CHAPTER SEVEN: Prestissimo
Morning again came, and once more Severus secretly luxuriated in his wife's presence. He looked down in wonderment as she squirmed against him. She appeared to be having a dream. Judging from the slightly naughty grin on her face a rather interesting dream. Teenagers, he thought as he ran a hand over her hair, but not through it. The impossibility of that action was rather obvious. The snarls present in the brown mass where large enough to trap a hippogriff. Severus' hand stilled when he realized the absurdity of his actions. He was lying in bed PETTING his student.
Severus took a few breaths. He knew logically he was going to have to get over this whole student issue. He couldn't keep up the pretense anymore. Trying to constantly distance himself from the child was getting wearisome, and this was only their third day together. Snape was a private man. He liked his solitude. Hermione's invasion of his privacy should have been a torment. He didn't understand why he was almost pleased by her company. True she annoyed him, he found her lacking in decorum and her behavior was at times perplexing to put it mildly. But he realized that she rather fit into his décor nicely and it was far more convenient to have his bed heated by a warm body rather than an iron bed warmer. Less chance of burning oneself, literally speaking.
Hermione wiggled in his grasp and Severus stilled his thoughts. The child was getting him flustered in more ways than one. He shifted to hide his erection from his wife. He did not want to frighten her first thing in the morning. Despite her statement on their wedding night she had made no move to repeat things. He did not want to push her into something she wasn't ready for. Yet her scent was intoxicating and Severus was worried he might have developed an addiction, an addiction that was making rather large demands on him at the moment. "Heather and dew, she smells like heather and dew."
"And you smell like cedar during a thunderstorm. Glad we cleared that up." Hermione's sleepy eyes blinked up at him cheekily.
Severus gave a start and stopped his petting. "I did not realize I was speaking aloud."
A yawn greeted his rather dry statement, and Hermione let her eyes drift closed and snuggled closer to him. "It happens. Why are you stroking my hair?"
Severus' hand seemed to be determined to disobey him. He was also painfully aware that in her new position his predicament was rather obvious. Embarrassed, he tried to regain his dignity. "I apologize, Hermione. I will stop immediately."
She opened her eyes and drew back from him a bit. He could have sworn she brushed a certain part of him on purpose. "Severus, what is wrong? You're being quite formal." Hermione careful phrased her words, if her husband was trying to interject verbal distance between them she would not interfere.
"Nothing child. I was only thinking." He couldn't look her in the eye.
Hermione sighed. "My age again. Look, you're my professor and my husband. We can't change that. But the age difference isn't insurmountable. True you could technically be my father chronologically, and you may have even gone to school with him, but with witches and wizards living to be close to two hundred the age thing isn't that important."
Severus gave a slight nod, "That is true, but...Potter will not leave me alone." He knew she was right, it was just a matter of convincing the illogical parts of his brain that she was right. At the moment those parts were concentrating on another problem that didn't seem to want to go away. And the conversation was not really helping any. He seemed to get off on disobeying Potter.
"HARRY is bothering you! Oh for the love of Merlin. I'll have a talk with that…."
Severus' laugh halted her.
"What do you find so funny?" She glared at him, her hair taking away all the desired harshness.
Snape smirked. "Not Harry Potter, his father. My conscious has taken on that annoying protégé's voice. I am beginning to doubt my sanity. I am a little young to be developing wizardmania but then Lucius seems to be having his early."
"Wizardmania?" Her voice expressed her usual mix of curiosity and eagerness and Snape couldn't stop a smile at it.
"Sorry child. My personal nickname for what happens as a wizard ages. If you take a look around the older wizards all seem to have a quirk or mental disease."
Hermione looked thoughtful for a second than giggled. "I have often wondered about that. Dumbledore's problem is obvious. The guy is crazier than the twins on a cheering charm. Did you say Lucius Malfoy was headed in the same direction?" Hermione's eyes were dancing with mirth.
The mental image of Lucius serving tea and lemon drops to his dungeon 'guests' made Snape snort. "Yes and no. It manifests itself differently for everyone. Albus has gone twinkle happy in his old age. Moody went paranoid. Fudge is, well, Fudge, enough said. Flitwick has developed a startling love for skiing, nude, in winter. It's rather disturbing." Hermione shivered at the description and looked fearfully at her husband. Severus chuckled and ailed her fears. "The trend seems to be limited to MALE magic users." He paused, "I am not looking forward to discovering my personal eccentricity." It was Severus' turn to shiver. Although he counted himself lucky that the mere thought of Flitwick's most recent hobby was enough to cause his rather embarrassing condition to deflate.
