The Pet

The Pet

Chapter One

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


Severus Snape stood up, looking like a large, skinny, black spider in the backlit and shadowed room in 12 Grimmauld Place. “From what I have learned, the raid is to begin at Hogsmeade and then spread to the castle.” His voice wtilltill silken although he no longer possessed the ability to slide quietly from place to place. Instead his right foot dragged a bit behind him. Hermione felt Ginny shiver and she took her friend’s her hand. The Potions Professor was still suffering from a curse that he’d undergone a few weeks back and she felt awful for the man, especially when Harry and Ron laughed about him behind his back.

All the Weasley children except Percy were in attendance. Ginny was now deemed old enough to attend the meeting along with the others. They sat quietly in the corner and listened to the various members make their reports. Snape’s had been the last and Hermione bit back another yawn. It was well past Midnight and in two days the Christmas break would be over and they would all be returning to the school.

It had become real to her that night. War was coming and Hermione wouldn’t be sitting the N.E.W.T.s that Spring. She’d either be dead or maimed and tending the graves of people she cared about. Her love of the Wizarding World was as strong as ever and she was grateful that the Order had arranged to place her family a half world away in Australia under assumed names. Eventually she’d be able to write and see her parents again. In the meantime, Harry, the entire Weasley family and the faculty at Hogwarts formed her surrogate family. She’d had some bad nightmares about the war to come, but hadn’t told anyone. She was ashamed to think they might know how very afraid she was.

Snape finally stopped talking and staggered to his seat. Once seated, he leaned heavily on Minerva McGonagall, but it was Tonks who had quietly taken his hand in her own. Hermione didn’t think anyone else noticed. And she supposed there was nothing to be made of it. Remus had at one time or another put his arm around her and Harry, still trying to replace Sirius in Harry’s life. It was a coming together of the Order, both young and old. She felt proud to be there, no matter how afraid she was.

Prof. Dumbledore stood up and wished everyone a goodnight and the group broke up. Hermione, Ginny, Harry and Ron all headed upstairs, supposedly to bed, but actually to talk over all they had heard while the older Order Members said their good nights and a few retired to the library for night caps. Hermione was curious if her suspicions of Snape and Tonks were right. He had spent over a week in the infirmary and Tonks had been there almost every day, causing much gossip. Also, who had hexed him and why he’d been hexed was kept from the younger members, but there had been rumors that Lucius Malfoy, free again from Azkaban, had become jealous of Snape’s taking his position in the circle and had tried to destroy him, much against Voldemort’s wishes. Of course, that sort of information, coming from Fred and George, was highly suspect in and of itself-- still it was the best anyone had.

Although the four of them (six if you included the twins) were considered old enough to fight and be members of the Order, withholding of information was standard, even from Harry.

“I’m heading to bed, Ginny, are you coming?” Hermione was bone weary. She’d been studying non-stop in spite of the fact that she probably wouldn’t be taking the exams, simply because it took her mind off of what was going on around her.

“No, Hermione. I’m so keyed up, I need to chat.” Everyone said goodnight and Hermione went on the landing. She looked down to see Remus, Tonks and Snape making their farewells. She stayed in the shadows, still curious as to what would happen. Tonks hugged first Remus and then Snape, and Hermione noticed that Snape’s normally impassive face had flashed a smile. Remus, of course, was quite openly smiling at her. She left and then Remus and Snape turned round and walked into the library together. Hermione was curious to hear what was about to go on there, but she was also tired. She sighed and went into her room.

Tonks. She knew that at least three of the Weasley boys along with Harry had crushes on Tonks. And no one ever crushed on Hermione. Ginny had boys asking her out and going lovesick over her on an almost embarrassingly regular schedule. Hermione had had one or two offers to go be study partners from Ravenclaw boys. There had also been a Hufflepuff who had asked her to tutor him as well. And finally, Slytherin’s Blaise liked to wink at her when he knew no one was looking. It was all for the best though, wasn’t it? She didn’t want to get involved with anyone, not with a war coming. She already cared about too many people.

She lay in bed and again thought about how Snape had smiled after Tonk’s hug. Hermione thought a lot about Snape. She wouldn’t call it an infatuation, it was more like a passing interest. His becoming ill had made him human to her. If she had the will to, she might have tried to talk to him. But every time she even attempted to think of something to say to him, her mind went blank.

Slowly she relaxed and drifted off to sleep.

