phoenix_writing – Gravity Keeper

"I don't know how I let you talk me into this," Severus grumbled as he crept along the corridor.

He already had no idea where they were, but Hermione was moving with confidence.

"Talk you into this?" Hermione was restrained to a whisper as they were anxious to avoid detection. "You insisted upon coming."

He had been concerned for her...but he was hardly going to say that.

"Quite recently, you were nearly consumed by Fiendfyre. I think it unwise for you to go anywhere on your own."

She huffed a breath, and he thought that he was about to be treated to a fine example of her temper, but all she said was, "Then stop complaining. You're worse than Ron and Harry."

Severus grimaced and abandoned the topic.

"Treacle fudge," she said presently.

"What?"

"Hush."

He felt the wards come down and realized that the nonsensical words had been a password.

They walked on; then Hermione reset the wards, adding a complicated-looking flourish with her wand.

"What was that?"

After a moment, she admitted, "A little Unspeakable trick. Ensures no one can tell we went through."

A nice trick he'd like to learn.

She led him deeper into the bowels of the building until she stopped and announced, "Into the storeroom."

"I beg your pardon?"

A shove propelled him into the small room. He ran into a mop and bucket, could vaguely make out various maintenance, cleaning, and office supplies.

He turned back to face her. "Hermione, you can't possibly..."

She pulled the door closed behind herself. It was very dark. Hermione was practically on top of him. He shuffled hurriedly, trying to get all important bits out of too-close contact.

Hermione cleared her throat. "I hadn't planned this for the two of us. The patrols will be out of the area soon."

"This is almost as clichéd as an assignation in the prefect's bathroom," he hissed.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

He had caught students up to all sorts of inappropriate activities in areas like this back at Hogwarts. He had never believed any of their excuses...and yet here he and Hermione were, waiting out a patrol in a storeroom.

Several very stilted minutes of silence passed. The handle of the mop was pressing most uncomfortably into his back, but he couldn't let himself simply lean more into Hermione.

Did she have any notion how lovely she smelled and how difficult it was not to bury his face in her hair? Wrap his arms around her? He was quite certain that they could fit more tolerably in this space if they arranged themselves in that manner, but he rather doubted that he would be able to convince her of the pure practicality of his suggestion.

His elbow was wedged very uncomfortably against one of the shelves. When he finally succeeded in moving it, he had to scramble to catch what he'd hit before it could make too much noise. He grasped at the items, relieved that they had not hit the floor.

They felt like rolls of spellotape. Who had organized this storeroom? It was hardly logical to put them at the edge of the shelf where they could be so easily knocked off.

"Would you mind moving your hands?"

Hermione's voice was slightly breathless, and Severus realized just what part of her anatomy he had caught the tape against. He shifted immediately.

"I beg your pardon," he said stiffly, appalled by his gaucherie.

He cast about for a topic which would take his mind off the fact that he'd recently had his hands all over Hermione's chest.

"Have you come across any other leads?"

As if she wouldn't have told him right away. Less than a week until the full moon, and they didn't seem to be getting anywhere. Which was, of course, what had led them to this particular gamble.

"Nothing. The Aurors are still investigating Draco Malfoy..."

He scoffed. "Going after every Slytherin you know?"

"That isn't fair, Severus," Hermione said crossly. "Someone cast the equivalent of a dragon Morsmordre in the sky above the crimes. It's a legitimate line of inquiry."

"Yet I don't suppose it occurred to you to investigate Charlie Weasley, someone who has more to do with dragons than simply the etymology of a name? Gryffindors are all..."

His words cut off as his foot was stomped on. Rather deliberately, he suspected.

"I led the investigation myself," she said, voice vibrating with emotion. "Ron still isn't speaking to me, but I have no intention of allowing sentimentality or prejudice to cloud my judgement on this matter. As I was trying to say, there is no indication that Draco Malfoy is involved. Nor that Charlie is."

Now the silence wasn't just awkward. He thought it was more than angry, too. He was pretty sure that he had hurt her.

"You have always had a pronounced ability to do what you believe is right; it was rude of me to ascribe motives to you that would better describe someone like Sirius Black."

He heard her swallow in the darkness. "Thank you."

"Obviously you are not unduly prejudiced against Slytherins or you wouldn't be here with me now."

"In the closet, you mean?"

There was a thread of laughter in her voice now, and Severus was relieved.

"Something like that."

Silence fell again, easier this time. He could feel her exhalations fluttering against his cheek.

It was quite intimate, and he blamed this for his speaking again.

"Your research for this case suggests that you have maintained your Potions acumen."

"I find it useful for a variety of cases."

"Your knowledge is formidable."

"Thank you." She sounded pleased.

"I imagine that you are aware, therefore, of the properties of belladonna?"

She grew quite still.

And suddenly, Severus couldn't think of a single other property of the plant which he could mention to turn the subject.