"If you don't mind my saying it the others seem not to notice their, oddity. You probably won't even know it when it happens. And you already are eccentric. Perhaps these things don't develop late in life, they've always been there. They just take a greater role as time goes on." Now Hermione stopped for a moment to consider things. "God help all of us if your sarcasm increases." She smirked at him as she spoke.
Severus laughed and pulled Hermione back to him. During their talk she had self consciously moved away from him a bit. Now that certain, things, had become less of a problem he wanted her back in his arms. Perhaps he was getting addicted to that as well. Damn.
"So what does Malfoy do? Run around in pink dresses singing 'Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I'll love you Tomorrow' at the top of his longs?" Hermione couldn't help chuckling at the mental image.
"I am unfamiliar with the song, must be muggle." Hermione only grinned as he started stroking her hair again. "And no, Lucius doesn't wear pink. I don't think the Malfoy's own anything pink. At all. But he does hum on occasion. Lucius is getting rather...weird."
"Define weird. He's a Deatheater, so is he starting to think tickling charms are preferable to Cruciatus?"
"Do not underestimate the power of a properly used tickling charm." Severus dead panned and Hermione snorted. "I will demonstrate if you persist." Hermione stopped her amusement from showing. After summers at the Burrow she knew when to suppress laughter in order to save herself. "Lucius is getting peculiar by becoming rather hyper at times. He use to be very calm and always in control. He is starting to get sentimental and...clingy. He is denying himself fewer and fewer things. Indulging in whims he would have considered beneath him in our school years. Etiquette has taken on a great importance for the man and he has even made Draco take classes on it during the summer. He keeps his dungeons full but does not indulge as regularly as he use to. Oh you still find him there quite often, but I use to joke that he might as well move into an empty cell he was there so much. I believe he did convert one for his use at one point before the Dark Lord fell to Mr. Potter. But that was years ago." Snape shook his head, his brow furrowed with worry about his friend.
"Why are you two friends, I just don't understand." Hermione looked rather regretful after she voiced her question and was met with a rather strong glare. She didn't want to anger the man.
Severus considered whether to even try to explain. "Lucius is complex. More so now then before, but he has always been different from others. Both of us carry the burden of heirship. Both of us hated Potter. Both of us were in Slytherin. Our families have a long standing friendship. He was two years above me in school and I didn't fit in well with my own age. Lucius was always less mature than his own classmates. We made a good team for pranks and such. When he graduated I was...alone. That is when Black..."
"That's when Sirius tricked you into finding Professor Lupin during the full moon."
Severus tensed at the memory. "Yes. Lupin had reminded me of Lucius. I had tried to start a friendship with him after my only companion left. Black just assumed I had a nasty plan in order. I did not."
"I really don't see the resemblance." Doubt was deeply etched into her expression and voice.
"Lupin is much different from the child I knew. Loss and years of isolation have changed him. He was not always so quite and meek. He was a great prankster in our youth. You remind me of him in a lot of ways. You're both studious and care about learning. You both keep your emotions in check until you can't hold them in anymore. And he was the brains behind the Marauders like you are the source of all intelligence for the Golden Trio. Not to mention the fact that teachers behave quite differently outside the classroom, as I have demonstrated." Snape glanced at his wife and noticed her blush at the comment and nod her agreement to his point about behavior outside of the job. He also took note that she didn't move to defend her friends although he could tell she wanted to.
"You have never really seen Lucius Malfoy either. The act he shows in public is not him. He is really getting tired of all the games. He never was happy about them. Even his lusting after you at our bonding was calculated. He is a Malfoy. He is supposed to lust, and torture, and hex, and bribe. I don't know if he even enjoys it anymore. He started doing it so young I doubt whether he even considers if he wants to do so now or not."
Hermione shook her head and her eyes seemed to mist over a bit. "That is so sad."
Snape snorted. "Don't pity him. Never pity Lucius. He may be my friend but he is not a good man. He has lost his conscious. Of course if his sounded like Potter as well I may start to envy him his loss."
"At least yours doesn't sound like McGonagall." Hermione was serious Snape realized. Suddenly Potter was looking better and better.
