A/N: Some more sweetness, folks, hope you like it!
A giant and huge thank you to my wonderful and amazing Beta Reader, MWolfe13.
It would be for the better.
That was what the Headmaster kept repeating to himself as he paced back and forth in his office waiting for Minerva to meet him. Strangely as it was, he was nervous after all this time. His old age had given him plenty of advantages: wisdom, patience, experience but, more than all, resignation to a fate that could not be overcome. And instead, now, he found himself enflamed by the hope that Severus and Hermione had given him: he had a chance to stay alive and help Harry and the Order defeat Tom.
Had he not waited for that day for so long now that he could not even remember?
Decades ago, he had appreciated Tom's exceeding capacities and skills or, to tell the truth, he had admired them. Not even for one moment, had he expected that those beautiful capabilities would be used in destroying the Wizarding world. He should have predicted, there had been – after all – so many signs.
And now he had lost thousands of people he had cared for. He had promised himself that he would not let something like that happen again and that he would sacrifice all his life in the effort to destroy what he had underestimated and let grow years before.
He was ready to die. He had lived long enough, he had made his mistakes, he had had his desires of power, he had tamed them, he had tried to repair what wrongs he had made, and now Albus was ready to sacrifice his life for that cause.
But then what? He could not picture a happy scenario after his death. Harry would be devastated, and he would look for revenge. Severus would be considered the worst Death-Eater in history, to the same extent of Tom himself. Hermione would stand divided between helping Harry in finding the Horcruxes and trying to support Severus. Minerva would hate Severus as would all the Order.
If he lived all that would happen anyway, but he would be able to help Harry find the other Horcruxes in the shadows, and Tom's dominion would end sooner, hopefully.
But if that plan had to work, though, he had to give Hermione and Severus time to brew the potion. It was just a matter of days now and he knew that it was an impossible task even if they worked 24/ 24 hours.
He had thought about that all afternoon and the only way to maintain pretenses and to give them some more hours was to include Minerva in their plan.
He couldn't help an amused smile appearing on his lips at that thought. That witch would hate him as soon as he informed her of that absurd and impossible idea.
Just then, Minerva entered the room with her usual stern frown. "Good Evening, Albus. Have you thought about some other absurd plan in which you would like to include me, too?" Just as if she had read his mind.
"Good evening to you, too, my dear. I would not describe it as absurd since it went even beyond my expectations in its fulfillment." He replied with a smug smile he could not refrain.
With that amused and superior expression, Dumbledore gained a dubious arched eyebrow. "I believe I don't want to know what that may mean." And with that, she neared a cabinet to grasp a bottle of Firewhisky, a habit she had taken recently every time she met with her superior.
"Anyway, indeed I would like to discuss with you an extension of the task on which Severus and Hermione are working on." Minerva seemed to catch the change of his playful tone soon as she reached her chair to sit across from him.
"You know about my curse, Minerva, and you know about the cure Severus and Hermione were trying to brew. But lately, with Severus, I had carried on some plans where you were excluded for your own welfare and security. But now that Hermione might have found an unorthodox solution to a huge quantity of problems, your help may not only be useful but even necessary." He affirmed with his most soothing tone in the attempt to soften the notion of her previous exclusion.
"Go on." She replied with a certain severe stern as she was not fooled by his gentle sweet-talk.
"You know very well that my curse is incurable and a part of me always believed that Severus and Hermione would never be able to brew a cure. So, I thought the second plan with Severus, in a way that we could all get the best out of an impossible situation. Tom has ordered Draco to kill me this summer, and I thought that if Severus killed me rather than Draco, we would have gained multiple results. Severus would spare me a painful death; he would gain a stronger position with Tom. He no doubt would be appointed Hogwarts new Headmaster. He would indirectly help Harry find Tom's soul pieces to defeat him, and ultimately Draco's soul would be saved. It was, all in all, a perfect plan. But then Hermione surprised both me and Severus by thinking a new solution: they might have found a cure and more than that, they might have found a way to still fake my death in front of the Death-Eaters." He stopped his slow explanation for a while as he saw Minerva shake her head in enraged disbelief.
"How could you not tell me all this sooner, Albus?" He couldn't help a slight flinch of surprise at the plain hurt he could hear in her voice.
"Had I told you, you would have stopped me, Minerva." He replied with a gentle smile in his eyes.
"Of course I would have! Letting yourself be killed willingly is never a good solution! Besides, how could you ever burden Severus with responsibility as huge as that? I know he had been a loyal Death-Eater once, but it would still be the greatest punishment he would have ever received!" She stood up enraged, a few hair escaping her perfect coiffure.
"It would have been an act of compassion, Minerva, not a cruel punishment!" His voice altered by that unexpected accusation.
"Sometimes even an act of compassion might be cruel punishment." She replied as she took her composure back.
