Requiem for the Living
By Jinxd n Cursed
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction. I merely play in the world of J.K. Rowling; she still owns the characters.
Tuba mirum spargens sonum
per sepulcra regionum,
coget omnes ante thronum.
Mors stupebit et natura,
cum resurget creatura,
judicanti responsura.
Liber scriptus proferetur,
in quo totum continetur,
unde mundus judicetur.
Judex ergo cum sedebit,
quidquid latet, apparebit,
nil inultum remanebit.
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
quem patronum rogaturus,
cum vix justus sit securus
Chapter Sixteen
Hermione had cleaned every inch of the ground floor of the house. There was not a speck of dust to be found on any of the bookshelves or tables. The wood floors gleamed and the powder room and kitchen both sparkled. All of this had been done with the help of Molly's special cleaning charms. It had taken only fifteen minutes to clean the whole ground floor.
Cleaning the lab had taken more time. Because potions and their ingredients were sensitive to residual magic, she had cleaned the entire lab by hand. She couldn't even use magical cleaners, instead using Dettol and a sponge to scrub the black stone tops of her workbenches. Her cauldrons practically glistened and she refreshed the air circulating charms so it smelled clean and fresh in the lab instead of the residual smell of potions that were long since bottled.
On Saturday morning, Rose woke her up at half past six by climbing into her bed and poking at her face. Hermione had woken after a particularly strong prod to the eyelid. Her daughter had not consented to sleepy cuddling like their normal Saturday morning practice, but rather had insisted on getting up and being fed her breakfast. Hermione made eggs and toast at Rose's request. However, her daughter took approximately three bites before insisting what she really wanted was yoghurt. With a sigh, Hermione gave it to her and quickly finished her own breakfast.
Hugo was awake and babbling when Hermione went into the nursery. She nursed him before changing his nappy and dressing him. She then sat him in the bouncy seat so she could check on Rose. Her daughter had gone back to her room and was building a city out of blocks. It took almost twenty minutes to get her dressed, as Rosie would stop whenever she had a brilliant idea for her city.
She checked on Hugo who was thankfully still bouncing contentedly and jangling a set of keys. Leaving her two small children to fend for themselves for a moment, she had ten minutes to shower and dress. A ponytail would have to do, at least for the morning. Throwing on a rust coloured robe over her trousers and jumper, she gathered the children and headed out of the house.
Admittedly, one of her primary reasons for taking them out for the morning was to keep the house clean. That being said, she did need groceries and a few other things as well so they went out into the village. The entire time they were shopping, Hermione checked her watch obsessively, making sure she was not running behind. She let Rosie play in the park with a few other children her age while she nursed Hugo as discreetly as she could manage.
At noon, she brought them back to the house and laid out lunch. She had purchased sandwiches to take home from a shop and served Rose a turkey sandwich with vegetable sticks. As for herself, she picked at her salt beef and mustard sandwich halfheartedly. It just didn't hold the usual appeal for some reason. She then read them stories for the better part of half an hour. Rose kept insisting that she wasn't tired. However, as soon as her little head hit the pillow, she was asleep. Hugo took a little more coaxing but Hermione still had enough time to fuss nervously.
She fixed her hair into a neat knot at the base of her skull and changed from her faded Irish wool jumper into a more fitted green jumper. That necessitated a change in outer robe so she donned the navy robe she had purchased whilst with Ginny the previous weekend. She traded her well-worn trainers for a pair of dragon hide ankle boots and went carefully down the stairs so as to not disturb her sleeping children. At precisely 1:30, she heard a sharp rap on the door.
She opened the door and saw the slight shimmer in the air, denoting someone wearing a disillusionment charm. Hermione stepped aside and allowed him to walk in past her. After she had shut the door, Severus Snape appeared in front of her. He frowned as he took in the house around him.
"This address," he said finally. "It is the address of the Shrieking Shack."
Hermione nodded "Yes it is. As you can see, however, this is not the Shrieking Shack."
"Really? The presence of unshredded draperies should have indicated that this house is not the Shrieking Shack. I apologize for my error," he said.
Hermione was taken aback by her former professor's sarcasm and it took her a moment to recover. "It is a recent construction built on the site where the Shrieking Shack once stood."
"And what happened to the Shrieking Shack?" he inquired.
"It burned down a few days after the last battle," she told him. She hesitated. "I burned it down."
"Indeed? The Gryffindor lioness is an arsonist?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yes. I'll thank you to not let that information out. You are the only other human to know that I burned it down."
"And why did you choose to raze a historic structure?" he questioned.
She contemplated how to approach this situation. Hermione had already revealed more than she wanted to about how her house had come to be built on this site. Did she really want to reveal that she had burned it down specifically to protect him? She decided to approach it with Gryffindor brashness. "I knew you were alive and burned the evidence so no one else would figure it out."
