Many thanks to Shdwcat27, (Thank you for C2 listing too) duj, Stormy1989, JustJeanette, toostupidforyou, CareBearErin, and Somigliana for reviewing chapter three. You are all far too kind. Please accept this as my latest love offering. It is dedicated to you my reviewers.
A big box of Honeydukes to duj for helping weed out some amazingly lame dialogue from this chapter. That said all the lame dialogue remaining is in no way duj's fault. duj- I hope that bit got better. If not, I promise to keep trying. Please let me know what you think.
If anyone comes across a line in desperate need of improvement I'll love you forever for letting me know and will do my best to fix it. Such con-crit is appreciated more than I can say.
My skin is thick as Crabbe and Goyle put together. All comments, corrections, and criticisms welcome- yes even flames!
Discovering the Hidden Heart
Part Four
Wisdom of What is Written
He walked out of the endless desert out of the blazing heat into the cool shade and dark incense of a long gallery. He strode past lotus columns, sacred wall writings, and tiled pools afloat with rose petals into her ornate chamber. She was there clothed only with necklace and bracelets and reclining on brightly dyed pillows. As he approached she opened her kohl lined eyes framed by the green iridescence of crushed beetle carapace. Her hair was tamed into a thousand beaded braids. Her body was dusted with gold. Intricate designs in henna graced her hands and feet. She drew her knees up and spread them wide in welcome for him. As he drew near and reached a hand out to touch her shimmering skin she pressed her foot against his chest to stop him.
"Teach me the origin spell first, my Pharaoh," she said with her most seductive smile while caressing his chest with her toes.
"I do not know it yet."
She frowned, pushed him away, and unrolled papyrus to read instead. Snape woke in need of a very cold shower.
Hermione badly wanted to sleep late that morning. Crookshanks had other plans. He kneaded, mewed, and pawed at the tangles in her hair, making a sufficient pest of himself to let Hermoine know in no uncertain terms that he didn't give a rat's tail whether it was a Saturday or Bast's birthday.
Finally, Hermione fished under her pillow found and flicked her wand lazily in the direction of his food dish to pour out some Knutley's Kneazle Pleasing Gastronomic Delight. Crookshanks thanked her by crunching as loudly as possible and scraping his metal bowl around the stone floor as he ate. Just when Hermione had given up on the idea of sleep all together and dragged herself out of bed Crookshanks hopped onto her warm pillow ready to take his after-breakfast nap.
"You do that on purpose!"
Crookshanks did not bother to deny it.
Hermione spent the next two hours showering, untangling, drying, and smoothing her hair with magic fantasizing once again that she could manage to look exotic or sporty and not a bit like a House Elf with all her hair shaved off.
She ate oatmeal with yogurt, raisins, and honey leisurely in the Great Hall hiding from anyone who might try to talk with her behind her well worn copy of A Brief History of Time, a book she was reasonably sure she could recite by heart if her life or grades depended on it. She really needed something new to read.
After she had eaten Hermione wrapped some choice bits of kipper in her napkin and took them up to the Owlery for Hedwig who looked just about like Hermione felt. After Hedwig finished her treat Hermione performed a cleaning spell on her hands then ran her fingers through Hedwig's feathers.
"I miss him too, Hedwig."
Hedwig blinked in agreement and fluttered her wings a bit.
"Sorry, I don't have a letter. Thanks anyway."
Hedwig tucked her head under her wing and turned her back to Hermione.
"I thought Crookshanks was a drama queen."
Hermione took out parchment and a quill and wrote,
To whom it may concern at Flourish and Blotts,
I wish to purchase a book about the practices of Occlumency and Legilimency with a section regarding long-term effects on practitioners. I would appreciate if you could provide a list of suggested titles.
I would also like to purchase a copy of Morraca Allhallow's History of Solstice and Equinox, the cost of which is to be debited from my F and B prepaid store credit. If the book is not currently available for delivery please advise on length of wait.
Thank you for your time,
Hermione Granger, student, Hogwarts
Hermione held it out to Hedwig who was looking eager for the chance to be useful again.
"Will you deliver this to Flourish and Blotts for me?"
Hedwig prruped and chitted happily before accepting her missive.
"They might want you to wait for a reply even."
She watched as Hedwig circled the tower before heading off to deliver her order to the bookstore.
