Another Story

Chapter Eleven

In which many people learn what has happened

Severus awoke sometime during the early morning hours and began to whimper softly, awakening Hermione, who had just begun to drift to sleep herself after sitting up with him for most of the night. Minerva had dropped off her bag some hours before. Hermione lit the nearest candles with a wave of her wand only to find Severus reaching out for something with his right hand. There was an ache in the center of her chest as she glimpsed the golden pocket watch on the floor by the bed. His hand had unclenched in his sleep and the precious talisman had been lost. She picked it up and returned it to his hand. He clasped it gratefully and drew his hand back under the covers, holding the watch to his heart.

"I love you," she whispered, brushing his hair away from his face.

She saw a spark of emotion in his eyes. It vanished all too quickly, gone in the blink of an eye.

Hermione smoothed the covers for him and renewed the warming charms upon the linens. Severus watched her as she did so, and she wondered if he understood what was going on around him. Tears filled her eyes as she leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. He closed his eyes. She could sense that her presence comforted him. His body would relax slightly and the expression on his face would become more peaceful, less confused or blank.

She could not tell if he was in pain or not. She rather suspected that whatever Madam Pomfrey had given him was still working its magic, holding the discomfort at bay and keeping him calm, but no longer asleep. His eyes remained closed, but she knew that he was not sleeping. His breaths were coming in quiet, but uneven gasps.

"If only I knew what was going on in his mind ..." she thought, sitting down next to him on the bed.

Severus moved slightly, edging toward her, but he was too weak to do any more than that. The curse had left his body almost as damaged as his mind, but Hermione knew that it would be quicker to heal, requiring only a few days of potions, rest, and care. And his mind? Only time would tell.

"Go back to sleep," she told him as Severus opened his eyes and looked at her.

Hermione combed her fingers gently through his hair. Severus' lips moved silently. She held her breath and listened, hoping that he would say something, anything. But not a sound escaped.

"It's all right, Severus. You don't have to talk," she assured him.

He blinked slowly and his lips stopped moving. Had he understood? Hermione wasn't certain, but she believed that he might have. The thought cheered her ever-so-slightly. She smiled softly at him.

"Just rest," she said quietly, not knowing what else to say to him.

~

Remus Lupin returned to his apartment feeling more disconsolate and miserable than he had felt in days. He likened the sensation to being under the influence of a strong Confundus charm. He rested his head against the door to his rooms for a moment before even attempting to unlock it. The mental energy required was almost more than he possessed at that moment.

An emergency staff meeting had been called at the first light of dawn that morning. He had had no illusions as he hurriedly pulled on his robes and combed his graying hair before dashing to the staff room. It could not possibly be good news. Good news could always wait until after breakfast. He hated being right about that.

Neither Professor Dumbledore nor McGonagall appeared to have had any sleep that night. Remus had felt a chill as he had found a place to stand between Professors Sinistra and Sprout in the back of the room. The two women looked worried, but smiled as they made room for their colleague. Minerva, standing with Albus at the front of the staff room, had looked at him and shook her head slowly. Then he had glanced around the room and realized that Severus was not present.

"Our colleague," Albus had begun, sending another chill through Remus, "Severus Snape is currently unwell. For those of you who for whatever reason do not know, he was a spy for the Order of the Phoenix among the Death Eaters and it is because of that role that he is currently indisposed."

Remus heard Professor Sinistra at his elbow gasp sharply. She had not known. Remus remembered that her family had connections to the Dark Arts and that she had been a Slytherin herself. Not that anyone doubted her loyalty. Merely her association. Remus patted her shoulder and gave her a soft, encouraging smile. There were other professors who had simply not been told. Severus' safety had always been paramount to Dumbledore.

"Is he dead?" questioned Professor Beatrice Vector, never one to take such statements at face value. 'Unwell' and 'indisposed' could mean many things.

"No, he is still with us," said Albus.

It was becoming quite apparent to Remus that he was leaving something out, not giving them all of the facts. He respected the headmaster enough to play along, choosing to say nothing. Not all of his fellow professors were of the same mind.

"Then why the meeting, Albus? Is he permanently incapacitated or something?" asked the ghostly form of Professor Binns, who was hovering near the door. It was rare for him to take part in something so mundane as a staff meeting.

Albus looked over his spectacles at Binns, the only entity in the room older than himself, and said, "He was tortured under the Cruciatus curse for an extended period of time. Hours, by Madam Pomfrey's estimate. It remains to be seen whether he has been permanently harmed by the experience or not."

"Then he is ... for lack of a better word ... insane?" questioned Professor Sinistra hesitantly.

