SALVATION

JK Rowling's characters and Wizarding Universe are all uniquely hers. Plot, new characters, new magical terms and abilities etc. are my intellectual property. If you want to borrow then please kindly ask. I do not make any money from this.

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. If you are looking for strict Canon or even a slight deviation from Canon you won’t find it here.

Summary: The War is finally over and Snape finds that the world he knows has nothing to offer him. He finds himself drawn to a new world; one steeped in traditions of its own not known to the wizarding world. Will he take the risks needed for his own salvation?

Rated M for Sexual Situations, Language, Some Violence.

Author’s Notes: My inspiration comes from the novel and film WHALE RIDER. Regarding the NZ slang – I am using several online resources including those from the U of NZ and some local to specific areas of NZ including the one in which this story is set.

SALVATION

Chapter 009: Meanwhile Back at the Ranch…

Hermione sighed as she emerged from the Tube station at Notting Hill Gate and headed for a once-favoured restaurant several days later. Thank Merlin this would be the last time she would ever have to face him. Then everyone could finally know the truth and she could move on with her life – her new life. She wasn’t one for having secrets – they always ended costing far more than they were worth. And she’d paid a high enough price for hers as it was.

She nipped into a large Boots Chemists and headed for the cosmetics counters. She needed to be at her best – and to not give her lunch companion yet another thing to criticise her for. Mercifully the Lancôme counter was devoid of customers and so Hermione allowed the sales associate to give her a bit of a make-over while lost in thought about Professor Snape and the tidlewave of gloom that was the situation with Hogwarts. She supposed this was karmic payback for everything they had all put him though at one time or another.

Viktor Krum was something else that Professor Snape had been right about. He had warned her not to marry the legendary Bulgarian Quidditch Player – but it had nothing to do with Dark Magic or his being a former Durmstrang student. It was funny how even now there will still many in the Wizarding World who held strong to outmoded stereotypes and prejudices – and how many based what they thought of a person on where they came from and what their interests were. Snape had been right about so many things. But hindsight is always 20/20 and especially where one’s pride is concerned.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“The war changed a lot of people and not for the better. Viktor Krum once held a lot of promise. But now he will never be sort of man who will ever fully commit himself to any one woman let alone you,” Snape had said one afternoon as he sat opposite her in a backstreet Muggle café where no one would ever see them together. “You are very high maintenance for a man like him; do yourself a favour and settle for someone who will not be so much hard work to keep interested. Whatever potential there might have been has been irrevocably changed. He is a damaged man – and in the worse possible way. He is not mentally, emotionally or romantically intelligent. He may be what you want – but he is not what you need. And if you insist on going through with this it will be plainly obvious that your emotional and romantic intelligence are lacking considerably.”

“HIGH MAINTENANCE?! Lacking in intelligence?! Who do think you are? Let me tell you something…!’ Hermione began.

“I could care less about you and the tangled mess that is your – ahem – love life. It was you who asked for my honest opinion, Miss Granger. And so here it is: you are a fool if you carry on with this madness. I know Viktor Krum and I know you – better than you want to believe. You are ill-suited in every way, even more ill-suited than Weasley was and still is.”

“I don’t why I even bothered!”

“Tell me, Miss Granger; why did you bother to waste time and energy caring what I think when no one else does?”

“Forget it!”

“No – we shall not forget it! You begged for a meeting and against my own wishes and desires I consented and so here I am.”

“And why are you here then since you don’t care?”

“The same reason as yourself.”

“The same? Nothing about us is the same!”

“Your game-playing is as tiresome as ever. Let’s cut to the chase then shall we? We are both here for one reason and one reason only – Nina. She is the only thing we have ever had in common. She likely hasn’t been able to make you see any sense and hoped that somehow I could drill it into your thick Gryffindor skull that you are making one of the biggest mistakes of your life!”

“So you’ve seen her then?”

“Who I have or have not seen is not the material point of this discussion.”

“The two of you were very different… and you were making it work and under much more difficult circumstances than us… You loved each other so much and…!”

Snape stood up fast. “I have said all I came to say,” he snarled as he put on his heavy black woolen coat. “But don’t you ever – don’t you ever dare to compare your situation in life to any aspect of mine! You have a knack for minding other people’s business when you ought not to be concerned with any other than your own. I never liked you and I still don’t like and and I could give a rat’s arse what happens to you! Nina is as tender-hearted as always – caring about people who brought her nothing but pain! Do her a favour and leave her alone! She has rather a lot to be concerned about herself without having to put herself out for someone who is not the friend she truly deserves to have!”

“I admit we aren’t as close as I would like but…”

Snape sat back down and leaned into Hermione’s face, causing her to back away. There was very little room given that her back was to a wall.

