Summary: Hermione meets with Arthur and Molly and finds the answer she's been looking for.
A/N: Thanks, everyone for your enthusiasm for this story. The mystery continues here, getting Hermione closer to bringing Severus back.
Chapter 6
Hermione appeared in front of the Burrow. She wondered at the quiet. Usually, the Burrow was buzzing with noise as there was always someone visiting, normally with children in tow. Moving up to the front door, she knocked. Arthur answered and smiled at her.
"Molly, you were right!" he yelled over his shoulder as he pulled Hermione into a hug.
"Good to see you, Hermione. How have you been?"
Before she could even answer, she was ushered into the house, the door slamming behind her. Arthur pushed her into the kitchen where Molly hugged her so tightly that she thought she may pass out.
"Oh, Hermione, it's so nice to have you here!" Molly cried. "What can I get you?"
"Nothing, nothing! I didn't come by to eat all your food."
"Nonsense. Sit down there. I'll grab you a plate. Dinner's just done, and I was about to call Arthur in to come and eat. You've caught us on an empty day. No kids or grandkids underfoot."
Hermione laughed and settled herself at the table. It wasn't long before they were tucking into steak and kidney pie and chatting about what had been going on in their lives.
"I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself as a teacher, Hermione. I'm sure the children love you."
"Well, I don't know about that, but they seem to be learning something."
Arthur chuckled. "I'm sure they do love you."
"Now, I think you've come by to ask something important, am I right?" Molly asked with a smile.
"Yes, Mrs. Weasley. Mr. Weasley. Harry told me that you two are soulmates."
"That's right, my girl," Arthur said. "From the first kiss, we knew we were meant for each other." Arthur gave Molly a loving look and winked at her.
Hermione smiled. "That's really wonderful. I was wondering what you know of your bond?"
"What did you want to know, dear?" Molly asked.
"I've heard that there's a special magic that's shared between soulmates. I was specifically interested in something I heard about that power." She met Arthur's eyes. "If one of you were to die prematurely, could the other bring that person back?"
Arthur looked at her with a horrified look, and Molly gasped.
"Where on earth did you hear that?" Molly cried.
Hermione got a concerned look on her face. "Well, Minerva told me it was possible, but she didn't know how."
Arthur looked pensive. "It's just a horrid thing to think about… losing Molly before her time."
Hermione tentatively looked at Arthur. "If she had been killed in the war, would you have been able to bring her back?"
Arthur looked at Molly, who was chewing on her lip. After a minute, she gave a quick nod. He sighed and began to speak.
"I instinctively know that I could, but I am unsure how."
He rose and left the room. Hermione looked curiously at Molly.
"He's getting something," she explained.
"What's it like… to be soulmates?" Hermione asked.
Molly smiled. "It's comforting. I know that he is the one for me, and always will be. I know we will both be true to each other. Oy, he drives me crazy sometimes, but even when I'm ready to hex him to the moon, I always know that we love each other, and that love is something that will never die."
Hermione felt her eyes fill with tears. "That's beautiful, Mrs. Weasley. I love that you found each other. I know not all soulmates are aware of their connection."
"No, they're not. We were lucky that we went to the same school and found each other attractive."
At that point, Arthur came back into the room with a small book in his hand. He sat and placed it in front of him. He looked at Hermione.
"When we were married, this book appeared in our bedroom. It's something of a guidebook. We keep it high on the bookshelf, but when it's needed, it manifests itself to us. We have not needed to know how to bring one or the other back, so it hasn't shown itself in the book."
"May I see that?" Hermione asked as she reached out to the book.
"Oh, it can only be opened by…"
Hermione took the book and opened it to what looked like a blank page. Suddenly, writing started appearing on it.
"Who is he?" Molly asked sagely.
Hermione's head snapped up. "I beg your pardon?"
"Who is your soulmate? The only people who can open this book are those who know who their soulmates are." Molly glanced down at the book and her eyes grew wide.
"Is your soulmate dead?" she asked in horror.
Hermione gasped as she looked down at the book. It was writing how to resurrect a lost soulmate, giving step-by-steps, and listing potions ingredients. Her hand came up to her mouth and covered it. Tears flooded her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. A sob escaped her mouth as she caressed the book. It continued to write information.
"Who is it?" Arthur asked quietly.
Hermione struggled to control her emotions. She felt an immense weight lifted from her as she watched the information being written in the book. She wiped away her tears quickly and looked at Arthur.
"It's Severus Snape," she said finally.
Molly gaped at her. "Snape?" she said incredulously.
Hermione nodded. "Yes, he is my soulmate."
Arthur looked puzzled. "So, you've been keeping it a secret all these years?"
Hermione looked over at him. "No, I just found out. He knew. He left information that only I could see, and I just found it because I'm living in his old rooms."
Molly reached out and put her hand on Hermione's. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry."
"But according to this, I can bring him back."
Molly squeezed her hand. "Oh, Hermione… you can't…"
"What?" Hermione said briskly as her eyes snapped to Molly's. She motioned at the page in front of her with her free hand.
