AN: Hello, fanfiction and Harry Potter fans. I do not own Harry Potter, but feel free to enjoy this or hate it. If you enjoy it, please leave a lovely comment, if you hate it, then leave some constructive criticism, thanks!
Can You Take the Jump?
Chapter 25
"Who'd you get?" Hermione asked Severus. A Cheshire grin spread on his face. Hermione turned to search for his name to see: Severus Snape—James Potter.
Her eyes traveled to the boisterous and confident boy standing at the opposite side of the hall. His eyes were also trailed on them, grinning like mad.
…
Hermione cornered Severus before his dueling match. She knew he didn't want it, men rarely did (boys even less), but he needed some advice or else he was seriously going to hurt himself, or worse, embarrass himself.
"Use the situation." Hermione gripped at his collar, keeping him in place, forcing him to listen to her. "If all else fails, use the situation."
Severus nodded but he wasn't even looking at her, keeping his hungry eyes at the dueling podium. Hermione hesitantly released him, allowing him to step on the stage.
Lily motioned her to sit with her on the sidelines as Severus Snape and James Potter stood on the dueling stage. Knowing the animosity between the two boys, Dumbledore himself supervised the match.
Even at first glance, it was obvious that James Potter had been taught to duel from an early age. His stance was much better, more balanced, ready for attack or defense.
Severus simply stood at his end of the stage, watching his opponent. It was smart. Although Severus lacked the experience and knowledge that James had, Gryffindors tended to duel with their hearts and not their heads. Severus had a good chance at winning if he simply kept his cool and made calculated moves.
"Dad's going to attack first." Harry whispered into her ear. "He's too impatient not to."
Hermione shook her head, "They'll attack at the same time."
"Mr. Potter? Mr. Snape? Are you both ready?"
They nodded.
"Duel!"
Unlike the other duels, James and Severus wasted no time before firing a spell at each other. They didn't need time to analyze each other's moves, since they've had countless practices in the halls.
This duel was more than just a match, this was a fight for their pride. Whenever Severus lost, he'd blame it on the fact that James had backup from the other Marauders, but whenever James lost, he'd blame it on Severus's backhanded and nasty tricks.
This stage was a supervised one-on-one duel that would prove which boy was the better dueler.
James threw a powerful impedimenta towards Severus. Severus, who'd predicted the attack already had a shield charm up, but he hadn't anticipated the strength of the attack, causing the shield to shatter, and forcing him to sidestep to avoid the spell. Taking full advantage of the Slytherin's broken form, James threw other offensive spells in the Slytherin's direction with impressive accuracy.
"Dad's attacks are too slow." Harry frowned.
"He's teasing him, trying to make him angry," Hermione answered for Harry, but Lily nodded instead.
"Oh, Sev." Lily groaned as she covered her eyes with her hands.
The duel continued in a similar fashion where both boys showed impressive wand work and knowledge of advanced spells, but it was clear that James had the upper hand. The reason was simple, James had the stamina and agility to support a long and drawn-out duel, while Severus did not.
"Come on Snivellus," James taunted, "you always complain how I'm unfair for going against you with my friends around but look at you! You look as if you'll pass out any second!"
"Man, my dad's a dick." Harry shook his head. "I kind of want Snape to win at this point."
Hermione frowned at the obvious Gryffindor preferential treatment shown by Dumbledore. Potter was obviously crossing the line by not following dueling etiquette, but their Headmaster said nothing.
"Is that all you've got Snivellus? You sure talked big for all these years, it's too bad you've nothing to show for it." Potter's taunts amplified in effect when the other Gryffindor's were booing, and Potter's girlfriend was screaming James's name.
Hermione could see Severus's focus wane from the exhaustion and discouragement, he was out of breath and sweating, but there was fury in his obsidian eyes.
BOOM
Lily yelped in surprise by the explosion on the dueling stage. A powerful Blasting spell from Severus's wand caused the stage to crumble. Using the dust and smoke as cover, Severus released a fast string of hexes and jinxes in James's direction. Severus's enthusiastic spell casting could be heard throughout the entire Hall, and when he finally felt he'd gotten Potter, silence ensued.
"Evanesco." Dumbledore expelled the air from the dust, and everyone was able to properly see the destruction Severus caused to the dueling stage. The entire floor on Potter's side was completely crushed, leaving nowhere for Potter's feet, but that was the problem, he should've been sprawled on the floor somewhere, out of bounds. Instead, he was nowhere to be found.
"Over here!"
Severus spun around and jumped back to see James teasing him from behind.
"Expelliarmus!" James fired, and the red spell burst out of the end of his wand.
With impressive instincts, Severus dropped to the floor to avoid the spell.
Potter, also impressed with Severus's newfound agility, gave him a moment to stand up. However, this only managed to infuriate and humiliate Severus even further. His biggest attack had failed and was given mercy by his opponent.
"You can do it, Sev!" Lily shouted over her booing Housemates. "Go Sev!"
