Embers

Hermione awakened slowly the next morning. An aromatic scent hung in the air. It both soothed her and stirred pangs of hunger. She opened her eyes, at first not sure of where she was. A moment later, the memories returned. She looked around for Snape. He was nowhere to be found. She could see only Draco, who still leaned into the wall and stared vacantly straight ahead. He hadn’t moved since the previous evening. A twinge of fear passed through her when she realised she did not have her wand. A glance at Draco did little to reassure her. He held no wand, but she could not tell if one was hidden within the Death Eater robes he still wore. Hermione shifted herself to make sure she had a clear line of vision to keep an eye on him. She wondered why Snape would leave her alone with him and where he’d gone, for that matter.

She looked at the tray Snape had left for her…tea and toast on a simple tray. But for the missing flower, it reminded her strongly of that first breakfast after her capture. An identical tray had been placed beside Malfoy. Though he appeared to be awake, he hadn’t touched it. She sipped at the tea and nibbled a bit of toast. She wasn’t hungry, just didn’t feel right. She lay back down, but it did little to ease the discomfort. She believed she was allowing her nerves to get the better of her. The longer she was alone with Malfoy, the more restless she became, and the worse she felt. She wished Snape would return. She called, “Professor Snape?” Though he was technically no longer her professor, she was uncertain what else to call him. “Professor Snape?” Silence. She looked around nervously. A rush of nausea suddenly swept through her. She bit it down, one hand between her aching chest and stomach, the other one on her head. The beginnings of a headache were becoming more and more noticeable with each passing minute. Snape had not left any potions on her tray.

The second wave of nausea overtook her and she vomited over the side of the sofa where she lay. Each heave sent a bolt of pain through her still very sore body. Her eyes blurred with tears from the heaving and she struggled to calm herself. A hand came into view, a hand offering a small towel. She accepted it and looked up as she spoke, “Thank y…” Her words died on her lips. She stared at Draco for a few seconds. He stared silently back. She began screaming. “Get away from me! Get away!”

Draco looked confused. “Let me help you.” He said again and again over her screams. When Snape returned moments later, Hermione’s screams were the first thing he heard. In a flash, he took in the situation and was at Hermione’s side. “I was only trying to help.” Draco explained as Snape hurriedly pulled him aside and ordered him to sit. “Tried to help.” He repeated endlessly.

Snape turned back to Hermione. She had barely touched her breakfast and noted she’d been ill. Snape silently cast an Evanesco and cleared the mess. He studied the girl as thoughts of what to do about her and Draco flitted through his mind. Both of them obviously needed more help than he could provide himself. “Why were you screaming, Miss Granger?”

Hermione looked at him, momentarily incensed into silence. “You leave me here alone with him!” She pointed at Draco. “He attacks me and you ask me why I screamed?” Draco stood, silently shaking his head ‘no’.

“Did he attack you? Or did he, as I strongly suspect, offer you assistance when you became ill and found yourself unable to find a more suitable spot to empty the contents of your stomach?”

Hermione did not answer him. She knew he spoke the truth, though she did not care to admit it out loud. “Why do you always defend him?”

“For the same reason I am helping you now.” He answered softly. Snape sat beside her. “Is that so hard to comprehend?” He placed a hand on her forehead. He stood, walked to the other room and returned with a small cup of the purplish liquid he’d given her the previous evening. “I’ve added a potion for pain to this. Drink it.”

She took the cup and quickly swallowed its contents. “I don’t comprehend why a Death Eater would help anyone.”

“Is that all you see, Miss Granger? A Death Eater? I expected more of you.” She stared blankly at him. “Have you not wondered why I brought you here? Why no other ‘Death Eaters’ have appeared here seeking either you or Draco or even me?”

“But you are a Death Eater.” She protested. “And so is he.” She pointed contemptuously at Draco. “He’s even still wearing Death Eater robes.” Draco looked up at her as she pointed at him. Her words hit hard. He looked at his clothing, pinching his eyes closed for a second almost as if in great pain. He wandered off, unnoticed by Snape and Hermione.

“He wears those robes because it’s what his father wanted.” She looked at him skeptically. “As for me, appearances are neither the alpha nor the omega of what I am.”

She grasped the meaning of his words immediately. “Are you saying you are and have been a ‘double agent’?” She shook her head. “But you killed Dumbledore! And you fled to rejoin the Death Eaters.”

“And you don’t know all that happened nor why nor how.” He retorted. He could tell she was opening up to him. Her body language indicated a growing trust. She was no longer tense. She looked inquisitive.

“Why are you keeping me here? Why not take me to St. Mungo’s…back to my friends? I’m sure they’ve been looking for me.”

“No one has been looking for you, not actively searching.” He smirked. “Most likely, they wrote you off as a casualty the day you disappeared.”

