A Letter

Disclaimer: See Prologue.

Thank you, Delilah!!

~*~*~*~

"Love is my sin..."

~ William Shakespeare

~*~*~*~

The next few days were... different. There was no longer the air of tense anger and frustration between the Potions master and his apprentice – it had been replaced with a sense of calmness... a quietude that came only from the deepest soul-searching and the hardest lessons learned. Hermione and Severus worked amiably, he at his workstation and she at hers. Neither of them spoke of that night in the forest or of their visit to the small cemetery. It would never be forgotten but was now a part of the past... and they seemed to be making a decided effort to move forward into the future, whatever it may hold.

Two weeks after the encounter, Hermione was at her worktable, working on a simple batch of potions for the infirmary, when she heard an owl swoop through the open door of the laboratory. Absorbed in her work and assuming that the bird was for Severus, she called into the other room.

"Severus... owl for you."

She heard the leather of his chair protest as he stood from his desk and walked into the main lab, his boots heavy against the stone floor. She heard him pause in the doorway. "Hermione?" he said.

"Hmm?" she replied, still absorbed in the stirring of her cauldron.

He cleared his throat. "That owl is not for me."

"What?" she said as she looked up in confusion. Severus heard her sharp intake of breath as she finally spotted the bird sitting patiently on the chair behind her. "Hedwig!" Hermione shouted, startling the Snowy Owl a bit. "Oh, my God... it's been... it's been so long..." She walked slowly to the bird and reached out cautiously. When no angry bite was forthcoming, Hermione slowly stroked the soft, white down of the bird's cheek. Hedwig clicked her beak in friendly recognition, hooting softly as she held out her leg. With shaking hands, Hermione untied the string and unfolded the small piece of parchment wrapped inside.

Hermione,

~ Harry

Hermione stared unbelieving at the letter in her hand.

She heard Severus walk slowly towards her. "Hermione?"

She knew there was a scowl on his face simply by his tone of voice.

She turned her head to look over her shoulder at him. Tears welled in her eyes as she handed him the letter. He took it slowly. Hermione watched as his confusion turned to anger and his scowl deepened as his eyes scanned Harry's words. She jumped as Severus crushed the letter in one swift motion, his fist and jaw clenching in fury. "So... he thinks he can just walk back into your life? After all this time, he thinks he can demand that you – that we – grant him an audience simply because he deems it necessary?!" He brandished the fist holding the piece of crumpled parchment.

"Severus," Hermione said softly, now staring at her hands, "what if... what if he truly needs us?"

The dark wizard's face was red with fury. "Who gives a bloody fuck!" he raged, his hands flying into the air in exasperation. "Where was he when you needed him? Where was he when your life was turned upside down? Where the fuck was he when you almost died!" His hair flew around his face as he slammed his fists onto the worktable, upsetting several vials of ingredients in the process. That he didn't notice the spillage bespoke of how truly furious he was.

Hermione's throat ached from holding back tears, and soon her brain overpowered her mouth. "I could ask some of those same questions about you," she whispered tightly. Despite their newfound peace, her voice was laced with the barest hint of anger, anger she knew should be aimed at Harry, not Severus.

As it was, Severus balked as if she'd slapped him, and the fury on his face melted first to shock before twisting into shame. After staring at her for a moment, but not denying her statement, he cast his gaze to the floor and gave a stiff nod before turning and retreating back to his office, leaving the letter crumpled and forgotten on the worktable.

Hermione knew she had wounded him deeply and had regretted the words the moment they left her mouth. "Severus," she called as the door clicked shut. "Dammit..." she sighed, pressing her forehead to the thick, wooden door and silently imploring him to let her in. "Severus, I'm sorry... please... I didn't mean it."

They had come so far in the past two weeks... and here she was mucking things up again. "Severus... please," she called again a few moments later, this time turning the door knob. It wasn't locked. She closed her eyes and exhaled – he wasn't shutting her out.

Slowly, she opened the door and peered inside. He was sitting behind his desk, facing away from her. She could see a thin line of smoke rising above his head.

