HERMIONE

Chapter Seventeen: HERMIONE

Severus was irritated. Hermione watched him in amusement as he spoke with Sybill Trelawney, doing his best to remain calm in the face of her vacuous replies to his questions. Inside her head, he was cuttingly sarcastic.

'Really, Sybill – I just need to confirm the colors we should try to incorporate into this potion.'

'All the colors of the rainbow,' Trelawney replied, dreamily.

'As if I have the time to look at rainbows,' he snarked at Hermione. She tried not to laugh.

'Specifically, Sybill – I just need the standards.'

Trelawney beamed at him, blinking absurdly behind her glasses before she started humming.

Snape stared at her, aghast. 'What on earth are you doing, woman?' he growled as she began to sing horribly off-key.

Inside her mind, Hermione joined in, laughing, 'Red and yellow and pink and green, Purple and orange and blue, I can sing a rainbow, Sing a rainbow, Sing a rainbow too!'

'Oh gods,' Snape muttered, the look on his face priceless. Trelawney was still singing, but Hermione had petered out and was now standing with her arms wrapped around his waist, trying to stifle her laughter against his chest.

'Sing with me, Severus!' Trelawney demanded as she took up a new verse. 'Listen to your heart, Listen to your soul, and sing everything you feel, When you can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, You'll know love is real. Red and yellow and pink and green....'

'Yes, yes,' Severus interrupted, snidely, 'I have it, thank you. Are there specific colors we should focus on – something there should be more or less of?'

'Do not introduce any more gray to her system, of course,' Trelawney was beaming at him. 'But you must add black for balance, white for purity and something clear for clarity. Do you suppose, once this is done and you've brought Hermione back, we could work together on a paper extolling the virtue of potions in regards to the healing of auras? It would be very well received in the Divination field, I assure you. Quite groundbreaking!'

'I'm not sure I'll have the time to do that Sybill,' Severus responded tightly. He was gritting his teeth so strongly, Hermione was surprised his jaw didn't shatter. All this pleasant treatment towards Trelawney was killing him.

Hermione grinned at him, 'I don't think your reputation would survive a co-authorship with her. No one would take you seriously again.'

'No one seems to take me seriously now,' Severus retorted. 'They all think I've lost my mind.'

'Is there anything else – anything at all – I should be aware of Sybill?'

The divination professor smiled at him, 'Not that I can think of, but again – aura's are not really my specialty. Severus....' she paused, dropping the dingbat persona and weighing her words carefully, 'when you are ready to attempt to adjust Miss Granger's aura, I hope you will consider letting me attend. At the very least, I'll be able to tell you what is happening to her and you – I might be able to be of some assistance.'

Hermione looked at Snape in shock, 'She sounded almost reasonable there.'

'It's a good idea, too,' Severus sighed, reluctantly. 'She really has been quite useful.'

'I will be sure to let you know when we are ready, Sybill,' he replied, 'We appreciate the offer.'

