Seven

'Shouldn't you be wearing clothes or something?' Hermione blurted out.

Severus hastily wrapped himself in the rug. 'Side-effect of the curse.'

Hermione continued to stare at him, for the first time in her life at a loss for words, her heart still racing.

'If you've finished gaping, would you mind lifting the wards?'

Hermione snapped out of it. 'Yes, of course.'

With a flick of her wand, the wards lifted. Severus got shakily to his feet and stood motionless for a moment, obviously steadying himself, before he padded across the room. 'There's still a loo across the hall, I take it?'

'Yes. Hang on.' With another flick of her wand, the rug transformed into a black robe.

Severus nodded once in acknowledgement of her gesture and stalked off.

Hermione looked after him, trying to come to terms with what had just happened.

Despite her shock, she hadn't failed to notice that she'd rather liked what she'd glimpsed earlier... Right, but that was hardly the issue here. The raven was Severus. Had been all along. Which posed more questions than it answered. Where had he been for the last ten years? Why had he come to her? Why now? Who had cursed him? Her train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door.

'Come in,' she said, only then noticing that she was still standing in the same spot, her wand in hand.

Severus appeared in the doorway.

Hermione looked at him, trying to reconcile the tall wizard with the raven who had been her constant companion for the past weeks. She'd come to view him as a friend. Someone she could rely on, who greeted her in the morning, who listened to her talking about her day, who kept her company in the evening. All gone. Before her stood a man who was an unknown.

Once, she'd thought him her friend, too, and maybe more. Until one day, when he was gone, not even bothering to say goodbye.

Best not to go there. Not now. She directed her mind to more practical matters. 'I suppose you need a place to sleep.'

'That would be nice, yes.' Severus took a few tentative steps into the room.

Hermione wasn't sure what to do next. The Severus she'd known had been perfectly capable of wandless magic. But this one had just regained his human form. How long had he been stuck in the bird's shape? Had it affected his magic? He looked shaken enough, and his walk still seemed to be a little unsteady. In the end, she pointed her wand at one of the chairs and transfigured it into a bed, complete with pillows and a comfy duvet.

It took her two attempts to complete the spell, and her wand arm was shaking by the time she'd finished. Fatigue crept through her like lead.

'I... ' Severus began.

Hermione shook her head. 'Not now. It's been a long day. Good night.'

When she'd nearly reached the door, she heard Severus' voice speak so quietly she was barely able to make out his words.

'Thank you,' he said.

Her quarters seemed strangely bare. She tried not to notice the empty perch, but it seemed to stare at her. Through her bedroom window, a hint of dawn was already visible on the horizon.

Hermione quickly slipped on her pyjamas and crawled into bed, snuggling under the duvet. As soon as she closed her eyes, the evening's events began to replay in her mind. Wilhelmina's revelation, the raven-who-wasn't-a-raven, the waves of coloured light and Severus turning up seemingly out of nowhere. She tossed and turned, but the loop in her head wouldn't stop. By the time she finally fell asleep, the sun was already high in the sky.

*****

Hermione's eyes snapped open. She was late again! She sat up quickly and swung her legs out of bed.

As her feet met the cold stone floor, she realised that it was Sunday. No lessons. She lay back again, pulled the duvet up to her chin and waited for the warmth to return to her feet.

She was dozing off again when she remembered. Hermione sat bolt upright. Last night. The raven. No, not the raven. Severus. And she had no idea whether she was happy about seeing him again. What if he just turned and disappeared again? Oh, right. He couldn't as they were all trapped inside the castle. Somehow, that didn't make her feel any better.

'I may not know how I feel about you at the moment, but I do know that I want some answers,' Hermione muttered as she finally climbed out of her nest of duvet and pillows.

Showered, groomed and dressed – which had nothing to do with the man in her office, she just liked to look neat, thank you very much – Hermione set off to see how Severus was this morning...morning being a rather loose description as the Muggle clock in her living room had shown that it was well past lunchtime.

She found Severus sitting at her desk, drinking tea. Next to the teapot was a plate that, very obviously, had contained some sort of breakfast. Hermione had stopped just inside the room and suddenly didn't know what to do with her hands or feet.

'Morning,' she said tentatively.

'Afternoon, rather,' Severus replied.

Hermione eyed his empty plate. 'How come you get breakfast, and I don't?'

'No idea. Blinky turned up with it right after I'd woken up. Would you like some tea?'

'No, I need coffee. And something to eat.'

As if on cue, a pot of coffee, a cup, milk, sugar and a plate filled with eggs, bacon, beans, tomatoes and toast materialised on the other side of her desk.

Hermione looked at the plate, 'I haven't had a full English in ages.'

She walked around the desk, sat down across from Severus and poured herself a cup of coffee. Adding milk and sugar, she observed, 'One would almost think someone's feeling guilty.'