&&&

A few weeks later and the alarms were sounding. Hermione had on her thickest cloak and put her wand in her pocket. She didn’t bother running downstairs, but grabbed her broomstick and headed out a window. The fighting was still localized to Hogsmeade, that’s where Harry and Ron had headed that afternoon. They had gone there deliberately, hoping that this might encourage Voldemort to attack while they were all prepared for him. Hermione felt like throwing up, and it wasn’t from the flying, it was from fear alone.

She’d practiced her hexes. She knew that when the time came she wanted to hold her own and not to have Harry or Ron or anyone feel that she needed protection. She threw the hexes well and felt pleased that one or two Death Eaters had gone down because of her. She hadn’t seen Harry or Ron, but had glimpsed one or two of her professors along with Remus Lupin.

She screamed once when she saw a Death Eater swinging an axe, which cleaved into the skull of a man coming out of the Hogs Head. She didn’t know the person, but from that moment on the battle took on a surreal feeling. Eventually she saw students fighting from Hogwarts along with members from the Order and a few Aurors from the Ministry. She thought she also had seen Tonks further down the alleyway, but clouds were gathering and it was still winter. It was an eerie half-lit day, increasing the dream like quality to the events that were happening all over the normally quiet little Wizarding town.

She threw a hex and then ducked for cover and she found herself face to face with Draco Malfoy. Suddenly she couldn’t breath and she realized that he had cursed her. Her vision was dimming as she tried to catch her breath. She felt cold in spite of all of her previous activity and the warmth of her cloak. And that was the last that she remembered.

He came out of the swirling mists of Hogsmeade cradling her frail body. He had seen her fall and had quickly knocked out the younger Malfoy with a hex.

He knew he should be back fighting in the fray, but his loyalty tended to switch to whatever served his purpose at the time. He’d spent so many years scraping away at survival that he’d grown clever that way.

He chose to Apparate from an alleyway where they couldn’t be seen directly to a safe house on an island that he himself had cast spells on making it unchartable. He placed her on the sofa in the living room in front of a roaring fire and, after instructing the house-elf to take good care of her, he went back to the fight. He fought hard. He made sure that Harry was safe, watching his back and eventually killing Lucius Malfoy and a few other Death Eaters who had yet again escaped from the Ministry. If Voldemort won, he knew he was a dead man. There was no chance that he’d be allowed to live under a new regime. But he didn’t care, because at least he’d done his little part and knew that she’d live and be safe no matter what the end result.

Hermione awoke to a chill room. The fire had died down. She found her wand and cast a spell to cause the fire to blaze anew. She immediately felt better. Her mind refused to return to the battle. The thought that Draco had nearly killed her, after years of taunting her and threatening, was too much to handle. So she looked around her and noticed that the walls of the room, though rough plastered, held many books. It was pitch dark outside the small windows of what appeared to be a farmhouse, but she could make out the smell of the ocean and a gentle murmur of surf. She liked it here. It wasn’t just that she felt the wards surrounding the house and extending themselves further out into the night. There was a humble austerity to the place with its white washed walls and simple furnishings.

She wondered who had taken her there. Obviously, it was someone who wished her well. And, perhaps someone who needed her safe while the battle raged? She couldn’t remember anything after Draco’s hex had hit her. She decided to explore a little and found a small, but well-stocked kitchen.

She headed upstairs to find a bed. There were two bedrooms and she chose the smaller of the two. She cast a warming spell on the sheets before settling in. She slipped off her boots, but otherwise stayed fully clothed. She quietly said a prayer for the safety of her friends. She lit a candle, but was afraid to leave it in the window, in case it might defy the wards guarding this place. And she fell asleep.

He returned to the battle, which was still raging though night had fallen. That the battle should continue on in the dark was no great surprise. Both Wizards and Witches had fine night sight. From a distance the sky lit up over and over, as if there was a great electrical storm hovering over a foundry. Light in the form of curses jagged across the air and when it missed its target, sparks shot up into the sky.

At one point, Albus Dumbledore stumbled and though he got up again, the wards around Hogwarts had fallen with him and stayed down. Voldemort could not resist the temptation to void his hatred on the ancient edifice and the battle continued in a new venue, in and around the castle. Students and Aurors played hide and seek with the Death Eaters on the school grounds to an alarmingly high rate of injury and death. But when the skies turned pink, heralding a new day, the Death Eaters along with their leader Apparated away one by one. The damage done to the side of Light seemed almost minor in comparison to the damage done to the castle. One tower was down and another looked about to come down. It would take months, if not years, to rebuild. And the wards were gone as well, tied in as they were to one ancient Wizard’s strength. As the sun rose making clear how vast the destruction actually was, many fell on their knees holding onto their friends and colleagues and shed tears over what had one been the symbol of all that was great and noble in the Wizarding world.

