You Promised It Would Be Forever - Edit

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 17 ~ Snape Reverts to Form

Hermione remained in the Hogwarts infirmary. Severus had healers come from St. Mungos to evaluate her and give their opinion about the best treatment. This cost a few galleons, but it was better than the psyche ward. This way Severus would know what was going on with the witch.

A rather pretty young medi-witch sat down with the Potions Master to discuss her evaluation of Hermione. The healer was close to Hermione's age and a mother herself, so was deemed the best person to talk to the witch.

The young woman put on a pair of glasses and looked down at her notes, then directed a level gaze at the Potions Master.

"Professor Snape, Miss Granger suffered a miscarriage approximately four years ago. She never went to grief counseling or attended any supportive group meetings after this occurred. She never dealt with her grief properly and this resulted in personality changes brought on by psychological issues all of which were leading towards a complete break from reality. In other words, the witch has not been herself since the loss of her child."

"Recently, Miss Granger had an epiphany where she became lucid again and was able to realize the damage she had done to herself and her husband. This led to powerful, terrible guilt of such immense proportions, she could see no way to correct her wrongs or even to apologize for them. She had divorced her husband during the height of her psychological issues. Though she appeared normal and lucid to the casual observer, she wasn't. When she realized what she'd lost, and what she had done to lose it, that was the true beginning of the breakdown. Then she found out her child had been a victim of the Mordres potion, which added to the psychological strain. A dream of her dead child telling her that he was unhappy and she needed to be with her husband cinched the deal and that was when the break occurred."

"However, the break is not as severe as it could have been. She could have sat in that house for weeks and wasted away. Whoever rescued her did her a great service. What Miss Granger needs now is counseling and therapy. She has to face and address each issue and come to an understanding of it, heal, then move to the next issue until she has found some peace concerning them. The hardest part of this is that she will have to find her husband, explain what happened and hopefully gain his forgiveness. It will bring her closure at least. From what I can tell she still loves him very much, but I imagine that her divorcing him has sufficiently destroyed any interest he had in her. Are you familiar with her husband, Professor Snape?"

He nodded.

"Is he the kind of man who would at least forgive her?" the medi-witch asked.

"He is a rather hard case," Severus replied. "I can't really say."

"Well, let's just hope he's not too hard. She really needs his forgiveness to heal," the medi-witch said, rising and shaking Severus' hand.

"I will send over a list of recommended therapists who will travel," she said.

"Thank you," Severus replied.

The witch paused.

"And to think, if Miss Granger and her husband had just gotten help when they lost their child, they would probably still be happily married," she said, looking back toward the black curtain. "It certainly is sad."

Severus didn't reply to that statement. A thought occurred to him.

"Er…these therapy sessions…will I be allowed to know what is said in them?" Severus asked the witch.

She looked at him speculatively.

"No, all discussions between the therapist and Miss Granger are completely confidential," she replied. "That rule allows the patient to speak freely and honestly."

"I see," Severus said, the wheels already turning.

The Potions Master wanted to know what was going through his ex-wife's head all those years before finally divorcing him. He wanted to understand what made her constantly attack him, what made her stop loving him. But then again, the medi-witch said Hermione still loved her husband very much. Which meant she still loved him.

Severus needed to find a way to listen in on the sessions. Most likely he would find them informative and healing too. But how to do it without discovery?

He needed to pay a visit to Diagon Alley. Severus winced at the thought of it. But if he were going to learn what he desperately needed to know, sacrifices would have to be made.

But being seen entering the wooly domain of Fred and George Weasley? Great Merlin's beard.

Severus sighed.

The gods help him.

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Fred and George were both in the display window, putting out some new products to entice patrons through the door, when Fred nudged his brother.

"Look there, George. What a piece of work that bloke is," Fred said, pointing at a tall hooded person striding through the crowd, most of whom looked terrified.

"Bloody hell, he looks like the blinking Reaper!" George said, grinning from ear to ear. "Right scary he is, dressed like that as warm as it is."

Fred and George watched as the tall hooded wizard passed by their window, then stopped in front of the shop door.

"Blimey, he's coming in here, George!" Fred exclaimed, leaping out the window and rushing to the door. George followed closely behind.

The door opened, and a hooded Severus walked in. People were looking in the window at him. If he was trying to be inconspicuous, he failed miserably.

George peered at him, trying to get a look inside the hood.

"Welcome to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, sir. What can we help you with today?" Fred said brightly.

"To the back of the store," Severus hissed.

Both Fred and George recognized that hiss immediately.

"Professor?" Fred asked, pulling at the hood a little to see in. Severus batted his hands away and stalked to the back of the store.

Fred and George gleefully followed, holding their stomachs.

Once away from the windows, Severus jerked his hood down and scowled at the grinning pair.

"Why are you all hooded up, Professor?" Fred asked him, still grinning.

"I didn't want to be recognized," Severus replied, still scowling.

"Well, you weren't recognized, Professor, but you were certainly noticed. All you needed was a scythe and you would have had half of Diagon Alley disapparating in terror," George said.