“You managed to discover that we were lovers; you even insinuated at one point that you should report it to Flitwick, Dumbledore and McGonagall!” he spat viciously. ”You were not about to admit, however, that you were sneaking around after her for no reason other than that insane Gryffindor curiosity which makes you believe it’s your right to know everything and that you are above everyone else! You are the epitome of the old adage “Keep your friends close and keep your enemies closer” – but she was never your enemy and should not have had to contend with a false friendship! I know what you are!”

Hermione felt a strange sensation and reached up to touch her head.

“Don’t you dare to insult my intelligence to insist that you have only had the best of intentions! You still think yourself much better than her and especially because of the love that she will always have for me and because of their circumstances in which she now finds herself! You were always fascinated by a young woman whose intelligence matched yours and yet who had none of your worst insecurities. I will also put it to you that you were and still are fascinated by her passion and her enjoyment of the carnal pleasures you denied yourself – and will still deny yourself and your husband even in marriage. You were jealous of her then and you are jealous now you little cow!”

“You’re insane! And disgusting! Holy Merlin how could she have ever…?!”

The Potions Master laughed and it chilled Hermione to the bone to have to hear it.

“Why did you carry on watching us then if you were so repulsed?”

The Gryffindor went bright red. “I never did any such thing!”

“Your memories betray you, you filthy little liar! You couldn’t even leave well enough alone even after we were no longer together! She almost died because of you! And thanks to YOU she’s a…!!” Snape forced himself to take a deep breath as he rose again and yanked on his old worn fingerless gloves. “I can make you but one promise Miss Granger: if you ever do anything to hurt her or interfere with her life again I swear that I will make you very sorry indeed! You may work at the Ministry and be a favourite of those at the highest levels, but that does not give you the right to continue with this obsession with Nina and myself!! For the last time I am telling you – leave her alone!”

“Are you… are you threatening me?!”

“You are as hard of hearing as you are hypocritical – I said that is a promise! You can take it any way you like!’

“Pot and Kettle! You are still sticking your neck out for someone you claim you don’t love anymore!”

Snape’s face twisted with revulsion and hate and Hermione was sure that she’d pushed him way too far.

“I never said I don’t love her! I have always loved her and thanks to my stupid mistake and your continued interference I can’t have her DAMN YOU! If I didn’t still love her I wouldn’t be here putting up with your foolishness trying to protect her from you!”

The Potions Master recoiled in horror, placing a hand to his mouth but snatching it back quickly.

“You’re going to have to leave!’ the café owner interrupted as waddled over and eyeballed the unsavoury looking man in black with distaste. “I run a respectable place here and you are disturbing my customers! You’re barred!”

“It’s no loss to me, Madame,” Snape spat haughtily. “I have no intention of ever frequenting this shithole ever again!”

He turned away quickly and swept out the door into the snow storm that was verging on a blizzard.

“You too,” the woman said angrily. “Out!”

“With pleasure!” Hermione said grabbing her coat and handbag.

She ran out into the storm and headed towards the still bustling streets of Central London, not caring that she hadn’t paid the bill. Snape was wrong – dead wrong. And Nina was a bloody simpleton for having been so involved with him and for so long and she’d tell her that when she next saw her.

Shagging Snape.

God she would have surpassed even Cho Chang in popularity if she had spilled the beans on Snape and the woman who had been known first as Nina Angeni and then Nina Ravenswood while they were all still at school. Here everyone had always thought Draco Malfoy was his favourite and fact was actually much stranger than fiction. There was so much Hermione had discovered about Nina over the years – things that could cause her and the men connected to her a lot of trouble. She’d never understand Nina as long as she lived… and that’s all she was trying to do really; she needed to understand her..

The Ravin’ Raven and The Greasy Git of Hogwarts.

Bloody Hell as Ronald would say!

Hermione was more than confident in her life choices. Merlin, she must have been insane to have tried to talk to Nina woman-to-woman and then to Snape. What did they know? Hermione didn’t care what anyone thought, she was going to marry Viktor and prove them all wrong. She’d held out for him and she finally got him. They had something solid, something real – something that Nina and Snape had thought they’d had no doubt and it wasn’t her fault that things hadn’t worked out for them.

And who was Nina to talk anyway? She’d gone from bad to worse – from shagging a Death Eater to something more dire than that in the eyes of some in their world. “I’m better than that – much, much better than that,” Hermione had reassured herself that day after making her escape from the café and heading for the shopping mecca that was Regent Street rather than returning to work. As far as she was concerned, she was the luckiest woman in the world to not be Nina or have to live in the shadows of their world like Snape, Nina and Nina’s husband Andrea Slitheen…

It was with great confidence in herself and her place in the order of things that Hermione went shopping for her wedding dress instead of perhaps going home to seriously consider everything that Snape had put to her and be more honest about the role she had played in shaping other people’s lives.

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‘Miss? Miss? I’m all finished now… are you alright?’ the sales associate asked, disrupting Hermione’s reverie.

