A Working Relationship

A Working Relationship


Disclaimer: All canon characters are the property of JK Rowling and those with whom she has agreed contracts. This story was written for practice not profit.


The Dark Lord’s Commission


“What on earth do you mean?” exclaimed Hermione. “That’s nonsense… I mean it’s not possible… it’s ….”

“Insane. Although it is possible… after a fashion…”

“But gods… if they exist at all… which I doubt personally… they’re supposed to make people… not the other way around surely… Don’t look at me like that! This is nothing to smile about.”

“I’m smiling at you. Just stop talking when you’re ready to hear the explanation. I can wait.”

“Go on then, I’m listening,” she said, with frustration.

“Well if you’re sure…”

“Severus!”

“The first thing you need to get into your head is the fact that the definition of what constitutes a deity varies from culture to culture, over time. You are of native British stock, as far as I can tell. You were raised in a middle class Muggle area of North London where most of your neighbours would have been descended from Christians or Jews, two distinct faiths with a common omnipotent, mysterious deity. I cannot claim to know much about either of these religions, but I do know that Christianity is a dominant religion and there are other modern religions, which are also founded on the belief in the same deity. Christianity is a modern religion, relatively speaking. My own family records predate it. Christianity chased out other deities all over Europe. Legends say these deities had congress with mortals and that mortal men and women could join with them.”

“I do know about this… I’ve read some of my dad’s books. Some of the Roman emperors thought they could become gods... I’d forgotten that.”

“Precisely. The Roman culture had a degree of respect for those with unusual powers… people like us. Bargains were struck and services rendered. Have you never wondered why so many of us from the old families have classical names?”

“Are you telling me that wizards used to be able to make mortal people into gods?”

“I’m not going as far as to say that. I too am sceptical about the existence of deities. However deities have various supernatural qualities attributed to them and a wizard can manufacture these for his own use or for others.”

“What qualities?”

“I’m sure you could put together a list if you thought. What qualities would define a superior being?”

“Immortality… strength… invulnerability… what else?”

“Those are the key ones certainly. Added to that you would possibly look for two other things. How would a god know he was a god?”

“Because people worship him?”

“Precisely. After all without believers and worshippers how would the other gods know he belonged with them? Also some people held that a god’s strength was increased by the devotion shown to him.”

“What’s the last thing?”

“The last thing is the ability to divorce oneself from the shackles of human morality. I don’t think you need to worry too much aboutt ont one in the Dark Lord’s case. I think he’s already there… Your cauldron will boil over if you don’t attend to it. We will discuss the matter again later and I will show you one or two volumes you may find interesting.”


After the potions were brewed and bottled Severus sent them up to the Infirmary and they settled down to eat an early, light lunch.

“You said you had some volumes to show me?” said Hermione eagerly as she picked at her sandwich.

“I did. You can see them as soon as you’ve finished lunch, and I mean finished. Once we get down to work this afternoon it will be a very long session. I’m going to make another attempt at brewing my potion and I want a clear run at it.”

“What is your potion? I never dared ask you before.”

“I am trying to brew a poison that will affect the Dark Lord and no one else. The idea is that we can weaken him with ita vaa vapour form during battle and hence improve Harry’s chance of defeating him. I have made extensive calculations and predictions and I think I’m almost there in terms of the theory. However, it’s so complex and so unstable that I can’t get very far with it. Every time I attempt it, I use up a little more of ingredients I find difficult to replace.”

“Do you think Harry will need that kind of help?”

“Voldemort is no longer truly human. His body was created by a dark ritual. There is no guarantee that an Avada Kedavra would be fatal, even if Potter were capable of delivering it, which I doubt. Most of the Death Eaters can’t manage it.”

“Is that why Dolohov didn’t kill me that day… at the Ministry?”

“I would say so. I’ve never seen him cast it successfully.”

“Can you do it?”

“Yes and yes and no,” he stated briskly.

“What?” she asked, in confusion.

“Yes, I can. Yes, I have. No, I will not tell you about it.”

“I suppose I should have realised.”

