What is the deal with Milinda and that pendant anyway? Jealousy? Hatred? Or more? And yes, again, certain literary liberties have been taken throughout this piece, because should I keep everything exactly as in the book, we know that these two would never get together…and we certainly can't have that can we? LOL I have strived to keep the crux of their book personalities intact while infusing some new traits to create my version of Hermione and Severus. Towards the end there are a handful of lyrics from one of my favorite songs in between dialogue. I thought of it when I pictured the scene.
Relax, she kept telling herself. You'll screw this up if you rush. She won't do anything to him because he is her leverage. You must think and stay one step ahead of her.
Hermione forced herself to inhale deeply a few times, trying to calm herself as she worked in the Potions classroom mixing up a potion she'd never tried before. After the Polyjuice potion though, anything seemed simple.
She hoped this would work. Ironically enough, it was Severus who had given her the idea, even if indirectly. It was so simple and while she could understand his inability to cast any spells on the witch, Hermione was counting on Milinda's greed to enable her ability. She would never see it coming.
She prayed the crossover would be effective because she really didn't want to have to perform an Unforgivable although if it came down to it, she could. Severus was depending on her and she didn't want to save him only to be hauled off to Azkaban. She hoped her "books and cleverness" would be enough to save them both.
Hermione followed the directions down to the dungeons and through a corridor that led to more rooms. She'd always assumed…well…actually she never did learn what was down there as she'd never asked and was never told. She kept walking, aware of the eerie quiet, disturbed only by her echoing footsteps.
This is it, she thought, taking a deep breath. You've done everything. It should only be a matter of minutes.
She gently pushed the door open, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness in front of her. There were only a few candles lit and two sconces up on the wall in the small room. Milinda sat on the floor with her knees up and back against the stone wall. Hermione looked to her right and saw Severus laying on the ground, legs and arms out straight, staring straight up, a nasty cut across his forehead.
That witch must have performed an immobulus spell on him, she thought. And who knows what else. Damn her.
"Dear Hermione," Milinda said sweetly, revealing an evil sneer. "You brought no one with you I hope? Severus over here is only a kedavra curse away from…"
"I brought what you asked for," she stated calmly. "Reverse the spell on him."
She laughed, a hollow laugh that echoed around the damp room. "You both are so naïve," she snarled. "Neither of you had a clue what this was."
Hermione was confused. "I don't understand," she said. Severus had told her his mother put a protection spell on it when he was taken to the orphanage. What more would it be?
"I knew what it was the moment I saw it," Milinda said, gazing at her bony fingers. "I had hoped he would give it to me but he never did. It just stayed in the little box by the bed. I had planned on taking it numerous times, of course, but the situation was never right. I thought I had plenty of time." Her eyes met Hermione's. "And then you arrived. You and your past with Severus. How could you, Professor Granger? Three years you both snuck about like two teenagers, having a sexual relationship while you were still a student. Embarrassing really. And yet wonderful for me."
"The pendant was a gift from his mother," Hermione said simply. "Why do you want it so bad?"
Milinda shook her head. "That pendant was forged out of pure silver," she explained. "And the protection spell or potion, if you will, that his mother placed in the metal was not just any protection spell." She paused. "She knew how powerful her husband was becoming and did not want to send her son away, however she had no choice. The spell in this metal is strong enough to protect a person from the kedavra curse. The metal can be melted down and then diluted and dissected as to find out how it was cast and with what ingredients." She saw the empty look on the young girl's face. "Don't you see? I can cheat death! No one will ever be able to use this curse on me and I can use the possession of the pendant's secret as power to manipulate and get what I want from others." Milinda smiled. "Beautiful thing really. Too bad you and loverboy over there were too dense to figure it out. Of course, you also didn't have my source."
"What source?" Hermione asked curiously, making sure to keep her mental wall up.
"It doesn't matter," she said. "Give me the pendant."
"Fine," she said, playing along, counting down the seconds. "Here." She shoved a small box at her.
Taking the velvet covered box in her hands as if it were a rare crystal, Milinda grinned. "Finally!" she exclaimed. "Finally I will have the power that even Dumbledore only dreams of!"
Open it, Hermione thought.
Removing the lid, Milinda stared at the beautiful shining silver pendant; thankful the girl hadn't done anything to it. "Yes," she breathed. "All the power."
