A Different Kind of Magic--UNDERGOING EDIT

Every little bit of it belongs to J.K. Rowling and associated in its entirety. I do not own any of it. I do not make any money from this work of fiction, but it sure is fun writing it! Thanks to my beta's Kat and VIVAvivacious for helping me out with this chapter!

Thank you to all who reviewed and the rest who read faithfully. I couldn't do this without you and I appreciate the lavish praise and constructive criticisms. Believe it or not I do hatch plot bunnies from reader comments and incorporate them into this story, so keep them coming!

Chapter 27- Intractable Transitions


Severus was right. The look on McGonagall’s face was priceless. Flitwick looked on, oblivious, and Remus appeared downright disgusted.

Minerva’s head was like a cat with a string being swung back and forth in front of its face. From Hermione to Severus, back and forth several times until Snape broke the awkward silence with extreme irritation written all over his face.

“For Merlin’s sake! Don’t look so addled, Minerva. What did you expect would happen between a beautiful young witch and a man who’s been brought back, practically from the dead and revived? You locked us in a room alone for a week. It’s hardly shocking.”

Her jaw snapped shut with an audible click.

Remus hid a smile behind his hand and turned away.

Minerva gave him a good thump with the back of her hand. “You would find the situation amusing, Lupin. I find it highly inappropriate.”

Flitwick looked puzzled. “What?”

Severus ignored the dwarf. “Inappropriate by whose standards, Minerva? Yours, perhaps? Albus’s? Hardly a fitting judge considering you both knew I was marked for death.”

“Come off it, Severus. It’s highly inappropriate to take advantage of Miss Granger like she’s a Muggle off the red light district.”

“So now I’ve sullied her, have I? What a quaint notion. If you must know, Hermione was, shall we say, more than willing to oblige?”

Remus covered his ears. “This is way more information than I need, thank you very much.”

The Headmistress rolled her eyes peevishly. “Please spare me the details. If I hear any more, I will have to have Filius Obliviate me ten times over.”

“Don’t be so prudish. As I recall, you were quite the socialite in your day. Tell me the arm of one wizard you weren’t attached to at those Potion’s conferences we attended together.” Severus smirked at her knowingly, relishing the rising blush that reached her ears.

“You dare insult me in front of everyone.”

“If truth is an insult, Headmistress, it puts us all to shame.”

“Enough of your foolishness, Severus. I will not stand here and exchange insults with you.”

“As you wish.”

Minerva grabbed Lupin’s arms. “Take your fingers out of your ears you dolt. You look ridiculous.”

“You can’t blame me for not wanting to hear this particular debate.”

“No, I suppose not. What’s done is done. The man has no shame.”

Severus drew himself up to his full height. “And just why should I be ashamed of Miss Granger?”

Hermione caught their attention by upsetting the chess board and flinging the pieces across the room. They all stopped and looked to her. She held up her arms and slashed them horizontally in the air to signify that she’d had enough.

Straightening her robes, Minerva quickly switched subjects. “Right then. Hermione, if you are ready, we have one small thing to present to you before I have Remus escort you to the Burrow.”

The oblivious Professor Flitwick approached Hermione, indicating for her to kneel on the flagstone. “My dear girl, I have worked non-stop this past week on a special project just for you.” He pulled a beautiful headpiece from the folds of his robe. “I haven’t given it a name, but it is made of Etherium. The gold inlay enhances the sound quality. Let’s see if it fits you.”

Filius gently set the piece over her head, made a few adjustments and stepped back. “Perfect. You’ll need to resize it once the bandages come off, but otherwise, until your voice comes back, this little charm is going to give you a close approximation. No one will know the difference.”

“How does it work, Professor Flitwick?” Lupin asked curiously.

The small man drew himself up proudly, waving his arms grandly to encompass them all with his reply. “Hermione needs to project her thoughts with the intent to speak them aloud. The Etherium is sensitive to the vibration of her intent, absorbs the brain waves and transmits them into sound. The gold fine tunes the frequency, giving the words clarity and definition. The Sonorus Charm completes the effect, good for twenty-four hours at a time, to amplify the waves into audible sound. It will work as if she were speaking orally. Quite remarkable. It will revolutionize the wizarding world as we know it.

“Would you like to do the honors, Minerva?”

