Chapter 12: True Colours

The light blinded her and not metaphorically, she couldn't make out a single face among the crowd standing over her. It didn't matter as she passed out as soon as someone lifted her from the ground and whisked her to St. Mungos. She didn't know how long she slept or even how bad things were until she opened her eyes and saw Ron staring at her, having grown a full beard and cut his hair so short she wouldn't know he was a redhead without the beard.

"Ron." She whispered, trying to lift her hand to get his attention. It was as though he was sleeping with his eyes open. On her right sight, she saw a healer going over her arm and hand, trying to preserve the delicate nerves.

"What day is it?" She asked the healer.

"January 8th, love." Patting Hermione's arm tenderly, the healer roused Ron, who looked as angry as he was relieved to see her.

"You have no idea how much I want to strangle you." Ron said, no malice in his voice. Instead, he sat next to her on her bed and wiped her tears, noticing how high her body temp was.

"I tried, so hard...I wanted to get away...I..."

"We can talk about it later. The kids are still my parents at the Burrow. They are so thankful you're okay. And Snape, he's been here every hour to check on you, using his fancy new healing skills, completely reset your shoulder, they couldn't remove the burns, though." Her heart sank, she'd missed Snape.

"And everything went through, with the divorce I mean, I didn't contest because I thought you'd be home. I have the papers at our house." But Hermione motioned for him to stop, tears flowing so freely she couldn't see him in pain.

"We don't need to talk about that right now. Just tell me you're okay and Rose and Hugo and Seamus? McCreevy and Ware?"

"Everyone is fine, just overworked and glad you're home. Seamus is one helluva guy; he practically combed the entire Ural mountains looking for you." Relief coursed through her body, but not as much as when she saw Snape come around the corner, new robes and all. Her heart danced then, thinking back to all the times he'd saved her without even knowing it.

"I told her I wanted to strangle her." Ron quipped.

"Can I help?" Jokingly, Snape replied, checking her vital signs and applying a cold rag to her forehead.

"You have a kidney infection and several broken bones; we gave you a draught for sleep and pain, you'll feel better in the morning." All could she do was smile like a silly school girl and pet his hand, no doubt Ron thought she was crazy.

"Does anyone want to know how I got out?" But before she could even finish saying out, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep and experienced the best rest for months, completely comforted by the humming electricity and steady beeps. At some point in the night, she hazily remembered Snape checking on her and her fingers dancing across his, so happy she wasn't in a dark, dingy cell in some remote area of Russia.

"You need sleep, too." Her whispered voice caught him off guard, she'd touched him many times during her delirious sleep, but he didn't think she was awake.

"No, you need sleep. I haven't been hurt." But he couldn't say tortured or abused, so instead he sat in a chair next to her and smoothed her hair, so thankful she was safe.

"They weren't so bad most of the time, just really bad when they were." Her tears wouldn't stop, she couldn't look at his dark circles or worry lines, which seemed to have quadrupled. Trying to turn her neck, she realized that the pain of their choking incidents had really caught up to her. For Snape, his hair even seem to have a bit more salt in the pepper. All of it made her feel the extreme guilt of her profession. What if they had killed her? That would be one more woman he'd lost to a homicidal maniac.

"I'm so sorry, I really did try. I asked them their questions, I verified everything. How did they even know where we were? "

"You need not apologize to me, Hermione. We have worked this job together for a long time and I know you follow protocol, in increasing annoyance; they were well connected; nothing you did caused this." Trying to sit up, she felt a tug against her abdomen, pushing her back down. Suddenly, she blushed, through her grief and guilt, she wondered if Snape had been the one to do her entire evaluation upon entry?

"Lie back, you have more healing to do before you can save the world again." And with that, she didn't care.

"I've made up my mind to take a desk job, I can't do this again, I won't. When we first started, it was exhilarating, finding these evil people and destroying their artifacts, but I am incapable of going in the field again. I've sacrificed enough for the Ministry; almost dying, losing everything for the second time, I can't fathom putting myself in that position ever again." Relief spread across his face as he continued rubbing the cool cloth across her forehead, his other hand resting on her softly. But her tears continued, at first they trickled slowly but soon her entire body was shaking. The pain and desolation, all those hours alone and panic-stricken, waiting for the next torture or worse. He moved to sit on the bed with her and raised her up to be in his arms, she shook against him, her anger and anguish pouring over him. In all their years working together, he'd never seen her like this. Wiping her eyes with the cloth and blotting her nose, Hermione wanted him to stay with her all night, to give her the comfort she could only feel in his arms.

