The Fortress Within

Sometime


Sometime, deep in the night, Severus awoke at Hermione’s
sudden movement in his arms.  She
had moved to the far side of the bed and was now looking at him with wide,
surprised eyes.  By the waning
firelight he watched her lift the blankets up to peer underneath and her upper
lip curled.
 


“Oh shit.”  He
thought.  “Hello Granger.”
 


She laughed her deep, throaty laugh. 
“Aren’t you going to thank me, Snape?”
 


Severus pushed himself to a sitting position against the
headboard and folded his arms across his chest.  “What, pray tell, do I have to thank you for?”
 


The Deatheater persona joined him against the back of the
bed.  Thankfully she kept the sheet
tucked beneath her arms.  “Well
you certainly don’t think that,” she looked pointedly in the
direction of his groin, “would have happened had it not been for me.”
 


“Forgive me if I’m wrong, Granger, but I didn’t see
or hear you anywhere around this or her a couple of hours ago.”
 


“I was here, in a fashion. 
I allowed her the moment, the happiness.  Gods know she deserves it, one of us does. 
If I had not pushed her far down Friday night, she would have been in no
shape for your exercises tonight.  She
would not have been able to handle that.”
 


“We need to get a few things straight, though. 
I heard your little oath to her.  ‘My
wife.’ That’s a good one.  She’ll
never be anyone’s wife, neither of us is worthy of that title, not even for
you.  She on the other hand
did not hear it.  Must have been the blood rushing through our ears. 
Do. Not. Ever. Make such a proclamation again in our presence. 
She could not handle the weight of such knowledge. 
It would be far too distracting in our current role.”
 


“You will put your own inconsequential emotions aside and
keep this tryst light.  If you fail
to do so, I will push her down so deep that she will never, ever see the light
of day again.  We have a job to do
and when it is over we will leave this place. 
I never want to set eyes on a wizard or anything magical again. 
She works with me or I will destroy &nbs 
It’s as simple as that.”
 


He pondered her statements, furious that the little chit
was daring to tell him what he could and could not do.  Still, he knew they were not idle threats and for the sake of
his Hermione he had no choice but to agree, for a time at least. 
“OK, she will not know of my feelings. 
I swear this to you, though.  As
soon as Voldemort has been destroyed I will tell her, I will proclaim my
feelings and claim her as mine.  She
is stronger than you give her credit for.”
 


“You can try, Snape. 
You can try.”  The woman in
his bed snuggled back underneath the covers, turning her back to him. 
“She’s not the only one who needs her rest. 
The revel wasn’t exactly a picnic for me, either.” 
 


Severus smiled sadly and reached a comforting hand to her
shoulder.  She flinched at his
touch.  “Don’t even think about
it, Snape.  Your lover is asleep and
I have no need of anything you can give me in that department.”
 


He slid back beneath the blankets and stared up at the dark
canopy above the bed.
 


“Snape?”  Her
voice was a bit softer, now.
 


“Yes, Granger.”
 


“Thank you for taking care of us last night.”
 


“Don’t mention it. 
Thank you for taking care of her.”
 


He heard her snort, “That’s what I was made to do.”
 


Severus lay in the darkness, too tense to sleep. 
After a while, Hermione rolled over and snuggled up against him. 
He relaxed at the sign she had returned and pulled her into his arms. 
She turned to her stomach and propped her chin up on his chest. 
“Severus, why aren’t you sleeping?”
 


He smiled at her and reached to run a hand through her
hair.  “Oh, it’s nothing, just a
bad dream.”
 


“About Voldemort?”
 


“In a sense.”
 


Hermione lay her head down, listening to the beat of his
heart.  “I have strange dreams,
too, sometimes.  I can’t always
remember them, but I know they were bad.  I
wake up so frightened.”
 


Gently, he turned her over and gazed down at her. 
He smoothed her wild hair back from her face and ran the back of his
fingers over her cheek.  “Someday, the bad dreams will end.”
 


“She assures me they won’t.”
 


The reference to the Deatheater drove a nail through his
heart.  If he ever wanted a life
after all of this, a life with her, he could voice no promises. 
Severus did the only thing he could think of right thebsp;bsp;
He made secret vows to her; gentle promises made with his body.
 


“Severus, Hermione,” 
Albus Dumbledore’s voice had them both sitting upright in bed
instantly.  Hermione looked at
Severus with a grin and rolled her eyes.  Thankfully
only the Headmaster’s voice was coming from the fireplace.
 


