CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
If the intruder was on the second floor it meant that she had a limited amount of time to make her move. She was certain she'd already been spotted.
Hermione charmed herself to be as silent and invisible as possible and glided over the foliage with a determined leap. The flowers beneath her didn't even sway as she wizzed over. Her back hit the brick of Severus' home roughly but soundlessly. Now that she was flush to the building, she cast out a large anti apparition ward around the property and a notice-me-not charm for any muggles in the area.
She cursed inwardly. Her pulse raised, pumping blood through her body, filling her with adrenaline. Shit, the one person who knows about Snape is Minerva and I don't know where the fuck she is.
Tight, constrained breaths gripped her chest and she made a split second decision to send a patronus to Minerva anyway having no idea how long it may take to be seen. The otter swam north and Hermione rolled around the corner closer to the porch and took aim. With a surge of her magic, she blew out every window in the house.
Dodging the front door, she ran to the back to enter from the kitchen.
The figure in the backyard made her skitter to a halt.
"Bloody fuck, Hermione ! I didn't spit in your tea !" Severus Snape was on the patio seeming to have interrupted a lovely read in the summer air. He brushed broken glass off his person clearly annoyed. "It was a joke, girl !"
She neverminded his calm demeanor and instead cast a protego wordlessly around them both while rushing him. "There's someone in your house !" She hissed in his ear, taking the handles of his wheelchair and rocketing them both to the back of his garden to hide behind the thin trees there.
He let her jousel him with his arms crossed over his chest. "What ? Don't be daft, child, I've been inside all day. I think I'd know if I had company."
The weak branches snapped at their faces and clothes and she whirled them around in the shade to look back at the shabby house. "I saw something move in the attic window, so if you're telling me you've been climbing up that ladder with only your upper body strength, I'd say you're a damn liar."
He sneered back at her. "Well I suspect you must have terrific lower body strength with the variety of conclusions you've been jumping to." Hermione ignored him and observed the house to gauge the number of intruders inside and their reaction to the explosion. "And for Merlin's sake, woman, you don't have to cut so deep to make a point." Over his shoulder, she noticed him rolling his shoulders self consciously.
A small smile curled her lips and she mused. "You may have been a Slytherin, but that didn't bless you with a set of pythons." No movement. Her eyes jumped around the building to sense any spike in magic.
He snorted quietly. "Do not speak of pythons to me, girl." Severus rubbed his throat and waited patiently with her.
She had made sure the glass burst inwards in hopes of catching someone inside, yet the house stood quietly. It had mouldy brown sidings with peeling yellowed paint around the now empty window panes. The tall grass surrounding the house moved carelessly in the breeze. A storm was buzzing in the air and she could smell the rain coming.
They waited for a full minute.
Silence.
Severus flexed his arms again.
"I'd say anacondas, personally…"
The wind was full of static.
"Severus, they are garden snakes."
Another minute passed.
Thunder cracked in the east.
"Granger, are you sure you're not just mental?"
She didn't reply. The winds picked up gradually and threw her thick cropped locks into her face.
"I saw something, Sev, I swe-"
Somewhat distantly, they heard a cry. They both tensed.
The cry rang out again and sounded familiar to her ears.
It sounded like..
A large, smokey black mass wondered out of the back door on four legs.
What the ..
"Severus. Since when did you get a cat ?"
The poor thing limped and Hermione's heart stuttered when she realized her miscalculation. The hefty animal walked on three legs.
It cried out again.
"Oh." Severus blinked. "Shite. Right."
Lightning flashed and rain came down on the tree leaves and roofs making a snapping sound. The thing cried out, alarmed and somewhat mournful. Hermione watched the creature sniff the book that Snape had dropped by the round, metal patio table. "Severus.." She gritted out questioningly.
He rumbled avoidantly in his damaged throat. "I forgot."
She could've wrung him by his scarred neck. Instead, Hermione abandoned their cover to approach the cat. Her wand drawn and hidden by her thigh, she examined the beast closer. She had never seen a domestic cat so large but seemed just that. A meter long, from nose to tail, the cat held a thick, not quite luxurious, coat of long dark fur. It caught Hermione's gaze with toasted coppery eyes that reminded her of her mum's. The thought made her readjust her hold on her wand and her stomach to go hollow.
"When did you get it ?" She called over her shoulder and heard Severus struggle slightly with getting his chair back onto the mossy walkway.
"Well, she found me actually," He gruffed and appeared behind her. "About a week or so. I checked. She's non magical."
Hermione sighed bitterly. Rain had begun to mat her hair coldy to her scalp. "Oh, so you remember to check her for magic but forgot that you had her in your house ?"
The copper eyes blinked back up at her intelligently.
"I forgot."
The cat meowed pitifully and Hermione noticed a trail of bloody paw prints leading from inside. She cast a sour glance at the apathetic, dark man and slowly knelt down to approach the cat. "You are a terrible owner, Severus."
