Going Under

Now I will tell you what I've done for you

~ "Going Under" by Evanescence

I stepped out of the fireplace and into Poppy Pomfrey's office. Thankfully, she was sitting behind her desk, working on several charts.

"Hermione! What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine. I need to speak with you though; it's very important," I said in a rush.

She gestured to the chair in front of her desk. As I sat down quickly, I pulled out the books I had gathered before I left my quarters and slammed them down on her desk.

"What's this about?" she said while eyeing the stack of texts.

"I need to talk to you about Professor Snape," I said.

"What about him?" She looked uneasy as she shifted in her chair, and her calm exterior seemed put on.

"It has come to my attention that he's still alive."

"I... I don't know what you're talking about."

Come on, Poppy. You practically have Guilty written on your forehead.

"Oh, I believe you do. You see, Poppy, after my first day of classes I found Professor Snape's journal. In it, I've read about all sorts of interesting things, including his bid to cheat death."

The nurse looked pale and drawn.

"Did he say what he did?"

"Yes, I know what he did, but I've been unable to find any information regarding countering the curse other than the prescribed reversal."

She reached across her desk towards for the journal that was sitting on top of the pile of books. I put my right hand on top of it to stop her.

"Not so fast. Do you know where he is?"

"Yes..."

I waited for her to elaborate. When she didn't, I pressed on.

"Well, where is he?"

"I can't say."

"What do you mean?" I said, agitated.

"He's... safe."

"Poppy, I want to help him. Please, tell me."

"I can't."

Oh, for the love of Merlin...

I could tell that she was frustrated with the situation, but I refused to give up.

"Okay. So you know he's alive and where he is, and it appears as though you want to tell me about it but are unable to."

"Yes."

"Then you need to get the Secret-Keeper to tell me where the hell he is. Right. Now."

She eyed the journal and apparently came to a decision. Nodding towards me, she stood and walked over to her hearth. I watched as she took a pinch of Floo powder from the pot on her mantle and tossed it into the flames. She got on her hands and knees and called into the fire, "Headmisstress' office!"

"Minerva," I heard her call out over the flames.

After a few moments I heard Poppy say, "Can you please wake Albus and ask him to come to my office? It's very important. No, no, everything's fine. Yes, I'll talk to you later. Thank you."

When Poppy ended the Floo call, she returned to her desk chair and looked up at the frame above her fireplace. I joined her in admiring the painting of a sunny conservatory set with a breakfast table in the center. It was very lovely... that was until the painted form of Albus Dumbledore sat himself comfortably at the table.

Oh, great! Just what I needed... a chat with Albus bloody Dumbledore.

"Good evening, Poppy! Oh, and Professor Granger too! What a pleasant surprise," he said jovially.

I gave him a sour look and raised my eyebrow in Poppy's direction.

"Albus, she knows about Severus."

"Oh! Excellent!"

Argh! He's making it sound like this was all part of his master plan too!

I shot out of my chair and rounded on the portrait.

"You knew!" I shouted, pointing my finger at his painted visage. "You knew this whole entire time that he was alive. Both of you did, and you didn't tell anyone!"

"My dear girl, calm down. He's been well looked after in his current location."

"And where might that be?" I asked, seething.

"Why don't you sit back down, and tell me all about what you've found," Albus said.

"Why don't you just let me take care of him? It's not like you gave a shite about him!"

I've had enough of this sanctimonious bastard.

I drew my wand and pointed the tip straight at Dumbledore. In an instant Poppy jumped out of her chair to block my aim.

"Hermione, please, he's the one who can give you the answers you seek. If you curse him, he won't be able to tell you anything." Then she turned to Dumbledore and said, "Albus, quit antagonizing the girl. She apparently no longer feels the same about you, so just get on with it already."

I lowered my wand but continued to glare at Dumbledore. Poppy reached out and nudged me back towards the chair in front of her desk.

After both of us were seated, Poppy looked towards the painting.

"Albus, it's obvious that Hermione is reluctant to share her information with you. I also know you won't reveal the location without a good reason," she said diplomatically.

Poppy then turned to me and implored, "Please, Hermione. I know he'll tell you, just explain what you know."

I stared at her, trying to figure out what I should do. I knew I had no collateral and would have to simply trust her assurances because I really didn't want to continue trying to figure things out on my own.

I turned to face Dumbledore. "Fine, I'll tell you what I know. I expect the two of you to answer my questions completely and to ultimately give me Severus Snape's location. If you hold out on me, I will take everything I know to the Ministry, and you'll have to answer to them. Am I understood?"

Poppy nodded and Albus said, "Yes, perfectly."

"Very well," I said. "Severus Snape created the potion form of a spell known as Juliet's Curse."

There was a sharp intake of breath from the nurse, and she quickly covered her gaping mouth with her hand.

"The True Love Spell? Why would he do such a thing?" Albus asked as he leaned forward in his painted chair.