“Bloody Hell, Albus. 
What are you doing, waking me at this hour of the morning?” 
Severus growled.  He rose from their bed and reached to grab the pile of
clothes from the floor. 
 


“The hour of the morning is 10:15 and I never realized
either one of you slept in on the weekends.”
 


Severus tossed her gown to her and pulled the shirt over
his head.  That done, he gestured
silently to Hermione at his bare lower half. 
She grinned at him wickedly before pointing her finger in his direction. 
His pants reappeared.
 


Albus’ voice was still going on from the fireplace,
“….so, I’ll be there in a few minutes. 
I assume neither one of you has had breakfast yet, I’ll bring a
tray.” 
 


Severus began to protest, but the fireplace remained
silent.  “He hung up on you,
Severus” Hermione collapsed back against the bed in a fit of giggles. 
Instantly, she was pinned down to the mattress by a long, sleek form.
 


“What do you find so funny, Hermione” Severus rumbled,
doing his best to scowl at her.  It
didn’t work.  Soon, she had found
his mouth and Albus was forgotten; but only briefly.
 


A knock on the door and Severus was on his feet
immediately.  A screeching yowl
could now be heard from the living room.  Severus
pointed at Hermione’s gown, still clutched in her hand and when it was in
it’s proper place, he stomped over to the door and threw it wide.
 


Albus Dumbledore was flitting around the living room,
setting out breakfast on a dining table which had appeared. 
Crookshanks hissed his displeasure at the tall man and ran straight to
his mistress.
 


“Why was there a silencing spell on the door?” Albus
inquired before Severus could shut the door behind him. 
 


“Silencing spell, SEVERUS. 
Oh, Crookshanks; my poor baby.  Did
you have to spend the night out there, all cold and alone?  Oh,
you poor thing, I’ll just….”
 


“Damn cat,” Severus muttered.  “If you think you can drag yourself away from that orange
ball of Hell, please join us.  I
believe Albus wants to speak to both of us.”
 


He stomped out to the living room, plopped down in one of
the straight backed dining chairs surrounding the table and poured himself a cup
of black coffee.  Albus watched him,
his eyes dancing in glee, but offered no comment.  “What are you looking at Albus?  That cat has deposited orange hair all over my quarters. 
Gods forbid he can’t get to his bed when he chooses.  
Then he sits out here, screaming, until someone opens the door. 
I swear, if I didn’t know any better, thi think Black had figured out
another Animangus form just to torment me.”
 


Hermione joined them at the table.  “Good morning, Albus. 
It’s been a while.”  Crookshanks
had trailed her to the table and now sat next to her chair, demanding his
breakfast.  Hermione glared down at
the feline, “Bugger off you great lump of fat, or I’ll see to it you are
roasted and served at the Gryffindor table tonight.”
 


Severus felt almost sorry for the cat, animals took such
extreme changes in their masters quite personally sometimes. 
Crookshanks turned around and walked back into the bedroom, head down and
tail dragging on the floor behind him.
 


“Ahhh, Miss Granger, so happy you could join us this
morning,”  Albus had noted the
guest with raised eyebrows. 
 


“Snape, are you going to hog that entire pot?” 
Severus lifted the silver pot out and poured her a cup of steaming
liquid.  He offered no sugar or
cream, knowing that this Hermione took it black. 
She took the mug in both hands and blew over the top of it, before taking
a sip and sighing.
 


She set the mug back on the table and looked to Albus. 
“I suppose the time has come to talk of plans, has it not, Albus?”
 


“Perceptive as always, my dear.”  The Headmaster rose and began to dish out a wonderful
concoction from the chafer in the center of the table. 
Eggs, potatoes, ham, onions, peppers, all flowed together to form a
delicious breakfast casserole.  After
placing a large portion on his own plate, Albus resumed, “Have the two of you
made plans for the attack here?”
 


Severus decided to field this question, “Well, Granger
here would like to see blood flying everywhere; but I have been able to convince
her that simplicity may be the best approach. 
The Cito Exsanguis Neco*** should do the job.”
 


Hermione considered the words and Severus smiled as she
recalled the potion he referred to.  “A
quick, bloodless death.  Not my idea
of fun, but it would do the job.  One
problem though, Snape.  That has to
be used in a closed in area.  The
liquid form can be impeded by clothing, shoes; it needs direct contact with skin
to work properly.  The vapors,
though, they are the most effective, but need a confined space to work. 
How do you propose to use this?” 
 


