Twenty-four for Dying

Chapter 31: Twenty-four for Dying

It was almost like floating, like the waves of the ocean were hers to command. The absence of sound was so complete the silence seemed filled with a noise of its own. She soared through the air, utterly weightless, free to glide among the birds.

She had always hated to fly.

Brooms, aeroplanes, Thestrals, Hippogriffs, dragons...she had tried it all. Nothing had ever pleased her as much as having her feet firmly planted upon the ground. But somehow, this was different. This took no effort. She couldn't see the ground, couldn't see anything but endless grey. Yet she had no fear for her safety. Maybe she didn't hate flying, after all...maybe it was just the thought of plunging to her death she disliked.

Hours passed while she floated through the empty mist.

Days.

Weeks.

Years, perhaps.

She could enjoy the bliss of this oblivion for an eternity if not for one little thought that nipped at her mind.

Severus Snape

The name rolled through her head, so lyrical and alliterative. She rode the waves on its sibilance alone for several moments. Then a pair of coal-black eyes appeared, angry and accusing. The comfort of peace began to fade.

Why was he angry with her? And why did thoughts of him make her feel less buoyant, as if she could no longer float across the sky?

I was supposed to stay at Hogwarts.

The thought pushed her down through the clouds, into a darker realm of grey. Surely, she had just as much reason to be angry as Snape. He had taken her memories. He had fed her a sleeping potion. He had acted without her, had crafted some plan that hadn't involved her when she'd had every right to be involved. He should have known she'd follow him. He had known, of course...had tried to stop her with a potion and house-elf guard. If only he had told her the Minister for Magic was somehow involved, perhaps she would have been content to stay behind.

Perhaps not.

She never would have allowed him to leave without her. Even if she had known the Aurors would be there...the Minister himself in attendance...she still would have found a way to travel to Arglist. It wasn't just the need to be involved, and it was more than a desire to protect her memories. How could she possibly stay behind while someone she loved was in danger? She'd had no choice but to follow him. Even if it had meant risking her neck. Literally.

Snape will blame himself for this. Just like Lily.

The mist became a fog, dark and blinding. She thought of the things he had said, the cruel statements meant for Lucius more than her. Each vile word he had uttered would haunt him if she left now. Their last conversation could not be filled with twisted remarks and layers of lies. She wouldn't allow it...she hadn't even had a chance to tell him why she'd followed him. He probably thought she hated him, thought she had believed his betrayal right to the very end.

He has to know the truth. I have to tell him.

Urgency filled her, made her too heavy to float. Gone was the weightless pillow that had cushioned her body. She fought against gravity, fought the darkness that pressed against her eyes. Her body tumbled through the sky, spiralled out of control. She couldn't stop spinning. The ground rushed up at her.

Too fast!

She was going to crash. There was nothing but cold, hard earth to break her fall. She had to slow her progress. The impact would kill her. She couldn't bear such pain, scrambled away from the very thought of it, but already it sliced through her. Her head pounded, throbbed. Pressure crushed her, made it impossible to see, impossible to breathe.

Help! Someone, please help me!

She plummeted through thick, black night. The ground was too close. And where had the air gone? She couldn't breathe. Giant fingers wrapped around her body, squeezed her chest until her lungs burned.

Her throat closed. Air! She had to have air. She fought for a breath, just one single breath, she just needed air.

Help me. I can't breathe. I need air.

I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't...

"Breathe!" yelled Snape, and again his fist pounded against her heart.

She gasped. Her throat opened at last, and she took great, frantic breaths. Honey had never tasted so sweet as the air that filled her lungs. Fluorescent lights blinded her, haloed the dark face that had demanded her return. She found Snape's eyes and smiled.

"Hello," she whispered.

He didn't answer, just crushed her against his chest. She breathed him in, drew strength from the feel of his arms around her. Her eyes stung. She buried her face farther into his robes and wound shaky arms around his neck.

He moved so smoothly, she barely felt him lift her from the glass-strewn floor. He set her upon a stool, then stiffened when the Minister spoke.

"How is she?" Ustinov asked.

Every muscle in his body tensed. Rage seeped from his pores, scorched her skin. He released her and whirled on the Minister. "What the fuck just happened, Gregor?" he shouted.

"Now, Severus. Just calm down." Ustinov raised his hands, but Snape advanced. The Minister stumbled back from him. Two Aurors materialised at his side.

The appearance of the Aurors made her twist around and search for Lucius. She held the table and peered into the corner where he'd been blasted against the wall. His body was gone, but so were three of the Aurors. They must have already taken him to Azkaban.