"You know that's bad for you," Hermione said softly as she approached him.

"Pot. Kettle. Black," was all he said.

"Yes, well... at least I go outside."

A grunt was all she got in return.

She moved around to face him. "I really am sorry. What I said was uncalled for. I was just so taken aback by the letter, I... I wasn't thinking." She knelt, placing her hands on his knees and looking up into his face. "Forgive me?"

He met her gaze from between the long strands of his dark hair. After a long moment, he closed his eyes and nodded. She smiled softly and stood, leaning in to lay a gentle, lingering kiss on the top of his head. "Mind if I join you?" she asked, indicating the pack of fags on the desktop.

"Help yourself."

Hermione pulled one out, held it to her lips, and lit it with a flick of her hand. She leaned against the edge of his desk, chuckling as she exhaled. "Do you remember the first time you caught me smoking?" she asked.

He swiveled his chair around to face her, taking a slow drag as he narrowed his eyes at her. "If I remember correctly it was about..." he paused, exhaling as he tried to remember, "three months after the manticore attack – around the beginning of December '98?"

She nodded, taking another long drag. "After three months of caring for you, plus all my other duties, I was sufficiently stressed out, thank you very much."

"Ahh...," was his only reply.

Hermione smirked but stared off into space, noticing a wayward spiderweb strung between two of the specimen jars on the shelf behind Severus' desk. She continued to stare at it, mesmerized as it drifted soundlessly back and forth, riding the invisible currents of air winding through the dark room.

Finally, Severus' voice broke the silence. "What do you think the little blighter wants?" he spoke softly, although there was no masking the loathing in his voice.

Hermione shrugged. "No clue... but there's only one way to find out." She looked at him, the expression on her face both pleading and remorseful.

He took a final drag before flicking his hand and vanishing the remains of the fag. He returned her gaze, his eyes narrowing. "Yes," he said, "I suppose there is."

She held his gaze for a moment before finally nodding her understanding. She pushed away from the desk; she would send a reply to Harry, agreeing to a meeting on Saturday. What she wouldn't tell him was that – fate of the world be damned – Severus was probably going to kill him the moment he walked through the door.

~*~*~*~

Harry Potter liked to think he was a smart man. Not a brilliant man, but definitely smart. He was an Auror after all.

However, his opinion of himself changed slightly as he walked unannounced through the door of Hogwarts' Potions lab on Saturday morning. He had been expecting to see Hermione – perhaps she would be happy to see him, perhaps not – but was instead greeted by the furious countenance of Severus Snape. Before Harry could speak, the Potions master had backed him against the wall, silenced him, bound his arms, and lifted him off his feet by something akin to an invisible hangman's noose.

I deserve this, Harry thought to himself as he struggled for breath. As an Auror, Harry could very well have Severus arrested and incarcerated for attacking him, but he needed the dark wizard, and he needed Hermione.

Severus started to speak, his wand pressed under Harry's jaw. "Well, Potter, to what do I owe the... pleasure... of your visit?"

Harry's mouth moved but nothing came out. Severus simply raised an eyebrow and smirked. "What was that? Kneazle got your tongue?" He flicked his wand at Harry and the invisible noose tightened. Now, he truly couldn't breath. Just as the edges of Harry's vision started to go dark, he heard her voice from the back of the room.

"I think that's enough, don't you?"

Severus didn't turn when Hermione spoke. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at Harry before slashing his wand at the cyanotic young wizard, who fell to the floor with a thud and a gasp.

As the color returned to his face, Harry rubbed his tender neck and looked around the room. Hermione was leaning against the far worktable, her arms crossed over her chest and an unreadable expression on her face. Snape had moved to stand beside her and still wore a look that bespoke of torture, murder, and death, all in the cruelest forms possible.

"Hello, Hermione. Professor," Harry rasped out. He watched as Hermione caressed Snape's arm – almost reassuringly – and met the dark man's blazing gaze with a small, tight smile before moving towards where he lay sprawled on the floor.

"Harry," she greeted in return, squatting down before him. She gave him a small, genuine smile. "You do realize that I couldn't stop him... and that you're lucky he is a somewhat reasonable man?"

