Consequences of Meddling With Time
War. Voldemort is dead, but then so is Severus Snape. After everything they've been through, everything that Severus and Hermione have done, how could it possibly end this way?
Disclaimer: Not mine. I just borrowed them for a while. I promise to put them back when I'm done. Also, no money made either—just for fun. For the most part, this chapter covers from the time Harry leaves the Ravenclaw Tower through the time when Harry faced Voldemort. The bits I have in this chapter are woven in and around what is going on in the book. Everything happens as it did in the books except those parts where I've made slight changes to canon because Severus did what he did—because Hermione did what she did. Any snippets of dialogue that I have borrowed are marked with an asterisk, and are used without permission from Mrs. Rowling's book. I truly hope she doesn't mind.
iI want to give a great big thank you hug to my alpha reader, Arabellabloodgood, Proulxes for the bit of Brit-picking, and to DuchessOfArcadia for combing through this and helping me clean up my many mistakes. I really appreciate it more than you can possibly know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~((59))~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am sure. I trust Severus Snape completely.
Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 1997
Not all Slytherins are on the Dark Lord's side, you know, some of us do stand up for what's right.
Rayne Boughton, Slytherin House, 1998
Hermione and Ron stared at Harry, who was examining the Elder wand in his hand. "Are you sure?" Ron asked with a trace of longing at Harry's pronouncement, leaning against an armchair in front of Severus' desk in his office. "I mean, it's the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand in the world."
Even as she stared at the wand in Harry's hand, the famous Elder Wand of myth, Hermione couldn't help but be in awe of its powers.
"No, I'm sure," Harry stated.
"I think Harry's right,*" Hermione said softly, then turned to look at him. "But not about its ownership."
Harry and Ron both looked at her in confusion, but Hermione continued her thought aloud, "It's logical really. Harry did disarm Malfoy—but you took his wand, his hawthorn wand—not the Elder Wand. And from what you've told me, Dumbledore was slumped against the wall, his wand held loosely in his fingers. He wasn't holding it up to defend himself. I don't think that plucking a wand from a dying wizard's fingers is the same as disarming him by beating him in a fight or killing him to get it. And Draco had no hand in killing him—he neither won the wand nor defeated it, so why would it acknowledge him? Everything we learned about this wand, this Deathstick, states that it has to be taken by force or defeated. I think the reason it didn't work so well for Voldemort was because he stole the wand—he didn't earn its loyalty. If anything, the wand obeyed only through Voldemort's sheer determination and willpower. He was a powerful wizard, but the wand never formed an attachment, what Ollivander call an affinity. However, you, Harry,you won the wand in a fight to the death. It is now yours."
"Yeah, but its more trouble than it's worth," Harry said, looking at the wand. "And quite honestly, I don't think I need it." He looked up. "It fixed my old wand as good as new, maybe even better, and I still have the hawthorn wand and the chestnut wand as backups. I don't need four wands, let alone three. Besides, people will challenge me simply because of this wand," he looked down at the wand in his hands as he continued, "to try and win it from me, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder." In a surprise move, Harry's hands tightened on the wand. "This is for you, Death. I give you back the power of the wand." He broke it.
Hermione gasped and Ron paled.
But nothing happened. No explosion. No backlash of magic. No magical resounding reverberation. Just a sharp snap, the sound of a branch breaking as the wood broke.
"Well, that's the end of it, then," Ron stated. "I think I'll go and find my family."
Hermione considered for a moment what had just happened. It was as if Harry had made the last final act of the war, and only she and Ron were witness to it. Not that the end of the war actually happened here. Immediately after Harry had defeated Voldemort, there had been a huge skirmish to subdue those who had fought on Voldemort's side. Some had refused to go quietly and fought to the death, but most had been immobilized or incapacitated and bound. Of course it helped that in the moment of Voldemort's demise, everyone with a Dark Mark had felt a searing burn in their arms, and many had collapsed to their knees or bent over double in pain. Hermione had frantically searched for Severus, but she couldn't find him anywhere. She'd asked where he was, fearing the worse, but Luna had told her he had left. Why he'd leave now they had won had confused her, but at the time she'd presumed it was because he'd feared being arrested like the others and sent to Azkaban.
"I'm going to wait here for Severus," Hermione said, sitting down in Severus' chair. If he had fled the Great Hall to avoid capture, then she'd wait for him and help clear his name so he didn't have to go to the wizarding prison. He needn't feared imprisonment, we can clear his name easily enough, she thought, running her fingers along the edge of his desk. Between the memories in the Pensive, Harry's testimony and my own, we certainly had enough proof of his continued support of Harry and their cause. Plus, there were the others he'd mentioned by the lake, the ones who stood watch over me when Harry was ill. She wanted the names of all the people he said were helping the cause from Voldemort's side so she could clear their names as well.
"I think I'll wait with you," Harry said and plopped down in the one of the armchairs in front of the desk. "Besides, I have a lot of questions for Snape." He picked up Magick Moste Evile and started looking through the book.
Hermione didn't bother to correct him, because for the first time he'd said the name casually, like he would an acquaintance, with no vinegar or hatred in his tone. She opened the right hand drawer again, peering inside and fingered through all the notes and cards, realizing that the ones on the bottom of the pile were from previous years. There was a receipt from an apothecary for an extremely large order. She picked up the diary and began to read where she'd left off before.
One more day down and no mishaps, she's still alive. The girl stayed put, thank Merlin, but she insisted on taking a shower. I pulled it off, but I hope she isn't one of those who bathes every day. The sand in the middle of her Time-Turning device is still hard. He quoted himself, 'Time is a tricky thing. Awful things happen to witches and wizards who meddle with time', then added, so why in the bloody blazes am I sticking my neck out for this little Gryffindor girl? What is she that's so bloody important? Lily spoke to me in Potions, and asked if I was all right, but she wouldn't partner with me, she prefers that arsehole, Lupin, of all people, and spends her time with that blinkered MacDonald and that bint McKinnon.
