40: Sweet And Sour Revelations

Chapter 40: Sweet and Sour Revelations

A few days later, Harry was sitting on his bed sorting through the items from the box Dumbledore had left him, when Hermione knocked on his bedroom door. Ron was working for his brothers yet again, and Hermione and Harry had recently finished up working on Occlumency with a couple of the Order members. Lunch was past due as far as Hermione was concerned, since she hadn't had much of an appetite that morning, but she stood in the doorway, allowing Harry a few minutes to himself, unwilling to interrupt the silent mourning that surrounded him.

He had been shooting her strange looks all day, but hadn't brought up whatever it was that was bothering him. Now he sat with a couple of the metal objects from Dumbledore's office set out around the bed, along with a box of vials. The Pensieve sat on a table in one corner, filled with shimmering memories, and another couple vials stood empty nearby. A box sat behind them, several more vials still nestled inside it. A few photographs were stacked on the corner of the table...wizarding photographs, she figured, judging from the way the people in them seemed to be moving. From the doorway she was unable to tell who occupied the pictures.

When she looked back over at Harry, he was studying her, his green eyes searching her. She returned his gaze, but he said nothing, simply turned his eyes toward the Pensieve and gave it a long, considering look. When he turned his face back toward hers, the furrows in his brow had smoothed out and his mood shifted. "I'm starved. Want to go get something to eat?"

The abrupt change surprised Hermione, but sensing he wasn't ready to talk about whatever was on his mind, she nodded. "I'm thinking Chinese. I could really go for some Moo Shu chicken and egg rolls."

He smiled. "It's the third time this week you've had a taste for Chinese."

Hermione shrugged. He was right, of course. Lately her palate had been acting rather strange. She couldn't face the fried mushrooms and tomatoes at breakfast, had felt off by dinner most nights, eating little, but ate a sensible lunch. And while she had followed her husband's advice about cutting back on the most dangerous hexes, she still felt more tired than usual. She had passed it off as her body still recovering from her injury, but as the weariness seemed to set in before that day, she hadn't quite convinced herself. She wondered if she was coming down with something.

"That's OK, I could go for something hot and spicy right now." He stood and set a vial of shimmering white memory that had been sitting on his lap into the box on the table by the Pensieve and looked thoughtful as he fingered it, then turned away. A half smile forming on his face as he looked at her. "Have a good evening with Sebastian last night?"

"Yes. You, Ron, and the twins hung out with Viktor, didn't you? He goes home today, right?"

"Yeah. He mentioned you; said to say goodbye."

"Thanks."

Harry looked uncomfortable. "I have to tell you, he didn't say so, but I don't think, or rather, I got the impression that, well . . . You probably won't be hearing from him much anymore."

Torn between being amused at his discomfort, and a bit of wistfulness at the end of her friendship with Viktor, she nodded. "Yeah, I had the feeling."

Harry nodded in return, then turned back to the door. Unsure what to make of his behavior, Hermione followed him out of the room and down the hall. There was a good Chinese place they both liked only a few blocks away. It looked totally Muggle, but was actually owned by a witch and wizard. The first time Harry, Hermione, and Ron had shown up there, the sweet old Chinese woman recognized them and offered Harry a free lunch.

He had declined, but she had given the trio their drinks for free. Over the past few weeks the restaurant had become a favorite for them. The fact that they accepted both Muggle and wizarding currency made things much simpler for the trio as they didn't have to worry about which they had on hand at the moment.

The summer heat was waning, but certainly hadn't gone for good as they left Grimmauld Place and headed west to the small restaurant. Neither Harry nor Hermione spoke, both lost in their own thoughts. Having exhausted herself with thoughts of where the next Horcrux might be located, she turned her mind back toward her husband's strange behavior. His secretive behavior was making her ever more wary. Not that she didn't have her own secrets. She still hadn't told him about her Animagus form, nor did she plan to tell him anytime soon. There was no reason to keep it a secret, but still, she kept it to herself. Who knew if it would come in handy some day?

The restaurant had red and gold painted walls, a black ceiling and light fixtures hanging low over each table that shone like colored jewels. Mrs. Chan greeted them by name at the door and showed them to a table in the corner. "We're always so glad to have you," she said as she handed them menus.

