The next day, all Hermione felt was emptiness. She didn't taste the food
she ate, she didn't hear when people talked to her. If one would have held
her heart to the ear, one would probably have heard the ocean, like in a
deserted seashell.
Harry and Ron didn't speak to her much, they were afraid they would say the wrong things and turn her silence into violent tears, but whenever they looked at her they felt their own spirit sink very low.
During Herbology that day, a note suddenly appeared in professor Sprout's dirty hands. She read it through and said aloud:
"Miss Granger. The headmaster wants to see you in his office, you are excused from this class."
Her head shot up. Dumbledore wanted to talk to her?
She collected her things and left the green house behind her, passed a hundred doors, corridors and staircases on her way up, and eventually she stood in front of the office. It felt like it had been years ago since she had come to it with Snape in her arms. The door was open, so she carefully knocked on it with her knuckles, then entered.
The portraits of old headmasters that covered the walls all looked at her with pity in their eyes.
"Poor girl", she heard one of them whisper.
Hermione saw professor Dumbledore standing by a sofa in front of a tall window, and she gasped loudly.
He was bending over Snape's body.
The old wizard straightened up and turned around to face her. She became as white as a sheet, unable to take her eyes off her beloved. The unicorn horn had been taken out of him, and although it had been three weeks since his death, he looked as if he was merely sleeping.
"Miss Granger?", Dumbledore said. "Are you all right?"
She didn't answer him. He picked up his wand from his desk and pointed at the floor, and one of the usual, comfortable armchairs grew out from it.
"Please sit down", he said. When Hermione still didn't move, he guided her to the chair and gently forced her down in it.
He sat down opposite her, and his blue eyes seemed to look right into her soul.
"I have asked you to come here for a very important reason", he said. "It is about professor Snape."
Hermione nodded.
"I'm sorry, sir."
She looked up at the old wizard, and asked nervously:
"Will I be expelled?"
"Good Merlin, no", Dumbledore said. "Hermione, I wanted you to come here to tell you that none of this was your fault. I know it may sound awful, but what you did was the only way for Severus, and I think you gave him a great gift when you..."
He didn't finish the sentence. He leaned forward a bit, and gently stroked Hermione's cheek with one of his long fingers. She looked into his kind eyes, and for the first time she felt a little calm again.
"He loved you, Hermione. I know he did, and I believe he was very happy when his miseries ended. Not only because they were over, but also because you were there with him."
"I love him too", she said.
Dumbledore's eyes sparkled for a second, but Hermione didn't notice.
"I am very glad to hear you say that, miss Granger.", he said. "Severus' life was not a happy one, and I dare say that you did more for him than anyone else has ever done, just by loving him. You saved him, Hermione, and you saved hundreds of people at the same time."
"But he is.... dead..."
"As long as someone remembers us, we can never die. He will always live, in your heart. That's true immortality. And who knows, maybe you will see each other again someday."
She closed her eyes, afraid that the tears would start falling again. She hated crying in front of people.
"Everything will be all right", professor Dumbledore said. Then he stretched out his hand and held out a bowl to Hermione.
"Lemon drops?"
The small, kind question seemed so far away from the topic, and so silly, that it made Hermione smile. A real smile woke up on her lips. It never grew big, but it was definitely there, and Dumbledore saw it.
"You can go now, Hermione", he said and helped himself to a lemon drop. "Thank you for coming. Oh, and I believe this is yours."
He slid his hand into his robes and pulled out Hermione's unicorn horn. It had been wiped clean from blood, and shimmered as beautifully as ever. At first she wanted to scream at the sight of it, it had killed Snape. But she took it in her hand and put it in her school bag instead, intending on hiding it forever in her dormitory.
"Thank you", she said.
She left the armchair, which sank back into the floor, and opened the door to the office. She threw one last, love filled look at Severus' peaceful face before she left the office to meet Harry and Ron in the Great Hall. It was dinner time.
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
For the first time in many weeks, the November evening sky outside of Hogwarts was clear, and the moon and a million stars had taken the opportunity to shine and sparkle their best, like actors entering a stage after the curtain rises. Professor Dumbledore was back in his office after dinner, studying a thick book. He couldn't concentrate, he had read the same two lines about thirteen times already. Eventually he closed the book with a bang that woke up one of the portraits.
