Ghost—Chapter 12
The weeks leading up to Halloween, Hermione was busy making arrangements for the ceremony. She was so busy that Snape maybe exchanged ten words in total with her in the three weeks before All Hallows Eve.
The night of Halloween found Hermione striding across the cemetery to the Snape family crypt, with Harry and Ron following close behind. She kept checking her watch, as if worried about being on time for something.
"Hermione?" whined Ron, trying to keep up with her fast pace.
"Yes Ron?" Hermione replied, not looking over her shoulder at him.
"Remind me again why Dumbledore isn't going to be here," he said, sounding worried.
"I've already told you, Ronald," Hermione began, almost seeing the red head flinch at the full first name treatment, "that Albus can't come tonight because he has to attend to the Halloween feast. If I were a head of house, I'd have to be there too, but as it so happens, I'm not, so it's okay for me to be away tonight."
"Didn't the spell say that you needed four people?" asked Harry, sounding skeptical. Hermione turned around and was walking backwards so that she could carry on a proper conversation with him. "I mean, I don't want to insult your intelligence-"
"Then don't," Hermione replied.
"Don't what?" asked Harry, confused.
"Don't insult my intelligence," Hermione replied. "I'm fully aware of the fact that you, me and Ron only add up to three. Trust me, I found a fourth person to do the ritual with, and he has experience."
"Oh really?" asked Ron, raising an eyebrow. "And who might this mystery person be?"
"You'll just have to wait, Ron," Hermione replied simply, turning around and heading towards the Snape crypt.
When the Gryffindor trio arrived at the building, Harry and Ron were surprised to see a cloaked figure and the ghostly form of Snape already waiting there.
"You're late," sneered Snape, glaring at the two boys behind Hermione. She smiled slightly at his frostiness. "I still don't know why you had to bring those two."
"I'd trust them with my life, Severus," Hermione replied as she pushed past the hooded figure and unlocked the door. Harry and Ron looked the hooded the hooded person up and down, trying to figure out who he—or she—was.
"It doesn't mean I have to trust them with my life," Snape muttered.
"So, how did you meet Hermione?" Ron asked the hooded figure. The person pulled the hood away from his head, revealing a shock of white-blonde hair that almost seemed to glow in the darkness.
"Same as I met you, Weasley," Draco replied with a smirk. Ron just huffed and strode into the crypt.
"Hermione!" he exclaimed. Harry was following close behind, trying to stop his red headed friend. "What the hell is ferret-boy doing here?"
"You may not like him Ron, but he's my friend and I don't want you bad-mouthing him in front of me!" Hermione exclaimed, glaring at him. "Like it or lump it, but he saved my life in school, and for that I am indebted to him."
Hermione smiled in satisfaction at Ron's fish-like expression. It was true; Draco had saved her life, no matter how much Ron didn't like it. Harry had come to terms with it, and while he didn't like her friendship with the blond Slytherin any more than Ron did, at least he wasn't so vocal in his opinions. In fact, Hermione remembered the incident as if it were yesterday.
-Flashback-
-January 1998-
Hermione sat in the Headmaster's office, wondering why she was there. She wasn't alone, either. Draco Malfoy was sitting in a chair a few feet away from her, studiously ignoring her. Hermione was nervous; after all, she couldn't remember doing anything bad enough involving Draco to warrant a trip to the Headmaster's office.
Hermione jumped slightly as the door opened, and in walked Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape. Draco just sat there, indifferent, as Dumbledore sat behind his desk and the other two professors stood on either side of his seat.
"Miss Granger, you are probably wondering why you are here," Dumbledore began. Hermione nodded dumbly, to tense and nervous to say anything. "There is nothing to worry about, my dear, you are not in trouble." Hermione relaxed visibly, causing the Headmaster to smile slightly. Hermione thought Snape looked at her, but when she glanced in his direction, all she saw was a mask of indifference as he began to speak.
"Some information has come to our attention, Miss Granger," said Snape, no emotion behind his voice. "Information pertaining to you, and it was supplied to us by young Mr. Malfoy here."
"And why should I believe that?" Hermione asked defiantly. "He's been nothing but horrible to me these past seven years, so why would he be doing something nice now?"
