A Maid in the Devil's Manor
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
51
Views:
39,385
Reviews:
483
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
51
Views:
39,385
Reviews:
483
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Severus Returns to the Manor
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 5 ~ Severus Returns to the Manor
Severus apparated with Hermione back to her flat and bid her good night. They had agreed that she would visit the Manor this coming Friday to examine the labs. The Potions Master had given her a parting bow, wrapped his robes about him dramatically and disapparated in a clap of thunder.
“Show off,” Hermione snorted.
She sat down on the couch and took out the agreement she and the Professor had agreed to. She read it over several times, dropped back against the couch and smiled broadly. Her project would continue. Of course, she would be sequestered in the Professor’s Manor, which she was sure would be dark and creepy. His pale skin color was probably hereditary, but it brought to mind images of him being locked away from the sun as a child. He had said that the labs were located in the lower levels of the Manor, but didn’t say how far down. Most likely dungeon level, she decided. The Potions Master seemed to like the subterranean.
She sighed, stood up and headed for her rooms. It was still early, but she was tired after the food and the wine. She divestoed her clothing and fell on the huge king-sized bed as usual. She wasn’t feeling particularly randy, so she just lifted the covers and crawled under them. She was sound asleep in minutes.
Hermione might not have been consciously randy, but her subconscious seemed to have needs of its own. She slipped into her familiar fantasy, but in the dream state. Once again she lay naked on her bed, and her tall, shadowed dream lover approached her, striding to the bedside and looking down at her. Only this time, he did not drop on her, but sat on the side of the bed. He extended a hand and placed it gently on her belly, caressing her gently. A beam of moonlight streamed through the window, falling on her midsection. She looked down at her lover’s hand. It was pale and long fingered…
Hermione woke up with a start, shaking and covered in perspiration.
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Severus returned to the Manor feeling good about the way the day’s events had gone. He had perused Hermione’s research, witnessed the amazing properties of the pitcher plant and made an agreement to be the young witch’s patron and assist her in developing a defense against the Killing Curse, the most feared spell in the wizarding world. Who would have dreamed that the annoying, bushy-haired buck-toothed little know-it-all that walked into his world thirteen years ago, would become the possible answer to his eternal quest for redemption? Of course, destroying the power of the Unforgivable would not redeem him of every wrong committed, but it would go a long way towards easing the burden of guilt he carried with him day after day. And who knew, maybe Miss Granger could be persuaded to find defenses against the other two Unforgivables, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Imperious Curse. Maybe he could set up his own Spell lab, and set the young witch over it, with a salary. The possibilities for the uses of Miss Granger were endless. She could better the world, and he could be a part of it, just as he was part of its destruction when he served under Voldemort. He could not replace the lives he’d taken, but he could help preserve and protect the lives that remained. Make it so the horrors of the past could not happen again.
As he walked through the vast, dark corridors of his ancestral home, for the first time in a very long time he did not feel his belly tighten with regret. Soon it would be a place of hope, rather than a place that once extinguished all hope. The blood would be washed away. He glanced at the tall, shuttered windows as he passed under them. He had them nailed shut years ago at the orders of the Dark Lord, who was paranoid about being watched, although the Manor sat far from any other domicile. He decided that it was time for that to change. It was time to remove the stench of Voldemort’s presence from the halls of his home.
He walked to his study, pushed open the tall wide doors and bellowed for his house elves. In a blink, he was surrounded by almost seventy bobbing, cringing little creatures, all with their eyes to the floor, raising them on occasion to look at him swiftly, before dropping them again. The elves were a bit out of sort. He hadn’t summoned them en masse since the time of the Dark Lord, and every time he had, there was some badness to do, like cleaning up after a Dark Revel, or nailing out the sun, or bringing bad nasty instruments down to the labs, which always smelled of blood and fear.
Severus looked at his cringing servants.
“I have an assignment for you,” he began.
The house elves all raised their heads and looked at him attentively, although a few ears remained flatten in nervous fear that the assignment would be a wicked one, like in the old times.
“It will be a challenge. But you all have always been good elves and followed my instructions to the letter in good time,” he continued.
The house elves visibly swelled at this rare praise from their Master.
“I want the Manor reclaimed,” he said. “The shutters opened, the windows washed and raised so fresh air can permeate these dank, damp halls. Every shutter and every window in the Manor.”