Severus was most pleased. 
Even in her current form, the girl was brilliant. 
“It’s actually quite simple, really. 
I convinced Voldemort a long time ago that I was able to breach the
apparation wards for short periods of time in my classroom without detection. 
That’s how I was able to apparate directly to the revels. 
We can flood the classroom with both forms of the potion. We then seal
the classroom and allow the wards to be dropped to allow apparation into the
room.  The Deatheaters apparate in
to begin the attack, and die.  Quickly,
easily.  I’ll add a little magic
leeching solution to the liquid form, to ensure no one can defeat the potion,
not that I think any of those idiots possess the capabilities. A simple spell
can clear the room later to clean up the bodies.”
 


Albus was fairly glowing with delight. 
“Brilliant, you two, just brilliant. 
Now, what about Voldemort?”
 


Hermione fielded this one, “Well, dinner time would be
the best place for you to meet your untimely demise.  The staff that will be here will be gathered in the Great
Hall; very easy to ambush them all at one time. 
So that is where we will apparate in with the Dark Lord. 
After we receive word that the wards have been breached throughout
the castle and that it is secure.  I
imagine you can do a good interpretation of Lucius Malfoy, correct, Albus. 
Oh wait, better yet.  Polyjuice
potion.  Lucius can apparate
back to make his entrance with us, in the flesh.”
 


Severus scowled at her, “You and that stupid polyjuice
potion.  Brew it successfully one
time and you think you’re an expert.”
 


Albus laughed, “Maybe so Severus, but I believe it’s
perfect.  Now, I’ll arrange for
the Ministry to begin the clandestine transport of the Aurors as soon as the
students are gone.  How does
December 20th sound for this plan?”
 


Severus and Hermione both spoke at the same time, “It
sounds perfect.”  Matching scowls
met, as well.
 


Albus smiled at the two of them.  “Well, then if you don’t mind, I’m going to be on my
way.  Hermione, will she be
up to teaching in the morning??”
 


“Yes, Albus.  Surprisingly
we did manage to get some sleep last night,” Hermione gave a very pointed
glare at Severus before finishing.  “We’re feeling almost back to normal.”
 


“Very well, I’ll see the two of you in the morning at
breakfast.  Severus, I suggest you
transfigure yourself an alarm clock.  You
seem to be becoming quite lazy in your old age.” 
With a laugh, Albus was gone.
 


Hermione stood and called for the elves to clear away the
remains of breakfast.  “I believe
I’m going to be around quite a bit during the next 6 weeks or so.”
 


Severus grimaced at the thought. “Why is that,
Granger?”
 


“Well, the Cito Exsanguis Neco is quite involved
and takes a long time to brew.  We
are going to need a lot of it.  The
way the two of you have been carrying on, you’ll get no work done at all. 
I’m going to get dressed.  I’ll
meet you in the lab.”
 


Severus moved to his chair while he waited for her to
shower and dress.  The plan would
work out nicely, even if he would be spending most of his time with her. 
At least, hopefully, he would have the nights to look forward to. 
 


“Six weeks” and the nightmare would be over, for
all three of them.  He just hoped
that in six weeks time, his Hermione would be able to purge herself of the
darkness. 
 


Severus remembered her words, “I never want to set
eyes on a wizard or anything magical again.”


 


He was sure that her dark side would take her away from
this world forever if she was not vanquished. 
He would gladly leave the wizarding world to follow her wherever she
went.  But, he would always be a
wizard.
 


Hermione walked back through the living room, on her way to
the lab.  “What are you doing,
Snape.  Albus is right you’re
getting lazy.  Would have thought
you would be half way done the first batch by now.”
 


Severus snarled at her, “I was waiting for you to finish
up in there.  I believe I would like
a shower this morning as well.  If.
You. Don’t. Mind.”
 


“Yes, well, from the looks of things on this end, I
imagine you are in just as much of a cleaning up as we were.  Don’t be too long, though.”
 


Severus moved quickly, and was soon clothed in his normal
teaching attire.  He felt the need
of black fabric, high collars, and constricting buttons today. 
Anything to remind him of his place in her life. 
 


He prayed the day would go fast and looked forward to the
quiet peace of the night.  His
Hermione had become his safe place as well.
 


 


 


 


 


***Cito Exsanguis Neco  I urge on I kill/murder bloodless