A Turn for the Better

Chapter 55 ~ A Question and an Answer

Snape sent an owl to Albus, asking his permission to house the four wizards at Hogwarts until the beginning of next term, explaining the situation to the old wizard. Albus sent him an affirmative reply immediately. The Headmaster was well aware of the practices of the Potions masters as a whole and felt this an opportunity to turn their dismal conduct around. The four wizards were to be housed in Slytherin house for the duration.

The names of the other three wizards were Cyrus Camfrey, Ignatius Hove, and Bedouin Brown. Snape took the opportunity to talk to them without Hermione when he showed them to Slytherin house. He instructed them to take seats in the common room.

The four wizards sat down and looked at Snape attentively as he scowled at them.

”There will be rules,” Snape said to them, his eyes narrowed, “the main one being that my apprentice, Hermione Granger, is off limits. Do you understand me? None of you will make any advances toward her.”

The wizards blinked up at him. Conan was the one who spoke.

”So, you maintain the kind of relationship with your apprentice as our masters did with us?” he asked Snape.

”Yes . . . no. Not precisely. Our involvement has nothing to do with her being my apprentice,” he said tightly, uncomfortable with sharing such personal information.

”Sure it doesn’t,” Cyrus said, nudging Ignatius with his elbow.

Snape’s face went black.

”I don’t care what you think the circumstances surrounding our association is, Mr. Camfrey, but I warn each and every one of you, if you attempt to engage her in any way, you’d better as skilled in dueling as you are in brewing, because if you are not—I will kill you.”

Snape looked so murderous, the four wizards swallowed.

”Professor,” Conan said quickly, “Cyrus and Ignatius are gay. Bedouin and I go both ways . . . “

”I suggest you go one way if you hope to leave this castle with your jewels attached,” Snape hissed.

“None of us have any designs on your apprentice, master Snape, I assure you,” Conan said as the other handsome wizards nodded. “We are here only to advance our art. That is our only purpose, our only focus. None of us have been involved with anyone since taking this path. We are devoted.”

Snape’s black eyes shifted from each, almost perfect face.

“All right. We understand each other in that respect,” he said curtly. “Now there is the matter of conditions. What I will require from each of you in return for my instruction . . .”

The wizards all scowled at Snape. Not him, too.

”Not that!” Snape snapped at them. “Despite how pretty you all are, you do absolutely nothing for me.”

The wizards relaxed. Thank Merlin. They’d dealt with enough randy Potions masters for one lifetime.

”However, you will each give me an Unbreakable Vow that you will never take on an apprentice for your own gratification. That any apprentice you instruct will be accepted because he or she shows true promise. You will not claim any of their discoveries while they study with you. They will be allowed to take credit for everything they develop on their own. You will not demand monetary compensation from them at the end of instruction, since they will have assisted you over the course of four years. Quid pro quo. And you will require this vow of any and every apprentice you take on.”

The wizards nodded soberly. Of course, none of them intended to perpetuate the deviant behavior of their former masters. Each and every one of them wished to restore honor and dignity to the art of Potions-making. Snape continued.

”Gentlemen, our art has been desecrated and I wish to restore it to its original glory. You four will be a new beginning. If you are not willing to follow a different path than the men you fled, your time here has been wasted, as has mine.”

The four wizards each took the Unbreakable Vow, forever bound to act with dignity and respect concerning all things Potions.

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The next month and a half was grueling for the four wizards, and for Hermione, who also wanted to learn Snape’s technique for mixing volatile ingredients. He had kept that to himself, since it was a valuable skill. With it, he could brew original potions other masters could not. It would have come in handy when he left Hogwarts to strike out on his own. He would have made a very lucrative living.

Once again, the Greater Good had to be served, and sacrifices made. His techniques would become common knowledge over the years, but the art of Potions would once again be elevated to its proper place, the Potions masters judged by ability, skill and dedication, rather than power and lust.

Snape was a total bastard to the wizards, yelling and screaming at them. He even had a small, supple willow branch he carried with him in his lab, which he struck them with if they made a mistake. A mistake being an explosion, of course. He was truly the Potions master from hell. But he had to be. Learning this technique was dangerous and they all had to focus. Not wanting a painful lash was one way to accomplish that.

They worked with only the minutest portions of ingredients so they wouldn’t kill themselves and each other. A flash in a cauldron was enough to have Snape rush over and apply a stinging slash to the offending wizard’s arm or shoulder. He didn’t strike Hermione, but yelled at her just the same, which was just as bad to the witch. Hermione always wanted to do well, and failure was something unacceptable. There was no way Snape could have whipped her physically worse than the way she whipped herself mentally whenever she exploded ingredients.

