Well, well, here it is, chapter 12. I want to thank all of you for your amazing reviews, as always : Bluefirefly5, PinkRoseLily, Petite Mule, LoveInTheBattleField, Sakura Lisel, ur dark angel, Lunabeegood, spikeecat, RhodaBush, Maedhros, Isode, violet1994 and Angle1. I am sorry if I didn't answer you personnaly, but I was such a wreck during the first weeks of April with all my exams... But all of your words motivate me, they really do.
Now, talking about this story. I want to clarify some points for the people who are lost:
- Lucius, Severus, with some ex-Death Eaters, made amends. That's the reason why they are not in Azkaban; the population, despite the great loss of the War, believe in redemption. But as you can see, it's not the case of the Ministry... To achieve their goal, they married women with a good reputation among the Wizards, to show to the Ministry that they are "clean". But at the same time, they notice the reluctance of the Ministry toward them: that is mainly the reason why they want to know what are the thoughts of the Ministry concerning them and their rehabilitation.
- Kingsley Shacklebolt thinks that something is suspect about the ex-Death Eaters, and decided to trick them. His main goal? Send all of them in Azkaban... The reason why he can't is explained in this chapter.
- So, in conclusion, the main goal of Lucius and co. wasn't a bad one... in the first place. We can say that the Ministry's plan backfired at them, and it led to something worse than before.
- Why is Severus involved in this? It will be explained in the future.
And now you can read chapter twelve!
Becoming One
Chapter 12
"The Minister will receive you in a couple of minutes, Mrs. Snape," the young receptionist said to Hermione, who was sitting in a comfortable armchair.
"Thank you."
She had lied to Severus this morning, saying that she had to meet Harry and Ginny when it was obviously not the case. And now, while she was waiting for Kingsley Shacklebolt to receive her, she had the profound desire to go back home and to never come back in this office. The blue colour of the walls was enough to make her sick, and she couldn't help but remember every silly thing that the Minister of Magic had told her during the Order meeting. But at the same time, she thought, Kingsley had had nothing against Severus a month ago; he had just showed her a map with Severus' name on it, and it was all. As far as she was concerned, it wasn't a proof enough to say that her husband was guilty. His activities were suspicious, she couldn't deny it, no matter how hard she was trying to convince herself, but Severus Snape couldn't be a traitor. He had helped them in so many ways during all his years at Hogwarts despite what they once had thought about him, and it was a nonsense to think about him like a man corrupted by the Dark forces.
Suddenly, the door of the Minister's office opened, and the blonde woman at the reception gave her a nod, as a permission to enter into the room. Awkwardly, Hermione sat up and tidied up her clothes, before heading for the Minister of Magic's office. When she entered, she noticed that the room was large and comfortable, with many sofas arranged in the right corner of office. A desk, probably made of a heavy wood, was impressive in the centre of the room, and behind it, Kingsley was casually seat, his attention turned to a dozen of parchments spread on the desk. Hermione used these moments of inattention to continue her inspection, and her eyes caught the bright reflection of a chandelier, which seemed to be heavy enough not to be carry easily by a petite frame like hers. A magical Floo was at her right, and she wondered if this fireplace was more protected than the others; it had to be, she thought, it was the Minister of Magic's office after all.
The door closed magically in her back, shaking Kingsley Shacklebolt out of his torpor. When his dark look encountered Hermione's, his face lightened up with a bright smile, and he hurried to greet her properly.
"Hermione Snape," he simply said when he was close enough to take her into his large arms, "what a pleasure to welcome you in my office."
Uncomfortable, and definitely not used to such kind of greetings from Kingsley Shacklebolt, Hermione stayed still and gave him a curt nod in answer when he finally let go of her.
"I am pleased to see that you no longer see me as a traitor to the Order," Hermione retorted ironically, eliciting another smile from the Minister.
"Oh, my dear Hermione, I never thought such a thing about you, to be honest," he said while returning behind his desk. "But please, have a sit. We have a lot of things to discuss today."
"Really?," Hermione asked before taking two steps forward and sitting in the comfortable —and blue— armchair. "I prefer to say that you have a lot of things to say to me. It is more appropriate to the situation."
Kingsley put the parchments that he had been reading when she entered in his room aside, and rested his elbows on the wooden desk. His eyes were sparkling with a light that Hermione had never seen before, and she knew at this exact moment that what she was about to learn wouldn't please her. Like a man proud of his knowledge in front of an ignorant child, Kingsley sighed and shook his head at the same time. Still smiling, he took some seconds before speaking again.