"I'm sorry I missed December, I had so much planned for you." He let go slightly, bringing her face to his.

"You're here now."

"It's your birthday now, right? It's after midnight?" He nodded yes, and she felt that at least she didn't miss his birthday. "I have a present for you at home, but I cannot remember where I put it and I certainly don't want Ron looking for it." They both laughed a little.

"I don't need gifts."

"No one needs gifts, Severus." The crying had slowed, her tears now barely rolling down, but she wouldn't let him go, not until he forced her to.

"I dreamt about this, every day, being able to touch you, to hold you. It was you and Rose and Hugo, you got me through." She no longer cared if her admissions were perhaps too romantic, too emotional or in his eyes, contrived; Hermione didn't want to waste a minute pretending she didn't want to be more than colleagues or even friends with him.

"They took my necklace, they took everything." More tears, she wished she could stop. But, without letting go completely, Snape presented her necklace and put it gently around her neck.

"Seamus went in after you arrived in the ministry, he got your bag and everything else he could find, including this." He held up her wedding ring, she looked at her crooked ring finger and an equally crooked pinky, knowing she could never be able to wear a ring again. She laid back down, her strength waning...what to do with the ring.

"I'll save it for Rose, maybe someday she'll want it, or Hugo." He dropped it in her bag and when he turned around, she was admiring the amber again, the smoothness and warmth of it.

"Funny how I went to Russia to track down a crazy man and stop his distribution of goods, and you know killing people, and we confiscated this from Karkaroff's brother. Maybe we aren't as good as we think we are."

"I have never been described as 'good'" They both looked up as another healer came in and checked the progress of her kidney infection, forcing Snape to move from her and scurry off to another room, but not before telling her he'd be back. Unfortunately, she didn't remember him coming back or anything else for a while as she slept most of the 9th and into the 10th, her body desperately tired. They let her go home on the 11th, Rose and Hugo wouldn't leave her side, and Ron even stayed home to make sure she could get around. Molly and Helen made meals and cleaned, but it wasn't until Shacklebolt came to brief her that she finally felt free.

"I would like to formally request a new position, Minister."

"Anything, Granger, we'll find you a position doing some paperwork." He shut his briefcase and left her with the reports she'd have to sign from Seamus and the team. Ron showed Shacklebolt where the floo powder was and he was gone.

"Rose and Hugo are going back to Hogwarts tomorrow and then you have an appointment at St. Mungos for your final health exit in two days. And I left all the paperwork and letters you received on your desk, I may have moved your letterbox." He made his trademark oops face and helped her up the stairs. It was odd being home again, comfortable but odd. Hearing Harlow twitter about in her stoop and the gentle ringing of the wind chimes on the portico, it all felt comfortable.

"Snape also said he'd stop by with more potions at some point. He's been nice, actually."

"He's been nice for a long time, Ron, as he's not a double-agent anymore." Opening her door, Ron helped her to her desk and the mountain of letters.

"That's a lot of mail."

"My connections are vast, you know." She replied, laughing as her hands shook, pouring over each letter from Snape, there were more than enough from her time away, more than one a day.

"Thank you, Ron, for everything. You don't have to take care of me, but thank you."

"You're my best friend, you know with Harry, I don't mind." With that, he closed her door and allowed her the space to look through her letters and read through the paperwork she needed to sign and file. First, though, she read through their divorce documents, noting that they both retained the house and possessions, really all that changed was their legal status. Ron had told the truth, he didn't contest a single clause in the agreement. They were no longer married and for one brief moment, she felt a tinge of sadness that they'd been unable to make it. But, that feeling disappeared when she started reading through Snape's letters, each one more tender and pleading than the last. His perspective of her time away made things clear, how hard everyone had worked to get intelligence and find her; it made her heart soar. When she got to January 6th, the day she was found at the Ministry, all he wrote was, "I'll see you soon, Yours, S". Holding it against her chest for several minutes, she could even smell his hand on them, the same smell that lingered whenever she was able to get close enough to him. A light rapping at her door roused her from her reverie, longing to get back all the time she'd lost.

