Part Eight
Chapter 8 of 33
devsgmaDarned Child and Devsgma have combined their talents to tell you the story of what has happened to our favorite pair. It starts with a few letters from one extremely grouchy Potions maker to the manager of a used book store. Canon through Deathly Hallows to the point of Severus Snape's supposed death, at which point it becomes AU.
ReviewedAN: Lariope you are a treasure. Irishredlass thank you again for pleading our case.
She was really beginning to like the way he addressed her in his letters of late. For someone who insisted he was not a romantic, he had his moments.
Not that she would ever tell him so.
Hermione trapped her lower lip between her teeth and reached for her pen.
August 20, 2000
Simon,
For a moment I was there, under your cloak, warm against your side. If I thought I could get away with it, my arms would have crept around you as I buried my nose in your shirt front, trying to take in your scent so that I could remember it later. You would smell faintly of cigar, and whatever you'd been working on in your lab that day, and something that was simply Simon.
I wish I could fly with you; you make it sound so lovely, but I can't. I can't fly. Technically, I am capable of lifting off the ground on a broom, but it generally ends badly. I haven't flown anywhere in at least two years; I'm not even sure I could remember how.
Hermione
She realized she hadn't answered his last question and that it had been a deliberate oversight. Hopefully he wouldn't notice. If he appeared at her window, at her flat, would she go with him? She didn't know.
The letters were one thing. Face to face... "Would I come? Perhaps. Even if I couldn't, I think there would be a large part of me that would want to very, very much."
-~8~-
"If I thought I could get away with it, my arms would have crept around you..."
"Yorick! She's a cheeky little bookseller, at that," he commented to the room at large, not at all displeased with the way she'd responded in complete contradiction to what he'd just stated.
"arms would have crept around you as I buried my nose in your shirt front, trying to take in your scent so that I could remember it later."
Simon was suddenly struck with the need to tell her they didn't need brooms, that there was no reason to hesitate, and as it occurred to him what he was thinking, he tossed her letter atop the desk and walked away.
"She's not a witch," Simon said with conviction as he stared the falcon in the eyes. He nodded once before continuing. "She's a siren or an enchantress of some sort masquerading as a harmless bookseller."
Walking away from Yorick's perch, Simon's hands flew up in the air before he turned and paced back to stare in the falcon's eyes.
"Of course! What more proof would she or anyone need? How many saw me leave Hogwarts that night? I'd be trussed up and headed for Azkaban before another day passed and you " he said accusingly while shaking a finger in Yorick's face, as if everything were the poor bird's fault, "you'd be back among the chickens scratching around, fighting for the next juicy worm."
Simon huffed, left his flat after securing it, and headed to the roof. It was dark, and with the avoidance spell he'd placed on the access door, he was confident he wouldn't be bothered.
As he glared down at the people on the street below him, Simon realized he didn't believe Hermione would notify the authorities about his identity even if she had iron clad proof.
Don't be a bloody fool.
Gryffindor. She'd be honor-bound to tell.
His eyes narrowed when he considered her actions toward Longbottom during their First Year.
When Dumbledore stole the cup away from my house by dolling out points for every tiny thing he could think of.
She did it for Potter her friend.
A sharp intake of breath sounded on the faint wind while Simon's chin rose.
She considers me... a friend. Would she do such things for me if the need arose?
Simon sank down on the ledge of the roof. His eyes were open, but they weren't really seeing what was in front of him. They lost focus as the meaning behind Hermione's use of the word friend became clear to him.
"But why?" Simon asked himself, thoroughly and honestly puzzled. "Why risk so much in the name of friendship?"
Rising abruptly, Simon hurried back to his flat and pulled the file containing Hermione's letters. He leafed through them until he found the one that contained the phrases he sought.
"The man I'm thinking of died tragically during the final battle, and while his loss is mourned...
"...in honor of that man's sacrifice..."
"Regardless, you are Simon. Forty-year-old potion maker. And my friend."
