Chapter Fifty-Three: Team Work
Many heads together make the task easier.
(i) The characters and world of Harry Potter are the property of J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this.
(ii) Thank you to all the readers who have stayed with me through the writing of this tale. Your patience has been truly amazing and your continuing reviews are so appreciated. I promise I will finish this story. It will not be abandoned.
(iii) Happy New Year. I hope 2016 is a great year for you.
(iv) And finally, a big, big thank you to the fantastic disillusionist9 who has taken on the massive task of being my beta and go-to girl. You're an angel and I'm so pleased to have your help. All mistakes that remain are my own.
The ball was almost at an end when Severus made an appearance in the Great Hall. By this time, the gossip was well and truly squashed, so his arrival merely acted to cement their version of events. Severus hadn't wanted to leave Hermione's side, but when Kingsley had slipped away to return to the Infirmary, he'd sent the younger man down to dance the last dance with Minerva and ensure everyone who needed to leave the castle did so.
Severus was glad he didn't need to talk to people. His mood was beyond black; he wanted to savage someone. But he'd been a spy for decades, he could put on an act with the best of them. So he'd sneered at the people who'd tried to talk to him and had spent a few moments of sanity with Andromeda and Minerva before securing the older witch's hand for the last dance. As the Head and Deputy-Head of Hogwarts waltzed together they gave each other comfort and strength.
Severus wished he'd had the support he now had during the war. What a different war it would have been! If only Dumbledore hadn't insisted on his ridiculous strategy of secrets and lies. With allies like those he now had, Severus knew they could have done things so differently. So many lives were lost and ruined because the old meddler hadn't wanted to share information.
Severus stifled his sigh and led Minerva through the last turns of the dance. He was glad this farce was finally at an end. The two of them watched with well concealed impatience as the last of their guests were escorted out of the castle. The Weasley boys were told to quietly Floo home before returning to the castle via the Headmaster's Office.
The plan was proved necessary as Lavender hung on to Ron's arm as if a permanent sticking charm had been placed between them until the very end. It was only the beady eye of Severus that prevented the blonde from trying to linger even after the last Weasley had returned to the Burrow. But her nerve finally failed as Severus' eyes continued to bore into her. Once everyone had left, the house-elves ensured the castle was empty of everyone but those on Severus' list. Then, the Floos were blocked and the only one left open was in the Headmaster's Office.
Minerva made her way there, knowing Severus would now return with all haste to the Infirmary. Once the Weasley boys returned, that Floo would be secured. It was time to get down to the business of breaking the curse.
The other teachers in the know quietly made their rounds around the four Houses. They would ensure no student was out of bounds. Too much was at stake. They didn't want any unwanted eyes or ears to know what was needed next.
When Severus returned he could see at once that something had changed in the Infirmary. There was a tightly leashed sense of agitation and excitement that hadn't been there before.
"Has there been a breakthrough?" he asked, not caring if he sounded desperate. The people already present had seen him at his worst. There was nothing he had to hide from them.
It was Filius who piped up with glee. "Young Bill here and I think we've figured out what needs to be done. We've still got the chant to perfect, and the Arithmancy to work out, but we are there. Almost." The diminutive man grinned in relief. Rubbing his hands together he inclined his head towards the far corner where Lucius sat at his own transfigured desk, working on a mass of parchment. "Malfoy is working on the Arithmancy calculations now."
Severus nodded. He could manage Arithmancy for potions, but only for the purposes of having written records for the sake of discussion with other potioneers. For curse breaking he used instinct instead. That was how he worked. He crafted charms as he would a potion, seeing their colours, their depths as if he was brewing. Everyone saw magic differently. Chants and therefore charms were creations to him, just as potions and elixirs were. It was something he'd done since he was a teenager and truthfully, he didn't realise how special that made him.
Moving towards Bill, he leaned forward to start reading over the red-head's shoulder.
Once Severus had a clear understanding of what needed to be done, he used a spell to copy Bill's notes and then followed the example of his fellow curse-breakers and conjured a desk and chair next to his beloved's still form. He could reach out and stroke her hand, even as he worked. Soon, inspiration and the magical genius that was in him began to take effect and he was scribbling on the parchment he preferred.
Night turned to day and still they worked on. Finally, as dawn was breaking, Bill leaned back and stretched. "I'm done. I can't do any more."
Severus' looked over to the red-head. "Take a break. I've almost finished working on the exact wording for the chant."
Bill nodded and looked towards his wife, who had fallen asleep on her comfortable arm-chair. She looked well-tended, the house-elves having placed a footstool to ease her sleep and two thick blankets draped over her to provide warmth.
