A/N: More mountains of thanks for my lovely beta, anogete. Thanks also to my readers; I love hearing your thoughts, so please leave me a review if the spirit moves you to!
Obligatory: None of these things belong to me; they all belong to JKR. I just like to have a bit of fun with them, and no profit is desired.
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Severus had hardly seen anyone apart from Hermione since her arrival. Occasionally, he would seek out Wormtail to get ingredients, go to the audience chamber to get instructions, or exchange impersonal words with Lucius, but usually he was working in silence with his unwilling and unwanted apprentice. It was both a comfort and a curse.
It was a rainy afternoon in early May when things began changing inside the manor. There was a sudden sense of urgency in the air, and his suspicions about the Dark Lord's plans coming together were confirmed when Lucius came to fetch him for a rare private audience with his master.
They walked in silence towards the room where the Dark Lord was waiting. Once inside, they both bowed deeply before their leader, the silence hanging in the air like fog.
"Severus, I have a very important assignment for you. Are you satisfied with your assistant?" The Dark Lord's voice was tinged with evil delight.
Severus rose slowly. "She is adequate, sir."
With a deep chuckle, the Dark Lord spoke again. "And her skills with potions? Are they adequate as well?"
Sensing he should be playing his part, Severus allowed himself to snort in amusement. "They are quite satisfactory, my lord."
"Good, because she will be important for your next task. I understand that you are, at present, the best Potions master in Britain, perhaps in the world. I have heard it told that you know the recipes for potions others only dream exist. Is this true?" His red eyes bore into Severus.
"I am acquainted with some obscure brews, my lord." Severus lowered his head as a show of modesty.
"Are you familiar with the Animus Discindium potion?"
Severus' head snapped up, and, in a rare show of surprise, he met the Dark Lord's eyes. As quickly as he looked up, he looked back down. "I am, my lord."
"How long would it take you to prepare it?"
"Unlike other complex potions which can take weeks if not months to prepare, the Animus Discindium takes less than a day. However, it also requires dozens of ingredients, both magical and banal, all prepared very specifically and with unique brewing procedures that require two brewers." Severus began to feel the pain in his chest like a knife.
"Can Wormtail get all of the items that you will need?" Almost as if saying his name summoned him out of thin air, Wormtail appeared swiftly beside the Dark Lord.
"It may take some time, but I believe it can be done within the week."
"He will have everything by tomorrow evening. I trust that the Mudblood will be able to assist you?"
Severus looked up again in surprise. "With proper supervision, I believe that she will be able to do her part."
"You don't sound so sure, Severus," the Dark Lord hissed.
"I am sure that she can do it, I am just a bit surprised that you would trust her with something as important as this. The Animus Discindium is one of the darkest potions ever to be created." Severus shuddered as he thought of it.
"I trust that you will be able to convince her to play the part of the obedient servant," the Dark Lord replied with a smirk. "Besides, she will be of little use to us once all of the plans are laid, so what she knows of them is of no importance."
Severus suppressed a small shudder, thinking of what possible use the Animus Discindium would be to the Death Eaters, considering death could be caused by any number of the other potions he was making. "Of course, my lord. It will be done as you say."
"Very good. Send for Lucius to bring me the potion when it is complete. Wormtail will go straight away to get the ingredients." The Dark Lord waved his hand in dismissal, and Severus took his cue to leave.
Lucius walked back with him towards The Cell, asking, "Does this not please you, Severus?"
"I do not understand your question." Severus kept his eyes locked on the hall before him.
"From what I understand of the Animus Discindium, this kind of brewing is what you were made to do. You should be delighted to have the chance to make it." Lucius patted the younger wizard on the shoulder.
"If it is what the Dark Lord desires, I have no other reason to be happy to make it," Severus replied with an obedient lowering of his head at the mention of his master.
"You speak well, Severus. Good luck with the Mudblood." With a smile, Lucius strolled away towards his own rooms.
Severus mumbled a curse under his breath and quickly retrieved Hermione from The Cell.
--
"You're asking me to help you?" Hermione looked at him incredulously as they both stood in the middle of the lab, each having recently bottled the potion on which they were working.
"The potion I must make requires two people to brew it, so I am demanding that you give me your assistance that I may complete the task the Dark Lord has assigned to me."
"Do I know the potion we'll be making?" Hermione's curiosity was piqued.
"I do not believe so. It is a rather obscure potion called the Animus Discindium."
Hermione felt as though her stomach had fallen somewhere around her ankles. "The Animus Discindium, sir?"
