The Trail of the Black Star

The sixth sense that had allowed Severus to survive his stint as a double agent was what woke him moments before the man pounced. The room was almost entirely dark, though a faint flicker of orange light seemed to come in the direction of the outside door. Against it, Severus could see the silhouette of a man creeping silently towards the bed. He mentally cursed his stupidity for leaving his wand in the cloak that he'd thrown on the ground. He soundlessly moved his arms above the duvet and braced for attack.

He did not have to wait for long. The man pounced, but Severus used the man's momentum to fling him over the bed and on to the floor. He yelped in pain and surprise. Hermione shot out of bed. Two simultaneous cries of lumos filled the room with crackling light, and Severus saw a dark haired man on the floor rubbing the back of his head, which had struck the floor. Hermione leaped out of bed and over to where he lay with a stern expression on her face, though her eyes were shining.

"Serves you right, Tino. You're lucky not to be a newt right now."

"Jesus, Danger, you might have warned me that you had a Mr. Danger staying with you." He staggered to his feet dramatically. "You didn't show up at the meeting, and nobody had seen you all afternoon."

She stopped mid-stretch. "The meeting? What time is it?"

"Eight-thirty, Sleeping Beauty. What tired you out so much?" He raised an eyebrow at Severus. "Or do I want to know?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ha ha. Florentino Del Real, Dragon Husbandrist Extraordinaire, meet Severus Snape, Potions Master. He's helping me with one of my quipu potions projects. I can't believe I slept this long! I have a million things to do- oh, and I'm sorry about missing the meeting."

"We figured you were tired out from patrol, and muddled on without you. Not much to report. CHUMPs made off with most of Brittany's romance novels, and she's pretty pissed. But other than that, nada."

"Well, speaking of patrol." She stretched languidly. "Look over on the table. See anything interesting?"

"Apart from the charming display of Granger's organisational skills," Severus added.

Hermione shot him an irritated look, but Tino grinned. "And her lab is the worst of it, you know."

Severus' eyebrows shot up. "I wonder that she's been able to get along as well as she has. In her student days, she was, at the very least, able to keep her homework assignments separate."

"What is this? Jump on Hermione Day?"

"If you insist, Danger." Tino pounced, but she had quickly skittered to the far side of the table where she dangled the bottle in the air.

"Ah, ah, ah! If you don't behave yourself, you won't get any of this."

Tino's eyes widened. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Especial del Jefe? Si!"

"How in nine hells did you get your hands on it?'

"We bagged Puquio this morning."

"No shit?"

"No shit."

His demeanour changed abruptly. "Beauteous Hermione, my starlit sky, my glorious sunrise, I'll walk barefoot over hot coals, I'll devour fire, I'll even leave you alone - but let me try some! Please?"

To Severus' irritation, she appeared to be susceptible to galling flattery.

"Just this once, Tino, but I'm holding you to the 'leaving me alone' bit, at least for the next couple of days." She handed him the bottle, which he stroked reverently before removing the cork with his teeth and sucking down a generous gulp.

Two minutes later, he was still gulping water between fits of coughing.

"That," he rasped, "is what I call hooch!"

Hermione looked torn between laughter and concern. "In high enough concentrations, uchu can actually blister oral tissues. You can use milk to counteract the-"

"Danger, I'm fine. A little went down the wrong tube is all."

She gave him a look, which became considerably less effective when he fiercely tousled her hair.

"Really, Tino!"

"Really, Danger. I'll live. I just needed a little bit of liquid fortification for dragon duty tonight. Since you've been so sweet, I'll even bring you some more venom, provided I get close enough. I also wanted to make sure you weren't lying bleeding in a ravine somewhere. I'll see you tomorrow sometime." He dropped a light kiss on her cheek and nodded to Severus. "Nice to meet you, Snape. I hope Danger doesn't work you to death."

Severus looked intently at the retreating figure.

"Is he your- um-"

"Ex-um."

He relaxed infinitesimally. "You seem on friendly enough terms."

"We've worked and lived in this camp for far longer than we were together romantically. He's brilliant at what he does and he's a real laugh, but we were hardly destined for one another."

Severus snorted. "If you believe in destiny."

She acknowledged this with a one-shouldered shrug. "It sounds better than 'he wanted me to be someone else.'"

"Who?"

She looked thoughtful. "Someone a little less self-sufficient."

"Hence the adorable nickname."

She made a face. "Danger Granger. Fortunately, he's the only one who still calls me that. The others know better. They wised up after the Latvian had a breakdown and had to leave the camp. Seems some of the local wildlife drove him a bit buggy." There was no small amount of satisfaction in her smirk, and Severus began to wonder if he had underestimated the finer and more dangerous points of Hermione Granger.

He simultaneously realized that she wasn't wearing any trousers. Unfortunately, she noticed him noticing, and smiled. Severus scowled.

"I'll just go dress for supper then, shall I? We should have something to eat before we go orchid hunting. See what you can find in the kitchen."

His eyes discreetly followed the lean brown legs until they disappeared into the washroom.

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Dinner and conversation were both pleasantly spicy. Hermione had thrown together a savoury rice and bean concoction that was seasoned with several things Severus couldn't identify. Not to be outdone, he transformed a pile of grubby yams into an elaborate pave'. He pretended not to hear Hermione giggle at his ostentatiously presented dish, and she pretended not to see him repeatedly dab the spice-induced sweat from his brow.

Their discussion of Hermione's research was far less amicable. The food had served to re-energise them both, and Severus soon found himself deluged by questions about rare ingredients. Most Potions Masters would have been insulted to be asked about them, since a vast majority of them had no use other than in dark potions. To his irritation, she seemed even better able to detect prevarication than she had in the afternoon.

