Giving Hostages to Fortune Chapter 2, a harry potter fanfic

Giving Hostages to Fortune

By tearsofphoenix

Standard disclaimer applies – it's all JKR's

Many thanks to my kind previewer Lady Memory and to my wonderful editor Whitehound, who suggested this continuation by giving me some ideas for the plot and corrected it with special care, as ever.

ψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψ

The residence wasn't hidden from Muggles, nor was it Unplottable.

There were wards, of course, but when she and Severus had decided to search for his new house - the one that would be "theirs" soon - Hermione had made a strong point about the fact that, in the future, her mum and dad should always be able to visit them if they wished, even without announcing their intention earlier to be sure of being allowed into a magic place.

After the slow reconciliation with her parents, in whose home Hermione was now living since she had ended University, she was in fact very careful to avoid causes for disagreements or new disappointments.

The house was a nice building, not too big, and for some weeks they had been making a start on arranging it, bringing there from Spinner's End everything he wanted to keep, some new furniture and a few items that they had chosen together recently.

Hermione went there almost daily, after work, and they had dinner together, made further improvements or new plans.

This time though, she knew that he had gone searching for information on his former student's condition, so she hastened to reach him and hear the news.

As soon as she arrived, she heard him call her name from the bedroom, so she immediately joined him there, hurrying on up the stairs.

He was packing, and she stopped at that sight, suddenly puzzled.

Looking up at her disconcerted stare, he explained curtly, "I've been told of Baddock's whereabouts, so I'm going to see how he's faring".

He hadn't stopped inserting his items in a rucksack, and Hermione joined him, touching his forearm in a mute question.

He sighed.

"I need to know, Hermione, how he is managing, if he is able to... During that miserable year as Headmaster, I was quite unable to give advice, tutoring and proper teaching to the students. I must at least give this a try. I feel especially at fault towards my Slytherins, for the way my conduct misled their minds. I must know when, how, why he was caught…"

Still speechless, she sat heavily on the bed on which he had gathered some clothes and the few other things he would need for his trip. She would have liked to comfort him and to tell him that it wasn't all his fault. But too many times already he hadn't listened to her reasoning, going on with his own conviction on this particular painful subject, and somehow, she felt unable to find the right thing to say.

Instead, she asked him more about his intentions.

"Are you planning to stay away for some time? Why? I don't understand, Severus. If you know where he is, wouldn't a short visit be enough as a start?"

He watched her. Behind her hurried questions and worried look, he perceived a concern to which he was still unused, so he let go of what he was holding and joined her, grateful for her affection.

"It won't be just a courtesy visit, obviously… and actually it won't be a short trip, since the boy's family lives in Wales, in Abergavenny; that's all I have to go on, and since they haven't rejected him, he's likely to be there. But perhaps he doesn't live with them anymore."

"In that case, you'll have to search for him," she concluded, acceptance and understanding in her tone.

He nodded: then, knowing that they wouldn't see each other for some days, he suddenly pulled her tightly into his arms and lingered in the embrace, relishing her lovely scent and whispering, "I'll also have to pay a visit to the school, Hermione. All this will take a few days, I suppose".

"Be careful when you meet him, Severus. And remember, always, that you have already made a difference to our world and to his safety, whatever may happen".

"Having fought one battle didn't ever stop you from engaging in fighting a new one, did it?" he replied quietly, knowing that she couldn't disagree on that.

His words somewhat cheered up the atmosphere, which had been beginning to become emotional, this being their first long parting since their engagement, and given the gravity of the situation.

She smiled feebly, then, and stood up.

"Well, that's true, of course. Let me see what you've collected and what you've forgotten - you're bound to have forgotten something. Do you ever do a list, before you start packing?" she commented, while emptying the rucksack and starting to check if he had put in everything necessary; then she began dividing the contents into small ordered piles with meticulous care, eventually succeeding, through such teasing and bossy behaviour, to conceal her worries.

ψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψ

His steps had lead him toward the office: but now, feeling almost like a first year, Snape was pondering which kind of approach would best guarantee the success of his visit.

