30 DAYS, A MARRIAGE
by Lady Memory
Disclaimer: This is a non-profit tribute to the works of J.K. Rowling, who created and, together with her publishers and licensees, owns the characters and settings elaborated herein.
Many thanks as always to my readers and reviewers.
37 – My Faults? Your Faults!
They looked at each other in evident irritation.
"Well?" Dumbledore finally asked. "Are you going to keep me out here under the doorframe?"
The author's innate sense of hospitality, so deeply rooted in every Italian, awakened immediately, and with a slightly guilty expression, she invited him to come in. Dumbledore made his usual majestic entrance, but this time there was something gloomy in his attitude; something that gave his magnificent attire a less imposing effect. He cast a quick glance at the couple and instantly turned his head to her.
"I see they are still discussing," he said flatly.
"Uh-huh," the author replied, losing herself in the scene again.
'Discussing' was perhaps too mild a term. 'Shouting' or 'yelling' would render the idea much more accurately.
"You are too stubborn to admit that I could be right, aren't you?!" Hermione was protesting right at that moment while Severus roared back, "I'm not going to discuss this with a girl!"
"No," Hermione counteracted, "because we girls are stupid, aren't we?"
"I didn't say that!" Severus exploded. "Stop misinterpreting my words!"
"Children, children, impulsive and hot-blooded, always ready to quarrel," Dumbledore commented lightly; the hint of something that could be defined a smile only by a very attentive observer curled his lips and faded as quickly as it had appeared. "And furthermore in love… unreasonable, as all lovers are."
He turned to look at her. "But these are irrelevant considerations. As you surely have imagined, I am here to comply with my promise, in spite of the poor work you have done."
The author froze abruptly. Till that moment, she had been beaming in tenderness at the two lovers, who were irresistibly getting closer and closer in fatal attraction.
"What do you mean?" she asked, a bit more harshly than she intended.
"Come on, Madam," Dumbledore replied with a meaningful tone. "No need of pretending between us. You understood my words perfectly."
"I suppose you are irritated because I succeeded in making it a love story," she said, feeling her impatience increase and wishing she could find a (polite) way to shorten the unpleasant discussion.
Dumbledore snorted and crossed his arms. "That was the inevitable risk, and I don't question it. After all, I knew what might happen when I asked you— a sentimental, middle-aged woman!—to help me."
The author stiffened, but not because of his words. Severus had turned his back to Hermione, crossing his arms and curling his lips in his characteristic obstinate expression. Uh-oh, that didn't bode well…
With an effort—the scene was catalysing so compellingly!—the author raised her head to look at Dumbledore again, feeling even more irritated. Didn't he see that an entire month of patient planning could turn into ashes in a handful of seconds?
But no, the old wizard didn't seem concerned at all. Or perhaps he had forecast that miserable ending? Had she really spoiled her work? As if guessing those thoughts, Dumbledore frowned with his best professorial expression, and she involuntarily swallowed, backing a step. He smiled grimly and continued in a deadly timbre, "It's how you thwarted our deal that annoys me."
A pause. A threatening pause. "Deeply".
"I followed your instructions," she replied warily.
"NO, you didn't!" the old wizard burst out in fury. "You've pretended to follow them. And I'll show you your faults immediately. First of all, it took you a long time. An incredibly, exceedingly long time. I went to visit you four years ago. FOUR years, not just a day."
She scowled. "I am a busy woman," she retorted coldly. "I hope you didn't believe that I would devote my whole time to your request. I have a life, a family, and a job."
He scowled back. "You don't need to remark that you have a real life. I know it. It's the perpetual condemnation of us literary creatures. Being tools in the minds of our almighty creators, who have power and ambitions… but usually no mercy."
Right at that moment, Hermione reached Severus and tugged his robes. The author couldn't hear her words but the girl seemed to beg him. And she had tears in her eyes.
The author felt bad. That surely was due to Dumbledore's malevolent influence. Since the moment he had entered her house, Severus and Hermione had been quarrelling more and more harshly. She needed to put a stop to that annoying discussion with the old wizard or her plan would inexorably shipwreck. So she braced herself and crossed her arms.
"Professor, let's stop beating about the bush."
He returned her gaze with an offended air. "Very well. You asked for it. I am thoroughly indignant about the way you managed the plot."
"Interesting remark, since you were the one who decided the main lines. Isn't it a bit too late now for having second thoughts?"
"I am fed up with being the grey eminence. I had planned this story to help a friend, and I had asked you because you were still…"
"Naïve? Gullible? Credulous?" she asked with a cold smile.
