Choices

A/N: Chapter title borrowed from ‘The Minstrels Prayer’ by Cartel.

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Chapter 14: This Beggar’s Plea



Lucius sat by Hermione’s bed night and day, only leaving when someone forced him to. Fortunately, Dumbledore had cancelled classes for the week, so those that had been injured in the fight could have time to heal. He didn’t know why or how he’d fallen for Gryffindor’s Golden Girl so hard or so fast. All he knew was that he had to have her back. She’d been unconscious for nearly a week, and in all that time she’d made no signs of waking. He reached out and stroked the back of her hand, smiling sadly when she smiled in her sleep. He didn’t allow her smile to mislead him. She had smiled every time he’d touched her over the last five days and still had not woken.



Lucius looked over his shoulder at the bed next to Hermione’s where Draco was sitting next to a still unconscious Pansy. He sighed softly, wondering if the two young women would ever wake up. He watched as Draco softly stroked Pansy’s cheek as he spoke to the blonde girl. Lucius wanted to cry as Draco told Pansy that she had to wake up so they could get married, have lots of babies, and live happily ever after. Happily ever after doesn’t exist, my Dragon Lucius thought, shaking his head sadly. He turned his attention back to Hermione, not seeing Draco look up and shake his head, as if disagreeing with his father’s thought.



“They will wake up, father,” Draco said softly.



“I know they will, Dragon,” Lucius answered.



It was the same thing they’d said to each other several times a day since the fight in Hogsmeade.



“She has to live,” Draco whispered. “She has to because Sev died for her.”



Lucius snapped to attention at that. No one had told him that his best friend had died protecting Hermione. He’d only been told that the man had died protecting the students.



“Draco?” Lucius whispered, the questions evident in that one word.



Draco softly explained the events of Severus’ death, watching as his father collapsed further into his chair. The blond boy wondered if his father would finally allow himself to cry for the man that had been his brother all but blood.



The two men sat in silence for several minutes before Lucius whispered, “Thank you for telling me, Draco.”



“Father, do you really believe they will wake up?” Draco asked, unshed tears evident in his harsh voice.



“I hope so, Dragon,” Lucius answered as he tightened his hold on Hermione’s hand.

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Hermione looked around, finally seeing something besides darkness. Well this is a pleasant change, she thought as she took in her surroundings. She was standing near a small cottage that was surrounded by more flowers than she could name. Snape would love this garden, she thought, holding back a sob as thoughts of the man that had died for her flooded her mind. She wondered who the cottage belonged to and why she was there rather than at Hogwarts. She wondered if she’d died and somehow not noticed it. Hermione did the only thing that the Gryffindor in her would allow; she called out for anyone that was there.



“Hello! Is anyone here?” she called as she approached the cottage. She wasn’t really expecting an answer, so the door of the cottage opening seemingly of its own accord startled her.



What she saw next nearly caused her to faint. Severus Snape walked out the door of the cottage and half smiled at her.



“Miss Granger, must you always be so loud?” he drawled at her.



“Oh Professor,” Hermione sobbed and threw herself at him. She latched on to the man, sobbing her heart out.



Snape allowed her to cry, knowing that she had had a big shock.



When she’d finally pulled herself together, she asked, “Does this mean that I’m dead?”



“No, Miss Granger. Please, come inside,” he said, leading her to into the cottage.



She followed Severus inside, gasping when she saw Pansy sitting at a small table drinking a cup of tea. Hermione’s mind was spinning.



“Sit,” Severus said pointing at a chair.



Hermione obeyed, and immediately started asking questions. “Are you sure I’m not dead? Why is Pansy here? Is she dead? If I’m not dead, why am I here?”



“Yes, I’m sure. Because she needs to be. She isn’t. I don’t know,” Snape answered, not missing a beat.



“If Pansy’s not dead, and I’m not dead, does that mean we’re dreaming?” Hermione asked, still trying to wrap her head around the situation.



Severus rolled his eyes at the girl, even near death she was insufferable. “Miss Granger, I believe that you and Miss Parkinson are here because you need a safe place for your minds while your bodies heal. And before you ask, I did what I did because you are needed more than I am. You and the Mr. Weasley are Potter’s strength. If he were to lose you or Weasley, he would not be able to do what he needs to do. Voldemort became suspicious of me when I was unable to deliver Draco to him. I knew my days were numbered so I chose to go doing something for the greater good.”



“Professor, how can ever repay you?” Hermione asked, tears in her eyes.



He smiled softly at her, “You don’t have to, Miss Granger. I’m happy here, and I’m finally free.”



Hermione nodded, for once at a loss for something to say. She wondered if Lucius would allow her to name their first child after Severus. Where did that come from? she thought. Hermione was disturbed a bit by the thought, considering that she and Lucius were only in the beginning stage of a relationship and she wasn’t even sure if it was going to last.



