Disclaimer: just like before. Not mine. Don't sue. I still want to get rid
of the dog.
CHAPTER IV The snake pit
"Ouch" ?
"What, Miss granger? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, don't worry," She said while gathering herself of the floor.
"You should have moved from the fireplace to allow space for me to floo in." he politely helped her up, then made his way through the piles that were all over the room. Every thing looked neglected. As her eyes adjusted to the light she was able to see fairly well from the light of the stars that was coming through the gigantic window.
Window?!
Actually it looked more like a door to something, but what was something like this doing in the dungeons? Magic!
"So, what is this place?" Hermione questioned Snape.
"My chambers. Follow me and watch where you are going, or you may trip."
He walked to a bookshelf and pulled on a book, and immediately a secret door opened. (A.N. ain't it original)
"So original." Hermione muttered under her breath. Still she carefully followed the man through the passageway. Nevertheless she tripped over a chair or coffee table whatever it was.
It led to a long row of stairs that seemed to Hermione to go down to the middle of the earth, perhaps lower. She followed him to the top of the stairs. As she put her foot on the first step it started moving down by itself. In the complete darkness that followed all she could hear was his steady breathing, unlike hers, which was very irregular because of the fear.
She had grown to fear darkness. After a night spent in Azkaban with all those dementors, the darkness was starting to get to her. If she were to light her wand he might react; it wasn't getting any brighter. Slowly, she felt the stairs stopping and her adrenaline rising.
"Lumos." Snapes voice seamed to cut through the darkness suddenly there were lights everywhere; Hermione had to close her eyes. When she slowly opened them again she found herself in a room filled with everything one could possibly need for experimenting. She could feel from the chill in the room that she was still in the dungeons but nothing else seemed to suggest this. The room itself was very spacious with a very high ceiling; it was lit by thousands of lights
"Miss Granger, this is my private laboratory; I suppose you understand the value and rarity of many of the ingredients and of the equipment in here so I expect nothing less than extreme precision and caution when using them. The only reason why I trust you with this secret is Dumbledore. He thinks you will be more careful this time." Snape stressed the last two words, before continuing on, "Many of the things found in here are practically forbidden and I hope you are capable of keeping this secret a secret."
He had touched a sore spot that was enough to send Hermione into a fit of sobs, but still she didn't say anything; he was right and as hard as it was to admit it, he was actually being considerate.
"Now that we have that clear let us get to the actual task. I would like for us to decide which to start first. There are some that seem promising; the last ones most of all, but still, I would like to know your actual thoughts and opinions."
It was so hard to talk, Hermione thought, he mind still clouded in memories. Her voice seemed lost and she couldn't look at him. Fighting the sudden urge to run off crying, she managed to nod.
"Please take a sit Mi-Professor Granger." Snape amended.
It was as if her feet were glued to the ground. Still, she was a witch so, by means of magic or no she managed to move herself to the nearest chair and sit down. She still wouldn't look up. He was so cruel, yet so right.
"Look," Snape began, " I'm not the big bad wolf, though I don't think you're afraid of the big bad wolf; I'd say he's a good friend of yours actually," his tone as bitter as it was always. "I have here some records about other attempts of finding cures against the Unforgivables. They are not much, but as you must know there haven't been many studies, as they have always been considered unbreakable; no one has actually tried to break them.
He placed some papers on the table in front of her. Hermione took them in her hands but her mind was not on them. Some of your ideas are rather canon. Believe it or not, they're wrong." he insulted, "Still you have some innovating theories that might have a chance."
"They're not new." she said quietly. Her voice sounded strange even to her own ears. "What did you say?" asked Snape, turning towards her.
"They're not new. I took them from some very old books and I'm positive they're good.
"From where exactly did you take them?" His voice dangerously low.
"Some old text books?" Hermione replied.
"Exactly which ones?"
"I don't know, I have only fragments."
"Could I see them?"
"I don't know if.and after all I don't think you would understand much of them; they're written in ancient runes and.
Snape cut her off, "I have a degree in ancient runes Professor Granger if you must know. Half the books in my library are written in runes, so no need to worry. I haven't used this laboratory in all summer so I have to check to see if everything's working.
Before he could continue, she asked him in a small voice that still showed her uneasiness. "May I help, sir?... I mean I haven't worked all summer myself and I'm not sure I am able to create even one of the simple potions."
"If you wish." He said dismissively.
The next couple of hours seemed to ease the tension between them to a reasonable point. They worked in relative silence; sometimes she would have to ask where she could find one of the ingredients. The laboratory was well organized, labeled clearly and categorized, she was simply adjusting to a new place. She was soon absorbed in the potion making process. It wasn't an easy potion; it was actually a difficult concoction. It required all her attention, just one eye of newt extra and it would be spoiled.
She had her hair in a bun so it wouldn't get in her way but several strands had fallen and she had to constantly push them away. She poured griffin tears from a large, heavy bottle into a tiny, silver measuring cup, her hands never trembling. She managed to fill the small cup exactly to the brim without, even in reality, looking at what she is doing. One more drop would have caused it to overflow. Her eyes never left the surface of the cauldron, her stirring impeccable; just the right amount at the precise moments.
