Chapter 33: A Master Manipulator

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author.

Thanks to VIVAvivacious for the beta of this chapter.

--

Four weeks flew by, and soon it was the day of Hermione's release from St. Mungo's.

She had worked really hard, and by sheer willpower alone she managed to both endure physiotherapy and magically regenerate and heal her own wound completely. Snape had played a vital role in ensuring that she both ate decent meals consistently and completed all the exercises the Healers assigned her when she was not in the recovery room with a trainer. She was eternally grateful to have found someone who cared for her as much as he did. The only people she allowed to see her were the Weasley men, Remus Lupin and Tonks, and both Draco and Luna.

She was not able to walk on her own due to the amount of muscle atrophy she suffered from so long in a coma, but she had regained the use of both hands completely. Until the time came that she was able to stand and walk on her own, she had the use of a wheelchair. Much as it embarrassed her to be trapped in one, she was grateful enough to have survived that it mattered little in the end.

Snape had been away for most of the day before adapting the cottage to accommodate her wheelchair, so she had spent the day playing wizard chess with Draco.

It was midday, and Snape had yet to arrive to collect her. She had been waiting in the room she had remained in for the duration of her stay, postponing the signing of her discharge papers until he was there to sign as her witness. She was staring out the window when she heard a cough from the doorway behind her, alerting her to a visitor. She turned her wheelchair with a little difficulty to see Albus Dumbledore standing there wearing spangled mauve robes with a matching wizard's hat covered in stars. If that couldn't be considered garish, she didn't know what would.

'Good day, Miss Granger,' he said formally, his mouth curved up in a smile that seemed too cheerful to be natural. 'I trust you are well.'

'I am doing much better, Headmaster,' she answered, her tone clipped. 'You seem to be fairing rather well.'

'I was not injured to any permanent extent during the final battle,' he replied, his blue eyes registering that he had caught on to the frostiness of her tone. 'I came here today to a purpose, Miss Granger.'

'I can't imagine you visiting for any other reason,' she said tartly, not even bothering with civility any more. The darkness within her was slowly awakening from its long slumber.

Dumbledore frowned at her then. 'I have been asked on the behalf of the Ministry of Magic and Wizengamot to offer you an Order of Merlin, First Class, for your contributions to the war effort,' he recited, almost from type. 'If you chose to accept this award, it shall be presented to you during a ceremony at the Victory ball later this month.'

'And I suppose there is going to be a giant press release about this,' she said with a haughty sniff. 'If this entire thing is just a publicity stunt, then I am afraid I will have to decline this offer. I will not abide being front page news.'

'Miss Granger, I came here on the behalf of the Wizengamot and Minister of Magic, not for any personal reasons,' he answered, dropping his friendly facade. 'If it were up to me, you would not have been offered an award of such distinction.'

'Albus Dumbledore, I never thought I would see the day where you would sink as low as you have in the last two minutes I have been here,' said a deep voice from the doorway.

Dumbledore spun around, and Hermione craned her neck to find Snape in the doorway. The man had impeccable timing. He stepped into the room and was illuminated further, and Hermione nodded that she was fine to him before he turned his focus back to the Headmaster.

'You have insulted Hermione for the last time, Albus,' Snape said quietly, folding his arms over his chest.

'This does not concern you, Severus,' Albus snapped gruffly with a dismissive wave of his hand. 'As a member of the Order of the Phoenix, I command that you leave the room until I have finished discussing private matters with Miss Granger.'

'I really wish it didn't have to come to this, but Albus, I would like to respectfully withdraw myself from the service of the Order of the Phoenix. My debt has been repaid,' he said, whipping out his wand as it began to glow. The light flashed like a heartbeat in slow motion until it faded to simply the wand in his hand.

Hermione had never been more proud of Snape as she was in the moment. Dumbledore had been controlling everyone from the start. He was a master of manipulation. And now that they were finally free of the Dark Lord and his band of Death Eaters, they were all free to live as they wished ... without Masters.

'Now, if your offer to Hermione was the only reason you came here, then your business has been concluded, and you are free to leave,' Snape said, stepping out of the doorway so the Headmaster could leave.

'You seem to have chosen a side then, Severus,' Albus said coldly. 'And you have chosen wrongly. You are, however, welcome to return to the school to teach until the end of the school year. After that, you are on your own.'

Hermione watched as her lover's eyebrow quirked up as he stood to his full height and looked down at the old wizard.

'However... generous your offer might be, I am afraid I will have to decline and offer my resignation to you as of this very moment,' he replied. 'I will see to it that I find you a suitable replacement by this week's end.'

Hermione knew it was wrong, but the darkness that lurked just beneath the surface was enjoying the way Dumbledore's face turned purple at Snape's parting words. He turned back to her and gave a curt nod before stalking out of the room in a way that Hermione had never seen before. It was as though he had reverted back to his childhood as he trudged out in a temper. She just managed to hold in the laugh that was bubbling up into her throat, threatening to escape.

