Severus sat in the garden. The late afternoon sunwas casting long shadows, but he was sitting in a warm spot of sunlight.
The cool sweetness of the sangria in his glass was perfect.
"You've had six months, Severus." Mariposa perched on a chair next to her climbing roses. Her hair was braided and full of flowers. She looked much younger than her fifty two years.
"Am I on a schedule?" Severus raised one brow and stared at her.
"Tell me about your lady." She transfigured a glass from a mint leaf and summoned the pitcher from the table.
"You know about Lily." Severus frowned and looked down at the old stones of the terrace floor.
"Lily was never more than a friend and not much of one at that." Mariposa shook her head slightly. "I want to hear about the Gryffindor."
"She's not my lady." Severus took another long drink and considered the Hermione Granger he had known. "I knew a child. The woman remains a mystery."
"From the seed grows the plant." She shrugged her shoulder and sat back.
Severus sighed. He had learned more about making people talk from this woman than he cared to admit. It would be easier to give in to her demands, but he didn't want to drag his emotional baggage out for her amusement.
"Hermione Granger." He examined a rose.
"I had already determined that." Mariposa waved her hand at him. "You stare at any pictures of her in the newspaper for far too long."
"I can remember the girl at her sorting. She was all hope and bravery. I had no idea of the intellect she was hiding under all that wild hair." Severus sat back and closed his eyes. "She brewed polyjuice in a bathroom during her second year. I know she stole the supplies from me, but I've never figured out how."
"An impressive feat. Why isn't she a potions mistress?" She took a sip from her glass, but her eyes were filled with mirth.
"I couldn't treat her the way I wanted. I had a role to play. If she'd been in any other house and friends with anyone else..." He took a deep breath. "She had to hate me."
"Hate didn't motivate her to save you." Mariposa looked at her roses. "Perhaps she was motivated by a school girl's crush."
"Not likely." Severus shook his head. "I made a point of humiliating her. We did not have a positive relationship. She respected me at best."
"Neville Longbottom was my last apprentice. Did you know?" Mariposa grinned. "He drove Hernán to drink, but he has a way with plants. He talked about you. Talked about how horrible you had seemed and how tragic it was that you died alone."
"She didn't pull me back for pity's sake." Severus examined a thorn on one of the climbing vines. "I'm sure she had a logical reason at least by Gryffindor standards."
"You knew the girl." Mariposa shrugged one shoulder the tiniest fraction.
"She freed me." Severus traced the petal of one of the red roses.
"She pulled you back. She gave you freedom. You've healed your body." His mentor's wife cocked head and examined him. "Your magic is true and powerful. Hernán complains of your brilliance every night. As a wizard, you are to be respected, but I think the man has been neglected."
"The wizard and the man are the same."
Severus took a deep breath. Hernán's wife spent most of her time thinking well outside the box, but it wouldn't serve him to annoy her.
"In most cases that is true." She pursed her lips and looked him over carefully. "It is not so for you. You are a powerful wizard, but, as a man, you are stunted."
"How kind of you to say so." Severus raised his glass in a mocking salute.
"You will always have a home here. You are the son I wanted to give to Hernán." She leaned forward and patted his knee. "We love you, but keeping you with us would be greedy. You deserve a chance to explore this world and your place in it. Between the Aiza properties and the Prince estates, you are free to travel anywhere. You should. Your dreary England is still being set right. Go. Explore."
"She's right." Hernán leaned against the door jamb with a wide grin. "She always is."
Severus looked at the ancient stone walls that protected the garden. He knew there was more than death and suffering in the world. He knew there was great beauty.
He blinked away the sudden flash of her skin in the early dawn's light. Those memories were best let alone. Perhaps he needed new ones.
"I think it might be time for an excursion." He finished his drink and smiled.
Hermione frowned and tossed a few coins on the table to cover the cost of her beer. She'd come in to town to gather the owl post and wished she'd given it a pass. The warning had come too late and there was nothing to be done. Harry and Ron were already on their way.
Their friendly visits never worked. Harry would wax poetic about the joys of a regular bed, and Ron would probably wind up on bended knee again. The inevitable drunken boorishness that followed her rejection of his proposal usually stirred up the camp. The fact that Malfoy was here with her would only make the bad worse.