There was no need to have the Manor cleaned. The elves kept it spotless. The small creatures began to smile and jump about in glee. Severus stilled them with a sharp motion of his hands.
“I also want the labs cleaned thoroughly, and every evil instrument of torture removed and destroyed. I want every trace of suffering erased. They are going to be reopened, but this time they will be used for good, not evil. Also all the rooms on that level are to be cleaned, and the furniture replaced,” he continued.
The ears of every single elf were raised in elation, their wide eyes wheeling with joy at their Master’s orders. They had suffered in darkness too, these long, long years and longed for sun-streaked floors and fresh air.
“But,” said Severus, “here is the difficult part. This must be accomplished by Friday morning at the latest. It is a large job to do in a short span of time. Do you think you can accomplish this?”
Answers of “Aye, Master. We can,” rang out from the small creatures surrounding him.
“Then go and reclaim the House of Snape,” Severus said.
Bobbing and dancing with happiness, the elves winked out one after the other. Severus could hear them scampering up and down the halls. Normally they were quiet as mice. The noise was oddly comforting. Severus had a thought.
“Eli!” he called out. A small green elf appeared, bowing low.
“Yes, Master?” the creature piped.
“Eli, I need a few of the rooms down by the labs to be outfitted for a young witch of the age of twenty-four. Every possible need is to be met, from décor on. She will need an area to study in as well. You will oversee this for me. I want no trace of the evil that dwelled there to remain. You have my permission to do whatever is necessary to accomplish this. Am I understood?” Severus asked the elf.
“Very well understood, my Lord,” the elf replied, an open smile of pleasure on its face. Severus couldn’t remember the last time he saw a smiling elf in Snape Manor.
“You may go, Eli,” Severus said, dismissing him. The elf stood there, nervously clasping his clawed hands together.
“Is there something you wanted to say, Eli?” Severus asked the elf, half-astonished it did not leave.
“Y..y..yes, Master. Eli wants to say the elves are most happy you are taking back the Manor, sir. The walls have been crying for light for many years, and the blood has been crying too. It is good what you do, sir. Bringing hope back to Snape Manor.”
Severus looked at the house elf in surprise. He had never heard one speak so poignantly before. He nodded.
“Yes, it is good, Eli. Very good. You may go,” the Potions Master said to the elf.
The creature bowed, then disappeared.
******************************
Eli reappeared in the rooms below. The elf’s ears flattened to his head as he remembered the evil that dwelt here. The stink of him still remained. With a wave of his hand, Eli illuminated the room. There was the dark four-poster bed, emblazoned with open-mouthed serpents, surrounded by black curtains. The floor was still stained with the blood of women tortured and killed here. Eli made a face and extended both his hands toward the cursed bed. It began to shudder violently, and a dark green glow appeared around it. The elf increased the power, and the bed began to fold in upon itself, cracking and groaning like a living entity. Eli watched as it folded in upon itself, becoming smaller and more compact until it disappeared into nothingness and the glow ceased. The elf lowered his hands for a moment, took a deep breath, then raised his arms in a wide arc. Every item in the room began to glow in the same manner as the bed, even the bloodstains on the floor. Once again the folding began, furniture, paintings, knickknacks all collapsing upon themselves until there was nothing left but an empty room.
Calling on the old magic of his people, Eli extended one clawed hand, bowed his head and muttered what sounded like a blessing, then stood looking at the center of the room expectantly. Slowly a white light filled the space, radiating from a bright winged being that floated at the center. The ethereal creature resembled a fairy with sad golden eyes as it spun in place. The elf fell to his knees as the summoned being emitted a golden light, bathing the room in its glow, a serene smile appearing on its angelic face before it faded away.
“Thank you, Ancient,” Eli whispered, rising to his feet. The decorating of the room could wait until tomorrow. The main cleansing had been done. This room would be suitable now. Eli moved on to the next room, determined to have the lower levels expunged of the lingering evil by morning.
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A/N: Hmm. Hermione, Hermione. Tsk. Tsk. Hooray for Severus! Cleaning house at last. And Eli, how powerful is he? As you can see the relationship between he and Severus is not as close as in the series, but the elf is still very dedicated to his Master, and determined that his house be reclaimed. Please review this chapter. Thanks.
