Mirror, Mirror

Mirror, Mirror

Chapter 10 – A kiss is still a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh.

It all belongs to Rowling, except what you don’t recognize.


Severus Snape might have died and gone to heaven, for this laboratory was nothing at all like what he’d had to make do with in his years in potions making. It was his fantasy lab. From the high crafted, perfectly worked cauldrons to the quality and variety of supplies. He swallowed back tears. The lucky bastard, he thought, there is a small fortune tied up in here.

“Do you like it?” asked Hermione.

“It’s perfect. More than perfect. It’s self-indulgent and almost decadent.” There was a catch in his throat as he caressed the fine wood of the storage cabinets and realized that there was also some very expensive and elaborate stasis spells at work. “How?”

“Oh, the Ministry paid for it all. They think that having worked one miracle, with better equipment and supplies we should be able to do it again.” She frowned. “Mostly, we play a lot. Come up with silly things while waiting for inspiration to hit.”

“I could give you a list.”

“I’m sure you could.” She picked up a parchment. “Your opinion, please?”

“That’s my handwriting.” Snape perused the scroll, finding that every suggestion he could think of, plus a few others, were there. “I see that you have it covered.”

“Enough work for a lifetime.” Shaking her head, “My husband is nothing if not ambitious.”

Snape felt a flicker of jealousy. Why should the other one have all this? What did he ever do to deserve it? For a moment the room spun and he grabbed hold of the desk.

“Another attack?” asked Hermione.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, waving her away.

“You need to take it easy.” She began collecting ingredients. “You stay there and oversee me. This shouldn’t take long. It’s the incantations that are the devil in this. I’ll be reciting them all a couple of times to see if I do it right and you will mark me.”

Snape, still feeling lightheaded, nodded and sat. He wasn’t used to being so passive. He could deal with any number of dangers and ills, but to be getting dizzy with heart palpitations like this, well... He’d just have to come up with a potion to fix it. He knew it was a result of the abuse he’d received, but he was finding it tiresome.

He watched the girl move about the lab. She was graceful and worked witheconeconomy of movement that bespoke his training of her. He knew he’d be missing her.


In under a half hour she had finished.

“Well, this is it,” she said, holding a small bottle of the potion. “What do you think?”

“Everything’s perfect. You have said the heading over spell, just fine. You have recited the spell that would break the one cast on me back in the other realm, faultlessly. And I can find nothing wrong with the marker spell that you need to use once over there to get the Ministry to locate the realm.” Snape sighed and turned away. She’d been a brilliant student and it seemed nothing had changed. He’d always found that disconcerting. For the first few years he’d tht oht of the Hermione he’d taught as some sort of show-off. At this point, without a doubt, he’d been forced to admit she was gifted. Magic came easily to this Muggleborn. It was incredibly galling.

“So this is it,” she said as they entered the living room.

“I can think of nothing more, Hermione. If the spell breaker does not work, at least you will have cast one to help the Ministry locate me there.”

“But if I mess up the original one, I won’t even find the right realm.”

“Yes. And no one has ever duplicated the ability to trace one’s spouse on the strength of love alone. Many have questioned that story over the years, thinking she didn’t find him at all, but merely fell in love with another man similar enough to seem the same.”

Hermione’s shoulders sagged and s cas came to her eyes, “Please don’t say that. I need to believe. If the only thing which will lead me back to him is strength of will and my love, I need to believe.”

He took her in his arms. He didn’t want her to succeed. Not one little bit. He wanted to stay here, forever, with her. She was his Goddess now; she no longer belonged to that other Snape. He kissed her possessively, taking her lips and melting into them, thinking that this would be the last time. He lowered her to the couch and brought up her robes over her hips.

“Severus.”

“Not a word, Hermione. I know you want this, too.”

And the tears were trickling from her eyes as she returned his embrace. She knew he was right. If it was goodbye... She wanted her husband and the father of her child back. And she wanted this man in her arms, as well. She hitched his robes up and found he was wearing no underwear. She laughed. That’s how he used to go. She slipped hers off and he entered her ever so gently. He sunk into her and made love. It was passionate, yet ever so triste. It was goodbye. And they both cried and sobbed as their respective climaxes swelled and spilled over. She called out his name repeatedly, and he knew it wasn’t her husband she was calling, oh no, it was for him. For his sacrifice. And then he was falling into a chasm of endless love for her. His Goddess. He might never be with her again, but they’d always have tone one last time.

“Severus?”

“Yes?”

“I pledge to find Harry and make him promise to rescue you. He’ll do it for me, no matter how he feels about you. I know he will.”

