Chapter 6

(Nov. 4)

"Welcome, Miss Granger." Narcissa's voice filled the air, distracting me from my inner turmoil. She was standing in the middle of the foyer. I forced myself to step forward, giving her a bland smile.

"Mrs Malfoy," I said in a low but firm voice. I was surprised my voice didn't crack.

The room I'd been tortured in was to my left, and I hoped she didn't lead us there. That would push me over the edge. Merlin knew what I would do.

Narcissa led us to the opposite side and into a large room with tall windows. Tall backed armchairs and glass tables adorned the room. Mirrors and paintings took up wall space while a set of doors dominated the far wall.

I took the armchair right in front of those doors, facing the room as a whole.

Snape sat on the seat to my left while Malfoy sat with his mother in front of me. Nott sauntered over to my right and leaned against the bookshelf.

"Would you like some tea?" asked Narcissa.

I shook my head, "No, I'm fine, thank you."

Snape was staring hard at me. I felt something brush against my shields.

"Go ahead, link," he shook his head before pulling out a notebook, "I can handle it," I said, confident in my mental shield link.

He didn't do it.

I opened my bag and took out the book I had taken from Sirius's library. Snape immediately reacted by leaning forward and taking it from me.

Narcissa had moved away from her son to look at the book with a frown. "That book belonged to Phineas Black. Why do you have it?"

"I don't know if it's common knowledge, but Sirius left all of the books in the Black family to me. Amongst other things." Narcissa gasped.

I glanced at her for a second before catching Severus's gesture. He held out his notebook, face blank as he waited for me to take it.

"He can talk to you like that. It's connected to his thoughts. I have told him everything I know. Not that it was any more than what he already knew." Nott said.

I inclined my head, letting him know I heard him.

I accepted the notebook and opened it. I saw familiar writing begin to appear on one of the pages.

Granger, I have a lot of stuff I wish to speak to you about, but the most important thing right now is giving you the information. Since when have you been able to do legilimency?

"I found the book around the summer between my fourth and fifth year. I'd asked Sirius if I could take a book from the library, and he said to take all the books. I found many Dark books and amongst them, I found that one. I was intrigued by it and at first, I only read it in my spare time. It wasn't until Harry told me that you've tried teaching him that I started practising it. Eventually, I came to master it. I knew for sure that I'd been able to do it correctly when Bellatrix tried to get into my head. She couldn't, so that made her angrier." I said.

Narcissa turned to look at me while Draco shifted around in his seat.

I glanced down at the notebook when more words appeared.

I will try to connect with you, but I don't know if it will work regardless if you're a master of it or not. It will be painful, so brace for it.

"I understand, sir."

I reached into my bag and took out two phials. One was empty while the other contained opaque blue liquid.

"Go ahead."

With a wave of his wand, he entered my mind. I tensed as I sensed him pushing through my mind and encountering the shield protecting me.

I opened it slightly and gasped out loud. Merlin, that hurt! It was almost as bad as being under the cruciatus curse. Gripping the sidearms of the chair, I leaned forward as I tried breathing in and out.

He quickly gave me everything he knew and more.

I could already feel my hands shaking from the strain. I could faintly hear the others leave the room as Snape continued.

Closing my eyes, I tried to gain control of my breathing when it all stopped. The information was whirling in my head. Memories of hidden bases where people had gotten tortured, and locations of the bodies they had dumped, all crowded my mind.

A sudden withdrawal left me gasping. Snape cut the link on his end, leaving me alone in my mind.

Leaning back with the heels of my hands pressed against my eyes, "I'll send it to Harry as soon as I can. He will recheck everything plus the new locations."

Opening my eyes slowly, I sat up again.

He was staring at me with an unfathomable look. It had no name, yet I understood it. Because she was feeling the same way.

Snape had once been a horrible teacher to me. One that had even made me cry more than once.

Now, I wasn't a child anymore. I saw him for who he was.

A complex man.

Leaning forward to grab the phial with the dark liquid, I handed it to him without touching him.

"I asked somebody to send me this. I informed this person about your bite. How it had damaged your vocal cords and so on. It took a while for it to be ready. It will help you speak again. How your damaged inner lining of the throat will affect it is unknown."

It was what Harry had wanted. To help Snape in any way he could.

His dark eyes became even darker at that. I looked at the opened notebook and saw words appear once again.

I understand. Normally I would never take anything that I hadn't personally made, but I have been trying a lot of potions recently that I hadn't made. This one can't be any different.

I took a deep breath, nodding my understanding.

Shifting my attention, I turned to the empty phial on the table.

Taking my wand, I touched the tip to my temple and pulled out several memories. White misty swirls filled the air around me as I pulled one after another. They all went into the phial.

Once they were all in there I closed it and was about to speak when I heard a sharp gasp.

I sharply whipped my head to see Snape's pale face contract in pain. He raised his hands to his covered throat and ripped it off.

The scars themselves stayed, but they looked faded. They looked years old instead of what they'd been.

Putting the phial with the memories away, I got up and walked over to him. His eyes were closed, hands rubbing the scars with a gentle hand.

