A Maid in the Devil's Manor

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 40 ~ The Hearing

Severus arrived at the Ministry precisely at eight, dressed in his familiar severity. The Aurors at the door asked him his purpose for visiting the Ministry this morning.

“New Potion Registration,” Severus replied.

The Aurors let him pass. He walked down the hall past the open door of the Magical Licensing office, where Lucius Malfoy sat, glancing over some paperwork. The wizards did not see each other. Severus stopped at the Registration counter a short distance from Lucius’ office.

A bored looking clerk chewing gum, looked up at him from her desk. She sighed, stood up and walked over to the counter, looked at Severus and said in a flat, practiced voice, “Welcome to the Ministry of Magic’s Spells and Potions Registration Desk. Please take a form, fill out the creator or creators name and contact information, the actual name, secondary name and purpose of the spell or potion, return the completed form to this desk and take a seat. You will be seen shortly by the next available Ministry agent to arrange a date and time for a demonstration of said spell or potion. Thank you.”

Severus took a form and a clipboard and sat at one of the desks lining the walls of the waiting rooms. He read over the short form and filled it out.

Creator(s) Hermione Granger/Severus Snape

Address: Snape Manor, Sargassa Moors

Contact: Same as Above, Owl Post Preferred

Registration Type: Potion, Elixir

Actual Name: Sarracenia Elixir

Secondary Name: Killing Curse Deterrent

Purpose: Stops the Avada Kedavra Curse

Status: Completed


Severus read over the form once more, and satisfied returned it to the clerk. She skimmed over it, and then her eyes widened. She looked up at Severus, then back down at the form, then at Severus again with a measuring look.

“Are you serious?” she asked him. “We get claims like this several times a year. The demonstrations always go badly.”

Severus scowled at her.

“Madam, I assure you the potion does what I say it does,” he said tightly.

“Very well,” the clerk said. She walked over to her desk, opened a drawer and took out another paper. She brought it over to the Potions Master and slid it across the counter with a quill.

“You have to sign this form in front of me, freeing the Ministry of all responsibility in the case of disfigurement or death in relation to your demonstration. I assume you will be the test subject?”

“Yes,” Severus said, signing the form. The clerk reached under the counter and retrieved a rubber stamp. She pressed it to the form, certifying it, then signed her own name. She then looked up at Severus.

“To demonstrate a potion of this particular type, it must be successful three times out of three demonstrations. Of course, if you fail even one time, that’s it, isn’t it?” she said, popping her gum and giving him a lopsided smile. Severus didn’t answer her.

The clerk then duplicated both documents, stamped Severus’ copies and said. “A Ministry certified copy of your registration suitable for framing will be owled to you within two to three weeks. Please take a seat and wait for the next available Ministry agent.”

Severus returned to the waiting area and took a seat in the first row of chairs, stretching out his legs to wait. He wondered in what part of the building Hermione was, and when she would be brought out for the hearing. It was now twenty after eight. Hearings began at nine. Hopefully he would be through here in time to attend Hermione’s hearing and speak in her defense.

Lucius Malfoy exited his office and walked to the registration counter to speak to the clerk, who was in the back office with Severus registration form. Severus’ eyes narrowed as he watched the wizard approach the counter. Lucius was scanning a paper in his hand and didn’t see the Potions Master sitting there.

The blonde wizard walked up to the counter, didn’t see the clerk and scowled. He was a busy wizard, and couldn’t stand around waiting on lowly clerks. He had work to do. He leaned on the counter and his gray eyes swept across the waiting room, fell on Severus and hardened. He smiled at the Potions Master unpleasantly.

“Severus, what brings you up out of the dungeons?” Lucius said, his eyes glittering with dislike.

Severus looked at Lucius evenly.

“I am here to register a potion created by Miss Granger and myself,” he replied, knowing the mention of Hermione’s name would instantly irritate the wizard. It did. He frowned.

“Ah, Miss Granger. Our current jailbird,” Lucius drawled. Severus stiffened at this appellation. “Cast an Unforgivable, on a niffler I hear. Stupid thing to go to Azkaban for,” he said chuckling.

