{Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Universe was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books. I, therefore, own no parts of this.}
Chapter 3
Facade
Hermione groaned as she glanced bleary eyed at the alarm clock next to her bed. The numbers glowed an eerie red, too bright for her to focus on easily. It read 7:58 a.m., two minutes before her alarm would officially sound. She closed her eyes, wanting to stay under her warm blankets as long as possible. Two minutes were more than enough to savor her remaining moments of peace.
The alarm buzzed furiously, waking her as she dozed off again. Reaching up without even opening her eyelids, she shut it off and lay still. Mornings should not exist. She sat up slowly, throwing her covers off, stretching to remove any remains of sleep from her muscles. Swinging her legs over the side of her bed, she gasped at the coldness of the floor before locating her fuzzy slippers.
She meandered into the bathroom and began her morning routine as she did every morning. It was the only way she could get her self functioning at hours when she did not want to. Step one: wash face to remove any lingering sleepiness from her eyes. Step two: take a hot shower. Step three: cast hair removal charm on legs and underarms if needed. Step four: apply various lotions, potions, et cetera. Step four was a vital part of her routine. Working over a hot cauldron killed her skin and hair. The only way to prevent problems from occurring was to moisturize. She did not want to look like Snape after only a few years of her work.
Step five involved detangling her hair and styling it a practical manner and step six was locating clothing. Step seven was optional since it was only breakfast and she usually chose not to eat it any way, but step eight involved a meeting with a large mug of tea that completed her wake-up process. That was her morning. If something chose not to cooperate it put her off completely, usually resulting in what could only be called a "Bad Day."
This particular morning was obliging to her needs. By ten minutes to nine, she was completely ready to leave so she Floo-ed to Dumbledore's office. There were a few things she wanted to discuss with him before her partner showed up. She tossed the powder into the flames, waiting for them to glow green before hopping in. "Dumbledore's office; password: Lemon Drops."
Unfortunately for her, Snape had the same plan. He was seated in a squishy chair, looking uncomfortable and amiably chatting with the Headmaster. Dumbledore noticed her first as she brushed the soot from her robes. "Good morning, Miss Granger! You're right on time! Lemon drop?"
"No, thanks, not right now," she sat in the remaining squashy chair next to Snape, who gave no greeting but a slight incline of his head toward her. Obviously he didn't favor mornings too much either.
"Both of you are intelligent enough, so I am not going to beat around the bush with what I am asking you to do. Hogwarts is dying. The war sapped too much magic out of it. The castle only began to show the actual signs of it a few weeks ago or else we could have figured it out sooner. The failing was not apparent earlier from that the unimportant spells dissolved first, such as spells cast on the castle or those that accidentally hit the castle. These spells may have had no effect on mortar and stone, but they were magic nonetheless and the castle absorbed the power from them over the centuries since it was built. With all of that magic gone, the older spells are being to unravel. They aren't the major ones yet thankfully. As of now, it is only the simple spells, ones that keep the castle dustless or ones that are used to keep the tapestries from disintegrating. I've been noticing general wear and tear appearing in some spots. It is spreading and will only become worse."
He paused looking both of them in the eyes before continuing. "If we cannot stop its spread, Hogwarts will crumble to the ground, to never exist again. The spells that were cast to protect and build the school no longer exist in our world. If we fail, Hogwarts will be gone forever.
"Fortunately for us, I stumbled upon a room I had never seen before a few weeks ago. I was drawn to it as if it was something I needed to find. Inside was a simple pedestal with a roll of parchment placed upon it. I read the parchment and it gave me the answer I was hoping to find. There is a cure for Hogwarts, called the Founders' Potion. This potion was created by cooperation from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. By having all four working on it, it created strong magic to bind this school together."
Dumbledore smiled wanly at the two people in front of him. "The Potion is a difficult task with certain specification to brew it properly. It must be created through the joint efforts of a man and woman. Many of the plants used must be gathered from Helga Hufflepuff's private garden. At completion, both of you and the current Headmaster, whether it be myself or another, must venture down into the bowels of the castle and pour it on the corner stone at exactly midnight on a full moon. It is a task worthy of the two finest minds Hogwarts has ever produced." He sat back, hands folded loosely on his desk, letting them digest what they had just heard.
Hermione was shocked. She had done some research on the Founders' Potion, but there was not much on the topic. Much of what she had found had only stated it was the basis of Hogwarts' magic, but not that without the potion in time, the school would be destroyed. The mere thought of life without Hogwarts was enough to make her stomach churn. But if that was what needed to be accomplished, she would do all that she could to do it.
Severus was surprised, but not quite as shocked as the young woman. He, too, had noticed some of the differences in the castle when he had visited in the past few days, but never fully understood what was causing them. His knowledge on the Potion was as much as Hermione had learned. It was not a useful potion to know or use on a daily basis, so he had not felt the need to research it too much. Then again, he had complete confidence that he could brew any potion in existence.
The only problem either of them could see was locating any ingredients that ceased to exist. The actual brewing was not too much of a concern, but brewing it together was. They had worked together only a few times when Hermione had received detention from her escapades with Ron and Harry. Snape knew she was good, but that was about it.