‘What? Oh, yes!’ Hermione spluttered as she hopped off the stool she had been perched on.

She scrutinized her reflection and decided she was satisfied with the result.

‘I’ll take the lot…’ she said absentmindedly as she fixed her hair and then dabbed at her moist eyes.

She ignored the chattering of the girl whose effusiveness was beginning to grate on her nerves. A few minutes later and she was headed towards the Italian bistro in the next block. There was so much they should all apologise to Snape for regardless of the work they needed him to do – but she held very little hope of ever finding him.

xxxOOOxxx

‘Can I help you?’ a young, perfectly coifed woman asked snobbishly as her eyes raked over Hermione’s unfashionable clothes.

‘I’m here for lunch… the booking is under Krum, Viktor Krum…’

That name meant nothing in the Muggle world and for that Hermione was grateful. There was no look that said ‘what the fuck is he doing with her?!’. In this world Viktor was just as anonymous as she was. It was the one time that they could be on truly equal footing in some ways – and where she had the advantage in others. She was a Muggleborn and knew this world far better than he did being a pure-blooded Wizard by birth. That fact somehow always gave her the confidence to deal with the man she though she had known very well once upon a time. But Professor Snape had been right: Viktor Krum after the war was not the same Viktor that she had fallen in love and become involved with as a Fourth Year Hogwarts student.

‘Right this way,’ the girl said casually as she led Hermione to a booth in the back of the restaurant.

Hermione dismissed her as soon as they arrived.

‘I was hungry and decided to order,’ Viktor said in heavily accented English as she sat down and stared at the table heaving with plates of steaming food. ‘What have you done to your face?’

‘Pleasure to see you too Viktor. All your favourite foods are nicely represented,’ Hermione commented through gritted teeth, noting that there was not a single dish of anything that she would have had…same as always.

She pulled out a large manila envelop from her purse and flung it across the table.

‘Signed, sealed, delivered. I’m no longer yours,’ she snapped.

‘I am not here looking for a fight Hermione. We both need to move on and stop this stupid pretending. We have been a lot less than man and wife for a long time now!’

‘We never really were man and wife as we should have been. I was just too stupid to accept it. I’m over it now, thank Merlin.’

‘This will be better for the both of us and…’

‘Still not listening, same as always,’ Hermione sniffed, bristling with anger. ‘I have moved on Viktor – I moved on quite some time ago.’

‘What are you babbling about?’

‘I’m with the man that I should held out for, even though I would have been alone all that time. He’s the best thing that ever happened to me.’

‘You? A man? Are you serious? I’m not paying you a single knut if you are going to…’

‘I don’t want anything from you. Ever. The divorce was and still is uncontested. We each take away what we brought to it and whatever we earned belongs to each of us as individuals without fear of losing out to the other. I could care less about any financial settlement from you.’

Viktor laughed; he laughed so hard he nearly choked on his food.

‘Yes Viktor – by all rights I could take you to the cleaners, but I’m not like those tarts you whore around with. I’m happy to make an honest living to earn the money for the things that I want. I don’t need to shag someone just for a flash lifestyle...or to get them to love me.’

‘The rings…’

‘Sold. They were mine and it was my right to do with them as I please.’

‘So this is it?’ Viktor asked between more bites of food.

The scant few minutes that Hermione had been there he hadn’t really looked at her.

‘Thank God – yes it is,’ she affirmed as she stood. ‘Good luck.’

‘If you are still carrying on with all that Hogwarts business it’s you that needs luck more than me! I hated Durmstrang; if it disappeared tomorrow I wouldn’t care!’

‘Pretty consistent, that.’

Hermione didn’t care enough to put up a façade anymore. She got up and walked out; and with that consigned Viktor Krum well and truly to her past.

xxxOOOxxx

The next day Hermione returned to work at the Ministry in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement long before she officially had to be there, same as always. She found that she was her most productive when things were quiet and she wasn’t facing interruptions. She was always the first to come in and the last to leave. And it suited her for the most part.

Hers was a very prestigious appointment that carried with it a great deal of responsibility – and power. If she were a different type of person she could have abused her position even in the name of doing the right thing. But Hermione prided herself on being fair and level-headed and enjoyed a good reputation because of it. She had risen in the ranks with relative ease and quicker than she would have thought. It was not too shabby for a Muggleborn. Still, she had only thrown herself into her work so intensely because her marriage had been a failure of epic proportions.

And now she was free – completely free.

One of the advantages of being in early was that the staff restaurant would be deserted. She could get a lot of reading done over a nice leisurely breakfast. She didn’t often do that – but today was worth the exception. She was feeling happier than the day she’d finally met the man she was now going to marry. Even then she and Viktor had been separated and living completely independent lives for some time with no one any the wiser. How shocked everyone would be to find out that not only had she gotten divorced but that she was engaged to be married and to a Muggle no less – but a very special one.