"Yes. It is a very old recipe for a very dark potion, one which will tear the soul from the drinker. This split has only been known to be healed by one other potion, and that is the Animus Redimio. To take the Animus Discindium is to take a draught of instant, almost irreversible death." Severus' eyes danced with near excitement at the thought of the potion.
"But many potions cause death. I don't see how this one sounds superior to any of the others." Hermione's face had paled and stayed white since Severus had mentioned a potion that was as familiar to her as it was elusive, the Animus Redimio.
"Many potions can be reversed by bezoars or other easily obtainable antidotes. The only antidote to this is the Animus Redimio, which is too complicated to brew and known to almost no one. There is almost no outsmarting this particular potion."
Hermione's mind began working on overdrive. This was it. This was the final test. If the Animus Discindium was as complicated and obscure as Caveo had made the Redimio sound, it was likely the sole reason Severus had been kept around. They had just been waiting to see what the best time was to give him the assignment.
Severus had been making dozens of different kinds of deadly potions, but this one seemed different. It wasn't likely to be used to kill scores of Muggles; it was probably going to be used to perpetrate a very important murder, possibly that of Harry. And Hermione was being asked to be complicit in its brewing. It made her sick.
But, Hermione reasoned, she would be killed if she did not help. If Severus had been kept alive to reveal the secret of the Animus Discindium, she had been kept alive to help. If she refused, all chances of warning anyone about the possible uses of this new potion would be gone. A voice in the back of her head also reasoned that this was the first glimmer of hope she had about finding out the mysteries of the Animus Redimio that had so eluded her. She had to comply. She had to give up a little bit of herself to save her friends.
"Are you quite through being horrified?" Severus' low voice interrupted her thoughts.
Her eyes darted up to meet his. "Yes, sir. Tell me what you want me to do."
He sighed in irritation. "For now, I want you to begin a batch of the Wolfsbane potion. The Animus Discindium will soon be occupying all of our time, and new bottles are necessary to replace the expired ones for the werewolves. I will be reading by the fire if you experience disaster." Severus turned on his heel and exited the room.
Hermione's flurry of thoughts came crashing down on her and overwhelmed her as she pulled out the ingredients necessary to make the Wolfsbane potion. What of Draco and the others? Surely their fates would be decided soon, and she did not know if she would see them again, or, if she did, how many times. She had to come up with a plan quickly, one that had a high chance of success.
Pressing her fingers into her temples as she stared at the fire beneath her cauldron, she could think of only one possible chance to get them out. It was risky, not to mention she had no way to know if it would work, but there was no other way.
Looking out the door inconspicuously, she saw that Severus had his head buried in a book, seemingly oblivious to her. Hermione then looked around for something that she could knock over in the hopes that the clanging startling her would be excuse enough for any ripple of magic Severus may feel when she cast her spell. Steeling herself to the task and gathering all of her magical power to her, she held her right hand over a button on the side of her skirt and used her left hand to push her stirring rod off the workbench. As soon as it hit the floor, she silently cast "Portus" at the button and concentrated her energies on turning it into a Portkey to Hogwarts. From what she could tell, it worked.
"What is all that clanging about in there?" came Snape's angry voice from the bedroom.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you, sir. I just dropped something." Hermione held her breath, waiting for his response.
"See that it does not happen again. I have a lot of work to do." With that, he returned to his reading.
Hermione released the air from her lungs and quickly went back to preparing the potion. She prayed to whatever gods were listening that she would see Draco and his army one last time.
A few grueling brewing hours later, she felt Severus' eyes on her and looked up to see him watching her putting the final touches on the first phases of the Wolfsbane potion. Nervously, she looked back down at the table before her.
"By tomorrow evening, Wormtail will have gathered all of the ingredients, and we will have to set about brewing immediately; it may take well into the night. As such, I need my peace this evening and will be sending you to The Cell until tomorrow. Do you understand?"
Hermione felt the fear rise like bile in her throat. "Yes, sir. Only, how will I know what to do when you need me to help?"
"All of the ingredients will be prepared before we begin, so if you are attentive and knowledgeable, you will be able simply to follow my instructions. Now, clean yourself thoroughly and make ready to join Draco and the others. It is imperative that you not allow any mischief to befall you between now and tomorrow, as it will put us both in danger."
Hermione did not understand quite what he meant by that statement, but she didn't dare ask him. She assumed that he was in a bad temper if he was, after all these months, forcing her to spend the night in The Cell.
"I promise that I will not, sir." She quickly made for the bathroom, keeping her skirt with the Portkey button close at hand while she bathed.
