Of Days and Ends
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
43
Views:
35,957
Reviews:
333
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
3
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
43
Views:
35,957
Reviews:
333
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
3
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters, plot, etc. from the books or movies. I also do not own the AdultFanFiction.net site. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Divorcée
A/N: Have hope!
~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 24—Divorcée
Hermione sat up in the dark of the library and looked around. She felt oddly detached from her body, as though she didn’t quite fill it entirely, but at the same time, she sensed wholeness within herself. Remembering Snape and the separating potion, she turned to the side and stared horrified at the man who used to be her husband. He lay on the ground, pale in the moonlight, and seemed to not be breathing. A mantra of, “Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive, please be alive…” began in her head and slowly became more and more frenzied as she remained frozen with hope. When his chest finally rose and fell in a deep sigh, she released the breath she was holding and pressed her hand to her chest with relief.
Looking around again, she decided to stand and go to the window. Looking up at the sky, Hermione surveyed the constellations and the moon. It was April… April the 18th. She had been unconscious for two days. Judging by the moon, she determined that it was nearing midnight. Her parents would likely be asleep, so she decided against telling them anything. Instead, she conjured a quill and parchment and wrote two letters. The first was addressed to her mother and father and the second was addressed to Snape.
She crossed the room and looked down at Snape as he slept. This would likely be the last time she would ever see him so vulnerable. Her eyes fell to his bare feet and the little moonlight that came in through the window illuminated the trace amounts of blue in his robes as her eyes travelled up his body. At his neck, the small snake pendant-ring that she had given him for Christmas hung around his neck. Aiming her wand carefully and concentrating, Hermione whispered, “Wingardium Leviosa.” and gently guided the pendant up from his chest. When her hand reached for it, the glittery-eyed creature drew back and hissed lightly. She muttered the incantation to remove the necklace and proffered her finger for the snake to slither onto. With it firmly wound around her middle finger, she pulled her ring off of her ring finger and muttered a different incantation to put it on the chain before lowering the warm metal against his chest again. The site of the band against his chest instead of on her finger made her heart ache, and without further ado, Hermione disapparated to her friends in Little Whinging.
She immediately began to take down the wards. One by one, she made them detectable and entered the tent. Ron and Harry were still awake and waiting for her, so she quickly explained that their position had been compromised and that they had to leave. The boys didn’t question her. They simply left the tent and shrunk it to fit in the bag Hermione had given them. Pulling out the map, Hermione marked an X at another wooded area southeast of a town called Penault very near the border of Wales and England.
Blindly trusting her judgement, all three friends grabbed a hold of each other and apparated to the chosen location. Nearby, the A466 carried cars hither and thither along the English side of the border, and the smooth River Wye remained virtually untravelled. The English side had a dairy farm with vast vats of their product. The house on that side of the river was large and held the promise of food they could nick off of the inhabitants. Penault was also a good place to get food, but the trio knew that they would likely have to sneak into the village to avoid detection. Small villages were not a good place for strangers.
The boys immediately scouted the area while Hermione set up the tent and the wards. When they returned, Hermione greeted them with a hug.
“Okay,” Ron was the first to speak. He was out of breath from racing Harry up the hill. “Why did we have to move so suddenly?”
“I never apparate directly to the house that my mother lives in. I always approach it from the north side and circle the property before I enter through the back gate. This time I noticed that my wards were displaced and walked away from the property to throw them off the trail of my mother. They hadn’t seen the house yet, and I set ward after ward behind me. That’s how I knew I was being followed.—”
“Who was following you?”
“Snape. I couldn’t take any chances. I had to get my mum away immediately.”
“Too right.” Ron agreed, “She’s of interest to Voldemort, is she?”
She shrugged. “I tried to stay ahead of him, but he caught up to me and we fought. Somehow we disarmed each other at the same time and he tackled me before I could grab his wand to use on him. We fought and somehow I escaped. I managed to apparate to my mom’s cottage, and grabbed her. We got out just in time. Snape appeared just before we made it out.”
“Well, why didn’t you bring your mom with us. You left her alone?” Ron questioned.
“I’ve sent her out of the country.”
“What? How?” Harry asked.
“By plane.”
“Where are you sending her?
“India.”
“India!” The boys shouted in unison.
“Then in two weeks, she’s going to go to France to meet with her sister.”
“Why India?” Ron asked.
“Their magical community is in a time of peace right now. I wanted to send her to stay in a hotel for a couple of weeks until her sister gets back to her home in Nice. Then she can fly up and stay with her. If she leaves in a muggle transport, it’ll be much harder for Snape to track her. Besides, she doesn’t have any people that would suspect her living there.”
“Oh well,” Harry sighed. “It was only a matter of time before Hedwig was recognized and followed, anyway.”
“This time I set up a ward to keep her away. Hopefully it will work.”