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Chapter 5 ~ Severus Returns to the Manor
Severus apparated with Hermione back to her flat and bid her good night. They had agreed that she would visit the Manor this coming Friday to examine the labs. The Potions Master had given her a parting bow, wrapped his robes about him dramatically and disapparated in a clap of thunder.
“Show off,” Hermione snorted.
She sat down on the couch and took out the agreement she and the Professor had agreed to. She read it over several times, dropped back against the couch and smiled broadly. Her project would continue. Of course, she would be sequestered in the Professor’s Manor, which she was sure would be dark and creepy. His pale skin color was probably hereditary, but it brought to mind images of him being locked away from the sun as a child. He had said that the labs were located in the lower levels of the Manor, but didn’t say how far down. Most likely dungeon level, she decided. The Potions Master seemed to like the subterranean.
She sighed, stood up and headed for her rooms. It was still early, but she was tired after the food and the wine. She divestoed her clothing and fell on the huge king-sized bed as usual. She wasn’t feeling particularly randy, so she just lifted the covers and crawled under them. She was sound asleep in minutes.
Hermione might not have been consciously randy, but her subconscious seemed to have needs of its own. She slipped into her familiar fantasy, but in the dream state. Once again she lay naked on her bed, and her tall, shadowed dream lover approached her, striding to the bedside and looking down at her. Only this time, he did not drop on her, but sat on the side of the bed. He extended a hand and placed it gently on her belly, caressing her gently. A beam of moonlight streamed through the window, falling on her midsection. She looked down at her lover’s hand. It was pale and long fingered…
Hermione woke up with a start, shaking and covered in perspiration.
******************************
Severus returned to the Manor feeling good about the way the day’s events had gone. He had perused Hermione’s research, witnessed the amazing properties of the pitcher plant and made an agreement to be the young witch’s patron and assist her in developing a defense against the Killing Curse, the most feared spell in the wizarding world. Who would have dreamed that the annoying, bushy-haired buck-toothed little know-it-all that walked into his world thirteen years ago, would become the possible answer to his eternal quest for redemption? Of course, destroying the power of the Unforgivable would not redeem him of every wrong committed, but it would go a long way towards easing the burden of guilt he carried with him day after day. And who knew, maybe Miss Granger could be persuaded to find defenses against the other two Unforgivables, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Imperious Curse. Maybe he could set up his own Spell lab, and set the young witch over it, with a salary. The possibilities for the uses of Miss Granger were endless. She could better the world, and he could be a part of it, just as he was part of its destruction when he served under Voldemort. He could not replace the lives he’d taken, but he could help preserve and protect the lives that remained. Make it so the horrors of the past could not happen again.
As he walked through the vast, dark corridors of his ancestral home, for the first time in a very long time he did not feel his belly tighten with regret. Soon it would be a place of hope, rather than a place that once extinguished all hope. The blood would be washed away. He glanced at the tall, shuttered windows as he passed under them. He had them nailed shut years ago at the orders of the Dark Lord, who was paranoid about being watched, although the Manor sat far from any other domicile. He decided that it was time for that to change. It was time to remove the stench of Voldemort’s presence from the halls of his home.
He walked to his study, pushed open the tall wide doors and bellowed for his house elves. In a blink, he was surrounded by almost seventy bobbing, cringing little creatures, all with their eyes to the floor, raising them on occasion to look at him swiftly, before dropping them again. The elves were a bit out of sort. He hadn’t summoned them en masse since the time of the Dark Lord, and every time he had, there was some badness to do, like cleaning up after a Dark Revel, or nailing out the sun, or bringing bad nasty instruments down to the labs, which always smelled of blood and fear.
Severus looked at his cringing servants.
“I have an assignment for you,” he began.
The house elves all raised their heads and looked at him attentively, although a few ears remained flatten in nervous fear that the assignment would be a wicked one, like in the old times.
“It will be a challenge. But you all have always been good elves and followed my instructions to the letter in good time,” he continued.
The house elves visibly swelled at this rare praise from their Master.
“I want the Manor reclaimed,” he said. “The shutters opened, the windows washed and raised so fresh air can permeate these dank, damp halls. Every shutter and every window in the Manor.”
