Mirror, Mirror

Mirror, Mirror

Chapter 8 – A Tale of Two Wizards

It all belongs to Rowling, except what you don’t recognize.

rmiormione awoke in the morning to an empty bed. Reaching over to the indentation where he had been, she found it cold. She held back a little sob, because she both wanted him and her husband and neither were there. It was like a fever in her blood. Where was he? She wanted to scream for him, but wrapping herself in a dressing gown, she contained her emotions and headed down the stairs.

“Oh, no—” She saw him on the couch, surrounded by books. He looked up at her with befuddlement and then a sneer.

“Now what?” he said coolly.

“You went and shaved!” She walked over to him and reached to touch his face. He pulled away from her.

“It’s bad enough to be dressed like a peacock without having to look like an idiot with that ludicrous facial hair!”

Hermione stubbornly folded her arms and sat on the carpet next to the couch. “Well, it made him happy.” she sulked.

Snape glared, “Then he can grow it back when he returns, Madam.”

“You are a bastard!”

He raisee eye eyebrow and returned to the book on transconveyance. Hermione grabbed another book on the same subject and began reading. The room was a shambles. Snape had taken notes and left them on chairs whenever the desk had first started overflowing. There were cups half-drunk of tea and a crust of bread, barely nibbled on. Hermione remembered that it was Saturday, Nanani’s day off-- Hermione had worked very hard to convince the House Elf of the need for time off. Sarah was still with her Grandparents. This was her day to go horseback riding on her pony at the local stables near the small country house where Hermione’s parents spent their weekends.

Some fifteen minutes went by in silence when Snape said, “Ah, here is where they explain what is going on between us.” He jabbed his finger to a particular passage. “That whole thing with the annulment was nothing more than tripe. It says here than more than 98% of the respondents in a poll of people who had journeyed to other realms said “If given the opportunity, they would have sex with their counterpart’s spouse, furthermore…“

“You don’t have to continue. I know.” Hermione said bitterly.

“So the whole thing with the Ministry annulment is simply to prevent—“

“To remove liability. Yes. I said I know.” Hermione got up irritably and went to the kitchen in search of some coffee. Normally she preferred tea, but today she needed coffee. She wanted to go back tyingying or having sex or something. It was like having itching powder sprinkled all over her. To her surprise when she turned around he was right behind her.

“What are you doing?” she asked, keenly aware of how quickly her body responded to having him so near her.

“I want to know why you all ready know this?” He looked at her with his stern, dark eyes and she shoved him away from her.

“I don’t feel like talking.”

“But talk you shall.” He held her by both arms and brought her near. “We need to work together on my return from here. You need to share your information.” His voice was low, calm and silken.

“I’m telling you it’s unimportant.”

“I shall be the judge of that.”

“You’re hurting me.” Hermione struggled against him and Severus suddenly knew that they would be back in bed together very soon if he had any say. He found her struggling was exciting him. And she really was quite good in bed, he thought, he would miss her once he left here.

“Speak!” He pressed his body against her, letting her feel his arousal.

“Damn,” she realized that her wiggling wasn’t getting her anywhere. Finally she gave up and said, “last year, I traded bodies with a counterpart who had suffered a loss. When I got back, my body felt… Well, I had a good idea it had been well used in my absence.”

“What did your husband say?” Snape felt a flare of anger over her mistreatment.

What he did not think about was why he should even care.

“What good would it have done? He’d have either said yes or lied. Neither would have changed anything.” The bitterness and pain were still too fresh and she tried to escape him one more time.

“Lovely marriage you have.” He gathered her up even more into his arms. Enjoying himself, he kissed the tip of her nose.

“Don’t speak of what you don’t understand.” She finally wrenched herself from his grip, rubbing the developing bruises. “So I read up on the subject. And yes, it’s an almost universal phenomenon… I understand it better now. It’s like an aphrodisiac. You are with the person you love; yet suddenly they are just a bit out of focus, just a bit different and new. It’s like falling in love all over again.” She looked down, ashamed to meet his eyes.

“Are you sure that’s what you are feeling? Or is it revenge?”

She turned to stare at him. “What?”

“What’s good for the Goose is good for the Gander.” slowslowly smiled. “It makes more sense that having been cheated on, you just wanted to get your own back.” He picked up his cup of tea. It had been cold for more than an hour or so and had turned bitter. He took a large gulp and made a face.

“No. That’s not it at all! Gods, you are so annoying at times.” She turned away from him and headed back to her book, intending to take it upstairs to read. However, she wasn’t quick enough and he was there in front of her now, holding her chin steady and forcing her to look into his eyes.