I vaguely heard the door open before somebody grabbed me bodily from behind, their arms hauling me away from Snape. I didn't struggle. I didn't scream.

I just waited.

A scent she'd never smelled before was coming off the person holding her. I waited, tense, as Narcissa came around, hands reaching out to Snape.

A second later, Malfoy came into view, his eyes promising pain if I'd hurt his godfather.

So, it was Nott holding me in his arms.

I didn't want to acknowledge that I was letting Nott touch me. I told myself it was because I didn't wish for the situation to escalate and not because he was warm.

Narcissa was trying to find out what was wrong with Snape when his silky voice filled the air.

"Let her go."

Nott didn't let go.

Malfoy turned a troubled look towards Snape. Narcissa's hands fluttered like butterflies, looking back and forth between Snape and me.

"Let her go. She didn't do anything but meddle like she always has."

Nott let go of me slowly. I stayed where I was since I didn't want to trigger anybody else while also trying hard not to notice the body heat coming from behind me.

"How are you feeling? I have to give a detailed report on how it works once into effect."

Snape got up as he came over to me. He handed me the empty phial, "I feel fine. There is a slight itch in my throat, and the skin is somewhat tender to the touch." he said as he touched the base of his neck.

His voice sounded almost like it had before. The others looked at him to me but didn't ask or say anything.

I put away the phial, stepping away from Nott; he'd been standing right behind me the whole time.

"I'll let Harry know about the new locations. I'll be going now." I said as I walked towards the door.

I grabbed the knob just as Narcissa spoke.

"Miss Granger."

I paused, head cocked to the side, waiting. Narcissa cleared her throat and spoke in a low tone.

"I wanted to apologize for what she did to you. To say sorry for not doing anything. For not standing up when I knew we were in the wrong. I'm sorry."

I didn't turn around to look at them. I couldn't.

"I accept your apology. Have a good day."

I walked out of the room briskly. I wanted to leave as soon as possible. But once again, I was stopped before opening the door.

"Granger." Malfoy's voice filled the large foyer.

"What is it, Malfoy?" I questioned.

I turned around when he didn't answer me.

He was a couple of feet away from me. Nott was standing behind him, looking at me with no hint of emotion on his face.

Malfoy took a deep breath, meeting my eyes. I could see the struggle on his face. Struggle for what? I didn't want to know.

"I'm sorry as well. Even when I lied for Potter, I should've done something for you too. But I didn't, and you suffered for it. I'm sorry for it all."

"You don't need to apologize. The people who were adults when we were just children should be the ones to say sorry. They shoved this war onto us, and we were on different sides. I know you did it for your father. I did because I was Harry Potter's best friend and a mudblood. It happened, and now we must pick up what is left." I said firmly.

He nodded gradually, "I'm still sorry. I hadn't realized how sorry I was for everything until THAT day."

Nott stepped around him, "I didn't thank you for saving me back at the shop." he said as he stopped right in front of me.

"I would have done it for anyone," I said as I looked into his eyes, which required me to look up since he was a full head taller than me.

It was the first time I'd ever been so close to him. It gave me the chance to take note of his eye colour.

Hazel green eyes. Sharp and arresting.

He nodded but didn't step away. I didn't know what else to do, but I needed to get out. I had been occluding since the moment I had sat down, and it was starting to waver with their apologies and memories.

I nodded at them and turned around to open the door.

"Granger." Nott's voice halted me. "Have a good day."

I nodded quickly and stepped out of the manor. It was raining, the wind sending a shiver down my back. I made out of the gates, which had been left open, and refused to look back.

I apparated to my backyard.

Walking into my house, I noticed the lack of sound automatically. The kitchen light was on, so I headed there first. Right on the countertop was a note with my mother's familiar writing.

Hermione,

Remus came by and decided to take Teddy with him for tonight and maybe tomorrow. I went with them since Teddy doesn't feel good. I left some lunch in the fridge for you.

Setting the paper aside, I went upstairs to my room. Taking off my cloak and purse, I sat down to write notes.

One was to Harry along with the phial, and the other was to Viktor.

He'd retired and now worked with several Potion Masters. He worked closely with St. Mungos for remedies and whatnot for the general public. Without Snape, the hospital had been running low on some advanced potions, and they had needed help.

Before I went back to Hogwarts, Viktor had asked me if I needed help with anything.

I had told him about Snape's conditions.

For months afterwards, Viktor had tried making different potions until one reacted to Nagini's venom. The venom extracted from Snape's bite hadn't been easy to acquire without some higher-up help.

I finished the letters and sent them off with Soa.

Eating the late lunch my mother had left, I moved to the living room, where I pulled out the book I had been reading.

The folder next to it held several notes.

Notes on a specific topic I'd come to find. It had taken me months of research to come to a decision.

I wanted to become a therapist because the war had consequences.

The muggleborns like me couldn't go to a regular therapist without raising red flags. Wizards didn't handle trauma well, and that usually affected their magic.

Now that led to dangerous situations that we couldn't afford to happen.

Not updating, just lightly editing since I'm posting it to Ao3.

Vanee/GremlinV