“I assure you, Malfoy, that Hermione will no more see the inside of Azkaban than you did,” Severus replied. “Her casting of the Unforgivable was during an experiment.”

“Ah, the mysterious project you and she were purported to be working on,” Lucius replied, “well you will need proof that such a project existed in order to validate the casting of the spell.”

“Actually, that’s why I am here, Lucius. The project was completed successfully. I have just registered the potion we developed. I am waiting to arrange a demonstration date and time. Afterwards, the potion will be licensed for distribution,” said Severus.

“Ah, that means it will have to get by me,” Lucius said, an unpleasant smile playing around his sensuous lips.

“I have a feeling, Lucius, that after the successful demonstration of this particular potion, you will have no choice but to license it as soon as possible. Every eye in the wizarding world will be on you concerning this,” Severus said, his black eyes full of amusement. “Any hesitation on your part will bring you nothing but grief, I assure you.”

“Really? This must be quite a potion,” Lucius said, curious.

“It is, Lucius. It is,” the Potions Master said and fell silent.

Lucius wondered what kind of potion Hermione and Severus created. Both were acknowledged as geniuses in their chosen fields. He lifted the countertop and walked through to the back. He saw the clerk.

“Abby, where is the registration paperwork for the wizard in the waiting room?” he asked the clerk, who colored when she saw the handsome wizard. She had a thing for Lucius Malfoy. Most of the witches in the Ministry did. His cold gray eyes flicked over her. Lucky for Abby, she was not his preferred type. He would consider indulging himself with a witch like Abby, slumming.

“Right here sir,” she gushed, rushing up to him with Severus’ paperwork. “I was just giving it to an agent. Looks like another crazy potion claim.”

She handed the paperwork to Lucius, who read it over, his gray eyes widening. This couldn’t be so. His eyes flicked to the clerk.

“Abby, I will handle arranging this demonstration personally. Please go out front and send Lord Snape to my office,” he said, walking to his office by the back route.

“Yes sir,” she called after the departing wizard. She sighed. He was so gorgeous. Who cared if he were married? Abby pushed her favorite fantasy about fucking Lucius on her desk out of her mind and walked back to the front. She walked to the counter and addressed the dark wizard sitting in the waiting room, scowling.

“Lord Malfoy will be handling your demonstration arrangements, Lord Snape. Please go to his office. It is the third door on your right. It should be open,” Abby said pointing to the right.

Severus rose, walked down the hall and appeared in Lucius’ doorway. Lucius was seated at his desk, looking at Severus’ registration. He looked up and saw Severus standing there.

“Come in, Severus and take a seat,” he said.

Severus entered the room and looked around. There were a lot of books, but he knew Lucius barely read. He had other, more twisted pursuits he indulged in. Lucius looked up at him.

“We get claims for potions like this several times a year. They never work and the demonstrators all die. Can it be that I will at last see you off to hell where you belong, Severus?” Lucius sneered at him.

“I am sure, Lucius that if I end up in hell, we most certainly will be neighbors,” Severus replied smoothly, “Now I did not come here to chit-chat with you, Lucius. Give me my date and time so I may go. I don’t want to be in your presence any longer than necessary.”

“Same here, Traitor,” Lucius snarled at him, ”and to hasten your demise, I am setting your demonstration for today at three o’clock. Is that enough time to get your affairs in order?” he grinned at the Potions Master, not expecting him to be prepared for such a quick appointment.

“Three o’clock will be fine,” Severus replied, rising and taking the appointment slip from Lucius’ hand. He turned to leave.

“Oh, and Severus…I will be the one casting the curse at you. I can’t wait to see you die,” he said in a low voice. Severus raised one eyebrow at him.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to, Lucius. The potion works,” he said.

“We’ll see, dead man,” Lucius said. Severus left.

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The Aurors came for Hermione at a quarter after nine. Her hands were bound before her, and she was walked through the halls in full view of Ministry officials and visitors. Kingsley was there, and scowled. She should have been taken to the hearing by the back corridor. The Ministry was doing its best to make her feel like a criminal.