After nearly a quarter-hour's debate on natural versus manufactured alkaloids, the food long having since been devoured, Hermione glanced at the clock on the wall.

"We should be going. We're going to need all the hours of dark we can get." She glanced at his attire. "Since your things haven't arrived yet, you'll have to borrow something of mine." She busied herself with digging through a set of drawers, which were built into the bed frame.

"I wasn't aware that this evening's excursion had a dress code."

Her retort was brisk. "If you'd like to freeze, you're more than welcome." She tossed him a bundle of clothes and began removing hers in favour of heavy fur-lined leather garments. "One of those ought to fit you all right."

To his dismay, the pair of trousers she apparently expected him to wear was identical to the pair she was wearing, though they were much tighter on him. He pulled on an oversized wool jumper - red, of course - and yanked it down as far as it would go to cover the indignity-masquerading-as-a-pair-of-trousers. By the time he had donned the shaggy coat, which appeared to be made of llama fur, he was feeling mutinous.

"I feel positively ridiculous!" He exclaimed when Hermione shot him a quizzical look. "If anyone sees me in this foolish get-up, I will hex them into tomorrow. And then I'll hex you into tomorrow. And then I will incinerate these ridiculous trousers!"

To his surprise, Hermione looked slightly hurt. "What's wrong with the trousers? I figured you'd be protesting the Gryffindor-red jumper more than the trousers. At least they're practical."

Severus was rendered speechless, though not for long. "Practical!?"

"Yes, practical. If we didn't have animal skins to mask our scents, the dragons would be on us in no time. Unlike most species of dragon, the Vipertooth's preferred meal is human. We'll also be on top of ridge. It will be windy and bitterly cold, so I guarantee you'll be glad of the fur. Oh, and don't forget to wear your hood. Sixty percent of your body heat goes out the top of your head, you know."

She reached behind his head and pulled the very heavy hood down over his head, nearly covering his eyes. While he fussed with the drawstrings of his hood, she pulled on her own coat and grabbed an old but reliable-looking broom from the corner.

"Shall we be off?"

Severus' scowl faded. "If we must."

The night was chilly and nearly pitch dark, but several of the tents were lit brightly from within. She clambered on to the broom and gestured for him to join her.

"Climb on and hold tight."

"Aren't you forgetting something, Miss Granger?"

"And what would that be, Professor?"

"Your hood." He allowed his palm to linger on her warm neck a moment longer than strictly necessary as he gently pulled the soft curls off her neck and eased up her hood. "Sixty percent of your body heat, you realize." Suddenly, he jumped backwards in horrified surprise.

"What is it, Professor?"

"Your hood! It has ears!"

"Of course it has ears. We're disguised as llamas. Dragons, remember?"

"Granger, if a dragon is not fooled by your scent, it will not suddenly go away because it sees large ears sticking out of your head."

"Well, it's worked so far." She was beginning to sound irritated. "And I did not make these coats to live up to your fashion standards. I made them to give us a better chance of surviving in an inhospitable climate. So if you please, Professor, shut up."

While testing the limits of her patience would have been amusing, it was hardly conducive to a successful orchid hunt, which Severus was surprised to find himself keenly anticipating.

He didn't realize until they were airborne that his hood had ears as well. Oh, she was going to pay for this.

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Q'enqo Ridge, Elevation 4,262 Metres

26 June, 10:56 PM

Though he never would have admitted it, Severus was profoundly grateful for the heavy, windproof clothes, even the ridiculous llama coat. They'd been combing the barren mountainside for what seemed like hours and his face was numb, but his arms and legs were delightfully warm. He was following Hermione across a ridge far above the timberline. The moon was a tiny sliver, but provided enough light for him to avoid occasional patches of ice-crusted snow between the few scrubby bushes. However, the crumbling rocks settled unpredictably under his feet, and the great gusts of wind from over the ridge nearly sent him tumbling more than once.

Unfortunately, he could see little else since Hermione refused to light her wand for more than a moment at a time, preferring to pick her way along the ridge in near-total darkness. She had not spoken since landing on the ridge, since the combination of wind and think fur hoods made conversation difficult, but she had explained that it would be far better for the orchid if they searched in complete darkness. She was lucky that his response was lost in the wind.

It was somewhat frustrating for him to follow a former student, particularly this former student, on a species-hunt. He still found it hard to believe that someone with such an impatient disposition had ever managed to locate such an elusive plant, though he suspected luck had more to do with it than anything else. Merlin knew the girl had led a charmed existence thus far, from having her pick of any magical university in the world to surviving the war with the majority of her friends intact. Always able to claw her way to the top of the pile and come out with not so much as a broken nail.

And here she was, face pale and determined in the intermittent wand light, looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack and blithely unaware of the impossibility of their task. Well, if Danger Granger was on the case, who was he to stand in her way?

His sigh was inaudible in the wind.

Her gait was remarkably steady, for all the wind and uneven terrain, her silhouette clearly outlined against the impossibly starry sky. She was bent into the wind, which blew her hood's ridiculous ears nearly parallel to the ground.

She stopped suddenly and lit her wand, and he was not quick enough to avoid walking into her. Fortunately, the gusts were too loud at the moment for her to waste breath on pointless commentary, or so he hoped.

"I think I see one," she yelled over a particularly strong gust. "Stay here with the wand. If the blossoms get too close to the light, they shrivel up."

Severus wondered how many blooms she'd gone through before she figured that out, but responded only with a curt nod. She handed him the wand, and shinnied up the side of a large boulder.

She was back a few minutes later with a triumphant grin on her face and a black cloth bag clutched in her fist.

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