Fantasy House

Sirius absentmindedly threw a rock at the barrier. "Is it just me or does Snape seem to have a thing for just about everyone in this house?" he questioned distractedly.



Hermione glanced at the Animagus and threw her own rock at the barrier. "I'm not sure what you mean," she answered, her eyebrows furrowed.



"Think about it," he told her. "It's obvious that he and Malfoy Senior have been at it for ages, yet he enjoys sex with you immensely. I even overheard him telling Draco that he could actually see himself settling down. Seriously-- a wife? Children? And then there's what he said to Remus the other day during sex."



The girl raised an eyebrow. "What did he say?"



"He told Remus that he had been wanting to have sex with him," Sirius said, scrunching his nose. "I don't understand it."



Hermione looked blindly at the barrier, momentarily lost in thought. Her mind played around with the things that Sirius said. Severus was talking to Draco about settling down with a wife and children. She had never known Severus to think along those lines, but if he was really falling for her...



She knew Severus and Lucius had sex. She also knew that Severus had rather enjoyed being with Remus and was plotting another "sex session." She hadn't thought of it until now.



"He's lonely," she finally whispered. She glanced up at the Animagus. "I know Severus has been a bit of a recluse since the war, but I think he misses the companionship. And now? He has all the companionship he could want. He's already let slip to me that he believes this house is the best thing that could have ever happened to us. Maybe he just meant himself. For the first time, in a long time, he's surrounded by people."



"Snape never struck me as the kind of guy who'd like to be around people, though."



Hermione shrugged. "Perhaps not. Perhaps he just likes the idea of people being there just in case."



It was Sirius' turn to be confused as he dropped the rock he was about to throw. "What?"



"You live with Harry and Ginny, but even you know what it's like to be alone, Sirius. Imagine being completely alone. Sure, it's fine when you're reading a book or working on something important. But to take your meals alone. To sit in front of a late night fire sipping a brandy, alone. There's no one there to share your ideas with. No one to tell about the spell you figured out or the potion you created. Or even someone to share your innermost thoughts with. Your worries, your fears. Your elations..." Hermione paused for a moment, distracted by her thoughts.



"That's not to say that someone like Severus doesn't like being alone; I'm sure nothing pleases him more. But there are no options for him-- he doesn't get a choice in the matter."



"And whose fault is that?" Sirius growled. "No one told him he had to be alone. He could have easily..."



"Easily what, Sirius?" she snapped at him. "He's not like you and me. I had to fight with St. Mungo's just to get him treated! Sure he's a decorated war hero now, but only after Harry, Ron, and I fought with the Ministry. Even McGonagall was reluctant to accept him back, though she did in the end. Wizarding society forced Severus into becoming a recluse. People don't want him around. For whatever reason, there's this huge stigma against him. Hell, Draco and Lucius get better treatment than he does!"



"That's because Draco and Lucius aren't slimy gits!" Sirius sneered. "They don't walk around in all black with their hoods obscuring their faces and the gods know what else. They actually make themselves likeable. Or, at the very least, they try."



"Severus is not that kind of guy," she pointed out. "He's not a peacock who struts his feathers about. And I cannot believe you're actually standing up for Lucius and Draco. You hate them!"



The Animagus hesitated. "Well..." he said, glancing away sheepishly. "Perhaps I was wrong about them. I mean, hate is such a strong word, and they're really..."



"Not that bad?" she offered. "Perhaps the same could be said for Severus if others would give him a chance."



There was silence for a moment and the two started throwing rocks at the barrier again. After a while, Hermione said, "Maybe that's why Severus is clinging onto these days and proclaiming his interest in so many. Maybe he hopes that one of us will stick with him when this is over. Someone he can bring home and, I don't know, make a life with."



(II) (II)



"Harry, Harry! Look at this!" Ron said excitedly, pointing to a footprint.



"Ron, that's from your shoe," the raven-haired man said, turning his attention back to the kitchen table.



Ron shook his head. "No, it's not," he commented. "I know I have big feet, but not that big, Harry. And it doesn't even match the treads on the bottom of my shoe. I have straight lines with one big circle on the balls of my feet. This print looks like a bunch of small triangles."