She took a deep breath and held it for a moment before releasing it. There was a power in the control of her breath. She continued measuring each breath as she hiked toward camp. Drawing in the good and expelling the bad, she made good time.
It wasn't much, nine tents on raised platforms. In the deepest, darkest Peru, there were no marmalade eating bears, but there were many things with which she didn't care to share her tent. Even the best wards wouldn't keep them all out.
She knew her lifestyle puzzled most of her friends, but settling down wasn't an option. Molly's constant match making made the time she did spend at home awkward. Ron believed his mother. He was absolutely convinced that they belonged together despite all evidence to the contrary.
"You're back sooner than expected." Draco frowned up at her from his seat by the communal fire. "I thought you were going to enjoy a day of civilization."
"That was the plan, but Harry and Ron are headed this way." She collapsed next to him. "So, I grabbed our supplies and headed back. They won't like your being here."
"You didn't tell them?" Draco grinned. "I thought having no secrets was part of your Gryffindor code."
"Can we leave Hogwarts out of this?" Hermione rolled her eyes. "Try not to be a total arse, and let me handle the fall out."
"My father will enjoy this week's report." Draco grinned. "The cursed tombs have been opened and preserved for the muggle archaeologists and all the magical items are being catalogued and packed for the Peruvian ministry. Oh, and your curse breaker was visited by her famous compatriots and it turned into a hex fest."
"Are you worried?" Hermione grinned and bumped her shoulder into his. "I'll keep you safe. I always win."
Ron hated the weird smells and the humidity, but his mother said he needed to pursue Hermione to win her. So, he was tramping around in a dense forest with some animagus guide that randomly changed into a bear and climbed trees to get his bearing. Harry has bailed on him and booked a room in a nice hotel. He'd blathered on about sending a patronus and not bothering her at work, but how was that supposed to work? She'd pop in for an hour or two and then head back up to her weird tent. Hadn't they had enough camping?
"The camp is up ahead just passed these trees." The guide smiled and held the branches aside.
Ron hurried through the opening and froze. There she was. His girl was perched on a log next to a man with a very familiar color of blonde hair. He felt the vein in his temple throb.
"Is this why you say no all the time?" Ron clenched his fist around his wand. "You're Malfoy's dirty little secret?"
Hermione and Malfoy both turned to face him. A huge smile spread across the ferret's face, and the blond bastard put his free hand on her shoulder. It was obvious they were sleeping together. She'd probably been running off on these expeditions just to carry on with Malfoy away from the press.
"Ronald, be sensible." Hermione shook her head. "Draco is here representing his father's company. They financed this expedition and have a vested interest in its success."
"So, you're a whore?" Ronald knew his face was purpling. He could feel it. "You fuck him for funding? Do you roll around with Lucius as well?"
"My father would hex me to ashes if I even considered doing what you are accusing us of doing." Draco shook his head. "She's the best curse breaker around. She's to valuable to hurt."
"I didn't know you cared, Malfoy." Hermione smirked.
She turned toward Malfoy with that happy teasing grin and Ron felt the last tether of his control go. The slicing hex whispered from his lips as he pointed his wand at Malfoy. The bastard wouldn't be so damn pretty now. The light shot from his wand. His aim was true, but Hermione stepped into the path.
The slicing hex cut her shirt and skin. Ron saw the shirt begin to fall open before Hermione's hand snapped up to secure it in place.
Draco Malfoy caught her in his arms.
Somehow the ferret looked like a hero.
"Merlin, Mione, I'm sorry." Ron moved toward the pair. Malfoy glared up at him as he settled Hermione on the ground.
"Accio med kit. She's unconscious, you imbecile." Draco held out his hand and caught the box. Ron watched as the blond man worked with quick and determined motions. The cut ran along her side from her armpit to her hip. The edge of a large tattoo was visible, but he couldn't see more because Malfoy was blocking his view.
"Is she going to be okay?" Ron flinched at the glare Malfoy leveled on him.
"She will be fine. No thanks to you." Draco poured dittany along the wound and wiped the blood away from the surrounding skin.
"When did she get that tattoo?" Ron wrinkled his nose. "Why would she put a blue flower on her back?"
"Curse breakers use jewelry, tattoos, and runes embroidered into their clothing to protect them." Draco pulled the remnants of her shirt over the marking. "It would be best if you left before she comes around."
Ron watched sadly as Malfoy scooped Hermione up and carried her into a tent.