“So, you think you love me? A total stranger-- based on a shag or two?” His eyes were ominous slits and Hermione felt a chill running down her.

“You… can… be… such… a… damned fool.”

At that he tangled his hand in her hair and kissed her hard, bruising her bottom lip. “Call me a fool again!” he dared her.

“You are, you know. You’re going all silly over me right now. You’re trying to scare me, but that stopped working by the time I was seventeen.” She reached up and nipped his neck. “Eventually you gave up being the terror, because it just didn’t work.”

“SO you think I love you?” he felt his heartbeat growing rapid.

“Hopelessly infatuated,” she whispered.

“And that after one night together that if I don’t get back, I’ll stay with you?” He felt cold, like all those days when he was being tortured.

She nodded.

“And be a daddy to your spoilt brat.” His heart was racing even faster now. He couldn’t get his breath.

“You are the one who does all the spoiling.” She looked away from him for just a moment, rubbing her eyes. “Honestly, a Sickle to spend however she likes?”

Just then the room started spinning around Severus and all turned black. Hermione looked back at his silence just as he collapsed.

When Severus started to come to, he was sitting on the couch with his head between his knees.

“You fainted.” Hermione was watching him with concern.

“Nonsense,” he said and tried to stand only to have his knees buckle and to wind up back where he was.

She whispered some endearments that he couldn’t make out, while kissing his hand and holding it to her cheek. “I’m sorry that I upset you.” She gently pushed him back onto the couch and lifted his legs. She removed a traveling rug from a bench in the hallway to throw over him.

“No. I’m not ill.” Ignoring his protest, she wrapped him with the blanket and hugged him. After a few seconds, he returned the hug and a tremor went through his body. Suddenly, he was afraid, very afraid, but he didn’t know of what.

“Hermione.” He breathed in the scent of her hair.

She pulled away but stayed in his arms. “Yes, love.”

“If I don’t find a way back, I’ll stay, right?”

“Yes. You’ll stay.” She laid a small kiss on his lips and then snuggled next to him. He closed his eyes and dozed and dreamt that all his life up until two days ago had been nothing more but a bad dream. He was Dr. Snape now, and he had a wife who loved him and a child who adored him. He had wealth and respect. The Snape name was no longer something to be spat upon. It was no longer a bad joke. Snape smiled in his sleep. Hermione kissed his forehead and went back to her research.

&&&

“Brother?” said the Wizard in red.

“Yes, dear Brother?” replied the Wizard in blue.

“I was thinking it was time to drink a toast.”

“Indeed!” The Wizard in blue raised his glass to have his brother top it with Black Magic Merlot.

“To the ruination of that wanker, the evil Dr. Snape,” the Wizard in red grinned as he made his toast.

“Hear, hear! When do you think I should head back to see how he’s doing?”

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll off himself soon. How about twnthsnths time? No wife, no child, no position in society and no money, but oh, I do hope he sticks it out longer, though. Nothing would please me more than to think he’ll be miserable a long, long time.”

“Indeed, brother mine, yes indeed,” the Wizard in blue finished his glass gleefully and threw it into the fireplace. Revenge is sweet, he thought, and they had just gotten away with the perfect crime.

&&&


“Severus? Severus!” Snape felt himself being shook awake.

“Hermione? What-- did I fall asleep?”

“Yes, it’s lunchtime. You must have been up all night reading. Look, I found how we are going to do it. I found the way back!” She stuck the book under his nose and he glared at her.

“Let go. I can’t read it with you bobbing it in my face!” Snape took the book and read the page. “Where?”

“It’s the footnote!” She said bouncing up and down on her toes and pointing to the bottom of the page, just as if she was still a first year.

Snape read the two lines at the bottom of the page and swallowed. “Hermione…”

“I’ve got the book it references right here.” She was on the floor, searching through tome after tome to find the book.

“Hermione! By Merlin’s crystal balls, you can’t. It says here that it’s never been duplicated.”

“Don’t say that. I know I can, and I will. Let’s go make the potion right now.”

“No. This is sd.” d.” Snape struggled to sit up to make himself more authoritative. “You’ll get lost just like your husband. This should be left to the Ministry.”

She stood up, waving the sought for book, and there was a most mulish look on her face. “To Hell with the Ministry. Should I get lost-- Well, then, hopefully whoever replaces me will love you and Sarah just as much as I do. Because I’m going, and you can’t stop me.”

Snape had a sinking feeling that she was right.


A/N: Big, big hugs to my reviewers: Kate, Littlebird, WendyNat, NegativeNine, Mel and Genrou.