Potions,Poisons and Antidotes

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. I promise to return them when I am done playing with them. I make no money from this fic.

A/N: I’m deeply sorry for taking so long to update. Between the holidays and the new puppy my kids got for Christmas I have been VERY busy.

Chapter 11

Hermione and Severus wasted no time getting the antidote to St. Mungo’s. They started with Harry because he seemed the most affected. After just a few minutes they could see the effects of the poison begin to subside. When the effects lessened they brought him out of the magical sleep. He opened his eyes and looked around. “I see the two of you have saved the day again” he croaked. Hermione smiled and gave him some water. Severus just smirked and moved to the next bed.

Hermione wanted to ask to awaken Draco next but she knew that she couldn’t play favorites. She also knew that when he awoke she would want hold him and talk to him.

They worked their way along the row of beds administering the antidote to each person and then watching for adverse reactions. When Draco opened his eyes and smiled at her she wanted to jump for joy. Instead she settled for giving him a light kiss and telling him she missed him.

All of the victims seemed to respond to the antidote immediately. They would all have to stay a day more for more treatment. Hermione made her goodbyes and kissed Draco one more time before she and Severus returned to his office.

They finished all the reports and paperwork. There was always so much paperwork. Of course Hermione loved paperwork so Severus left a lot of it to her. As the last piece of paper was signed and sent on its official way the pair agreed to meet at the Manor for dinner.

Hermione stepped into the library at the Manor and was greeted by her mother and aunt. “You look shattered pumpkin. Sit down and tell us everything” her mother said. She found herself being led to the couch and a teacup put into her hands.

“We found the antidote. It was the rose you sent with tea that did it. We needed the pollen from it. Everyone is making a full recovery so far. It will take a day or two to repair all the muscle damage from the convulsions. Severus will be here for dinner in a couple of hours. I’m going to rest for a while” she said with a small smile. Standing she gave each woman a kiss on the cheek and left the room.

She got to Draco’s room and looked around. It didn’t seem right to be in here while he was still in the hospital. She took off her clothes and lay down on his side of the bed. The pillow smelled like him, the herbal scent of his shampoo mixed with his spicy cologne. She snuggled into his pillow and fell immediately asleep.

An hour and a half later her alarm woke her up. It was time to get ready for dinner. She stumbled into the shower feeling as if her limbs weighed a ton. The water perked her up a bit and she began to think about the next steps in the investigation.

It seemed to Hermione that Nott was targeting members of the Order. She needed to find him before he struck again. How to find him? ‘Hmmm, time to help myself to the Malfoy library’ she thought. Quickly she dressed and headed off to do what she does best, research.

Severus found her there and hour later. He would have missed her entirely if she had not exclaimed, “I found it!” He nearly jumped out of his skin as he saw her at the top of the ladder beginning to descend at an alarming speed. “Carefully” he warned.

Ignoring him entirely she jumped off three steps from the bottom. “I’ve found a spell to track Nott!” Hermione ran to Severus shoving the open book into his hands. She nervously fidgeted from foot to foot as he read the page indicated.

“Do settle down I can not concentrate with you looking like a Pigmy Puff on sugar” he drawled. Realizing he was correct she seated herself on a chair and waited for his next comment. She didn’t have long to wait.

“Do you realize what you have found? This tells us how to track anyone by their magical signature. Not their wand or magic use but their latent magical traces. We can find him no matter where he goes. Hermione this is brilliant.” Snape looked like a proud father. His protégé had rediscovered an important spell that had been forgotten for decades.

Maybe cataloging the Malfoy library would be a good project for her after the wedding. He knew she would in the public eye too much at first to do any real covert work. Yes, that would be her first assignment outside of the lab.

Sarah called them in for dinner. The pair felt better than they had in days. Dinner was a happy affair with lots of wedding plans being discussed. Afterwards Hermione stopped Severus in the hall after everyone else had gone into the library for after dinner drinks and more conversation.

“When do we go hunting?” she asked. She definitely wanted to go along on this one. The witch wanted to be the one to take Nott down.

Severus knew this was one hunting trip she would go on one way or another. Sighing he said, “I don’t think you can separate you’re personal feelings from your professional responsibilities on this one.”

“Give me a chance to prove that I can. I won’t kill him if I don’t have to. I would much rather watch him be kissed by the Dementors or a nice long stay in Azkaban.” Hermione was determined to go after him but ranting and raving would not be professional. She knew she had to make it just business.

Severus knew keeping her out of the hunt would be a losing battle but he wanted to remind her that it was part of her job not a personal vendetta. “Ok, but if you make this at all personal I will assign you to the lab and take you off field work forever.”

“Thank you, I won’t disappoint you,” the witch promised. She loved the research but after spending so much time with Harry and Ron she wasn’t ready to give up the adventure just yet. Maybe that was why so many of her friends became Quidditch players and Aurors. They craved the adrenaline rush as well.

The next morning Hermione checked on Draco early. He and everyone else were doing fine. They could all go home later that night. She told him she had a busy day and would see him at home later. After a goodbye kiss she flooed to Severus’ office for the morning briefing.

She found the entire team assembled and ready to plan the attack. It seemed they would go in at dusk. The spell indicated that the Deatheaters were in an abandoned monastery in the countryside. They would be going in with a team of Aurors. In all about thirty people would be in the group.

After hours of planning the assault the group broke up to prepare for the battle. Hermione left for the Manor to get ready. Severus would meet her there later.

