Once professor Snape was, again, laying on the mattress, Hermione checked the areas where he had been wounded and felt of his forehead for fever. Satisfied that he had caused himself no serious harm, Hermione sighed in relief. "He must have just fainted. His blood is still replenishing." Hermione looked down at the recovering man with sympathy. Living wouldn't be easy on him, especially since she, Harry, and Ron knew his secrets. She hadn't considered that a private man like Snape would rather die than live with humiliation. Nothing could be done to prevent it now, however. Hermione felt protective of him now that she had done all she could to save his life.
Perhaps there was something they could do to help him not be quite so embarrassed. It then occurred to her: Harry had so much influence, especially now. He just became the boy who lived twice! And he defeated Voldemort. He could do no wrong in the eyes of the wizarding world. If he defended Snape, as Dumbledore had done before him, no one would dare raise a wand against the tarnished professor.
"What are you smirking about?" A dark voice interrupted her reverie.
Hermione realized she had been smiling absentmindedly, bubbly from the recent victory and the prospect of helping Snape get his life back for himself. "I'm sorry, professor. My mind was wandering." She said politely, composing her features.
"I'm not your professor anymore you silly girl." Snape snarled, rising up to rest on his elbows.
Hermione checked herself before she gave in to the impulse to push him back on to the mattress. "Sir, you must rest! You nearly…" She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.
Snape glared at her as she faltered. "Died?" He supplied bluntly. Hermione nodded slowly. "You should have let me. I'm sure you think you did me some sort of favor, but you are mistaken. I was prepared to die, Miss Ganger."
Hermione was stung silent for a moment. Finally she replied softly. "I can't apologize for what I did. I believe you still have a lot to live for. I can't regret my decision."
Snape bristled and looked away from her, too angry to stand seeing the concern in her eyes. Then, his eyes rested on Harry who had been standing quietly out of his peripheral vision. "Potter!" Snape barked. "What are you doing here?"
Harry took a breath before saying. "Voldemort is dead."
Snape was speechless. When at last he recovered, he was back to his waspish self. "How did you manage to pull that one off, Potter? Did your arrogance exercise you of your horcrux?"
Harry's mouth twitched at the corners slightly, which only served to infuriate Snape. "No, sir." Harry said, forcing back laughter. "When Voldemort cursed me, he destroyed the horcrux instead of me."
Snape sneered. "The boy who lived again. I'm sure you knew exactly what would happen Albus." He turned his attention to the portrait of the old headmaster. "Did you laugh from your frame as everyone was risking their lives for a boy who we didn't need to protect? Were you amused while everyone else was out of their minds with worry?"
All eyes were fixed on Dumbledore as he calmly sat, a sorrowful expression on his face. "I was aware that Harry would, more than likely, survive. But it gave me no pleasure to hide any of this from anyone." There was a bitter silence on the part of Hermione and Snape. Harry, however, seemed unsurprised, and he spoke up on the portrait's behalf. "I talked with Dumbledore. The real one."
Snape looked at him suspiciously. Hermione looked shocked. "How? Harry, what do you mean?"
Harry shifted uncomfortably before continuing. "When I was hit with the killing curse, I died in a way. It's hard to explain. I was at King's Crossing, only there were no people. Just me and Dumbledore.
"He said that for Voldemort to be defeated, for the horcrux in me to be destroyed, I had to come forward as a willing sacrifice. Love, for this school and everyone in it, saved me from being killed. If I had been told I would survive, and gone without the willingness to sacrifice my life, I would have been killed because the love would not have been there to save me."
There was a collective silence during which all considered what this meant for themselves and what they and their friends had all been through.
Looking appalled and angry, Snape broke the silence. "Well, aren't we lucky, then, that you had another 'love conquers all' card up your sleeve, Albus." As he spoke, a slur marred his speech and what little color he had regained drained from his face.
Seeing that he had grown drowsy quite rapidly, Hermione said hesitantly, "Sir, I think right now you should rest. You still aren't fully recovered."
Severus eyed her, not bothering to hide his anger. "Do I really have a choice?"
Hermione looked away, unable to bear his disapproval. To excuse her turning away from him, Hermione retrieved a potion from her beaded bag. "Here, professor. To help you rest." Carefully she measured out a small amount into a glass she reserved for medicinal purposes.
Severus took the potion from her. "Potion for Dreamless Sleep?" At Hermione's nod he tossed the potion into his mouth much the way one would take a shot of fire whiskey. Moments later he slumped back against his pillow and fell into a deep slumber.
Hermione sighed sadly. "Was I wrong to save him?"
"No." Harry replied immediately. "We owe him at least that much."
At that moment, Ron burst into the headmaster's office with a grin on his face. "Fred is in the clear! We just got the word from Madam Pomfrey!"
