Hyaline
hahy-uh-leen adjective
1: glassy or transparent
Hermione was nearly down the stairs to the main floor when she heard Harry's wordless shout of alarm from the kitchen. Dropping her wand into her hand from its sleeve holster, she took the remainder of the stairs two at a time and sprinted toward the oak double doors of Grimmauld's kitchen. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight that greeted her as her feet, covered only in a pair of thick wool socks, rounded the corner too quickly and slid on the slick floor.
Severus Snape, his usual black robes conspicuously absent and exposing a number of dark stains that had her blood pressure rising, sat in a dining chair pulled a meter out from the table, calmly staring down the end of Harry's wand.
"Whoa," she said instinctively, her traitorous heart clenching at the sight of a wand between his eyes, "let's not be hasty." His eyes turned to her and she nearly shivered under the weight of his stare. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to talk," he answered her calmly, seemingly unaffected by her the way that she was by him. She had to suppress a shiver at the intimately familiar sound of his voice. "My wand is on the table, as is a vial of Veritaserum."
She heard Ron slide into the room behind her and turned to glance at him. His hair was mussed from sleep, but his eyes were bright and his wand was in his hand. "You!" he yelped.
She held her hand out to him in a calming gesture. "We're working on it." She summoned a length of rope and tossed it to Harry, who caught it easily. "He can use wandless nonverbal magic. Tie his hands behind him. I'll check the potion." Thank the gods neither boy thought to ask how she knew that he could.
Contrary to her belief of his indifference, Severus felt her distrust nearly as acutely as a knife to the gut but pushed it aside, choosing instead to be proud of her clear and logical thinking. She was using all the information available to her to keep them safe, never mind that she thought she was keeping them safe from him.
She kept her eyes on him as she crossed the room to the dining table and the vial waiting there. Seeing him wince as Harry pulled his arms behind his back caused her to flinch involuntarily. She'd seen him stitch up his own gaping wounds without a sound, so just how injured must he be to show his pain? Clenching her jaw, she shifted her attention from him to the potion on the table. The liquid was completely clear and transparent, as it should be. She weighed the small vial in her palm, rolling it to watch for bubbles that would indicate a fake. She pulled the stopper and wafted the air toward her nose. No scent. It could be water for all she knew.
"Why did you bring this?" she asked him.
"Would you believe anything I said without it?" he countered with one brow raised.
A fair enough question. She pursed her lips before returning, "That depends. Is it real?"
"There's only one way to find out, isn't there?" he challenged. "I trust you not to poison me." He tilted his head back in invitation.
Her heartbeat kicked into high gear as she stepped toward him. His lips parted, and she unconsciously licked her own dry lips. His eyes remained locked on her while she carefully tipped three drops into his open mouth. He licked his lips and swallowed dramatically.
"How do we know it's working?" Harry asked.
"I will be compelled to answer your questions honestly." It must be working already, he thought. Normally he wouldn't bother to answer the question.
"Why don't we ask him something he'd never tell us normally?" Ron suggested. He didn't wait for an opinion from his companions before he turned to their unexpected guest. "Right then, when was the last time you jerked yourself off?"
Severus's expression turned instantly stormy. Of all the idiotic questions. He clenched his jaw in an effort to remain silent, but knew it would be pointless. The serum would not allow him silence as a response. He was nearly choking on his own tongue to keep his answer down. "Yesterday."
Harry raised his eyebrows and exchanged glances with Ron, who wrinkled his nose.
Jesus Christ, if he hadn't wanted to know, then he shouldn't have asked a man dosed on Veritaserum, Severus thought.
"And what were you thinking about?" Weasley pressed.
He could feel her name crawling up his throat, but he swallowed down that particular detail. Instead, he twisted his response into a more general truthful answer. "My most recent partner."
Ron opened his mouth to continue, but Hermione cut him off. "That's enough," she snapped. "Clearly it's real and it's working. Why are you here?"
He turned his attention to her, his dark eyes holding her gaze. "I am here to help with whatever you need." Her eyes searched his, and he held himself steady for her perusal. He had nothing to hide from her.
