A/N: Sorry this is a tad bit late but things are getting stressful with exams. While I do very well under stress at the end of it all, I torture myself with my schedule along with having constant mental breakdowns. There will probably not be a chapter out next week but I promise that I will take the time to reply to all of your lovely reviews and post another chapter on the week of the 19th.
Hope you guys like this chapter. :)
XOXO
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The feeling of being hooked from my core rushed through me as we disapparated. I fumbled in my footing as we landed on solid ground. Elena quickly draped me with a hood as well as herself, and under a disillusionment charm walked me along the busy lane of people walking by from every direction.
"Where did you take me," I grumbled as she dragged me along. She was nearly skipping from the sounds of her footsteps and I looked around quickly to observe where I was.
There was a large banner that hung from the high vaulted ceiling depicting the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. He looked proud as ever as his picture moved along the magical loop that enchanted the banner. I finally noticed the countless of work robed witches and wizards bustling around us as well as a few goblins. I can hear their chatter in snippets as we passed by. Mentions of the Azkaban outbreak, stocks and Harry were constantly passing us as we weaved through them invisibly. It was a shock that no one seemed to hit us or notice us at all.
We finally approached the elevator of a sort and everyone got out looking confused on why they did so. No one else got in except us.
"You're using magic?" I whispered.
"Of course I am." Her tone was as if I had said something completely silly and I felt my lips turn to a pout. I felt suddenly more like a child, like a little girl following her older sister through whatever it was that she wanted to do. And I liked it. There was something about being offered a family, as small as it possibly was. She should have made me wary. The fact that she was immortal by manipulating with the Fates should have made me cautious of her, scared even. Was it wrong for me to feel safe?
"What are we doing here?"
"We are going to make your new half-blood lineage. Now stop being so silly," She chastised. I let out a long sigh as we stepped out of the elevator on who knows what floor. It seemed empty except for a single black door. Elena dragged me though it where an elder looking wizard sat at a desk looking half asleep.
I felt the magic keeping be invisible wash away and Elena came into view. The old man startled at our sudden presence jumped from his seat and drew his wand with shaking hands.
"Tsk tsk, that's not how you should treat your elders," Elena teased. She had a predatory like smile as she walked towards the man who stood frozen in his spot. She seemed to flow as her robes billowed around her effortlessly.
"Stop right there or I will be forced to-" His tongue seemed to be caught in his mouth as he tried in vain to speak. He struggled from his spot and I finally noticed that he was forcibly frozen into that position.
"I think we should start over. My name is Elena Salian and this is Hermione Granger," She introduced us and I stepped forward steadily towards the two. "We need to have a new wizard lineage record and birth certificate. And we need you to do it," she paused and pressed her wand to the temple of the man's head. He trembled in fear and shut his eyes closed. "Immediately." A black jet of light escaped her wand and enveloped the man. He relaxed almost at that instant before lowering his wand.
"Right away Lady Salian," the wizard replied vacantly. His eyes were fully glazed over, completely under Elena's spell. He sat down in his chair and pulled out several papers and began to write. Elena smiled at me before gesturing me to sit down on one of the seats opposite from the desk. She had pocketed her wand and sat next to me, her eyes trained on the man in front of us. She watched him carefully as he worked before turning to me.
"So the story should be your pureblood squib mother visited Germany had a one night affair with my pureblood father as a sort of last fling before he married another. Mother got pregnant had me and left me with my father who raised me under the pretense I was his niece. I kept our grandmother's maiden name who would be half-Salian and half another family. Father and his wife died through a tragic potions accident when I was just of age and I moved here a few years afterwards to track down my true mother. Eventually I found you by chance who had recently lost her own family and taken you under my wing." The onslaught of fake information I had to memorize made me dizzy. Elena looked at me amusedly before running through it one more time. "Got it?"
"Yeah, but can he really make all those fake records appear?" I looked at the wizard in question who had several stacks of paper now around him. Each one probably holding the necessary information we needed him to make.
"Rest assured, he can. This is not the first time I will be doing this through this old man. He and his family have been under my spell plenty of times throughout the years to make me my records." She explained nonchalantly. She observed her finely pedicured nails before magically changing its colors to suit her wishes.
The wizard whose name was never mentioned handed Elena the papers and one by one she looked over them for its authenticity. She seemed pleased with them as she handed them back shortly and he filed them away at the correct places. He sat back down in his seat and blankly looked towards the both of us for the next set of instructions.
"You will forget this entire visit. You will completely forget the forging of our papers but you will remember the Germanic pureblood name of Salian. You will remember that I dropped by to register myself a few years back and shown you the necessary papers to have me registered here. No more no less. Is that clear?" She ordered. She nearly barked the words at him and he nodded his head like a puppet. I smirked at her display of power and she turned to me offering her arm. I stood up at took it.