Glancing at Severus, she said, 'The house-elves knew all along, didn't they?'

He nodded.

'Blinky could have told me.' Hermione speared a bit of egg and bacon.

'No, she couldn't have.'

Hermione's fork paused in mid-air. 'Oh?'

Oh.

'Does that mean...' she said.

'Yes. The Hogwarts house-elves are bound to the Headmaster. Since I didn't die, they're still bound to keep my secrets.'

'So they couldn't have revealed your presence to Minerva, either.'

Severus shook his head. 'No.'

'Well, that answers that. But there are still a couple of things I'd like to know.'

'Why am I not surprised?'

'Hmph.'

'I know I owe you an explanation...'

'Yes, you bloody well do.'

'...about the raven and the curse, but first, I wouldn't mind a shower and something else to wear,' Severus said.

Hermione sighed, but called for Blinky.

Almost immediately, the house-elf popped into view. She didn't quite look at Hermione. 'Blinky is sorry, miss.'

'It's OK, Blinky. I know you couldn't tell me.'

The elf's ears perked up a bit, but before she could say anything, Severus said, 'Blinky can you find me some clothes? And is there a shower somewhere I could use?'

Blinky beamed. 'Elves have kept Headmaster's things for him. Blinky will bring them to miss' quarters.'

She vanished.

Hermione stared at the spot where the elf had been. 'Did she just tell you to use my bathroom?'

'I think so.' Severus didn't look particularly comfortable with the idea, either.

Hermione sighed again. 'Come along, then. Would you like me to Disillusion you?'

'Yes, I don't think the school is quite ready to see my bare feet.'

She performed the spell and was about to pick up her coffee cup. But both cup and plate had disappeared. 'Great. So much for breakfast,' she muttered.

Blinky was already waiting for them in Hermione's quarters by the time they got there. She was carrying a pile of clothes on top of which lay a wand.

Hermione looked at Severus. 'You left your wand?'

'One of my wands. I departed in rather a hurry.'

After she'd handed him some clean towels, Hermione left Severus to his shower only to discover that her breakfast had found its way to her living room, conveniently placed under a warming charm.

Two cups of coffee later and pleasantly full, she was almost glad to see Severus, showered, shaved and in black robes, walk into her living room. This time, he remained standing, looking around. Neither of them said anything. Hermione used the occasion to look him over. He was still tall, lean and pale, but had lost the gaunt look from ten years ago. His hair fell to just beneath his shoulders; it was black and shiny with a few silver threads. All in all, peace-time and wherever he'd been seemed to suit him very well.

Silence stretched between them until Hermione said, 'Won't you sit down? It's not like you haven't been here before, is it?'

Severus stalked over to the armchair and lowered himself into it. 'Why don't we get the questions over with?'

He sounded tetchy. Hermione watched him thoughtfully and tried to make up her mind where to start.

Having come to a decision, she asked, 'Who cursed you?'

He looked a bit surprised as if he hadn't expected that particular question first. 'I don't know.'

Hermione stared at him. 'How can you not know? You were the best spy the wizarding world has ever seen.'

Severus sighed. 'My spying days are long over. But yes, it's very rare for anybody to catch me unawares.' He looked thoughtful. 'I had checked my surroundings and thought I was alone at the time. Apparently, I wasn't.'

'Where were you?'

He suddenly looked shifty. 'I was taking a walk.'

'How nice,' she said and decided to change the subject. "Talking a walk" sounded suspiciously unsuspicious. She knew Severus had been up to something, and she was determined to find out what, but that would require a different strategy.

'Have you always been an Animagus?' she asked.

Severus frowned.

Was he surprised that she wasn't going to pursue his "walk"? Well, she had learnt a few things over the past ten years.

'No,' he said. 'I taught myself. After the war. It's something I'd always wanted to learn; I found myself with a bit of time on my hands, and I had the sources available.'

The pink elephant in the room was growing by the minute.

'Those sources, they wouldn't have happened to be anywhere near here, would they?' asked Hermione as if she was making conversation about the weather.

'No. They would have happened to be in France. At Château Malfoi.' Severus answered in the same tone.

Hermione's coffee cup hit the saucer with a clatter. 'I still find it hard to believe that you're friends with that... that man.'

'I know. And so does Lucius.' A corner of Severus' mouth was curling upward.

'How was I to know that he hadn't come to finish you off?' Hermione hoped she wasn't blushing. When Lucius Malfoy had come to visit Severus at St Mungo's during his recovery, she had greeted him with a rather impressive hex. She'd only meant to use a Petrificus Totalus on him, but her magical equilibrium had been slightly unbalanced – only due to the events of the war and nothing to do with Severus, of course – so her silent spell had immobilised him, bound him with ropes and for some reason turned his hair a lurid green. To his credit, Mr Malfoy had not only accepted her half-hearted apology when it turned out that he'd had no intention of harming Severus and only wanted to check on his old friend, but he had also apologised to her in turn for the way she had been treated at his house.

