Ch.10— Leviathan
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That night Professor Snape tried to sleep on the floor.
Hermione made it clear she wouldn't stand for it, saying, "If you're sleeping on the floor, then so am I."
It was after her bath, and she refused to put on the homespun dress they'd given her until absolutely necessary, seeing it as a torture device as bad as a hairshirt. She left off Harry's cloak too, so she stood bared before him.
"Miss Granger, you're being ridiculous," he said crossly, pointing to the bed. "I'll place a sticking charm on the bed with you in it if I have to."
She grinned and shrugged. "It's a bit early in our relationship for bondage and kink, sir, but I'll try anything once."
"Miss Granger!"
She laughed and said, "Severus, enough! Come here." And she held out her arms for him. "I just want to be held, and I promise not to 'accost your person with my nefarious scheming' tonight. I just…" she scrubbed her face tiredly and shrugged. "I need you."
His eyes gentled as he took a step toward her. "Hermione…"
Smiling to herself, she knew she'd won this round and held out her arms again. He stepped into them, and reaching up, she dispelled the sticking charm holding his improvised toga in place until he was as nude as she.
Burrowing into his embrace with a small sigh, she breathed in the comforting scents of him—cedar, juniper, and bittersweet, still present even after he bathed.
"You're being ridiculous," he accused softly into her hair, his hands stroking her back tenderly.
She pushed back from him to meet his stare. "That's a matter of perspective. After all, I think it's ridiculous you're not choosing to make the most of the time we have left living and are instead holding yourself hostage to a chivalrous code that no longer exists." She shrugged and let him go, knowing that if her body wasn't enough, if her words weren't enough to persuade him, then she'd have to let the matter drop for tonight.
Besides, her body wasn't healing as it ought, and all she really wanted to do was sleep. She sat heavily on the bed, and turning around, lay down with her back to the room.
A moment later, the bed dipped low, and two bands of steel came around to draw her to an unyielding chest. In this position, she was quite imprisoned. "Professor…"
"Go to sleep, Miss Granger," he ordered stiffly, his erection, an ever-constant state of his when around her, apparently, pressed insistently into the small of her back.
"Can I, at least, face you?" she whispered, wriggling her hips provocatively, and bumping her arse back and forth into his groin.
"Be contented!" he snapped, wrapping his leg around her, so she could move nothing. He effectively had her pinned, and she laughed, absolutely loving this.
"Never!" she told him. "Not until I have your everything will I be content."
Her words drew him up short. And taking advantage of his slackened hold, she turned in his arms so she could face him and pillowed her hands upon his chest.
"My everything?" he asked softly.
She nodded. "Yes, your everything. I want to know you, Severus Snape. Inside and out. Both good and bad, light and dark, devil and angel too. And I promise I'll give back so much more than I get, but that's only going to happen with time. For now, we have each other and a somewhat comfortable bed…" She waggled her fingers upon his chest and looked up at him hopefully.
His expression was disapproving; he was unimpressed.
She heaved a sigh and said, "Professor, it's time to bow to the inevitable. I'll never stop trying until you do, you see, for I'm strong-willed bordering on relentless in going after what I want. You had me as a student so you'd know better than most."
"Don't remind me" he said dryly, adjusting their position so his erection was held far away from her. "Go to sleep, Miss Granger."
"Very well," she said, her tone resigned. "Tonight, I'll settle for your arms around me, but I am determined, sir. And if we're stuck in this place and cannot die," she dimpled up at him, "then I'll have an eternity of tomorrows to try to persuade you." Wriggling in his hold, Hermione maneuvered until one of his hands was cupping her arse and the other was on her bare breast.
"Miss Granger—"
"Yes, Severus," she answered eagerly.
He scowled. "Miss Granger, you could try the patience of a saint." He did not move either of his hands, though, and she took this as a very positive sign when he began stroking her nipple with his thumb and palming her arse.
"As for trying your patience, Saint Severus Snape, I'm counting on it," she replied. And reaching, she gave him a peck on the cheek, whispering softly in his ear, "Good night, professor."
Not expecting a response, she settled in, tucking her head beneath his chin. And the last thing she remembered before sleep claimed her was her potions professor asking lowly for them both to hear, "What am I to do with you?"
Hermione left the question a rhetorical one and fell asleep with a grin.
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Clearly, she was going to have to think of another strategy in order to convince him they belonged together, which meant she'd have to out-Slytherin the most noble Slytherin of them all. He obviously was more self-aware now that others were present, and she should've anticipated this. He was trying to establish impersonal boundaries between them once more, and she would have to change tack accordingly. And that meant doing the exact opposite of what she, as a Gryffindor, wanted to do which was throw herself at him.
Instead, she would redirect her thoughts to the puzzle they'd been presented. For if she couldn't wow him with her body or convince him with her words, then perhaps she could make herself useful enough that he'd want to hold onto her forever and never let her go.
So thinking, she set to work.
Not long after they'd awakened, Professor Snape checked in with Professor Dumbledore, and it was with very little surprise they'd found only seconds had passed since they'd last spoken. In fact, it was such a scant amount of time, Professor Dumbledore thought they were still having the same conversation.
Time had slowed so much as to have stopped for it seemed here in the City of Dis time didn't exist.