Hermione was back in her room studying quite pointlessly for her N.E.W.T.s when Hedwig tapped on her window. She took the reply and offered her a handful of Knutley's Kneazle Pleasing Gastronomic Delight only to suffer baleful glares from both Hedwig and Crookshanks.
"It's all I have!" she said to Hedwig. Then she told Crookshanks, "You are fat enough to share!" Both seemed terribly unimpressed with her arguments. She scratched Hedwig behind her ears a while and sent her back to the Owlery.
Hermione broke the Flourish and Blotts seal and read,
Dear Miss Hermione Granger,
We here at Flourish and Blotts regret to inform you that no book in publication satisfies your first request. While we do have several fine works regarding the subjects of Occlumency and Legilimency none discuss long-term effects on practitioners. Perhaps practitioners do not practice these arts in the long-term? Perhaps there are no effects?
For a good overview on the subjects I suggest, Hidden Heart by Pascal Fleegle.
Though we do not have a copy of Allhallow's history in stock you may expect delivery as soon as possible. Your store account will be magically debited upon its delivery.
Thank you for your patronage.
Sincerely,
Ellsmere Flourish
Hermione frowned. She had read Fleegle's book when Harry was taking Occlumency lessons from Snape. She thought the book was worse than useless not to mention very badly written. Most of it sounded like the 'open your mind' tripe Trelawney loved. Plus, the man's long lurid descriptions of what went on in witches' minds had made her want to vomit. She seriously wondered whether Fleegle had ever met a woman. She would have to ask Snape for a recommendation.
Gods! It wasn't even ten a.m. yet! She realized that she was finding it harder and harder to fill time until their meetings. She needed a project.
Suddenly an idea hit her. Hermione dug out parchment and a dated letter that Viktor Krum had sent her fifth year. The original letter wouldn't work as a sample for her purposes since it was also a dateable object. She carefully copied several paragraphs of Viktor's letter onto parchment and filed the letter away again. Hermione wrote out several different possible spells combining the dating of objects spell and the translation of phrases spell. How hard could this be considering both of the parent spells require the same wand movement?
By the time dinner rolled around Hermione realized that she had skipped lunch. She was hungry, completely frustrated, and sore from all her hours swishing and flicking. Why had she thought this would be so easy? Sometimes she amazed herself with her own over-educated brand of idiocy. Perhaps she had hit on the right combination of words but was using the wrong wand movement all along. Really, there was no reason to assume the third spell would require the same wand movement as the other two. It would have been nice and logical though. She certainly knew by now how often magic and logic seemed to diverge. Hermione thought about all the possible wand movements and word combinations and realized how involved her task was. Perhaps she could find a way to narrow down the possibilities somehow or at least discover a way to figure out which possibilities were more likely and try those first. She decided the problem would have to wait until after dinner, her meeting, and for the soreness in her hand, wrist and shoulder to diminish.
She took her usual place at the Gryffindor Table and glanced over to the Head Table. The second her eyes settled on him, Snape looked up. He stared. Hermione stared back. He narrowed his eyes. She did the same. He glared. She glared back. When he sneered that patented Uber-Slytherin Snape sneer, she lost it. She hid her grin with her napkin, then turned her attention back to the food. She avoided looking at him the rest of the meal, and left the Great Hall without so much as a glance in his direction.
She was pretty much just standing there in the hallway, trying to figure out how to kill the time before her meeting with Snape when she heard Snape's voice behind her.
"Are you busy, Miss Granger?"
Do I look busy, genius? "Not at all, sir."
"Come with me. I wish to show you something."
Hermione actually had to run most of the way to his office, just to keep up with him. Yet when he got there, he held the door open for her, a completely unnecessary gesture. Snape, she realized was both shockingly rude and theatrically polite. He seemed to have no sense of moderation when it came to manners.
"Do come in," he said looking downright annoyed, as she bent clutching her sides trying to catch her breath.
She entered and turned to ask what he wanted to show her only to find he was already on the other side of the room. Hermione joined him by the desk. On it was many feet of rolled up parchment.
"This," Snape said indicating the parchment with his wand, "is a Veri-Quill copy of a monograph on poison ivy and its potions properties that I authored twelve years ago. This copy was made last year. Observe."
Snape uttered words she had said herself only hours ago and made a swish swish flick movement in a pattern that she did not know. She watched as a thin strand of blue smoke wound its way out of the wand-tip and formed the number twelve to hang there in the air over the parchment a moment before it drifted away into nothingness.
