Chapter 16

This Time

Chapter 16

It's crazy to do it again

But how can I possibly lose?

This time I'm in it for you

This Time - Player

He walked, his head down, coaxing the elusive idea niggling about the back of his mind to show itself.

What's wrong with this picture? he thought, passing through the great oaken front doors out into the clear, frigid January day. If Allison was the one who actually discovered the cure for the Dark Mark Curse, didn't that contradict Trelawney's prediction?

Frowning, he called to mind the wording of the prophecy.

'The servant who played the Dark Lord false is poised upon the brink of eternal night. Alone and lonely, he awaits the coming of the daughter of Menelaus. Born upon the cusp of autumn's equinox, the child of Muggles bears within herself salvation for he who is marked and scarred by Darkness, within, without.'

The child of Muggles...that had to refer to Hermione, for Allison was a pure-blood. But what, exactly, did Hermione bear within herself that was his salvation?

He stood now beneath the beech tree by the lake, his favourite spot...the place where Hermione had admitted that she liked watching him move...where she had kissed his cheek. But before he had created that shining memory in this spot, it had been the site of another banner day in his life...where James Potter had flipped him in the air to expose his dingy y-fronts to all and sundry...where he, Severus, had forever lost the friendship of the girl he had loved.

There had been two events that had irrevocably changed the direction of his life: The loss of his friendship with Lily Evans was the first, which in some way made the second, his taking of the Dark Mark, inevitable.

But as Adin Prince, he had never been sullied with the Dark Lord's Mark. Furthermore, the emotion he felt for Hermione so radically eclipsed what he had felt...what I was capable of feeling, he admitted...for Lily that it was difficult to put them side-by-side. It was rather like comparing a candle flame to a forest fire.

'How does she fulfil the prophecy?' he asked the frozen lake. But the likely answer...dear God let it be right!...already rested in his heart, a nugget of gold, its glow growing stronger and surer with each passing moment.

'She loves me,' he informed the icy tree branches over his head, daring to speak the words out loud.

Maybe the batty old bastard has been right about love all along, he thought, raising his face to the weak winter sun. She's already begun to heal the Darkness within ... but we're bloody well not finished...not nearly.

He turned from the lake and returned to the castle, resolve in his very bearing.

'Severus!' Dumbledore said, rising to meet him as he stalked across the Headmaster's study. The old man turned to a side table and poured two glasses of deep red wine, passing one to Severus. 'To Youthening Enchantments and Dark Mark Curse cures,' Dumbledore said, and he drained his goblet.

Severus touched the glass to his lips and set it down. 'I want you to make the Youthening Enchantment permanent,' he said without preamble, his manner aggressive. 'Don't tell me it's not possible...I don't care what it takes! If we have to carry on in the Special Studies class for the next two terms...'

Dumbledore's shaggy silver brows contracted. 'This is sudden,' he said. 'Perhaps you could sit down, and we could discuss it.'

Severus crossed his arms over his chest, a sneer upon his face. 'There's nothing to discuss. You're going to do it.'

'Severus, changing one's appearance does nothing for the mess we are inside...believe me, I know.' Dumbledore smiled ruefully, as if attempting to de-escalate the situation.

'This has nothing to do with how I look,' Severus snapped. 'This is about the life I'm living.'

Dumbledore looked grave. 'This has been merely a detour on the road of your life,' he said quietly. 'It would be irresponsible to simply abandon the life you were given for a new one.'

Severus slapped the top of the desk, making the quills rattle in their holder, and leant towards the old man. 'Don't talk to me about responsibility!' he spat. 'I have accepted every responsibility you have ever laid upon me, and I have fulfilled every demand.' He lowered his voice, unyielding. 'You owe me, old man.'

Dumbledore frowned. 'What is this really about, Severus?'

Severus continued as if Dumbledore had not spoken. 'You owe Potter and Weasley and Longbottom their friend...you owe Hermione her love.'

The old man was suddenly very still, but his eyes blazed blue fire. 'What have you done?' he demanded, his voice raised.

'I have blended right in, just as you said I would,' Severus told him insolently.

'I specifically asked you not to interfere with the girls!' Dumbledore thundered. 'With a student...Severus, how could you?'

'Oh, open your eyes, Headmaster!' Severus said, matching the older wizard's tone. 'Allison discovered the cure for the curse...how exactly was Hermione supposed to be my salvation?'

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed, but his stance remained rigid. Severus knew he had thrown the old man for a loop; he subsided into a chair and waited for the Headmaster to think it through.

Minutes ticked by as Dumbledore stared off into space. Many times over the years of his servitude, Severus had witnessed the process by which his mentor evaluated information. Trying not to think of what he would do if the old man refused to grant the deepest desire of his heart, he stared at the rug and waited.

At long last, the Headmaster spoke. 'Please look at me, Severus.'

