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Peppermint
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Chapter 2
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Severus fumbled in his outer robe pocket for the large key that would admit him to his laboratory, his mind preoccupied. Laboratory was perhaps a fancy term for the medium sized room that housed his modest store of potions ingredients and stacks of notes that he had painstakingly accumulated over the previous years - written and rewritten more times than he cared to remember - but it was with a certain fondness that Severus regarded this precious hideaway.
His long fingers clasped the desired object and pulled it free from the confines of his cloak. He inserted it into the mortise lock and turned anti-clockwise once, twice, all the while muttering the counter-spell to the numerous wards that he had placed upon the door. With a final utter he pressed the handle and pushed the door open, just as he had done countless times before.
His jaw dropped.
The scene that met him knocked the wind from his lungs, and in that instant a thousand emotions penetrated his sinking heart. The room was destroyed. Not one single drawer remained in its cabinet �“ each had been wrenched from its resting place and deposited haphazardly upon the floor, scattered splinters of wood indicating that they had been thrown with force onto the ground. Racks and racks of bottles, flasks and containers �“ some so old and rare that they were no longer made �“ were overturned and smashed into misshapen, glistening fragments upon the workbenches.
Papers �“ and here was the most painful part for Severus �“ carefully hand-written text, charts and diagrams lay ripped and smeared with ink. The Potions Master’s face whitened as he surveyed the awful scene, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he struggled to remain upright. It wasn’t as though someone had merely been searching for something so much as had desired to destroy every single thing within the room with wicked thoroughness. Nearly a whole minute passed by before Severus was able to even move. His face ghostly pale, he staggered forwards to the far wall and pushed aside the heavy curtain that covered his invaluable store - �“ stoppered glass vials of rare ingredients, each of which would oxidise and therefore be ruined instantly upon contact with air - but even before his trembling fingers grasped at the cloth he knew what would find. Smashed…every last one of them. The shattered remains glared at him from the ground, the contents lying shrivelled and useless upon the stone floor.
Severus stared numbly at the evidence and sank silently onto his littered workbench, his face in his hands. He barely registered the sound of the fireplace in the room above signalling that Hermione had arrived home from work or the clatter of her steps down the narrow stairway that lead to the cellar, where the laboratory was.
“Severus, is that you �“ ” she questioned conversationally as she peered around the door, her Teacher’s robes swishing with every step.
Hermione gasped loudly as she entered the room. “What…?”
Her eyes sought Severus and she rushed to him and flung her arms around him. “Severus, oh no….”
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The sun started its steady descent in the sky and still Hermione held Severus in her arms. They might have sat like that for a whole hour silently holding each other. No words were needed. He stole a glance at her and saw tears rolling down her cheeks, soaking the front of her robes. Somehow it lessened his pain, knowing that she was sharing it. Not for the first time, he silently thanked the gods that he had been blessed with someone as wonderful as her. He knew that she blamed herself - she had protested that maybe she hadn’t replaced the wards correctly the last time that she had used the laboratory herself. He also knew how stubborn she was. He had told her it was an accident - that it could just as easily have been him who forgot to put all the necessary spells in place to protect the room and his work from intruders - but judging by her tears, she wasn’t able to believe that yet.
Hermione noticed him looking at her. Even if she hadn’t seen his glance, she would have felt it, such was the bond between them. They had always had that. As she stared into those deep black eyes she realised that it really did hurt her to see him in so much pain. She knew that she was the cause of it, but it still hurt. He thought that her tears were only for his loss, but they were for far more than that. [Exactly how much more, he would never know]. She cried for his loss, and also for the part of herself that she had lost forever the night that his laboratory had been destroyed.
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That evening, Severus pointed his wand at the fireplace in the living room and muttered the incantation below his breath. A pale green light spouted from the tip and shot into the flames. It spiralled slowly before emitting a soft ‘pop’. The light then disappeared, leaving a distinct shimmer in the grate.
“You’re placing an alarm on the Floo?” a soft voice piped from behind him.
Snape turned sharply, instinctively raising his wand in a defensive stance. However, on seeing that it was Hermione, he relaxed and shot her an almost apologetic look. He exhaled heavily. “Yes.” He rubbed his temple wearily and she noticed the dark shadows beneath his eyes that hadn’t been there the previous day.
“You’re so jumpy,” Hermione scolded him softly. “Don’t you think this is a bit much?” She gestured towards the fireplace that was now emitting a continuous, dull throb. “These alarm spells buzz so loudly, it’ll only be a nuisance…and I doubt that whoever broke into your laboratory will be back in a hurry - ”
“Well I’m not going to take that chance,” Severus snapped irritably. “I should have done this a long time ago. Maybe if I had….”
His voice faltered and a dark look flickered across his features.
