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Chapter 5

Lucius met Severus at the door to Malfoy Manor as soon as he walked back onto the grounds.

"And?"

Severus could tell Lucius was apprehensive. In some ways he almost needed this to work as much as Draco did, especially considering the way he'd lost Narcissa.

"It's promising."

Severus was tired from the international travel, particularly as he'd had to apparate rather than using a port key. An international port key would have required Ministry approval via the official office, and Severus was meant to be dead after all. Lucius had offered him use of the several illegal ones he had in his possession, but Severus had chosen to apparate to Malmö, Sweden, via Bremen in Germany. Two such long apparitions in a short space of time was tiring, but necessary in this case.

He'd spent two days in Malmö speaking to a muggleborn Healer who was revolutionising the combination of muggle medical equipment with magic. The Healer, a tall, broad and blond wizard by the name of Erik Åkerlund, had experimented with using dialysis equipment, but had not yet perfected it. With Severus' help, they were confident that at the very least this treatment would buy Astoria some extra time which would allow him more time to research a cure.

Severus had already identified the potion that would destroy the curse, but the problem was that the potion itself would kill Astoria quicker than the curse itself was doing so. In using haemodialysis, a muggle method he was previously aware of and the reason he had contacted Åkerlund, he could use the potion to filter her blood and remove the curse, returning her curse free blood back into her body.

At least that was the plan.

Severus spent the next day setting up the equipment he'd brought back from Sweden and testing his hypothesis. When he was satisfied that at the very least it wouldn't do Astoria any harm, he went back upstairs and headed into Lucius' office.

"Do you think it will work?" Lucius was uncharacteristically chewing on the end of his ridiculously expensive quill.

Severus sat down in the plush leather seat on the opposite side of the desk. Hades got up from his position on the rug in front of the fireplace and dropped his head into Severus' lap. He started to absently scratch the dog's head as he answered.

"We won't know for certain until we try, but the theory is there. I don't exactly have any test subjects."

Lucius had a dangerous look in his eyes. "Do you think we could make one?"

Severus smirked at him but shook his head. "Firstly I don't think we have the time, and secondly I don't think you can infect someone with this kind of curse."

"That's a shame." Severus did agree with Lucius there. "Are you ready to do this now?"

Severus nodded and the two of them headed up the stairs to the Master Suite which Draco had taken over upon his marriage to Astoria. Severus found some pureblood traditions quite odd, but it did make sense that he did take over the position as Lord of the Manor, particularly considering Lucius was a widower by that point.

Lucius knocked loudly on the door, and after Draco called for them to enter, Severus followed Lucius into the suite. He'd previously only seen Draco and Astoria in the communal parts of the house, so this felt quite informal.

The suite had its own living area which was decorated with polished oak floors, sage coloured wall coverings, and oatmeal curtains and furnishings. The door to the bedroom was open, and the two older wizards entered after a cursory knock from Lucius. The second room was enormous, with an equally vast bed made up with white linen which made Astoria look even smaller than she was.

The walls were painted in a dark blue/grey colour, and the ebony wood made the room seem dark, however one wall had enormous floor to ceiling windows leading out to a balcony which lit the room and balanced out the dark furnishings.

Draco was sat in a chair next to Astoria holding her hand, but they both looked up when they came in. Scorpius luckily was elsewhere in the house, which Severus was grateful for.

"How are you feeling, my dear?" Lucius asked her, leaning in to kiss her forehead while placing a hand on his son's shoulder. Draco placed his own hand on top of his father's. They were certainly a lot closer now than they had ever been in Severus' time.

"No better," she answered weakly.

He had a feeling she'd liked to have answered that question in a different way, but was being mindful of her husband's feelings. She looked worse than the last time he'd seen her a week or so previous with deep dark circles underneath her eyes and sallow skin. Draco didn't look that much better.