Another day and still no mishaps, she's still alive. She's not really that bad, actually, bossy and tries too hard to be friendly, but it could be worse, I suppose. Sand in the Time-Turner still looks like glass shards instead of iridescent sand. She'll be here at least five more days, I'm guessing.
She continued reading the entries for her stay with him, obviously from her first jump back in time.
"Why did he help you?" Harry asked.
Hermione looked up. "Which time?" she asked.
"When you were forced to stay with him when he was a student," Harry said, looking at her over the book on his lap.
"He said that he had to hide me so that I didn't change anything. He was really concerned that I didn't change my past. I suppose so that when I came back things would be the same as when I left," she said, turning the page. Nothing. The next two pages were blank. Apparently he hadn't kept the diary as a daily journal.
"I suppose that makes sense," Harry said remorsefully.
"Are you wondering why I didn't try and find your parents—to warn them?" she asked
"I suppose, yeah," Harry said and then looked at Dumbledore's painting. She did too. He was gone, as were all the Headmasters and Headmistresses, probably to celebrate with the other painted denizens about the castle. "But then everything would have happened differently. I might not even be born. I certain wouldn't have been the one to defeat Voldemort."
"We don't know that," Hermione stated. "Think of everything that might be different if your parents hadn't married, or had you or didn't die to protect you. Think about what would be different if Lily and James hadn't trusted Dumbledore because of something I said to them: if they had chosen Sirius instead of Peter, if they had hidden in a different house and not in Dumbledore's childhood home, if in fact one part of the chain of events of your life that led up to now, this moment, hadn't happened…"
"I think about that every day," he said, slumping in his chair. He lowered the book, Magick Moste Evile/i, to his lap and regarded her steadily.
She turned the page in the diary. He'd written about another encounter with Black and Potter, but this time apparently Severus got the upper hand.
"What did you mean that he helped me? How?"
"You saw his memories," she said. "And I told you about my lessons—the detentions. He gave me clues and information for the challenges you faced in the Triwizard Tournament. He taught me tones of defensive skills and how to do wandless defense, which I showed you how to do, well, not so much the wandless magic. You'd have to have mastered nonverbal spells to do those. But he helped me learn how to control my magic when I was Surging. So when you were Surging, I applied what he did for me with you, to help you through your Surges. Harry, he sent Dobby to Grimmauld Place with that case of ingredients and with food when you were ill and I couldn't leave you. He came to the tent and healed you."
"I vaguely remember that, but it's not—I remember seeing his face over mine. Just an image, but then he turned away and left. I thought it was a dream of sorts," Harry said. "But why would he come and help me? How did he know where we were?"
She could feel her face heat up. "I went to ask him for help. Don't be angry," she said quickly. "I had no choice. I had to, Harry. He created the potions that saved Mr. Weasely. And you were dying…" She watched him for any signs that he'd blow up at her, but Harry sat there quietly. "I didn't know where else to go. St. Mungo's was out, and I couldn't take you to a Muggle hospital for treatment of a magical snake's venom!"
He nodded, his expression thoughtful.
"He—there are other Slytherins who sided with him, you know, ones that defied their families and friends to fight with us."
"I remember that—I saw them in the castle," he said, staring at the book in his hands. "You said he was on our side…" He looked at the frames above her head. "But why did he hide you and not turn you over to Dumbledore?"
"He said it was because he was the only one who knew I was there," Hermione said. "I think he didn't trust Dumbledore that much back then."
"It's understandable, if you think about it. I mean," Harry scratched at his eyebrow with two fingers, then dropped his hand. "I never told anyone this, but Sirius… he pulled a trick on Snape, once. Once. But from what I found out, my dad saved his life. Dumbledore told them they couldn't talk about it. Sirius got detention, but so did Snape."
"Your dad saved his life? What kind of trick—he tried to harm Severus, didn't he? And both got a detention! When did this happen? What did Sirius do?" Hermione's voice raised an octave with each question. "Why didn't you tell me!"
"I thought—it's not the kind of thing that a bloke tells," Harry said. "Even if it did happen to Snape."
"Because you wanted to protect Sirius," she screeched. "Saved—how bad…? No. I don't want to know. No! Yes, I do want to know! Tell me!"
Harry shook his head. "All I'm saying is that I know my dad and Sirius were awful to Snape, and I think Dumbledore favored my dad and his friends, like he did us. They seemed to have gotten away with things, like we used to. So, I can see why Snape would mistrust Dumbledore. But he turned to Dumbledore to save my mum. Not me or my dad, mind, my mum. And yes, according to that," he pointed to the Pensieve, "he was on our side. And you told me he helped save me, instead of turning me over to his master."
She bristled at the reference. "Voldemort was not his master," she said in softly spoken anger. "He was spying on him."
"But you said that it was all an act. Part of Dumbledore's schemes. That the Death Eaters had to believe that he was one of them," he said and she nodded. She didn't recall saying it, but he was starting to understand. "Then you said I killed Dumbledore—that it was me. That there was a poison in the potion—"
"I never said that," she said, shaking her head, her forehead creased in confusion.
"Yes you did—on the third floor landing, right before he did a bunk. You said that the curse on the ring and the poison in the potion I made him drink killed him, not Snape—but I was there—I saw Snape kill Dumbledore. You said Snape killed him as another part of Dumbledore's schemes—and act of bloody kindness because it was painless—another part of the act. But how did you know it had been part of Dumbledore's schemes? We only saw the memory now. How did you know?"
