The Expectant Detectives
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
31
Views:
15,577
Reviews:
165
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
2
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
31
Views:
15,577
Reviews:
165
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
2
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters therein. Nor do I make any moneys from the writing of this story. Though Lord knows I wish I did.
Chapter Sixteen
Hello! Thank you one and all for taking time out of your day to read my story, not to mention review. I really do need the feed back so if you haven't done so as of yet, please consider doing so now.
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!
***
Chapter Sixteen
They went to St. Mungos, but it was Severus who insisted that Hermione remain in the waiting room while he went to see the man himself. Harry made a floo call home and Ginny came over to the hospital to keep her company.
“I’m pregnant,” she muttered to her best friend. “Not a fragile china doll!”
Ginny was barely able to hold back a chuckle. “He means well.”
She nodded. “I know, but I’ve never been one to be mollycoddled.”
It was Luna that came over to the hospital with war wonton soup as well as ginger ale, as that was what Hermione told Ginny she was craving. This was how Severus found his wife. Sitting at the table, she was eating yet more soup and drinking something out of a bottle that looked like beer. He didn’t say anything as he took it up, taking a sip. Making a hum of appreciation, he set it back down and saw that all three women were watching him.
“He died,” he told them as he sat down next to his wife. “But he was able to tell us a few things first.”
“Which were?” Hermione asked.
“He choked out three words,” he murmured. “And from what the mediwitch said, he kept repeating them over and over again. ‘Yaxley’ was one, the other was ‘bastard’ and the third we’re not so sure about as he kept looking straight over to Lucius when he said it.”
“What?” Ginny was the one to ask this time, growing more curious as the mystery grew. “What did he say?”
“ ‘Blonde’,” he answered.
Hermione frowned, worrying her lower lip. Realization dawned on her as she said in a quite and disbelieving voice, “That would mean… Oh dear Merlin.” She looked over to Severus. “I do believe that we need to speak to a portrait.”
“How in the name of Merlin did you make sense of what he said?” Lucius demanded from behind them. “Why are they doing this to me? I’ve made my fucking amends! Damn them for pulling this-this bullshit drama back into my life! Who is it?”
Severus was tempted to pull Hermione behind himself, but she was already getting to her feet and going over to Lucius. Damn, he thought, pulling out his wand and keeping it at the ready just in case. This wasn’t missed on the others, who in turn also drew out their wands, but kept them lowered.
“You’re missing Narcissa,” she murmured.
Lucius gaped at her, but said nothing.
“Can’t blame you for that,” she said gently. “Before you always had her to lean on when you needed the support. But now…” Hermione sighed. “Prostitutes may be good for a good deal of things, but emotional support has never been one of them. After all, if you have to pay for them to hug you, where is the true comfort in that?” He glared at her then, but ended up pursing his lips and looking away from her. “You need a witch in your life that you can be personable with and isn’t me.”
“That’s a given,” Lucius muttered.
“Or a hooker.” When he took a threatening step towards her, she rushed out with, “The only reason why I mention it is because it could become very costly.”
Lucius leaned back on his heels and murmured thoughtfully, “Point made.”
“Good,” she said with a smile, turning to her husband and taking his arm. “Now let us all go over to Malfoy Manor so we can have a conversation with your father’s portrait.”
“Why?” Came from both Severus and Lucius.
“Because much like you, Lord Malfoy, I think your father was a very frisky individual.”
***
Hermione walked into the large picture gallery of the mansion, something she had insisted on rather than going over to the private library where the large portrait of the once proud patriarch of the Malfoy family was set up over the fireplace.
“Why here?” Severus asked, looking around at all the different blond witches and wizards, some of whom were glaring at Hermione as they went about looking for Abraxas Malfoy.
“Because here we’ll have something that we wouldn’t have in the library,” she murmured, her eyes stopping on another one of the portraits and giving a sociable nod before moving on. “The other Malfoys. Interesting, uh, did you notice that they have guests here?”
Lucius walked in hearing her words and looked about at the images of individuals that had never had a portrait there and yet there they were conversing with his family as if they belonged. “Odd, I’ve never noticed that before.”
“I suppose it always pays to be able to be social,” she murmured. “Even in death. How else would they be able to find out what was going on in the world?”
“Nasty little mud…” Hermione absently snapped her wand in the direction of the snide comment and heard a high pitch scream as her hex hit the mark.
“I suppose there’s that too,” she said with a warm smile for her husband. “I’ve been reading up on portrait spells and I’m fairly certain that I’ll be able to practice them here while we speak to the former Lord Malfoy.”
“Must you torture my ancestors?” Lucius demanded.
“Seeing as I must speak to your father and they will be insulting me while I do so for your benefit…”
“Will someone fetch him!” one of the portraits demanded of the others.
A man that could have been Lucius’s twin was pulled into the picture frame in front of Hermione. With the exception of the few differences in stature and the color of his eyes, it could have been a picture of the man currently trying to hide behind her.