"Severus would like to run something past the two of you," Lucius explained gently after sitting down in one of the large chairs by the bed. "He has been working for the last two weeks of something that may help you…"

"Father. Don't."

Draco's interruption was harsh and angry, and the look he was giving his father was venomous.

"Draco, love. It's okay, let's hear what he has to say." Astoria placed a calming hand on her husband's cheek. Draco turned to look at her and they had a silent conversation with only their eyes, but then Astoria nodded for him to continue. Lucius deferred to Severus to carry on his explanation.

"I have been working on a method over the last two weeks that could help you, and while I cannot and will not make any promises that this would work, I am certain that it would not make you any worse, and I believe it could at least improve your symptoms."

"At least?" She queried. "You think it could cure me?" Severus saw a light in her eyes for the first time, and he hoped more than anything that it would work. He would hate to let the woman down.

"You had better not be leading us on over this," Draco growled at him.

"I would not do that. I believe there is a chance of a cure."

Draco turned to Astoria and set a muffliato so the two of them could have a private conversation. After a few minutes they both turned back to Severus and Astoria answered him.

"I'll try it. If you are sure that it will not do any harm, then I have nothing to lose."

Severus explained the procedure he was planning and went downstairs to bring the equipment up to her. The dialysis machine had been adapted to run off of magical energy rather than muggle electricity, and after moving some furniture around he set the machine up next to her. All three of them were studying the machine as if it was some alien creature, and Draco gasped as he set up the catheter for the blood exchange. Lucius looked a little queasy. Magical healing was rarely as invasive as its muggle counterpart.

Severus talked Astoria through the process as he set it up, and explained that he would set her in a healing sleep for twelve hours while the machine worked. The dialysis itself would take around six hours, and once she'd gone through that he would give her a potion he'd developed to repair her damaged kidneys. A potion that was injected directly into her blood stream unlike most other magical potions.

Once he started the machine he sat down in a chair in the corner of the room and waited. Draco had resumed his position in the chair next to her, Scorpius sat next to his mum on the bed, and Lucius was coming in and out of the room, pacing with anxiety.

.

After he'd administered the potion to Astoria, Severus managed to sleep for a few hours in the armchair. It was around eight in the morning that he woke, and looked over to the bed to check on his patient. She met his eyes with a wide smile. She looked a hundred times better than she had the night before.

Draco and Scorpius were both still sleeping, so he approached her quietly and performed a plethora of non-verbal diagnostic spells. All of which told him that she was the picture of health. He did still want to study her blood under his muggle microscope and perform some other muggle blood tests to be sure, but he was fairly confident that the treatment had worked and she'd been cured.

"It worked?" Lucius asked loudly from behind him, instantly waking Draco and his son up.

"It certainly seems like it." Both Draco and Scorpius leaned into to hug and kiss Astoria, and she hugged them both back tightly.

Rather than approaching his daughter-in-law Lucius stood in front of Severus and held out his hand. Severus paused for a moment and then took it. As soon as he did, Lucius pulled him in towards him and wrapped his other arm around him. He could not remember a time when Lucius had been so demonstrative, but he did understand this was a unique circumstance.

After a while Draco pulled his wife out of bed and into the shower, and after that she got dressed and met them all downstairs for brunch. She ate a healthy meal of eggs, bacon, sausages, beans, and fried bread, made for her by smiling house elves who had also caught on to the fact that she was once again healthy.

Draco sent an owl to Daphne and Ron Weasley to ask them to come urgently to the Manor, but hadn't explained why they were being summoned. An hour later they arrived both looking terrified, but on meeting Astoria at the entrance she'd explained what had happened and there were many tears from the two women. Their parents had both been killed by the Dark Lord during the final year of his reign due to an apparent lack of loyalty, leaving Daphne initially alone to look after her younger sister.

Ronald Weasley too was clearly pleased that Astoria was cured, but he was certainly shocked to see Severus standing in the hallway of Malfoy Manor, and struggled to pull a sentence together, his mouth gaping like a lionfish.