The boys stared at her for a second before saying in unison, “You don’t look well.”
“I’m fine. This is just beginning to worry me a bit.” In reality, she was beginning to feel the toll of the separating potion. She could only assume that because her soul had been accompanied by his soul for months that she was feeling lonely. The boys just assumed that her depression was related to her mother’s safety and stayed near her all night. They all decided to sleep near the opening of the tent and enjoy the warm night air that the recent heat wave had left stagnant in the region.
The next morning, the trio rose and began getting ready before the sun began to shine through the leaves of the dense forest canopy above them. Harry and Ron confronted Hermione with the idea of leaving her behind while they went on the planned infiltration of the Ministry of Magic over breakfast. A vehement glare stopped their arguments mid-sentence, and Hermione turned their conversation away from their worry. Pretending to be overly content, she began a discussion about the horcruxes. “I’ve been thinking that we need to get back to understanding what horcruxes we are after. Professor Dumbledore destroyed the Slytherin ring last year. Harry destroyed the diary four years ago. It is likely that the Gryffindor Sword has destroyed any soul in it—”
“I thought we decided that the sword was not one of them.” Ron said with his mouth full and overflowing with porridge.
“Right.” Hermione smiled. “The third and fourth are definitely in our possession.” She said, gesturing to the necklace and cup on the mantle. “The fifth—and I think we’re in agreement—is his snake.”
“The sixth is likely in his right hand Death Eater’s possession, and—”
“Where’d you come up with that one?” Harry asked.
She shrugged. “I suppose he has to trust somebody enough to give it to them as a gift for loyal service.”
“A horcrux?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I would imagine that that would be the best thing to do with one soul fragment. Give it to the most loyal Death Eater, who will likely also know how to resurrect him.” Ron frowned in thought and Harry looked at the ground pensively.
“Doubt it. That would be a big, big problem for us.”
“The seventh is probably going to be something of Ravenclaw’s.” Ventured Harry.
“If one of those horcruxes are not with one of his Death Eaters, we need to have another horcrux to go after.” Ron insisted.
“We know he was unsuccessful finding the Gryffindor object he wanted, but we know he had the Ravenclaw object, the Hufflepuff cup, and the Slytherin ring… What else could it be?” Harry considered.
In a very finalizing way, Hermione shrugged, stood, took everyone’s plates, and dropped them into the sink where the dishes began to wash themselves. She didn’t want to bring up her suspicion that Harry was the final horcrux at the moment, and instead informed the boys that they had to leave to catch the first influx of Ministry workers.
Nodding and grabbing their cloaks off of the countertop, Harry and Ron followed Hermione outside of the tent.
“Okay, so, we will ultimately meet back here. Don’t be any later than three in the morning. We don’t want to worry ourselves too much.” They nodded in agreement. “Whatever you do, do not apparate straight here. We need to be sure that we’ve shaken any trackers or aurors off of our trail. Ron. Go to the pond near the Burrow, hide out in the reeds and set up wards. Just wait until nightfall to come back here. Harry, you’re going to have to wait until midnight.” He too nodded though with a look of disappointment. “If you apparate to the Shrieking Shack, then directly to the side street where we found Crookshanks in Grimmauld Place, then to your Aunt and Uncle’s back yard where you will set up wards until it is time to come home you should be safe.”
“Where’ll you go?” Asked Ron.
“I will apparate just outside the Hogwarts grounds and run into the Forbidden Forest. From there, I’ll set up some wards and be back by three o’clock.”
Harry smiled. “Thank you so much, Hermione.”
“It’s my honour.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you two. Ron, this plan is truly brilliant.”
“Thanks, mate.”
Lifting his Invisibility Cloak around his shoulders, Harry disappeared, “If you are caught and may lose your wand, make sure that you send your patronus with news before you lose your wand. Oh! And don’t try to grab anything more than the Gryffindor Sword. Trust me, it is quite heavy. Good luck to you both. I’ll see you soon.”
She immediately felt a sadness fall over her. She had wanted to say, “I don’t care nearly as much about soon as safe.” But stopped herself. To her left, Ron too donned his black cloak and began to head outside of the tent. With a sigh, she tried to refocus on the plan and shrugged into her cloak. They had a difficult task ahead of them and she needed to be at the top of her game. With that final thought, Hermione too left the tent.
~~~~~~~~
A/N: I know this was a short chapter, but what can I say? I guess that’s just how the cookie crumbles.
An extra special, warm and fuzzy, roar of applause and thanks for my top ten reviewers!
1. catysmom
2. Queen_Celestia
3. meankitty69
4. Johanna3030
5. sslover
5. openthedoor
6. Sureves Epans
6. Juno Magic
7. Jen618
8. slytherin-princess
9. Sampdoria
10. Perservero
10. Pyro Angel
Thank you also to silverfalcon, jan, jess, and kp1028. Welcome and thank you, all! The little voice in my head has been working at a fevered pace thanks to you and your wonderful reviews!