The Headmistress approached Hermione and pulled her to her feet. Her eyes grew wispy as she placed her wand to the headpiece. “Sonorus.”

“Thank you, Professor McGonagall.” Hermione’s eyes grew wide and her hand flew to her the headpiece.

“Oh, my dear girl, it is so good to hear your voice again!”

Hermione flung her arms around the older witch, hugging her tight, and then ran to each of the witnesses in turn with the same enthusiastic squeeze. Filius looked flustered, quite pleased and beside himself with pride. Lupin’s smile threatened to spread out to his ears. Even Professor Snape couldn’t help but let the edges of his lips curve upward a bit.

“I don’t know how to thank you all. You’ve been so kind to me. Having my voice back means the world to me. Thank you.” She cried in earnest then, happiness coursing through her from being blessed by so many people.

“Come along dear. Remus will escort you to the Apparition point. I have arranged to have Hagrid fetch your belongings in a short while. Say hello to Molly for me. Give the babies a squeeze when you see them. They are simply adorable.”

Hermione paused, her hand on Remus’ arm and her eyes growing wide. “What? Who had babies?”

Minerva clucked her tongue lightly. “Why, hadn’t you heard? No, I suppose you haven’t. Molly and Arthur have been blessed with another set of twins. A boy and a girl. It came as quite a shock. They thought Molly was past the childbearing age. Such a mixed blessing after the death of their two boys. Tragedy and joy all in the same year. The twins are about three months old now. You’re going to simply love them Hermione.”

Hermione finished wiping the tears from her eyes with a handkerchief from Remus, sniffing lightly as she handed it back to him with a smile. She turned to her former Head of House and nodded once. “I’ll give them your regards.”

Minerva paused momentarily, delaying the departure, thinking she had better address one more topic. “I take it you’ve met Rabastan as well.”

Another set of looks were exchanged between Severus and Hermione.

Severus interjected, his ire rekindled at the mention of the bastard’s name. “It is interesting how much has changed in my absence. What you could possibly be thinking, hiring a piece of shit like Rabastan Lestrange is beyond me. The nosy fucker disillusioned himself and ambushed us when no one was here. It was very brave of him to threaten an injured, unarmed man and salivate all over Hermione. Out of the goodness of my heart, I wasn’t going to mention it, as Ava gave us the abbreviated version of events, but I think you owe us a personal explanation and damn good apology.”

Professor McGonagall blanched slightly; her wizened face pinched at the corners. She strove to remain calm under his furious gaze while maintaining control of the situation. “All in good time, Severus, much has-“

“Changed, yes, I know. You’ve said that already,” he rudely interrupted. “Hermione and I deserve to know what is going on, in your own words, more than anyone. You’ve taken what you’ve wanted,” he emphasized, “and now you are sending us packing. I’m sorry, but excuses aren’t good enough anymore.” Snape winced as he shifted onto his bad leg, quickly placing his weight back on the other. He didn’t miss the continued touch of Lupin pressed to the small of Hermione’s back. Severus wanted to break his fingers for touching her at all.

Minerva glanced down at Professor Flitwick who was straining to follow the line of conversation, but seemed rather lost. She noticed Severus' grimace of pain and felt a twinge of guilt inside. It quickly passed and she hardened her heart to his demands. “I’m afraid you have no choice in what I tell you, Severus. I have already dealt with Rabastan. I can assure you he will not be bothering you again.”

Snape snorted derisively. “You truly do not know the monster he is, Minerva. You’ve made a fatal mistake, allowing him to teach innocent children. I’m surprised he hasn’t murdered everyone in their sleep already.”

“Severus, this speculation must stop. Rabastan is a spy for the Order.”

It was Snape’s turn to freeze. “He’s WHAT?” Came the outraged roar, having no problem pretending as if he were hearing this information for the first time, if only to save Ava from having Minerva think she had gifted him with too much knowledge. It wasn’t that he really cared if Ava got in trouble or not, he truly wanted to hear what Minerva had to say for herself.

