Hidden Truth

10. Return To Me

Work in the infirmary was hectic, the air was warm and sticky. Professors as well as students worked in tense silence.

Severus Snape tried to put as much faith into Potter as was possible for him; not that much, indeed. If he wasn't needed in the infirmary, the Potions Master would do the research all by himself. Snape had the sinking feeling, though, that after Voldemort had used Potter's blood again to accomplish his goals, they would need the boy himself to put out the wards. What a prospect.

After seemingly endless hours, Snape retreated to his personal chambers. He felt tired and utterly drained. Added to his new medical duties, Severus had also had a few more visions over the day. They were much shorter than the last ones, but took him by surprise, nonetheless. Some were of his time as Voldemort's Death Eater, a few of his mother and even as the spy of the Order.

Too tired to do anything else but sleep, Severus opted to inform the headmaster first thing the next morning, and went to bed.

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"Tabloid Charm, Tabula Rasa, ah here it is, the Tarantula Spell, let's see ..." Hermione read the text in the spell listing and took notes, her quill scratching madly against the dry parchment. "Dark Magic, belongs to the group of the Warding Spells, Light Magic counteracts the wards with this simple spell ..." Hermione leafed through the book to the mentioned page and looked through the description, nodding now and then. "Sounds easy enough, I think I could manage it. Tomorrow I should be able to test it."

"That's it?" Ron asked, doubting. "It can't be that easy. A simple light spell should take out this super-dark magical warding? There must be a catch to it."

"True," Harry confirmed. "Why should Voldemort use such difficult Dark Magic if we could put it out so easily? Even with these 'repercussions' we have yet to find out what they are, he should have known that we would find the counter-spell in one of Hogwarts' library books."

"Maybe he thought we couldn't read."

"Oh well, never look a gift horse in the mouth."

"It's a Muggle proverb," Harry explained to the confused looking Ron.

Hermione started to leaf back to her previous page, as suddenly the door to the library flew open. A cool gust rustled through her unruly hair, letting the old pages of the tome flatter dangerously. Taken by surprise, Hermione yelped and tried to keep the book safe. Ron and Harry tried to make out what tried to enter, but the wind was now so strong, that they had to shield their watering eyes.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" The high-pitched scream shattered the relatively calmness before the storm. The wind died down immediately afterwards to a mere gust, as a human-sized figure flew over the library desks, the eerie coldness touching Hermione's forehead, ripping the book out of the girl's grip and sending it crashing to the far side of the chamber. "Merlin help me! He's going to kill me! He already-"

"Peeves?" Harry asked, who had recognized the ghost immediately. He squinted his eyes to follow the luminescent spirit around, as he flew madly from one side to the other, sometimes flying through book shelves, other times banging against them. "What did you do to the Bloody Baron again?"

"Who cares? Merlin! Are you mad?" Ron yelled, pressing one hand to his chest to soothe his racing heart. "This is not funny! Stick to your stupid jokes, pranks, songs or whatever you like! If you should've not noticed yet, I'm gonna tell you: This is a very tense state now, you stupid git! Your little show here did nothing to improve the situation, DID YOU GET THAT?!" The redhead's breathing was ragged as he finally finished his tirade. He obviously needed a vent to steam off.

Harry shot a cautious glance towards his friend, then went to help Hermione to gather the pages that were ripped out of the tome. Unbeknownst to them, one page had sailed directly into the roaring fireplace, the paper was already crumbled to ashes, the last word 'lethal' not to be read anymore. Harry put the lose pages into his inner-robe pockets to protect them from the still freely flying poltergeist.

"Hahaha," Peeves laughed shrilly. "Stupid children! If you don't want me, all you have to do is say so! I'll take my petty problems then and leave!" The ghost snorted and flew twirling through the ceiling, creating a small whirlwind by the way. Books were splattered onto the floor, shoved out of the various shelves. The air in the library was livid afterwards, as Ron screamed that the ghost should have done so in the first place and let out a stream of various other choice words.

