Angelica's Sorrow

A/N

Deb - I see what your family means ;)!

jonelin - Ah, you\'ve discovered my secret! I plan to try and take over the world after I drive EVERYONE mad. Care to help?


CAH - I thought the latest development might garner a response from you. You fell into my trap! (Just kidding.)


Naomi - Yeah, Hermione\'s feeling pretty blue right now. Darn that Draco, no longer evil but still causing problems. I don\'t know that Narcissa wants another man right now. She\'s pretty happy finding out what she can do on her own. Maybe later.


Lindsay - Hmm, hadn\'t thought of that. Seems like Dumbledore would have mentioned it at some point to me.


appy lady - This is a good thing, right? ;) Draco just had to throw the old spanner in the works one more time. He begs so prettily, I just couldn\'t refuse.

mele - Welcome! Hope you\'ll stick around to the end, whenever that happens. Seems to have turned from a fairly short story to one that keeps pulling me farther on and on and on.


CHAPTER TWENTY


Severus glanced around the room in displeasure. This wouldn\'t do, it was far too dark. A wave of his wand placed an illusion of a large window, which would mimic outdoor conditions, on the far side of the room. Much better, now the furniture. Her tastes were unknown, but all of this garbage had to go.

The last time these quarters were used was probably fifteen years ago, during the last Potions Master\'s tenure. Little wonder most of it was falling apart. What wasn\'t, was so ugly it would give her nightmares. The elves could remove all of it and give the rooms a good cleaning. A glance into the bedroom and bath left him shuddering. Definitely, all the furnishings had to go.

Minerva would be a good one to ask about replacements. She had good taste and might know what Hermione would like. There was less than a week left before she joined them and everything needed to be as perfect as possible.

As he stepped into the hall, closing the door, he was actually looking forward to the new term. Not so much the hormonal, dunderheaded brats returning to try his patience, but she would be here. As a colleague, not an out of bounds student. Merlin\'s robe, he was almost happy. Before you knew it, he would be skipping through the halls, or trilling a little ditty like some love sick school boy. Poppy, Albus and Minerva would tease him unmercifully. How could he balance being the Potions Master and still have the gentleman around for Hermione? What if he had to be a gentleman while in their presence? Albus already knew, it wouldn\'t make that much difference. Poppy and Minerva knew nothing and he wanted to keep it that way. His anticipation for the new term backed down a peg or two.

Later that same afternoon that sneaky little bastard, Dobby, notified him the rooms were ready for inspection. Severus asked Minerva to join him here, but she hadn\'t arrived yet. He was taking his time looking around carefully. The elves had done a passable job cleaning the years of accumulated dirt and dust. They certainly looked a lot larger with the garbage absent. The door opened and Minerva poked her head into the room.

\"Severus, why in the world did you want me to meet you down here? Couldn\'t you have come to my office instead?\" she asked, while walking farther into the empty room.

\"Since I planned on asking for your assistance in decorating these rooms for Hermione, I thought this would be easier. You know her better than I and might know her tastes.\"

\"You\'re going to make her stay in the dungeons? I thought she would be in Gryffindor Tower.\"

\"These are the chambers for the Potions Apprentice, are they not?\"

\"Yes, they are but -\"

\"She will need ready access to the student classrooms and the private laboratories, will she not?\"

\"All right, I understand. You don\'t have to paint me a portrait you know.\"

Severus\' eyebrow rose at the easy victory. Something wasn\'t right, a half-hearted effort at best. Unease at not being questioned about the apprentice contract came back. Very odd. He\'d never taken one before, why not question the decision to take one now? It could be relief Hermione wasn\'t going to Durmstrang, but that would have given her the opportunity to twit him about being forced to take her on. Dumbledore! How much had he told her?

\"Exactly what do you understand, Minerva?\"

\"That it\'s better for her to be down here, of course.\"

\"Are you sure that\'s all? What did Albus tell you?\"

Minerva felt like a Muggle shark was getting ready to attack as he stalked around. What was going on? The temptation to tease when he picked up the contract had been subdued. She\'d been discreet, not letting on that she knew, what could he be angry about? He gave her a steely glance as he paused in front of her. He knew! She mentally reviewed every word spoken since entering the room. Nothing, how did he know?

\"Only that Hermione was going to be your apprentice, so she wouldn\'t go to Durmstrang.\" Her eyes flicked to his mouth for a moment.

\"I don\'t believe that was all he told you, now was it, my dear?\" His voice became a husky growl, eyes glittering with a threat of their own.

\"I don\'t know what you\'re talking about, Severus. I don\'t appreciate this - this interrogation like I was a student caught doing something wrong.\"

The anger fled from his eyes and voice in an instant, a calm mask had fallen.

