Chapter 24

Hermione threw her arms around Raven and jumped up and down, screaming with joy. "We found it! We found it!"

Raven was laughing at her. Then suddenly he stood back and stared at the parchment.

Hermione sobered and choked back tears. Finding this piece of parchment had been one of their goals, but now that they had it, they remembered it could undo their whole lives together.

Hermione dropped the parchment and threw her arms around his neck. She buried her face into his neck and felt his hand rub her back. She felt the warmth of his breath against the back of her neck, and she wanted him like she had never wanted anyone in her life.

"Raven, make love to me, now! Please!"

He did not answer her but swooped down and picked her up. He waved his wand, changing a lounge into a bed.

"Well done," Hermione whispered, impressed.

They quickly shed their clothes. Raven's hand touched her more roughly than before; Hermione was just as firm with her touch, and their kisses were quick, deep, and hungry. Raven's fingers slipped inside her, and she rode them with urgency. Just before climax, he thrust himself deeply into her and pounded against her. She wrapped her legs around him, holding on to his shoulders, loving the feel of his long hair, which made a wall around their faces so they only saw each other. They were in a world of their own. They looked deep into each other's eyes as their climax hit them, and they cried out their pleasure. Suddenly, they seemed to feel each other, become each other. Their cries of pleasure echoed back and forth in the room a number of times. Raven collapsed onto her, and she held him tightly, her legs still wrapped around him.

"What was that?" he gasped.

"Legilimency, I think," she answered, her breathing starting to slow.

"Did I read your mind?" he asked incredulously.

She smiled. "It was wonderful, wasn't it?"

"Amazing." Then he asked, "Are you sure you don't care that I invaded your mind?"

"No, Raven," she said. "I am yours in my heart. Why not my mind?"

"Aren't I heavy?" he asked with a smile.

She caressed his lip with hers. "Not really. You feel wonderful."

They stayed wrapped together for a long while, gently kissing. Then Hermione released him, and he slid to her side.

*******

Later, after they had slept, they went to stand over the newly found parchment. Raven finally reached down to touch it. He nearly dropped it. "It's warm like it's alive!"

Hermione said, "It didn't feel warm to me. It must be the magic that connects you to it."

"How do we destroy it? Do you think we can burn it?"

Hermione reached into the hidden compartment and took hold of the book. It was heavy, and the cover was intricately detailed and carved. It had a snake on it. "Salazar Slytherin was one of the most evil wizards in our world. I don't think he started out that way. He just wanted to learn, but the dark magic captured him. Its power corrupted him. It made him think he was superior to everyone. It spoke to the evil in Tom Riddle, and he thought he would continue Salazar's work...creating a master race with pure-bloods being the ultimate wizarding rulers. It doesn't make sense on so many levels, the least of which is because he was half-blood himself."

She took the book to a table and they sat and looked through it. The blood oath parchment spell was near the beginning. Burning would destroy it. But it had to be done by Raven and with his wand. He had to cut himself, let a drop of fresh blood drip on the parchment, and then ignite it with his wand.

They placed the parchment inside a caldron. With a small, jeweled knife they'd found, they cut Raven's hand and squeezed out a drop of blood. It fell with a plop onto the parchment, and then Raven reached out with his wand and said, "Incendio." The flame flared bright blue, then purple, and then vanished. Only a fine dusting of ash remained in the cauldron. It was gone.

They stood there silently looking at the ashes for a while. Then Raven took Hermione's hand and pulled her into his arms. "Well, we have taken a big step forward."

She was trembling, and he held her close until she calmed down. "It's all been quite an adventure, Raven, but I guess I didn't realize that it has always been a one-way road. We have to complete this no matter what the cost to ourselves...not necessarily for Harry, but for you, too. You need to be all of who you are."

He nodded in agreement. "Well, what do we do now?"

"We need to study the spell and potion book. The spell must be there, or he would not have hidden it with the parchment."

They took their seats again and started to go through the book. Near midnight they found it. "It's here," Hermione said excitedly. Then, "Oh god, Raven, it takes six weeks to brew the potion."

"Six weeks!" He peered at the page himself. Part of him was glad they would have more time together, and part of him was freaked that he would be in limbo in this place full of dark magic and the unknown. And there was the beaded necklace that seemed to be on the edge of his thoughts. Were all the memories tainted with horror at the end? Would he find out something nice about his life? Hermione was convinced his mother loved him. She seemed to have had feelings, but had that been love? Her love was tainted with her hatred of his father. He wondered why his mother had ever married such a horrible man. Why hadn't she found a wizard to love?

"Well, that will give us more time together. We will be able to explore this place."

"Yes, more time," Hermione said. "We'll explore, but we'll do it very carefully."

A little while later, after reading more about the potion and its theory, Hermione spoke again. "Raven, there's a warning here. Once the potion is started, anyone affected by its curse will begin to lose himself. He will become more and more like a child. The actual brewing is in itself a curse; the fumes slowly steal the mind of the affected one. Only the fully cooked potion will bring the cursed one back to himself."

"Do you think this is another of his nasty traps?" Raven asked, peering around the room suspiciously.

"It's more like another one of Voldemort's dirty jokes. It's probably his last-ditch effort at destroying you. But he never counted on me being here. Me, loving you, and me brewing the potion. I learned from the master. I can do it. You must decide if we will do this. This will be your last chance, Raven. Once we start the brewing process, there will be no going back."

"We will continue. I must remember my life." He knew that Hermione would never accept anything less of him. He had to do this, or eventually, they would lose each other one way or another. Her desire to help Harry was overwhelming. He knew she desperately wanted to save Harry and have him as well. It wasn't a choice she could make, and he wouldn't force the choice on her.