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Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way to the headmaster's office, shortly after Snape had retired to his rooms for the night. Hermione was especially quiet, cradling the tome close to her quest. After Peeves had left the library, they had looked the torn out pages through. Alas, exactly the page with the Tarantula Spell hadn't been there; bad luck indeed. They had searched everywhere, Ron even performed a tracking spell, leaving him exhausted due to the lack of magic, but there hadn't been a trace of said page. At least, Hermione still had her notes on what she had already read about the spell. Everything they had now to do was report to Dumbledore and put down the wards. Finally it really was coming to an end after being stuck at Hogwarts without prospect of escape too soon. Hermione's parents hadn't maybe even heard about what had happened in the Wizarding World. Ron's parents, on the other hand, were worried sick for sure.

They walked past a small door and Hermione stopped suddenly, turning around to the boys, who had been following her quietly.

"Guys?" she said, handing the book and her notes to Harry. "Would you mind terribly if you'd be going alone to Dumbledore?"

"Eh? I thought you were so excited about what you found ..."

"You'll do fine, Ron," Hermione answered, forcing a little smile. "I'm not feeling too well. Just a headache," she added quickly to forestall the boys' objection at leaving her behind when she was ill. "I'll drink something and then head to bed to get some more sleep. Wouldn't want to try the counter-spell with this hammering in my head."

"You sure, Mione?" Harry asked, torn apart. He did understand how painful headaches could get, and Hermione had never complained about such things before. But on the other side, he wanted to get over with informing Dumbledore.

"Yeah. Go on. See you tomorrow at breakfast."

"OK," Harry said, still not convinced, eyeing her critically. Ron seemed to have similar thoughts.

"I'll be fine," Hermione laughed quietly. "Off you go."

As Ron and Harry were out of sight, she let out her breath. She went a few meters back and pushed open the door to a bathroom, which didn't seem to be used too frequently. It was pretty cool inside, causing Hermione to pull her robes tighter around herself to avoid shivering. After she'd adjusted enough, she pulled out her wand, pointed it at herself und muttered a refreshment charm. Immediately, she felt a bit better. The pain in her lower back, though, was still there, and the cold air around her didn't do her any more good. Quickly, Hermione put also a warming spell around her mid-section, and sighed contentedly. This indeed felt better now.

Hermione drank some water from the sink and then gazed into the mirror. She didn't want to worry her friends, but at least they weren't as embarrassed as the last time she let on that she had this 'girl stuff' sometimes. Hermione grinned as she remembered how red both Ron and Harry had turned, not quite sure of what they should say or what to do. These were things most boys didn't want to know about.

"Oh well," Hermione sighed, then frowned slightly as she heard a faint cracking sound. She could only stare wide-eyed as the mirror in front of her suddenly split from the middle. It was as if it was happening in slow motion, but in fact, it was too fast to follow.

And then, Hermione felt herself knocked over to the side, landing with a thud on the hard floor, as the mirror exploded into hundreds of pieces. The girl covered her face with her sleeve to protect it from the razor-sharp chunks of glass. Surprisingly, though, she wasn't hit by even one.

"Who's there?" she asked with more confidence she was really feeling, as she sat up, rubbing her sore shoulder. "I know you are here ..." she went on, warily squinting her eyes to see if she could make out someone. Quietly groaning, Hermione got to her feet and went to block the door, which seemed to be the only escape. Someone had knocked her over, she had felt someone's body protect her from the mirror pieces. If she wouldn't know for sure that Ron and Harry were currently at the headmaster's office, she would have sworn one of them had used Harry's invisibility cloak. Had anyone else such an item, too?

"Show yourself," the girl said, this time trying to sound more friendly. Maybe her rescuer was only extremely shy? "You don't have to be afraid ..."

"I don't have to be afraid?" a quiet voice asked out of nowhere.

Hermione's eyes widened considerably. She stuttered incoherently, grabbing the door behind her for support. "S-show yourself!"

"I'm not able ... yet."

"Use your own voice then!" Hermione cried, tears starting to build in her eyes. She couldn't stand to hear it again, even if it once was her favourite tone.

"But-"

"AT ONCE!"

The temperature in the bathroom seemed to sink even lower. The serenity was treacherous, and Hermione knew that she wasn't alone. The tension was almost unbearable as she waited for a response she knew she wouldn't be able to fight.

"It's my voice, Mione."

"Draco?" she asked, hating herself for the childlike hope being unmistakably in her own voice. "Where are you?"

"Right in front of you," he whispered, stepping closer.

"But how ... why ...?" Hermione asked confused, trying to look Draco into the eyes, but all she could see was thin air.

"I don't know," the Slytherin answered, quietly. "I just know that I'm supposed to come back as ... well ... a ghost." Draco chuckled insecure. "It seems as if it will still take awhile till I'm a 'real ghost', whatever that means. I just kept slipping in and out of here during the last days, you know ..."

Hermione felt something cool brush her cheek and leaned into the touch, reaching out with her own hand. Suddenly, something clicked in her mind and her head snapped up from where her hand had obviously found her love's chest. "You were here? I-I guess I felt you the other day in the Great Hall ..."

"Yeah," Draco chuckled. "That was me. I was following you around." Hermione could just see the smirk on his face.

"Y-you kissed me!" she gasped, as she remembered how something cold had brushed her lips that made her fall from her seat. She had thought she had gone mad, but now she couldn't even be mad at anyone. "How could you?!" she asked, nonetheless.

"You never complained before," Draco replied, indignantly, leaning even closer so Hermione could feel his surprisingly warm breath on her face.

"B-but you're supposed to be-"

"Dead?" he cut her off. "So what?"

Hermione was a bit taken aback by that answer. He was dead, so what? Normally that would mean the end of a relationship. Was this an exception? Somehow, the girl couldn't quite picture herself with a non-living partner.

"Stop crying," Draco chastised her quite roughly. "You know I don't like it."

"I can't stop it, you stupid prat!" Hermione cried, throwing her hands angrily in the air, as her tears kept streaming down her face. "You were ... ARE dead! I thought I'd never see, or hear for that matter, you again! What will you do? Punish me for showing emotions?!" But Hermione didn't let him even a second's time to answer, as she threw her arms around the invisible figure of Draco and clung to him for dear life. "I missed you, you silly git," she whispered choked.

"I missed you, too, you insufferable know-it-all," Draco said softly, before his body vanished suddenly, leaving Hermione standing alone in the bathroom in a rather odd looking position. She blinked, confused, not sure if it had been real or just part of her imagination. But the mirror still lay broken in pieces on the ground, and as a little gust dried away her last tears, she smiled.

Mere minutes later, she asked herself how Draco had been there at exact the moment she'd need him. And what it was he had rescued her from. Mirrors didn't just randomly explode into one's face.

She'd tell all about what had happened in the bathroom tomorrow, Dumbledore would know what to do.

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"These are indeed very promising news," Albus said gently, his eyes twinkling ever so slightly. For the last half hour Ron and Harry had told him everything they had found out. Ron had made it sure that it was Peeves' fault that the page had gotten lost, but at least they had still Hermione's note, and that was sufficient for the moment. "The day after tomorrow, after your magic returned, you will start practicing the spell. It shouldn't take you too long, as it is indeed a rather simple one, Harry."

"Why?" Harry groaned. Why did he have to do all the work? Hadn't he already killed ... the rat ... Scratch that. Wasn't he a great help in the killing of Voldemort?

"Now, Harry," Albus said, chuckling quietly. "This will be the last time you need to rescue us. After this, you will be free to do what you wish with your life. You do understand why it is necessary to put down those wards as soon as possible?"

"Yeah," he groaned, miserably. "I'll do it."

"Good." Albus beamed, then offered both Ron and Harry a lemon drop, who both refused. "I'll also ask Severus to try it ..."

"Snape?" Ron cried, surprised.

"Yes, Professor Snape," Albus replied, quietly. After shooting a quick glance at Harry, he went on. "He was of great help in this entire war, and maybe he will be able to help Harry."

Harry squirmed in his seat. He knew to what the headmaster was referring, unlike Ron. Harry had told them about his returned memory, but he hadn't exactly told them that it was Snape's curse that had killed Voldemort. It wasn't that Harry wanted the fame, far from it. He could have lived without it, that he had made perfectly clear more times than he cared to count. But Harry just couldn't admit that Snape had got to do the one thing he was destined from the beginning to fulfil. Dumbledore, though, seemed to know, and he didn't go too much into details. It wasn't important to Harry, and after he left Hogwarts, Snape could claim all he wanted. Things would be bumpy, that was for sure. But Harry didn't really want to think about that right now, as they had more pressing matters.

"It's alright, Ron," he said, evenly.

"What? But-" the redhead tried to reason, but he was cut off by Dumbledore.

"That shall be enough. The times of war are over. We all are on the same side and there is no reason to go on holding grudges."

"Sorry," Ron whispered, his ears turning bright red. "If that was all," he said, casting a quick glance to Harry.

"If you would go ahead," Albus said quickly. "I still have a short matter to discuss with Harry."

"What? But I thought we were ready." Ron had already risen from his seat and looked now confused from the headmaster to his equally confused friend.

"It has nothing to do with the wards," Albus said, gently.

"Not the wards? But what then?" Harry asked, confused.

"You may want to tell your friends afterwards. But for now I would prefer to talk to you in private."

Ron gritted his teeth, he knew he wouldn't get more information out of the headmaster at the moment. "I'll be going then," he said, turning to open the door. "I'll wait in the Common Room."

"Harry will join you soon," Albus promised. "It won't take long." He sighed, as Ron was out of the door.

"What was this all about?" Harry asked, warily. "What did you need to discuss with me?"

Albus ignored his question for the moment, instead he gazed deeply into Harry's eyes, trying to decipher if he'd say the truth. "Did you have another memory come back lately?"

Harry blinked, he hadn't thought it would be that. "No," he said, surprised. "Why do you ask?"

Albus kept silent for a little longer, then sighed as he saw that the boy said the truth. "As you do not want me to tell about this possible link of you and Professor Snape, I fear I am not going to tell you ..."

"Snape got more memories back," Harry concluded surprisingly fast.

The headmaster steepled his finger and turned his merrily twinkling gaze once more on the Gryffindor in front of him. "Whatever makes you believe this?"

"I am right, aren't I?"

"I believe Mr. Weasley is waiting for your return."

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As Harry returned to the Gryffindor Common Room, he found Hermione asleep on the couch. Ron sat beside her, pulling a blanket tighter around her body. Apparently she had wanted to wait up for them, but fell asleep eventually.

"Ron," Harry said quietly, as to not scare the boy nor wake the girl.

"What did Dumbledore want?" Ron asked right away, looking up to the black-haired boy.

"He just asked if I had more visions like the one in the mirror," Harry said, quickly changing the object. "Do you suppose we should bring Mione to her dorm?"

"Nah," Ron said, shaking his head. "We could wake her, and she already has a headache ... And apart from that, it's late and the girls are already sleeping." He ignited the fire again in the fireplace to ensure that Hermione wouldn't be cold over night.

"Right," Harry grinned, heading to the boys' dorm. "Coming?"

Ten minutes later both Harry and Ron were lying in their beds, fast asleep due to the long day of research. The air was quiet, Ron was slumbering peacefully away.

The peace in Harry's dreams, however, didn't last too long. A soft voice whispered 'Lucius Malfoy' into his ear, dark images flooded his mind and alien thoughts echoed through his head. As it was over, Harry's eyes snapped open.

"Snape?"