Everything I Do, I Do It For You

Chapter 24:- Little Hangleton

Tolmie Crobobin was rushing around his house, flicking his wand here and there to remove the bits of grime and dust off the walls, floors, and furniture. It had been so long since he had been home and with no house elves to keep the place tidy, it had fallen into disarray. He was, of course, getting his home ready for his soon-to-be-arriving guest.

He lowered the more difficult wards surrounding his property; although he was almost sure that the younger wizard could have broken through them, that is to say, if his reputation did indeed do him justice. He placed some easier wards that he was sure the dark stranger could break. He wondered for a brief moment if he had made the right decision, before shrugging it off. The house looked more suitable now for one Severus Snape, only the best Potions Master in all of England.

He settled into his comfy chair by the fire, with a cup of tea in his hand, a slight smile on his face, and waited.

***

Severus Snape was back in his home, in Wyoming. He had been pacing for the last couple of hours in his sitting room, as he found it helped him think when a big problem arose. This was a big problem.

If he were to believe what the man had told him, then why hadn’t Lucius been able to find Tolmie Crobobin? True, Lucius had been an arrogant bastard; he had thought that any wizard who wasn’t a pureblood didn’t even deserve to breathe the same air as himself. Therefore, he would have just sneered down his nose at the beggar had he passed him in the street.

If what he had finally been able to get from Wormtail was the truth, which he thought it was, then the Dark Lord had placed this information solely in Lucius’ hands. No wonder he had used him as a shield during the Final Battle; he saw failure as a weakness to be exploited and used to his full advantage. Voldemort was a lot of things, but weak was not one of them.

Severus had to come up with some sort of strategy; he had to see this through to the end, if only for Dumbledore’s sake. He had learnt from Wormtail that Tolmie Crobobin had some very old and dark texts on potions in his possession. Perhaps there was some way that he could find Miss Granger using something from these texts. No matter, he would be going to pay Tolmie Crobobin a visit at dawn. He had a lot of preparation to do if he was to leave on time.

***

Cornelius was staring at the wall in his office; he had come up with a plan to keep that fool Dumbledore busy enough to stay out of his affairs. Now all he needed was the opportune moment to follow through with his plan. He figured he would give it about another week before proceeding.

He was startled, by a tapping on the window, and turned around to find Fydles pecking at the glass. He stood and opened the window to let the owl in. He perched himself on the desk and held out his right leg for the Minister to remove the rolled-up bit of parchment from it.

Grabbing the scroll, Cornelius quickly unravelled it and scanned its contents.


Minister,

Miss Hermione Granger has attempted to take her own life this morning. As I was not here, I was unaware of it until I got to work. She is recuperating as I write this and it seems as though she will make a full recovery. Let me know what I am to do.

Robert Finn


Cornelius’ face screwed up as he finished reading the letter. This would not do; he had planned to manipulate the situation further and if the Granger girl was dead, then that wouldn’t help him at all. No, he needed her alive; he had to harness her powers and then nothing would stop him. He would be the most powerful wizard in the world.

He laughed out loud. He had to write back to Finn and let him know exactly what he needed him to do. He settled behind his desk and started feverishly writing his response.

***

Head Orderly, Robert Finn had received a letter from the Minister, which of course had self-destructed after he had read it.
He had smiled when he had finished reading it and had wished that he had come up with this particular plan by himself. No worries though, as he now understood what the witch meant to the Minister.

Oh, this is going to be fun, he declared to himself, just as the letter incinerated and turned to ash. Rubbing his hands together, he threw Fydles a biscuit and took the stairs two at a time. He was off to see Hermione.

***

Doctor Andrew Lopes had been very busy. The Board of Directors had been breathing down his neck since the ordeal with Miss Hermione Granger had happened. He had tried to explain, as best as he could, how he had just gotten a feeling that something was not right in the hospital and had raced over at 1:30 a.m. Fortunately, he had not mentioned the dream or premonition that he had had. He would have been dismissed if he had told them about it, and he had had to bite his tongue and try as best as he could to explain his actions.

Luckily enough, for him anyway, Hermione had pulled through. She had woken up, but had not uttered a sound and seemed almost confused to still be here in the hospital. He would have to take things slowly with her until she regained at least a little of her sanity.

Andrew had called an emergency staff meeting that night with everyone, whether they were scheduled to work or not, in attendance. He had come down particularly hard on Robert Finn. Although it had been justified at the time, he now thought that he had been a little harsh when dealing with Robert.

“Screw it,” he said out loud. It was Finn’s job, one which he had worked at for at least ten years; if he wasn’t competent enough in his position then Andrew would have to find someone who was. Not that he wanted to get rid of Robert; he knew his way around the hospital and all of the residents respected and listened to him. He was also well liked by the other staff members and would be rather hard to replace.