"We love coming here." Harry flipped his menu open as the woman walked away to get their drinks.

After Mrs. Chan had taken their orders and brought their usual drinks out, the two friends were left with nothing to distract them. Harry played with his straw in his drink, giving it a swirl, swishing the ice, avoiding Hermione's eyes.

"So, it looks like there were some other memories in the box besides the ones we saw." Hermione didn't want to pry, but she was definitely curious about them. "Anything useful in our search?"

"No," he shook his head and met her eyes. "There were some great memories from his time with my parents. I spent hours watching them over and over. And there were a few others." He took a swallow of his drink, then looked at her again "About Sebastian, you said the glamour changed his age. You didn't say whether it aged him up or down."

She blinked in surprise at his segue. "Er, no. I didn't. I thought it would be obvious." Distract, redirect, prevaricate, but don't tell him the truth. Hermione had no idea how he had come up with this line of thought. Her comment on age adjustment had been intended to confuse the issue, not be a tip off. "Tell me about the other memories."

"Mixed in with the memories of my parents was a memory of Dumbledore taking a vow from," he looked around and dropped his voice, "the person you have a similar arrangement with."

Hermione leaned closer. He had seen Severus' vow to the Headmaster? Even she had never seen it, only knew it had happened. What he said next surprised her even more.

"There was also, in the same vial, a memory from last summer when this person went to Dumbledore and told him of their second vow. The one that brought about the events of last spring." He looked up when Mrs. Chan brought their plates of food over. There were the inevitable pleasantries and thanks to pass around before the woman left them again.

Hermione had been anxious to get back to the conversation through the lengthy polite chatter and barely waited until the woman turned her back on them before diving back into the conversation. "So you believe him, then?"

He pursed his lips and opened the chop sticks wrapped in paper beside his plate. "I'm never going to like him, Hermione. I still hate him for the way he treated me and my family. I still think he's a sadistic bastard, and I'm not sure I fully trust him, but I know what I saw in those memories. I barely slept last night trying to put it all together."

"I hardly expect you and Severus to become bosom buddies. Besides, if it appeared you didn't hate his guts, his life would be forfeit. We all have our roles to play." Hermione spooned some rice onto her plate and began to load the pile with meat and vegetables.

"Severus is it?" Harry didn't so much as blink in surprise when he asked the question. In fact, he looked almost as though he had expected her to use the man's first name.

It was all she could do to keep from cursing aloud at her slip of the tongue. Instead she gave him what she hoped was a bland look. "I've been in regular contact with him lately, you know. He's not a total bastard when I get him alone." When he gave her an incredulous look, she amended. "He can still be petty and spiteful at times, but he keeps those to a minimum with me. He's even given me a few tips on making my, er, special defense project come out better."

Harry knew she was referring to the Felix Felicis potion and lifted an eyebrow. "Really? How is that coming, anyway?" She wasn't sure if he had been relieved or disappointed when she had told him he and Ron couldn't go to the secret-kept location of the potions lab she had found. He asked about her progress regularly, though, so she assumed he was more than mildly curious.

Hermione swallowed a bite of rice and veggies. "Nearly finished with the second set. That makes enough for thirty-two doses by the end of next week if we don't halve them into twelve-hour doses. I'm preparing for the third set of batches now. I'll probably begin it in a few days. I just need to double check the timing to be sure nothing will interfere."

Harry scooped a bite of food onto his chopsticks and slid it into his mouth. After two more bites, several loud cracks of Apparition filled the air. There were screams of Muggles, the sounds of running, things falling on the floor. Voices casting hexes right and left filled the air.

Harry and Hermione were up, their wands in their hands, and charging around the partial wall that separated them from the rest of the patrons before they had time to think.

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione called out when she saw someone in a long black robe pointing a wand at a Muggle customer. The wand flew to her hand, and the man turned to face her, his skeletal white Death Eater mask sending shivers down her spine. Her heart rate increased and she wished she had time to summon help from the Order.

A flash of colored light speeded toward her from another masked intruder, and she barely had time to put up a shield to protect herself. A scream came from a Muggle woman as a third Death Eater...a female voice this time...cast Crucio on her. Mr. And Mrs. Chan emerged from the kitchen, wands in hand, and began tossing their own spells.