"Harry, I never said that to you! Ron and I were in the… well, after you left with Luna to go to the Ravenclaw tower, Ron and I, we went to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to get into the Chamber of Secrets to destroy the cup. We did it, we destroyed the cup—you know that. We met up with you in the corridor right after Ron and I destroyed the Horcrux! You remember—I wasn't with you when Snape fled." She closed the drawer, and her finger brushed a circle carved into the bottom of the drawer face.
"Hermione, you were there and you were wearing my cloak."
"I don't have your cloak, Harry, you do." Curious, she pressed it. A cabinet opened up in the paneling behind her.
Harry sat up a little straighter. "What did you find?"
"A liquor cabinet," she said. She was surprised to see the traveling case she'd given him on the shelf inside the cabinet, the one with all the little jars and bottles she and her mum had found in the antique shops. She picked it up, surprised at how heavy the case was.
Harry sat up and leaned forward as she set the case on the desk and opened it up. Every bottle and jar was now labeled with identical tags in Severus' writing, and each container was full. She took out one bottle at a time, smiling at the potions he kept on hand for himself. Several pain potions and salves, as expected, his Burn Salves, Blood Replenishing Potion, a Rejuvenating Potion and Elixir, the ointment he'd given her for Harry's arm and a jar of his muscle save. She smiled at it, remembering rubbing some of it on his back all those years ago. He'd fallen asleep on her bed. She picked up another vial and her mouth fell open. It was the same vial that she'd found in the Shack!
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the vial she'd found. They were identical, except the one in her left hand was clean and full of the potion; the other was dirty and stained with blood. It had cracked in the fighting, but it was definitely the same vial: the same green glass, the same cap and both had a silver wire twisted ornately on the neck. She read the label on the vial from the traveling case. Antivenin Nagini. She gaped in horror. And this vial is full! "Oh, my gods, Harry, do you know what this means?"
"Er, no."
"Severus! He's—we left him—how can I be so stupid?! I have to go!" she stammered looking around desperately for his blue box, hoping he still had the Time-Turner.
"Go where?"
"To save Severus!" she exclaimed. The blue box was not in the liquor cabinet.
"He's—he was in the Great Hall."
She looked up. "No, he was in the Great Hall after I saved him. Don't you see? I have his potions, here, now! He hasn't taken them yet!"
"But, Hermione…?"
She yanked open the drawer again. "It has to be here. I must have found it and went back to save him. We have to find the Time-Turner!" she exclaimed, searching inside the drawer. It wasn't there. Nothing. "I have to go back and save him. Help me find a square, blue velvet box."
"If it's not in his desk, it might be in his rooms," Harry suggested.
Hermione found some folded parchments with Severus' writing and odd runes on them. "No, it has to be here; otherwise I wouldn't have found the potion vial next to him. So, tell me where it is! I have to go back and save him."
"It's behind Dumbledore's portrait," Phineas Nigellus Black stated.
"Thank you, Headmaster Black," she said politely, and he nodded at her. Hermione reached up, running her fingers along the side of the frame trying to feel for the latch, but there wasn't one. She stood back and aimed her wand. "Alohomora," she said, but the portrait didn't budge.
"He has to do it," Phineas said.
She faced down the painted image of Dumbledore. "Enough of your manipulations, Dumbledore, we won. But to do it I have to go back or there will be consequences. It's a time paradox; I've already done it, apparently, so I have to go." He didn't budge; he just sat there looking at her from over his glasses as if she were an errant student, so she raised her wand. "Or so help me, I'll blast every picture there is with your face on it."
"He's has one of the most common Chocolate Frog cards," Harry was saying.
"I mean it, Dumbledore. Your plans have all been met, we won. But Severus survived—so help me, he will survive. I have to go back and save him, then warn him, apparently—"
"And save Fred," Ron said from the doorway.
Hermione turned, surprised to see Luna, Neville and, to her surprise, Theo Nott of all people, standing by the door. "What are you...?"
"We came looking for you since you disappeared," Nott stated. "There are still people sneaking around the castle looking for a way to escape. Lovegood said you'd come up here, so we came to make sure you two were all right."
Dumbledore's smiled at her, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "And once you've worked out where you've been—"
"And I tell you which of his potions to use and how much," Headmistress Derwent interjected and Hermione gaped at her in surprise. "Yes, I know about his potions. I was with Severus when he cured Arthur Weasley."
"Miss Granger, then I will open my frame," Dumbledore replied.
"Oh, then you should also write down that you were fighting with Malfoy and Theo on the fifth floor," Luna said. Theo's eyes widened as he gaped at her. "I heard you."
"So, I suggest you finish reading that diary," Dumbledore said casually.
Hermione stood as if rooted and turned slowly, staring at the diary.
"I told Severus to leave it where you'd find it, and to be sure you'd be curious enough to read it," Dumbledore's image was saying. "A Compulsion Charm, Miss Granger. You didn't think Severus would leave something this incriminating in his office, in his desk drawer for anyone to find, did you?"
"Well, what are you waiting for," Ron snapped. "Hermione, start reading!"
~~~~~~~~~((8))~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione set down the diary.
It was all about her—her time with him. It had taken a bit for her to decipher what exactly what she was looking at. She'd even taken a sheet of parchment and used one of his quills to try and work it out. In the end, and several sheets later, she now knew the depths that Severus had made to ensure her survival. He'd gone back in time twice, if she'd interpreted the diary entries correctly, and changed his past—twice.
The first time he went back erased a timeline in which she'd been beaten to death on the day she'd bounced back two decades in the dungeons, and the diary didn't say who did it or why, only that she'd died. So, apparently Severus took the Time-Turner, the one Mr. Cronus Latimer had created, to go back and save her life, and he'd convinced his teenage self to hide and protect her. That teenager, she designated a Severus2 on her time delineation chart, had hid her.
