Understanding

I'd like to thank you all for your continued support. I was a bit nervous about the last chapter but I felt it had its place here. I appreciate all of your comments.

All canon characters belong to JKR.

Thanks as always to June for all of her wonderful suggestions and all of her help.

Chapter 9 – Understanding

Lucius took a step back from Severus. He thought back on what Severus had said the night he came to Malfoy Manor after initially waking up from the ten-year coma. Lucius then thought about the comment Severus had made at the Three Broomsticks regarding Draco and Harry's Muggleborn baby.

"Good lord, what a mess," was all Lucius could say.

"Yes, a mess of epic proportions," Added Severus as he sat down on the edge of his bed.

"Severus, are you absolutely sure? Can you...feel him inside of you? Sense him?" wondered Lucius.

Severus shook his head.

"No, but if he's able to take over my body, then I should be able to find a way to find out what he's planning." Severus looked at the spots of blood on the bed. "Lucius, did I hurt Hermione very badly? Will she be all right?"

Lucius sat down next to Severus. "It was your body, but you didn't do that to her. Severus, you weren't in control of yourself. The Dark Lord is the one who did those horrible things to her; don't blame yourself."

"How can I not blame myself? Hermione will never forgive me, Lucius, never!" yelled Severus. "I have to see her."

"No, Severus. Look, Hermione is an intelligent woman. She's frightened and hurt, so give her time. I know you are worried about her, but Ginny is with her and will take care of her. Right now we need to figure out what to do about you...and him. Besides, we don't know when he will manifest himself again. He means to kill her. For now you have to stay away from Hermione." Lucius felt bad for both Severus and Hermione. For the first time in his life, Severus seemed truly happy. He and Hermione made a wonderful couple and were very much alike. It tore him up to see that something like this was happening.

Severus hoped that Hermione would forgive him someday, but he also realized it wouldn't be a good idea to see her for a while. If Voldemort had already tried to kill her, then he might actually succeed the next time. They had no idea when the Dark Lord would turn up again in Severus' body, but that was the first thing they needed to figure out.

"Albus," Severus said as he rose and started to walk out of the bedroom. "We're going to need his help." Severus practically flew down the stairs, with Lucius following close behind him. He opened the Floo connection and called out Albus' name. He'd hoped the old wizard hadn't left yet.

Albus and Minerva liked traveling at night, and when Severus had left Hogwarts they'd planned on leaving that evening. As luck would have it, though, Minerva had a bit too much curry with her supper, and she was nursing a sick stomach in the infirmary. She and Albus had postponed their trip for the next day.

"Severus? What on earth are you doing up this late?" asked Albus when he saw Severus' head appear in the Floo.

"Albus, can you come through? We need to talk," said Severus.

Albus crinkled his brow and leaned forward slightly.

"What's happening?"

Lucius then popped his head into view.

"Albus, please, this is extremely important."

Now Albus was beginning to grow concerned. He knew that Severus had gone to his own home with Hermione. Now he was calling him in the middle of the night with Lucius next to him.

"I'm coming through."

The two ex-Death Eaters stepped back and allowed Albus to walk through the fireplace.

The Headmaster was startled to see Severus with only his trousers on, and a bruise on his cheek. Albus looked over to Lucius, then back to Severus.

"What happened here?"

Lucius stepped forward and held out his left arm.

Albus looked on wide-eyed, knowing that the Dark Mark had previously been barely visible.

"He's alive, Albus. He's been here all along. That's why our Marks never faded entirely," said Lucius as he looked from Albus to Severus.

Albus looked over to Severus who sadly nodded.

"Severus, this is most distressing," said the old wizard as he sat down. Albus immediately knew that the odd behavior he witnessed from Severus, and the feeling he'd gotten that day he observed his old Potions master in the Great Hall, meant only one thing. "Tom." He then noticed that Hermione wasn't there and began to worry. Had Tom Riddle killed her?

"Where is Hermione?" Albus asked.

Severus shook his head and began to look around the room for something to drink. Lucius went to the sideboard and began pouring his friend a brandy.