"Hermione, Hermione... I can notice how tense you are, and I can assure you that you have no reason to act like this in my company. I am the Minister of Magic, and thus, I cannot do you any harm."
"It's exactly a sentence that Cornelius Fudge could have said a few years ago," Hermione said with a smirk.
She wasn't used to smirk to be honest, but she had grown to like this little sarcastic smile that Severus was fond of since so many years. She noticed that Kingsley pursed his lips when she mentioned the name of one of the previous Ministers of Magic; he didn't seem pleased to be compared to Fudge, or another person, for that matter.
"Anyway," Kingsley said to dismiss the subject, "I am not here to argue about the previous Ministers of Magic. I asked you to come to my office to talk about something more important, actually, or may I say about someone. Someone who you obviously know... intimately."
"Against my will, if you allow me the pleasure to give my opinion about it," Hermione muttered, her eyes fixed on Kingsley. If her eyes were made of daggers, Kingsley would have been a dead man for a long time.
"Of course, of course, I do not deny this obvious fact. Indeed, what kind of woman would want to become Severus Snape's wife of her own free will? An insane one, if you want my point of view. But I already gave you my reasons to promulgate this law, and I do not want to argue further about it since it is not the reason of you presence here. You see, Hermione, like I told you in my letter, I have some new information that I want -that I need- to share with you."
"And I guess that these precious information are about Severus."
"Exactly," Kingsley answered quickly. "You are really a clever witch, Hermione, and I am sure that you are eager to put your knowledge at the service of the Ministry."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, both of surprise and indignation.
"Excuse me?"
Kingsley laughed, out of nervousness it seemed, and he took a parchment in his black hands.
"Well, Hermione, I am sorry, I did not want to talk about it right now. Let me explain some things before. You see, my best Aurors are working on the case that I set out to the Order's members last time. You were there, and I am sure that you noticed how important this case is. That is the reason why a lot of Aurors are currently searching for clues, for proofs that these people are up to something lately."
"They've got names, you know," Hermione retorted, her face unmoved.
"Please, Hermione... Are you so fond of your husband's name to want to hear it in my mouth once again?," Kingsley asked her, with no longer a hint of a smile on his face.
Hermione clenched her teeth and tried to breathe slowly. She knew that this meeting with the Minister of Magic wouldn't be easy to go through, but it was something to think about it, and it was another to live it. She didn't want to give him an impression of weakness, so she did her best to stay focused and calm.
"Not exactly, Minister," she said in a low voice. "To be honest, it would be better if we were not obliged to talk about Severus any longer."
"But I am afraid to say that it will not be possible. As I said before, he is the main reason of your presence in this office today. I've got some information about him that I am eager to share with you. Here, have a look."
Kingsley slide the parchment that was in his hand over his desk, and Hermione hesitated a second before bending over and taking it. Her movement was hesitant, as if she didn't want to have a look at the piece of paper, yellowed in places. Her eyes went from the beginning to the bottom of which seemed to be a letter, as she tried to recognise the writing of someone who she knew.
"It is a letter from Severus Snape, the same Severus Snape who is supposed to share your bed since the beginning of July," specified Kingsley. Hermione quickly looked up at him, highly irritated by his uncalled-for insinuations. Nevertheless, she didn't utter a single word, and she focused on the parchment that she was holding in her slightly shaking hands.
She tried her best to remember Severus' writing, but it was hard for her; as a teacher, Severus had never written so many things on her paperworks, and that was the reason why it was so hard for her to tell that it was his writing.
"Are you sure?," she heard herself say in a little voice.
"I am convinced that it is a letter from Severus Snape, sent to Lucius Malfoy. I am sure that you know who I am talking about."
"How did you...?," Hermione began, but was cut off by the Minister of Magic.
"One of my best-skilled Aurors intercepted this letter before it reached his addressee. Which means that Lucius Malfoy did not receive it, and it is quite a relief," Kingsley explained with a sigh.
Hermione frowned, and tried to focus to read the letter written by Severus.
"Dear Lucius,
We need to hurry. Our respective marriages with two respectable women did not have the effects that we thought it would have. We need to join our forces to finish the task that the Dark Lord gave us before his death: the Ministry of Magic must be ours. We, ex-Death Eaters to the eyes of the stupid Ministry employees, must show the full level of our powers, as soon as possible. I know that you thought about a mass attack, but I am not sure that it is the best idea.
