Chapter 4

Thanks to my beta, Charmed Force. You're great!

~o0o~

Four weeks...

Four blasted weeks!

Severus stormed around the kitchen of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. Anger and frustration had robbed him of his usual grace; his patented stalking stride had been reduced to stomping. This, of course, did nothing to improve his mood and only made him stomp around more.

"How much longer must I live in this half life?" he fumed. "Neither dead nor alive; unable to move on, definitely unable to go back. And, best of all, the only people who can see me are Potter and his two sidekicks!"

Severus' thin lips twisted up in a smirk as he remembered the look on Weasley's face when he had first seen Snape, the dreaded (and dead) Potions master standing in the doorway. Miss Granger's polite offer of tea had been the last straw, and Severus had left Potter to do the explaining while he went to the library to see what information he could possibly find in this dismal old house.

The room was a mess. Books, parchment, bottles of ink and quills littered every possible surface. Severus had picked his way to where a pile of books were threatening to topple over onto a fat, orange cat. Severus had reached out to straighten the tower only to have his hand pass through the tomes.

Rage and frustration blazed through his chest. For a minute, he had forgotten this thrice cursed condition of his.

A soft gasp from the doorway caused Severus to jerk his hand away from the books and tuck it behind his back. Miss Granger stood just inside the room, a look of horror and something else on her expressive face.

"Oh, Professor," she cried moving further into the room towards him. "Harry told us, but I could hardly believe..."

Hermione stopped dead at the fierce look on his face.

"I am no longer your professor, Miss Granger, and I especially do not need your sympathy. Now, if you would be so kind as to leave me in peace, I would like to attempt to do some research."

Hermione stood still as her former teacher stalked across the room and came to a stop in front of the book shelves. At her continued silence, Severus turned to face her with an inquiring look.

"Oh, by all means, sir. I would not dare to intrude on your research. If you would pass me that large book on the top shelf in front of you, I will be on my way."

Hermione stood, watching him serenely as his face darkened.

"Insufferable girl! Tell me what you want from me and have done with it!"

"I don't want anything from you, sir. I just wanted to know how it would be possible for you to do any researching when you are unable to even open or move a book."

Hermione glanced at the dark scowl on Snape's face, took a deep breath and continued.

"I want to help you." Hermione hurried on before he could refuse her. "I am sitting in this house looking up odd facts I find in the newspaper. I hardly go out anywhere anymore because of what happens if anyone recognises me. Sir, I am bored out of my mind with nothing to do. Besides, what has happened to you is very intriguing, and I never could resist a good research project. Harry told me about your situation, about how it seems that only the three of us have been able to see you. I just want to help. Truly."

Hermione finished her rushed speech, wondering if she should bat her lashes a little like they always seemed to be doing in those romance novels her mother loved. Looking at his hard face, she decided it was better not to.

Snape looked down into the earnest face of the Gryffindor know-it-all. If he had the force of that formidable mind behind him, he was sure to find some solution to his little... problem. However, it would never do for him to agree too easily.

"While I appreciate your eagerness to help me, what makes you think I want or need your assistance? I am quite capable of doing my research unaided."

Hermione gave him a skeptical glare before retorting.

"Sir, if you were so capable of doing your own research, why are you still here in that ghost-like form?"

Merlin, if that girl did not stop stressing her "sirs", he was going to have to beat her severely. Or find a way to do it. Being a ghost could be extremely vexing at times.

"Fine, Miss Granger." Severus gave her one of his fiercest glares for good measure. "Your solution has some merit. I would rather have you assisting me than one of those two dunderheads downstairs."

~o0o~

Much to his surprise, Severus and Hermione had worked quite well together for the first week. Severus would peruse the shelves calling out to Hermione the titles he wished to look at. Hermione would collect the books, setting his place opposite her so that she could reach to turn his page or change books for him, while still being able to read her own books. At the end of the day, the two of them would discuss their findings while Hermione took notes.

If Severus had expected an immediate solution, he was soon disappointed. He did, however, come to appreciate the routine Hermione brought to his life. Her strict rules about how each part of the day was to be spent was something he could appreciate. He loved rules and schedules.

At the end of the day, when she had put back all the books, organised her notes and packed away her parchment and ink (at his insistence), she would gently persuade him to join her and her friends in the kitchen for dinner. Although he could not eat, he did appreciate her effort to include him.

Despite his intentions to be as aloof as possible, he often found himself chuckling at the antics of her two best friends. They reminded him of how he used to watch Potter and Black across the Great Hall, joking and playing tricks on each other. The difference was that this time he was included.

When Harry needed the library for his own research for Severus' case...Severus was quite surprised at how dedicated Harry seemed to be about winning this...he and Hermione would settle in the TV room Harry had set up, and discuss theories for hours. When they could remove Ron from the Muggle cartoons, that is.

