Chapter 26
They began brewing the new potion an hour later after they had checked and rechecked their procedure list. Hermione called out potion ingredients, Severus checked them off the list. They brewed the Healing Potion first, due to its simplicity. The second step was to brew the Love Potion and allow that to simmer for three hours. Thirdly they brewed Hermione's Protective Potion and last, they brewed the Bonding Potion.
All of he ingredients were added, in their time, and stirred with precision by the Potions Master. He would not allow her to touch the cauldron once the official brewing took place. So much for him being her assistant, she thought. But it was better this way. She watched him concentrate and she noted his ability to multitask.
Everything done, Severus left the Potion to brew and looked at Hermione.
"Ms. Granger, we have hours before the potion is ready for testing. I believe I will retire to the library and copy our notes down as a final draft. For I believe that this is the final testing potion."
"Yes, alright. I have the paperwork to fetch for copyrighting the potions. Perhaps we can meet in two hours and discuss some of that? There are some things we need to agree upon in regards to the potions." Hemrione swallowed hard. She felt a chill creep down her spine as she thought of the Professor never coming back again when this was all over.
"Very well." He turned on his heel and with his trademark billow of robes, left the room. Hermione went to her office and sat down to handle the business end. She summoned Sylvester and requested the forms that she would need and he took off to the Irish Ministry to retrieve them. She summoned a second elf to go to the English Ministry of magic and fetch her the same forms. It was better to cover all their bases.
The late afternoon dwindled into twilight as Hermione filled out the last of the papers, except for a few items she needed to find out from the Professor. In her mind, she played out every scenario she could think of. Should she just tell him of her feelings and then brace herself for the inevitable rejection? Or would they have more work to do after this was completed?
She had often wondered about the last, and deadly curse. She had a few ideas about how to deflect it, but none the completely block it. Perhaps he had ideas? She knew he knew more about them from anyone. Hell, he had probably used it a few times during his stint as a Death Eater.
Hermione shook the thought from her mind. Perhaps she should just forget about it. But could she? She needed to do something to test the waters, after all this was over of course. So Hermione waited until she received word that the Professor was finished with his task and went to him. All the while contemplating her next move.
"It has been over two hours. We still have time before we can hope for any change. Did you bring the documents with you?" Severus gestured towards the papers in the file folder in her hand and she produced them.
"Yes Professor, here are…actually there are a lot of forms to be completed. I finished most of them but there are some…erm…personal questions here that I don't know how to answer for you." Hermione pulled a chair to his desk in her library and lay the papers out one by one.
"Perhaps you can ask me the questions and I will dictate the answers to you. Your writing is far better than mine I see." Hermione nodded and Severus inwardly smiled. Now they were in territory that was more personal. He was coming to enjoy the warmth that filled him as he thought of her having the ability to ask him whatever she chose. He liked to see her so uncomfortable as well.
"Alright professor, first…erm…I need your name."
"My name? Well…you know my name Ms. Granger. Or did you think 'Professor' was my given name?"
"Yes I know your given name Professor. I just…well…it asks for your whole name. I don't know that."
"Well you know my first name…" he raised his eyebrows a little in quiet amusement.
"Yes…its Severus." he fought to not smile.
"Severus Tobias Snape." she quickly began writing and without looking up, asked him his birthday.
"October the 27th. " he gave the year and saw her noticeably blanch. Well he wasn't that old was he? Yes, he really was. He was probably only a few years younger than her parents. But in the Wizarding World, he was still a young man by all accounts. But he supposed it didn't matter anyway.
"Um…here…your current place of residence. Do you want to list Hogwarts? Or do you have a…well…do you live somewhere else during your breaks?" Hermione looked up at him and waited for the answer. He gave her the address of his house in London and she nodded and sifted through the papers. "Professor, we will have to file a form with the Ministry of Magic in England as well because your current place of residence is out of this country. It shouldn't be too much of a hassle. They will have to be notified of your work here under this Ministry's jurisdiction. It's one of those…curtsey things they wish to do between Ministries."
Severus frowned at this and knew it would come to no good. The Ministry of Magic in England hated him. He was black listed from everyone and everything. His name was dirt. It was sure to make it around to this Ministry.