Just after daybreak, he returned to her. He sat in the armchair by her bed, watching her sleep. She was safe now, his little pet as he was wont to think of her. He wasn’t sure when the term had first come to him, it had simply grown up along with her. The depth of his feelings surprised him. He hadn’t known that she would wind up here in his bed, would never have dared planned it in a thousand years. Yet here she was.

He saw her stirring and went to wake the house-elf, a lazy thing for his kind, who often disappeared for hours on end doing whatever elves do in their spare time.

When she awoke it was to find a breakfast for two laid on the table. There was a pot of tea with sugar and cream along with muffins, toast, fresh butter and marmalade. She sat down at the table and was pleased that the little fire in the grate was all ready going. She heard a polite knock on the door and she said, “Come in,” feeling a bit like some lady of the manor.

Her eyes widened at the sight of him. He was disheveled and covered with hex marks and dirt. He looked like he’d just come from the war, which he had. “Remus, what a surprise. Did you bring me here?”

He washed his hands and face using the pitcher of water and the bowl on the washstand. He then sat down at the table across from her and shyly nodded. “It seems Draco had cursed you. I lifted the curse, but you were out like a light. I brought you here because I didn’t know which way the battle would be going. You can probably sense that this place is heavily warded.”

“Yes, I felt quite safe. But please tell me what happened.”

“Hogwarts fell. Albus is exhausted, but other than that I’d say we had a draw. People died on both sides. I didn’t have the heart to stay and find out who we lost.” His eyes were deeply shadowed with fatigue and genuine sorrow. He swallowed and sighed, staring into the fire.

“Can you tell me if Harry, Ron and Ginny are...”

“I saw the boys briefly. They are well. I’ll leave and come back to let you know who else is all right.”

“Will you be heading out so soon? Where will you be going? Can I come with you?”

He shook his head. “Without Albus and Hogwarts, we are all basically on the run. It will be very dangerous for any of us to meet. And even though we have pre-arranged meeting places, any one of them could be a trap. As a favor to me, Hermione, could you resign yourself to stay here a little while? I know it would be boring without your friends, but everyone is spread very thin right now and I can think of no safer place for you than here.”

She looked into his pale grey eyes and earnest face. “Of course, I’ll stay. At least you have a good selection of books here.”

He gave a short laugh and patted her hand, “That’s my girl. Now, please eat a bit and I’ll try to remember as much as I can for you of last night’s events. I need to rest a bit before leaving, but you are free to explore wherever you wish. The island is only a few square kilometers, but is warded from every direction. You are quite safe.”

“Where are we? Is all this yours?”

“Yes. Sirius left me some gold and this seemed a good purchase. A place to come to where I knew I could, you know, every month without putting anyone at risk.” He blushed, realizing that talking to her about his infirmity felt wrong, dirty even. It was the one bad thing about bringing her here. When the full moon came, he’d need to be chained up now, instead of free to roam the island. Well, it was worth it to have such fine company.

“We are in the Outer Hebrides, I can point out St. Kilda to you from the other side of the island. There used to be a community there, but it was abandoned sixty years ago. It’s a nature reserve now. We are about 40 miles away from the Scottish Mainland. It’s quite temperate here. We have a small area of forest with hazelnut and rowan trees, and there’s a rather nice, sandy beach nearby, and we have some sheep, goats and hens that wander around, and an incredible amount of wildflowers, a few grow even now in winter. There are also the ruins of what may have been a small chapel.”

He paused, not sure if he was boring her with a catalogue of islands sights, fauna and flora.

“It sounds wonderful. But I feel guilty, that I should be so safe while others—“

“Please don’t. Most of the others are not targets like you are. Your friendship with Harry, along with being Muggleborn has placed you in much peril.”

She shivered, “Yes, that satisfied look on Draco’s face, that finally he was going to kill me after all these years of threats.”

“Don’t think about it, Hermione. Just rest. I’ll keep you informed.”

Hermione settled back into her chair. “Thank you, Remus. You look exhausted. Why don’t you take your own advice? I’ll be fine. I have this book on birding right here.” She smiled and attempted to look like a happy holiday camper.

“Thank you, Hermione.” He got up and smiled in spite of feeling sore all over. “I’m sure we will both be fine.”


A/N: Okay, it’s not my usual stuff. I’m doing a straight romance, but will try to find some humor; however, that’s not what this story is about. This story is about two couples trying to find their way to happiness and who will wind up with whom? I’m not saying.