Both boys' eyes flickered to Lily.
There was obvious disappointment in Potter's eyes. Hermione could see it in his entire posture which seemed to slouch at Lily's words. Severus noticed too. An uneasy feeling settled in Hermione's gut when Severus's eyes clouded over, and an uncomfortable smile spread across his face.
"Hermione, his wand." Harry pointed out, but Hermione was already staring at it. Instead of pointing at his opponent, the tip of his wand was slightly off to the side, pointing at them, or more specifically, Lily.
She could see his lips forming an incantation, followed by wrist movements. Hermione didn't know what spell he was doing, but at that moment, with nonsensical blinding fear, she thought that a green burst of light would come shooting out of that wand and Lily would drop dead next to her.
"NO!"
She threw her entire body to shove Lily to the floor. She could feel the energy from the spell buzz past her as it hit the wall where Lily was standing a split second ago. Hermione lifted her head to see no scorch mark on the stone. Whatever the spell was, it wasn't the Killing curse.
Unexplainable relief flooded Hermione's body, she quickly turned to Lily who was rubbing the back of her head.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, just knocked my head on the floor."
Hermione's face turned blank as she marched to the dueling stage. Severus had effectively used the distraction to disarm Potter, but there was no joy on his face, rather fear as Hermione slowly approached the stage.
Dumbledore stood in front of her, successfully cutting her off from standing in front of Severus with her wand out, "Miss Evans—"
"How dare you," Hermione demanded, completely ignoring Dumbledore's presence in front of her as she stared into Severus's eyes. "How dare you."
Severus turned away from her chilling gaze. Her voice was powerful and crisp like the winter winds. The silence that followed was like the quiet moment before the thunder rumbled after lightning lit up the sky.
"Hermione," Dumbledore warned in her ear.
"Shame on you, Severus." She spat out his name like an insult. "Shame on you for falling for that moment of weakness. Expelliarmus." Severus's wand flew to Hermione's hand with incredible ease.
Unlike Hermione's quiet rage, Potter was shouting as he struggled against his magical binds, "He cheated! He used Lily as a distraction! You Slytherin scum!"
Dumbledore looked down at Hermione's rage trembling form and gave her a firm nod. "Severus Snape, you are disqualified for disregarding the rules set by the school and the government regarding the involvement of other persons outside the duel whether it was with or without malicious intent. The duel will rule in James Potter's favor."
…
That night, Hermione was sitting by the windowsill of her room in the Room of Requirement when a familiar owl flew into her bedroom window.
"Hey Ink." She cooed at the dark-colored owl. "What does Alphard have for me?"
Alphard's large Great Horned Owl stretched out its legs to reveal a note tied to it.
"My room. Now. -A"
She sighed when she read the blunt note. She'd expected a talk after what happened with Severus's duel earlier that day but wasn't sure what the talk would entail since Alphard probably felt as conflicted as she did.
She threw on a sweater and glanced at two potion vials on her bedside counter. She hesitated but grabbed them just before she stepped out of her room.
She walked down the corridor towards the moving staircase when she met Sirius.
"Oh." They both stopped.
She looked down at the small bundle of cloth emanating a sweet aroma in his hands.
"Midnight snacks?" She asked.
"Yeah." He nodded. "You?"
She pulled out the note from her pocket and showed it to him.
"Who's A?" A frown deepened on Sirius's face.
"Your uncle."
The crease between his brows disappeared, and his mouth made an 'oh'.
"I think he wants to talk about Severus's duel today, and more importantly, my involvement in it."
"You did the right thing," He reassured. "Lily even had to go the Hospital wing because she hit her head."
"That was my fault." Hermione rubbed her hands together and squeezed them.
Sirius had seen her do this on several occasions, he wondered if they were a nervous habit. When she started rubbing them again, he grabbed them, both hands fitting inside his hand.
Her hands felt as cold as the stone walls around them.
"I don't have great blood circulation." She explained, trying not to stare at their touching hands. She hadn't realized how big Sirius's hands were compared to her own.
"Come on." He started pulling her down the stairs. "I'll walk with you until your hands warm up."
"Sirius, that's not—"
"Just listen for once."
Hermione relented, so they walked, hand in hand all the way down the dungeon. He gave her a warm treacle tart to hold and eat so that the other hand he wasn't holding could warm up as well.
When they arrived, Sirius turned to her with a hopeful look in his eyes.
"Do you want me to stay?"
"I'm not sure if that's a good idea." She carefully slipped her hands out of his. Her hand warmed up significantly. "I'm pretty sure he called me to yell at me."
"Then having his favorite nephew there will only be beneficial," he smiled, then proceeded to knock heavily on the door twice before giving her a chance to respond.
"Hermione?" Alphard opened the door but was taken aback by the additional presence of his nephew standing outside the door. "Sirius?"
"I'm just an uninvited guest," Sirius explained as he walked into his uncle's private room without invitation.
