Chapter 41: Realm Of Question

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Severus Snape's Bedroom,The Snape Residence, Spinner's End, Muggle World...

Sizzling meat had gotten the attention of the drunken Regulus Snape as he struggled to get out of bed. The unfamiliar warmth of the sheets had been most unwelcome as he shifted until his obsidian eyes sprang open. He had not recalled going to bed the previous night and the pounding headache was a sure fire sign that he had not put himself here. Despite the minor aches and brief bout of nausea, the younger Snape managed to pull back the sheets of his father's former bed and make his way into the narrow hall.

The sound had been constant as he moved rather slowly through the narrow hall toward the equally narrow staircase that lead to the first floor of the old dilapidated brick house his father had spent his miserable childhood years in.

Pale bare feet moved along the slightly chilled hardwood floor covered with dust and untouched by the bare flesh of any mortal in a great many years before the curious wizard moved toward the otherwise abandoned kitchen.

The sound of shuffling and dishes being moved had gotten his attention as he attempted to summon his wand but found he could hardly concentrate on the spell to guide it to him given his pounding headache. Instead, Regulus moved stealthily into the kitchen finding himself stunned by the sight of Hermione Granger apparently making herself right at home as it were.

"What are you doing here?" asked Regulus with an arched brow.

Upon hearing his deep baritone voice, Hermione had been startled into dropping a small pot that she carried. Her amber eyes widened and she couldn't help but smile at the innocent confusion that filed across Regulus Snape's face.

"Well good afternoon to you too." she said pleasantly.

"You never answered my question witch." said the younger Snape moving toward the table and snatching up a freshly baked roll with his lengthy pale fingers and ripping it apart as if he had been hired to do some sort of food commercial.

Hermione sighed.

"Well, I came here to talk about the other locations on that list." explained the amber eyed witch. "When I got here you were blind drink and sleeping on a floor amid broken glass and spilled whiskey."

Regulus had not been able to recall what had been the cause of his antics but continued to chew the roll he had taken.

"So what...you thought you'd stick around and play house?" he asked getting to his feet.

"Well...I noticed that your cupboards were bare and that the fridge was empty." said the witch finding herself growing a bit uncomfortable with his intense gaze.

Regulus got to his feet and walked over toward her. He had been feeling a bit better given his motivation and would stop at nothing to enjoy his time with the witch he had been trying to get into his arms.

"Thought I'd starve to death did you?" he asked smiling as she tried to keep from reacting to his being so close to her.

"I thought about being civil you git." said Hermione trying not to pay any attention to the bulging muscular definition of his pale bare chest.

"You know what I think?" he asked still teasing her.

"No." replied Hermione attempting to pull away.

"I think you just missed me." replied Regulus with a flicker of heat behind his obsidian eyes.

"I just saw you the day before." said Hermione in her own defense.

"Mmmhmm." replied Regulus. "The what's with this home cooked meal and the putting me to bed...if that's all you did that is."

"Are you accusing me of fondling your person while you were asleep?" she asked narrowing her amber eyes at him.

"All I'm saying is I didn't put myself to bed." said Regulus teasing her a bit more before bursting into laughter.

"Git." said Hermione moving toward the stove and taking the fried meat off the fire.

"What's that?" asked Regulus noting the skillet she brought into view.

"Sausage." replied Hermione. "And before you say anything I do have a hot frying pan in my hands."

Regulus held up his hands in surrender as the witch piled a plate high with food and placed it in front of him.

"How are the kids?" asked the raven haired wizard chewing another roll.

"They're fine...we're doing all we can to keep them safe." replied Hermione getting serious once more.

"Look...about that list..it's not definite you know they could choose their targets at random." said Regulus.

"Finding out who their targeting is still more of a step toward offering protection than going at this blindly." replied Hermione.

Regulus sighed.

She did have a point.

But he had gotten the feeling that a wizard like Arcturus wouldn't just leave something convenient lying about in his hideout for her to find...being sloppy wasn't something he'd normally do.

"Unless he wanted you to find his list." said Regulus coming to a realization. "It would enable him to know exactly where you'd all be going and choose which targets to ambush you from."

Hermione's eyes widened.

"I hadn't even considered how convenient this all seemed." she admitted feeling a bit foolish for thinking everything about this war had been so cut and dried.

Hermione had no idea what to make of the way things were going as far as this new war was going.

"This is worse than the last time." she muttered trying to get a hold on herself. "It was much easier to live through a war when I was a child but having young children myself..."

Regulus had not known what it must have been like for her at that moment but he made it a point to look out for the anguished witch and her children despite the fact that he detested Ron Weasley.

"Listen...take the list back and discuss it with geek boy." said Regulus summoning the parchment to him via wand-less magic. "I'll catch up with you both later."

"A-Are you sure?" asked Hermione confused about his sudden change of heart.

"I'm sure." replied Regulus. "I just need a few days to get myself together."

"Why were you getting so drunk before?" asked Hermione changing the subject back to the raven haired American wizard.

"Let's just say I'm dealing with some family stuff." replied Regulus. "Something between me and the old man..."

"H-Have you been to Hogwarts?" asked Hermione unsure how to approach this topic. "If not I don't recommend you going there."

"Why not?" asked Regulus with a brow arched in curiosity.

"He didn't have the best reputation there and not to mention how inaccurate his portrait is." said continued the amber eyed witch.

"No...I'd say it's very accurate as far as speaking to me goes." replied Regulus moving toward the old steel fridge.

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione.

"I went to Hogwarts, it's an impressive place I can see where one would find it enchanting...Ilvermorny is sort of the same just the American version with less of the fancy color scheme." said Regulus taking an ice cold soda from the fridge. "My old man and I didn't see eye to eye the last time he came home...it's no big deal."

"That doesn't make any sense." said Hermione not believing this about Snape for a moment.

"Hey...how many ways can the guy reject me?" asked Regulus seemingly alright with the way things had turned out. "He's been dead for years what's the point of dwelling on a portrait?"

"That doesn't make any sense...Harry said that." began Hermione before stopping herself.

The sudden pause had gotten Regulus' attention.

"Harry?" he said scanning her mind rather quickly. "Geek boy has my father's memories."

Hermione nodded.

"So he's the only one that knows what the old man was thinking when..." began Regulus. "Where is he?"

"The Burrows...I was just on my way to speak with him." said the amber eyed witch.

"Then he just got one more guest." said Regulus in a rather serious tone.