"Indeed but this surely was never my intention. As I anticipated you, Severus and Hermione might have found a cure but they have just a few days left and-" But Minerva's harsh voice cut his quickly.
"When?" She demanded to know.
"Monday or Tuesday" He admitted with a mild resignation.
"What do you want me to do? I can't help them." She shook her head, still enraged disbelief.
"You have to give them time, especially Hermione. She can't be seen with Severus, and she can't disappear out of the blue in the middle of the school year for some days." He added hopefully.
"They will never be able to make it, Albus, you must know that." But she avoided answering his question yet.
"Believe me, Minerva, there are many things I never thought could ever happen or work and instead, instead..." He replied solemnly as he waited for her final answer.
"Alright, tomorrow morning at breakfast I will ask Hermione to collaborate on an advanced project in Transfiguration." She answered, resigned, drinking the last two drops of Firewhisky.
"Thank you, Minerva." He affirmed with a certain seriousness before his eyes started to shine with his usual gentle twinkle again. "Perfect, then! We should inform Hermione and Severus right away." He got up from his chair, nearing the Floo in his study.
"It is 11 PM, Albus; I'm sure that at least Hermione is sleeping by now."
But all she got as an answer was an enigmatic and amused: "I'm sure she is not." Before the Headmaster disappeared in the greenish halo of the Floo powder. Sighing defeated, Minerva grabbed a handful of powder and went right behind him to Headmaster Snape's quarters.
"Damn it!" Hermione exclaimed as she observed the product of all her efforts: a liquid potion of indescribable color. She had followed her every instruction, and it surely was meant to be cream, a good solid greenish cream, not a liquid of an indistinct color.
She grabbed her annotations roughly, going through them once again until she spotted the possible error. Giving a quick glance at the clock, she saw that it was almost 11 PM and Snape was not back yet. She couldn't help a pang of concern to rise in her stomach. He had been gone for over an hour, and he had told her that he would be back as soon as possible. Had something gone wrong? Voldemort had understood that something was off? Was he torturing him?
Shaking her head, she concentrated on her work once again. It would take her at least another hour to brew another concoction, and she didn't know if she had enough strength and energy to do it. She needed to sleep!
Just as she was daydreaming about her warm bed, the door of the office opened. As soon as she spotted Snape on the barely lit threshold, she rushed to his side.
"Are you fine?" She asked looking for injuries or tremors.
"Yes." He drawled succinctly as he looked down at her with a little-amused twinkle in his eyes. She composed herself as soon as her eyes had finished her thorough check-up.
He moved around her and closed the door. "So how did it go?" She asked when she couldn't bear the suspense anymore.
"Fine. I was able to convince the Dark Lord to let me help Draco in his deed." He replied as he closed his eyes tiredly.
"Good. I have been trying to work on the potion but so far, no luck." She admitted defeated.
"You should sleep for a while. You can start working on the potion again tomorrow." He opened the door to his personal quarters and went straight to his couch, sitting on it with relief. Hermione reached him, happy to let her limbs rest for a while.
"Tomorrow I have got lessons all day; I have to work on it now." She replied with a tired determination. His head rested on the soft headrest of the couch, turned to look at her.
"I know, but lack of sleep creates a lot of mental mistakes, which are never to be underestimated. You have to rest, Granger. You can come back as soon as your lessons are over with a fresh mind." He insisted, but his tone lacked his usual severeness.
Just as she was about to follow his more than appealing suggestion, the Floo connection spurted to life, and a dusted Headmaster appeared out of it, soon followed by Professor McGonagall. Nor Hermione nor Snape moved at the sight before them, too tired to even think about the strange and peculiar domesticity they embodied at that moment as they lay sprawled on the couch in abandon.
"Good evening, Severus and Hermione." They nodded their greetings in return, incapable of emitting a sound.
"I'm really sorry for the late hour but I was correct in believing you could still be awake. I have some positive interesting news to give to you, if you are not too tired? It will take just a couple of minutes, I promise to be concise as much as I can." Again, they nodded their agreement, their heads not moving from the comfort of the soft headrest.
"Very well then: I deemed necessary to inform Professor McGonagall about our progressions. First of all, because I was wrong in believing that Minerva would be safer by not knowing what we had planned, nor Severus' cover would be more in danger if she did. Therefore, Minerva and I have thought about a simple device to give Hermione more time to brew the potion in these next few days. We are approaching Thursday in a few minutes, and we need as much spare time as possible. Minerva will inform Hermione of a new special and advanced project to which she would like Hermione to participate tomorrow morning at breakfast. This, Hermione, will give you the chance to spend your days and afternoons in Severus' office to brew the potion with him. Every morning, after breakfast, you will go to Minerva's office. From there, you can use the Floo connection to reach Severus' quarters and vice-versa in the evening. Well, I believe this is all." He ended with a triumphal smile.