He had no idea what Daphne Greengrass had seen in Weasley, as he remembered her as a reasonably intelligent girl. He was forced to reiterate the tale of his time jump again, surprised in some way that the other two members of the Annoying Trio had not told him of his return. He did, therefore, make sure to point out to Weasley that his two friends already knew of his return, and he saw shades of the petulant teenage Weasley he remembered.

Luckily Weasley didn't stay too long as apparently Harry Potter was having a birthday party. He imagined that it would probably be some grand affair held in a fancy hotel with the magical world being forced to celebrate the anniversary of its Saviour's birth. Astoria had annoyingly asked that the two of them come back to the Manor after their time with Potter so they could spend more time with her the next morning. Severus was thinking he might return to the 'small cottage' that Lucius had given him rather than risk another encounter.

For that evening, Lucius had asked his elves to cook a special meal for the five of them, including many of Astoria's favourite foods, and after they'd eaten and sent Scorpius to bed the four adults retired to the drawing room. As with the first previous time the four of them had met in that room, Lucius and Severus sat in the wingback chairs by the fireplace, the two dogs sat between them, and Draco and his wife curled up on the sofa together.

"We have visitors," Lucius said suddenly. "And not just Daphne and the Weasley idiot."

Draco sat up straight and looked to his father, a puzzled yet amused expression on his face. Both Malfoys were keyed into he wards and knew exactly who had come onto the property.

"Oh this is brilliant!" Draco noted, an evil smile firmly ensconced onto his face. He quickly walked out of the room, and Severus looked to Lucius.

"You're going to enjoy this," he said with a smile.

Severus wasn't so sure.

.

Hermione froze the moment she walked into the room upon realising where she was. The others had walked ahead of her and were talking animatedly amongst themselves, and even Neville had joined the others. Although that may have been to get away from Malfoy and (in particular) Snape who were bringing up the rear.

She felt suddenly extremely sober despite the huge amount of fire whiskey she'd consumed, and felt a cold chill creep down her spine as her body started to shake uncontrollably.

As she'd stopped so suddenly, Severus Snape almost walked into her.

"Miss Granger, do get out of the way."

She couldn't move or take her eyes off the room. It was completely different from the room of her nightmares. It no longer had the mahogany wood flooring, dark panelling and imposing furniture, but looked comfortable, cosy and well-lived in.

But that wasn't what she saw. She saw herself bleeding and writhing in pain on the floor as the black clad figure of Bellatrix Lestrange with her dark wild curly hair stood over her laughing hysterically and casting crucio after crucio while Hermione screamed in agony and terror.

"Miss Granger?" Snape asked, this time a note of concern in his voice.

"Severus, get her out of here." That voice appeared to be Lucius Malfoy's but she didn't remember him speaking those particular words in her memory of that day. She was sure that he'd just watched her be tortured on the floor of his home and hadn't helped her at all. "Now."

She felt a presence take her arm and try to lead her away from the room, but her legs didn't want to work properly. When she stumbled from the pressure of being pulled away, she felt that she was lifted off floor. She couldn't seem to reconcile what was going on in her mind with what she was actually hearing and feeling.

"Where is he taking her?"

"What is Snape doing with her? He needs to take his filthy hands of her!"

"Weaselby, he is trying to help her."

"How is he helping her? He's carrying her!"

"She's having a flashback to what happened here."

"You should know, you stood there and watched, Ferret."

"You lot brought her here!"

"Don't you dare!"

"Stupefy!"

"Expelliarmus!"

"Incarcarous!"

Hermione didn't hear any more of the arguing as she was taken into a different room and the door was shut behind them. She was placed gently on a comfortable sofa, and she felt a warmth as the fire in the room was lit. She realised she'd been shivering when a soft blanket was also placed over her. She was fairly sure it was August so she shouldn't have been so cold, but she felt chilled down to her very soul.