Trelawney was beaming. 'Thank you, Severus. I think it behooves us all to help you break this curse. You're much more biddable when you're happy.'

~~~~~~~

It was a strange turn of events for Hermione, least of all because Harry seemed to be making an honest effort to be helpful for a change, instead of challenging Severus at every turn. It seemed the talking to Nettie had given him had helped, and Hermione couldn't be happier.

She couldn't be more excited either. She was confident that by the end of the week she would be free again – free to talk to her friends, to laugh, to prove to Severus that she still loved him, even when she was no longer trapped in her mind.

She knew Albus was worried, however. It would have been hard to miss his concern when Severus had finally explained to everyone what he believed was going on. The notion that the curse was active and alive and in her was not a pleasant thought. However, she refused to entertain the idea that it might somehow capture Severus, ensnaring them both.

The one time she had mentioned it to him, he had looked at her intently. 'I'm confident I can free you, Hermione. Have I ever lied to you?'

Of course, he never had – not even when she had been his student and had disliked him. He was true to his word, even if the recipient did not like what they heard.

'Are you sure the curse isn't hurting you?' she had asked then, 'I know Nettie's very concerned – she says you're not eating.'

'I've been distracted lately,' he had practically purred this last part, his eyes glittering darkly at her. 'I'm also busy with this potion. Do I look sick to you?'

Hermione had studied him closely, admiring the blue-black of his hair, tied neatly back from his face with a thin piece of leather. He was in shirt sleeves again, the cuffs undone and rolled up, revealing pale, sinewy forearms. His skin had lost that ghostly pallor she had so long associated with him – while he was still pale, he seemed to glow with a healthy vitality. He was still not handsome, but he looked good – strong and clean and healthy.

'You're the very picture of health,' she'd replied honestly. 'I don't know what everyone else is talking about.'

'I can't get used to a solicitous Potter,' Severus grumbled when he stepped into the library two days after the visit to Azkaban. 'It's not natural and it's giving me indigestion.'

Hermione hid her laugh behind the book she was reading. She reached up and absently patting the hand he had placed on her shoulder as he moved to stand behind her. 'What's he done now?' she inquired.

'He's brought me some red anemone wildflowers from Holly Meadows, along with some purple cranesbill and white ransoms – he thought we could use them in the potion.'

'I'm not used to Potter using his brain and I find it distracting,' Severus replied snidely. 'However, it was a good idea to collect flowers from the scene of the final battle; the curse was cast there and the area has meaning to all three of us. You do realize, though, that cranesbill can become quite bitter when mixed with the oil of ransoms? This potion will not be palatable.'

'Since when has that ever stopped you from brewing anything?' Hermione retorted, sighing as she shut the book and leaned her head against the lower part of his chest. 'Your potions always taste horrendous. I could never understand why you wouldn't add peppermint to improve the taste.'

'Waste my peppermint to make things taste better for obnoxious children who should never have been doing something that would require them to take a potion in the first place?' Severus scowled mockingly. 'Really, Hermione.'

She smirked at him. 'I knew there was a reason. Evil git.'

Snape chuckled softly. 'Have you had time to work on the list?'

'Since you left,' Hermione replied. 'I think for black, a snip of your hair will work to create the connection needed to replace my aura. I also thought it wouldn't hurt to use finely ground obsidian to open the first chakra, since we're looking for all possible ways to combat the curse as a living force. Are those alright?'

'Not a problem. What else?' Snape was rubbing his fingers along her collarbones and shoulders as they spoke, sending disquieting sparks of energy throughout her system.

'Red definitely needs to be blood. A few drops from you and I and Harry since all three of us are ingesting the potion. I was thinking it might help to strengthen the mixture to have some of the staff contribute a drop each – people we know love us. Blood magic can be a powerful tool of protection, as you know. Harry's red anemones will work for that color aspect as well.'

'Of course,' Snape agreed sarcastically. 'Musn't forget those.'

Hermione ignored him. 'The blue was easy – tourmaline and bluebells. Professor Sprout always has the most beautiful bluebells in her greenhouses, and perhaps the nectar will lessen the bitterness of the cranesbill.'

'Don't count on it,' Severus grumbled.

'Stop complaining and sit down,' Hermione smiled up at him. 'Don't forget I have to have some of this potion as well.'

'Have you actually tasted anything Nettie has fed you since this curse kicked in?' Snape raised a mocking brow at her. Hermione didn't reply, instead choosing to slide her notes over to him.

'Severus, I think you enjoy being exasperating.'

Snape quirked his lips at her, before bending to read her notes, 'Brown – shredded willow bark. I also think we should add some of your hair.'

'I never thought of that,' Hermione admitted. 'I'm so used to thinking of my hair as unbreakable. Do you have the counterspell for the charm?'

'There's no need,' he replied silkily. 'I cut a small amount of your hair after I grew it back, in case I would ever have need of it. One of the advantages to being a Potions Master is the excellent foresight that comes with it.'

Hermione ignored him, 'Yellow – sunflower oil and citrine.'

'And how do you propose we get this?'

Snape shrugged, 'Already done. Albus sent the request to Arthur last night, and the Prison Barber paid a visit to Malfoy Jr. this morning. The hair is already sitting in an apothecary jar in my office, waiting to be used.'

