Here's another bit of a longer chapter for you! These boys have some stories to tell!
I'm going to try and continue updating every 2 - 3 days (no promises!) and I have 22 chapters sketched out which is approximately a third of the story. It'll be a long one!
Thank you again for all the feedback and follows. It's been freakin' awesome.
Enjoy!
By six that night, Hermione was pacing the floor of her small room in St. Mungo's Hospital. She had complained until she was blue in the face to Healer Pye that there was simply no reason to keep her in St. Mungo's just because she passed out in shock! It happened to people all the time. There was nothing wrong with her, let her go home!
Healer Pye had explained, quite nicely, that she still had to meet with Severus Snape, and if she handled that well, she could go home.
She knew she was venting her nervousness about meeting her Professor on her healers. She understood their reasoning, of course.
Dinner had been served at five, and by 5:30, Hermione was ready to get this meeting underway. The pacing helped to pass the time, so she continued.
At precisely 7:00, Severus Snape swept into the room in a billow of black fabric that immediately brought Hermione to a standstill.
He stood beside the wing-tip chair that Sirius had previously relaxed gracefully in. His arms were folded across his chest, a small smirk played upon his lips.
Hermione still hadn't moved, frozen in shock and nervousness, and oh my god he looks so different.
"Are you going to stand there staring at me all day, Miss Granger", he drawled, the smirk on his face broadening.
"What - no. No." she stammered. "I'll just sit down now". She was blushing furiously as she averted her gaze and made her way to sit comfortably upon the mattress.
She drew her feet underneath her, sitting crossed legged with the blanket draped over her lap. "Please Sir, have a seat as well."
If she thought Sirius oozed aristocracy, then Severus Snape would be the king. He moved like he owned the space he occupied. He lowered himself into the chair with a grace that bewildered her, after removing the heavy black cloak from his frame and lying it across the foot of her bed.
He was dressed head to toe in black, something that did not surprise her one bit. Only his face, neck, and hands were visible, but she felt like she'd never seen him in such a state of undress.
His button-down top was well fitted, showing off a muscular frame that she wondered where he hid all those years. He was broad shouldered, his biceps bulged against the cloth covering his arms. His trousers were cut slim, his firm thighs underneath and she found herself hoping he'd turn around so she could see how it looked from the back.
"Ahem" he cleared his throat and her eyes leaped back to his face, blush creeping over her skin as she'd once again been caught checking out one of the men she'd thought to be gone from this world.
"While I'm sure you could look at me all day, Miss Granger, we have more important things to discuss." His smirk seemed almost like a smile at that moment, and she realized she'd never seen him look so at ease.
"Right," she responded. "Right! Oh my gosh, Sir. I have no idea how you've managed it! I saw... well, you know, of course. We all thought you were dead before we even left the shack! Did you die and somehow come back like Sirius did? Were you snuck away? How are you here? Why have you kept it a secret?"
Her thoughts once again came pouring out her mouth and she wondered briefly why she was struggling to control herself.
His eyebrows raised, a look of humor upon his face. "Perhaps I should answer just one question at a time, despite your ever-present curiosity?"
Hermione slumped back against the head of the bed and waited patiently.
"Ah, good, you've managed to rein it in." He chuckled. A gloriously warm sound that filled her heart with hope.
"Clearly, I am not dead, despite popular belief and probably the wishes of many people in this world. To answer the easiest question you posed - I did not die in the shack. I was not brought back from the dead. There is no special magic to my circumstances, only a lot of prior planning."
His face was a blank slate, and Hermione knew enough of the man to know he must've been utilizing occlumency.
"It was not expected that I live through the war, as you can imagine. After killing Dumbledore, the side of the light would not have listened to a word I had to offer in the redemption of myself." He paused briefly.
"Miss Granger, I am nothing if not a consummate Slytherin, and I did not wish my life to be forfeit to either of the meddlesome madmen I had tied myself to in my youth. I went to school with Saul Croaker, and the Unspeakables had been attempting to recruit me for years, something I could never have done while under the thumb of Albus Dumbledore."
Despite his impressive skills at hiding his feelings, Hermione knew there was much lingering anger towards her old Headmaster, and she knew she couldn't blame him one bit for those feelings, as she had many of her own.
"I contacted Mr. Croaker after vowing the Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa. I thought he might have a way to undo the magic of the bond. The Unspeakables have their fingers in so many pots, that the likelihood of them having found a way around the magic was something I hoped for.
They did not have a way around the vow, unfortunately, but in his office in the DOM, Saul offered me something no other person ever had... a future."
He paused to gather his thoughts, and Hermione didn't dare to interrupt.
"He reminded me again that I was welcome among the Unspeakables. It was a position I couldn't accept at the time, due to the calling magic within the dark mark, and of course, my duties as a spy to the Order and saving your friend over and over.
I did not tell Dumbledore of the meeting I had with Croaker when I told him about the vow. I never would have imagined he'd order me to kill him in Draco's stead. You probably already know that Draco is my godson. You represented him, did you not?"
She nodded quickly. "I did. He did many things wrong in his life, but I didn't think he should suffer in Azkaban his entire life because of choices forced upon him. I was devastated that he had to serve two years in that hellhole anyway."
"Quite true," he responded. "Draco was... well he was quite the shit as a child, but he deserved much more than Lucius as a father."
Realizing they'd veered slightly off track, Severus began again. "I would've protected Draco without the vow from Narcissa, and without the order from Dumbledore. He meant, he means a lot to me. I would've preferred to do it without killing a man, but Dumbledore always had his reasons and I suppose he didn't really care how I came out in the end, as long as Voldemort died.
