Mephistopheles
By- TheGreyLady (immaculatecalypso@hotmail.com)
Chapter 2~ Entering Purgatory
It was risky but it would get her out of the damn house. In the event that the plan worked out according to design, Hermione stood the chance of escaping her predicament with her sanity intact. It was a risk she felt like she had to take.
She listened to Harry as he explained the story, the solution that she had been searching for over the past eight days. She was somewhat surprised. While Harry and Ron had been going through the Ministry to find applicable solutions, Hermione had been soul searching to discover one that would simply allow her to continue living her life.
This had happened because the Dementors were gone, Harry had said, which was actually a mixed blessing. It was good because the Death Eaters, namely Snape, were still able to be disposed of. It was bad because whatever process had accomplished it left each individual a mindless slave.
Funny… but then again, lots of things were funny.
No Dementors meant no kisses. No kisses meant these people still had souls. He could still be saved. For all intents and purposes, their essences had been removed. Intelligence, personality, free will, and abilities all extricated from their bodies.
Removed, she thought, but not gone. They were stored at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Mysteries, a place Harry and Ron were not particularly eager to go to for their own reasons. It was merely a matter of retrieving the goods and putting them back into Snape, turning him back into his original self. She didn't like him much as a whole man but she was sick of him being half a man in her home, constantly reminding her of the things she was so tired of thinking about.
"How are we going to do this?" She whispered.
"You plus me times Invisibility Cloak divided by the Ministry equals Snape, a whole man again." Harry said.
"How long did it take you to come up with that one?" she giggled softly, instantly feeling guilty. "What about Snape?"
"Ron's already agreed to baby-sit."
She glanced at Ron, "That seems somewhat uncharacteristic for you, Ron. Giving up an adventure to spend time with Snape?"
"We all remember what happened the last time I was in the Department of Mysteries," Ron gestured to his skull, "I'm not aiming to go out and have it happen again."
Harry whipped out his cloak before she could come up with a suitable response and shot her a smile that would send many girls to their knees. "We can go now."
"Harry," she smiled as she said it, "have I told you lately that I love you?"
Gallantly falling to one knee, Harry smiled and said, "Thy rescue mission awaits, oh apple of my eye."
"Oh Harry," she said with mock sincerity, "You are my knight in shining armor!"
* * *
"Bottoms up!" Harry said as he tilted the vial back and drank deeply, trying to bite back the bile rising.
Hermione did the same, internally commenting that polyjuice isn't nearly as unpleasant when you're using it correctly.
She wasn't sure if this constituted as the best idea they'd ever had. They would be using the same tactics they had used when trying to save Sirius. Needless to say, there would be a few changes in the method. As they climbed into the phone booth and dialed six two four four two, they were asked their names and business.
"Ron Weasley," Harry uttered.
"Ginny Weasley, we're here to bring our father dinner."
After all, with a father who was renowned for working late nights, nobody would think anything suspicious of Ron and Ginny stopping by.
"Thank you," the female's automated voice replied as two pins stating their aliases were dropped into the coin chute. "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes. Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."
They attached the pins bearing their assumed names and the words, "Food Delivery," and happily watched as the pavement rose around them while the lift descended. They waited anxiously; they had one hour to meet with Arthur and find a way to secret themselves into the Department of Mysteries.
The voice chimed in again, "The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening," as the doors opened with a resounding "Ding."
They presented themselves for registration, Hermione's nerves grating at the high chance of discovery.
Luckily, Ron had been right. They'd presented their respective wands, borrowed (or in her case, stolen with the intent to return it) from the actual owners, and the night workers barely gave them a second glance. They hurried upstairs to Arthur's office. Outside the door, Harry halted Hermione.
"You know what to do."
She nodded quickly, red hair falling into her face. She turned and went into the bathroom, hearing Harry say, "Hello, Dad. We thought you'd like something to eat…" before she rushed inside the women's loo.
She hurriedly took Ginny's wand and cast a disillusionment charm before covering herself with the invisibility cloak. She inched to the door, opening it slightly. It would hardly benefit her to be invisible if she went around throwing doors open in front of people. Walking to the men's loo, she caught more conversation between Harry and Arthur.
