Second Week of November - Fifth Year
Hermione startled when the little house elf popped into her dormitory to hand her a sealed note. "Thank you," she said kindly and the little elf left.
It is urgent that I speak with you. Please come to my office after dinner this evening. Bring with you questions about my most recently assigned essay as cover if needed.
It wasn't signed but she knew it was from him. He had never summoned her like this before, and she didn't hesitate to believe the urgency.
At dinner she she begged off from studying with Ginny and Luna and made her way down to the dungeons and his office.
Hermione arrived at his office to find him grading essays. He held up a finger indicating he needed a moment, all the while his eyes were focused on the scroll in front of him.
She sat and then watched him as he worked. He read every word. Occasionally his brow would furrow over something he read and his quill would quickly dip in the red ink and scratch out a comment and at the very end he paused for moment and rescanned the essay with his eyes before decisively marking a large "E" at the top and circling it.
Snape finally looked up to see her smiling at him. Lightly she said, "I believe I owe you an apology, sir."
He rolled up the essay and put it to the side with the other graded work and replied, "Whatever for?"
"I didn't think about the fact that you actually have sit and read the homework you assign us and I've always written at least twice as much as you've ever asked for. I'm sorry and I'll be more aware of that in the future."
He regarded her for a moment before he nodded in response. "You, at least, have a firm grasp of spelling and punctuation unlike many others."
She thought for a moment that the corner of his mouth had curled up the slightest bit, but as quickly as it was there it was gone. He flicked a silencing spell towards the open door and turned back to face her, his familiar mask of seriousness firmly in place.
"I need to speak with you as the father of the child you carry. Not as your professor, not as a member of the Order, and not as a Death Eater. Just as someone who cares about you and our child's wellbeing. Can you keep that firmly affixed in your mind for this conversation?"
It briefly made her wonder how difficult it must be for him to keep it affixed at times. Then that thought was shoved aside as a little flicker of something warm unfurled in her chest when she realized that he had actually admitted out loud to caring about her and the baby.
She nodded. "Of course."
"Dumbledore believes you should terminate the pregnancy. It is an unexpected interference in his long term plans and he is not pleased. He is most adamant about it and wishes me to convince you. Something, as you know, I am not wont to do."
"It's not his decision, not in the least," she said with a hint of disgust.
"No, it is not and I have told him so. Repeatedly. Be careful around him, Miss Granger, behind that grandfatherly visage he is as ruthless as the Dark Lord in his schemes for the so called greater good."
"I understand. Do you think he would try to harm the baby?"
"That I do not know. But I am going to give you a wide-purpose antidote to carry on your person, it will be the best we can do to protect you should someone try to slip you an abortifacient."
She nodded, the horror at the thought of the wizard they were all depending on in this war doing something to harm their baby sinking in.
"That brings us to the issue of the Dark Lord," he said gently.
Her eyes widened in fear.
"You know of occlumency?" he asked.
"Yes. It's the art of clearing and compartmentalizing your mind to protect it from intrusion."
"Very good. This is a tool I must employ in my various roles. It protects not only me, but the Order, and… others. I am a highly skilled occlumens, however there are limits to what I can hide within my mind, there are some things which are simply too big to be broken apart and hidden."
"The baby," she said with understanding.
"Yes. Why do you suppose that is?" he challenged her gently, making her think.
She thought for a moment. "Because it doesn't just affect one thing in your mind, it affects everything in your life. There's no simple way to compartmentalize it in order to hide it."
"Exactly. The next time I am in front of the Dark Lord he will know about our child. He is just too powerful a legilimens. There is nothing I can do to hide it effectively. So I have come up with a course of action that I feel has the best chance of the three of us," he gestured between himself and her and her stomach, "surviving the Dark Lord's discovery."
His mask slipped and for a brief moment she saw the fear in his eyes. Not for himself but for her and for their child. The traitorous emotion was tucked away just as quickly as it appeared. There was no question in her mind that he would die for them, that he would sacrifice himself if he thought it would protect her and his child. The sense of safety and protection she had grown to associate with him washed over her and she squared her chin and replied confidently and without hesitation, "I trust you."
He swallowed hard at her words. She wondered for a moment if she had said the wrong thing.