"Child, if I find a cure for it I promise to share."
"Promise?" She grinned like a feral cat. Snape tried to contain the rather pleasant shivers that smile sent down him. His little problem was trying to come back. He started to move to get off the bed before things got worse.
"Promise."
The couple got up and dressed. They did have classes to go to. Snape was looking forward to taking out some of his frustrations on his students. He gathered his papers, glad that he had made a habit of completing lesson plans weeks in advance, and left for his classroom. Hermione set off for breakfast. She had to face everyone alone eventually. She had yet to go back to the Gryffindor Common room and was not looking forward to it. The noise and questions in such a confined place would be enough to cause her to jump from the tower. She had discussed the matter with Severus and decided that enduring the majority of her housemates' questions in the Great Hall would be best. They had not had time to question her the day before. She had practically ran from class to class to cut down on their chances. But it was inevitable.
Snape was comfortably ensconced in his office when Minerva showed up. He had just retrieved his copy of the Daily Prophet. Luckily the word did not seem to have hit the press yet. Snape folded the paper and stuffed it into his desk drawer and gave his attention rather reluctantly to the head of Gryffindor.
"Severus Snape how could you do this to the poor girl?"
Snape sighed as he looked up to find the deputy headmistress with her hands on her hips and a sour expression behind her rather dainty glasses. "I saved her Minerva. Now please, I have a lot of work to catch up on. I do no enjoy falling behind and little was accomplished yesterday."
"Albus told us about Hermione's little secret, but there had to be another way." Minerva sat down in the chair in front of Snape's desk. She squirmed trying to find a more comfortable position. Severus didn't try to hide his smirk. The chair was charmed to NOT be comfortable. He liked his students on edge. Of course if one of his Slytherins needed advice or counseling he had a back-up chair ready, complete with the usual padding charms.
Resigned to the confrontation, Snape saw fit to respond truthfully. He hoped that would make the old bag leave faster. "I am sure there was another way. But we did not have the time to find it. This was the best option we could come up with during the presented time frame."
Minerva's eyes flickered to his left arm. "Albus didn't say anything in the meeting Severus but..."
She was cut off by the potion master's quick negative head nod. Snape stood and shut his door placing numerous silencing charms on the room. "I don't want to take a chance that one of the Deatheater's children will walk by." Minerva paled then nodded.
"I didn't think about that. Thank you. But as I was saying, Albus didn't tell the staff about your 'situation'. But how is that going to effect Hermione? You saved her from marrying Flint against her will and kept her in school, but you put her in danger of You-Know-Who."
"Flint is also a Deatheater, a lower ranked Deatheater. I saved her from the Dark Revels. Her uncle made sure by informing the Dark Lord of her existence that she had to marry into the ranks. If she had not the Dark Lord would have killed her for being a Penwrath."
McGonagall looked taken aback. "You mean Flint was picked BECAUSE he was a Deatheater? Her uncle wanted her to...Merlin."
"That was my reaction. When the Dark Lord asked for my opinion on her match to Flint, I…" Snape's mouth quirked unpleasantly, "…made a mistake."
Minerva chuckled. "You made a mistake? And the sky hasn't fallen yet?"
"Very amusing." Snape glared. "I expressed to the Dark Lord my belief that the child was too good for Flint. Of course this opened the door for a little ultimatum from Him. Either I would marry her or she would go to Flint. He had a back up bride waiting for the one who didn't take Hermione. I chose to save her from repeated rape and myself from whatever hag the Dark Lord decided to shove in my direction."
"The Flints agreed to this?"
"They will not question the Dark Lord."
Still looking uncomfortable Minerva changed the subject. "What are we to call her now? Albus used so many names in the discussion none of us could tell."
"Until she produces an heir for the Penwrath line she retains that name and title in holding. After our second child is born, if we ever have children which I hope we do not, her name will change to Hermione Snape. Until such a time she is either Ms. Penwrath or Lady Penwrath. I believe using her formal title during a lesson would be disruptive. I plan on addressing her in the former way."
"You're going to call your own wife Ms. Penwrath?" Minerva's tone was incredulous.
"Honey bunny would not facilitate the proper amount of respect." Minerva blinked at him. He had made a joke. Severus Snape had joked. Her world really was ending.