Feeling on top of the world, the ex Mrs. Viktor Krum one Hermione Jane Granger headed for the cafeteria humming happily to herself.

xxxOOOxxx

Hermione could have gone to Executive Dining Services, but she tried to strike a balance. It was a nice perk to have, but completely unnecessary most of the time. Ministerial meetings were one thing and did not take place as often as most people would have thought. Her everyday life was something else and it was good to be able to just relax.

There was no need for ceremony and stiff overly solicitous formality, but she still got it nonetheless even the staff restaurant in the bowels of the Ministry. As soon as her red Minister’s briefcase with its Senior Official crest was spotted, the half-asleep staff snapped to attention for only the second time that morning. She waved them away and grabbed a tray.

‘Full English breakfast, orange juice and a double mocha skim latte please!’ she requested cheerfully.

‘No need to queue, ma’am – we can bring it to you!’ her server replied in a manner that made the Senior Minister wonder if the girl was on speed.

‘That really isn’t necessary…’’

‘Oh it’s no problem, really! We’re preparing plates for them too!’ the girl said excitedly as she pointed.

Hermione found herself half-turning and looking at the far end of the cafeteria where Andrea and Nina Slitheen sat in a little nook, lost to everything and everyone but themselves.

xxxOOOxxx

Hermione walked halfway and then stood behind two large potted plants, unable to take her eyes off of the two vampires shrouded in semi-darkness. Both were tall with long curly hair. Andrea was about 6-foot-two with long curling midnight black hair with a silver streak at his temples and the front centre of his hair, which was parted on the right side. As always, while at work his hair was tied at the nape with a black elastic band and topped off with a bow-tied thin black ribbon. He had about a week’s growth of beard, something she knew he tended to do during slow periods and holidays at the Ministry. As it was still very early in the day he was clad only in a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and navy blue pin-striped pants. Though English-born, his father had been Italian and it was his father that he’d taken after with his dark hair and eyes and prominent Roman nose. His eyes were so dark they might as well be black – and there times where for some strange reason Andrea did remind her of Severus Snape – just a far more attractive one with a personality to match.

Like her husband, Nina also towered over Hermione being five-eleven. Hermione’s friend and colleague was dressed in her favourite shade of purple which complimented her rich honey-coloured skin. She was of mixed parentage – her father had been Middle Eastern and her mother Welsh and it was no exaggeration to say the she had been one of the more attractive girls in the year. Her long reddish-brown curls were pinned up and yet masses of them still managed escape to frame her oval face and large chocolate brown eyes. She had just the slightest hint of lip gloss and nothing else. It had always irritated Hermione that Nina could look that good with very little in the way of added artifice.

The Slitheens cut attractive figures as they sat there holding hands. If they were unhappy about their lot in life one would be hard-pressed to know it for certain. They looked as they truly were – as deeply in love and loved by each other as they had been since the early days of their relationship. And yet there was this sadness… Hermione blushed as she watched Andrea lean over and engage his wife in a tender kiss. Nina pressed her forehead to his for a moment and held a hand to the back of his neck.

‘I love you,’ she heard Nina murmur.

‘I love you too my darling, always,’ Andrea replied softly before kissing her again, but more passionately this time.

The Senior Minister sighed. Once upon a time she would have been quite envious, but not now. She was one of a small number of people who knew what they really were, and had kept that particular secret for many years. She didn’t know what was more explosive: that fact that Nina was no longer human or the fact that Snape had been with Nina for almost two years while they were at school – and before she had become of age.

The two women had been in the same year at Hogwarts, Hermione in Gryffindor and Nina in Ravenclaw. Ironically it had been Ginny who had brought them together as friends – and it was Nina and Andrea who were keeping Ginny together where everyone else seemed to be failing. Nina – who had only ended up being turned when she did because of Hermione’s interference. Until that moment there was no telling when the human girl would take that inevitable step to remain with the man she loved, but in the quest to vanquish Voldemort Hermione overstepped the mark and had gotten a few things terribly wrong and at a cost no one could have foreseen.

She owed Nina too. A lot.

Her Ravenclaw friend deserved to have the success that Hermione enjoyed and if all was right in their world she would have done. Though Hermione had been an instrument of great change and Ron had aided considerably in this, there was still a lot of work to be done to stamp out prejudice against non-humans. All wasn’t totally lost, however. Andrea was an Executive although in a group no one really cared much about, the Ministry Housing and Urban Development Department. Nina worked alongside her husband as she had done since interning with the group while still at Hogwarts. But both still were very much a part of the shadows of the Wizarding world. Andrea was lucky to have the manager that he did because without the changes that had taken place in his department his career would have been very different; and so too would Nina’s.

Ginny had observed once that Hermione had actually watched Nina and Snape and then Nina and Andrea with envious eyes. “Be careful what you wish for, Hermione. It always looks to black and white to you from the outside… But it’s not that simple, and it’s none of your business.” she’d said after confronting Hermione about her know-it-all attitude. Hermione had responded dismissively; she was not yet at a point where she could admit the truth to herself.