"You should put it on," Hermione told her, trying to sound sarcastic. "After all it is yours."
Milinda was nodding. "Yes I should," she agreed, more to herself than in reaction to Hermione's words. "For all to see!"
She lifted the pendant, unhooked the clasp and secured it around her neck, quite pleased with herself.
Within seconds, sparks began to shoot from the pendant, causing Hermione to drop to the floor and conceal her face while also covering Severus', aware of the mini fireworks display about the room, listening while Milinda screamed in agony, the shrillness of her cries reverberating in the room, filling it with an oppressive energy.
"What did you do…you wretched girl…I'll kill you…it's burning me…it's…I'll…"
The hissing of the sparks slowly came to a stop as Hermione lifted her head.
Milinda was standing still, a rather dazed and confused look on her face, hand clutched to the very spot where the pendant had been. She looked around and saw Hermione.
"I'm sorry," she said, not sounding like herself. "Do I know you?"
Hermione screamed with joy. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "It worked! It worked!" She grabbed her wand and pointed it at Severus. "Ennervate!"
Sitting up slowly, he gave her a blank look. "Who are you?" he asked.
Oh no, not you too, Hermione thought. "Finite incantatem!" she exclaimed, waiting to see if he was himself.
His eyes blinked a couple times before he asked, "Hermione? What happened? Are you all right?"
Heart bursting in happiness and relief, Hermione hugged him to her, carefully cradling his head against her body, feeling the silkiness of his black hair, feeling his arms reach around her as she rested her chin on the top of his head. Gently rocking, she said, "Yes I'm fine and you're fine. Milinda, however, is not. She will not blackmail you any more."
He lifted his head to look up at her. "What did you do?" he asked.
She smiled. "Come on," she said, helping him up. "Let's take her to Albus and I'll fill you in."
Milinda had been muttering, trying to figure out who she was and why she was in this room.
"Follow us," Hermione told her as she pulled the real pendant out from its hiding place under her robes, never to be hidden again, catching a smile from Severus as he reached for her hand.
"I believe Milinda here will need your help, Headmaster," Hermione said proudly, leading the bewildered woman into his office.
"You have many pictures," she observed vacantly, looking around the room.
"Everything worked properly, I assume?" he inquired, noticing the hands of his teachers entwined.
"Yes," she answered relieved. "And we're both fine."
He smiled. "Well done, Professor Granger," Albus said. "I can take care of Milinda now. She has a place awaiting her in Azkaban."
"Thank you," she said, glancing at Severus as they left the office, hearing the muttering behind them.
Severus and Hermione walked in silence towards his classroom, heading straight through to his chamber, hand in hand. Most everyone was having dinner in the Hall but the two teachers weren't hungry. Not for food anyway.
He left her side to prepare tea when she stopped him. "Sit," she told him. "It's my turn to take care of you." She quickly finished with his tea, handing him his mug and then headed for the bathroom to get a few things.
Severus was sitting on the edge of his bed sipping his tea when she returned.
In silence, Hermione wiped the dried blood from the wound with the wet cloth, trying not to hurt him as she saw him wincing. She applied fig ointment with her fingers across the cut before applying a large bandage to keep infection out.
Wiping her hands, she said with a smile, "There. All better."
He lifted his eyes to hers. "Thank you," he said quietly.
"Well you did it for me a few years ago," she reminded him.
"No," he said, reaching for her hands. "I mean for…what you did…which I'm still trying to figure out."
She smiled at the man before her. The man who had been so many things to her over the years. The man she dreaded being near her first year and the man she couldn't stay away from her seventh year and all he'd been in between.
Sitting down next to him on the familiar black satin bed cover, Hermione explained what happened. "Milinda slipped a note under my classroom door demanding that I bring the pendant to her or she would hurt you," she said. "But I wasn't about to just give it to her. With Albus' help, we made a replica of the pendant and infused a couple spells onto it. We had to put it in the box with gloves on because as soon as it was touched, it would burn the skin and shoot out sparks, and finally erase any memory."
Severus shook his head. She amazed him. Of course, she always had. "Did she say why she wanted it so badly?" he asked curiously.