But Hermione refused to believe they were stuck here.
This was yet another puzzle to logic their way out of, she was sure of it, and she wouldn't stop until she did.
The homespun dress she wore chafed the skin at her back where her scar was horribly, and Hermione was half-way tempted to forgo it and just wear Harry's cloak. She was becoming a bit of a nudist actually. There was something very liberating about not wearing clothes, and since Professor Snape had awakened her to passion, she found mounds of clothing restricted her.
Professor Snape once more put on the blanket, fastening it toga-fashion and said, "While we wait for Callum to arrive, have a look at the map, Miss Granger, and tell me what you see," Professor Snape said from behind her.
And that was another thing—he kept vacillating between calling her 'Miss Granger' and 'Hermione', not knowing which category to place her—student or lover. And he genuinely thought they were going to get out of this mess and things would go back to normal between them. He honestly thought she'd regret their time together.
She could weep for the futility of it.
Instead, she did as bid and looked at the map. There was still an empty cage, and the writing looked like strange Sanskrit. She put on the Spectrespecs and studied the map thoroughly looking at all the trials they've come through so far.
It seemed years had passed between the first ring to where they were now.
There was the level of 'lust' where Professor Snape had kissed her for the first time. There was 'gluttony' where he'd driven her spare with the wanting of him; when she'd felt him, for the first time, pressing hard and insistent at her entrance. And then the level of 'greed and waste' where he'd taken her virginity and proceeded to incrementally steal pieces of her heart through his caring solicitude.
And he kept stealing them with each act of kindness he performed for her, with each embrace he gave. It wasn't fair for him to keep taking bits of her without giving anything in return.
Alright, enough of this. She had a puzzle to solve and she needed to do it. Putting on the Spectrespecs, she once more read the words, 'Eret daht, eret dah, disarere emundi'. The phrase was so foreign. She said it aloud once more, and then finding a bit of spare parchment and quill from her things, she rearranged the words then the letters of each word.
She said the words out of order several times, methodically crossing off each combination she could think of. And not expecting anything, she said the words in a backwards order.
There was a shimmer of gold as the words shifted around and became all but translucent. She drew in a sharp breath. She could no longer see the words, true, but that was a change. And she had a feeling she was close to solving this.
Thinking it had something to do with being reversed, Hermione spelled the phrase backwards and said, "Tere thad, tere had, ererasid idnume."
She gasped as the letters rearranged themselves to appear written in gold above the cage into alphabet soup: ɘniʜɈ ɘd lliw mobɘɘɿʇ bnɒ ,mɘʜɈ Ɉɔɘlloɔ bnɒ ɘɿυɈqɒƆ .boold ni bɘϱɿoʇ ƨi bɒɘʜɒ γɒw ɘʜT
And she instantly recognized what she was seeing. It was mirror-script.
She dove into her bag, finding her bath kit. And grabbing her mirrored compact, she held it up to the map and read the words aloud, "The way ahead is forged in blood. Capture and collect them all, and freedom will be thine."
"Professor!" Hermione said, looking up, not realizing Callum had arrived while she'd been deep in thought and both men were now staring at her. She took off the glasses and said, "I've figured it out… at least a part of it, I think." She gestured to the map, and Professor Snape made his way over to her.
"If you're talking about the phrase in Sed'wyn, don't bother. It means nothing," Callum said, coming to stand on the other side of her from Professor Snape.
"'Sed'wyn', what's that?" Professor Snape asked him.
"It's a specific dialect used in Parseltongue. It's very… region-specific. Not many people of my time know it, and I'd be surprised if it lasted into yours. It's nonsense."
"Here," Hermione broke in, "look through the glasses. In spelling the words backwards, the translation resolves itself into English mirror-script. Did you ever find this?"
Callum shook his head, and putting on the glasses, he asked, "What's this mirror-script?"
"It's backwards writing." Hermione looked to Professor Snape. "It says we have to 'collect them all'." Professor Snape tapped the glasses Callum wore with his wand and duplicated a pair of glasses for both himself and her.
"This symbol, here. Do you know it?" Professor Snape pointed to the rune that represented The Black Zodiac. It was only visible through Luna's Spectrespecs. Callum shook his head, and Professor Snape rolled his eyes. "Miss Granger, prepare to leave; we've still got a ways to go yet."
"Now, wait just a moment," Callum said. "I'm going with you—"
"Absolutely not," Professor Snape hissed, his posture stiffening.
Callum mirrored his stance. "Absolutely so—"
"Professor," Hermione interrupted, hissing in Parseltongue, "may I speak with you a moment?... alone."
Callum's jaw was mulish, but he held up his hands, saying testily, "Of course. I'll be outside." Once he left, Hermione looked at her professor with both eyebrows raised.
"He is not coming with us, Miss Granger."
With his hair hiding his face from view, Hermione thought he looked like a petulant child.
She crossed her arms in front of her. "He's beaten Slytherin's hell multiple times; we would be positively stupid not to take advantage of this."
He was going to tell her 'no' again but drew up short at her words.
"Exactly," she said smugly. "You know, sometimes, professor, I'm left wondering just who's the Slytherin in this relationship, me or you?"
His eyes narrowed to slits, and she grinned, calling, "Callum, come here please, we have a deal for you."