Snape closed his eyes and drunk in the sensations of lying there post-sex. He desperately prayed that Dr. Snape had died in that cold, lonely dungeon. Not that he hated his counterpart. Oh, all right, he did hate him a little—the sod. He wanted what Dr. Snape had, but he also loved Hermione so much that he’d go back to those dungeons for her. Stupid, aren’t you, he thought to himself. You have her, but will give it all up for her. Should have been placed in Hufflepuff. You certainly aren’t a Slytherin anymore.

“I’m going.” She kissed him tenderly and he opened his eyes and sat back on the couch. She drank the potion and recited the incantation with her eyes closed. He knew where her mind was, searching for her husband, and he was very still, so as to not distract her.

And he knew the moment it happened.

“Miss Granger, I presume.”

Hermione opened her eyes to find herself seated on a couch in an extremely messy living room. She stared at the man who could only be Prof. Snape in Dr. Snape’s body. His hair was long and he was clean-shaven, wearing purple robes with violet piping. And the way he was looking at her! It was possessive, hungry even.

“Pro-professor Snape?”

“None other,” he quirked a smile. “Welcome to an alternative universe.”

“So it was real all the time?”

“You doubted that?”

“Of course I did.”

“But you don’t now?” He seemed rather amused.

“I have the evidence of my own eyes. And, Good Gods above, I must have put on at least two stone!” She stood up, suddenly aware that her breasts were… huge! And her body, well…

“Actually, she’s rather beautiful, I’d say. Motherhood becomes her.”

Hermione glared at the Wizard and had a sudden realization that her body had just... “You! She! Oh no, he was afraid of this happening and…” Snape carefully examined his nails, while blushing a little.

When she stood up, something warm and wet escaped her vagina and began to trickle down her leg. Although it had been awhile since she had sex, she stared down in horror as she realized exactly whose emission was traveling down her inner thigh. Mouth open like a perch, she looked from him to the ground, first noticing her knickers that were half kicked under the couch, and then the creeping semen reaching the back of her knee.

She took her wand, only to have Snape casually put his hand on it. “Guilty as charged, just a little going away gesture, since she and I won’t be involved again. By the way, I wouldn’t use that wand, just yet; they have a nasty way of exploding.”

“Oh dear. Is there a place I can clean up?” His sperm was, well, there was a great deal of it.

He bit his lip trying not to smile, “Certainly, the bath is at the top of the stairs to the left.” He stated to Hermione’s back as she went tearing out the room and up the stairs. Snape chuckled to himself. “Oh for a picture of the look on her face.”

Hermione cleansed herself thoroughly, grateful for the bidet in the bathroom. Still, how inconceivably rude to transconvey after—Hermione stopped. Oh Gods, no, she had left her body in a rather incriminating position, too. She wasn’t sure whether she should be pleased or… She thought for a moment about how this was all happening and realized that she hadn’t a clue.

Sheepishly coming down the stairs, she stopped at the bottom to survey her surroundings. It was a really nice little cottage, she decided. If she were going to live in a house, she’d definitely do it up like this. She took a step into the living room and saw that Snape hadn’t moved from his spot. He was reading a journal and seemed rathelaxelaxed.

“Could you explain what is going on?”

“Well, your counterpart has figured out a way to track her husband to whatever realm he may currently be at. She knows the spell to leave a marker so that the Ministry here will be able to make contact with the Ministry there to set up a corresponding Dept. of Transconveyance. Hermione has six hours to place the marker and find her friend Potter to alert him to the fact that I am being held captive somewhere by faux Death Eaters and to rescue me. Then she will automatically be returned here to her body as the potion she took wears off. She also has a counter curse to return me to my own body, which may or may not work without her actually being in my presence.”

He sighed. “If it does works, I will be returned to my proper body, and Dr. Snape will return to his.”

Hermione smiled and took his hand. “You were rescued two days ago.”

“I’m alive then.”

“Oh, yes, very. Just a bit worse for wear.”

Snape felt a letdown. It took a moment to realize that part of him had become used to being in this world. Not to mention sex with a women who fancied him. And a nice place to sleep, interesting work. He would be sad to leave. If his body had died in the past two days, he would have accepted being here forever with little sadness.

“Well, that’s good then.” He said, masking his disappointment. He again stroked the thin book that listed the ingredients and their preparation for the Lycanthropy Cure. At least he would have this to look forward to upon his return. He’d memorized about four-fifths of it now.

“I would have thought you’d be happier.”

“You don’t know me, Miss Granger.” He mouth nearly curled into a sneer, but missed the mark.

“Actually, I sort of felt that I had come to know you a little bit. You’ve been staying with me since your release from the infirmary.”

“What?”

“Ummm. It’s a long story, but you’ve lost your job and have been evicted from the dungeons.” She said it in one breath and then waited for the explosion.

“Bloody Hell! Why? I’m gone for a few days and… did you have something to do with this, Miss Granger?”