How surprised she would have been to know that Nina actually held her in very high regard and wanted so much for her. Hermione was just one of those blessed people who never seemed to put a foot wrong. She was destined to do something great, Nina was sure of it. A mind like hers… she could curry the favour of important people if she toned down this tendency to think that she knew most things better everyone else even with so little life experience – even more than the adults around her. Nina knew that she herself would be just fine and she was not resentful that heady heights of the Ministry were not to be her calling although Hermione seemed very convinced of it.

But now Hermione did know it – and it pained her to think that things could have been so much different but for a slight change in her attitude back then.

‘Do yourself a favour and stop hiding behind those plants,’ a soft voice beckoned.

‘Oh, um… I was just… waiting for my breakfast,’ Hermione spluttered as she brushed some imaginary lint off her grey tweed suit.

‘You were thinking too much – as usual,’ Nina commented.

Hermione sucked in her breath as she watched Nina summon another small table and chair without the aid of her wand. Just for the briefest of moments Hermione felt like the insecure teenager she had been once upon a time.

‘No… I’d only be interrupting…’

‘Please, by all means feel free to join us.’ Andrea insisted. ‘It what you wanted, after all; and we don’t mind.’

‘I wouldn’t be so welcoming if the shoe were on the other foot…’ Hermione commented as she sat down.

‘Being unpleasant isn’t going to change anything, now is it?’ Nina sighed. ‘Stop beating yourself up and just sit own please.’

‘Sensible as always Nina. You always were a lot more pragmatic than I was willing to give you credit for.’

‘Except in my taste in men – and a few other things.’

‘Ouch!’

‘That is what you think.’

‘It’s not for me to judge. That’s what I think.’

‘It’s what you think and you are entitled to your opinion even if we don’t particularly care,’ Andrea observed.

‘I see.’

They all sat still for a moment as three servers carried over their breakfasts and took several minutes to be reassured that all was well. Once they were alone again Nina broke the ice.

‘The facts are what they are Hermione. I didn’t agree with you marrying Viktor and you didn’t give a toss what anyone else thought. It was your life to live and you made your choice as you saw fit.’ It’s the same with us and it always has been.

‘I see a lot of things now that I didn’t want to see then – like how much Andrea has always really loved you. You had something that I never had when he came back into my life after the war and truth be told I envied you for it.’

‘Well thank you for finally giving me some credit, Mrs. Krum.’ Andrea laughed.

‘It’s Miss Granger, actually. Viktor and I are divorced.’

Nina and Andrea looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

‘Well… congratulations?’ Nina enquired.

‘Yes. I’ll explain it sometime if you care enough to listen.’

‘OK – we will have a girly lunch; you choose the day. So, what’s really on your mind?’

Hermione took a deep breath and then let it out before taking a long draught of her coffee.

‘It’s about Hogwarts.’

‘Still no luck eh?’

‘No. You were right. We were wasting our time. On top of it we have two more dead.’

‘Who?’ Andrea asked, his Romanesque profile twisting slightly with dread.

‘Lupin and Tonks. Whatever they were doing killed her instantly. He was taken to St. Mungo’s but they couldn’t save him. He died a few hours later.’

Nina reached a hand to her mouth and scratched her bottom lip before shaking her head in disbelief.

‘There is only one person who can possibly help us sort this out…’ Hermione pleaded.

‘They won’t listen to him. They don’t respect him and they most certainly do not care about him.’

‘I know, Nina I know! But if you were to talk to McGonagall and the others! Maybe if you told them about the Snape they don’t know – the Snape they never cared to know then maybe…!’

‘Have you lost your mind?’ Andrea hissed. ‘One hint of what took place between he and Nina and they would haul him off to Azkaban in the blink of an eye!’

‘What happened isn’t illegal! For god’s sake’s you could been married off to some old man when you were twelve! It’s just… It’s just…’

‘It’s an ethical issue perhaps. He was my teacher and I was his student. And it’s a load of bollocks alright? We all know that this stuff happened all the time and long before any of us went to Hogwarts. But Severus isn’t Gilderoy Lockhart or Madam Hooch or Mephisto Harmsworth! He’s not a golden child who can’t put a foot wrong in anyone’s eyes. Hermione, you of all people know that your friends are still trying to blame Severus for things that he didn’t do; for things that couldn’t have possibly have had anything to do with him! Do you have any idea what they would do if they found out about us after all this time? They don’t trust Dumbledore’s memories and they are still hoping to pin something on Severus that will land him in Azkaban for the rest of his life!’

‘Are you aware that there are vampire hunters still at large?’ Andrea said darkly. ‘They have been driven underground thanks to your laws – but they are still out there. If anyone ever suspected that Nina…’ Andrea looked at his wife and clutched her hands. ‘I won’t lose her Hermione! Hogwarts can fade into the mists of time but I am not going to lose her – not after everything it took to give her life again!’