"Well, Albus had told me that his background check on her turned up her father as being the last follower of Voldemort's to be killed," she explained. "Which is where she learned of the power the pendant had."
"Power?" he repeated.
"Yes," she continued. "The protection spell was not just any protection spell.Your mother possessed the knowledge of how to counter the kedavra curse, your father being the only other to ever know. It's what... cost her her life."
"What was Milinda going to do with it?"
"Melt it down and basically reverse the process to learn how your mother did it so she could replicate it and become powerful herself," Hermione answered. "Now Albus can take appropriate action with her."
Hermione was expecting a slightly different reaction from what she got.
Severus got up from the bed and slowly walked over to the window. He'd never learned any of this. It was his own pendant from his own mother; why had he never heard of it? He'd been on Voldemort's side, around his followers for years. Why had it never been spoke of? How was the truth behind his mother's death kept secret?
The emotions flooding him were foreign and didn't know how to respond to them. He felt foolish because he'd had no knowledge of the truth behind the spell. He felt ashamed because he allowed himself to be broken down by Milinda and completely manipulated, not even attempting to do anything about it. He felt embarrassed that Hermione had to come to his rescue. He felt weak because he'd refused to tell Albus the truth, forcing the older man to enter his mind, his privacy violated, finally admitting love.
Severus felt defeated for the first time in his life. He was always the one in control and a step ahead of everyone, keeping students and faculty in their place with his scorn and contempt. No one got the upper hand with him. And here he was now, having to be saved.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, joining him at the window.
He couldn't look at her. What she must think of me, he told himself. The great and mighty Potions master reduced to nothing.
"I am truly grateful for your…assistance tonight," he said quietly, head lowered, hands on the windowsill. "But I think you should return to your chamber."
She stared at him in disbelief. "What? Why?" she asked thoroughly confused. This was not the 'thank you' she had expected. Milinda was finally gone. They could be together. What was his problem?
"Please go," he nearly begged, fighting a lump in his throat. Great and now you're going to snivel, he thought. Wonderful. What a fitting ending.
Hurt, confusion and anger boiled inside Hermione. "I don't understand," she said. "I thought you still felt the same for me. I thought now with the albatross gone from around your neck, maybe we could finally be together. And you want me to go." Tears were forming in her eyes. I will not cry in front of him, she told herself, removing the pendant from her neck, putting it on the table by the window. I won't give him the satisfaction. "Here," she said. "You're welcome."
Severus held his emotion until he heard the door slam behind her and then was overcome with more than what he could handle, silent sobs shaking his shoulders as he covered his face.
Furious, Hermione stomped around the corner, back to her own chamber. How dare that man play with her emotions like that! What was this to him, some sort of game? She'd never known him to be so sick and twisted if that's what it was. She'd rescued him for crying out loud! Milinda was no more! As far as she was concerned, they should have been in bed by now, making up for lost time, renewing a passion she thought they still shared. Apparently he did not reciprocate. And how dare he give her that pendant again, knowing full well what she would think it meant.
"I can't believe him!" she exclaimed, arms in the air. "I can't believe him. I save his ass and he tells me to leave! That's it. I'm done. I've had it. Classes are almost finished and I'll just tell Albus I have another offer or something. I can not be around him. I just can't!"
She ranted for a few more minutes until sobs found her, lying on her bed, allowing them freedom to do as they wished. It didn't matter now anyway.
Hermione raised her head from the bed cover startled. Had she fallen asleep? She sat up slowly, hearing a knock. Guess that's what woke me up, she thought, rubbing her eyes and running a hand through her hair as she walked to the door.
She opened it to see Severus, immediately noticing his face. Never in almost fifteen years of knowing him had she seen him with blood shot, puffy eyes. He hadn't been…crying…had he? Probably just one too many shots of firewhiskey.
"What do you want?" she asked curtly.
"Please…can I…come in?" he asked, glancing around him, hoping no one would see him in this state.
Reluctantly, she let him pass and closed the door behind him. Hands on her hips, she said, "Well?"
"Hermione, please."
"Hermione please?" she taunted. "Please what, Severus? You're in my chamber now so you can't very well make me leave."
better choose, all my friends keep telling me
better do what's good for you
they don't know the demon that's inside of me
without you, i'd lose my way
He was uncomfortable and hated it but had to make this right. He was being ridiculous and regretted that he was hurting her. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry. The past few months have…not been easy on me."