“I’ve done a lot of things I will never share with anyone. That is not a matter for negotiation. Even if we were to survive this war and come to be married I would not deem it necessary tell you all my secrets.”

“Married!” queried Hermione.

“Of course ‘married’. Did you think I was merely opening myself to the idea of making you my whore? Or perhaps you were hoping that I would be yours?”

“I really wasn’t thinking that far ahead. Attraction doesn’t automatically lead to marriage.”

“No, it doesn’t. However, if we had closed our mind to the possibility of marriage and still followed our physical instincts, we would merely be making use of each other. I have done that with other women, but it would not occur to me to do it with you.”

“So you think that married people should have secrets from each other?”

“In this case yes. I was a different man nineteen years ago, before you were born. I have to live with the memories of the things I did back then… and the things I have had to do since,ch sch stem from my actions. If you wish to be part of my life… it has to be from this time forward. I would give a pledge to be honest from this time forward… if that is any consolation.”

“If you mean that, then it will be a great consolation,” she said slowly. “Severus?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think…? Is oo soo soon for us to think about kissing?”

“We have already done so.”

“That was just a peck really.”

“But a kiss nevertheless. I take your comment to mean that you are thinking about kissing. Is there a Muggle code about this kind of thing?”

“There aren’t any hard and fast rules as far as I’m aware. Even if there were, I’m not a Muggle. I’m merely Muggle-born.”

“I see no bar to us exchanging another kiss. Would you like to try it now?”

“Yes please.”

“Come to me then,” he said, pushing his chair back from the table and remaining seated, extending a hand towards her.

She rose from her chair and walked around the table to him. She took hold of his outstretched hand with one hand and touched his face gently with the fingertips of the other. He looked up at her, lips very slightly parted.

“You’re hesitant Hermione,” he said, when she made no further move. She brought a forefinger to his lower lip and stroked it.

“I’m not,” she said. “I just liked seeing you like this.”

“Even my mother never found me that appealing to look on,” he muttered.

“More fool her!” replied Hermione, swiftly bending to meet his mouth with her own. His lips were warm and soft. She gently tapped their seam with the tip of his tongue and he parted them for her. She slipped her tongue inside and their tongues danced.

Severus followed her lead. He resisted the urge to take control as the kiss lasted. Instead he wrapped his free arm around her and pulled her to him more securely and allowed her to tilt his head back.

Eventually she pulled away, breathless and rested her cheek against his.

“Most pleasurable,” he whispered, shifting his leg so she could lean against him more comfortably.

“I liked it,” she confided. “It feels right.”

“It may be prophesied.”

“I wonder if we’ll ever know that for sure.”

“We can only work and wait. Let me find those books.” He eased himself out from behind her and went through into his bedroom. Hermione sat on his chair and waited patiently. A moment or two later he emerged carrying two large volumes. He brought them over to the table and placed them on it.

“These are very old,” said Hermione, in awe.

“Around sixteen hundred years old, I believe,” he replied. “Parts of them were scrolls originally and were cut to be sown in. Not all of it is relevant to your purpose but it should give you an idea of where to start when you are designing your potions.”

“If you know where to start already, shouldn’t you just tell me? It would help me make progress quicker.”

“I don’t want you to make progress quickly. I want you to provide evidence of thorough research and write your notesmy hmy hand using the Dicto-quill. I will show this to the Dark Lord. You won’t find everything in here. At the appropriate time I will find out one or two more things to show you and the rest will be trial and error and re-calculation.”

“Just how much do you know about this?”

“You know the answer to that already Hermione. I told you the day we first met. You must remember. You were an attentive pupil even at the very first lesson.”

“Oh my God! Your introduction! What was it?”

“Bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death…”

“That was it! Why am I doing this then?”

“I don’t have time to reconstruct the research I destroyed. Also I’m hoping you’ll pursue some blind alleys to delay matters. I find that because I know what to do I am unconvincing when I pretend to err. The Dark Lord is no fool Hermione. I am just too anxious to lead him away from the truth. Your honest mistakes and the volume of your work should persuade him to patience.”

“I’d best get down to it.”

“Indeed you had.”

Thank-you to everyone who has been kind enough to review.