When her vision returned to normal, she realised that Lucius Malfoy was crouched down in front of her, with the black smudge of Severus Snape standing close behind him.

"Miss Granger, I am sorry for what happened."

She looked into his eyes which really were an unusual shade of silvery grey. He was not a man she'd spent a lot of time studying before now, having generally tried to avoid him. His face lacked the usual pompous sneer he'd always previously greeted her with, and actually had concern showing on his features. She assumed it must be for her, but that didn't quite add up considering how he'd behaved to her on every previous occasion.

She cleared her throat and tried her voice. "It's not your fault, I knew I shouldn't have come tonight. I'd said to Neville…"

He cut her off and actually took her hand in his. "I meant I am sorry for what happened to you in this house twenty one years ago. I was powerless to stop it, and yet it shames me greatly that you were hurt in such a way. You were but a teenager the same age as my son. It was deplorable."

She couldn't quite believe Lucius Malfoy had just apologised to her.

"I feel like I am missing something," Snape said dangerously from behind him, giving Malfoy a glare.

"And I don't think Miss Granger would like to discuss it right now," Malfoy snapped back at him. He turned and addressed her again, still holding her hand. "Miss Granger, I know the two of us have not got along. You don't like me, and that's understandable. I also do not like you. You are not only Minister for Magic, but you have also proved me wrong on many things regarding Wizarding society and particularly about muggleborns. And I do not like to be proved wrong." He paused for a moment, his eyes boring into hers. "But I deeply regret what happened to you in this house, and if you would allow it I would like to draw a line under our previous encounters and start afresh."

Hermione had no idea how to answer that, and at least his proclamation had taken her mind off the trauma she'd experienced in the other room. Luckily she did not need to answer as he continued.

"Think on it. I do not expect an answer right now." He stood and turned to look at the door before looking back to her and then Snape. "I will make sure that the children haven't cursed each other too severely."

He stalked towards the door and let himself out without looking back. On exiting, he did allow two of the largest dogs she'd ever seen into the room, which promptly collapsed in front of the lit fire with a satisfied groan.

"Meet Hades and Dionysus. They're both very friendly."

Hermione leant down and stoked the back of the lighter grey dog. He gave her a satisfied groan. She'd always been more of a cat person, but these two dogs were lovely.

"They're Malfoy's?" She asked Severus a little disbelievingly.

"With names like that? Of course. Turns out he's quite the animal lover. I had no idea."

She watched him as he walked purposefully across the room and over to Lucius Malfoy's drinks cabinet. She was about to protest and note that she really didn't want more alcohol when he pulled out a small vial of potion, which he handed to her.

"Sober up potion," he stated.

"I don't feel drunk. Not anymore, anyway."

"You might have had a sobering experience, but you still have the alcohol in your system. It will make you feel better."

He was probably right there, so she downed the potion and passed the bottle back to him. He was right in that she certainly felt more human.

Snape sat down in a chair next to her.

"Can I ask what happened in there?"

Hermione stared into the fire as her fingers continued to stroke the dog's coat. "I had a flashback." She paused for a moment. "I've avoided Malfoy Manor prior to now."

"Something happened in that room? It was the room where the Dark Lord spent most of his time."

"It wasn't him. Though I don't think he'd have been any worse."

She turned to look at Severus Snape. He lacked the usual mocking smile he'd always given her when she was a child, and he almost appeared to have kindness in his black eyes.

"It was April and only a few weeks before the final battle. Harry screwed up in saying Voldemort's name and we were caught by snatchers and brought here. We still had the sword of Gryffindor on us, and Bellatrix demanded to know how we had it. She cast the cruciatus curse on me again and again, then carved mudblood into my arm with a cursed blade which has never quite healed."

"I never did hear how that bitch died." There was clearly no love lost there.

"Molly Weasley. She was exquisite."

Snape smiled at her. "I always did think we should have just set Molly on the Dark Lord. She'd have had him apologising and cleaning up his bedroom before he had chance to make one horcrux." She didn't disagree with him there.