Let us meet next week, at your place. I will fix a date as soon as possible,
Severus"
If her hands were slightly shaking a few moments before, now Hermione needed to put her hands on her knees to calm down. The parchment still in her hands, she looked down at it, not believing her eyes.
"It can't be possible," she muttered, her fingers clenched on the parchment.
"Of course it can. You see it yourself; Severus Snape is trying to overthrow the Ministry with his fellow Ex-Death Eaters friends," he said, emphasizing the prior status of Lucius Malfoy and Severus, as if it was a joke on itself.
"I beg your pardon, but I don't understand what his motives could be," Hermione said, trying to steady her voice as much as possible. She couldn't believe her eyes; Severus wasn't such a man, despite what had been said about him during years, despite the fact that he had been the one who had killed Dumbledore. Truth to be told, he had been the hand who had killed the prior Headmaster of Hogwarts, he hadn't been the one who had decided it.
Kingsley Shacklebolt chuckled slightly, amazed by Hermione's naïvety.
"You do not understand, really? Or maybe that you do not want to understand, since it is your husband that we are talking about. I get that it must be hard to finally see the true side of the man who you married, but you need to face the fact, my dear. Severus is a traitor to the Order, a traitor to the Ministry, and he is even a traitor to you."
Hermione reread the beginning of Severus' letter, and it seemed that a heavy burden had been thrown at her. Our respective marriages with two respectable women did not have the effects that we thought it would have. She tried to picture Severus saying this words, but, awkwardly enough, the image didn't appear in her mind, as if her brain itself didn't want to depict it.
She tried to think at the speed of light under the insistent gaze of the Minister of Magic, despite the pressure that she was feeling at this exact moment. Her whole world seemed to have been turned upside down in a matter of minutes, and, even she didn't want to believe it, the facts were right in front of her eyes.
Kingsley seemed to notice her confusion and tried to confuse her further.
"Yes," he went on, "a traitor to you too. You read it yourself, your marriage was just a way for him to get close to the Ministry."
"Just like choosing Severus was just a way for me not to be paired with a worse person than he is," Hermione snapped back.
"A worse person that Severus Snape?," Kingsley repeated with mad eyes. "How could you have been paired to a worse person than Severus Snape, pray tell? You have got all the evidences gathered, Hermione; Severus is a traitor."
"So why don't you just arrest him and throw him in Azkaban?," Hermione shouted out before putting the supposed letter back on the desk of the Minister. "Why don't you come to our house within minutes and arrest him, before doing the same with Lucius Malfoy? I really don't see nor understand what prevent you and the Aurors from doing such a thing," she concluded through clenched teeth.
Kingsley took back the parchment without even noticing the harsh tone that Hermione had taken to talk to him.
"I know that you are mad at me right now, and I can surely understand your reasons," he tried to calm her down, using this paternal tone that Hermione loathed so much, "but you cannot possibly think that the Ministry would do such a thing. An arrest must be prepared, and we did not gather as much evidences as we wanted in the first place. We just have this letter when it comes to a possible overthrow of the Ministry, and I am sure that you can understand that it is far from enough to arrest all the Death Eaters."
"But it is enough for you to say that Severus is a traitor."
"Of course it is. Isn't it enough for you?," Kingsley asked slowly.
Hermione continued to look straight at him, not intimidated at all by the Minister of Magic. However, she didn't answer to him, not wanting to say something that could be held against her. Of course, after reading this letter, and adding it to the conversation that she had had with Severus prior in the week, her husband was highly suspicious, even to her eyes. But she couldn't possibly say something like this to Kingsley who seemed to be more than paranoiac when it came to Severus. For this reason, she didn't utter a single word, but she'dnever thought that it was the worst idea that she'd ever had.
"Well, since you do not want to talk... Take a look at this," Kingsley said with a little smile that he tried to hide, without great success.
Frowning, Hermione bent over, almost reluctantly, to take the second parchment that the Minister was handing her. This one seemed to be more ancient than the first one, and she unfolded it carefully. Once again, she did her best to recognise the thin writing of her former Potions Master.
"Dear Lucius,
It is legally done: Hermione and I consummated our marriage a few hours ago. She was a virgin, as you told me; a woman who wears ivory underclothes is obviously a virgin. It was not the best moment of my life, but she will do. I have to admit that her cries of pain were delightful to my ear, and I am sure that you would have been amazed to see her struggle with so much force underneath me.