After an intense month, they all began to catch on, the secret being blending small amounts of the ingredients in increments until they had an inert base. Once that base was established, they could continually add the dangerous items in relative safety, as long as they carefully maintained the proper ratios. A drastic color change usually meant something had gone wrong and to flee the area. Any change of color, no matter how small was a warning sign that the base should be immediately removed, usually by Scourgifying it quickly.

A week before classes were to resume, Snape told the wizards it was time for them to go, that he had shown them all he could. They were to continue to practice and perfect the technique.

As they stood on the stairs outside of Hogwarts castle, the four wizards somberly shook Snape’s hand.

”You will come to the next gathering of Masters, master Snape?” Conan asked him. “We plan to present ourselves.”

Snape frowned at him. The Potions masters gathered several times a year. There was no real purpose to the meetings now. They used to be used to share important discoveries and advancements in the field, but now they were just examples of excess, food, drink and boasting the order of the day. Snape never participated in these revel-like proceedings.

”I’ll be there,” Hermione said with a smile. Snape scowled at her. She would be a full-fledged Potions mistress by then. Although the sexes were usually separated, she still could attend a gathering. Witches normally didn’t, because they were treated so rudely. That was another thing she wanted to change, and there was no time like the present.

Conan gave her a beautiful smile as Snape snorted under his breath. The wizards had been as good as their word, hardly interacting with Hermione at all during their short time under the Potions master’s instruction. She was just another student to them. Hermione knew Severus had something to do with it.

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”What did you say to them, Severus?” Hermione asked him one night as she lay curled in the crook of his arm. They hadn’t made love. They were now in that comfortable place where they didn’t have to physically engage to feel connected. Being in each other’s presence was enough for them . . . well much of the time. The sex was still wonderful when they did engage. Still scorching. Still passionate. It would probably always be that way.

“I know you said something to Conan and the other wizards. They barely look at me,” she said to him.

Snape didn’t say anything, and Hermione bumped her head against his cheek to rouse him.

”Stop that,” he hissed at her.

”What did you say to them?” Hermione demanded.

”Why do you think I said anything to them, Hermione? It could be because of their orientation they don’t pay you more attention,” he said darkly, his eyes washing over her. “Do you want them to pay you more attention?”

Hermione frowned.

”No, of course not. Maybe be more civil and communicative. I’d like to have conversations about what we’re learning, you know, interact,” she said to the wizard.

”You can talk to me,” he said sullenly, jealousy once again rising in his chest.

Hermione stared at him as he stared up at the ceiling.

”You’re still jealous,” she said softly.

”I’ll be glad when they’re gone. And they will be shortly. They are all quite skilled. They only need to fine tune the technique, and they don’t have to do it here,” Snape responded, not answering her accusation.

Hermione studied him for a moment, then shifted up and kissed his lips tenderly.

“What was that for?” he asked her, frowning as she looked down at him.

”Just because,” she said softly, brushing an idle lock of lank hair from his pale face before settling back in the crook of his arm and snuggling closer. Eventually, the feeling of jealousy eased in the wizard’s chest. Hermione loved him.

Still, he’d be glad to see the wizards gone. Gay or not. Just looking at their perfect features every day was an annoyance. Snape was glad he had numerous chances to browbeat and strike them. It made him feel a hundred times better about this. He was still petty and covetous concerning Hermione, but it all worked out in the end.

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”I suppose I will attend as well, if only to see those pompous bastards have a group coronary,” Snape said, his eyes glittering at the thought of it. Not one, but four wizards entering the field without masters? There could be at least one death among them. Hopefully Vargas.

Now all four wizards beamed at him, perfect white teeth agleam and nearly blinding.

”Go on, get out of here,” the wizard snarked at them.

Repeating goodbyes, the four would-be Potions masters strode across the grounds of Hogwarts and toward the gate. Hermione thought they looked like male models in some kind of Muggle commercial as they walked side by side, strong and strapping in their billowing robes.

”Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Where Men are Men,” she said under her breath, smirking a little, finding the fact that two of them were gay funny. Women wouldn’t know that.

”What?” Snape asked her.

Hermione blinked up at him.

”Oh, nothing,” she said with a little smile before she turned and walked back into the castle.

Feeling as if he’d missed something, Snape followed her in.