Once he returned, Professor Snape gave the blond Adonis a level look. "You will help us through the trials, and in turn, we'll offer you a chance at freedom from this place if freedom may be had. Miss Granger, what is it you've uncovered?"
"That's just it," she grinned, excited to share and gesturing to the Spectrespecs she wore. "We know the phrase begins in Enochian—the symbols representing the language of Angels, but with the Spectrespecs, according to Callum, the language resolves itself to Sed'wyn—Slytherin's long-lost, native dialect." She took off the glasses and said, "But what does the phrase translate to mean, and how'd you know how to read it without these glasses, sir?" Hermione asked him.
Callum answered, "Long ago, I asked Herpo the Foul and Simon to help me find a translation. Eventually, Simon and I came across a cipher in level seven. However, we've never heard about this 'Enochian language' before, and as I said the words in Sed'wyn don't make sense."
"What are they?" asked Professor Snape.
The blond man pointed to the symbols written in Enochian on the map, and Hermione knew he was seeing Sed'wyn as he looked through the glasses. "The phrase roughly translates to, 'To gain knowledge of the eye, one must be sacrificed and one must mourn.'"
Hermione bit her lip, thinking over the words he'd said and putting them together in the puzzle she was piecing together. She pointed to the map and continued, saying, "Using the glasses, when you say the words in Sed'wyn backwards," she said, "the letters resolve themselves into modern English mirror-script. Up until now, Slytherin has been using modern English to communicate with us in print, and that's always struck me as odd. After all, he was born well before our time, and there's no way for him to have learned to read, let alone speak our language.
"He must have a translation spell in place for it. And I imagine, Callum, since you were born centuries before us, the writing will be different for you if you read it."
Not wasting a moment, Callum said the words written in Sed'wyn backwards and then said excitedly, "It's changed to this mirror-script you spoke of, but the letters are written in my native tongue! I haven't seen it in print for ages!"
Hermione quickly gave him the mirror, and he held it up to the symbols. "It reads, 'find and collect them all' and freedom will be thine."
Hermione nodded. "Yes, I read that too." She pointed to the area of the map where the cage was.
"Then it's obvious," Professor Snape said, "We've got to collect all twelve shades of the Black Zodiac in order to complete the set."
"But that's no guarantee—" Hermione broke in.
"It's our best shot—"
"Will one of you explain what's going on to me?" Callum asked, exasperated.
Hermione looked up at him and blushed. "Sorry. It's this symbol here." She pointed to the curlicue legend that she mistook for the compass rose back in the fifth level. She looked to Professor Snape, and he nodded, letting her know she could divulge what they knew so far.
"It's the Black Zodiac. According to Professor Snape, there are twelve spirits that represent it, and we think these twelve shades are the ones that need to be captured and contained. The good news is that we've run into one of them, and it seems a simple 'immobulus' can incapacitate them, but it's finding them that will be challenging, you see. For without these," she gestured to the Spectrespecs she wore, "they are invisible."
"Then they are the 'rogue' ones," Callum said softly, removing his glasses. Hermione and Professor Snape likewise did the same. "They'd have to be."
"Tell us more about these 'rogues'," Professor Snape demanded.
Callum's jaw grit as his eyes met Professor Snape's defiantly.
Hermione winced and said, "What he means to ask, Callum, is would you please let us know any information you possess about these 'rogue' spirits you've mentioned? We think there's a correlation."
Hesitantly he nodded, putting all of his focus on her and dismissing Severus Snape completely. "We think there's one that resides in this level, but we're not sure. It's near the swamp by the lake, always attacking after a big rain. But it's been a turning, at least, since it has attacked anyone."
"When is this 'big rain' supposed to occur again?" Professor Snape asked.
Callum shrugged. "It could be this afternoon or ten risings from now. Slytherin likes this place to have an element of unpredictability at all times. And I was going to tell you, the wandering hole is near the north boundary today. It's out of the way for the most part, but still, I'd steer clear of it if you could."
Hermione nodded and said, "Could you take us to the swamp?"
"Of course." He dimpled at her. "There's no better time like the present."
Professor Snape gathered the map, and Hermione grabbed the three sets of spectacles from the table, storing them in her bag.
Something told her they would be returning here, but she didn't want to take any chances of leaving anything behind. After all, so much was still uncertain in this place.
"I'd like to call a few of our best warriors to go with us: Kyah, Dannon, and a couple others. Almost as familiar with the trials of this place as I am myself, the majority of them can still practice magic and will be an asset to you."
Hermione bit her lip and looked up at Professor Snape uncertainly.
"Very well," he said, his tone saying it wasn't 'well' at all. "But you will all do as I say. These spirits are vicious."
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Callum left after giving them directions on how to get to the lake and saying he would meet them there.
By mutual accord, Professor Snape and she walked in silence, Hermione observing much.
The place truly was Elysium; it was hard to believe anything bad could happen here. But like with so much of Slytherin's hell, the shiny exterior did little to mask the horror lying beneath. From wandering holes and torrential rainstorms, to invisible rogue spirits that wanted to rape, destroy, and consume, this place was far from the heaven it was named to be.
Just as Callum had instructed, they passed beneath a stone tunnel that had more in common with one of Slytherin's gates than the cave he'd described it as being, and suddenly the lake was there before them, water sparkling in the sun.
