October 07, 2005

There were times when Severus hated being right. As predicted, the Howlers started arriving the very next morning and didn't abate for nearly two weeks. Half of the letters chastised them for daring to bring a lover's tiff to Hogwarts' august halls (as though that had never happened before); the other half took great delight in castigating either Severus or Hermione - sometimes both - for sullying the name of a war hero. A few accused Severus of cradle robbing, though most seemed more interest on attacking Hermione for being a gold-grubbing whore. As though her Order of Merlin hadn't contained the same monetary award that is had.

Skeeter's accusations were, of course, scurrilous. They also sold untold papers, which is why the thrice-damned newspaper kept her in ink and Quick Quotes Quills. Normally Severus would have ignored the issue, but his classes were becoming more unruly by the day. Being made a laughing stock was one thing; having his lover's character steadily assassinated was quite another. His students thought him gullible, taken in by the harpy fame-seeker, and failed to see the irony in their own easy belief of Skeeter's lies. He would have rolled his eyes if he weren't so busy trying to keep his students from inadvertently hexing themselves into permanent stupidity. Sadly, Severus found himself relying more and more on the scare tactics of the decade before to subdue the dunderheads in his classroom. Clearly something would have to be done, and soon. He just couldn't think of what , or more importantly, how to get to Rita blasted Skeeter and her merry band of spies. (Oh, the woman had informants somewhere. He was still spy enough to recognize a megalomaniac mastermind when he saw one.)

An opportunity arrived in the form of an invitation, nestled between three bright red and smoking envelopes when Severus arrived in his rooms after teaching one evening. (He'd taken to having the mail delivered to the his apartments' hearth, so that they might burst into flame without singeing his belongings.) Lucius Malfoy was hosting a charity ball for Guy Fawkes Day. Interesting. An attached note within read, simply:

S- Simply respond in the affirmative and spare me your whinging. Bring your "handsy, hellion harlot," to quote one R. Skeeter. We're embracing all things Muggle this year; there will be a bonfire and fireworks of many kinds. Dress is formal; for Narcissa's sake, don't wear black. -L PS: What in the name of Merlin happened to your Patronus? A raven seems trite, particularly for you.

Interesting. Lucius was clearly still attempting to repair the Malfoy reputation by opening his home to all and sundry and spending ungodly amounts of money on food, drink, and political favors. It was comforting to know how little some things changed.

A knock on his door drew Severus' attention and he opened it to find Hermione there. She greeted him with a quick bus on the cheek before flinging herself into her usual chair by the fire.

"I had a dreadful day. What about you?" she said, toeing off her shoes.

"Merely awful. I suspect next week will hint more at dreadful if my students' behavior continues to deteriorate at its current rate."

"Yes, well, I suspect your students just think you easily taken in. Mine thing I've suddenly become glory-hound. As if I ever wanted the spotlight to begin with. That was more Ron's thing."

"I believe we may have just been offered some assistance." Severus handed Hermione the embossed invitation and accompanying note, smiling at the snort that escaped her as she read " handsy, hellion harlot ".

"What's Lucius playing at?" she asked him, looking up.

"I'm not entirely sure, but it's clear he has something planned for Skeeter - and that our attendance will be required to pull it off. I'm in a mood to satisfy Lucius' whim. What say you? Would you like to attend the ball with me, Harlot dearest?" he smirked.

"At least Harlot Hermione is more alliterative than the Gryffindor Princess. Hell, why not? We can get all dressed up and give them the what-for. Shall I play Madonna or whore that night?"

He smiled at her deviousness. "I will leave that choice entirely up to you, pet. All I can say is that I'll be wearing blue in an attempt to avoid Narcissa's ire. Can you work with that?"

"Definitely." she grinned.

"That's settled then. Come on, get your shoes back on woman. We have rounds to make before we retire."

The following week saw several events within the castle. During lunch in the Great Hall, Severus spotted three Gryffindor students slinking in through the doors, covered to to armpits in pitch-blank ink. Smothering the smirk that threatened, he waited until the three boys sat at their respective tables before approaching them. Clearly Professor Granger had gotten her revenge for the wet-shirt incident of several weeks past, but that didn't mean he couldn't add serious injury to insult. He crept up behind the three boys quickly enough to catch the end of their conversation.

"I still think she did it on purpose! She must have given us the wrong spell."

"No one else got it wrong, Roy. You must've misheard her."

"She clearly said Atramento ."

"Well it's your bloody fault for using muffliato during class. I could barely hear her over your yammering!"

"Will you two pillocks shut it? If we'd just done the fucking reading last night instead of playing Exploding Snap we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with."

