7. [ The Serpent's Dent ]
The flames let shadows dance over her face and she pulled the blanket tighter around her frail body warming her fingers with a cup of hot steaming tea. On the way across the grounds she had experienced that the weather could be quite chilly even in September and so she was happy to curl up in the large arm chair in front of the now lit chimney.
Snape had decided that she was to wait here in the dungeons without attending dinner as he was unsure how things would turn out to be with Dumbledore's announcement. Filled with only a tiny bit of apprehension as of the reaction of her schoolmates she realized that it should indeed bother her more how they would react. But truth be told it didn't and right now she closed her eyes and drifted into sleep.
She couldn't have been sleeping for long when she felt a slight tugging at her arm and slowly opened her eyes. Dobby stood before her jumping up and down in excitement dressed as usual in wildly coloured clothes that looked quite mismatched.
"Oh, oh Miss, Dobby hopes Miss is not angry. Master told Dobby to bring dinner for Miss and Master will be mad when Miss complains about Dobby."
Taking in a deep breath and realizing that she was indeed hungry she noticed for the first time the tray with a nice selection of some meat, vegetables and potatoes with a piece of cake and a glass of pumpkin juice. Beaming down at Dobby she carefully extended her limbs.
"No Dobby, don't worry. I am glad you woke me up, I am awfully hungry. Thanks."
Smiling proudly Dobby jumped even higher.
"Anything else Dobby can do for Miss? Anything, Dobby can do!"
"No thank you. I am fine for now. But Dobby, can you tell me where my belongings are. They aren't still in Gryffindor tower?" asked Hermione already fearing she had to face her friends tonight.
But thankfully Dobby shook his head and pointed to a door at one end of the cosy living room.
"Dobby got it here this afternoon. Master told Dobby to get rooms for Miss ready and Dobby did. Everything is here already."
"Thank you again, Dobby. You can leave now. You were great help."
Beaming one more time he snipped his fingers and was gone. Without further ado Hermione gripped her fork and knife and started enjoying the delicious food until she felt utterly stuffed. Contently she leaned back in the chair sipping on the juice.
Why couldn't life always be like this? So easy, so enjoyable? Sighing she looked up and inspected the room for the first time. It was warm and cosy with one wall right to the door being almost completely filled with a large chimney and lots of shelves filled with books. In front of the room were two arm chairs with pillows and blankets and a wooden ebony table in between. A dark red carpet covered most of the wooden floor and a desk and a chair stood underneath an enchanted window which showed a dark garden right now. Another cupboard was placed adjacent to the door which obviously led to her bedroom. On the other side of the room in a corner there was another door leading someplace else.
After what seemed like hours but was in reality not more than a couple of minutes she raised herself from her comfortable chair and crossed the floor to have a closer look at her bedroom. It was held mostly in wood and some scarlet colours and looked like the living room very inviting. A door led to a small but wonderful bathroom complete with a tub and all kinds of bath oils and a huge wardrobe filled most of the wand left to the door. The room was dominated by a huge four poster bed with a scarlet curtain and a small night table. Her belongings were placed around the room and Crookshanks who was still insulted that he had to share his bed in London with Snape was curled up on the bed and ignored her.
Chuckling she exited the room and took a closer look at the books on the beautiful carved shelf and was delighted when it turned out to be valuable books which she suspected were part of the potions Master's collection. Her look fell on the small hidden door and her curiosity made her push down the handle. Carefully she opened the door and stood in another world.
It was a bedroom like hers but completely barren. Cold stone floor and stone walls, an unlit chimney and no window made the room look like a prison cell in Azkaban. A small bed with dark green sheets stood on one wall and a tiny cupboard was placed across the room. A very old and rampaged wardrobe stood in the corner.
Tentatively she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. She felt a painful pull in her stomach as to who owned this room. Crossing the room she found her suspicions confirmed when she saw the small trunk with Severus personal things in one corner obviously placed here by a house elf. Nowhere was anything nice, anything with colours besides the sheets and she heavily sat down on the bed.