I didn't want to divulge all of Severus' reasons, so I chose the simple, plausible response. "He decided he'd lived enough hell here on earth and didn't want to gamble on what awaited him in the afterlife. He never thought the curse would be broken; he just wanted peace."

My companions were quiet for a few moments as they considered my words. In that time I decided I should voice one of my own questions.

"Poppy, how did you find him?"

She looked to Dumbledore, who responded to the unspoken question, "Poppy Pomfrey, you are free to speak to Hermione Granger regarding Severus Snape."

Poppy took a deep breath and began to explain.

"Severus nearly died once shortly after he turned spy. He was tortured with the Cruciatus and beaten, then left at the front gates. Hagrid found him, but it took days for me to get him back together. The internal bleeding had been the worst part that time."

Ugh, this is going to be painful, hearing the gory details from the nurse...

At this point she conjured herself a glass and quickly cast, "Aguamenti," to fill it. After taking a few sips of water, she continued. "Albus decided that we needed a way to know when Severus was on the grounds and near death. This way we could firstly treat him faster and secondly avoid a situation of a student finding him in that condition. After a week or two the Headmaster brought me this pendant."

So, that's what he meant about Dumbledore controlling his death too...

She reached beneath her robes and withdrew a gold chain. From the bottom of the necklace there hung a teardrop-shaped onyx gemstone.

"What are its properties?" I asked quizzically while staring at the stone.

"Albus linked the stone to Severus' life force. If Severus happened to be on the Hogwarts grounds or in the relative vicinity and near death, the gem would burn white-hot, but fortunately for me not leave any blisters. All I would need to do when this would occur is touch the tip of my wand to the pendant, speak the key-phrase, and it would then Portkey me to Severus' location."

"But isn't that a little dangerous? I mean, you were Portkeying blindly! What if Voldemort were still there or Death Eaters watching him?"

Albus interjected, "It was a calculated risk."

I growled in response, but kept my mouth shut. Calculated risk... he plays chess with people's lives!

Seeing my distress, Poppy began speaking again. "I agreed to it, mostly because Severus is like a son to me. Since he was eleven, I looked after him and patched him up. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if he died out there where I could have helped him."

"Okay, I understand. So, your pendant... it was a reverse Portkey also?"

"Yes, again I would touch my wand to the stone, and it would bring us to... where he is now."

As much as I wanted to know where that was, there were a few other things still bothering me.

"Poppy, you thought he killed Albus," I said as I jerked my thumb towards the painting. "Why would you even bother helping Severus in the end?"

"I told her to," Albus chimed in.

"And you didn't question him?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"Listen, Hermione, I knew there were a lot of things going on with the war that I didn't know. And honestly, I didn't want to know. But the evening that Severus was appointed Headmaster, Albus came to visit me, just as he is now. He told me that night to continue looking after Severus. To say I was confused would be an understatement, but the order gave me hope, and I was actually relieved in a way."

"But your portrait was dormant after you died," I said to Dumbledore.

"Hermione, all those portraits feign sleep all the time. Why would I be any different?"

"All right," I said. "Please explain how you knew Severus wasn't dead when you got to the shack."

"I popped in just as the three of you were leaving. I surveyed the damage and started to perform as many healing charms as I could. The blood... it was everywhere. I started to panic because he looked dead, but my pendant was still burning me. You see, if he had died, the pendant would have become ice cold. As I considered trying to move him, his wounds began to close, and the pendant became completely dormant as if he were back to normal health. He had no heartbeat, but he wasn't dead. I knew the pendant worked! Plus, his wounds healed! I figured he must have taken some kind of precautionary measures, but I didn't know what. So, I decided to Portkey us to... his current location and talk to Albus. This way I'd be able to continue looking after him until we were able to figure out what he did."

"It's been six years! What would have happened if you died? Or even if you decided to retire?" I retorted.

"We had back-up plans for both of those situations, Hermione. He would have continued to be looked after," Dumbledore answered.

They're starting to give me a headache.

"Albus," I said wearily as I closed my eyes and pinched my brow, "I want to help him. I've spent the last week and a half searching for clues and answers. Please, just tell me where he is."

"The entrance to Severus Snape's healing quarters can be found on the rear wall of the infirmary."

Did he just...

My head shot up upon hearing the words that had just left Dumbledore's painted mouth.

"Thank you, Headmaster. I may not be your biggest fan, but I truly appreciate this," I said as calmly as possible.

"Just bring him back to us, Hermione, please."

"I'm certainly going to try," I called back as I raced out of Poppy's office.

I ran heedlessly through the infirmary until I reached the newly formed door along the rear wall.

The adrenaline was pumping through my veins, and I could barely breathe as I grasped the handle and pushed the door open.

A/N: I'm sorry this is the cliffhanger of doom, but it's just the way it worked out.

Thanks to the alpha team of awesomeness and much love to karelia for being beta reader extraordinaire for me.

Thank you, readers, for being so awesome and supportive. I'm so happy to hear you're enjoying this story so much!

Much Love,

~ Brena