27 | SUSPICIOUS EXCUSES
"Bloody fucking hell," Andromeda burst out in a moment of uncharacteristic discomposure.
Severus and Mary looked up from Sirius's still body in surprise. They'd hardly noticed when the trio apparated in.
"I thought I told you to stay out of the way, Potter," Snape snarled impatiently.
"You try telling that to them," James rolled his eyes, gesturing to the inpatient women.
"Get on with it, Snape. I can help you siphon the curse," Meda instructed tersely, immediately knowing what her cousin suffered from.
"Lily, could you help me?" Mary called out. "The injuries keep reappearing faster than I can heal them."
"Of course," Lily stuttered, quickly dropping to her knees next to Mary.
James watched in numb shock as the four diligently worked over his best mate's body. It was nearly an hour of grueling, silent work. As the time passed, the wisps of black magic drifting up from Sirius's chest became thinner and thinner until Snape and Meda finally paused in their relentless work.
"Is he okay?" James asked hoarsely.
"I don't know," Snape responded after an uncertain bout of silence from both of them. "If he wakes up, he'll be through the worst of it."
"If ?" Lily cried in distress.
Severus's eyes softened on his old friend, nodding shortly. "It took us longer than it should've to siphon the curse. We don't know if his body will hold up against all that damage."
"What do we do?" James asked.
"We wait." Snape shrugged.
"What I want to know," Andromeda began silently, turning a piercing gaze to Snape. "Is how my cousin seemingly absorbed the curse that hit Miss Dumbledore."
"What?" Lily blanched.
"Hermione was hit with the same curse as this one," Meda told her. "Yet she was healed easily by Narcissa even before I began to siphon the curse. That's not possible."
"You'd said they were cursed by Dolohov," Mary's eyes widened. "But James said Sirius was nowhere near Dolohov."
James turned an irate gaze to the stoic wizard. "What the bloody hell is happening, Snape?"
He merely scoffed under the scrutiny. "Perhaps you should ask your fool of a friend," he sneered at their ungrateful tone. "If he wakes."
"Severus..." Lily warned softly.
Snape sighed, closing his eyes in frustration. "Fine," he bit out. "I certainly have no obligations to keep his damn secrets."
The others looked at him expectantly. Sirius had kept something from all of them? Something that Severus Snape, of all people, had been privy to?
"The night we went to Pettigrew's hideout, Hermione was hit one of Bellatrix's curses," Snape recalled unemotionally. "It was draining her magical core- she was fading fast. We were going to bring her back to Dumbledore until we realized she didn't even have that much time left. Black made me facilitate one of the old bonding rites so it would counter the curse."
The entire room seemed to freeze.
Meda looked to her cousin in pitying concern. "You fool," she whispered sadly.
"I don't understand," Lily asked confused. "What bonding rites?"
"They've been outlawed for at least a century," James spoke in surprise. "It's blood magic."
"Dark magic?" Lily swung an accusing gaze to Snape.
"I told him that," Severus shrugged. "He said it was more grey than dark, and insisted it was the only way to save her life. Which it probably was," he added quietly.
"What does it do?" Lily asked again impatiently.
"It gave her a piece of his soul and magical core," Snape said frankly. "It fundamentally changed her magical signature so Bellatrix's curse could no longer recognize it as it's intended target, and eventually stopped feeding on her and lost its hold."
"But it also permanently tied Sirius to Hermione," James whispered in realization.
"Is that why Sirius felt the same curse Dolohov hit Hermione with? But why was it so much worse for him if it hit her directly?" Lily asked curiously.
"Because, Ms. Potter," Andromeda said sadly. "It was a one-sided bond. My cousin bonded himself to her, making him the giver. Because she hasn't returned the bond, there will always be a power imbalance between the two."
"Hermione doesn't know, does she?" Mary asked Severus knowingly.
Severus shrugged. "He told me not to tell her, and I have no reason to get involved."
"This bond is inhumane!" Meda fumed.
"He said it was his choice," Snape told her. "I told him to tell her, he refused."
"Well, you should've-"
"ENOUGH," James called over them. "Fighting is not going to change anything right now. We all need rest, Sirius more than any of us."
"Yes, you can take him away now," Snape dismissed.
"We can't take him," Lily said slowly. "Hermione stays with us at the Manor," she whispered. "She'd find out if we took him."
"She should know anyway," Meda said stubbornly.
"I agree," Lily said impassioned. "But I also think Sirius needs to be the one to tell her himself. In his own time."
