A Dark Time For The Light

78

It was when she returned to their bedroom to dress after her shower and saw Ginny sitting on the bed with the three pill bottles in her lap that Hermione knew she was in real trouble. “Ah”, was her only comment. She looked down, busted. The silence in the room lengthened until she looked up into stormy grey-green eyes. “What. Are. These?”, Ginny spat. Hermione let out a long breath and closed the door, coming to kneel in front of her lover. “They’re speed, love, well, these two are and this one’s an old party drug from the seventies. I didn’t know Mandrax was still made. I’m sorry, love, I just couldn’t resist, but there are no needles or anything, I gave all of that to the guys. We got them enough to see Remus through ‘til he can start taking his Potion again”. She knelt up and brushed Ginny’s unresponsive mouth with her own, “These were just a bit of fun, that’s all, and they’re nothing at all to do with smack, I promise. I thought they’d come in handy sometime, like for decorating or something. They just give you a bit of energy, help you stay awake when you’re tired”.

Ginny was silent for a long while, then placed the pills beside her and reached for her lover, holding her head in her lap and stroking Hermione’s lustrous hair. “I shouldn’t complain, I suppose. I’ve had cocaine and weed”, she sighed. Hermione hid a grin, “You know coke carries a heavier penalty than whiz, sorry, speed. Speed’s a class ‘B’, whereas coke’s a class ‘A’, right up there with smack. All of these drugs can be addictive in their own way, though I could probably get put away for even longer for possessing my ‘picks, the cops take a dim view of ‘going equipped’ for burglary. All in all, I could have been looking at up to 14 years in nick”. Ginny tightened her hold on Hermione, “Please don’t do it again”, her voice was choked. Hermione straightened up and sat beside her beloved and pulled her into her arms, “I can’t and won’t promise that, love, but I do promise only to do it in emergencies. Sev had already tried to obtain stuff legally, what could the poor guy do?”.

Over a late breakfast, she confessed to her housemates what had upset her lover so much. “Sev and Remus needed help obtaining tranquilisers to get Remus through his change, and Josie and I burgled a vets and a chemists the night before last, we needed animal tranqs as well. In fact, I need to call them, find out how it went last night and if Sev is still alive”, she left the table to find her phone.

“So, how did it go, Sev? At least you sound as if you’re still in one piece. How’s Remus?”. “Oh, he’s still a bit groggy from the tranquilisers, but he’s fine. Hang on a sec, doorbell just rang”. She heard him greet Harry and Draco then whisper her name, “Hi ‘Mione”, she heard them. “Hi boys”, she replied and they carried on with the conversation. “So did he get out of order with the rut thing, or are we going to need to increase his dosages next month?”. Severus was so glad she couldn’t see his reddening face just then, “Erm, no, everything was, erm, just fine”. “Severus?”, her tone was low and questioning, “What happened?”. She heard him huff out a breath, “I’m not sure I want to tell you, Miss Granger”, his voice betraying amusement amidst the clipped tones. She said simply, “Hmmm”, then her goodbyes and closed the phone.

Ginny quizzed her over the red face and her grin. They went back into their room away from the others. She whispered, “He said everything was fine, but he sounded flustered....embarrassed almost.....I think he let Remus fuck him....after the change”. Ginny’s eyes were round, “No!”, she breathed, then they both cracked up laughing. “Sev Snape, you’re a bloody pervert”, Hermione laughed even harder. “We’d better keep this to ourselves, well, maybe a little goss with Harry and Draco hmmm?”, they giggled afresh.

Harry and Draco wandered into the kitchen while Severus was finishing his call and stopped dead at the pile and sheer quantity of drugs on the counter, the needles lying about. Severus followed them in and saw their expressions. He explained the problem with Remus’ Potion, “And these were a solution”. Draco said, “Jesus, Sev, what did you do? Rob a chemists shop?”. The man looked down. “We were desperate and I told Hermione and her and Josie did this, the night before last. They robbed a vets as well for the animal stuff, hopefully enough to last until Remus’ chemo finishes. It worked, too, it really helped, though I suspect Remus feels like a human pincushion today, bless him, he’s still asleep”.

“No he’s not”, came a voice by the door. Severus’ face lit up and he went to his lover and kissed him, “How are you feeling?. Come and sit down, you still look pale”. Remus greeted the boys and sat down. Harry was making tea and poured out four mugs. “You’re right about the pincushion thing, though, Sev. How many times did you have to stick me?”. “Six, including the one Hermione did”. Draco was surprised, “Did she teach you to inject?”. “No, this drug just went into the muscle. She did the intravenous injection. Let’s face it, she’s obviously had lots of practice”. Remus spoke up, “She was bloody brilliant. A thousand points to Gryffindor. Please don’t get on her case about it, she did it to help me. She got all upset about it, too”.

Harry was thoughtful, “She didn’t get anything that wasn’t for you guys, did she?”. Severus glanced at him, “As a matter of fact, she did. She picked up three different bottles and said, ‘these aren’t for you’ and put them away. I didn’t get to see what they were, although, unless she’d secreted some extra spikes around her, she gave us all the needles”. Harry was on the phone in seconds, “’Mione, what else did you get on your little ‘shopping’ trip the other night, only I’m a bit worried?”. Hermione rolled her eyes, “Not you, too. I’ve already had an earful from Ginny. Just a li’l bit o’ billy for some fun. Li’l black caps. Got some great goss for you later after you’ve left the guys’ flat!!”. Harry’s eyes widened and he grinned, “Oh cool. Save us a couple for next week?. Me ‘n’ Drae’s going clubbing next Friday night. Maybe we could all go”. They finished the call and Harry looked at three curious faces.