It was smaller than the Enchanted Lake, but not by much, and the water was just as clear and just as blue. And as Hermione watched, fish jumped, breaking the water's surface to catch the insects landing there. It was tranquil, and Hermione grew uneasy, expecting a trap.
It wasn't a few moments later that Callum greeted them with a ragtag group of followers behind him. She counted and, including herself and Professor Snape, that made seven of them total. Looking around at the assembled crew, she saw many of them sported scars on various parts of their bodies, all of them but one wearing leather armor of some kind.
Professor Snape hissed to them all, "You will state your name, your occupation, any skills you possess, and demonstrate any magic you may know for us all to see."
She watched Callum grit his jaw, his hands bunching tightly into fists, not used, it seemed, to ceding control, especially to someone as high-handed as Severus Snape. However, Professor Snape demanded no less than total deference and respect. A few of Callum's guests stiffened as well, insulted by her professor's acerbic manner.
But Hermione let it stand without defense.
He had to lead them, and if she said anything to soften his words, it would undermine the authority he was trying to establish. Besides establishing and maintaining authority had never had been a problem for him before, she thought wryly.
No one volunteered to go first.
Hermione cleared her throat and said, "Alright, I guess I'll start. I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger, and well… one would call me a bit of a warrior and a scholar. My skills lie in problem-solving, and I can wandlessly manufacture, multiply, and cast flame." So saying, Hermione closed her eyes and performed the spell to call her bluebell flame forth from her fingertips. This was the first time she'd attempted this, but she didn't doubt for one moment she could do it.
Opening her eyes, she saw two twin pillars of bluebell flame filling her palms, and she hurled one toward the lake where she engorged it before it landed so that it was a flaming fireball the size of a small bolder. She 'evanesco'd' it, and it vanished with a thundering BOOM, sending a backlash of heat towards them all.
With her other hand, she multiplied her pillar until it was a hundred tiny candles burning brightly in her palm. A gesture from her other hand and she had them flying like arrows straight for her intended target: the stone wall several meters away. Like little bullets they flew through the air, hitting her target dead-center.
As one, they turned to look at her, and she grinned. And looking up at Professor Snape, Hermione was taken aback by the pride she saw in his eyes as his eyes met hers.
She smiled, and straightening her shoulders, said, "Callum, you're next."
He looked at them all wryly. "Well, it seems as though you've set the bar high, mistress Hermione." So saying, Callum lifted his hand and a breeze began to blow, then a gust, then a torrent that had Hermione's curls whipping wildly in the wind. Her eyes began to water and sting. He called the wind to him, and her eyebrows rose to see him rise off the ground.
It seemed her professor wasn't the only one who could fly.
Professor Snape's eyes narrowed, his expression growing cold and distrustful, morphing to unimpressed the more Callum flew.
The blond wizard was not a masterful flyer; in fact, he had to put forth quite a bit more effort than Professor Snape in order to maintain control. After all, when Professor Snape flew, he became one with the wind. When Callum flew, he had to harness it, and this made him less than steady.
But he could fly, and that was an asset.
Hermione quickly moved on, asking, "And you, Miss—what's your name?"
A girl with sandy blond hair of no more than fourteen stared back at her. She was dressed in a doe-skin singlet reaching down past her knees. Her outfit was so formfitting, it looked like a modern swimsuit with quarter-cut sleeves. "I'm Lara, mistress," she said softly. "And well," she shrugged, "here's what I can do—"
She dove into the water.
Hermione was surprised to see her swim as gracefully as any fish, zooming in and out of the water like she was one with it. They watched her for a time, and she seemed to be warming up for something. Suddenly, the girl drew a deep breath and dove deep.
They waited…
and waited…
…and waited some more for her to surface.
At length, Hermione said, "Should we perhaps send someone down to see if she's alri—"
"Just wait, mistress," a man to her right hissed softly.
Pursing her lips in worry, Hermione did so.
An interminable moment later, Lara's head broke the surface, and she all but leapt from the water to the shore, her blond hair dripping, plastered to her skull.
In her hands was a sharp, flat rock.
The girl presented it to Hermione with a smile. "You have to expose it to flame to get it to open." The girl gestured she should do so.
Intrigued, Hermione performed the spell to call her bluebell flame to her, and the moment her flame kissed it, the clam she mistook for a rock opened to reveal a pearl the size of her thumb.
But it wasn't just a pearl…
Hermione gasped, her eyes going wide as she realized what it was she was seeing. "A Phoenix Pearl," she said, awed.
Professor Snape stepped behind her and peered down at the nearly mythical potions ingredient. Reputed to be the stuff of legend, when administered properly, potions containing the Phoenix Pearl had just as much potency in healing as phoenix tears.
She looked up at Professor Snape and swallowed thickly.
With the potions ingredients she'd brought with her in addition to this, she had the makings for a healing salve. And this would more than likely take care of the damage to her back, which, if it must be said, was aching fiercely.
"Thank you!" she said breathlessly to the girl.
Smiling shyly, she nodded, and tucking her hair behind her ears, gestured the next person should go.