The two men explained what had transpired that evening.

"She will never want to look at me again. I've...hurt her," whispered Severus dejectedly.

Lucius took Severus by the shoulders and began to shake him.

"No! You did not do that to her, do you understand me? It was that monster who hurt her. Stop blaming yourself, Severus."

Severus shook himself loose and turned away from both men.

"It was my body and my face, Lucius! Don't you realize Hermione will think about what happened to her every time she looks at me, even if it wasn't actually me doing the deed?"

This time it was Albus who tried to shake some sense into Severus.

"Listen to me, Severus. You cannot allow Tom to do this to you. He is breaking you down; this is what he wants, what he needs. There is a reason why he has not completely taken over your body. I gather it has something to do with your state of mind. Tom will use this to gather strength; it is how he works, you know that as well as I do. Hermione is strong. Right now she is hurt, physically and mentally, but she will eventually know the truth. She is a good and kind woman, Severus; she will understand, of that I have no doubt."

The three of them sat at a small table in the kitchen. It was barely midnight, but there would be no time for sleep that night. Albus knew that something needed to be done immediately. From the beginning of time, the world had always been a dangerous place. A new dark wizard or Muggle could come forth at any time for any manner of evil. Even while Voldemort was seemingly dead, someone else could eventually attempt to take his place, just as Voldemort himself arose after Grindelwald. Thus, the Order of the Phoenix had never stopped existing after the final battle.

They needed to contact some of the members of the Order. Albus called Minerva first and gave her the task of actually contacting some of the Order members – Arthur Weasley would need to be notified for certain, as would Harry. The Order meeting would occur in less than an hour, at one o'clock in the morning. This would barely allow Lucius time to go back home and speak with Ginny and Hermione, to explain what happened with Severus. Before Lucius left, Severus pulled him to one side.

"Please, Lucius, tell her that I'm sorry, make her understand," pleaded Severus.

Lucius nodded and made his way outside to Apparate.

~ * ~

Lucius arrived home and immediately went to the living room, where he'd left the two women. Hermione was lying on the couch with Ginny sitting next to her. Both women were talking in hushed tones, then looked up as soon as Lucius walked in.

"Lucius, did you speak to him?" inquired Ginny, as she noticed her husband's slightly bruised hand.

Hermione immediately sat up. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying.

Lucius approached the two women, and then sat on the marble coffee table.

"Hermione, have you noticed any odd behavior coming from Severus lately? Anything out of the ordinary?" asked Lucius.

"No, nothing other than...other than what happened tonight." Hermione looked down at her blanket. "He's been so kind and gentle with me. I thought he...cared about me. It was like he was a different person all together."

Before Lucius could begin to talk, Hermione looked at him.

"Wait, there was a moment," she started saying.

"A moment?" asked Lucius.

"Just after he woke up from the coma. One night I was bringing some books down from the library. He helped me walk to my rooms, but then when I got to my door he left me with the books and went to his own rooms. A few moments later he popped up behind me, asking me if I needed help again. There was this look in his eyes, almost predatory. It excited me, but there was something also menacing about him."

"Lucius, what's going on? What did Severus tell you? Why did he do this to her?" asked Ginny.

"The curse that Severus was under wasn't just some ordinary sleeping curse. All this time, we thought Voldemort was gone, that we did away with him during the final battle. In reality, he's never been gone. He's been here all this time, just in hibernation," said Lucius.

The two women looked at him in confusion.

"Hibernation?" asked Ginny. "Lucius, what on earth are you talking about? We all saw him die."

"We saw his body die, Ginny." Lucius looked from Ginny to Hermione, whose expression went from confusion to revulsion.

"No, I'm going to be sick..." She tried to stand but was still slightly weak.

Ginny moved aside as Lucius transfigured an ashtray into a small bucket. She looked at her husband. She knew in her heart that Lucius was right but she didn't want to hear the truth. Ginny remembered the coldness she felt when she saw "Severus" at the Three Broomsticks. There had been something evil in his eyes that she hadn't wanted to think about, not when her life was perfect and she had a baby coming soon.