"Why?" pressed Harry.
He glanced only momentarily at Harry before returning his gaze to her. "The Dark Lord needs to be destroyed."
"Why would you want that?" Ron scoffed. He crossed his arms across his chest, scowling at the older man.
He took a deep breath, fighting the compulsion momentarily to gather himself. "I have wanted that since I was twenty years old. The Dark Lord is evil and mad. I do not believe that I am as useful in my current position as I could be elsewhere." He continued speaking directly to her. The boys were extraneous. She was the only one he cared about convincing.
Her eyes narrowed. He recognized the look as one she wore when trying to work out a particularly complex puzzle. "Why now?"
He blinked a few times and worked his jaw, trying to slow down his tongue to frame the answer carefully. "I am injured for the fourth time this month after meeting with the Dark Lord and have found myself with no drive to return to him yet again. I hoped to find compassion here. I came to assist with his demise in any way that I can."
Ron barked a laugh. "Why would you find compassion here of all places?"
Staring into her emotionless face, he wasn't so sure that he had. Severus tore his gaze from her to send a glare at Ron fucking Weasley before looking back to Hermione. She nodded once shortly. She knew that the Veritaserum would pull it out of him whether he wanted to say or not. The answer was already eating a hole through his lips from holding out this long. "Hermione and I were recently in a romantic relationship. I hoped that it would still mean enough to her that I would not be killed on sight." That, at least, had been true. She hadn't let Potter put a reducto through his skull.
Ron's wand was in his hand again as he snarled, "He's lying. How is he lying?"
"He isn't lying," she said firmly. She felt three sets of eyes boring into her. She refused to meet anyone's gaze but his. It wasn't their business then, and it wasn't their business now.
"Did you shag him?" Ron demanded, his lip curled in disgust.
She crossed her arms and glowered at him, clenching her jaw in defiance. She did not owe him an answer or an explanation.
Unfortunately, Ron had a more obedient target option. "You then, did you shag her?"
Severus joined her in glaring at the redhead. He ground his teeth, determined not to answer, but it was not up to him. The serum clawed at his throat, forcing his reply across his tongue and out of his mouth. "Yes," he spat at the boy hatefully.
"Is this why you won't give me a chance, then?" Ron challenged. His face was nearly as red as his hair. Severus's gut clenched. Had the boy been trying to get with Hermione?
"This isn't the time," Harry snapped, but Ron cut him off with a wave of the hand.
"How long was this going on?"
"Eight months," Severus answered darkly. The happiest eight months of his meager existence.
Ron took a step backward. "Eight… Eight months? Were you fucking him when he killed Dumbledore?"
"That is none of your goddamn-"
He fell back on the same trick. "Were you fucking her when you killed Dumbledore?"
"Yes," growled Severus. This was a moronic line of questioning. It was not why he had come here. The stupid boy was wasting time. The Veritaserum wouldn't last forever.
"You fucked a murderer," he accused with a sneer, "but you won't-"
"Shut up, Ronald," she barked. She turned her attention back to Severus, her eyes still pinched with anger. His stomach turned at the thought of that anger turned on him. "Why did you kill him?"
This, finally, was a question that he was prepared to answer. He had considered long and hard how to answer the question in a way that would be impossible to misunderstand, twist, or misrepresent. "I murdered Albus Dumbledore," he had to acknowledge that murder was exactly what he had done – no more and no less – but the subtle tightening of her jaw did nothing to bolster him, "on orders from Albus Dumbledore."
The silence in the room was absolute for all of two seconds. The only thing Severus could hear was the pounding of his own heart. It was a truth he had been desperate to spill out of himself for months. The veracity of it had sat like acid in what was left of his soul.
"What?" hissed Harry.
Hermione spoke over him. "Why would he do that?" She suddenly felt an acute need to sit down. If this was true – and the Veritaserum that she had administered all but guaranteed that it was – then that would mean that Severus had never turned his back on them – on her.