"Where to now?"
"Back to Hogwarts. I need to return you safe and sound before anyone notices your disappearance." She turned on the spot without any further notice and we winded up back in her store.
"If we could have apparated there in the first place how come we took the long way?" I pulled myself upright trying to settle my stomach from the sudden disapparition she seemed to like so much.
"It allowed you to see the workings of the Ministry, no matter how short the visit," she said matter-of-factly. She walked away from me towards the back of the shop before returning back with a small box in her hand. "A family heirloom. I have several of these actually. One is given to every daughter much like a ring is given to each son of a pureblood family. It will display your new status." She lifted the lid to reveal a large silver armlet made of what felt like goblin silver. The metal encrusted with small emeralds twisted into a delicate pattern until holding a large diamond shaped emerald.
"I can't possibly wear that. I'm not a pureblood." I argued softly. I couldn't take that. It was completely. She took my palm and sliced it open doing the same to hers.
"If I mix my blood with yours right now I can clear your entire blood system and mixing it with purebred blood." Her bloodied hand dripped next to mine and I felt the sharp pain at the wound on my palm. She took my silence of confusion as permission and clenched her hand tightly with mine. I felt her magic surge drifting in me before pulling out, like an onslaught of power being directly fused into the blood in my veins. I couldn't speak as my eyes closed from the sensation. "It is done," she smiled afterwards. I didn't feel any significant difference from before and my magic felt the same as ever, there was the nagging feeling of a shift at my core but nothing more. It was only until she transfigured a mirror to place in front of me that I noticed a change. One of my eyes had changed color into a startling crystal blue eye just like Elena's. "It is a trait of the Salian family. Heterochromic eyes will distinguish you as part of the family."
"So you really are part of the royal Salian dynasty?"
"I was the end of it. Since my parents had disowned my brother for marrying a muggle." She admitted. I felt myself sway from the overwhelming events of the day.
"So am I a pureblood Salian now?" She shook her head gently.
"Half-blood." She looked at me worriedly as I swayed again. Grabbing me by the arm she gently placed me onto a chair she had transfigured wandlessly. "Are you alright?"
"I'm a tad bit overwhelmed to be honest," I tried to tease but it came out weak. Her knowing smile held pure happiness as she looked at me. She took the armlet from the box and gently presented it to me. I nodded and she slipped it high onto my arm letting it magically stay in place. It felt warm and comforting on my arm. I could feel and almost taste the magic imbued on it. It held so much protection and power. It filled me up and it felt good, so good.
"Can you make it to the castle by yourself?" I picked myself up from the chair after a few moments letting myself regain the balance I had lost before.
"I think I can." I replied confidently. I traced the looping design of the jewelry and I noticed her beaming face as I did so.
"It will help you expand you magical limit." She shrugged off her cloak and transfigured the dress she was wearing to sleeveless. Her own arms were each adorning an armlet one made with emeralds and another with sapphires.
"Anything else I should know about them?"
"No one can take it off without your true permission," she mentioned. That was good. It would be pointless for someone to easily be able to remove such a protective piece of jewelry.
"I should go," I said suddenly as I noticed the outside sky already starting to darken.
"Tell Severus I said hello." We bid each other goodnight and I promised to stop by again sometime next weekend.
The trudge back to the castle was short enough as I walked quickly through the village, my glamour in place to hide my new form. I stopped by the owlery to send the article I had nearly forgotten about to the Quibbler quickly before heading out again. Several other students were passing by as well, trying to finish up their last minutes outside of school.
I entered the Great Hall for dinner just in time and sat down next to the waving Luna. Taking my seat I selected a few pieces of food and ate, taking a few moments to chat along side Luna who told me in hushed whispers, despite the muffling charm I placed on everyone else, about her date with Draco.
The walk to my dorm was loud to be an understatement. Everyone seemed to flock together after supper to head on up. I ignored Harry's brief flashes of guilt as he stayed by Ron's side whose chatter on how I was annoying and mental could be heard throughout the crowd. It was obvious that he was seeking attention, he always was. I walked past the sixth years to walk among the seventh years that I had only very shortly met. Some had asked me questions and help throughout the years despite the age difference. I was almost always happy to help. I was greeted more warmly than them and after doing a few pleasantries was left alone in a comforting silence.
I excused myself from the group as I made my way into my room. Opening my trunk I pulled out several school outfits and weekend clothes and laid them on the bed. I did the same with accessories and several extended boxes that held certain more dangerous and illegal books I had taken with me to school and potions. Grabbing my clutch I undid the transfiguration on it, reverting it back to the large dragon hide bag I was so used to. Stuffing everything in there I shut the curtains of my bed and placed repelling charms on it before finally disillusioning myself.
