Chapter Four: Identified

Disclaimer: The characters and settings belong to JKR. Blame me for the rest.

Chapter Four: Identified

Hermione followed Snape back into the Leaky Cauldron. "I'm Angela Farmer. I'm Angela Farmer. I'm..."

"About to be committed to St Mungo's if you keep that up."

With a thin-lipped smile and a great deal of willpower, Hermione quelled her anxiety. Deciding to use Thelma's misconception to their advantage, she stepped up beside Snape and wrapped her left arm around his waist. Looking up into his startled face, she smiled. "Soren, darling, we must stop for a drink before we go shopping."

A soft snort disguised as a cough was his only reply. Placing his right arm across her shoulders, Snape steered her towards the bar.

Hannah Abbott's smile welcomed them as she wiped the bar and placed two coasters at the ready. "Good morning, sir, madam. Will you be wanting a bite to eat, or can I get you a drink?" she asked.

"Two butterbeers, please."

"Coming right up." She turned to fetch two glasses and poured the drinks. "There you are. Would you like anything else?"

Snape handed over some coins. "Just one thing. I heard some Muggles were seen in here recently. Does that happen often?"

"How did you know about that?" Hannah's easy-going friendliness froze into suspicion.

"Let's just say I have been asked to make a few enquiries."

"Are you an Auror? I haven't seen you around here before." The barmaid frowned and stepped back a little from the bar.

"Something like that. Now, what can you tell me?" Snape's eyes held the girl transfixed as he took a long drink, then slowly curled his lips into a smile that promised everything and nothing.

Hannah's shoulders lowered, and she offered a small smile in return. "We... we don't know. We've kept the spellwork refreshed, just like we were taught. But they wandered in anyway, looking around and staring at our customers. We could tell they were Muggles by their clothes and the way they jumped when someone arrived through the Floo. Tom had to call in the Aurors while I kept them talking. It's happened three times recently. Very disruptive it was."

"Was it any particular time of the day?"

"No. One was about ten in the morning, one at lunchtime, and the last one was just as we were closing up the bar at night. And they were all different. An older man who looked like an office worker in a shirt and tie. A young woman dressed in leather with hair sticking up all over the place. And the man last night was definitely drunk. He could barely stay upright." Hannah glanced anxiously at the front door, as if expecting another Muggle to arrive at any moment. "They won't close us down, will they?"

"Not if we can help it, Miss...?" Snape's soft Irish lilt soothed and calmed the agitated witch.

"Abbott. Hannah Abbott."

"We'll keep you informed, Miss Abbott. And keep your eyes open for any more uninvited guests. You're doing a fine job getting the Aurors here before any harm has been done."

She beamed. "Thank you, sir. But who did you say you worked for?"

"I didn't." Snape drained his glass and nodded farewell to Hannah. Capturing Hermione's hand in his, he pulled her out of the door and onto the street.

"Hey, what's the rush? I wasn't finished with my drink!" Hermione fought to claim back her hand without success.

"Angela, my sweet, I was merely overcome with the need to be alone with you." He lifted her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips across her knuckles as he flicked a glance behind him at the closing pub door. "And I didn't want her asking too many questions."

Ignoring the faint tingle left by his lips, Hermione dared to tease. "Oh. Pity. I was rather looking forward to finding out what plans you had for me."

"Plans? What are you on about?"

"Once you had me alone..."

"Granger!"

She swallowed her laughter. "Oh, settle down, you tosser. Do you have to take everything so seriously?"

"You were the one who was falling to pieces a few minutes ago. Have you had these mood swings for long?"

"Only since I had the good fortune to run into you yesterday. Do you think there's a connection?" Her flippant words lingered in the air between them for long moments, expanding to fill the silence as Snape bowed his head and dropped the hand he still clasped in his own.

"Hogsmeade," he said, avoiding eye contact as he Disapparated.

"Wait! Dammit, Snape, I didn't mean it!" But empty space was her only companion.

***

"Snape, listen..." Hermione followed his long strides down the path which led away from Hogsmeade. "I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. Severus!"

"What!" He turned and folded his arms, grey eyes narrowed and cold.

"Would you stop for a moment? I'm trying to apologise, for heaven's sake. I don't know what came over me. The whole thing with Hannah was so surreal; I suppose I was just making jokes to avoid thinking about it all. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Hermione continued walking until she was only a foot away from the silent man. Grasping her nerve in both hands, she moved even closer and wrapped both arms around his waist. "Thank you," she whispered into his shirt front as she hugged the only connection she had to her previous life.

Slowly, Snape's muscles relaxed, and for a tiny window of time he allowed himself to lean into another's warmth. Had Hermione looked up at that moment, she would have seen an unfamiliar expression on Severus Snape's borrowed face.

"Come on," he said, voice for once gentle. "We need to check the path."

Disengaging himself from her embrace, Snape turned and walked ahead, allowing Hermione time to gather her thoughts. She followed him along an overgrown path she had never used before.

"Where does this go?"

"Hopefully nowhere. This is an old bridle path that no-one ever uses, but it was the path the Muggle hitchhikers were seen on. If I've calculated correctly, it should take us only twenty minutes to find where they stumbled onto it."

Nineteen minutes later, they pushed through a particularly vigorous bush that had almost obscured the path to find themselves at the edge of what looked like a well-used Muggle country lane. Snape looked both ways and frowned for a moment, then set off to the right. Within a few hundred yards, he had led them to a junction with a major road.

"This is where they must have come from. I imagine they were dropped off here, then decided to wander down the lane and explore."

"But what made them choose the bridle path?"

"Follow me." He walked back to where they had exited from the woods. "See? From here the entrance to the path is quite obvious. If they saw what we see..."