He had thought it might come to this...was it worth it to him, to permit the old man to know his thoughts? If it brought about the result he desired, then yes, he was perfectly willing. Severus raised his head, looking directly into Dumbledore's eyes and laying himself bare. He scarcely felt the passage through his memories; even the Dark Lord had not possessed the Headmaster's feather-light touch with Legilimency.

'I see,' Dumbledore said, and Severus watched him without breathing.

'I think you are correct,' the old man said, as if they had been discussing an intellectual point of contention. 'Hermione's love is your salvation...but your love for her shows that the healing of the Darkness has already begun. This is a wonderful thing for you, Severus.' Dumbledore smiled at him kindly. 'Even more exciting to me, as someone who has cared for you for many years, is this: For the first time in your life, you are fighting for your happiness.' The old man's eyes became very bright. 'Do you know what that means, my boy?'

Still afraid to breathe, Severus gave his head a negative shake.

'It means you finally know that you deserve it.' Tears fell onto the ancient cheeks, finely interlaced with wrinkles. 'The prophecy has been fulfilled.'

The Headmaster moved to stand over him, shaking back the sleeves of his heavily embroidered, midnight blue robes. 'The Youthening Enchantment needs only one adjustment to be permanent...are you quite ready?'

Severus rose to stand before the man who had been closer to him than any other for most of the years of his life.

'I am ready, Headmaster,' he averred.

It was late afternoon when he found he way back to the common room, and to his delight, Hermione was sitting on the loveseat by the fire, with the tangle of Crookshanks and Bother at her feet. Her smile when she saw him was like the sun coming from behind the clouds, and he hurried to sit down beside and pull her into his arms for a proper, thorough kiss.

'Oi, mate!' Ron objected, looking up from a stack of Career Fair leaflets. 'I'm glad you made it up between you, but can't you do that someplace else?'

'Leave them alone,' Lavender scolded him, but it was the two-fingered salute Severus flipped Ron from behind Hermione's back that made the ginger-haired prat chuckle.

'I've been forgetting all day to wish you happy birthday,' Hermione said when he let her come up for air.

Severus laughed out loud; he had completely forgotten it was his birthday.

'Where have you been?' she asked, threading her fingers through his fringe, her eyes brimming with love.

In answer, he produced the leaflets he had snagged from the Career Fair and fanned them out for her inspection. 'Which of these do you think suits me best?' he asked, sitting back with his arm about her shoulders, cuddling her to him just as a regular bloke would with his girlfriend.

But Hermione struggled away, pivoting to face him, her eyes shining. 'Do you mean ...' she began, her voice barely a whisper, as if to say the words aloud would wake her from a dream.

He stroked the mass of bushy hair back from her face and cupped her cheek. 'Well, it is my birthday,' he said, and knowing she would understand his meaning, he added in a whisper, 'Call me Adin.'

Although there were those who laughed at them for being soppy, Hermione and Adin announced their engagement to their friends on Valentine's Day, and after they sat their N.E.W.T.s, they were married in a small ceremony beneath their favourite beech tree, with Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood as their attendants. They each embarked upon their chosen careers and enjoyed success, as might have been expected from a pair who earned a total of fourteen Outstanding N.E.W.T.s between them.

The discovery of the cure for the Dark Mark Curse was published in no fewer than three scientific journals, winning for Allison Dyrda the coveted Nobel Prize for Wizarding Sciences. She and her husband, Jared, live in London, where they have a joint private Healing Clinic, and enjoy life with their five daughters.

Severus Snape was never heard from again, despite the definitive cure for his Dark Mark Curse, but the Quibbler continues to report frequent sightings of him, often in the company of Elvis and a Crumple-Horned Snorkack.

In their mid-thirties, Adin and Hermione Prince welcomed a son to their lives, a curly-haired, hook-nosed boy whom they did not name Severus.

These days, an owl to the Headmistress, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, will find them both.

A/N: The title of the story comes from This Time I'm In It For Love, by Player:

This time I'm in it for love,

This time I'm in it to win,

It's crazy to do it again

But how can I possibly lose?

This time I'm in it for you.

This story was written for DeeMichelle, my dear friend of more than three years in fandom, for the 2009 SSHG Exchange on Live Journal. SubHub, the love of my life, who generously permits Severus Snape to share our home, helped me plot the story. It was alpha-read by sshg316, and beta-read by AnnieTalbot. The incomparable Machshefa made invaluable suggestions as well, along the lines of a psychological beta. I wrote the story in two months, immersing myself in the music whose lyrics head each chapter and falling irrevocably in love with Adin.

This was DeeMichelle's prompt: Snape falls in love with Hermione in her seventh year, creates a potion, and goes back to see if he can woo her as his teen-aged self.

As you can see, I took a great deal of liberty with my interpretation of the prompt.

Much love to you all. I hope you enjoyed my last SSHG Exchange story as much as I enjoyed writing it for you. Your comments have filled my heart with joy. Thank you.