Shakily she gathered her robes and stood. "I'll pass the word around the staff then. We should stick to one form of address. Will she mind being called Ms. Penwrath?"
Snape basked in her reaction to his 'pet' name for Hermione. If she only knew. I have a feeling she'd admit me to St. Mungos for calling the girl 'child' like I do. Not that I'd ever in a million life times call her anything so ridiculous as honey bunny.
Halting his internal monologue he answered the matron's question. "I think it preferable to Lady. The title has taken on a negative connotation since You-Know-Who's acquisition of Lord." Severus let his contempt for the Dark Wizard to show in his voice. McGonagall nodded and took her leave still not convinced this was a good idea.
Snape's day went by as normal after he scared the questioning looks off of the faces of his students. He really was grateful for the robes and their tendency to billow. It helped him to, as Hermione but it, swoop. The combined force of his glare and manner quickly cowed the classes and work progressed. When Hermione and her classmates arrived for their lesson Snape expected problems. He had none. It seemed that Draco had decided it would be best to leave his Head-of-house's wife alone. Potter stayed in the back with Weasley and ignored his friend. Longbottom even managed to not melt anything, his potion failed, but the desks were saved.
The end of classes signaled the need for a conference. He called Hermione to his office before dinner.
"We have to take a little trip child."
"A trip where?" She sounded nervous.
"We need to go to the Penwrath estates and secure them. Soren is likely to realize he will be removed from his stewardship soon and may begin 'liberating' things."
Hermione sighed and sat in the chair. Snape went to summon the non-back braking one but she didn't even seem to notice the difference. "I had intended to leave Uncle Soren in charge. Other then this little arrangement his management of affairs has been more than competent. What worries me is that he may WISH to leave. I can't run the House and take classes at the same time. I have no desire to."
Snape nodded. "That is the reason for illegitimate children staying with the older families. They make favorable tools. And even this arrangement in its original form would have benefited the House if not you personally."
"True, but my Uncle needs to be kept on a leash and if we go now we can get your chronicles from the wherever they are hidden and I can set out terms for Uncle Soren." Hermione was visibly fighting with her reluctance to confront her Great-Uncle for a second time. Snape watched as her Gryffindor courage kicked in and determination took the place of indecision as she spoke.
"I recommend you stop calling him Uncle. He does not deserve the respect of the title and you are now far above him in status." Snape stood and pulled his cloak from a hook. He walked Hermione to their rooms and gathered hers as well. He noticed that the child seemed to have formed a plan of some sort. Her eyes had started to glitter like Albus' right before he pulled something. Snape new instinctively that whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good for Soren.
"Wait, I need to grab something else as well." Hermione darted into the bedroom and found her trunk. She carefully pulled out an old book bound in leather. Snape caught sight of the name on the cover. Rosemary Weasley- Penwrath. It was her great-grandmother's journal/research book. Hermione set the book down in a different part of her trunk raising a cloud of dust, and took out a bundle. She carefully removed the velvet wrap and took out a dark bottle of liquid. At the questioning look in Severus' eye, Hermione answered his unspoken question. "Soren's leash."
Snape was glad he had suspected as much. Watching a sixth year student retrieve poison with the intent of using it was unnerving. If he hadn't been prepared for the shock he might have let his surprise show. As is he covered it with a raised eyebrow.
"What do you intend to do with that?"
"Simple, slip him this half now. The second half of the poison can be introduced at a later time if he, gets out of hand so to speak." Hermione stood and retrieved her cloak. Her hands shook as she clasped it.
"Hermione, you don't have to do this." Severus was worried about her. To kill is difficult and it changes a person. He didn't want to see the child go through such a thing.
"I have no intention of ever needing to kill Unc...Soren. But I have to make sure the option exists. He is dangerous, Severus. I know him well enough to understand that I am in danger from him. The arrangement with the Flints would have meant he had power over the House permanently instead of just stewardship. And if he raised the heir, he would have in essence put his own son, in all but blood, into power. Soren sees what I have done as a betrayal. He will want revenge. By letting him retain stewardship I am only buying time. He will come after me eventually, maybe not for decades, but he will. I saw it in his eyes at the bonding. He will not rest till I am dead and my heirship and title in his hands. This," Hermione held out the bottle of poison, "this may save me. If he knows that all I have to do is slip him a second odorless, colorless, tasteless substance he will think twice before moving against me."
