Chapter Eleven: Progress

Disclaimer : The characters aren't mine, the Potterverse isn't mine, even the prompt is someone else's!

Many thanks are due to a very special person, who shall remain anonymous until after the reveal. Ta Da! It's ladyinthecloak!

Chapter 11: Progress

The late summer sun was lingering overhead in a flawless sky. The gentle hum of the bees and cheerful sound of children playing in the distance provided a pleasant backdrop to the peaceful scene.

Severus was reclining gracefully on a checked blanket spread across the soft grass while Hermione gathered up the remains of an impromptu picnic into a large wicker basket.

"Mmm, this place is lovely, Severus. Tell me again how you found it." She turned to find he was dozing quietly in the warmth of the sun. "OK, maybe later," she chuckled to herself as she brushed a fly off his nose.

She studied his face, marvelling at the changes that had been wrought to the formerly intolerant, embittered man. She no longer thought of him as her teacher and enjoyed his company enormously. His intelligence, insight, and even his biting wit, which provided many entertaining moments, made him a attractive person in her eyes, physical appearance notwithstanding. Spinner's End had become her haven and the sleeping man her anchor.

She desperately wanted to restore her magic and return to her previous life, but she knew that whatever happened, Severus Snape would be an integral part of it. Sure, he would probably remain acerbic and antisocial, she could tell that by the way he dealt with people outside their home, but in private he was relaxed and open. She still felt privileged to bear witness to the man beneath the robes – both metaphorically and physically – although the latter had not been repeated since the infamous Plumbing Incident the previous week. She sniggered at the memory of the once stiff and formal professor posing naked for her appraisal. How could she ever have thought that he did not possess a sense of humour, warped though it was?

Just then, she caught sight of two figures walking hand in hand across the sward of grass heading directly towards them. She gently nudged the sleeping wizard. "We have visitors," she whispered.

He blinked and rubbed his face, peering in the direction of the approaching couple. "Just some passers-by," he decreed and closed his eyes again.

As they drew closer, Hermione felt a tingle of recognition. The young woman's glorious red mane and her companion's slightly scruffy black hair suddenly became recognisable.

"Severus!" she cried urgently. "It's Harry and Ginny! They can't see me here with you!"

He startled into action and looked her briefly in the eye. "Are you sure?" he asked, giving her the opportunity to declare her presence.

"I'm sure," she gasped, not ready for an unplanned confrontation.

She felt the trickle of cold as he quickly Disillusioned her before they got any closer.

"Why, it's Severus," she heard Harry remark as they became nearer. "But, where is the woman you were with a moment ago?"

"What woman, Potter? Have you been trying out too many Weasley products lately?" he replied congenially, he and Harry having developed a tolerance of sorts for each other after his discharge from St Mungo's.

"I was sure I saw a woman here," Harry persisted, unable to reconcile what he saw a few moments earlier with the current state of affairs.

"Must have been a shadow. I haven't seen any women here. Do you really expect to see me with a woman?" Severus attempted to distract Harry.

"I didn't expect to see you with a picnic, let alone a woman," Harry quipped.

"Harry! " chided Ginny as she slapped his shoulder. "Play nicely!"

"And they wonder why I call them dunderheads," murmured Severus under his breath to his invisible companion.

Carefully gathering up the picnic basket and blanket, shrinking them to put in his pocket, Severus turned slightly away from the younger couple.

"Time to be off. Research to do, you know." He excused himself as he discreetly grabbed Hermione and turned on the spot, Apparating them back to Spinner's End.

"Thank you, Severus," she said gratefully. "That was quick thinking on your part."

"You are welcome, my dear. Hopefully it will not be necessary for too much longer."

"Oh, I really do hope so," she replied wistfully as they went inside.

***

"You seem to be getting along better with Harry now," Hermione observed as they were preparing dinner together.

Severus stopped slicing onions and contemplated her statement. "I will have to admit that his brush with death appears to have matured him somewhat, and delving into my memories has caused a certain... er... attitude adjustment. We can actually manage to hold a conversation without any temptation to reach for our wands now."

Hermione latched onto part of his explanation. "What was that about your memories? I know you told me they showed Harry that he had to die to get rid of Riddle's last Horcrux, and he used them as evidence that you only killed Dumbledore under his own orders. Was there something else in them that changed Harry's attitude?"

Severus decided it was time to share the one thing he had avoided disclosing to Hermione – the true nature of his relationship with Lily Potter. During one of their evening conversations, he had told her that they had been friends before starting at Hogwarts, but had allowed her to think the friendship had faded naturally with time.

"I thought that I was dying after Nagini attacked me. Potter and Weasley were there in the Shrieking Shack. It was essential that he had the information to defeat Voldemort. Foolishly, I believed that by giving him other memories, of the circumstances of Albus' death and my feelings towards his mother, that at least my motives would be understood after my own demise. When Potter found out that everything worthwhile I had done over the years was due to my love for his mother, he started treating me like some sort of surrogate parent. It was most disconcerting! However, once I had discovered that Remus Lupin had not survived the final battle, I realised that the boy had no-one left who had known his parents. No-one but myself. I spent some time answering his questions about them, and since then we have developed a little mutual respect."