"Exactly!" he exclaimed; then he immediately blushed. "NO! Wait, I didn't mean that. I meant that, when I asked you, you were not as involved in fandom as other authors were. Your vision was still pure. Your ideas were still uncontaminated…"
"I see. In a word, I could easily be fooled. So, why don't we examine my work a bit closer?"
As soon as she formulated her question, she couldn't resist anymore and cast a quick glance beyond her desk. Though it was obviously impossible, the lovers seemed to have frozen, waiting for her words; each one was looking silently at the other in what looked like dismay for Hermione, denial for Severus.
Dumbledore caught her glance and lifted his brows, smiling knowingly with his irritating, condescending air. "There is no need to waste more time. You clearly failed."
Suppressing a harsh reply, the author smiled coldly again. "Are you sure? Let's recap the events. First, you sent me a message with an owl that was so scared to come back that he decided to go and live in the pinewood near my home. A bit peculiar, don't you think?"
"Come on! That only proves that he had an owl's brain."
"Oh, but this is only the beginning," she warned him even more coldly. "Now let's see what followed. You arrived and told me that you needed help for Severus Snape. You wanted to lead him away from Hogwarts and protect him from the many impending dangers, and I had to choose a worthwhile reason for it."
"Yes! And what did you do? You told him that Miss Granger had a secret in her mind! Of the many possible reasons, you chose the silliest!"
"Well, still one reason's as good as another, as we say here. And incidentally, a trick that suited your scheme in the best possible way. You didn't even need to Obliviate Hermione, but only to Confund her! Furthermore, they both believed it till the end. But now, may I remind you instead the agreement you proposed?"
"There is no need for YOU to tell me. I remember it perfectly! I have been waiting for its fulfilment for four years!"
"Nevertheless, I would like to hear the details from you."
"As you like it. My memory has always been good, my dear lady. We made a very simple deal. I asked you to find a good reason to keep Severus far away from the front line because he needed protection. And knowing that you are so hopelessly sentimental, I asked you to let also Miss Granger be part of the plot, so that she could help him. That's all."
"No, Professor, please don't cheat. I too have a very good memory… As a matter of fact, I am Lady Memory. You asked me to protect Professor Snape, and Hermione with him, and I agreed. But I also proposed a counteroffer: if I were able to make them change their feelings and fall in love in no more than thirty days, then their destinies would be entrusted to my hands, and I would be allowed to choose amongst three options for their future. That was the original deal. And you accepted it."
"That was only a secondary point! The real goal was keeping them safe with a good excuse. And again, you failed spectacularly with such a miserable invention!"
"Ah, but my invention is not what really annoys you, is it, Professor? Why don't you tell us the truth? Perhaps because you are an incorrigible liar?"
"This… this is outrageous!" the wizard exploded.
"No, please, let me explain. You said that your intention was saving Severus and offering him a new chance. But I have got the idea that you really wanted that chance for yourself."
"Are you out of your mind? What do you mean?" Dumbledore had reddened violently, but that seemed to be caused by embarrassment rather than anger.
"Come on, Professor," she smiled meaningfully at his uneasiness. "You said that you wanted to create a diversion for Voldemort. You wanted him to focus his attention on the little cottage in the north. You wanted him to lose time and efforts to locate that place. Do you really think that that was the right way to protect and help Severus?"
"I forbid you to go on with this critique of my intentions! This is an absolutely arbitrary judgement that I can't—"
"I don't expect you to admit it, of course!" she cut him off brusquely. "But let's consider the evidence. The house was not locked properly. The charms were there to call in the enemy, not to repel him. You forbade Severus to bring food from Hogwarts with the excuse that it could be traceable, thus obliging him to expose himself even more by visiting a Muggle supermarket everyday. You made Severus walk in the snow for long stretches, inadequately dressed and in the most terrible weather. And finally, you even opened a connection in the Floo, but you didn't reveal it, thus forcing Hermione to leave the cottage and risk her life and Severus' in the attempt of finding medicines for him."
She stared at him piercingly. "What would you call that?"
"The cottage was supposed to be a trap!" Dumbledore reacted immediately.
"Then why did you say that you wanted to protect them both if the goal was to lure Voldemort there? Don't you see all the contradictions? It drove me crazy trying to circumvent such a poorly planned scheme. But you are too cunning to botch a plot in such an incompetent way. So, you must have had a reason."
"Ah, but that's ridiculous! And then, what about you and your pretended good intentions? You even made him catch pneumonia!"
"And that was the best gift I could ever offer him, as it allowed them to finally escape from the dead end you had put them in. Come on, Professor, you knew very well that a committed man like Severus would do his best to protect and safeguard the girl with whom he had been entrusted, even from himself... even from his love. That's why you granted those wishes to me. Because you were sure that the conclusion I was hoping for would never happen. So, don't deny it, Professor, you cheated from the beginning."