As she approached the hearing room, there was the pop of a flash bulb. Bozo Baggins got a clean shot of the bound, prison-garbed witch for the afternoon edition of the Prophet. His photo last night made the front page. This one would too.

A slew of news-wizards, held back by a line of Aurors shouted questions at Hermione, which she ignored. Severus walked up just as she was about to turn into the hearing room. Hermione looked up and saw him. Her amber eyes filled with tears. Severus’ black eyes met hers and softened noticeably. He held up the registration papers and pointed to them, then gave her a smile. One of his real ones. His mother’s smile. Hermione sniffed and smiled at him through her tears before she disappeared into the hearing room.

Tonks was on the boardroom door this morning, scowling at how they had bound Hermione and walked her to the hearing room in full view of the public. The bastards. Severus walked up to her.

“I need to get in there, Tonks,” he said to her softly.

The Auror nodded and let him pass. He sat down at the back of the same boardroom that Hermione first confronted the board. A news-wizard sat next to him with an open notepad and quill in his hand. He glanced at the dark wizard, then returned his gaze to the front of the room. The same table was there, and the same twelve members of the board, as well as Minister Figglesworth.

They all wore triumphant looks on their faces when the bound, uniformed Hermione entered the boardroom, and sat in the same wooden chair, this time flanked by Aurors. The doors were closed.

“What are the charges?” Minister Figglesworth said, his eyes on the witch, who was seated and looking at the floor. She wasn’t so cocky now, was she?

The Auror on the right of Hermione answered.

“She is charged with casting an Unforgivable, the Killing Curse, sir,” the Auror said.

The Minister clucked his tongue.

“Miss Granger, casting an Unforgivable is instant time in Azkaban. Do you have a defense?” he asked her, looking down at a paper in front of him. “According to the arresting Auror, your wand was found to have cast the curse on…a niffler?”

The Minister looked flustered. “Is this correct?” he asked the clerk recording the hearing, who sat in the far left corner.

“Yes, sir. A niffler,” she said, shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head.

The Minister looked at Hermione.

“Miss Granger, would you care to explain why you killed a niffler with an Unforgivable?” he asked her.

Hermione looked at him. “It was an experiment,” she said shortly, remembering what Tonks said. She looked over her shoulder and saw Severus. Good.

“Ah, I’m assuming you have proof of this? In the case of private research, an Unforgivable may be cast. But you must have proof of this project. You refused to tell us the nature of your project last time you were in our presence. Will you reveal it to us now? Or face Azkaban?” he asked her.

Lucius watched her carefully.

“I will reveal it. I was working on a deterrent for the Killing Curse,” Hermione said.

At this admission laughter broke out in the boardroom. The news-wizard bolted from the boardroom.

“A deterrent for the Killing Curse? Miss Granger, that has been the dream of wizards and witches for centuries. There is no way to stop the Avada Kedavra curse,” he half chuckled at her.

Severus rose and approached the front.

“I wonder if I may speak?” he said, addressing the Minister, who started.

“Ah, Lord Snape. You may approach,” the Minister said, motioning for the wizard to advance. Severus walked up and stood just behind Hermione. He held up his registration.

“This morning I registered a potion under Miss Granger’s name and my own, called the Sarracenia Elixir or the Killing Curse Deterrent. It is scheduled to be demonstrated this afternoon at three o’clock,” he said.

The Minister motioned for the papers Severus held in his hand. Severus handed them to the Auror on Hermione’s left, and the officer walked up to the table and passed the parchments to the Minister, who scanned them. He looked up at Severus.

“It says here, the potion is completed,” Figglesworth said.

Severus nodded, “It is sir. Last night, Miss Granger cast the Killing Curse on my person. That was the signature that the Ministry detected. As you see, I am still here. The potion works.”

The board members began to murmur among themselves loudly at Severus’ claim to have survived the Killing Curse. The Minister frowned at him.

“You mean to stand here and tell me that you and Miss Granger have developed a potion that stops the Avada Kedavra curse, when hundreds if not thousands of witches and wizards before you have tried and failed?” he said in a disbelieving voice.