Tears began to stream down Nina’s cheeks and she tried to hold herself together. ‘After everything he’s suffered, why should he come back to this? Why should he come back to people who don’t care about him and who would rather see him dead – and me along with him?’ she asked.

‘I’m not going to lie and pretend that I have such great concern for the man,’ Hermione replied. ‘He was horrible. He was nasty and a bully to anyone who wasn’t in his House. He was not a nice person Nina, you were the one great exception. He loved you with all his heart; he really did. Even after everything that happened during the war and you turning into… he still loved you one hundred and fifty percent.’

‘Not anymore. He couldn’t live with what I’ve become. And it doesn’t matter. He needs to move on and finally allow himself to have a life.’

‘How do you know? Have you spoken to him – at all?’

‘I know as much as you do Hermione. No one has seen him for months. No one has any idea where he is, including us.’

‘What? – he couldn’t bear to be apart from you and he just gave up even on being your friend?!’

‘We have tried to find him Hermione – but Severus Snape does not want to be found, that much is obvious.’ Andrea said quietly as he gently held his wife’s hands. ‘So many people owe him their lives. He did so much for all of us and at great personal risk…but that doesn’t mean I’m about to offer my wife up as some sort of sacrifice. If justice is served it will have to come some other way – and really it should come from the people who marginalised him and made him as much what his as he himself did.’

‘I’m one of those people Andrea. I owe him an apology; in fact I owe him more than a few. He was right about so many things…’

They sat in silence for a moment.

‘I care about Hogwarts too,’ Nina finally said in a small voice. ‘I know that something needs to happen and it takes expertise we don’t have. I know you need him, but there’s nothing I can do because I don’t know where he is. And unless I have iron-clad guarantees that he will be fully exonerated and publicly and without fear of recrimination, I’m not going to encourage him to come back here even if you do manage to find him. He has my loyalty – not your latest crusade. Do you understand that?’

‘That’s fair – the Ministry didn’t go far enough, I agree. Anything else?’

‘He should get The Order of Merlin, First Class; nothing less than that will do. And he should be able to take up the mantle of Headmaster of Hogwarts as was intended by Dumbledore.’

‘OK – anything else?’

‘That’s it.’

‘Nothing for yourself? You are still an amazing woman Nina, you know that?’

‘I have everything I could possibly want with my husband. The only other thing that I wish for is for the people I love and care about to be safe and well and happy; and that has always included you even if you don’t want to believe that.’

‘I really am sorry for everything,’ Hermione said dabbing at her eyes with a napkin.

‘Every dark cloud has a silver lining. You may not understand it but I am very happy, Hermione.’ Nina looked at Andrea with so much love there was no doubting it. ‘I’m with the man I want to be with and our life together is a great one. I wish that everyone could have the best possible love and partner – especially Severus. He deserves a lot better than his life here ever allowed him to have – and much more than he ever thought he should have. He never thought he deserved me and he didn’t think that I should sacrifice anything for his sake, including my life.’

‘It’s strange – to think that you two will outlive us all… and you’ll never get old.’

‘I try not to think about that myself. Losing your friends and people you know is never easy – and under these circumstances…. Well, we have been prepared as much as we can be,’ Andrea said quietly. ‘But we have my parents and my brothers and sisters and they are huge help to us. We couldn’t have gotten this far without them. They’ve already had this stage of the journey.’

‘Any chance of the patter of tiny feet?’

‘No,’ Nina said sadly. ‘On that aspect of being a proper wife I am a complete failure.’

‘I’m sorry – I have this habit of putting my feet in my mouth.’

‘Our lives are not over because we are not been able to have a child.’ Andrea said gently. ‘And I don’t love you any less for it.’

Nina sniffed and blew her nose.

‘Listen I better get going…’ Hermione said rising. ‘The masses will be swarming the place soon and I’d like to get a bit of work done. I’ll let you know how it goes, but I will push this through!’

She walked briskly back to the counter and got another latte to take away and then disappeared. Andrea and Nina waited another ten minutes and then left themselves.

‘What are you thinking love?’ Andrea asked his wife quietly as they rose and headed towards the lifts.

‘I am grateful that she has not a clue about Legilimency and Occlumency…’

‘You did very well – as you can see. But you always were very unreadable to her even in a general sense – I think that is part of the fascination on her side, I think all she ever wanted was to be able to figure you out, and not in a bad way. Hermione has her faults as we all do, but she is not malicious and never has been.’

‘I meant what I said though Andrea; I’m not going to try and get Severus to come back here for a hanging or to be their whipping boy. There isn’t anything they could offer me that would get me to do that.’