"May I see the ingredients list, sir?" Hermione spoke up while Snape pondered if he could deal with working with her, despite that she was an obnoxious know-it-all. It would be difficult.
"Certainly," Dumbledore passed her the roll of parchment and she scanned it quickly, taking mental notes of what they would need to revise.
Snape glared at her for hogging the parchment when he should have been the one reading it first. Hermione gave him the parchment unwillingly, not wanting to part with such as marvelous discovery.
"This will have to work, Albus. Some of the ingredients are illegal, but I have a few contacts that I should be able to get them from. A few of the ones added in later phases of the potion will have to be modified though," he spoke in his typical silky tones, making Dumbledore confident in his decision of the two of them.
"How much modification?" the Headmaster questioned out of curiosity.
"I'm not completely certain yet. I will have to test a few different ideas. Some of these ingredients are no longer available, but substitutions can be made accordingly."
"Wonderful! I have every confidence that this will be a success and we can get Hogwarts back to its former glory by next September."
"Ten months?" Hermione asked in a worried tone. "I don't know if we'll be able to finish with the testing and modifications by then, but I suppose we can try."
"It will be completed before this school starts up again next fall," Severus added at the same time.
"Very well," Dumbledore smiled. "I must excuse myself now; I have another meeting with the professors in a few minutes. Have a good afternoon!"
"Thank you, Headmaster," Hermione took an offered lemon drop before leaving.
"We will not fail, Albus," The Slytherin looked him in the eye after the girl had exited.
"I have every confidence in you, my boy." Snape left in a cloud of black robes.
Hermione stood waiting for Severus outside the Headmaster's office. He brushed past her without stopping, so she decided to follow him. "So when do we start, Professor?"
Snape stopped mid-stride to look at her. "I am no longer a professor; there is no need to call me such. We will discuss everything later. Follow me."
"Then what may I call you?"
"Severus will do since we will be working as colleagues now, Miss Granger."
"Hermione, then, please. It's only fair."
"Very well." He stopped at the door leading to the Floo fireplaces. "Come. We are traveling to Snape Manor. Say it clearly. I will go first." He threw a handful of powder into the flames and jumped in, shouting "Snape Manor," as he did so. Hermione went after he disappeared, though more cautiously.
She appeared in a simply decorated hallway and glanced about, noticing Snape standing with his arms crossed nearby. "Welcome to my home. This is where we will be experimenting with the potion."
Hermione felt awkward being in her ex-professor's dwelling. It wasn't as grand or as magnificent as most pureblood houses, but it worked perfectly fine for a single bachelor living alone. His parents resided in the other larger house that was more up to par with typical pure tastes. "Wouldn't be easier to work in a full laboratory?"
"Of course. My private lab is in the dungeons underneath the living areas."
"Oh," she chided herself for not thinking of that sooner. Naturally, any Potions Master would have a private laboratory in their own home.
"Come along, I will show you to your rooms." Snape turned to walk down another hall.
"Wait a second, you just said my rooms?"
"Correct. Is there anything wrong with that?"
"I just wasn't expecting to be staying here permanently for a while."
Snape glared at her. "It would be the easiest if both of us lived under one roof along with the potion we are brewing so that it can be monitored correctly."
"Why can't I just Floo in from my apartment or Apparate here?" She was almost terrified of having to live in the same house with a man she barely knew, especially since it was his house.
"Miss Granger, you are staying her in this house until the completion of the Founders' Potion. Headmaster Dumbledore gave me permission to house you here in order to keep what we will be working on absolutely top secret. If you were to stay in your apartment, people may get suspicious if you began Flooing or Apparating to Snape Manor every day."
"I live alone."
"The Ministry still keeps track of everyone's whereabouts. Albus made it clear to me that no one else was to know about the project. We've wasted enough time already discussing this. Follow me."
Hermione trailed behind attempting to recall the route she took from the hallway to the rooms she was given. The house wasn't very large for a manor which made life easier for her. She nearly collided with Snape as he stopped in front of a nondescript wooden door.
"This will be your room. House elves have already been sent to your apartment to bring everything you will need for the next few months. You should find everything in here. If you wish, I can send a few more elves to pick up anything else you require. Albus did suggest moving everything out of your apartment and putting what you don't need for the time being into storage so you will not have to pay rent."
"If I am staying here, then that would be a better option. If you don't mind, I'm going to get my stuff organized and see if anything is missing."
"Very well. I will send an elf up when it is time for dinner."
"Thank you, Severus," Hermione gave him a small grin. Poor man probably had a fit when Albus suggested that they live in the same house, Snape's house nonetheless. Little did she know that it was actually the Slytherin's suggestion.
{Author's Note: This chapter is short and pointless, but I wanted to get something posted before I left for Florida with the marching band. Yay! I like this fic. I got 11 reviews on one chapter! That's more than I have ever gotten before! Yay!
Lama: I write as fast as my schedule lets me, which is not as fast as I want to.
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Peace, Love, and Lemon Drops, Nataly Ravenlock}