"Well he can't stay here," Snape told them unsympathetically.
"Very well," Andromeda accepted wearily. "He can stay with me. Narcissa and I know how to treat the curse anyway, he'll be better off recovering with us."
With a parting nod to the others, the witch apparated away with the still unconscious form of her youngest cousin.
James sighed tiredly. "We should head off too. We need to get Hermione back home."
Lily walked over to Severus, engulfing him in an unexpected hug. "Thank you," she said gratefully as she pulled back.
James struggled in place for a moment before he walked over to them, sticking his hand out diplomatically. "Yeah, thanks Snape. I know you didn't have to help him, but you did. I won't forget that."
Snape eyed James's outstretched hand uncertainly before choosing to ignore it. "No need for that, Potter," he waved off. "I did what I was obligated to. This doesn't make us friends," he sneered.
James pulled back his hand with a grim purse of his lips. "Still." He insisted. "I won't forget it."
"Goodnight," Lily told him softly before the pair apparated away
Snape groaned wearily, plopping down into a nearby chair. Tonight was more socialization than he'd ever preferred. How the bloody hell did he get himself into this shite? He'd expected to join the Order, and other than joining a mission every now and then, keep to his relatively quiet lifestyle.
The sound of light tinkering forced his heavy lids open. The sight of Mary MacDonald levitating away the empty potions bottles littered all over the floor threw him for a pause.
"What are you still doing here?" He asked rudely.
"Cleaning. Obviously." Her dry response told him she hadn't taken offense. A rarity considering even the most neutral statements from him could outrage the most level-headed of people.
"No need," he dismissed her. "Just leave it, I'll take care of it later."
"It's alright," she said simply. "That siphoning process looked rather draining, this is the least I could do."
Severus watched her warily, his eyes following her every move like a hawk.
"You can stop staring at me," she said in amusement, not bothering to turn to him as she continued about her business. "I'm not about to steal or poison anything."
"I hadn't said you would." He said dryly.
Once she'd finally cleaned and packed away the last of the vials, she finally turned to study him, leaning back against the mantel of the fireplace.
"That must not have been easy for you," she said quietly.
"The magic isn't that difficult," Snape scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"Not the magic," she shook her head. "Saving Sirius Black."
"I don't know what you mean," Severus said coldly, all semblance of entertaining a conversation cut off abruptly.
"I was there in school right alongside the rest of you," Mary insisted. "Don't think I didn't see them ganging up on you back then."
"I gave as good as I got," he bit out, eyes flaring in annoyance now.
"You're not the man I expected, Severus Snape," Mary murmured curiously.
Snape stiffened in his seat. "Don't delude yourself into thinking I did this out of the goodness of my heart- I have no such thing. I had purely selfish reasons for saving Black's sorry arse."
He'd expected her to snap out of her sympathy, but she surprised him yet again as a small smile graced her lips. "Perhaps," she acknowledged. "But no one else knew about this bond but you. If Sirius died, no one would've known the reason."
Snape remained silent, raising an eyebrow as if to say, 'your point?'
"You, Severus Snape, are not as bad as you believe. Goodness isn't inherent, you know. It's learned. We make a choice every single day. Maybe you did it for selfish reasons today, but you still saved him- someone who'd been your enemy for years. Maybe in the future you'd do it regardless of the personal benefit."
When Severus remained quiet, Mary pushed off the wall.
"Truly... thank you." She told him with a soft, knowing smile before disapparating away to leave him in peace.
But even after she'd left, his solace was long destroyed. Her words kept ringing in his head, haunting him. Goodness isn't inherent- we make that choice every day.
~o~O~o~
Sometime that very night, Sirius jerked awake, covered in a sheen of cold sweat. The sun was barely rising over the horizon but the panic and danger of the day before came back to him with a snap along with his consciousness.
"Wha- whe-"
"Relax cousin," Andromeda soothed, coming to sit at the edge of his bed. She stilled him with a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You're fine, you're in my cottage. The raid is over."
"H- Hermione-" Sirius sputtered. "Something's wrong."
Andromeda's eyes softened on him with sympathy. "She's fine, Sirius," she promised. "All thanks to you. You were in far more danger than she ever was."
"She's okay?" He looked at her with uncertainty and bone-weary exhaustion.
"She's with the Potters, and recovering steadily. I wager she'll be back to normal before you're even okay to leave the bed," Andromeda said jokingly.