It was actually intriguing to see that one of his students who had actually mastered the fine art of potion making, Snape mused, carefully avoiding her eyes while he watched her.
Once she added the final ingredient, the flobberworm mucus, the potion turned green, just as it should have. She had just finished the potion and was waiting for it to cool down so she could store it, not noticing Snape's proximity.
"You didn't add enough doxy wings dust." He criticized.
"It would have been to concentrate, and besides this way it's not detectable. Too much dust and it becomes toxic." She retorted.
"Whoever uses this type of potion doesn't care if it's toxic or not. It is a very powerful restorative potion, it involves.....questionable magic to produce. Here put it in these vials, it shall be useful." Snape handed her a set of vials with stoppers.
"I don't think Madam Pomfrey would be thrilled about making one of these potions for the students." Hermione noted.
"Madam Pomfrey doesn't make the potions; I do. And she would be totally against it. The only times she uses even a diluted form of this potion is when I need one. She wouldn't use one of these if her life depended on it. Where did you learn to make one of these?"
"From a book in the library." Hermione responded.
"The Hogwarts library? How did you get to it, it's in the restricted section?"
"During my 7th year, McGonagall signed for me a permanent pass for that section, as I was caught up in several projects that involved serious research and I needed as many facts as I could get. I took advantage of the opportunity and looked through as many books as I could. I wanted to find something to help Harry, and I actually used this potion the last time he had to do some Auror raids and almost got killed," she explained.
"It's getting late, you should probably return to your quarters, you may be excused." He ended their conversation abruptly.
"Just wanted to ask you something. I know that you don't only have normal ingredients and even some more exotic ones; you also have muggle chemicals.
"Yes, you noticed!" Snape sounded surprised, "Some of them are fairly helpful when trying new potions. That is why I have a whole range of muggle chemicals and TNTs available in case it's needed." Snape smirked as Hermione took out a translucent glass vial labeled, 'Plutonium powder'.
"Merlin. This is real radioactive stuff. You certainly know how to play with fire." Hermione said wryly as she put the vial back on the shelf carefully.
"Well, that is the aspect of potions I like so much. The danger." he said while pretending to drop a vial labeled 'nitroglycerine' making Hermione squirm. Replacing it on the shelf, he led her up the stairs, unmoving on the way up, Hermione noted irritably, and into his rooms again.
It was just as dark as the stairs, so she couldn't really make much of the surroundings. In the dim light from the hearth she could see a lavish armchair; there were no pictures on the mantle of the fireplace. She could barely distinguish, there on the wall next to her, a picture of someone, the pictured itself rumpled and scraped. There wasn't much she could see and she sensed he wasn't going to let her see anything further.
He had a dark scowl on his face and looked as if he was going to.well, he was undeniably nasty.
Snape was waiting for her to get in the fireplace and she wasn't willing to prolong her stay in his chambers more than necessary. She stepped in and once she through stepped aside to make room for him.
"You are not allowed in my rooms without me, as a matter of fact you are not allowed in my office and my storeroom without my approval. Do you understand that?"
"Yes. I understand, there's no need to..." Hermione began to protest his demeanor.
"I don't know what you're babbling there Miss Granger, I am simply stating the rules." he walked her to the door and unlocked the wards. Once she was out he closed it, but before she left, he opened it again. "
"Tomorrow I expect you here with your material, Mis.Professor Granger," he amended. Then he closed the door before she could open her mouth (and close it several times like a goldfish) and locked it with some charms (that of course could not be unlocked with a simple Alohomora).
Well, the man had a huge apartment; he had more luxury then she would have expected, but it all looked uninhabited for someone who had lived there for almost two decades. And Merlin's beard, the laboratory he had was better than the one at the ministry! This was a revelation to her.
She was still puzzled over were exactly his rooms were, as they had gone through the hearth, which meant it wasn't actually near his office, and it had large windows (covered by drapes so no light could come in, so typical of him.) Oh well, she had no time to spend thinking of him. She had to mark the homework of the students, make plans for her next lessons, find the texts he wished to see, etc.
When she entered her room she saw some strange movements out of the corner of her eye.
"Who is it?" her voice a little shaky but all her fears vanished when she saw who was causing the noises.
Dobby the house elf was standing beside her table. His large pointed ears glowing in the dim light from the fireside. He was dressed from head to feet in clothes knitted by her in her school years. In her sixth year Harry had told her the truth about Dobby taking all the clothes, so she stopped hiding them through the Gryffindor common room. Instead she made clothes especially for Dobby.
The ones that he was wearing at the moment consisted of an orange sweater, some blue trousers, a yellow hat and two socks that naturally weren't the same kind-one was purple and the other was a sick green.
"Hermione Granger, Miss." He bowed his head. "It is an honor to see you again Miss."
"I'm glad to see you too, Dobby. Now would you care to join me for a cup of tea?" she questioned the elf.