"She found me, girl ! What else am I to do ?"
She shook her head and saw the cat eye her hand wearily. The large beast was about a foot or more tall, with a torso easily as long as Hermione's. It wobbled on its three limbs uncertainty and Hermione figured that at least one of the paws was bleeding. She sent a spell to heal the pads and the cat stilled in surprise.
"Hey, girl.." Hermione said softly. "Let's go back inside, hm ? I'll clean up there and we can get out of the rain.."
The cat blinked, its ears flattening as heavy drops came down with greater frequency.
"Now's a good time to ditch her..."
Hermione had half a mind to curse him but the cat approached, finally and sniffed her hand. She smiled and stood, gesturing for the cat to go back inside. She walked up the ramp inside, cleaning the path of stray glass as she went. Dutifully, the cat followed and so did Severus.
"Sev, put on a cuppa. What have you been feeding her anyway ?"
The cat surprisingly took the lead and hopped onto Severus' work desk like she owned it, even sitting to watch the two humans bustle in the small home.
Magic weaved through the air with meaningful graces of her wand. The glass clinked and shivered back to their posts and the wetness of the rainy three was wicked away. Severus muttered to himself and noiselessly set up a pot of tea. Hermione was only satisfied once the room began to warm slowly to combat the whipping cool winds that snuck inside during the kerfuffle. Her nose and fingertips were awfully chilled from the bad weather and she figured everyone would prefer the heat. She sighed and was shocked to hear the large beast begin to purr like a noisy radiator.
"Merlin's balls, what is that sound ?"
Hermione swung around with her hands on her hips. The man looked as nonchalant as ever, dressed down in his soft, grey cotton sweatshirt and loose joggers. She shook her head and accioed the care bag she brought with her. "Unbelievable.."
"I give her scraps from my meals, better than choking on a sweet wrapper or a rabies infected squirrel out there." Hermione tossed some books onto the counter for his later perusal. "Did you pack any Pall Malls ?"
She snorted. "If I did, I'd burn them all in front of you right now."
Severus filled the kettle with water from the low sink and set it on the outdated open range stove. "Touchy, touchy…"
It was a secret ritual the two shared during Hermione's final year at Hogwarts. She'd visit him a few times then, mostly without Minerva present. She had caught him one dry, dreary evening smoking on the back patio. His neck was still wrapped in bandages and while, not yet in the chair, healing potions brewed continuously in his living room, day and night. When he saw her walk through the closet door that Min had charmed as a two way between his house and the Castle, he threw the cigarette into the grass and nearly caused a house fire.
Apparently, Minerva was strictly against smoking and Severus didn't realise it was Hermione who walked through. She put out the flame nd they talked. She remembered the taste of the first cigarette under his careful eye. It tasted like wood and ash and the smell clung, nicely remining her of summer time campfires. She thought it mild at first, moreso than she anticipated, before she was scolded for not inhaling properly. The burning caused her to cough and want to spit and Severus laughed at her. The sound of his bellowing laughter was a surprising joyous sound that she never heard from him before.
"You know, if Minerva ever found out she would kill me and then you in that order."
Severus snorted and opened the fridge for the milk. "The universe wouldn't let me die that easily. Have you eaten yet today ?"
Hermione flushed and watched the large cat sway its tail curiously at them. "No. Have you tried out the book I left you ?"
He was removing tupperwares and ingredients before she even answered. "Ah, I made a rather easy carrot dessert if you would like to take any home. The dunderhead who delivers my groceries included a 12 kilo bag of carrots the other day." He turned on a larger burner and removed the whining kettle. "Why would a disabled hermit need that many carrots was a concern that never occur to him, it seems. It is rather tasty, however."
Snape readied the rice and Hermione sat at the booth that wrapped the wall around the small kitchen table. She knew better by now to interrupt the flow of his mintrations. It was a terrifying delight to be chased from the kitchen by one Professor Severus Snape. Not as scary as Molly, but his comments stung harshly. "Thanks, I'll try it later. What are you making now ?"
Oil lavished the pan and Severus opened some containers of cut vegetables. Hermione knew he loved having an organized fridge and he tended to prepare as many of his meals in advance. "Well since you are a swaddled toddler when it comes to spice, I suppose Butter Chicken wouldn't be disastrous to your delicate palate."
"You could just say, 'Butter chicken, Hermione. Also, fuck you.'" She waved her finger to float the tea set and kettle to the cozies on the table. "Should save you time."
"For you, my dear, I have all the time in the world."
She smiled and busied herself with making their cups. Usually, the table was cramped with notes and books and paper bills all stacked in a mess that only the man himself could decipher. It was surprizing, the amount of junk the man could accumulate over the short years. Often, she took her meals here on top of academic journals and a mix of pencils and quills since if she moved them he would get fussy. She noticed today that her usual spot was shockingly cleared.
"My, my Severus. Have you had company ?"
The oil glistened in the heat and carrot and potatoes were added to the pan and covered. "More whinging from the lunatic who broke my windows."