Her shoulders relaxed, and her relief doubled when her hand encountered a familiar length of smooth wood. She plucked her wand from the table and watched Snape battle the Minister. The Aurors watched, as well, but they made no move to intervene. Yet.

"No one wanted Miss Granger to get hurt," Ustinov said. "She should not have been here."

"That is beside the point."

"That is entirely the point," Ustinov argued. "You were supposed to immobilise her."

"I had control over the situation."

"That isn't how it looked from my vantage."

"Then your vantage was skewed."

"I could not allow her arrival to ruin so many months of careful planning."

"Sod your careful planning!"

"I assessed the risk and took appropriate measures to..."

"Your appropriate measures nearly killed her!" He lunged forward, but before he could reach the Minister...and before the Aurors could reach him...Hermione pointed her wand and cast a full body bind on all four men.

"It's fine," she told the remaining Aurors who had rushed over to help. "Just let me speak to them."

She slid from her stool and strolled into the middle of the circle they had formed. This wasn't the return she had imagined when she'd hovered in the space between life and death. There had been so much she had wanted to tell Snape, but after witnessing his near-altercation with the Minister, questions overruled everything else.

"I'm going to release you now." She looked at each man in turn, and when she stopped at Snape, she said, "I expect everyone to behave." Then she tapped her wand against the Minister's chest and said, "And I expect many, many answers.

"Finite," she said.

They relaxed back onto their heels and were smart enough to look repentant.

Snape addressed her first. "We should get you to the hospital."

"Yes," Ustinov agreed.

"No one is going anywhere just yet," she said.

"You have lost a great deal of blood," Snape argued. "Your questions can wait until the Healers..."

"No," she interrupted. "I disagree."

He pushed his hair from his eyes. "Do not be foolish, Hermione. You almost died tonight. It is vital you go to St Mungo's at once."

"And yet, just moments ago, it was vital you attack the Minister," she said. "I believe I'm a better judge of what is and is not vital at the moment."

Behind him, Ustinov chuckled.

"Please be reasonable," Snape said.

"I've never been more reasonable in my life." She pointed her wand at him. "You can answer my questions, or St Mungo's can prepare two beds."

Ustinov's chuckle grew to a laugh. He clapped Snape on the back and said, "Oh, my, Severus. You two were made for each other."

He spun around. "Gregor, surely you can no longer deny my request."

Ustinov glanced at Hermione and appeared to consider. "We would need the Bonder."

"Then fetch the Bonder," Snape said through clenched teeth. "Miss Granger needs answers."

The Minister sighed and lifted his wand. "Expecto patronum." An enormous silver crocodile swam through the room, twirled as if in a death roll, then glided through the laboratory doors.

Ustinov shoved a thick scroll of parchment at Hermione. "You can read these while we wait."

She shifted through pages of legal jargon and frowned. "A pardon?" she asked. "I don't understand."

Ustinov jerked his head at Snape. "Your friend is a highly skilled negotiator."

Snape leaned against the worktable, arms folded. He cast occasional glances at the door, as if anxious for the return of Ustinov's Patronus, but spoke when she raised her eyebrows. "In exchange for your cooperation with the case against Lucius, the Ministry has agreed to exempt you from any and all transgressions, regardless of culpability."

"I can assure you, Miss Granger," Ustinov said, "the Ministry has never granted anything like this before."

"I can well imagine." She closed the scroll and tapped it against her open palm. "You said this is the result of a negotiation, Minister." When Ustinov nodded, she turned to Snape. "What was offered in exchange for it?"

His jaw clenched, but all he said was, "Soon." He gazed at the doors once more. Within the crook of his arm, his fingers drummed a beat so impatient it looked like a frantic white spider had taken up residence.

She turned and watched the Aurors scoop her scattered memories into new phials. "Those should be destroyed," she told the Minister.

"They will be guarded at all times," he replied, "deep within the Department of Mysteries. After the trial, they will be returned. You may do whatever you wish with them at that point."

She nodded. At least Lucius would be kept far away from the memories, and she could destroy them the moment they were returned. She surveyed the laboratory and swallowed thick regret. Destroying the research the first time had done nothing but delay the inevitable. And in the interim, Lucius had ruined more lives than she had ever thought possible. Perhaps if she had trusted the Ministry five years ago, she could have prevented this. If she hadn't been so sure she was the only one who could solve the problem, perhaps she might have...

