Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"What is it?" Hermione asked as she looked up at Severus.

She was still in his arms, and he was still looking at her gloomily. The answer to her return was so simple. It wasn't until he felt the intense emotions her kiss wrought that he understood what he needed to do.

"I will miss you when you are gone, Hermione," he told her as he took her arm and began to lead her lazily toward the edge of the canvas.

"Well," Hermione said. "We have a little while yet."

He nodded absently as they approached the border between picture and reality. Hermione didn't seem to notice where he was leading. That was probably for the best.

When they were within a few feet of the edge, he turned her to him and pulled her closer. Looking into her eyes, he prayed she'd understand.

"You are precious to me, Hermione. Never forget that."

Leaning into her, he kissed her again. The passion filled him at once. He basked in the feelings that surrounded them, but it was all too short. Grimacing into the kiss, he took his arms and thrust her hard away from him and to the edge of the canvas. She fell backwards, and with a mixture of elation and grief, he watched her be thrown from the painting.

Hermione flew back and landed on the floor in front of the picture with an Oomph. She sat up and looked at Severus crossly. It seemed to take her a minute to realize what happened. Springing to her feet, she approached the picture.

"How did you do that?" she asked incredulously.

He tried to smile, to make her see he was unaffected with her departure, but he knew he didn't succeed.

"It was my emotions, Hermione. Intense anger drew you into the picture. My intense feelings for you released you from the imprisonment."

He could see the realization in her face. "It was the emotions that gave you the power to move me from one existence to the other?"

He nodded.

"But..."

"It was the right thing to do, once I realized."

"Severus..."

"I should be going..."

"What do we do now?"

He stared at her for a long, long time. "We go on as before. It was lovely while it lasted."

He turned and began to make his way to the corner of the portrait.

"Wait," Hermione called to him. He turned and looked at her. She reached up and stroked his face with her finger.

"I shall never forget what we had."

"Nor I..." he murmured.

He saw determination cross her face. He was about to ask her what it was she was thinking about, but before he had the chance, she wheeled around and raced down the hall, up the stairs, and out of his life. A weight fell onto his chest as if he'd been slammed against a wall. He couldn't take this. He left the painting and appeared in a black canvas deep within the dungeons. Slytherins often felt the need to be in solitude, and this blank portrait had been set up for just that purpose. Phineas Black sat there now.

"Get up, I need this chair," Severus demanded.

"I had it before you."

"And you have had it long enough! Get up!"

Black stood with a huff. "You're lucky I was done," he growled before exiting the painting.

Severus sunk into the chair, which faced the back of the portrait, and hung his head in his hands as despair washed over him.

I did the right thing once again... the thing that was warranted. So, once again I must suffer for doing what is right. I already miss Hermione and her optimism.

Reading under the willow won't have the same appeal without her....

He felt empty. Looking into the future, he could see nothing but loneliness. He should have never given in to his feelings.

If I hadn't, though, I'd have never figured out how to free Hermione.... No, this is for the best. I have always been alone; my eternity will be no different.

Sitting back, he stared out into the blackness of the picture.

Maybe when she's lived her life and her portrait graces these walls...

"Dammit, that's so long from now..."

Severus avoided Hermione for several days while he licked his wounds. Finally, when he felt he could look upon her and not be filled with loss, he moved back into his portrait in the Headmistress' office. He was disappointed to see the room empty. Looking about, he noticed Phineas Black eyeing him sharply. He nodded a greeting to him.

"Where've you been?" Phineas asked gruffly.

Severus shrugged. "Just wandering about the castle."

"Thought you were with the Mudblood."

Severus eyed Black sharply. "Both of us have asked you not to call her that."

"Well, she's been gone a while too. Popped in here after she came out of your picture, grabbed a few things, and left. Hasn't been back since."

Severus pondered that for a minute. "Did she say where she was going?"

Black looked at him as if he were a dolt. "I'd have said if I knew."

Dilys Derwent clucked her tongue. "Phineas, please! We're all colleagues in this room. Show some respect."

"I'll show respect when he stops asking stupid questions," Black grumbled while turning and going to the back of his portrait.

Severus ignored him and those around him as he sank into his armchair and pondered just where Hermione Granger had gone.

Several days earlier:

Hermione entered the old master's studio and smiled to herself as the bell tinkled overhead. Franco DiGregorio came out from his back room with a grin which widened considerably when he saw the Headmistress. He extended his hands out to her, about to embrace hers in his, when he noticed his hands were covered in various shades of paint. He pulled them back and grabbed a towel that hung from his belt. Wiping vigorously, he cleaned every drop off before taking Hermione's hand in his.

"Ah, Professore Granger! How wonderful to see you again!"

Hermione smiled at him. "It's nice to see you too, sir."

"Ah, ah, ah," he chided with a wave of his finger in front of her face. "What did I tell you last time?"

She shook her head with a grin. "Franco, then."

"Much better! What can I do for you? Do you need another portrait? I thought Professore McGonagall was traveling the world. I hadn't heard of her passing."

"Oh, no!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's nothing like that. Although I do want to thank you for your work. Severus Snape is... incredibly lifelike."

"Grazie, grazie! I pride myself in my enchantments."

"There's just one problem, Franco."