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Hermione’s fourth and final year as an apprentice passed quickly. She now handled all of Severus’ brewing as he taught class. Her brewing techniques were excellent, gifted in fact, and she had discovered several ways of making certain potions stronger. She improved the quality of the healing elixir Poppy used on the students of Hogwarts. She also found a way to make Skele-Gro potion less painful and faster when mending bones. It involved the addition of Coca leaves and several accelerative binding agents. Luckily, Coca leaves weren’t illegal in the wizarding world as a potion ingredient, but only a Potions master or mistress could purchase them.

Hermione stood in front of Snape’s desk as he wrote his cramped, spiky signature on a piece of parchment, then handed it to her, his dark eyes glittering.

”There it is, Hermione. Your certification. You are now a full-fledged Potions mistress,” the wizard purred at her. “No bells, no whistles, no confetti raining down. I’m afraid there isn’t much fanfare connected with such an accomplishment with me as a master. The others usually have elaborate ceremonies and feasts for their new masters.”

Hermione smiled as she read the parchment, then looked up at Snape.

”This is more than enough, Severus,” she said to him. “I don’t need bells and whistles. All I need to do is file this with the Ministry, then strike out on my own.”

Snape felt his stomach clutch.

”On—on your own?” he repeated as she rolled up the parchment and stuck it into her robes pocket.

”Yes, on my own. With my share of what you so generously gave me of the basilisk profits, I can open my own apothecary shop. I have a location already picked out,” she said to him, excitement in her eyes. “I’m going to provide only high quality hand-brewed potions, not that bottled dreck everyone else sells. I’ve been checking out the other apothecary shops for months. I know the niche I can fill. They will be more expensive, but they will be more effective as well. I’m also going to give classes in home brewing; teaching laypersons how to make simple potions for what ails you. Headache potions, potions for stomach upset, constipation. Simple brews that aren’t dangerous to make.”

Snape just stared at her. He hadn’t thought about her leaving and striking out on her own. But, she was finished. She couldn’t stay in the castle now. Still . . .

Snape got up from his desk and walked around it, facing Hermione.

’You’re leaving me?” Snape asked her softly, feeling as if the world were bending around him, cutting off the very air he breathed.

”No, Severus, of course I’m not leaving you, but I can’t stay here and I have to make use of what I’ve learned. I have to make a living. You can’t take care of me any longer,” she said gently.

”I would gladly take care of you for the rest of my days, Hermione,” he responded.

Hermione’s eyes glistened and she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.

”I know, Severus, but I wouldn’t be happy with that. I want to do things on my own. But I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to rent a flat and you can come see me whenever you like. We can go out to dinner, visit museums, do the kinds of things couples do.”

Snape blinked at her. Didn’t she understand it wouldn’t be the same? For four years she had shared his bed, been there in the morning when he awoke, shared meals with him. For four years they had been together, lived together like husband and wife. Now he was supposed to “visit” whenever he liked? He didn’t want to visit. He wanted her with him.

But it was clear she had already made her plans, and they still included him. But, not enough of him . . . no that wasn’t true. There just wasn’t enough of her. He swallowed.

“I—I never thought about this aspect of the end of your apprenticeship,” he said thickly. “I’m—I’m used to you, Hermione. I’ve spent four years of my life with you—how—how can I do this? Be without you?”

Hermione sighed. She had known Severus wouldn’t take this well, but she had to use her skills to make a living now. She wasn’t really going anywhere. Just away from Hogwarts.

”You won’t be without me, Severus,” she said softly. “We’re still going to be together. I love you. You know that. I don’t have to be here every hour of the day. Besides, they say absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

Snape frowned.

”My heart is fond enough, Hermione,” he replied. She could hear the anguish in his voice. “It cannot get any fonder. Your absence—your absence will only bring me pain.”

”Then, come with me,” she said, a slight quiver in her voice.. “You’ve been at Hogwarts for decades. Start a new life with me, as my husband.”

Snape stared at Hermione in disbelief. Had she—had she just . . . proposed?

Hermione stared up at him, her eyes soft as she took his hand.

”What’s my answer, Severus?” she breathed. “Will you marry me?”

Would he refuse? This felt so much like blackmail but it was the only answer Hermione could think of, the only feasible way that they could continue the way they were. She hoped he understood that.

Snape stood there, staring down at the young woman he loved, at the woman he would miss terribly if—no—when she left. There would be a hole inside him not even Hogwarts castle could fill. It wasn’t blackmail. It was the right thing to do . . . the only thing to do to keep her with him. He was tired of Hogwarts anyway. He’d been there far too many years.

”My answer, Hermione Granger?” he said softly.

”Yes.”

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A/N: Ah, a reverse proposal. :) Thanks for reading. Sorry about the chapter mixups. :((