Chapter 6 – Thaw in December
The month of December passed, if not in mutual friendship, at least not in the open hostility that had marked most of November. Now, however, a little of the resentment was rising again as Christmas approached. He supposed his company could not make up for the loss of her parents and the absence of her so-called friends. In sympathy with Potter, she had spent all of her holidays since her first year at Hogwarts – except the one after the attack on Arthur Weasley. He still thought Potter and Weasley merely took advantage of their friendship with the girl, while she put up with it by lack of real friends.
When Severus got to the breakfast parlour on December 23rd, he noticed someone had decorated it. Judging from the face of the girl and the style of decorating, he surmised Albus had paid them a visit. From the day of the funeral on, Severus had forced himself to meet the girl at least at meals. Despite himself, he felt not a little responsible for her well-being.
On examining the chimneypiece, he discerned several Merry Christmas cards. Of course all cards were for the girl, except the one Albus had sent them. The senders certainly didn't know where, and with whom, the girl was hiding, otherwise they wouldn't have wished her a Merry Christmas, but something like Good Luck – or condoled her right away. Which reminded him of the fact not a single condolence card had been sent after the death of her parents.
The girl had to be immerged in the same kind of thoughts, he thought. She looked rather worse than she had done during the last two weeks. She had been putting up some kind of show for him, he guessed, not wanting to show him how she really felt. Now, however, she wasn't able to hide it.
"Miss Granger," he asked. "Are you all right?" She looked up, suddenly more furious than sad.
"Do I look 'all right', Professor?" Wrong question, indeed, he thought. She only used his title now when she was furious.
"No, Miss Granger, frankly, you don't. That's why I asked." That was apparently too much for her, as she ran crying from the rooms. And that when he hadn't even come close to his usual classroom sneer.
-^-^-
On Christmas Eve, the atmosphere was one of little more than politeness. He hadn't seen the girl since she had fled the room and had sent the house elf to inquire after her plans for Christmas Eve. The elf had come back with a report of 'Miss crying her eyes out over the cruel remarks he had mades.' He had merely added that to her strained nerves, but sent a quite formal invitation for Christmas Dinner nevertheless. The house elf had insisted on using the formal dining room, which Dumbledore had decorated as well. He hadn't put live fairies into the Christmas tree, though; probably assuming they wouldn't be appreciated. The icicles did a nice job as well, Severus thought; and they were much more representative for the atmosphere.
Dinner was excellent, as everything the house elf – Lizzy – made. She had even added a matching bottle of wine. Though it didn't improve the atmosphere, it at least gave them something to do. Unsurprisingly, the first bottle was soon empty; and rising to the girls' cheeks. After dessert, a rather delicious strawberry-lemon trifle tart, they were ushered into the drawing room for coffee. He was strongly reminded of formal dinners at Malfoy Manor, where after dinner men would go to the library, to join the ladies in the drawing room only for coffee.
He looked around curiously; after Dumbledore's Guided Tour, he hadn't been in here. The room had some large windows, looking eastward. On closer look, it appeared to be right under his chambers. The furniture was elegant, but functional. There were some comfortable chairs, a round table for various purposes, and a small square table, at which appeared to be a chess set.
"Miss Granger, would you care for a game of chess?" he asked, before he knew what he said. She looked up in as much surprise as he felt.
"Of course, Professor. Though I have to admit that Ron would be the better player," she answered with a malevolent smile. He decided not to react on that remark. Automatically, he walked towards the black pieces, as she sat down at the white ones. How ironic, he thought, black against white, guilt against innocence, him against her.
The opening moves went fairly fast. She had obviously played more often than him, lately. He studied the game intently, resolved not to make any stupid mistakes. Thus, he didn't notice she was studying his face, instead of the pieces.
The rattling of cups on saucers announced the coffee was ready. The house elf had laden the table with chocolate, sweets, scones, fruit and other food, as if they hadn't just had a copious dinner. The girl was now pouring coffee and handed him a cup. He decided to take a simple scone with it, as that seemed to be the least sweet of the things on the table. They enjoyed their coffee in mutual silence, and as soon as he had drained his cup the girl proposed to continue their game.
During their third game – he had won both other games, though be it barely – the doorbell rang. Both jumped, as nobody would know of their hiding place. Then, the house elf appeared.
"Master Dumbledore to see you, sir and miss," it squeaked. He exhaled audibly, furious with himself for overlooking the obvious. Next to him he heard another sigh of relief, noting that the girl had made the same mistake.
-^-^-
Albus Dumbledore entered, not with his usual flair, but in a more subdued manner. His first concern was the girl.
"How are you, Hermione?" he asked. She shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm fine, sir," she answered, but her eyes, suddenly shining with tears, said quite the contrary. She blinked, struggling not to break down in front of her Professor and the Headmaster. Dumbledore friendly patted her on her shoulder.
