A New Beginning (DH -COMPLIANT)

Chapter 6 ~ Becoming Familiar

Snape quickly navigated his way through the forest and stopped at the first of several fields of plants he maintained, warded, disillusioned and protected from the prying eyes of others. These were potions ingredients he grew and cared for personally, tending to them carefully and lovingly. He hoped to move into Potions supply as well and after years of careful nurturing and study he had some of the best herbal ingredients that could be found anyplace. He had thirteen large fields he maintained, carefully irrigating, aerating and fertilizing them by hand using methods and creations of his own making to enhance their properties. One of the projects he wanted Hermione to work on was developing a spell that would enhance plant growth quickly without causing any decrease in the quality. He knew some time manipulation would be required, but also there would have to be conditional aspects worked in. Plants required certain amounts of sun, water and nutrients to develop properly. Aging a plant would not be enough…it had to receive what it needed during that growth. It wouldn’t be an easy spell to create, but would be invaluable to the growing industry.

He also wanted a climate-controlled Terrarium spell, or a spell that would be able to contain an entire field of plants so they wouldn’t be affected by the weather conditions surrounding them and instead have a controlled growing season so they could be harvested year-round. Again, this would require some weather manipulation skills or something similar. Perhaps Hermione could work in a watering/light system rather than recreate real weather. That would be up to her. As long as she made progress.

Snape knew that results would not be instantaneous. Some potions he developed had taken years to come to fruition. He had no illusions that Charms work would occur any faster. He was sure he and Bartleby would be having differences of opinion when it came to the witch’s work. But he owned the company. Bartleby would just have to choke it down. The best and most stable spells would take time to develop. If there was one thing the Potions master had was time. He would not rush Hermione. Knowing the witch, she would be rushing herself for results.

As he laboriously and carefully raked between the rows of his flowering Jaberia plants, a bandana pulled up around his nose to avoid breathing in any of the pollen, which inhibited nerve functions, he thought about the witch. Hopefully her years as a mother had given her patience. She was never big on patience while a student, rushing to learn, know and complete everything immediately to the detriment of all else. It was good Hermione had a quick mind to go along with that impatience or she would have driven herself mad. The wizard believed the true test for her would be her ability to rethink and restart projects rather than agonize over them and continue working with a theory that wasn’t panning out.

He moved through as many fields as possible, watering some and weeding others before noon. At eleven forty, he exited the woods, heading up the mountainside to his unplottable home on the face of it. It couldn’t be seen by anyone it wasn’t keyed to. His presence would remain a secret from Hermione.

As he opened the front door, he heard the warning whistle that the development building issued five minutes before releasing the ward that kept the witch inside. Another five minute whistle would sound before one o’clock. Hopefully the witch would be close enough to make it back to the building on her own.

If she wasn’t, there was another way she would be returned. He had meant it when he stipulated Hermione was not to be outdoors after one…and made sure she wouldn’t be. Her method of return would be unpleasant enough to make sure that she got back under her own steam after experiencing it, he was sure.

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Hermione found the kitchen to be spacious and well-stocked with food in a cooler, a magically run freezer and a pantry. There were plenty of cooking utensils, plates and dishes and a large table that could seat four. Further investigation revealed a laundry room.

She then wandered out of the apartment and down the hall. She opened a door and gasped when she saw she had her own workout room. So even when she was inside she could get plenty of exercise. There were two treadmills, a number of weight machines, and a couple of bicycles. Further investigation showed a steam room, a shower room, a locker room and a glass enclosed Jacuzzi. She saw another door and opened it, letting out another gasp as she saw a full-sized lap pool.

Hermione realized instantly that there must be a resizing spell on the site. It was larger inside than it was outside. Well, this was a nice surprise. Rose and Hugo would love this.

Hermione exited the exercise room, and opened the next door. It was a bathroom. She continued down the hall realizing that rooms for her personal use were on the right, which meant the work area rooms were most likely on the left. She opened the last door on the right and walked it. It was just a huge, empty, white-walled room. She looked about with her brow furrowed. Was this meant to be a storage area?

Suddenly, the room changed, a map forming on the far wall. The map showed the layout of the side of the building meant for her occupation and recreation. It showed her apartment, the exercise room and pool, and itself.

”Room of Requirement,” she read, amazed.

She had her own room of requirement? This was incredible. By providing the room, Sparse Venues had given her a place to go where she could recreate anything she’d like or needed. She wouldn’t feel the least bit trapped. Whoever designed this building had certainly taken a lot into consideration.

Snape did. If there was one thing he knew about, it was the effects of isolation and he sought to spare Hermione the roughest parts of it. Plus the room could be used in tangent with her research in case she needed to create a temporary test environment. He had spared no expense to make her workspace viable.

In addition, the room could be utilized by her children too, hopefully curtailing them running about the grounds too much. The son and daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley were bound to be hot-headed and inquisitive to say the least.

