A Song for Severus ~ (Not Update, but Edit)

Chapter 21 ~ Exchanging Information

Hermione was pacing back and forth in her flat when Severus apparated in with a crack of thunder. Hermione launched herself at him, landing in the startled wizard’s arms. She ran her hands over almost every inch of him as if to make sure he was all in one piece as Severus smirked at her.

“I’m whole witch,” Severus said, catching her by the arms and holding her back from him.

“Thank the gods,” Hermione breathed.

She was sure Bella was going to try to ambush the Potions Master.

“How did it go?” she asked, sitting down on the couch as Severus loosened the collar of his robes.

“Quite well. I am to meet Voltaire a month from today,” he replied. He had already stopped by Hogwarts and informed Albus of his success.

“Voltaire?” Hermione repeated curiously.

“Yes, that is the boy’s name,” the wizard replied, opening his robes now. He felt like relaxing.

“Voltaire…Voldemort. Bella must have wanted his name to reflect his father’s,” she said thoughtfully.

“Yes, that’s Bella,” Severus agreed, “Subtle as a troll.”

“So, did she try to bargain with you?” Hermione asked.

Severus walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a drink, making Hermione wait for an answer. He carried it back over to the sofa and sat down next to her, taking a small sip and letting out a harsh sound as he swallowed the fiery liquid down. He smacked his lips, Hermione scowling as she waited for him to answer. When he didn’t, she repeated the question.

“Did Bella try to bargain with you, Severus?” she asked again.

“She did,” Severus said shortly, offering nothing more.

“What did she want to bargain with? What did she have?” she asked Severus.

He took another sip of his firewhiskey then leveled his eyes on her.

“She offered me the same thing she gave me years ago when she wanted me to introduce her to Tom Riddle,” he said quietly.

“What did she give you?” Hermione asked.

The look Severus gave her told Hermione all she wanted to know.

“You fucked Bellatrix LeStrange?” she yelled at him.

“Once,” he admitted, eyeing Hermione. She was jealous.

Hermione sprang up off the sofa.

“I can’t believe you!” she fumed, “Fucking her! Really, Severus.”

Hermione started pacing, her face screwed up.

“Hermione, you were barely born when that happened. It was years and years ago,” Severus said, smirking to see her so worked up. “Plus, it wasn’t anything to write home about…I assure you. And I told her as much. She was furious.”

“You did?” Hermione asked him, feeling a little better.

She knew it was silly to be jealous over something that happened so long ago, but she was. Bellatrix LeStrange was a lovely witch, insane or not. When she first escaped Azkaban, she was a bit worn, but freedom and no doubt a touch of magic had restored her wild beauty.

Severus nodded.

“And Bella, with all her experience, never held a candle to the first time I was with you,” the wizard added.

Severus’ first possession of Hermione was a memory he treasured greatly. He had been carried away by his passion and lost all sense of himself. Something that had never occurred before. He had always retained his sensibilities when engaging witches before that, had always been able to think, to consider the situation before he acted. With Hermione…it had been different. Different enough to change his life.

Hermione sat down next to him.

“You mean that, Severus? Or are you just trying to make me feel better?” she asked him.

“Of course I mean it!” he snapped.

“All right, all right,” Hermione said, smiling at the scowling wizard. “So what did she do after you turned her down?”

”Well, begged me for the ‘new, improved elixir’ and agreed to let me visit the boy and administer it,” Severus said.

Hermione looked at him closely. One of the bad things about becoming close with someone is that they become quite attuned to you. And Hermione, although she couldn’t tell everything about the Potions Master, she could feel when he was withholding something from her.

“There’s a down side to this, Severus. What is it?” she asked.

Severus blinked at her. How the fuck did she always know he was hiding something? He was an established liar and a master Occlumens. It was…infuriating. Well, since the witch knew what he was up to, he didn’t have to hide things concerning his work from her any longer…technically. But since Hermione loved him, there were aspects that he didn’t want to share with her simply to keep her from going insane with worry.

“I couldn’t get her to take an oath that she wouldn’t attempt to kill me if Voltaire died from the elixir,” Severus said in a low voice, “She felt I might not do my best to help him survive if she agreed to that. The witch is insane, but not stupid. Although I would not poison Voltaire, if that were an option I certainly would have taken advantage of her oath.”