It was the second time he had come back to Hogwarts after his return in mainland Britain, and he had reached the door of his old house master's room without too much trouble, avoiding embarrassing meetings with the students

As for his other former colleagues, well, he had promised a visit to Minerva, later. He would do whatever was in his power to elicit collaboration, since he needed the help of the school to achieve his aim and purposes.

"Severus, my boy!" the elder wizard greeted him, gesturing with amiability to enter.

Snape returned the man's warm welcome with a light smile, and followed Slughorn into the centre of the room, where a comfortable couple of armchairs – a perfect sample of Slughorn's taste for comfort - were waiting near the fireplace.

"I'm here to ask you something, Horace," he then started. "Something that is related to your duties, not a personal favour, you understand".

"Do tell me your wishes, Severus, and be assured," the other man replied with his characteristic and naïve enthusiasm. "I'll do whatever I can to help you, the pride and the glory of our House!"

"Well, Slytherin House is precisely one side of the matter…" Snape went on, without changing his calm attitude, still unused to praise and all that aura of glory. "It has come to my attention that not all the students who decided not to fight in the Last Battle of Hogwarts were able to find a safe escape. I'm sure that you have heard of those young werewolves who have been captured and put under the Ministry's control recently…"

Slytherin to Slytherin, those words were enough to give the hint, so Slughorn's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Yes, Horace, among them there is certainly at least one of our students," Snape concluded, sighing, "I would like to know more about what happened that night, and I expect to hear everything from you."

"Of course, of course…" Slughorn murmured, clasping his hands in evident unease while remembering those tragic moments. "Well, our Slytherins were allowed to leave, and I remember that they left to go to Hogsmeade, to the Hog's Head. Miss Parkinson asked about you, by the way, before going; she seemed to seek for orders, directions... then chaos erupted, and it was difficult to discern friends from foes…" His eyes seemed to plead for understanding. "Who is the boy, Severus?"

"Malcolm Baddock. Probably not such a noticeable wizard that you remember him, I suppose," Snape answered, an unmistakable, even if polite, note of sarcasm in his choice of words, given the other man's soft spot for successful and remarkable students.

The elder wizard, instead, offered his recollections with a soft voice.

"He was always very proud of our colours, and I remember he was constantly present at the Quidditch pitch to encourage our team, even during training sessions… a nice young fellow".

"But no… I have no recollection of his movements during that night, I fear," he finally ended, awakening from his memories under Snape's gaze.

Severus had softened a bit listening to those affectionate words. He needed to enquire further, though.

"And, of course, those among the students who hadn't finished their studies, haven't been allowed to return[once they were registered as weres," Snape went on.

"It isn't our fault, Severus, those are the Ministry's rules!" exclaimed the other man. "You know Dumbledore was the only one able to keep this place out of their control".

"Yes, I remember that all too well," Snape concluded bitterly. "But, given that you too seem to care about the issue sincerely, there could be something that Hogwarts could do in the future…"

ψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψ

"He wasn't there, and I couldn't find him, so I ended by speaking just with his mother, who was of course anguished and scared," were his first words to Hermione as soon as he was back.

A week had passed since Snape's departure, a week during which she too had investigated the matter, discovering that a lot had to be done to add the word "care" to the aims of a Department which should have lessened the misery of those unfortunate young werewolves, not just restrained them.

But, as she knew well and had personally experienced, danger from those creatures was always round the corner; furthermore, there wasn't a real cure, so it truly seemed very difficult to find a way to give them back at least some sort of a decent life…

"His mother told me that he wasn't there, as he had been called to his pack. Since the events of January, when their existence was revealed, they had parted and regrouped twice, somewhere in the woods, but she didn't know where. I tried to find out more, but it was useless," he ended bitterly.

Hermione had joined him as soon as she had received his owl but her joy had been quickly dampened on seeing how depressed he was. Now he was crossing the room with his nervous pace, unable to contain his feelings.

