Chapter 9

Sorry didn't realize how short this was. It had it's own natural breaking point. Thanks so much to Lisa for her amazing Beta work. I appreciate all your comments.

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Severus and Hermione entered the Shrieking Shack through the tunnel door, seeing that not much had changed. It was still moving at random. The grinding, moving boards gave off the shrieking sound. Severus waved his wand, and the boards were silenced.

"It won’t appear any different from the outside."

"Are you going to be OK here? I guess I really hadn’t thought about what being here again might mean to you," Hermione said, worry visible in her eyes.

"I’m actually grateful for that day, despite the injuries I’ve had to endure. I was freed from a horrible existence as Voldemort's follower. You have no idea the horror I was forced to witness and sometimes endure at his hands. He left me for dead, too. I am grateful to Harry for ending that miserable creature's life. If I had my choice of being like this or going back to what I was, then I’d choose to stay this way, even before you came."

Hermione hugged him tightly. "I’ll be back as soon as possible. I have several places I need to go, but I will come back."

"You are a woman," he said with a sigh of resignation, realizing it might be hours.

She punched his arm playfully and was delighted when he grinned at her.

"Why don’t you clean up the place a bit? It will give you something to do."

"Hurry back." He passed her the list of potion ingredients; she squeezed his fingers and then Apparated away with a pop.

Severus immediately felt the silence, and he turned to look at the room. There was damaged furniture and dust inches thick with perhaps even a few bloodstains. With a wave of his wand, the stains vanished. An idea formed in his mind, and he smiled.

Hermione Apparated into Hogsmeade with a pop. She was in front of the apothecary. She stepped through the door, and a bell rang as the door shut behind her. A man appeared behind the counter in the dimly lit room.

"Welcome, may I help you?" he stated automatically.

Hermione stepped forward.

"Miss Granger!" he said, a bit astonished to see the war hero in his place of business. "It’s been several years. What brings you here? We don’t get many visitors now that Hogwarts is all but gone—just the locals."

She lied, "I’m studying for my healer's license, and I need some ingredients for my Potions final. I wasn’t able to procure all I needed in London, and I thought about your business."

He reached out, and she handed him her list. He eyed it curiously, saying, "These are some rather advanced healing ingredients. I trust you know how to handle them. Some of them can be quite dangerous."

"Yes, as I said, I am in an advanced class."

He looked at her and then went to gather the ingredients. She looked around and gathered a few general potion ingredients from the shelves.

Finally, he set a number of vials and small canvas bags full of ingredients before her.

She paid for her things and then bade him a good day. "I may need to return. It’s amazing how much easier it is to get everything here than go from shop to shop in the city."

"I look forward to your business, Miss Granger. Please tell your friends."

She smiled. "I will." With a wave she left the store and hurried down the streets to the small Gringotts branch. She withdrew some of her own gold and ran to the bookstore to get Severus a gift. She knew exactly what she wanted for him. She bought it and quickly left the store though she would have loved to linger over the many books that lined the walls and covered every surface of the store. She didn’t want to call attention to herself. Unfortunately, being a war hero brought a lot of unwanted attention, and she didn’t want anyone calling The Daily Prophet.

As the minutes passed and quickly became an hour, she worried that Severus would begin to fret. She bought the sugar quills and chocolates and a few other delicacies. Then she stopped into Hogsmeade Owl Emporium and purchased a small gray owl to carry her messages to the Weaselys and Remus. She went to the post office to send her first message, not wanting to wait until she got back to Hogwarts. She had promised to send Molly a message every week. The new owl had to be sent from its home base the first time for it to know where to return. She then went to the general store and bought a new toothbrush and a few other personal items. Placing all the packages into her bag and carrying the owl in its cage, she Apparated away, glad to be out of the small town.

As she focused on her surroundings back at the Shrieking Shack, her mouth fell open in surprise.