When he didn't reply, she asked, "So what is your plan? What do you need me to do?"
Her response snapped him back to the conversation. "What is the one thing the Dark Lord respects in this world?"
She ticked her head and thought. "I'm tempted to say power, but I don't think that's it. It's too simple an answer."
"Correct, while he desires power he doesn't particularly respect it. The thing he respects above all else is magic."
"Magic?"
"Indeed. He is drawn to it, longs to understand it, craves it even. Make no mistake, this insatiable intellectual appetite of his made his actual working knowledge of magic far outstrip Dumbledore's long ago. He has always been most intrigued by spontaneous and accidental magic, those things without ready explanation that he can puzzle over and bring his vast knowledge to bear in figuring it out. I can use that to our advantage.
Her mind was spinning and she blurted out, "Because the baby came about through magic."
"Exactly. I have done exhaustive research since your condition came to light. There has never before been a child created solely through magic of which I can find any record. If I present it to the Dark Lord in the correct way, his interest will be piqued and I believe that he will not only protect you from his Death Eaters, but from anyone else who would harm you."
"You mean Dumbledore."
"Yes."
"You think he'd protect me even though I am Muggle-born?"
"Yes."
She chewed her bottom lip for a moment before asking, "Will he want to see me personally?"
"Most likely. And that brings me back to occlumency. I need you learn it, as quickly as possible. I will send you the best text I have on the subject. Read it and practice the techniques in it. I'll arrange for us to have time to hone your skills. We still need to be careful about Umbridge, now more than ever given her new authority, but I suspect that once the Dark Lord knows about you that that annoying pink menace will be off our backs one way or another."
Hermione looked down at her hands in her lap. "You really believe this is the only way?"
"I do."
"It frightens me… him knowing."
He was about to reply when he caught a sliver of pink skulking about outside the office door. "Umbridge," he whispered, "play along."
He ratcheted his voice back to its normal volume and timber and said, "It is not a particularly difficult concept, Miss Granger," just as Umbridge walked through his silencing ward and into the room.
"But, sir, I still don't understand. Why does our text indicate that we have a full twenty-four hours to use the base while your lecture notes specify that we only have sixteen?"
"Hem, hem," they both heard as Umbridge approached and sat in the chair next to Hermione so she could see them both.
Snape leveled a flat glare at the vile witch. "Yes?" he asked with a sneer.
"Don't mind me, Professor. Pretend I'm not even here," came the answer couched in false sweetness.
"Very well," he replied coldly and returned his focus to Hermione, "Open your mind, Miss Granger, think outside the text for once. Why do you think you should use start to use that base within sixteen hours?"
She acted her part well and pretended to think.
"Well?" he asked coldly.
She frowned, in part acting but also in part from his demeanor, especially that biting tone he hadn't used with her since their meeting in the Grimmauld kitchen. She said softly, "I don't know, Professor."
"Think harder and write a scroll's worth on it by your next class. Now leave before I deduct house points for wasting my time."
She sighed and gathered her things. "Yes, sir.
Umbridge's eyes followed her the whole way out. When Hermione had reached the door she stopped and turned back around when he said, "One scroll, Miss Granger, no more no less. Clear?"
It was there if you knew where to look, that minuscule lifting of the corner of his mouth and his words reminding her of their earlier lighthearted conversation, reminding her that he was still there underneath the projected harshness. She nodded and replied, "I understand, sir."
She turned and left heading for the library for some peace and quiet to sort out all they had discussed.
"Is it unusual for Miss Granger not to know the answer to such a question?" Umbridge demanded after Hermione had left.
"Do you?" he asked snidely.
"Well… no, but that is hardly the point, Snape," Umbridge huffed.
"It is exactly the point, Professor. Miss Granger's question is actually that of a Masterly level candidate and not merely an OWL level fifth year. Encouraging her to expand her knowledge and teaching her to think beyond the text is my duty as a potions Master should I hope to leave the field in capable hands in the future. Now, is there anything else I can assist you with or may I go back to marking these tiresome second-year essays on laboratory safety?"
"I have nothing further for you this evening, but know that as High Inquisitor I will be watching you… and Miss Granger. I will have my answers about the truth of your relationship," she said with what passed as a hint of warning in her voice as she stood.