She chuckled and put his tea on a statis charm. "Well, unless you suddenly discovered a fondness for me-" He snorted. "Then I believe you were playing host to someone else ?"
He grumbled and worked on the chicken. "Must you pried into my personal life every time you come visit ?"
She smiled and slouched in the wooden booth. "Again, would save you time if you just told me ~." She replied in a sing-song voice.
The afternoon continued in pleasant quiet, even if Hermione was incredibly curious to know more. At some point she got up and took some potions with his blessing. He usually supplied a variety to Hogwarts for top dollar. It kept him busy and allowed Minerva to pay him well in a way that his would accept. She remembered how many of these potions got her through her final year of Hogwarts. "You know, if you eat properly and get some sun, for Godric's sake, you wouldn't need them."
"Ah, you had your dungeons and I have my Ministry basement. What can we do ?"
The vegetables had softened by then and Severus had begun browning the chicken in another pan. "Well you can eat better and get some sun, that's what you can do."
She gave a non-committal sound and leaned in to see his work. "Did you know-"
He let out a withering sigh.
"-that some would consider Butter Chicken a fusion food ? It has its roots in both Indian and British cooking, however that is because of Britain's mass colonization, so its up to debate on who can stake their claim."
"Great."
"Supposedly, it goes that the white colonizers came to India to enforce their rule, but the native cuisine was too spicy for them. So in attempts to make meals more bearable, they sought out to add anything to the dishes to cool it down. Milk, butter, hence the name Butter Chicken."
The scents of the meal made her mouth water, even as she ranted. The scents were warm, spicy, and tickling her nose.
"Fascinating.10 points to Gryffindor."
She blushed with the memory of the ghost from the previous weekend, but pulled a face as he opened another container "Hey ! Are you going to add celery to it?"
Severus didn't even pause as he dumped in the bright green bites. "What of it ?"
"That's not traditional. It's going to throw off the texture !"
"What, the colonizer fusion food ?" He threw the container in the sink where Hermione had a dish washing spell going. "Hermione, I am just one man and the celery will go bad before I get to use it all. I'm sure the real harm derived from the years of colonial rule and systematic oppression, not from me adding celery."
Hermione grumbled sullenly along with her stomach for the next 40 minutes until he brought over three bowls to the table a while settled in and the cat leaped from it's perch in the living room and hopped on to the other side of the booth from Hermione. Immediately, it sniffed the food contently and began to take tender bites of the hot meal.
Severus ignored the beast but Hermione's mouth hung open. "No fucking way."
He grunted back in question and she began to giggle hysterically.
"You cleared a spot for the cat ?! "
He finally took notice of her absolute glee and his face crinkled with a sneer. "Nonsense, child."
She was over the moon and giggling wildly at the grumpy man. "Not, for me, Sev- but you'll clean up for a cat."
Said beast had already scarfed down the sauce and meat and was waving her tail happily, purring her clunky low purr. Hermione had tears in her eyes.
"Her name is Sandra."
Hermione began wheezing. "The cat ?"
Snape swatted her, catching her ear with the back of his spoon and Hermione clutched it and fell further into the booth away from his reach still laughing.
"No, you little swot. The woman who comes by."
She finally gathered herself at this and edged over to the lip of the booth eagerly. "Really ?"
He had begun to dip into his bowl and the cat stared at him with wide eyes as she watched him blow the delicious smell of spices across the table.
"Yes. Eat your food."
Picking up her spoon, Hermione did as she was told. She finished the steamy bowl of Butter Chicken and vegetables. By the time she finished, she wiggled in her seat with an unfamiliarly full belly. Then, she waited - obnoxiously staring at Severus the entire time.
In turn, he ate his food carefully and slowly. He took meticulous care in making sure none of the creamy orange sauce dripped into his salt and pepper beard.
As soon as his spoon was set back down to the table, Hermione pounced. "Who is she ? Why does she come here ? How did you meet ?"
Severus eyed both Hermione and the cat with disdain. "Again with sticking your nose in other's business.."
"Pleaseeeee ?" She whined.
The cat seemed to follow Hermione's lead because they both stared up at him with pleading eyes.
"She likes my garden."
Hermione whistled. "Severus, you dog, you."
She wiggled her eyebrows and he scoffed. Long, nimble fingers numbly wrapped around his teacup and he began stirringly it thoughtfully. She watched his dark eyes scan the table as if to make sure all was in order but she knew intuitively that he was nervous. It would be good to keep it light, for now, and not push him. He adjusted the cozies and Hermione felt happy for him.
Just then, Minerva McGonagall burst through the closet door, wheezing heavily like she ran several flights of stairs. She spun around, pointing her wand at the table with a strained neck and a wild look in her eyes. The cat yelled in fear and ran off into the house.
"Minerva," Severus replied evenly as Hermione lay flat across the bench, having almost dove under the table for cover. "Care for some dinner ?"