"It's not your fault, Hermione," Dumbledore contradicted what the girl must have been thinking. "For Voldemort, it was merely an excuse. You could have done nothing." This was too much for the girl. She now started to sob slightly.
"It … it was my fault. They were killed because he was looking for me. And they didn't know where I was, or whether I was all right. They… they thought I was at Hogwarts. They hadn't seen me longer than about a day for… more than three years." She was right out crying now, while Dumbledore had put a hand on her shoulder.
"Good girl, just cry it out now," he said. "You just needed that. Severus is a good man; he just has a hard time showing it. Come, come." Severus grunted in disagreement.
Addressing Severus, the Headmaster added: "Severus, could you pour us another cup of coffee? And add one of those delicious-looking chocolate cakes, would you?" The girl took her cup from him and calmed down a bit. She had now stopped crying and their silence was only interrupted by occasional hiccoughs. When he had finished his coffee, and a considerable amount of the sweets the House elf had prepared, the Headmaster started his usual chatter.
"Well, Severus, what have you been doing lately?" he asked. "Do you miss frightening your students? Or have you taken it all on Miss Granger?"
"Albus," Severus said in a warning manner, while shaking his head. "I have attended her parents' funeral, even spoken at it, on her behalf. What makes you believe I would want to venture my supposed cruelty on her?"
"Severus, I am not accusing you. I was merely trying to get a conversation going." The Headmaster answered.
"Well, in that case, I have been doing about anything I haven't got the time for due to the teaching. Reading, mostly." He retorted shortly.
"Don't forget our research, Professor," the girl now interjected.
"Your research? As in, research by the both of you?" The elderly wizard inquired with a spark in his eyes.
"Yes, 'our' does usually mean more than one person, Albus. We did some research on Animagus potions. Unfortunately, some accident prevented further testing."
"An accident? Would you care to elaborate, Severus?" On seeing the look on his face, he asked the girl.
"Hermione? What happened?" The girl now tried to back out.
"O, it was nothing serious, Headmaster. At least nothing that couldn't be cured." Unfortunately, Albus Dumbledore was about the last person you should lie to, with Tom Riddle as a close second.
"Severus and Hermione. Tell me what happened now and don't try to fool me." Dumbledore said, now his eyes without sparkles. Luckily, for Severus, the girl got scared now. Of course, she hadn't seen the headmaster often other than at mealtimes, and then from a distance. Though she had been quite actively involved in working for the Order during the last summer holidays, Dumbledore had always been busy and never spent much time at Grimmauld Place.
"Well, I was… er…. Turned into a … cat… sort of…. sir." She stammered. The wizard nodded now. "Only it wasn't… I wasn't… really… a proper cat. It… I …had no fur."
Dumbledore looked at Severus accusingly. The second only nodded, as there was nothing else to do.
"Severus?" Dumbledore asked inquiringly, "Why would you want to invent an Animagus Potion?" Severus started pacing to and fro in front of the seats the others occupied
"What else could I do? You bereft me of my job, which, if nothing else, is a useful way to spend my time. You all but locked me up in here, together with the Gryffindor know-it-all, who might be the only student currently at Hogwarts worth teaching, except that there is nothing left to teach her." He saw his student blush at that, so she knew this was a compliment. Luckily, the twinkle was back in the old fool's eyes now, meaning he was safe. He continued pacing: four steps, turn, four steps back
"I want to do something, Albus. When spying, I was at least useful to our cause. Now I'm merely sitting here, being safe while others are in danger, being empty while others are busy, being... well, to state it as it is, being useless, utterly useless. I'd rather go back to Voldemort and spy." He halted for a moment, giving the other wizard a meaningful glare.
"Come off it, Severus. You know you would be killed. Instantaneously." He saw the girl looking in his direction incredulously. Then she cut in as well.
"I agree with Professor Snape. If Voldemort thinks me a threat, then let me be one. I read almost the entire Hogwarts library – yes, that is including most of the Restricted Section. I helped Harry get to the Stone in my first year and brewed a Polyjuice Potions in my second. In my third year I took all subjects available and I only dropped Muggle Studies and Divination to be able to get a normal schedule. I was the only one to work out Professor Lupin was a werewolf – thanks to you, by the way, Professor. Voldemort killed my parents; not only do I want to see him killed, I want to bring about his downfall. His final downfall." Now she had left her chair and taken to pacing the room like he had done. Four steps, turn, four steps in opposite direction. He wondered if she realised she was copying her Potions Master. Albus certainly had noticed, for he looked in his direction and winked.
"Albus, do be serious about this. What is the situation like?" Severus asked in a pressing manner.
"Well, I would say most things are going as planned. We are waiting for Voldemort to make his next move. We do not have any inside information; now you have been discovered, our most useful source of that has been blocked. I won't pretend to know what he is up to. Meanwhile, the Wizarding community is holding its breath." Suddenly the ancient wizard looked tired.
