A Sacrifice for Love

Chapter 2

Amy stared at Hermione for a moment and then began.

“I transferred here from the Salem Witches Academy in my fourth year. My guardian, a kindly wizard, did not want to leave me in America by myself when he was transferred to another position in the Ministry here in Europe. It is very unusual to transfer but he and Professor Dumbledore assured me I would be fine. And then I was sorted...”

She fidgeted for a moment and then held her hand out to Hermione. “Perhaps I should show you...” Hermione took her hand and everything went dark. When she could see again, she was in Professor Dumbledore’s office. He sat behind his desk and she could see Amy and an older gentleman sitting in front of it.

“Now the hat will tell you which House you will be most successful in, Miss Dearly. It doesn’t hurt a bit.” He used his wand to gently set the hat on her head. Hermione could hear it muttering.

“A fine mind, like Ravenclaw... Not too brave, I’m afraid....Oohh...what a sneaky mind you have for a muggleborn...” It muttered unintelligibly for a moment before it announced “Slytherin” in the sure way it had.

Hermione could see the doubt on Professor Dumbledore’s face before he masked it. She could not remember if there had ever been a muggleborn witch in Slytherin before. Either way, it would not be easy. She looked at Amy with pity.

“Slytherin, it is then.” Dumbledore announced.

Hermione experienced a moment of darkness and then she was in the Great Hall again. Amy still sat next to her and was watching her closely.

“You know what that meant. I was not accepted in Slytherin. They played cruel jokes on me, teased me, beat me up. And none of the other Houses would give me a chance. You can’t trust a Slytherin, they say. Despite it all, I did well in my classes. I was ahead of most of them anyway. I stayed quiet and to myself. I was alone.” She said sadly, remembering.

“Until I met someone who was as alone as I was” she reached out and took Hermione’s hand again.

This time, Hermione found herself in another familiar room, the Potions dungeon. Professor Slughorn was standing at the front of the class with Amy. She looked impassively at the other students.

“It looks as though everyone has a partner, Miss Dearly. I suppose I could...” he stopped, looking at the back of the room where a lone boy sat. Hermione recognized a young Severus Snape. He looked the same with the long black hair and the same cold features. He did not seem to notice he had caught the Professor’s notice.

“Mr. Snape will be your partner!” Professor Slughorn said, interrupting Snape’s concentration. He looked up and sneered.

“I do not need a partner, Professor. I have almost finished.” Snape said coldly. Hermione could see the frustration on Slughorn’s face. She wanted to laugh but feared she might miss something.

“Well, she needs a partner so maybe you can help her, Mr. Snape.” He snapped before gently pushing Amy to the back of the room. Amy sat down next to Snape and looked at him fearfully. Most of the others would have hexed her for sitting next to them. He looked at her and then gave a little sigh.

“Do you need help, Miss Dearly?” he asked in that cool controlled voice of his, that had not changed in 20 years.

She glanced at the potion. “Not with Essence of Life, Mr. Snape. I have brewed it many times at home” she said, copying his tone. He gave her a surprised look. “And what do you think of substituting the Mandrake leaves for roots of Ivy?” he asked tentatively as if testing her.

She gave him a surprised look. “I have not considered that but if you use some of the scales from a fire snake instead of a fire dragon’s blood, it can be taken more often and still doesn’t lose it potency.”

Snape smiled and Hermione surprised herself by thinking he should smile like that more often. It was tentative, like he had not smiled much, but it was warm. Amy smiled back with a similar smile. It was the beginning of an odd friendship.

A moment later Hermione was again in the Great Hall.

“We were Potion friends, I called it. Outside of class, we did not speak, unless it was about Potions. For months we were like that and then one day I came upon him after he had an argument with one of the school bullies. I asked him why he took it. He said they were not worth fighting. He said he had seen enough violence at home.”