\"Forgive me, Minerva. Please, consider my request to make these rooms comfortable for Hermione. The supply room needs checking, I will be in touch later.\"

Relief claimed her when he swept from the room. No wonder her students complained about him. That was the first time she\'d ever seen him that angry and didn\'t care to see it again. If the request hadn\'t ultimately been for Hermione, she\'d tell him to go hang.

Minerva shivered slightly, she\'d hate to be in Albus\' shoes if, no - when the subject came up. She\'d better warn him at the first opportunity. Where to begin? The window was really the best feature.

Severus, of course, wasn\'t going to check the supply room. He was on a hunt for Dumbledore. Snape had confirmation of his suspicions from Minerva\'s eyes. First there had been a flash of startled acknowledgment, then she hadn\'t been able to hold his gaze after voicing the lie to cover Albus\' arse. Why would he have told her? There was no reason.

He needed to calm down and figure out the why before he confronted the Headmaster. Always better to know what cards the other person was holding. He headed for his favorite spot by the lake.

An hour later, after considerable pacing, the conclusion was drawn that the letter from Durmstrang was faked. Albus used the threat of her going there to get him to comply. He knew him too well, had known he would check for the letter and placed one there accordingly. Minerva had been told so she wouldn\'t question the letter being in the file, or the request for the contract. Anger at Rottisill\'s supposed insults had kept him off balance, not thinking clearly until the deed was done. The idea they would accept a Muggle-born apprentice was ludicrous. They weren\'t that opened minded. Severus didn\'t know whether to thank Albus, or wring his scrawny neck. He\'d been deftly outflanked, but wouldn\'t change a thing.

Three days later Severus was again inspecting. A very nice dark burgundy carpet had been laid in front of the hearth. Drapes, matching the rug, had been added to the window. Various pieces of comfortable furniture littered the area and a sturdy, efficient looking desk with chair stood in the corner. A set of bookshelves not too far from the desk. End and occasional tables filled in the spaces nicely. Minerva had done an excellent job. Nothing clashed and the items flowed smoothly throughout the room.

The carpet was checked with the toe of his boot. Not plush enough and it could be a bit wider. He pulled his wand and made the appropriate changes. Sincerely hoping his plans for the carpet came to pass, he turned towards the bedroom.

Honestly, Minerva may have good taste, but obviously no imagination. The prissy single bed was not an option. It quickly became a large four poster with a canopy and curtains to match the carpets. A smaller illusion window was placed on the wall opposite the bed, again matching drapes. Upon further reflection floor to ceiling bookcases were placed on either side of the window, with a sliding ladder attached at the top.

On to the bathroom. The plant area added in the corner did give a nice soothing effect, but not at the expense of reducing the size of the bathtub! Too many delicious things could be experienced there. Hoped the plants weren\'t ones Ponoma had grown, she wouldn\'t be getting them back now.

The shower appeared to be barely adequate, but if he moved the cabinet over there, it could be greatly enlarged. Much better. Turning on his heel, he headed off to do some remodeling. His own quarters could do with some improvements. All this wand waving had given him some excellent ideas.


\"Ginny, if you don\'t cheer up I\'m going to leave early and go to Hogwarts tomorrow. I don\'t want to spend the next few days drying your tears every time I turn around. Help me decide between these colors of apprentice robes, or I\'ll go get Draco instead.\"

Hermione\'s need for non-student robes and clothes sent them out shopping. Ginny persuaded Draco to accompany them to Diagon Alley, but upon approaching Madam Malkin\'s, he ducked out and said he would be over at Quality Quidditch Supplies.

\"I am not crying, haven\'t cried since that first time. I don\'t understand how you got over him so quickly. It took me a year to forget about Harry. Forget the olive color, makes you look sick. Take the dark blue, forest green, maroon and maybe a couple of black ones.\"

\"I do have some pride. Because I don\'t wear my heart on my sleeve, like some people I know, doesn\'t mean it\'s not still hurting. The only personal items left are some new underthings.\"

\"I get to chose those for you.\"

\"No thongs.\"

\"Hermione, they\'re sexy!.\"

\"The chances of anyone seeing me in one has been greatly reduced and I refuse to deliberately give myself a wedgie. The one you talked me into buying last year quickly found its way to the dustbin.\"

\"You didn\'t! That was a beautiful set. Draco got me a set for my birthday after I described it to him, but green instead of blue.\"

\"Please, don\'t tell me you have discussions on my underwear!\"

\"Well, he asked what we bought. I didn\'t think of it that way, exactly.\"

\"Definitely no thongs.\"

\"Sometimes you\'re no fun.\"

Friendly banter between them continued as they wandered through the different shops. Their path finally ended at Ollivander\'s, where Hermione found a wand better suited for exclusive work with potions. Draco met them as they were coming out the door.