With a bored look on his face, Snape replied, "She is an insufferable little know-it-all and I her unfortunate potions professor. That is our relationship."
As she walked away she said in sing-song voice without turning back around, "You better hope that's true."
It was all he could do not to hex her.
That night Hermione found a parcel wrapped in plain brown paper under her pillow. She subtly closed the curtains around her bed, wanting privacy. She opened the parcel to find the promised text on occlumency as well as another small box containing a beautiful oval opalescent stone on a delicate silver chain. She looked in awe for a moment at the beautiful pendant before tearing her eyes away to read the accompanying note.
"This is the antidote we discussed earlier. Should you suspect or feel the effects of an ingested potion, place the stone under your tongue. It is a sufficient counter-agent to all but the rarest few. I tried to make it innocuous looking while not altogether unattractive. You did well earlier. Our conversation was interrupted at a most inopportune moment, but know that fear is healthy in these times and I would have been more surprised had you not been afraid."
Hermione re-read the note and looked to the pendant once again. Had she not known it was a poison antidote she would have simply have seen it for the lovely necklace it was.
She didn't hesitate and fastened it around her neck and tucked it against her skin, its weight and warmth making her feel safe.
She pulled out a fresh bit of parchment and wrote him a note in reply.
The owl delivered a sealed note to him at breakfast. The emotions said note elicited in him both surprised him and filled him with something he was unwilling to acknowledge, let alone name.
"It is absolutely beautiful. Thank you. I won't take it off. I know this necklace has a particular purpose, but I thought you should know, for what it's worth, that no one other than my parents has ever given me jewelry before, it was most unexpected. Like you, I'm also sorry our conversation was interrupted. I trust you without question and know that you want what is best for us… thank you for that, I don't think that we are anyone else's priority. I'm scared… not only about what we discussed, but rather the thousand other things we did not. I have the utmost faith in you, never doubt it, no matter what I may have to say in front of others."
Her note elicited feelings in him best left forgotten. But that was fast becoming something he just couldn't do.
He looked down to where she was sitting at the Gryffindor table and tried to steel his emotions. Then she looked up and met his eyes as he was holding her note. Their gazes met, and held fast. For just a moment, the very briefest of moments he let himself believe that the connection he had to the guileless witch was that of fate, a chance encounter between two like souls, one borne of love and attraction. But then the reality of the connection asserted itself and reminded him that she was his student, and a witch who bore him only out of circumstance, not choice.
Organizing Dumbledore's Army took a bit of effort but it felt good to be opposing Umbridge and the ridiculous restrictions imposed on their education by the Ministry.
Hermione had to be careful when they practiced spells on each other, she couldn't risk the baby, so she used the same excuse that Snape had come up with about the potion robes.
"Harry, I'm not going to be able to be partnered with anyone to practice spells on me."
Harry looked confused, she had never shied away from spellwork before. "Why not?" he asked simply.
"Because of the explosion I'm supposed to avoid coming into direct contact with all unnecessary spells and magic. I'm barely allowed to use a drying spell on my hair after a bath."
"Oh. Right. I almost forgot about all that. No worries, we have enough people for everyone to switch off for practice."
She hated lying to her friends, Harry especially, but she wasn't ready for them to learn the truth. She had to tell them before she began to show, but she had a bit of time before she had to worry about it.
The first attempt on her pregnancy came two weeks after Snape had given her the necklace.
As she was known to do, Hermione grabbed a golden yellow apple out of the big basket in the Gryffindor common room on her way to breakfast and tucked it into her bag to snack on later. It was a healthy habit ingrained by her parents and the yellow apples were her favorite. She paid no mind that that morning there was only one lone golden yellow apple in the large basket of apples.
Later that morning in a break between classes she pulled out the apple and sat on one of the stone windowsills to enjoy the sun and a few minutes of reading.
The minute she bit into the apple and its juice hit her tongue her whole mouth began to tingle in a most unpleasant way. She quickly spat out the apple and noticed a distinctly metallic taste in her mouth. She began to feel woozy. Without hesitation, or indeed even cognizant thought, she pulled her necklace out from her blouse and without even pulling the delicate silver chain over her head, she stuck the opal-like stone under her tongue. She could feel it dissolving and the tingling and taste in her mouth went away quickly. The wooziness she was experiencing also receded.
