Disclaimer: Not her, not paid, not even very good. Everything you recognize belongs to JKR.

Her Gifts

Chapter 29

Madam Pomfrey arrived shortly after they had eaten breakfast. They accompanied her to Severus's room. She efficiently checked his records, then gave him a thorough diagnostic and visual exam. She clucked furiously at the blisters on his genitals, swearing under her breath at the poor excuse for a Mediwitch who could allow such a thing to happen. Snape's penis didn't react at all to her ministrations. Draco commented that he had seen it happen that morning and insisted Hermione show Madam Pomfrey.

Hermione colored, feeling humiliated for Snape's sake, but did as asked. She had barely made contact before the hardening occurred.

"Fascinating," Madam Pomfrey uttered. "It must be you, dear. I've heard of patients knowing their loved ones are near, but this is the first I've witnessed this particular manifestation." She shook her head in wonder, continuing her assessment. "I'm afraid there is no change yet as far as his coma. Please let me know if anything else unusual occurs. I'll make it a point to check on him every few days." Madam Pomfrey took her leave after giving Hermione instructions on the tooth-cleaning charm and performing it so Hermione could observe.

Hermione made a trip to Muggle London before lunch to locate a book on physical therapy. After two months in a coma, Snape was starting to lose muscle mass and flexibility. She wanted to be thorough in her treatment plan to ensure Professor Snape could recover as fully and quickly as possible when he woke.

Returning to Malfoy Manor for lunch, she found Harry and Ginny waiting for her. They had heard from Ron and wanted to let her know he would be home the following week. Draco insisted they stay for lunch, behaving most genially in the face of his former enemy.

After a pleasant meal and general discussion, Draco bid them adieu. Hermione walked them out to the Apparition point outside the wards.

"He seems a lot different now," Harry began, glancing furtively back toward the house.

"He is, Harry," Hermione agreed. "I can't get over the change in him. He's completely given up the Pureblood stance. You noticed his Muggle haircut and clothes? He did that before I ever came here."

"Do you think it'll continue once his parents are released from Azkaban?" Ginny asked.

"I think so," Hermione nodded. "He writes to them all the time, telling them about our progress with Professor Snape and our studies and discussions. Sometimes he reads me parts of their letters. They seem to understand that their lives are going to be different now." They grew quiet for a few moments, reflective in their own personal thoughts of the past.

"I'll owl you when Ron gets here, all right?" Harry offered, breaking the silence.

"That would be great, Harry. I'll come by Grimmauld Place, then, okay? I'd like to avoid the audience at the Burrow. No offense, Ginny." Hermione touched Ginny's arm apologetically.

"None taken," Ginny giggled. "I understand completely."

Hermione spent the next two hours reading the physical therapy manual she had purchased. Setting her plan in motion, she headed for Snape's room, intent on limbering up his tightened tendons and ligaments.

Starting slowly, as the book advised, she stretched out his arms and legs, several times apiece, then eased his appendages around in smooth, slow, easy circles, carefully not forcing any limb beyond comfort. When she finished half an hour later she was sweating, and noticed spitefully that Snape was not.

After dinner that evening, Draco and Hermione headed down to the Malfoy's potions lab to finish the potions base made with Snape's secret instructions. They strained out the Phoenix Tree seeds and bottled the base in large jugs, carefully labeling them with capital letters, along with the date.

"Check his notes, Hermione. See if he listed any special way he wanted these seeds treated after brewing." Draco pulled out Snape's journal, looking for additional notes he may have made.

"Nothing in these notes. Anything there?" Hermione came around the desk to glance over Draco's shoulder.

"Don't you find it odd he left blank pages between the experiments?" Draco contemplated. "He didn't do that in his old journals."

Hermione pulled out her wand and cast several revealing spells at the blank pages. "Maybe he put a charm on it, you know, so that it will only show up if you give the right password." Hermione suggested.

"Like Potter's map? Perhaps...." Draco considered. "Hermione," he spoke clearly at the pages while tapping his wand on them. Nothing happened. They grinned at each other. "It was worth a shot," he shrugged.

Hermione suddenly gasped. "I have an idea." She brought a candle over to the desk and conjured a piece of flat glass to set the page atop. Warming the glass and consequently the page, letters starting showing up. "See? I was right," she smiled triumphantly. "He was hiding his work from wizards, right? So, he used a Muggle method to conceal it. No wizard would ever figure it out."

Draco was utterly dumbfounded. "How did you know?"

Hermione told Draco of her trip to Spinner's End, and the mess she had found in the spare bedroom. She explained about the collection of James Bond toys, and then had to explain who James Bond was. "He had a bunch of toys related to the character, one of which was an invisible ink pen. I had one like it when I was a kid, too. It's basically lemon juice. It's invisible when dry, until you warm it."

They warmed each sheet in turn, allowing Hermione to copy it in her special way, before moving on to the next.

"You know we'll have to destroy all these after we've finished with them," Draco stated.

Hermione nodded, frowning. "It's his private work. I feel awful about going through it like this, but we have to find out what he did to himself."

When they finished there were sixteen pages of secret notes in which Snape had recorded his experimentations and the results of each. As they had suspected, the use of the date seeds produced significantly enhanced potions with stronger, longer lasting effects. Regrettably, there was no mention of how to treat the seeds after brewing.

"I suggest we treat them just like crystals. Rinse them in distilled water and leave them out to dry under the moonlight to recharge. I doubt it could hurt," Draco proposed. It seemed the best option in the end.