"Sirius, maybe you should go back to Gryffindor Tower. This is my problem."
"Oh, it's fine. He can stay, we have tea every Wednesday anyway. Besides, it won't take long." Alphard gave her an easy smile as he ushered her inside and closed his door behind her. When he turned around, Sirius waited expectantly while Hermione looked uncomfortable.
"Right…tea?" He suggested.
"I'll make it." Hermione volunteered. She headed to the kettle and the cabinet that stored all of Alphard's tea and coffee.
"She's been here before?" Sirius asked as he watched her navigate around the room with ease.
Alphard nodded as he settled into the seat across from his nephew. "She stormed in after the Welcome Feast, demanding to know why I was here and not in the hospital."
"Not that you ever gave me a proper reason," Hermione gently levitated 3 steaming mugs on the coffee table and placed it in front of each one of them.
"Just because you don't like my reason, doesn't mean it's not a proper reason." Alphard chuckled, then sipped the Earl Grey with milk she'd given him. The warm liquid dripped down the back of his throat, warming his insides. He loved Hermione's teas, they always hit the right spot.
As he was about to take the second sip, he could taste an off aftertaste from his first sip that he had never tasted before. He frowned. He traded looks between the tea and Hermione who simply stared.
"Hermione, what did you…" He felt his entire body sway and his vision blur. "Sirius! Don't drink that!"
Alphard knocked the mug out of his nephew's hand. The ceramic cup shattered when it hit the floor, splashing all its contents onto the floor, but that sound was nothing compared to the sound of a full-grown man tumbling to the floor as if he'd had too much to drink.
"Uncle Alphard!" Sirius jumped from his seat and shook the older man. He groaned a few times but soon fell still and silent.
"UNCLE ALPHARD!" Practically screaming, Sirius turned his wild eyes to Hermione for some help, only to see her regretfully staring at his broken cup, as if she was saddened that its contents had gone to waste.
Sirius's blood turned cold. He quickly stood up and fumbled around his clothing in a search for his wand.
"What did you do?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
His eyes flickered between her and his uncle who lay unmoving on the floor.
"Don't fucking move, Evans."
"He's just sleeping," Hermione reassured. She tried to take a step forward to prove that Alphard was fine, but Sirius sent a Stinging Hex right in front of her foot, which scorched the wooden floor.
"I said, don't fucking move."
Hermione calmly put her two hands up, showing she would cooperate.
"Sirius, I promise you, he's just in deep sleep."
"I don't fucking believe a single word that's coming out of your mouth right now."
"Check him yourself. You'll see he's still breathing and if you check his pulse, you'll feel the steady rhythm under your fingertips."
"Like I'd be stupid enough to let my guard down and check on my uncle while you stand there."
"So what then?" Hermione asked. "Are we just going to stand here until Alphard wakes up?"
"DON'T SAY HIS NAME!"
"Sirius, I have the vial of Dreamless Sleep Potion I used in my robe pocket, right now. You can just levitate it out of my pocket and check yourself."
He looked incredibly apprehensive but followed her instruction. A small vial floated into his hands with purple liquid swirling around inside. He popped the cork off with his teeth and took a whiff. He might not be the best potioneer, but he knew Dreamless Sleep Potion from his own experiences with it.
"You drugged him?"
"He's hiding something."
"And you couldn't just ask him?"
"You don't think I've done that?" She retorted. "He's lying about something."
"So, you drugged him? What is wrong with you?!" Sirius cried, finally dropping his wand when he realized that the girl in front of him wasn't a threat, she was just crazy.
"Look," Hermione tried to explain. "I know your uncle a lot better than you think. He and I have spent years together, probably longer than I've spent time with my own fucking family. So, I'm telling you that he's hiding something, something so big that he quit the job he loves to teach… Defense?!" She shook her head as if there was a joke he didn't understand.
"I know you don't understand, but something is going on. I knew your uncle was never going to tell me unless I forced it out of him."
The incomprehensible look on Sirius's face slowly melted. She was starting to convince him.
"This is why I didn't want you in the room, but when you insisted on staying, I tried drugging you too so that I wouldn't have to deal with… this entire scenario."
Sirius shook his head, forgetting for a moment that she'd prepared a drugged tea for him as well.
"You're insane, there had to be a better method than this!"
There probably was, but she could argue back that there was nothing quite as easy.
Silence stretched between the two students as they took in the mess around them.
"When will he wake up?" Sirius finally asked.
"He only had a sip, so I've probably got 5 minutes. Max?"
"F-five minutes?! From a sip?! How strong is that thing?!" Hermione managed to look sheepishly at him. "5 minutes better be enough because you're not drugging him any more than you already have."
Hermione took no moment to hesitate. "Accio letter of Termination from St. Mungo's." But nothing happened. "It's not here."
"Maybe it's in his house."
Hermione shook her head, "No if he was fired, he would have kept it here because he wouldn't want Eileen to know."