"What's the noise about? I was having a great nap."
"Very sorry, Phineas", Dumbledore said to the wizard in Slytherin colours. The portrait gave him a haughty look, then it turned to Severus.
"Why is he still here? He's dead, isn't he?"
"Yes, he is dead", the headmaster said, trying to control his voice. "But don't you think there is something... unusual about him?"
"Other than his hair being so greasy I could use it as a mirror?"
"Yes, something other than that."
Dumbledore rose from his chair and walked over to Severus, who was lying on a sofa in front of the window. He touched the Potions master's cheek.
"He has been dead for three weeks. And yet... he looks fine."
"Maybe he is too bitter to even die like normal people. Why did you took out the unicorn horn, by the way?"
"Because it was a unicorn horn, those are very precious things, and it belonged to Hermione. Besides, when we bury the poor boy, I don't want that thing to point out of his chest."
Dumbledore didn't say anything about the wild hope he held inside him...
Phineas turned away from the headmaster and Snape, and went back to sleep within a few minutes.
Dumbledore continued to study Snape's calm face, and he remembered something he had heard a long time ago. An old rumour about wizard vampires... But the idea of it was too good to be true, Dumbledore knew more about wizard vampires than anyone else, and he had never heard about anything that confirmed this rumour. Still, he couldn't block out the light of hope that started to shine within him, like sun rays among the trees of the Forbidden forest.
Then it came.
Snape's right hand, which was hanging outside the sofa, moved its fore finger!
Dumbledore stared at it, but nothing more happened. The old wizard closed his eyes and shook his head. He must've imagined it, maybe his hopes played him tricks.
"Poor boy", he said, and turned away to get back to his book.
He sat down by his desk, opened the book at a random page and started to read again. Outside he could hear the wind sing around the corners of the castle, mixed with the sound of Phineas snoring. It was a peaceful evening, at one point Dumbledore thought the wind whispered to him.
A few seconds later he looked up from the book. Now he wasn't imagining it, the wind had definitely said something to him.
He held his breath, looked around and out through the window, but he saw nothing unusual. Then it came again, softer than the smallest summer breeze, and almost impossible to hear.
"Hermione...."
Dumbledore's heart skipped a beat with joy.
"Yes", he whispered, a broad smile awakening on his face. "YES!"
Harry and Ron didn't speak to her much, they were afraid they would say the wrong things and turn her silence into violent tears, but whenever they looked at her they felt their own spirit sink very low.
During Herbology that day, a note suddenly appeared in professor Sprout's dirty hands. She read it through and said aloud:
"Miss Granger. The headmaster wants to see you in his office, you are excused from this class."
Her head shot up. Dumbledore wanted to talk to her?
She collected her things and left the green house behind her, passed a hundred doors, corridors and staircases on her way up, and eventually she stood in front of the office. It felt like it had been years ago since she had come to it with Snape in her arms. The door was open, so she carefully knocked on it with her knuckles, then entered.
The portraits of old headmasters that covered the walls all looked at her with pity in their eyes.
"Poor girl", she heard one of them whisper.
Hermione saw professor Dumbledore standing by a sofa in front of a tall window, and she gasped loudly.
He was bending over Snape's body.
The old wizard straightened up and turned around to face her. She became as white as a sheet, unable to take her eyes off her beloved. The unicorn horn had been taken out of him, and although it had been three weeks since his death, he looked as if he was merely sleeping.
"Miss Granger?", Dumbledore said. "Are you all right?"
She didn't answer him. He picked up his wand from his desk and pointed at the floor, and one of the usual, comfortable armchairs grew out from it.
"Please sit down", he said. When Hermione still didn't move, he guided her to the chair and gently forced her down in it.
He sat down opposite her, and his blue eyes seemed to look right into her soul.
"I have asked you to come here for a very important reason", he said. "It is about professor Snape."
Hermione nodded.
"I'm sorry, sir."
She looked up at the old wizard, and asked nervously:
"Will I be expelled?"
"Good Merlin, no", Dumbledore said. "Hermione, I wanted you to come here to tell you that none of this was your fault. I know it may sound awful, but what you did was the only way for Severus, and I think you gave him a great gift when you..."
He didn't finish the sentence. He leaned forward a bit, and gently stroked Hermione's cheek with one of his long fingers. She looked into his kind eyes, and for the first time she felt a little calm again.
