Evaluating the Results

A/N: Many heartfelt thanks and much chocolate to my betas, Melusin_79 (who also Brit-picked) and Sahiya. Any remaining errors are all mine. Thanks also to Shalimar1981 for the early-on brainstorming.

Disclaimer: Not mine and not making any money.

Evaluating the Results

Severus awoke as he always did: suddenly. His eyes snapped open, and he took in the increasingly familiar surroundings quickly. There was the barest moment of stabbing fear replaced promptly with the memory of why he was waking up here and with whom. Glancing at the tangle of curls on the pillow beside him, he felt a strange smile form on his lips.

She stirred, and he erased the expression from his face. Now that she had done her bit to save the day, she would surely leave. If nothing else, she would need to make arrangements for their return to England.

He decided to try sitting at the edge of the bed for a moment. When he swung his legs out from under the covers, they felt a bit less leaden than they had done for days. When he inched closer to the edge, letting his feet take a bit of his weight, he thought he really might be a bit stronger.

Considering I could barely sit without help yesterday, I must be.

He picked up his wand and cast a quick Lumos. Blue light glowed at the tip, just as it should.

It worked.

Not quite willing to risk a fall, particularly with her still there, he eased back onto the bed rather than trying to stand. He needed to go to the loo, but Granger's presence was something of an obstacle. He drew the covers back over himself and shook her shoulder.

She blinked up at him blearily. A look of confusion crossed her features, and then suddenly her eyes widened, and she sat bolt upright, clearly oblivious to her nudity.

"Did it work? Are you cured?" she asked breathlessly.

"I have managed a spell any first-year should be able to cast with ease," he replied. "Whether that represents a full cure remains to be seen."

Her face lit up.

"Severus, that's wonderful!" she cried, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Miss Granger, if you please," he muttered, willing himself to ignore the way her... well, the way she was pressing against him.

She pulled back as if he had slapped her.

"I... thank you for your assistance," he said stiffly. "Now, I believe it would be best if we were to return to our original agreement."

She continued to stare at him.

"That would require you to leave."

Her look of hurt was quickly replaced with the cold mask she'd worn at the Victory Party. He forced himself not to wince.

"As you wish," she said, and she got out of his bed and hastily dressed herself. When she had finished and was reaching for the door, she turned and added, "I'll tell Viktor that he can prepare to remove the curse. Even if... well, there's no point leaving something like that lying about."

He nodded curtly, willing her to just be on her way. Once the door closed behind her, he slumped in some odd mixture of relief and something else he did not care to identify. At least he could finally go to the loo, even though it would be prudent to have assistance.

"Elf!" he barked.

~*~

Hermione was on her way back to her room, head down, when she collided with something rather solid. She almost lost her balance, but then large hands caught and steadied her.

"Vat is vrong, Herm-own-ninny?" Viktor asked.

"Nothing," she replied firmly. "It worked. He's getting ready for breakfast."

"Ah," he replied. "I vill prepare to remove the curse after, and then perhaps we can haff a short visit before you return home?"

She smiled, took the arm he was offering and walked with him back toward her room. "Perhaps a short one. We really should get back. I don't know how to thank you for your help, Viktor."

"You are alvays velcome, Herm-own-ninny. I vish things could have gone better for you."

"I told you, Viktor, it was never like that. Now things can get back to normal," she said as they reached her door. "I'll come back and have a real visit soon. When will Emiliya be back from Indonesia?"

"It vill be a few more weeks," he replied. "The delegation is haffing trouble communicating vith the local trade authorities."

She thought that might, indeed, be rather challenging.

"Owl me when she's back, then, and I'll arrange some time off."

"You expect to be travelling alone, then?"

"Viktor..." she began warningly.

"Off course. I vill see you at breakfast." With a smile and a nod, he turned and left.

She sighed and went into her room to change. She wasn't sure why Severus' attitude bothered her so much. It was entirely typical. Besides, he was right. There was no reason they shouldn't just go back to their original agreement.

She picked up her brush and began working out the tangles in her hair a bit more roughly than usual.

~*~

Though the effects of the curse had been negated, Severus found that he had several lingering reminders of it. His physical strength had improved dramatically, but so much of his body had begun to waste away that it would clearly be some time before he was back to his prior health, if ever, even with the aid of the most potent Strengthening Solutions. Also, he felt only very slightly less hostile toward his host and benefactor.

It had been only the work of a few minutes to remove the curse after breakfast. Had he but known it was a separate spell, or rather combination of hexes, he could surely have done this himself years ago. One did not even need all the information this overgrown Seeker and Miss Granger had dug through in order to remove it, at least not when it was inactive.

Now he was home. A Floo-call to the Ministry to inform them of his continued life and health, an appointment to have this confirmed at the infirmary later, and he had a couple of hours to spare. He decided to spend the time taking inventory of his potions supplies and making notes of the ingredients he would need to replenish in order to make the assorted potions he would need, both for himself and to send to Krum by way of thanks. He did not plan to remain in the man's debt any longer than necessary.

He had no plan how to repay his debt to Miss Granger.

~*~

Hermione collected Crookshanks from the neighbour who had been watching him. He purred loudly when he saw her and did not stop even when they arrived at her flat. When she set him down, he began methodically exploring the rooms, as if to make sure all was as it should be.

She wondered if tomorrow would bring a backlog of mail. There were several things she had been expecting which might, or might not, have been rerouted to Bulgaria and which might, therefore, have to be rerouted again to London.

The wizarding world needed some system for simply putting one's mail on hold while away for a short while. Solving things for the wizarding world was her department, but fixing the mail was not. She wondered if she could convince Calman to put it under her department – at least long enough to fix that little glitch. Then again, owls and the mail were not exactly mysteries.

When she got to her bedroom, she was surprised to see Crookshanks in his usual spot on her bed. Well, that wasn't what surprised her. The fact that he was walking around and around his pillow sniffing it, that was a bit odd.

"What in the world are you doing, Crooks?"

He mewed at her, giving her an expectant look very much like the one that he wore while awaiting his breakfast.

She put her hands on her hips and glared at her cat.

"Not you, too!" she huffed. "Get over it! It was just the once. Well, twice. But he won't be back here, and you can just stop looking at me like that!"

Crookshanks jumped off the bed and padded over to her to entwine himself around her ankles.

"It just figures he's the one you'd approve of, now, doesn't it?" she sighed, bending to pick him up again. She buried her face in his fur and sighed again before setting him back down. "But it's back to normal around here. Just you and me, Crooks."

He mewed sadly.