She looked at the innocuous looking apple she had dropped on the sill and felt ill for an altogether different reason as the realization that someone, no Dumbledore, had tried to poison her and kill her baby. She wanted to go to Madame Pomfrey to be checked over but it almost didn't feel safe to do so, what if Madame Pomfrey was in on it? No, there was only one person she trusted in regards to this at the moment. He would know what to do.
She quickly cast a stasis charm over the apple and carefully picked it up with her handkerchief. Grabbing the rest of her things she bolted for the dungeons.
He sat at his desk, organizing his papers for his next class due to start after the break. He wasn't at all expecting her to rush in, completely flustered.
He took one look at her face and the pendant missing its stone hanging outside her robes and knew that something dreadful had happened. "What is it?" he asked as he stood flicking a muffliato at the door out of habit.
Hermione carefully placed the bitten apple on his desk. "You were right, someone tried to slip me something."
She quickly explained what had happened and he literally saw red. He had suspected that Dumbledore had it in him to do such a thing, but he had held out an iota of hope that the old man wouldn't actually attempt it. He was wrong.
He forced his emotions back and re-focused on what she was saying.
"I used the stone. It made all the symptoms go straight away. I just… I want to be sure everything is okay but…," she hesitated.
"But what?"
"Can I trust Madame Pomfrey or do you think it's possible she was in on this in some way?"
He shook his head. "No. Poppy would never do such a thing. Not ever. I would trust her with my life."
She nodded but didn't say anything. Still shaken.
"Let me alleviate your worry," he said as he stepped around his desk and lifted his wand and cast a simple diagnostic spell.
They could both see the results and see that all was fine with both mother and child. He wished he could say that the relief that spread through him surprised him, but he couldn't. The protective draw towards her was as strong, if not stronger, than ever.
Hermione let out a deep sigh and said, "Oh, thank goodness."
He nodded. "Indeed."
He reached into an inner pocket of his frock coat and pulled out a small vial containing a dozen more opalescent stones. He poured one out into his hand and placed the vial down on the desk. He reached for her necklace and placed the new stone in the empty setting where the old one had been. He murmured an incantation and the stone attached itself. He held onto it for a moment, his hands not quite wanting to let it go of this simple looking thing he had created to protect his child, this simple looking thing that had saved his child. His thoughts turned dark, while he had a deep sliver of hatred in his heart for Dumbledore over failing to protect Lily, it was nothing compared to the new chasm of hate that the attempt on his child's life had opened up.
He came back to himself when he felt her hand on his. He looked up from the necklace and met her eyes. Softly she said, "We're okay. Your antidote worked perfectly. You kept us safe."
The heat from her hand felt scorchingly hot. Other than Poppy's ministrations in the infirmary, he couldn't remember the last time a woman had touched him with such tenderness, such warmth. It was almost too much to bear on top of his emotions over the attempt on his child's life. Slowly, because in truth he was loath to break the physical connection, he lowered his hands and stepped back from her.
He turned away from her and composed himself as he picked up the vial of stones and carefully re-stoppered it and secreted it back away in his pocket.
After a long few moments he finally felt able to face her again and he turned around.
"I will see what else I can do to protect you from the person," he sneered out the word, both of them knowing he meant Dumbledore, "attempting to poison you. For now, eat only out of the common dishes in the Great Hall and do not sit in the same seat twice in a row."
She nodded. "I understand. He'd have to poison half of Gryffindor if I do that."
"Correct. You received the text?"
"Yes, I read four chapters last night concentrating on learning the process itself and I started practicing the meditative techniques. It's not easy but I'm an organized person by nature and my thoughts are just one more thing for me to learn how to organize."
"Good. Practice hard, I fear we will need you to use it sooner rather than later. You should head to your next class, the break is over."
She tucked her necklace back against her skin and picked up her bag. "Thank you, for everything, sir."
"You are most welcome, Miss Granger."
She gave him a little smile and left his office.
The moment she left a deep scowl filled his face, his eyes dark with fury. He could kill Dumbledore with his bare hands. If the conniving old wizard wasn't their best hope for ridding themselves of the Dark Lord once and for all he would kill the man without hesitation.
tbc...