Hermione looked at him with pride and fear for them both. "I am so proud of you, Raven." She looked around, shielding him from the tears that had filled her eyes. "We must be careful here no matter what we touch. The very nature of his collection garners caution. Touching evil can rub off on you, so-to-speak. Plus, some of these books might actually have teeth that bite."

Raven looked horrified, and Hermione just laughed at him.

*******

They did spend a couple of hours very carefully looking into the food and water situation. They found a kitchen with a great supply of staples and some delicacies preserved in food jars. There was a collection of rare wines. Voldemort had had expensive tastes. There was an enchanted alcove that had a sliding stone door. It was like a freezer inside, holding fresh meat of all kinds.

"Beef," Raven said with a sigh. "I haven't had a good steak since I found one half eaten in the trash behind that eatery in London.

"Oh, Raven," Hermione said with tears stinging her eyes. "I know how that was. Yet London seems a lifetime away instead of just a few months. It almost seems like a nightmare and not something we really lived through." She took out a large steak and set it aside for them to cook later. There was a stove they could heat with a cooking spell. There was also a dinning table with a large candelabrum in the center.

Hermione laughed. "I guess he liked all the comforts of home."

Another alcove was a full bathroom with a running waterfall, similar to Snape's. There was a large, tub-sized indent in the rocks. The water was heated like a hot tub. It was probably a natural hot water spring. Hermione looked longingly at it. The next room was a bedroom. The bed was covered in black and had blue topaz and silver Greek key designs on the spread.

"I'm surprised he didn't sleep in a snake's den," Raven said. "From what you've told me, he seemed more animal than human."

"He was an animal. He was cruel, blood thirsty, and power hungry, and he didn't care who or what got in his way. It's a huge testament to Severus Snape for going through all that he did for Harry and for the wizarding world in general. He may have believed that it was his fault and he had amends to make, but the hell he suffered at Voldemort's hands would have made any man turn away from that course. Yet he stayed to the bitter end. He knew he would end up without his memories and alone."

Raven said, "You finding me was a miracle, no coincidence. I believe God sent you to me. We may not be all he wants us to be, but he did care enough to send you to find me."

"At the cost of my parents?" She sounded bitter.

"No, but he used that situation to send us both where we could find hope and happiness," he said, holding her close.

She buried her face into the crook of his neck. "Maybe you're right, Raven. Maybe he does care about us."

They spent the evening talking about what they would do. They decided that leaving with the book might not be a good idea. They had no clue if the cavern would magically seal if they passed through the wall again. There were protections here for them because of their love. It had been unfathomable to Voldemort that Severus would come with someone who had loved him more than life itself. Their love had undone the enchantments surrounding the book and parchment. They felt they would continue to be protected. They decided to brew the potion and live in the cave. There were enough provisions to take care of them the entire six weeks and beyond. Cave life was not ideal, but they determined that they would be okay without the sun for a few weeks. They had spent a great deal of time in the sun in the last months. Plus, this cave had many wonders to be discovered. If there were hidden passages leading to further reaches of the cavern, they would find them and do some exploring.

They cooked and ate the steak with some potatoes and bread. They opened a bottle of fine wine and toasted to their future even though they both had secret thoughts that it might be short. That night, they curled up in the huge bed, and though they both pretended to fall asleep, they stared off into the darkness for hours.

The next morning after a breakfast of porridge and eggs found in a stasis box, they went to study the book of potions and spells. They spent the day trying their best to understand it all, and they began the arduous task of collecting all the ingredients from the huge stores of potion supplies that Voldemort had amassed.

Hermione had a hard time staying on task because she was so excited about the rare ingredients Voldemort had stored. "Phoenix tears!" she cried out in excitement. She slipped the vial into the pocket of her jeans for safekeeping. They could heal any injury. But there were still dangers. When she came upon books that felt wrong, she placed wards around them. They would leave those for the Aurors to deal with. By the end of the day, they had their lab set up and their ingredients assembled.

Exhausted, they took a long, hot bath and relaxed as the water and steam soothed their bodies. They sat cradled in each other's arms for some time, just loving the feel of their bodies pressed together. Raven held her in his lap with her back against his chest. He ran his hands over her body, rubbing in a soft soap they had found. His hand slid over her legs and thighs and circled her stomach. "I can't get enough of you, Hermione. I don't think I've ever been cared for by anyone as much as I have by you. I may not remember, but I know that your touch is the first time I've felt that touch of love, as a man, in my whole life. Severus was a wretched, lonely man." His hands slipped up to encircle her breasts.

"Raven," she groaned, feeling him harden against her back.

He kissed the back of her neck and then drew his teeth against her neck.

"Ohhh," she cried, quivering against him. "That's very sensitive."

He laughed and then did it again as he teased her nipples to tight hard nubs. She leaned back far enough for him to give her a kiss, and then she twisted around, straddling him. She flexed her back, lying back over his legs, and he took her breast into his mouth and sucked on it.

"Raven!"

"Yes," he smiled against her breast. "You can wait. I'm enjoying myself."

She rose suddenly, pushed up on his shoulders, and then let herself slide down on his hard shaft.

"Impatient, are you, my wanton wench?"

"You got that right." She nodded, closing her eyes and moving up and down on the hardened shaft.

They moved in tandem, determined to reach their climax together. But this time, it built up slow, smooth, and steady.

They muffled their cries of pleasure with a deep, long kiss.

Later, lying in the big bed, they whispered their love to each other.