Her face fell. “But, my help…”

Snape cut her off. “As it would happen, Miss Granger, you left your overly detailed notes in a very accessible location. Fortunately, the Order was able to effortlessly find them, continue the work and pass on what needed to be passed on to those who needed to know it.”

Her expression brightened briefly. “Are they all right?”

“For the moment, I imagine they are. It’s not over yet. There are still those who would do you harm.”

“Or you?” She asked with a hint of a smile. “How can you be so sure we’re safe here?”

Snape smiled a very enigmatic smile. “I trust the secret keeper implicitly.”

“That didn’t help Harry’s parents,” Hermione tried to explain.

Snape held up a hand. “Spare me the details. I already know them. I made a wiser choice than they did. My secret keeper will not betray me.” The comment seemed to placate her. “Has your stomach settled now that everything has been satisfactorily explained?” He stood and walked into another room. He returned with a new pot of tea and a sweet-smelling concoction. “This will help calm you.” She drank it and had begun to sip at a cup of tea when a sudden thud shattered the calmness, grabbing both their attentions.

Snape ran to the other room from whence the noise had come. He found Draco on the floor, consciousness fading quickly. Snape ran to him. “What have you done?”

Draco held up a small vial in his hand. “I… deserve… die.”

Snape grabbed the now empty container, sniffed it then cast a sorrowful look at Draco. “Foolish boy!” Snape knelt to pick him up. “By saving her, you did a good thing and now you try to throw it away.” Snape hurried into the other room, back to Hermione.

Draco mumbled, “Did good thing?” before he lost consciousness completely.

Snape called to Hermione, “Get up! We’re leaving here now!”

“Where are we going? Why? I thought we were safer here?” She looked at Snape and at the unconscious figure in his arms. “What has he done?”

Snape ignored her questions. He did not have what he would need to counteract the potion Draco had ingested. Without help, he would succumb within minutes. He needed to be at St. Mungo’s where he could be properly treated. Snape knew that once he went there, he would within seconds be detained. He thought bitterly that if the guards were particularly hotheaded, he could very well be killed on sight. For that reason, he could not leave Hermione alone. St. Mungo’s now had an operative floo network to deal with the increased volume of injuries and to better hide the increased activity from Muggle eyes. The St. Mungo’s Floo Network was among the most heavily guarded floo networks in Britain. He would have to take both of them and hope for the best. “Just stay with me, Miss Granger. No matter what happens, stay with me.” Wards were dropped quickly and in a flash of green light, the three figures flooed to St. Mungo’s.

Immediately, several wands were pointed at the figures emerging from the floo. Snape paid no heed to any of them and pushed forward. He placed the limp body of Draco Malfoy into the arms of a momentarily stunned Auror. “He needs the antidote for essence of clarified aconite immediately!” The Auror stared at Snape as if frozen to the spot. “Time is of the essence. Take him now!” The Auror who held Draco backed up a few steps, and then hurried away to the proper department for magical poisonings.

By now, additional Aurors and curious onlookers had flocked to see what was causing the commotion. Hermione, already weakened by the travel, had begun leaning against Snape for support. Snape had unconsciously placed an arm around her shoulders to help hold her up. To the Aurors, however, it looked like something else entirely. One of them shouted, “Accio wand!” Snape’s wand flew out of his robes and into the outstretched hand of a young Auror.

“By Godric Gryffindor himself, I don’t believe it. This should rate an Order of Merlin, first class, capturing the elusive Severus Snape, don’t you think?”

“Why don’t you contact the Minister of Magic immediately so as to expedite the process?” Snape stated calmly. He took no notice of the look of confusion that crossed Hermione’s face. She wondered if her initial assumptions had been correct and that Snape was indeed a wanted man, a guilty man.

“Let her go, Snape. You’re wandless and completely surrounded by Aurors. Let the hostage go.”

Understanding, relief and then anger flooded Hermione’s face. “I’m not his hostage.” She moved as if to walk away, but her legs almost gave way beneath her. Snape grabbed hold of her arm as one of the Aurors stepped forward and grasped her other arm. Hermione tried to pull herself closer to Snape as the Auror pulled her in the other direction. Suddenly, Snape went stiff and fell. Hermione screamed, “No!” She recognized the effects of a freezing charm. Again, she screamed and tried to hold on to Snape. Several Aurors pulled her away before magically binding Snape and levitating his body down the hall into a private room to be held pending Ministry interrogation. Aurors and healers surrounded Hermione and led her away for a medical examination and treatment. She still screamed, “He helped me! He rescued me! He helped me!” and struggled with her would-be helpers.

Hours later, a solitary figure entered St. Mungo’s and walked directly to the most heavily guarded room there. “Leave us,” he commanded quietly but authoritatively. “I can take it from here.”

“But, Sir, he’s dangerous. Are you sure it’s a good idea to be alone with him?” The Auror was genuinely concerned.

