Chapter 2

Chapter 2

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"Hermione!" Severus barely managed to catch her as she convulsed in his arms and slid towards the ground. A frantic grab for her dangling wrist revealed a weak yet regular pulse. "Hospital wing," he muttered to himself, shifting his grip on Hermione in order to carry her safely, checking that his cloak covered her exposed body.

Minutes previously, as he'd just reached the gates to depart for the cemetery, the wards had all but screamed at him, drawing his attention back to the still oddly static Whomping Willow. There had been something pale clearly visible against the long shadows cast by the setting sun near the tree trunk. Severus hadn't been aware of moving, but he must have run as though the hounds of Hell were on his tail, because the next thing he was aware of was kneeling before that pale something. Hermione, huddled on the ground, naked. Immediately noticing her shivering, he'd taken off his cloak and wrapped it around her. His mingled relief and disbelief at her return had faded into fear that she might have lost something vital in the transfer from death to life – like her memory. That fear had vanished with her kiss, only to come back with a vengeance when she collapsed, obviously in pain.

Frankly, it was a marvel that he'd managed to think clearly enough through his predominant concern for Hermione to manage to make his way to the hospital wing without being seen by judicious usage of a Disillusionment Charm or two. Hogwarts was crawling with panicked students, teachers and guests as they tried to discover what had tripped the wards. Ordinarily, the Hogwarts wards would only alert the Headmaster or his deputy to problems. This time it had alerted every single occupant of the castle. Severus was willing to bet that they were expecting Voldemort to walk through the main entrance at any moment. He frowned down at Hermione, where he'd placed her on one of the beds in the hospital wing. If she was back, then could Voldemort also be?

To her credit, Poppy Pomfrey had taken Hermione's inexplicable reappearance in stride when Severus had abruptly materialised in her domain carrying his not-so-late fiancée. Once he'd set Hermione down, Poppy had demanded that he leave her in peace to work, telling him to guard the entrance to the hospital wing in a bid to make him feel useful.

"Severus, you can stop pacing. She will be fine," Poppy called from behind the curtains surrounding Hermione's bed.

"What is wrong with her?" he demanded, sweeping the privacy drapes aside, absently noting that Hermione was now clad in a hospital-style gown.

Instead of answering, Poppy used an unfamiliar spell to draw something vaguely reminiscent of a silvery strand of memory from Hermione, which she twisted around her wand with a flick of her wrist. Another muttered incantation later and the thing dissipated. "According to the procedure I just enacted, Miss Granger's powers are suffering from some sort of magical interference."

Tapping her wand against her hand for a moment as she thought, Poppy turned on her heel and walked briskly into her office. She returned with a folder labelled with Hermione's name and the dates of her birth and death, although the latter was obviously redundant now. Flicking through it, Poppy found whatever she was looking for, nodding slowly.

"Compared to the scan I took in the last check-up before Miss Granger's death, the current results show distinct differences." Glancing up at Severus, Poppy huffed impatiently as she saw that what she was saying was meaningless to him. "Simply put, I suspect her death scattered her powers and something kept them from returning fully when she came back."

"Can you tell what she is lacking?"

"Not while she's unconscious, no. I need her feedback. Normally I would revive her, but I would rather not risk anything untoward happening."

"In that case, I will wait." Enlarging the chair stored in miniature just under the bed, Severus sat down, glowering up at Poppy, clearly unwilling to leave.

Rolling her eyes, Poppy sighed heavily. "Severus Snape, I am fully aware that you've only just got your fiancée back from the dead. I am hardly going to try to pry you from her side. How heartless do you think I am?" Tutting, Poppy turned on her heel, returning to her office, muttering angrily.

Ignoring the slighted matron, Severus clasped Hermione's hand in his, an intense stare fixed on her relaxed features, watching for any sign of wakefulness.

The door to the hospital wing opened an hour or so later, allowing Albus and Minerva to enter before closing and locking once more. The Headmaster could enter anywhere in the school at will, no matter what locks or wards were set.

Severus lowered his wand, paranoid that the entire Ministry had arrived before feeling Albus's distinctive magical presence. Poppy stepped out of her office, eager for news.

"Fortunately for Hermione, the Aurory was unable to detect the origin of this latest dark surge. The simple fact that it was much greater than her original surge as an awakened Necromancer means that they accept that the Hogwarts wards detected it too. Having the reputation as the safest place in wizarding Britain is useful for more than just propaganda," Albus stated without preamble. He produced three of his favourite magical squashy chintz armchairs, Vanishing one as Poppy gave him an affronted look, unwilling to sit down whilst on duty.