From what Hermione assumed, Severus2, when he'd grown up and the events apparently went sour, had used the Time-Turner again and went back to talk to his sixteen year-old-self on October 5th, a few days before Hermione's second jump back, to change the future again—and subsequently to change Severus2's future. Altering his timeline. Again. His reason was that Hermione had been found by Lily in a corridor instead of Severus2 as a teenager, and her disappearance after the Time-Turner had cooled had set off castle wide search for the Death Eater posing as a rogue female student. It was highly possible she'd changed to much or something even more disastrous.
Severus had written as much as he'd remembered in this diary to ensure that his teenage self knew exactly where to be and when—his account of what happened when he had been sixteen—as well as an accounting of what the first Severus, the one that had gone back in time to speak to him had said.
Hermione knew she'd made three jumps that year: the first in the middle of September that lasted a week, then again her two weeks in October and her third month-long jump in February. But according to the diary, in the first timeline she'd only made one because she'd died, and the second timeline only mentioned two: one in which Severus2 successfully hid her and a second jump of her encounter with Lily and the Marauders, she supposed, maybe Dumbledore. Severus' second use of the Time-Turner prevented her from making the third jump in that timeline. Only the last timeline, the one she assumed she was in now, recorded the third jump and the time Hermione had stayed with Hestia Jones.
On each date of her arrival had multiple entries, there were notes as to the exact time, who was in the corridor, best route to take, and even if she needed food or not. On the pages corresponding with the time she'd spent with him, he'd recorded what happened in each timeline, such as what they did, when she showered, and what potions he brewed.
Three timelines, possibly even a fourth timeline, and all of them were all recorded in one diary. It was a heady thought.
And that was not all, the teenage Severus she designated as Severus3 on her time delineation chart, had also written entries that occasionally mentioned Lily Evans, and his frustrations with his attempts at gaining back her friendship, her occasional cordial greetings and the times she'd snubbed him or told him off for his 'associations with his housemates,' or his 'fighting' his constant warring 'with her friends,' Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew. It was a sick on again—off again relationship, that broke Hermione's heart. Severus had been a teen who had desperately wanted friends, real friends.
No wonder Severus had tried to protect her, why he had made so many excuses to spend time with her. Hermione now knew that she had been Severus' friend, a real friend, during a rough period of his life when he'd really needed a true friend, and then she'd disappeared from him for twenty years.
"Right, then," Ron said when Hermione closed the diary. "So, the next step is working out all the places you've been and how you can save my brother."
"No, I know where I was, the parts I have to figure out are the places I was that I don't remember being," Hermione stated. She stacked her parchments in a pile and set them aside with the diary. She took out another sheet and then dipped Severus' quill. "Well, Harry said that I was on the third floor landing when Severs left the castle," she said, writing it down. "When was that exactly?"
"Harry and I left Ravenclaw Tower at 10:15," Luna stated. "We have a clock on the mantle in the common room."
"But I head the clock tower strike the half hour before we ran into Snape," Harry said, and Hermione wrote it down.
"So at ten-thirty I have to be on the third floor landing."
~~~~~~~~~((8))~~~~~~~~~~
"I promise you, you'll know everything by tomorrow, but tonight, trust me," Hermione pleaded, her heart broke at the heart-stricken look on Harry's face, but she'd have time to explain it all to him later in greater detail.
Shouts were coming from the corridor, stairs leading to the second floor and the one from the fourth; the other three Heads of House were coming in response to Professor McGonagall's Patronus summons for help. Hermione covered her head with Harry's cloak and slunk back against the wall beside the suit of armor. Watching the interaction between Severus and Professor McGonagall and seeing firsthand just how much Professor McGonagall still distrusted Severus, even after Hermione had tried to explain Severus' part in Dumbledore's schemes really hurt. She'd hoped to sway her Head of House, but it hadn't worked. And when the other Heads arrived, seeing how much Professors Flitwick and Sprout likewise despised him, broke her heart. His first year as Headmaster must have been horrible with no one on his side or supporting him, even in private confidences.
Severus blocked each spell and cast a few mild defensive counter spells, but it was a three to one fight, and she knew he didn't want to hurt his colleagues. She watched Severus back up into the classroom and jumped through the window, but hearing Professor McGonagall yelling, "Coward, COWARD!" after him made Hermione's heart sink. Most importantly, Severus had the antivenin and the Neurone-Booster Elixir, and hopefully he believed her enough to use them to protect himself from Nagini's venom.
Hermione looked at her time-table. Now, she either had to wait or she could use the Time-Turner to jump ahead to rescue Fred. She'd considered jumping ahead to when Severus was in the Shack, but then she'd have to backtrack. No, that would be too risky. She'd have to wait it out.
It was very tempting to try and change the events in the Room of Requirement, but right now, she and Ron were down in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, Ron trying to mimic Harry's Parseltongue well enough to open the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets while Myrtle laughed on hysterically, making it hard for him to concentrate. She knew that she shouldn't be near the Room of Requirement, and she didn't know the password to enter the Gryffindor common room.
Apparently Professor McGonagall and Kingsley would divide up the resistance to secure the castle for battle. According to Luna and Nott, Hermione had fought with them in the corridor, and Nott told her that Malfoy changed sides because of her, which was hard to believe.
The viaduct! If the viaduct and covered bridge were destroyed… but whom? Fred and George? Luna said they were in charge of securing the secret passages.
Seamus. He was the logical choice. He certainly has a propensity for pyrotechnics. Hermione wondered if it would work. She pulled out her DA Galleon and then stared at her holly wand. Her wand—her vine wood wand. She'd have to go get her wand! She'd tossed it in the forest after casting the Stinging Hex on Harry. She'd help Seamus and whoever came with him destroy the viaduct, go get her wand… when Voldemort allowed them to collect their dead, and be back to… She made the Galleon read, 'Seamus, come 2 library urgent.'