"Severus is currently not himself," Dumbledore nodded in affirmation. "He has been afflicted by Cruciatus-induced madness."

"And his prognosis?" questioned Remus, unable to hold his tongue.

Dumbledore's eyes drifted to Madam Pomfrey, who was standing quietly near the window.

She turned and sternly answered, "It is too soon to say, but we all know that few victims of the unforgivable curse recover their faculties after such prolonged exposure."

"At present there is no one other than myself who is fully qualified to teach the potions' courses, and I cannot devote the necessary amount of time nor energy to it because of the current conflict. Therefore all potions' classes will be suspended pending Severus' recovery, or barring that, until the beginning of the next term by which time a new professor must be found," Dumbledore informed them all.

"And his students?" questioned Professor Sprout, who understood Snape's other duties as head of house well.

"I am appointing Professor Sinistra interim head of Slytherin house," said Dumbledore, looking at the petite witch and smiling slightly. "I am sure that Severus would not wish an outsider to look after his students," he added.

"Thank you," Anna said softly, very much surprised.

Remus knew that one of the older and more experienced professors might have been a better choice for the job, despite their conflicting house affiliations, but the choice of Sinistra made sense too. She was only of the few Slytherin professors at Hogwarts, one of four, including Severus. Sibyll Trelawney was not even present at the staff meeting, not to mention she was a total loon. He glanced at the professor of Ancient Runes and realized that he was too ancient himself to hope to hold his own in the den of snakes during a time of war. Remus looked at Anna and knew that despite appearances, she would do well in the absence of the true head of Slytherin house.

"I would ask that the details of this meeting not be divulged to the students at this time. If any should make inquiries regarding our colleague's absence, tell them that he is under the weather. I do not need to impress upon any you of the importance of not frightening our pupils and maintaining order within the school," said Dumbledore before dismissing them.

Remus had wanted to linger, but he could tell that the headmaster and his deputy headmistress had things to discuss and filed out with the rest of the professors, all of whom, despite any personal grudges against Snape, seemed rather subdued.

Remus opened his eyes with a soft sigh as he unlocked the door to his rooms and walked inside. It would be a few hours before breakfast was served. In the meantime he wanted nothing more than to see Severus for himself.

"And what of Hermione?" he mused, wondering how she would handle or was handling what had been done to the man with whom she had confessed to being in love. Remus collapsed on the couch and held his head in his hands. "This is too grotesque to be real," he thought, realizing how few days it had been since Severus and Hermione had discovered their feelings for each other. Fate was cruel.

After a few minutes of unhappy thoughts, Remus decided to pay a visit to the hospital wing to see his colleague, whom he also considered a friend.

~

Lavender Brown was waiting at the bottom of the stairs that led to the seventh year boys' dormitory when Harry and Ron came down that morning. The female Gryffindor prefect for their year had a peculiar gleam in her eyes, one that Harry recognized. She had some particularly juicy gossip this morning. Of course, he noted, she also looked just a little worried.

"Guess what happened last night," she said in a quiet, almost conspiratorial voice after the young men both said their good-morning's to her.

"What?" asked Harry, absent-mindedly touching his scar, which no longer hurt.

"Professor McGonagall had me pack a bag for Hermione. Do you suppose she's gone somewhere? Rather exciting, isn't it?" said Lavender. "But you can't tell anyone, I've told you," she added. "Unless, of course, you two already know something ..."

Ron and Harry exchanged glances, but Ron spoke first, "Not a bloody thing, Lavender."

"All right then," she said, shifting her eyes to Harry, being well aware of the conflict between Hermione and Ron, but not its nature.

"Same here," Harry replied.

Lavender shrugged and said, "Well, secrets aren't secrets very long around here. I imagine it will all come out by the end of the day."

When she had walked away, presumably going to find Parvati or one of the younger girls in their house, Harry sighed softly and turned to Ron.

"This cannot be good," he said.

"So do suppose this is about him then?" asked Ron uncomfortably, referring to the potions' master.

Harry had informed him the night before after his visit to see Madam Pomfrey that Snape was at a meeting, and all that was implied by that fact, and that Hermione was waiting up for him. Ron had nodded and inquired about Harry's scar. The pain had diminished significantly by then, replaced by a sense of dread and horror that Harry could not shake off that was probably only marginally related to the mark Voldemort had given him.

"Snape? If something happened to him ..."

"Yeah, Hermione wouldn't want to leave him," Ron agreed, feeling only a slight twinge of jealousy. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew that Hermione would do the same for him, that she would stick by him because of their friendship if anything ever happened to him.

Harry nodded and said, "She wouldn't. But this probably means that it's very serious."

"You don't think he's dead, do you?" asked Ron.