Why was he living like that? This wasn't at all like he wanted to feel at home here. Nobody should live in such a cold heartless environment.
She heard a metal clicking sound as if somebody was opening the door and before she could react a door next to the wardrobe opened and Snape stepped into the room. His face looked surprised for a moment when he noticed his visitor but then his sneer was in place again.
"And I was already looking for you. I should have just considered the fact that you are a Gryffindor and would succumb to you curiosity and gone here straight away."
Her face was unreadable and frowning he stepped closer trying to figure out what was wrong with this girl.
"Do you live here, Professor Snape?" Her voice sounded pained.
Nodding he stepped to the trunk and got some books out of it withdrawing from the temptation to simply kick her out. It wasn't his nature to let people interrogate him and he had an awful feeling that this was what she was trying to do.
"There are no personal things here. Do you have another room?"
Pointing towards another door he turned around placing the books in a shelf over the cupboard. "I have my office which is over there and my living room which has been transformed to suit your tastes."
Her face had paled. "But, I know your office and it is awful. There is nothing beautiful there and it simply looks like a tomb. You cannot live in here-" she said pointing around her in the small room.
Turning around he leaned against the empty stone wall and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"And, pray tell, why not?"
Getting up Hermione made the short distance to the tall figure of the potions Master and grasped his arm forcing him to uncross them.
"Because this is not good for you, Severus." Gazing into his black depth she remembered him telling her to never loose a staring duel with a Slytherin and held his angry and defiant glance.
His voice had turned soft and silken which she had learned in the last fourteen days was a sign that he was getting annoyed.
"Who says that, Hermione?"
"I say that." She had to admit it was harder to hold his gaze now that his eyes had turned stormy and she had the impression that mentally he was counting to ten.
"Oh, and why do you think you have gained the right to judge about things like this?"
"Because I care." It was almost whispered but she saw the short gleam of shock in his eyes before they turned dark again.
"Be that as it may, but I choose to live like this. It's my decision Hermione."
Sighing she cast her glance through the room again. "I still don't see why anybody would want to live like this. But you are right, it is your decision and if you really want to live here in these surroundings I will accept that."
Satisfied he nodded and after a second of hesitation her gently placed his right arm on her shoulder. His voice sounded almost a tad uncertain.
"Was that our first argument?"
She shook her head and smiled carefully as not to make him feel laughed about.
"No, we just discussed a principle. I am glad we are okay. Are we?"
"Yes. Have you eaten already?"
Understanding his need to change the subject she turned towards the living room.
"Dobby brought me some dinner. It was delicious as always."
Gracefully she sank into the comfortable arm chair and tugged her legs under herself. Snape approached the cupboard and poured himself a fire whiskey.
"How was the feast?" Her voice sounded muffled by her hair but she felt awfully tired all in a sudden.
Sitting down on the other chair Snape shrugged off his robe and rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt.
"It went well. Albus informed the students of the fact that through ancient magic we are now bonded and that it was an accident of sorts. He also announced that you were to stay in the dungeons for further protection. I think we won't be facing any more questions."
"Good." It sounded drowsy and her head sank down on her shoulder.
Chuckling the potions Master sipped from his glass taking the opportunity to watch Hermione. Her face was partially hidden by dark curls and her neck bowed down in a graceful curve. Pity she was a student and so young- it didn't happen often that a woman combined a nice appearance with a brilliant brain. Never had so far to such an extent that he had considered to stay.
Drowning the whiskey he got up and made the glass disappear with a wave of his wand. Gently he pushed most of the hair from her face and realized that the girl was sleeping. Smiling for once without all the sneering and venom he carefully picked her up and carried her to her bedroom. With another wave of his wand she was dressed in her pyjamas and he tenderly tugged her in.
Straightening he gently placed a soft kiss on her forehead and whispered "Good night". When he left the room Hermione smiled softly.