As he read those words again, Simon realized she'd still offered her hand in friendship, believing he was her old professor come back. As mean, as hateful, as he'd been to all three of them she had still offered.
"Bloody, cheeky, sentimental drivel," Simon muttered as he drew a fresh sheet of parchment. It was time to find out if she was truly his friend.
Damned good thing I haven't unpacked.
August 21, 2000
Hermione,
I do believe the only blasted reason you've been put on this earth is to test the last dregs of my patience even without the infernal hand waving. Re-read my last letter. Are you attempting to not be an irritating know-it-all any longer? Is there any indication in it at any point that refers to using a broom?
As ever,
Simon
Post script Remember your promise, my wanton one.
-~8~-
He started the letter with her name, and Hermione felt a brief stab of disappointment.
That disappointment quickly turned into something else, something she couldn't name.
... infernal hand waving...
... irritating know-it-all...
No need for a broom.
She'd suspected it, sure. Had been certain several times, but this confirmed it. It shouldn't have been a surprise, wasn't a surprise.
So why did it feel like the bottom had just dropped out of her stomach?
"He is alive. Snape is alive. Oh, God, I have to tell Harry, I have to... No, I can't tell Harry. Not yet. He might want to tell others, and they'd want to talk to him, and all Simon wants is to be left in peace."
She nodded to herself, not noticing that Crookshanks had jumped up onto the sofa beside her to nudge against her arm in concern.
"Somehow he really did survive."
Suddenly she stilled, blinking rapidly as her mind finished processing the newest barrage of thoughts and information. "Oh, good God, I've actually been flirting with Severus Snape." Even more disturbing to her composure was the follow up. "And he's been flirting back!"
August 22, 2000
Simon,
I very nearly wrote sir in addressing you. Old habits. Nerves, most likely.
Yes, that was an admission that I'm a bit nervous at the moment. Although, perhaps, not for the reason you might think.
Suddenly, you're real. I know that sounds stupid, but you've known who I am from the very beginning, what I look like, what I sound like, etc. To me, you've mostly been a name with no face or voice. I admit, of late, I had begun to picture someone you, it turns out when I read your words, but it was a fantasy. Not reality.
And now I know the man behind the words, to a small extent. I've met him, I know more about him than the average student would have learned, and I saw him die. Only not, it turns out.
Couple that with the tone of our last few letters completely at odds with the man I thought I had known before and I realized that I didn't really know anything.
There was some inner debate as to what I should call you, but Simon seems to fit, and we both agreed that Simon is who you are, so Simon it shall be.
My dear Simon.
I do remember my promise, and it has not changed.
Now that that is settled flying. It shames me to admit this, because I do hate admitting that I'm rubbish at anything, but a lack of broom probably wouldn't help. I've ridden on the backs of flying creatures before, and I couldn't do more than clutch at them, terrified that I was about to plummet to my death. I'd spend the entire flight wrapped around you like some sort of limpet or Devil's Snare and wouldn't dare to even look around, much less be able to take anything in. Eventually I'd probably cut off your air supply, and then we'd both fall to our deaths, which would be a lovely way to end an evening, don't you think?
Your wanton friend,
Hermione
-~8~-
My dear Simon, seemed to float through Simon's brain at odd times. He'd catch himself woolgathering, wondering what the very grown up Miss Granger's voice sounded like.
And how very much he would like to hear her say his true name.
"Rubbish pure and simple rubbish," he'd mutter before returning to the task at hand.
Done in the lab for the day, Simon closed the door behind him and rubbed his hands together in anticipation while he walked past Yorick's perch on his way to the bedroom.
"What shall we have for dinner this evening, my chicken? One of your relatives perhaps?"
Shedding the garments he wore in the lab, a sturdy shirt and trousers, Simon stepped into the lavatory to take a shower. He paused and reached for the bottle of cologne he'd purchased for the times he sought out paid female companions. Opening the stopper, he sniffed it lightly and frowned before dumping it down the sink and tossing the empty bottle into the bin.