Minerva sniffed and Transfigured the chair provided for her into a stiff, straight-backed one, giving Albus a reproving look, presumably to remind him that this was hardly the time to relax.

"So you did feel the wards all but scream? I wondered if you would, being hundreds of miles away." Severus almost smiled at the thought of Albus being distracted whilst attempting to alter the memories of any Muggles around at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Presumably, the results had not been too catastrophic, although it would explain Albus's delayed arrival at Hogwarts.

"Of course. The Headmaster is always alerted, whether at or away from the school." Albus popped one of his horrible sweets into his mouth, absently crunching it up as his brows lowered in his worry. "What concerns me is that I have my doubts that the Ministry would have been able to pick up anything on Hogwarts grounds."

All eyes settled on Hermione, who was still 'sleeping'. They exchanged nervous glances, unsettled by the unspoken thought that she wasn't the only one brought back from the dead. Severus caught himself rubbing at where his Dark Mark lay quiescent, praying that it would stay so to any God that would listen.

"Is it safe to revive her, Poppy?" Minerva asked, her voice quivering slightly.

"Not unless there is no other option."

"Nevertheless, there may be grave repercussions if we do not."

"Headmaster, I am the medical specialist in this castle. If I say that she should be left to wake up on her own, then she is left to..."

"Albus, Poppy, this quarrelling is pointless. She's waking up." Severus leaned close to the bed, resembling a bat all the more as his flowing robes draped over his looming form.

A soft groan escaped Hermione as her eyes slowly blinked open. She frowned, glancing around the room, obviously disorientated. Blearily focusing on Severus, she squeezed the hand still gripping hers. She then abruptly sat bolt upright, eyes wide and fixed on where their hands joined.

"I can touch you!" she exclaimed, flushing at the apparent stupidity of the statement. "I mean, I haven't been able to for so long. It's a shock when you're not used to it. Not an unpleasant shock, far from it, just... odd."

"What..." Severus started to ask, only to be interrupted by Albus.

"Has Voldemort returned?"

"What? That's not possible." Hermione frowned, thinking hard for what seemed to be an endless moment. "Well, I suppose that he could be back in body for me to be resurrected, but it's impossible that he has in mind. I guaranteed that."

"How can you be sure?"

"I didn't just atomise him. I suppose you could say that I banished his soul, for lack of a better explanation."

"But if it was not Voldemort, what could have set off the Ministry's Dark Detectors?"

Hermione stared blankly at Albus before breaking into a short burst of hollow laughter. "I'd say that you're looking at it."

"If that is the case, then the Ministry has worryingly advanced Dark Detectors. Yet they could not pinpoint the location of the surge...."

Severus watched Hermione swallow nervously. "Then perhaps there was more than one Dark surge."

"How did you come back?"

"Not under my own steam." Hermione paused, deep in thought. "I don't know for sure, but it's possibly because a new Necromancer decided to try to resurrect Voldemort." She wearily massaged the bridge of her nose, eyes closed, obviously trying to get her scattered thoughts together. "Nor do I have any idea who that possible Necromancer could be. I do know that so much as thinking about the possibility gives me a headache."

"I have never heard of more than one living Necromancer in existence. Perhaps your headache is metaphysical?" Albus winced as Minerva poked him in the side, together with a dirty look at his dreadful sense of humour.

Severus was sitting close enough to Hermione to hear her mutter that the headache certainly felt physical to her. Poppy stepped closer, wand in hand to administer a pain relieving charm. Hermione's headache seemed to ease as her grip on his hand followed suit, having been almost uncomfortably tight.

"Well, now that we have that possibility to bear in mind, I shall leave you in peace." Albus stood, his chair vanishing with a 'pop'. He walked over to the door, turning back just before he opened it. "Oh, how remiss of me. Welcome back, dear girl."

"I cannot tell you how pleased I am to see you once more, Hermione. Your presence has been sorely missed." Minerva allowed a rare smile to escape as she too stood, her chair gradually dissolving into thin air.

"Thank you, Professors. I... I...." Hermione shrugged helplessly, unable to express herself for once. "I know," she murmured as the heads of the school departed. Severus made a mental note to ask her what she meant by that when he had an opportunity. At the moment, her health was the priority.

"Severus, I need access," said Poppy, tapping him on the shoulder. Sitting back, Severus glowered at the pesky matron when she prodded him again. "If you could manage not to touch her whilst I examine her...."

Once Poppy had completed Hermione's second power check, Severus snatched up her hand again, silently daring Poppy to protest.

"Hmm. It seems that your powers are slowly returning. Although from this, some will never return. Can you tell what is missing?"