"I'm Dannon," the man to her right said, his voice as deep and dark as his skin, and his leather battle skirt large enough to accommodate his girth. However, every ounce of flesh the wizard had on him was riddled with muscle. "I am a warrior, and my skill is strength." So saying, he picked up a large, smooth stone and held it between his hands. He squeezed, and the stone crumbled to dust.
Hermione's eyebrows rose.
"I'm Kyah," the woman beside him said.
With curls so black as to be blue and eyes of purest green set in an inquisitive, heart-shaped face, she was beautiful. Perhaps a little older than Hermione was herself, Kyah wore breeches made of doe-skin and a doe-skin top corseted with leather. And with leather gauntlets on each wrist and doe skin moccasins on her feet, she looked like a huntress. She pulled an object from the pouch she carried cinched around her waist and wandlessly engorged it.
It was a bow.
She wandlessly summoned another item from her pouch, engorging it, and Hermione saw it was a quiver of arrows. She strapped the quiver to her back and notched an arrow to the bow.
Turning from them, she barely took time to aim at a tree as far from them as the length of the Quidditch pitch. She let loose, and the arrow flew straight and true to her target, hitting it dead-center. A wave of her finger had the arrow removing itself from the tree to begin flying back to her. She caught it in her palm and then sheathed it with the others.
Hermione was impressed.
The man, boy really, beside her put his finger up to his spectacles and adjusted them.
Unlike the others, the boy was in homespun dress, his breeches and shirt held up by leather suspenders. The only other item of leather he had on him was a sheath at his hip holding a dagger. His wavy brown hair fell into his eyes, and Hermione wanted to reach over and brush it away from his face just as she would for Harry. "I'm Simon, mistress. Simon Prentiss," he said, addressing her.
He looked up at Professor Snape before looking away shame-faced. "I cannot practice magic any longer—"
"—but he's the most knowledgeable of us about this place," Lara interjected, defending him. "He surpasses Herpo and Callum in leagues because he likes to explore."
"His mind's a wonder," Callum continued, "He knows all the gates and the pitfalls of each. And the many times I've taken Simon with me, I've been grateful to have him along. He's… well, Simon's very lucky."
The boy colored uncomfortably beneath this praise but did not discount it.
"Yes," Kyah said, smiling wryly, "if Simon had a magical power, it would be luck." They all of them laughed besides her and Professor Snape, and Hermione looked up at him inquiringly.
"Boy, can you defend yourself?" Professor Snape asked.
In answer, Simon drew the dagger from its leather sheathe and held it as a fighter would, bared and ready to strike.
"Very well." Professor Snape nodded. "I am Severus Snape, the leader of this expedition, and if that's a problem, then you are dismissed." Professor Snape gestured back to the way they'd come. No one moved to leave, although Hermione saw Callum's hands once more ball into fists—his only sign that this might not be agreeable.
Professor Snape continued, "I hold a mastery over both potions and the Dark Arts. And I trust you realize what we are dealing with has more in common with darkness than with light."
There were nods all around.
Callum gestured to a part of the lake that, at first, Hermione had taken to be forest.
It was actually an overgrown swamp, its reeds and trees tall, practically mammoth in scope. And its greenery so thick in spots, Hermione was certain parts of the place never saw the sun. "This is a part of Elysium we've never explored, judging it too dangerous," Callum said.
The wind shifted, and Hermione breathed in, noticing for the first time, the underlying stink of rot and decay just detectable from where they stood.
Immediately, she was on guard.
"This is where you think the 'rogue' resides?" Professor Snape asked skeptically.
The girl Lara nodded. "Yes. It's chased me a few times when I've gotten too close to the swamp although I could not see it. It nearly got me once." She gestured to a claw mark which looked like a gouge etched on her neck, and Hermione winced.
"I think it has only hands though… that's all I've felt anyway."
Professor Snape looked thoughtful. "Hmm, perhaps it's the Torso. Miss Granger, get out your Spectrespecs and duplicate them. I want you all to wear them. This is how these 'rogues' will be seen. Should you come across one, do not confront it if you can help it. I am the only one of us who can perform 'immobulus', so you are to stay within shouting distance at all times and call me to you immediately if you spot it. Callum take Kyah. Your flight and her strength in archery are well-suited.
"Dannon and Mr. Prentiss, you shall search together. Perhaps your luck, Mr. Prentiss, will come in handy on this quest, and with his strength, Dannon will protect you. Leaving you, Lara, was it? Leaving you, Miss Granger, and myself to search the swamp together. Now, remember," he said to them all, "stay within shouting distance at all times. You are dismissed."
Many of their number blinked up at him strangely, obviously insulted, and Hermione smirked. There was nothing quite like a dismissal from Professor Severus Snape.
"Miss Granger, I want you in my arms while I fly us above. Lara, you will swim. Keep to the shallows as best you can with as many obstacles as will be presented you in this place. I will be watching you at all times. If you sense the rogue, you are to swim away from it and call for me, do you understand?"
The girl nodded.
After wandlessly duplicating the Spectrespecs, Hermione passed them out to each group and then stepped within Professor Snape's arms. Immediately, they took to the sky. And she watched over Professor Snape's shoulder as Callum's eyes went wide. The blond wizard was flying unsteadily in the wind while Kyah looked up at him, obviously disgusted.
Hermione grinned to herself. It was really no contest. Professor Snape was the better flyer.