Harry dueled with a fourth black-cowled form while Hermione turned back to the first a moment too late to subdue him magically. She flinched, but had no time to evade as the man hurled himself at her, landing on top of her.

Terror clawed at her throat as she hit the floor, squished between the man's weight and the hard tiles below them. Before she could begin to scream, the man yelled out and rolled away from her. She had barely enough time to raise her wand and begin to cast a spell before another black-clad figure arrived across the room from her. Cursing to herself at the addition of another Death Eater, she focused on her spell.

Mr. Chan yelled something in Chinese, and he and his wife Disapparated. Hermione finished binding the man across from her, then turned, her wand drawn as the female Death Eater began to cast a spell in her direction.

"Come here." Hermione turned in surprise as she recognized Severus' voice, then after a slight squeezing sensation, found herself standing at his side. He had not moved to her position, she had moved to his without a clue as to how it happened. "That is enough!" he called over the din.

Harry's voice screamed out in agony as he was hit by the Cruciatus Curse, and Snape sent a stinging hex at the man who had cast it. "I said, enough. The ones you have come for are gone, and that brat is not for you. His life belongs to the Dark Lord."

The others turned toward him and the woman tugged her mask off, looking Hermione up and down. "She doesn't look like much to me. How you could want that chit when you could have me..."

"I owe her something for the hex she cast at me," the man still bound in ropes on the ground interrupted, obviously feeling his claim came first. "It was wandless magic at that. Don't know how a Mudblood managed it." His sneer was clear, even though his face was still more than half covered.

Hermione stood, looking around her, trying to take it all in, considering her options, her reaction, the best behavior. She needed to appear submissive to Severus, his pet, his toy. And Harry was going to blow up when he saw it. Sending him a desperate look; asking for his understanding, she looked back at Severus, who had turned his attention to her. They didn't touch, her arms hung by her side, his crossed over his chest in his standard professorial intimidation technique as he surveyed the mess around them.

He reached out and stroked a long finger down her cheek. "Wandless magic, my pet? However did you manage such a feat?"

She shook her head slightly, but leaned into his touch. "It wasn't my magic that protected me when he jumped on me." Her upper back still ached from her impact with the floor.

"What's going on here? Who are you?" a Muggle man with a gash on his forehead and his body wrapped in cords asked from his place under a table.

Severus sighed as though he had been inconvenienced. There were at least twenty Muggles in the building, and all exits had been blocked to prevent their escape. "You have created quite a mess," he said to his compatriots. "And you have disturbed my pet. Everyone in this building is going to have to have their memories altered, and with the mess we've got here, and the escaped targets, the Aurors are likely to appear any minute. The Dark Lord is not going to be pleased."

"First the witch is going to pay for that blast," the Death Eater said again, coming forward. His wand pointed at Hermione. A coil of ropes lay where he had been, and Hermione knew the woman had released the man.

"No, she isn't. The Dark Lord wants me to continue my relationship with her for the time being. You were hurt by my spell because you bothered her, which could have damaged my long-term goals." Severus's eyes flashed, and he shot a stinging hex at the man. "That should teach you to leave what is mine alone. Now I'm going to have to modify her memory as well. Such bother."

"What do you mean, your pet?" Harry shouted at Severus, lifting himself from the floor. "What's wrong with you, Hermione? Snape's a traitor, not our friend. Get away from him!"

The female Death Eater lifted her wand and shot ropes out of it to wrap Harry up. "Don't need you going anywhere right now." She turned to Severus, her eyes excited. "Let's take him with us."

Slashing a hand through the air in denial, Severus cut her off. "Not yet. The Dark Lord will decide the time and place. Until then, we will be patient as he has directed. It's really too bad Weasley wasn't with them. Him you could have had...it's not like his family would have missed one less; there are so many of them." He sneered.

"You bastard!" Harry shouted.

"And do you always follow his directions?" The woman pushed the now bound Harry over onto the floor where he landed on his rear, then cracked his head against the corner of a chair. She then slinked over, challenging him with the defiant lift of her chin and direct gaze. "Have you completed your job and gotten her with child?" She shot a spell at Hermione which created a red cloud which hovered for a long moment, then turned turquoise.

