What Is Left When All Is Said and Done

Chapter 10

The two of them looked down at the Stunned body of Peter Pettigrew.

"It's a bit gruesome, don't you think?" he inquired of her plan. She shrugged in response.

"He owes Harry a Life Debt," she said without feeling.

"I see," he said, so grimly that it startled her. Hermione suddenly realized that Snape owed her one as well now, and she quickly tried to correct his assumption.

"No! I didn't mean --" she exclaimed, horrified by what he might think of her.

"Hush, child. I know. I just wanted you to consider the full consequences of what you mean to do." He watched her take a deep breath and exhale slowly.

"Yes. It'll be one less thing for Harry to worry about after we heal him."

"Very well then." She raised her wand, but before she could do anything, Snape grabbed the hand holding it.

"Let me do it." She turned to face him, angry that he was stealing this from her.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Because, it's an Unforgivable and aptly named. You'll never forgive yourself for doing it." Before she could protest further, Snape drew out his wand and Ennervated Wormtail.

"Wha--"

Snape immediately cast a second spell on him. "Imperio!"

In mid-sentence, the man shrunk in size and turned into a rat. Hermione and Snape watched him scamper under the door and out of the room.

"Do you really think it'll work?"

He raised one eyebrow at her. "Are you really doubting my abilities as a wizard?"

"No, I --" She stopped when she realized he was teasing her. "I just hope I never have to see him again."

"Yes, let us hope for all our sakes that that is the last we shall ever see of Mr. Pettigrew." He opened the door and motioned for her to exit. They walked down the stairs and back into the foyer.

"What now?" she said, turning around to face him.

"Now, we eat." Hermione would have protested, except just then her stomach growled in response to her not having fed it anything since the night before.

"Fine." He conjured a small, round wooden table and two chairs, instructed her to sit in one of them, and then disappeared behind yet another hidden door. When it took longer than a minute for him to return, she couldn't control herself any longer and went to inspect the bookshelves. Her fingers slipped along the spines as she read the titles. There were books here that she was already familiar with but some that she had never heard of. What really surprised her, however, was finding a copy of An Essential Collection of Original Fairy Tales by A. Dumbledore stuck between two massive tomes of potions. She carefully slid the slim, blue hardbound book out and opened it. There was an inscription inside the front cover that read:

To my dear Severus,

May you one day find your happy ending.

Signed,

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

"The Headmaster thought it was important"-- Hermione quickly shut the book in surprise at being caught -- "that the old tales were not forgotten and reduced to the simple, sweet mockeries that they are today." He was carrying a tray of food and set it down on the table.

"I...I didn't mean to --" started Hermione, unsure of whether or not she was in trouble for not having remained seated and looking at his library without permission.

"It's all right. I should have known better than to expect the great Hermione Granger to be able to sit in a room full of books without opening one." She blushed then, not knowing whether it was because of her reputation or hearing him say her full name for the first time. "Come, sit. And yes, you may bring the book with you."

He had prepared chicken and potatoes with gravy and some steamed broccoli on the side. It looked and smelled delicious. An empty glass goblet sat beside each of their plates. When she looked up at him inquiringly, he answered her unvoiced question.

"I think we would both prefer to drink untainted water with our dinners, don't you?" It took her a second to understand what he meant. She nodded. He raised his wand and cast, "Aguamenti!" while pointing to each of the goblets. After they were filled with water, he raised his to her.

"To new beginnings," he offered.

"To new beginnings," she echoed. She did not wait long after taking a sip before tucking in. The smells emanating from the dish reminded her of just how ravenous she was. She was a few bites in before she realized that he was staring at her.

"What?" she said in between bites.

"It's just that...never mind." He shook his head.

"What?" she demanded.

"You remind me of Mr. Weasley when you eat like that." Ron. She dropped her utensils. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have reminded you --"

"No, it's okay." She took a deep breath. "It will get easier, right?"

"Yes," he lied. She knew he was lying because of the way he hesitated before answering her, but she accepted his answer anyways. Changing the topic so that they wouldn't dwell on the previous one any longer, she asked, "So what's our next step?"

"'Our'?"

"Yes, 'our'." We need to find --"

"There is no 'we', Miss Granger."

"What do you --"

"I shall go revive Albus, and then he and I will figure out a way to restore Harry. You will go back home and stay there until this is all over."

"You can't possibly mean --"

"This is no longer fun and games, young lady; this is not another adventure with Harry and Ron. There are lives at stake here, girl!" He pounded on the table to emphasize his meaning.

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?" She pushed her chair away from the table and stood up. Don't you dare let him see you cry again. "Don't you think I know that what happened today is because of me! You can't expect me to just sit back and watch you fix everything for me. You need me! Without me, you wouldn't have known about Dumbledore; you wouldn't have --"

"SIT DOWN!" Years of listening to his instructions as a student made her respond automatically to his order. "I don't want you" -- he said in a deadly serious voice -- "becoming like me. Do you understand?" She could only blink in response. "I still blame myself for Lily's death. But back then, when she first died, it was all that drove me, this need for atonement, for reparation. In penance, I became a two-edged fine blade, a perfectly honed weapon for Dumbledore to use but that none other could handle." He splayed his hands out to either side of him on the table. "I became the man I am today, Hermione, and I will not have the same happen to you." She let his words die down into a silence that lasted a few moments.

"No," she said as she leaned forward and grasped one of his hands. "No, you won't let that happen to me because you'll be with me. Just like before, up in the room with Wormtail. But you do need me, just as I need you now." She felt his hand tighten in response. "We're in this together, Severus," she finished.