"It's from a muggle restaurant. Harry recommended it," he said. Hermione suspected that Harry enjoyed talking about himself in the third-person. "McDoogal's or something."
"Most fascinating!" Arthur commented, "Why is it all wrapped up like this?"
"I haven't a clue. Well, I'm off to find Ginny."
"Ginny? Is she here?" Arthur asked, confused.
"Wanted to see some new Auror. I swear she goes on about him like he's Harry." Hermione had to bite back the laughter.
"Ahhhh! Well, girls will be girls. Heaven help us if we ever understand them. Be good, my boy."
"See you soon, Dad," Harry said as he made his hasty exit. He walked the corridor and headed straight for the men's restroom. He held the door open for a second as though he were tying his shoelace then entered.
"You here?" He asked.
"Yes, I'm here," she replied and removed the cloak, "Looks like our alibis are cemented."
"Damn right. Last thing we need is for someone to know that we've been here," he said, tapping Ron's wand to his head. He shivered as his own Disillusionment spell took effect, then crawled under the cloak with Hermione. They took the halls slowly, trying their damnedest to be as unobtrusive as possible. They took the stairs to the Department of Mysteries.
No voice chimed to welcome them, the automated system was oblivious to their presence. This area was seemingly empty. However, neither of them was prepared to remove the cloak and risk discovery at the hands of some overachieving intern. They crept through the corridors at a snail's pace, no longer consumed with worry at the time limit of the polyjuice. Harry led Hermione through the complicated maze. Through the Prophecy room, short quite a few prophecies since fifth year, and into another room that she hadn't noticed the last time she was here. A plaque hung above the threshold, bearing words that sent a chill through her:
A Curse Upon All Stored Here
Pleasant sentiment, she thought, trying to shake the anxiety. They entered the room and sealed the door behind them. She heard Harry's shocked gasp but was too overwhelmed to offer any comfort.
The walls were bleeding. Thick, black-red fluid covered the entire room and everything in it. Harry quickly removed the cloak so as to not get any on it and tucked it beneath his arm. A set of steps led down into the liquid, she didn't want to think about how deep it was. The domed ceiling she was looking for was nowhere in sight.
"You know what to do," Harry murmured, "but we don't have to do this."
Hermione shook her head and removed her cloak and shoes, handing them to Harry. She took her own wand and the container they'd brought and took a hesitant step towards the stairs. Taking a step into the warm goop, she tried to suppress the girlish shrieks that threatened to escape. With another step, the substance rose to beneath her shins. She shut her eyes as she stepped down again and again and again until she was wading in this disgusting fluid.
Something brushed against her thigh. Several somethings. She heavily debated ignorance but, then again, that wouldn't be very Gryffindor of her. She dared to look down. In the dim light, they looked like smooth, balled-up, pulsing socks floating in the water. Unable to take her eyes away, she reached down and picked one up.
It was a beating heart.
Hermione did what any person in her predicament would do. She gagged as she dropped it. Dimly, Harry's voice registered in her ears, asking if she was okay. Valiantly trying to shake the blood from her hand, she raced forward, wanting this to be over with as soon as humanly possible.
Her breath came out in short gasps as she dared herself to look up. The ceiling was a swirling, blackened mass of contorted faces, vaguely reminiscent of a perverted Sistine Chapel. These people were trapped there… and needless to say, they weren't looking very happy about it. The blood dripped into her eyes from a figure that had opened its mouth, vomiting a fresh layer into the pool. Suddenly, all of them screamed. It nearly deafened her, causing her to almost drop the two things she needed to get out of here.
Gathering all the courage she had, she opened the container and raised her wand into the air, calling, "Substantia Natura." Nothing happened. All this hell for nothing. You have got to be bloody kidding me!
"Professor Snape!" She screamed futilely, letting the blood from the ceiling drip over her face as she aimed her voice up. "Come here now!" Nothing happened, "Severus Snape! Get your sorry arse down here right now! I am not leaving without you!"
A figure tore itself away from the ceiling and hovered slightly above her, "Why are you here?" it rasped.
She'd recognize that cocky lilt anywhere, "To get you back."
"I belong here, Miss Granger."
"Pardon if I beg to differ, Professor." She mumbled, determined to cast the spell properly this time. She aimed her wand directly at the figure and cried, "Substantia Natura!"
