Ghost—Chapter 11
Hermione sat in the Hog's Head, looking around the room warily, careful not to make eye contact with anyone or anything. She had no idea why Draco had asked her to meet him there on a Thursday night, but she was sure he had his reasons.
She checked her watch again; it read five minutes to nine. Nervously, she scanned the room again, looking for a platinum-blond head of hair. Sure, he had five more minutes before he had to be there, but Hermione could hope that he was early.
"Looking for me?" asked a soft voice from behind Hermione. She jumped and whirled around in her seat, only to come face to face with the smirking countenance of Draco. His hair was covered by the hood of his robe.
"Jesus tap-dancing Christ!" Hermione gasped as Draco slid into the seat across from her. "Don't ever do that again!"
"Aww, is poor ickle Hermionekins scared?" mocked Draco in his best baby voice. Hermione glared at him, causing him to laugh. "You do know that that glare doesn't scare me anymore, right?"
"It should," Hermione muttered darkly, too softly for her companion to hear. "So, did you bring the books?"
"What's the magic word?" taunted Draco.
"Give me the bloody books now before I hex you into next week," Hermione growled.
"Ooh, touchy touchy," remarked Draco, digging around in his bag. He extracted three paper-wrapped packages and handed them to Hermione. She raised an eyebrow, to which he shrugged. "Extra security measures. You don't want anyone seeing those, am I right?"
"Right," agreed Hermione, carefully placing the books into her own bag.
"Those books put the rituals into the simplest words possible, so that even a child can understand them," Draco informed her. "However, I'm not going to lie to you. The rituals are very involved and very draining, so while a child can understand them, only a powerful witch or wizard can perform them."
"I see," Hermione remarked. She glanced at him, her eyes curious. "How do you know all this? It sounds like you're speaking from experience."
"I-I've seen the rituals done, on more than one occasion," Draco stammered. Hermione's eyebrows retreated to her hairline. "You-Know-Who needed more followers, and since no one was volunteering, he decided to use the darkest means necessary to gain the forces he needed. Most of them were botched, so the numbers stayed the same."
"I see," Hermione replied. An awkward silence descended over them.
"So..."
"So..."
"Well, I have essays to mark and classes to prepare for," Hermione said.
"Yeah," replied Draco. "I'll send you an owl later, to see how those books are working out."
"Alrighty then," said Hermione. "Talk to you later."
"See you."
They both got up from their seats, and they left the dingy pub a short distance form each other. Hermione waved to him before he Apparated away. With a small smile, she began her walk back to the castle.
aaa
Snape floated through the wall to Hermione's room, wondering where she was. It was a Thursday night, and she was usually either in her room or in the library. However, it seemed as if she wasn't anywhere in the castle. With a sigh he stayed in the middle of the room until Hermione saw fit to return, all the while contemplating his relationship with the woman.
If anyone had told him that Hermione 'know-it-all' Granger would fall in love with him and avenge his death, he would have booked the next available room at St. Mungo's for them. Indeed, it wasn't something he had expected, but he wasn't complaining about it either. On the contrary, he was rather pleased that someone cared about him, even though she was almost twenty years his junior, his former student, and a Gryffindor to boot.
Now the million-dollar question...how did he feel about her? Truth be told, his thoughts were muddled and undefined on the subject. It was no secret that he admired her intelligence; it had been a while since he could bounce potions theories and discuss books with someone. Though, now that he thought about it, they hadn't been discussing books that much, unless you counted the conversation on the Dark Arts books she had been reading lately. He wondered if she was still planning on going through with this project she had started. He was pretty sure she would; in his experience, Hermione never did anything halfway.
As he was pondering, the door creaked open and Hermione slipped into her quarters. She wasn't looking at where she was going, so when she saw Snape, she jumped in fright.
"What in the blue blazes are you doing in here?" she asked. "Don't you have anyone else to bother? Anyone to pull pranks on or something?"
"I was just wandering around, that's all," Snape replied coolly. "Forgive me if I have done anything to offend you. I will be leaving you to your own devices now." Hermione could hear the frost in his voice, and it made her feel bad.
"Severus, wait," she said. Snape turned around to face her. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have been so hasty to yell at you, and I'm sorry. I was just startled, that's all."
"It's all right," Snape replied. "Now that we have that out of the way, where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!"
