The Spell

Disclaimer: Although I own none of this, I thank and bow to J. K. Rowling for turning a blind eye as I play shamelessly with her invention.

A/N: As always, I also thank my marvelous beta, JENGEORGE, for her help in keeping my characters in character and my story coherent. I also must extend my gratitude to WriterMerrin and the staff here at TPP for their relentless pursuit of perfect grammar and punctuation.

I would also like to apologize in advance for the song lyrics. I used an on-line Latin translator. I know nothing about Latin, having never taken it in school. Sometimes there were several words to pick from to represent the English word, and I have no idea if I chose the best or the worst of the lot.

Chapter 27

The Spell

After what felt like months instead of days, Sunday afternoon arrived, and with it, Professor Snape. Hugo ran to the door and flailed his arms around until they grabbed hold of Snape's Disillusioned robes and anxiously dragged him inside.

"Gran has been telling Rose all about your part in the war," he announced excitedly. Then he whispered, "but I don't think my dad likes you very much. He didn't get very good grades in your class, did he?" asked the boy sheepishly as the charm's effects slowly dripped off and Snape's long, lean form came into view.

"What did he tell you?"

Poor Hugo turned bright red. "I'd rather not say, sir. It was very disrespectful." They Hugo pulled himself up to his full height and pushed his bottom lip up in defiance. "And I told him so!"

"Well, thank you kind sir, for your gallantry on my behalf. But I'm certain that your opinion fell on deaf ears," Snape remarked snidely.

"My father's not deaf!" retorted Hugo.

Snape couldn't help but snort with laughter. "No, Hugo, that means that he paid you no heed." Hugo seemed just as clueless as he had a moment ago. "He chose not to listen to you, or at least he didn't value your opinion of me."

"Ooohh." The boy finally caught on. "He pretended to be deaf."

"Precisely."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened."

"So is this your way of warning me that your sister still doesn't like me?"

"That's it in a nutshell, sir."

Snape nodded thoughtfully. Well, he was used to blatant loathing from his students and just about everyone else, for that matter. Miss Granger, on the other hand, greeted him in the hallway with a kiss on the cheek. Then she lead the way to the kitchen. After being told that there was nothing he could do to help with the dinner prep, Snape settled down at the kitchen table on this late Sunday afternoon in August and began flipping through the pages of Rose's new potions text to find a suitable recipe to coach the kids through.

"So, Professor, are you going to make good on your promise?" asked Rose in a persnickety tone.

"What promise is that?" Snape asked warily. At times she almost reminded him of a Slytherin with her high degree of manipulative skills.

"Don't you remember last week? You said you would teach me the healing spell you used on Hugo."

He sighed deeply with dismay at her question. It seemed that she had not forgotten about it as he had hoped she would. "I also told you it was very advanced magic and you may not be able to master it at your age."

"And I told you with certainty that I could!"

Snape put on his best sneer. He had been reserving it for her, after all. "Arrogance, although not exclusively a Gryffindor trait, does seem to run rampant in your particular house." He raised his eyebrow at her.

She responded with a stone face. "And what's so hard about this spell, then?"

"Well," he pondered as he contemplated just how difficult he would try to make it for her, "the incantation is somewhat long, and it must be memorized and recited with precision. There is also a melody that must be followed, and although the key is not crucial, the melody is."

"Mum says that I have a pretty good singing voice, so staying on key should be no problem, and I can memorize just about anything that I read in only a couple of tries," she insisted. "So it should be easy."

Snape narrowed his eyes. He most definitely didn't like her attitude and had an almost overwhelming desire to cut her sizable ego to shreds, but he also very much wanted to get on her good side. He felt that, until he succeeded in that department, Sunday afternoons would continue to be an emotional rollercoaster for all involved. "Alright, I'll teach you the words and melody, but that's the easy part. You said last week that you had powers of concentration well beyond your years. This spell will truly put them to the test."

"Oh, yeah?" Her countenance reeked skepticism. "How so?"

Snape felt that the girl's tenacity and determination were both admirable and infuriating at the same time. "You must will the patient to wellness, so to speak. You must be able to visualize the injury fully healed and the person completely recovered with full use of the damaged area. It takes a great deal of concentration and visualization skills..."

"I can do that," she boldly interrupted him.

"I'm not finished yet," he said in a deathly quiet tone. "And if you interrupt me again, this lesson will be at an end. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," she replied meekly, her ego finally somewhat deflated.

"You understand the principles of magic, yes?"

