Chapter 19

Hermione stood and gathered Severus close. “Harry, can you go outside for a bit. Please.”

Harry nodded and slipped out the door as quickly as he could. What had happened to Snape to bring him to such an emotional state?

She placed a silencing charm on the door to give Severus privacy.

Hermione held Snape, and he buried his face in her midriff. “Severus, what’s wrong,” she cried.

“He forgives me. After all the hell I’ve put that boy through. All the things I did to take his family from him. He forgives me. I have always loved him as a son, but I could not show it. I could not endanger him that way, so I pushed him away by making him hate me. Voldemort could not see that I cared about him. It would have been all our deaths. His mother was my best friend, and I betrayed her. So much lost, so many wasted years, and so much pain, torture, and horror.”

He was now sobbing against her, buffeting her body back and forth with his pain.

“Let it out, Severus. Let go of all the pain and all the hurt. I’ve got you; let me be your anchor.” She held him until he quieted. His voice was raw, and his face was puffy. She led him to the bed and tucked him in. She gave him a dreamless sleep potion so he could get the rest he needed to restore his body and mind. “I love you,” she whispered against his cheek.

“I love you too Herm… mi... one…” Then he was sound asleep. She kissed his forehead and wiped the tears away from her own face. For the first time since she had arrived, she felt Severus could truly get on with his life.

******

Hermione slipped out the door after about thirty minutes. “Come, let’s walk. I want to show you the only place that’s still alive here.”

“What about Snape?”

“He’s sleeping. He’s exhausted. I’ll tell you all about it as we walk.” She took his arm, and they started through the corridors.

“I found him in such terrible condition, Harry. You have no idea the hell he was living in. He was broken and sick and barely surviving here. He had huge open wounds on his neck, after two years.” She went on to explain what he was like and how quickly they had gotten close because of their devastating loneliness. “He’d been in this tomb for years alone.”

“Why didn’t he ask for help?”

“You know what he was like. He was proud and terribly scared. His injuries were so bad that he could not even brew the potions to help himself. The man you saw today is much improved. With my help to brew the potions, we healed his neck wounds, and we have worked hard to improve his physical abilities with Muggle physical therapy. But only the restoring potion we are working on can bring him back to what he was.”

“When will the potion be done?” he asked.

“Tomorrow,” she said with a laugh.

He sighed and his shoulders slumped. “One day, and I messed it up? Hang Molly. I can leave now.”

“No, Harry, you coming here is a good thing. You may be the last person in the world he expected to see, but you are the only one he cares to receive forgiveness from. He needs to know that you will accept him as he is now. He’s changed so much, Harry. He can laugh, and he can love, but it’s a bit overwhelming for him. I think after the last few days, he’s on some sort of emotional overload.”

“What’s happened?”

Even in the dark hallway, Harry could see Hermione blush. “Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to pry. Only the last few days?” he asked sheepishly, but wanting to know.

“Yes, I’ve only been here five or six weeks, and we hadn’t seen each other in years. You didn’t think I’d jump into bed with him immediately, did you?” Her voice was shocked. She decided to keep the fact that they had actually been sleeping in the same bed nearly the entire time to herself.

“Sorry, Hermione, of course I didn’t. I guess I wasn’t thinking. Even five or six weeks seems a bit soon.”

“It does, but we shared so much, and it just seems so right.”

Molly said you mentioned an Apprenticeship. Are you certain you want that kind of commitment to him?”

“He already has my heart. He is teaching me so much. You can’t imagine the knowledge he has been willing to share with me.”

Harry laughed. “It’s like being in school again. You must be in heaven.”

Hermione punched him in the arm. They had reached the door to the kitchen, and she shushed him as they moved into and through the kitchen.

Then they were through the corridor and into the beginning of the house-elves’ greenhouse. The fireflies seemed to light the place with ease.

Harry stared open mouthed at the living beauty of the place. “Did Snape make this?”

“No, house-elves did. He only discovered it during his foraging trips.”

“It’s amazing, Hermione.” He took off like a kid and ran through the trees and the plants. “I wish Ginny was here.”

“Why didn’t she come? I can’t imagine her letting you come alone.”

Harry turned, grinning. “She’s pregnant, Hermione—we’re going to have a baby!”

Hermione screamed and hugged him, and they danced around like little kids.

Finally worn down from all the excitement of the evening, they returned to Snape’s rooms.

Hermione and Harry wrote a note to Molly and Ginny, and Harry explained that he would be home in the morning. He assured them that he was good and Hermione was safe, and he told them she had been with a friend. He used some phrases they had agreed upon that would mean he was safe.

Hermione teased him about his cloak and dagger spy code. They sent the owl off and then Hermione made a thick vegetable stew with dried meat added for flavor. They sat and talked for hours. She told him more about her time with Severus. Harry told her about America and that Ginny wanted to be home now that she was pregnant. They had returned the day before. They had found Molly frantic to discover what Hermione had been up to and genuinely worried about her to the point of a near nervous breakdown.

Hermione said, “I’m sorry, Harry. I really tried to be positive, and I explained over and over that I was fine.”

“Why didn’t you just Apparate there and let her see you?” he asked.

“I couldn’t take the chance that she would keep me there. Severus needed me here. The few times I went to Hogsmeade, he got very anxious for my return. He couldn’t bear the aloneness here anymore. I didn’t want to hurt him any more than he already was.”

“Alright, I understand. You did what you had to. I’m glad you found him.”

“I’m glad she did, too,” came Snape’s voice from the bed.