Chapter 15 - The Additions
Hermione could not shake the feeling that she was dreaming. If she was, it would have been a pleasant dream, but a strange one. People from all phases of her life were spread across her childhood house. At the same kitchen table where she had done her muggle homework as a kindergartener sat Albus Dumbledore, the esteemed headmaster of Hogwarts and one of the most powerful wizards in history, deep in conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the parents of one of her best friends in the world, and the Weasley twins, who between them had arguably caused more trouble in their time at Hogwarts than anyone in the history of the school.
She was seated in her usual spot on the sofa, leaning into the arms of the man she loved who, in another life it seemed, had not only been the most influential double agent in wizarding history but also her potions professor. On her other side was Ron Weasley, with whom she had shared one awkward kiss in the heat of the battle of Hogwarts, but who was apparently trying to accept her new situation with as much grace as one could hope to have when transitioning out of the habit of calling someone a greasy git. Perched in front of them on the coffee table sat Harry Potter, the boy who lived, who was adoringly playing with the red hair of one Ginny Weasley while he debated remedies for curses with Severus like they were old friends. This has got to be a dream. She couldn't believe how seamlessly all the different parts of her life had fit together. But feeling the camaraderie return between her and Ron, hearing Harry's voice free of the stress that had plagued it for the last year, and feeling Severus' arms around her middle continually reminded her that it was her new reality.
When they had retrieved Dumbledore from his marble grave earlier that night, he had been insistent, in the passive yet incontrovertible manner that only Dumbledore can quite muster, that he hear about the events of the past year from Harry himself. Hermione had sent her otter patronus to Harry to meet them at her house (Hogwarts was still ghostly in the wake of the battle), and with Harry came the Weasley clan. Severus had greeted them one by one they apparated in, noticing how happy Hermione got when everyone she had grown to love was in one place. I am going to live my life surrounded by bloody Gryffendors. He tried to manage his usual level of sarcasm, but even the most embittered voice in his head knew that, for one of her beaming smiles, he would happily take up permanent residence in the midst of Gryffendor tower.
Now, Hermione safely nestled into his shoulder, he was actually pleased to have Harry to help them discuss the list item of the day: Dumbledore's hand. They had not known how the curse would have responded to Dumbledore's extended unconsciousness, nor how the magic of the curse would respond once the evil wizard who had cast it was no longer alive. Fortunately, the curse's progress had halted when their sleeping spell hit Dumbledore, but Voldemort's demise had not removed the curse entirely. It was currently stable in the state it had been in when Dumbledore "died" and seemed to be neither progressing nor mending from there.
"…but we never know if it could start getting worse again. We have to find out a way to get rid of it entirely." Harry made a valid point. Severus had been primarily responsible for delaying the progress of the curse and he knew better than anyone that if the curse somehow decided to mobilize again it would be all but impossible to stop.
"And you can't go back and just switch out the rings?" Ginny asked.
"We've already taken a huge risk doing what we did, Gin," Hermione responded. "If we took the curse out of the timeline it would not only change when Voldemort felt the horcrux get destroyed, which would change his behavior, but it would also change Dumbledore's behavior in the interim. It's too risky."
"Too bad you weren't tasked to curse him instead of kill him, then you could just reverse it," Ron said carelessly to Severus. Four heads whipped around to face Ron.
Ginny let out a reprimanding, "Ron!" eyeing Severus' face to see if he had taken offense to Ron's comment.
"Ronald, you're a bloody genius!" Hermione gasped.
"What?" Ron looked completely confused.
Instead of offense, Snape seemed to have had the same epiphany as Hermione. The two had shifted so they could see each other and were now having what looked to Harry, Ginny, and Ron as a very rapid, wordless conversation.
"Anything you care to share with the class, guys?" Harry chided after a few seconds.
"Could you?" Hermione asked, finally transitioning to spoken words.
"It would have to be timed very precisely," Severus responded, the pallor of his face returning slightly to that to which they had been accustomed to seeing before the final battle.
"But, Severus, could you?" Hermione's tone indicated that this was not a question of ability, but of Severus' tolerance for dark magic.
Severus made a tender shushing noise, brushing Hermione's cheek with his thumb as he spoke, "I have done worse for lesser causes."
"Seriously guys, care to enlighten us?" Harry's words broke whatever spell was connecting Hermione's eyes with Severus' dark gaze. It was Severus who spoke.
"I have to be the one to cast the curse. If I can get to the ring before he puts it on, we can cast a protective barrier that will keep the actual curse from infecting his hand. But I will have to cast an equally damaging curse at the same time. One with the same symptoms and time table as the one the ring had," Severus spoke with a quiet sense of urgency that showed the young Gryffendors around him realize what a formidable part of the war he had been.
Harry was the first to speak, "Can you cast a spell that past Severus won't be able to differentiate from the current one…or undo with his potions? Because weren't you the one Dumbledore went to in order to try to remove the curse?"
Harry does actually have a decent head on his shoulders, noted Severus silently before he spoke. "The curse I plan to use has no known cure. It was used only by high level Death Eaters and will provide a very convincing replica for our purposes."
"If there's no known cure, won't we be right back where we are now then?" It was Ginny's turn to ask questions.