His eyes were shining now with tears. "Miss, Dobby has never been asked for a cup of tea by a wizard. Miss is too good, but Dobby must refuse, for Dobby has to do his work Miss."
"I could take this as insubordination, you know?" Hermione teased.
"No, no Miss. Dobby did not mean to be rude. Dobby did not mean to offend miss, Dobby is terribly sorry." he was shaking his head so hard his ears were flapping like a bats wings.
"I know Dobby, and well, if you can't, there is no need to apologize. Oh, and by the way, thank you for cleaning my room."
"It is Dobby's job miss, nothing to thank Dobby for. Would the miss still want a coup of tea?"
"Yes but don't trouble yourself Dobby, I can do it myself." But, before she even finished her sentence he had disappeared with a puff. It's impossible to Apparate in Hogwarts, isn't it? Was all that passed through her mind.
Before she knew it he was back with a tray holding a mug of tea and a plate with chocolate biscuits. "
Here you have miss." Said the elf, bowing slightly.
"Thank you Dobby."
"Is there anything else Miss desires?"
"No." she responded. She took a sip of tea. "Actually," she started, "there would be a thing I would like to know."
"Anything, Miss, just say it." his ears were waggling cheerfully.
"Why aren't Professor Snape's rooms cleaned? They look like no one's been there in a century."
She hadn't expected the elf's smile to vanish and his years to flop, but he looked horror struck. "
"House elves do not have the permission to enter the potion master's chamber, Miss, we are banned from them."
"But why?" Hermione questioned.
"Dobby must not speak of this. Dobby cannot tell this to miss, it is."
"All right, no need to explain. Of course he would keep his secrets to himself." She muttered under breath, "All right, thanks again for the tea and good night, Dobby."
"Good night Miss," were the last words Dobby said before he vanished.
Hermione found she could not get to sleep that night, so she tried to occupy her time. The students' homework was no match for Hermione; she had marked all of them in less than four hours. Finding the texts Snape wanted was piece of cake, so with nothing else to do and with sleep still evading her, she planned all her classes at least till Christmas break.
Before she realized it, it was time for breakfast so she left her rooms and headed for the Great Hall. She was actually the first to get there. Her eyes were practically closed by the time she had finished her eggs, and without realizing she had soaked her hair in her tea.
Lucky for her. Mrs. Weasley was gone on errands and Lupin was recovering after a full moon, so there was nobody bothering her with silly questions. Just as she thought she could get to her rooms and maybe try to sleep, she knocked into Malfoy. The bump made her fall hard on the stone floor.
"Granger, next time could you not throw yourself so forwardly at me?" snickered Draco as he passed without even giving her a second glance.
Great job give ferret-boy something to laugh about. Just get up and move on until you fall asleep here Granger girl, she mentally berated herself.
Gathering herself from the floor she walked as dignified and awake as she could to her room where she just collapsed onto her bed without a second thought.
She heard strange noises around her, as if someone was crying. She looked around and in the darkness from the closed blinds, she was able to distinguish the figure of a tall, very thin, woman, dressed in a grey cloak, with a hood on her head. When she looked more closely she realized it was a banshee.
The cries were growing in intensity and soon she couldn't stand it any more. She tried to scream, tried to tell it to stop, but it was no use; her voice was gone. Suddenly, the banshee lifted her head and the grey hood fell off her face, revealing a pale ghostlike face with red eyes and a mane of untidy red hair. Hermione could now recognize the face.
It was the worst shock of Hermione's life. The realization that the banshee wasn't actually a spirit but Ginny. A long piercing shriek froze the blood in Hermione's veins.
When she opened her eyes a second time, the image of Ginny disappeared and in the night, though she could still hear shrieks and long howls. She looked around her-the all so familiar face of Crookshanks greeted her almost reassuring her everything was still normal. "
"I killed her Ookie, I did that." She whispered to the cat, who looked like he didn't care about anything else except his stomach and meowed at her as loud as he could. "Easy for you to dismiss I- you used to kill two mice a day and several spiders, birds, butterflies, bugs and even some homework of mine. You are no guide for my conscience."
Hermione could not close her eyes anymore-the image of Ginny's face kept haunting her for the rest of the day. She tried to get back to sleep but it wasn't working.
Everything was in vain. It was a full moon and the light filled the room, even with the drapes pulled tight. This explained the strange howls. 'Oh, who am I kidding' she thought, she getting up and putting a cloak on--she went out. She wasn't thinking where she was going; she just let her legs take her somewhere.
She went down the stairs and out the great doors, past the greenhouses from where a faint sound of mandrake cries could be heard which was enough to make her feel even more sick, before she stopped in front of Hagrid's hut.
Looking around there was nothing familiar anymore about the cozy place she and her friends had spent entire evenings with the gentle half-giant. There was no smoke coming from the chimney, the garden once crammed with giant pumpkins for Halloween was now filled with just weeds, growing out of control, and there was no barking coming from inside from an overjoyed Fang, who used to soak her in drools every time in just seconds.
