Chapter Twelve
In which Snape finally washes his hair
The trial lasted long into the afternoon with only two brief recesses during which Hermione checked on Snape's condition and willed herself not to cry. Severus was still under the influence of Veritaserum, despite the fact the that questions were no longer being directed at him and looked terrible, almost zombie-like as he sat unmoving in the chair. The witnesses for the defense were grilled mercilessly by the prosecution, especially Remus Lupin, who was still held in abhorrence for being a werewolf. Only Harry Potter was fully able to stand up to Zlotnikov, a shrewd, calculating man with a keen, if not poisonous intellect.
After the jury had filed out, choosing to deliberate in seclusion, a sure sign that they were divided, Blood turned to Hermione and her friends and said, "It will be midnight or later before they finish. I am leaving Mister Snape in your custody, if you still want him."
"Yes, sir." she replied.
Ron and Harry followed her to the courtroom floor as the galleries began to empty. Severus was seated in the chair as she had dreamed him, but living and not dead. She cautiously brushed his black locks from his face while the boys stood back and waited patiently.
"Severus?" she whispered, waiting for a court wizard to come and unlock the magical restraints. "Say something."
"Can I go home now?" he asked timorously, raising his head. The vacant look was just beginning to fade away.
"Of course." she nodded, moving out of the way as the restraints fell away from his arms. "Can you walk? Or should we ..." she began to ask.
"I can manage."
His steps were ungainly as he walked with the trio from the courtroom. Hermione put an arm around his back to steady him. He could not speak, did not wish to speak, but he nodded to her gratefully.
"We can walk with you to Diagon Alley - it's not that far away - if you don't want to try and apparate him there." suggested Harry.
"Thanks." said Hermione, who was too drained to perform any great feat of magic.
"I want to go back to my apartment." said Severus.
"We're going to take you there." Hermione assured him.
Harry and Ron left the two of them as soon as Severus was settled onto the soft couch in his parlor at the residential hotel where he had been living. Ron was going back to the Ministry to await news of the verdict while Harry was returning home to his wife and some much needed sleep. It had been a rough day for all of them, possibly the roughest since they had buried their dead after the final battle at Hogwarts.
Hermione lingered near the door, wondering if she should stay or go. She heard Severus sit up on the couch and turned.
"Don't go." he said to her.
"I will never leave or forsake you." she replied quietly, walking over sitting down on the couch with him, pushing him gently back against the cushions. "You should rest. You've had quite a day."
"So have you, from what I can remember of it." he commented, reaching up to touch her curly hair.
"Severus ..."
"Run a bath for me, would you, love?" he asked her.
"Of course." she said, leaving the sofa and walking into his bathroom.
Hermione filled the basin with warm, steaming water and returned for him. Severus cautiously began to leave the couch, not quite trusting his legs. She could see the weariness and struggle written upon his face. It was heart rending.
"Hermione ..." he began to object as she began unbuttoning his heavy robes.
"Let me help you."
"Am I still your client?" he asked as she pulled his uncooperative arms from the sleeves of his formal robes.
"Technically ... perhaps, but the trial is over. All that's left is the waiting." she told him, kneeling to remove his shoes and socks.
"And then?"
"The verdict." she said, wiping one eye with the back of her hand. "Stand up." she instructed, rising with him and put her arm around his waist.
Hermione led him into the bathroom and helped him out of his other clothes. A pale blush crept into both their faces as she helped him into the water, which had remained perfectly heated thanks to a warming charm that had been cast upon the tub. Hermione pulled up a wooden stool and sat down next to him, watching the water ease his tense, aching muscles.
"I never expected it to be like that." he told her, closing his eyes.
"I should have prepared you more."
"I am the potions' master. I should have ..."
"Severus ... let's not talk about all of that just now." Hermione told him.
"Hermione ..." he began to object as she pushed him forward in the water and began to scrub his back for him. "No one's ever ... not since I was four years old ..."
She watched him draw his knees up in the water, clutching them close as his eyes filled with tears.
"I won't let them take this, or take you, away from me. I swear it." he said as she leaned him back again to wash his hair. He was speaking of the dementors of Azkaban.
Hermione only nodded mutely as she ran her fingers through his silken locks. She had longed to do this for him, even when she was still a student and called her feelings for him a mere infatuation and never dreamed of acting upon them. She couldn't say anything. She knew if she spoke, her words would only degenerate into sobs, and she didn't want that to happen. She didn't want to spoil everything. She watched his eyes close in contentment and planted a gentle kiss on his forehead.
When she left him to finish enjoying his well-deserved warm bath, she wiped her eyes surreptitiously and returned to him with a bathrobe of Slytherin colors. He smiled softly, fondly at her as she held up the garment and helped him into it. They returned to the couch where he reclined again and she took up her seat by his side.