The figure cast off the blackness and reverted into a brilliant beam of light. Screaming, it entered the container. She sealed the bottled goods and tucked it into her coat pocket. She paused for a second; it felt like a current had passed her. Paralysis suddenly struck, something else was in this pool. Just has the thought processed in her mind, something hard and thin grabbed her foot, burning her skin. She jerked her foot away, almost falling backwards into the blood.
Not even bothering to look at it, she ran as fast as she could before collapsing onto the edge of the pool, emptying her stomach.
"Gods," Hermione gagged. "What… what?"
"It's got to be some kind of security device," Harry said, cleaning the vomit from the floor with a flick of his wand. They both turned and looked at the pool again as several large skeletal hands began to break the surface. "Let's get the hell out of here."
* * *
Hermione had already washed her hair three times and scrubbed her skin until it shone a bright red. Her clothes had been unceremoniously tossed into the fireplace to burn. She stepped from the shower and threw on a simple bathrobe, plaiting her hair into a French braid. She needed to keep her hands busy.
Tossing on an oversized jersey, compliments of her cousin, and a pair of shorts, she left the bathroom, hugging herself about the waist in a method of protection against the things she had seen. Snape had better be damn grateful.
Upon entering the room, she was confronted with the sight of both Harry and Ron staring transfixed at the bottle she'd left on the table. She hadn't even bothered to look at it in the rush to purge her body of the things it had seen. She took the opportunity to examine it now. The jar was filled with a utopic* swirling of colors; greens collided in perfect harmonies with reds, and blues and created colors she had never named. Blacks and whites swirled together into beautiful greys.
It was like capturing a rainbow in a bottle. She suddenly felt a presence of calm sweep over her, something she'd had an enormous lack of since Snape's arrival.
"So beautiful…" she said before it even registered that the words had escaped, "I never knew it could be beautiful…"
Her words seemed to have captured Harry and Ron's attention as they turned to look at her. They seemed to have been unaware that she had even entered the room, too mesmerized with the essence of Snape's being.
"It makes you think," Ron muttered.
"How so?" She returned.
"If everyone is like this… how can there be evil?"
Harry sighed, "I think Snape may be the exception to most of his companions."
"But what if he isn't? What if everyone there looks like this? What if…" Ron paused, searching for the words, "What if nobody ever looked hard enough?"
Hermione, too awakened by the appearance of all that was Severus Snape, could offer no answer. The philosophical ramifications could tear her world apart. What if evil is simply another shade of this kaleidoscope? Could even Voldemort look like this?
Was everybody painted with the same colors? Was there so little difference between Voldemort and Harry Potter? Her head was beginning to hurt. Was it really their fault? Looking at it, she felt an inseverable feeling of hope. The polar opposite of what the Dementors would have wrought. Gazing at it, she wanted to dance and celebrate all that was humanity. It made her want to scream from the mountaintops and make her fellowman understand the total and utter splendor each possessed.
She would never feel plain again, knowing that something like this flickered inside of her.
"Hermione," Ron said, shielding his face from the glow and trying to hide the tears in his eyes, "Put it where it belongs. It… being captive… I can't accept it… being caged like that."
Opening the jar, she cleared her mind and incanted the word, "Recursum, " praying to all that she had ever deemed as holy that the spell would work. To return, to withdraw the spell, as only she could. She alone owned the precious commodity and only she could set him free.
The light rose from its container, hovering hesitantly in the air before shooting in a luminous streak into Snape's skull. The man jerked violently before blinking once, then twice, before his form seemed to fold in on itself. The three waited with an unmatched apprehension. Nobody dared to move in fear of disturbing the silence that enraptured them all. Slowly, as though it caused him great pain, the feared potion's professor rose to his feet.
"Leave me be, Miss Granger" Snape uttered before collapsing onto the floor.
It had worked.
Author's notes- As you can surmise, I wasn't too eager to stay in the angsty territory forever. The next chapter will be up on Monday.
*Yes… I'm sure all you English majors are ready to crucify me right now. I know that utopic is not a word in the English language. However, I couldn't think of another word that could aptly describe what I thought needed to describe this image. So, for the purposes of this story:
utopic-adv. (y -t -p k) belonging to, as, or like a utopia; perfect.