At the Manor Hermione pulled out a heavily warded trunk from her closet. It was the only thing Ivy did not unpack. She opened it to reveal a suit that looked like something a high-tech cat burglar would wear. The black spandex looking suit covered her from the turtleneck collar to her toes. It reflected no light and was protection against a lot of hexes and curses. She laid it out on the bed. In the bathroom she took her shower careful to use nothing with a scent. She couldn’t have a potential target smell her too soon. After showering she braided her hair in one long braid.

Returning to the bedroom she put on the suit. Going to the trunk she pulled out a belt that had small loops along the length of it. Into each loop she put shrunken potion vials. She counted out the healing potions, polyjuice, various antidotes, blood replenishing potions, and veritaserum.

Returning to the trunk again she pulled on a pair of black dragon hide boots with thin soles. She added silver throwing knives in each boot. She reached in again to pull out a shoulder holster and a muggle handgun. She put them on and adjusted the holster for a quick cross draw. She strapped quick draw wrist sheaths on each arm for her wands. The last item to go on was a long black leather duster that flared behind her as she walked.

Two minutes before Severus was due to arrive she entered the library. Her aunt and parents were in the guest house so they would not see the strange pair. Severus stepped through the fire place exactly on time. He was dressed precisely the same as the witch was. They looked like very dangerous bookends. Severus raised one eyebrow and Hermione nodded. He held out a pebble and Hermione covered his hand with hers and they portkeyed to the prearranged meeting spot.

The pair landed easily in the center of their strike team. Wasting no time and with very few words the witches and wizards took their positions. From their surveillance team who had been here most of the day they knew that Deatheaters had been slowly going into the old monastery all day. They hoped it meant a meeting so that they could capture as many as possible.

The team approached the building from several directions and found no traps for wards that they couldn’t get around easily. Snape’s people were the advanced scouts. They moved silently and efficiently through the neglected gardens. Only two sentries were discovered and they were easily dispatched and portkeyed back to the ministry where Aurors were waiting for them.

Team Snape met near the front door and proceeded to silently take down the wards. Once the doors were open they moved through followed by the Aurors. It was easy to tell where the Deatheaters were by the noise. They had a revel going on. The festivities were being held in the main chapel. It was probably the only room big enough for everyone.

Severus and Hermione spotted the steps that would undoubtedly lead to the choir loft. Hermione and two Unspeakables took to the stairs. They heard the sentry before they saw him. He was laughing at something going on down below. Colin moved past Hermione to come up behind the sentry and silently stun him. A portkey was pressed into his hand and he was transported to the ministry.

Steven motioned to the two narrow walkways that ran the entire length of the long room on either side of the choir loft. Hermione began to silently creep down the right side as Steven moved down the left. They both blended into the shadows and were nearly invisible. Colin stayed in the loft to guard the stairs.

Hermione had just made it the end of the walkway and was looking down on the spot where the pulpit had once been when she heard the rest of her companions burst through the main doors. She didn’t look in that direction but watched the people below her instead. Theo Nott and four others she did not recognize were just rising from their chairs. She and Steven both let loose a volley of spells into the five people below them. Three dropped instantly.

Theo turned to look up at her and other wizard turned to look at Steven. The entire room was a blaze of spells firing in all directions. The Deatheaters were hitting each other in their confusion. None of the four near the pulpit saw any of that. They were so concentrated on dodging each others spells that the rest of the room was just a hum in the background.

Steven and Hermione both jumped from the walkway at the same time. They each landed feet first into their opponent’s chest knocking them to the ground. They were almost a mirror image of each other as they magically bound the two Deatheaters and turned to the rest of the room. They both had wands in each hand and were casting hexes and curses in a constant stream from both left and right. They both moved and dodged around the raised area in a deadly dance.

It seemed forever before the spell fire died down and she could see Severus making his way to them downing Deatheaters as he went. She continued picking off the few Deatheaters that were left. It had been a total rout. Apparently most of them had been partying all day and were too drunk to put up a good fight.

Hermione and Steven were standing at the edge of the raised platform awaiting orders from Severus. “Good job” Severus said looking up at the pair. Hermione saw his eyes start to widen and felt a tug on her braid. Without conscious thought she dropped to the floor on her bottom, turning and drawing her muggle gun at the same time. Her shot rang out at the same time as Colin’s from the choir loft. Hermione’s bullet hit Theo in the chest and Colin’s took him in the forehead. Hermione found herself covered in blood and thicker things that she did not want think about.

As she sat on the floor in a moment of shock the only thing she could think of was ‘How had he broken her binding spell?”. Turning wide, over dilated eyes to Severus she said, “I have to work on that spell. Mistakes like that will get someone killed” before shock took over and everything went pear shaped for a few minutes. Distantly she heard Severus laugh.

Two weeks later she and Draco were on a sandy beach enjoying a well deserved honeymoon. As they sat on the sand looking out over the azure blue waters of the Caribbean the door to one of the cabins behind them closed. They could hear two people padding across the sand. Severus and Sarah took the pair of chairs on their right. The foursome sat quietly watching the swells come in.

Soon the quiet was broken by the sound of wave runners roaring into the cove. Severus quietly drawled, “Potter never learned the fine art of relaxing did he?”

Draco answered, “No, but that looks like fun,” as he stood up. Hermione followed him to the third pair of newly weds. Harry jumped off his wave runner allowing Draco and Hermione to jump on and roar off into the surf. Draco looked like a kid in a candy store and Hermione was on the back hanging on for dear life.

Sarah stood up and said, “Come on, it’s just like a Harley but on water” and left to claim the one Ginny had ridden. Severus followed intent on driving. He sped off with a whoop and Sarah laughing holding on to him.

Harry and Ginny waived goodbye from the beach. Turning, the two walked over to the abandoned beach chairs and sat down. Harry looked over to Ginny and said, “I told you we would get the beach to ourselves.”

The End.