"Who's Eileen?"
"If it's not here, then…" Hermione paused to think.
"Hermione, who's Eileen?"
"Shhh!" She shushed, "Oh my God. He didn't get fired. He quit."
"My uncle quit the hospital? I thought you said he loved his job."
"Exactly." Hermione nodded, "So then why would he quit? The only reason Alphard would ever quit his job would be because he was no longer fit to heal people."
"What does that mean?"
"He doesn't have a gambling problem or an addiction. He would never break ethical rules, nor would he give up on a patient, which leaves only one other possibility. He's sick."
Hermione ran to the cabinets and threw every one of them open, digging through to find a clue.
Deep in the lowest cabinet, behind a box of spare inkpots, she saw a little basket of medication. Pain killers. All of them. She lifted every bottle and vial out of the basket to double-check.
"What's going on? What are those?" Sirius asked when he heard the change in Hermione's expression. The devastation was clear. "Hermione?"
She ignored him as she quietly approached the sleeping man.
Alphard was groaning now, slowly waking up from his drug-induced sleep. She seated him up and took a careful look at every inch of his exposed skin.
"Oh, Alphard." Hermione could feel the tears well in her eyes when she found the irregularity she was looking for. "Oh my god."
"What is it? Why aren't you answering me!" Sirius finally blew up in frustration and anxiety when he heard Hermione's stoic voice tremble.
"Take a look yourself," Hermione told him as she moved aside.
With a flick of her wrist, a ring of bluebell flames appeared around Alphard, giving Sirius some light to get a better look at his uncle in the dimly lit room.
"What am I supposed to be looking at?" Sirius asked as he stared at his uncle's sleeping form.
"The waterline in his eyes, the skin at the corner of his lips, the ridges of his ears, the skin beneath his nails."
Sirius's eyes traveled to the areas Hermione was describing when he noticed a similarity between all of them. In the light, Sirius could see the faintest color of green peaking through his skin. It was very subtle, something you could brush aside as odd lighting or an olive undertone, but Blacks didn't have olive undertones.
"I-I don't understand."
"You will." Hermione promised. She took out a second vial from a different pocket and uncorked it.
"I said no more drugs."
"This is going to wake him up." She reassured. "He just needs to smell it."
She put the bottle close to his nose and wafted the aroma towards him.
Like she promised, in three inhales, Alphard's eyes fluttered open. It took him two seconds to come to his senses, then his eyes widened.
"HERMIONE, WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME DO YOU THI—"
He froze when he looked into her beautiful hazel eyes. Sadness filled those eyes to the brim even though not a single tear was visible. It made him stop breathing.
She got up from her seat and sat next to him and laid her head on his shoulder, he felt his heartache at the contact. She had never been a very touchy girl; she never ran to him for hugs or kisses, nor did she ever grab him for attention. But now she was leaning against him, but whom she was comforting, Alphard didn't know. It could have been him, but it could have been herself.
Sirius watched uncomfortably at the rather intimate moment, feeling like an intruder in their space. He'd never known Hermione nor his uncle to be affectionate people, but the two sat together, quite literally leaning on each other for support.
He felt like he had to leave, but he had questions.
"What is going on?" He asked for the nth time.
"He's sick." Hermione told him. "He's got—"
Hermione was cut off when Alphard lightly tapped her arm. He reached into his wand holder and lowly raised his wand to his face and whispered two words, "Finite incantatum."
What was revealed, made Sirius jump back, knocking his chair to the floor. He placed his hand over his mouth and nose and took a step back, tripping over his knocked-over chair.
This uncle's handsome face was green with puss oozing from dark craters caused by dragon pox-ridden scars. His grey eyes inherited by all the Blacks were bloodshot as his hair had lost all its luster and sat matted and limp on his head.
Hermione gasped. Even though she'd known, she had no idea that it was this bad and progressed this far.
"I'm not contagious, Sirius. You don't have to worry."
"H-holy shit." Sirius took a hesitant step towards his uncle. "Fuck."
"Language." Alphard weakly reprimanded.
Sirius couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes at his uncle's insistence on using proper English at a moment like this. "It's Dragon-pox. But…but that can be treated."
Alphard shook his head. "Usually, but not me."
"What does that mean? Are you…" Sirius felt sick and faint all at once. "Are you dying?"
Hermione stood up, unable to digest the conversation.
"I'll give you guys some time," she whispered, then practically ran out of the room, and shut the door behind her. She stumbled to the ground and dry heaved on the floor. Her hands were ice cold once again as they gripped the tiles, searching for some tangible stability, something her body couldn't provide.
Both men in the room were too wrapped up in their emotions to soundproof the room. The progression of their conversation started with shouting, then there was a crash, and then a few more crashes. Sirius was reacting badly to the news. Then she heard the most painful thing, the sobs.
Sirius was crying and Alphard was dying.
And she was…she didn't know what she felt.