Hermione ran forward with a happy cry to hug Ron as Harry rose to his feet, elation clear on his face. When Harry reached them, Hermione pulled him into their hug as well and the trio enjoyed a moment of peace after all the struggle and all the heartache.
Eventually Ron pulled back. "What are we going to do with him?"
A coldness wrapped its fingers around Hermione's heart and she stepped away from Ron and his abrasive tone. "I suppose we need to find a place where professor Snape can recover safely."
Ron gritted his teeth, hesitant to offer, but he wanted his friends cared for. "You can come to the burrow."
"Not there." Harry objected. "Your mum has been through enough. She doesn't need to worry about harboring the man everyone believes killed Dumbledore."
"Understandable since he did." Ron quipped.
"Ronald!" Hermione barked, fuming.
Ron opened his mouth to retort, but Harry interrupted him before he could. "We're not going to get anywhere by arguing. We're not taking Snape to the burrow. We don't want to ask more of Mrs. Weasley, and the more people who know about Snape, the more people who might dislike the idea of his being alive."
Hermione nodded. "And the burrow will likely be full of visitors from the Order who will want to celebrate and reminisce."
Ron agreed. "But where else can you both go? Harry has Grimmauld Place."
"Except that Yaxley knows how to find it." Hermione pointed out.
"But George and Jordan managed to capture him. He's under guard right now in the great hall." Ron said proudly.
Hermione pursed her lips in annoyance before explaining. "That is good, but we don't know who all Yaxley told about Grimmauld Place. Other death eaters could be there laying in wait for Harry as we speak."
Ron muffled a frustrated huff. "Then what do you have in mind?"
"Well, since Harry and I both need a home in the wizarding world, we should find someplace to stay temporarily while we look for a permanent residence." Hermione rationalized.
"But where would we find a temporary place to stay?" Harry asked.
Hermione considered before it dawned upon her. "The Room of Requirement!"
Ron and Harry exchanged a look. "But, 'Mione," Ron said slowly. "the Room of Requirement is destroyed. Remember? The fire?"
Hermione smiled and shook her head. "I remember, Ron, but it was a fiendfyre."
"Fiendfyre?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Hermione looked at them both with growing excitement. "I didn't know how to douse the flames myself. There's a particular charm… I could only disperse them for a time. But, after a while, once it's consumed everything it can, a fiendfyre will burn itself out. It's had hours to burn up everything in the room of hidden things. I'm sure there are only Ashwinders now that would be born from the fyre."
"So we want to stay in a charred room with an Ashwinder infestation?" Harry asked in confusion.
Hermione laughed as everything started to come together, like a tuning symphony. "Of course we do! We can restore the room fairly easily as long as it's not too badly damaged, and Ashwinders disappear after they have laid their eggs. Ashwinder eggs can be used to help with fever if you put a simple freezing charm on them, which will help professor Snape as he recovers. It's perfect!"
Harry and Ron still looked unconvinced as they packed up the few thing they had laid about the room and prepared Snape for the trip to the Room of Requirement. Hermione kept him suspended in the air using Mobilicorpus once again. Harry and Ron (being taller) worked to arrange the invisibility cloak over Snape's body to keep him hidden from prying eyes.
As they had hoped, they were not spotted on their way to the Room of Requirement. It seemed that there was a lot taking place downstairs in the great hall. More than likely members of the Order were regrouping and making plans for the dead and the living. Voldemort was dead, but there was still much to do to reform the Ministry of Magic and flush out all the corruption throughout the wizarding world.
Upon reaching the blank wall that was the deceptive Room of Requirement, the trio agreed to think on a simple room that was completely bare, just to test what state the room was in. After the third pass, the door appeared. It was large and oaken, seemingly unmarked to the surprise of the three companions. As they opened the door, they were hopeful.
The fiendfyre had, indeed, burned itself out and there were Ashwinder eggs scattered throughout the room. The walls were charred and ashy despite the door's outward appearance. Still, they didn't seem to be completely beyond repair.
The group set to work immediately. As Hermione instructed, Harry and Ron began, firstly, to cast Immobulus on all the Ashwinder eggs to prevent them from hatching and make them useful as a cure for ague if Snape were to suffer from it during his recovery.
Once they had collected the eggs, the three turned their attention to the room itself. Unsure if it would be simple, Hermione cast Reparo on the walls. Nothing happened. "Of course." Hermione sighed primly.
"I don't understand. Why didn't that work?" Harry asked.
"I thought it wouldn't." Hermione said calmly. "The Room of Requirement is an extremely complex magical room. A simple repairing charm won't work on it."
"Then what do we do now?" Ron demanded.
Hermione replied coolly, "I've read of a few charms that could be what we need. I have the books here in my beaded bag. We can try those."
"Maybe not." Harry mused. Hermione and Ron looked at him in confusion. Without a word he held up his new wand. The wand that was once Dumbledore's.
"The Elder Wand." Hermione breathed.