Severus smirked. "As you can see, I have." His eyes trailed over to Harry, and Hermione could feel the dread emanating from her husband, even through the shock of learning she was pregnant. How did she get pregnant when she was on the potion? How long had he known about this? The Dark Lord ordered it? Why didn't Severus ever tell her? She blinked as though confused by the revelation, rather than feeling the betrayal that was shooting through her.

"So, Potter," Severus said after turning back to Harry, "now you know your friend, the one you've been panting over, and I have been lovers for several months. She loves me." He curled his lip at this comment and looked as though he thought her love ridiculous. "And she's going to have my child."

"No! You bastard; how dare you touch her!" Harry fought against his bindings while the others laughed at him.

Severus merely smirked, turned toward Hermione, tipping her face to him and kissed her briefly, as though to taunt the younger man. Hermione lifted her mouth to him, though allowing herself to look upset by Harry's reaction, even a tiny bit torn by his anger. That response, at least, was sincere, as she didn't know what to think of their situation, never mind Harry's take on it. Only minutes before he had been telling her he more or less trusted Severus...at least somewhat. Now he was calling him a traitor again? Her mind flew through the thoughts shooting at her even as she leaned into her husband's touch. It had only been hours since she had left his bed, but that hardly seemed to matter to the enchantment.

"Now, the four of you, Disapparate. I'll clean up the mess and join you at the Dark Lord's side later. There will be no hint of this destruction when I leave, only Potter will know the truth. And no one's really believed him in years. Even the dear, departed Headmaster brushed away his concerns about my activities with young Malfoy. You, Hestia, you get to tell our master about your failure to capture your prey. Stealth, not showmanship will win this war. If you had focused on the Chans instead of playing with the Muggles, you might have succeeded." He glared at all four of the other Death Eaters and they quickly disappeared.

"What are you going to do to us?" a woman huddled in a corner asked.

Severus ignored the woman, waved his wand at Harry, releasing him from his bonds and with a flick returned his wand to him. Another flick and a muttered spell cast a temporary numbing spell, presumably for the lump on Harry's head. "Please hold off on the hexing until we put things to rights here, would you?" he asked. "I'd really rather fix the mess those idiots caused before we get into more personal business." He turned to the first man, raising his wand at him.

Harry screamed, "No!" but when the bolt of light only released the man from his bonds, and a second repaired the cut on his forehead, Harry stood down.

Severus sent Harry a long-suffering look. "I understand you've been studying basic first aid. Please assist me in straightening this out. When everyone is patched up I'll Obliviate this whole encounter from their minds. Then we can talk."

Hermione moved forward, but Harry only stared in shock. "You're going to fix this?"

Severus's eyes narrowed. "Surely you don't think hurting innocent Muggles for no good reason falls within the bounds of my vow?"

"Er, no." Harry watched Hermione getting to work, and Severus face the next customer, then turned to assist.

Hermione made it clear to her husband through their emotional bond that she was incredibly angry at him, that she intended to let him know in no uncertain terms what she was angry about. She generated as much inner anger as she could while still speaking gently with the traumatized people in the restaurant.

In two minutes the room repairs were done, people were set back to rights, and after moving Harry and Hermione behind him, Severus had cast a general memory modification on the rest. "Shall we go?" he asked, turning back to Harry and Hermione.

"Yes, lets. The Shrieking Shack?" Hermione suggested, knowing it was the only private place she could think of where both men could go. It had the advantage of already having a reputation for strange screaming noises...so when she bit her husband's head off, no one would find the sound surprising.

Harry nodded in agreement, and the three of them stepped back into the alcove where Harry and Hermione had been eating. In the moment before they Disapparated, she heard the whoosh of Apparition as Aurors appeared.

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AN: My apologies for both taking a long time to post this chapter, and for ending it here. I promise to have the next chapter in queue as soon as this one is validated. The expected sparks will fly as Hermione demands answers and offers threats.

Thanks to my many fabulous reviewers, my wonderful beta, countrymouse, and the dedicated Admins at this site. A special thanks to RobisonRocket for help with this chapter.