Hermione didn’t argue. She stepped away as Severus continued to stare into the fireplace and exited the room, softly shutting the door behind her.
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A few days later, in Diagon Alley, Hermione glanced at the list in her hand and her eyes lingered on the next item. Parchment. She was doing her weekly shopping and had actually welcomed the mundane task this time. It was her half-day at Hogwarts and she had been glad to get out of the house, where Severus had been brooding. A twinge of guilt flickered across Hermione’s mind at the thought, but with a defiant shake of her chestnut hair she dismissed the thought from her mind. Considering the circumstances, she had nothing to feel guilty about. She surveyed the shops before her until she located the appropriate one and crossed the street to make her next purchase. She had almost reached the little store when her gaze flicked to the end of the street and two familiar figures disappeared behind a shop front. Her mouth tightened.
I should have guessed..
Hermione drew in a sharp breath, shaking her head in disbelief. She couldn’t believe it. Even after what had happened to his laboratory, he still couldn’t keep away. She was also slightly surprised at herself, surprised to know that even after months of this it still enraged her. Any guilt that she had been feeling was extinguished. Blinking against the familiar hot, prickling feeling behind her eyelids, she wrenched her gaze away and entered the shop.
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Less than a few minutes later Ginny’s hands flew up to her face, as a look of utter horror replaced her earlier greeting smile. “Everything?” she echoed. “Destroyed?”
Severus looked at her stonily. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”
He and Ginny were sitting in a quiet corner of The Wand And Cloak, having one of their planned meetings. It was one of the lesser popular inns on one of the side roads off Diagon Alley and did not attract many customers so it was, naturally, a perfect place for the two to meet. They had arrived separately as usual on the street before disappearing here in case Hermione, whom Severus knew would be out and about doing her shopping in the area, should see. He had tried to contact Ginny to rearrange the time, in light of the recent events at home and the heavy workload he would now undoubtedly face replacing his lost work but, as he had failed to reach her he had simply decided to just meet her as planned.
Ginny spoke in a strangled voice through her fingers. “You should have said. We could have met some other time. You must have lots to…oh, I’m so sorry…I can’t imagine….” her voice trailed away weakly.
Severus opened his mouth to retort that it was her fault that she had been unreachable by owl or he would gladly have rescheduled the time, but managed to bite back the comment.
“It’s alright,” he finally conceded. “It is not long now, so its best that we just meet today as planned.” He inwardly rolled his eyes. It was definitely Hermione’s influence that had taught him to curb his sharp tongue.
“But are you sure you still want to…?” the red-haired woman questioned. “What with all the work you must have to do with your laboratory….”
“Of course,” he interrupted instantly, and he found that he meant it. If anything, the strength that Hermione had given him in the past few days had overshadowed any reservations he might have developed about the upcoming planned event.
They sat in silence for a while as Ginny shuffled through a sheaf of parchment with lists of names. Each glowed either green or red.
“So the final numbers are…?” Severus asked, his eyes flicking over the sheet.
Ginny took out a quill and tapped her chin with the end of it thoughtfully. “Well I managed to contact Kingsley yesterday, and it looks like Tonks can come after all so….” She scribbled the two names on the bottom of the list and touched her wand to them, causing each to glow green. “That’s fifty-three in all.”
Ginny rested the quill on the tabletop and regarded him a moment, seemingly toying with the idea of whether or not to speak.
“Oh spit it out,” Severus said at last, after she had opened and closed her mouth several times without speaking. “Whatever it is just say it.”
She looked at him seriously and went for the plunge. “Are you nervous?” she asked.
Severus stiffened. “What about?” he retorted sharply, knowing full well what she was talking about.
Ginny smiled to herself a little and impulsively placed a hand on his arm and smiled comfortingly. “It’ll be fine, I promise you….” Then she suddenly realised that she had her hand on Severus Snape’s arm and snatched it away quickly, dropping her head as she reddened slightly.
Snape smirked at her response, but promptly replaced the smirk with an indifferent expression before she raised her head.
He surprised himself sometimes. A few months earlier he wouldn’t have thought twice before giving her a full-blown sneer, but now…. No two ways about it, Hermione had certainly softened him.
I don’t know what you’re talking about, he murmured, not quite catching her eye.
Ginny raised her eyebrows and gave him a look.
Snape, who had made countless students in the past crumble beneath his very eyes, was surprised to find himself squirming under her gaze. He swallowed, his collar feeling slightly tight all of a sudden. “Of course I’m not nervous,” he eventually replied, his nostrils flaring.
That at least was true…he wasn’t nervous.
He was terrified.
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I’ve only revealed a little more of the story in this chapter �“ all will become clear in due course. I hope you’re enjoying it so far!