"Yeah," Harry said, "I know. I suppose I deserved it after... well, you know...," he trailed off, looking utterly ashamed.

"I know," she said, her expression sad. Harry knew he would have to answer for his past sins eventually, but that now was not the time. After a moment, Hermione stood and extended her hand. "Now get up," she said. He took the offered hand, and she pulled him to his feet and embraced him in a fierce hug, which he returned wholeheartedly.

"So," Hermione asked as she broke the hug and wiped her eyes, "what's so important that you need to speak with both of us?" She turned and walked back to where Severus was still glaring. Harry noticed, with no small margin of discomfort, how her hand went automatically to the man's back, moving soothingly up and down.

Harry looked between the two of them and took a deep, calming breath. To hell with sugarcoating anything... it would be insulting to them both. "Horcruxes."

Severus let out a bark of laughter and sneered at Harry as Hermione's brow furrowed in confusion. "Looking to make yourself immortal now, Potter? Did you come here to politely ask that one or both of us give up our lives so that you may live on indefinitely?"

Ignoring the jab, Harry continued. "Not me. Voldemort."

Severus' eyes narrowed dangerously, and Harry didn't miss the minute twitch of the man's left hand. "You waste my time, Potter. Don't you think that I, of all people, would know if the Dark Lord had succeeded in splitting his soul?"

"No, actually, I don't. He would have told no one. Not even his most trusted." Harry's eyes flicked to Severus' left forearm.

The older man's face contorted with anger. "You are a fool, Potter! Get out of my sight!" At that he turned and stormed into his office, slamming the door hard enough to dislodge a jar of something pickled and slimy from the shelf behind the worktable. It shattered and Hermione jumped.

Harry watched as his friend ran a worried hand over her face as she turned in the direction of the slammed door. He sighed. "I'm sorry, Hermione, but it's the truth. Or at least Dumbledore suspects it is. I just came to see if either you or Snape had ever heard of such a thing... and to tell you that Ron and I will be leaving soon. Dumbledore's sending us to find the damn things."

Her eyes snapped back to his. "Sending you to find them?"

Harry nodded. "The good news is that two have already been destroyed." Hermione's brow furrowed, her expression curious.

Harry continued. "Do you remember in our second year, Tom Riddle's diary?"

She nodded.

"Well, I destroyed it in the Chamber of Secrets. That was the first one to go."

Hermione nodded again.

"The other one was a ring. Dumbledore found a way to destroy it using Gryffindor's sword." He held up a hand to forestall Hermione's questions. "No... I don't know how he did it. I only know that he did. So that leaves five more. We have a few ideas of what they might be, but no real proof."

Harry paused and Hermione took the moment to ask a few questions. "So... from what Severus said, a Horcrux is... an object, an object in which a person... hides a piece of their... soul?"

Harry gave a tight-lipped nod.

Hermione continued, her eyes going out of focus as she thought over what Harry had just said. She spoke slowly as she came to her conclusion. "So... that would mean... hypothetically at least... that if you could find the five remaining Horcruxes and destroy them... we destroy Voldemort?" She looked up, and her face was ashen.

"Yes... that's exactly what it means," Harry confirmed. "It's also why I need your help... and his." The young Auror tipped his chin in the direction of the closed office door.

Hermione nodded slowly. "Harry... I'll do what I can to convince him, but I don't know what good it will do. We've just gotten back on good terms with each other... and I don't want... I can't... jeopardize that." She stood and moved towards the closed door.

"Not even to save our world, Hermione?" She could hear a hint of anger in her friend's voice. "Is he really worth sacrificing everything for?"

Hermione's hand paused on the doorknob. She shook her head. "Harry, I really don't think you want me to answer that." She turned to give him a tight smile. "I'll owl you soon." And then she was gone, leaving the young Auror standing in the lab alone, angry, and confused.

~TBC

A/N: This is a bit shorter than I normally write, but it just worked out to end itself there. There will be more flashbacks soon, including the humble beginnings of their relationship. Thanks to all who have stuck with me!