The Wrong Time

Making Changes

Hermione looked around the dusty, rarely used cottage. She was going to have to spend some time cleaning it and arranging it before she could bring Josiah here. She set the reduced trunks on an end table and took the radio out of her other pocket.


“Silvano?” she asked into it, after tapping it once with her wand.


“Nancy?” he replied.


“I left him,” She said.


Silvano could not understand it, but he felt his heart skip a beat when he heard her say it. He dismissed it, assuring himself that it was happiness for her courage that made him feel that way.


“That was very courageous of you,” he said, unable to suppress a smile. “Where are you staying?”


“Minerva lent me her cottage,” Hermione said.


“Oh,” he replied, curious.


She must be more than an acquaintance of Minerva’s if she was letting her cottage to her.


“You and Josiah are still welcome here if you find that arrangement to be unsuitable,” He said.


“Thank you,” Hermione said, astounded by his generosity. “I am going to see if there is an adequate area to set up a lab, so that we can continue with our research. I don’t want you to think that what is going on in my personal life is going to hamper our arrangement.”


“Not at all,” he replied honestly.


He was surprised that she was still so focused on their work with all that was going on. Their marriage really must have been dead.


“Well, goodnight then,” Hermione said nervously into the radio.


She could not understand why her hand was trembling or her lips were tingling.


“Goodnight,” Silvano replied.


Hermione set about to cleaning the cottage, working well into the wee hours of the morning. When she was finally satisfied with the result, she collapsed on the bed in the master bedroom. She would unpack after she got a few hours of sleep.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Silvano stared into his glass of wine. He stared at the parchment again.


Severus,

Our mutual acquaintance is going through a very difficult time right now. She is now staying at my cottage with her young son. I am not suggesting you two abandon the project completely, merely that perhaps if she were under a little less pressure, even in a small area of her life, it might make this difficult time more manageable for her. I hope you consider.

Sincerely,

Minerva


No one had called him Severus in over twenty years. He had left that all behind on that fateful night. His hand rose instinctively to his neck. He remembered more vividly than anything else in his life what transpired that night. He remembered Potter, standing there. He remembered telling him to take the memories. He remembered falling unconscious.


He thought he was dead. He remembered the soft whistling in his ear, as Fawkes sang gently to him. He remembered the warmth that spread over his body as the phoenix cried over his neck. He remembered the feeling returning to his body, as his blood was restored. He didn’t feel like he deserved this second chance, but he knew he had to seize it.


He didn’t want anything to do with his life before that moment. He had apparated to the outskirts of the villa where he lived now, and he noticed that the place was for sale. He bought it in an instant. He had years worth of gold saved up, and when the Death Eaters had taken over Gringotts, he had emptied his vault, keeping his money on his person at all times, reduced and stored in a moleskin bag.


He had changed his name and even his appearance to a degree. He had shorn his hair and changed the color to was warm toffee brown. He had also grown a goatee, in hopes to hide most of his face. He knew no one would recognize him here in his Tuscan paradise, but he did not want to take any chances.


Besides, he wanted to look at himself in the mirror every day and see Silvano Scolari, not Severus Snape.

A/N: I thought I would give you some background info on “Silvano,” lol. I really hope you enjoyed that, please review!