~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 24—Divorcée
Hermione sat up in the dark of the library and looked around. She felt oddly detached from her body, as though she didn’t quite fill it entirely, but at the same time, she sensed wholeness within herself. Remembering Snape and the separating potion, she turned to the side and stared horrified at the man who used to be her husband. He lay on the ground, pale in the moonlight, and seemed to not be breathing. A mantra of, “Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive, please be alive…” began in her head and slowly became more and more frenzied as she remained frozen with hope. When his chest finally rose and fell in a deep sigh, she released the breath she was holding and pressed her hand to her chest with relief.
Looking around again, she decided to stand and go to the window. Looking up at the sky, Hermione surveyed the constellations and the moon. It was April… April the 18th. She had been unconscious for two days. Judging by the moon, she determined that it was nearing midnight. Her parents would likely be asleep, so she decided against telling them anything. Instead, she conjured a quill and parchment and wrote two letters. The first was addressed to her mother and father and the second was addressed to Snape.
She crossed the room and looked down at Snape as he slept. This would likely be the last time she would ever see him so vulnerable. Her eyes fell to his bare feet and the little moonlight that came in through the window illuminated the trace amounts of blue in his robes as her eyes travelled up his body. At his neck, the small snake pendant-ring that she had given him for Christmas hung around his neck. Aiming her wand carefully and concentrating, Hermione whispered, “Wingardium Leviosa.” and gently guided the pendant up from his chest. When her hand reached for it, the glittery-eyed creature drew back and hissed lightly. She muttered the incantation to remove the necklace and proffered her finger for the snake to slither onto. With it firmly wound around her middle finger, she pulled her ring off of her ring finger and muttered a different incantation to put it on the chain before lowering the warm metal against his chest again. The site of the band against his chest instead of on her finger made her heart ache, and without further ado, Hermione disapparated to her friends in Little Whinging.
She immediately began to take down the wards. One by one, she made them detectable and entered the tent. Ron and Harry were still awake and waiting for her, so she quickly explained that their position had been compromised and that they had to leave. The boys didn’t question her. They simply left the tent and shrunk it to fit in the bag Hermione had given them. Pulling out the map, Hermione marked an X at another wooded area southeast of a town called Penault very near the border of Wales and England.
Blindly trusting her judgement, all three friends grabbed a hold of each other and apparated to the chosen location. Nearby, the A466 carried cars hither and thither along the English side of the border, and the smooth River Wye remained virtually untravelled. The English side had a dairy farm with vast vats of their product. The house on that side of the river was large and held the promise of food they could nick off of the inhabitants. Penault was also a good place to get food, but the trio knew that they would likely have to sneak into the village to avoid detection. Small villages were not a good place for strangers.
The boys immediately scouted the area while Hermione set up the tent and the wards. When they returned, Hermione greeted them with a hug.
“Okay,” Ron was the first to speak. He was out of breath from racing Harry up the hill. “Why did we have to move so suddenly?”
“I never apparate directly to the house that my mother lives in. I always approach it from the north side and circle the property before I enter through the back gate. This time I noticed that my wards were displaced and walked away from the property to throw them off the trail of my mother. They hadn’t seen the house yet, and I set ward after ward behind me. That’s how I knew I was being followed.—”
“Who was following you?”
“Snape. I couldn’t take any chances. I had to get my mum away immediately.”
“Too right.” Ron agreed, “She’s of interest to Voldemort, is she?”
She shrugged. “I tried to stay ahead of him, but he caught up to me and we fought. Somehow we disarmed each other at the same time and he tackled me before I could grab his wand to use on him. We fought and somehow I escaped. I managed to apparate to my mom’s cottage, and grabbed her. We got out just in time. Snape appeared just before we made it out.”
“Well, why didn’t you bring your mom with us. You left her alone?” Ron questioned.
“I’ve sent her out of the country.”
“What? How?” Harry asked.
“By plane.”
“Where are you sending her?
“India.”
“India!” The boys shouted in unison.
“Then in two weeks, she’s going to go to France to meet with her sister.”
“Why India?” Ron asked.
“Their magical community is in a time of peace right now. I wanted to send her to stay in a hotel for a couple of weeks until her sister gets back to her home in Nice. Then she can fly up and stay with her. If she leaves in a muggle transport, it’ll be much harder for Snape to track her. Besides, she doesn’t have any people that would suspect her living there.”
“Oh well,” Harry sighed. “It was only a matter of time before Hedwig was recognized and followed, anyway.”
“This time I set up a ward to keep her away. Hopefully it will work.”
The boys stared at her for a second before saying in unison, “You don’t look well.”