He sighed to himself. Looking at his watch, he realized that he had better get ready, as one of his group sessions was going to start in fifteen minutes and it wouldn’t look good if the doctor was late.

***

Hermione was awake and alone, for now. She had replayed the dream in her mind over and over again.

’You can’t be here,’ Harry had told her, and Ron had seconded that.

What was so important that made them tell her that? Didn’t they want to be around her any longer? No, she was just being silly, she realized. Of course they had wanted her to be with them, just not now. She had to do something else in this world, something of great importance, but what? She wracked her brain but came up empty. One thing she was certain about though: she wouldn’t attempt to take her own life again. She owed Harry and Ron that much.

She was startled from her inner thoughts as she heard the door open. Looking over to the doorframe, she half gasped as “the sadistic bastard” walked through, shutting the door behind him.

Robert walked over the bed where Hermione was strapped down, a smug look on his face like he knew something that she didn’t. She couldn’t take her eyes off him, although she desperately wanted to; it was like he was holding her in a trance.

“Well, I see that you are finally up,” he said, in a voice that was sickly sweet. “Good thing too, as I was beginning to worry about you.”

He stood close to Hermione and reached his hand out to stroke her face. She flinched at the sudden contact, a tremor rolling through her body. He laughed at this and she turned her head away from him, so he wouldn’t see the fear she held there at being touched.

“Touchy, are we?” he asked, with another small laugh. He leant in close and whispered in her ear, “I know now why you are so important to the Minister.”

Hermione could feel his hot breath on her neck as she shivered again, involuntarily.

“It seems that he wants you kept alive,” he continued to whisper. “Which means that I am going to be keeping a rather close eye on you.” He pulled away and made his way to the foot of the bed, where he unrelentingly kept up his monologue. “Not that you will remember any of this conversation next week. I have taken the liberty to increase your medication myself; you see, being Head Orderly I can do that without too much suspicion. Anyway, you are given a little something extra in your meds, call it a potion if you will, that will make you forget everything.” He continued round the bed to look her in the eyes.

She turned her head again, but he grabbed her face and held it. He moved his head until he was mere millimetres from her face. She could smell his putrid breath, as her head swam in fear.

“Don’t you even think of telling anyone this,” he said in a low, menacing tone. “Besides, who would believe you? You’re the one who is meant to be crazy after all.” Dropping her face from his grasp, he laughed once more. Ah, it’s great to have all the power.

Before leaving, he turned to her. “Don’t forget that I will be keeping my eyes and my ears open. If one word is repeated of this conversation … well, let’s just say that a little accident can be staged, with you having a starring role.” He opened the door and left.

Hermione was terrified. She knew no one would believe her, and even if she did manage to let Doctor Lopes know, he would probably mark it down to more of her crazy talk. After all, she had just attempted to take her own life. She was so screwed. Silent tears started making their way down her face, as she closed her eye and willed herself to relax.

***

Albus Dumbledore had been perplexed by the way that Cornelius Fudge had acted. If he could have just made eye contact with the skittish Minister, then he would have known what he was planning - and he was planning something.

Oh, no matter, I have other means at my disposal, he thought, eyeing the rat in the cage on his desk.

Picking up the cage, he shook it gently to wake up Peter. The rat was disoriented when his yellow-coloured eyes finally did open, and he gave out a rather loud squeak.

“Now listen to me, Peter,” Albus said, in a tone that brooked no argument. “I have to know what Cornelius Fudge is up to and you will tell me. We can do this the easy way, in which you may get some leniency in your sentence and perhaps not go and spend the rest of your life rotting away in Azkaban, or we can do this the hard way.” He paused here and raised both eyebrows, letting the full effects of his words sink in. “Now, considering that you have always taken the easy route in life, I am assuming that you will take this road again.”

The rat just stared at Albus and slowly nodded his head.

“Good, now that that is settled, I shall be returning you to your human form.” He paused, taking in the look of glee on the rat’s features. “Don’t get any bright ideas of escaping, as I will not hesitate to kill you, Peter.” The seriousness of Dumbledore’s words was matched by his tone.

When Peter nodded his rat head, Albus pulled his wand out from up his sleeve. Banishing the cage, he spoke the incantation in a mumbled whisper and once again the form of Peter Pettigrew was twitching in front of him.

Peter immediately got down on both his knees before the Headmaster’s feet. Grovelling, which is what Peter did best, he said in his most pathetic, whiny voice, “Oh Headmaster, how can I ever thank you enough for sparing me Severus’ wrath?”