“Speed, she’s nabbed some black bombers, the best, that’s another 500 points to Gryffindor. Good girl!”, he murmured with approval, then started to chuckle throatily, “This should make Friday night more interesting, love. Fancy a bit of billy whiz, you’ll like it?”. Draco just shrugged, “You know me, babe, I’ll try anything once”. They got onto other topics and the boys left the kitchen to start work on the rest of the flat. They were today’s house-elves. Severus left shortly afterwards to teach a Bunker session and Remus went back to bed.

Walking home, Harry once again called his best girlfriend, “Come on, ‘Mione, give it up, what’s the juicy goss, then?”. “Well, I could just be guessing here, but did Sev happen to mention how many injections he gave Remus?”. “As a matter of fact, he did, five, if I recall”. Draco was nodding in agreement at his side, “Yeah, five. Why?”. Hermione was already laughing, “It should have been six. Each shot was to last an hour with the human tranq lasting two. He missed one out”. Harry’s brow creased, “I’m not sure what you.....oh my god. No!!!. Surely not!!!. You don’t think he....?”. “He sounded a bit embarrassed when I called him earlier. I tried to call him on it, but he went all ‘Snape’ on me. Coy bastard. I think he let Remus do him, while he was changed”. “Whoa, ‘Mione, that’s pretty rich. He might not have needed to use so much or something”. “Behave, Harry, those doses were for an Alsation not a full-on Wolf in Spring Rut. I calculated the doses very carefully”. Harry felt his own blush colour his cheeks as he paused, Draco frantically trying to listen in, “Hmmm. I wonder if he’ll let me sit with him next change”, to hear a scandalised, “HARRY!!” at the other end.

He ended the call and told all to his lover who was just as scandalised as Hermione had been, “And you fancy a bit of that, do you?”, his smirk in full ‘Malfoy’ mode. “Dunno if I fancy the reality, but the fantasy is cool. I mean, how do you snog a wolf, eeewww, dog breath”.

Severus was having fun leading a Magicals only session at the Bunker, mainly consistent of a party of older folk from the Liverpool cadre who were in London for some brushing up skills and to try to choose a wand from the few remaining, plus Alice, who diligently attended every session, and Caroline who had the day wrong, but Severus let her stay anyway. Her Summoning skills had vastly improved to the point where she could pull the library cupboard towards her a few inches and she could now levitate a chair to head height.

Alice was with the others working hard on hexes and dodging them. Severus found himself idly wondering how she kept herself so fit, seeing as she was several years older than him and a tobacco smoker to boot. She was running rings around the rest of the class. As the session finished, Alice asked Severus to come to her Bunker for a moment. They made their way down the stairs. “New wards”, Severus commented. Alice smiled, “I borrowed some of the wands now we’ve all used them a bit and added a few folk to mine in here”. She went in and switched on the computer, “He’s having a meeting soon, you know. Voldemort. I caught last night’s feed from the cameras”. Severus looked alarmed. “I didn’t ask. I’ve been a bit busy with Remus’ change. Do you have it recorded?”. She nodded and replayed the footage. Voldemort, along with Lucius and the Lestranges and Nott, plus his eldest son. “Damn”, Severus murmured as he caught sight of the boy, “He was on the run. There was a cadre in Bristol that formed from those who wouldn’t be dowsed to come in with the rest of us. We had him dowsed anyway after he was arrested last year and Tonks read him as a Death-Eater. I’m disappointed but not altogether surprised to see him there”. He watched a bit longer, then saw one of Draco’s friends from school, “Good God. Greg Goyle. I taught that little shite. His best friend is buried at Hogwarts”.

He watched until the meeting broke up. Alice closed the machine down and rose. “I’ve something for the Bunker library next door”, she walked over to a pile of boxes and beckoned him over. “Bert, my book man brought these on Friday. Apparently this lady died of a heart attack recently. I hope it’s not someone you know”, she gestured for him to look inside. Magical texts, plus a complete set of Hogwarts set texts years one through seven. The name neatly inscribed in every cover: Hestia Jones.

“She was only young. She fought with the Order. I knew her but not well. I suppose she would have been in her early thirties. Tragic. Still, her books will be of tremendous use to us and I’m sure she would be very glad to think of her books passing back to Magicals in hiding. Thank you, Alice, this is very generous of you”. She beamed at him, “Any Magical stuff I get now, I’ll donate, until we are free again, as a people, a culture. I’d love to take a stroll down Diagon Alley and have a proper look”, she ended wistfully. She helped him lug the boxes next door and they were left in a heap. “I’ll let Hermione file these in her own way”, he said as he locked Bunker 7. Alice asked, innocuously, “How did Remus’ change go?”. Severus paused, his back to her. She did a little mind rifle and saw enough to make her brows raise as he snapped his defences shut. She knew she could have shredded them if she wished, but she’d seen enough and started to laugh, “Good, was it?”. He turned back to her, his cheeks red, one brow quirked, “Bloody incredible. It helped that he has no hair otherwise I would definitely have administered that final dose”. They both roared laughing and she bid him a fond farewell, “Say hi to Remus for me”, she called as he rode away.