Chapter 11

Hermione sat and talked to Lucius for a couple hours. She told him what she'd wanted from Severus, and how she feared she'd perhaps pushed him away.

"Oh you pushed him away my dear, he is holed up in that house and won't allow anyone in. I have tried, I have even sent his godson in my stead but he put up wards keeping us out," Lucius said as he downed his second drink.

Hermione had ordered take away and the two sat eating before the fire in her office. Like two old friends they plotted a way in which to get Severus to see her.

Fiddling with the chopsticks in her carton she remembered a way that they could get into Severus' house.

"Tero!"

Lucius was momentarily startled at her exclamation but along with it came relief when a faint pop heralded the arrival of Severus' house elf.

Bowing to them both in greeting the small creature spoke softly, "Miss be needing Tero?"

Hermione smiled brightly at Lucius as she explained how Severus had offered her Tero should she need anything.

"Tero, how is Severus?"

"Tero cannot speak ill of his Master, Master forbids it."

"Tero, I order you to answer her!" Lucius stood, his figure imposing over the small elf but Tero stood firm.

"You are not Tero's Master, Master Lucius, you do not scare me. I am a free elf. I serve Master Snape as an honor."

"Why you insolent little creature!" Lucius made to charge at the small elf but Hermione stopped him with a firm hand on his chest.

Turning to face Tero again Hermione smiled. Tero was a free elf which explained why he didn't prostrate himself in front of Hermione, the way he stood firm. Her younger self did a brief fist pump at the fact that some things had changed.

Kneeling on one leg, Hermione pled with the proud creature, "Tero, I am very worried about Severus. Is there anything you could tell us?"

She wanted above anything for him to share what he knew about Severus.

"Master is not well. He is too much into his drink and smashes glasses and Tero is scared he might hurt himself."

Hermione turned her worried eyes at Lucius and then back to Tero; she had to go to him.

"Tero, please take me to him."

With a small nod, Tero took her outstretched hand and they were gone.

"Well done Miss Granger," Lucius toasted the empty room and downed his drink before leaving Hermione's office. His work here was done.

Hermione and Tero landed with a gentle thud in the foyer of Severus' home. The house was dark and cold. Gone was the warmth she'd felt during her first visit there. She could hear Chopin's Nocturne in C-Minor playing from a room to her left and with a quick nod to Tero she padded quietly towards the faint light streaming through the slightly ajar door.

Shards of broken glass were strewn across the floor, the carpet littered with scraps of parchment and newspaper pages covered most of the floor. She saw herself smiling and waving from many images in the paper. Some clippings were a few years old; some were after the passing of the bill. She saw a picture of them both at the charity auction, the way he looked at her in the picture was so intimate, so vulnerable, she was surprised he allowed himself to be seen like that. She was even more in awe that it was her that elicited that response from the man. In the picture his hand caressed the small of her back and she saw the soft sigh of desire that escaped her mouth at the touch. She ran a finger across the image, wishing more than anything to be in that moment again.

A snicker turned her attention to the man in the room. He sat sprawled in a leather wingback chair in front of the roaring fire. His feet were bare and his shirt tails untucked. It was obvious that he had not shaved in days, maybe weeks and his hair was unkempt and dirty. Brown stains of whatever he was imbibing marred the normally pristine white shirt and his pants were in no better state. A half full tumbler hung precariously from his fingers as his head hung low.

"Severus!"

His face turned up, the dark strands of his hair obscured most of his face, and he struggled to swat them away only to send his glass careening to the hardwood floor where it shattered.

"You're not here, you're a dream, an illusion, away with you!" his words slurred.

"Severus, what's going on? Why haven't you returned my owls? Lucius and I have been worried sick about you."

He threw his head back and let out a cackling laugh, not rich and baritone but harsh and mocking.

"I am sure you have. Tell me, has Lucius replaced my lessons with his own?"

Hurt at his words Hermione became angry but she thought long and hard before responding.

"You are not that easily replaced Severus," her voice was soft, but firm as she infused the words with all the longing she come to realize she had for the man.

The words seem to sober him momentarily before he once again schooled his face. The sneer she'd become accustomed to as a child was back and she steadied herself for his vitriol.

"Go away child, you aren't here. I don't want you anyway, why would I want someone like you?!" He tried to walk towards her but his feet caught on the area rug at the center of the room and he toppled over, his hands coming down hard on the sharp pieces of glass on the floor.

"Severus!"

She ran to him and turned him over. He'd passed out, his hands were bleeding and she could see his feet were in no better shape.

"Tero, Tero! Please come help me! The Master is hurt."

Tero appeared in an instant and moved them both to what Hermione surmised was the master suite. Placing him softly on the bed, Tero left to retrieve the potions needed to treat his Master. Hermione removed his soiled shirt and trousers, performed a few strong cleansing spells and left him only in his pants. Summoning a bowl of warm water and a towel, she worked to clean the wounds on his hands and feet. She'd managed to clear his wounds of debris and heal them by the time Tero returned.

Hermione sat behind Severus on the bed and tilted his chin up, opening his mouth for Tero to pour the healing potion into his master's mouth. She massaged Severus' throat so he would swallow then laid his head back on the bed. He would likely be out for hours. Hermione covered him with the duvet of his bed then took a seat by the fire.

"Will Miss stay the night?"

"Yes Tero, I will. Please let Mister Malfoy know that Severus is well and that we will owl him when we can."

"Yes Miss." Tero bowed and quietly left the room.

Hermione sat and watched Severus for a moment. She noticed his breathing was labored and that he was sweating. The beard he'd grown made him look different but Hermione admired the way it looked on him. She stood and retrieved a clean rag from his closet and ran it under the cool tap water in the bathroom. She pressed the cool rag to his forehead and face, wiping the sweat and providing him momentary relief.

Severus murmured and turned his face towards her. His eyes opened briefly and his bandaged hand came up to grab her wrist.

"Don't go. I know you're not really here, but let me keep the illusion a while longer."

With that he was asleep again. Hermione stood, her wrist still held in his clenched hand. She eased herself next to him on the bed and held him close to her. With her back against the headboard he nestled his head on her side and held her to him. She ran the fingers of one hand through the long strands of his dark hair and her other traced patterns on the arm that rested across her hips. The minutes stretched into hours and she quickly found herself joining him in slumber.