Hermione sighed. "I was wondering how long it would take you to bring that up. I apologize."

"You could hardly help yourself."

"But I know how awkward it is to have someone you're not interested in practically throwing themselves at you."

"I..."

"You were just trying to save me, and I behaved like a complete fool. I should have realized, should have..."

But it seemed that Severus had hit upon a way to effectively silence Hermione Granger.

It also turned out that it was much more comfortable in the storeroom if Hermione's arms were wrapped around his neck and his around her waist. The handle of the mop was still digging into his back, but that didn't seem nearly as annoying as it had done.

She tasted like honey and cinnamon, made little noises in the back of her throat when he moved a hand up to twine in her hair. He realized that he'd wanted to do this ever since she had waltzed back into his life and caused such upheaval.

Only now Hermione was pulling away from him.

"Time," she muttered, voice rough. "We've got to get moving."

In the light of the hallway...positively brilliant compared to the storeroom...he could see that she was flushed and somewhat rumpled, and she straightened her hair and clothing as they continued down the corridor.

Severus was somehow right back at the Dark Lord wreaking havoc on his personal life. He wasn't sure that he had ever been more annoyed.

Which was, of course, why they had to ensure the man stayed dead.

They hadn't made it more than twenty yards before they were suddenly dodging spell-fire. Hermione threw up a shield while Severus sent a Blasting Curse back at their attacker.

"Stop that!" Hermione exclaimed.

Severus hardly thought that would help, only the attack ceased immediately.

"Goddammit, Hermione, you scared the hell out of me!"

Harry Potter.

Severus should have realized that Hermione would be chary about this; though they had been caught, it was by one of Hermione's best friends.

Severus had to wonder about the wisdom of pulling the Man Who Triumphed off the lineament...thanks to Hermione's insistence...only to put him on guard duty here. Perhaps Potter had simply refused to be taken out of the action entirely.

"Are you out of your mind, sneaking around like this?" Potter demanded.

"We have to see if the body's there."

"Did it occur to you to ask?"

"Of course it did." Hermione's glare skewered Potter. "Kingsley told me it was here but wouldn't let me see for myself. Actually said I was causing a foofaraw...as if trying to raise Voldemort from the dead is a trifle."

Potter was frowning.

"I'm not sure that I can trust what he's saying."

"We're talking about Kingsley."

"I know," she said softly. "But it wasn't normal behaviour."

Potter stood there for a long moment, irresolute, and then he nodded. "Shift change is in less than an hour."

They started moving again, and Severus wondered how he'd got himself into this. Breaking in to the Ministry to see Voldemort's body with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Did this make him part of a warped Golden Trio?

"I still can't believe they put you down here alone," Hermione said.

The Auror shrugged. "After what happened with Corner, everyone's a little leery of nearly everyone else. But they all agree that Harry Potter wouldn't let anyone get at Voldemort."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Still no news about Corner?"

The younger man shook his head. "Not a bloody thing. I've never had much use for him, but.... Yes, he's an Auror; he'd know a fair bit of the information that's been leaked. Everyone's agreed he can't be the mastermind behind all of this, but I honestly can't even see him as a decent lackey or getting laying low right. He's always been loud and obnoxious and..."

"...a miserable excuse for a human being?" Severus suggested.

"Yes," Potter said with a grateful nod. "Now he's eluding all detection, and it just doesn't feel right, you know?"

Hermione nodded.

Severus had already shared his doubts with Hermione; he couldn't help but feel that there was something fishy about the whole thing.

They finally reached their destination. It took Hermione and Harry fourteen minutes to break through the formidable wards, and Severus was reluctantly impressed.

When they stepped inside, he told himself not to be paranoid, but all the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. The room was small and seemed to be devoted solely to the Dark Lord laid out on a long table and surrounded by more wards.

The body was badly decayed; the two pieces of his snapped wand lay across the remains of his chest next to the skeletal hands.

"I can't believe he's here like this," Severus uttered involuntarily.

"Don't look at us," Potter grumbled. "We've been trying for ten bloody years to get them to burn him and have done."

Severus stepped closer, staring down at the earthly remains of the man who had been his master for almost two decades.

Wordlessly, he uttered the spell, and a deep twinge in his left arm told him everything that he needed to know.

"It's him."

"Can you be sure?" Potter asked.

"The spell identifies the wizard who cast the Dark Mark upon me. There is no doubt."

They stared at the remains.

It was all here. The broken pieces of the wand. The body. No indication of tampering, no indication that it was being preserved.

Hermione and Severus came to the same conclusion at the same time, and she beat him to the question.

"What if it's not Voldemort they're trying to resurrect?"

AN: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review! Each review helps our team gain points!

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Word Prompts for this week:

1. Gaucherie

2. Prefect's bathroom

3. Storeroom

4. Spellotape

5. Foofaraw

6. Chary

7. Treacle fudge

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