Challenges
Chapter 4 - Memory Lane
"Miss Granger, would you mind loosening your grip a little, I am starting to get desperate for oxygen here."
Hermione opened her eyes, but quickly reconsidered her action and shut them firmly again as they were at least at 200 ft. above the ground.
"If you wouldn't fly as reckless as you do, you wouldn't have to worry about that!" she snapped.
He sighed.
"Then how do you expect me to fly, At three ft. nine perhaps? We could run into someone and I have no desire to end up in Azkaban because we'll murder anything Flitwick sized and seriously injure anything larger. I don't want that on my conscience" he sneered.
"I'll have your murder on my conscience if you don't go any lower" she whispered furiously
"Miss Granger, let me inform you now, before it is too late, that it is very unwise to threaten me" he growled.
"It's not a threat, it's a promise" Hermione whispered venomously.
"Very well" he said and suddenly dived down at the speed of light. Hermione screamed, but just before she thought they would hit the ground and die, he stopped his broomstick and stepped off, she could do nothing else but follow his example.
She couldn't say anything because she was too busy trying to stop her knees from clattering, but the look on her face spoke volumes. Snape ignored it and before she could protest he put her at the front of his broom and seated himself behind her, she was facing him now.
"I intend to be at Hogwarts before dawn and in one piece, now shut up and sit still" he said through gritted teeth. He almost gently pushed her head in his neck, held her with one arm and took off, steering his broom with his other arm.
"You'll pay for this…" she said as menacingly as she could.
"I'm warning you Miss Granger, I could make another dive…" he said but Hermione was too frightened to notice the slight amusement in voice.
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Ten minutes later they landed on the Astronomy tower
"Now, that wasn't too bad was it?" he said as he helped her on her feet.
"No too bad!?" she exclaimed "No too bad!? You nearly got us killed! I have never in my life…"
"Come now doctor… You don't think I would have let you fall to your death before you showed me the document and your notes?" he asked sarcastically.
"You bastard!" she hissed, but at the same time she wondered how someone so arrogant, vile and irritating as him could smell so…pleasantly spicy…
"We have wasted enough of our valuable time as it is, Miss Granger and I really do not wish to continue this useless, time consuming conversation. We needed to get to Hogwarts, and my broom was the only mode of transportation we had available at that moment. Had I known you were so afraid of heights I would have come by…other means. Now can we please put this subject behind us?" he growled softly.
"Remind me that next time we need to go somewhere together I bring a box of floo powder and a book containing all the legal alternatives for Crucio, so I can practice them all on you" she snapped.
"Gladly, just trust me to practise one illegal curse on you, just to return the favour, flying another three rounds around Hogwarts highest tower will do your temper much good I think" he snapped.
"You wouldn't dare…" she said furiously
"Try me"
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They were standing in front of the heavy oak doors leading to the headmasters quarters.
Hermione had cooled down a bit in the ten minutes it took to get from the astronomy tower to the headmasters quarters. Still fuming inside, she was now able to hold her act together so that it didn't show on the outside.
She didn't know what had made her feel more uncomfortable: to be on a broom while she was petrified with fear as soon she was on anything higher than a kitchen step, or that he had put her in front of him and held her carefully close to him. As if she was something valuable… She hated it when people did that; it made her feel vulnerable… weak… feminine…
Hermione Granger did not like to feel vulnerable, weak and certainly not feminine when she was anywhere near a man that was as hard as diamond and as cold as the north-pole in midwinter…
*Those are the ones that hurt you the most…* she thought sadly, but refusing herself a trip down memory lane she forced her attention back to the now, back to her work as she always did when thinking back of the days that she still allowed herself to get hurt…
Severus knocked on the door rather loudly and after several minutes, a very cranky and sleepy looking Albus Dumbledore in a long nightshirt opened the door.
"Severus, Hermione…for goodness sake, do you know what time it is? Don't you youngsters have anything better to do than pestering an old man on some unearthly hour?" he asked softly.
"Yes Albus, actually we do… normally I would have waited till the morning but I feel that the sooner I cast a look on that famous manuscript Miss Granger has told me about, the better. We will take it to my quarters before Miss Granger and I have an interesting discussion the middle of your sitting room about Elfish translations and the subtle art of potions brewing. Which will probably last till the morning if we are as agreeable as we were the largest part of this night". Severus said while looking at Hermione with a strange glitter in his eyes.
*He looks like he's actually looking forward to it…* Hermione thought with mild surprise as she gave him a nasty glare…
"And although I'd like to know your opinion and your views, I know you need to rest old friend…" Severus added almost friendly, looking at Dumbledore this time.