"Do you feel any better?" she asked him.
"Much."
"Do you want to go to sleep now? I'm certain you could benefit from a little shut eye." she told him.
"I don't want to spend my last night of freedom sleeping. Pour us a drink and talk with me, Hermione."
"It won't be ..." she started to say.
"Shush." he told her.
"All right." she agreed, walking over to a table in the corner adjacent the fireplace and filling two glasses with red wine.
"Should I propose a toast?" Severus asked, taking one of the glasses from her hand and sitting up.
"Please do." she said.
"To friends and love long unnoticed, may the same mistake never be made again." he said, cracking half a smile.
"To love." she whispered, clinking her glass against his.
They settled back against the couch, shoulder to shoulder as they sipped the wine. A crackling fire appeared in the hearth before them, lending a bit of cheer to the otherwise dreary room.
"How did you manage that?" she questioned.
"A bit of wandless magic." Severus answered.
"We should be hearing from Ron in a few hours, I imagine." she commented after a long moment of silence.
"Yes, I wouldn't doubt it." agreed Severus, putting an around her. She leaned closer and laid her head upon his shoulder.
"You should have found a more experienced lawyer." she told him.
"No one would have fought for me like you did, Hermione. I would already be in Azkaban without you."
"I bought you a week and a day."
"A week and a night." he corrected, setting his wine glass aside and taking hers from her hands before kissing her gently on the lips.
This time she wasn't afraid or daunted by thoughts of what was or was not inappropriate, and she kissed him back, not pulling away or hesitating. It was intoxicating, both bitter and sweet, wonderful and full of painful longing.
"Bedroom?" she whispered as he pulled away for a moment to catch his breath.
"Right." he agreed unquestioningly.
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A/N: Thank you all for reviewing, Autumnmist, Christine, rhitmcshanm, linnetjo, anonymous reviewer, fizzysoda, EireVerde, ress, mym2000, Moldanubikum, Goddessnmb1, Michelle, and Jenni!
Answering a question: the emotional effects of Veritaserum are mostly my interpretation. But then, in PoA the dose was in drops (I think). Who knows what a high dosage would do? And it is Snape ... repressed emotions are a possibility.
Someone thought the last chapter (11) was a cliffhanger. I pride myself on ending chapters in logical places. *sighs* Sorry.
Jenni, feel better soon!
In which Snape finally washes his hair
The trial lasted long into the afternoon with only two brief recesses during which Hermione checked on Snape's condition and willed herself not to cry. Severus was still under the influence of Veritaserum, despite the fact the that questions were no longer being directed at him and looked terrible, almost zombie-like as he sat unmoving in the chair. The witnesses for the defense were grilled mercilessly by the prosecution, especially Remus Lupin, who was still held in abhorrence for being a werewolf. Only Harry Potter was fully able to stand up to Zlotnikov, a shrewd, calculating man with a keen, if not poisonous intellect.
After the jury had filed out, choosing to deliberate in seclusion, a sure sign that they were divided, Blood turned to Hermione and her friends and said, "It will be midnight or later before they finish. I am leaving Mister Snape in your custody, if you still want him."
"Yes, sir." she replied.
Ron and Harry followed her to the courtroom floor as the galleries began to empty. Severus was seated in the chair as she had dreamed him, but living and not dead. She cautiously brushed his black locks from his face while the boys stood back and waited patiently.
"Severus?" she whispered, waiting for a court wizard to come and unlock the magical restraints. "Say something."
"Can I go home now?" he asked timorously, raising his head. The vacant look was just beginning to fade away.
"Of course." she nodded, moving out of the way as the restraints fell away from his arms. "Can you walk? Or should we ..." she began to ask.
"I can manage."
His steps were ungainly as he walked with the trio from the courtroom. Hermione put an arm around his back to steady him. He could not speak, did not wish to speak, but he nodded to her gratefully.
"We can walk with you to Diagon Alley - it's not that far away - if you don't want to try and apparate him there." suggested Harry.
"Thanks." said Hermione, who was too drained to perform any great feat of magic.
"I want to go back to my apartment." said Severus.
"We're going to take you there." Hermione assured him.
Harry and Ron left the two of them as soon as Severus was settled onto the soft couch in his parlor at the residential hotel where he had been living. Ron was going back to the Ministry to await news of the verdict while Harry was returning home to his wife and some much needed sleep. It had been a rough day for all of them, possibly the roughest since they had buried their dead after the final battle at Hogwarts.
Hermione lingered near the door, wondering if she should stay or go. She heard Severus sit up on the couch and turned.
"Don't go." he said to her.
"I will never leave or forsake you." she replied quietly, walking over sitting down on the couch with him, pushing him gently back against the cushions. "You should rest. You've had quite a day."