Pursing her lips, she turned around and put on the Spectrespecs just as Professor Snape had done. Lara was unable to wear the glasses while swimming, and so Hermione reminded herself to be constantly mindful of that fact. Lara dove into the water and began to swim, warming up and waiting for Professor Snape to begin.
The others, too, dispersed: Kyah, Dannon, and Simon Prentiss walking the shore until they could pick their way through the shallows of the swamp into the thick of it.
As they grew closer, Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust. It smelled like something—several somethings—died and were rotting away. The foliage around them grew dense, and the sun shown in spots against the dull green of the reeds and mossy vines. And just as Hermione thought, there were spots where the sun did not go.
"Are you using her as bait?" Hermione asked him softly.
"Perhaps."
"Sir!" she hissed.
"Quiet. You said it yourself only just this morning, wondering which of us is Slytherin." He smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes.
He continued, "Looks can be deceiving. She's young, but she's had an eternity of days to train for this. And I might remind you she's been brought here by Callum for one specific reason: she can swim. They all suspect the swamp is where the rogue resides, ergo, Miss Granger, her purpose here is to swim through the swamp. Besides," he gestured to the wand he held, "the girl's in very little danger. If the Leviathan approaches, we'll be able to see and incapacitate it well before it reaches the girl."
"You said Leviathan… you don't think it's part of the Black Zodiac?"
"That's the Torso's Black Zodiac symbol: the Leviathan. It's known for its brutal strength. The girl, Lara, has not been scratched as much as she's been crushed, and I believe the Leviathan may be the cause. It dwells in deep, dark places, as do many of these beings we'll come across, and it likes to surround itself with death and filth."
"Well, this place certainly fits then," Hermione said looked around.
As they flew, the reeds began to grow thick, and the insects around them thicker, many of them pinging off her skin making her recall with revulsion the memory of the swarm of wasps and hornets. She cringed. Professor Snape threw up a shield to repel them, and Hermione looked down in concern for Lara.
The girl was swimming, darting like a fish through the reeds and around the submerged trees. And although there were plenty of spots to dive deep, Hermione was glad the girl was following Professor Snape's orders in sticking to the swamp's shallows. However, in doing so she looked exactly like the bait on a lure she was.
Hermione scanned the area with the glasses, looking for a tell-tale shadow out of place.
When she'd first seen the Jackal, it had glowed as if with an inner light with the Spectrespecs on. But here everything looked uniform, colorless green-grey, and muddy. Nothing stood out. The smell, however, was growing worse the further on they went. Like Sulphur and rotten meat, the taste of the swamp coated the back of her throat, and Hermione knew that hours from now, she'd still be smelling it.
It grew quiet.
Too quiet.
"Professor, I don't like this…" she said a moment before something large crashed through the brush towards them. "Lara, hide!" Hermione cried as a bird with the wingspan as wide as a condor and twice as large flew at them with its claws extended. Through the Spectrespecs, she saw its eyes were blood-red and glowing with an unholy light. Its beak was a twisted maw, and it was bloodthirsty.
"It's a rodan," Professor Snape said calmly, pointing his wand and preparing to hex the thing. But before he could, an arrow flew through the air straight into the bird's eye, and it fell to the marshy ground with a cawing 'plop'.
Kyah called her arrow back to her, and it unseated itself from the bird's skull and flew to her open palm.
Pulling off the Spectrespecs, Hermione called down to her, "Thanks."
The woman looked back at her indifferently. "Don't mention it. All's well, Lara?"
"Fine, Kyah," the girl answered cheerily below them, making her way from the shallows to the marsh where Kyah stood.
"All's well, Dannon? Simon?" Kyah called loudly.
"We're fine," two voices chorused some distance away.
"Where's Callum?" Hermione asked her.
"Right here, Mistress Hermione," Callum said beside her, and Hermione jumped within Professor Snape's arms.
The blond wizard smiled at her and said, "Kyah and I discussed it, and we don't like the idea of leaving Lara behind. It's nothing personal, of course," he was quick to add.
"Of course," Hermione agreed, taking no offense.
"Make yourselves useful and begin to search the grounds, all of you," Professor Snape hissed acidly. "I do not want to be here any longer than absolutely necessary."
Hermione tossed Lara the extra pair of Spectrespecs, and the party of five began to search further.
"What's a rodan?" Hermione asked quietly.
"A bird in Greek mythology invented by Hades himself," he murmured in her ear, not wanting to be heard by the others. "They are carrion feeders, preferring the carcasses of the innocent and the chaste."
"Well, I was completely safe then—"
"Hermione…" he led, his tone one of supreme annoyance.
"Sorry, sir," she laughed quietly, knowing he'd reached the end of his patience. After all, Callum was flying right beside them, practically on top of them. She looked over, and the blond wizard smiled at her. He decidedly made an incongruous picture floating on the wind as he was doing, forever losing his balance with Luna's Spectrespecs perched high upon his nose.
"There's something here—" Lara said to them, looking around.
"Oh-ho! We got it!" Hermione heard a voice—Simon, she thought—say, "Come quick!"
Professor Snape looked torn in deciding which way to go before flying them wicked-fast through the brush, diving around limbs of dangling moss, thick vines and blasting through the reeds.
