And it all started with….
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Peppermint
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Chapter 5
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“Hermione?” Snape’s usual greeting preceded him through the corridor as he hung his robes in the hallway and snapped the door shut behind him.
“In the kitchen,” came the muffled reply.
It was Thursday evening, just like every other before that, as Snape strode into the kitchen of the apartment he shared with Hermione and gave her a soft kiss hello, not noticing the wooden way in which she received it. The younger witch then returned to the carrots she had been chopping as he seated himself behind her, his tall, broad frame stretching lazily over one of the chairs at the dining table.
“Late again?” Hermione asked, her voice a little higher than it needed to be. The question hung in the air.
“What did you get up to?” she inquired conversationally, trying to hide the tightness in her voice.
“Oh, nothing special….” There was the slightest pause before the pre-planned reply. “I just went to the apothecary.”
Hermione stiffened slightly. “I thought you went there yesterday,” she said quietly.
Snape cleared his throat slightly uncomfortably, thankful for the fact that he was seated behind Hermione so she wouldn’t see the guilty look that had flashed across his features. “Yes…I forgot some things so I - went to place another order today.” He closed his eyes and mentally kicked himself. That was pathetic. Even he could see straight through that one.
“You seem to spend all your time there these days.” Hermione forced a small laugh and started to chop a little more forcefully.
“I know….” Snape shifted in his seat slightly. He adopted a more nonchalant tone. “Impossible as it may seem, this year’s students have an even greater capacity to waste my ingredients than the last infernal lot.”
Hermione’s knuckles whitened as she gripped harder onto the knife. She would give him one more chance. “Did you meet anyone on your way?” she asked, her voice rising slightly as she closed her eyes desperately. Please…she willed him silently. Please, just tell me what’s going on….
Severus shifted again as Hermione held her breath, her knife poised.
He cleared his throat. “Er…no, I just went straight there…I…had a lot of ingred - ”
In that instant, Hermione’s finger slipped and dark red blood oozed from the newly made gash onto the finely chopped carrots. “Damn!” She whispered a cleaning charm over the spoiled food whilst cradling her left hand.
“Here, let me.” Severus immediately stood up to help her, only to be pushed away by the younger witch.
“I can manage - ”
Severus ignored her protests and turned the tap on, smiling softly. He grasped Hermione’s wrist gently to position her finger under the running water, but she quickly jerked her hand away.
“I said I can manage,” she choked out abruptly.
Severus shrank back in surprise, a look of hurt etched on his features. “Oh…of course….”
He stood silently beside her, frowning a little as he watched the scarlet-tinged water swirling down the plughole.
“Hermione -” he started softly, reaching a tentative hand to brush a strand of Hermione’s hair away from her face. He stopped in mid air as she found her voice.
“You’d better get changed,” she snapped, turning her face away from him to hide her moistening eyes. “Dinner will be ready soon….”
She waited until he had left the room before she let her tears flow.
Damn him.
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Severus exited the kitchen with a heavy heart. He didn’t know how much longer he could keep this up. He discarded his heavy robes on their bed and sat beside them, his elbows on his knees, his tired hands cradling his forehead. He fumbled in his right robe pocket for the two-inch square box he had been carrying around for the past few weeks “ his constant reminder that all this secrecy would be worth it - and prised it open. His expression softened. He could just picture Hermione’s face when he finally offered it to her. Not long now….
Whenever he felt himself losing patience with all the preparations for Hermione’s birthday surprise that was looming ever closer, he would take out the velvet-covered box and picture the delicate ring on Hermione’s finger. Merely looking at the soft gold band made him want to discard his intended plans and just stride into the kitchen and propose right this very second “
But he didn’t.
It would be so much more memorable if he kept it until her birthday night, so he would wait.
Severus massaged his temples with the tips of his fingers and sighed. He rolled his shoulders and felt the tension easing away. He almost chuckled in spite of himself. Before he had let her into his life he would have scoffed at the very idea that a woman could make him feel such a way. As he stood to undress, he let his mind wander once more to the plans that he and Ginny had been formulating.
It hadn’t been difficult deciding whom to enlist the help of, in terms of contacting Hermione’s family and dearest friends. It had been a toss between Ginny, Potter and the youngest Weasley boy “ and he would be damned if he had to ask those two morons for their help. Ginny had certainly proved to be more than capable at organising this sort of thing. He smirked to himself. He may be slightly more sociable these days, but he would be damned if he was going to organise a party.
Severus picked out a loose fitting shirt and black pair of trousers and started to change.
Seconds before leaving the room, having stored the ring safely in its resting place, he glanced at himself in the mirror briefly and ran a hand through his already tousled shoulder-length locks. Rolling up his sleeves, he made his way to the kitchen.
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With Severus gone from the room, Hermione broke down. She held her head in her hands as a strangled sob escaped her lips. Damn him. How had it come to this? When had things started to go so wrong between them? She had thought they were happy, that things had been fine…. She pulled out her wand to heal her cut finger, all the time wondering why she had put up with it for so long.
As she sank onto the chair beside her, her mind drifted back…. It had started months ago. She snorted bitterly. Severus was a fool if he thought she hadn’t noticed the stolen glances that passed between he and Ginny when they thought she wasn’t looking. Whatever she may be, she wasn’t stupid.