“Why was I dragged here in such an undignified manner in front of a…” The lady next to him whispered to him in haste, nodding towards the other portrait that Hermione had sent a stinging hex that the subjects of paintings could feel. Abraxas looked towards Hermione, his lips pursing as he muttered, “What do you want and why is my son hiding behind you?”
“We need to speak to you about your personal involvements, specifically your relationship with Lady Yaxley and the son that resulted from it.”
He arched his brow. “It would seem you already know everything worth knowing about it without my input.”
Hermione’s lips twisted a bit more. “No, we don’t, but given your answer I now have verbal confirmation of it.”
Abraxas sneered at her.
“As for why your son has stepped behind me, you’ll have to take it up with him. But if I have anything to say in the matter, he’ll set your portrait in the library on fire and force you to live in here with the others in your family. Because it’s clear that although they may not like me, they hate you more.”
“If I had a wand…” he snarled.
“You weren’t killed by dragon pox.” That had the dead wizard’s image going silent in mid-threat. “You were run down by a trailer tractor in the country side of…” His eyes went wider at her words, seeing that she was going to tell his long kept secret. “Oxford, wasn’t it? But seeing as it was a muggle device that killed you it begs the question why were you in muggle Oxford?” The other portraits began whispering and looking towards Abraxas. “There can only be one answer.”
“What would that be?” Lucius demanded.
“While Yaxley may very well have been a pure blood wizard,” she murmured, looking straight into Lucius’s eyes. “His wife was a muggle.” She looked towards the wizard in front of her in the portrait. “What happened? Did he get upset that you fucked his wife? Or was it that she was having your child?” She thought that over. “Somehow I doubt that. But I could see him becoming furious if you said that you were going to tell…”
“It was her family!” Abraxas exclaimed. “Her family thought Yaxley was a pig and rightly so! But he handed that beautiful creature out like a party favor. Saying to anyone that listened that she wasn’t worth his time of day.” He looked saddened. “She was a muggle born witch, not a muggle. Beautiful and sweet and he crushed her under his heel. Her family thought I was one of the many that he had given her to. I was trying to get her away to safety, but the fools never saw that all I wanted was to get her away from him. I lost my wand and the next thing I know…” He looked about. “I was here.”
“But you don’t remember getting hit?”
He snorted. “I’m dead whether I recall it or not, so why does it matter?”
***
Hey it's that time again! Yeah, you got it! It's time for the Review Sing-A-Long! The answer to the last one was "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" or "The Cheers Theme Song". Root beer goes out to Flaming Moth of Doom, Voracious Reader, WilliamSpike, and wishyouwere for getting it correct! Sorry if I missed you.
Time for the next song! "When you're reviewing so close to me/There's no place I'd rather you be/than with me here". Here's your hint, people! Think Summer, think disco, and maybe you'll get the answer you're looking for. Have a great day!
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!
***
Chapter Sixteen
They went to St. Mungos, but it was Severus who insisted that Hermione remain in the waiting room while he went to see the man himself. Harry made a floo call home and Ginny came over to the hospital to keep her company.
“I’m pregnant,” she muttered to her best friend. “Not a fragile china doll!”
Ginny was barely able to hold back a chuckle. “He means well.”
She nodded. “I know, but I’ve never been one to be mollycoddled.”
It was Luna that came over to the hospital with war wonton soup as well as ginger ale, as that was what Hermione told Ginny she was craving. This was how Severus found his wife. Sitting at the table, she was eating yet more soup and drinking something out of a bottle that looked like beer. He didn’t say anything as he took it up, taking a sip. Making a hum of appreciation, he set it back down and saw that all three women were watching him.
“He died,” he told them as he sat down next to his wife. “But he was able to tell us a few things first.”
“Which were?” Hermione asked.
“He choked out three words,” he murmured. “And from what the mediwitch said, he kept repeating them over and over again. ‘Yaxley’ was one, the other was ‘bastard’ and the third we’re not so sure about as he kept looking straight over to Lucius when he said it.”
“What?” Ginny was the one to ask this time, growing more curious as the mystery grew. “What did he say?”
“ ‘Blonde’,” he answered.
Hermione frowned, worrying her lower lip. Realization dawned on her as she said in a quite and disbelieving voice, “That would mean… Oh dear Merlin.” She looked over to Severus. “I do believe that we need to speak to a portrait.”
“How in the name of Merlin did you make sense of what he said?” Lucius demanded from behind them. “Why are they doing this to me? I’ve made my fucking amends! Damn them for pulling this-this bullshit drama back into my life! Who is it?”
Severus was tempted to pull Hermione behind himself, but she was already getting to her feet and going over to Lucius. Damn, he thought, pulling out his wand and keeping it at the ready just in case. This wasn’t missed on the others, who in turn also drew out their wands, but kept them lowered.
“You’re missing Narcissa,” she murmured.
Lucius gaped at her, but said nothing.
“Can’t blame you for that,” she said gently. “Before you always had her to lean on when you needed the support. But now…” Hermione sighed. “Prostitutes may be good for a good deal of things, but emotional support has never been one of them. After all, if you have to pay for them to hug you, where is the true comfort in that?” He glared at her then, but ended up pursing his lips and looking away from her. “You need a witch in your life that you can be personable with and isn’t me.”
