would supervise the students going to the History of Magic exam since Professor Binns was obviously unsuited for the task. Minerva wanted to replace the ghost with someone who was preferably alive, and apparently Remus had suggested that Andromeda or Ted Tonks might be suitable for the post. Anyone would be better than Binns, Severus thought as he greeted Minerva and waited for the students. A few Ravenclaws and a stray Hufflepuff shuffled in, and Miss Granger too of course. Hermione. His heart jolted as he saw her.

"How did yesterday go, Miss Granger?" the Headmistress asked.

"I hope I did alright, I didn't write enough on a few questions near the end but the practical test wasn't too hard." Hermione looked tired already.

"I'm sure you exceeded the maximum possible points, Miss Granger," Severus interjected.

"Good luck to all of you, and remember that you represent Hogwarts while at the Ministry," the Headmistress admonished the students before ushering them all through the Floo network. One by one, they tossed a pinch of powder into the flames and yelled out "Ministry for Magic" before disappearing in a flash of green.

The entrance hall was busy as usual, and he made sure to keep the students in a tight cluster as they made their way down the hallway towards the elevators. The hallway and atrium appeared to have been restored to its former grandeur, with the peacock-blue ceiling where gleaming golden symbols were moving around, and the wood panels around the gilded fireplaces bore no sign of hex damage. The Fountain of Magical Brethren had been changed, however, and now only a gilded Infinity symbol wove lazily between jets of water shooting up from the midnight blue pool with sparkling starlike lights inside. It was surprisingly tasteful for being the Ministry and Severus wondered who had been in charge of the design.

They cleared security and made their way to the Magical Law Enforcement offices where apparently the School Overseeing Bureau was housed. A clerk met up with them and ushered them through the hallways into the testing hall where some desks were set out one-by-one with parchments already on them. A few desks were already occupied with others also taking the test.

"Good luck, all of you," he told his delegation tersely while his eyes sought out Hermione's. She shot him a tight smile before ensconcing herself at one of the desks with a bunch of quills.

He had a few errands to run meanwhile, the students had four hours for their exam and he wasn't exactly planning on spending those in the corridor outside. Luckily he didn't run into anyone he knew as he made his way back to the entrance, and those he didn't know shied from his customary scowl and purposeful step with robes billowing behind him, just as he intended.

Gringotts was reasonably calm that early in the day, the goblins working on calculations and inventory ledgers at the counters with only a few of them busy with clients. The clerk looked him over but nodded and accepted his claim to the Prince vaults, calling for an assistant who went to fetch the keys to the vaults. The clerk took him to the carts to make the gruelling trek down to the vaults, first checking his private vault and then the two Prince vaults that were located much deeper down than his own. As Draco had said, there wasn't much left in them. He did find a few interesting old tomes that buzzed with Dark magic, and a chest full of rare potions ingredients that Iodocus must have overlooked since they didn't appear to be worth much. He arranged with the clerk to have it delivered to Prince Hall but left the books in place. Next on the list was Potions business. For Hogwarts he usually got most of the standard ingredients from Bobbin's Apothecary in Hogsmeade, but he had connections at several Apothecaries in Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley and elsewhere. The first order of business was to procure equipment, and after some quality checks and severe haggling he had an order placed for cauldrons, cutting boards, knives, scales, stirring rods of various types, and other necessary items. He would also take most of the equipment from his Hogwarts lab that he had purchased with his own money over the years. He was glad for his spartan habits during his Hogwarts employment, giving him a bit of a head start on funding the new business.

A brief but necessary stop at Madam Malkin's was next, to sort out Apprentice robes for Hermione and some wardrobe updates for himself. Flourish and Blotts had most of the books he wanted to get for Hermione and he couldn't resist the lure of a few new books on Herbology, Runes and their use in wards, and Egyptian curses.

~x~x~x~

When he made it back to the corridor outside the testing hall a few students were already waiting for him while some were still busy writing, including Hermione of course. The Ministry clerk threw all of them out once the time was up, and Severus herded them back to the Floos. Hermione pulled him aside to ask if they could Apparate back instead and walk from Hogsmeade to catch some air, but he had a better plan. The other students were sent ahead in the Floo with a message to the Headmistress that the two of them would return later, before Severus guided Hermione over to the Apparition point and caught her in his arms, spinning them away before she could think of a destination.

"Where are we? This isn't Hogsmeade?" Hermione looked up at him with a frown, biting her lower lip. She still held on to his arm and he wasn't one to remind her to let him go.

"Indeed not. Welcome to Prince Hall."

She stared wide-eyed at the large Tudoresque manor building in light beige limestone flanked by a few outbuildings. He had prepared an Apparition spot in front of the main entrance doors, overlooking the elaborate if neglected front lawn and formal gardens. They walked the gravel paths around the main building and he showed her the remains of the kitchen and potions gardens overlooking a small lake next to an unruly forest. The manor building was shaped roughly like an E with the formal entrance at the middle of the long part and the wings stretching towards the back, with the Grand Hall in the middle forming the central part of the E. The ground sloped down behind the building towards the lake so that the entrance level at the front was the first floor at the back, allowing for a terraced balcony along the length of it between the two wings.