"Well how do you think they've been for me?" she barked in anger.
all i ever wanted you give me
all i ever wanted you are
all i ever wanted without you
would leave me with an empty heart
Silence.
Severus began walking towards the door, ready to give up. Maybe it was for the better. Maybe…
"How dare you come in here to turn around and leave with no explanation," Hermione hissed with rage as he passed her. "Stop playing games with me!"
Hearing her words caused something to snap in him. He whipped around, grabbing her arms tightly in his hands. "Don't you understand?" he exclaimed, forcing his thoughts into her mind. "Don't you understand the shame…the weakness…the violation…the embarrassment of it all? See it…feel it! Can you possibly comprehend what I feel?"
Images flooded through Hermione's mind that were so intense, she was almost sick. "Stop!" she wailed, trying to push from his hold.
"Understand it!" he commanded, not letting her go, making sure she felt everything, holding nothing back.
"I do!" she cried. "Severus, stop!"
His moment of anger subsided, closing his mind, letting go of her arms, but not sorry for what he did. He couldn't explain it to her, she had to feel it for herself. He watched as her hands flew to her head as if trying to fight the images still.
Her eyes met his. "Why couldn't you tell me?" she asked quietly.
"I'm not the man I was," he said sadly. "You deserve better."
"I deserve you," she told him. "I…I want you."
i love you and i love the mystery
what you do still holds for me
that ain't news, it's just the same old history
without you, i'd lose my way
He found it hard to believe her. "Why?"
"For the same reasons I wanted you years ago," she reminded him. "Because of our friendship. Because of our happiness together. Because I…" She stopped.
"Because you what?"
Dark eyes filled with tears again. "Because I love you, damn it," she confessed. "And I thought when I came back that maybe we could…pick up from where we left off."
She loves me, he thought, his expression softening. "Remember when I told you that Albus and I had chatted and that we would never speak of… a certain thing ever again?" he asked.
She nodded, biting her lip.
"He made me admit something," he told her. "Made me say something that I'd never said to another human."
"What?"
"He made me say that I…that I…loved you."
all i ever wanted...
lose my way on crowded streets
out of time can't feel the beat
i'm blinded by the neon lights til
once again, i'm in the shadow of your sight
Hermione smiled slightly, wiping tears before they could fall. "Do you love me?" she asked. "You didn't just say it to…"
His hands cupped her face. "I meant it," he said. "I love you." Her eyes gave him the permission he sought as he touched her lips with his, gently and tenderly.
Looking into her eyes, he was surprised when she stifled a laugh. "And what do you find amusing about this?"
"I never ever thought I'd hear the angry, withdrawn, contemptuous Professor Snape, whose life is complete by the fear he instills in others, profess love for another, that other being an arrogant, know-it-all Gryffindor," she teased.
Severus smiled then too, understanding the truth in her words. Yes from the outside he surmised it did appear rather odd, almost unbelievable and most certainly doomed. But from the inside, the couple knew what they'd been through, knew the bond of friendship they shared, as it had been forged with the most durable and resilient of materials, knew that the depths of their emotion were powerful enough to defeat any outsider's interference.
He reached into his pocket for the pendant. "I'd be honored for you to wear this," he said, holding it up.
"I'd be honored to wear it," she said, slipping it under her hair and clasping it around her neck.
Sliding his fingers through her curly locks, wanting to hear her confirm his thoughts, he asked, "Does it remain, Hermione? What we had? Our desire? Our bond? Our inner sanctum?"
Taking his hand, leading him to the plush destination of her bed, Hermione answered, "I'd really have to show you, Professor Snape. If that's all right."
Allowing himself to feel every ounce of happiness he possibly could, allowing her a side of him that no one else would ever see, Severus climbed into bed with her, immediately holding her in his arms, body covering hers. "I think it would be most appropriate, Professor Granger," he whispered before their lips and minds meshed in a blissful union, where it was impossible to differentiate where one ended and the other began.
all i ever wanted you give me
all i ever wanted you are
all i ever wanted without you
would leave me with an empty heart…
Forgive me for not having some knock down, drag out fight…but…keeping with the base character of Hermione…and with her brains…this was the way I saw her dealing with the situation.