"According to this, it's possible. He can come back. I can bring him back!"
"He's been gone ten years!" Arthur said. "This wasn't meant to be used after so much time has gone by. What if he comes back like some sort of Inferi?"
Hermione scanned the information on the page. "It doesn't say that it can only be done within a certain timeframe after death. It doesn't say anything about negative consequences. It just says that he can be brought back. You said yourself that when you need information, the book gives it to you. Why would it give me information for something I can't accomplish?"
"May I see that, Hermione?" Arthur said.
"Of course."
Hermione slid the book over to Arthur, and he quickly read through the information now on the page. It had extended to the next page, so Arthur turned it and read through that. He gave Hermione a measured look when he came to the end of the entry.
"I would assume the two of you were not married before Severus died?"
Hermione shook her head and looked down at the table. "Like I said, I just found out recently."
Arthur pushed the book in front of her. "Read the first paragraph."
She read it aloud. "This ability can only be performed by those who have sealed their bond through the consummation of marriage. Only that special bond has the power to magically bring a soulmate back to life when they have died prematurely."
"You can't do it," Molly said sadly.
"I can," Hermione said as she felt her confidence rise. "Before Severus died, he made it possible for me to communicate with him through the veil. That's how we had our first kiss. We can consummate our bond in that way, and then I can save him."
"Hermione, you're messing with things you don't understand," Arthur said.
"Do you understand them? You said yourself that this book helps you to understand what you can and cannot do. It's written here plainly. The bond needs to be consummated. I can do that, so if I follow the other steps here, I can bring Severus back to life."
"Hermione…" both Molly and Arthur had said her name simultaneously.
"May I borrow your book?" she asked with determination.
Molly looked at Arthur, who stared back. They seemed to almost be communicating silently with each other. Given what she'd learned of soulmates, Hermione didn't doubt that they were. Finally, they broke their gaze, and Molly squeezed Hermione's hand again.
"Who are we to try and stop you?" Molly asked with a smile. "Of anyone, we probably understand best about what you're going through. If Arthur had been killed in the war…" Her eyes filled with tears. "I would have done anything to bring him back."
Hermione rose from the table and moved quickly to Molly. She threw her arms around the older witch and looked over at Arthur gratefully.
"Thank you both," she said.
oooOOOooo
Hermione studied the text that the Weasleys had loaned her. The book had no title and just looked like a journal. She'd turned to the part that pertained to her and read what the book had inscribed about bringing back a soulmate.
In rare circumstances, one can bring back their soulmate from an untimely death. This ability can only be performed by those who have sealed their bond through the consummation of marriage. The marriage bond creates the strongest soulmate magic there is. Only that special bond has the power to magically bring a soulmate back to life when they have died prematurely. This is the only way this magic can be used to bring back the dead.
The following is the process for reanimating the loved one:
The body must be reunited with a piece of the soul.
Hermione blanched. That really sounded like a Horcrux.
To reunite the body and soul, the surviving soulmate must ingest the potion written below and cast the reuniting spell upon the body and the representation of the soul. Once this is done, the soul and body will reunite and your soulmate will be whole and alive again, reborn anew as when they were a babe.
The rest of the entry showed the potion and the spell—Convertero—and its wand movements. She reviewed the potions ingredients.
Abraxan Hair
Acromantula Venom
Billywig Sting Slime
Lionfish Spine
Moonstone
Turtle shell
Unicorn Horn
Wormwood
She drummed her fingers on the table. She had most of those ingredients already in her stores, but the Unicorn Horn, Abraxan Hair, and Acromantula Venom would need to be ordered. Acromantula Venom was expensive and didn't keep long, so she'd need to order it once she knew she had everything else… like Severus' body and soul.
She sighed, thankful it was late so she could go to bed and discuss this all with Severus. Hopefully, he knew if there was a piece of his soul floating around somewhere. She giggled to herself at the thought of that, but deep within her, she feared that perhaps he'd created a Horcrux. He well could have done it when he killed Dumbledore.
Hermione covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head in disbelief. Fear filled her as she thought about it more. There was no way Severus would have done something like that, right? He wasn't like Voldemort. He didn't kill for pleasure, nor would he have had time to create a Horcrux as he was escaping Hogwarts after the Headmaster's death.
She sighed, hoping that those excuses not to make a Horcrux were true. Deep down, though, she knew that he was able to make one. He was one of the most powerful wizards she'd ever known. His knowledge of the Dark Arts was only surpassed by Voldemort. It would have been easy had he wanted to create such an evil item.
Knowing he may lose his life early may have given him just the push he needed to do it. That would certainly fix the issue of being separated from his soulmate by death. But would he go that far? She truly didn't think he would, but she just didn't know. As she got ready for bed, she couldn't keep her mind from the Horcrux topic. She couldn't see how else he'd save part of his soul. She hoped he'd found another way, but she couldn't get the thought that he had created a Horcrux out of her mind.