He set his smoldering eyes on her and Hermione felt herself to be eleven years old all over again. “Um, I, er. No. It was entirely your fault. Or rather his fault. I was only there to offer succor.” She held her chin high and decided that that was close enough to the truth for his or anyone’s purpose.

Snape shook his head and sat down to continue reading. Hermione looked around and saw some toys in the corner of the room. “You said I’m a mother. Dr. Snape spoke of a little girl. Where is she?”

“Oh, the little precious is with her Grandparents. They must be saints for –“

“Grandparents. My father is alive, that’s right, he said my father was well.” Hermione began frantically searching around the room. “I have to leave now. I need to see them. How much time do I have?”

“Well, the potion should wear off in about 5.5 hours from now. That is if we didn’t bungle the batch and Hermione isn’t lost forever. But if that is the case, well, welcome to parenthood in the Silver Heather realm.”

“What did you say?”

“Oh, don’t mind me. I suggest you take the floo. They live in someplace called ‘Briar Rose Manor’”.

The complete sense of unreality struck her. She would be seeing her father again. And a daughter she never had. Hermione took the floo power, threw it and said “Briar Rose Manor” and disappeared.

“Well, I obviously won’t be shagging you when I get back,” he said out loud to the empty room. Glad to be rid of the nuisance, he returned to memorizing the ingredients and preparation instructions for the Lycanthropy Cure.

He continued to study until he felt a strange tingling sensation and then, between eye blinks, he was suddenly in a different room. He was in a person’s flat and then he realized—the cure.

“No, this is too soon. I haven’t finished memorizing it. I have to go back.”

“Severus? I’ve brought you over and look you aren’t even a prisoner,” said Lady Snape happily.

He looked up into Hermione Granger’s light brown eyes. He immediate noticed that this one was much slimmer than the one he’d been with. It was as if her body had never blossomed and was well on the way to Harpydom of Pincerian proportions.

“Hermione, you brought me over too soon!” He said not trying to hide his black fury.

“Look, I didn’t even know if this would work. I had to try the counter curse.”

“And I’m stuck here now!”

“Oh, some gratitude.” She huffed. “Well, I’ve got another two hours and forty-five minutes before the potion wears off. So, I’m heading to talk to Poppy.”

“Why Poppy?”

“Severus and I were very close to her. She was one of the few at Hogwarts who didn’t have a fit about our marriage. We both missed her greatly when she died. So, I’m just going to pay my respects and have a chat with her.”

She got up and headed to the fireplace. “Do you know if this is hooked up to the floo? ”

“Of course I don’t. I’ve never been here before!”

“Ah, never mind, here’s the powder.” She took a pinch and said, “And you don’t need to get all shirty with me.”

“So, you’re just going to head off and leave me here alone?” Snape found himself falling into a very bad mood. This wasn’t what he wanted at all.

Hermione’s face softened. “It is goodbye now. I appreciate, well, not really appreciate, but I do hope that you… Oh Hell!” And she grabbed his face between her hands and kissed him. “I just hope that you find as much happiness here as Severus and I have.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call you the perfect couple…” he sneered.

“Oh, you’ll find out,” she smirked and threw the floo powder into the fireplace. “Three Broomsticks!” she ca out out and disappeared.

Snape felt an odd sense of loneliness. She’d been the only woman to be interested in him in how long? He scanned his memory. Embarrassed, he realized there had been no one since that Muggle studies professor, Nora Withershins, he’d dated back when he was 23. He shuddered. Amazing what a young man will say and do to get shagged. Which is what his relationship had been with her. He wanted sex and he got it. Actually, he had been a little relieved when she ran off with the DADA instructor. He reached up and suddenly realized that something was missing.

He dashed to the bathroom mirror and stared at himself, wide eyed in horror. “That feckin’ bastard cut my hair off.” He moved his head one way and another. “Gods, I look like a rodent, no worse, an elephant.” He cursed some more and then walked around the flat, discovering that all his possessions had indeed wound up there and so he could be fairly certain that this was Granger’s flat after all. He didn’t want to call her Hermione. She wasn’t. She was Granger or maybe Miss Granger with an emphasis on Miss, as in doomed to be a spinster. Because obviously from what he’d seen so far, the woman was ill suited for relationships of any nature.

He was beginning to feel peckish and decided that a meal at the Three Broomsticks would not be a bad thing. In fact, a bit of fresh air would be beneficial. He floo’ed directly there and sat down in a booth. Rosmerta swished over.

“Fire Whiskey.”

It was then that she hauled back and slapped him at full force, snapping his head back. And, as he rubbed the injured jaw, he had to ask himself exactly what had his counterpart been up to for the past two days.

A/N: Hugs and many thanks to my reviewers: Jkrazed, Deb, Alison of the Faeries, NegativeNine, Influenza1918, Jenny and Karen.