A/N: The seeds of this chapter were sown during a discussion with Luna305 and Bathilda one weekend last summer. Thanks to Luna for the lightning-fast beta, and to Anastasia for inspiration.
Note to Readers: Thank you for flying Air Hermione. The seat belt sign has been turned off.
Among the Lilies
Softly, she asked, "What were the symbols you traced on my forehead?"
He looked at her, startled. That was not the question he'd been expecting.
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Hermione looked at him expectantly.
Severus hesitated.
Still softly, but more firmly, she insisted. "You're going to have to tell me. I can't work this any further without them, you know. And after all this," she gestured toward her notes, "I'm a little fried."
He nodded once and, keeping his hand hidden within his cloak, turned to the bookshelf, reaching for the book that had nudged him earlier. Its cover was well-worn, and he rubbed his thumb along the spine tenderly, his touch lingering, almost as if he were saying goodbye.
Enchanted by the way he was holding the book, Hermione smiled tiredly.
He sat on a small loveseat by the bookshelves, lighting a nearby lamp. It glowed, softly pink, in the dark corner. He gestured for her to join him.
Hermione stood and stretched, arching her back like a cat. Her brain hurt, but she was used to that. She welcomed the familiar feeling, a touchstone in what had been, thus far, the most frightening, most exhilarating few hours of her life.
Summoning more brandy, she sat down and waited.
He held the book almost reverently; thumb rubbing a worn, frayed corner.
He loves that book, Hermione thought absently, leaning into the corner of the loveseat, tucking an escaped curl behind her ear, watching him.
Wordlessly, almost apologetically, he held it out to her.
"Wait - you're bleeding." She reached for her wand.
"Leave it, Hermione." Something in his eyes spoke of his need for her not to push him on this.
That gave her pause. "Are you sure?" she gestured toward the book.
"Take it. Please."
Taking the book, her fingers brushed his, driving one of the shards of glass in a little deeper.
A smear of blood over the title, World Mythology.
She looked up. He gestured back toward the book and, drawing a deep breath, she opened it.
There was an inscription. She wasn't sure she was should read it. She glanced at him.
He closed his eyes and looked away, but nodded.
"All ceased, and I abandoned myself,
leaving my cares forgotten.
Always,
Lily
P.S. I'm a dreadful poet, I know, but that popped into my head yesterday during Binns' lesson when I was thinking about Saturday. Shameful of me, wasn't it?"
Below the postscript, there was a drawing of a witch and wizard watching a cauldron. As they watched, characteristic spirals of smoke rose slowly from the surface. The witch and wizard looked at each other and smiled.
"P.P.S. I can't draw, either."
For once in her life, Hermione had absolutely no idea what to say.
He spoke in a strangled voice, "She -" He couldn't finish. He started again. "I was reading it when Professor Flitwick came to my office."
She nodded, blinking.
"I read it often, that last year. The… inscription."
She blinked again, her vision blurring.
"I- ah." Collecting himself, he tried again. "I always had it with me, just in case." He looked toward the shadowy ceiling, eyes bright.
She did not want to be looking at Harry's mother's handwriting. She didn't dare look anywhere else.
"You'll find the symbols on page 394."
Brushing her eyes with the back of her hand, she nodded, relieved that he had removed the burden of staring at those terrible words.
"Osiris, Isis and Horus. see also Set. x-reference Anubis; later, Hermanubis (Greek: Hermes)."
Symbols for each were illustrated below. She looked up, questioning.
He nodded sadly.
She closed the book. "I-" she ventured, holding it out to him.
Abruptly he stood up and swept away from the loveseat, coming to light, finally, by the door. Without turning around, he said harshly, "You will wish to read it." His voice was almost toxic. The voice she remembered from her first days at Hogwarts.
"I don't need to. I- " she paused and glanced around the room. "I… um… " she faltered. She wasn't at all sure how to keep the next words from suggesting more than she intended.
Although he did not move, something of the edge went out of his posture. "You have a copy of your own."
She nodded.
He turned and leaned wearily against the door frame. "Of course you do."
A question threatened, finally, to tumble out of her mouth. She clamped her lips firmly shut.
Some of the weariness left Severus' face as he noticed her expression. He'd seen it countless times; it was the expression she got just before her hand shot into the air.
"Ask your question, Hermione."
"Your patronus. It isn't… is it by any chance a jackal?"
She saw the answer in his eyes before he spoke. "Yes."
"It… it changed, didn't it." She held herself very still.
His eyes glinted dangerously. He didn't answer. The temperature in the room dropped suddenly.
She froze.
A voice in her head screamed, "Move! Now!"
Using reflexes she hadn't known she possessed, she threw herself off the loveseat and rolled sideways, getting distance and furniture between herself and where she'd been sitting. She ended face down under a sofa, covering her head with one arm, clenching the book with the other, protecting it with her body.
With a roar, he hexed the loveseat into oblivion. Wood, metal, and scorched fabric flew through the air, and flaming stuffing settled everywhere, coating that end of the room in a wintery white.
In the terrible silence that followed, Hermione, heart pounding, was pointlessly reminded of the snow globe she'd had as a child. The flaming bits of stuffing sparked and went out.
A corner of Lily's book pressed into her face. It rubbed her cheek consolingly, exactly as if it were saying, "I understand."
Sources:
World Mythology is one of the books on the bookshelves on JKR's website. It doesn't open. Hm...
Lily's inscription is from a poem by St. John of the Cross, based on the Song of Solomon. The line actually ends "leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies."
Oh, and the legend of Isis and Osiris is worth reading...