“You can start by telling me everything you know about one Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic.”

“Of course, of course,” Pettigrew said, whilst looking up at the elderly wizard. “Mr. Fudge was a Death Eater.” Pettigrew let the words just float in the air for a couple of seconds before continuing, “He was taken after the Dark Lord’s return to power after the Tri-Wizard Cup. The Dark Lord gave him the option of joining our ranks or death. Of course he chose life. Lord Voldemort gave him a piece of himself, so that he mastered Occlumency and Legilimency, and he is quite good at it. He has been ruling from behind his desk ever since. Why do you think that most of the Death Eaters captured at the Ministry were pardoned? It’s because of Fudge. The Dark Lord was going to have him killed when he rose to power though,” he added quickly.

Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a moment. There was no way that the Wizengamot would convict Fudge with the testimony of one of Voldemort’s own Death Eaters. He would have to wait and see what Cornelius threw at him next.

***

Severus Snape Apparated to the outskirts of Little Hangleton. He could see the lights of the nearby town, as he turned around and made his way eastward. It was still dark, but due to living in the dungeons for most of his adult life, Severus had developed a rather keen night vision. He kept his wand in his hand as he continued east, his boots making no noise in the dense foliage underfoot.

The sun was just peeking over the horizon when Severus saw a little shack tucked in behind some trees. It was just as the old man had described to him, run down and in desperate need of repair. The paint was peeling; the gutters were about to fall and with a strong gust of wind, the whole place looked as though it would come down with a mighty crash.

’Looks can be deceiving,’ Severus told himself, and he stayed vigilant.

The air surrounding the shack crackled with magic; he could feel it in every fibre of his body, as he stiffened slightly. Raising his wand, he tested the magic with a swish and found, much to his surprise, that the wards were not complex at all. In fact, a seventh year student could get onto the property with little help. This perplexed him further as he gently took down the wards and crept onto the front porch, wand still firmly clutched within his hand. His heart was beating fast, as he stood slightly to the left-hand side of the door.

’Calm yourself, you fool,’ Severus belittled himself as he took in a lungful of air.

When his heart had slowed down, he lifted his wand once more and was shocked to find that there were no wards and no other magic on the shack itself.

’This is a trap,’ he sneered to himself. ’Just back out of this while you still can.’

He was standing outside the front door, debating whether he should merely enter and start throwing hexes around or leave, when a man’s voice spoke from within, startling him from his thoughts.

“Come on in, I have been expecting you.”

Severus stood stock still. What if this was a trap? He had no way of finding that out unless he proceeded inside, but he hadn’t survived Voldemort’s wrath and the Final Battle to be killed in a duel with a stranger. Well, perhaps not a stranger, Tolmie Crobobin more than likely, who was as good as a stranger as far as Severus was concerned.

’Well if I am to die, at least I know the name of my would-be killer,’ Severus thought melodramatically, as he rolled his eyes.

“Well, are you going to stand outside all day or are you coming in?” the voice asked, from behind the closed door. “I am unarmed, if that’s what you are worried about,” he added.

Severus summoned all of his inner strength, as he turned the front doorknob, only to be greeted by a spell.

“Expelliarmus,” the man said quietly as Severus entered the room.

The Potions Master’s wand flew out of his hand, and Severus looked up to face the man before him. He realized who he was looking at and a look of absolute disbelief passed over his face. He was indeed looking at the face of the squib who had told him about Tolmie’s whereabouts. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but for once in his life… he was speechless. He stood there as if frozen to the spot. A hearty laugh met his ears.

“I see we have not been properly introduced,” the man began. “I know who you are, Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” He paused for a minute to let Severus take in this information before continuing. “Tolmie Crobobin at your service,” he said, whilst inclining his head, never taking his eyes off the Potions Master.

***

A/N:- And the plot thickens. Well it seems that Dumbledore now knows about Cornelius, whilst Finn now knows about Cornelius’ plans. Poor Hermione doesn’t know anything anymore, and Severus is just as confused as the rest of us. LOL!!!

What a treat!!! Three chapters up in a little over a week, I guess it has something to do with Christmas coming up and all, I feel compelled to write. Ho ho ho, and all that stuff. Baa Humbug, I say to you!!!

Please read and review, let me know what you liked and if you didn’t understand something let me know and I shall try to explain it…

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Chapter 25 is ready to go, just waiting to hear back from my beta’s.

Thanks to my greatly appreciated beta’s Jessica and LydiaCarol, you ladies rock…

As usual the characters that you recognize are not mine, the ones that you don’t are. I am not making any money from this but doing it cause I am enjoying myself thoroughly.