I shall try to take some pleasure from our physical enc—..."
Hermione didn't even dare to finish the reading of the parchment; she quickly put it back onto the Minister's desk, before erasing the single tear of shame that was falling on her cheek. She tried to avoid looking at Kingsley, but she could feel his intense gaze on her.
"Please, Hermione, you have to read all of it," he insisted, but Hermione shook her head in response. Kingsley did his best to refrain a smirk, and he took back the parchment. "Well, I guess that I have to read it for you, then. Where did you stop, Hermione?"
Her firsts clenched, Hermione kept staring at her knees. She didn't want to give Kingsley the privilege to see her eyes full of shame, not now nor never. She heard him clear his throat, and she could only close her eyes when he went on.
"Mmh, let us just say that you did not read this part...
'I shall try to take some pleasure from our physical encounters, it is the best that I can get from her. She was a brilliant student at school, and I know that she is a fast learner; within months, or weeks if I am lucky, she will be an amazing woman only made to please me. And if you are good enough, Lucius, I might even consider to share her with you, one day...
Take care,
Severus'"
The only sound that Hermione could hear was her breathing, fast and loud; it was the only way for her to hold back her tears. She was ashamed, more than ashamed. Her intimacy was summarised in this letter that was currently between the Minister of Magic's hands, and she was sure that the Aurors had read this parchment more than one time.
"Hermione."
The Minister's tone was soft, silky almost, and Hermione wiped another tear before looking up at him.
"What do you want from me?," she asked hoarsely, not waiting for him to talk any further. "Do you want me to spy on him? Did you humiliate me to make me realise what kind of bastard I married?"
Kingsley Shacklebolt sighed, and put his hands together, leaving the two parchments aside. "I did not want to humiliate you, Hermione. I showed you these letters to make you understand that Severus Snape is not a good person. He manipulates you since the beginning of your marriage, and I am sure that he began way before that day."
"But you are the one who forced me to go through this marriage, with this stupid law!," Hermione retorted loudly.
"I did not do such a thing, Hermione," Kingsley said quickly, visibly irritated by her attitude. "You were supposed to come to the Ministry if you had not found a husband, and we, the Order and the Ministry, were supposed to find you someone nice and respectable. Instead, you chose to marry Severus Snape, and I have no responsibility in this choice, no matter what you say."
The room went silent again. A few minutes had passed when Kingsley went on.
"We need your help, Hermione," he admitted in a soft voice. "We need every information that you could gather about Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy and everyone else. You saw their names on the wall, but I prepared a document with the necessary information."
"I didn't accept, as far as I'm concerned," Hermione interrupted him.
"I know that you will. I know how clever you are, and I am sure that you do not want us to believe that you are a traitor to the Ministry... Or do you, Hermione?"
Her mind was in a sort of blur, and Hermione couldn't think properly. She knew how wrong it was to spy on someone, especially her husband, even after having read these infect letters. Quickly, she got up from the blue armchair, and Kingsley did the same.
"Where are you going, Hermione?"
"I need to... I got to get out of here," she whispered before heading to the door.
"I need an answer!" Kingsley's voice erupted behind her back.
Her hand on the handle of the door, Hermione turned to meet Kingsley's furious look.
"The Minister of Magic demands an answer, Mrs. Snape," he repeated icily, and Hermione had a hard time recognising him. She opened the door and was about to disappear from his vision when she spoke for the last time.
"I'll send you an owl, Minister."
The last thing that she heard before closing the door behind her was a roar of frustration and anger; a second later, she was running in the Ministry's corridors, as if the devil himself was after her.
XxX
Her ears were buzzing when she Appeared in front of the flat that she was sharing with Severus. Her hands were shaking so much that Hermione had a hard time to open the door. When she finally managed to do it, she swiftly closed the door behind her and let her fall on the wooden floor of the hallway, closing her eyes at the same time. She was tired, mentally tired by this meeting with the Minister of Magic, and she tried to clear her head to think properly. It was hard to do, though. The letters that she had read, as well as the part that Kingsley had read against her will, the things that the Minister had told and asked her, everything was spinning in her head.
The hardest thing to swallow was what Severus had said about their marriage, even if she should have been more worried about his supposed plan to overthrow the Ministry to be honest. She knew that Severus hadn't asked her to marry him out of love, far from it, and she couldn't blame it for it since she had accepted to become his wife just because she knew him. Moreover, she had trusted him at the time, and it was still the case until now.