"Correction, Granger," piped up Draco, glaring at the girl. "I was horrible to your friends. I only threw in the occasional 'mudblood' in there just to keep up appearances. Personally, I have nothing against you."
"Oh, I feel so loved," Hermione said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Ahem." Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Personal grudges aside, could we keep this meeting to the task at hand?"
"Of course, Professor," Hermione said. Draco was still sulking in his seat, and Hermione studiously ignored him.
"Good," said Dumbledore with a small smile. "Now, as I was saying, some information about you, Hermione, has been discovered, and Mr. Malfoy has been kind enough to share it with us. It would seem, Miss Granger that Voldemort is after you."
"What?!" exclaimed Hermione jumping out of her chair. "Why me? I'm not important! The prophecy clearly states that Harry has to kill him, and no one else!"
"I see you do not have confidence in your abilities, Miss Granger," remarked Snape with a sneer. "Contrary to what you may believe, you are important to the cause. Or, in the Dark Lord's eyes, you are. You have one of the most brilliant minds in the wizarding world, though it is packaged in the most annoying way possible."
Hermione's head snapped up; had Severus Snape, bat of the dungeons and resident bastard, just given her a compliment?
"Exactly," agreed Draco. "The attack is going to happen within the next couple of months, or so my father tells me."
"How do you know it's true, then?" asked Hermione. "He could just be leading you on so that you think the attack will happen in a couple of moths when it could, in fact, be a couple of days, or a couple of years!"
"My father has no idea of my defection, Granger; he is so blinded by the fact that family loyalty reigns supreme that it never even crossed his mind that I would go to the light side," Draco replied firmly.
"And did you think, Miss Granger, that we wouldn't investigate the matter further before calling you here?" asked Snape coldly, looking down on her. "I would have thought you knew of my role in the war."
"I do, sir," Hermione replied softly, blushing. "I wasn't thinking, that's all."
"Pity," remarked Snape with a sneer. "Letting your mind to go to waste like that."
"Severus, please!" admonished McGonagall. "I will not stand here and let you insult my student. Stop it right now or I'll be forced to transfigure you into a footstool for the duration of this meeting."
"As you wish, Minerva," responded Snape, remaining silent under the Head of Gryffindor's glare.
"Now, as for a course of action," began Dumbledore, looking at Hermione with his unblinking stare. Hermione didn't flinch, though she felt as if he was looking right into her very soul. "Miss Granger—Hermione—you must have someone with you at all times. I don't want to smother you, my dear, but it has to be done. Always make sure that you are with one of your friends or a professor at all times. Are we clear?"
"Yes, sir," Hermione said softly, not wanting to argue with him. "Sir, what about my parents? Are they safe, or are they targeted too?"
"Yes, they are targeted as well," Dumbledore replied. Hermione tensed up slightly upon hearing this. "Do not worry, my dear, Severus has gone to your home and put up some of the most powerful wards known to wizard kind, much like the wards on the school."
Hermione relaxed a bit, but she was still on edge. After all, Death Eaters had infiltrated Hogwarts before, so what would stop them from getting to her parents?
"Now that that is settled, I believe it is time for bed. Minerva, could you please escort Hermione back to Gryffindor tower?" asked Dumbledore.
"Of course, Albus," replied McGonagall. "Come Hermione, it's almost time for curfew, and I don't want you breaking any rules."
"Could I possibly have a couple of minutes with Malfoy?" Hermione asked hopefully, surprising everyone in the room. Dumbledore nodded before either of the Heads of House could disagree. "We'll just wait for you in the corridor, alright?"
"Okay," Hermione agreed. She waited until all three professors were out of the room before addressing Malfoy. "Thank you."
"For what?" asked Draco, curious.
"For saving my life, you dingbat," Hermione replied. "It was a very good thing you did."
"It was nothing," Draco said with a shrug.
"Nothing my arse," Hermione shot back, glaring at the blond boy. "Why did you do it? I would have sworn you would have kept it to yourself and let me and my family die. After all, I'm just a filthy mudblood to you, after all."
"I told you, that wasn't personal. It was just to keep up appearances," Draco replied. "I did, and still do, have a problem with your friends. Why do you spend so much time with them, anyway?"
"They saved my life," Hermione said, remembering that fateful Halloween in their first year.