"You did it!"
"It was your idea."
"I would have given up! I've never seen that wand movement before!"
"It is rare. One spell which uses it indicates the father of a particular child. It is a well known spell among Slytherins which is hardly surprising given our history and our number of Pureblood fanatics paranoid about such things as paternity."
"How long did it take you to figure this out?"
"Perhaps half an hour. I ran through several likely word combinations with the same wand movements required by the first two spells. Then I decided to try wand movements of other origin spells. This was the second other wand movement I tried. I did not expect it to work."
"Did it rule out Slytherin as the originator of the good intention saying?"
"I have not run that test. I thought you might like to do it. Since this was your idea the thrill of discovery should be yours."
"I think we should do this together."
"All right. I'll write it out. You practice the wand movement. When you are ready we will both cast the spell."
Snape disappeared the monograph back presumably to wherever he kept it. He wrote out the line on fresh parchment then stepped away from the desk.
"That is adequate," he said indicating her wand movement. "Are you ready?"
"Yes. I'll count. Instead of three we both cast. One, two-"
"Annum originis revelo!"
Hermione watched as blue smoke curled from both their wands and formed the number 996.
"Well within Salazar Slytherin's lifetime," said Snape.
"But before he met Hufflepuff, at least as far as we know. It's possible he was quoting himself and did say the same line to Helga though years after he wrote it."
"It seems anything is possible, Miss Granger."
"Sir, you have to publish this. That spell could have many potential applications and benefits."
"I have to? This is not my field, Miss Granger. This was not even my idea. I believe that you should publish and thank me for my contributions to your project somewhere in the small print."
"Your contributions? You did the work! You figured it out, Professor! All I contributed to the success of -your- project was a useful theory one I spent about eight hours testing for myself today without result unless I count joint soreness. You can thank me in your small print."
"Too lazy to write the paper, Miss Granger?"
"Are you too lazy to write the paper, sir?"
"Perhaps we should write two papers and combine the best of both just as we combined the spells. We could publish together. Does that arrangement suit your Gryffindor sense of fair-play?"
"Perfectly, but your name comes first and we specify in the paper what each of us contributed to the project."
"I agree to your terms. Would you care for a cup of tea?"
"If you are having one I'd love a cup. I was wondering if you could recommend a book, sir. I didn't think much of the recommendation that I got from Flourish and Blotts."
"What sort of a book are you hunting?"
Hermione sat down, and took the cup he handed her. He sat and levitated his own cup to him.
"A book on Occlumency and Legilimency. I've read the few in the library and the Fleegle book that Mr. Flourish recommended. I thought it was a load of rubbish."
"Fleegle is Flourish's nephew. He is not an Occlumens nor a Legilimens nor much of a writer for that matter. Curious that he chose to write a book on Occlumency and Legilimency. Is it not?"
"Very, but that explains both the horrid book and the recommendation."
"It does not explain the man's fixation on the more prurient aspects of the practices."
"I am relieved he's not a Legilimens."
"I suspect you are not alone. You read -all- of those books for Mr. Potter?"
"He didn't ask me to read them!"
"I was not implying that, merely that he was lucky to be your friend."
"I apologize, Professor. Defending Harry was a habit."
"It would seem it is one still. Concerning your question, there is a dearth of good books available. I have most of the better ones. You may browse my library before you leave and borrow what you like."
"I'll take very good care of any book I borrow, sir."
"I would not offer if I thought otherwise, Miss Granger. Tell me, is your interest purely academic or were you planning on learning the practices?"
"I suppose I had only planned to read about the disciplines, sir, but if you are offering a practical lesson I certainly won't turn it down."
"You'll have to request a lesson from the Headmistress. I have no doubt in your ability to convince her to indulge you given that for you learning is even better than sunbathing by the lake while you should be in class."
"I believe you may have just framed part of my argument, sir."
"Astute of you to realize that you will receive an argument."
"Thank you for asking me to come early sir. I had no idea how to pass the time. I seem to struggling to find anything to do lately."
"I thought you would be studying for your N.E.W.T.s?"
"I'm ready for N.E.W.T.s. I wish they were tomorrow. At least then I'd have something to do tomorrow. There is the paper now of course. I almost want to put off writing that so that I can enjoy the feeling of being busy. Does that make any sense?"