Amy looked sad for a moment. “His mother was a witch, but she had married a muggle. He was abusive. I am not sure but I believe his father may have killed his mother after he was accepted at Hogwart’s. He never did tell me, that was just the rumor. That night, I told him I loved him. He was the first person to accept me, so I think it was inevitable.”

The ghost gave a sad laugh that tore at Hermione’s heart. She knew what it was like to be alone. Before Harry and Ron had befriended her, she did not have any friends. She reached out to pat Amy’s shoulder and was dismayed when her hand went through it.

Amy ignored her and continued. “Of course, he did not love me. I knew that. My reason for telling him was simple, to let him know he was not alone. I would be here for him. I kissed him and ran back to my room. I had not known that one of the bullies had seen everything. The next morning we were both teased relentlessly. He stopped talking to me, even in Potions. I understood though. I might have done the same thing.” She said softly but Hermione thought she was lying. Telling someone you loved them, and having that person refuse to talk to you again would have broken her heart.

“I was working on a potion in one of the workrooms below. They are not open anymore, due to what happened, I suppose. For the first time in my life, I messed up a potion.” She gave Hermione a surprised look, like it had just happened and Hermione wondered if she weren’t just telling the story, but reliving it.

“I had put too much Symphony powder in it and the fumes poisoned me. Of course Slughorn wasn’t around. The only person I knew to have a bezoar was Snape, so I set off to find him.” She stopped and turned haunted eyes on Hermione.

“He was not in his rooms. He often went to the owlery. He is fond of birds, you know, so that is where I went. He was not there either. I did not know that he was with Professor Dumbledore at the time. I was not the only one to think he was at the owlery. When I came down the stairs I heard voices planning to ambush him. I rushed down to find the bullies waiting. I screamed at them to leave him alone. They laughed and I tried to hex them.”

The ghost gave a wry smile. “I was not good with spells. They used the Binding curse on me and left me there. The one who did it said I would be a lesson to Snivellus. I was poisoned and bound and by morning when I was found I was dead.”

Hermione breath caught and she had tears in her eyes. It was so senseless and stupid. Already guessing the answer, she asked “Who was the wizard that bound you?”

Amy smiled viciously. “Why, that would be James Potter.”

Hermione nodded, not really surprised. “And what happened?”

Amy shrugged. “The groundskeeper found my body the next morning. There was an inquiry but it was deemed an accident. Of course I did not tell anyone but Severus what had happened. I was just alone in death as I had been in life. The other ghosts will not accept me and the living do not associate with ghosts.”

Hermione sat quietly for a moment before asking. “Why do the others not accept you? What happened with them?”

Amy smirked at Hermione and did not say anything. Hermione waited. She knew the ghost would tell her but in true Slytherin fashion she wanted Hermione to wait.

“Because I am the only ghost that still has my magic powers.”

Hermione gasped. It was not possible. Never in any of the books had a witch or wizard kept their powers after death. She said as much to Amy.

Amy smiled and drew a wand out of her pocket. “Incendio” she said. The bench she had pointed at caught fire. A few moments later she cried “Finite Incantato” and the fire disappeared.

“That’s not possible.” Hermione said aloud, not believing what she saw. Amy shrugged and motioned to the unmarked bench.

“It is a ghostly magic and doesn’t affect the living” she admitted. “But magic nonetheless. I have spoken to thousands of ghosts and even the most powerful witches and wizards have no magic.”

Hermione frowned. “Do you know why you have magic and the others do not?” she asked. Amy shrugged.

“Perhaps the poison, perhaps the affect of Potter’s magic on me. I do not know. It is a mystery and I dislike mysteries.” She said with irritation.

“It was possibly both. Have you done experiments?”

Amy gave her a look of disgust. “Can you imagine witches and wizards lining up to die so I can see if they still have their magic? For someone so intelligent, you can be a complete idiot.” She said scathingly.