“Hermione, I was wondering if you and I could possibly be friends,” Pansy said, snapping the other girl out of her thoughts.



“We can try, Pansy,” Hermione answered.



The blonde girl smiled brilliantly at her and went back to drinking her tea.



“Professor, what is this place?” Hermione asked, gesturing to the cottage and its surroundings.



“This is my personal paradise. I guess some deity somewhere was very pleased with what I did for you, so I was rewarded with this,” he answered.



“It’s lovely.”



“Indeed. Now shall we puzzle out how to get the two of you back where you belong?” Snape asked with a soft smile.



Hermione quickly agreed, and the three of them spent the remainder of the day working out how to get the girls minds back to their bodies. Hermione smiled as watched Severus. He looked truly happy, it was just sad that he had to die to find that kind of happiness.

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Harry, Ron, Elkara, and Ginny sat in the Heads’ common room in silence. Their thoughts were all running along the same lines; the unknown curse that still had Hermione unconscious, the fight in Hogsmeade, and the interhouse unity that had come as a result of that fight. It still amazed Harry how quickly the word had spread about the DA’s involvement, and that it had started out as them protecting a Slytherin. In the five days since the fight almost all house rivalry had been dropped. At meal times, people sat wherever they pleased not thinking about the colours the people around them were wearing. The largest shock had come that day when a group of Slytherins had sat at the Gryffindor table and started a conversation as if they had every right to be there.



“Harry, can we go see Hermione?” Ginny asked suddenly.



“Sure, Gin,” Harry answered, standing.



The four teens made their way out of the common room. They unconsciously left a Hermione-sized space between Harry and Elkara. Ginny felt tears prickling her eyes as she noticed the hole in their group. It just wasn’t right without Hermione, she belonged with them. El reached for Ginny’s hand and the two girls found a small amount of comfort in the touch.



When they reached the Hospital Wing, they noticed that Lucius was still next to Hermione just as he’d been that morning when they were in to see Hermione. They gathered around the bed and gazed sadly at their friend.



Ginny broke the silence by addressing Hermione. “Hermione, you have to wake up. We finally have interhouse unity, you have to see it. It’s amazing, all the houses are mixing together, and most of the Slytherins have declared their loyalty to the Light. I guess they felt they owed that to Professor Snape for dying for a student.”



“He died for you Hermione,” Harry added. “I think he’d be furious if his sacrifice was for nothing.”



“Please come back to us Hermione,” Ron said. “We can’t do it without you. You’re our brains, remember?”



“Hermione, nos postulo vos. Harry postulo vos. Quis mos nos operor vacuus vos hic?” El whispered, using the best Latin she knew. She wasn’t sure why she was speaking Latin.



Lucius stared at the black haired girl. Her Latin wasn’t good, but he understood what she was saying to Hermione. He wondered why he hadn’t thought of that before. He turned to look at Draco, the boys attention was still focused on Pansy and he hadn’t really heard what was happening at the next bed.



“Professor, why don’t you go get something to eat? We’ll stay here with Hermione until you get back,” El suggested softly.



The blond man nodded. As much as he didn’t want to leave Hermione, he knew he had to eat. He stood and left the Hospital Wing without a word.



Harry and Ginny’s gazes locked in concern for the man. That was the first time he’d left Hermione’s side without a word of complaint.



“You don’t think he’s given up on her, do you?” Ginny asked softly.



“Of course he hasn’t. He just knows that it’s pointless to argue with El,” Draco answered.



“When was the last time you ate, Draco?” El asked.



“Are you trying to make me leave, too?” Draco returned.



“I’m trying to make sure you don’t starve to death. What good are you to her if you’re dead?” El snapped.



“Fine, I’m going,” Draco threw his hands up in defeat and left the room.



“Any particular reason you made them leave?” Harry asked.



“Yes,” El answered, moving to stand between the beds. “Ginny, I need you to pull out two of my feathers.”



She transformed into her Shadow Phoenix form and extended one wing toward Ginny. The redhead knelt and pulled out two feathers as gently as she could. When it was done, El changed back. Ignoring the pain in her arm, she placed on feather in Hermione’s hand and the other in Pansy’s. She wrapped Hermione’s fingers around the feather and placed her hands around her friend’s hand. She began to hum softly. A soft white glow surrounded her hands, and in a flash the feather was gone. She repeated the process with Pansy, then collapsed into the chair that Lucius had vacated.



“Okay, what was that?” Ron asked.



“That was my effort to bring the girls home. If they need something to lead them, those feathers will do it,” El answered.



“Are you sure that will work?” Harry asked.



“No, but it’s the only thing that we haven’t tried,” El told him truthfully.



“Now what do we do?” Ginny asked.



