Paradise called Ojén

“Spain? Why are we going to Spain? I don’t speak Spanish!” he asked but didn’t really wanted to know the answer to that.


“I always went to Spain with my parents during summer. The headmaster said no one knows, so it’s the safest place to be right now.” Hermione sighed and thought back about the times she’d been there with her mum and dad.


“Spain? I thought you always went to France? At least, that’s what I always heard you saying to Potter and Weasley.” Snape felt fooled. “Even Albus told me you were in France every year.”


“I did tell everyone I was in France because my dad told me to. Now I know why…” she said and stared blankly in front of her. Snape sighed and sat down again.


“Look, I’m sorry you feel bad but it isn’t my fault they are dead. I couldn’t inform you becau...” He tried to explain but Hermione interupted him.


“I know. I’m sorry I called you a traitor. It was just so easy to blame you… as a Death Eater.”


“Former Death Eater!” he stated and sighed again. “So Spain, right?” Hermione nodded and looked up. She even tried to cast a small smile on her face.


“It’s great there. Even you would love it. We have got a cabin on the top of a big mountain, with a great view of the ocean all around. No one lives in the direct area, it really is great there.” Her eyes got a twinkle and she shrugged her shoulders. “We have to go as soon as possible. I’ll go upstairs and pack my things.” She said and got to her feet. She almost ran out, leaving Snape alone.


Snape however didn’t want to wait for her. He got to his feet himself and started the stairs. Upstairs he found Hermione in her room, weeping. He still didn’t like the girl, not after what’d just happened but sunk to the floor and picked her up in his arms.


“Is this all you need?” he asked staring at the open suitcase.


“Y-yes.” She cried in his shoulder and put her arm around his neck. Snape just held her and stroked her back with one hand. She was at age now but still so small. He could easilly hold her forever but thought about what she’d said in the kitchen. ‘We have to go as soon as possible.’


“Come on, Miss Granger. We have to go now.” He sat her on her feet and closed the suitcase.


“Did Albus tell you how to travel to Spain?” he asked her for he wasn’t in the neighbourhood at the time.


“No, but I know a very very safe way. Follow me, please.” She said and grabbed the suitcase.


“Allow me.” Snape said and took the heavy suitcase from Hermione. They walked down and Hermione opened a door.


“My dad made this room for me he told me. Now I know it was a lie. He made the room so he could apparate and no one would find out. Not even the Death Eaters. It’s charmed, you see.” Snape lowered the stairs behind Hermione. He had to admit he was very impressed. His friend Tom, Hermione’s dad for Merlin’s sake, had invented a room to apparate from and no one would know. Undetectable, as Hermione said.


They now stood in the basement but he didn’t see a special door leading to the room.


“Where is it?” he asked impatient.


“Hold on, I have to open it by hand now. I can’t use my wand, now can I?” Snape growled and stepped back the moment Hermione pulled a invisible handle.


“Lethar Ordino!” she said and the dor opened. It just appeared out of nowhere.


“Merlin’s robe, that’s … wow.” Snape said and stepped in the room after Hermione.


“Close the door please. WAIT! Do you have your wand and stuff?” she turned around to face Snape. He felt his pockets and nodded. “Okay. You have to close your eyes if you want to feel fit when we arrive in the cabin.” Hermione closed her eyes but Snape didn’t.


“We’ll arrive directly in the cabin?”


“Yes. Now, close your eyes!” she commanded and for his sake, Snape did. He felt her hands clasping around his waist. He held the suitcase close to them as he felt an enormous jerk at his feet. There was a very loud noice in the little room and off they were.


“KEEP YOUR EYES CLOSED!” Hermione shouted through the noise and held him even tighter. They both kept their eyes closed and both felt the enormous space around them. It was as if they were under water, but they could still breathe normally. The whole journey took place in about ten minutes, but a long ten minutes. With a snap they stood, still clasped together, in an other small room. Hermione opened her eyes and looked around.