Severus’ brow furrowed.

“She wants me to bring enough elixir for two doses,” he added.

Hermione looked at him.

“Two doses? Why?” she asked him.

Severus slowly shook his head.

“I don’t know,” he replied, finishing his firewhiskey and setting the glass down on the end table near the arm.

Hermione had a terrible thought.

“Maybe she intends to take the elixir herself if Voltaire dies,” she said to Severus, who gave an evil little smile.

“If she does, that will kill two dragons with one wand,” he replied, “Bella would more than likely die too, then we could round up the rest of the Death Eaters and end this madness once and for all.”

Severus looked as if he’d much prefer this scenario. And he would…even if he had to ‘help’ Bella to her grave, killing her while she seizured. His eyes narrowed dreamily.

“You’re absolutely blood-thirsty, Severus,” Hermione said, frowning.

“I’m not blood-thirsty. I am simply considering the most expedient way to solve the problem,” the Potions Master replied.

Hermione sighed as he stood up and walked back over to the liquor cabinet. She thought he was going to get another drink, but Severus simply scourgified the glass and put it back in its holder.

“Now,” he said, turning on her, “Care to tell me what has been burgeoning from that brilliant brain of yours while I’ve been gone?”

Severus was referring to her assignment of creating an anti-elixir to try and save Voltaire from a life of confinement, or death.

“Well, I’ve decided what I’m going to use to experiment on,” she said to him, looking just a bit guilty.

Severus arched an eyebrow at her. He knew Hermione had a heart like butter, but she couldn’t be upset about testing the elixir on lab animals could she? Not someone who cut up a cadaver like she was boning a chicken.

“So, what kind of magical animal are you going to use to turn into the beast version of the Dark Lord?” Severus asked her.

Hermione twisted her hands a bit. Severus recognized that as a sign of nervousness and rested his eyes on her curiously. Normally nothing fazed the witch when there was research and experimentation afoot.

“I’ve decided not to use animals, Severus. I needed something more,” she said softly.

“What then?” he asked impatiently.

What was there besides animals other than people?

“I’ve decided to use fairies. Pixies,” she said.

Severus didn’t say anything. Hermione shifted and began to explain why as if to convince herself rather than the Potions Master.

“They are like humans in appearance and have very weak magical powers they use to repel predators. They would be perfect to experiment on. Their increase in power would be measurable, but most likely not deadly to adult witches and wizards if the elixir goes into full effect,” she said.

Severus looked at Hermione. No wonder she seemed contrite. Pixies looked like tiny blue human beings with wings but were considered creatures, and by some people, pests. A flock of pixies could be very annoying at outdoor gatherings, buzzing humans like mosquitoes, raiding open food stores and flying off with whatever they could carry.

Still, Severus knew it would be difficult for the witch to work with the tiny creatures at first because of just how human they looked, but Hermione was going to have to get past it. This was for the Greater Good after all.

“A good choice,” he said shortly, joining her on the sofa again.

Hermione looked at him.

“Yes, they are a good choice,” she repeated, “I…I’ve just got to get used to the idea. They are so human-like,”

”A couple of bites, scratches and burning boils will take care of that outlook,” Severus said with a smirk. “Pixies are mean little buggers, looks notwithstanding. They might look human, Hermione, but their actions are distinctly animal in nature. They act on instinct and instinct alone, and there are thousands of them, if not millions. Using pixies makes perfect sense. Once you acquaint yourself with the creatures, you won’t be quite so uncomfortable,” the Professor said.

Hermione nodded, then stared at the floor for a moment or two. Severus thought it best to get her mind off the pixies for the moment. There was something even more dangerous she needed to worry about.

“Do you know how to milk a King Cobra, Hermione?” he asked her silkily.

That ought to make her come around. Hermione looked at him startled.

“King Cobras? No!” she said as Severus smirked at her.

“If you are going to make the elixir, you are going to have to have snake venom…fresh snake venom. The fresher, the better,” the dark wizard said, his black eyes glittering, “Preferably still warm from the snake.”

Hermione blanched slightly. She was a bit afraid of snakes. For some reason she thought the venom could be bottled or something. Severus saw the flicker of fear in her eyes. He guessed her studies at university hadn’t covered milking venomous creatures yet.