‘Agreed. I have a lot of affection for Minerva but on this issue I have to disagree with her. I think a lot of this mess about Severus might have calmed long ago if she were only able to let of her prejudices. She was the one who forced him out of office just before the Battle of Hogwarts when he was needed most. It was a catastrophically stupid mistake on her part and she knows he will never let her forget it if he comes back. She also does not want to play subordinate to him and if she remained at Hogwarts she would have to. Your relationship with him – oh heaven help us indeed if she ever found out about that.’

‘You amaze me Mr. Slitheen. Most men wouldn’t want their woman to have any kind of fondness for an ex-partner and yet you’ve been so understanding.’

‘There were moments in the beginning when it was not easy; but I know what we have together and I know that you never had that with him. I also know you well enough to know that if you were going to be with him then I never would have stood any chance with you. You are right to care about him. Someone should. You had me in your life and my family and all your friends. He never had anyone really, not until you. I told you before – I shared a dormitory with him for seven years – and not once were there letters and packages from home, or invitations to stay with friends, or any girlfriends. He was very much alone no matter what kind of spin people want to put on his school days. Over time he changed from what he could have been to someone he should have run miles from. I think he knew it deep inside but was powerless to change it with no real support and being tormented by his peers in Gryffindor – Harry Potter’s father among them. I saw how he was bullied from one part of the castle to the next morning, noon and night. The only time he was safe was in Slytherin with the rest of us. Dumbledore and McGonagall overlooked a lot of things they shouldn’t have and Severus paid a price for it – too high a price. I understand how he became the man that he was. But I also believed that there was the possibility of redemption – and you gave that to him. You gave him a reason to want to carry on and fight for his own sake and not because of some obligation to Dumbledore even when you were no longer together. The fact that he was able to love and so profoundly and that you had returned it genuinely – it made all the difference in the world to him. ’

They were silent as their lift took them up and did not speak until they reached his office.

‘Hermione seems quite determined to find him even though its like looking for a needle in a haystack for her.’

‘Do you think if we went away again that you might be able to find him? You thought you’d picked up something of him when we were on holiday…’ Andrea said.

‘It was so clear… I‘m sure it was him!’ Nina said frustratedly. ‘This feeling – he was so happy; I can’t describe that feeling because it’s a undiluted joy that I didn’t even know he was capable of, but I could feel how complete and happy he was – and in love. He has evolved into the man that he could have been long ago. What he needed, I think, was a complete change of life. I could have never made him as happy as he was and I hope he still is. He doesn’t need reminders of who he was and what he left and that is what I would have been. For someone else it wouldn’t be a problem – but for him I think it would be. I knew he had it inside him and there were moments when we were together where I sensed it...’

‘I think I know it,’ Andrea said smiling. ‘It’s what I always felt from you… what I still feel even when we are apart.’

‘Because I am happy Andrea. I’m still so happy with you and I wasn’t bullshitting her about that.’

‘I know my love; believe me I know. Unfortunately we won’t be able to take a holiday any time soon to see if we can find him again.’

‘It’s just as well,’ Nina said, puckering up and giving her husband a kiss before heading to the space she shared with two other people down the corridor. ‘Severus needs to settle into this new life of his in the South Pacific. The last thing he needs right now is to have this mess about Hogwarts laid at his feet. The situation is dire – but honestly the world won’t come to an end because the situation is untenable for a while longer...’

xxxOOOxxx

Hermione had managed to get through a record five briefings before her clock struck nine. That was more than some Ministers managed to get through in a day and it left her feeling justified for taking a break. She said good morning to her secretary and then headed for a park near the Ministry. She stopped at one her favourite Muggle coffee houses and picked up a croissant and hot chocolate.

She rushed towards her favourite spot in the park and let out a sigh of relief when she saw that the bench was empty. The only other people nearby were two policemen, pausing as they walked their beat.

She pulled out her mobile and hit the number 1. ‘Please... please… please pick up!’ she chanted as she did a strange half bouncing up and down rocking back and forth thing unable to sit still.

‘Hello?’

‘Oh Hello, Rawiri right? Can I speak to Witi please? It’s Janie – from England.’

‘Oh sure – one second… Oi Witi! Your mobile mate! Sorry about that Janie! My brother is loudly indisposed at the moment shall we say!’

‘Ahh he’s singing in the bath then,’ Hermione giggled.

‘He tortures you too eh? Sounds like a cat being strangled I swear! I don’t know how you put up with that and the bloody ring around the tub! Hang on…’

‘Don’t listen to ANYTHING he says!!’ Witi shouted in the background over some loud thumps.

‘Eh Bro go easy on those stairs – this isn’t the Wellington Zoo!’

‘Sorry darling – not you Bro my lady here!’ Witi panted breathlessly at his end after snatching the phone from his brother. ‘Sorry my love, I was having my nightly bath to unwind. You’re early – is anything wrong.’

‘No, no. Just... missing you is all…’ Hermine sniffed.