There was no need to have the Manor cleaned. The elves kept it spotless. The small creatures began to smile and jump about in glee. Severus stilled them with a sharp motion of his hands.
“I also want the labs cleaned thoroughly, and every evil instrument of torture removed and destroyed. I want every trace of suffering erased. They are going to be reopened, but this time they will be used for good, not evil. Also all the rooms on that level are to be cleaned, and the furniture replaced,” he continued.
The ears of every single elf were raised in elation, their wide eyes wheeling with joy at their Master’s orders. They had suffered in darkness too, these long, long years and longed for sun-streaked floors and fresh air.
“But,” said Severus, “here is the difficult part. This must be accomplished by Friday morning at the latest. It is a large job to do in a short span of time. Do you think you can accomplish this?”
Answers of “Aye, Master. We can,” rang out from the small creatures surrounding him.
“Then go and reclaim the House of Snape,” Severus said.
Bobbing and dancing with happiness, the elves winked out one after the other. Severus could hear them scampering up and down the halls. Normally they were quiet as mice. The noise was oddly comforting. Severus had a thought.
“Eli!” he called out. A small green elf appeared, bowing low.
“Yes, Master?” the creature piped.
“Eli, I need a few of the rooms down by the labs to be outfitted for a young witch of the age of twenty-four. Every possible need is to be met, from décor on. She will need an area to study in as well. You will oversee this for me. I want no trace of the evil that dwelled there to remain. You have my permission to do whatever is necessary to accomplish this. Am I understood?” Severus asked the elf.
“Very well understood, my Lord,” the elf replied, an open smile of pleasure on its face. Severus couldn’t remember the last time he saw a smiling elf in Snape Manor.
“You may go, Eli,” Severus said, dismissing him. The elf stood there, nervously clasping his clawed hands together.
“Is there something you wanted to say, Eli?” Severus asked the elf, half-astonished it did not leave.
“Y..y..yes, Master. Eli wants to say the elves are most happy you are taking back the Manor, sir. The walls have been crying for light for many years, and the blood has been crying too. It is good what you do, sir. Bringing hope back to Snape Manor.”
Severus looked at the house elf in surprise. He had never heard one speak so poignantly before. He nodded.
“Yes, it is good, Eli. Very good. You may go,” the Potions Master said to the elf.
The creature bowed, then disappeared.
******************************
Eli reappeared in the rooms below. The elf’s ears flattened to his head as he remembered the evil that dwelt here. The stink of him still remained. With a wave of his hand, Eli illuminated the room. There was the dark four-poster bed, emblazoned with open-mouthed serpents, surrounded by black curtains. The floor was still stained with the blood of women tortured and killed here. Eli made a face and extended both his hands toward the cursed bed. It began to shudder violently, and a dark green glow appeared around it. The elf increased the power, and the bed began to fold in upon itself, cracking and groaning like a living entity. Eli watched as it folded in upon itself, becoming smaller and more compact until it disappeared into nothingness and the glow ceased. The elf lowered his hands for a moment, took a deep breath, then raised his arms in a wide arc. Every item in the room began to glow in the same manner as the bed, even the bloodstains on the floor. Once again the folding began, furniture, paintings, knickknacks all collapsing upon themselves until there was nothing left but an empty room.
Calling on the old magic of his people, Eli extended one clawed hand, bowed his head and muttered what sounded like a blessing, then stood looking at the center of the room expectantly. Slowly a white light filled the space, radiating from a bright winged being that floated at the center. The ethereal creature resembled a fairy with sad golden eyes as it spun in place. The elf fell to his knees as the summoned being emitted a golden light, bathing the room in its glow, a serene smile appearing on its angelic face before it faded away.
“Thank you, Ancient,” Eli whispered, rising to his feet. The decorating of the room could wait until tomorrow. The main cleansing had been done. This room would be suitable now. Eli moved on to the next room, determined to have the lower levels expunged of the lingering evil by morning.
*******************************
A/N: Hmm. Hermione, Hermione. Tsk. Tsk. Hooray for Severus! Cleaning house at last. And Eli, how powerful is he? As you can see the relationship between he and Severus is not as close as in the series, but the elf is still very dedicated to his Master, and determined that his house be reclaimed. Please review this chapter. Thanks.