"So have you, from what I can remember of it." he commented, reaching up to touch her curly hair.
"Severus ..."
"Run a bath for me, would you, love?" he asked her.
"Of course." she said, leaving the sofa and walking into his bathroom.
Hermione filled the basin with warm, steaming water and returned for him. Severus cautiously began to leave the couch, not quite trusting his legs. She could see the weariness and struggle written upon his face. It was heart rending.
"Hermione ..." he began to object as she began unbuttoning his heavy robes.
"Let me help you."
"Am I still your client?" he asked as she pulled his uncooperative arms from the sleeves of his formal robes.
"Technically ... perhaps, but the trial is over. All that's left is the waiting." she told him, kneeling to remove his shoes and socks.
"And then?"
"The verdict." she said, wiping one eye with the back of her hand. "Stand up." she instructed, rising with him and put her arm around his waist.
Hermione led him into the bathroom and helped him out of his other clothes. A pale blush crept into both their faces as she helped him into the water, which had remained perfectly heated thanks to a warming charm that had been cast upon the tub. Hermione pulled up a wooden stool and sat down next to him, watching the water ease his tense, aching muscles.
"I never expected it to be like that." he told her, closing his eyes.
"I should have prepared you more."
"I am the potions' master. I should have ..."
"Severus ... let's not talk about all of that just now." Hermione told him.
"Hermione ..." he began to object as she pushed him forward in the water and began to scrub his back for him. "No one's ever ... not since I was four years old ..."
She watched him draw his knees up in the water, clutching them close as his eyes filled with tears.
"I won't let them take this, or take you, away from me. I swear it." he said as she leaned him back again to wash his hair. He was speaking of the dementors of Azkaban.
Hermione only nodded mutely as she ran her fingers through his silken locks. She had longed to do this for him, even when she was still a student and called her feelings for him a mere infatuation and never dreamed of acting upon them. She couldn't say anything. She knew if she spoke, her words would only degenerate into sobs, and she didn't want that to happen. She didn't want to spoil everything. She watched his eyes close in contentment and planted a gentle kiss on his forehead.
When she left him to finish enjoying his well-deserved warm bath, she wiped her eyes surreptitiously and returned to him with a bathrobe of Slytherin colors. He smiled softly, fondly at her as she held up the garment and helped him into it. They returned to the couch where he reclined again and she took up her seat by his side.
"Do you feel any better?" she asked him.
"Much."
"Do you want to go to sleep now? I'm certain you could benefit from a little shut eye." she told him.
"I don't want to spend my last night of freedom sleeping. Pour us a drink and talk with me, Hermione."
"It won't be ..." she started to say.
"Shush." he told her.
"All right." she agreed, walking over to a table in the corner adjacent the fireplace and filling two glasses with red wine.
"Should I propose a toast?" Severus asked, taking one of the glasses from her hand and sitting up.
"Please do." she said.
"To friends and love long unnoticed, may the same mistake never be made again." he said, cracking half a smile.
"To love." she whispered, clinking her glass against his.
They settled back against the couch, shoulder to shoulder as they sipped the wine. A crackling fire appeared in the hearth before them, lending a bit of cheer to the otherwise dreary room.
"How did you manage that?" she questioned.
"A bit of wandless magic." Severus answered.
"We should be hearing from Ron in a few hours, I imagine." she commented after a long moment of silence.
"Yes, I wouldn't doubt it." agreed Severus, putting an around her. She leaned closer and laid her head upon his shoulder.
"You should have found a more experienced lawyer." she told him.
"No one would have fought for me like you did, Hermione. I would already be in Azkaban without you."
"I bought you a week and a day."
"A week and a night." he corrected, setting his wine glass aside and taking hers from her hands before kissing her gently on the lips.
This time she wasn't afraid or daunted by thoughts of what was or was not inappropriate, and she kissed him back, not pulling away or hesitating. It was intoxicating, both bitter and sweet, wonderful and full of painful longing.
"Bedroom?" she whispered as he pulled away for a moment to catch his breath.
"Right." he agreed unquestioningly.
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A/N: Thank you all for reviewing, Autumnmist, Christine, rhitmcshanm, linnetjo, anonymous reviewer, fizzysoda, EireVerde, ress, mym2000, Moldanubikum, Goddessnmb1, Michelle, and Jenni!
Answering a question: the emotional effects of Veritaserum are mostly my interpretation. But then, in PoA the dose was in drops (I think). Who knows what a high dosage would do? And it is Snape ... repressed emotions are a possibility.
Someone thought the last chapter (11) was a cliffhanger. I pride myself on ending chapters in logical places. *sighs* Sorry.
Jenni, feel better soon!