She tried to open the door with 'Alohomora' but it was better guarded.
'Permisox' she muttered. The door opened on her command. It wasn't the usual spell a witch would use to open a door; some would even call it black magic, but nobody had to know she had used it, did they? She entered the hut.
The space between her and the castle wasn't what separated it from the school for Hermione, but the years that passed since Hagrid had left. The clock had stopped at a time of the past. It had all ended with Hagrid's last words of goodbye seven years ago when her time at school ended-and now she returned to this place. Nothing had changed; everything was in its place. The house impressed Hermione with its past, the sweet old road of her childhood. She entered through the huge door that gave a piercing sound and entered the large circular room that was his house.
The high roof was still covered in dusty cages for all types of animals. Passing through the room she could almost see clouds of dust forming where her shoes touched the ground and the click of her high heals was rhythmically breaking the silence. She took a seat in the large armchair in front of the empty fireplace. With a muttered 'Incendio' the log that was left in the grate ignited, giving a strange light to the surroundings.
A howl broke the silence again, but it was now coming from the forest. Probably just like dogs and wolves, werewolves communicated among themselves. Maybe this was Lupin's girlfriend. The thought made her chuckle a little but it wasn't enough to cheer her up.
Here in the shadows of the past she could no longer run from what happened. She could still remember like it was yesterday-one of her last conversations with Ginny, a short time before Mel's birth and Ginny's death.
"Hermione what if he gets her? What if he gets us? I have to protect her; I have to protect her at any cost." It was Ginny; she was scared. Her eyes were filling with tears and Hermione was no longer able to look into her eyes. She let her gaze travel lower. Her hands were clasped in front of her. It was a nervous gesture, rather than deliberate, and she was likely unconscious of how her arms outlined the visible evidence of her pregnancy.
"I have to do it Hermione, it's her only hope. You know what's going to happen if I don't. He's going to.to.you know. Not with all Dumbledore's protection will she stand against Him." Ginny broke into tears.
Hermione had to do something comfort her, in some way, but she could not find the words that were needed to be said. It was her who had given her this idea. She hadn't wanted it to be like this. It wasn't what she had had in mind at the time and without a doubt, wasn't the best plan of action. The risks were so great that just the thought of it gave her shivers down her spine. The ritual was so old it had been forgotten long before recorded history.
"Ginny? Ginny, listen to me?" When she saw her friends face it was as if her heart had been torn apart. So much misery, so much pain, so much suffering, yet so much hope. "You can't do that.it would mean, I mean, it would virtually be suicide. I couldn't even decipher all the text. The language is too old for any rules used today to work. Ginny, believe me you can't do it." Hermione tried to dissuade her friend.
" I can and I will. I can't let anybody ruin my life, take away my happiness, and all that's good in life and matters to me." The red head said, resolutely.
"Ginny, if you go through with this you will have no life left. Please listen to me, it's.it's stupid." Hermione persisted.
"Stupid would be if I would let Him take away what is most dear to me. I know how it is to be in his possession. I've been through it and I have to protect my little angel from this."
"Ginny she's not even born. And trust me he won't come back." Hermione reasoned.
"That's what they were all saying ten years ago and it was a lie." Her voice was barely a whisper. It sounded like her last words were said by the air around them and not by her. "If I'll die so be it, but I won't let Him get her; I won't." she finished fiercely. Her eyes had a strange glow in them and this was enough to make Hermione hang her head down.
In a oddly maternal way, Ginny kissed Hermione's forehead. This startled Hermione and made her look up. She had dozed off again in front of the warm fire but was woken up by the sound made by a salamander dancing in the fire. Sleeping was getting more tiring than staying awake, she noted wryly. She had to find a cure for this. The dreamless sleeping potion had lost its effects on her after so many doses. If everything else failed she was considering using the draught of the living death.
When she finally returned to the castle it was already dawn and the penetrating sound of the great oak doors seemed to shake the school from its foundation. The echoes of her steps through the dim lighted corridors seemed to warn everybody of her presence, for no one greeted her in the entrance hall. Her mind wasn't working well anymore from the lack of sleep, and her nerves were stretched to their limits.
She couldn't even focus were she was going, so turning a corner she knocked into someone. She fell down from the impact with her robes out in every direction around her, making it look as though she were sinking into a black hole in the floor.
"Granger, what in Merlin's name are you doing wandering through the corridors? You meddling girl." Snape's voice seemed to ring in her ears louder and louder until she could not stand it anymore. Tears began to fill her eyes and she started shaking. Getting up she dashed as fast as she could up to her rooms were she stopped in front of the little potions cabinet that she had, taking a sip out of a bottle containing a very disgusting looking liquid. She collapsed on spot losing all traces of consciousness immediately. For hours she lay on the floor, next to the broken glass from the vial that had shattered when it fell from her hands.
When she finally regained consciousness she scampered to the bed where she remained in a state of vegetation for a long while. All traces of the relative comfort and happiness she might have felt at entering the great halls of old Hogwarts gone; replaced by her all so familiar ghosts of the past.