"And Harry? How is he doing?" the girl asked.
"Harry Potter is doing very well indeed. He has dropped Divination – a very wise decision, in my opinion – and takes lessons in the Dark Arts instead." The girl gasped. "Yes, the Dark Arts themselves, not merely Defence. It is the only way for him to be able to kill Voldemort. And he is the only one who can do it. We can assist him, of course, but he will have to do the actually killing – if there is enough life left to speak of killing."
"There is," was all Severus said. The girl looked at him, not understanding.
"There is enough human left in him to die. When he regained a body, he didn't return to his full strength – the strength he had before his downfall. I felt the change; his curses were less strong during the past few years." He had taken to pacing again and spoke in his teaching voice. "The ritual that gave him his current... form, made him once again susceptible to that what he fears most: death."
"But how?" the girl asked. "I mean, just casting 'Avada Kedavra' won't do it, right? Apart from the question whether Harry can summon enough strength to kill, there is the problem with the wand cores. Harry can't use his wand against Voldemort any more than Voldemort can use his wand against Harry." Severus nodded; he had heard the story about what had happened on the graveyard.
"Exactly," Dumbledore said, smiling under his beard. "That would be where the two of you come in. I want you to make a poison that is capable of killing Voldemort, if thrown by Harry. Can I trust you with this... assignment without the danger of your poisoning each other?" They both nodded. "Very well, then. I will return to Hogwarts now. I'll send Fawkes around for information."
"Please give my regards to my friends, Headmaster," the girl said by means of goodbye.
"Good night, Albus," was all Severus added, before the ancient wizard Disapparated.
-^-^-
They didn't finish their game of chess, but both went to bed soon after Dumbledore had left. They both wanted to start making the poison as soon as possible, as if that somehow would shorten their stay together. However, for the first days after Dumbledore had given them their task, they had to content themselves with theoretical research rather than practical. They searched for substances that easily passed the barrier formed by the skin, because the poison had to work externally. Finally, they agreed on using lethifold venom, which dissolved the human skin entirely. Once the barrier had been broken, more lethal substances would do the final damage. The result would not induce a 'clean' death, but probably provoke a fair amount of nightmares to lookers-on.
Acquiring lethifold venom, however, was an entirely different matter. Being classified as Class A Non-Tradable Goods, even the smallest part of a lethifold was hard to come by. To get enough venom to work with, they had to lay hands on an entire lethifold.
They postponed dealing with that problem and started working on the 'inner poison' as they had termed it. The girl seemed determined to cause the Dark Wizard as much pain as possible and suggested several very painful, but slow-acting substances. He could agree with her sentiments, but wanted the potion to work visibly, thus enabling them to ascertain Voldemorts death. Besides, they had to make sure the different agents wouldn't counteract each other. For instance, an agent to quicken the heart rate, causing the heart to beat itself to death, couldn't be given together with a substance that slowed the heart, thus cutting of the oxygen supply to vital organs. The substances would neutralize each other, not causing any damage.
The lethifold venom led to yet another problem. Being very aggressive, the venom would cause any other organic substance – like most poisons – to disintegrate, leaving it useless. It was impossible to keep any other agent intact for longer than a few minutes when dissolved in lethifold venom. As diluting the venom was not an option, for it would reduce the activity, they had to make two separate potions, to be joined just before throwing it. The 'inner poison' had to be, if possible, immiscible with the 'outer poison', as that reduced the chance of disintegration dramatically.
Despite their thorough analysis of the problem, they wouldn't get any further without the lethifold. On New Year's Eve, Lizzy had prepared several delicious treats, meant to last the entire evening. Fawkes came and dropped off a bottle of champagne, accompanied by a note from Dumbledore. They returned another note, outlining the problem and the possible solutions. After that they kept discussing the solutions, trying to make out which one had the best chances to work.
When the girl tried to stifle yet another yawn – and failed miserably – Severus noticed it was only a few minutes short of midnight. Seemingly, the house elf had noticed as well, for she came in with the bottle of champagne and two glasses. Severus uncorked the bottle and poured two, rather large, glasses of champagne.
"Happy New Year, Professor," she said at the stroke of twelve, now using his title in a friendly manner again.
"The same to you, Miss Granger," he answered.
"Hermione," she said softly, more speaking to the floor than to him, "please call me Hermione. I won't mind calling you 'professor' but 'Miss Granger' is so impersonal. It drives me crazy."
"Severus," he said equally soft. The girl now looked up at him in surprise, and then raised her glass.
"To the downfall of Voldemort," she said, looking him straight in the eyes. He nodded and clinked his glass to hers.
"To the downfall of Voldemort." She came nearer, but seemed to hesitate. Then, summoning an amount of courage unheard of even for Gryffindor, she kissed him on his lips, and then swiftly got out of the room.