"That the energy from our willpower combines with the spells we use and is concentrated and directed by our wands to create the desired effects?"

Snape couldn't stifle his sneer. "Straight from the text." He pulled out his wand and began to caress it with his fingers. "But do you understand that, when you perform this particular spell, you are using your energy to direct and accelerate the patient's own body to heal itself?"

"Oooh!" Her eyes grew wide with wonder.

"This is why you must put your personal feelings aside. If you are too attached to someone, you could lose your objectivity and hence your ability to concentrate. If you hate someone, you might not want them to get well and the spell would be rendered ineffective. But you must still care about the person enough to want to heal them. You must tap into a higher type of caring... universal... unconditional. You must keep in mind that to heal this person, even if he is your worst enemy, is to heal yourself, because we are all connected."

Rose nodded thoughtfully. "Kind of like Eastern philosophy. We are all one drop in the great ocean of spirit."

Hermione glanced at Snape as Rose spoke. She knew that Rose had picked up a couple of books on world religion from the Muggle library over the summer for some light reading. Did she just see a look of astonishment cross his face? Or was she imagining it? Whatever it might have been, he was now wearing his usual impassive and inscrutable mask.

"That's the idea, yes," he admitted. "So, shall I teach you the words?"

"I'm ready when you are."

"It's rather long and in Latin. Perhaps a piece of parchment would be helpful."

Rose produced the necessary writing implements, and Snape went to work copying down the spell for her as he spoke.

"Oh Lumen Eternus,

Succurro mihi sano is vulnus.

Quis lace seorsum

Lunctum iterum.

Cum amor quo mea pectus,

Aufero poena do illae cruciatus animus.

"Roughly translated it means:

Oh Eternal Light,

Help me to heal this wound.

What has been torn apart,

Must be reunited.

With love from my heart,

Remove the pain of this tortured soul."

"That's beautiful," whispered Hermione. Professor Snape tilted his head toward her in agreement.

"And the melody?"

"It sounds rather like a Gregorian chant, but let's be sure you have the words memorized precisely first," he chided her.

Rose scowled at him. She felt that he was holding her back. "But wouldn't knowing the melody help me to remember the words?"

Snape scowled back. "This is the way I teach it. I don't need to explain my reasons to you. Do you wish to learn it or not?"

"Control freak," she mumbled.

"Rose!" Hermione admonished.

"I will say this only once, young lady," Snape stood and loomed menacingly over her. "If you wish me to teach you anything – potions, spells, incantations, transfigurations," he growled through gritted teeth, "you must learn it my way or not at all. My methods are tried and true. They have stood the test of time. I do not need suggestions from a..." He stopped as he realized that his desire for an amiable relationship with her was fast rushing down the drain with each of his biting words. With great effort, he swallowed the scathing insult he was about to hurl at her. "... a young, inexperienced student," he finished. His lips stretched into a thin tight line as he breathed deeply and willed himself to calm.

Rose snatched up the parchment with the Latin incantation written in Snape's spiky handwriting and turned to leave the kitchen.

"Just where do you think you're going with that?" He barked.

"To the family room to memorize it," she barked back with her chin sticking out at him.

"Let me hear you pronounce it first. Pronunciation is just as important as the melody."

Rose rolled her eyes dramatically and huffed for added effect. Then she held up the parchment, cleared her throat, and began to recite the words slowly and dramatically. When she reached the word "mihi," Snape stopped her.

"This is not Shakespeare. And it's not 'myhigh,' you insolent little..."

"Professor," Hermione scolded him gently.

He gritted his teeth and steadied himself before continuing. "In Latin, the letter 'I' is pronounced 'ee,' so the word sounds like 'meehee,' not 'myhigh.'"

"Oh, so it is," the girl said with a flippant wave of her hand as if the mistake was no big deal.

"The slightest mispronunciation will render the incantation useless. It seems you require my help after all." His sneer made her uncomfortable, and she dropped her gaze to the parchment in her hand. After a moment of pregnant silence, he figured that perhaps she needed some encouragement. "Everything else was adequate up to that point," he admitted grudgingly. "By all means, proceed."

She continued with her recitation and managed to finish with no more corrections needed. Then she read it again from the beginning, and this time her execution was flawless. Finally, she lowered the paper and said it word for word, already memorized. Snape lifted an eyebrow and nodded his approval. "Acceptable, but let me hear it once more to be sure."

Rose repeated herself in what she obviously considered a needless exercise. "Could we start on the melody now, sir?" she asked with overt politeness.