He looked taken aback momentarily but recovered quickly. "Indeed. I suppose I owe you a debt of gratitude then."
"You're welcome," she said.
"I never said thank you," he reminded her.
"You're still welcome," she said with a wry smile.
"Did you intend to work standing here in the foyer or is there a more comfortable place you had in mind?" he asked.
She ignored the ribbing. "We shall go down to my lab."
He gestured for her to lead the way so she took him down the hall and into the kitchen where the cellar door was located. She took the enchanted baby monitor with her as they descended the stairs.
"This space is... adequate," he declared.
Hermione gestured over to the pair of club chairs tucked in the corner. She had transfigured two lab stools the day before, as she had no desire to be uncomfortable whilst working. She set the baby monitor down on the table and took out the sheaf of parchments with all her notes.
"Neville is doing some research for me and expects to have a research pathway by the first of the week. He wanted to give me a few thoughts but I told him I'd rather wait for the full report," she told him. "He sent me the preliminary report anyway so we can look at that later, I suppose."
"Imagine that," he snarked. "Hermione Granger choosing to wait for a piece of information rather than consume it the second it is available."
"It's Weasley," she reminded him. "The point of our meeting today is to talk about the Thunder God vine."
"As you say," he replied.
"Thunder God vine is an ingredient from traditional Chinese medicine," Hermione began. "It treats conditions caused by over activity of the immune system such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and multiple sclerosis. Muggle studies suggest that it may have anti-cancer affects as well. In the case of the Wolfsbane potion, the Thunder God vine helps prevent the immune system from attacking the central nervous system, preserving mental function. I have reason to believe that it prevents inflammation in the lining of the brain, which also preserves proper neural function. Any replacement must also have strong anti-inflammatory properties to serve these same functions."
Severus was leaning back against the chair looking bored. "They should put you on display in the museum at Diagon Alley as the talking textbook."
She flushed. "By all means, cut me off when I am lecturing. I don't mind. My coworkers have learned to do it as I will continue to wax poetically on various subjects until I am exhausted and blue in the face, or else until they cut me off."
"That never stopped you as a student," he sneered.
"Need I remind you that I am no longer thirteen years old?" she asked, her tone turning to acid. "There is no need for you to be so nasty to me, Severus Snape. I burned the Shrieking Shack to the ground to protect the knowledge that you were alive and have spoken of my knowledge to absolutely no one. By no means do I expect your thanks but I do expect you to mind the manners owed to a colleague of similar standing. And yes, Mr. Snape, I said similar standing. As you have requested, I have no intention of treating you like some kind of servant of mine but you will treat me as a colleague or I will continue on without you."
"You would lose a Potion's master over a point of pride?" he questioned.
"No," she told him. "But I will not be disrespected. If you expect me to respect you, you must respect me. I am not your student and you will not treat me as such!"
Too late, Hermione realized that Hugo's cries could be heard over the baby monitor. With no way of knowing how long he had been fussing, there was a high degree of likelihood that Rose was awake as well. She had always been a light sleeper.
"Excuse me," Hermione said. "I need to take care of the baby before—"
"Mummy, Hugo won't stop crying," a small voice said from the top of the cellar stairs.
"I know sweetie, I'm sorry. Mummy was distracted," Hermione replied. She glanced at Severus who had the oddest expression on his face.
"Mummy, I don't want a nap. Can I stay down here with you?" Rose said.
Hermione saw her little feet coming down the steps and looked at her colleague apologetically. "Rosie, we've talked about this before. You need to take a nap or you are very grumpy and fall asleep at dinner and miss night time story."
The little girl stopped at the bottom of the steps and stared at Severus. "Hullo. Who are you? I'm Rose Weasley."
"I'm Severus Snape," he replied, far more evenly than Hermione would have predicted.
"Why are you in mummy's lab? Are you Mummy's friend?" Rose asked.
"I'm a... a... friend of sorts," he told the little girl.
"Severus is a funny name," Rose said. "Why did your Mummy give you that name?"
"Rose, come with me upstairs," Hermione replied. "I need to take care of Hugo and you need to go back to bed."
"But I'm not tired," Rose protested.
Hugo's cries were getting louder over the baby monitor and her daughter was on the verge of a temperature tantrum. Severus looked oddly calm as he stated, "I will watch your daughter. Go comfort your son."
With no other options presenting themselves, Hermione dashed up the steps to the nursery. Hugo's face was an impressive shade of red. Hermione found that his nappy was dry, the temperature of the room was normal, and he was not hungry. Upon further inspection, the enchanted mobile had stopped and his favourite soft toy had somehow become wedged between the crib mattress and the side of the crib. She rectified both of those issues and soothed him with a little jiggling. He was back to sleep in less than five minutes.
It was an odd sight in the basement lab. Rose had climbed into Severus's lap and was peppering him with questions. A book of magical ingredients was open across his lap. "The bezoar is one of the most rare and valuable ingredients in potions. It is found in the stomach of a goat and is a cure for almost all poisons."