CHAPTER IV The snake pit
"Ouch" ?
"What, Miss granger? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, don't worry," She said while gathering herself of the floor.
"You should have moved from the fireplace to allow space for me to floo in." he politely helped her up, then made his way through the piles that were all over the room. Every thing looked neglected. As her eyes adjusted to the light she was able to see fairly well from the light of the stars that was coming through the gigantic window.
Window?!
Actually it looked more like a door to something, but what was something like this doing in the dungeons? Magic!
"So, what is this place?" Hermione questioned Snape.
"My chambers. Follow me and watch where you are going, or you may trip."
He walked to a bookshelf and pulled on a book, and immediately a secret door opened. (A.N. ain't it original)
"So original." Hermione muttered under her breath. Still she carefully followed the man through the passageway. Nevertheless she tripped over a chair or coffee table whatever it was.
It led to a long row of stairs that seemed to Hermione to go down to the middle of the earth, perhaps lower. She followed him to the top of the stairs. As she put her foot on the first step it started moving down by itself. In the complete darkness that followed all she could hear was his steady breathing, unlike hers, which was very irregular because of the fear.
She had grown to fear darkness. After a night spent in Azkaban with all those dementors, the darkness was starting to get to her. If she were to light her wand he might react; it wasn't getting any brighter. Slowly, she felt the stairs stopping and her adrenaline rising.
"Lumos." Snapes voice seamed to cut through the darkness suddenly there were lights everywhere; Hermione had to close her eyes. When she slowly opened them again she found herself in a room filled with everything one could possibly need for experimenting. She could feel from the chill in the room that she was still in the dungeons but nothing else seemed to suggest this. The room itself was very spacious with a very high ceiling; it was lit by thousands of lights
"Miss Granger, this is my private laboratory; I suppose you understand the value and rarity of many of the ingredients and of the equipment in here so I expect nothing less than extreme precision and caution when using them. The only reason why I trust you with this secret is Dumbledore. He thinks you will be more careful this time." Snape stressed the last two words, before continuing on, "Many of the things found in here are practically forbidden and I hope you are capable of keeping this secret a secret."
He had touched a sore spot that was enough to send Hermione into a fit of sobs, but still she didn't say anything; he was right and as hard as it was to admit it, he was actually being considerate.
"Now that we have that clear let us get to the actual task. I would like for us to decide which to start first. There are some that seem promising; the last ones most of all, but still, I would like to know your actual thoughts and opinions."
It was so hard to talk, Hermione thought, he mind still clouded in memories. Her voice seemed lost and she couldn't look at him. Fighting the sudden urge to run off crying, she managed to nod.
"Please take a sit Mi-Professor Granger." Snape amended.
It was as if her feet were glued to the ground. Still, she was a witch so, by means of magic or no she managed to move herself to the nearest chair and sit down. She still wouldn't look up. He was so cruel, yet so right.
"Look," Snape began, " I'm not the big bad wolf, though I don't think you're afraid of the big bad wolf; I'd say he's a good friend of yours actually," his tone as bitter as it was always. "I have here some records about other attempts of finding cures against the Unforgivables. They are not much, but as you must know there haven't been many studies, as they have always been considered unbreakable; no one has actually tried to break them.
He placed some papers on the table in front of her. Hermione took them in her hands but her mind was not on them. Some of your ideas are rather canon. Believe it or not, they're wrong." he insulted, "Still you have some innovating theories that might have a chance."
"They're not new." she said quietly. Her voice sounded strange even to her own ears. "What did you say?" asked Snape, turning towards her.
"They're not new. I took them from some very old books and I'm positive they're good.
"From where exactly did you take them?" His voice dangerously low.
"Some old text books?" Hermione replied.
"Exactly which ones?"
"I don't know, I have only fragments."
"Could I see them?"
"I don't know if.and after all I don't think you would understand much of them; they're written in ancient runes and.
Snape cut her off, "I have a degree in ancient runes Professor Granger if you must know. Half the books in my library are written in runes, so no need to worry. I haven't used this laboratory in all summer so I have to check to see if everything's working.
Before he could continue, she asked him in a small voice that still showed her uneasiness. "May I help, sir?... I mean I haven't worked all summer myself and I'm not sure I am able to create even one of the simple potions."
"If you wish." He said dismissively.
The next couple of hours seemed to ease the tension between them to a reasonable point. They worked in relative silence; sometimes she would have to ask where she could find one of the ingredients. The laboratory was well organized, labeled clearly and categorized, she was simply adjusting to a new place. She was soon absorbed in the potion making process. It wasn't an easy potion; it was actually a difficult concoction. It required all her attention, just one eye of newt extra and it would be spoiled.
She had her hair in a bun so it wouldn't get in her way but several strands had fallen and she had to constantly push them away. She poured griffin tears from a large, heavy bottle into a tiny, silver measuring cup, her hands never trembling. She managed to fill the small cup exactly to the brim without, even in reality, looking at what she is doing. One more drop would have caused it to overflow. Her eyes never left the surface of the cauldron, her stirring impeccable; just the right amount at the precise moments.