'For pink, I think we should use the natural oils of eucalyptus, and diced rose-hips. The purple – Harry's cranesbill, and natural oils of the lotus flower and its leaves, shredded. Orange should be ylang-ylang and steeped marigold petals, and green is peridot and emerald oils. I also did a little more research, and I think purified glacial water is the ideal base we should work with. That book you got from Dumstrang suggests using water from the ice flows in Siberia, but while I was still awake I once read that the glaciers north of Japan are a little more pure in quality.'

Severus jumped at that, slightly startled. 'How were you able to read the book I received from Dumstrang?'

'It was in your study,' Hermione replied brightly, 'Now...'

'How could you have seen it, Hermione? You've never been in my rooms.' His eyes narrowed suddenly, 'unless you snuck into my quarters when you were still a student – which would be impossible. There is no way you could have gotten through my private wards.'

'You took me to your rooms the other day, Severus, honestly...' Hermione stopped then, biting her bottom lip in sudden realization. Severus probably didn't even realize he had been the one to create his rooms and a copy of the book. So much had happened in the last three days it had slipped her mind to tell him she suspected he was able to create constructs in her mind that were just as real as the ones she created. 'Circe's teeth!' she exclaimed, 'I didn't tell you!'

'Tell me what, exactly, Hermione?' Snape was staring at her, eyes narrowed. 'When did you see my rooms?'

'Saturday, after you kissed me. Remember? After our walk around the lake, we went back to your rooms and warmed up in front of the fireplace. I don't think either of us realized it at the time, and in all the excitement recently I completely forgot about it. I'm sorry for forgetting until now, but I think you can create things in my mind just like I do.'

He looked like he was about to deny it, when he paused, face thoughtful. 'You're sure we were in my rooms, and that it was the same book?'

Hermione nodded, 'I'm positive, I had never laid eyes on the book before until yesterday. As for your rooms, when you took us there, I only sat with you in your main living area, but after you left, your entire suite was accessible. I was able to walk into your bedroom. You wear reading glasses – little half moons like Albus sometimes wears. They were sitting on an open book on the end table by your bed. Your armoire was open, and I could see your clothes hanging in it. Your teaching robes were thrown over a dark green velvet sitting chair in the corner. I looked through the books on your book shelf – and even though there were titles there I hadn't read, I was able to open them up and see the text. I even saw your research notes...' she blushed suddenly. 'I saw the picture you drew of me. I never realized you were an artist.'

Severus smiled slightly, 'There are many things you don't know about me yet.' He was suddenly deep in thought. 'The day I found you in the potions classroom, flowers bloomed through the floors. They were red anemone, the same flower Potter brought back today from Holly Meadows.'

'They were in the bouquet you brought me the first day you came to St. Mungo's,' Hermione realized.

'I think I've been subconsciously incorporating my memories, pieces of me, in to your mind. The question is, can I knowingly do it?' Severus was studying her intently. 'I wonder.... Hermione, have you ever tried creating familiar places outside of Hogwart's in your mind – other than your bedroom? Have you ever gone to Hogsmeade, for example.'

'I've never really thought about it,' she replied. 'Until you came and took me to the gardens, I never realized I could actually go 'outside' in my own head.'

Severus quirked a brow at her, 'You realize how crazy that sounds?'

'What's crazy is that you know exactly what I mean,' Hermione retorted. 'That day at the lake, walking along that path – I'd never been there before. Take me some place else, right now, that I haven't seen. Let's test this and see what our limitations are.'

Snape reached forward and grabbed her hand, 'Where do you want to go?'

'Someplace I've never been,' she replied, smiling at him. 'Someplace important to you.'

Just along the edges of her peripheral vision, Hermione saw the walls shift, the colors blending and fading as she stared at Snape. Beneath her feet, the floor fell away, causing her to blink in an effort to overcome the sudden feeling of vertigo that was making her stomach heave. When she opened her eyes again, they were standing at the top of a sandstone cliff, the smell of salt water heavy in the air. Below them, waves rolled along stretch of white sand as sandpipers chased the foam up and down the shore line.

'Where are we?' Hermione exclaimed, tilting her face up towards the heat of the sun.

'Greece,' Severus replied. 'Merlin's balls, it's just like I remember it.'

Hermione smiled, 'Remember what? Greece doesn't give me much of a clue.'

Snape disentangled one of his hands from hers, pointing towards a tiny villa she hadn't even noticed several meters behind them. 'Albus forced me to come here for vacation once. He said I needed to 'get away from it all', if you can imagine.' He smirked. 'It was too hot, and I was bored stiff within two hours of my arrival. He had forbidden me to go anywhere, but failed to leave me anything with which to occupy my mind. The library in that little villa is sadly lacking – although, I'm sure Nettie would enjoy it.'

'I thought you might like it,' he replied, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ears.

'It is beautiful,' Hermione agreed, looking around her again, before smiling at him coyly. 'What was Albus thinking about, leaving you here?'

Severus rolled his eyes, 'I have no idea. You should have seen the hideous swim trunks he left. Black with pink flamingoes.'

Hermione started giggling, 'Did you wear them?'

'What do you think, impertinent wench!' he growled at her, before adding, 'I prefer to swim in the nude. There are no tan lines that way.'

He smirked wickedly at Hermione when she choked on her tongue at his pronouncement, before he leaned in and kissed her smiling mouth.

They didn't return to Hogwart's until much later that day.