“Yes I do,” Severus answered coolly.

The Minister conferred with a board member sitting on his right for a moment, then looked at Severus with narrowed eyes.

“Do you have the research for this so-called discovery?” the Minister asked him, his eyes hooded.

Severus smirked. “Our research is currently in the possession of my solicitor, Soledad Crummins. He is in the process of patenting the formula as we speak. Of course, you are free to petition him for the research. I am sure he will oblige you as soon as he’s completed assigning the rights,” Severus said smoothly.

The Minister’s look grew black.

“You have yet to prove this deterrent works,” the Minister growled, “and I would like proof that experiments actually occurred. I must insist our Aurors investigate your labs,” the Minister said, grasping at straws. The research was beyond the Ministry’s reach, but there might be something at the lab they could claim.

“You may send the Aurors to my Manor immediately after giving me the proper paperwork describing their purpose and limitations. My house elves have instructions to grant them access to the labs. I insist however, they be restricted to the lab areas only. That was where the work occured,” Severus replied.

The Minister again conferred with the board member on his right. Hermione glanced back at the Potions Master, who nodded at her somberly, while his eyes glinted at her hotly. She felt a little tug in her belly at his look. Even in the hearing, he was thinking of their upcoming “settling of personal issues.” He was incorrigible.

The Minister motioned for the Auror on Hermione’s left to approach, whispered something to him, and handed him Severus’ registration papers. The Auror returned the papers to Severus and exited the boardroom.

The Minister clasped his hands together and rested them on the table. He looked at Severus and Hermione.

“Because of the claims of the Unforgivable being cast during private research, the board has decided to refrain from judgment on Miss Granger’s charge until after the demonstration this afternoon. Until then, Miss Granger will remain in Ministry custody. We are dismissed until three pm. We will reconvene in the Ministry amphitheater at that time, where we will observe the demonstration.”

A gavel was banged and the board members rose and left the boardroom through a back entrance. The Auror helped Hermione to her feet. She turned and Severus stood there. The Potions Master looked at the Auror, who was also a member of the Order.

“May I have a quick word with Miss Granger?” Severus asked him.

The Auror looked around, then nodded, walking to the door and standing there to give them some privacy.

The Potions Master looked down at her bound hands.

“I’m so sorry, Hermione,” he said softly.

She looked up at him. She could see he was miserable about her situation.

“Don’t worry Severus, it will only be a couple more hours,” she said.

“Yes, then I will bring you home, and make you forget about all of this,” he said, heat in his voice and eyes. “I’ll be all you’ll know or need, Hermione.”

He was looking at her so intensely, Hermione had to drop her eyes. His intensity made her feel a little frightened of returning to the Manor, but also excited. Then she thought of the demonstration.

“I’m in custody…who will cast the curse?” she asked.

“Malfoy,” Severus replied, his eyes searching her face. “He is looking forward to it.”

“That bastard. I wish we had a ricochet spell so the curse would bounce back on him,” Hermione said bitterly.

“No matter. His failure to kill me will eat him up from the inside,” Severus said.

The Auror began to approach. Their time was up.

“I will see you this afternoon, Hermione,” Severus said. He leaned down and caught her lips in a kiss, savoring them and drawing away slowly.

“I won’t be leaving this Ministry without you,” he whispered.

The Auror took Hermione’s are apologetically. Severus nodded to him.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Glad to do it,” the Auror replied, “It’s not every day you get to do a favor for the greatest witch and wizard in history.”

Hermione and Severus looked at each other, then the Auror.

“After you demonstrate that potion, your names will be legends forever.” the Auror said, smiling broadly.

He shook Severus’ hand, then escorted Hermione through the back exit, discretely loosening her bonds as they walked.

Severus turned and exited the boardroom. He had to get back to the Manor and prepare for this afternoon’s demonstration.

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A/N: All right. We had the hearing. The demonstration is coming up, and then…what you’ve all been waiting for. Severus is determined to get Hermione back to the Manor and wipe this day out of her mind. Lucky young woman, eh? Please review.