"I wonder if you had Minerva swear for you an Unbreakable Vow as well." Snape commented as he regained his sternest composure: his shoulders rigidly straight, his head kept high, his scowl severe with his frowned eyebrows.
"No, Severus, I did not deem it necessary since Minerva has fewer chances to come across stressful and dangerous situations as Hermione." The Headmaster replied in his most soothing tone as he folded his hands neatly on his lap.
Snape sneered enraged and stood up as well to face the Headmaster. "That is a lie, Headmaster. Minerva has chances to meet dangerous Death-Eaters as much as Hermione. Once the school is taken by the Dark Lord, who do you think is going to rule it?" Hermione jumped awake as she heard her name slip from his lips again and she couldn't help but stand up as well and near Snape's stiff figure to support him in some way. She had not minded swearing an Unbreakable Vow for him - she had no intention to betray him even in the hardest of times - but she felt compelled by his vigorous defense to give him her supporting presence by his side.
The Headmaster noticed her sudden activity as his gaze moved from Snape to her and his eyes started twinkling with a certain amusement. "I'm more than sure that Tom's priority will be to reach Harry as soon as possible. As you well know, Harry won't be in the castle after my death, but he will be looking for Horcruxes, accompanied – I'm sure – by Hermione and Ron. Tom's cavalry will be sent after them as soon as the news of their departure from Hogwarts is made known. In the not too much remote – I'm afraid – possibility that one of them will be abducted, even with all our efforts to avoid something like this to happen, our most secretive information will be safe." The Headmaster replied diplomatically.
Snape sustained the Headmaster's twinkling gaze, ready to add something else when McGonagall herself intervened with an unusual maternal tone. "We will make sure that it won't happen, Severus. We will keep track of them every minute, if necessary." Snape's eyes moved on the till then silent figure of McGonagall, and after some other seconds of tension, his posture relaxed.
"I'm sure-" McGonagall added. "-that Hermione will update us as soon as possible if she sees something unusual." And all of a sudden all of their gazes turned to her.
"Of course." She replied as she mustered all the self-confidence she had. Just at that personal reassurance, Snape finally nodded his assent.
"We will discuss further details tomorrow afternoon as soon as my lessons are over. We will decide how to keep in touch once the plan starts; how to help Harry, Hermione and Ron find Horcruxes; where the Headmaster is going to stay, shall he survive; and about your progress on the potion." She had always known that Professor McGonagall was not only an excellent teacher and Head of House but also a strong Scottish woman who wasn't afraid to take charge when the situation called for it. Nevertheless, the sudden control she had over the situation amazed her, and she couldn't help but be proud to be a Gryffindor.
They all nodded obediently as she said, "Now I believe we all need some good rest. Hermione, I will see you tomorrow morning in the Great Hall for breakfast. Goodnight, Severus." And with that, she turned around, grabbed a handful of powder and disappeared in the greenish halo of the Floo connection.
"Well, I believe I shall go, too. I hope you have a goodnight, Hermione, Severus." She turned red as the Headmaster's gaze seemed to stall a little bit longer than usual on both of them.
Finally, they were alone.
"You shall head back to your dorm. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, and you should wake up early." Snape said as his gaze was still contemplating the silent Floo connection.
"Yes, sure." She replied dumbfounded as she hurried to grab her things before heading to the little door that led to the ground floor.
"Hermione." He drawled as if he was trying to be natural as he pronounced her name for the third time. She stopped in her track, happy that he could not see her as her back was turned to him; she let herself enjoy that moment as her eyes closed in sudden but welcome bliss as every time she heard her name spoken in that slow and deep voice she had come to love.
"Yes, Sir?" She replied out of habit as she turned around to look at him. His eyebrow raised in amusement at that old appellation.
"You may call me by my first name, when we are in private if you want." He seemed to challenge her to pronounce it with his most provoking raised eyebrow. She rose to the challenge eagerly, happy to be able to have that same power he had over her, on him as well.
"It would be my pleasure, Severus." Her face burned as she saw his eyes dilate as she spoke his name with endearment as if she had waited for nothing else in her entire life but to be able to say his name out loud.
She didn't move, no, she wouldn't budge. She had kissed him, twice. The third would be on him if he wanted. He seemed to understand her line of thoughts, for he first lightly inclined his head sideways, as if incredulous of that sudden determination, then his eyes narrowed in challenge, and finally he walked towards her, painfully slow, making her suffer every minute of it.
When they were mere inches apart, he stalled for a minute, enjoying the simple activity to look at every inch of her face and body from such close proximity.
"May I?" He asked, almost afraid to be rejected even when her flaring breath had given her desire away eons ago.