Wouldn't mix with the scents in the lab. Something... spicy.
As he showered, more phrases from her letter rumbled through his mind.
"I had begun to picture someone you, it turns out when I read your words, but it was a fantasy."
"She's had a fantasy about me? The real me?" Simon asked as his head hung under the shower, eyes closed while the water ran past. "I thought she was supposed to be the smartest witch of her generation. It doesn't make any sense."
Shutting off the water, Simon grabbed a towel and briskly dried off. He caught sight of himself in one of the two mirrors he owned, and for one brief second, he was startled at seeing a stranger. Walking closer, he studied the reflection and wondered if Hermione would like what had been done to change his appearance.
"A name with no face or voice. Little does she know."
One of his hands moved up to slide a finger down the straight slope of his nose and a corner of his mouth lifted.
"She'd still know my voice. The little popinjay never had that, now did he?"
When Gilderoy Lockhart had become the DADA professor, Simon had hated the man on sight for that reason alone. He'd been a stuffed peacock who knew absolutely nothing about anything. But when it seemed every female student, and a few of the males, had fallen in love with the fop, Simon had despised him.
Not that Simon had ever actually wanted adoration and fawning from his students. He wanted their attention to detail and precision above all. It was the idea that, with mere looks alone, Lockhart could charm his way through any situation as long as he could smile. Something Severus Snape could never hope to pull off.
Simon smiled at his reflection, noting the whiter, straighter teeth and chuckled. He was remembering the expression on Lockhart's face when he'd sent pretty Gilderoy thudding across the platform, on his arse, during the dueling demonstration. It was one of the few moments of absolute joy in his life.
"Too bad Creevey didn't have his camera handy that day."
Creevey. Do I even know his first...
In his mind's eye, a list appeared, and his head dropped enough to rest against the doppelganger.
Colin.
Dead.
Too many... Dead and buried.
Simon lifted his head enough to meet the eyes in the reflection. The sneer he sent would have been recognized by any student he'd taught as one of complete disdain.
"And what gives you the right to remain alive? A perverse desire not to return as a ghost? Maybe that's all you deserve."
Throwing on a dressing robe, Simon wandered back out to his desk and picked up Hermione's letter to read again.
August 26, 2000
My dear wanton one,
I can think of no sweeter way to die.
Enjoying myself with a beautiful young woman wrapped around me. Smelling the scent of her hair, perhaps feeling its softness brush my face. My only regret would be that you would die as well, and that is not to be. Not yet.
Not for a very long time to come.
Make me smile, my Hermione. Tell me of your fantasies. The real ones, before I confirmed who I am. I have a hard time believing you, you see. What kind of fantasies can revolve around the great, hooked-nose bat of the dungeons?
As always,
Simon
-~8~-
Enjoying myself with a beautiful young woman wrapped around me.
Even knowing what he was referring to flying together Hermione still felt her skin warm from within, her heart race just a bit faster.
"He wants to know about my fantasies?"
September 2, 2000
My dear Simon,
In all honesty, I don't believe I ever harbored a fantasy about my former professor. Or, at the very least, not one that ended terribly well for you.
I take that back; there was one, I think, not long after the end of my second year. Mostly, though, that one was about seeing a certain DADA instructor get what he deserved, and in my mind's eye he got it over and over and over again.
I suspect, though, that's not quite the sort of fantasy you were inquiring about. If it is, do us both a favor and just skip the rest of this letter. Please.
Slightly more recently, I've begun to imagine what it would be like to have you him you here in my flat as I bathe. The door to the bathroom is open just enough so that my cat can come and go if he wishes, and as I lie there in the tub, sunk low so that I'm covered up to my neck in bubbles and water, the door slowly swings open the rest of the way. A figure in black is standing there, his dark eyes taking in the candlelit room, the way I've sat up in surprise so that there's only the thinnest film of bubbles protecting my modesty. I want to say something, but the words die unspoken in my throat as he deliberately steps into the room, shutting the door behind him. His hands hands I used to watch so closely in order to copy his technique in class reach up to remove his shirt, unfasten his belt, slide the top button of his trousers open as he moves across the small room toward me.