\"Ladies, would you care to join me for a sundae at Fortescue\'s?\"

He gave a small bow, offering an arm to each of them in turn. The other two didn\'t notice Hermione\'s face blanching. The reminder of another arm graciously offered was an unexpected shadow on her day. She took his arm and plastered a realistic smile on her face as they sought out their ice cream.

\"I thought you two were going on a major shopping spree? I don\'t see any packages.\"

\"Hermione made arrangements to have them sent to Hogwarts, instead of The Burrow.\" Ginny sounded slightly miffed.

\"You know it makes more sense, I\'d have to pack them all up and send them there the day after tomorrow anyway. Prof - Minerva said it was all right and would send them to my quarters.\"

\"On a first name basis with the professors already, are we?\" Draco teased. \"Next thing you\'ll be calling Professor Dumbledore, Albus.\"

\"Her letter of instructions said to try and get used to calling them by their first names, except to the students of course.\"

\"Come on, you offered ice cream and if I don\'t get some soon, neither will you,\" Ginny threatened, pulling on his arm.

\"Ginny, a lady doesn\'t tug on a gentleman\'s arm like that. She allows him to guide her where they\'re going,\" Draco protested.

\"I\'ll be a lady later, right now I want some ice cream.\"

\"You heard her, Hermione. Pick up the pace, you don\'t want to get between a Weasley and their food. I\'ve learned the hard way.\"

Ginny could be a brat sometimes, but Hermione dearly loved her at the moment for changing the subject. The two exchanged smiles behind Draco\'s back.


Hermione ended up going to Hogwarts a day early, which in no way was Ginny\'s fault. She couldn\'t stand the suspense another day, better to get it over with. Minerva, when contacted by floo, gave her approval. While walking through the gates the grounds looked much the same, but the wind was playing havoc with her hair, trying to undo the french braid. Ginny had shown her the charm and was quite useful for keeping it tidy.

Hagrid\'s hut made her pause for quite some time. She couldn\'t bring herself to actually go over to the door, perhaps later when the pain of loss had subsided. Sometimes, others didn\'t understand that to her the losses were fresh, not months in the past. This particular one, along with Ron\'s, would take a while to absorb.

Tears were wiped away before she continued to the castle. Amazing, the damages were all repaired. She recalled walls trembling and tiles falling from the roof. How could it look normal, so quickly?

\"Sometimes you\'re really thick, Granger. They\'ve had months, not weeks to make repairs.\" Were the words mumbled to herself as she climbed the outer stairs.

Minerva was waiting inside the double doors for her. Hermione was strongly reminded of her sorting day and smiled.

\"Hermione, I\'m so glad you decided to come a day early. It\'ll give us a chance to get caught up properly before Severus puts you to work. Follow me, I\'ll show you to your quarters.\"

As they headed down the stairs to the dungeons Hermione had to say, \"I thought I might be put in Gryffindor Tower.\"

\"Believe me, if I\'d had any say in the matter you would be. Severus insisted you needed to be close to the classrooms and the labs. Since it is technically the chambers set aside for the Potions Assistant I couldn\'t argue very much, but I did try. It\'s been redone through and through, at his insistence and turned out quite nice. You wouldn\'t think it was in the dungeons if you didn\'t know any better. Here we are. You can set your own wards and it\'s best to change them frequently after the students arrive. Those that don\'t, run the risk of finding some fairly nasty surprises. I\'ll fill you in on a few of the ones to watch for later.\"

Hermione was led into a room with a breathtaking window at the far end. Minerva took great pride in telling her she had placed everything in the rooms with her in mind, but to be free to change anything at any time.

\"It looks wonderful, I couldn\'t have chosen better myself. I\'m sure I\'ll be very comfortable.\"

\"I\'ll be back later after you\'ve settled in a bit and we\'ll have a cup of tea together. I\'m going to enjoy having you here with us so much. It\'ll be a lot better now that I don\'t have to be your strict professor, or head of house. Oh, I almost forgot. Severus left before you contacted me and I don\'t know exactly when he\'ll be back. He said something about ordering supplies for the student laboratories and not trusting them to send the correct ones. I\'ll let him know you\'re here when he returns.\"

\"Thank you, Prof - Minerva. I appreciate that.\"

\"Not at all, my dear. I\'ll see you later.\"

After the door closed behind her, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Minerva could be a trifle overwhelming, but she did have excellent taste in furniture. Since he wasn\'t here right now she could relax a little, enjoy her new quarters.

The opulent bed was a bit of a surprise, but she was thrilled at the size of the bookcases. All her old friends would have a new home as well. The window between them was perfect. Minerva did appear to know her rather well. Too bad Crookshanks wasn\'t still around, he\'d have enjoyed the sunshine immensely.

Hermione wandered into the bathroom to put her toiletries away. Merlins robe, look at the size of that tub and the shower! Big enough for at least four people, and three shower heads? Shrugging her shoulders at Minerva\'s oddities, she decided to adjust rather than hurt her feelings.