"If you are so convinced I need my rest Severus, you should know better than waking me up in the middle of the night. But I know you have your reasons, and I suspect that tonight's reason are more important than my desperately needed sleep…" He said sleepily while he yawned.
"Very well, come in" he said finally and guided them both to his sitting room.
Dumbledore walked over to his desk and rummaged through a stack of paperwork for quite a while. Finally he came up with a small brass key and walked to the painting above a comfortable looking red sofa. He looked at the pretty woman on the painting and sighed. Softly he said "liquorice" and the portrait came to life. The woman smiled fondly at Dumbledore.
"Albus, you look like you just rolled out of bed…what can be so important in the middle of the night? O I see… It's the head of Slytherin House bothering you again" she said smiling while she gave Severus a teasing look.
"Hello Sophie" Severus said smiling vaguely.
Dumbledore smiled at her with a look of tenderness on his face "Dearest, Can you give me the file that I gave you to keep, I know it's an unearthly hour, but I'll make it up to you, it's important" Dumbledore asked while he gave her the small brass key.
*Dearest???* Hermione thought.
"Certainly" she said as she disappeared, only to reappear a minute later with a large,
brown folder in her hand. She gave the file to Dumbledore whom on his turn handed it to Hermione.
"Now, go and let an old man sleep please" he said with the familiar twinkle in his eyes to Severus and Hermione. "The last thing I want is you both ranting about the possibilities and impossibilities of this manuscript at this hour, just be sure to give me a full report after breakfast tomorrow". He said and closed the door before Hermione or Severus could protest at being worked out of the door.
"That painting…" Hermione said a few minutes later, on their way to Professor Snape's private lab.
"Sophie Dumbledore, his wife…. she… died a long time ago, he never remarried, but it is really his story to tell, Miss Granger" Snape said slowly.
*Now where did I hear that before?* Hermione thought.
It seemed that there was more to the professors from her youth than she had always thought …
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"So… what do you think?" Hermione asked.
They were in Snape's private quarters, bent over a large ancient looking manuscript concentrating at the strange looking figures on the parchment.
"It looks…Interesting…" Snape replied with a frown on his forehead.
"Especially since it exactly describes what Voldemort must have done to gain immortality and a new body…" Hermione stated.
"How can you be so sure?" Snape asked, still frowning. As always, he did not trust things he had not witnessed or researched for himself.
"Harry was there, remember? with the Tri-wizard tournament? It exactly matches his story, but what makes it all the more interesting is this part, look" and she pointed somewhere in the middle of the manuscript,
Severus looked and not for the first time he blessed his Celtic mother, she had insisted that her only dearly loved son received the best education a young wizard could possibly get, which had included Celtic History, and three magical languages; Elfish, Tuatha de Danann and Dwarven. The document was complicated but he could translate it fairly easy.
"He who is blessed with eternal life should be aware that nothing is irreversible, but death. If he purposely causes harm, grief or pain, eternity can and should be taken away from him by means of a most special brew… foxfeather, moonstone, clover, ore, mandrake, seaweed from Atlantis, a mermaids hair…." Severus translated, his voice sounding as black velvet again. His mind was working at full speed and he realised that despite his eagerness to see the manuscript and read Hermione's notes, he had not really dared to believe her…until now…
He looked very seriously at her.
"This could mean the end of the war…", he said in a low voice.
"Now you believe me?" Hermione smirked with a little smug smile around her mouth. She enjoyed the look he gave her, as if he finally realised she was not just a silly girl with silly ideas about saving and the world. She was a woman and together, if they both gave their best, they could save the world.
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They had just agreed upon the lesser details of their working relationship and as expected it had taken a hell of a lengthy discussion to get them both satisfied with the results.
As their project was top secret, Severus would have to remain as the Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House which meant that their working hours together had to be scheduled after dinner and would last until they could allow themselves to get a few hours of sleep.
Hermione would try to take some work off his shoulders by correcting essays, homework and other light, but time-consuming tasks so that they could spend more time together in his private lab.
Now that it was all arranged, Hermione was sitting in a very comfortable chair, staring into the fire. However tired she was, she could not get rid of the feeling that had developed itself in the pit of her stomach. It was…excitement, anticipation and wonder about the prospect of working together with this man.
They had bickered almost all night and when they didn't try to bite each-others head off, they talked and discussed things as if their life depended on it, which probably wasn't too far from the truth… The strange thing was that she really enjoyed it, it made her head clear and made her mind feel sharp, which was remarkable to say the least, after the amount of alcohol she had indulged quite some hours ago.