"Given my calculations," said Lucius, "noon would be the most potent time to perform the charm."
Filius sighed in agreement. "It seems monstrous to wait that long, but I think you're right Mr. Malfoy. Noon would be the most suitable. And thirteen the most auspicious number for required casters."
Bill nodded. "I'll take Fleur home. Shall I Floo back about nine o'clock?"
"There's no need to go home," said the strained voice of Minerva. "I've had the elves prepare the guest wing for all of you. Rest here. We'll be able to prepare and plan who will be involved more easily then. And the elves reported the castle has already created a secret passage to link the guest wing to the Infirmary with enough rooms to act as whatever we need them to be."
Bill stood up and stretched. "Staying here would be much easier. I don't think I could do more than fall down on my face and sleep. I'm starting to be too old for this."
Lucius laughed bitterly. "If you're too old, what do you think that makes me?"
Bill shrugged. "Didn't mean it that way."
Lucius sighed. "Don't mind me. I'm upset and tired."
Even as he spoke, Narcissa made her way, the tiredness and strain doing nothing to hide her elegance and style, to her husband. As she laid her hand on his shoulder, he did something he would never ordinarily have done in public, and pulled her onto his lap. Let the gawkers think what they will; he needed the comfort of her close to him.
It was true. The Weasleys who were present had never seen the aristocratic Slytherins in such an informal pose. It did something to Arthur as he watched the other couple. He hoped his wife, who had sat vigil with him, understood that her distrust and dislike of the Slytherins was as prejudiced as had been the Death Eaters' and their sympathisers' feelings towards those whom they had considered blood traitors.
Not long after, as the house-elves popped in to show the unexpected guests to their chambers, the Infirmary emptied. The only people who remained were Severus, Minerva and Poppy.
"I'll stay with her," Severus said quietly to the Matron.
Poppy smiled in understanding. "I thought you would. We'll move the bed to the private chamber and then you can hold her. I think if she can feel anything, she will be able to feel you next to her."
The dark man nodded. Once the jewel of his heart was comfortably transferred to her more private chamber, he applied protections and wards. Then, slowly he removed the last of her clothes. Poppy had at some point transferred Hermione out of her dress robes and jewellery into a warm flannel night-dress, one of the many she kept in stock for students. Now, skin to skin, he held her and hoped she knew deep in her soul that he, and the people who loved her, were going to break the curse.
It was just passed the hour of nine when Severus awoke. He didn't know what woke him, but he came to, feeling something stir deep inside of him. First, he reached for his wand and checked all of his wards and protections. Sure that the room was clear of all possible danger and that there was nothing outside the room that had troubled him he then investigated his own psyche.
His Occlumency shields were down all the way, partly because he had wanted to ensure that he was as open as possible to Hermione as he slept and partly because since the end of the war he'd finally realised that he had nothing further to fear and had slowly weaned himself out of soul-deep Occlumency. This complete relaxation, something he'd not done for what seemed like decades before the final Battle of Hogwarts allowed him to feel all of his emotions, his magical core. It did bring nightmares, more like night-terrors, but, since the breaking of the Curse, even those had dimmed.
Checking to see if it wasn't something of that nature, he began to systematically check his magic and his mind. Digging deeper, he realised that what he'd felt was the very essence of Hermione.
Her strength and the High Magic that linked them had allowed her, after he assumed was trial upon trial to bury her hurt soul within his. For a moment he was filled with horror. He didn't want his tainted soul to damage her further. But that instinctive reaction gave way to wonder. He could feel her golden light, huddled like a ball of pulsing heat within him. That she would come to him for comfort and find it in his own damaged soul filled him with joy, even as sorrow lay over him at the need for her to dwell there. He pulled out of his mind, far enough to ensure her physical body was fine.
A few diagnostic spells later, he realised she was in a coma, her magical core protecting her as she nestled within him for protection. Pleased, delighted, relieved; he sent his magic deep inside of himself again, letting her know she was safe. He poured his love for her into their shared bond, their currently deeply connected souls. He allowed his magic to let her know he would use his soul as the shield that stretched over them both, protecting them to the very end. She shivered deep within him, and allowed his magic, to slowly penetrate and cover her hurts.
Severus had no idea how any of what was happening between them was happening. He had so little knowledge of soul magic. But once again he was thankful that they had waited to perform High Magic. His bond with her was what now allowed them this closeness. He only hoped his darkness did not leak into her, taint her.
A/N: Love it or hate it, please let me know what you think.