~~~~~~~

Over the course of the next few days, they continued to test Severus' ability to create places in her mind. They found that as long as they had been to the place at least once, they could go there again. When Hermione mentioned she found it disconcerting to wander through Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley with no one else present, Snape had merely cocked an eyebrow at her.

'Didn't you tell me once you had re-created me in your mind?' he queried.

Hermione nodded, 'Yes, but you didn't talk. Or, rather, the picture you I created talked, but the construct-you didn't.'

'Not yet, anyway,' Hermione agreed.

'But you can make them?'

'It would be nice,' she agreed. 'Then, when you're not here I could still have someone to talk to and I wouldn't feel so lonely.'

On Thursday, when he took her to see the Great Wall of China, a little old man smiled toothlessly at them and bowed when Severus purchased a copy of Chairman Mao's little red book.

'Do jeh! Do jeh!' he exclaimed happily after Snape indicated he could keep the change.

'Foon ying,' Severus replied calmly, tucking Hermione's hand in the crook of his elbow, before turning to walk along the wall for several kilometers.

When Snape came to visit her the next day, he found Hermione in the library, having a very animated conversation with herself. Literally. For a moment, he watched in stunned confusion as the two Hermione's argued over the slow-simmering potion, before they both looked up and saw him standing there.

Before he could blink, one of the Hermione's had disappeared with a pop similar to the sound made during an apparation, leaving the other Hermione blushing furiously. 'You must think I'm terribly odd,' she began, before he cut her off.

'I don't think, I know,' he replied silkily. 'Whatever were you arguing with yourself for?'

Hermione shrugged, 'I still can't get the construct you to talk, and I wondered if that may be because you can actually come in to my mind already. So I thought I would see if I could create a duplicate of myself - as a test. In theory, my duplicate shouldn't be able to talk either, but she can. As a matter of fact, once she got going it was hard to shut her up. She was trying to tell me that I was stirring too quickly, if you can believe it!'

'A fairly accurate construct then,' Severus replied. 'Now you know how the rest of us feel.'

She glared at him, but it was easy to see she was trying hard not to smirk, 'I'm not that bad!'

He merely inclined his head, as if to say 'Oh yes you are.' However, since he refrained from saying it out loud, Hermione decided he was conceding her point. He stayed with her the rest of the day.

Later that evening, she watched with some amusement as he paced nervously around the potion's classroom, checking and rechecking his notes. Off to the side, a duplicate of the potion simmered on a flame just low enough to keep it warm. They had decided to brew the potion in her mind as well as outside of it, so she could participate in the creation of her cure. Severus had admitted more than once that her observations had been helpful, and she was confident that tomorrow she would finally be free.

She had already decided the first thing she was going to do when she had control of her own body again was kiss Severus senseless, and see if kissing him was as wonderful on the outside as it was in her mind.

'Are you always this apprehensive after brewing a potion?' she teased, as Snape stalked by her again, still muttering to himself.

'I want to make sure we haven't missed anything,' he retorted. 'I'm still not convinced that the phoenix tears were a good idea.'

'They won't hurt,' Hermione replied. 'And Trelawney did tell us specifically to use something in our aura-strengthening potion that was clear.'

'They're more iridescent, actually,' Severus replied, 'I'm not sure that counts.'

Hermione rolled her eyes, 'There's nothing else you can do. You've been telling me all week you were sure this would work – have you been misleading me?'

'No,' he said, before repeating more strongly, 'No. It will work.'

'Then what is the problem? I know it's going to work. The entire brewing process went just as you described – changing colors when you said it would; everything.'