"He loved you, Hermione. I know he did, and I believe he was very happy when his miseries ended. Not only because they were over, but also because you were there with him."
"I love him too", she said.
Dumbledore's eyes sparkled for a second, but Hermione didn't notice.
"I am very glad to hear you say that, miss Granger.", he said. "Severus' life was not a happy one, and I dare say that you did more for him than anyone else has ever done, just by loving him. You saved him, Hermione, and you saved hundreds of people at the same time."
"But he is.... dead..."
"As long as someone remembers us, we can never die. He will always live, in your heart. That's true immortality. And who knows, maybe you will see each other again someday."
She closed her eyes, afraid that the tears would start falling again. She hated crying in front of people.
"Everything will be all right", professor Dumbledore said. Then he stretched out his hand and held out a bowl to Hermione.
"Lemon drops?"
The small, kind question seemed so far away from the topic, and so silly, that it made Hermione smile. A real smile woke up on her lips. It never grew big, but it was definitely there, and Dumbledore saw it.
"You can go now, Hermione", he said and helped himself to a lemon drop. "Thank you for coming. Oh, and I believe this is yours."
He slid his hand into his robes and pulled out Hermione's unicorn horn. It had been wiped clean from blood, and shimmered as beautifully as ever. At first she wanted to scream at the sight of it, it had killed Snape. But she took it in her hand and put it in her school bag instead, intending on hiding it forever in her dormitory.
"Thank you", she said.
She left the armchair, which sank back into the floor, and opened the door to the office. She threw one last, love filled look at Severus' peaceful face before she left the office to meet Harry and Ron in the Great Hall. It was dinner time.
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
For the first time in many weeks, the November evening sky outside of Hogwarts was clear, and the moon and a million stars had taken the opportunity to shine and sparkle their best, like actors entering a stage after the curtain rises. Professor Dumbledore was back in his office after dinner, studying a thick book. He couldn't concentrate, he had read the same two lines about thirteen times already. Eventually he closed the book with a bang that woke up one of the portraits.
"What's the noise about? I was having a great nap."
"Very sorry, Phineas", Dumbledore said to the wizard in Slytherin colours. The portrait gave him a haughty look, then it turned to Severus.
"Why is he still here? He's dead, isn't he?"
"Yes, he is dead", the headmaster said, trying to control his voice. "But don't you think there is something... unusual about him?"
"Other than his hair being so greasy I could use it as a mirror?"
"Yes, something other than that."
Dumbledore rose from his chair and walked over to Severus, who was lying on a sofa in front of the window. He touched the Potions master's cheek.
"He has been dead for three weeks. And yet... he looks fine."
"Maybe he is too bitter to even die like normal people. Why did you took out the unicorn horn, by the way?"
"Because it was a unicorn horn, those are very precious things, and it belonged to Hermione. Besides, when we bury the poor boy, I don't want that thing to point out of his chest."
Dumbledore didn't say anything about the wild hope he held inside him...
Phineas turned away from the headmaster and Snape, and went back to sleep within a few minutes.
Dumbledore continued to study Snape's calm face, and he remembered something he had heard a long time ago. An old rumour about wizard vampires... But the idea of it was too good to be true, Dumbledore knew more about wizard vampires than anyone else, and he had never heard about anything that confirmed this rumour. Still, he couldn't block out the light of hope that started to shine within him, like sun rays among the trees of the Forbidden forest.
Then it came.
Snape's right hand, which was hanging outside the sofa, moved its fore finger!
Dumbledore stared at it, but nothing more happened. The old wizard closed his eyes and shook his head. He must've imagined it, maybe his hopes played him tricks.
"Poor boy", he said, and turned away to get back to his book.
He sat down by his desk, opened the book at a random page and started to read again. Outside he could hear the wind sing around the corners of the castle, mixed with the sound of Phineas snoring. It was a peaceful evening, at one point Dumbledore thought the wind whispered to him.
A few seconds later he looked up from the book. Now he wasn't imagining it, the wind had definitely said something to him.
He held his breath, looked around and out through the window, but he saw nothing unusual. Then it came again, softer than the smallest summer breeze, and almost impossible to hear.
"Hermione...."
Dumbledore's heart skipped a beat with joy.
"Yes", he whispered, a broad smile awakening on his face. "YES!"