"You failed him." Hermione Granger stood in front of her, towering over her with her bloody clothes and casting a long and dark shadow onto her life as Hermione Evans.
How pathetic. Nearly 16 years, and you still can't save a single person." The condescending tone never disappeared. "I guess we're all fucking doomed."
Her eyes burned and her breathing turned erratic. She could hear her heart racing in her chest, but she hated that it was working so hard to keep her alive. Why was it working so fucking hard? She wanted it to stop or rip apart instead of beat. Drops of tears fell from her eyes, but she refused to make a sound. She didn't deserve it.
There was a guttural pain, but it wasn't sharp and raw, it was just a numb and hollow feeling. As if her body had gotten used to the pain of losing someone.
She waited for Sirius outside of Alphard's room for what felt like hours. Her arse was getting sore and numb, but she didn't move from her spot. She couldn't bring herself to see Alphard tonight, but she needed to stay and see if Sirius was okay. It wasn't like she was confident that she could offer true words of comfort, but she just… she needed to see him.
Finally, the door opened.
The green and gaunt face of Alphard emerged from behind the door and helped Sirius out of the room.
When he saw Hermione standing there, he clenched his jaw. They looked into each other's eyes and made an unspoken agreement that they would speak later. Not tonight, it had been long enough.
Sirius's eyes were red and swollen, as tear tracks lined his cheeks. He looked paler than before, exhausted from the events of the past hour.
"Sirius."
His eyes flickered up, looking in her direction, but not really seeing her.
"Sirius," Hermione stood up and stepped closer to him. She slowly stretched out her hand, unsure what state he was in. Perhaps he didn't want her company or her comfort.
Despite her worries, Sirius took a small step toward her but crumbled to the floor.
Hermione quickly caught him, trying to hold as much of his weight as possible so that the impact to his knees would lessen. She held him tightly, while gently placing him down on the floor, then sank to the floor with him.
They shared no words, but they shared that moment of sorrow. She held him and let him cry until there were no more tears.
…
The morning after.
Severus slammed his books onto the table next to her at the breakfast table, but she didn't even blink.
"I lost."
Hermione could tell by the grit in his voice that he was trying to control his temper.
"Hermione, are you fucking serious? Didn't you just hear me? I lost the match because of you! If you hadn't interfered, I could have won!"
"Okay." She replied lifelessly, as she stirred the bowl of oatmeal that'd gone cold. The fresh raspberries that were added last minute had now turned into mush from her excessive stirring coloring the beige meal pink.
Severus scoffed at her lackluster response. "You're unbelievable, you know that?" Severus slammed his hands on the table. "You're the one who fucking told me to use the situation!"
The pounding in her brain threatened to crack her skull open, but this boy was screaming in her goddamn ears.
"You're not the only one who can shout when they're angry!" Hermione glared. "I told you to use the situation, NOT Lily. Severus, one day you'll be in the same situation with an even more difficult opponent and an innocent bystander that's not Lily. If you're so quick to use Lily as a sacrifice just to win some schoolyard competition, you'll choose to sacrifice someone to win again, and that time I'm not so sure it's going to be a simple hair curling charm." She shook her head with disappointment. "You can't even own up to the fact that you've made a mistake, so you're using my well-intended advice as an excuse for your fucked up behavior."
She slammed his wand, which she took after his duel, on the table in front of him.
"Fucking mudblood." Hermione turned to the new voice behind her. Travers stood there with Mulciber next to him with a vicious grin on his face. "Know your place. Snape may be a half-blood, but he's still purer than you. Snape here was only doing what needed to be done to win the match, who cares if your mudblood sister gets a little hurt."
"Is there a problem here?"
Alphard pushed himself into the group of Slytherins. Hermione could tell by his raspy voice that he'd only woken up a few minutes ago. Just the sight of him forced her to turn away and take a second to compose herself, knowing she would start crying if she didn't.
"Get back to your seat Mr. Travers and Mr. Mulciber. Let's not start anything, first thing in the morning." Alphard warned.
"You don't have to act like that around us, Professor Black. She's just a useless dumb mudblood." Travers smirked.
"50 points from Slytherin for foul language and disrespecting your fellow peer! You will also have detention with Mr. Travers, tonight."
Alphard glanced at her worriedly, but Hermione's blank face remained to stare soullessly back at him. He felt unsettled at her gaze, having seen it before. It was the same blank gaze after a bad night terror when she was younger. She looked paler than usual, even her glamor charm wasn't as perfect as it usually was.
"And I believe Miss Evans is a lot brighter and incredible than you think." He looked directly into her eyes as he spoke. "You will watch your tongue, am I understood?"
Travers and Mulciber looked disgusted at their professor's words. Travers mumbled something as he walked past her, under his breath that Alphard couldn't hear.
"Blood traitor, I bet he's fucking her too, just like Malfoy did."
Hermione became enraged with white-hot anger. No one defamed Alphard like that.