Snape shut the door after the Headmaster was out of sight and went to Hermione just as she allowed a laugh escape her. He kneeled on the floor before her and brought his lips to hers, greeting her properly with a kiss.

'So, are you ready to sign your discharge papers and be done with this place for a while at least?' he asked with a small smile.

Hermione stroked her index finger down his nose and grinned. 'Yes, let's get out of here,' she answered. 'Take me home.'

He immediately jumped to his feet and went behind Hermione to wheel her out of the room and into the hall. They took the lift down to the ground floor where they had to wait a few minutes while a new patient with boils all over his face was having his details taken down before he was sent to the all-day clinic. After Hermione and Snape had both signed her papers, she was released, and the band around her arm disappeared.

They went to the Apparition point, and Snape Apparated both of them into his house, right into the sitting room of the cottage.

'It's so good to be back here,' Hermione exclaimed with a bright smile she directed to her lover.

'It is so good to finally have you back here with me,' Snape murmured, wheeling her chair over the couch before reaching down to lift her from it and depositing her onto the lounge.

He sat down beside her and waved a hand at the fireplace, igniting the logs. The orange flames provided the one source of light and warmth to the room. Hermione could barely even remember the last time she had been like that with Snape ... simply sitting in front of the fire, wrapped up in one another and enjoying the silence. She sighed in contentment, burying her head in the crook of his shoulder and neck.

After a while, she felt her eyes begin to droop as they so often did those days. She still suffered from the fatigue caused by the seriousness of her injury and the amount of potions still floating around in her system. It would take another couple weeks until she would return to normal.

When she woke up, she blinked a few times to clear the sleep and looked up to see that Snape had manoeuvred her to lie on the lounge properly with her head resting on his lap. She could see he was reading some sort of academic journal, his brow furrowed in concentration the way that it always did when he was thinking. She reached a small hand up and gently touched his cheek, attracting his attention immediately.

'How long have you been awake?' he asked quietly.

'Only a couple minutes,' she answered, using her arms to push herself into a sitting position. 'I'm hungry.'

Snape chuckled a little at her blunt admission, standing from the lounge and placing the journal down on the coffee table beside the chair. Wordlessly he helped her back into the wheelchair, and the two of them went to the kitchen to see what could be done for dinner. In the end they settled on soup and herb toast, which Snape made as Hermione sat at the table, blatantly admiring the view of his rear as he worked. She had always thought that Snape had an admirably taut body for a man of his age.

'Are you enjoying the view, then?' he asked, snapping her out of her daze.

Hermione smirked, noting that he was looking over his shoulder at her. Unable to deny that she was staring, she simply settled for a shrug. 'Well, what else is there to do?' she asked. 'You have decided that I am unable to do things for myself.'

'Making dinner for the two of us is hardly me taking responsibility for everything,' he said, wandlessly levitating two bowls of steaming pumpkin soup to the table with a plate of the herb toast.

Hermione gratefully dug into the food before her the moment Snape joined her at the table. Her stomach had started protesting rather loudly. When they were finished with their meal, Snape cleared away the dishes and set them to washing themselves before walking Hermione into the hallway and levitating her up the stairs. It was an unspoken agreement between the two that they would be sharing Snape's bedroom.

What had surprised her, however, was to find that he had redecorated the room and added a whole new dresser beside the one he had used for his clothes. He walked over to it and opened the drawers to show her that he had moved her clothes to his room. As he told her, his cheeks had flushed just a little. He was embarrassed by his presumption, but Hermione immediately reassured him that it was a very sweet and thoughtful gesture.

After the two had bathed, Snape slipped beneath the covers behind Hermione and she felt his arm wrap around her waist as he spooned against her after lighting the logs in the fireplace.

'Hermione, are you going to accept the Order of Merlin being offered to you?' he asked quietly.

Hermione paused in thought for a moment. It was a great honour to be offered the award, but she was just too uncertain as to how the entire thing would be treated. She was worried that Dumbledore had some other plan behind it that he could twist to trap her into doing something for him in return.

'I would like to accept it,' she answered finally. 'I just don't know whether I should. I don't know how much involvement Dumbledore has in the whole thing.'

She felt Snape nod from behind her. 'I can understand your reservations, and I can assure you that no public ceremony need occur for you to receive the award,' he murmured against the back of her neck before he pressed a soft kiss to her nape. 'Dumbledore has nothing to do with the Order of Merlin itself ... he just happened to be the representative sent to deliver the message.'

'Well in that case, maybe I could accept it after all,' she answered, muffling a yawn with her hand. 'It would look good on all my resumes and letterheads.'

Snape chuckled softly at that. The pair fell asleep shortly afterwards to the soft sound of the fire crackling.

--

A/N – Just one more chapter, and then we are done!