‘Hey hey hey, you’re crying! I’ll come home ok? I’ll get the first flight out I can.’

‘You don’t have to do that… you haven’t been there that long and…’

‘It’s already been longer than I planned. Mum’s ok now, she’s settled in here at Rawiri’s just fine and she’s loving the new job and the new house.

‘And Paikea – is she alright?’

‘Yes – she and Michael have settled into their new house. Beautiful place! Honestly we should think about something on the coast there like we were talking about. Oh – Pai says hello and says that she’s looking forward to meeting you… wait she wants to tell you herself!’

There a pause and some muffled laughter.

‘Tēnā koe, Janie. E pēhea ana koe?’

‘Tēnā koe Paikea, E pai ana ahau.’

‘You don’t sound fine. You miss Pop eh?’.

‘You must think I’m being really silly.’

‘No – I can’t fault you for loving my father like you do and I’m glad that he’s found someone who deserves him and makes him so happy. You’ve made a huge difference to his life; I can tell – we all can.’

Tears began to stream down Hermione’s face. This was the first time she was speaking to the woman who was going to be her stepdaughter and to have such acceptance and understanding – it overwhelmed her.

‘I’ve taken time off work so we can settle in the new house and give myself a bit of a rest, so I’ll take him to the airport first thing. I know he’s been missing you terribly. But things are fine now and everyone is situated so need to worry about any of us here.’

‘He has?’ Hermione asked through her tears.

‘Yes, dear Janie he really has – if you could see him now he’s blubbering like you!’

Hermione laughed and so did everyone at the other end. Pai was the firecracker her father had described alright. She liked her stepdaughter already and could just picture her smiling.

‘Ahh Michael’s here now to walk me home so I’m going to let you go. I don’t know who’s coming to see who first – but I look forward to finally meeting you. And call me Pai – Paikea’s too formal and it sounds strange when anyone but Michael says it.’

‘Thanks Pai. And good luck with the projects you have going on. Witi said that your new proposals were well received.’

‘Thank heaps – it surprised me that the Commission didn’t give me too hard a time. But it’s the first step. I have to write all the papers now and get the funding organised and whatnot. But it’s really exciting. It’s going to make such a difference for our people. I can show you around the centre in Wairoa when you come…’

‘I’ll hold you to it!’

‘And keep on with Te Reo Maori – you sound great!’

‘He Taonga te Reo!’

‘The Maori language is a treasure indeed – and so are you Janie. Take care and we’ll speak soon! Here Pop – I’ll check some flights when we get back and call you later…’

‘Janie?’ Witi asked tearfully.

‘What?’

‘Isn’t she something?’

‘Just like her father…’ Hermione said blinking back tears. ‘I miss you so much…’

‘Oh I love my homeland but I love you more and that’s saying something…but I’ll leave you a message if you don’t pick up…’

‘OK… I’m sorry to be such a crybaby!’

‘Please… takes one to know one. What little manly dignity I have left is totally gone!’

‘That’s OK – I still love you anyway!’

Witi laughed. ‘Say; you ought to get back to work – it’s almost ten-thirty!’

‘Oh no! I have a meeting I have to get to at eleven and I’ll have to go back to my office and..!’

‘Calm down sweetie – just hail a taxi and you’ll be alright.’

‘Good idea! I’m so frazzled I would have tried to run and would be late! Have a good rest of the night my love and talk tomorrow?’

‘Take care honey – yes I will call you tomorrow from the airport! I love you...’’

‘I love you too…’ Hermione said bursting into tears.

Witi whispered some more to her so that his brother and mother couldn’t hear in the next room and it gave Hermione the strength to finally let him go and disconnect the call. He couldn’t wait to hold her in his arms again and to make love to her...and he hoped that they would never, ever have to spend this much time apart again if they could help it. When he next returned he was bringing her with him, no arguments about work. And she had agreed. She achieved a lot at the Ministry but there was no need for the crazy hours she put into the job. There was no bad marriage to run away from, no work she had to throw herself into because that was all she had. She had taken on new interests because Witi encouraged her to expand her horizons and she had a great life with him. The Ministry didn’t need her as much as she needed Witi and he needed her. This mess with Hogwarts and the Ministry – she was tired… very tired of it all. Nina was right – Hogwarts had become a crusade and in a way that wasn’t healthy.

‘Are you alright Miss?’ one of the policemen called out to her as she stood and blinked back the last of her tears..

‘Oh – yes. Just talking to my fiancée...he’s been away but he’s coming back and we have plans to make.’

‘OK…mind how you go…’

Hermione raced out the exit and hailed a taxi. Once inside she leaned back and the tears started flowing again. Witi was finally coming home – and they could start planning the rest of their lives. They had talked about dividing their time between England and New Zealand. Now that she’d spoken to Pai the fears that she’d obsessed over being rejected were gone.

Finally, things were looking up.