Chapter 2 (10 Months Earlier): The Sacrifice
-Start-
"Hermione! You can't be serious? You'll be losing everything!"
"It's done Harry. I've already wiped their memories and had Dumbledore relocate them. It's done; they're gone and soon I will be too."
"No! There has to be another way. You can't just wipe our memories of you, it isn't as if you could wipe everyone's memories of you, so what use would it be?!"
"I'm not wiping your memories Harry. You'll still know me, it will just change small things, you won't even notice. I'm only reshaping memories of me Harry and that's all we need."
"Isn't there a way to change your mind? I don't want to lose you Hermione. It won't be the same."
"And let's talk about the giant target you'll be painting on yourself! Dumbledore's niece?! You'll be almost as hunted as Harry." Ron said as he stepped into the room, clearly having been eavesdropping on the conversation.
"Ronald, Harry, listen to me boys. This has to be done." She stressed.
"There's no changing your mind is there? Dumbledore has gone and convinced you this is the only way. Why can't someone else do it? I could do it, we could change my history!" Ron babbled, clearly trying to come up with a different option.
"No. You know you can't Ronald. The Weasley's have been fighting for the light for decades, you'd never be trusted no matter how much we reshaped your history. I'm of muggle background and have only one thing that needs to be changed about my history for this to work. A few well-focused obliviates on my parents and that's all we needed to make this work." Hermione sighed out the last part, willing herself not to let any tears fall.
"But there has to be –" Ron started but was interrupted as Professor Snape and Dubledore stepped into the room.
"Ron, Harry, I believe Professor Snape has found a solution to this little problem."
"You've found someone else then?" Harry said excitedly, jumping from his seat on the couch.
"No, Harry. But, Professor Snape has been working on how we can reshape the spell to include the two of you and myself so that we may remember the history of Miss Granger as it is now. I believe her friendship with the two of you will be a necessary component to her new history and Severus must remember so that our plan may work."
"Wicked! It's better than nothing, right 'Mione?" Ronald said, his crooked grin spreading across his face."
"Yes. But sir, I am curious, will that not make me bonded to all of you?"
"No Miss Granger. The bond will still only be between you and myself. Their spilled blood is going to be the sacrifice that is necessary for the ritual and ours will seal the spell. And Potter, Weasley, do not believe that because you will remember Miss Granger as she is now that this will make the process easier. It will be quite disorienting for the two of you at first, as you will have two sets of memories. We are playing with time, so there is no way to know exactly what effect it will have. Everything you know will change, she will change and you may find you do not like having unrealistic expectations that your friend will remain the same." Snape snapped the last part.
"Sir, with all due respect, it's Hermione. She'd never change that much, it will all just be an act." Harry said staring straight at Snape.
"Sometimes it is a wonder you have survived all these years, Potter. She will have to change or else He will never accept her. She will become another pawn in the game and make no mistake; it will take a toll on her. We have no business sending a child to play this game, I have stated this many times before but it is obvious it does not matter." He growled.
"Professor, you were not much older than I am now when you began your role as a spy. I at least will have your knowledge and experience to help guide me." Hermione said quietly.
"I was young, naïve and had nothing to lose Miss Granger, no family, no friends, no life worth living."
"And if we don't win this war, then I am in that same place. I need your help sir, I cannot complete the task without it."
"As you wish, Miss Granger."
"How can you sit back and watch this happen, Minerva?" Severus said.
Minerva McGonagall sat in her private chambers watching Severus pace in front of her fireplace. He was not the troubled young man he had been when she first met him, and since then he had grown into an exceptional man whom she considered to be a friend. In this moment, however, she saw the worried and temperamental youth that had found himself twisted into a terrible life choice that had haunted him since.
"I am not simply sitting back and watching it happen, Severus. Dumbledore has his reasons, some of which we may never know, but I do trust him."
"He is throwing her life away. He is manipulating her with promises of a brighter future, freedom; words, they are just words!"
"She is a bright girl Severus. She is quite like you were in your youth."
"But she has life, Minerva. She has what I could never seem to grasp, she has friends, family, and love. He has convinced her that none of that matters if we do not win, but that is not true. She is sacrificing everything and she does not even realize it."
"What of your sacrifice Severus? Do you believe you are the only one who is capable of making this sacrifice for the better good?"
"Of course not, but I deserve it. This path, this path was my redemption."