The old man's eyebrows rose quizzically at Hermione.

"He's a bit too... lifelike."

"Perdone?" DiGregorio asked.

She pulled a thin book from her robes. The title was emblazoned in gold letterhead across the top of the cover... Trapped Souls. The cover was completed with a wispy form of a male ghost trapped in a cage. Franco looked down at the book and looked back to Hermione.

"He oftentimes speaks of remembering an afterlife of which he was very much a part. He remembers interacting with other departed. It got me thinking so I got this book out of the Hogwarts library."

She moved over to a counter toward the back of the studio showroom and placed the book down, opening it to a bookmarked page. She tapped the heading. Picture Trapping

"Is it possible, Franco, that you not only enchanted the portrait with his essence, but also his soul?"

Franco moved to her side and read through the description in the book.

"I've never heard of anything like this," he mused.

She nodded. "It's odd. I had just pulled this book out of the library and read it about a month before you finished the portrait. When Severus started talking about past lives, it set me thinking." She turned to Franco.

"Did anything happen differently when you cast the spell to awaken him?"

Franco narrowed his eyes as he thought. In an instant they grew wide again. "An owl!" he cried in his thick accent. "Now I remember. An owl came as I cast the spell. I cannot tell you how much it frightened me! But I finished the spell, and everything seemed fine. I did not really think anything of it."

"Could an owl do something to the spell?"

Franco motioned for her to follow him to his back room. He walked through the door and went to his bookshelf, pulling his spell book from its place. He began flipping through the pages.

"Ultimately, an owl has nothing to do with the spell," he murmured as he continued to flip. Finally, he came upon the page with the enchantment on it. He pointed to the words of the spell.

"The owl interrupted me while I was saying the incantation. I was sure I did it correctly, but if it is done incorrectly, anything can happen. Usually if it is not performed right, the painting does not come to life. However, it is possible for other effects to occur."

Hermione studied the incantation. Finally she pointed to the wording in the middle.

"Dare vita at non cor ad hic effigies," she murmured. "What would happen if you left out the word non in the spell. It would translate to give life and soul to this portrait instead of give life but not soul to this portrait.

Franco's eyes met hers. "It's entirely possible that that's what happened."

"So, Severus Snape's soul is trapped in a portrait?" Hermione asked as a mixture of fear and elation filled her.

"Santo cielo, what have I done?"

Hermione looked at Franco levelly. "The real question is can it be undone?"

Franco shook his head. "I have no idea. It is unheard of. How could we even begin to know how to send him back to his afterlife?"

Hermione's lips tensed. "What about pulling him from the picture? Can that be done?"

"He is made of paint strokes!"

Hermione nodded her head. "I know. Believe me, I know."

She explained what had happened for the month and a half she was stuck in the picture, conveniently leaving out the feelings that had grown between Severus and she.

"You should have called me, Signorina Hermione. I might have been able to do something."

Hermione shrugged. "I should have, but I was so wrapped up in trying to solve my predicament myself, I didn't even think to consult you." Her eyebrows knit as she thought deeply. "We found that intense emotion caused Severus to be able to pull me in and cast me out of the picture."

Franco shook his head. "Unbelievable. Was that what tipped you off about his soul?"

Hermione nodded. "It was the last piece of a puzzle that had been bothering me the whole time. He displayed a form of magic. Portraits can't do that. There was obviously something more in the portrait than just brush strokes." Hermione took a step forward. "Franco, if we could pull him from the picture..."

"Hermione, bella, he could disappear into nothing when we do."

"So, what would happen to his trapped soul? Even if his body disappeared, wouldn't his soul return to the afterlife?"

"Theoretically it is possible, but we cannot be sure. What if his soul is destroyed when the body dissolves?"

"What if his body doesn't dissolve at all and he comes back to life?" Hermione asked with anticipation.

"I... I don't know if that's possible..." Franco said with a downcast glance.

"Well, we'd better find out, then."

"Professore Granger..."

"It's Hermione, remember."

"I just do not want you to get your hopes up. It seems Professore Snape has become very important to you in these last months. I don't want you to set yourself up in an impossible scenario."

Hermione studied him for a long moment, turning over what he said in her mind. She gave a curt nod finally. "Of course you're right. Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure how to not get my hopes up."

The old man's hand fell on her shoulder. "Let us research, then. Knowledge will help us know what is possible and what is not. This may take some time."

"I've taken a short vacation from the school. Filius Flitwick, my deputy, has been doing such a wonderful job with everything... and when I explained my theory, he insisted I explore it."

Franco nodded. "If you would like, I have a private room next to mine above the store. You may board there while we investigate this phenomena."

Hermione smiled brightly at him. "That would be perfect," she said with a nod of agreement.

"Come, I'll show you to your room, then." He beckoned for her to follow him up a stairway, well hidden in a corner of the room.

"Once you are settled, we will begin."

She nodded, even though his back was turned and he couldn't see her. She followed him to her room, trying desperately to quell the spark of hope that was steadily growing within her. She wanted Severus Snape alive and standing in front of her. It seemed that she had a chance to make that possible. She hoped with all her heart that he could be brought back to life.

A/N: Thanks once again to slytherinlaurel for a fantastic beta job.