A soft pop announced the return of Ustinov's Patronus. The silver crocodile faded and Mildred Gibbons, the Minister's secretary, appeared in its stead. She wore a faded lilac dressing gown and foam rollers in her hair...she had obviously been summoned from bed.

"My goodness, dear!" she exclaimed when she spotted Hermione.

"It looks worse than it is," Hermione said. Blood was caked throughout her hair, and her shirt was stiff with it. She could only imagine what a sight she made.

"She refuses to go to the hospital," Snape told Millie, his tone accusing.

"He refuses to answer my questions," she shot back.

The Minister turned to Millie and said, "I trust you have your wand?"

Millie glanced back and forth between Snape and Ustinov, then clapped her hands together and raised her gaze to the ceiling. "Finally!" She pulled a short, ornately carved white wand from her dressing gown. "Grasp hands, please."

They did as instructed. Millie held her wand above their joined hands and nodded at the Minister.

Hermione held her breath when Ustinov spoke. "Severus Snape," he said, "did you agree to investigate the activities of Arglist Industries, Lucius Malfoy, and Hermione Granger on behalf of the Ministry of Magic?"

"I did," Snape replied.

"You have fulfilled your agreement. I release you from your vow."

Beneath Millie's wand, a rope of fire appeared around their wrists. It turned a deep shade of red, then flashed brilliant blue and uncoiled from their hands. Millie flicked her wrist. The rope rose into the air, then disappeared into the end of her wand.

"Did you agree to represent the goals and interests of the Ministry at all times during your investigation?" Ustinov asked.

"I did."

"You have fulfilled your agreement. I release you from your vow."

Another fiery rope glowed red, then faded to blue around their wrists. Millie pulled it into her wand the moment it floated from their hands.

"And did you agree to conceal the investigation from anyone not wholly and directly designated by the Minister for Magic?" Ustinov asked.

"I did." He spat the words as if they tasted foul.

"You have fulfilled your promise. I release you from your vow."

Millie lowered her wand, and a ribbon of fire twice as thick as the previous two flamed around their hands. The light was almost too bright to gaze upon, like staring straight into the sun. It bathed the room in a hot red glow, then faded to a blue as vibrant as a tropical sea. The ribbon slithered from their wrists at last and clung to the end of Millie's wand for several seconds before extinguishing with a loud whoosh.

"It is done," Millie said.

Snape rubbed his wrists and turned to Hermione. "Questions?"

She had many, but most were for the Minister. "Why was I under investigation?" she asked him.

"You have been monitored since your first report to Shacklebolt, five years ago, along with Malfoy and the rest of Arglist Industries."

"Five years?" She gestured around the laboratory. "How did the Ministry allow this to progress so far if the situation has been monitored that long?"

"The inquiry wasn't official until last year," Ustinov replied. His gaze slid away from hers. "We had very little evidence to launch a formal investigation until ..."

"Until?" she prompted.

Snape answered for the Minister. "Until Lucius convinced the Ministry you were a jilted ex-lover, hell-bent on revenge."

"What?" She would have laughed, but he clearly hadn't meant it as a joke.

"Mr Malfoy visited me last summer and presented a very compelling case," Ustinov said. "He claimed regret for an affair he'd had with you during your tenure at Arglist...an affair he had tried to end when you demanded he leave his wife. He said you became unstable and destroyed the laboratory, as well as several million Galleon's worth of research."

"That's ... that's preposterous!" The very notion made her head spin. "Weren't you the least bit suspicious when he didn't demand my arrest?"

Ustinov shrugged. "He wished to spare his wife embarrassment, should certain details be made public."

She fisted her hands onto her hips. "How could you believe such nonsense?"

"His story appeared to be genuine. He provided letters you had written to him...very convincing letters in which you threatened to ruin his reputation."

"I wrote no such letters!" she protested. "They were obviously forged."

"Yes, I realise that now." His clipped tone spoke of impatience. "But at the time, the material seemed conclusive. Your subsequent accusations only lent more credibility to his story."

She shook her head. How very sly of Lucius to plant those seeds of doubt months before he had begun to threaten her. He was guaranteed to stand in a favourable light no matter what she had accused him of.

She turned to Snape. "You knew about this?"

He inclined his head.

"And this was your opinion of me upon returning to Hogwarts?" It explained so much about their early interactions, the way he'd reacted when he'd discovered her with Lucius at the Christmas Eve ball.