“That’s a given,” Lucius muttered.
“Or a hooker.” When he took a threatening step towards her, she rushed out with, “The only reason why I mention it is because it could become very costly.”
Lucius leaned back on his heels and murmured thoughtfully, “Point made.”
“Good,” she said with a smile, turning to her husband and taking his arm. “Now let us all go over to Malfoy Manor so we can have a conversation with your father’s portrait.”
“Why?” Came from both Severus and Lucius.
“Because much like you, Lord Malfoy, I think your father was a very frisky individual.”
***
Hermione walked into the large picture gallery of the mansion, something she had insisted on rather than going over to the private library where the large portrait of the once proud patriarch of the Malfoy family was set up over the fireplace.
“Why here?” Severus asked, looking around at all the different blond witches and wizards, some of whom were glaring at Hermione as they went about looking for Abraxas Malfoy.
“Because here we’ll have something that we wouldn’t have in the library,” she murmured, her eyes stopping on another one of the portraits and giving a sociable nod before moving on. “The other Malfoys. Interesting, uh, did you notice that they have guests here?”
Lucius walked in hearing her words and looked about at the images of individuals that had never had a portrait there and yet there they were conversing with his family as if they belonged. “Odd, I’ve never noticed that before.”
“I suppose it always pays to be able to be social,” she murmured. “Even in death. How else would they be able to find out what was going on in the world?”
“Nasty little mud…” Hermione absently snapped her wand in the direction of the snide comment and heard a high pitch scream as her hex hit the mark.
“I suppose there’s that too,” she said with a warm smile for her husband. “I’ve been reading up on portrait spells and I’m fairly certain that I’ll be able to practice them here while we speak to the former Lord Malfoy.”
“Must you torture my ancestors?” Lucius demanded.
“Seeing as I must speak to your father and they will be insulting me while I do so for your benefit…”
“Will someone fetch him!” one of the portraits demanded of the others.
A man that could have been Lucius’s twin was pulled into the picture frame in front of Hermione. With the exception of the few differences in stature and the color of his eyes, it could have been a picture of the man currently trying to hide behind her.
“Why was I dragged here in such an undignified manner in front of a…” The lady next to him whispered to him in haste, nodding towards the other portrait that Hermione had sent a stinging hex that the subjects of paintings could feel. Abraxas looked towards Hermione, his lips pursing as he muttered, “What do you want and why is my son hiding behind you?”
“We need to speak to you about your personal involvements, specifically your relationship with Lady Yaxley and the son that resulted from it.”
He arched his brow. “It would seem you already know everything worth knowing about it without my input.”
Hermione’s lips twisted a bit more. “No, we don’t, but given your answer I now have verbal confirmation of it.”
Abraxas sneered at her.
“As for why your son has stepped behind me, you’ll have to take it up with him. But if I have anything to say in the matter, he’ll set your portrait in the library on fire and force you to live in here with the others in your family. Because it’s clear that although they may not like me, they hate you more.”
“If I had a wand…” he snarled.
“You weren’t killed by dragon pox.” That had the dead wizard’s image going silent in mid-threat. “You were run down by a trailer tractor in the country side of…” His eyes went wider at her words, seeing that she was going to tell his long kept secret. “Oxford, wasn’t it? But seeing as it was a muggle device that killed you it begs the question why were you in muggle Oxford?” The other portraits began whispering and looking towards Abraxas. “There can only be one answer.”
“What would that be?” Lucius demanded.
“While Yaxley may very well have been a pure blood wizard,” she murmured, looking straight into Lucius’s eyes. “His wife was a muggle.” She looked towards the wizard in front of her in the portrait. “What happened? Did he get upset that you fucked his wife? Or was it that she was having your child?” She thought that over. “Somehow I doubt that. But I could see him becoming furious if you said that you were going to tell…”
“It was her family!” Abraxas exclaimed. “Her family thought Yaxley was a pig and rightly so! But he handed that beautiful creature out like a party favor. Saying to anyone that listened that she wasn’t worth his time of day.” He looked saddened. “She was a muggle born witch, not a muggle. Beautiful and sweet and he crushed her under his heel. Her family thought I was one of the many that he had given her to. I was trying to get her away to safety, but the fools never saw that all I wanted was to get her away from him. I lost my wand and the next thing I know…” He looked about. “I was here.”
“But you don’t remember getting hit?”
He snorted. “I’m dead whether I recall it or not, so why does it matter?”
***
Hey it's that time again! Yeah, you got it! It's time for the Review Sing-A-Long! The answer to the last one was "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" or "The Cheers Theme Song". Root beer goes out to Flaming Moth of Doom, Voracious Reader, WilliamSpike, and wishyouwere for getting it correct! Sorry if I missed you.
Time for the next song! "When you're reviewing so close to me/There's no place I'd rather you be/than with me here". Here's your hint, people! Think Summer, think disco, and maybe you'll get the answer you're looking for. Have a great day!