After Dumbledore ordered me to kill him when the time came, I requested another meeting with Saul. I showed him the memories of the vow and the meeting with Dumbledore, and we devised a plan. It was decided that when the war was over, I'd become an Unspeakable. No one but the Minister of Magic knows the identities of those in the department, so I knew I'd have a place to land to wait out whatever would happen after the battle. He assigned me a department elf, who I am sure you'll meet soon enough, Tippy."
She blanched, thinking of the elves that would soon enter her life. Three families with magical ties were sure to have a few elves on staff.
He smirked at her again "Ah yes, your elf campaign. Please do try not to free them all. We do like having them around, and Tippy is a good friend to me."
He continued, "It was never the plan that I would die at the battle. That was, of course, Dumbledore's plan, but after his death, I was no longer beholden to the vow he'd kept me in for so many years. I planned to find a way to give Harry the information he needed about the Horcrux inside him, and I was going to simply disappear. Tippy would collect me from the site of the battle, and I would remain with the Unspeakables for the remainder of my years."
He grew quiet, and Hermione fidgeted in her bed.
A deep sigh escaped him. "The snake was quite unexpected. I assumed Voldemort would realize he didn't control the elder wand eventually, but I never imagined he'd use the snake to try and gain its mastery. I had prepared for dueling him. I worked with Croaker to devise a spell that would put me into a deep medical stasis. It looked and acted like a shield and when an opponent cast the Avada Kedavra at it, I would simply sleep, instead of dying. The snake put a wrench in the whole thing though, as did the appearance of you and your band of friends."
He scrubbed a large hand over his face. "I suppose it worked out in the end though, I was able to give Mr. Potter the memories he needed. I do wish I'd have had a little more control over it, as I'd prefer he didn't realize I'd harbored feelings for Lily all those years."
He stood from the chair and took up the path Hermione had previously been pacing.
"I had a few bottles of anti-venom made from when Arthur was attacked by the snake. I didn't think I'd need them for myself, but they were there. When the three of you left the shack, Tippy came to me and activated a long-held elf magic spell that basically froze my blood within my veins. This delayed the spreading of the venom and prevented any more blood loss. She was familiar with my potions stores, as I'd been using her as my personal elf for the entirety of the time I'd known her.
She popped away and came back with blood replenishers, the anti-venom, and she magicked them into my bloodstream."
He turned and looked at her. "She saved my life. We have... a special bond."
She nodded mutely. Harry had a bond like that with Dobby, too, and she knew it was something to be cherished.
"Tippy left again, and I lost consciousness. When I awoke it was at the home of Saul Croaker. She'd fetched him and he had apparated in and brought me back to his home to further care for me. He brought in another Unspeakable to heal my wounds. This person had been working on healing magics and the combining of muggle and magical medical procedures. They'd developed a magical thread that they used to suture my neck. It prevented bleeding and minimized the scaring, but the stiches allowed for the venom to be extracted from the wound. Typical healing magic, as I'm sure you're aware, seals the skin completely. This would have left no way for the venom to leave the body."
During this time, I was in and out of awareness. I thought that hallucinations had taken over me. I was seeing people I knew to be dead, who hated me in life and would never work to save my life."
He walked gracefully back to the chair, his hand resting on the leather back.
"Sir," she questioned, urging him to continue.
"It was Black, of course." he sat with a sigh.
"Of course I would owe then man my life after he tried to rip it from me so many years ago. It took nearly four months for the venom to leave my body completely. I had been moved to a private hospital wing within the Department of Mysteries, and Black was there, every day, to change my dressings, extract venom, replace the magical stitches. I couldn't speak at first, so I did a lot of glaring. I threw a few punches, too."
Her eyes were wide by this point. She could hear the fondness in his voice.
"I never imagined we'd be anything but enemies, our past dictated a lot of that. But he saved my life. He did it with kindness and maturity that I never would have expected from him." Severus sighed.
"Professor," she asked, "Why didn't you tell anyone you lived?"
"I think, given the circumstances, you better stop calling me Professor. Or Sir. My name is Severus and if we're getting married you might use it." he responded.
"Don't' speak, I'm sure that's shocking, so let me just answer your questions," he continued with a small smile. "You spoke during the meeting about the public image of me after the war. That is part of the reason I had not brought my current life status to light. But, the Unspeakables offered me a freedom that life in the public sector could not. Within the DOM I was simply a man who was excellent at potions at research. I was not a death eater. I was not a spy. I was not a war hero. I was simply Severus. I found friendship in a man I never would have expected, someone who was also bound to be hidden for the remainder of their years. It was a comfort I had never experienced before."
"Were it not for this law and the spell to go with it, I would never have left the walls of the Department of Mysteries" he finished, folding his hands in his lap and crossing an ankle over his knee.
Hermione stared at him, shocked by the story, with his honesty, with the friendship of the two men who had despised each other previously.
She found herself smiling brightly. "Oh just wait until Harry hears that you two actually get along! I can't wait to see the look on his face!"
Severus let out a small choked sound. "Well, with that Miss Granger - "
"Hermione" she interrupted loudly. "If I'm calling you Severus, you must call me Hermione."
"Hermione", it rolled off his tongue like butter "I'll send in the healer so you can be released. The Minister has requested you visit his home in the morning to discuss the next steps in the law and the spell. You should remember that you're still beholden to the confidentiality standards set by the Ministry... You should avoid telling Mr. Potter for the time being."
She groaned, hating to admit he was right.
"Alright then. See you tomorrow, Severus."
He turned and smiled at her. A true smile. It lit up his face and he looked absolutely gorgeous, Hermione thought.
"Until tomorrow, Hermione."