"Lucius, you can't possibly be saying..."

"I am. All these years, he's been waiting. We don't know exactly what his plans were or are, but knowing how he worked in the past, I gather he didn't expect Severus's soul to survive for ten years."

Hermione leaned back against the couch as Ginny wiped her brow with a damp cloth.

Lucius Scourgified the bucket and moved it to one side.

"Hermione, are you all right?" asked Lucius.

She looked into his ice gray eyes full of concern.

"No," she said as she shook her head. "I'm not all right. I feel dirty...like I'll never be clean again. To know that it was Voldemort makes me want to scrub every inch of my skin from my body."

"Hermione, Severus – well, he wanted me to tell you that he was sorry."

Hermione's eyes began to tear up. "Oh God, how can I ever look at Severus again?" She began to sob. "I know, I know it wasn't him, but it was his body, his face, his eyes looking at me with such disdain, such anger."

"Hermione, this will all take time to figure out. For the time being, you shouldn't see one another. Voldemort meant to kill you, and he may try again if he gets the chance. We need to find out more about this entire situation. You're free to stay here at Malfoy Manor as long as you wish; in fact, it might be a good idea," said Lucius, as Ginny smiled and took hold of her friend's hand.

"Please stay for a while, Hermione. You can help me get the baby's room ready."

Hermione looked at Ginny and Lucius. She had no family left in the Muggle world. Her parents survived the war, but were killed several years later. They were the victims of a terrorist attack on a civilian airplane heading towards India. Had it not been for her friends, Hermione might have given up her dream of becoming a Potions Mistress. For a while after her parents died, she thought about continuing their practice and becoming a dentist, but Ginny convinced her that her parents would have wanted her to follow her own dreams.

"All right, I'll stay for a while. It might be nice to just be away from the castle for a bit."

"Excellent." Lucius stood and called for Dari. "Dari, make up the guest room for Hermione. She will be staying here for a while."

The house-elf smiled and popped out of sight, relieved that Hermione looked much better now.

Lucius then turned and looked at the two women.

"I need to get back. Albus called a few of the Order members for a meeting in a few minutes, and he is with Severus now. Hopefully we can figure out what our next step is."

Hermione wanted to ask about Severus but wasn't sure if she should. It felt odd inquiring about the man who'd just raped her, but now she knew that her rapist really had been Tom Riddle. Just as it had been Tom Riddle and not young Ginny who had done those awful things the year Harry found the Chamber of Secrets. It hadn't been Ginny's fault then, and it wasn't Severus' fault now. But Hermione knew this only in her head; it would take her time to deal with her emotions. Lucius was right, she couldn't see Severus now.

"Is Severus all right?" she finally asked, not wanting to look at either Lucius or Ginny.

"It's okay to ask about him, Hermione. Severus cares for you," Ginny said gently.

"I want to believe that, I do believe that, it's just...why did this have to happen. We were happy." She felt as though she were in some nightmare. One moment they were happy, loving one another, making each other feel like nothing else mattered. Then the next minute she was thrown into a dark world with nothing but pain and regret.

"I've never seen him as happy as I have these last few weeks. Severus would sooner cut off his right arm than to hurt you, you have to know that. I know this is difficult, and no one is pressuring you, least of all Severus. He just wants you to know he is sorry for what happened. He does care for you, Hermione." Lucius then leaned down and kissed Ginny on the lips, then kissed Hermione on the forehead. "Don't wait up for me, you two get some sleep." He then turned and walked out of the room.

"You're very lucky to have someone like Lucius, Ginny," said a forlorn Hermione.

Ginny patted her hand.

"You may not think it now, but when all of this is over, you'll see that you're lucky as well, Hermione."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I'm not sure how some of you might feel about Hermione's reaction, but it made sense to me. While I didn't see her wanting to run into Severus' arms and forgive him, she does understand that it wasn't him. What she will have to do is try to separate the actions of Voldemort from the body he was using at the time he raped herj.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

I feel the need for a little humor though, so I may try to inject some of that in the next few chapters.