It was actually intriguing to see that one of his students who had actually mastered the fine art of potion making, Snape mused, carefully avoiding her eyes while he watched her.
Once she added the final ingredient, the flobberworm mucus, the potion turned green, just as it should have. She had just finished the potion and was waiting for it to cool down so she could store it, not noticing Snape's proximity.
"You didn't add enough doxy wings dust." He criticized.
"It would have been to concentrate, and besides this way it's not detectable. Too much dust and it becomes toxic." She retorted.
"Whoever uses this type of potion doesn't care if it's toxic or not. It is a very powerful restorative potion, it involves.....questionable magic to produce. Here put it in these vials, it shall be useful." Snape handed her a set of vials with stoppers.
"I don't think Madam Pomfrey would be thrilled about making one of these potions for the students." Hermione noted.
"Madam Pomfrey doesn't make the potions; I do. And she would be totally against it. The only times she uses even a diluted form of this potion is when I need one. She wouldn't use one of these if her life depended on it. Where did you learn to make one of these?"
"From a book in the library." Hermione responded.
"The Hogwarts library? How did you get to it, it's in the restricted section?"
"During my 7th year, McGonagall signed for me a permanent pass for that section, as I was caught up in several projects that involved serious research and I needed as many facts as I could get. I took advantage of the opportunity and looked through as many books as I could. I wanted to find something to help Harry, and I actually used this potion the last time he had to do some Auror raids and almost got killed," she explained.
"It's getting late, you should probably return to your quarters, you may be excused." He ended their conversation abruptly.
"Just wanted to ask you something. I know that you don't only have normal ingredients and even some more exotic ones; you also have muggle chemicals.
"Yes, you noticed!" Snape sounded surprised, "Some of them are fairly helpful when trying new potions. That is why I have a whole range of muggle chemicals and TNTs available in case it's needed." Snape smirked as Hermione took out a translucent glass vial labeled, 'Plutonium powder'.
"Merlin. This is real radioactive stuff. You certainly know how to play with fire." Hermione said wryly as she put the vial back on the shelf carefully.
"Well, that is the aspect of potions I like so much. The danger." he said while pretending to drop a vial labeled 'nitroglycerine' making Hermione squirm. Replacing it on the shelf, he led her up the stairs, unmoving on the way up, Hermione noted irritably, and into his rooms again.
It was just as dark as the stairs, so she couldn't really make much of the surroundings. In the dim light from the hearth she could see a lavish armchair; there were no pictures on the mantle of the fireplace. She could barely distinguish, there on the wall next to her, a picture of someone, the pictured itself rumpled and scraped. There wasn't much she could see and she sensed he wasn't going to let her see anything further.
He had a dark scowl on his face and looked as if he was going to.well, he was undeniably nasty.
Snape was waiting for her to get in the fireplace and she wasn't willing to prolong her stay in his chambers more than necessary. She stepped in and once she through stepped aside to make room for him.
"You are not allowed in my rooms without me, as a matter of fact you are not allowed in my office and my storeroom without my approval. Do you understand that?"
"Yes. I understand, there's no need to..." Hermione began to protest his demeanor.
"I don't know what you're babbling there Miss Granger, I am simply stating the rules." he walked her to the door and unlocked the wards. Once she was out he closed it, but before she left, he opened it again. "
"Tomorrow I expect you here with your material, Mis.Professor Granger," he amended. Then he closed the door before she could open her mouth (and close it several times like a goldfish) and locked it with some charms (that of course could not be unlocked with a simple Alohomora).
Well, the man had a huge apartment; he had more luxury then she would have expected, but it all looked uninhabited for someone who had lived there for almost two decades. And Merlin's beard, the laboratory he had was better than the one at the ministry! This was a revelation to her.
She was still puzzled over were exactly his rooms were, as they had gone through the hearth, which meant it wasn't actually near his office, and it had large windows (covered by drapes so no light could come in, so typical of him.) Oh well, she had no time to spend thinking of him. She had to mark the homework of the students, make plans for her next lessons, find the texts he wished to see, etc.
When she entered her room she saw some strange movements out of the corner of her eye.
"Who is it?" her voice a little shaky but all her fears vanished when she saw who was causing the noises.
Dobby the house elf was standing beside her table. His large pointed ears glowing in the dim light from the fireside. He was dressed from head to feet in clothes knitted by her in her school years. In her sixth year Harry had told her the truth about Dobby taking all the clothes, so she stopped hiding them through the Gryffindor common room. Instead she made clothes especially for Dobby.
The ones that he was wearing at the moment consisted of an orange sweater, some blue trousers, a yellow hat and two socks that naturally weren't the same kind-one was purple and the other was a sick green.
"Hermione Granger, Miss." He bowed his head. "It is an honor to see you again Miss."
"I'm glad to see you too, Dobby. Now would you care to join me for a cup of tea?" she questioned the elf.