"No, he wouldn't do that to her," answered Harry quickly.

"He might not have had a choice."

Harry took a deep breath and said, "There are ways of finding out."

"The Invisibility Cloak?" asked Ron, raising his eyebrows.

"Actually, I was considering asking Professor McGonagall. I think she would at least tell us where Hermione is, maybe more."

"Harry, Lavender said that this is supposed to be a secret. I don't think McGonagall is just going to tell us what happened last night. Do you?" questioned Ron.

Harry saw his point. Professor McGonagall might not be the best choice for someone to go to for information.

Of course, there was always Remus. The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was good at keeping secrets, but Harry also considered him something of a friend, especially after the events of the previous year. Remus had even offered to take him in for the summer between his sixth and seventh year. Harry had opted to stay at the Weasleys for most of the holidays to be with Ron and the rest of his family in the wake of Sirius' death. Staying with Remus would have been too painful, or so he had believed at the time. Now, a bit older and wiser, Harry knew that it would have been better for them both to have had someone to lean on.

But the question of the moment was, would Remus tell them what happened? Would he confirm or deny their speculations?

"Remus?" Harry suggested to his friend.

"All right," Ron agreed, having a rather sizable amount of confidence in the werewolf who loved his sister.

~

Remus had just returned from the hospital wing where he had had a nice, long chat with Poppy Pomfrey, who had surrounded herself with all the latest books and articles regarding the Cruciatus curse and how to treat all of its side effects and related complications. It was rather obvious that she had been at it for quite some time. Remus had offered her a few suggestions regarding research and reading materials, as the curse was heavily studied in his field, but relatively few advances had been made in the last fifty years.

He had asked to see Professor Snape, wanting to judge the severity of his symptoms for himself, only to be told that Severus was being kept in his chambers for his own safety, comfort, and privacy. That did not bode well in Remus' opinion. Poppy had also added that Miss Granger was monitoring his condition.

"Is that wise?" Remus had asked before thinking better of the question.

"Miss Granger is quite capable. You of all people should be able to attest to that," Poppy answered.

"No, I mean, is it wise for her to see him like that?"

"Severus is reasonably calm at the moment, or he was when I left them. It is hardly more than Miss Granger has seen before," answered Madam Pomfrey. "But, yes, I understand what you mean, Remus. It is very cruel for a young girl to see someone she loves ... like that. But I think it would be far worse to keep her away from him. Albus and Minerva both agree," she added, almost as though justifying the decision, which was not something she needed to do for Remus.

"May I visit him, Poppy? Severus and I reached an understanding of late, and I would like very much to see him," said Remus.

"As far as I am concerned, you may, but you should also consider Miss Granger's feelings in the matter," she answered sternly.

"Of course," he had replied before returning to his rooms.

Remus was sitting on his couch with a pot of floo powder in his hands, contemplating his visit and what he might say to Hermione, when there was a quiet knock on his door. It was still a while until classes began. As he left his seat and returned the vessel to its place on the mantel, Remus more than half hoped that it was Ginny, coming to see him about something or other before breakfast. While he could not tell her what had happened during the night, he very much wanted to see her that morning. But when he opened the door, he was surprised to find Harry and Ron standing outside with very serious looks on their faces.

"Remus, can we come inside?" asked Harry.

"Of course," he answered, opening the door wider and gesturing for them to enter. "Is there something that I can do for you both this morning?" he inquired, but already knowing exactly why they were there. Hermione was not in Gryffindor Tower that morning and they wanted to find out where she had gone. Remus was rather flattered that they had come to him, but he didn't know what he would tell them.

Harry looked at him very solemnly and said, "We suspect that something happened to Professor Snape last night and were wondering if you could tell us anything."

Remus looked at him incredulously for a moment. Harry and Ron as good as knew what had happened. The staff had hardly known for a full hour.

"How did you ...?" he began to ask, forgetting himself for a moment. "I mean ..." he said quickly.

"So it's true," Harry interrupted.

Remus motioned for them to sit down on the couch as he nodded slowly in confirmation. There was no keeping secrets from these two, but he knew them well enough to know for a fact that they could be discrete.

"Professor Snape was ... injured," he said, groping for a suitable word, "at a Death Eater meeting last night. Do you want to tell me how you knew?"

"My scar. Well, partly at least. And Hermione was gone last night," Harry explained.

Remus knew all about the scar. He had witnessed Harry grimacing and touching the lightning shaped mark more than once in class and had questioned him about the matter during the previous year. He had been almost surprisingly forthright, considering that Harry was very secretive by nature, not unlike a certain potions' master and spy for the Order.