Hermione was reminded of Professor Snape. He had said similar things to her before, mostly about the friends she chose. She wondered if disdain was something they taught in the Slytherin common room or if it was ingrained into the students before they entered school. Maybe it was a little of both.

“So why did you save him?” Amy finally asked. Hermione did not answer. She was not sure of the answer herself. If someone had asked that of Ron or Harry it would have been simple. Love. She loved them and would give her life to save them. Snape though...

“I argued the night before the battle with Harry and Ron. I defended him because he has given his life to serve the Light by joining with the Dark. He deserves a chance at happiness, like we all do.” She said softly.

“Do you love him?”

Hermione gave Amy a horrified look. “Love Snape? No, I respect him. He is an excellent teacher and a good man, I think.”

Amy snorted. “You threw yourself in front of a man, taking the curse meant for him, dying for him because you respect him as a teacher?” she asked doubtfully.

Hermione blushed. “I don’t know! It just felt like the right thing to do. And I am not dead yet! I still have a chance.”

Amy gave her a small smile. “But you did die, Miss Granger. You died on that battlefield. They brought you into the Great Hall with the other casualties. Potter and Weasley would not leave your side. They kept trying to revive you.” she snorted. “Can you imagine Mr. Weasley trying to revive you with Reparo?” Hermione giggled because she could see Ron trying that.

Amy’s voice softened. “And then Severus came in, his robes billowing around him.” She said dreamily. “He tried to revive you but it didn’t work. He seemed so upset that I had to step in. Your heart started beating and you started breathing. They brought you to the infirmary because St Mungo’s is not safe.

“What do you mean, you stepped in?” Hermione asked suspiciously. She could only expect a Slytherin to hold something back.

Amy ignored her and Hermione wondered wryly if she had selective hearing.

“Can you imagine the look on Potter and Weasely’s face when Severus was the one to bring you back to life. It was priceless.” Amy said gleefully. Hermione understood why Amy disliked Harry. She was placing the blame of what James had done on Harry. He was his father’s son after all, even if they were not much alike. But it still disturbed her to hear the poison in Amy’s voice when she said his name.

“What was Professor Snape like then?” Hermione asked, partly trying to distract Amy and partly from curiosity. He was not one of the teachers they knew much about.

Amy smiled. “He was like he is now almost. Witty and cold but he has a warm side to him. I could see that when he was mixing his potions. No one liked him but me.” She said. She turned to Hermione and gave her an inscrutable look.

“Part of my research has been searching for trying to find someone who can take the soul from a body and put it back in. I have not found any record of any witch or wizard who has this power. Have you heard of it?”

Hermione shook her head. “I know some of Horcrux but nothing of the power you speak of. If you have not found record of it, then why do you believe it exists?” Again she was frustrated when the ghost ignored her question.

Amy sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest. She looked odd doing this because she was hovering in midair. “If you were to go back, if I were to help you, would you help me?” she asked quietly.

Hermione immediately nodded. “ I could search the Library. I know many of the books—“

“That is not what I meant!” Amy interrupted. She seemed to be struggling within herself. “I mean would you do something for me?” she added softly.

Hermione shifted nervously and paused. The ghost seemed very anxious about something. “Yes I would do something for you.” she finally said.

“It is not an easy task... I want you to find someone to love and care for Severus.”

Hermione stared at Amy in shock. An easy task? More likely an impossible one. “Why me?” she managed to ask.

Amy rolled her eyes and sighed. “Because you ‘respect’ him enough to give your life for him, Miss Granger” She put a sarcastic emphasis on the word respect. “And I have you in a position that you cannot deny my request.”

Hermione nodded, not really surprised at her reasoning. Most Slytherins always put you in the position where they had the upper hand. She should not expect this ghost to be any different. The others should have been proud to have her in Slytherin instead of reviling her.

“So how can you help me?” she asked.

Amy smiled slyly. “The power I have been researching? Manipulating souls? I know it exists because I have it. I can put your spirit back into your body, Miss Granger.”