It was during one of these discussion afternoons that Severus had discovered the most disturbing fact about his "death" so far.

Severus had had another night of stomping around the kitchens and lower floor and was in no mood to listen to another one of her drawn out theories. He was watching the birds flying across the cloudless sky, wondering why he never appreciated nature when he had the chance. Oh, yes. It's because I prefer the peace and quiet of my own chambers instead of the incessant chatter of a female irritant!

And so he sat, tuning out Miss Granger's voice, thinking about how much he missed all his books in his private chambers at Hogwarts.

"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah," lectured Miss Granger.

Severus nodded his head, raising his eyebrows once or twice to feign his interest.

"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah..."

Severus flicked his fingers and added a grunt this time. There, that sounded like he was listening.

"Blah, blah... and your body disappearing-"

"What?" Severus interrupted. She had his full attention now.

"Well, I assumed that your condition has something to do with the disappearance of your body-"

"My WHAT?" Severus bellowed. "My body has disappeared?"

"Well, yes. Didn't you know?"

"No. Of course I bloody well did not know. Right after the battle I somehow managed to Apparate myself to Spinner's End, as you know. I have spent most of my time there researching my condition; fruitlessly as it turns out. I did attend the mass funeral for the fallen heroes. Why is my grave there if I am still on trial for all my crimes, and if my body is missing, what is in that grave?"

"When Harry, Ron and I returned to the Shack, your body was gone. We can't explain it. It had disappeared. Kingsley and Professor McGonagall decided it was best that it was kept a secret, and there is only an empty coffin under your headstone. Harry fought very hard to have you buried there."

"But no one has yet discovered the whereabouts of my corpse?"

"No. We knew you had died in the Shack, so you could not have recovered and moved yourself. The only answer is that someone removed it shortly after we left, for their own..."

"Their own reasons." If Severus had blood, he was sure he would have gone paler than he normally had been when he had been alive. He could only hope that whoever had taken his body had no evil intentions towards him.

Severus had to clear his throat twice before he could ask his question.

"How do you reason that my... situation has something to do with my body's disappearance?"

Hermione's eyes clouded over in thought, oblivious to Snape's skeptical glare.

"Well, I think your soul can't rest until it knows that its body has been..."

Severus tuned her out again as his mind whirled with the possibilities. He was no closer to finding a solution. In fact, he thought they were even further away, and now he had to worry about who had taken his body and why.

~o0o~

Weeks later they were still going around in circles. Severus felt all the anger and frustration welling up inside him until he felt like he would burst. Partly out of habit and partly out of pure irritation, Severus swung his leg back and delivered a mighty kick to the old tin bucket next to the table, watching as it clanked and rolled its way across the floor. Severus continued his pacing before freezing mid stomp. Slowly, he turned around, a look of disbelief on his face. He had moved the bucket.

Spinning on his heel, Severus took the steps two at a time until he got to the first floor landing. Hearing voices from the library, Severus looked into the room to find Harry bent over a huge book; Ron was sprawled across the couch also reading. On closer inspection the book appeared to be Who's Who of the Chudley Cannons – 1655 to 1995. Severus shook his head. Some things never changed.

Severus was looking around the rest of the room for their female counterpart when Potter called his friend over.

"Look at this!" Harry showed Ron the page he was poring over.

"Ron," he asked excitedly, "are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think so, Harry," Ron replied. "But what are we going to do with thirty crates of rotten tomatoes?"

"Be serious. I knew I should never have shown you those Muggle cartoons!"

Severus shook his head and continued up the stairs. Hermione must have taken some books to her room to continue her research in peace.

As was their custom, Severus walked through the door. Granted, he had never walked through her door, or this late at night, but it was not as if he could knock.

"Miss Granger, I think I may have stumbled upon something-"

He broke off as he focused on the young woman in question. Her hair was a tangled mess around her head, and her face was peaceful. Her soft, even breaths caused a curl to flutter across her cheek. She was sound asleep with her arms flung up above her head. Not even his deep voice had disturbed her.

As Severus turned to leave, something caught his eye. Gleaming palely in the streetlight that shone through her window was one pale breast, its nipple pebbled in the chilly night air.

Severus strode forward. Concentrating all his energy, he managed to tug the sheet up to her throat, then tucked the wayward curl behind her ear.

"Goodnight, Miss Granger," he whispered before turning away and striding out the room.

Severus headed down to the kitchens. He had lots to think about tonight.

As he passed the library, he heard the boys' voices.

"That's it for now, I think. I'm knackered. What do you want to do for the rest of the night, Ron?"

"The same thing we do every night, Harry. Try to take over the world! "

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

~o0o~

A/N: Sorry for the long time between updates. Real life has been really hectic lately. I promise I will try update more regularly.