Harry stopped what he was doing and looked at the footprint in question. It was as Ron described. "Where is it coming from?" Harry asked.



They looked in the direction opposite to the way the shoe was facing. "Snape's bedroom," Harry commented.



"Do you think this could be from Snape's shoe, then?" Ron asked, staring back at the shoe print.



Harry's eyebrows furrowed. "This print wasn't here when we first came here. Someone must have been here and put it there."



"How do you know?"



Harry waved a hand at the dust surrounding the print. "Look at the dust. We don't know Snape that well, but we know how well kept the Potions classroom was. He wouldn't have allowed this much dust to gather on the floor. Besides, the print is uneven. Almost like, whomever did this had a slight limp or maybe wasn't used to walking on their entire foot. Maybe they are used to walking on the balls of their feet?"



Ron looked closer at the print. "I see what you mean," he agreed.




Harry examined the print a bit more before going into the bedroom. As he had assumed, it had been Snape's room. Everything was in perfect order.



"He's a bit OCD, huh?" Ron commented as he entered the room behind Harry. "Much like Hermione."



Harry shrugged. "You kind of have to be when dealing with potions. The wrong ingredient or wrong amount at the wrong time could be disastrous. My guess is that he treats all of his things much like his potions."



The two young Aurors searched the room, though there wasn't much to see. They looked through dresser drawers full of clothes. Ron held up a particularly bright blue pair of boxers. He wrinkled his nose. "Look, Snape's attempting colour in his wardrobe."



Harry smiled. "Perhaps, when we find him, we'll have Ginny take him shopping properly. Unless this was a gag gift."



Ron gave a fake gag. "I hope so. Number one on my list of things I never want to see again: Snape's underclothes."



Harry shook his head and went back to his search. He searched the closet and took note of a missing pair of shoes. Again, he noticed a pile of dust around the area where the shoes had been originally. Almost like someone had taken them and not bothered to sweep.



From there, the bespectacled man walked into the small adjoining bathroom and noticed the black robe hanging on the back of the door. There was also a nice set of clothes carefully folded upon the sink.



"It's odd, isn't it?" Ron said, glancing in the bathroom. "All these clothes perfectly placed and the only thing missing is a pair of shoes. If I didn't know better, I'd think Snape was streaking the town in nothing but a pair of trainers."



Harry nodded. "It does look like he had been getting ready for a bath, doesn't it? Look at the thin layer of dust on these robes and the clothes."



"I'm surprised that three months can produce this amount of dust," Ron commented.



"I'm not. It's awfully drafty in this old house. I wouldn't be surprised if he fought with dust on a daily basis. Knowing Snape, he probably used some sort of impenetrable spell to keep the dust from ruining his possessions in between cleanings."



They left the room and continued their investigation. When Harry entered the Potions lab, he shouted to Ron. "I found the shoes!"



They were set next to a large bookcase filled with various potions. Each potion looked as though they had been carefully labeled. Each bottle was even numbered. As Harry examined the bookcase, he noticed that there were bottles missing. This was an easy assumption to make because, again, there was dust all over the bookcase, except where the bottles had been.



"Someone's trying to set Snape up," he said, knowing Ron was next to him.



Ron nodded and started looking around the room. "There has to be a record of all these bottles. I wonder which ones are missing."



Harry shrugged. "The bottles seem to be in alphabetical order. I think those missing may have been a draught."



"A draught?" Ron questioned, halting his search to stare at Harry in shock.



The bespectacled man did not see the look on his best friend's face. He was too busy staring at the empty spot and the bottles around it. "Yeah, all the other bottles are draughts. They're labeled as such. Though, aside from the draughts, everything else is numbered. I really wish I knew what Snape was doing with all of these potions."



"I know what he was doing with them all," Ron said, causing Harry to turn and look at his friend.



Ron had found the record book. "Many of the potions he made, he used to supply St. Mungo's and Hogwarts. Private donations. Look, the next shipment was supposed to be a few months ago. It seems as though he's been sending shipments each month."



Harry gazed down at the book in Ron's hand. "Where is he getting the money from? There's no mention here of whether they are paying him for his services."



