Part Twenty-Three

AN: I apologize in advance for the brevity of this chapter. Many, many thank yous are sent in the direction of our wonderful, and speedy, Lariope for the beta work.

Dealing with Minerva had been easier than she'd expected. Minerva had been quite familiar with Dumbledore's safeguards in the past, and it wasn't difficult to convince her that the portrait had fallen victim to another of Albus's schemes.

At one point, while Minerva vented about something else that Albus had done, Hermione turned her mind to the strange aura she had found while examining Simon. It was almost familiar, but she didn't think she'd actually seen something like it before. It had to have been something she'd read about. But when?

Minerva finished cleaning up the mess in her office and settled in to the chair behind her desk. She asked about Harry and Ron, and Hermione replied with some anecdote even as the wheels started turning in her head.

Harry and Ron. The aura. She'd read about something similar because of Harry and Ron... When?

"Minerva, would you mind if I stopped by the library before I left the castle?"

Two hours later, Hermione finally found her way back to Simon's flat, quietly moving through the rooms in the near dark in case he was asleep. The bed was empty, which she'd half expected. Finally, she found him, seated in his chair in the living room, dressed in trousers and a jumper, even though she'd asked him to stay in bed.

With a sigh, Hermione reached out to wake him; then she noticed something clutched in one of his hands. Tilting her head to better examine the item, she realized it was a torn wizarding photo of a smiling, laughing woman. Harry's mom. Severus' beloved Lily.

Her lips tightened into a scowl before she could help herself, but Hermione forced her expression into a blank mask before Simon could awaken and see her.

Very carefully, she leaned down to try to gently ease the picture from his grasp, intending to set it someplace safe where he could find it in the morning.

-~8~-

There had been no nightmares, but Simon woke with a start nonetheless. Pulling the photo towards his chest, he glared and growled, "What do you think you're doing? This is mine!"

-~8~-

Hermione had been all set to let him hold on to his precious photo – after all, she had only intended to move it to a safe location so that she could get him back to his bed – but his growl and the possessive way he held on to the photo triggered her already strained temper.

Perversely, she held on to the picture of Lily Potter just as tightly as Simon. "Yours? What, the Potters gave you a picture of Lily and Harry because you were such good friends after Harry was born?" The bitter words tumbled out before Hermione could stop them, and for one brief moment, she almost wished she could have called them back. Almost.

-~8~-

Wrenching the photo away from Hermione, Simon rose from the chair, furious. Furious that she dared question his ownership of the photo. Furious that she dared mention that cursed man's name in his own home.

"This," he hissed while shaking it in front of Hermione's face, "is mine. Mine. Paid for with blood, sweat and more pain than you can possibly imagine. Potter may have married her, but he never deserved her. He played at love the same way he played at life, and it cost them both of theirs."

-~8~-

"More than I can imagine?" There was a shrill note in her voice that told Hermione she was very, very close to doing something she was probably going to regret later, but for once, she refused to listen to the warning.

"I doubt it will make a difference to you, but I noticed something when I was examining you earlier. A trace of old magic.

"My sixth year, do you remember that Ron was poisoned? There had been these chocolates, meant for Harry. They had been laced with love potion, and that's not what poisoned Ron, but it did worry me enough that I made it my mission to read all that I could about love potions over the next few months, to make sure that neither of my boys were hurt like that again. I was gone so long because I needed to find a book to make sure, but I knew I was right. The aura is distinct to a powerful love potion with no known cure. Permanent, never fading, never ending, obsessive. Sound familiar?"

She stepped back, away from him. "The perfect Lily Potter you've loved for all these years? She would have never loved you back because she had James." Hermione shook her head, anger and hurt – and, yes, jealousy – fighting for dominance in her emotions. "You will never accept that someone might really love you because you're stuck on the fantasy of her, and the worst part is that I knew it and I still..."

-~8~-

She lied!

His love for Lily was pure. Uncontaminated and pure. It had kept its vigil in his heart all these long and lonely years because it was pure.

"I'm not some foolish boy, then or now, to be tricked into taking a love potion of any kind. How dare you imply she used one on me!"

Drawing himself up to his fullest height, Simon sneered as he said, "You know nothing about anything. Lily loved me long before that arrogant dunderhead came along. She fell under the spell of his carefully manicured looks, nothing more. If she'd lived, she'd have grown tired of the simpering fop and left him."

-~8~-

"Not your precious Lily – Dumbledore did it, you... you dunderhead!" She was yelling now, never a good sign.

"She might have grown tired of James, but we'll never know, will we? And if she did leave him, Simon ... Severus, she never would have come to you as anything more than a friend. That is all that you were to her. If it wasn't for the potion, you'd see that."

She took another step back, distancing herself from him even more. Everything was going wrong, and there was nothing she could do to fix it if he wasn't willing to see the truth. Even though it felt like her heart was beginning to snap in two.

-~8~-

"Friend. That is all that you were to her." Hermione's words cut and burned more than he thought it was possible.

"No!" he bellowed while following her. Simon grabbed her wrist and glared down at her. "You're wrong," he stated coldly. "Dumbledore did place a spell on me, a very old, very dangerous, guilt laden curse. You broke it when you stumbled on the release words and called me back."

-~8~-

His hold on her wrist hurt, and she tried to pull herself free.

"Dumbledore was a sick, twisted bastard who used you in any way he thought necessary to get what he wanted. He needed you to be obsessed with Lily Potter just as much as he needed you to feel guilt over her death. He poisoned you with that potion, I'm sure of it, and the taint is still with you. Maybe we can find an antidote..."

-~8~-

Words she'd uttered earlier came back to him as he released her wrist.

"The perfect Lily Potter you've loved for all these years? She would have never loved you back because she had James. You will never accept that someone might really love you because you're stuck on the fantasy of her, and the worst part is that I knew it and I still..."

It suddenly made sense and all became clear. A snippet from a letter now also made sense. He never could understand how she could have fantasies concerning her Potions master, but a dark figure of mystery and romance... Miss Hermione Granger fancied herself in love with the bat from the dungeons. Simon stepped back from her this time and narrowed his eyes, considering the trap she'd laid.

"You're trying to trick me in your simple, Gryffindor fashion aren't you? You propose we work on a cure, with me as the test subject, when all the while you'll be the one trying to feed me a love potion."

The sneer returned to his face as he asked, "Is that why it didn't work out with Won-Won? He refused to take his medicine one time?"

-~8~-

"You leave my relationship with Ron out of this," she hissed. Her hands curled into fists until she could feel her nails biting into the flesh of her palms.

"You are despicable. You can go fuck yourself, Simon, because I'm done with you."

Hermione slammed the door on her way out of the flat and barely had the presence of mind to wipe the tears out of her eyes so that she could make sure the hall was clear before she Apparated away.

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