Hermione stood from her seat and stormed up to where Travers was eating his breakfast. He heard her stomping and stopped her by pointing his wand at her chest.
"What makes you think you're superior to me? Your intelligence? Your looks? You lost a duel with my muggleborn sister in 3 minutes moron, don't think I didn't see that." She asked not minding the pointed wand directed at her heart.
An ugliness rippled through Travers as he sneered. "I am a Pureblood."
"Your blood? That's all you've got? Some plasma, specialized cells, and platelets? You magically worthless piece of shit."
Travers stood up so fast that his plate slid off the table and clattered on the floor. Markham Travers was much skinnier than Anton Mulciber, but he was part of the Sacred Twenty Nine. Even Hermione had to admit that there was power in that title, she needed to be incredibly careful about the next thing she was going to say.
"What did you say, mudblood?"
"Mr. Travers! Miss Evans! That is enough!" Alphard tried to intercept their escalating fight but to no avail.
"I bet," Hermione paused, and looked at the Slytherin table who sneered and turned their nose up at her. "I bet I can overpower all your friends and win this stupid competition."
"Miss Evans!" Alphard tried pulling her back, but she shook him off.
Mulciber laughed. "You really think you can win this competition?"
"Why? Scared you'll lose?" Hermione mocked.
"I'll take your fucking bet and when I win," Mulciber's eyes traveled up and down Hermione's body. She repressed the vomit that threatened to come up. "You'll be my obedient bitch for the rest of the year. Let's see if those rumors have any truth to them."
"And if I win," Hermione narrowed her eyes at the bastard. "You're my bitch."
…
Lily had woken up late this morning in the hospital wing after the incident with James and Severus's duel. After a lengthy checkup by Mme. Pomfrey, Lily skipped breakfast and headed straight to Transfiguration. She hated the Hospital Wing, the sterile smell reminding her too much of the sleepless nights her family spent in the waiting room of St. Mungo's hospital after one of Hermione's many relapses.
Lily rested her head on her desk, as she traced her finger on carving someone had done years ago of their initials that matched her own.
L.E.
Severus was the one who found the marking for her, claimed that it was her seat with that dopey smile of his. Unbeknownst to him, the seat had comforted her in many ways, so she was always grateful to him. As a young 1st year, she interpreted it as a sign that she belonged in this crazy world for wizards and witches because she had a designated seat while no one else did.
To her, Severus had been her safety net. The one person of this bizarre magical world that would accept her, even if nobody else did, yet he threw a spell at her to win a duel.
"Lily!" Marlene McKinnon barged into their Transfiguration classroom.
"Marlene! Merlin, where's the fire?" Lily joked at her frantic friend, but seeing her friend's pale and sweaty face, she turned serious. "Oh my god, are you alright?"
"It's not me you should worry about, it's your sister!"
Lily sat there listening to Marlene retell the story with a confused look on her face. In fact, she had to ask Marlene to repeat herself because there was no way Hermione could have been so reckless and so stupid.
"Marly, there's absolutely no way Hermione made that deal. You must have heard wrong." Lily laughed in denial. "My sister's not the type of person to take such stupid bets. My sister's not the type to bet, in general!"
"Marlene! Did you tell Lily? Lils, what are you going to do?" Mary MacDonald had rushed into the room with the rest of Lily's roommates. Lyana and Alice looked equally worried which only built the anxiety growing in Lily's chest.
"Lily, I didn't imagine this bet, it really happened. Everyone saw."
It was Lily who was now pale and sweaty.
"Evans, your sister's insane!" some boys from Ravenclaw commented as they walked into class and settled to their seats. The class was starting to fill up and everyone was talking about what had transpired during breakfast.
"Man, I don't think I've ever seen Evans pay attention in class. I'm surprised she even made it to 5th year without failing. Why would she make a stupid deal like that?"
"Probably because of anger. She's been Slytherins' punching bag since 1st year, right?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you bet that you can win the dueling championship. I mean, she's going to lose."
"Yeah. Lose badly."
Lily shook her head in denial as she listened to her classmates' talk. "My sister is the type of person who plans out her life down to the very breath she takes. She would have never done this." Lily abruptly stood up. "I need to talk to Hermione."
"Sit down Miss Evans." McGonagall had entered the classroom.
"Professor, I need to see—"
"You may see her after my class." McGonagall gave her a pointed look that Lily simply could not ignore. Slowly, Lily reluctantly sat down in her seat and started picking at the cuticle on the side of her thumb.
…
On the second day of the Dueling Championship, everyone waited with anticipation for the duels to begin. Mulciber stood in the center of the Great Hall, waiting for Hermione to enter the stage and entertain them all, like a puppet.
Lily's roommates stepped into the reorganized Great Hall with trepidation, nervously glancing at their roommate. Their eyes were wide, asking the whereabouts of her sister.