"It is an unknown fact that certain dark spells can be removed by the wizard who casts them. Most Death Eaters do not have second thoughts about cursing people, so it remains a well-kept secret." As Severus spoke, Hermione couldn't help feeling protective of him. She knew he had had to do unspeakable things to maintain his cover with Voldemort, and she knew how necessary it had been that he do so, but a part of her wished she could somehow go back and save him from what he had experienced.
Again, as if he could hear her thoughts, she felt Severus' arms tighten around her as he whispered in her ear, "it's all right, love. I'll be right back." With this, Severus got up and went upstairs, returning with the invisibility cloak and time turner. Hermione rose to his side.
"Are you sure I shouldn't come with you?" He shook his head, but saw the worry in her face. Lifting her chin with his finger, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips before pulling the cloak over his head. Her arms felt it as he started turning the little hourglass, and she disentangled herself from him and sat down on the couch.
"So we just…wait then?" Ron looked from Harry to Hermione, knowing they were the only two who had previously travelled by time turner. Hermione took a deep breath, knowing that Severus was fully capable of handling this by himself, but far preferring it when she got to go on missions with him. Another breath. He would be back soon. She knew he wouldn't keep her waiting too long. Breath. Unless maybe something went wrong…
Severus' head appeared at the opposite end of the room, shortly followed by his torso as he removed the cloak. Hermione's arms were around his neck before the cloak was fully off, partially shielding the rest of the room from the unintentional display of affection she could not help but creating.
"What took you so long?" she whispered.
He smiled the smile he only let her see and replied cryptically, "while I had the time turner I had to make one extra stop. I'll explain later." Sensing the discomfort of the watching group, she quickly created some space between their bodies, but kept hold of one hand as she asked him how it went.
"We'll see," Severus said quietly enough for only Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to hear. Then in a louder voice, "Albus, do you mind gracing us with your presence for a moment?" The rest of the Weasley family followed Dumbledore into the living room, curious at what was about to happen. "Do you mind lending me your arm for a bit of an experiment?"
Albus extended his blackened hand, blue eyes twinkling in the kind of excitement one sees in a muggle parent watching their child ride a bicycle for the first time. All eyes were on Severus as he aimed his wand at the cursed hand and began muttering spells under his breath. At first nothing seemed to happen, but it soon became readily apparent that the dark pigmentation was creeping down his wrist, pulling towards his fingers. When the skin on his wrist had regained its previous coloring, it became obvious that the darkness was not simply disappearing, but rather traveling through the air and back into Severus' wand. Everyone's eyes were trained on Dumbledore's hand, everyone but Hermione who was staring at Severus, who was still muttering spells under his breath but had begun to sweat and was looking paler than ever. She put her hand on his shoulder, trying to funnel her magic through her hand to help strengthen him. The darkness continued to drain until the last bits of pigmentation flew through the air from Albus' fingertips to Severus' wand. When he had collected all of it, he collapsed on the couch, panting and grimacing as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
Dumbledore flexed his fingers, an amused smile spreading across his face. "I take it that I missed a great deal while Mr. Weasley was filling me in on the current state of the Order?" His blue eyes fixed on Severus' black ones. "I do not wish to understate my gratitude to you two, but I must insist that this be the last time the fabric of time is tested. We all have too much to lose should any of the key events in the last year be somehow changed." Dumbledore had not lost any of his authority in the year he spent entombed off the grounds of Hogwarts.
It was Hermione who dared answer, "We assumed you would not find our little project… appropriate. You'll have to forgive us for saving you for last so you wouldn't—"
She was interrupted by the steely intensity of Severus' voice, "we have almost completed our tasks, but I have some final business that needs to be addressed." The silent tension in the room would have required the sword of Gryffendor to cut as the two formidable wizards locked eyes. After an extensive battle of unspoken wills, it was Albus who spoke.
"If what Mr. Weasley's has revealed to me about the last year is true, it would seem I have some urgent business to take care of at Hogwarts prior to the start of the next term. I can't see myself finding the time to return the item in question to the Ministry until I ensure the next term begins without event." His blue eyes sparkled with hidden meaning. "And now, if you will excuse me, I must go and find Minerva. I believe she and I have some work ahead of us." With that and a flourish of his robes, Dumbledore disapparated.
The stunned group could find no words, except for Ron who had been staring at Severus like he was a ghost until he managed to mutter at Severus. "You're a little scary sometimes. Brilliant, but scary. I see why you two are so good together now." And with that, Hermione dove into Severus' shoulder again and the tension in the room dissolved into laughter.
"So what more do we have to do?" Hermione asked over her shoulder as she washed the dishes left by their now-departed guests. Severus, who was sitting at the table tea cup in hand, didn't respond. Hermione looked over and saw that he was staring into the side of his cup as if deep in thought. She gently took the cup out from his long fingers and placed it on the table, climbing into his lap and placing her palm on his cheek. "What is it, love?"
"You saw my memories of what my time at Hogwarts was like, yes?" She nodded, but continued listening. "I started down the wrong road before I officially joined the Death Eaters. I spent so much time wrapped up in my own anger and self-pity…" he trailed off. She rested her forehead on his and shut her eyes, breathing in his amazing smell of sandalwood and something else that she couldn't ever quite place.
"You did the best you could. It was unfair what they did to you. No one blames you—"
"I always reacted in kind. I tried to top them. I wish I could have been the bigger man." He seemed finished, yet she still had no idea where he was going with this line of reasoning.
"What does this mean for our project?" Hermione asked warily.
"The Marauders. I have to save them."