I should demand that you leave, but the heat pooling low in my stomach has me lifting my chin to ask what you think you're doing. Then you speak, and my insides melt. I've never heard that voice say my first name, but I can imagine what it might sound like, and it's good. More than good. Almost like the brush of your thumb against my lower lip, seeking permission to slip into my mouth and be caught gently between my teeth. I can't help but wonder what you would taste like.
There have been others, other fantasies. They're not all quite so illicit, by any means. In one, I merely look up from one of my books to ask your opinion on what I'd just read, and you tell me, without the hint of annoyance that always seemed to taint your voice when you addressed me before. In another we're in a lab, working together on a potion I can't identify, and your hand brushes against mine. That's all, just a hint of contact, but it was enough to make me want to lean toward you. Perhaps it would have been wiser if I'd chosen one of them instead.
It might also have been a good idea not to write this in that tub, drinking a glass of the mead you sent me. Not only has it served to loosen my tongue, my pen has been rather unrestrained as well.
Goodnight, Simon. I don't know if I was able to bring a smile to your face, but I can hope. I wish you pleasant dreams.
Yours,
Hermione
-~8~-
Her latest letter lay unopened on his desk for several days. If she'd basically laughed in his face, which he fully expected, Simon wasn't sure he wanted to know. If he never opened it...
"Gods, this is bloody ridiculous," he snarled on the fifth day of passing it by before snatching it up and ripping the envelope open. His eyes had lingered on it every time he passed the blasted desk, and he had worked himself up to the point of not caring. Or at least he tried to believe he wouldn't.
His eyes locked onto the salutation and at first refused to move lower.
I'm still a dear at any rate.
"don't believe I ever harbored a fantasy about my former professor. Or, at the very least, not one that ended terribly well for you."
Simon found out quite quickly how well he'd lied to himself. A sharp stab of disappointment went through him as the hand holding the letter fell to his side. Sinking down in his chair, Simon's head turned toward Yorick.
"I should be thankful she didn't try to... What is the phrase? 'Let me down easy.' Blunt and to the point is our Miss Granger," Simon advised as he started to read the remainder.
The remarks about Lockhart did bring a small smile to Simon's face.
It appears a photo wasn't needed after all.
The next two paragraphs were read. And read again. The third and fourth time they were perused, Simon's mouth was hanging slightly open, but no sounds were issued. He rubbed his eyes with the fingers of one hand, opened and closed them rapidly several times before reading them a fifth time.
"Yorick?" Simon's voice actually cracked and he had to clear his throat. "She I Good gods!"
Suddenly anxious to see what else she'd written, he finished the rest of the letter in a hurry. He placed it down on the desk in front of him and studied the handwriting. Pulling one at random from the file, he placed them side by side.
"She really wrote this," he whispered to himself. "She really..."
Putting the second one away, he caught sight of the back of his hand. Bringing them together in front of him, he studied the scars, the imperfections only he could really see.
"...hands I used to watch so closely in order to copy his technique in class reach up to remove his shirt, unfasten his belt, slide the top button of his trousers open as he moves across the small room toward me."
Simon was fully aware of what her words were doing to the rest of his body, but it was as if she'd enchanted the letter. He couldn't stop reading it yet again.
"I should demand that you leave,"
"Not bloody likely," Simon muttered under his breath.
"but the heat pooling low in my stomach has me lifting my chin to ask what you think you're doing. Then you speak, and my insides melt."
Simon swallowed hard and cleared his throat while casting an almost ashamed look toward Yorick as he adjusted...the way he was sitting in the chair. It seemed wrong to be reading it in front of the bird.
