Truth

A/N: This chapter answers one big BIG question about chapter one. And I think that it'll make you rather happy. That said, do try and keep your reviews (and I love reviews, hint hint) spoiler-free!

And since it's been awhile, love and hugs go out to my super-betas sshg316 and Southern_Witch_69. Once again, no bunnies were harmed in this chapter. Really.

Chapter 12

Truth

--5:00–5:30pm, August 5, 1998--

They were sitting on a couch in her flat. Severus Snape's long, black shape stood out starkly against her cream-colored furniture and beige walls.

She removed the quill from behind her ear and wrote, contemplatively, and, for the first time in a long time, with an inexplicably lighter heart.

--5:30–6:00pm, August 5, 1998--

"Whatever happened to that wretched cat of yours?"

"I did not mean to mock your grief, Miss Granger." The smile disappeared. "I am eternally grateful for your familiar's sacrifice and that Wormtail was not able to harm anyone."

Or you.

Could that possibly be what he meant to say? He had been looking at her most intently as he had spoken.

Hermione told her ridiculous imagination to hush.

--2:30–3:00pm, August 12, 1998--

"Miss Granger, I would like to suggest something."

Snape huffed. "The truth is, it has been disconcerting for me to watch an apparent stranger have free reign in my lab." The apparent brusqueness of his words was belied by the softness in his eyes.

--4:00–4:30pm, August 15, 1998--

"If you could be reborn as anybody in the world, who would it be?"

There was an edge to his voice that warned Hermione of things that she probably didn't want to know about. She cracked a grin. "Don't be silly, half an hour isn't nearly enough time for that. Over dinner, perhaps."

--7:00–7:30pm, August 18, 1998--

"Miss Granger, why have you eaten dinner here every night for the past week?"

"Ron has his girlfriend. They'll probably be engaged by the end of this month. Harry is... He's different. He spends all his time reading every book on defensive spells and hexes he can get his hands on. And when I do visit him, he looks at me as if he's seeing a ghost."

It had sounded too nice on his lips to be forgotten.

--7:00–7:30pm, August 19, 1998--

"Did your parents leave you this house?" Hermione asked over dinner.

"No, perhaps you would not ask." His shoulders dropped, and his anger seemed to dissipate. "But you and others have always wondered. And you will always have the desire to know."

Rather like you are doing now.

"My mother birthed me when she was in her early twenties," Snape said. "Her marriage to my father was a... I believe the Muggles call it a 'shotgun marriage.' I am told that when she discovered she was pregnant, she went all the way to the Ministry of Magic, pleading with them to let her have an abortion. They refused; the birthrate of wizards, even of half-bloods, was dangerously low. So Eileen Prince and Tobias Snape were married."

"Tobias was... there, for lack of a better word. He was the most utterly boring person one could have ever known. If he wasn't at the mill, he was sitting at the table, maybe nursing a drink, usually just staring into space. And every once in awhile, he would slap his wife and son around, trying to use violence to prove that he was still a man. I know he resented us for being magical, for being able to do things that would always remain impossible for him."

It was an astonishingly long speech. At the end, Hermione realized that despite his defensiveness, he had wanted to say all of it, and he had wanted her to hear it. The realization almost brought tears to her eyes.

Then he scowled. "Pass the tea, please," Snape said.

--8:00–8:30pm, August 25, 1998--

Snape threw off his mask and cloak, revealing the stoppered flask in his hands. The container was as big around as her head, and the outside was brushed with a gleaming coat of quicksilver.

"Don't relax so soon, Miss Granger. We still need Chinese Fireball eggs and Runespoor venom. I needn't tell you how dangerous and difficult it will be to collect those."

--11:00–11:30am, August 25, 1998--

Snape and Hermione held their breaths as the eye-dropperful of silver blood hit the

Snape grimaced. "It appears as though we have a working base."

--2:30–3:00pm, September 25, 1998--

It seemed that overnight she and Snape had suddenly been placed in charge of a small nursery. Day in and day out, the black rabbits watched them go about their business with disturbingly intelligent red eyes. They squeaked when they were hungry and defecated on a whim to show their annoyance. Granted they were much lower maintenance than a brace of children, but Snape began complaining within hours of their arrival.

"The largest rodent is staring at me."

"You did ask for the most intelligent species that could be found."

"Yet that does not mean that it should..."

"Try not to take this the wrong way, but between the two of us, I believe that you are the one that most resembles a possible predator. And they're lagomorphs, not rodents."

Hermione heard him mutter something under his breath that sounded extremely like "insufferable little know-it-all."

The largest lagomorph squeaked indignantly at Snape.

"Shut up, Cicero," Snape snarled.

--10:30–11:00am, September 27, 1998--

"It was a joke," Snape said indignantly for the umpteenth time.