"Me? YOU wrote the story!"
"As I said, I followed your indications…"
"Oh no, you changed them according to your whim!" The old wizard declared in anger.
"Only at the last moment," the author unexpectedly admitted. "You wanted to destroy Voldemort, and we know that it's impossible. Only Harry has the power to perform that mission."
"Other authors have succeeded in that task, authors who are much more creative than you!"
"Yes, yes… so, why didn't you ask them?"
"I told you. Because I wanted a fresh start, a fresh vision…" Dumbledore paused, looking suddenly at a loss for words.
The author shook her head. "Please!" she exclaimed disdainfully. "Just once in your life, be honest and admit that you hoped I wouldn't understand. Be sincere and confess that you expected I would follow your plan and eliminate your enemy and release you from remorse and perhaps even allow you to use the Deathly Hallows."
Dumbledore staggered back and sat, or rather, dropped himself onto a chair.
"And why not?" he replied with a disconcertingly pleading tone. "What was wrong with that idea? Everybody would have been pleased with that solution. It would have been a really happy ending!"
"So, you admit you lied to me!"
"Well, what did you expect from me?" he burst out in his misery. "I have been created to suit that part! Remember what I told you about merciless authors? Why didn't dear Jo choose a man with higher moral principles for her books? Because she needed a ruthless gambler to do the dirty job!"
"Then I suppose that even the tears you shed when you met Harry after his believed death were a fake."
"Oh no, I was sincere. That was the only moment in which lovely Jo loosened her grip…"
Dumbledore's face had wrinkled more and more during that heated conversation. Now he lowered his head and a tear fell on the ground. Very effectively done, the author thought, and she couldn't but admire his sense of drama and perfect timing.
A long moment passed. Then, the old wizard raised his head and whispered, "Please be merciful… I'm not bad. I'm just written that way."
His eyes met her frowning face; he opened his arms.
"Don't you see? I have been trapped in a scheme, and I can't elude it, even with my best intentions."
He sighed and continued tiredly. "I had hoped that you could break this circle, but when I saw Harry and Ron arrive the cottage, I realised that there was no escape. Did you alert them?"
"Yes, I admit that I sent Harry a message when I discovered that you had opened a connection in the fireplace. It was the only reasonable thing to do. I couldn't let you try to destroy Voldemort by yourself. The prophecy would have backfired on you."
Dumbledore crossed his arms with a challenging look and spoke with the bitter tone that usually means surrender and sincerity finally coming out.
"Well, so why didn't you let it happen? The right punishment. Finally a way to get rid of the evil puppeteer and enjoy a nice revenge. Just imagine how many of your readers would exult at such a pleasurable ending!"
The author bit her lip. A timid, embarrassed smile slowly formed on her face.
"Ah, er, that exactly the reason. You see, in spite of my accusations, I simply couldn't accept the idea."
The old wizard raised his eyes and stared at her with an incredulous expression. She shrugged with an apologetic air.
"Well, let's say that I… I care for you. As you remarked, I suppose I'm hopelessly sentimental."
Dumbledore slowly got up to his feet, still looking at the author in amazement.
"Merlin's beard," he finally exhaled. "This is really… really…"
His lips trembled, his eyes closed shut for a moment, then he bent to take her hand and kiss it. She blushed intensely.
"That wasn't a declaration of love!" she protested, and reddened even more.
"I know it," he replied. Then, he smiled sadly. "But you are the first one to use such kind words to me, especially after the last book. Thank you very much.".
Hermione seemed to have lost her hopes. After a long and tearful tirade, which the author had followed out with the corner of her eye, the girl had buried her face in her hands and now was crying desolately, her shoulders shaking with sobs. The author stiffened, but after a moment of hesitation, Severus advanced impetuously and enfolded Hermione in his arms. They kissed and kissed and kissed again, as if they could never stop.
Dumbledore was stunned. "I didn't imagine that Severus could be so… so…" and he shook his head, unable to complete his sentence.
The author beamed, letting out a happy sigh.
...
The lady and the wizard stared at each other in silence. Then he cleared his throat.
"Now, perhaps you would like to receive your prize?" he proposed.
"I'd be happy, yes," she replied.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
She felt suddenly very uneasy. But then the excitement prevailed.
"I am ready. Please tell me what to do."
He smiled. "Oh, this time it's easy. Just give me your hand."
As soon as her fingers clasped his, the house disappeared in a blur.
Needless to say, the author cheated as much as Dumbledore, and for his same reason: the Greater Good (of Severus and Hermione, of course).
But, thankfully, Albus was too upset to realise it. ;)