"And I suppose if I refused, you would hex my balls off right now?" To her credit, she didn't flinch when he correctly surmised that she was pointing her wand under the table at that exact location.

"Yes," she said sweetly.

"Very well then. I see I have no choice in the matter."

"Don't think I don't know that you're trying to placate me now in hopes of catching me later and shipping me home."

"No, Miss Granger, I don't believe I shall ever underestimate you again."

"'Hermione'."

"Excuse me?"

"You called me 'Hermione' before. I'd prefer it if you would call me that from now on."

"As you wish --" he said with a wry smile -- "Hermione." He took another sip of water. She noticed that he didn't reciprocate and ask her to call him Severus, but she supposed that was too much to ask for at the moment. At some point earlier in the day, though, he had ceased being Snape to her and would forever be Severus. And he would just have to deal with that.

"So how do you propose we"-- she made sure to emphasize the word, -- "wake Dumbledore?"

"Well, I suppose since you are so determined to be part of this, you may assist me in my research after dinner."

What seemed like hours later, and after many inches had been added to the table so as to provide space for the multitude of books now lying upon it, Hermione felt no closer to solving the problem than before.

"There's no mention of it in here either!" She closed the book a tad more energetically than she normally would have due to her frustration. He had assigned her the task of looking up references to the modified Draught of the Living Dead, the one that Voldemort had used to keep the Inferi asleep until either someone tried to magically summon the item they were to guard or touch the liquid itself. She slumped back into her chair. "He must have made it up," she said in defeat.

He barely looked up from the book he was reading. "Yes, I believe he did," he said nonchalantly.

"You knew? Than why did you make me waste the last --" she cut herself off.

"Yes?"

"You're just trying to keep me busy. What are you reading?"

"Nothing a young impressionable mind such as yours should be looking at." When she reached over to try and grab it, he only tapped her fingers with his wand. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He let the threat stand unfinished, knowing that she could fill in the blanks on her own.

"Hmph." She settled back into her seat with her arms crossed and glared at him. After a few moments of silence, she ventured, "You're not finding anything useful either, are you?"

"I might, if you would cease your useless prattling," was his reply. But the edge in his voice bespoke the frustration that he was feeling as well.

Feeling useless, Hermione decided to start stacking up and putting away the books that had made their way from the shelves onto the table. As she picked up the largest of them, she found the small book of fairy tales that she had brought over before dinner. Curious about its contents, she left the tall stack of potions books alone and curled into as comfortable a position as she could muster in the wooden chair. After Hermione had readjusted several times, the chair suddenly transfigured into a much cozier armchair. Hermione looked up in surprise at Severus, who was still reading his book intently but with a smirk on his face now. "Show off," she muttered before settling in quite comfortably.

The first story in the book was the tale of Snow White. She read through it quickly, and it seemed fairly similar to the Disney version that she had seen as a child with her father except for the very end. She was used to the prince kissing Snow White awake, but in this version, the princess awoke only after the piece of poisoned apple fell out of her mouth when the prince's servants stumbled while carrying the glass coffin she was sleeping in. An idea started to form in her mind. This time, she closed the book with a bang because she was excited and not out of frustration.

"Severus!" she exclaimed, jumping out of the chair. "I've got it!" He looked up at her but didn't seem very happy that she had broken his concentration once again. That didn't stop her from continuing though. "We don't need to find another potion to counter the effects of this one, we just need to draw it out of him!" Her comment had piqued his interest now and he looked up at her after putting a marker into his book and closing it.

"And how do you propose to accomplish that?"

"Like this!" She smiled and pointed her wand at the goblet in front of her. "Accio water!" The water from the cup sailed straight to her, and it was a testament to how tired she was that she didn't even blink when it splashed all over her.

Severus took one look at her -- still holding with her wand out and dripping wet with eyes and mouth agog -- and laughed. Great big guffaws erupted from his throat, and he was almost in tears by the time he stopped.

"I'm so glad you can laugh at my expense," she said sourly, which only made him laugh all over again. In the end, he had to clear his throat a few times before he could speak.

"I'm -- ahem -- very sorry you failed to -- ahem -- see the humor in your situation, but even you have to admit, seeing the great Hermione Granger felled by her own spell is quite a sight to behold." He reached out to hand her his napkin. She took it from him crisply and used it to try and pat herself dry. He continued to look at her until her frown broke.

'Well, yes, I suppose so," she said stiffly, but what she was really thinking was, That's twice he's referred to me as 'the great Hermione Granger"! Was that really how he thought of her?

"I don't suppose you've brought a change of clothing with you?"

"No, I'm afraid I didn't think I would be needing one."

"In that case --" he said and pointed his wand at her. Instantly, her clothes became as warm and dry as if they had just come out of a dryer.

"Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome." What could have remained as a warm, but slightly awkward moment was shattered when Severus suddenly tensed, as if hearing something Hermione could not. Gone was the relaxed, almost pleasant expression he had had on his face, to be replaced by one she was much more familiar with.

"Come here!" he ordered, as he stood up so swiftly that his chair fell behind him. Hermione was completely confused and starting to get frightened. When she did not immediately obey, he swooped down on her and pulled her to him, enveloping her with his arms. "Hold on to me," he whispered harshly to her.

"What's --" But she did not get to finish her sentence as she suddenly heard "Reducto!" being shouted from outside. Whether or not they were successful in blasting the door open, Hermione did not find out as Severus Disapparated the two of them away at that very moment.