Angelica's Sorrow

A/N - sorry I\'m running short on time - will respond to all of you wonderful people on the next ter.ter.


CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE


\'Gods, only two days left,\' was the immediate thought upon opening his eyes. \'Should really force myself to take advantage of the situation while I can,\' he thought, while sliding closer to a sleeping Hermione. \'It\'s too early for breakfast anyway.\'

\'Now, how to go about having her wake in the most receptive mood?\' He studied his options, \'Perfect.\' Grabbing his wand and whispering, \"Lumos,\" he slid under the blankets.

An hour or so later he was headed for a brief check of the classrooms, trying to keep a self-satisfied smirk off his face. Her complaints about waking too early, quickly turned into greedy hands grabbing his member and guiding him home.

\'There are definite advantages to being an early riser, in more ways than one.\'

Hermione woke for the second time that morning, stretching and turning on her side. \'Damn, he\'s already gone. So much for talking about Angelica. Sure didn\'t give me much of an opportunity last night.\' She grinned, climbing out of bed and heading for the bathroom.

She found him in his storage room.

\"You missed breakfast, again.\"

\"Don\'t go on, or I\'ll start calling you Poppy.\" He was arranging some new supplies that had come in that morning and sounded slightly distracted. \"I\'ll get something to eat after I finish.\"

\"You don\'t have to, I brought us a few things. They\'re on your desk, under a warming spell.\"

She\'d surprised him. \"Thank you, but I don\'t expect you to wait on me.\"

\"Actually, I thought it would give us a few minutes to talk about Angelica. In private.\"

This admission caused his eyebrow to lift, while his head turned to appraise her. \"Very well, now would be as good a time as any, I suppose. I\'ve finished the first lot, the rest can wait.\"

A chair had been added beside his desk, several plates of food along with two steaming cups adorned the top. \"I can\'t believe I didn\'t hear you moving around out here. I must be slipping.\"

\"Nice to know I can still slip a little past you.\"

\"Oh, there have been other times? Tell me more,\" he said leading her to the chair.

\"Oh, no! I\'m not drunk and I\'m sure not stupid, my dear Potions Master. Angelica is what I would like to discuss right now, if that\'s OK with you?\"

\"There are going to be just the two of us eating, correct?\" he asked, upon seeing how much was on the plates.

\"Yes, of course.\"

\"You\'ve brought enough for three additional people,\" he stated, seating himself behind the desk.

\"I didn\'t know what you\'d feel like eating, so I brought a sampling of all the dishes. Tell me, how many more times are you going to change the subject?\" she inquired, beginning to nibble.

\"I wasn\'t changing the subject, to be honest I\'d like to know what you think of her. You were definitely down there long enough.\"

\"Only a couple of hours, actually. I didn\'t think you\'d miss me that much in such a short time. If I want that kind of response again I\'ll have to remember to leave for awhile.\"

Severus drew out chewing, thinking fast, \'Have to get the catalog back before she misses it. They\'ll surely send me one with the order.\'

\"So, what did you two talk about all that while?\"

\"Mostly she wanted to know my impressions of the school, classes, teachers, things like that. She did ask how long she\'d been there. No, I didn\'t tell her,\" responding to his alarmed look. \"I told her I would need to find out why you hadn\'t told her first.\"

Snape wiped his mouth with a napkin. \"I don\'t know how she will react. When I first became aware of her, it was like a wisp of sorrow in the room. Can you feel her emotion in the room?\"

\"No. What do you mean by \'feel\'?\"

\"Albus and I are - getting all my secrets aren\'t you? Well, we\'re empathic to a mild degree. It\'s saved my skin a few times and I try never to ignore my gut instincts. Not nearly as much as Angelica, we can\'t \'read\' people, but enough to know she\'s there and how she\'s feeling. Minerva, Poppy and the others don\'t. You\'ve seen the pensieve in the room, I\'m surprised you don\'t have any questions.\"

\"He made it to use on her, didn\'t he?\"

\"Yes. It came in rather handy, but it destroyed her life. I guess I should say Salazar destroyed her, not the pensieve itself. I\'ve grown to hate the founder of Slytherin House. Not a good thing for the current head of house, is it?\" he asked with a bitter twist to his mouth.

\"Well, you\'ll just have to try and make sure no future Slytherins follow in his footsteps.\"

\"You always look to the bright side of things, don\'t you?\"

\"I try. Now, why are you afraid to tell her?\"

\"Her presence seemed to gradually increase the longer I was there. After a few days, the emotion was almost overwhelming, but always just sorrow. Apparently she began to realize what we had planned and became angry enough to break out of apathy, her own word by the way. She can\'t tell time, has no reference for it. Her family and all those she held dear have been gone for a thousand years. I have never discussed this, because I fear she may sink into a depression or back into apathy.\"

\"I am really glad I lied to her.\"

\"You! You actually lied to someone?\" he asked, teasingly.

