Hilltop Cottage

A/N: I apologise for the curveball, but Alicia is a loose end that needs to be tied up - in my opinion, anyway!



Enjoy... lol...

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Hermione felt ill and looked even worse than she felt, but she decided to put a brave face on things. She couldn’t leave Severus and Alicia to help Minerva alone, but she needed some time to get herself together and sent Alicia on to Hogwarts with a message to Severus that she would be there as soon possible.



She looked at herself in the mirror and scraped her hair from her face, fastening it with an elastic band. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she looked incredibly pale and wan. How ridiculous that her well-being was so intrinsically linked to how she felt about Severus, and how he may or may not feel about her. She stared at herself for a moment longer and wondered what had happened to the old Hermione Granger, who would not have been so cowed by events, but would have gone in for the fight with her wand aloft and her wits about her. It was the war, she knew. It had changed her very psyche on a fundamental level, and she had never been the same.



She shrugged on her grey cardigan and slipped her feet into her well-worn trainers, then trudged downstairs where Lexie was helping Donovan to finish his breakfast.



‘I’m going to Hogwarts, Lexie. I’ll be home by five at the latest, but if you need me, you have the Galleon, don’t you?’ She bent and kissed Donovan lightly.



‘Sure,’ Lexie said. ‘Miss Granger? Is everything okay? You don’t look too good,’ she said kindly.



‘I’m fine. Too much wine last night.’ Hermione forced a smile.



‘See you later, then.’ Lexie smiled at her, and Hermione turned and Floo’d to Hogwarts.



***



Barnabus Speight was a short, portly man with little hair and poor eyesight. On his initial meeting with him, Severus had felt his heart sink. This was the man on whom his hopes were pinned for Minerva’s speedy recovery. However, Severus quickly learned that appearances were more than deceiving in this instance. The man was articulate and knew his chosen field inside out.



Moreover, he thought he knew what was wrong with Minerva as soon as Severus described the symptoms.



‘There is a problem, however,’ he said warningly.



‘What is it?’ Severus could feel his hope fading yet again.



‘In order to treat Minerva, she would need to transform to her Animagus form first. And given that she is currently being sedated, there is no way of knowing if she would have the strength to do that after all this time.’ Barnabus looked over his spectacles at Severus gravely.



‘Would a Charm work?’ Hermione had entered the lab without them noticing and had stood, mouse-like, in the corner, as they discussed Minerva’s situation.



Alicia gazed at her coolly. ‘Of course it would, if she were conscious,’ she said dismissively.



Hermione bristled slightly and walked to the work bench, where they were gathered around the research papers.



‘I meant, a Charm that would produce Minerva’s Animagus without the need for her to be conscious.’



She addressed the comment to Barnabus Speight, ignoring Alicia because of her attitude, and ignoring Severus because she knew she couldn’t look at him without breaking down.



Severus looked at her coldly but said nothing.



Barnabus Speight considered her words. ‘Is it possible?’



‘It’s something I have been involved in at the Ministry, an area of research I started but didn’t complete, but I can look up the notes and work through them, see if anything comes to light?’



‘That sounds like the best plan so far, Miss…?’



‘Granger. Dr Hermione Granger,’ she said succinctly, holding her hand out and shaking his firmly.



‘Well, I’ll be.’ His face lit up with a huge smile. ‘The Dr Granger that caused all the fuss in your department, Alicia?’ He looked at the blonde with a questioning gaze.



‘There was no fuss, Barnabus. We were all delighted for Hermione,’ Alicia said, a little too cheerfully.



‘Sure. Shame though, that your funding was withdrawn when you didn’t get the award,’ he said thoughtfully.



Hermione looked at Alicia in shock. The blonde witch had gone as white as a sheet.



‘Why didn’t you tell me that?’ Hermione asked her quietly.



‘It wasn’t important,’ Alicia whispered.



Barnabus looked from one witch to the other and snorted. ‘Sure. Not important. You lost your funding, and the department is closing at the end of the year.’



‘God, Alicia. Why didn’t you say something?’ Hermione implored her friend.



‘What damn difference would it have made, Hermione?’ Alicia’s eyes flashed with held-back anger. ‘You won the award fair and square after all.’



‘Of course I did.’ Hermione was totally thrown by the strength of Alicia’s response.



‘Not that you’re going to do anything with it,’ Alicia muttered.



‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Hermione glared at her.



Alicia snorted. ‘ I knew as soon as you found out you were pregnant that you’d be weak and come crawling back to Severus, and any research or plans to further your career would be forgotten.\'



\'But it wasn\'t like that, Alicia, and you know it. I wanted Donovan to grow up in England, to be schooled at Hogwarts. If Severus was willing to meet with him, then of course I would encourage it, but to say that I came crawling back....\' Hermione stared at the witch.



She was stunned by Alicia\'s response, and her brain was working overtime.



\'Isn\'t that what you did, Hermione?\' Severus\'s cold voice cut through her thoughts suddenly, and she turned to face him aghast.



\'What?\' she said faintly. The look he was giving her was hard and emotionless, and she felt her legs start to tremble beneath her.



\'Well, it\'s not easy supporting yourself and a child, I would imagine. How convenient it must have been, to find me on your doorstep that day. I suppose you put Potter up to the ruse, didn\'t you? He must have planted the letter, helped you to hoodwink me. Clever, actually. You had me fooled, for a time,\' he hissed.



\'You know that\'s not true, Severus!\' Hermione cried. \'I love you, even if you did only ask me to marry you because of Donovan!\'



It was Severus\'s turn to be shocked, and he momentarily forgot his own pain as he took in Hermione\'s dishevelled appearance and the haunted look on her face.



\'That\'s not why I asked you to marry me, you stupid chit,\' he snapped.



\'Well, why, then? You\'ve never even told me that you love me, so what other reason would there be if it\'s not Donovan? In fact, you can forget the wedding, Severus. I love you, I really do, but you don\'t need to marry me to be Donovan\'s father.\'



Hermione was shaking, and she stared at Severus, who was also shaking and seemed suddenly struck dumb. She couldn’t take it any longer, and with a sob, she ran from the room.