Disclaimer: I don't take credit for anything associated with Harry Potter. No financial profit is being made.
Unlikely Partners
Chapter 20
Hermione heard Snape's voice behind the door.
"Miss Granger, I want to talk to you."
Hermione didn't respond. She hoped that if she stayed silent, Severus would turn around and let her have some privacy.
But those hopes were dashed when not ten seconds later she heard Severus's voice a second time.
"Either come out here or let me in."
Hermione made no move to comply.
I don't want to talk to him, much less see him. It's not like he can do anything to change what happened.
"Listen, there may be a way to temporarily prevent you from being affected by Voldemort's proximity while I'm away that has nothing to do with Shield Occlumency."
"What is it? Another potion?" she asked sullenly.
"No, it's not a potion. Open the door and let me explain."
Hermione stood up and opened the door a little bit. She looked up at Severus's face.
"Are you really being honest about this with me? Is there really another possibility?"
"It's not an ideal solution, and it's certainly not the easiest, but I think it could help you."
Hermione opened the door further and stepped out into the room. She wasn't about to let Severus into the bedroom with her given everything that had happened.
She shut the door and asked, "What does this solution involve?"
"You would have to make your subconscious view someone other than myself as your protector."
"And what would I have to do to make that happen?" Hermione asked, less than convinced that Severus's solution was a plausible one.
"Faced with no other option, I'm willing to drive you to London so that you can obtain a token from a certain young man."
Hermione narrowed her eyes in confusion.
"I don't understand,"
"Remember how I told you that when I entered your mind the first time I may see things you may not want me to see?"
"You didn't–
"I know you slept with one of the Weasley Twins."
Hermione stared at him in horror, her shock preventing her from coloring crimson. After several seconds silence where Hermione regained her composure she asked, "And why would Fred giving me some kind of token enable me to be free from torment in your absence?"
"Miss Granger, have you heard of a lover's amulet?"
Hermione gave Severus an icy glare.
"Yes. It's usually something a man gives to his wife if he has to leave her for more than a few days. While thinking of her, he can imbue a crystal with a bit of his passion for her. This passion is an essence of himself and when worn by the woman, it prevents her from feeling completely alone."
"An ordinary object can be easily transfigured into a simple crystal necklace," Severus told her.
"It would be one thing if I had a guarantee that this idea would work. But there's a real chance that we could go through all the trouble to obtain this amulet and have it do nothing to stop me from suffering while I stay here."
"I'm afraid you're not going to get a guarantee, Miss Granger, but I do believe that an amulet from Weasley will let you live in peace over the course of the next few weeks. As I said before, a woman sees her lover as her protector. It's quite logical to believe that you'll be protected by Weasley."
Hermione snorted.
"A lover's amulet between a non married couple doesn't last longer than three weeks. I'll likely still be here three weeks from now when the amulet's magic has faded away. What then?"
"You can go back to Weasley with a new amulet."
"Isn't it dangerous for us to take me away from here? Are you sure Voldemort won't sense my absence somehow?"
"Voldemort believes me to be hard at work in the potions lab beneath Downing Street. My rooms are not warded against Apparation so we will be able to Apparate from here directly to my car. Voldemort cannot sense the presence or the absence of any non-virgin, so no, he will not know that you left the mansion."
"I suppose it would be really foolish for me to refuse to go forward with your plan," she told him.
"Not if you wish to experience great discomfort several hours at a time," said Severus with more than a hint of sarcasm.
"Fine," she told him firmly. "What are you going to do, drop me off in London so I can go to Diagon Alley?"
"No. I'm going to get you an escort first."
"Who?" Hermione demanded.
"Nymphadora will suffice. Remus can contact her at the Ministry after we arrive at his flat,"
"You're going to tell Remus the reason why I can't stay here alone?"
Severus let out a sigh.
"Well, he will ask when he sees you with me, won't he?"
"What are you going to say?" asked Hermione, a bit fearfully.
Severus gave her a droll stare.
"I'll tell him the bare minimum required to sate his curiosity."