"Because they aren't," Ron said, pointing at a passage in the book. "They don't even know he's sending the potions. They think it’s all Malfoy’s work. Says here, 'Blasted Healers should be thankful I'm helping them at all. If it weren't for Lucius' insistence, I wouldn't. Twelve more batches left and the next shipment will be ready.'"



"Is this a journal or a record book?" Harry asked.



"A mixture of both. I'm sure Snape couldn't help keeping his personal thoughts from what he was writing. And Malfoy was encouraging him."



Harry smiled. "I told you, the Malfoys have changed. I'm sure Lucius was trying to get Snape out of this place and so was encouraging him to brew potions, hoping it'd get Snape to open up and meet people."



"Blimey, was he wrong," Ron said, shaking his head.



The red head continued to look through the book, reading a passage here and there. When he came to the list of potions, he went through them with a finger. "Harry, what is the number for the potions missing?"



Harry went back to the bookcase in question. "I think 146, from the looks of it. Everything else seems to be accounted for."



Ron ran his finger down the page to 146 and stopped. His eyes widened. "Is there any of that potion left at all?"



Harry shook his head before giving his friend a curious glance. "No, why?"



"Because 146 is Draught of Living Death."



(III) (III)



Hermione gasped suddenly and shouted for her companion. "Sirius!"



The Animagus dropped his rock and hurried over to her. "What is it?"



A large smile spread across her face. "I found it," she told him. "Watch."



She picked up another rock, this one slightly larger than the one she had before, and threw it at the barrier. The rock never hit the barrier, but passed through it.



Excited, the two started throwing rocks and sticks at that point in the barrier to see how large the break was. It wasn't very large, in fact, nothing larger than the rocks would go through it.



"We'll have to work on it," Hermione told him. "We'll have to keep throwing rocks at it. Hopefully the area around it will start to weaken. With any luck, we'll be able to make a hole large enough for a person to fit through."



"That could take ages, Hermione."



The girl glanced up at her friend and lover. "What other choice do we have? This may be our only hope of getting out of here."



He nodded. "Well, let's mark the area with something so the others will know where it's at."



"Nothing suspicious," she suggested. "We don't want Zabini to get curious about why we marked the area."



Sirius nodded in agreement and began looking around the area. It would have to be something small, he knew. Something that wouldn't draw attention. "I wonder if Zabini knows runes."



"He wasn't in my Runes class in Hogwarts," Hermione told him.



Sirius nodded and began collecting sticks. "We'll make a rune out of sticks over the area. Both Remus and Snape were in my Runes class."



"And Draco was in my Runes class," the girl pointed out and began collecting sticks as well. "I'm sure Lucius will have taken Runes as well."



Sirius nodded, though he couldn't be sure if Lucius had taken Runes or not. He hoped the man had. He also didn't know if Narcissa or Andromeda had taken Runes. If so, this victory had the chance of being short lived.



(IV) (IV)



Andromeda had taken Runes. One night, she was feeding Teddy and watching the telly with Blaise and Narcissa. The couple was giggling about something unimportant as they watched Hermione and Draco tend to the flower garden.



Andromeda had seen the oddly placed sticks and, at first, thought nothing of it. Then, as Blaise and Narcissa had started getting more passionate in their kissing, Andromeda had caught something in the sticks. It seemed as though the sticks spelled out something.



Her eyes widened when she could clearly see the rune for "up." She glanced up above the rune at the barrier and saw what Blaise and Narcissa were failing to see. There was a shimmer in the barrier that should not have been there. The six living in the house had found it.



A small smirk crept upon Andromeda's face, much like the cat who caught the mouse. Then, just as quickly, the smirk was gone. If Blaise or Narcissa saw what she had seen, it could be the end of the six people. The grandmother would not have it.



She just hoped they could break the barrier soon.

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Author's Note: I apologize for the long delay. I've been in the process of moving. (Still in the process of unpacking and all.) I really hope you enjoy this chapter and the ones that follow.



Thank you again to my wonderful betas. I don't know what I'd do without you guys. (This chapter wouldn't be nearly as good, that's for certain. Still not entirely happy with it, but it'll do, I suppose.)