\"She asked me at one point how many headmasters there had been. I thought it was a way for her to figure out how many years had gone by. I lied and said I had no idea. Later she came straight out and asked how long it had been.\"

\"It\'s not a good idea to lie to her, she can usually tell. She didn\'t call you on it?\"

\"No. So, you think how long her family has been dead will make a difference?\"

\"I don\'t honestly know. I can see the wheels spinning in your head, tell me now.\"

\"How do you do that?\"

\"I think you\'ve learned enough of my secrets for one day, back to my question, please.\"

\"Oh, maybe we could find a descendant or two, from the school records, through Margaret. Do you think it might help?\" she asked, hopeful.

He sat in silence, merely looking at her, with his hand under his chin. The narrowed eyes made her nervous, reminded her of too many times when she\'d lost points.

\"What?\" she finally asked, unable to take it any longer.

\"I was wondering - \" he spoke in a smooth drawl that sent shivers down her spine, \"how so much intelligence could be wrapped up in such a delectable package.\"



\"Hermione, may I have a word with you in my office, please?\" Minerva asked as they were leaving the table after lunch.

Severus took the opportunity to say, \"I\'m only going to finish putting away the supplies, would be pretty boring for you.\"

\'And return the catalog,\' he said to himself as she nodded.

\"I don\'t have anything to do at the moment, Minerva, is now all right?\"

\"That would be perfect.\"

On the way there she had to ask, \"Is there something wrong?\"

\"No, not at all, dear. I have some last minute paper work I need to get done.\"

Minerva opened the office door, waved a hand towards a chair in front of the desk while closing the door behind Hermione.

\"Please, have a seat. Would you like a cup of tea?\"

\"No, thank you.\"

Minerva rounded her desk, taking her seat.


\"I wanted to ask you if there\'s anything you need before the term actually starts. We have a couple of days yet, so there\'s still enough time.\"

\"I haven\'t come across anything.\"

They talked for several minutes about concerns she had on discipline in class and how best to deal with the pranksters.

\"So, tell me. How are your parents?\"

\"They\'re fine. I had a heck of a time convincing them I wasn\'t going to move back home after I was released from St. Mungo\'s.\"

\"I can understand that, they love you very much. It must have been very hard on them, seeing you under the curse. Why didn\'t you tell them about Voldemort, or anything else that happened during your school years?\"

\"They wouldn\'t have understood most of it.\"

\"Did you try to explain any of our world to them?\"

\"Oh, they know the basics, I guess. My mum still thinks I was in a coma and to be fair I think that\'s the only way she can deal with what happened. Something \'normal\' happened to me and now I\'m all better. Most of the things I knew they wouldn\'t have a clue. \"

\"What about Voldemort?\"

\"Can you honestly say you don\'t already know why?\"

\"You\'ve been spending too much time with Severus.\"

\"What makes you say that?\"

\"I could reply in the same manner, in fact the same words would do nicely.\"

\"Sorry, I - it\'s rather obvious that they would have pulled me out of Hogwarts and packed me off to a nice, safe little muggle school, where I would have been bored to tears within a week.\"

\"Is that the only reason?\" she asked sternly.

\"What are you implying?\"

\"I\'m trying to destroy the foundation under any possible gossip which will result from your - liaison with Severus.\"

\"Nothing happened while I was a student, if that\'s what you\'re after. I was totally convinced until a few weeks ago that I was beneath his notice.\"

\"I - please, don\'t think I\'m meddling. I want you to know that Severus has always been a good friend of mine. He can be extremely bad tempered and annoying, but - Albus told me, in confidence, of his feelings for you. I\'m sorry, Hermione this is coming out all wrong. I\'m worried - you didn\'t see him after the battle, I did. Poppy wouldn\'t let anyone else touch him. We didn\'t hold much hope for several days. After he was physically healed, he wouldn\'t rest, wouldn\'t eat. Albus threatened to assign him an elf full time unless it changed. I guess, and I know I\'m doing it very poorly, I\'m asking you to be sure. I don\'t know how much more he could take. There will be pressure and disbelief from students and adults directed at you, not so much him. After all, he is the feared Potions Master,\" she said with a slight smirk.

\"Yeah, I know that in a few more days we\'ll have to be a lot more circumspect.\"

\"Albus and I faced much the same in our day.\"

\"You - and Professor Dumbledore?\"

\"Albus, dear. It\'s not a big secret, just private. You\'ll find as you spend more time on the non-student side of the fence, privacy is a highly sought after commodity.\"

\"I can see that it would. I can\'t guarantee anything, but I love him more every day. Does that help?\"

\"Yes, a great deal. I\'m happy for the both of you that the Narcissa nonsense turned out to be just that.\"

\"Then why are you still angry with him?\"

\"I\'m not,\" she said, laughing. \"It\'s just a game we play. I can\'t let him think he has the upper hand all the time, you know!\"