“Well, you are going to have to learn to do it, and do it well. I don’t need to tell you how dangerous the creatures are,” the wizard said.

Oh dear gods. Milking snakes. Hermione sighed. She had to learn to do it if she were to hope to successfully develop the anti-elixir.

“Will you teach me how to do it, Severus?” she asked the wizard, who nodded.

“Yes. Albus has already had the snake pit constructed. It will be right off your lab. Once you learn how to use the grabber properly…” he began.

“Grabber? What’s that?” Hermione asked him.

“Basically it is a long stick with a rope loop on the end that you slip over the snake’s neck and tighten so you can harvest it. It’s a bit tricky, but with practice is quite simple to do. It will allow you to catch the snake behind the head and milk it. But I use another technique rather than force the venom from the snake’s glands by pressing them against the edge of a glass jar. To do that damages the glands over time and shortens the snake’s life span.”

”What do you do then?” Hermione asked him.

“Torment and tease them with the jar until they bite it,” Severus said with a little grin, “that way the release of venom is voluntary.”

“Oh dear gods, Severus. You want me to aggravate them too?” Hermione asked him. It was bad enough throttling the cobras with a rope and dragging them from a pit by the neck. It would seem they would already be significantly pissed to strike anything that came close to them.

“Well, I thought with your soft heart, you’d like the process to be as humane as possible,” the wizard purred, “And then, Hermione…there is the matter of creating the anti-venom…”

“I’ve already thought of that,” Hermione said, “the muggles use horses to create the anti-bodies. I’m going to use thestrals. They are close to horses. Sort of.”

Severus arched an eyebrow at her.

“Do you think it’s smart to use a creature that is so…connected to Death?” the wizard asked her.

Thestrals were black, carnivorous winged horses with staring white eyes. They were very skinny, skeletal really and slightly reptilian as well. The creatures were supposed to bring bad luck, and were only visible to those who had witnessed death. Hagrid had a tame herd of them and they were used to pull carriages at Hogwarts.

“That’s just a magical property that affects whoever is looking at the creatures. Not the creatures themselves. Thestrals still create anti-bodies, Severus. Anyway I will test the ant-venom on the pixies first,” Hermione replied, frowning at him.

Severus shrugged.

“It’s your project, Hermione,” he said, “I just hope you don’t come up with an anti-venom that is more venomous than the King Cobra venom,” he said, knowing his statement would make Hermione angry. He felt like teasing her a bit.

“I won’t!” she snapped at him, “I know exactly what I’m doing! I’m not a novice, Severus!”

“Compared to me you are,” Severus purred at her.

Hermione turned a deep shade of red. He was right.

Annoyed, Hermione plopped back on the sofa, scowling blackly, her lips in a thin line as she folded her arms. She was furious at him, although all he did was speak the truth.

Severus tried not to chuckle at her, but a small sound slipped out anyway. Hermione glowered at him, then wisps of smoke started to trickle out of her ears. Severus readied himself.

“That’s it!” Hermione cried, jumping up and going for a heavy book on the coffee table in front of the sofa. She’d had it with the Potions Master’s smugness.

Severus scrambled, and scrambled fast, ducking low as the book flew past his head. He sprinted down the hallway and into Hermione’s bedroom, the witch pursuing him, waving a vase. Hermione ran into the bedroom and slammed the door closed behind her, trapping Severus inside.

"Now hold still!" Hermione seethed at him, aiming the vase at his head, the wizard weaving back and forth against the far wall, a taunting look on his pale face.

"You throw that vase at me, Hermione, and I promise...you will be very sorry," Severus said warningly.

"Oh really?' she hissed at him, letting the vase fly.

Severus threw up his arms as it flew towards him. The vase crashed into the wall on the right, showering him with shattered pieces of white and pink ceramic. Hermione ran to her dresser to get more ammunition, and the wizard dove at her, missing as the witch drew back but getting smacked hard in the forehead with a heavy wooden hairbrush for his trouble.

"You minx!" the Potions Master snarled, rubbing his forehead, then going for her again.

There was a crash, another crash, a thump, a squeal, a couple of deep curses, then the sounds of a struggle that eventually died away, shortly followed by another more rhythmic sound...

Creaking bedsprings.

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A bit more conversation between Severus and Hermione. Next, I think we should check up on Eloise. Thanks for reading.