"Can you tell us ... how bad off he is, professor?" asked Ron awkwardly.

Professor Lupin looked at him for a moment and thought, "Will wonders never cease? Ron Weasley has just asked about Snape's health," He shook his head and replied, "I haven't seen him yet, Ron. I was just on my way down to his rooms when you and Harry arrived. Madam Pomfrey says ... that it doesn't look good for him."

"He's going to die then?" questioned Ron, staring at the floor with an inscrutable expression.

"No, he's mad, isn't he, Remus?" Harry asked him.

"That's right, Harry. You've done your homework," Remus nodded with a wry smile.

"Can we come with you?" inquired Harry.

Remus hesitated. He didn't want to refuse them callously, especially since Hermione was down there too. It was beyond difficult to separate the trio, or it had been before Hermione had taken up with Snape. But then would it do more harm than good to permit them down there? Those afflicted by the madness induced by the curse could become volatile with little provocation and that was the last thing that Remus, or any of them, wanted to happen.

"We won't cause any trouble," added Ron.

"You'll leave if it becomes necessary?" asked Remus sternly, looking at them each in turn.

"Of course."

"Very well then," said Remus with a nod, taking the floo powder from the mantel piece. "Let's go," he said.

~

Albus Dumbledore was sitting at his desk with a copy of the early edition of the newspaper when Minerva walked into the office. A few of the more lively portraits on the walls smiled knowingly at her. In other circumstances she might have blushed, but she was too distracted and overwhelmed to respond even to the eyebrow wiggling of long dead Headmaster Osborne. Albus looked up from the paper and smiled at her. But she didn't miss the worried and thoughtful look that the smile masked. Minerva had known him too long.

"Anything in there that I should know about?" she inquired, taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk and nodding toward the paper.

"There were no Death Eater attacks reported by the Ministry last night," he informed her.

"You mean besides the one on Severus."

"Yes," he nodded.

"He would be ... pleased ... to know that no one else was harmed last night," said Minerva after a pause.

"He would never say so."

"Gracious, no," Minerva agreed, clenching her hands together in her lap.

"It also means that they are preparing for something. Almost seven straight weeks of attacks is not interrupted by just one man. I think that preparations for another battle, another desperate defense of our school, should be started ... now," Albus told her.

"When will you inform the students?" asked Minerva, nodding somberly. It was not unexpected. They both knew that Voldemort was planning to strike again soon.

"This evening in the Great Hall. He struck in the light of day last time. I believe this attempt will come during the hours of darkness."

"Any word about his ... supporters?" she asked.

"I have sent an owl to Alastor Moody. He will know if there has been any disturbance at Azkaban," said Albus. "He has been watching the island for sometime."

"And the werewolves and the giants?" inquired Minerva, remembering that they had only just managed to keep both parties neutral during the last battle thanks to Remus, Hagrid, and Madam Maxime.

"No word," said Albus, shaking his head. "But we cannot afford to send Hagrid away again at the moment."

"Of course not," she agreed.

"Everything will work out, Minerva. We have powerful allies, Moody and his friends, and all of our colleagues. Hogwarts is a force to be reckoned with. Remember that."

"And the students," she added.

"Yes, and most of our students will rise to the occasion," he said quietly. "Your generation seemed to grow up fast, as did those who lived during the first war with Voldemort, but they are growing up even faster."

"I wish ..." she started to say, but merely shook her head.

"I know. So do I," Albus chuckled. "Perhaps this would cheer you up just a bit," he said, taking a bag of lemon drops from his desk.

"I couldn't ..." said Minerva.

"There was a time when you enjoyed them very much. Please, I insist," he said, leaving his desk and placing the bag in her hands.

"Very well," she said, reaching into the bag.

Minerva half suspected that it was just Albus' way of easing the tension and lightening the mood, which was one of those things he did that often made other people, students especially, think that he was a little mad. But when she reached into the bag, she didn't find any lemon drops inside. For a moment she thought he had handed her an empty bag, giving a little credence to the opinions regarding his mental heath. Then she felt something brush against her fingertips. She gasped aloud as she realized that it was a ring.

"Albus!" she said, pulling it from the bag.

"I ran out of romantic ideas, I'm afraid," he said, shaking his head as she slipped the ring on and looked at it with a stunned expression on her face. "I would have given it to you sooner ... last night in fact ... but the owl that was bringing it here was blown off course or some nonsense like that. I would rather have fetched it myself, you understand, but ..."

"It's lovely," she interrupted.

He leaned against his desk and said, "I had hoped you would like it."

"I do," she said, looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

"No, that part comes later, after we win the war," he replied with a twinkle in his eyes. "And I believe that we will prevail."