Hermione had formally dubbed the largest rabbit "Cicero," and the rabbit had already learned to respond to the name, much to Snape's chagrin.

"As if you should be encouraging it. Now the creature will feel even more obligated to make noise at all hours of the day."

Hermione effectively ignored him. "I won't tell anyone that it was your original idea," she said blithely.

That afternoon, Hermione found herself prying off the carapaces of an entire barrel of dung beetles and imagined, with no small amount of amused indignation, that she had just been assigned a detention.

--1:00–2:30pm, September 28, 1998--

"I think that Cicero fancies that female rabbit with the floppy ear."

"Oh, for goodness sake. The last thing we need is for them to start breeding like rabbits."

Silence.

"Um, Severus. They are..."

"I know, I know." Snape ground his sliver of Mandrake root too viciously and had to get another one. Hermione ducked her head quickly so that he wouldn't be further irritated by her smile.

--2:00–2:30pm, September 29, 1998--

Alvin flew in from a high window, flapping laboriously with a large brown-wrapped package clutched in his claws. He landed noisily on the table in front of Hermione, squawking as his wing brushed too close to a roaring Bunsen burner.

"That will teach you to land in the middle of our work," Snape chided. The raven glared at him and attacked the rope binding the package to his leg, clipping through it at last and flapping back up to his perch.

Severus unwrapped the package, hissing in pain as he touched the contents inside. Hermione was beside him at once. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Freezing Charm on the contents." Snape appeared more irritated by her concern than the pain of his reddened fingertips. Hermione shrugged and turned her attention to the contents of the package.

There were six oval spheres bigger than Harry's golden egg from the Triwizard Tournament. They were a vivid crimson color speckled with gold and seemed to glow from within with a smoldering flame. Next to them was a frosted glass container shaped like a milk jug and filled with a clear liquid. The mouth of the glass jar was completely sealed with wax.

"What are...?"

"You have eyes and a brain, Hermione. You tell me."

"Both of the ingredients must be kept chilled to remain functional. The spheres have the shape and texture of eggs, and from what I've seen... yes, they're Chinese Fireball eggs. And the jar... the clarity and impeccable airtight seal indicate poison, possibly venom."

"Very good, Miss Granger," Snape said with a smirk. "And as even I don't expect you to be able to determine the specific species of origin, I can tell you that this is the venom from the Runespoor."

"Chinese Fireball eggs... six of them. And a full liter of Runespoor venom. Well, besides being the exact ingredients we need to finish our trial potion, these items are easily worth several thousand Galleons."

"Indeed."

"These are from one of your suppliers, I gather. Is he reliable?"

"Unerringly so. You might say that he has no choice otherwise." Snape lifted the package gingerly, mindful of his fingers, and placed it into the refrigerator. "Now that we have these ingredients, we should be able to begin live trials in two days time."

--9:30–10:00am, October 1, 1998--

"What on earth is the matter?"

"Nothing."

"It is not nothing. You have done nothing but snarl responses to me since you arrived, and I refuse to believe that I could have done something to offend you this early in the day."

"It's none of your concern," she huffed.

"It is drawing my attention away from our preparations, and therefore it is my concern."

"I... I feel slightly horrible about casting Avada Kedavra on a bunny, okay? Go on and laugh at me."

Snape did not laugh. "You were fully aware of the fate of these creatures when you purchased them." Hermione glared and did not respond. Cicero chirruped softly and scratched at the wiring of the cage.

"Well," he said, "I suppose you might use this as motivation to make doubly sure that the potion works."

--11:00–11:30am, October 1, 1998--

The quicksilver hit the surface of the brew and hissed in an angry flurry of bubbles as it spread its oily limbs across the surface of the liquid. The silver eventually sank into the mixture like thick tentacles, and the resulting potion turned a putrescent shade of purple.

Snape reached over and turned down the heat under the cauldron while stirring three times widdershins. At the end of the third stir, the nauseating color faded, and the potion became perfectly clear. Hermione attempted not to jump in excitement.

"It worked, Severus, it worked!" Snape gave her an exasperated glance, but she could see the corners of his mouth twitch.

He dipped a silver ladle into the mixture and drew it out filled to the brim with the clear liquid. He bent his nose to it and sniffed.

"Odorless," he muttered.

Then he tipped the entire contents of the ladle into his mouth.

"Severus!" Hermione cried.

Snape lowered the empty ladle to the table. "Tasteless as well," he said. His expression had not changed. He did not seem in danger of suddenly dropping dead from imbibing an untried potion.

"Severus, what the hell... that was remarkably stupid of you!"

His eyes were like flint as they trained upon her. "Hermione. What are the toxic elements in the potion?"

She swallowed. "Aconite. Asphodel. Runespoor venom. Quicksilver."

"Four of the deadliest substances known to man. Now tell me why taken together, the compounds become completely safe."