Hermione headed for the library. She hurried over to get a copy of Hogwarts: A History and The Great Wizarding Castles of England and carried them out to the tables as Neville, Dean, Seamus and Colin entered with their wands drawn. "It's me," Hermione said.
"No, you're not—Hermione left with Ron… someplace," Seamus said, aiming his wand at her.
"The girl's bathroom," Hermione stated. "Dean, you and I were taken to a house on a beach by a house-elf named Dobby. Harry buried him in the garden."
"It's her," Dean said, lowering his wand.
"Seamus, I don't have a lot of time," she said turning to face him. "I hurried up here to ask you to do what you can to destroy the covered bridge and the viaduct. If the battle begins at the covered bridge, and you blow it up at the right time, hundreds of Voldemort's army can be eliminated."
Seamus still looked skeptical. "How do you know—?"
"They are gathering in the forest—I saw them," she said, cutting him off, opening up The Great Wizarding Castles of England to the chapter showed the construction of the viaduct and the East Wing of the castle when Hogwarts changed drastically from the early fortified Motte and Bailey castle to a Concentric castle with high towers and thick stone walls.
"Once the bridge falls, do the same thing with the viaduct. If you do it at the right time, you'll kill more of the advance army, maybe even some of Voldemort's giants." She hoped that Nott was right about this. "This leaves the fighting in the viaduct courtyard, the bailey, the courtyard and on the grounds." She opened Hogwarts: A History to the page with the best picture of the bridge. "Here is the bridge. What do you need?"
Seamus turned the book and examined the supports. "Not much; these cross supports, wood trestles, and the four load-bearing pillars are our best choice… And if we are here, on the ridge, and here," he said, pointing to two places on the picture, "we'll have our best shot at hitting the cross supports if we can… here, setting it afire there." He looked up. "We'll need at least eight of us on each team."
Hermione smiled. This would fit in well with her timetable. They had an hour until midnight and the Battle would begin—that was when Harry said that Grawp had shoved Hagrid through a window on the second floor. She could help blow up the bridge. The explosions would hide her flight, and if she hurried, she'd be able to get her wand and still be in the corridor when Fred was killed. "I'll take this point. Tell me what to do," she said, and then listened to Seamus outline the best means of accomplishing the task.
The door opened and Nigel stuck his head in. "What are you all doing in here? We're supposed to be gathering in the Great Hall," he said, and Seamus, Neville, Dean and Colin turned to go.
"Go ahead. I have something to look up. I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall," Hermione said, but they stared at her. "Go! I have to look something up."
Neville shrugged. "Okay, don't take too long."
Thank Merlin I'm known as a swot, she thought. She pulled the timetable out of her pocket. She'd best stay here until after midnight, but then she'd have to make her way to the corridor on the seventh floor where Fred was injured. She closed her eyes. The wall had literally exploded into the corridor with huge chunks of rock and debris flying at them. It had been frightening.
Hermione went to the Defense section and started taking books off the shelf. She'd need a really strong shield charm or something that stopped or retarded the rocks from harming her friends. She scanned the lists of spells in the books, trying to remember the variations Severus and Professor Flitwick had mentioned in their lessons. The Banishing Charm, Impediment Jinx and Reduction Charm would only do one rock at a time, not an option, and the same went for the Hover Charm, the stronger Levitation Charm, Mobiliarbus, or the Vanishing Charm. The Repelling Charm was out as well because it just as limiting. She had to block a large number or large objects at the same time. The Retarding Charm, Demorari strigare, was an option as well as the shield charms, Protego circumcirca or Protego-tegere, might work, because they covered a wider decided, she swished her wand to make the book reshelf themselves and headed to the section where venomous creatures tomes were.
I need to become an expert on snake bites in… she checked her watch. Fifteen minutes! Fuck. She wished she could use the Time-Turner to give herself more time, but knew she shouldn't; doing so would change the return feature setting. If she did, she'd have to wait until she caught up to the moment when this loop ended and her physical form melded with her other self—a singular problem of using Time-Turners: technically there could only be one of her. But Severus' life depended on her knowing exactly what to do. Dumbledore had explained which potions to give him and which needed to be administered afterward, and he'd told her which of his journals to take with her. But she wasn't a Healer. She needed to know more than some second hand account, even if it was Dumbledore's. Beside, Dumbledore had already demonstrated that he didn't mind sending people to their death if it served his purpose—his greater good. Damn you Dumbledore and your bloody schemes—Severus is worth saving, regardless if you think I should leave well enough alone. It's worth the risk.
Hermione turned the clock back a half an hour after curfew giving herself as much time as she dared. If she was careful, if she kept the cloak on, no one would see her. Thankfully, once the spinning stopped, she found herself alone. She took some parchment, ink and a quill from Madam Pince's desk, then collected every book she could think of that might be of some use, and scooted off to a quiet corner where she wouldn't be seen and began reading in earnest.
Sometime later, she was aware that she had just entered the library. Shortly after that, she heard Seamus, Dean, Neville and Colin come in, and Hermione tried to ignore the conversation she was having with them as she focused on her work. She hadn't realized at the time that they had been quite that loud; she could hear every word even from where she sat in the far corner of the library. Nigel came in to tell them they had to go, and Hermione sighed in relief, knowing that she was now alone in the library with herself. She focused on her list of symptoms and compared them to the potions she knew that healed them, but she didn't know if Voldemort's snake's venom was a neurotoxin, cardiotoxin or a hemotoxin, so she had to learn all three. Severus' life depended on it.
At eleven-thirty-five, she felt the stirrings of the meld coming on. The other Hermione in the library would vanish, leaving only one of them—her standing in the library—one of the magical aspects of the Time-Turner. She took a moment to absorb the combining of her memories and sorted out her thoughts, least she forget anything. She checked her notes in her pocket to confirm the spells she'd worked out hadn't changed and then resumed her studies on snake venom toxins and her list of potions, checking the ones she thought she'd need against the ones in Severus' potions traveling case, thankful she'd packed it in her beaded bag. In as afterthought, she repaired the small green glass vial and added protection charms to make it unbreakable.