“I’m fine. This is just beginning to worry me a bit.” In reality, she was beginning to feel the toll of the separating potion. She could only assume that because her soul had been accompanied by his soul for months that she was feeling lonely. The boys just assumed that her depression was related to her mother’s safety and stayed near her all night. They all decided to sleep near the opening of the tent and enjoy the warm night air that the recent heat wave had left stagnant in the region.
The next morning, the trio rose and began getting ready before the sun began to shine through the leaves of the dense forest canopy above them. Harry and Ron confronted Hermione with the idea of leaving her behind while they went on the planned infiltration of the Ministry of Magic over breakfast. A vehement glare stopped their arguments mid-sentence, and Hermione turned their conversation away from their worry. Pretending to be overly content, she began a discussion about the horcruxes. “I’ve been thinking that we need to get back to understanding what horcruxes we are after. Professor Dumbledore destroyed the Slytherin ring last year. Harry destroyed the diary four years ago. It is likely that the Gryffindor Sword has destroyed any soul in it—”
“I thought we decided that the sword was not one of them.” Ron said with his mouth full and overflowing with porridge.
“Right.” Hermione smiled. “The third and fourth are definitely in our possession.” She said, gesturing to the necklace and cup on the mantle. “The fifth—and I think we’re in agreement—is his snake.”
“The sixth is likely in his right hand Death Eater’s possession, and—”
“Where’d you come up with that one?” Harry asked.
She shrugged. “I suppose he has to trust somebody enough to give it to them as a gift for loyal service.”
“A horcrux?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I would imagine that that would be the best thing to do with one soul fragment. Give it to the most loyal Death Eater, who will likely also know how to resurrect him.” Ron frowned in thought and Harry looked at the ground pensively.
“Doubt it. That would be a big, big problem for us.”
“The seventh is probably going to be something of Ravenclaw’s.” Ventured Harry.
“If one of those horcruxes are not with one of his Death Eaters, we need to have another horcrux to go after.” Ron insisted.
“We know he was unsuccessful finding the Gryffindor object he wanted, but we know he had the Ravenclaw object, the Hufflepuff cup, and the Slytherin ring… What else could it be?” Harry considered.
In a very finalizing way, Hermione shrugged, stood, took everyone’s plates, and dropped them into the sink where the dishes began to wash themselves. She didn’t want to bring up her suspicion that Harry was the final horcrux at the moment, and instead informed the boys that they had to leave to catch the first influx of Ministry workers.
Nodding and grabbing their cloaks off of the countertop, Harry and Ron followed Hermione outside of the tent.
“Okay, so, we will ultimately meet back here. Don’t be any later than three in the morning. We don’t want to worry ourselves too much.” They nodded in agreement. “Whatever you do, do not apparate straight here. We need to be sure that we’ve shaken any trackers or aurors off of our trail. Ron. Go to the pond near the Burrow, hide out in the reeds and set up wards. Just wait until nightfall to come back here. Harry, you’re going to have to wait until midnight.” He too nodded though with a look of disappointment. “If you apparate to the Shrieking Shack, then directly to the side street where we found Crookshanks in Grimmauld Place, then to your Aunt and Uncle’s back yard where you will set up wards until it is time to come home you should be safe.”
“Where’ll you go?” Asked Ron.
“I will apparate just outside the Hogwarts grounds and run into the Forbidden Forest. From there, I’ll set up some wards and be back by three o’clock.”
Harry smiled. “Thank you so much, Hermione.”
“It’s my honour.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you two. Ron, this plan is truly brilliant.”
“Thanks, mate.”
Lifting his Invisibility Cloak around his shoulders, Harry disappeared, “If you are caught and may lose your wand, make sure that you send your patronus with news before you lose your wand. Oh! And don’t try to grab anything more than the Gryffindor Sword. Trust me, it is quite heavy. Good luck to you both. I’ll see you soon.”
She immediately felt a sadness fall over her. She had wanted to say, “I don’t care nearly as much about soon as safe.” But stopped herself. To her left, Ron too donned his black cloak and began to head outside of the tent. With a sigh, she tried to refocus on the plan and shrugged into her cloak. They had a difficult task ahead of them and she needed to be at the top of her game. With that final thought, Hermione too left the tent.
~~~~~~~~
A/N: I know this was a short chapter, but what can I say? I guess that’s just how the cookie crumbles.
An extra special, warm and fuzzy, roar of applause and thanks for my top ten reviewers!
1. catysmom
2. Queen_Celestia
3. meankitty69
4. Johanna3030
5. sslover
5. openthedoor
6. Sureves Epans
6. Juno Magic
7. Jen618
8. slytherin-princess
9. Sampdoria
10. Perservero
10. Pyro Angel
Thank you also to silverfalcon, jan, jess, and kp1028. Welcome and thank you, all! The little voice in my head has been working at a fevered pace thanks to you and your wonderful reviews!