"Good, as long as she's safe," Sirius muttered, falling back on his pillows with a groan.
His pale complexion and clammy skin made Andromeda nervous, but he'd woken up at the very least.
~o~O~o~
Hermione didn't know when exactly she woke next- she didn't even know if she woke. Her eyes fluttered open openly to scrunch back up from the blinding light in the room. She could briefly make out white curtains dancing from a delicate breeze.
"Maybe I died," she groaned to herself.
"You didn't die, 'Mione," someone said in relieved amusement.
Hermione forced her eyes open to see the image of her best friend sitting by her bed. Father of your best friend, she reminded herself sternly. Though it was certainly hard to remember at times.
"James," she tried to say, but it came out more like a croak.
"Take it easy," he warned her, immediately coming to her aid as she tried to sit up.
"What... What happened?" She asked cautiously. She could remember flashes of memories- Dolohov, the curse, people buzzing above her, and then absolute darkness.
"Dolohov hit you with a curse," James confirmed. "Luckily Narcissa and Meda knew how to treat it."
Hermione watched him blankly for a moment, and James almost began to squirm under her watchful gaze. She'd been on the receiving end of that curse before, and she had a hard time believing that she could survive it at full strength when she'd almost died years earlier from a muted version of it.
"Where's Remus?" Hermione asked instead, her mind flashing to the partners who were depending on her for the mission.
The object of her thoughts poked his head through the door sheepishly. "Someone call for me?"
"Oh thank Godric," Hermione sighed, deflating. "Wait- Snape?"
"Bastard's fine," James grumbled. "Though he all but threw us out of his house, bitter git."
"You were at his house?" Hermione asked in confusion. "Why?"
"Oh, um," James stuttered uncertainly. "He had healing potions. For you. Lily and I went to pick them up."
Hermione raised an eyebrow at him shrewdly. Severus Snape would never willingly invite James Potter into his home. He would've simply brought them the potions himself. Before Hermione could ask, Lily swept into the room with a tray stacked with porridge and tea.
"Thank goodness you're finally awake," Lily told her. "We've all been so worried."
"How long was I unconscious?" Hermione asked fearfully.
"Oh only about a day," James assured her. "The battle was last night, and it's almost sunset right now."
"Still," Remus reminded her, coming to stand at the foot of her bed. "You took a nasty hit, Hermione. You were fading away in my arms as I was trying to get you back to headquarters."
"I'm fine," she promised, finding that she truly meant it. She felt like she'd woken from a deep sleep, feeling none of the lingering pain and soreness she should've felt. "Mrs. Malfoy and Meda must've worked a miracle on me."
Looking at the bunch gathered around her bed, she couldn't help but notice the one person missing.
"Where's Sirius?"
The trio froze, glancing at each other stiffly.
"He's at home," James said briefly.
Hermione raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why-" She broke off hesitantly. Why wasn't he here? Why didn't he care she almost died? Both questions were too selfish.
"Is he okay?" She asked instead.
"He actually got roughed up a bit," Lily admitted slowly. "He's just sleeping it off."
"What-" Hermione blanched. "I should check on him," she mumbled, trying to climb out of bed.
"NO-" James burst out.
Everyone froze, including Hermione. She looked at him like he'd gone mad. "Why not?"
"He means, you've had rough healing process," Lily said placatingly. "You should rest for now. Remus can take you to him later this week."
"I feel fine," Hermione insisted. "Spectacular actually."
"Meda's dropping by to take care of Sirius," James told her. "She specifically told us she didn't want us crowding him until he was on his feet."
"Oh," Hermione deflated in disappointment. Just how badly had he been injured if he wasn't even allowed visitors?
"We'll let you wash up," Lily told her. "We'll be downstairs if you feel ready to come down."
Before Hermione could get a word in edgewise, the three of them scurried out of the room sharing warning glances with each other.
She shook off the strange sensation. It was probably nothing.
Her fingers froze halfways down unbuttoning her shirt. She stared at the perfectly healed skin staring back at her through the mirror. There was no trace of her injuries. She knew better to believe that. Magic always left a trace- especially dark magic. And as much as she liked the Black sisters, she really doubted they knew more about healing the curse now than the more worldly Severus Snape had in the future.
"What happened?" She demanded as she stormed into the kitchen.
The quiet whispers of the others came to an abrupt halt as they looked up at her. James glanced at Remus, who looked to Lily.
"What do you mean?" Lily tried to say lightly.