Snape shot a sideways glance at Miss Granger and caught her attempting to stifle a snicker. He was not amused. He turned his attention back to Rose. "Very well. As I mentioned before, it sounds similar to a Gregorian chant." He sang the first line and waited for her to repeat it. Then the next, and the next. The melody followed a typical Gregorian chant style with all words in a monotone until the dip at the end of the line. Although the longer lines were a bit more complicated, most of the incantation's melody was very basic.

She got it right on the second read-through. She could do it without his help and without sneaking a peak at the parchment on the third try. Snape kept his well-schooled, stony expression in place, but inwardly he couldn't help but be impressed with the precocious twelve-year-old.

"Good work, Rose," Hermione praised her. She knew from experience that Professor Snape would not tell her so, but a silent Professor Snape was usually a respectably impressed Professor Snape.

"Ah, yes, but now comes the hard part."

Rose moved closer to him, her wand held tightly in her hand. "How will I know if I can do it if I have no one to practice on?"

"Not a problem. I volunteer myself as guinea pig." Snape reached for his potions knife and spelled it clean with an antiseptic spell, then he carefully rolled up the sleeve of his left arm, revealing the ugly Dark Mark. Even though she had seen it before, it still made Rose shiver.

Hugo, who had been sitting at the table and quietly taking in the entire lesson, leaned in for a better look at the evil-looking tattoo. "Whatever possessed you to do that to yourself, sir?" he asked innocently.

Snape looked up into Hugo's sweet face, astonished at the question. As deep pain replaced his astonishment, Snape quietly answered the boy. "What, indeed, my young friend. I so desperately wanted to fit in at school, but I was a hopelessly inept social misfit. As a result, my choice of friends was somewhat limited. I listened to people who claimed to have my best interests at heart, and evil possessed me, Hugo, pure evil. I lost myself when I took that mark. And I had to lose the one person that meant more to me than anything in this world to realize the mistake I had made. Be careful the company you keep," he warned as he glanced back and forth between the two kids. "Don't let your peers talk you into anything that your heart and soul tell you are wrong. It is better to walk alone down the path of light than to walk down the path of evil surrounded by so-called friends."

Hermione and the children stared at him in shocked silence for what seemed like an agonizingly long time. Hermione had never heard him speak of his reasons for turning to Voldemort. But she knew what it was like to have no friends. She wondered at that moment just how different her life might have turned out had Harry and Ron not befriended her after the Troll incident during their first year. Her heart ached even more for Professor Snape.

"Now, on to more up-lifting things, yes?" They both nodded eagerly. "Here, Rose, let's see what you can do with this." With those words, Snape carefully sliced a short cut into his inner forearm lengthwise right through the skull of the offensive tattoo. He was careful not to cut too deeply, but there was plenty of blood to give a sense of urgency.

"Oh, dear!" Rose and Hermione both exclaimed at once. Hermione reached for a dish towel and placed it under Professor Snape's arm.

Snape found their concern amusing. "Don't worry. If Rose can't handle it, I can heal myself." He looked Rose directly in the eyes. "Now, remember what I said about the visualization and using your energy to direct my body to heal itself?"

"Yes, sir," she answered with a professional air. There was no arrogance in her voice this time as she dropped her gaze to the blood that was trickling from his arm to the towel.

"Well, what are you waiting for? You want me to bleed to death?"

Her eyes met his again with an alarmed look. "Of course not, sir!"

"Then I suggest you get busy."

She took a deep breath, as did everyone else in the room, and placed her wand over his wound and closed her eyes. Then she slowly and deliberately sang the song as she waved her wand and knitted her brow in deep concentration. When she came to the end of the song, she heard Snape's voice.

"Again, and open your eyes this time."

"But..."

"Just do it."

Her eyes popped open and her demeanor immediately deflated. His arm was still bleeding just as much as before.

"I would have been amazed if you had succeeded the first time. Even your mother was not that extraordinary." He noticed Miss Granger blush out of the corner of his eye. "Try it again."

Rose sang the song with more vigor and volume the second time, but she kept her eyes open as instructed. Still no change. But she pushed her chin up and clenched her jaw. Then she sang the song again... and again.

After the forth try, Hermione finally intervened. "It's OK, Rose. Professor Snape did say it was a very advanced spell."

"And it doesn't help that she despises me," Snape added for good measure.

"I don't despise you, sir," she said with all the sincerity she could muster.

"Perhaps, but your father does, and I'm sure his opinion of me has colored yours."