His eyes were shining now with tears. "Miss, Dobby has never been asked for a cup of tea by a wizard. Miss is too good, but Dobby must refuse, for Dobby has to do his work Miss."
"I could take this as insubordination, you know?" Hermione teased.
"No, no Miss. Dobby did not mean to be rude. Dobby did not mean to offend miss, Dobby is terribly sorry." he was shaking his head so hard his ears were flapping like a bats wings.
"I know Dobby, and well, if you can't, there is no need to apologize. Oh, and by the way, thank you for cleaning my room."
"It is Dobby's job miss, nothing to thank Dobby for. Would the miss still want a coup of tea?"
"Yes but don't trouble yourself Dobby, I can do it myself." But, before she even finished her sentence he had disappeared with a puff. It's impossible to Apparate in Hogwarts, isn't it? Was all that passed through her mind.
Before she knew it he was back with a tray holding a mug of tea and a plate with chocolate biscuits. "
Here you have miss." Said the elf, bowing slightly.
"Thank you Dobby."
"Is there anything else Miss desires?"
"No." she responded. She took a sip of tea. "Actually," she started, "there would be a thing I would like to know."
"Anything, Miss, just say it." his ears were waggling cheerfully.
"Why aren't Professor Snape's rooms cleaned? They look like no one's been there in a century."
She hadn't expected the elf's smile to vanish and his years to flop, but he looked horror struck. "
"House elves do not have the permission to enter the potion master's chamber, Miss, we are banned from them."
"But why?" Hermione questioned.
"Dobby must not speak of this. Dobby cannot tell this to miss, it is."
"All right, no need to explain. Of course he would keep his secrets to himself." She muttered under breath, "All right, thanks again for the tea and good night, Dobby."
"Good night Miss," were the last words Dobby said before he vanished.
Hermione found she could not get to sleep that night, so she tried to occupy her time. The students' homework was no match for Hermione; she had marked all of them in less than four hours. Finding the texts Snape wanted was piece of cake, so with nothing else to do and with sleep still evading her, she planned all her classes at least till Christmas break.
Before she realized it, it was time for breakfast so she left her rooms and headed for the Great Hall. She was actually the first to get there. Her eyes were practically closed by the time she had finished her eggs, and without realizing she had soaked her hair in her tea.
Lucky for her. Mrs. Weasley was gone on errands and Lupin was recovering after a full moon, so there was nobody bothering her with silly questions. Just as she thought she could get to her rooms and maybe try to sleep, she knocked into Malfoy. The bump made her fall hard on the stone floor.
"Granger, next time could you not throw yourself so forwardly at me?" snickered Draco as he passed without even giving her a second glance.
Great job give ferret-boy something to laugh about. Just get up and move on until you fall asleep here Granger girl, she mentally berated herself.
Gathering herself from the floor she walked as dignified and awake as she could to her room where she just collapsed onto her bed without a second thought.
She heard strange noises around her, as if someone was crying. She looked around and in the darkness from the closed blinds, she was able to distinguish the figure of a tall, very thin, woman, dressed in a grey cloak, with a hood on her head. When she looked more closely she realized it was a banshee.
The cries were growing in intensity and soon she couldn't stand it any more. She tried to scream, tried to tell it to stop, but it was no use; her voice was gone. Suddenly, the banshee lifted her head and the grey hood fell off her face, revealing a pale ghostlike face with red eyes and a mane of untidy red hair. Hermione could now recognize the face.
It was the worst shock of Hermione's life. The realization that the banshee wasn't actually a spirit but Ginny. A long piercing shriek froze the blood in Hermione's veins.
When she opened her eyes a second time, the image of Ginny disappeared and in the night, though she could still hear shrieks and long howls. She looked around her-the all so familiar face of Crookshanks greeted her almost reassuring her everything was still normal. "
"I killed her Ookie, I did that." She whispered to the cat, who looked like he didn't care about anything else except his stomach and meowed at her as loud as he could. "Easy for you to dismiss I- you used to kill two mice a day and several spiders, birds, butterflies, bugs and even some homework of mine. You are no guide for my conscience."
Hermione could not close her eyes anymore-the image of Ginny's face kept haunting her for the rest of the day. She tried to get back to sleep but it wasn't working.
Everything was in vain. It was a full moon and the light filled the room, even with the drapes pulled tight. This explained the strange howls. 'Oh, who am I kidding' she thought, she getting up and putting a cloak on--she went out. She wasn't thinking where she was going; she just let her legs take her somewhere.
She went down the stairs and out the great doors, past the greenhouses from where a faint sound of mandrake cries could be heard which was enough to make her feel even more sick, before she stopped in front of Hagrid's hut.
Looking around there was nothing familiar anymore about the cozy place she and her friends had spent entire evenings with the gentle half-giant. There was no smoke coming from the chimney, the garden once crammed with giant pumpkins for Halloween was now filled with just weeds, growing out of control, and there was no barking coming from inside from an overjoyed Fang, who used to soak her in drools every time in just seconds.