"If you are so bored you may assist me with potions for the infirmary for that is what I will be doing tomorrow. I would much prefer not to spend my whole day doing it."
"I'd love to! What time?"
Snape actually looked concerned.
"There are still books in the library last time I checked."
"I've read them all, sir. All the good ones I've read more than once."
"I shall write you a pass to the Restricted Section."
"I've read all those too, sir."
"All of them? How could you have?"
"Harry used to let me borrow his Invisibility Cloak."
"I see. As I said, you are welcome to borrow books from me. Have you tried the Room of Requirement?"
"No! I hadn't thought of that! I still would like to assist you tomorrow with the infirmary potions. May I?"
"Of course."
"What time should I be there?"
"I expect to be there all day. When I see you I will put you to work."
"I want to talk to McGonagall after breakfast. I'll meet you after."
"Very well. Let me show you to my library."
Snape lead her to a solid stone wall behind his desk.
"It is a Disillusionment Charm. Just walk straight ahead."
She did and gasped. The room was ceiling to floor with stacks. She walked around perusing the sections. She found many books on Potions, Dark Arts, Occlumency and Legilimency. There were also many fine texts covering all major branches of magic, and most of the minor ones, too. Books abounded on all things magical including creatures, places, objects and languages. She found Wizarding histories, biographies, diaries, and cookbooks. In the literature section, Wizards' and Muggles' works sat side by side as did ancient tomes and paperbacks.
"I haven't seen one here that's in the library!"
"Why would I own one I can read in the library? Accio Clavenfoot's Studies in Occlumency."
A large leather bound book levitated off a top shelf and into Snape's hand.
"I would recommend this since you have already read more basic texts on the subject. Clavenfoot was purported to be one of the finest Occlumens of all time. He was a natural Occlumens as I am a natural Legilimens. He taught Dumbledore both disciplines. Dumbledore taught me the basics of Occlumency."
"I don't understand what that means precisely- a natural Legilimens. I always thought it just meant that learning it was easy for you. It means something else though, doesn't it?"
"I was a born Legilimens, Miss Granger. I had no control. I knew as soon as I became aware exactly what people around me thought and felt. I knew for example that my parents both feared me but for different reasons. I knew adults found me to be an ugly and strange child. I knew other children despised and plotted against me. Think of Legilimency as having an on and off switch like a Muggle table lamp. I was born with the switch on. I never knew what my condition was or that there was a switch until I came to school here at Hogwarts when Dumbledore recognized my Legilimency and was kind enough to show me how to turn it off. That is what being a natural Legilimens entails. I imagine being a natural Occlumens is not as- unpleasant."
Hermione couldn't imagine how hellish it would be for a little boy to be constantly surrounded, inundated by other people memories. As adults we may sense what other people think of us. Snape had never had the opportunity to be innocent or blissful. He never even had the chance to ignore the hard cold feelings or pretend he was mistaken. She wanted to say something comforting but did not think Snape would react well to anything he perceived as pity. Instead she said,
"How would someone even realize if he were a natural Occlumens?"
Snape seemed relieved. Perhaps he was dreading some emotional response to his condition. She wondered if he thought the talent, for that is what it was, made him monstrous somehow. She was sure others had treated him that way.
"He could run across someone like me."
Hermione smiled. She knew a lame joke of emotional retreat when she heard one. What surprised her was that Snape returned her smile. It was small and shy. He didn't show any teeth. It was barely there as smiles go. But there it was all the same and was transforming. He looked more open, less careworn, and so much more vulnerable. Hermione held up the book he had lent her.
"You just don't want to spoil the ending for me."
"Come. I'll walk you out."
The Disillusionment Spell worked both ways. She passed through the wall before Snape who followed right after her.
"I meant to ask you about your dream experiment. How did it go?"
"I noticed no ill effects. I woke with vague recollections of dreaming and a burning desire to create a new spell. Apparently your Muggle artists were correct."
"Thank you for tea, Professor, and for the book. Congratulations on your new detection spell."
"Congratulations on your workable theory. You do know that only aurors call them detection spells?"
"I know. Just think of all the plagiarists who are about to be detected, though."
"I'd worry if I were Pascal Fleegle."
"Sir, if you were Pascal Fleegle I'd be the one who was worried."
"I will see you tomorrow, Miss Granger."
"Goodnight, Professor."