"Have you had problems with PTSD before?"

She was surprised that he knew that muggle phrase, as despite what the Wizarding World had gone through, psychological trauma was not something discussed, and there certainly weren't many mind healers in Britain.

She nodded. "For the first few years after the war I hardly slept. I had something of a Dreamless Sleep addiction for a few months, but I got that under control. I find muggle treatments actually work better for me, and are certainly less addictive. I was lucky in that I found a psychologist who was the sister of a muggleborn witch. She therefore knew what had happened, and she really helped me."

She'd stopped scratching the dog, and he got up and placed his head in her lap, nudging her hand to continue.

"How are you?"

He gave her a very sharp look, and it seemed he was going to refuse to answer her question, but he took a deep breath and started speaking.

"Occlumency helps. And experience. I have dealt with a somewhat nightmare experience for over twenty years. In my timeline anyway. Since I appeared here I have been focused on aiding Astoria, so I have not stopped to process."

"I'm assuming you don't want to."

He gave her a sharp look again. "You would be right, of course."

She ignored his barb. "I don't particularly want to put the Minister hat on right now, but what do you want to do now?"

"What am I allowed to do?" He had more of tired sound to his voice rather than venom.

"Whatever you want. The Ministry is not going to stop you leading your life, you deserve that. However we would appreciate being able to manage this in some way, at least concerning the public. You were reported dead by the Ministry, after all, and it is therefore going to be obvious that we weren't telling the truth."

Snape sighed. "Maybe it would be best to rip the plaster off the wound, as they say, and get it over and done with. A news story and interview in the Prophet?"

Hermione gave him a relived smile. "That would be our choice."

She was about to say more when Malfoy entered the room again. "Your friends, Miss Granger, are miscreants."

"Oh Merlin, what have they done?" Knowing her friends, she was inclined to believe Malfoy on that one, but also assumed Draco was probably just as involved.

"Two of them are currently sporting boils all of their skin, another one has had his hands and feet shrunk to half their size, a fourth has had her skin turned green and Draco has had his hair coloured a rather putrid Gryffindor red and gold."

Both Hermione and Snape burst out laughing, and even Malfoy seemed oddly good humoured about it.

"I was going to suggest, Severus, that you fix them, but I am beginning to think it would be better to let them sleep it off. They are all horrifically drunk still, and the vial of sober up potion you gave to Miss Granger was my last." He was looking to the small empty bottle on the cabinet.

"If they are that drunk, apparition or floo would not be a good idea. Perhaps you could provide them with rooms here." Snape looked like he was enjoying this. Clearly Malfoy would not want her friends to stay at The Manor.

Malfoy levelled Snape with a look that would have frozen a blazing inferno. "You cannot be suggesting…"

"I am. And you know I am right."

He sighed deeply and huffed out a response. "Fine." Malfoy called upon a few house elves and asked them to set up rooms for his unwanted guests. "Miss Granger, I assume you will be staying as well?"

She suddenly felt that chill go down her spine again. She'd felt better being in this room with Snape, but the thought of sleeping in this house petrified her.

"I … I," she couldn't quite get her words out.

"Miss Granger," Snape said calmly. "I understand that you do not wish to stay here, but I do not think that going home alone would be advisable."

"But.."

"Lucius was kind enough to let me stay in a small cottage that he owns, and it has enough room for you as well."

She frowned at him. Staying with Snape was certainly the preferable option to staying in Malfoy Manor any longer than she had to, but it seemed slightly wrong to stay with him. She still saw him in some way as her teacher.

However she had actually enjoyed talking to him, and they still had more they needed to discuss concerning his unveiling back to the Wizarding world.

"Thank you, I will take you up on that offer."

Hermione stood and Snape held out his arm for her to take. She didn't miss the smirk on Malfoy's face, but managed to restrain herself from hexing him.

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