Hermione had stopped to fossick around in her bag. "Hold on a minute. I'll just get my camera."

The photo confirmed their suspicions. The path was just as visible in the picture as it was to their wizarding eyes.

"Is this where the boundary of the spellwork should be?" she asked, reaching out with her inner magical sense to feel for any disruptions in the local environment.

"Here or somewhere close by. The wizards who originally set up the spells would not have wanted random Muggles wandering halfway down the path before they changed their minds." He joined Hermione in her seeking. "There. I can feel something, but it's weak."

"I've got it. It doesn't feel right, though. Not just weak, but off somehow. Severus, it's not like the problem with the Floo system, is it? Has the original caster died recently, perhaps?"

"In that case, these enchantments would have failed centuries ago. The village was founded by Hengist Woodcroft over a thousand years ago. The wards were put in place at the same time as those at Hogwarts and designed to be self-sustaining. The spells guarding the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley were created much more recently, only two hundred years or so ago."

As one they looked at each other in horror. "Hogwarts!"

"Fuck! If the wards have failed here..." Snape turned and dashed into the woods.

"... They're likely to have failed at Hogwarts." Hermione ran after him.

Arriving back at the junction of the bridle path and the path to Hogwarts, Hermione ran into Snape's back as he stopped abruptly.

"Oof! Did you have to stop like that?" she asked.

Snape did not reply. Breathing heavily, he simply shook his head.

Realising he'd stopped to get his breath, Hermione giggled despite the seriousness of the situation. "Not as fit as you used to be, old man?"

"Not so much of the old, girl. Some of us have been working while you Aurors ran fitness sessions." He turned and continued down the path.

Hermione's good humour melted away drop by drop as she followed him past increasingly familiar territory. The side path to the Shrieking Shack where she and Ron had laughed helplessly as an invisible Harry had pelted Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle with snowballs. The tree under which they'd sat one spring day and eaten sweets from Honeydukes until they felt sick. The spot where Katie Bell had succumbed to the cursed necklace. She stopped and slowly circled, remembering all the good times back when she had hopes and dreams and friends.

When Snape realised his partner had stopped, he looked back to find her face crumpling and her body sagging. Her grief for her past was emotional and physical and supremely uncomfortable, but he felt something respond deep within him. Walking back to join her, he slung an arm across her shoulders. "Cheer up, Granger, you still have me."

A watery smile was his reward as she replied, "Just what I always dreamed of. Still, you haven't been too much of a git in the last hour or so. I suppose you might be redeemable." She leaned against him a little more than was necessary as they continued to walk towards the castle together.

Gazing at the photograph clearly showing Hogwarts castle, Snape cursed under his breath. "It's worse than I thought. Hogwarts has the strongest concealment wards in the wizarding world. If they're failing here, no-one is safe. We need to report this back to McWhinney immediately, so he can get authorisation for us to act without restriction. This could be the downfall of our society if Muggles manage to gain free access to our communities."

Hermione caught his arm as he was about to Apparate away. "Wait. Maybe there is something else you can do before we go."

"Such as?"

"Well, you were headmaster here for a year."

"Not a time I like to remember, Granger."

"I wouldn't imagine so, but I wonder, would the wards still respond to you?"

He nodded, at first slowly, then with more confidence. "Possibly. The magic here is complex. I might be able to access the wards."

"How? Do you need to be in the headmaster's office? That could be a problem."

"No. Just in contact with the grounds. I'll just..." He gasped as he reached to touch the gates and they swung open. "Well, that worked." He walked through the gates, tugging Hermione with him. "Here should do." Snape closed his eyes and spread his hands out at his sides. Concentration furrowed his brow, tiny droplets of sweat beading on his skin as he communed with the very magic that imbued all of Hogwarts.

Hermione watched as Snape struggled to maintain his connection. Making a sudden decision, she reached out and clasped his hands, yielding her own magic into the equation.

The power swirled around the witch and wizard at the gates, dancing and teasing, losing them in its thrall.

Snape broke off first. Staggering back, he sank to the grass and dropped his head onto his knees. Once his racing heart was under some semblance of control, he lifted his head to find Hermione studying him with a curious expression.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"Feed your magic into mine. That should be impossible." He frowned. "No-one can transfer magic to another person. What exactly did you do?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. You looked like you were having difficulty, and I just instinctively knew what to do. It worked, didn't it?"

"But it shouldn't have. Our magic is very personal and individual. It is rarely compatible with another's."

Hermione brushed the conundrum aside. "Never mind that. What did you discover?"

"Nothing much more than we had already surmised. The wards are weakened but still holding. I don't think any Muggles would get past the gates even if they did see a castle there. But there was one odd thing. They seemed... off... almost tainted."

"Tainted? With what?"

"I'm not sure. I need to assess them further." He looked at Hermione. "Will you...?"

"Of course." She moved closer and held out her arms. Snape reached out with his hands. "No. Get closer." She wrapped her arms around his waist and spoke into his chest. "This should make the connection stronger."

More than physical warmth assailed Snape as Hermione embraced him yet again. Few people had ever felt comfortable enough with him to encourage physical contact, and this woman had done so with increasing impunity over the last few hours. Resting his head on her curls, he felt the sweetness and purity of her magic lifting his spirit and heightening the awareness of her body pressed to his. The addition of his own darker power made for a heady mix, and only with the use of all his formidable willpower was he able to concentrate enough to channel a tendril deep into the wards of Hogwarts Castle and explore the changes he had felt on his first attempt.

"As I live and breathe, Severus Snape! And if I'm not mistaken, Hermione Granger. What do you two think you're doing canoodling at the school gates when you're both supposed to be dead?"

***

A/N: Thie was written for silverdoe for the 2011 SSHG Exchange. Thank you to karelia for her beta advice.