Both he and Fred dissolved into laughter. Severus watched them with irritation until they finished.

"Are you done?" Severus asked snarkily.

Fred and George looked at him.

"Somehow, we doubt it," Fred said, falling out again against his brother, who couldn't breathe he was so choked up about the Professor trying to sneak into their store undetected and failing so miserably. Didn't he used to be a spy?

Severus pulled a bag of galleons out of his pocket and shook it, the coins clinking loudly.

Fred and George sobered immediately.

"Step into our office, Professor," George said, gesturing for Severus to follow Fred who was already walking toward the counter.

Severus drew his hood up as he passed the display window and followed them through the door.

They led him to an office that had two desks in opposite corners, crooked awards hanging on the wall, gadgets all over the place, and a long table with chairs all around it. Fred and George both hopped one-handed over the table, pulled out two chairs and sat down simultaneously.

Severus pulled out a chair, and sat down, lowering his hood. He sat the bag of galleons on the table. Both sets of brown eyes rested on it hungrily, then shifted back to the Potions Master's pale face.

Severus went right into it.

"I need a listening device that is undetectable," he said.

"What will you be listening to?" George asked him, interested.

Severus hesitated.

"A series of conversations," he replied.

"All right. Do you know if these conversations will always occur in the same place, or will the location vary?" Fred questioned him.

Severus looked perplexed.

"I'm…I'm not sure," he admitted.

"Well in that case, we'd better go with the conversations being in different areas, just in case," George said. "Now, will you be in a position to listen to every conversation?"

Hm. Probably not.

"No I won't, though I would hate to miss one," the Potions Master replied.

"So you need a listening device and a recording device. How long will these conversations be?" Fred asked.

Severus wasn't sure, but they couldn't last more than two hours tops.

"I think two hours at most," the dark wizard replied.

"How many conversations?" George asked.

Again, the Potions Master didn't know the answer.

"I'm not sure. It could be hundreds as far as I know," Severus said, beginning to doubt if the twins could help him. There were just too many variables.

"We've got just what you need, Professor," Fred said, hopping back over the table and exiting the room. "Be right back."

George looked at Severus curiously.

"Must be something very important for you to come here, Professor. I seem to remember you saying something like 'I wouldn't be caught dead in a joke shop.' You look like you're breathing quite well for a dead man," the twin grinned at him.

Severus wished he were still in a position to take points from the pair.

"Situations change," Severus said bad-temperedly.

"That they do," George agreed, still grinning.

Gods, did either of these twins ever not grin?

Fred came back, carrying a box and a thin bit of parchment that contained a small patch.

"This is from our Surveillance Line. It's called the 'Speak-Easy Voice Capture Kit.' Very simple to use once you get the patch on your subject," Fred said, holding up the thin parchment package.

George pulled the box over to him, then stood up and slid it closer to Severus, pointing out each part as he explained how it worked.

"Yes, you place the patch in the palm of your hand, sticky side up and find some reason to touch the person you want to bug. It will instantly adhere and sink into their skin. From that point on, everything they say will be sent to this little box. It can hold an infinite amount of conversations, and you can fast forward, rewind, slow down, speed up and erase. The buttons are all labeled. You have to press the record button right here to have the box record, otherwise you can just listen like to a wizarding wireless," George said.

Severus looked at the box. He had to admit it was ingenious.

"What if I want to stop listening in on the conversations all together?" Severus asked. "What happens to the patch?"

Fred flipped the box over and there was a black button on the bottom. "Mischief Managed" was written under it.

"Press that little button, the patch dissolves harmlessly and the link is broken. You can buy additional patches at any time," Fred added.

Severus studied the box.

"How much?" he asked.

"For the public, two thousand galleons…but since we've always liked you, Professor…you can have this little beauty for one thousand galleons," George said, patting the box.

Severus scowled.

"Eight hundred galleons and not a sickle more," he growled.

Fred and George made a big production of whispering to each other, after which George said, "Done."

Severus counted out two hundred galleons from the sack and put the rest on his Gringotts account.

"This had better work," Severus said warningly as he took the package from them, and pulled up his hood.

"All our products have a galleon back guarantee," Fred and George said together.

Severus grunted and left the shop, parting the crowds as he did so.

George and Fred watched him depart through the display window.

"Walking death, I tell you," Fred said as the Potions Master stalked through the crowds.

"I don't know, Fred. I think death would have a better personality," George replied, "and a better complexion."

The twins both collapsed in laughter.

Having the Potions Master in their store had been a real hoot.

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A/N: Fred and George. Gotta love 'em. Soooo, Severus is up to his old tricks. He's a sneaky SOB when he wants something bad enough. Listening in on Hermione's sessions might not be above board, but it might facilitate an understanding that he wouldn't be able to get if they spoke one on one. At least he knows she still loves him, and that she was ill when she divorced him. Maybe there's some hope. We'll see in upcoming chapters. Please review.