Now they were silent, sitting comfortably next to each other staring into the fire, both sunken into their own thoughts. He felt very comfortable, thoroughly enjoying the evening, thinking that he didn't have as much fun since before the day…
*Don't touch that Severus…don't go even near that…* He thought to himself…
But of course as these things go when you try to not to think of something, he did go near it, and he did think of things he wished he could forget...
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It's funny how they say that time heals all wounds, which is really just one big lie. Time does heal wounds, but only if you allow yourself to forget how happy you were and how much you cared about the ones whose passing into another realm caused the wound.
People can only be healed if they want to be healed, if they allow themselves to move on, if they can forgive themselves, for being the ones left alive.
It was 26 years since Severus Snape lost his two children and 28 since he lost his wife to the dark side… He did not want to be healed, move on, or even forgive him self for being alive…
He remembered the day when Selene, the youngest Lestrange daughter said yes to him, in the Snape family chapel. She was a beautiful aristocratic creature, and like all Lestranges, obsessed by the purity of their race. He didn't mind that much then, he loved her and they were happy… how a man could be fooled and betrayed by love...
Of course it didn't take her long to find her way to the Dark Lord, and of course, lovesick fool that he was and soon father to be, followed the love of his life into the embrace of the dark one.
The things he had done in name of the dark… it was too… evil for words… He shuddered.
*May she forever rot in Azkaban*, he thought poisonously, as he flexed his fingers slowly.
He should have recognised the madness in her eyes, realised she was beyond saving, but he never expected something so… disgustingly evil and vile, not from the woman he loved…
He stared into the fire and sunk into his own little world, forgetting that Hermione was there in the same room, sitting next to him and intently studying his face. She felt a bit uncomfortable, that haunted look in his eyes was something she'd never seen before in another ones eyes. Nevertheless, she knew what it meant, she recognised it from the mirror, that day when Voldemorts minions had slaughtered her parents…
This was how unspeakable pain and grief, guilt and anger looked…
He remembered his children…Two beautiful bright boys, twins… with Selene's large blue eyes and her raven black hair. Of course his hair was black as well, but he liked the idiotic but romantic thought that their children looked like their very beautiful mother.
*Very beautiful insane mother* he corrected himself, and the familiar sickening feeling that always came over him when he thought of this particular episode in his life came washing over him.
He swallowed as bile rose in his throat.
If he closed his eyes he could still smell the thick, iron like scent of their blood, still hear her cackling laugh as she showed him her hands that were washed in blood. Blood of Innocents, she had called it, a… sacrifice to the Dark Lord.
It had been the blood of their innocents, their boys and as he saw their lifeless bodies lying on the ground like useless waste, he cried…
It had been the last time in his miserable life that he had shed tears for anyone, as the night his children died, his heart had died with them.
That night he went to Dumbledore and became a spy. His wife, the beautiful Selene Snape, was the first one to go to Azkaban thanks to him…many had followed since.
He shuddered and closed his eyes fiercely as if the image of his two boys would go away, but he knew it was in vain… it had been burnt in his memory so many years ago. No matter how hard he tried, it would not go away…
Suddenly he felt a soft hand touching his shoulder and squeezing it gently, he looked up and saw the warmly looking face of Hermione Granger looking down on him as she offered him a drink.
"I hope you don't mind that I helped myself to one last drink for the road" she said softly as she sat down again
"No…, No, not at all", he said absent minded.
She sighed.
"It seems we all have our personal demons to defeat in this war, at least… I know I have… and telling by the look on your face you have quite a few as well" she said softly.
He turned his head and looked at her, his black eyes piercing into her soul. She was shocked, never had she seen so much pain in any ones eyes…
It only lasted a moment then he turned his head away again only to stare back in the fire. He took a sip from his drink and swallowed.
"We all have lost loved ones in the war Miss Granger; some of us lost friends, others have lost parents or children, I have lost my… sanity" he whispered hoarsely.
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HUGE thanks again to anyone who reviewed, I couldn't do it without you! I wish I could all name you here, but Ff.net cuts off at 15 nowadays…
Next chapter will be out in a week or two.
I'm sorry the broomstick ride didn't turn out more romantic, but I don't think they are ready for romance… yet *E.G.*
If you notice any spelling/grammar mistakes and it irritates you, please point them out to me in a private mail to
Hope you're enjoying it so far, anyway let me know…
Love,
Em