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… it was dark here, wherever here was. She had awoken and realized with sudden horror that she was chained to a wall with iron cuffs that differed so much from the velvet chain around her wrist, the one that declared her marriage to Severus Snape to the world. Somehow she knew that it was destined to be, it was what would have to happen and she knew she should wear it with pride instead of shame.
A face appeared in the darkness. Dumbledore. He would free her. But there was no twinkle in his eyes this time. He seemed distant and dead serious.
"Professor, please help me." Her voice was confident that he would.
"This is where you are meant to be Hermione. It is your destiny. I can't and I won't free you from it my child." He sounded honestly miserable about that.
"But why do I belong here? And where is here?"
He shook his head and averted his eyes.
"Too soon my dear. It will all become clear to you why fate has decided to put you in exactly this place. Later…"
Hermione awoke and felt her heart beating rapidly away in her chest. She felt not really afraid like when she had awoken from one of the nightmares with Malfoy, more very uneasy and – well maybe partly scared.
For a moment she hesitated and clutched the blanket to her chest in a vain attempt to chase off the negative feelings. She could have never said why she felt so strongly about that dream, only that she somehow knew it was of importance. The things Dumbledore had said were important for her but she didn't like the sound of it much.
Getting up and tipping over the soft carpet she crossed the space until she reached the door to Snape's bedroom. Shortly she really considered going inside but then she rather grasped a scarlet bathrobe and left the living room. Maybe taking a short walk in the dungeons would make her so tired that she would be able to sleep. She only had to make sure that she didn't come near the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Filch never was down here since he trusted Snape to cover that area. If Snape found her she knew he would simply take her back probably without taking any house points.
Carefully she kept track of where she was going as not to get lost but she had a pretty good orientation so she wasn't majorly worried. If all things failed she could apparate back- apparating inside the Hogwarts grounds was possible as Snape had told her in the afternoon. It was eerie and very dark in the dungeon so she cast a light with her wand. It wasn't doing much but at least she could see where she was going. The corridors looked old and worn here as if nobody had walked this path for a long time. There were no doors here and the corridor seemed to lead straight into the darkness.
After what felt like an eternity she reached a wooden door with an incurved crest on it- the snake gave away that it was the Slytherin crest. It glowed in a soft green colour and Hermione could have sworn that the door had appeared out of nowhere a second ago. By now her Gryffindor curiosity had been challenged and carefully she touched the handle and pushed it down.
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In the same moment Severus Snape woke from his restless sleep and hastily left his room to have a look at Hermione. He had the strangest dream and he had to make sure that she was sound sleeping in her bed. Even before he saw her vacated bed he knew that he had failed in protecting her. Albus Dumbledore sat on her bed watching him gravely.
"It's time Severus. She has just entered the chamber and you have to prepare for when she will return. I have to visit the ministry to consult with some friends. In case you need me use the usual way to contact me."
With that he was gone as if he had turned to air and left Severus Snape alone in his wife's bedroom contemplating the unfairness of life. Sighing he left the room and began to dress. He had work to do.
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The room she now stood in was huge. It was more spacious than the great hall simply because there was nothing in it but a huge stone throne that was empty right now. It reminded her a bit of the chamber of secrets; even so she had never been there Harry had told her about his experience in all detail. It looked very worn and some stone columns had collapsed and the room was at some places covered with water that was collected in puddles.
Curiously Hermione stepped nearer to a column and had a closer look at it. It was very large, more than twice the size of Professor Snape and had an even surface. To her surprise the material looked a bit like the material her necklace was made of, only not silvery but almost black for some reason. When she touched it it felt cold and dead.
There were no ornaments on the columns only some old runes that Hermione had never seen in her life. Regretting that Snape wasn't with her she moved away from the column and closer to the throne. It was even larger when she got nearer and it was obviously from the same material as the rest of the hall. This time there were ornaments- serpents of all kinds and various no doubt old runes and symbols. For a moment she considered all facts and then understanding began to dawn. She was somewhere in the dungeons and judging from the turns she had taken this hall was located somewhere underneath the lake. In this room serpents were no doubt the most common decoration and when she rubbed a bit on some part of the throne underneath the black some greenish colour appeared.