Hermione's eyes darkened to cold voids as she dipped into her Necromantic powers, the temperature dropping. Within a minute of suffering chattering teeth, Severus and Poppy heard her answer as the ambience returned to normal.

"I think I have most of them to some extent. The most obvious one I'm lacking is the atomising trick, but I wouldn't be surprised if that never returns, what with my overuse of it. But I don't remember if any of my other powers were overused as well."

Poppy flicked through Hermione's medical records (with the date of death now neatly crossed out), pausing as she found what she was looking for. She looked up, meeting Severus's gaze, arching an eyebrow.

"There's something even more obvious that you are lacking, Miss Granger." Poppy withdrew the relevant report, handing it to Severus, blatantly disregarding patient confidentiality for once. He read through it, frowning. The answer struck, so obvious that he had missed it. The memory of a younger Hermione, blood streaming from her nose due to a failed Memory Charm he had tried to apply, flashed through his mind.

"What is it?" Hermione demanded.

"Tell me exactly what the Headmaster said about your headache just now."

"What? Severus, you heard him. Why ask me such a..."

"Humour me."

"Er... 'Perhaps your headache is merely metaphysical?'"

"That proves it beyond a doubt. He didn't say 'merely', Hermione."

"What? Of course he did, I'm the one with the eidetic... oh." Hermione blinked, shocked. "So this is what it feels like to forget things."

"What surprises me is that your perfect memory seems to be tied to your Necromantic powers. According to this report, you possessed the ability before your accident that awakened your Dark powers." Poppy took the report in question from Severus, replacing it in Hermione's file. "Now, keeping the hospital wing out of bounds to anyone else is not advisable with accident-prone students resident in this castle. Nor is there any need to keep you here for observation, as to be perfectly honest, I have no idea what symptoms to look out for. Severus is just as capable as I am in this case, if not more so. I am satisfied with your state of health; you may leave when you are ready."

Having crept through the castle under Disillusionment Charms, Severus and Hermione reached the closest entrance to his quarters without incident, although Mrs. Norris had probably sensed them when they snuck past Filch on his rounds.

Severus watched Hermione reappear as he tapped his wand on the top of her head, observing her reaction, or rather lack thereof, to standing once more in his rooms.

Releasing the charm on himself, he restrained the urge to shiver at the resulting warm trickling feeling.

"Welcome home," Severus murmured, keeping his eyes fixed on Hermione. "I would have hoped you would be more pleased to be here again."

"Oh, I am. It's just..."

"What?" he demanded, eyes narrowing. He briefly glanced around the room to check that the house-elves had done their work, returning his gaze to the girl shifting from foot to foot in front of him.

"It's not that long since I was last here, really."

"Of course, it wouldn't be for you." Severus set his jaw, unwilling to allow any of the last two years worth of pain to show. The burning in his eyes let him know that he was not entirely successful. He turned away, glaring in the general direction of the mantelpiece, fists clenching as a trickle of salty liquid rolled down his sallow face.

"Severus?" Hermione laid a hand on his shoulder when he failed to answer. He stiffened, fighting against the urge to shrug her off. "I didn't mean when I was here before Voldemort fell."

"What do you mean?" he asked, peering over his shoulder at her, the telltale dampness on one of his cheeks forgotten.

"Um, there's a reason why you've felt haunted by your own personal ghost in the time I've been gone."

"What? I grieved in your absence, yes, but..." Severus trailed off, staring suspiciously at her, remembering her odd comments in the hospital wing. "You were a ghost? But I never saw you."

"I was shackled to Hogwarts. Nothing, not even the ghosts, could detect me, so technically I wasn't one." Hermione stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing herself against his side. "I know that you've suffered. I had to watch you do it, save for the times when you were away from here."

The thought that she had been there all along, suffering in silence, somewhat appeased his feelings of resentment. 'Concentrate on the fact that she is back. The past cannot be changed and dwelling on it will risk ruining what we once more have a chance to have.' But try as he might, Severus could not force himself to forget his time alone. He stood stiffly next to Hermione, gradually softening enough to hesitantly wrapped an arm around her shoulder. 'I will never forget what it was to be without her, but that is all the more reason to keep hold of her now that she's returned to me.'

Stepping fully into his arms, Hermione tucked her head under his chin. If Severus hadn't tightened his hold, she would have inadvertently stepped into the newly started fire as she suddenly gasped, reeling back. As it were, they both overbalanced, leaving her pinned against the hearthrug underneath him. Severus might have been able to support most of his weight on his elbows if they had simply tripped over, but he had been almost as blindsided as Hermione by the sudden return of her contact Legilimency.