They quickly came across the two, and with the Spectrespecs, Hermione searched frantically.
There was only one thing that stood out to her, and it glowed with a light from within. She lifted the Spectrespecs from her eyes and saw Dannon struggling to hold onto nothing; what he held was invisible in plain sight.
But with the Spectrespecs on, Hermione saw Dannon was having to work hard to keep the struggling thing from turning around and choking him. It was a torso with arms and hands, but with no head and stumps for legs. Its arms were bulging with muscle, but its head and legs had been severed. Dannon had the thing bound in his grasp, with a knee to its back, bowing it back and pinning its hands in a restraining hold.
Although the Leviathan was completely incapacitating, still it kicked and struggled, trying to break free.
Professor Snape immediately cast 'immobulus', and the thing stopped its struggling.
Hermione grimaced.
It was brutal what had been done to it—errm, him. Decapitation, amputation of both legs beginning at the knee, the only things left intact were its arms, hands, and masculine appendage.
Professor Snape cast a feather-light charm on it and the Leviathan floated along in front of them like a macabre parade balloon leading them as they began to make their way back to the others.
"Disgusting, isn't it?" Callum asked from beside her, and Hermione turned and raised her eyebrows. He had followed her and Professor Snape and flew right along beside them now.
"This is one of the twelve, isn't it?" Simon asked, excitedly, raising and then lowering the Spectrespecs upon his head, trying to peer through them and his glasses at the same time in order to see the 'unseeable'. "This is one of the Black Zodiac's twelve apostles?"
Professor Snape looked at him curiously, his eyes narrowed to slits. "How do you know—?"
A scream rent the silence.
Once more, Professor Snape was blasting through the swamp, diving under vines and darting around branches and turning a corner into a thick grove of reeds.
What they saw had Hermione producing her flame instantly.
A monster—that was the only name that suited what she was seeing—a monster had Lara by each of her limbs, and was pulling the girl apart slowly while Kyah fired arrows at it.
They were ineffectual.
The girl's screams were deafening, and Hermione hurled fire at its eyes, all eighty of them, realizing as she did, the monster was an Acromantula much like Aragog. The thing was easily five times as big as the late arachnid but looked twice as ancient.
"Why have you come here?" it hissed at them in Parseltongue, venom dripping from its fangs.
"We mean you no harm," Hermione was quick to hiss, withdrawing her flames instantly. "We just want the girl. Please, let us take her, and we'll leave this place and never return."
"Never is a long time, little girl," the thing hissed, and Hermione heard something within Lara pop as she screamed.
"Stop! Please stop!" Hermione cried.
Professor Snape murmured an incantation and cast a spell she'd never seen before. Oozy tendrils of black shot from his wand and began to encompass the creature in undulating waves. Smoky black tendrils wound their way tighter and tighter, encapsulating it. Professor Snape swirled his wand in an arc, and the binds began to squeeze.
The creature shrieked and let the girl fall. Callum was there to catch her from the air as she did.
Professor Snape began to chant under his breath, casting another spell, and streaks of red shot from the tip of his wand, piercing the creature, and ripping it apart from the inside out.
Hermione's mouth dropped open as she registered the words of what he'd said. 'Inctus Sunt'. Inside out. Professor Snape had just performed dark magic right in front of her.
Oh, holy shite!
In performing the spell, he'd forced the acromantula to turn itself insides out. She'd read depictions of it in her copy of Dangerous and Diabolical Dark Arts of the Seventeenth Century, but never did she think she'd see it performed.
Gulping, Hermione looked at her professor with new eyes. "It was sentient; you didn't have to kill it," she insisted weakly, not really believing her own words. "We could've questioned it."
"It was not to be reasoned with, Hermione. End of discussion." He flew them down, landing in the marsh, and after releasing her, immediately cast a diagnostic charm over the girl.
"Her arm's dislocated at the shoulder. We need to get out of this place before I can tend her." Professor Snape's gaze found hers. "I believe this is another of Slytherin's trials. Stay together."
Now ankle-deep in water, Hermione looked around. The smell where they were was a bit better, or perhaps she was just growing used to it. The darkness and silence was profound for standing where they were, they could hear no birds. Even the insects were gone. The seven of them gathered in a circle with Kyah tending to a shivering Lara, who was trying very much to be brave.
Some of their number wore the Spectrespecs, some didn't. All of them looked around uncertainly. Malevolence seemed to pulse in waves, and a foggy mist began to rise from the ground, smoky tendrils of mist curling all around them. Hermione blinked and suddenly realized she couldn't see her neighbor.
Hands wound around her, and she gasped as she was pulled into a hard chest. "Stay close," Professor Snape whispered lowly in her ear.
Gulping, she nodded.
"Callum?" a female voice called, and Hermione thought it was Kyah.
"I'm here," a voice to their right said, and Hermione heard feet shuffle through the water as Callum began making his way towards Kyah's voice.
"Dannon?" the huntress asked.
"Yes, here with Simon."
"Keep calling so I can find you," Callum said, "This is a terrifying game of Blind Man's Bluff." There was much clomping and stomping around as the others grouped together. A leeching cold permeated the air.
"Stop," Professor Snape ordered. "Do not move one inch from where you stand. This is another trap. Tell me, have you ever encountered anything like this before?"