When she exited the bathroom, she found him waiting with the door open and motioning for her to hurry up. She didn't hesitate to follow him.
As they approached the door to The Cell, Severus whispered darkly in her ear, "Remember what I have told you, and advise my godson to do the same."
Hermione looked back at him to see his hand placed firmly over his chest. When he released it to remove the wards from the prison, Hermione felt her stomach lurch, and fear coursed through her veins more forcefully than it had the night she had first been brought there.
After pushing her inside, Severus disappeared behind the wall. Immediately, all of her haggard companions opened their eyes and looked at her.
"You look like hell," came Draco's voice first into her mind through Silent Speech.
"Thanks," she replied with a smile. "Listen very carefully to me, Draco. I need you to grope me."
"And here I thought you'd never ask," Draco quipped, his silent voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Very funny. The top button of my skirt is a Portkey that will take you back to Hogwarts, and tucked into the waistband is a letter to the Headmistress telling her to take you all in when you arrive. Now, first, leer at me." She pretended to look away, tired.
Draco played the part well, and slithered over to her position on the floor. "You know, Mudblood," he said out loud, "I've missed you since I saw you last."
"Leave me alone, ferret!" she gasped, backing away from him.
"Oh, come on, let's just have a little fun. I'll be good, I promise." He smiled mischievously. "Is all of this really necessary?" he added, silently.
"You never know when they're watching, Malfoy," she snapped in his mind before growling aloud, "I am warning you to leave me alone."
"Just a little touch?" Without waiting for her feigned protestations, Draco grasped the letter in two fingers, and also tore away the button with the rest of his hand.
At the same time, Hermione slapped his arm. "Touch me again, and I will kill you." She glared at him and turned away.
"Suit yourself, then." Draco laughed, and their conversation continued once again within their minds. "How on earth did you manage to do this?"
"I worked on wandless magic when I was at Hogwarts," she answered sheepishly.
"You could do wandless magic all this time and yet you haven't?" Draco's voice was edged with anger.
"Look, I'm sorry, alright, but there are other considerations. For one, they would have killed me if they figured out that I could, and for another, I couldn't very well just run away, not when I have been in a position to figure out any part of their plan, which, by the way, I have. Hence the Portkey."
"What are they going to do?" Angelica asked in a hushed voice, so quiet Hermione almost didn't hear it in the torrent of her thoughts.
"Severus and I are going to make a truly horrible potion tomorrow called the Animus Discindium. It splits people from their souls and has no common antidote. Everything else we've made, no matter how dark, has always had an antidote, but not this one. Well, it has got one, but no one but Severus knows how to make it." Hermione took a shuddering breath. "I think Voldemort may want to use it against Harry. I think everything's finally coming together."
"What about you? Will you come with us?" Andrew piped up from his position in the corner.
Hermione's face fell into a deep frown. "I wish that I could, but I don't think that I will be able to. In fact, unless I can convince Severus to run away with me, I think that neither he nor I will see the outside of this place again."
"Surely you can't mean that," Angelica replied, shocked, and allowed her hand to brush against Draco's arm.
"She's right." Everyone looked at Draco with shock. "Don't look at me like that. If this potion is as terrible as Granger says, and if they do really doubt my godfather's allegiance, then once they get what they want from him, they will kill him. If they're going to kill him, they'll kill Lieutenant Granger with him."
"Isn't there anything we can do, General?" Jane couldn't tear her eyes away from the doomed Hermione.
Draco thought for a moment, stroking his chin. "Granger has to convince Severus that he wants to choose good over evil. But it won't be easy. Severus is sick and tired of that choice being made for him, tired of choosing a side just to save his own neck or appease someone else." Draco turned his intense eyes to Hermione. "You have to let him make the choice. And then you have to pray that choice is to escape with you and throw himself on the mercy of the Order."
"Easy as that, huh?" Hermione's mind continued to race as she considered all of the possibilities.
"It won't be easy, Granger, but you have to do it. There is something between you and my godfather that I don't understand, but I can sense it as clear as day when he comes in here. You relax. He gets anxious. Don't you feel it as well?" Draco's voice was urgent in the minds of his army.
"Yes, I feel it. I have felt it. But I don't know what it is!" Hermione was exasperated.
"You don't even need to know what it is. All that you need to do is learn how to use it to your advantage. Help him, Hermione. Help him so that he can save us." Draco's eyes were widened with a combination of fear and excitement.
The air in The Cell was heavy with uncertainty as the group fell asleep, huddled together against the cold.