She heard a noise from outside and felt the castle shimmer, like a mild earthquake as the wards were attacked. It was time to go. She swished her wand, making the books go back to their respective place, packed everything back into her bag carefully, and secured her bag into her pocket securely, then hurried from the library.
It was pandemonium in the corridors. Students were running up the stairs for the Room of Requirement. Those planning on staying to fight were scampering about talking about what spells to use and voicing their concerns. Professor Sprout and a dozen students ran by, their ears covered with earmuffs and carrying Mandrakes to the battlements. "Seamus is waiting for you at the bridge!" Neville shouted as he passed her, carrying a large squirming Mandrake.
Hermione hurried down to the covered bridge. Seamus was already there, telling Cho, Ernie, Leanne, Padma, and two older wizards where to go. He quickly told Hermione where to be and to make sure her Blasting Hex was as strong as she could make it. Hermione used an old school broom to fly to her position and waited for the signal, seeing Jimmy, Colin and Nigel on brooms, securing casks near the main supports of the bridge. She waited, trying to remain calm.
She saw a group of rough looking men leading a large band of wizards onto the bridge. Hermione took aim and cast a Blasting Hex with as much strength as she could muster. Ten explosions hit the bridge at the same time, several casks exploded with a tremendous wood-shattering boom. Hermione fired again and again, hoping the wood support she was to break would crack. Fireballs erupted on the bridge and the flames spread quickly. Screams and shouts could be heard, and everyone on the bridge was caught in a fiery hell as the entire structure began to collapse, in slow motion from her perspective.
Hermione covered herself with Harry's cloak and few to the gates. Once there, she Disapparated on the spot.
~~~~~~~~~((8))~~~~~~~~~~
Finding her original wand had been surprisingly easy: she'd remembered where they'd been attacked, it had only been a matter of finding the mud she'd threw her wand into (with a strongly cast wandless Descendo at the time to make it sink), then casting a strong, 'Accio Wand,' and it had sailed up into her hand. Her wand had grown warm and her magic had tingled in recognition of having the beloved vine wood wand back in her hand. She pocketed the holly wand and returned to Hogwarts, arriving by the side of the lake. She immediately transformed into her Animagi form. She swam toward the castle like she'd done before, keeping as little of herself above water as possible, but the boat docks were heavily warded and she couldn't get in.
She swam to the inlet that had passed under the viaduct and climbed out. But she couldn't see a safe way in through the fighting. She knew she shouldn't fly up toward the castle or the battlements since there was still some heavily fighting going on there, so any direct route by air would now be too hazardous. Oh, how I wish Dobby was still alive, he could've taken me to the kitchens… but Severus had mentioned a house-elf named…Tootsie. No, Toopsy! He said she would help me if I needed it…but that was two years ago. Hermione wasn't sure if she'd still be willing to aid her. It's worth a try. "Toopsy. Toopsy, can you hear me," she called. "Please, Toopsy, I need you desperately. Professor Snape said you'd help me if I needed you. Please, Toopsy, help me."
There was a pop and a house-elf in a dirty Hogwarts towel peered at her from around fallen section of the viaduct. "Who are you?"
"Hermione Granger, friend of Harry Potter and Severus Snape," she said. "Please, I have to get back into the castle."
"Why is you out of the castle?" the elf asked.
"Good question," Hermione replied. "I had to get something. Please it's hard to explain. But Altheda Crockford hung in Severus' office, and she can vouch for me."
"You knows Altheda?" Toopsy asked, clearly suspicious. "She does not lets herself be seen by students. What does she wears?"
Hermione described the lovely green Victorian embroidered top and the dark velvet coat as best as she could.
"Toopsy will takes miss to the kitchens. If any elf knows you, you can stays—if not, our matriarch will tells us what to do with you." Toopsy held out her hand and Hermione clasped it, finding herself in the huge kitchen a moment later. Luckily for her, many of the elves remembered her, but as the mean student that left hats and socks in the Red common room. However, after much pleading and swearing to never leave socks for them again, they did allow her to exit the kitchens.
She looked at her watch. She hadn't been gone as long as she'd thought; she, Harry and Ron were hopefully going up to the Room of Requirement. She had to get up to seventh floor corridors. Hermione moved along the wall, skirting around boulders and debris as hurried along one corridor after another, defending herself and occasionally others, on her way.
She'd finally made it to the fifth floor not far from the Prefect bath when a wizard in shabby coat and filthy pants who looked like he hadn't shaved or bathed properly in years, fried a hex at her, but she blocked it easily. His yellow eyes, glared at her with savage hatred. Suddenly the wizard fired, not at her—behind her—but Hermione's instincts from all those duels with Severus had honed her reflexes and she'd fired a defensive blocking charm and the spell blast hit the stone instead, as another orange-hued spell with curved trajectory pattern shot by her. Nott fired and the wizard fell.
"Thank you," she said, moving to run away, but he reached out and grabbed her arm, making the cloak slip.
"Granger? But you're—I saw you go up there!" he said, pointing up the stairs. "How can you be here?"
"I'm—watch out!" Hermione fired a strong Stunner at a scrawny wizard in Death Eater robes. "Contegere," she said, casting a Shield to block a spell.
"Thanks," Malfoy muttered, adding a, "Confringo."
They all fell back against the wall, as Hermione and Malfoy both said, "Protego-tegere," simultaneously casting the shield charm to deflect debris that flew at them from the corridor.
"But if you're up there, how in the bloody hell are you here?" Malfoy asked utter baffled.
"Magic devices and a lot of luck," Hermione replied, and she and Malfoy fired at another man in shabby robes and long hair and beard, knocking him out cold.