The experience of all of the past two years worth of grief compacted into a single thought was not a pleasant one. Broken sobs escaped Severus, his formidable self-control torn to shreds by Hermione's inadvertent intrusion into his mind.

It was only when he had recovered enough to sit up that Severus realised that the continuing choked cries were not escaping him. Short of breath due to being under him, Hermione's weeping was not as loud as it might have been, but with his position straddling her, Severus could feel the sobs wracking her body.

'Merlin help me! How did I comfort her last time she was in a similar state?' Severus absently wiped the salty tracks from his own face before reaching down to Hermione. A tentative touch assured him that she was in no shape to attempt any more skin-to-skin Legilimency, allowing him to gently grip her jaw in an effort to focus her attention on him.

A new round of stronger sobs escaped as Hermione reached out for him, grabbing his collar with surprising accuracy for someone with blurry vision. She yanked him down to her, wrapping her arms around his neck as she buried her face in his shoulder.

Far from feeling disgusted that his best set of robes were being ruined by being used as an overgrown hanky, Severus instead felt protective of the snivelling girl in his arms.

"W-watching you suffer was bad enough," Hermione croaked, lifting her head from his shoulder, tears still streaming from her bloodshot eyes. "But actually feeling even th-the echo of what you experienced over those years alone... how did you survive it?"

"I had help. Certain meddlers refused to forget me." Pulling away from her, Severus rummaged in his pockets, grimacing as he realised that he was handkerchief-less. He used his thumbs to wipe the worst of her tearstains away. "But what is important is that I did, and through some miracle we are together again."

Sniffling, Hermione nodded. Even with her hair dishevelled and her face a blotchy mess, she looked beautiful. Granted, she'd probably look rather repulsive to anyone else, but he didn't claim to be impartial. His lips twitched in a rusty smile as he took her face between his hands and lowered his head.

Both of their lips were dry and cracked, causing even just a brushing kiss to be almost painful. Severus didn't care, and Hermione made no protest as he deepened the kiss, the pressure quickly increasing to bruising. Indeed, when he pulled away to catch his breath, Hermione's fingers slid into his hair and drew him closer still.

Lips parting, tongues tangling, Severus groaned into her mouth, his eyes sliding closed.

'To taste her again....'

In a move that felt as though it had somehow been choreographed, Hermione parted her legs as Severus shifted to lie between them, her hospital gown pushed up as his trousers were torn open. A strangled gasp escaped him to be muffled in her mouth as their bodies fitted together intimately.

'To feel her....'

Severus watched Hermione sleep beside him in his – their – bed. He assumed that the house-elf responsible for maintaining his rooms had transferred them to his bedroom as a more natural place to sleep. At least, he hoped it had been a house-elf, even though neither of them had been naked, it would be difficult to look any of his colleagues in the eye if one of them had been responsible.

Once he'd drifted awake, Severus had taken the liberty of using charms to remove their clothes. A modified cleansing charm took care of any remaining stickiness from their earlier activities, although washing it off manually could have been fun. For the time being, Severus was content just to observe the gentle rise and fall of Hermione's chest as she breathed.

Yawning widely, Hermione stretched. She blinked her eyes open, looking groggily up at him. When she opened her mouth to speak, Severus was expecting her to verbally reaffirm her love for him, only to be disappointed by her blunt statement that she needed to powder her nose. Really, he had no cause to complain considering that 'I love you' had very rarely escaped his lips in their time together. In fact, he'd only said it once, the day before he'd proposed. Which reminded him of something....

When Hermione returned from the bathroom, Severus was examining her engagement ring, the glow from it reflected in his eyes as he looked up at her.

"I believe this belongs to you." He held the ring out to her.

"You still want to marry me after all I put you through?" Hermione asked, nervously eyeing him.

He rolled his eyes, exasperated. As much as that question deserved a sarcastic 'no', he wasn't about to make her squirm. "Of course I do," he hissed, only just managing to bite back the addition of 'silly girl'.

She extended her hand, allowing him to slide it onto the relevant finger.

After enjoying a celebratory clinch, Severus spoke up. "Albus will not thank us for disturbing him now, if he manages to sleep tonight. I'm sure that we will manage to persuade him tomorrow."

Hermione raised her head from his chest, eyes wide. "What?"

"Over two years is a long enough engagement, don't you think?"

"Er, I guess..." Hermione sputtered, floundering. Severus observed her pull herself together. "Other people might not see it that way, but what does that matter?"

In their blissful reunion, the means of Hermione's resurrection did not cross their minds. As it were, if the thought had occurred to him to wonder at the identity of this probable new Necromancer, Severus would only want to thank whoever it was.

AN: Thanks to LadySunflower and septentrion for their wonderful betaing services.