"There was a time when I would have agreed with the Ministry about making public safety the priority," he finally admitted, stopping to search for her eyes as if apologising. "But listening to the tale of that desperate woman has made me aware of the unfairness of the whole situation; and the fact that he has been turned into a beast is not the only horror… He hasn't completed his studies, he doesn't have a job and he will never have one, but he will always have to hide and stay in a safe site when the full moon rises. Furthermore, following in his mates' footsteps, he is not taking Wolfsbane from the Ministry's potion-makers… but that was predictable, of course! No one among them is able to brew the damned thing!" he erupted.

She stared at his angered eyes, searching for the right words to soothe his indignation, feeling a deep compassion and wishing to be able to help, but not knowing how. Severus perceived her dejection and, in a way, the shared woe helped him to re-focus his will and to regain his composure.

"I'll find a way to reach him… all of them, if I can. During my visit to Hogwarts, I asked Horace and Minerva to include the requisite ingredients in the school budget for their potions lab stores, so that we'll be able to give it to them free of charge. They both agreed that Hogwarts can at least do this for these young people."

Encouraged by the hopeful meaning implicit in those words, the young woman finally went to his side and allowed herself to show openly how much she had missed him during his absence… she had, in fact, hesitated to show her feelings when she first entered the room, seeing his darkened mood… whereas Severus, who had spent a lifetime quite alone, without anyone to be there for him every time he came back, hadn't even noticed the lack of a warmer welcome.

Eager to tell him everything which had happened since his leaving, yet unable to say more than two words with some sense now that she was finally so close to him, Hermione kissed Snape fiercely, before leaning softly against his chest.

ψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψ

Nearly a month had passed.

The Heads of the Houses had kept their promises, and the young werewolves and their families had been informed about the possibility of receiving Wolfsbane at Hogwarts, as well as staying safely in a warded place in the Forbidden Forest during the time of their transformation.

In spite of that appealing offer, however, not many of the youngsters involved had presented themselves to receive the potion. And, as Snape kept repeating to Hermione, among those few who had there wasn't that boy.

On her part, the girl had started her own campaign at the Ministry, after having ascertained just how slow and delaying were the procedures which had to be followed before recent discoveries could be divulged and made available for public use. Worse, not all the restrictive measures set in place during the tenures of Fudge and Umbridge had been repealed yet.

That morning, as every morning lately, Hermione was just setting out from her parent's house, ready for another day at work, but with her mind busy with different worries. Time had helped her to re-establish renewed trust and confidence with her mum and dad, now that she was staying at home again. That peaceful atmosphere had gone on for a while now, turning into a comfortable routine in which they all went to work, often met for lunch and then spent the evenings quietly, with Hermione often going out without giving too much explanation, serene about their trust in her wisdom since she had told them where she was going, adding some vague albeit reassuring words about whom she was seeing.

Recently however she had sensed a different spirit in her old home, and she was contemplating her uneasiness, and the many little things that had aroused that sensation. Some little details in particular had awakened her suspicions: for instance, those articles in feminine magazines, left open and in full view by her mother on the small table near the telly; those looks by her father when she left for dinner and, then, those not too subtle questions during the time in which she had been worried for Severus's absence, she being probably not very good at concealing her feelings…

Well, all those hints were enough to understand that her parents were concerned about the relationship in which she was involved and about which, she betted, they surely wished to know more.

Having almost arrived at her destination, just before turning the corner of the street that led to the entrance of the Ministry, Hermione decided to leave off pondering at least for the time being, while trying to concentrate on her tasks at work.

But her good intentions suddenly vanished when she unexpectedly found herself under the menace of a wand pointed at her chest: her eyes met the threatening glare of its owner and widened in surprise.

"Take me to the Professor," Malcolm Baddock hissed, a feverish gleam in his eyes, his voice trembling slightly.

"I'm on your side, you know," Hermione answered calmly, managing to keep her anxiety under control. "I'll accompany you willingly, and Severus will be very glad to finally meet you".

For a moment, the boy seemed unable to grasp the meaning of her words, then lowered his wand and followed her steps, now directed towards a destination opposite to the previous one that she had been so near to reaching.

ψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψΨψ

to be continued…

The section breaks are borrowed, as in the previous stories that form this little series, from: www. whitehound. co. uk/Fanfic/ffn_how-to. htm (remember to remove the spaces after the dots).