“Calm yourself, it doesn’t become you. Rabastan was in the same position you were. He spied for Dumbledore, but we were not privy to that information until after Dumbledore’s death. No one realized the entirety of the situation until Albus came into the portrait, and only when the information was necessary were we enlightened by him. The advantage here is that the Ministry trusts him to report back to them on the goings-on here. They do not know of his prior allegiance. Rabastan is skilled enough in Potions to teach the course, a former Slytherin of high rank and a pure blood. Being Deputy Headmaster gives him credibility and authority. He blends in with those we need information from the most. He’s been instrumental in our efforts. Suffice to say, we trust him. That should be proof enough that you should as well.”

Severus sat sank heavily into a chair. The information, coming from the mouth of McGonagall herself, sealed the deal. His disgrace was complete. Just like an old sock, he had been discarded once his usefulness was gone. Nothing more she could say could hurt him more.

Clasping her hands together and bringing them up as if to break apart the stale dungeon air, McGonagall gestured around the room. “Enough banter. Hermione, you really must go. Rabastan and Remus will be your contact with Hogwarts. You are to be our liaison between our Order members and Hogwarts. Remus will fill you in on the details and Rabastan will answer any additional questions you may have. He has my full support. If he….. is inappropriate toward you, please, contact Remus immediately. It is only a precaution. He gave his word he would not, but he can be rather impulsive.” She looked over the young witches shoulder as she said the last bit, trying to sound optimistic and not a little doubtful about her Deputy’s behavior.

Minerva clapped her hand on Hermione’s shoulder. “Godspeed, Miss Granger.”

Hermione slipped her hand over the old witch’s before returning it to the crook of Remus’ arm. “Goodbye Minerva.”

Hermione placed a quick peck on Severus’s cheek, squeezed his arm briefly, and off she Floo’ed with Lupin. Filius dismissed himself and left right after them with a little squeak and dusting of powder into the fireplace.

Minerva took a seat in the other chair by the fire. “Severus, I know how you must be feeling right now. I can assure you that if I could, you would have back your old post. You realize why that is not possible at the moment.”

He stared straight ahead, looking right through her. “You assume I would want it.”

She acted like he hadn’t responded. “I’ve kept all your things. They are in the Room of Requirement. You are free to go through them and take what you’d like with you.”

“Do I have a choice where I am to be sent?” He asked dully.

“Yes, you have two choices for the time being.”

“One.”

“One, you may stay here, in this room. Rabastan is… adequate with Potions. He gets the job done, and most of the students are passing the class. Madam Pomfrey gets what she needs in the way of potions. Needless to say, we have sorely missed the quality of your work. There is no comparison in all of Great Britain to rival your talent. Rabastan is often called to the Ministry at unpredictable hours during the day. It is a struggle to cover his classes and keep up with production for the Infirmary. You would have to stay in this room most of the time, but would have access to the shared potions lab after classes. I would personally charm your appearance to that of Rabastan’s when we needed his classes covered. We could also use Polyjuice although it would not be my first choice to change your appearance.”

“Two.”

“You can go stay at the Burrow with Hermione and make yourself useful.”

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on from the dismal nature the course of the day was taking. “Considering the insulting nature of the first option, I shall have to choose option number two.” He hesitated, thinking he sounded as if he were on some absurd and macabre game show. With a flash he remembered to ask her a very important question. “Do you still have my wand?”

Her tight lipped response was not to be missed. She obviously was going to be touchy about this subject.

“No, I do not. It will not be necessary for you to have a wand at this time.”

“What makes you think it’s your decision?” He shouted, livid at her presumption.

She stood to gain an upper hand over his temper tantrum, her own voice rising sharply in response to his outburst. “What choice do you have? There is no point having custody of something you are unable to use.”

All the breath seemed to go out of him as he allowed a stunned expression to show in light of her comment.

Her voice dropped and demeanor softened when she saw the look of shock detonate in his eyes. “Don’t be a fool, Severus. I knew about your situation the day Harry performed Legilimency on you. If you had been able, you would have done everything in your power to stop him with wandless magic, regardless of your weaknesses. You cannot fool me after all these years.”

Defeated, he let his gaze drop to the floor and seemed to study one of the flagstones while the fight leached out of him.

“It’s settled then. Let’s be off. I’ll owl ahead to let Molly know to expect a second guest.”

The Professor cast one last wistful look at the bed he had shared with Hermione. If one were looking very closely, one might have seen an utter look of despair flash through his charcoal eyes before he steeled his emotion against the outside world and disappeared with Minerva into the unknown.