El looked up at her girlfriend and said, “Now we wait.”

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In Snape’s cottage, a rather pleasant dinner had been interrupted by a flash of light and a feather appearing in Hermione’s hand. A few minutes later, the same thing happened to Pansy. Both girls stared at the feathers in shock.



“What do they mean, Professor?” Hermione asked.



I think, Miss Granger, they mean that you and Miss Parkinson have someone in the waking world that desperately wants you back,” Snape answered slowly.



“But why feathers?” Pansy asked.



“It’s Elkara. She must be the one calling us. How do we use these feathers to get back, though?” Hermione thought out loud.



She closed her eyes and focused on the black feather in her hand. Almost instantly she felt a pull in her mind. She opened her eyes and said, “I know how we do it.”



She quickly explained the process to Pansy and the two girls made ready to go home.



“Miss Granger, tell Lucius that I said not to be a prat about it, he’ll know what you’re talking about. Also tell him that I knew exactly what I was doing and that it was my choice to die. Miss Parkinson, tell Draco about the plot against him,” Snape said. “Also, don’t either of you dare worry about me. I know how you are.”



The girls grinned at the once snarky man and said their goodbyes to him. They closed their eyes and focused all their attention on the feathers. Hermione noticed that the pull was slightly uncomfortable, but resisted the urge to stop. She knew she had to do it if she wanted to get back where she belonged. The discomfort was building and becoming an unbearable pain. Before she was aware of it, a scream of pain had been ripped from her throat. Her eyes flew open and she barely registered that she was in the Hospital Wing before trying to dive out of her bed to get Pansy, who was screaming like she was being murdered. She was held back by Harry and Ron, who had stopped her as soon as they realized what she was about to do.



“What is all this racket?” Madam Pomfrey demanded as she practically ran into the room.



“Let me go!” Hermione screamed. With a strength that she didn’t know she possessed, she threw the boys off of her and leapt into Pansy’s bed.



She wrapped her arms around the still screaming girl and tried to comfort her. She didn’t notice Draco and Lucius come crashing into the room. She paid no attention to Madam Pomfrey, who was desperately trying to restore order. She didn’t pay attention to anything but Pansy, who was now sobbing from the pain she was in. It wasn’t until Draco joined her in comforting and soothing Pansy that Hermione really paid attention to her surroundings. The first thing she noticed the pain that was shooting up and down her body. She began crying into Pansy’s shoulder, and the two girls clung to each other as the pain coursed through their bodies.



“What’s happening to them, Professor?” Ginny asked, frightened.



“It’s most likely the after effects of the curses they were hit with,” he answered, placing a hand on her shoulder.



“Is there anything we can do?” Ron asked.



“Unfortunately, there isn’t. The only thing that can help them right now is a pain potion, and each other,” the blond man answered.



“But they’ve always hated each other,” Harry said.



“Stranger things have happened, Mr. Potter,” Madam Pomfrey told him. She had gathered together some pain potions and was trying to force them into the girls’ mouths.



“May we try?” Draco asked politely, indicating his father and himself.



Madam Pomfrey nodded and handed the potions to Draco, who in turn handed one to his father. The two men approached the bed quietly and reached out to stroke the girls’ arms. They whispered softly to the girls. Finally they managed to get the girls to swallow the potions. It took half an hour of gently spoken words, soft caresses, and tiny drops of the potions so the girls wouldn’t choke. When it was finally done both girls fell silent. Everyone was afraid that they were unconscious again.



The silence in the room was broken by Hermione softly whispering, “Lucius, Snape says not to be a prat about it.”



The elder blond burst out laughing at her statement. The other’s looked at him like he’d cracked.



“He also says that he knew what he was doing and that it was his choice,” Hermione whispered.



“Is he happy, love?” Lucius asked.



Hermione nodded. She sat up in the bed and declared, “I’m hungry.”



“Welcome back, Hermione,” Harry said with a slight chuckle.



Madam Pomfrey called for a house elf and arranged for very light meals to be brought up for the girls. Pansy sat up next to Hermione and demanded that she “get her bony ass in her own bed.” Hermione complied, laughing.



“How long were we out?” Pansy asked, once their food had been brought up and everyone was settled in chairs or perched on a bed.



“Five of the longest days of my life,” Draco answered.



“Five days?” Hermione asked.



Ginny nodded and said, “Yeah, but it may as well have been five years. That’s what it felt like.”



“So what did we miss?” Hermione asked.



She listened intently as she was told about all of the changes that had happened in the time she’d been unconscious. She nearly choked on her soup when she was told about the interhouse mixing that had begun. She was happy that the fight in Hogsmeade had at least had some good things come out of it.

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A/N: I’m not entirely happy with this chapter. Any suggestions on how I can improve it?