"How?" asked Draco.
"Remember that troll in our first year?" inquired Hermione. Draco nodded. "Well, they locked it in the bathroom with me. They didn't know it was a girl's lavatory, but when they realized what it was, they burst in and saved the day."
"Idiots," muttered Draco. "Why are you still with them, then? I mean, they saved your life, big deal."
"Friendship holds more importance in Gryffindor than in Slytherin," Hermione replied matter-of-factly. "While we have best mates, you have cronies, minions and hangers-on."
"Very true," Draco said after thinking about what she had said. "Umm...I don't know if you'd want to, but would you like to be my first friend?" Hermione giggled, causing the blond to glare at her.
"I'd love to Draco," Hermione replied. "I'd love to."
-End Flashback-
Their friendship had been by no means been easy. They had to keep it a secret, making sure that no one found out. After all, the Slytherins couldn't find out that their leader wasn't really a Death Eater to be, and the Gryffindors wouldn't understand why Hermione was spending time with the one who called her mudblood more times than any of them could count.
"Hermione...Earth to Hermione...calling Hermione..."
Hermione was brought out of her thoughts by Harry's soft, slightly teasing voice. Hermione shook her head and grinned, blushing slightly.
"I think age has been bad to you," remarked Snape. "You never were a daydreamer while you were in school."
"Shut up, Severus," Hermione snapped. She drew herself up, trying to make herself look important. "Alrighty then, Harry, Ron and Draco, I need your wands."
"What?!" exclaimed Ron, clutching his wand. "We're doing magic, why do you need our wands?"
"Because this is ancient, primal magic, you prat," Draco explained. "This ritual was conceived way before wizards used wands. We have to draw the magic from around us as well as within us, and using a wand to channel that is too difficult."
"Right Draco," Hermione said with a smile. "Now boys, give me your wands before I have to summon them."
With grumbling on Ron and Harry's part, and smirking on Draco's, they handed over their wands. Hermione placed them into a bag along with her own. She placed the bag into a larger one containing all of her supplies.
"Alrighty then, now we have to get Severus' body off of its shelf and out into the open," Hermione said.
"You actually want us to touch him?!" asked Ron, horrified.
"Well, I can't do it," Hermione replied innocently, batting her eyelashes. She didn't like using her feminine wiles to get what she wanted, but sometimes she just had to play dirty. "I'm just a small little girl, and you three are all big, strong men."
"We're not going to fall for that, Hermione," said Harry. Hermione just batted her eyelashes again at Harry's serious, unflinching gaze. She dropped the act after a couple of minutes when Harry didn't even flinch.
"Oh, fine then, I'll do it," she huffed. "Besides, my eyelids were hurting from all that blinking. I don't know how in the world Lavender and Parvati did it on a regular basis."
"Hey, that's my wife you're talking about," Ron grumbled. Hermione ignored him as she dug out her wand and cast the Mobilicorpus spell on Snape's body. When he was out of his shelf and hovering over the ground, Hermione gently laid him on the ground. Ghost Snape looked on from a distance as she treated his body with tender care.
"Now, we need to get the herbs, incense and the book," Hermione instructed. The three men brought the bag before her. Before touching anything, she placed her wand back into the bag with the other three. She pulled out the herbs, incense and a large book written in some forgotten language, most likely Latin.
"Draco, I need you to read the passages in the book. You don't need to understand them; you just need to say them. I translated them, so I did all the work," Hermione said. Draco nodded and took the book. "Ron, I need you to spread the herbs on and around the body when I tell you to." She handed Ron a bag of pre-mixed herbs. "And you, Harry, I need you to light the incense and keep it burning, okay?" Harry nodded, taking the thin sticks from Hermione.
"Okay, Ron, start spreading about a handful of the herbs," instructed Hermione. Ron did as he was told. "Draco, read the first highlighted passage in the book."
Draco began stumbling over the Latin, trying to get say some of the convoluted words. Once he was finished with the section, Hermione closed her eyes and gestured for them to join hands. All four of them joined hands, Hermione standing near Snape's head.
"Spirits of the underworld, I call upon you to aid me in my task. My intentions are pure, and I am acting out of love. Restore the life-force and soul of this man, and I promise that we shall harm none," she said, her voice strong but soft. "Okay, Draco, next section."