"So, you've been looking for me, eh?" asked Hermione, arching an eyebrow. "I thought you said you were just wandering around?"
"Well, I was," Snape replied. "I was just wandering around looking for you." Ooh, good save, Snape.
"I see," said Hermione. "Well, for your information, I was at the Hog's Head having drinks with Draco."
"The Hog's Head? Having drinks with Draco?" asked Snape, a twinge of jealousy stabbing at his heart...well, it would have stabbed at his heart if he had one at that moment.
"Is there an echo in here?" Hermione replied. "Yes, I was at the Hog's Head with Draco. Now that we have that established, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"What do you mean?" asked Snape.
"You were looking for me, ergo it can be assumed that you wanted to talk to me," Hermione pointed out. Snape mentally smacked himself in the head at her logic.
"I didn't want to talk to you, per se," Snape replied cautiously. "I just wanted to know where you were, because it isn't safe for a young woman such as yourself to be out alone after dark. I was merely looking out for your well-being, that's all."
"Aww, that's sweet," Hermione said with a small amount of sarcasm, "but I think you're forgetting that I'm one of the most powerful witches of my age. Not to brag or anything, of course."
"Oh Lord Almighty, you've been around me too long," Snape sighed, sounding exasperated. He was smiling, though. "So, what were you doing with Draco?"
"He was just helping a friend in need," Hermione replied, heading towards her study. She tossed her bag onto her desk and began rifling through it. Snape watched as she pulled out three paper-wrapped packages.
"Would I be correct in my assumption that those are to aid you in your little project?" asked Snape as he floated into the room.
"Yup," Hermione replied with a nod. She began taking the paper off the books, and she was surprised when she saw that none of them had titles. Her eyes widened as she flipped through the delicate, parchment pages. "Holy cricket, these are the original Necromancer's Diaries! They're really rare, and extremely valuable. I'm surprised Draco would let me anywhere near them! Severus, remind me to thank Draco a million times for this opportunity."
"You have to thank Draco a million times for this opportunity," Snape parroted, causing Hermione to glare at him. Snape just smirked in response.
"That's not what I meant, and you know it," Hermione replied. She fingered the pages gently, marveling at their beauty. "I still...I can't believe this. Draco has to be part of the ceremony, he just has to be."
"Now Hermione, aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves?" asked Snape, arching an eyebrow. "After all, you can't exactly be planning a wedding just yet. Shouldn't you wait until I'm at least alive before you think of that sort of thing?"
"Ha-bloody-ha, Severus," Hermione replied sarcastically. She looked as if she was about to smack him upside the head, and she probably would have if she could. "I meant the ceremony to bring you back to life, you dimwit."
"I'm fully aware of that, Hermione dear," Snape replied. Hermione raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Nothing," Hermione replied. A small smile gracing her lips at the endearment, she went back to the diaries in front of her. She gingerly picked them up and placed them in the top drawer, placing a couple of very strong locking charms on the drawer to make sure that the books didn't get stolen.
"Hermione, something has made you happy," Snape said, floating towards her. If she had been looking up, she would have seen the apprehension on his ghostly face.
"It's nothing Severus," Hermione replied, moving towards the door leading to her sitting room. Snape turned and followed her out, the door blowing shut behind him.
"Something is making you happy," Snape sing-songed, "and I want to know what it is."
"Fine," Hermione said, an evil glint in her eye, "Draco and I had a hot, steamy love-making session before I came back."
Snape was taken aback at this admission, but when he saw the devilish smirk on Hermione's face, he knew it wasn't true. He glared at her, causing Hermione to giggle hysterically.
"That wasn't funny," he huffed.
"Sure it was...it just wasn't for you," Hermione replied, still giggling. "Well, I should be off to bed; I'll see you in the morning, Severus."
"Good night, Hermione," said Snape softly, as she made her way to her room. As the door closed, he whispered, "Sleep well, my love."
aaa
Well, what do you think? As always, I'd appreciate it if you'd leave a review after you've read this installment.
Sadly, this fic is coming to an end (hehe, it'll be the first completed fic on my list...). I have one more chapter planned, and possibly an epilogue. I know exactly how I want them to go; I just need to write them out. As always, I appreciate feedback, and I'd thank you all personally if there weren't so many of you. Damn me for having such a popular fic!
As always, if you don't want to leave a review, you can always send me an e-mail. My addy is in my profile, and if you have any questions, I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability.