The Room of Lost Dreams

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Ron raised a shaking hand to point at the journal. 'What is that?'

'It's a Potions journal,' she said, attempting to close the book. 'I'm using it to prepare for my N.E.W.T.s.'

'Bollocks,' said Ron. 'I had to shake you to bring you back. There's only one thing I know of that can do that.'

'It's not a Horcrux, Ron,' she said, exasperated. 'It's just what I told you- it's a Potions journal that Professor Snape made when he was a student.'

'We know the prat was capable of killing,' insisted Ron. 'How do you know it's not a Horcrux?'

'I did a Specialis Revelio on it.'

'And...?'

'It wasn't red. Besides, it doesn't feel like a Horcrux. I don't know what he did to enchant it, but he certainly didn't murder anyone.'

'I know what I saw, Hermione. I think you should let someone look at it. If not me or Harry, then maybe Professor McGonagall.'

Hermione blinked in surprise. 'Who are you and what have you done with Ron Weasley? Honestly, Ron, it's fine. You know how good Professor Snape was at Potions even when he was a student. I need this book if I'm going to learn potions-making beyond following a recipe.'

'Are you mental?' asked Ron, voice rising. 'You don't have any idea what the thing is and what sort of magic is on it, and you won't let anyone else look at it. If you won't tell anyone else about it, I will.'

Hermione's heart sank at the thought of giving up Severus. 'I'll talk to Ginny. She's the person with the most practical experience with Horcruxes like this. If she thinks the journal is doing to me what Riddle did to her, then we'll destroy it. Does that sound fair?'

Ron looked at her suspiciously. 'Promise you won't write in it until she's had a look.'

She had to admit, Ron's requests were surprisingly reasonable. 'I promise.'

'All right then,' said Ron, obviously taken aback by her acquiescence. 'Well, c'mon, we've got to be at mum and dad's at half twelve.'

Hermione paled. In the excitement of the previous night and the morning, she'd forgotten it was Friday. 'Fred's memorial. Oh, I have so much to put together! See you later, Ron!'

Hermione gave him a quick hug and rushed off towards the castle.

Ron shook his head. 'Women.'

o0o

At quarter past noon, Harry and Ginny were waiting for her and Ron at the bottom of the staircase near the visitor's fireplace.

'It's about time,' said Ginny. 'What were you doing that took so long?'

'I was looking for Hermione,' said Ron, 'and Hermione was beavering away in the Room of Requirement.'

'What for?' asked Harry.

Hermione was unable to suppress a triumphant grin. 'Look.'

She pulled a small box from her handbag and handed it to Harry. His eyebrows shot up when he realised what was inside.

'Is this what I think it is?'

Ron and Ginny crowded on either side of Harry.

Ginny looked at Hermione in surprise. 'You made George a new ear?'

'Not just any ear,' said Hermione excitedly. 'I made it out of Extendable Ears, so it maintains all the usual flexibility and eavesdropping capabilities, but I've also put several charms on it that'll let him move it around, change its shape, adjust the volume, filter out ambient noise, and attach or detach it at will.' She noticed that her friends were staring at her. 'What?' she asked, a bit self-consciously. 'Don't you think he'll like it?'

'Like it? It's brilliant!' exclaimed Ron. 'Mum will kill you if she finds out about the extra features, but George'll love it.'

'Mum will kill you when she sees the volume knob. It looks just like an earring,' said Ginny admiringly. 'Speaking of which, we'd better get going. She'll also kill us if we're late.'

Ron and Ginny went through the Floo, leaving Harry and Hermione.

Harry shook his head. 'You know that ear is going to encourage George to cause even more mayhem, and quite possibly give Molly an apoplexy.'

'Well, today isn't about what Molly wants. Today is Fred's day, and Fred wanted George to have a brilliant new ear.'

'I'm relieved to hear you say that.'

'Well, it's Fred. We couldn't send him off like an ordinary person.'

'Yeah, that and I'm also a bit nervous about having so many fireworks in my pocket. Can I keep some in your bag?'

'Can't have you losing a buttock,' she agreed, holding open her purse. Her eyes grew wide when Harry began removing boxes and boxes of magical and Muggle fireworks from his pockets.

'Are you planning a fireworks display or a funeral pyre?' she asked.

'With George's help, maybe it'll be a bit of both. I think Arthur will love the Catherine Wheels.'

'I'm awfully glad I put in a noise-blocking function in George's new ear. It'd be sad if he went deaf on the first day he had it.'

Harry grinned. 'I think this is the first funeral I've ever been excited about.'

Hermione squeezed his shoulder. 'I think that's exactly how Fred would have wanted it.'

'Agreed,' said Harry, tossing in a fresh handful of Floo powder and stepping into the flames. 'Now be careful coming through. I gave you all the Muggle aerials, and if they go off, we'll lose the element of surprise.'

'Not to mention a few limbs,' grumbled Hermione, casting a Cooling Charm on her bag. She followed Harry into the flames.

o0o

That night found the fireworks conspirators banished to disparate areas of the Weasleys' property to avoid the righteous wrath of Molly Weasley. The enormous conflagration had attracted not only the attention of the neighbours but also the Ministry of Magic. The Accidental Magical Reversal Squad had finally given up their attempts to dispel the magical fireworks and advised the gathered spectators to enjoy the show.

Harry had paid the fine from his Gringott's account before anyone could stop him, and Molly had grudgingly accepted that any serious attempts to give a speech or sober reflection on Fred's life would be interrupted by glowing rude words overhead. That had not lessened her ire, and the elder Weasley boys were having a laugh over the whole affair while huddled in the attic, while Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny were hiding in Arthur's tinkering shed.

Hermione conjured a fireplace, which made the draughty building almost cosy. Ginny's contributions were Buttergins and tonic. Ron had discovered an ancient spinet with several missing keys under a dust cover and was teaching Harry to play 'Chopsticks.' He'd given Hermione a look and nodded his head at Ginny, and Hermione sighed.

'What's that all about?' asked Ginny, taking a sip from her drink.

'I promised Ron I'd talk to you about something,' said Hermione, settling herself by the fireplace.

'I think you were abundantly clear last night,' said Ginny. 'Yes, Harry and I use protection. Honestly, you and Ron are as bad as Mum sometimes.'

'It's not about you and Harry,' said Hermione, withdrawing the journal from her bag. 'It's about this. It's an enchanted Potions journal, and Ron's convinced it's like Riddle's diary.'

Ginny looked impassively at the book. 'Well, what do you think?'

'It's complicated, but I don't think it is,' said Hermione. 'I've only had the journal for a few days, but it's made me re-evaluate a lot of things. I don't think the journal caused that so much as it revealed things to me and let me draw my own conclusions.'

'Where did you get it?'

'I found it hidden in a room at Hogwarts.'

'What sort of room?'

Hermione described the Room briefly, and Ginny nodded. 'But this journal isn't like the other books that were in the room.'

'No, the maker hid it in the Room of Lost Dreams after he had a row with the girl he liked.'

'Well, whoever he is, he's got a sense of drama,' said Ginny, taking a thoughtful drink. 'I guess the most important question is why it was enchanted, and what sort of effect it's had on you. Are there any times that you can't remember, or have you woken up in the morning covered in chicken feathers or anything like that?'

Hermione smiled. 'No, nothing like that at all. The journal claims it was enchanted to protect the research contained within.'

'Has the maker tried to make you put more into the journal than you felt comfortable with?'

'At first he tried to make me write in it, which I didn't want to do by hand, but it was because he didn't trust me and I didn't trust him. It's different now.'

'You mean you've been writing in it? Has he taken you inside yet? Shown you things?'

'That's what's odd. I haven't been inside his memories, but I've brought him into mine.'

Ginny frowned. 'You let whatever's in that journal into your mind? That's really dangerous, Hermione.'

'I wouldn't have let him if it wasn't important, and it was a matter of life and death.'

Ginny was silent for a moment. 'Has he asked you to share your thoughts and feelings?'

'Not really. Well, sort of, but he didn't specifically ask. Why?'

'Well, that's how it started with Tom. He was just a sympathetic ear and a comforting presence at first, a perfect diary. One day I was crying for some stupid reason, and I told him I wished I could touch him. And then I was inside. He didn't do anything other than hold me while I cried, but that night was the first basilisk attack. I couldn't remember what I'd done, and Tom's assurance that I'd fallen asleep in his arms was so easy to believe.'

A loud crash from the corner of the room made them jump.

'Sorry!' called Ron, who had opened the top of the spinet and dropped the cover. 'Mouse nest.'

'Evanesco!' said Harry. 'Now, show me how to play something else.'

Hermione turned back to Ginny. 'What made you throw the diary away?'

'It was the hardest thing I've ever done,' said Ginny, her eyes fixed on a spot on the floor. 'Tom seemed to know what I was thinking, and he tried everything to get me to stay, but it wasn't comforting anymore; it was scary. He kept saying that I was his only friend, and if I didn't talk to him every day, he'd go spare from loneliness.'

'Ginny,' whispered Hermione.

'I knew I had to end it when he kissed me.'

Hermione was hardly able to keep her voice low. 'Riddle kissed you?'

'He knew I wanted it more than anything- I'd asked him to kiss me before, but he always told me that he knew it was Harry I really wanted, not him. In retrospect, he'd chosen Harry as his target by then and was trying to keep me around as a way to get to Harry. One day, I'd had enough and told him I was leaving and wouldn't be back. Then, he was standing there next to me, and he grabbed me, telling me how much he'd come to love me and that I couldn't leave him. But the moment his lips touched mine, I knew he wasn't my friend. I can't really explain how I knew, there was just something so jarring and cold about the way he kissed, and I pushed him off me, grabbed the diary, ran to the nearest loos, and threw it down the toilet.'

'But you took it back,' said Hermione. 'You stole it from Harry, even though you knew what Riddle was.'

'I couldn't let him hurt Harry,' said Ginny simply. 'And that's enough about Tom. Does your journal man have a name?'

Hermione was horrified to find herself blushing. 'Yes.'

'Hermione,' said Ginny impatiently.

'It's Severus,' she whispered. 'Severus Snape.'

'WHAT?' squawked Ginny.

'Damn it, Ginny, Harry almost had the left hand part!' exclaimed Ron from the keyboard.

'It's all right, Ron. I'll just start over.' Haltingly, Harry picked out the swinging bass pattern of 'Heart and Soul.'

'Nice job, Harry,' said Hermione.

'Yeah, nice,' said Ginny, whose eyes hadn't left Hermione. When the boys were once again distracted by their out-of-tune plunkings, Ginny leaned close to Hermione.

'Are you mad?' she hissed. 'You let Severus Snape, Dumbledore's murderer, Voldemort's representative at Hogwarts, and accomplished Legilimens, inside your head?'

'That's not fair,' said Hermione hotly. 'You know whose side he was on. If he hadn't been, Voldemort would have been able to kill Harry.'

'You weren't at Hogwarts last year,' countered Ginny. 'You didn't see what he did, what he let his Death Eater mates do to us.'

'And you weren't with us in the forest,' retorted Hermione. 'He returned Gryffindor's sword to us. Harry understands the role Severus had to play. Why is it so hard for you?'

'I'd wager Harry wouldn't be so generous if he knew you were letting Snape into your head through magic we don't understand. I'd ask what possessed you, but I think I already know.'

Hermione bit her tongue to prevent a sharp retort from escaping. 'Ginny, you've been extraordinarily helpful tonight, but you need to trust my judgement when I say that based on what you've said tonight, there is no possible way that Severus's Potions journal is enchanted the same way Riddle's diary was.'

The angry spark left Ginny's eye, but her chin was still set stubbornly. 'What makes you so certain?'

'First of all, the Severus in the journal is my age, he's not a Death Eater, and the worst that could be said of him is that he had questionable taste in friends and hexes.'

'Tom was your age when he made his diary,' said Ginny reasonably.

'That may be so, but Riddle was already on his way to becoming the most evil wizard of all time, while Severus went on to be an integral member of the Order of the Phoenix.'

'All right,' conceded Ginny, 'but that can't be your only reason.'

'No,' said Hermione. 'Part of it has to do with the fact that my Specialis Revelio glowed purple around the journal instead of bright red like it was for the other objects Riddle cursed. Part of it has to do with the fact that he hasn't asked me to do anything I felt uncomfortable doing.'

Ginny's look was entirely too understanding. 'What else?'

'You said you could tell what Riddle was from his kiss. Severus's were pure joy.'

Ginny made an incoherent squeak that was, fortunately, not enough to distract Harry and Ron from the noise they were making.

'Don't you see, Ginny? Riddle split his soul to make that diary, and both parts of his soul were diminished and forever tarnished by the experience. Nothing like love could ever come out of a ruined soul, only deception and manipulation. With Severus, everything started with suspicion and nastiness. I let him believe I was Harry's mum to see what he'd tell me, and he kept trying to get me to reveal more about myself. But the moment I spoke to him as myself and we started working together, everything changed. And now I can't think of him without looking forward to seeing him again and learning from him.'

'Hermione, Snape is dead,' said Ginny bluntly. 'I don't know what you've fallen in love with, but it isn't him, and it's not any real person. I don't know what the journal is, but it's done something to you.'

Hermione desperately wanted to tell Ginny that Severus was alive, but her promise to Narcissa was more important than getting Ginny's blessing. What was worse, Hermione was having a crisis of conscience. She'd never considered that the journal might have some enchantments on it that would make her unnaturally attracted to Severus, and she had to admit that her feelings for him had developed more suddenly than she thought possible. However, she wasn't about to surrender the journal to the enchanted book Inquisitorial Squad.

'I haven't fallen in love with him!' she exclaimed. 'I mean, kissing him was wonderful in the moment, but as fun as it was, it was just a celebration of a breakthrough, that's all.'

Ginny looked at her slyly. 'Sort of like when you kissed my brother?'

'Exactly like,' said Hermione. 'And I don't think I'm in any danger of repeating that anytime soon.'

'Until the next breakthrough celebration comes along,' said Ginny. 'Trust me on this, Hermione. Nothing good comes from allowing yourself to get too close to a magical object, especially those that linger when the creator dies.'

'Ginny, if you've ever trusted my judgement, please believe me when I say that it's not as bad as it sounds. I'm not in any danger of losing my heart to an inanimate object. Please trust me to know how close is too close.'

Ginny scrutinised Hermione's face before nodding and tossing back the last of her drink with a flick of her wrist. 'I'm not Ron. I know you're not eleven years old, which already puts you at an advantage. You've also dealt with more Dark Magic than I care to think about. I think I can trust you to be sensible about this.'

Harry and Ron had added vocals to their out-of-tune rendition. 'Heart and soul! La dah dee dah dee dah! Heart and soul! La dah dee dah dee dah! Laaa dah! Dee dum dee dum dah!' Clearly, neither of them knew the words.

Hermione frowned at Ginny. 'What on earth did you put in these drinks?'

Ginny hiccoughed tiredly. 'Just Buttergin and tonic. Of course, I got the tonic from George.'

Hermione tossed the remains of her drink on the fire and blinked as the fire blazed a blinding white. 'These drinks have more alcohol them than hand sanitiser!'

Ginny was mixing herself a second drink. 'So?'

Hermione glanced at Harry and Ron, who were snorting with laughter at a key on the spinet that made an odd clunking noise, and held out her glass to Ginny. 'Good point.'

She raised her newly filled glass. 'To Fred.'

'To Fred!'

o0o