It all screamed Slytherin here in the end. But what was this place for? She tried to understand why she felt not at all alien here, not like she was uncomfortable around a place where she as a Gryffindor didn't belong. She felt at home, like a piece of jewellery that was finally returned to its master. She only wished Snape could be here with her. But maybe he knew about this place? He knew the dungeons better than anybody else, from his prowling of the corridors late at nigh he was familiar with the whole of Hogwarts at least. Maybe he had been here before and maybe she could ask him what this place was about?
"Severus has never been here I am afraid."
Spinning around Hermione found herself faced with- nothing. There was nobody here. Looking around and trying to detect where the voice had come from she walked away from the throne. All in a sudden the danger of the situation made itself aware to her. She was somewhere in the dungeons and nobody knew she was here. The whole room screamed danger and in this moment she wanted to leave.
"Why do you want to leave already, Hermione? We've only just begun our little experiment. We have some more time until you have to return."
The voice sounded husky and old but with some amusement thrown in at good measure. It reminded her a bit of Snape's voice at times. When she looked to the throne again this time she was surprised by the translucent figure of a ghost sitting some feet above the surface and obviously judging from his pleased expression he was enjoying himself.
He was very tall, that she could see from her point of view. And he even looked a bit like Snape. Dark hair that went down to his back, curling wildly, a very pale sallow skin that spoke of many nights and days in the dungeons and his eyes were other than Snape's ones bright blue. They even twinkled a bit like Dumbledore's but his were more laced with irony. He wore a black robe that spoke of wealth and was littered with silver coloured symbols and runes and he wore a bracelet that she couldn't quite see from where she was standing. Could it be a serpent?
He nodded obviously satisfied with her. "Very good Hermione. I see that they are right- you are indeed a brilliant mind. So now tell me: what is the conclusion to that? Who am I?"
Hermione looked at him contemplating. Good, he wanted to challenge her. She loved being challenged, loved quizzes and puzzles and this was an interesting one. She wasn't afraid any longer- a ghost couldn't harm her and somehow she knew that he wasn't here to inflict any kind of pain.
"Hmm." Placing one hand on her chin, something she liked to do when thinking she began to pace the hall which turned out to be smaller in reality than she had anticipated which was quite common in the magical world. Ordering her thoughts she began to state the facts.
"Well, from what I know since were are in the dungeons here, a lot of serpents and green is used in this hall and you remind me a bit of Professor Snape with your pale skin I would have to guess that you have something to do with the house of Slytherin." Seeing his nod of approval she continued "Can I have a look at your bracelet?"
His eyes lit up and clasped in his hands. "Bravo. You are quite brilliant indeed. Once there was this boy who was here shortly but he bored me after a while. He never got that far without me showing him the bracelet to not waste my time with him all night. Had a terrible name, what was it?"
"Tom Riddle?"
He looked up surprised and nodded again. "Yes indeed. I see you know him. Now come and have a look at my bracelet!"
Inching closer Hermione saw the bracelet clearly now. It was indeed a serpent with emerald eyes and it was biting into its own tail. It was glowing in a green light and tentatively she read what was engraved into the material.
Founder of Hogwarts, potions Master and Merlin's follower.
She looked up smiling in wonder. "You are Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts aren't you?"
"Right in one guess Hermione. But I have to disappoint you- I am merely a shadow of the great Salazar Slytherin. I am what's left behind, a ghost, a memory that has been preserved here for too long already."
Eagerness showed on her face when she looked at him.
"But you have all his memories right?"
"Yes I do. But before you ask I won't share anything with you right now. I want you to return, need you to return in fact for reasons that I can't enlighten you with at it is. I promise you next time I am going to answer some of your questions Hermione."
She nodded knowing that similar to Snape he wouldn't change his mind.
"Now leave and go back to your bed. You have school tomorrow and you need your sleep. And I figure Severus might be a tad worried so better go. I see you tomorrow."
And with that she left through the door turning around one last time. He was gone.