Severus grinned inwardly as he loomed over the three misfits. "Tut tut, Mr. Spinruck. Ten points from Gryffindor for foul language. And another ten for leaving black footprints throughout the halls for Mr. Filch to clean. Oh, and that's ten points each." He dropped his voice into the silky, menacing register that used to strike fear into his potions students. "I would have expected more from three students of the noble House of Gryffindor. Clearly the sorting hat's standards are falling. How...disappointing."

Severus whirled away in a flurry of robes (Ah! He'd missed that feeling!) and strode back to the high table, where Hermione was repressing a grin by concentrating on her salad.

"Bloody great bat" he heard over his shoulder. Quick as a snake, he turned back toward the three inky students. "Thank you, Mr. Gibson. That will be detention with Mr. Filch this evening, seven sharp. Do bring your two friends with you."

He resumed his place at the high table and barely kept his mirth in check. "It's been an age since I've been called the Great Bat. I'd rather missed it" he mused. "You certainly waited long enough to get your revenge on those idiots."

Hermione sniggered into her meal and speared a mushroom. "You're the one who taught me that revenge was a dish best served cold. I think those three will think twice before attempting to look through my blouse again."

Severus snorted into his pumpkin juice. "I highly doubt that, Professor Granger. They are, after all, three teenage boys. And I'm fairly sure those three are sharing the same brain between them. I'm curious...what spell were they supposed to be learning?"

"Andamento. The assignment was to transfigure a sheet of wood into a mosaic tile floor. They must have misheard me. Mr. Gibson spoke the incantation Atramento instead and turned it into a pool of ink. Unfortunately, all three were standing on the wood when this occurred." She batted her eyes at him guilelessly.

"The horror."

At that moment Minerva leaned forward and spoke across the table to Hermione. "Well played, my dear. I couldn't have done better myself."

Hermione simply nodded at the Headmistress and continued to eat her salad with a self-satisfied air.

"I understand that your first Animagus class will be next weekend, Severus. How are you and Hermione getting on with the planning?"

Severus quickly swallowed a bit of lamb pie and responded, "Tolerably well, Minerva. We have the syllabus prepared. We'll have details of the month of the leaf prepared for next week's faculty meeting, but I can tell you now that we plan it for January."

"Excellent news - and excellent timing as well. We'll discuss it further next week." Minerva turned to her left to address Filius, dismissing Severus and Hermione.

Hermione swallowed the last bite of her meal and leaned toward Severus. "You'll need to request a substitute for our rounds on the 5th as well."

"Already done. Filius and Pomona will step in. We'll need to fill in for them on the 12th."

Hermione nodded before speaking again. "I have a bit of a request for you as well."

"Yes?"

"Harry and Ginny have asked me to dinner this weekend. I asked if I could bring a date. Will you come?" He couldn't help but note how insecure the question sounded. Did she doubt him so much?

"I'd be happy to accompany you," he said without emotion.

"Really? Because you sound as though you'd rather chew glass."

"Mr. Potter - Harry - and I have corresponded only briefly by letter since my return, but it has been polite enough. The memories you have shared with me indicate that we were...cordial before my memory was modified. I see no reason to express undue joy at meeting with the Potters, but I see no reason to make a fuss either. Shall I bring wine, you think?" he asked, reaching for one of the hand-sized biscuits on the serving platter between them.

"That would be appropriate. Harry hasn't the nose for anything and we end up drinking plonk as often as not. Dinner's at six on Saturday. Come to my rooms before and we'll floo from there."

He nodded his acquiescence. "I have a favor to request in return."

"Yes?"

He leaned in close to her and dropped his voice that only she could hear. "Wear the blue knickers that night. It'll entertain me to imagine peeling you out of them after."

She smiled and dropped her voice in return. "Severus, what makes you think I was planning to wear knickers at all?"

She smirked at him and rose from her seat to prepare for her next class. For his part, Severus spent another ten minutes at the table glowering at each house table in turn while mentally reminding his body that blood needed to flow to appendages other than his cock.

October 15, 2005

Severus arrived at Hermione's door at 5:55, dressed casually in a russet button down and black slacks. He'd opted to leave off his robes for the evening, remembering that Potter - Harry, dammit - preferred Muggle-style dress. He carried two bottles of a rather spicy Malbec and had his bomber jacket draped over his arm. He was pleased to see he was dressed appropriately; Hermione answered the door in soft tweed pants and a mauve sweater that did wonderful things to the roses in her cheeks. As he stepped into her rooms, he caught a whiff of mandarin, honeysuckle, and something he would only describe as a burbling stream. So she was happy and...what...excited? Nervous?

Suddenly suspicious, he turned toward his lover. "Hermione, does Pot - do Harry and Ginevra know that we're seeing each other again?"

She flushed and shook her head. "No. I haven't told anyone yet. I'd thought to tell them tonight. It's the kind of news you deliver in person. They know a bit about the memory loss, but not all of our recent theories."

He frowned. "You haven't shared many memories of Harry yet. Is there anything I need to know before entering braving your fellow lions?"

"You missed their wedding. Harry had invited you specially and you'd accepted. He was disappointed. You left the month before and we'd all rather hoped you'd come back for it. Me most of all, if only so I could hex your bollocks off and feed them to you." She gave him a rueful little smile.

"Shit. I'd better start off with an apology then."

"It wouldn't hurt. And perhaps follow up with an explanation. Shall we?"

Severus sighed. "I can hardly wait."

"Snape?" Harry wheezed as Severus spun out of the floo. "Your date is Snape ? Didn't you learn anything from the first go-round, Hermione?"

"Harry, if you'll just stop and - "

"No, dammit. I picked you up off the floor the first time the bastard left you. I'm not doing it again."

"Harry, we talked about this," Ginny said in an attempt to calm her husband. "He's lost his memory - "

"Bollocks! He's just trying to keep himself from looking like a bigger arse than he is."

"Actually Harry, Ginevra is correct. I have lost most of my memories of the year after the battle. Or, rather, they have been taken from me. Hermione has been helping me to remember them through the pensieve. I'm told that I owe you a rather hefty apology for missing your wedding. I hope you'll accept my regrets that I failed to appear as I said I would."

Harry simply stopped and stared. Ginny elbowed him in the gut and whispered out of the side of her mouth. "Don't just stand there like a prat. Say something!"

Severus looked at Harry and waited. "I've fought dementors and killed a madman, but nothing has prepared me for Severus Snape apologizing to me. Shit. Harry looked to Hermione. "Did he at least apologize to you as well?" She nodded.

"Indeed. I'll admit, it's a novel sensation, apologizing twice in a single year. And to Gryffindors, of all people." He shot a brief glare at Hermione when she snickered.

Harry let out a defeated sigh. "Well that, at least, is familiar. Heaven forbid you lose your snarkiness. Come on then. We'll open one of those bottles you've got and talk. I need to hear the rest of this story."

The bottle disappeared rather more quickly than it should have, and the second followed almost as rapidly. Severus found himself mildly perturbed that he'd only brought two bottles; eyeing the label of the wine on the counter, he rather thought they'd be stuck with plonk for the meal.

"So you've no idea who performed this seed obliviation on you, do you?" Harry asked.

"None whatsoever. Kingsley gave me a list of known users of the spell, but I haven't had time to cross-reference it with the list of ball attendees yet."

Hermione looked at him sharply. "Severus, it's been weeks. Whyever not?"

He shrugged. "It didn't seem high priority, and I've had rather a lot of things to do in the meantime."

Harry looked thoughtful. "You said that Kingsley was going to assign me to your case, but I haven't heard anything from him or my commander on the matter. Has an auror spoken to you yet?"

"No. I'd rather wondered about that. I thought I might track Kingsley down at Lucius' ball in November if I hadn't heard."

"Well, you've tracked me down instead. I'll talk to Kings on Monday. Gawain too. And I will come speak to you next week. I can't think why this has sat on the Minister's desk this long. It's an auror matter."

Severus shrugged again. "Whenever you have time."

Hermione caught Harry's eye then in some sort of silent communication that Severus couldn't fathom. Harry nodded and looked back at him. "Severus, why haven't you pursued this matter?"

"I - I have been, albeit slowly. It seemed more important to look into Hermione's memories."

Ginny looked concerned. "That doesn't sound like the Professor Snape I remember. If someone had gotten the jump on you back when we were in school, you would have chased them to the ends of the earth for vengeance. I don't think you've mellowed so much as to let this slide."

He sat there in silence for a moment, digesting what Ginny had said. "I...suppose not. It hasn't seemed like a high priority, but you're right. That doesn't sound like me at all." He looked Harry in the eye. "Has your occlumency improved any since my attempt to teach you?"

Harry smirked. "It has. Occlumency and Legilimency are a standard part of auror training. Gawain taught me. I'm not as good as you, obviously, but I'm not rubbish."

"And have you learned to look for blocks and coercions?"

Harry nodded.

"Then look, please." He continued to stare Harry in the eye.