She tried to open the door with 'Alohomora' but it was better guarded.
'Permisox' she muttered. The door opened on her command. It wasn't the usual spell a witch would use to open a door; some would even call it black magic, but nobody had to know she had used it, did they? She entered the hut.
The space between her and the castle wasn't what separated it from the school for Hermione, but the years that passed since Hagrid had left. The clock had stopped at a time of the past. It had all ended with Hagrid's last words of goodbye seven years ago when her time at school ended-and now she returned to this place. Nothing had changed; everything was in its place. The house impressed Hermione with its past, the sweet old road of her childhood. She entered through the huge door that gave a piercing sound and entered the large circular room that was his house.
The high roof was still covered in dusty cages for all types of animals. Passing through the room she could almost see clouds of dust forming where her shoes touched the ground and the click of her high heals was rhythmically breaking the silence. She took a seat in the large armchair in front of the empty fireplace. With a muttered 'Incendio' the log that was left in the grate ignited, giving a strange light to the surroundings.
A howl broke the silence again, but it was now coming from the forest. Probably just like dogs and wolves, werewolves communicated among themselves. Maybe this was Lupin's girlfriend. The thought made her chuckle a little but it wasn't enough to cheer her up.
Here in the shadows of the past she could no longer run from what happened. She could still remember like it was yesterday-one of her last conversations with Ginny, a short time before Mel's birth and Ginny's death.
"Hermione what if he gets her? What if he gets us? I have to protect her; I have to protect her at any cost." It was Ginny; she was scared. Her eyes were filling with tears and Hermione was no longer able to look into her eyes. She let her gaze travel lower. Her hands were clasped in front of her. It was a nervous gesture, rather than deliberate, and she was likely unconscious of how her arms outlined the visible evidence of her pregnancy.
"I have to do it Hermione, it's her only hope. You know what's going to happen if I don't. He's going to.to.you know. Not with all Dumbledore's protection will she stand against Him." Ginny broke into tears.
Hermione had to do something comfort her, in some way, but she could not find the words that were needed to be said. It was her who had given her this idea. She hadn't wanted it to be like this. It wasn't what she had had in mind at the time and without a doubt, wasn't the best plan of action. The risks were so great that just the thought of it gave her shivers down her spine. The ritual was so old it had been forgotten long before recorded history.
"Ginny? Ginny, listen to me?" When she saw her friends face it was as if her heart had been torn apart. So much misery, so much pain, so much suffering, yet so much hope. "You can't do that.it would mean, I mean, it would virtually be suicide. I couldn't even decipher all the text. The language is too old for any rules used today to work. Ginny, believe me you can't do it." Hermione tried to dissuade her friend.
" I can and I will. I can't let anybody ruin my life, take away my happiness, and all that's good in life and matters to me." The red head said, resolutely.
"Ginny, if you go through with this you will have no life left. Please listen to me, it's.it's stupid." Hermione persisted.
"Stupid would be if I would let Him take away what is most dear to me. I know how it is to be in his possession. I've been through it and I have to protect my little angel from this."
"Ginny she's not even born. And trust me he won't come back." Hermione reasoned.
"That's what they were all saying ten years ago and it was a lie." Her voice was barely a whisper. It sounded like her last words were said by the air around them and not by her. "If I'll die so be it, but I won't let Him get her; I won't." she finished fiercely. Her eyes had a strange glow in them and this was enough to make Hermione hang her head down.
In a oddly maternal way, Ginny kissed Hermione's forehead. This startled Hermione and made her look up. She had dozed off again in front of the warm fire but was woken up by the sound made by a salamander dancing in the fire. Sleeping was getting more tiring than staying awake, she noted wryly. She had to find a cure for this. The dreamless sleeping potion had lost its effects on her after so many doses. If everything else failed she was considering using the draught of the living death.
When she finally returned to the castle it was already dawn and the penetrating sound of the great oak doors seemed to shake the school from its foundation. The echoes of her steps through the dim lighted corridors seemed to warn everybody of her presence, for no one greeted her in the entrance hall. Her mind wasn't working well anymore from the lack of sleep, and her nerves were stretched to their limits.
She couldn't even focus were she was going, so turning a corner she knocked into someone. She fell down from the impact with her robes out in every direction around her, making it look as though she were sinking into a black hole in the floor.
"Granger, what in Merlin's name are you doing wandering through the corridors? You meddling girl." Snape's voice seemed to ring in her ears louder and louder until she could not stand it anymore. Tears began to fill her eyes and she started shaking. Getting up she dashed as fast as she could up to her rooms were she stopped in front of the little potions cabinet that she had, taking a sip out of a bottle containing a very disgusting looking liquid. She collapsed on spot losing all traces of consciousness immediately. For hours she lay on the floor, next to the broken glass from the vial that had shattered when it fell from her hands.
When she finally regained consciousness she scampered to the bed where she remained in a state of vegetation for a long while. All traces of the relative comfort and happiness she might have felt at entering the great halls of old Hogwarts gone; replaced by her all so familiar ghosts of the past.