"So where are your friends?" Malfoy asked, desperation in his voice.
"Seventh floor to kill a bit of the one you call your Dark Lord," Hermione stated, firing a strong defensive spell as she dove for the stairs. Nott and Malfoy followed her, doing the same.
"Why haven't you fired at me?" Malfoy asked.
"The same reason you haven't fired at me," Hermione said. "I know what happens, Draco. The good side always wins in the end. But you have to make a choice—you—not your father. You have to choose for yourself. Life under your precious master's rule, or one in which you get to make your own way in this world, one where you decide your own fate."
"That's my choice—a narcissistic monster who feeds people to his snake or what—Azkaban?" Malfoy snarled.
"I can only tell you this, help me and you'll be sitting on the right side at the end. You saved Harry's life when you lied to your aunt to protect him, and just now, you've shielded me from harm. Keep it up and don't you think that when this is over and I have to testify before the Wizengamot that I will be able to say you were on our side in the end?"
She scrambled to the top of the stairs, fired a Blasting Hex to clear the way, and turned down the nearest corridor. She pulled the cloak back on and ran. From their perspective, she'd vanished.
She saw Colin Creevey and Jimmy Peaks fighting and stopped to give them a hand, then tightened her grip on the cloak as she continued to make her way up the stairs, skirting through the fighting, casting Shields and Blasting Hexes as she went.
The fighting was intense. She kept getting side tracked, casting shields to protect friends, other people she recognized. By the time she'd reached the seventh floor she was tired, but pushed on, hoping she would be on time. Finally, there up ahead she saw Fred, Lee, George and Percy suddenly cornered by several Death Eaters. Hannah, Angelina and a small group of students were trapped in a hole in the wall behind a plinth on which a stature once stood. Hermione hung tightly to the wall, throwing defensive spells at the Death Eaters as she slipped over to the plinth. She felt the walls of the castle shake and knew now that the walls were being bombarded. "Angelina, it's me, Hermione," she hissed, "I'm using an Invisibility Cloak." Behind her she heard one of the girls begin to cry as rock and dust fell in the tunnel behind them.
"Thanks for the cover, but they know we're here," Angelina said, firing a curse at a ruffian in a troll hide coat.
Suddenly Harry appeared. Fred's and Augustus Rookwood's spellfire collided in midair, chipping the stone on the wall, and Percy fired at Pius Thicknese while Angelina fired again at the ruffian, defending George. George and Percy fired back at Thicknese and the wizard in the troll hide coat, he called Arius, fired a killing curse at Percy, but thankfully missed, since Percy had lunged as he shouted, "Protego-tegere," to protect himself and George.
That wall is going to explode and kill Percy and Fred. "Shield them so all they have to do is fire back," Hermione said and Angelina and Hannah nodded. Together they cast shield spells to protect their friends. Harry and Fred fired at Rookwood and another masked wizard, respectively as Lee and Angelina tried to assist them while in the other direction, as George and Percy fired again at the pair they faced. "Make the Shields stronger," Hermione hissed, strengthening her own. The blast came from outside, the thick stone wall exploded into the corridor. Even though Hermione was expecting it, it still made her stumble back a step, but she snarled, "Demorari strigare," and managed to stop the chunks of stone from falling on Harry, Lee and Fred, but her shield was hit by three spells that collided and ricocheted, hitting Percy. Ron Hannah and George cast strong defensive spells at Thicknese and Arius, who were hurled backward by the combined force of the spells into the wall with a bone-crunching crash.
But Hermione had already recast her retarding shield to try and protect Harry, Lee and Fred as Hannah and Angelina tried to Levitate some to the larger boulders off them. Hermione kept her shield in place, her arm shaking from the strain, until she saw Harry and Lee start to get up. She waited, keeping still in the tunnel entrance as students fled and Angelina rushed over to Fred. She could see herself and Ron climbing to their feet. Fred was unconscious, and his leg was badly mangled, but as far as Hermione could tell, he was breathing as his three brother's rushed to his side.
The other Hermione screamed, Harry staggered away, and Ron and Harry took aim at the Acromantula that was climbing into the hole. Knowing she had to leave, Hermione slipped from the plinth and walked carefully around the wreckage, going down the corridor in the other direction.
Hermione was exhausted. Having to relive the battle was taking its toll on her. She had two more things to do before she could call it a night, and had to get them done before she would catch up to her own time and her body would meld back into one: she had to save Severus and she had to give herself her wand. The problem was that right about now, Harry was working out that Voldemort was in the Shrieking Shack and she, Harry and Ron would be running for the Whomping Willow. She had to wait until the three of them left before going in to help Severus.
~~~~~~~~~((8))~~~~~~~~~~
Toopsy was more than willing to take Hermione to the outskirts of Hogsmeade, but she'd refused to go near the haunted house. It was close enough, but dangerous as there was still heavy fighting in the village. Hermione transformed into her Animagus form and approached the Shrieking Shack from rear and transformed back into her human form. After making sure she hadn't been seen, she used her wand to shift the broken boards that covered a window on the side of the house as quietly as she could, thankful that the huge, straggly hawthorn hid her from sight. She listened carefully.
There were voices, one high pitched and ferocious, the other deeper and pathetically apologetic, but they came from the other side of the house. She scrambled in as stealthily as she could, finding herself on a counter. She slid off and put the cloak back on before moving across the kitchen, careful not to make any undue noise, and crept along the wall toward the main room at the front of the house. Voldemort barked orders acidulously to the three of his followers, who fled immediately afterward. She peered around the door frame and saw Voldemort pace irritably in the room with Nagini floating beside him in a big bubble, apparently waiting on someone—and that someone would be Severus.