"But . . . but he'll have to be told that I slept with Fred Weasley. A lover's amulet can only be created between couples who have had sex...once he learns the reason for why I need to go see Fred–
"Do stop it, Miss Granger. You can either forget about your ridiculous Gryffindor sense of modesty and we can leave at once to find you a source of relief, or can you refuse to let certain individuals know what you did and suffer tomorrow without any alleviation."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Once Severus had driven off of the property, Hermione turned to him and asked what had taken place at the meeting Voldemort had called.
Severus explained everything about Voldemort's desire to find Narcissa and Draco and find out why Remus hadn't yet submitted to Greyback's will, including how he planned to learn information by having his Death Eaters perform the dark form of scrying.
"It's better that I speak to Remus today. He can't mention my name in connection with the Order anytime after sunset when he'll be watched."
"Isn't there away to shield someone from being scryed?" Hermione asked seriously.
"You have to remember that scrying is usually done without malevolent intent. And when that's the case the only way to counter the spell is by performing dark magic, magic that only a criminal would be willing to perform. As far as I know, there isn't a way to counter a malevolent scrying spell using normal magic."
"You know, the Ministry seems to think that all Voldemort does at his Revels is torture people his Death Eaters have captured for sport. How . . . how often does that happen?"
Severus looked over at Hermione briefly, his expression guarded.
"The Ministry's beliefs are based on truth," he told her, turning his attention back on the road. "But it doesn't happen nearly as often as they think, though . . .
It still happens, Hemione thought silently.
"Though that makes the acts that are committed no less heinous in nature. Voldemort . . . he immensely enjoys watching women be raped. The Ministry knows that, though they'd never publicise even half of what they know has happened. Instead, a few of their Unspeakables developed a way of rendering every male carrying the Dark Mark incapable of conceiving a child unless the woman they were with also carried the Dark Mark. It was an almost unanimous opinion that a child of a Death Eater would possess its father's malice, especially if it was a boy. I can't tell you how they did it, but those working on the Ministry's secret projects can damn well do nearly anything."
Hermione had an urge to ask if Severus had ever raped a woman, but couldn't force herself to get the words out. Plus, she wasn't entirely certain that she wanted to hear the answer to that question.
He wouldn't, she told herself.
But he hadn't explicitly told her that he had never raped a woman.
That doesn't mean that he did.
Severus looked over at her again.
"I've never raped a woman." he told her firmly before looking ahead. "It was one of the reasons why Voldemort always harboured a certain degree of suspicion where I was concerned until he came to believe that I murdered Albus for him."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
There was a light drizzle in the air when Severus and Hermione walked from the car park to Remus's flat across the street.
Severus knocked smartly on the door. He and Hermione didn't have to wait long for Remus to open it.
"You are the last two people I expected to find standing on my doorstep," he told them without preamble, his brow raised in a mix of curiosity and surprise.
"Miss Granger needs to ask a favour of Nymphadora," Severus told him. "Can you tell her to leave the Ministry early and come over here?"
"I could, Severus, but I won't have to. She's already here. What's this about?"
"I'll let Miss Granger explain things to Nymphadora. And there's something I need to discuss with you concerning Voldemort's newest plan."
"I need to discuss something with you as well. Come in,"
Severus and Hermione entered the flat to find Nymphadora sitting on the couch clad in a light blue terry cloth bath robe and matching slippers. She had a teacup in her right hand.
"Hermione!" she exclaimed. "What in the world are you doing out with Severus?"
Hermione gave her a tentative smile.
"I have a bit of a problem and I was hoping you could help me,"
"Come and have a seat and tell me what the matter is," Nymphadora told her.
Remus motioned for Severus to follow him into the kitchen.
"You first," Remus told him, leaning his back against the counter.
Severus quickly explained that Death Eaters were planning to use scrying spells to discover why he was able to resist Greyback's controlling magic.
"But they can't do anything in the daylight, can they?"
"No. Fortunately that gives you an advantage," Severus said to him.
"Then that shouldn't be too difficult to deal with,"
"I wouldn't necessarily say that. It's probably best if you and Nymphadora weren't together during the night so that Voldemort doesn't discover your attachment to her."
Remus exhaled forcefully.
"They can't scry the entire flat can they? They can only focus on me and anyone who might be standing in the same room as me, right?"
"If you and she share a room, they will be able to see her just as clearly as they see you,"
"But what if she's not in the same room as I am?"