"Let's see…Are you…are you married?" Hermoine didn't look up as she asked and Severus snorted.
"No I am not." he said with a smidgen of sarcasm.
"Children?" here she did look up. She had often wondered if he had children, illegitimately or no.
"No, thank Merlin up above." Hermione smiled and forced her laugh down.
"Do you have a Living Will? If so, where is it filed?"
"Yes and it is filed both at Hogwarts and the Ministry."
"Now, we need to name the Potion Professor."
"What will you call it?"
"Well, I wanted to ask you before I filled that part out." Severus was touched. She really was going to share every bit of this with him.
"I am at a loss. But I would wager, Ms. Granger, that you haven already created a list of possible names. Am I correct?" Hermione blushed and produced another piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to him. He read it through and handed it back.
"I like your first choice. Coniectura Potion. That is Latin for Dream Interpretation, if I read it correctly. It suits this Potion very well." Hermione smiled and filled in the last of the blank spots on the document.
"Alright. We have an appointment Tuesday morning with the Ministry here. Will Professor McGonagall allow you leave time?" Severus snorted.
"Your former mentor would be all too happy for me to not be in attendance for a few days."
"Alright Professor. Then I guess we are through then.'
"No, we are not. You see, I am not one to share my personal information with just anyone Ms. Granger. You have filed that information under the Confidentiality Act, haven't you?" Hermione was placing all of the documents back inside of the folder as she spoke.
"All of my inventions are patented and copyrighted using the Confidentiality Act. I love my anonymity very much. Only people who need to know about this will. On that note, in our meeting with the ministry, we have to be able to prove our Spells and Potions work."
"Our spells and Potions?' he raised his eyebrow.
"Oh well, I am also submitting my Spell and Potion combination for the Imperious Curse Tuesday as well. We might as well give them a double whammy.' She smiled and continued organizing the papers, making duplicates of them with her wand and placing them in separate folders.
"Ms. Granger, have you thought of the last Unforgivable? Has your brilliant mind been able to conjure a deflecting sell or incantation for that?" He really was curious. He wanted to know how far she planned to take this research. Already, she, and he, had changed the magical world forever. MagiCall was about to become the most important research facility to the entire magical community. She was about to be the most sought after Spells Mistress and he the most sought after Potions Master. Even though they have anonymity, the work they have done was under MagiCall's name.
"Well, honestly Professor, that was something I will have to think on. I remember a long time ago you warning me about this project. And with good reason. I just thought that…well…there were three Unforgivable curses. One controlled you, the other tortured you and the last took your life. I figure that if someone is trying to use an Unforgivable, then they at least can not torture or frame their victims. I think…sometimes we have to allow some evil in the world. Otherwise, the evil that is out there will rally together again and just create a new way to terrorize us." Hermione's face was set in a defiant look. Severus watched her speak, her eyebrows frowning slightly.
"I see."
"What? Don't you agree?" Hermione faced him, her hands on her hips and her eyes flashing.
"Well, certainly I agree. I am the one who said it in the first place. What time is it?" Hermione pointed to the clock and saw that it read almost 9:00 p.m. Severus ran a hand over his face and felt very tired all of a sudden.
"Professor, have you eaten anything lately?' Hermione's motherly side had reared it's ugly head and Severus recoiled at the sight of it.
"I am not hungry. When I'm hungry I eat. When I'm not, I don't."
"But you are hungry. You haven't eaten anything for hours.'
"How do you know that? I should be able to know my own mind. I know when I am hungry and when I'm not."
"Yes you should Professor, but sometimes it doesn't hurt to have someone take care of you." Hermione tapped her wand and a plate of sandwiches along with two hot bowls of soup appeared. "Sorry, it's all I can do really without a house elf around. Do you want something else? I can go fetch Sylvester-"
"Thank you Ms. Granger. This is fine. If I must eat, I would rather it be light" Severus was touched again. This meeting was turning out entirely better than he originally thought. He motioned for her to sit and he pushed a bowl toward her and lifted the plate to serve her first. She chose a sandwich and he did the same. They sat eating together, occasionally talking about this and that. Both feeling oddly comfortable and oddly uncomfortable at the same time.