"I had no reason to believe otherwise," he said. "Fifteen years had passed since I'd last seen you...any number of incidents might have changed you. By the time I questioned the evidence, it was far too late."

"Too late?"

"The Ministry descended upon St Mungo's the moment I awoke. Our fates were sealed even before Minerva arrived."

"It was an ideal opportunity to further our investigation." Ustinov seemed eager to offer his opinion. "Severus had already requested a meeting with the Headmistress. What better way to monitor your activities than a return to his old post? There was even an empty room right in your living quarters; we couldn't have planned it better. He'd watch you whilst using his relationship with the Malfoys to discover more about Arglist."

She massaged her temples and tried to follow the logic. "Why would you need an Unbreakable Vow for that?"

"No one had spoken to Severus for fourteen years," he said. "It was impossible to know his true loyalties."

"That's a load of bollocks," she said. "He was loyal to the Order...everyone knows that."

"According to an old man's portrait and a teenaged boy."

"According to everyone present at the battle for Hogwarts," she retorted. "Your predecessor included."

"Yes, I read Shacklebolt's report." His oversized lips curled into a sneer. "Pardon my cynicism, but far too many incidents have been excused for my level of comfort. Double agent does not exempt anyone from the law. I could hardly risk Severus serving his own interests above those of the Ministry."

"Yet you didn't hesitate to risk his life for your stupid investigation, did you?"

Snape placed his hand on her shoulder. "I could have refused to take the Vow," he said quietly.

"Why didn't you?" She whirled on him, shook off his hand. "I would have thought you'd taken enough Unbreakable Vows to last a lifetime."

"This one seemed rather simpler than the last." He shook his head. "I had been drifting in and out of consciousness for fourteen years, nothing but my thoughts and Longbottom's voice for company. Anything they offered would have appealed to me at that moment. An Unbreakable Vow should have been an effortless way to prove my allegiance...would have been, if not for you." His tone held accusation.

She frowned. This was where he would tell her how badly she had mucked up his plans. Considering the events of the evening, she probably deserved the lecture.

"I was supposed to investigate you," he explained, "not fall for you."

"Oh." His words washed the remaining questions from her mind. No doubt they would return when she wasn't so tired, when she'd had a chance to absorb everything she'd learned tonight. She reached for the table when the room swayed. Her motions did not go unnoticed.

"We can continue this discussion later," Snape said. "Now we must leave for St Mungo's."

"I don't need a Healer," she argued. "I just need sleep."

"You need a hospital."

"I need my bed."

"Hospital."

"Hogwarts."

He closed his eyes and sighed. "Hospital wing at Hogwarts."

She nodded. "Hospital wing at Hogwarts."

She waved goodbye to Millie and sank into Snape's embrace. He Apparated them to Hogsmeade, and although she dreaded the walk ahead, she was just glad the spinning had stopped. Her head still pounded, and she wondered if she shouldn't have allowed him to take her to St Mungo's after all. She hadn't exactly broken any records for making good choices tonight.

Snape gazed down the path to Hogwarts and tilted his head. "What would you say to a spot of adventure?"

She laughed. She'd had enough adventure to last many years, but she answered honestly. "I trust you."

His arms tightened around her waist.

"Hold on," he said and leapt into the air with enough speed to make her squeal.

The wind whipped her hair, but she fought the desire to close her eyes. She watched the ground rush by, far below their feet. They soared through the night sky, high above the treetops and closer to the twinkling lights of the castle. She should feel frightened, but fear knew better than to make an appearance. The arms around her were sure and strong and safe, and it was strangely liberating to just let go, to relinquish control for once and simply enjoy the ride.

Too soon, their feet touched the grass. He seemed reluctant to release her, and she was more than content to stay in his arms. The moon peeked out from behind its blanket of clouds and bathed them in soft light.

She smiled at his smug expression. "Show off."

"I have not tried that in fifteen years," he admitted.

"What made you think you could manage it tonight?"

He searched her face. "I suppose Albus would credit love."

"And you?"

"I would be a fool to disagree." He bent his head and found her lips.

She kissed him until the moment was burned into her mind, one instance of purity to chase away all the other scenes from tonight. The ugliness would return soon enough. Tomorrow she could sort out all the pieces, ask the questions that had eluded her, and hear the answers too terrifying to contemplate right now. Tonight, she was just glad to be back where she belonged.

"Let's go home," she said.

He took her hand, and they entered the castle together.

Huge thanks to Karelia, Little Beloved, and Melenka for returning this chapter so quickly. I don't know what I ever did to deserve such lovely friends!