"Never," a deep voice Hermione thought belonged to Dannon said from her left. He was close. She tried to peer through the fog, but it was too thick. "Because of the rogue ones, there are parts of Slytherin's hell we haven't explored. We've never come into the swamp. The only thing that comes close to this is the basement in the ninth circle, but while you're there, there's a way to navigate it. This is…" Hermione could practically hear the shrug in his voice.
"—hopeless is what it is," a female voice interrupted across from them, and Hermione thought the voice belonged to Kyah. "It's hopeless. Does anyone else feel heavy, weighed down?"
"Yes, now that you mention it," Simon said, and his voice sounded farther away than the rest. "And it's not just physical either. I feel sad, as if—"
"—as if there's no hope, and all the light's gone from the world…" Hermione said. And it was with dawning dread and realization, she turned within Professor Snape's arms and said, "Professor, this is a dementor attack."
No sooner did she say the words, than a swarm of them were upon them.
Professor Snape immediately cast 'Expecto Patronum', but his doe had little to no effect against the onslaught of hundreds of them—their maws open, hands grasping greedily—wanting to prey on their souls.
"Stay close to me," Professor Snape roared to them all, sustaining his doe patronus in a shield above them as the Dementors began pelting them in swarms. A fully corporeal patronus was hard to sustain for long when it wasn't being bombarded by evil. And Professor Snape was bowing but not breaking under the strain. Willing him her strength, Hermione watched as her professor grit his teeth and began chanting under his breath, sweat beading along his brow.
The dementors pressed them harder still.
Overwhelmed, his patronus burst with a deafening CRACK, and Professor Snape drew Hermione into his arms, instantly joining his lips with hers, not releasing her for a moment as the world turned and twisted, shrieked and grasped all around them.
Bony fingers clutched at her, trying to tear her away. Dementors screamed at her, trying to shock her so she'd let him go.
But she was beyond caring about such things.
Severus Snape was kissing her, his mouth joined to hers, and this wasn't a bond she was going to allow to break. His arms held her tightly to him, enveloping her. His lips were stern, forming a seal to hers, but his tongue's caress was so tentative and tender, as if uncertain of his welcome.
She stroked tentatively back, and as one they deepened the kiss, both moaning at the sheer indulgence of it.
She could think of nothing else but him, of his mouth on hers, giving her breath and taking hers in return. And happiness could not be stolen from her at that moment, no matter what misery tried to tear them apart. Because yes, the world was once again falling all around them, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was his mouth fused to hers, and her heart racing madly because of him and the kiss they shared.
The screaming lessened and then died completely.
And it was over.
He gentled, then ended the kiss but still clutched her tightly to him.
He looked down at her, his jaw grit tight, but his eyes—oh, his eyes burned into hers. And that's when she realized his refusal was not about a battle of wills. He didn't deny her because he wasn't interested or because of morality's sake. He did so because he wanted to cherish her… to savor her.
And at that moment, Hermione knew he would no longer tell her 'no'; his expression told her so.
Professor Snape cupped her chin in his hand, his thumb caressing her bottom lip. "Hermione…"
She held her breath, waiting for what he would say next.
"Oh, look at the lovebirds, Dannon!" Kyah called out from their left.
Professor Snape's expression turned sour, and Hermione looked away, gritting her jaw in frustration. The others were standing near a gate in the swamp, and all of them were smiling.
"Don't you two look cozy?" Kyah continued on a grin.
Releasing her with a disgusted chuff, Professor Snape began wading through the water towards the others.
"We're lucky Simon, here, found a gate for us to hide in," Kyah continued, explaining, "We hid in the space between levels and let you two have all the fun."
Professor Snape rolled his eyes but then asked, "To which level does this gate lead?"
"We've never been here," Simon shrugged and said, "and I'm not quite sure which level this is, but it seems to be an extension of the swamp."
"We'll take a break before moving forward," Professor Snape decided. "The girl's shoulder needs to be tended, and we've got to figure out a way to bind the Leviathan to us. We need a place to deposit the disciples of the Black Zodiac as we come across them, and I want you to help us fill in the rest of our map."
So saying, he gestured Callum to lead them on, and as one, their fellowship began making their way from the swamp back to Elysium.
.
.
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A/N: Light on the smut, heavy on the plot. Sorry, readers, but it had to be done to advance the storyline. But muse-willing, hopefully, I'll have an extra steamy love scene when we meet again. After all, it seems our potions professor has certainly made up his mind concerning our lovely Gryffindor and her place at his side.
*grins*
Now, I'll be honest with you, I was thinking of taking a hiatus from this novel to get my head on straight. It's been known to happen before with my writing, and sometimes it takes YEARS for me to return to it in order to finish my work properly. For you see, this was only supposed to be a novella (75k words at most), but wouldn't you know it, it's morphed into a full-blown novel. So, bear with me as we wade through this thing.
A special thanks goes out to everyone who's left a review, especially DySnape. You never know when the right words said at the right time can spark creativity in another. And lady (or sir), your review inspired me to continue on when I was heartily discouraged to do so. And I'm so glad I did!
For those of you thinking of leaving a review, please do. Your kind words keep me going, and when I say 'you're the inspiration' for my creative endeavoring, I mean it.
Cheers,
—K