"I don't think I want to eat something from the stomach of a goat," Rosie said.
"I suppose not, but would you eat it if it would save your life?" he queried.
"Maybe," Rose conceded. "But only if it wasn't icky."
Hermione smiled thinly. "Rose, if you promise to be quiet, you may take your nap on the sofa in the corner," she said.
"But I'm still not sleepy," she protested.
"Nevertheless," Hermione said. "You can either lay down here or in your room but in either case, you must lie down and be quiet."
The little girl nodded and jumped down from Severus's lap, climbing onto the small sofa Hermione kept in the opposite corner of the lab for occasions such as these. She settled in and was asleep within two minutes of closing her eyes. Hermione returned to her chair.
Severus cleared his throat. "My address to you earlier was inappropriate. I apologize."
"You are forgiven," Hermione told him. "I apologize for pushing Rosie off for you to take care of. I hope she wasn't too much of a nuisance."
"I have not had occasion to spend time with children her age in may years. It was an enlightening experience," he replied.
"By enlightening, do you mean annoying?" she teased.
He shook his head. "Surprisingly, no. Small children are innocent and while they often ask inappropriate questions, they do so without anger or spite. She asked surprisingly interesting questions."
"Like what?" Hermione questioned with a frown.
"She asked what my favourite potion ingredient is and then asked why to every explanation I gave," he explained. "She must take after you."
Hermione blushed. "That she does, though I was told I was more annoying at her age."
"I have no basis for comparison as I did not meet you until you were eleven," he informed her.
"Indeed," she said. "Shall we return to the task at hand?"
"Yes," he replied. "I suppose we shall. Has your team run any of the calculations on the suggestions you included in your last missive?"
Hermione shook her head. "No. I wanted your input before I passed the information on to Terry."
He rolled his eyes. "Still need approval from your professor? Very well, please send those ingredients off to your colleague. I do not have any other suggestions to contribute at this point."
Hermione nodded. "Then I suppose we will take a look at what Neville sent me."
Severus's lip curled noticeably. "By all means."
She shuffled her papers for the relevant parchment. Neville had sent her a few suggestions to do her own research but would not be handing in the full report until the weekend was over. "He gave me a bit of a list so we can at least get started. He didn't consider the enchantments at all in his initial list, only the plants themselves."
"You and I both know that the enchantment can have just as much bearing on the efficacy of the ingredient as the ingredient itself," the Potions master argued.
"Perhaps," Hermione replied. "But at least the plant gives us a starting point."
"I suppose," he agreed reluctantly.
"Ah, here we are. His primary suggestion is yarrow but suggests that king of bitters, cats claw—the plant, not the animal claws—turmeric, and white willow bark are also worth looking into," she informed him.
"Yarrow?" Severus replied with obvious disdain. "Yarrow's anti-inflammatory effects are minimal. It is primarily used to treat gastrointestinal symptoms and to assist in clotting. It hardly merits research."
"Neville has written that yarrow responds very well to enchantment," Hermione stated. "He has listed a few common enchantments used with it. Ah, and he suggests that we reference 'Herbs and Enchantments' for more information. Not exactly a creative title but I believe I have a copy upstairs. I will be right back."
It took her a few minutes to locate the book. When she returned to the basement, she was shocked to find Rose in Severus's lap as he once again read from the book on magical ingredients.
"Rose, I thought I told you to stay on the sofa and have a nap," Hermione protested.
"You woke me up when you stepped on the creaky stair, Mummy," Rose said. "And you were gone so I asked Mr. Sevus where you went."
"And did Mr. Severus offer to read to you or did you ask?" Hermione questioned.
Rosie blinked sheepishly. "I asked."
Hermione sighed and plucked her daughter of the Potions master's lap. She laid the child down on the sofa and tucked a blanket around her as Rose protested that she wasn't sleepy. It took less than two minutes for her eyelids to drift closed and for her to start emitting a light, whiffling snore.
"I apologize for my daughter. She is nothing if not eager," Hermione said to Severus when she sat down.
"There is no need to apologize," he replied. "I dare say her desire to be read to is... endearing."
"Well, well, well," Hermione replied, a slight smiling coming to her face. "The fearsome Potions Master finds a three year old begging to be read to cute? Isolation has changed you."
He shrugged. "In some ways. Would you expect someone to not change at all in ten years?"
She shook her head. "I have certainly changed."
He gave her an appraising look. "Yes, indeed you have."
Author's notes: Longest chapter yet and took almost four weeks to write. I apologize for the delay. I swear I have no immune system as I am recovering from my fourth illness in the span of two months: Bronchitis, GI bug, a regular cold, and now the sinus infection from HELL. Seriously, I had to miss three days of work over it and my ears are still blocked.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Special thanks to my beta DanB86. As always, reiews are very welcome.