Harry smiled sadly. "It's been mine. Since I disarmed Draco back at Malfoy Manor. Snape didn't disarm Dumbledore that night in the Astronomy Tower. It was Draco. So now it's mine. I wonder…" Trailing off, Harry raised the wand to the walls and cast Reparo once more.
Each of them held their breath in anticipation as the lovely violet of the spell hit the charred expanse of the Room of Requirement. There was a collective gasp as the walls began to mend, looking just as they ever had, throbbing with strong, old magic.
Beaming, Harry asked Hermione for his broken wand back. She retrieved the pieces from her beaded bag and returned them to their owner. With confidence, Harry cast Reparo on his old wand and it mended, looking the same as it did the day it had chosen him in Ollivander's.
"Blimey, Harry!" Ron exclaimed in awe.
Harry laughed. Ecstatic, the group left the room and passed it three times again, this time asking for a place for several people to live comfortably. Beds, showers, and homey furniture. When they entered this time, it looked much like a house. There was a spacious living room with a crackling fire and sofas. There was even a book shelf that would serve as some entertainment, at least for Hermione. Connected was a dining room of sorts with a sink and stove. The cabinets, as they discovered, had every manner of cookware and eating utensils and plates, but there was no food as they expected due to the five Principle Exceptions to Gamp's Law. Definitely something they needed to figure out, and soon.
Down the hall, there were four rooms, each with its own bed, shelf, closet, chest of drawers, and night stand.
"Bloody brilliant, this is!" Ron called from one of the bedrooms.
"Let's get professor Snape settled in." Hermione suggested, sending his still-sleeping body towards a bed. Ron and Harry came to help her get the cloak off of him before she lowered him onto the mattress.
When he was under the covers, Hermione took Severus's outer garments and shoes from her beaded bag and put them in the closet. "Ron, could you get a basin of cold water and find a rag to bring in here?"
"Sure." Ron said flatly. It wasn't hostile so Hermione let him be.
"Anything I can do, Hermione?" Harry offered.
Hermione smiled at him kindly. "I suppose, if you could, see if there's something we can put these Ashwinder eggs in…"
"Of course." He followed Ron into the kitchen.
Looking about herself, Hermione noted that while the room was nice and comfortable, it looked rather bare. In the hopes of making Snape feel more at ease when he awoke, Hermione took the books from her bag whose subjects were defense of the dark arts and potions. These she placed on the shelf. There were seven books in all, so it wasn't much to her mind, but she imagined it would do the trick for a short time at least.
Ron and Harry returned with the things she asked for, and she placed these on the nightstand to be handy in case Snape began to have a fever. "I shall fetch him a glass of water." Hermione announced before doing just that. When she came back, the boys were standing about awkwardly. She set the glass down so that it was an arm's length away if Snape woke up and needed a drink.
"Okay." Ron said. "So what's the plan now?"
"I suppose," replied Hermione. "That we need to let the Order know that Grimmauld Place isn't safe. But if we're seen, everyone will want to take us away from Hogwarts."
"And we need to find some way to bring food here." Ron added.
Harry thought aloud. "I wonder if Kreachure made it through all of this?"
Hermione bit her lip. "House elves are quite powerful. Try it, Harry."
Looking slightly sick, hoping he hadn't lost another house-elf through the struggle against Voldemort, Harry summoned Kreachure. And Kreachure appeared.
"Master! Kreachure is glad to see you are well after the fighting. Many are looking for you in the great hall." The house elf seemed more exuberant than any of them had ever seen him before. The excitement of the battle must have helped improve his glum personality.
"I thought they might be." Harry replied. "But we need to lay low for a little while. We can't have people knowing that Snape is still alive."
Kreachure looked past Harry to the form of the potions master laying on the bed. "The traitor, Master Potter?"
"We were all wrong about him, Kreachure. Snape was actually doing everything under Dumbledore's orders, but no one else knows yet, so we have to keep it a secret that he's living here. Will you keep that secret for us?" Harry noticed that it felt more natural to be kind to Kreachure now than it used to be.
"Of course, Master." Kreachure agreed. "Will Master be living here now?"
Harry nodded. "For a little while. Just until I can get my own house. We're afraid Grimmauld Place has death eaters living there."
Kreachure sighed forlornly. "Yes, Master, you would be right. Kreachure had to leave for fear of his life. That is why Kreachure is here at Hogwarts."
"I see." Harry said. "Then we need to get a message to what's left of the Order. They have to know that they can't go to Grimmauld Place without expecting enemies there. Would you go tell Kingsley Shacklebolt?"
"Yes, Master." Kreachure complied. "Will Master and his friends be hungry while they stay here?"
"Yes! We were hoping that you might be able to bring us food from the kitchens." Harry said happily.
Kreachure agreed and promised to be back after he had delivered the message and gotten some food for them all.