Many people assumed Hermione had chickened out of the bet, but Lily knew better. She knew Hermione was good with magic. She didn't care much about theory or school work but her sister used magic like it was as simple as breathing.
Then why was she so scared?
Oh yeah, because her sister was a fucking Obscurus, and she might kill everyone in Hogwarts if she lost control.
"Hey, Mudblood Evans!" Travers called out. "Where's your sister? Did she get scared? I hope she knows that if she doesn't show up, we're going to make someone else fill in for her end of the deal." His black beady eyes traveled down her body.
Feeling completely violated just by his gaze, Lily shuddered. Unconsciously she wrapped her loose robes around herself, but someone stood in front of her, blocking her from Travers's roaming eyes.
"Keep your filthy eyes to yourself, Travers." James snarled at Travers's perverted eyes. Sofia, whose arms were loosely around James's stuck her tongue out at Markham Travers. She then turned around and helped cover Lily with her own body.
"Are you alright?" She gently asked.
Lily smiled and nodded at the kind gesture.
"You might have to send out a search party for the other Evans if you don't want yours to be licking mud off Slytherin boots, Potter."
"No need for that." Hermione claimed as she stepped into the Great Hall, her hair slightly disheveled like she'd just rolled out of bed. Her eyes looked around as if she was looking for someone. Her eyes fell on an uncharacteristically serious Sirius. His red eyes had some darkness beneath them, as he stood next to his friends. He met her eyes staring intensely.
"Where have you been?!" Lily ran towards her sister. "Are you insane? Why would you make this bet?"
Hermione produced an easy smile. In any other context, it would have been a simple smile, but Lily could only read it as a sign of impossible cockiness.
"You don't think I can win?"
"I…" Lily paused. "Your odds are good, no, great even, but that doesn't mean you should be gambling on that!"
Hermione gave her sister a reassuring pat, "I know what I'm doing."
Great Hall's door opened once more, causing Hermione and Sirius's eyes to snap towards the sound. Alphard walked in, smiling, and chatting with the other supervisors. He seemed so normal, like he wasn't sick or dying.
Sirius wore a confused expression on his face. He didn't understand why Alphard was here instead of the hospital, why he was acting like he was fine when he wasn't.
What Sirius didn't understand, Hermione did. Lying in a hospital bed, helpless and vulnerable only invited pitiful looks and sad, unhelpful conversation. Alphard was faking it, faking being healthy, fearless, and unworried, and he was doing it well. After all, he'd learned from the best; herself.
"Hello, class." Alphard announced merrily as he walked into the class. "Welcome to the second day of the competition. I know that there has been some talk about a bet," he glanced warily at Hermione and Mulciber. "But any malicious and dehumanizing actions will be severely punished."
The class remained silent while indiscreetly staring at the two people in question, but Alphard sighed and moved on, knowing a warning would not deter either participant.
"Okay. Let the duels begin!" He flicked his wand and the scoreboard reorganized based on the previous day's victors and their new opponents.
The crowd rushed to see who Hermione's newest opponent would be, but all Slytherin grumbled in discontent, while Lily sighed in relief.
Peter Pettigrew—Hermione Evans
…
"Hermione," Harry spoke softly next to her. "Remember, you're trying to help him avoid being the person he's supposed to be and help him be the person he can be."
Hermione stood on the dueling stage, staring down at her opponent. All the confidence Peter Pettigrew had in school was because of his three friends, but this was a solo fight. Pettigrew's trembling and pitiful form hadn't changed over the years. Despite Harry's warning, she couldn't deny that there was immense temptation to break his arms beyond repair so that he couldn't even begin to think of joining Voldemort.
Unable to withstand the anxiety any longer, Pettigrew threw the first spell. A Stinging hex. It wasn't powerful, but it wasn't feeble either, Hermione assessed. He must have picked up some tricks from his friends. She easily deflected the spell and stepped closer to him, causing him to step back from intimidation.
Annoyed by her lack of participation or even getting into a proper dueling stance, Pettigrew threw another spell, then another. Soon he was casting continuously, but each time she deflected it or dodged it, as she stepped closer and closer to him. The closer she was, the further he wanted to be. Strategically it made sense, magic was a long-distance weapon, not very useful for close combat, but soon she was too close and he could feel those hauntingly deep eyes staring at him. Peter knew the only way he could win was to throw her back. He needed to use a spell strong enough so she couldn't deflect, but also push her back.
"Stupefy!" he cried out.
It was a well-performed spell but well wasn't good enough for Hermione's Protego charm. The red jet of light bounced back and hit Pettigrew right in the gut. A mark that would remain permanent on his body and leave him hospitalized for two days if she was lucky.
Completely frozen from his own incantation, Pettigrew fell back off the stage, onto a generously spongified floor, outside the boundary line. An alarm bell rang announcing his foul, thus his defeat.
"Hermione Evans, win!"
Without a single attack, Hermione Evans had won her second round. Markham Travers and Anton Mulciber glanced at each other with a frown, realizing that they had more reason to worry about the outcome of this bet than they'd thought.