"The venom neutralizes the plant elements of the aconite and asphodel, and quicksilver when added at the very end binds to the poisons and encases them for future release. In doing so, it too becomes inert. I know this, Severus, I designed it, as I know you recall. However, no matter how confident we are in our calculations, real life is always..."

"Kindly do not lecture me, Miss Granger. I am not one to take chances."

Hermione opened her mouth to speak and then closed it, fuming and knowing that he would not understand.

"However, I do appreciate your concern," said Snape with a smirk.

"As unwanted as it apparently is," she muttered.

Snape frowned, then removed an eyedropper from his voluminous robes. "We shall test this now. Bring Cicero. If we must lose a test subject, I must admit that I will miss that one the least."

"But... but..."

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you doubt the efficacy of our work?"

He was challenging her again. And it was working. Hermione felt the wrenching sensation in her chest fade under her indignation. She turned on her heel and marched over to the cage.

She expected a fight, some scratches at least. After all, surely semi-intelligent rabbits could sense when doom was approaching. Instead, Cicero hopped directly into her hands when she opened the cage door. He nuzzled the crook of her elbow, sniffing lightly. Hermione stroked the rabbit's soft ears.

Snape approached, holding out the eyedropper full of the clear potion. Cicero lunged towards it, his nose twitching and his red eyes blinking rapidly. Without even bothering to sniff, his mouth latched onto the end of the dropper and rapidly devoured its contents.

Snape pulled the empty dropper away and discarded it. "You would die gruesomely in the wild," he said to the rabbit. Cicero chirruped happily.

"Place the creature there." Snape indicated the lab table adjacent to the far wall. Hermione placed the squirming rabbit on the tabletop and backed away slowly. Cicero sniffed the unfamiliar terrain suspiciously.

Hermione waved her hand, and a Quick-Quotes Quill appeared above their notes. "Ready," she said flatly.

"No requiem mass?" Snape said from beside her elbow.

"I believe you mentioned something about thinking positively," she snapped.

"Indeed," he said. "Avada Kedavra!"

Hermione jumped. She couldn't help it. Not when those awful words were shouted mere centimeters from her ear.

The flash of green light streaked toward the rabbit and enveloped it in crackling energy. For a moment, Cicero appeared frozen in place, encased in a cocoon of green light. Then the cloud of green suddenly dissolved, there was brilliant glow of silver haze and...

Cicero shuddered once and collapsed in a limp bundle on the table.

Hermione brought her hands to her face to contain her choked dismay. She had accepted, no, expected that this might happen. After all, how many trials ever succeeded on the first test? But nothing could have prepared her for the reality of seeing that curse in action, the rushing finality of it. It had been bad enough when the false Moody had performed it on a spider. To see it performed on a creature that she had grown rather fond of had her trembling like a leaf.

"Potion failed its first field test." Snape was dictating to the Quick-Quotes Quill. "The extent of its effect appears to be a delay of subject death by not more than a few seconds."

She couldn't do it... She could never fight in pitched battle against Voldemort. Not if she had to watch her friends die like that. How had Harry dealt with seeing so much death so young?

"Miss Granger. Please confirm that the subject is deceased."

Death... death... she could not touch it. Please, don't ask it of her.

"Hermione." Snape's voice was surprisingly gentle but also unyielding as steel. She looked up and saw the words reflected unmistakably in his eyes. You signed up for this.

Hermione swallowed hard and willed her hands to stop shaking. On the table, Cicero looked like a discarded fur muff. Were it not for his wide-open black eyes, she would have thought him to be sleeping. She picked up the animal in her hands and inspected it. The body was already growing cold.

"The s-subject is deceased."

"Are there any anomalies in its appearance?"

"I don't know how many variations of dead you think there are, Severus," she replied testily.

He did not smile. "I am certain that you don't want to know, Miss Granger."

Her insides turned cold. She was reminded of just how much about magic she did not know and how much was never spoken of in polite society. She forced her eyes back to the rabbit. In truth, Cicero's death had been painless.

Then she noticed something else. "Severus... his eyes."

"Yes?"

"They were red before. Now they're blank and black as sin. Even the pupils are gone." She shuddered. "Tell me this is not normal, Severus."

He frowned and walked over. The rabbit's head flopped on its limp neck as he tilted the face up to his gaze. "This is not normal," he said. His next words destroyed any sense of relief Hermione might have begun to feel.

"The creature's soul is gone."

A familiar indignant squeak came from the cage behind them.

After this chapter, you should know what happened to Snape in chapter one. If it's not obvious, reread this chapter and the second half of chapter one again and look for similar, sometimes identical, phrases. If all else fails, remember this: the potion remains effective for an indefinite period of time.

Next chapter: Harry acts strangely; Hermione and Snape discuss religion and have an epiphany. Hermione runs into a familiar face at the Magical Menagerie.