"Then she'll be undetectable."
"I suppose this could go on for some time, couldn't it?"
"Yes, it very well could."
"All of the Death Eaters are willing to pay with their own blood for the spells?"
Severus shrugged.
"Even unwilling, they don't have much of a choice."
Remus looked at him, an unspoken question in his eyes.
"I wasn't asked to participate in the spells," Severus told him. "Now what was it that you wanted to discuss with me?"
"I saw Minerva yesterday," said Remus. "After I had finished translating the information on how to indirectly destroy a Horcrux. A item that was a former Horcrux, like Slytherin's ring, is needed as the main ingredient of a potion that destroys a living Horcrux. But the thing is, the ring is missing from the box Albus put it in,"
Severus looked squarely into Remus's eyes.
"You know I would tell the Order if I knew Voldemort had reclaimed it. And I'll tell you now that I know he doesn't have it, though he does want it."
"If Voldemort doesn't have it already, who in the hell has it now?"
"Can we be sure that Albus didn't decide to destroy the ring to prevent Voldemort from getting it back?" Severus asked seriously.
"If he did, he would have told us, don't you think? Also, if he had decided to do it last minute, he would have at least left us a letter about it."
"Either he destroyed it or someone managed to take it. Since Voldemort doesn't have it, I think it's more likely that Albus destroyed it."
"Wouldn't he have had some idea that it could have been used to help destroy the remaining Horcruxes? He wouldn't just destroy something with potential value, would he?"
"The man wasn't infallible, Remus." Severus said curtly.
"I'm aware of that. Plus he wasn't counting on Voldemort deciding to take Hermione as a hostage to prevent Harry from destroying the Horcruxes."
"Very true."
"So should I tell Minerva that you think Albus got rid of it?"
"You'll have to tell her something about it when she asks," Severus said pointedly.
"I'll tell her Voldemort's still looking for it and see what she says,"
"If we're finished with this conversation, I'm sure Hermione and Nymphadora are finished with theirs."
"There's one more thing, Severus. I'd like to know what you're going to tell Hermione if she asks you why Albus trusted you,"
"I don't see how that is any of your concern."
Remus ignored him.
"Would you dodge her question? Or would you give her a straight answer?"
"I honestly don't think the girl needs to know anything more than she knows now," Severus said evenly.
"So while she's with you, you don't think she'll find out about those headaches of yours?" Remus asked seriously.
"Even if she found out about them, she has no reason to think they're anything more than common migraines," said Severus in a low voice.
"Come now, Severus!" said Remus in a harsh whisper. "Hermione's quite an intelligent lass, if she finds out that you're getting headaches every night she's not going to stop until she finds the real reason why you have them."
"Why don't you let me worry about what Miss Granger does and doesn't find out?"
Remus was about to reply when Nymphadora called his name from the parlor. Severus followed him out of the kitchen, back to where the two women were sitting on the sofa.
"Hermione needs to go see Fred in Diagon Alley," Nymphadora told Remus. "Will you go with her please?"
Hermione turned to Nymphadora.
"Perhaps we can do this tomorrow when you aren't feeling ill," she ventured to say. Nymphadora looked at Remus and then back at Hermione.
"Hermione, I'm not sick, . . . I'm pregnant."
Whatever Hermione had been expecting Nymphadora to say, it hadn't been that.
"Congratulations," she said as heartily as she could manage, as she thought about having to tell Remus the precise reason for her visit to the Weasley twins' joke shop.
"Thanks, Hermione."
"Why do you need to see Fred?" Remus asked Hermione.
"He has something that she needs," Nymphadora told Remus, the look in her eyes imploring him not to ask any further questions.
"Alright then, do you want to go now?" Remus asked.
Hermione nodded meekly.
"Come on," he told her. He grabbed his coat. Hermione stood up and walked over to him.
Severus watched the two of them exchange a few words and then simultaneously vanish from the room.
Severus sat down in a tan chair next to the sofa. He didn't say anything for over a minute and neither did Nymphadora.
When he had been thinking through this plan, he had counted on Nymphadora being able to take Hermione to see Fred. He certainly hadn't expected to find out she was pregnant, thus rendering her unable to act as Hermione's escort for the trip.