They both turned to look at the potion together. It was thicker than tea but not as thick as honey, shimmering gently as the color changed from moment to moment, reds bleeding into blues, which turned green before flickering purple. Hermione thought it looked like a liquid rainbow

'Didn't Trelawney tell you the changing colors looked just like auras blending from one to the other?'

'You're right,' Hermione agreed, 'but you are a Potions Master – and you've told me yourself it's going to work, so why worry? It's our last night here. There's no one else around to bother us. I can't guarantee the same tomorrow – I have a feeling Harry's going to have a hard time letting me out of his sight when I'm free again. And you know Albus is going to have something special planned.'

Severus snorted, but allowed her to lead him away from the potion and through the side door into his sitting room. 'True enough,' he agreed, 'that's the one thing I'll miss about visiting you here. There is no one else around to annoy me.'

'So take advantage of it then,' Hermione breathed as she turned into his arms, leaning into him as she stood on her toes, 'and kiss me.'

Severus left a few hours later, insisting that she get some sleep. She had walked him as far as the large foyer at the front of her mind, which happened to be an exact replica of the Hogwarts main entrance, while rolling her eyes when he told her – again – where to be waiting for him on the morrow.

'I want you to be waiting for me, Hermione, right near the front. The potion will be strongest right after it's ingested, so we need to work quickly.'

'I know, Severus, and I'll be ready,' Hermione replied. 'Imaginary wild horses couldn't keep me away. Do you think we'll actually be able to see the curse, if it's active?'

'We'll be finding out tomorrow, won't we,' he replied almost cryptically. 'Just remember, if Draco was telling the truth, it's not going to want to let you or I go. I hate to admit it, but I'm glad Potter will be participating – I just hope the curse doesn't go after him as well.'

Hermione bit her lip, looking at him thoughtfully, 'I know this is going to be dangerous, but is there something you're not telling me? I mean, we are going to be able to break free, aren't we?'

'I promise you, this time tomorrow you'll be able to tell Albus what to do with his lemon drops, and he'll be able to hear you,' Snape smirked.

Hermione grinned at that, 'And I'll tell Harry what you said about being glad he came to help.'

Severus scowled at her but didn't argue. Instead he leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. 'Just don't tell Syblil she broke the curse for us, or I'll never hear the end of it. Now, get to sleep.'

'You too, get some sleep. I love you, Severus.'

He gave her a small, fleeting smile that just touched his eyes. 'I love you too, Hermione.'

He left after that, leaving her to wander back to his suite of rooms. She had started sleeping there the day she realized they were actually his rooms. His preference for Egyptian cotton sheets, and the subtle hint of his spice and clove smell which seemed imbedded in the pillows were a comforting safe haven to be wrapped in while she was alone. The weight of his heavy duvet was like being wrapped in his warm embrace, and often times while lying under it at night, she could almost believe she was merely waiting for him to join her in their shared bed.

Entering Severus' rooms, she smiled a pleased, secretive smile to herself. Soon – very soon – she really would be sleeping in his bed and he would be next to her, holding her. His bedspread would cocoon them both, and if she had anything to say about it, things would remain that way indefinitely.

Murmuring a charm at the fire to lower the blaze, Hermione stretched her arms over her head and yawned as she wandered into his bedroom, humming the rainbow song Sybil had been singing earlier that week. She stepped into the bathroom and quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth, shivering against the chill creeping into the room as she quickly changed into her pajamas. She would have to talk to Severus about doing something to keep the dungeons warmer – perhaps a permanent charm to heat the slate floor, or the addition of a fireplace in the bedroom as well. Maybe a couple of thick throw rugs. They would definitely need to add another armoire for her clothes, and she was still trying to figure out where they would find room on his shelves for all her books. Blinking sleepily, and full of content dreams of her life outside of her mental prison, she slid under his blankets and fell asleep almost immediately.

As it had happened many nights before however, and many times during her waking hours, she didn't stir when several invisible gray chains wrapped themselves around her curled limbs. Nor did she feel them twine around her neck, sliding through her hair to pass through the skin and into the depths of her mind, where her dreams took a familiar, pleasant turn. Her mind hummed happily as it was filled with thoughts of her and Severus together for the rest of their lives, traveling wherever they pleased, and eternally free of the limits the physical world placed upon them.

________________________________________

** The little old Chinese man tells Snape 'Thank you!' in Cantonese, and Snape replies 'You're welcome.'

Rose Colored Glasses by Blue Rodeo

And I don't know why