"Don't try to play me for a fool," Hermione exhaled deeply. "I know the curse Dolohov used on me. There's no way I woke up a day later perfectly fine."
"Hermione, Andromeda said herself-" James tried to placate her.
"I've been hit by this curse before, James Potter, so don't you dare try to tell me this is normal," she fumed.
James sighed. "Maybe you should talk to Snape and Andromeda," he told her. "They're the ones who healed you anyway."
Lily threw James a warning glance. But Hermione narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I thought you said Andromeda and Narcissa healed me?"
"Her too," Lily corrected quickly.
"I don't understand what you aren't telling me, why-"
Before Hermione could continue her frustrated rant, she doubled over from a sudden wave of pain. Deep-seated, throbbing pain.
"Hermione!" Remus exclaimed, immediately catching her by the arm. Are you okay?
Taking a moment to collect her breath, she cautiously stood back up. "Fine," she breathed. The pain was still there but it felt slightly disconnected. She could feel it, but it wasn't quite hers. If she forced herself to focus on her body in this immediate moment, she could easily distinguish that she was perfectly fine. Yet when she relaxed her walls, that humming pain surrounded the edges of her consciousness like a heavy blanket.
"Sirius," she exclaimed suddenly.
"What?" The others asked dumbly.
She felt the acute need to check in on him. The only times she'd felt sensations externally like this were when she'd felt like she was picking up on Sirius's emotions- an unsolved mystery in itself.
"Remus, I want you to take me to Sirius," Hermione demanded.
"'Mione, he's resting-" James tried to tell her.
"Now."
They sighed, sharing a glance once more. James nodded briefly and Remus sighed.
"Very well," he offered her his arm, which she took without hesitation.
Hermione didn't say anything when Remus brought them to Andromeda's cabin. They'd told her he was recovering at him, but clearly they were hiding more than just that. Andromeda looked surprised to see them, throwing Remus a questioning glance, yet she didn't protest when Hermione insisted on seeing Sirius. Meda led her up the stairs, and the more Hermione focused in on Sirius, the more she could feel the pain.
He was awake.
His eyes flew to the door when Meda knocked, letting Hermione and Remus in before leaving them to their privacy.
"Why'd you bring her here?" He asked Remus in a strained voice.
Hermione felt a slight pang go through her. Did he not want her here?
"What happened to you?" She choked out in a broken voice. He was pale, looking practically on the brink of death.
"I'm okay," he promised her, his eyes softening. "I just didn't want you to see me like this."
Hermione snorted lightly. "I saw you when you were on the run after twelve years in Azkaban. Believe me, I doubt it could get worse. Though this certainly cuts it close."
"I'll be okay," he said firmly. "Meda won't have it any other way," he tried to joke, wincing before he could even get out a full chuckle.
"What happened?" She asked again.
"Oh you know," he said vaguely. "A few stray crucious, nothing I won't recover from."
Before she could argue that she knew what the Cruciatus curse did, and it certainly wasn't this, Andromeda swooped in to save her cousin. She walked into the room with a tray full of potions, heading over to Sirius.
"Miss Dumbledore, I'm sure Sirius appreciates you visiting, but he really needs his rest. I'm sure you understand?" She said in a tone that didn't leave any space for argument.
Hermione sighed, and Remus tugged on her arm.
"Of course," she mumbled.
"I'll see you soon," he promised, secretly relieved his at his cousin's timing.
Hermione nodded glumly, turning to leave. But not before she caught sight of the potions Andromeda was preparing for Sirius. Having gone through months of recovery from Dolohov's curse herself, she would never forget the distinct sight and pungent smell of the potions she'd been forced to drink every few hours for weeks.
He was being treated for the same curse she'd been hit with.
Yet here she was, perfectly fine within a day whereas he was bedridden and appeared as sickly as she'd been back in her fifth year.
Something was definitely afoot.
And they were fools if they didn't think Hermione would figure it out.
~o~O~o~
Hello everyone!
The end is in sight- I suspect there will only be 5-10 more chapters, the plot for which has already been determined. Granted, they'll likely be incredibly long and dense chapters as there's a lot of loose ends to tie up.
Thank you to all my readers and reviewers :) You guys are the wittiest fandom I know, it's great. I hope you've liked the journey this story has been so far- I know it's been a lot.
What do you guys think of the new cover? It took a while to make it because I was never completely satisfied with my past covers for this story, but I think this one's a keeper.
~ silverstorme