The crowd in the common room was large and loud as I slipped through. No one even noticed the portrait open with no one seemingly entering or exiting. I took a turn to an unused hallway of the school. The castle was so large I highly doubt that every space was used on a daily basis. Several halls were cleaned but obviously deserted, as they had nowhere they really led to except for dead ends or unused classrooms. Thankfully I remembered one of those dead ends had a hidden tunnel connecting to Severus' quarters.
I walked along the corridor, resting my hand on the portrait I've come to use several times already. It knew me well enough to simply let me through and soon enough I found myself back in dungeon rooms of one Severus Snape. It was cold and dark with the fireplace void of any flame. I pointed my wand and instantly a flame appeared. The heat of it seemed to envelope the room as quickly as it did. The orange and red flames flaring out violently like little licks of a devilish tongue.
"Severus?" I called out. I heard a muffled yell from another room and followed the noise to his private potion's lab. It always amazed me how different yet alike it was to his classroom. The walls were the dark green tinted bricks that I'd come to familiarize with. It lined the walls of the entire dungeon including some of the rooms of his quarters. Ancient runes covered the ceiling in a distinct pattern, no doubt to match the lab in our house at Spinner's end. It was infused in his magic but the distinct tint of Hogwarts' magic was lightly weaved into the runes, strengthening the effects. There were three large tables inside with a single cauldron on each. One crystal and the two others were iron and bronze. The equipment was much more advanced then the ones we were allowed to use in his classes but the basics were there as well. The entire far wall seemed to be covered in ingredients held in its place by large crystal vials while another wall was lined in already made potions entrapped in crystal flasks of varying sizes. I could tell the etchings on the shelves held specific runes to protect the objects should anything go wrong in the lab. Severus always did like to be prepared.
"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to say something, Hermione," he mocked.
"Does my magic feel different to you?" I said softly. He looked puzzled at my question as he put his brew on stasis. His eyes pierced mine in slight confusion and assessment. I could feel his magic extending, reaching out to mine and I finally knew my answer on if he had the same ability. It was controlled but not highly, it was almost tentatively reaching out as if he was not used to attempting to do so. I could see the slight sheen of sweat forming on his brow as he focused on feeling the magical signature around me. His eyes widened.
"What did you do?" Severus whispered. I lifted my hand and shoved the hair I had carefully placed to reveal my eyes. I dropped the color charm and he stilled. "What did you do?" He said again as he walked towards me. He lifted his calloused hands to stroke my cheek, making me look up at him with my new heterochromic eyes.
"I'm now a half-blood," I breathed out. Severus looked into my eyes calculating.
"You're a Salian," He said softly. "But that line died out." Severus looked confused as he tried to piece the puzzle that I had become. "Elena Salian."
"She really is a Salian."
"But that line had died out hundred of years ago. There's no record of any Salians out there."
"Immortality can be lonely when your family is gone," I whispered out. His dark brown eyes shown with realization, of course he had wondered why she didn't age. "She is quite young looking actually. A bit more bubbly now, though," I admitted. "She turned when she was only twenty four."
"I see," I had to give him a point, he was taking this by stride. "So you are now by blood half Salian?"
"Yes."
"And by papers?"
"Mother's side. She is now declared as my half-sister. I am under her guardianship though has already arranged for my papers for early adulthood." I explained. I leaned to his touch, his palm never left my face. "Do I look weird now with the changes to my appearance?" His hand finally left my face to lift a lock of my changed hair. It was much lighter and not much brown anymore. No, it was dirty blonde hair that was still curly but loosely so that fell in a more natural waved way. My skin had become a bit paler but more or less stayed the same. But it was my eyes and hair that had changed the most.
"You are beautiful," he said confidently. I could see the tip of his ears redden as he said the words and I leaned in to kiss his cheek.
"Thank you," I whispered into his ear. My heart was beating so loud I was scared he could here it. Our bodies were flushed together and I could feel myself heating up as by breath grew shallow. The both of us stepped back before either of us did something to break the unspoken rules. Neither will pass the boundary until after school.
"I should get back to my potion," Severus cleared his throat as he stepped away. I nodded to him enthusiastically. My body still felt like it was on fire.
"I'll go unpack," I muttered. He stilled in his steps and turned to look at me. I shouldn't have said that. It was too soon from the look of his actions. He looked frozen in his spot and the tips of his ears were burning red at the assumptions behind my one little sentence. He cleared his throat again.
"The bottom drawer is empty and there should be some free space in the closet," he articulated softly. He was hesitant in his words but the significance of it was as pronounced as ever. I turned to leave on the spot without replying back to him. My heart beat loud.