She was the last person he wanted to be alone with right now.
The winter before Sirius's death, after one of the Order meetings, the two of them had spent the night together.
And it hadn't been a usual one night stand. He and Nymphadora had spent the night sating their lust multiple times in multiple ways.
It had truly been a night to remember. But as he had never been alone with her since, he had always managed to banish all indecent thoughts of the woman from his mind.
Now he was alone with her. And he was vividly remembering of that night.
He knew he shouldn't be thinking about her. But then, he firmly believed it was better for him to think about Nymphadora than about Hermione.
Judging by her silence, Nymphadora's thoughts were the same as his.
Finally, Severus decided to break the silence.
"Does Remus know?"
He knew he didn't have to specify what he was talking about.
"No."
Another stretch of silence ensued.
Severus stared into the empty fireplace, the memory of Nymphadora's wordless exclamations as he pleasured her at the forefront of his mind.
"I'm marrying Remus," Nymphadora told him, ending the silence.
"Congratulations on the coming child," told her.
"Actually, it's children. I'm having twins."
"When I get back to the lab I'll make you a morning sickness potion,"
"If it's convenient for you I'd really appreciate that,"
"Good."
"Will you and Hermione stay for lunch? I'll go see what's in the kitchen."
"Should you be on your feet right now? If your morning sickness is–
"I'm fine," She told him, slowly standing up.
Severus didn't comment again as she left the room.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Remus and Hermione returned in less than an hour. Severus was flipping through a Muggle magazine titled The Ecologist, when the two of them appeared in the parlor.
"Where's Nymphadora?" Remus asked.
"In the kitchen preparing food."
Severus looked over at Hermione.
"Did you get the amulet?"
Hermione walked over to his chair. She held up a gold chain with a thumb sized pentagonal quartz crystal that glowed as if a flame burned inside of it.
"Remus?" Severus asked. "Can you give Hermione some parchment and a pen so that she can write her letter to the Weasleys?"
"Of course. Take a seat at the desk, Hermione. There's parchment on the top shelf and pens in the middle right drawer,"
Remus saw that Hermione found what she needed and then went to join Nymphadora in the kitchen.
"Do I need to be very specific about this?" Hermione asked.
"No. Just say something along the lines of that you regret that illness prevents you from attending the wedding and that you wish to give your warmest regards to the bride and groom."
"That's it?"
"That's it. Since when have Potter and Weasley been sticklers for detail?"
Hermione sighed.
She swiftly wrote out a few sentences, signed her name at the bottom and carefully folded the parchment into thirds.
"I'll just leave this on the desk then,"
After a lunch of salmon and rice, Severus and Hermione left the flat and drove back to Voldemort's Cambridge estate.
"I guess I'll soon find out if it was worth it to go through all that trouble." Hermione told him as they turned down the drive that led to the mansion.
Seconds after Severus parked his car, he and Hermione Apparated back into the parlor of his suite.
"Go into the other room and we'll put this theory to the test,"
Hermione went into the bedchamber and stood at the far corner of the room.
Severus left his rooms and stood out in the hallway. He counted slowly to thirty. He then joined Hermione in his bedroom.
"Well?" he asked.
Hermione had a delighted smile on her face.
"I'll assume from your obvious happiness that the amulet did the trick."
"Thank God."
"Then you won't mind if I leave you now. I need to go find out what Bellatrix is up to."
"Oh. Okay. Please, go ahead."
Severus left his rooms, leaving Hermione alone for the first time without any kind of distress.
I never even got a chance to thank him for his idea.
Though I doubt he would have wanted my thanks anyway.
Fred Weasley is the man you should be thanking. After all, he didn't have to agree to make the amulet for you.
And I did thank him as I'm very grateful for what he did for me.
Perhaps I should quit thinking about Severus and think about Fred instead.
He's witty, intellectual, sweet, all good qualities you want to find in a man. Not to mention the fact that he's quite a bit closer to your own age, Hermione!
In all seriousness I should be more attracted to Fred than to Severus!
But somehow, seeing Fred again and rekindling memories of their lovemaking didn't fill her with renewed desire for him.
And no matter how she tried to be attracted to him again, all she seemed able to think about was Severus!
A/N: Please let me know what you're thinking!