Is he looking at my crotch? I swear he is.
"Go find yourself a mouse or something, you lazy chicken," Simon ordered in a very gruff voice. "This is my letter, and I'm not sharing."
Yorick of course ignored him by turning his back.
"I've never heard that voice say my first name, but I can imagine what it might sound like, and it's good. More than good. Almost like the brush of your thumb against my lower lip, seeking permission to slip into my mouth and be caught gently between my teeth. I can't help but wonder what you would taste like."
"Oh, gods," Simon moaned. The urge to find her in that bloody bookstore, drag her to her flat and fill the blasted tub with with
"Bloody, fucking bubbles no less!" Simon growled as he stood, glared at Yorick when he squawked at being disturbed yet again, and headed for the bedroom with Hermione's letter still clutched in his hand.
"Shut up or find yourself a new home! It's a damned good thing you can't laugh, or you'd be dinner!" Simon yelled as he slammed the bedroom door behind him.
Several hours later, Yorick's head turned to watch the door open again. Simon emerged, freshly showered, dressed and in a much better temperament. The, by now, very creased letter was carefully folded and placed in a special drawer of his desk. He met the bird's eyes, his narrowing slightly. Simon knew full well the bird didn't know what he'd been doing in the other room, but he still felt slightly sheepish.
"Shut up, you foul fowl. It's still my letter, and you keep your bloody claws off of it!"
Yorick, content with the growled response as being perfectly normal, went back to sleep.
After preparing to answer Hermione's letter at last Simon was at a loss how to proceed. He'd never fantasized about a student. Well, other than when he had been a student, but he really didn't think Hermione would appreciate hearing how he'd lusted after her best friend's mother.
In his mind's eye, the Hermione of old took precedence. He could not bring himself to imagine a child Gods, no! Rising, he went to the pile of papers he kept in a corner to search for a current picture. He found one, almost full length, that apparently had been taken when she was in a hurry.
When was she not? Simon decided with a small snort before returning to his desk.
September 8, 2000
I no longer know how to address you. Siren? Temptress? They all seem lacking somehow.
In case you haven't guessed, you did much more than make me smile, so wicked and wanton still fit the bill for the most part. Wicked, wanton siren? I like temptress better. Maybe because it's old fashioned. Somewhat like me, I suppose.
On that note, I had to dig out one of those newsprint pictures you despise. I couldn't bring myself to respond as I'm going to unless I could firmly place you in my mind as the beautiful young woman you've become and not the child of my memory.
Should I tell you what we did in that tub of bubbles? I've never "made love," my temptress, so my technique might be somewhat lacking, but I'm not inexperienced. We left your bath, both dripping and sated before we resumed our activities on your bed. There I got to look, taste and drink my fill of you.
Your hair long released from its clasp is spread over your pillow, cliched I know, but new to me. I ache to see it close and in person, my temptress.
I look at your picture, and as you're hurrying away from the photographer, a flash of thigh is revealed under your skirt. Are you as soft all over as you appear?
Simon rose from his desk and walked toward a window. He couldn't bring himself to be more graphic in print, but he could picture it quite clearly.
You are all those things and more. You've bewitched me with your fantasy, Hermione. It's all I can think of.
Now, more than ever, yours,
Simon
-~8~-
September 15, 2000
My dear Simon,
If either of us is the tempter, it would have to be you. I've never written anything like that before you, never found myself lost in illicit daydreams at the most inopportune times before we began corresponding. Never called out someone's name as I lie alone in my bed.
Trying to imagine what your touch would feel like, my hands an inadequate substitute for yours, picturing you doing the same with thoughts of me and my name on your lips.
Hermione shook herself out of the fantasy and returned to writing her letter.
If I am wicked or wanton, it must be you that makes me so.
Your experience, limited though you may think it, is most likely more than mine. To hear your voice whisper "temptress," feel the warm breath of the word breathed against my ear or the soft brush of your lips against the delicate skin of my neck... How could I find fault with technique if I can't even think?