And it was other things too…little things. For instance he had been increasingly distant and vague about where he had been. Hermione let her mind torture her. Every Thursday, just like today, the one day of the week when we’re both free from noon onwards from our demanding teaching jobs, he always returns home in the evening and makes up some pathetic excuse about where he has spent the afternoon.
“Some extra work for the Order….”
“Some preparation for tomorrow’s class….”
And now, tonight, as it has been for the past two weeks, “The apothecary….”
And every week, unknown to Severus, Hermione travelled to the remote inn just off the end of Diagon Alley, and saw them there together. They would meet, whisper a few words, and disappear inside together.
Every week without fail.
She thought back to the episode when she had actually stumbled across them the first time. They had jumped apart awkwardly, each of them firing off contradicting explanations as to how they had happened to bump into each other that particular day.
Hermione rubbed her eyes hopelessly, feeling like a fool for letting this go on without confronting him. She could only imagine what they got up to, and it didn’t break so much as shatter her heart to think about it. But as unbearable it was not knowing, perhaps the truth was even more unbearable. So instead, I return home every week on Thursday, start cooking dinner, and hope that this will be the week that he comes home.
And the worst part was, that every week, Hermione thought it would be different. That Severus and Ginny won’t meet. That he will come and she won’t have to ask where he’s been because he will have been here with her.
Only that hasn’t happened. She had questioned him long enough about his whereabouts and received enough lies in return to know that he was cheating on her. She had given him plenty of chances to tell the truth. It’s coming up to my birthday for goodness sake! she thought resentfully. How dare he. Whereas at the beginning she used to dissolve into tears, now she only felt rage.
She knew deep down that she couldn’t blame Ginny. After all, Snape was an incredibly powerful wizard; it would be easy for him to trick the younger woman in some way. And Ginny just wouldn’t do that to her…. Hermione clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white with rage. It had progressed to the point where she wasn’t jealous so much as angry. She vowed not to confront him. From now on she wouldn’t question him again or act as though she suspected anything. She gritted her teeth determinedly. Let him think that he was getting away with it. No, she would just act normally towards him and towards everyone.
Hermione vowed, at that moment, to teach him a lesson. A grim look crossed her features. That project he had been carrying out, for instance. All his careful handwritten notes, locked away in an unbreakable box in his private laboratory. The only other person he trusted to go in there was herself. It would be easy enough for her to destroy that. That work had taken nearly a decade for him to compile. After many painstaking hours spent brewing potions and countless different combinations of ingredients, it was just a whisker away from being complete. It would be easy enough for her to make it look like a break-in by some vengeful ex-student or jealous colleague.
And as for Severus himself….
Tears of rage were pricking her eyelids and she wiped a hand clumsily over her face. She wanted him to suffer. He didn’t deserve to live and breathe after the way he had made her suffer all this time. All the lies. All the deceit. Stringing her along like some schoolgirl who didn’t know better…it made her head pound just thinking about it. Anger wasn’t an emotion that Hermione felt often, but when she did, The Dark Lord himself had nothing on her.
Hermione’s features twisted with fury as she thought back to every glance that had passed between Severus and Ginny, every knowing look…. She couldn’t think of a punishment fitting enough….
Wait a second.
Maybe she could….
Hermione’s breathing quickened. She was shocked at herself for even thinking it. No, that was ridiculous. No way on earth would she ever…. Her head pounding, Hermione shook slightly as she straightened herself. She slowly twisted the tap until the water stopped flowing and steadied herself against the edge of the sink. Did she dare…? Did she actually dare…? The witch exhaled heavily, her mind running at a hundred miles an hour. She had to think about this…it would need a great deal of skill to conceal it, especially from a Potions Professor. This would definitely take weeks to prepare. Not to mention the difficulty of locating the brewing instructions. Did they even print them anymore? One way or the other, however, she was sure that being an accomplished Potions Mistress herself, she would be able to track down the ancient text necessary without coming up against too much resistance. She grimaced. She could definitely think of one place where she would be sure to start looking “ Knockturn Alley.
Hermione’s lower lip trembled as her mind reeled with the enormity of what she was contemplating.
A faint noise signalled to Hermione that Snape was returning to the kitchen.
It would take a strong aftertaste to conceal the scent and distinct bitterness of a fatal poison. Cinammon? No, too weak…. Cloves? No - definitely not. Snape hated spices; he wouldn’t go near it.
The heavy footsteps of the wizard himself grew closer as he neared the kitchen.
Suddenly it came to her. She almost laughed aloud. There was one taste he had a weakness for. Such a common herb and very easy to get hold of. Perfect, she thought, as she turned towards Severus as he entered the doorway.
She would lace the poison with peppermint.
When Severus entered the kitchen, the enchanting smile he received from Hermione told him that her earlier annoyance was forgotten. He couldn’t quite place exactly what was hidden behind that small glint in her eyes…but he knew that from now on, everything was going to be alright.
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A/N: And there you have it! Yes, it was Hermione who ended up doing all that stuff to poor Snape. I hope the story all became clear by the end! :o)