Until now...
"Mrs. Snape?"
Hermione quickly looked up and met the big eyes of Gretchen, the house-elf. She tried to smile, but she was sure that she had just managed to purse her mouth in a weird way.
"Yes, Gretchen?"
"Do Mrs. Snape need Gretchen help to get up?"
"Oh, no, thank you," Hermione answered while shaking her head. "I can stand up, don't you worry about it. Is Mr. Snape at home?," she asked before standing up in a quick movement.
"He is in the laboratory, but he said to Gretchen that he is going out this afternoon."
"Thank you, Gretchen. I'm going to my room now."
With that said, Hermione went to her bedroom, the one that she shared with Severus. When she was about to get rid of her shoes and sat on the bed, her eyes stopped onto the desk that Severus had installed next to the window. She was used to sit there to write down her notes about potions or spells that she needed to know for the upcoming year, and it was also the desk that Severus used to write his own letters. Suddenly, she thought that maybe, just maybe, there was a possibility to find an abandoned letter that he hadn't finished.
Hermione looked behind her to make sure that she was alone, and went to the desk. A few parchments were scattered on it, and Hermione noticed her own parchments in the right corner. At the centre of the desk, though, she saw some parchments without her own writing on it, but she quickly noticed that there were letters from Minerva McGonagall, mainly. Frowning, Hermione tried to look at the other parchments that were under the letters of the new Headmistress of Hogwarts, without even looking at them any further. When her hand entered in contact with a parchment full of a thin writing that she thought she had already seen before, she heard someone clear his throat behind her.
Hermione jumped like a child caught in the act, and swiftly turned to meet Severus' dark gaze. He was standing in the doorway, and Hermione rested her hands on the desk, not knowing what to do.
"What are you doing here, Hermione?," he asked, and Hermione could notice the suspicious tone of his voice.
"I was... I was looking for a piece of paper. I wanted to write something, a letter, actually," she stammered, searching for the good words at the same time.
Severus went toward her, and Hermione froze when he stopped a few inches from her face. She swallowed hard, wondering what he was about to do. Severus then bent over a little, searching for something on the desk, and entering in contact with her body while doing so.
"Here," he whispered next to her ear, handing her a blank piece of parchment. Hermione took it, and shivered slightly when she felt his breath on her. The words that Kingsley had said earlier were screaming in her head, and it was almost impossible for her not to think about it. A part of her wanted to disregard these words, wanted to act like she hadn't heard these things, like she hadn't read these words written by her husband, but she just couldn't.
"Thank you," she managed to answer, before trying to get free from his involuntary embrace. To her great despair, Severus didn't seem to want to free her, and he pushed her further against the wooden desk. Hermione let out a little sight, not wanting to look straight at him. She was so disturbed to know that he was that close, that his body was against her in such an intimate way...
"You came home early," Severus said, before letting his right hand caressing her waist.
"It wasn't as long as I thought it would be," Hermione muttered and had to force herself not to close her eyes when she felt Severus' hand on her body. As if he noticed that she was reluctant to let herself go, Severus raised his other hand to her face and gently caressed her cheek. Hermione recognised from his gestures, from his gentleness that he needed something. He needed her... sexually.
She gathered all the forces that she had left to push him backward, and headed to the bedroom's door, but Severus grabbed her by the arm before she reached her goal.
"What is wrong with you?," Severus asked, surprised by her attitude.
"Let go of me, Severus," she muttered, avoiding his gaze once again.
"Why are you acting this way?," he insisted, and took her chin between his slender fingers to urge her to look at him. Without a way out, Hermione had to look at him, and she was sure that Severus could see all her fear in her eyes.
In the past, she sometimes had been afraid of him; during her first time with him, then when Severus had lost his temper around her. But never, oh never, had he seen her that afraid of him. Frowning, he let go of her arm, but, surprisingly enough, Hermione didn't move, even when she noticed that she was free. Instead, she continued to stare at him, letting him see how lost she was at this exact moment.
"What happened, Hermione?," he muttered, perfectly sure that something had happened.
Hermione bit the inside of her cheek, almost until she bled. Then, she spoke, and she surprised herself with her own words.
"We need to talk, Severus."
Yes, I think that they need to talk... But about what? I'd love to know what are your impressions about this chapter, and about this story in general.
Read you soon.