Rose gave him a defeated and guilty look.

"That's OK, Rosy," Hugo announced. If you need to love the person you're healing, then you can heal me."

"Hugo, NO!" cried Hermione as Snape lunged for the boy, but before anyone could stop him, Hugo had taken Snape's potions knife and plunged it into his left forearm. The blood began to pour down onto the same towel Snape's arm had been staining, and as Hugo realized that he had cut himself dangerously deep, his heart quickened, causing the blood to squirt across the table.

"Oh, Merlin. Professor, do something – quickly!" Hermione begged.

Rose stood in wide-eyed horror as Snape sprang into action. He conjured a short length of rope that he used as a tourniquet just above the cut on Hugo's arm. Then he transfigured the towel into a bowl and Scourgified the blood off the table. Then he turned to Rose who was still rooted in place by his side.

"Rose, look at me! You can do this. You have the tools. And Hugo's right. It's easier if you love the person. Tap into that love, and it will give you the power to heal him."

"But..."

"No buts. I know you can do it."

"Professor, please!" insisted Hermione, almost in hysterics. "This is not the time for experiments. HEAL HIM – NOW! Before he loses the use of his hand."

Just then, a loud crash could be heard from the living room. Ron came bursting into the kitchen covered in soot from head to toe. "What in bloody hell is going on here? What's happened to Hugo?"

"Daddy?" exclaimed Rose in a shaky voice.

"I cut myself so Rose could heal me," Hugo admitted sheepishly, "but I cut a bit too deep, and I made a real mess of things. Sorry."

"Snape, DO something!" Ron joined in the fray.

"SILENCE! Both of you. How do you expect your daughter to concentrate with all this racket?"

"Rose can practice on somebody else, Snape! Heal him NOW!"

With a flick of his wand, Snape rendered Walnut Brain silent and immobile. He then turned his wand and his threatening glare on Miss Granger, but she had the good sense to cover her mouth with her trembling hands.

He turned to Rose, whose eyes betrayed her terror. He reached out with his still-bleeding left arm and touched her shoulder. "In battle you will face scenes much worse than this, with chaos all around you. Loud noises, people screaming in pain... But right now, we're safe in your mother's kitchen. Hugo's bleeding is under control; he's not going to die," Snape serenaded her with his velvety baritone. He could see the tension leaving her face; he could feel it ease away in her shoulder. "I won't let it continue to the point he loses use of his hand. But Hugo's right, as a beginner, you need to truly care about the person you are healing. You love your brother, don't you?"

"Yes," she whispered.

Snape nodded. "Then, you can do this, Rose. I know you can. Now, have another go."

"Should I close my eyes or keep them open?"

"Whatever makes you more comfortable."

Rose placed her wand over Hugo's arm, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and began to sing the song. As Hugo and the three adults in the room watched with fascination, the cut began to knit itself back together, starting with the fleshy depths of muscle, veins and arteries.

"Again," he urged her gently.

As she sang and slowly waved her wand, she peeked through her lashes to witness the transformation. Snape could feel her excitement and the surge of magical power that it inspired in her. She opened her eyes fully as she neared the last line. But the cut still needed just a bit more coaxing to completely knit itself back together, so she repeated the song a third time. By the end everyone in the room let out a huge sigh and began to congratulate Rose on the amazing job she did, with the exception of Ron, who was still stuck in Snape's Body-Bind curse.

Snape treated Rose to a rare smile and even rarer praise for her performance. "That was nothing short of amazing, young lady. I was nearly fifteen the first time I successfully performed that healing spell. You have a promising future... promising, indeed."

"Thank you, Professor, but do you think you could show your appreciation by letting my dad out of the Body-Bind curse?"

"What? Oh, right. Sorry, Weasley, but you were blathering on to the point of breaking her concentration." Snape waved his hand absentmindedly and Ron stumbled where he stood. Then he stood up straight and took a menacing step toward Snape, who proceeded to ignore him as he inspected the self inflicted cut on his arm. "What in Merlin's name are you doing here anyway?"

"I could ask the same of you, Snape. I showed up here because I'm on call, and the alarm came through that an under-aged person was attempting a very powerful spell, so I was required to check it out. Imagine my horror when I came in here and my son's blood was squirting all over the kitchen! What are you playing at?" He turned to Hermione, enraged. "And you let him do it? What kind of a mother are you?"

"I think I liked you better immobile," Snape drawled. "And I thought your ex-wife had cut her fireplace off from the Floo Network."