Harry took a deep breath to center himself and withdrew his wand before casting legilimens on his best friend's date.

Severus could feel Harry in his mind; his infiltration was somewhat clumsy and there was a cramping feeling near his frontal cortex.

Professor Snape, can you hear me?

Severus winced, but kept his eyes on Harry's. Yes, Potter. No need to shout, you're in my head after all.

Alright. I'm going to begin my investigation now.

Severus snorted. Proceed.

He could feel Harry rifling through memories rapidly, wading past images and sights and smells in his attempt to look for a blockage or another anomaly. Images of his classes, the scent of his lunch, and a tour of his rooms flitted past. Severus smirked as Harry tumbled across an image of Hermione, naked and screaming in the throes of orgasm. I really reallydidn't need to see that, Snape.

I can always obliviate you, Potter.

I may take you up in that, Professor.

Finally, he felt Harry tug on something that felt...decidedly odd.

I think this is what we're looking for.

What? I can't tell what you're pulling on. It feels strange. Foreign. Severus tasted metal on his tongue and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

I've almost got it...there.

Potter don't touch the - Severus felt a sudden pull against his mind, like water being pushed from his ear after too long in the tub. Whatever Harry was doing was creating a suction within his head. The physical sensation made his eyes want to cross; he felt his breathing speed up and Hermione's hand slip into his. He was vaguely aware of yelling at Potter as the boy did...whatever it was he was doing.

It's like a string. It's almost done, Snape. Just one more tug…

"Yes!" Harry broke eye contact as Severus gasped for air. His eyes closed and he wavered for a moment, biting back the bile that had risen to his throat when Harry broke whatever that was in his head.

"What. The. Fuck." Severus whispered, lowering his aching head to his hands. He heard shuffling movement near him and felt Ginny press a potion against his elbow. He glanced at it and recognized the vial of headache relief. "Did your husband brew this?"

"No. I did." Ginny replied, ignoring Harry's eye-roll with the ease of long practice.

"That's fine then." He sniffed the potion and, smelling that it was what she said it was, swallowed it in a single gulp, chasing it with a healthy swallow of wine. "Will you please explain what you just did?"

"It felt like a string to me, but I think it was a faint look-not curse. Not a very good one, really. Anyone who wasn't the target would have seen it, but I'm guessing that since you're the wizarding world's most famous Occlumens whoever cast it was betting no one else would go looking. I'm not sure what it was protecting. We broke contact before I could tell."

Severus thought for a moment, occluding from the gathered Gryffindors as he explored his own mind. He could feel a fullness - almost a bulging of impulses that had been trapped behind a curse intended to make him turn away from his own inner self. He felt a sudden desire to rush back to Hogwarts and scour the list Kingsley had given him for any clue of his attacker.

A sudden worry about the stewardship of his properties and finances also burst forth; why had he left them in Lucius' hands so long? Wasn't it time that he start preparing for his future? And why hadn't he gone to visit the Malfoys? He hadn't spent any time with them upon returning to Britain; he'd just sent the odd post card. Following quickly on that fret, he nearly collapsed under a sudden desire to declare his undying love to his girlfriend. This frightened him considerably more than all the other rushing impulses combined.

He took a deep breath. "Well, that explains quite a bit. You're right, Potter. That was an Incultus curse. Whomever did this locked up other things too, but my desire to explore my own condition was there. I suddenly feel an urge to look at the list Kingsley gave me. And find out why the hell you weren't notified of your assignment to my case, Harry. This is unacceptable."

"I agree with you, Snape. I'll look into it first thing Monday," Harry promised.

"Fuck that. I'm sending an owl to Kingsley tonight." Severus growled, standing up to pace.

Hermione stood and placed a gentle hand on his arm, stopping his agitated movement. "What else was blocked, Severus?"

He hedged a moment before responding. "Some rather personal thoughts. The impulse to resume stewardship over my finances and property. The desire to reestablish my friendship with Lucius and Narcissa, and to resume my duties as godfather to Draco. The bastard who cast this locked up every good impulse I've had in the last seven years." He dragged a hand through his hair, tugging at the ends to give himself a good shock. He wanted to hit something.

"Professor, calm yourself." This from Ginny. "The important thing is that the curse is broken now. You can start mending things in the morning. For now, we'll have dinner. You and Harry can talk about next steps. And you can tell us when the hell you started dating Hermione again and how much Rita Skeeter got right in her column." She shot him a cheeky grin.

Severus turned to Harry and shook his head. "Potter, your wife is barking mad."

Harry shot him a grin and draped an arm around his wife's shoulders. "I know. Isn't she great?"