-LOST IN OWL POSTS
CHAPTER 5
In the midst of the heavy fog permeating the first signs of the morning, a cloaked figure stood out, dotting the scene like a reminder of the darkness that existed not moments ago. The small family cemetery held a few tombs, still intact, not touched by the corrosive hands of time. Most of the cemetery held unseen names, tombstones hidden behind weeds and inscriptions faded into nothing. This was the perfect picture of what it was like to be dead, forgotten… non-existent.
How can someone, once so bright and alive, end up confined in a depressing grey bed, surrounded by dust and dead leaves?
The cloaked figure fell to his knees in front of a tomb, murmuring soft words to the cold silent stone. Incoherent words that flew through the wind, lost as its owner's soul. If one was able to listen carefully, though, they would hear, "I will avenge you, love… I will."
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Hermione wasn't an idiot. She couldn't stop herself from thinking and probing and eventually solving things. It was in her nature.
How could she sit and let the clues go unnoticed? The fact that Snape didn't know that was a little offensive, if he thought she would not put things together and find his middle initial, with so much screaming evidence pointing that way. Of course, he didn't count on her two friends running into him at the coffee shop… or maybe he knew she was bound to find out and was just waiting for her to make the first move…
No! She wouldn't go and ask him, knowing him it would probably ruin what they had. Even if it was only very little, she had something now; she had his attention, and he seemed to care. But what if he never said anything?
"First things first," she said, getting ready to leave.
The first step would be to find out what he was doing here. She was glad this was a small town with a small wizarding village; there weren't many options when it came to work. And she didn't need to be a genius to figure that one out. There was only one place where Snape could be working, if indeed he was working.
Hermione made her way to the university very early. Truth was that she couldn't sleep much, so she decided to get out of bed and start her day. That would give her time to look around the village and investigate. The thrilling feeling she got when the thought of adventure hit her was something rather pleasant, even nostalgic.
Her face softened at the memories of her pursuits at Hogwarts, along with Harry and Ron. She never realized how much she missed those things until now.
The streets of Bragança were silent at this time of the morning, but once she crossed over to the wizarding village she could see a lot of witches and wizards already crowding the street, it was as if they had a different time zone in there.
After going to the owlery and mailing "Mr. M." his reply, she walked slowly through the flow of people. The sweet smell of freshly baked bread assaulted her senses and lured her into the quaint little bakery.
There was plenty of time before the town's Research Center opened its doors and she could ask a few questions there. She was almost sure that was the place she would find her brooding, stubborn man; she only needed to do it the right way. The exhilaration of finding Snape was making her hungry.
She had spotted this bakery before, but never had time to go inside. She always had to run to her classes, and at the end of the day all she wanted to do was to go home. The bakery was still empty, save for a group of witches at a corner table who looked everything but friendly, and the owner who was preparing for the wave of customers that would soon arrive.
She sat herself at the counter and asked for coffee and one of the steamy rolls the owner – a tubby wizard with a round and warm face – had just placed on the counter.
"Would you like some marmalade with that, Miss?" the man promptly offered, arranging the jams and butter in front of her, even before she said yes. It was hard to say no anyway.
Hermione enjoyed her breakfast, not really minding on who was coming and going inside the establishment; her mind was entirely focused on the things that would play out in the next few hours. She doubted she would be able to focus on anything else. Something was nagging in the back of her mind, telling her she should be careful and cautious to anything unusual… constant vigilance… but she ignored that for the moment. Nothing could shake the happiness she was feeling right now, knowing she would soon see Snape.
There was a brush of clothing over her arm, bringing her back from her reverie. A tall, blonde-haired wizard in his mid-fifties was just sitting next to her. She knew she had seen him before, but couldn't remember where. He immediately noticed her and smiled the warmest of smiles.
"Good morning," he said, nodding his thanks as the baker put his coffee and roll in front of him.
Hermione thought he must be a regular and smiled back, averting his gaze in a little embarrassment. No man had ever looked at her with such intensity, and it was a little disconcerting.
"I haven't seen you here before. Are you new in town?" came his question.
She looked at him shyly. "Not really, I go to the university across the lake. But I never came here before." As she talked he looked directly into her eyes, as if his attention was completely devoted to her.
"Really? What are you majoring in? If you don't mind me asking." He smiled at her warmly. "I don't want to pry."