"I added it back after Ron and I made peace. Perhaps I was a bit hasty in my decision."

"Dad," Hugo pleaded with his father to understand as Snape reached over and untied the tourniquet, "they tried to stop me from hurting myself, but I grabbed the knife when no one was looking. And, like I said before, I didn't mean to make the cut so deep. But Rose healed it, see? Good as new!" He flexed his fingers and waved his hand just to prove his point.

"You should be proud of our daughter," Hermione insisted.

"Indeed," agreed Snape. "Now, if you will give me a moment, I need to heal this cut." He picked up his wand and aimed it at the still-bleeding Dark Mark.

"Wait, Professor," cried Rose anxiously. "If you don't mind, I'd like to try again. I think I can do it this time."

"Oh?" He raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. "Have you grown so fond of me in such a short span of time?" His voice held just a touch of sarcasm.

"As a matter of fact, yes." The girl admitted with a coy smile. "You see, just now, you and Hugo had faith in me..." Her wide eyes moved from Snape's face to Hugo's with a grateful nod. Then her gaze turned to disappointment as it fell briefly on her mother and father before returning to the obsidian depths of Snape's unfaltering gaze. "They didn't."

Snape shot her parents a quick knowing glance and found them both studying their shoes, appearing dreadfully guilty. He looked back at Rose with his trademark smirk firmly in place, put away his wand, and extended his injured arm. "By all means."

The girl didn't even have to close her eyes this time. The song came out of her as a spiritual melody sung from her heart. Snape's cut was completely healed before she had uttered the last line of the incantation. The others clapped and cheered as Rose threw her arms around Snape's neck. His eyebrows shot up in surprise, but he gently patted her back. "Thank you, my dear. Well done."

*****

Later that night, after the children had gone to sleep, Hermione nestled into her bed and looked back on the day's events. What a wonderful evening it had turned out to be, especially since Ron had to go back to work right after Rose had healed Professor Snape's cut. They enjoyed dinner immensely, and for the first time, everyone enjoyed each other's company as well. All three of them walked the professor to the front door, and after she handed him Harry's Invisibility Cloak, all three gave him a warm goodbye hug. Hermione wished for the day when her beloved professor wouldn't have to leave, when he would ascend the staircase with the rest of the family and help her to fill up the huge king-sized bed that her parents used to sleep in. She tried to picture it in her mind as she dozed off, her happy little family... her, Rose, Hugo, and Severus Snape...

"I still can't believe it," Hermione whispered into Severus' ear as she laced her fingers with his. They sat together on the stage where the faculty overlooked the graduating class in nice, neat rows of white chairs beside the lake at Hogwarts. It was Hugo's turn. He and Lily Potter had both graduated with high marks in all of their NEWTs.

Hugo rubbed Severus vigorously on the shoulder. "Perhaps, after I complete my Auror training, old man. Then I may stand a chance."

Hermione gasped just as Rose flashed her hand in her mother's face. A huge, goblin-made diamond ring graced her finger. "Scorpius proposed. We're getting married!"

"Oi!" Ron burst out angrily. "You're marrying a Malfoy? I thought I raised you better than that!" Everyone in the circle turned to him with wide, disbelieving eyes, and he cowered at their shocked reaction. "I'm joking, I'm joking. Can't any of you take a joke, for Merlin's sake?" He reached for Scorpius' hand and pulled him in for a hug. As they separated, Ron gave him a sheepish grin. "She'd have a hard time doing better than you, mate." Then he grabbed the boy's shoulder and turned him away from Rose. "A word of advice. You know that book Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches?" Scorpius nodded. "If your dad gave you a copy, chuck it in the fire straight away. Don't ever use the spells on her, or she'll kick you out on your arse!"

"Haven't your many years of marriage taught you never to presume what a woman will do?"

"And, if the Board of Governors approves my appointment, I will accept."

His hands moved to the small of her back as he pressed the lower half of her body into his. His excitement was obvious. "You want me to hold this thought 'til later?" he asked as he ground his pelvis into hers for emphasis.

Severus dropped his hands and stepped away with a smirk. "I needed a break from the crowd. Do come and see me before you leave." He quickly planted a chaste kiss on his wife's cheek. "Kill-joy," he muttered under his breath. Then he turned and sauntered down the stairs to the dungeons, his robes billowing behind him.

As Hermione took her son's arm and they passed back through the doors to the Great Hall, the scene faded, and she drifted into a much deeper, dreamless sleep...