She was early. Hermione ducked back into the kitchen and waited for the ruckus that would mean Severus was being attacked. She didn't have to wait long. She fought the urge to intervene as she listened to Severus plead to be allowed to go find Harry and as Voldemort rambled on about the wand—the bloody Elder Wand. He told Severus he was valuable, and called him a good and faithful servant, before he told Severus why he had to die. She braced herself, knowing what was to happen next.
"Kill," the horrible sibilant voice said.
She covered her mouth with both hands when she heard Severus' horrible scream in pain. Please have taken the anti-venin, please have been prepared, she pleaded to herself as tears ran down her cheeks. The vial she'd found next to his body had been empty, but she hoped he'd taken enough of it. 'The delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins,' she remembered him saying her first Potions lesson.'I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper in death.'
"I regret it," she heard Voldemort's remorseless voice, followed by his footsteps as walked out the front door and the slithering of the snake as she followed him.
She heard movement, and knew it was Harry and herself entering the room. She heard Severus' terrible rasping, gurgling voice as he struggled to tell Harry to take his memories. She couldn't hear him as he pleaded, 'Look at me,' but she remembered it all too clearly.
Seconds seemed to stretch into a long pause as Hermione hugged her knees, waiting. The war was still being fought; she could hear explosions from the battle in the distance.
Voldemort's voice finally erupted in the silence. Then she heard Ron telling Harry not to listen, and her own voice urging them to leave. She waited, anxiously, for a little while more, praying Severus had taken the potions. She peered around the corner again. It was time.
She hurried to his side, pulling her beaded bag from her pocket. He needed Blood Replenishing Potion first, and badly. He looked deathly pale, and she knew that he'd seemed to have lost consciousness when she had been here with Harry, but if the potions she'd given him had worked—were working, then hopefully he only be suffering a temporary paralysis, and not have fallen into a coma yet. The few fang marks she could see on his neck were still bleeding. He'll need a Coagulant Potion. And there was a lot of swelling, discoloration and it was quite red and hot to the touch, as expected. He'll need an Anti-Inflammatory Potion, one with an analgesic additive for pain. She remembered one he'd labeled: Bufferin: anti-inflammatory/pain.
"Severus," she said, then repeated it a little louder, "Severus?" It may have been hopeful thinking, but she thought she saw a flutter to his eyelids.
The Blood Replenishing Potion bottle came up to her hand easily with a wandless Summoning Charm and she carefully opened his mouth and poured in a little bit, but it dribbled out of his mouth. "Swallow, please," she said, adding, "Sorbere," to make him swallow the small mass.
She tried giving him a little more. "Severus, please, try." This time he swallowed, but his neck oozed more blood with the effort. She managed to give him two mouthfuls of the Respiratory Potion next, then three of the Nerve-Regeneration Potion, one of his Bufferin Potion, two of the Hemostasis Potion and finally two mouthfuls of his purple general Restorative Potion. That was supposed to be enough. For now. She tried not to worry about the explosions from the battle she could hear clearly in the distance.
Now for his neck. She carefully unfastened his buttons, needing to use her wand on top first five because they were so stubborn and she didn't want to hurt him if she could help it. The rest opened up easier, but she was surprised at stiff feel of the fabric of his frockcoat under her fingers that was so different than the familiar soft Merino wool texture she'd expected.
She smiled briefly at his emerald cravat pin. It was soaked with blood on the left side of his neck and on the back, the same as his shirt. She untied his cravat, and nearly gagged as his blood spurted when she pulled the cravat from his neck, but his sharp inhalation and seeing his face flinch kept her focused. She clamped down on the wound and had to work one-handed to open his shirt as she worked quickly to bare him from the chest up, swallowing back the bile that rose up in her throat.
"Who are…? Her-mione, wha'…?" he tried to say, coming out strangled and gurgling as if choking on his own blood.
"I'm going to save you," she said as she fully exposed his neck. Hermione reassessed his wounds. It was much worse than the bite Harry had on his arm.
"I'm done for," he tired to say, barely audible.
She could clearly see the bruising outline of the snake's mouth, but was shocked that somehow his frockcoat and cravat had protected his skin from puncture. "It's not as bad as you think" she said, however the puncture wound was very close to where she thought his carotid artery would be. She poured some Dittany on the open wound, which made him flinch in pain again, but that didn't help much, only staunching the flow of blood temporarily. She coated the bleeding puncture marks liberally with Severus' slave labeled "For Nagini's bite,' and carefully bound his neck with strips of cloth ripped off of an old shirt.
"You shouldn't be here,' he tried to say, coming out strangled and gurgling as if choking on his own blood.
"Don't speak. You can't yet," she pleaded, wishing she had some way to heal his neck wound. "It will work, but don't move to quickly or the wound will bleed even more. I've done everything I can think of—all the potions you used on Harry. So it will work, I know it will."
She was at a loss for what to do next; she had no idea how to stop the bleeding on his neck.
She gently caressed his face. He closed his eyes—or blacked out—she couldn't tell.
She didn't even know how long she'd been here or if she and Harry had viewed his memories yet. Her watch had stopped at some point and the crustal was cracked.
She needed help, but trying to get him to Madam Pomfrey right now while the fighting was still going on would be suicidal at this point. She thought about the DA galleon, and even if one of them did notice the Galleon vibrate and looked at it, from their point of view she was in the castle so they might disregard her plea. She tried calling for Toopsy, but the elf either didn't hear her or wasn't listening, or was too afraid of the haunted house to come. She had no other way to get the attention of anyone in the castle without exposing herself.
Hermione began to feel frightened, cursing her inability and lack of knowledge. Severus had been beside her in the Great Hall the moment that Harry defeated Voldemort, but unless she could heal him, that wouldn't happen. "Please, please, you have to wake up," she said, touching his face. "Please don't leave me."
~ T. B. .C. ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~((8))~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Notes:
Hopefully you've more faith in our girl than she does in herself at the moment.