…
Knock knock
Alphard paused his grading to open the door, "Hermione. Welcome."
It had taken her a full week to come to see him after she found out his news. He wasn't angry that it took her this long, in fact, he anticipated for her to take longer to process his current situation.
"The professors are talking about a change in you. Apparently, you've changed this year; you're attending all your classes, doing your homework and assignments on time. Can I credit your changes to me?" He joked.
She remained silent.
"I'm proud of you for making those changes."
She blinked.
"You know, we never ended up talking about Severus's duel with James Potter." He glanced up, hoping there was a change in her apathetic expression. "I hope you're not sorry for doing it. I hope he is suffering from those consequences and regrets them deeply. Perhaps it will teach him a lesson for how he treated you for all those years."
Her eyes flickered. Finally, a reaction.
"Sirius told me during our Wednesday tea. He told me how Severus treated you. He was a coward." Alphard fumed, fire burning in his eyes. "He's spineless for doing what he did. Losing a duel wasn't good enough. Why didn't you tell me? I knew the other Slytherins weren't going to treat you fairly, but I never worried because I thought you and Severus were watching each other's backs. I should have known."
"He's been better. Until the duel, he was better." The seal on her lips finally broke. "But I'm not here to talk about Severus."
"Well, I am."
Alphard started his long rant about how Severus didn't deserve her forgiveness. Comments about his immaturity, childishness, cowardice, and so on and so forth continued to spew out of Alphard's mouth continuously. Hermione watched, letting Alphard pull the conversation away from the real reason they were here. Neither of them wanted to talk about what needed to be talked about because vocalizing it would make it so much more real, so focusing on her being bullied was easier.
"And how dare he sit in dinner every day in my house—"
"When did you get sick?" Her voice was ominous, cutting him off before he said something he might regret. Severus and Alphard may have a difficult and awkward relationship, but it was something both would grow to treasure. If Alphard were to finish his sentence, he would regret it until he died.
The sudden change in topic was jarring, but he was glad she stopped him.
"This summer." He sighed. "I made a house call, only to find out that it was late-stage Dragon pox too late. He was still highly contagious. I walked in with no personal protective equipment."
"Who?"
"Does it really matter? He died."
"Who?"
"Healer-patient confidentiality, Hermione. I can't tell you."
She bit her tongue, clearly biting back what she wanted to say, but he didn't need her to say it, he heard all of it from Eileen already.
"When?" She whispered. It was the real question.
"We…we don't know for sure. It's strong and violent. I took the dragon pox cure afterward, but it didn't work. There's always a small portion of the population in which potions have almost no effect. But it does slow it down, just not as much as I would have liked."
"When." She demanded.
"A year or two if I stay bedridden at the hospital? A few months if I don't." Alphard told her. "They'd be pumping me with Dragon Pox cure, Belby would stick needles in me and use me like a lab rat, as he does with you, except I won't stabilize, just continuously deteriorate. The only difference would be the rate."
To anyone else, he would have sounded far too casual, like he wasn't being serious enough in a devastating conversation, but this was Alphard in healer mode. Fact over emotion. Nonchalance over tearful hugs. He was dying, but he wasn't going to waste time weeping over it.
"Belby might surprise you."
"Do you think I should go to the hospital?"
Anyone else would have screamed yes. There was no doubt in Hermione's mind that Eileen begged Alphard to stay in the hospital, Healer Bones begged him to do the same.
The truth was, if Hermione were to tell him to go to the hospital, he would have listened to her. She was the only person who could force him to get admitted as a patient. He would have respected her wishes. But at the same time, she was also the only person who wouldn't tell him to do that, and he knew it.
She understood his decision.
She had been bedridden and stuck in a hospital for most of her life. She knew what it meant to be Belby's lab rat, to be the recipient of countless false hopes and pitiful looks. It was hell. Instead of being known as Alphard Black, the individual, a prominent figure in the magical medical community, a healer. He would be patient Black. The last memories everyone would have of him would be wasting away in a bed, helpless and waiting for death.
"I didn't think so." He nodded at her silence.
"Why here?"
"To see you. Of course." He spoke like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I know it's terrible, but I'm slightly glad. I always thought I would be the one to have to see you die. To bury you and hold that pain in my heart until I eventually died too. I feared being the survivor more than dying. There was a small part of me that was relieved when Belby told me the Dragon Pox cure didn't work."
She should have been furious about his answer, but she wasn't. Even this morbid sentiment, she understood him. Being the survivor had made her mad and traumatized her for life. Being the survivor had put her in this situation. She didn't want her life for him. In a weirdly sentimental – yet horrific – way, she was glad he was dying first too.
She would take this pain like she took all the rest. She always worried about how she would pay him back for all the things he did for her in this life and for all the things he lost because of her in this life.
Hermione could not think of a more fitting atonement.
…