“We’re there.”she said aet get go of Snape. Snape had his eyes open too now and looked with raised brows.


“Are you sure we’re in Spain. I mean, the room is exactly the same as where we were only ten minutes agao. He looked down and saw Hermione smiling. “What?” he sneered and dropped the suitcase on the floor.


“Hey, watch it! That is my stuff in there… Anyways, the room looks exactly the same as the room back home, but we are in Spain. My dad liked the room at our house so he didn’t change any thing about it.” Hermione picked up her suitcase with pursed lips and opened the door.


They walked down the stairs as this little apparating room was in an upper chamber of the cabin and brought Hermione’s case to her room on the second floor. Snape noticed how big this cabin was.


“Why is this place so huge if you only were with three people?” he asked and closed his eyes at that statement. Hermione was now the only one left of her family. He heard Hermione taking a deep sigh and started talking.


“It’s okay, you know. I think I’ll have to get used to it anyway. I’m alone now.”


“Miss Granger, you’ll never be alone. You have Potter and Weasley and his family. Dumbledore and McGonagall will always be there for you…” Snape said convincing.


“But they aren’t here now, are they? No, I’m stuck here with the man who can’t stand me…”Hermione hissed and got angry with him again. “Look, could we just drop the subject?”


“Fine by me!” snapped Snape back at her and continued walking down.


Hermione sat down on her bed and started crying again. She was all alone here in this huge house. She was accomanied by Snape, her Potions professor and known as the most difficult, arrogant and nasty person in the whole world. And now she had to live with him under the same roof. Her parents’d just died and she was alone, she needed her friends who weren’t able to comfort her. She wasn’t allowed to go for a walk alone because she was in danger. How could life get any worse than this?


After a few hours her rage had died and she decided to go downstairs. She hoped Snape wouldn’t be angry by her any more, but she knew him better than that. She decended the stairs and headed for the livingroom. Snape wasn’t there. Normally Hermione wouldn’t care if he was there or not but now she needed even his company.


“Professor Snape?” she said in a quiet voice but no answer came back. She walked through the livingroom when she noticed the door to the garden being open. She slid through it and found the man sitting on a rock at the end of the garden. She silently walked over to him and sat down beside him. Snape had noticed her presence but didn’t looked at her direction. He stared blankly in front of him and waited for her to speak. He was still angry, Hermione was very right about that one.


“I’m sorry I yelled at you, it isn’t your fault.” She said beneath her usual volume. Snape finally looked at her and gave an unfriendly snort.


“How many times will this happen in the nearby future?” he said sarcastic which made Hermione blood boil again and continued as nice as he could, “Look, I know you’re hurt, a lot. Losing your parents is the worst thing that can happen when you are young, I know…” He stopped talking and thought about his own parents. They were killed by Lord DeMarco , a dark Jewish wizard who was beaten by Lord Voldemort. Hermione raised her brows.


“Are…are your parents…-”


“I don’t want to talk about it, Miss Granger. The point is, don’t push people away who wish the best for you, it’s no solution…” and with that he stood and walked back to the house. Before he stepped into the livingroom he turned around and glared at H ermione’s back. He did felt sorry for her, the poor girl. He shook his head to clear his head and coughed.


“I presume there is food in the house? I’m starving.” He turned and disappeared inside. Hermione ran back to the house to make some dinner with what was there. She hurried herself to the kitchen and found Snape looking in the closet.


“Nice kitchen, old fascioned stove with a wooden fire underneath it. Your choice?” he said and gave a sly grin. Hermione flushed and nodded.


“To make potions. I always made potions when we were here. My dad needed a few healing potions when he got hurt and once I made him a Glodery Formulenza for the garden. I have a spare cauldron under the sink.” She answered and walked over to him.


“You keep surprising me, Miss Granger. Brewing potions in your holiday. Even I wasn’t capable of that.” He looked around and saw the cupboard in the corner. “Can you cook?”


“Uhmm… yes I can, but I need your help with it now.” She said and walked to a closet in the other corner.