You found a picture of me? You really do think I'm beautiful?
She groaned and scratched through the last sentence. "I don't want him to think I'm an insecure child, begging for compliments."
I can only hope it was one of the better ones. I swear the press has made an actual effort to catch me at my worst whenever possible.
This what we're doing, these letters it's all new to me. I'm sure that's horrifically obvious. I just wanted you to know that. I've written to others before, for years in fact, but never anything this I'm not even sure why I brought it up.
I should turn in for the night.
Yours,
Hermione
Post Script I nearly forgot I won't be home the next few days; I'll be visiting my parents. My birthday is in a few days, and Mum decided to use the occasion as an excuse to throw a bit of a family reunion. I've been warned there will be relatives there I haven't seen in years, and Mum wants me to show up a day or two in advance so that she can fill me in on all the things I've been doing, or at least all of the things she's been telling people that I do, since she can't very well tell them I'm a witch. Even if I am just a witch who works in a bookstore.
**********
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Latest 25 Reviews for Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road
418 Reviews | 6.11/10 Average
I enjoyed this story immensely. From the opening words, to the very last of it, you both captured my imagination and led me through this beautiful story wonderfully. Thank you!Love Sonia :)
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
Dear Sonia,You're very welcome. ;)
I am sorry for not reviewing each and every chapter of this beutifully crafted story. The whole plot as it moved twisting and turning grabbed me so much I have read this story over the last two days as its appeal made me not want to stop reading. I love your characterisation of Severus in this snarky and swearing post war story. The whole scenario of Dumbledore putting a curse and also poisoning Severus to me seems very plausable and I do like what you wrote. The eagle for me stole teh show his Chicken lol and the antics of the bird to get SS and HG together was hillarious especially the bird taking that last letter without consent and giving it to HG. Wise bird.
I do realise how good it is to have a superb beta reader and wish I had one as good as yours. I do hope to read more of your stoires and have favourited your stories here so I can read more. Really enjoyed this one and take this review to equal 100 or more reviews. I am blind and prefer to review after I have read teh whole story. Mainly due to my screen reader misbehaving at times and losing links which can be very frustrating when you are in the middle of a most enjoyable read. I shall look forward to seeing your Severus Snape in future. I know you wrote it a while back but for me a newby to SS fic it is so good to read a well written piece of work that obviously took much research over months if not longer. I do appreciate all your hard work. So thanks so much for writing and sharing this with me. Claps hands with appreciation. Janette from Scotland
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
Dear Janette,I'm so sorry I haven't responded before now. I must have missed the notification in my email some how. Gmail did go through a change not too long ago, so I'm hoping that's what happened.It doesn't matter how long ago a story was written, the author (or in this case authors) always love to hear they've pleased a new reader. This story was a labor of love from start to finish for both darnedchild and me. We do have a wonderful beta, and she's quite a wonderful person too. ;)
I can't stop smiling everytime Simon/Severus mentions his "chicken". I call my pet cockatiel "chicken".
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
LOL. Thank you. I don't know quite why I had him start calling Yorick that, but it seemed like the kind of thing he'd do. You know, just to annoy the poor bird. ;)
Response from Calicoskys (Reviewer)
IT makes perfect sense. I don't think it would annoy the bird but if Severus THINKS it's annoys the bird that works just as well. I like to tell my Meeka that she ought to pull her weight arround and deliver my mail for me... but she just blinks and begs for a scratch. At least Yorick pulls his weight in work haha!.
and what a joy it was to read...funny, exciting, frustrating, err, stimulating, and finally the happy ending. mere words are inadequate for the thanks i wish to give you for sharing your time, talent and vision. mega mucho smoochies
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
Thank you,
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
! Many, many thanks go to you for sticking with us through the many starts and stops. ;)
Hey ladies, this was a nice finish to a great story. I think that the "I'm not good enough for you" drama is truly typical Snape, but I'm glad that it didn't drag out forever. I don't think this needed an epilogue. Instead of ending, this story is really just beginning. I must admit that good old Yorick will definitely be missed. Nicely done!