Hermione then checked out her workspace. The first thing she noticed was a huge map of the earth, complete with a compass rose and contour lines that showed the lei lines of the earth and the physical features of the areas. Hermione walked up to the map, examining the colors. She tapped it with a finger and drew back as an enlarged rectangular section of the map moved forward in mid-air, showing the area enlarged. She touched it again and the first enlargement disappeared and a new one appeared, even more magnified. Hermione continued to tap the map amazed as it finally focused on someone’s house, the lei lines defined by glowing lines around it. This wasn’t a magical area, or the glow would be more pronounced. Amazing. She could pinpoint any place in the world with this map. What a fabulous work aid.

She studied the map, and located Hogwarts, then the Burrow, then tried to locate the worksite itself. The forest showed up, but not the building. Ah, the protections. More than likely unplottable. Still, this was good Mapmaking magic. It didn’t show people however, only areas and the corresponding lei lines.

There was an office off to the side of the large room, and a library, and a huge storage room full of notebooks, quills, parchments and other items. Tacked on the wall was an order form with a muggle pen attached to it by a string. She imagined she was to use this when she needed anything. More than likely it would magically place the order for her when filled out. Very convenient.

The next room was filled with earth and very humid. What was this for? Well, she supposed she’d find out soon enough. Maybe it was to grow things.

There was another area with several long glass cages of nifflers and rats embedded in the walls, cages that ran the length of all four walls, running up and over the door. The animals looked well maintained and sleek, the nifflers playing with gold nuggets and the rats running on exercise wheels. Well most of them. It seemed as if there was a small orgy going on in the back of the cages, the furry creatures copulating happily. There was an island in the center of the room with large adjustable lights over it and implements for dissection laying in neat groups around it. Hermione glanced at the happy animals and sighed. At least they had a nice life.

It had been years since she dissected anything alive, though she cut up chicken on occasion when she’d cook dinner for . . . Ron. He loved stewed chicken with vegetables and dumplings. It was one meal she was very good at cooking and the wizard never got enough of it.

”You could cook this everyday for the rest of my life, Hermione, and I’d die a happy man,” he’d say enthusiastically, tucking in and chewing blissfully.

Poor Ron. At least she believed he was happy when he died. Life had been good for them.

Hermione left the room and returned to her apartment. She found her things neatly put away and the strange little elf gone. He wasn’t as groveling and subservient as other house elves she had met. But maybe that was because he was bound to a business rather than an individual. That was a quite an impersonal arrangement.

Suddenly, a kind of siren sounded and the door to her apartment opened of its own accord. Hermione jumped, looking shocked at the noise.

”Lunchtime,” the female voice announced brightly. “You have one hour of free time outdoors, Mrs. Hermione Weasley. You must return promptly or before one pm.”

Grabbing her cloak, Hermione exited the apartment, hoping she could have the siren’s volume turned down. It was much too loud. She saw the foyer door opened and hurried through it outside to the grounds. She decided to take a stroll through the forest, since that was pretty much all she could do. To her surprise, she found a little area with a picnic table, benches, some statues and a little fountain. A small trash bin stood off to the side. So, she could eat lunch out here. Well, that was nice.

She saw a little path leading away from the eating area, winding around through the forest. Hermione followed it. Little beds of flowers appeared here and there, and a few of the trees were old and quite magnificent with their large trunks and branches. Birds flitted about and squirrels scampered chittering at her as she passed. It really was a lovely peaceful area. She saw a few signs in the ground in the distance. They were of varying sizes, but all of them had bold red lettering. Although she couldn’t read them she was sure they were warning signs. Well, she’d get a closer look another day.

She soon realized that the path led back to the development building and it had taken about forty-five minutes to traverse. Well, it had been a nice walk in the fresh mountain air. She studied the face of the mountainside, wondering if anyone lived on it. It didn’t seem like it. Deciding she’d explored enough for her first day, she returned to the building and her apartment. At one o’clock, another siren sounded.

”Mrs. Hermione Weasley has returned in a timely manner. Wards up,” the female voice said.

Hermione could feel no perceptible change. Definitely a sign of powerful wards. The best were not discernable until they activated.

Hermione walked into the kitchen and made herself a ham sandwich and pumpkin juice, then walked over to the desk where Bartleby left the folder of potential spells the company was interested in. She opened it up and lifted a parchment in one hand, took a bite out of her sandwich which was held in her other hand and chewed thoughtfully as she perused the list.

Hm. Very interesting. Most of the focus seemed to be on agricultural Charms. This could be because of the need for potions ingredients. Maybe the company was considering marketing them as well. It made sense. Hermione initially thought the Charms she was to developed would be marketed commercially. Well, possibly they would be, to specialized markets. Still, the spells sounded challenging and intriguing.

She wished she could get started right away, but she still had to cram for the test she had in one month. Still, she did have to do the feasibility reports. Those would be interesting as well as help her sketch out some ideas in her head.

Hermione had a feeling she was going to love her job. Yes, she was alone here, but back when she was learning new things and working on research in school, she loved being alone…it let her focus and concentrate. She preferred solitude when involved in things cerebral. As far as she was concerned, this set-up was perfect.

It was almost as if someone tailor-made it to suit her.

Little did she know, someone did.

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A/N: NIIIIIICE amenities, eh? Hermione is hooked up, lol. Severus, a dark farmer as well as a Potions master? Yeah, it can work. Working with the land is soothing and after the life he’s led, he probably gets a lot out of it. Anyway, thanks for reading. ***