“Leave us.”

The Auror quietly departed. The figure drew his wand and released the magical bindings that held the figure in the chair. The sitting wizard did not move. The figure approached and stood directly behind him. “It was time to come in from the cold, Severus.”

Without turning, he asked, “How is he?” Snape hoped fervently that Draco had been given the antidote in time.

“Physically, he’s recovering. Mentally…, it may be too soon to tell, but it doesn’t look good. I’m sorry.” The figure did not see the look of pain on Snape’s face. “We found the body Of Lucius Malfoy and Draco’s wand beside it.”

“He’s innocent…of that charge.” Snape spoke a little more forcefully. “He did not kill his father.”

“Tell me what happened.”

Snape turned and began to speak as Arthur Weasley patiently listened. Snape fell silent once he’d told what he knew.

“I have a favour to ask of you, Severus.” Snape looked at Arthur, but remained silent. Arthur continued, “I’d like for you to spend some time with Hermione.” Arthur ignored the look of shock that swept Snape’s face. “She would not allow any of the healers near her. It was necessary to subdue her to even determine the extent of her injuries.”

“Are her friends not the better option?”

“She’s asking for you. She refuses to speak to anyone else about her condition.”

‘Her condition?’ Snape wondered. His confusion showed on his face.

“She’s pregnant.” Arthur spoke in a very hushed voice. “She needs someone to talk with her, explain her options, and help her make a decision. She wants to talk with you. You saved her once. Will you help her now?”
Snape nodded an assent and Arthur led him to Hermione’s room. An idea had already taken hold in Snape’s mind. He would do all he could to see that it came to fruition. Softly, he opened the door and walked in. “Miss Granger?” She looked up at him, but said nothing. He approached her bedside and looked down on her tear-stained face. “You were asking for me, Hermione?”

He had never used her given name before and hearing it for the first time brought a smile to her face. “Will you stay with me?” She asked hesitantly.

Snape sat down on the edge of her bed, grasped one of her hands and spoke, “For as long as you wish me to do so.” He gently squeezed her hand. “Tell me what you’re thinking, Hermione.” He noted that she squeezed back.

“I don’t know what to think or what to do.” Her eyes were wet with tears. She looked into his eyes. “I’ve always had the answers before or at least I thought I could find them easily. Now, I don’t know…” A sob escaped her.

Snape dried a tear with his finger. “Will you allow me to help you, Hermione?” She seemed to respond well to hearing him address her by her given name.

She held his gaze. “I’m not sure what I want. I wish it would just go away, but I know that’s not going to happen.”

“Are you saying that you could have Lucius’ baby?” Snape watched her closely.

“That’s just it,” Hermione stated. “I don’t think it’s his.”

Snape was elated, but showed no outward sign of that. Her suspicions further fueled what he’d already begun to suspect when Arthur had first told him.

Hermione continued, “I’m fairly certain it’s Draco’s.” She waited for Snape’s response.

Snape considered his words carefully. “Does that make a difference to you?”

“I think that bringing the first Malfoy Half-Blood into the world and raising it to be the opposite of everything that family stood for would be a wonderful bit of revenge.”

“Then, you wish to have the baby?” Snape was beginning to think it would be easier than he’d dared hope. He wanted a role in this child’s life, but would not hurt Hermione more than she’d already been hurt. Nonetheless, he believed he could subtly persuade her in the direction he favoured.

“But, then I think that every time I looked at it, it would remind me of…what happened. I’m not sure I can deal with that.” She shook her head. “I’m not sure it’s fair to anyone, least of all to it.”

“If you wish to have the baby, I can help with the child.” Snape was determined and continued to press in one direction. “I understand and appreciate how difficult this is for you, Hermione. I will help in any way I can, if you’ll allow it.”

“Revenge is not the best motive for bringing a baby into the world, either.” She laughed a little.

“It’s not about revenge. It’s about rebuilding the wizard world, correcting the mistakes of the past and building a better future for all wizards. Things you’ve always stood for.” Snape held her gaze as he spoke. “You can do this, Hermione.”

“What if I’m not strong enough?” She maintained the eye contact.

“You are and I’ll be at your side every step of the way.” He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back. “The first step is to accept the medical help you need to get through this. Now, will you allow the healers to get near you or shall I be forced to cast a Petrificus Totalus?”

Hermione Granger laughed out loud.

“What does she see in him?” An Auror asked outside the door after hearing the laughter coming from inside the room.

Arthur Weasley looked at the young Auror. “She sees something she needs.” He smiled. “He brought her back to us. He’ll get her through what lies ahead.”

“I guess I won’t be getting that Order of Merlin, first class, then?” He looked hopefully at Arthur.

“The war’s not over yet.” Arthur patted him on the back. There was still much to do.