"This is absolutely wonderful," she said and bent down to have a look at one of the wilted starthistles left behind in the potions garden.

"Well, not yet, but maybe one day. Are you hungry?"

Her stomach appeared to answer for her as it gave off a loud rumble. He ushered her up the marble stairs to the terrace where large glass doors led into a nice sunroom. Several large potted plants stood by the windows, including two citrus trees and a small palm tree. The walls were whitewashed and a small cherry wood dining table stood in the middle of the room. Tinsel appeared instantly, dressed in a new neatly monogrammed black tunic made from a bale of cloth he had given her, and flapped her ears at them.

"Master wants food?" she squeaked.

"Yes please, for two."

"You have a house elf?!" Hermione frowned at him.

"Two here actually, that was Tinsel and then there's Grumpy who tends the garden and exterior. They've lived here their whole lives. Several other elves were apparently sold in order to raise money for a lavish lifestyle and for the Dark Lord."

"Oh. I see. Grumpy, really?"

Severus shrugged. "Not exactly my idea, and besides, the name suits him."

Tinsel appeared again with two plates of fish and chips with tartar sauce and mushy peas, together with a carafe of sparkling water with slices of pear in it.

"Thank you, Tinsel. Please meet Hermione Granger who will if all goes well be my Potions Apprentice come the new year."

"Nice to meet you, Tinsel," Hermione said cautiously.

"Miss Apprentice is welcome to Prince Hall!" Tinsel bowed and flapped her ears at Hermione before disappearing with a quiet pop.

The food was excellent after his busy morning, with a perfect balance of crispness and mushiness. It seemed as if Hermione too was hungrier than she thought as she cleaned her plate with a speed almost worthy of a Weasley.

After their meal they walked through the Hall's main floor to look at the various rooms. The elves had started to renovate the building under his supervision and most of the main floor was updated with oiled walnut floors and the walls were cream white above walnut half-panels in the corridors and some of the rooms. The bronze wall sconces were polished until they gleamed and the chandeliers had been dusted and glittered like diamonds. Ancestral portraits lined the walls of the corridors and some of the rooms. He was planning to move several of them around, keeping only those that were sensibly silent most of the time in the public areas and banishing a few of the most screechy ones to seldom-used rooms, but that would have to wait until he had more time to visit.

An elegantly curved double marble staircase in the Grand Hall led up to a balcony overlooking the hall, where guests could potentially mingle and oversee the festivities below, or grand announcements could be made. Double doors at the back of the Hall led to a drawing room above the entrance foyer, and other doors led from the drawing room to the corridors housing the bedrooms and more private areas. He hadn't had time to explore all the rooms on the first floor or below on ground level where the kitchen and various storage rooms were situated. Hermione trailed after him as they walked through the rooms, looking at old gadgets, various ancestors and outdated decorating styles.

He stopped, abruptly, the atmosphere in the house suddenly too stifling for him.

"I will show you the potions lab," he told her and took them down another staircase and out the front entrance. There were several other buildings on the estate, and one of them was a large barn that housed the old potions labs and distribution central. Severus called for Grumpy who instantly appeared with a scowl matching his master, but the elf's tone was deferential enough and he was starting to appreciate the elf who had solid knowledge of the place's history as well as of construction work and gardening. He had given the elf permission to do whatever renovations he deemed necessary to bring the place back up to a workable standard, and Grumpy seemed happy to see the old buildings getting a new life again. Severus hadn't spent long enough on the estate to know what was needed although the knowledge of it in his mind told him some of its general status, and so he was relieved to see that the elf was able to hold his own in arguments and knew what to do, not just backing down whenever his Master disagreed. It took some getting used to but Severus found he rather preferred that attitude over the complete servility that most house-elves had, at least when it was clear that the elf knew better than him.

The barn was whitewashed with an angled slate roof and several windows overlooking the Potions garden. A small octagonal tower on the roof seemed to have housed a parliament of owls or other delivery birds, if the bird droppings around it and multitude of bird-sized openings and perches was anything to go by. The interior was mostly empty with a couple huge copper cauldrons in a corner by the hearth, and a large marble stone bench below a window. There was an entrance foyer with room for dirty clothes and benches for tools but otherwise the whole barn was open up to the rafters and scrubbed clean. He suddenly felt anxious about her reaction as she checked out the building, trailing a hand along the wall or looking at the stonework. What if she didn't like it?

"I'm going to put up inner walls and ventilation systems. We will have three brewing rooms, one research room, one distribution room, one research office and one admin office in here in two stories."

"This is great, Severus! All of it!"

She turned around and threw her arms around him, and when he sought out her brown eyes she snaked her hands in his hair, pulling his head down for a kiss. He resisted at first before giving in, kissing her back passionately and feeling her melt in his arms. It was as if the world came alight again for the first time in weeks. As they parted for air she rested her forehead against his cheek and raised a hand to gently stroke his face, from his forehead down his temple to his jaw. He shivered at her light touch, wanting more.

"Home," she murmured and he couldn't help but nod and tighten his hold on her. They stood like that, still and silent, for quite some time before he sighed and said they had to return back to Hogwarts. She didn't let go of him as he Apparated both of them to the gates.