Snape (the ghost) watched as Hermione led the ceremony. He was so engrossed that he didn't notice that he was fading away, little by little.
Hermione placed a cloudy white orb on corpse Snape's chest. With the next words, the orb began to glow.
"With this Soul Stone, your soul is restored."
She then took another orb, this one a blood red.
"With this Restoration Stone, your life force is restored."
She then returned to the circle, and all four joined hands again. Little by little, Harry, Ron and Draco felt weaker as Hermione drew their magic to herself, like a magic magnet. Her head snapped up, and her eyes opened wide, glowing with a pale ethereal glow. Snape, in all is ghostly glory, was fading away fast. His corpse was disappearing as well, as Hermione chanted in a deep, unnatural voice. It sounded like gibberish to the three men, but they could feel the magic coming off her in waves.
Just as the last of Snape's corpse disappeared, Hermione collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Ron, Harry and Draco rushed to her side, trying to revive her. There was no need to, as a moment later, Hermione's eyes fluttered opened, having returned to their usual brown.
"Did we do it?" she asked, anxious. Her face fell when she saw the sad expressions on her companions' faces. With an anguished cry, she buried her head in her hands and sobbed.
aaa
Darkness.
That was all Severus Snape could see. It was pressing against him, trying to permeate his very skin. Suddenly, he was bathed in light, as if a spotlight had been turned on.
"Severus Snape," a voice boomed, causing Snape to jump. "You have been brought here for judgment. If you have proven yourself worthy, you will be returned to the mortal world with no harm done to you. If you fail, you will suffer unending torture for the rest of eternity."
Snape didn't know what to say, so he just nodded, while trying to figure out who or what was speaking to him, and where it was coming from.
"What is the most important thing in the world to you?" asked the voice.
"Hermione's happiness," Snape replied instantly, as if it he had been fed Veritaserum. He guessed that this was a deception-free dimension of some sort.
"What do you believe would bring this Hermione happiness?" the voice asked, still booming.
"Love in her life," Snape replied.
"And do you feel you can provide that love and care for her?" the voice inquired.
"Yes," replied Snape. Before he knew what was happening to him, Snape felt as if he were falling very fast. The landing came much too soon for his liking, and the hard ground didn't do much to break his fall.
"No harm to me my arse," he muttered as he got to his feet and brushed himself off. It was at that moment he heard the anguished cries of a woman. Running in the direction of the noise, he went in the direction of the noise, which lead him to his family crypt. He looked inside to see Hermione curled up on the ground sobbing with three men standing around her, looking helpless. With a smirk, he put on his best 'bastard Snape' expression and strode in.
"Don't just stand there, you insolent brats! Comfort the woman already!" he barked, making the three men jump. Hermione looked up, her cheeks tear-stained. Her eyes widened as she slowly got to her feet and cautiously made her way to Snape.
"Severus?" she asked timidly. Snape nodded, and that was all the encouragement she needed. She ran and threw herself at him, flinging her arms around her waist. "I love you, Severus, and I'm so glad you're back!"
"I love you too, Hermione," Snape whispered, kissing her hair. "My bushy-haired Gryffindor know-it-all."
"My bat-like dungeon-dwelling Slytherin," Hermione replied with a giggle. She looked up, and their eyes locked. They would have stayed like that if it hadn't been for the impatient clearing of a throat from behind them.
"Can we go now?" asked Ron, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. The two other men also looked uncomfortable.
"I strongly suggest it," Snape said coolly. Before Snape could say anything else, the three men scampered from the crypt. "Now, where were we?"
Snape lowered his head, heading towards Hermione's lips. At the last moment, she turned her head so that the kiss landed on her cheek. Snape looked at her curiously.
"I'm not going to kiss someone who hasn't brushed their teeth in five years," Hermione explained. With a hearty laugh, Snape took her by the hand and led her out of the crypt and the cemetery so that she could Apparate them back to Hogsmeade.
aaa
There you go people, it's finished. Well, kind of. I still have to write the epilogue, and that'll be up probably sometime next week. I sincerely hope you all give me some honest feedback. Reviews make my day!
BTW, this is the LONGEST CHAPTER YET!!!