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
Thank you so very much,
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
! And thank you again for sticking with us through all the stops and starts. ;)
That is rather bad for authors to put such a cliffie. I hope it won't be too long for the next chapter. I don't really fear that Severus will die but one never know. Plus Yorick may ignore his masrer's command and SEND the letter. That would be great and should provitd a lot of fun with an angry Hermione flying to save her love.
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
Yesh, evil cliffy! Mwhahaha. Seriously, I have to admit we did decide to end that part there, but not the wait. Part Thirty-Two was written while darnedchild was preparing to move to another state and Thirty-Three is partly written, but it takes a bit of time to settle in. Hopefully the wait won't be long. ;)
Nasty cliffie.
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
Yesh, evil cliffy! Mwhahaha. Seriously, I have to admit we did decide to end that part there, but not the wait. Part Thirty-Two was written while darnedchild was preparing to move to another state and Thirty-Three is partly written, but it takes a bit of time to settle in. Hopefully the wait won't be long. ;)
So let me get this straight. You spoil us rotten with a bunch of chapters coming hot on the heels of each one before it, and now you wait until we have a real cliffhanger to have a slight delay?!?! You gals never struck me as evil before... :)Still, this was a great chapter. While I didn't necessarily think that Hermione's version of the antidote would be the one, I sure didn't expect our furry friends to die.Severus is in rare form here. I love how annoyed he is that she is brewing so well, but then he decides it is ok when he realizes that his superior teaching skills probably played a part in her abilities. His will is two lines long. It's kind of funny in a sad sort of way that that is all that is necessary. And his note for her is so matter of fact, you'd think he was explaining why he had to suddenly go out of town for the weekend, not why he had inadvertantly killed himself. I do hope his thoughts are correct because if he dies she will surely find a way to save him just so she can kill him herself. Looking very forward to whatever is in store for these two. It has been a long journey and I am certain it won't end badly for them. Um, right?
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
We are not Ebil! Well, maybe a little as that ending was written before the rest of the chapter, and it was designed to end that way, but the delay wasn't planned. Yesh, evil cliffy! Mwhahaha. Seriously, I have to admit we did decide to end that part there, but not the wait. Part Thirty-Two was written while darnedchild was preparing to move to another state and Thirty-Three is partly written, but it takes a bit of time to settle in. Hopefully the wait won't be long. ;)
It says "unconscious", not "dead." I have to take consolation in that fact. And in that you've done 32 chapters so far and would not have come so far to have them be kept away by something as silly as death at the hands of a potion. I look forward to more. Truffles - Sara
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
Ohh, num, truffles! Thank you!
Gasp..OH NO This is not good...PLEASE PLEASE tell me Severus survives and is alright, that the spell is broken...Hermione just has to find him in time....Is worried now....SNIFF!!!! WELL DONE!!!
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
I can't tell you that,
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
! Well, I could, but then it might be a lie and then you'd hatesss me! ;)
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! And you leave us this way??? How cruel. He simply MUST survive and be cured. And I must admit that if this were my story, I would have left you hanging there as well... Muahahaha!Post again SOOOON, please.
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
HEE! So glad you agree. Yesh, evil cliffy! Mwhahaha. Seriously, I have to admit we did decide to end that part there, but not the wait. Part Thirty-Two was written while darnedchild was preparing to move to another state and Thirty-Three is partly written, but it takes a bit of time to settle in. Hopefully the wait won't be long. ;)
Evil Cliffie!Somehow I fell off the notice list and missed half the story. Glad I found it again.