"You have long redeemed yourself Severus. You do not deserve this life, but you chose it and you have continued to choose it every time you done those robes and sit at His feet. You are a good man, stop beating yourself up about decisions you made in your youth."
"Tell me Minerva, when that girl comes to you broken and beaten down, not resembling anything of the Miss Granger we know now because I could not protect her from what Dumbledore has set her up for, will you still think me a good man?"
"I do not pretend to know what you go through my boy, but I know you will do everything to protect Hermione and I know she is a strong young woman."
"No amount of strength or protection will keep her safe. But you will not be the one who has to live with that memory, because after tonight you will only know the new Miss Granger." He stormed from the room before he could even hear Minerva's lasts words to him.
"But maybe, maybe she can save you Severus. Maybe you will save each other." She whispered to the abandoned room as she watched the light from the fireplace flicker across the stonewalls.
"Are you ready Miss Granger? There is no going back once we begin." Snape said as he looked towards the girl he would be irrevocably bonded to after the night.
"I believe so sir."
"Are you sure? You are prepared to lose everything you've ever wanted? Prepared to die for this task? To never see your parents or feel their love again? You are prepared to look at your enemies and have to count them among your friends? Tell me Miss Granger, are you prepared to fuck them? To possibly wed or have children with one of them if this task takes years? To experience pure pleasure when torturing another human being? Or to grovel at the feet of a man who hopes to wipe out all of your kind?" He hissed out at the girl who stared back at him blankly.
"You are looking for a reaction. You act as if I have not given any thought to what this may be like, to the experience that I will have, or to what my life will be like after tonight. My parents do not remember me and after tonight I'm going to be stepping down a path where the majority, if not all, of my friends will soon not even be able to look at me, let alone love me. I know what I am giving up and I know the things I will experience so if you're quite done sir I'd rather get on with it."
"Fine." He snapped and swept out of the room, not caring if she could keep up with his fast pace or not.
He strode through the empty halls, thankful that Dumbledore had at least waited until the end of the summer months for her to take this step in the task. He knew it was necessary for the task for her history to change now so that she had a year to insert herself into the lives of many of the other students but he had hoped the summer months would change her mind, instead it seemed to have had the opposite effect. He climbed the stairs to the Astronomy tower, letting the doors slam back behind him and listening to her rapid breathing as she strained to keep up with him. Just another thing I will have to work with her on, he stamina is simply abysmal. As he climbed the last set of stairs he saw Dumbledore speaking quietly with Weasley and Potter; the three of them turning as Hermione huffed, reaching the top of the stairs.
"Now that you're both here, I believe I've got everything you requested Severus and we can begin whenever you're ready. Boys, make sure to listen to Severus and remember, you cannot interfere in the spell." Dumbledore said eyeing them both.
"You three will each stand here." Severus said pointing to three specific spots on the ground, one for each of them. I will begin the spell and when I bring the chalice over to each of you, you will cut a vertical line from the base of your middle finger to the end of your palm. This is dark blood magic so you will both have scars and I expect you to have them concealed at all times. No one can know they're there or else you will risk your friends life, more than it is already being risked. As for you Hermione, do not leave that circle." He said indicating to the chalk circle that he had drawn on the floor earlier in the day. "Now, let us begin."
Hermione watched in almost a daze as Severus began chanting, his eyes scanning the lines of Latin in the book she had seen him carrying for weeks. She knew he had it memorized at this point, but it reassured her to know he took enough care to follow the lines as he went. After a few moments he stopped, reaching for the chalice, the dagger in his hand now glowing a light amber color. As each of the boys, and finally Dumbledore sliced through their hand the blade took on a dark shade of red, as if it had absorbed their blood. Severus turned to her and stepped over the chalked line. She instantly stiffened as she felt him invade her being. There were no words to describe it except she could, sense that he felt her and she him. He began his chanting again, this time the book lay on the ground, completely discarded. She watched in silence as he sliced through his palm and the blade flared to a bright blue. He caught her stare for just a moment before he leaned forward to grasp her shoulder and plunged the dagger into her heart.
-End Chapter-
*Hope this chapter isn't too disjointed, if it is, let me know. The next one should be much more smooth and it'll explain exactly what the spell was for. Anyone want to make a guess? Anyway, hope you like it and that the characters aren't too ooc!