“My help? You need my help, Miss Granger?” he said smirking and folded his arms.


“Don’t look so surprised, professor. You’ll have to work twice as hard now. First we have to go to the kitchen garden to collect some tomatoes and vegetables.” Hermione was already on her way to the door when Snape stopped her.


“What do you mean by that?” he demanded from her and held her by the arm. “Are you sugesting I have to do everything the Muggle-way?” he didn’t sound pleased at all with only the thought. “I won’t!”


“Well, professor. I think we haven’t got a choice in that, do we? Remember what Professor Dumbledore said three years ago?” Snape glared at her and shook his head irritated. “He told us that when you’re in hiding or on the run for the Dark Lord or his followers, you can’t use magic and have to live like a Muggle. Magic will be detected by Him, you should know that.” She wrenched herself from his grip and started walking again.


“Fuck!” was all she heard him say when she entered the garden and grinned. Only the thought of Snape acting like a Muggle made her feel better already. After a minute of mocking and swearing she heard Snape coming her direction. “… like a Muggle. How can I live like a bloody Muggle…. No magic, no wand, no potions…”


“As a matter of fact, professor, you are allowed to brew potions. As long as you do it the safe way.” She answered his desire. Potions were the most precious things in his life and he was still able to make them. Snape’s head shot up.


“You mean, making a fire under the cauldron without a wand and concoct potions without ingredients? Brillant!” he hissed and gathered some tomatoes.


“Are you always that positive? I have a book inside with herbs and other ingredients to brew potions. Where do you think I got my supplies from during my stay here?” At that he was totally lost for words. After thinking hard he straightened himself and turned toward her.


“Bullshit, Miss Granger. Pure bullshit. I was just picking my brains and came to the conclusion that there aren’t any plants, usefull to make any potion, in the direct area, not to mention in almost all of Spain.” Hermione didn’t replied but only grinned sneaky.


“Come on, we have enough.” She said instead and put all the vegetables and tomatoes in a basket. “Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes… if we hurry up.”

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“Where did you learn to cook like that?” Snape asked Hermione after dinner. He had to admit that there was yet again something she was very good at.


“I learned it myself. I had to make dinner for myself ifpareparents were out to a convention for dentists. As I’m thinking of it now, I think they didn’t went to that conventions at all, but practiced Dark Arts or something. My dad always had the same clothes on and that little black suitcase. I presume he hid their wands in there.” Again Hermione felt sick. They really were dead and would never come back. How she wanted to hold them both. “So I had to learn how to cook. I had a big help though…”she said smiling a bit, “I used to watch a programm on the telly with Jamie Oliver, a very good cook.” She saw Snape raising his brows and showed him a cookbook with a picture of Jamie on it. “This is him, Jamie. There are all sorts of recipes in this book and I must admit, I like them all.” She handed Snape the book and watched his reaction.


“I like Muggle pictures, although that Jamie guy is ugly. At least the pictures aren’t following you around and they don’t wave.” He said and gave the cookbook back to her. “What do we eat tomorrow? I don’t expect we can eat from the garden too often?”


“We’ll have to go to the village tomorrow. There we can buy bread and get us some milk. I’ll get us some oranges to make juice in a minute. There is tea and coffee in the kitchen cupboard. We won’t starve rightaway.” She glanced at her professor and couldn’t help thinking he looked much more relaxed than he ever was at Hogwarts. Suddenly she remembered something. “We have to get you some clothes as well. You haven’t got any other than this. First we go to the bank, then.”


They decided to do the dishes together. Neither spoke a word and listened to the crickets outside. Afer the dishes they sat with a cup of tea in the garden and talked at bit about the latest potion Snape was working on.


Hermione got angry with him because he said she wasn’t allowed to interfere with his business and Snape yelled at her for being a annoying know-it-all. They made up, again and went to bed. Snape slept in the room on the other end of the hall. He stripped down to his boxers to sleep as it was to hot for anything else, even if he had something else to sleep in.