"You loved Lily? So much that you risked your life to protect her son? So why were you so horrid to him?" she asked gently.

"I did not want him to know how I had felt about his mother. His eyes reminded me of her, every time he was near... reminded me that she had sacrificed her life for him. I also had to maintain my cover, but I freely admit that his likeness to his father made that relatively easy. I regret now that I allowed my personal feelings to influence my approach to his Occlumency lessons, although I realised later that his connection with Riddle at the time would have made it virtually impossible for him to succeed, even with a better instructor," he explained.

She finished preparing the vegetables for the stir-fry they were preparing and put them aside. Studying him thoughtfully, she asked, "Do you still love her?"

"I think I will always love the memory of her," he responded quietly, meeting her gaze, "but I realised after surviving the snake's bite that life goes on, whether one wants it to or not. I have finally accepted that Lily has gone and that she was never mine. I suppose I have put my past behind me in more ways than one." Severus smiled as he started to cook their dinner. "Now, let's move to a more cheerful topic than my lousy love-life! What have you planned for dessert?"

***

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing!" exclaimed Severus for the third time in the last hour. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration and slammed the book he had been examining onto the desk. Looking up, he realised there had been no reaction to his latest outburst.

Hermione was pacing the floor, muttering to herself – hair wild, face screwed up in concentration, with a smudge of ink on her nose. Every so often she would stop and make a brief note on the parchment she was using. Finally, she appeared to come to a conclusion.

"That's it!" she cried.

"What's it?" he asked, totally confused by her behaviour.

"We need to go back into the Pensieve again," she declared.

"Again? What is there to gain? We have examined those memories so often I could describe it in my sleep," he complained. "We know every word that was said."

"But, what about the words that were not said?" she asked enigmatically.

"What do you mean?"

"Wait until we get in there," she replied, grabbing his hand. "Come on!"

Trusting her judgement to be sound despite her peculiar actions, Severus followed her to the kitchen where the stone bowl sat on the table, ready for use if needed. They entered the Pensieve as usual, hand in hand; neither would consider any other method. This time, Hermione led him to a different position, between two Death Eaters to the right of Voldemort.

"But we can't see your memory self well from here," he protested.

"No, but we can see Riddle better from here. Watch him closely."

Severus wasn't sure exactly what he was watching for, but did so anyway. Hermione rarely did anything without reason, and that was good enough for him.

After the memory-Hermione had been given the potion, Severus studied his former master. Suddenly, he noticed something he had not seen before, mainly because they were usually watching Voldemort's victim rather than the late Dark Lord himself. Voldemort's lips were moving – very subtly – but definitely moving. He was murmuring an incantation. Lowering his gaze, Severus realised that the man's hand was in his robes, probably grasping his wand.

"You see, Severus, he is using a spell! It's not just the potion – a spell is involved!" Hermione exclaimed, excited that her theory had proven correct.

"That appears to be the case, but how does that help us? We cannot hear what he is saying?"

"Let's get out of here and I will explain," she said.

On returning to the sitting room, Hermione retrieved the book she had been studying. "I found this in a section I had not checked before. I only looked at it out of desperation, as I had read everything else," she told him.

"But we had already looked at it and decided it was of little use." He read the section title. "Longevity Potions? Hardly the sort of potion he would be giving an enemy."

"The potions in this chapter do not confer longevity upon the drinker, but upon any spell cast while the potion is being ingested. They render the curse or hex stable, even if the caster dies," she clarified.

"So you think...?"

"I don't think. I know. The potion was this one here – look at the description of the colour and consistency. It matches the potion Riddle forced me to drink."

"But what of the light display?" he asked, still unconvinced. "And the Bind and Conquer draught?"

"Although I hate to admit it, I think Prott was correct. The draught was a myth. The lights were caused by the spell he was casting. The spell bound my magic; the potion has only maintained the effect. You were correct; Riddle was not giving his followers the full truth behind what he did, as he did not trust them not to turn the spell against their master. By letting them believe that the potion was the important factor, they were less likely to consider a spell, just as we were."

"Again, how does that help if we do not know the spell he used? I suppose we could find more books – I really concentrated on sources relevant to potions, not spellwork." He frowned, considering where to locate such texts.

"Severus, think about it," she urged, grasping his hands in her own for emphasis. "Snakeface intended me never to return to Wizarding society. The spell would not be lifted, even if he lost the battle that night, thus perpetuating his vengeance beyond his death. But what can a wizard do that a Muggle cannot?"

"Magic, I suppose?" he replied vaguely, unable to grasp her train of thought.

"Oh, Severus, don't you see? It's so simple. We could have fixed the problem weeks ago had we known. How do you end a spell?" She smiled, sure of her conclusion.

His eyes met hers as he finally saw the glaringly obvious answer – so basic that even a first-year could do it. He raised his wand, pointed the tip at her head, and solemnly spoke.

"Finite Incantatem."

***

A/N: Based on prompt 93. "Someone has his or her powers stripped away for misuse. Did he/she lose them because of actual misuse or was it a set up? How do they get them back?"