"Yes." She nodded and finally, his hand raised to meet her burning cheek. She couldn't help but close her eyes to that simple but thrilling touch. He moved his fingers tentatively as if he had never touched a human being before and she was more than glad to give him all the time in the world to explore that new sensation. His eyes followed his hand's every little movement, amazed by something she couldn't know but she stood there, immobile.
Then, when he saw that she seemed to enjoy his light ministrations, his hand cupped her cheek with more determination, looking simply content to be able to do so, enjoying the possibility to touch her as he pleased, acquainting himself with that new propriety of his. He could touch her for she was his, for she was giving herself to him. She could see his eyes lightly smile with that sudden realization.
She didn't feel belittled as his hands explored her face with such rapture to completely ignore her. She felt, strangely enough, compassion: never as in that moment was clear the lack of love he had had for all his life. For the first time, she didn't only feel in love with Severus Snape, but she felt a strange and profound affection arise in her breast for him. At that moment, she loved him for she wanted to take care of him, she wanted to show him that he could receive love, that he was worthy of love.
When his fingers had had enough of the contours of her face, his hand moved slightly down, exploring her delicate neck, down to that little concavity formed by her collarbone and then up, on her jugular vein, and there he stopped, two fingers stalled to sense her maddening heart-beat. Surprised by that discovery with his lips slightly parted, his eyes moved back to hers as if asking if what he had felt was correct. But she didn't say anything as if daring him to express out aloud his curiosity and he did.
"Your heart is beating so fast." He stated almost amazed.
"I know." She replied, almost accusingly.
"I like it." He defended himself, moving his fingers back up to her face.
Hermione was burning, burning so madly she thought she was on fire, and she briefly wondered if her exposed neck and face were giving it away through a furious blush.
Incapable of bearing that only-sided delicious torture, she raised her hand to caress his face as well, returning him the favor.
His attention moved on her questing hand as she traced the same path he had done on her face and she couldn't help a look of total adoration as his curious gaze gave away his desire to be touched by a loving hand. Once again, overwhelmed by her passion, she kissed him, and this time he didn't oppose any resistance as he let his lips part under hers.
He tasted so good, so familiar, so right. It was him and she loved it, she couldn't get enough of his sweet compliance and surrender, brushing her fingers through his black hair, down to his neck, gripping his shoulders, moving him closer, damning all those robes that kept her away from his naked flesh that she wanted to feel warm under her hands, and he seemed just as much taken, as he let his hands reach her hips barely covered by the light dress she had worn for the party, advancing on the curve of her spine, up to grasp her hair and then her hot cheeks. And just when she thought that she didn't care anymore if the world fell right at that moment, the clock chimed midnight noisily in the silent air of a November night and slowly, they parted.
He cleared his voice before speaking again. "You should go back to your dorm now, tomorrow it is going to be a busy day, it would be unfair of me to keep you further." And with his voice still so row by the desire, he turned around, grabbed the jar that contained the Floo powder and handed it to her.
Taking a deep breath trying to stabilize her maddening heart, she took a handful of powder and neared the magical fireplace. "Goodnight, Severus." She whispered one last time before calling out her destination.
They had come to the Headmaster's office after their little chat with Hermione and Severus, and she could quite tell she had never been more confused and tired in her entire life.
"So?" The Headmaster initiated with an impossible smug smile on his face that she so wanted to avoid.
Sighing resigned, she answered. "They are quite... fond of each other." She admitted reluctantly.
"But-" She added with certain unnerving suspense. "- I still don't think they can make it, Albus." She added with a sweeter tone.
"How so?" But the Headmaster didn't seem at all perturbed by her skeptical statement as he fixed his eyes on the gloomy landscape out of the window.
"Because Severus wouldn't be able to brew such a potion in a year. Severus, Albus! How can you ever think that Hermione can brew it in a few days? You know that I think that Hermione is a talented witch, I have always praised her since her first year at Hogwarts, but this project is over her abilities." She explained, flustered.
"I believe it because she loves him and she won't let him down. The secret ingredient to success is love, Minerva. That is why I have put them together. I knew that it didn't matter how a capable witch Hermione is or how a wonderful Potions Master Severus is, for intelligence to succeed there must be love. And that is what I did: I put the two most capable Potions brewers I know together in the hope that they would fall in love with each other. If they succeed – and I have no doubt they will – it won't be for my sake, but because Hermione will do anything to save Severus and Severus will do everything to be up to her expectations of him. They won't let each other down, Minerva and we will be saved. I wouldn't be surprised if Severus or Hermione were the ones to defeat Tom." He chuckled amusedly as his twinkling eyes looked at Minerva as if he possessed a superior knowledge that she couldn't grasp.
"Well, that for sure cannot happen: the prophecy is quite clear-" But she didn't have the chance to end her thought.
"Oh, Minerva, don't you know that prophecies are made so that they can be changed?" And leaving a bewildered Minerva behind, the Headmaster retired to his rooms for the night.