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
We're quite glad you found it again too! Yesh, evil cliffy! Mwhahaha. Seriously, I have to admit we did decide to end that part there, but not the wait. Part Thirty-Two was written while darnedchild was preparing to move to another state and Thirty-Three is partly written, but it takes a bit of time to settle in. Hopefully the wait won't be long. ;)
ahhhhh!!!! evil cliffy! update coming soon????
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
Yesh, evil cliffy! Mwhahaha. Seriously, I have to admit we did decide to end that part there, but not the wait. Part Thirty-Two was written while darnedchild was preparing to move to another state and Thirty-Three is partly written, but it takes a bit of time to settle in. Hopefully the wait won't be long. ;)
Oh no! Well, maybe the pain killed the mousies? Their hearts do run awfully quickly- maybe, like rabbits occasionally do, their hearts just stopped? Poor mice, poor Severus, and... *crinkly eyebrows!*
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
At this point, he just plain doesn't know, but *shrugs* he decided to take the chance. ;)
That was fairly incredible and you are leaving us here for a few weeks? Sigh. Well, RL definitely takes precedence, but I will still be waiting anxiously.
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
I have to admit we did decide to end that part there, but not the wait. Part Thirty-Two was written while darnedchild was preparing to move to another state and Thirty-Three is partly written, but it takes a bit of time to settle in. Hopefully the wait won't be long. ;)
Still calling her Siren. It makes me cry every time he does. Looks like Severus is going to have a purifying trial, and we will have the trial of having to wait to find out what happens. I loved the way they teased each other in this chapter. Only one chapter to go? So I guess it's going to be worth the wait ;)
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
Aww, you're sweet. It look like one more, but you never know for sure til you can write "The End." ;)
Response from WriterMerrin (Reviewer)
I don't think I'll complain if it takes another chapter or two. ;)
If he doesn't die she's going to kill him! :)
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
LOL She might at that! ;)
OMG OMG OMG....oh noo, don't die severus. What a CLIFFIE! OMG.
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
I have to admit we did decide to end that part there, but not the wait. Part Thirty-Two was written while darnedchild was preparing to move to another state and Thirty-Three is partly written, but it takes a bit of time to settle in. Hopefully the wait won't be long. ;)
Response from mimmom (Reviewer)
That's okay. It will be worth the wait, I'm sure. I love this bookmark/update feature. I rarely read any other fanfiction sites because they don't have this feature. I have SO many stories I'm reading all at once right now that I don't feel so insane if I have to wait for one to be updated. Plus I'm reading a lot of WIPs that I'd have ignored before because I'd have trouble finding the story again or I'd never know when updates happened.
I hope help will arrive in time...!
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
We shall see. ;)
poor mices!ah sev ~rubs his back and eats an ice pop~ every little thing comes right in the end, eventually ^.^ one way or another.at least you aren't like that one Sev in that other story! he royally messed everything up for himself and his hermione...now he is one sad panda!
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
*offers another ice pop to
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
while wondering what other Severus she's talking about – BECAUSE – there is only ONE, you know?* ;)
Response from keske (Reviewer)
im sorry, you're right. there can only be one!i should cut down on the number of fics i read...soon, all the different Sevs will find themselves in a hotel meeting room drinking chai lattes and discussing "Hermione Wrangling" or some such fiddle faddle...i'm very silly, you see ^.^
What a lovely date! Well, except for the Malfoy encounter, but they managed to emerge from that relatively unscathed. I want them to cancel the rest of their lives, and spend 24/7 on research. The answer has to be there and if anyone can find it, it is they. Keep on churnin out chapters... I'm anxious to get them together for real, and for good.
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
Ah, the Malfoy encounter was fun! Honest! ;)
oh, my...she did handle them perfectly. wonderful update. thanks and mucho smoochies
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
Thank you and smoochies back! ;)
Sigh. You would think Draco would grow up. But apparently not.
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
LOL Thank you.
I love it.
Response from devsgma (Author of Beyond 84 Charing Cross Road)
We're quite glad you do! ;)