"Albus was dying," Severus explained, his voice low but his eyes gentle as he watched her. He seemed to see the way that her thoughts were spinning. Of course he did. He had always known her best. "That blasted cursed ring that he'd put on was withering him away piece by piece. He did not want his death to be in vain. I had a way to gain footing from it, and so he ordered me to kill him. I was to ensure that there were witnesses and that there was no doubt of who had been the one to do it."
She didn't even remember moving across the room before she was pulling out a dining room chair not two feet from him. She nearly fell into it.
"You didn't betray the Order." Harry's voice was solemn.
"I did not."
As quickly as she had sat down, she slid to the floor, her hands going to the rope at his back, fingers fumbling with the knot. She couldn't wait another moment.
"Oi," Ron cut in, "he said that he didn't, not that he won't."
Hermione paused. Was that not a given? She supposed that it wasn't. The two were not the same.
Harry asked for her, "Are you going to betray us?"
"I would rather die," Severus growled.
Heart skipping a beat, she continued her work on the knot.
"That wasn't a no," pointed out Ron.
Hermione growled deep in her throat and moved partially around the chair to meet his gaze over his shoulder. Her breath caught when she realized just how close his face was to hers, but she swallowed thickly and asked again, "Will you betray us?" Will you betray me?
"Never," he breathed. "I will die before I knowingly endanger you or your cause."
A beat of silence followed. She glanced to Ron, who was scowling, but offering no further protest. "Right then," she said, returning to the knot at his back. The bloody thing finally came loose and she heard his hiss of pain at the forward movement of his arms. She stood swiftly, moving to hover in front of him. "Is it broken?" she asked, her eyes narrowing in on the awkward way he held his left arm.
He glanced at the boys, then back at her. "I believe so."
"Come on," she invited, "let's get you upstairs and I'll get you straightened out." She could see the ghost of a smile on his lips, and just the hint of it caused an answering smile to stretch across her face.
"Thank you," he murmured, rising from his chair.
Her heart did a little dance at his proximity, his presence powerful as always. She snatched his wand from the table and felt the warm tingle of his magic in her palm before handing it over to him. The tingle of his magic was nothing compared to the tingle of his fingers brushing hers as he took it from her.
"So that's it, then?" Ron sneered. "You're getting over it and taking him upstairs just like that?"
She curled her lip at him. "Yes. We had a good, real relationship, and we both deserve the chance to try it again." It didn't even occur to her that they wouldn't pick up where they left off.
Harry moved out of the way of the doorway, giving Severus a nod.
Hermione led the way up the staircase to the first floor landing and her bedroom there. After closing the door behind him, he locked and warded it. For a moment, neither of them said anything, just taking each other in.
"Gods, I've missed you," he breathed finally. She let her breath out in a rush and moved toward him, careful not to jostle his broken arm. He wrapped the good arm around her and pulled her to his chest. "Before this damned Veritaserum wears off, there are a few more things I want to tell you."
She shook her head. "You don't have to-"
"I know," he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, "but they're things I want you to know and I want you to know that I mean them."
She nodded.
"The time apart made me realize just how much I love you." Her heart nearly stopped and her head snapped up to meet his serious gaze. "I adore you and I do not want to be separated from you again." He swallowed. "I did not lie down there about why I came here today – I can't lie at the moment, if you haven't noticed – but it wasn't the only reason. I was privy to a conversation between Antonin Dolohov and the Dark Lord discussing the things they plan to do to you if they ever lay hands on you." He shivered. "I had to be with you. I had to protect you. I will keep you safe at any cost." He stared down into her eyes. "I mean it, Hermione. I will do anything it takes to protect you. Nothing that they spoke about will ever happen to you. Ever."
She licked her lips and pushed herself up on her tiptoes to press them against his lips. The contact was like lightning through her body after their months apart. "I love you, too," she murmured against him. "Thank you for coming back." She dropped back down to the flats of her feet and took a step back from him. "Now let's get you healed."
He nodded and allowed her to lead him to her bed, grateful beyond words to have her back in his life.
A/N: World still isn't flat, but I might be.
I'm out of practice, friends, so apologies if this word isn't up to standard.