"That's okay, I don't mind," she smiled. "I am majoring in Potions."
"Potions? Then you must have gone to the Center at least once, I wonder why I haven't seen you there."
"The Center? You work at the Center?" she asked in disbelief at her sudden good luck.
"I'm the director there. We always get a lot of Potions students at the Center, looking for books and asking about the researches we conduct there. By the way, I'm Philip Allen," he said, extending a hand to her.
Her smile turned into a full grin as she took his hand and said, "I'm Hermione Granger."
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Severus was only satisfied when he saw Miss Granger go back to her own flat. After his owl arrived last night on her window with a message from "Mr. M," he thought it was alright to go back home.
The next morning he returned early. All he had to do was wait for her to wake up and leave her flat to go to school. The problem was that he was waiting outside her building for more than an hour and there was still no sign of Miss Granger.
When he could wait no more, he went up the flights of stairs; after casting a concealing charm, he entered her flat, easily dropping the wards. She calls this a ward? I need to send her a few new spells in my next letter.
Nothing was out of place, and yet she was nowhere to be seen. Was it possible that she left before he arrived? Or did something happen? No, there would be some sign of struggle… After making sure he placed the same wards again, he left quickly, hoping she was already safe and sound in her morning class – well, at least as safe as one can hope for, with a psychotic teacher.
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Severus had a pleasant day, having had two new breakthroughs on the researches he was conducting. He ran a hand on his oily raven hair, extracting the elastic band that had been holding his hair off his face.
He reached for the letter that had arrived that morning. Miss Granger had been quick to send him a reply; as usual, her incessant questioning had not subsided. It had been useless to ask her to not anticipate and instead wait for his next findings, like asking a child not to touch anything in a toy store.
He read the letter once more, before stuffing it in his pocket.
"Dear Mr. M.,
I am ecstatic to receive another one of your letters.
I think your findings are very interesting, if not disturbing. I wonder if all of it has anything to do with the last battle against Voldemort. Could it be that a Death Eater was seeking revenge on me?
You see, I fought in the last battle; I am Harry Potter's best friend. Do you think it's enough for someone to instigate revenge on me? I never thought I was that important and worth the effort, but maybe I've made more enemies than I first thought.
Do you think Professor Moraes is under a Polyjuice Potion? If so, why hasn't he tried anything against me already? And why would Headmaster Drumond let someone with no abilities in potions, work as a Professor? I'm sure there must be complaints from other students by now…
I know you asked me to wait for your next letter, and I will, but I'm being more observant of this man from now on.
On another note: Thank you, you make me feel a lot safer.
Your friend,
Hermione Granger."
He smiled, almost proud of how her mind worked overtime with just a few clues. She was a brilliant witch. And so compatible with me…
He shrugged off the thought and proceeded to grab his belongings.
Miss Granger, he knew, would be coming back soon, and he needed to prepare to follow her home. He was glad Albert Drumond was sane enough to assure him that Miss Granger was indeed in class. When he arrived his lab, he had Flooed the university. The old man didn't ask why he wanted to know—which was a relief—but to Severus' dismay, he had an annoying twinkle in his eyes.
Severus made a mental note to look up Drumond and find out if he was distantly related to Albus Dumbledore.
As he was preparing to leave, the Floo activated and he heard Phillip's voice calling out to him. "Severus, I'm glad I caught you on time. Would you mind coming into my office for a second?"
"I am in a bit of a hurry, Philip. I have some important things to…"
"It'll only take a minute, really." The older man looked at him expectantly.
Severus sighed sharply, grabbing a handful of Floo powder.
After stepping out onto the hearth, Severus brushed his robes off, not really looking at Phillip. "So, what is it you need?"
"There's someone I wanted you to meet, or better yet, become reacquainted with," the blonde-haired wizard said, smugly.
Severus lifted his eyes from his robes, without lifting his head. He was almost afraid to look, afraid to see something he wouldn't like to see.
He was right, he didn't want to see it and yet there she was.
"Hello, Professor, or rather, Mr.Snape, now that you're a researcher, aren't you? It's great to see you again." Hermione Granger smiled trusting, her hand in his direction.
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A/N: There, another update, hope it's fast enough this time ;-) More coming soon!
I want to thank June for beta-reading.
Next chapter: A dinner for … three? The mysterious avenger makes an appearance.