Hermione remembered Lucius Malfoy's face when he had come to and realised that he was bound and that his hair had become a vivid shade of green and was rather frizzy on top of it. She started grinning, too. It had been rather memorable indeed.

She looked at Severus. And just like that, the ice in the room started to thaw.

She still had questions. Loads of them. And she still missed her raven friend. And she still wanted to know why Severus had left without so much as a good-bye. But somehow, it was good to have him back. Ten years was a long time, but it was nice to see him sitting there in her armchair and have a conversation with him as she had wanted to do so often after he had left.

Severus, too, looked slightly more at ease and less wary. His mouth was definitely twitching now. 'Ever since, Lucius has considered you one of the most extraordinary witches he knows.'

'He'd better.'

Both fell silent, but it wasn't uncomfortable. At least not much.

Hermione considered carefully what to say next. She liked the more relaxed Severus, yet there were things she needed to know. It was obvious he didn't want to share any more information about what he'd been up to when he had been cursed, and so far he hadn't volunteered any information on how he had ended up unconscious in her garden, either.

'I suppose I'll have to talk to Minerva at some point,' said Severus.

'Seeing that you're trapped here with us, that might be a good idea,' Hermione agreed. 'Would you like me to send a Patronus? It might be a bit of a shock otherwise.'

'Please do.'

Hermione concentrated, and soon her otter Patronus erupted from her wand. She relayed her message, and it gambolled around them a few times before it vanished through the crack under her door.

They were silent whilst they waited for Minerva's reply. Just as before, it was an almost companionable silence.

Minerva's silver tabby Patronus appeared almost instantly. 'Severus, please come to my office immediately,' it said in the Headmistress' stern voice.

'It seems I'm being summoned,' said Severus as he rose.

'Do you want me to come with you?'

Severus looked at her for a brief moment. 'I think I can manage,' he answered before he stalked off.

*****

Hermione glanced at the clock for the fifth time in as many minutes. Surely, it couldn't take that long to have a little chat with the Headmistress? What would happen now? Obviously, Severus would have to stay at the castle, but that didn't mean that he couldn't avoid her. Would he want to? Hermione shook her head. 'That's just silly,' she said. And I really need to stop talking to myself.

Another look at the clock, and then her thoughts returned to Severus. There was a giddy little caterpillar in her stomach every time she reminded herself that he was really back. It was quickly followed by the memory of the way he had left ten years ago. At least, until the happy wriggling took over again and told the ghost of the past where to stuff it. Hermione had just decided to take a little stroll through the castle past the gargoyle that guarded the Headmistress' office when there was a knock at her door.

'Enter,' she said to find Severus standing in her doorway, a carefully guarded expression on his face.

'The Headmistress has expressed a wish that you and I do some further enquiries into the recent events at the castle,' he said by way of greeting.

Hermione looked at him incredulously for a moment before she remembered who she was dealing with. Right, why waste time on telling her whether Minerva had been happy to see him. Or vice versa. 'That's good. Do you want to take a look at my notes?'

'Yes, please. Especially those I haven't seen before.'

'You have seen my notes?' Hermione asked.

'I was a raven. Not blind.'

Hermione realised what else he might have seen and turned pink. Apparently, Severus had just realised it, too, because two pink spots had appeared on his cheeks as well.

'Er, yes, right. They're in my office. Why don't we look through them?' She turned to leave, Severus in her wake.

They met Blinky in the corridor. She beamed at Severus, a look of adoration on her face. 'Elves have taken good care of Headmaster's possessions,' she said. 'Blinky has brought them to your room.'

Hermione threw Severus a quizzical look over her shoulder.

'Minerva has assigned me quarters, so I don't need to trespass on your hospitality any longer,' he explained to her back.

'You weren't trespassing,' answered Hermione.

They continued in silence until they reached her office.

Once settled at her desk, they spent the next hour poring over her notes. It was dark outside, and dinner was well over by the time Severus put the last piece of parchment down.

'Hm,' he said. 'I think further research is in order.'

Hermione put down the stack of notes she'd just read for what felt like the thousandth time. 'Between us, Angelina, Michael and I must have been through every book in the library that might hold a possible clue. Nothing.'

'I'll draw my own conclusions. Besides, I have a private collection of books that may hold information that isn't in the library.' Severus threw her a calculating look. 'You're welcome to join me. Unless you've something better to do, of course.'

'I don't have any classes on Monday, so I can spare the time,' answered Hermione. Despite everything, the words "private collection" and "join me" had just sent a delicious little thrill through her.

'I'll see you tomorrow, then. Good night... Hermione.'