"Your potions, Granger." Snape walked through her door, setting the potions on her dresser as he watched her try to stand too quickly, catching her before she fell. "What am I going to do with you?" Scooping her up, he carried her softly to the sofa and held her tightly against him as he sat. She didn't allow herself to feel foolish, instead she simply cuddled against him and enjoyed resting on his lap.

"I just finished your letters." She sighed, playing with the button of his cravat, enjoying every ounce of his arms around her.

"Some days, it was all I could do. Shacklebolt gave me information due to my clearance, but he might not have if he'd known my personal investment in the venture."

"Krum? What happened to Viktor?" It suddenly hit her, she hadn't asked about Krum yet.

"He's well, still in Bulgaria, but unfortunately he might have been more connected to Poroshenko than we realized. We're lucky he even treated you with any modicum of respect."

"He didn't really, he hit me twice, but I expected it and he kissed me, too, perhaps he knew he was going to betray me...he used the code phrase as well. Somehow, I'm not surprised, though." Snape wasn't shocked either, but still angry that Krum gone against his word.

"He used the code phrase?"

"Yes, when he kissed me, he whispered it, so I knew that he wouldn't be back, I still hoped, but he didn't return. No one has ever used that phrase with me before, it's bloody awful hearing it." His head rested on hers, her entire form cradled against him.

"Hermione, I don't know if it should be me to tell you this, but as the Minister and your husband haven't yet, you should know that Poroshenko knew who you were the entire time. The treatment, the abuse, that was all a game. He wanted to hurt you and hurt the Ministry." She shivered beneath him, her sadness and anger overwhelming her pain. It did not make sense in the moment, not really, with so much medicine in her body. Most definitely, his words did not sink in.

"I need to give you the potions before you feel the pain." He gently stood again and set her on the sofa, each potion labeled and dosed for two days before she went back to St. Mungos. He poured each potion into a small glass and gave it to Hermione, setting the labels and directions on her dresser.

"Thank you for the peppermint, that makes it taste so much better." Wiping her lips, Hermione handed him the glass back and stood, her legs feeling slightly stronger. She'd waited so long to be able to kiss him and she didn't want another moment to pass before she did.

"Come here." She urged, her arms outstretched and waiting for his. "You will never know how much this moment kept me going." She reached up to him and his face in her hands and though she could barely stand on her toes, she stood as tall as she could and finally kissed him. It hit her then, the image she'd seen in India, he was the unicorn, the raven, he soared with her on a melting plain, through clouds that bled into stars. But this time, the melting plain was a castle rebuilding, a home with two desks, ink bottles and steeping tea, and him, next to her, their hands entwined. The shock of it almost caused her to faint, but he caught her and kissed her again.

"You know it won't always be like this." He teased, helping her under her covers as the medicine slowly took over her facilities.

"But what if it is?" She countered, reaching for him again and meeting her lips with his. "I wish you could stay." Her eyes begging his.

"I do as well, Hermione, but you need rest. I will be back to take you to St. Mungos, I promise." She kissed him again and caressed his hand.

"I suppose you still fancy me then?"

"Unfortunately, as dangerous as you are." He teased, walking slowly towards her door, trying to hold it together for a few minutes before he could let himself feel the weight of her recovery, her being alive. Ron was waiting in the sitting area between the two halves of the house.

"Make sure she takes the potions again tomorrow morning. Will you be here or Mrs. Potter?" Snape asked, closing his own carrier bag quickly before throwing it over his shoulder.

"Ginny'll be here." A look of annoyance met Ron then, there was so much Snape wanted to say about how Ron should treat his now ex-wife, but he kept those words to himself.

"And your children? Who is taking them to Hogwarts?" Ron was suddenly aware Snape's attitude had changed, a better example of how he was during his school days.

"I am, not that it's your business." A shift happened then, one Snape hadn't intended but he knew he needed to change his tone.

"I was only going to offer to help, Mr. Weasley."

"Sorry, I'm a bit on edge still, thanks Snape." With one contrived smile, Snape flew down the stairs and back to St. Mungos, leaving Hermione in their care.