"For a sixteen year old you think complexly." Severus silently added his private thought, Complexly and lethally.
Hermione smiled and placed the bottle in a safe pocket. "I've had one to many chess games with Ron. All that strategy practice seems to have developed my cunning."
"If you keep up your current mode of thinking I may ask to transfer you to Slytherin."
"No offense Severus, but I am a Gryffindor for a reason. I'm smart enough for Ravenclaw and I work hard enough for Hufflepuff. It should not surprise anyone that I can plot like a Slytherin. But I lack the ambition of your house. I just want to read and work through my equations. And save the world on my down time along with Harry and Ron. Those little adventures of ours have made me even more of a Gryffindor than I was to start with. I'd like to think I've out grown the black and white world view the house is famous for, but I still retain the ideals of bravery, courage, foolhardiness in the face of impossible odds. Gryffindors are on the front lines for a reason, we can't stand to sit back and wait. This is why I'm making the first strike against Soren. I'll not sit ideally by and watch for the knife in my back."
Severus shook his head. The girl was more Slytherin than he was comfortable with. True her determination and single mindedness pegged her for Gryffindor as did her bravery, but her ruthlessness was more along the lines of his house. As was her stoicism and ability to carry on under extremely difficult circumstances as if nothing was the matter. Not to mention she recognized the faults of Gryffindor House. If she saw them she would be more likely to avoid falling prey to them, unlike the Potter boy.
They made their way out of Hogwarts after telling the Headmaster where they were going. Severus apparated Hermione to the Ministry of Magic first. They had to sign the paper work to allow her to do magic outside of the school. As a married witch she automatically gained adult status and the right to use her wand in non-school related ways. The clerk was shocked to see Severus Snape filling out the forms; he shrunk back from his one time professor in obvious fear. Hermione bit back a chuckle and watched with amusement as her husband glared the young man into submission. They ended up only filling out half the normal amount of parchment. Evidently the clerk had been abysmal in potions and his trepidation around the potions master was still high. He rushed them through and soon they were out the door and on their way to the Penwrath estate, Ravenshire.
Ravenshire was a dark foreboding looking manner house in the middle of what appeared to be virgin forest. One of the last such forests in the British Isles. The trees were huge, towering well above the three-story home. For a wizarding residence of immense age and wealth the manner was quite small. Under a hundred rooms above ground and three simple stories. It was constructed of stone, soft gray at one time, but blackened with age and moss. Ivy wound its way around windows paned with leaded glass complete with the ripples found only in material of some age. Severus had never before seen Ravenshire. The Penwraths were never known to entertain like the Malfoys and the manner was in an isolated spot unlike Snape Hall that was situated on the outskirts of Oxford.
The wards surrounding the home prevented them from apparating directly inside. They had to take the long drive up to the door. Snape felt the magic prickle over him until Hermione took his hand. While touching her the wards accepted him. He did not want to find out what would have happened if he had tried to cross them alone.
"The wards are keyed to the bloodline. Only authorized persons and those of direct descent from Marius can enter unaccompanied." Hermione stated. Snape nodded, he had just been thinking about that. The child really did love to state the obvious. Hermione then pulled her wand and made a complex series of motions and touched it to the ground then to his chest followed once more by the ground. "The wards should now recognize you incase you need to enter without me for some reason." Snape nodded and wondered why in heavens name Soren had taught her how to do that. The man really had set himself up for his own downfall.
They entered the main hall through two large oak doors. Their hinges creaked in protest as they swung back to allow them in. Like Hogwarts main doors these appeared to open automatically by magic. The inside of the manner was understated. The wealth was obvious only in the age and quality of the furniture. Ancient tables and tapestries dating back to the Saxon invasion hung on the walls and floors. Portraits that were so old the figures did not move dotted the grand hall. Severus was reminded of his own ancestral home. Snape Hall was not as old; the original Hall had burned down during the Norman invasion, but the style was just as refined. Ravenshire for its part seemed to be as old as the island itself and quite comfortable to remain unchanged forever.
Suddenly Soren came bustling out from what appeared to be a side door. Hermione turned to her husband and mumbled, "That leads to the dungeons. They are far larger than the house. Most everything of value and the bedrooms are located down there, just in case." Snape blinked, the Penwraths appeared to be even more paranoid than the Malfoys. Sleeping in the dungeons, 'just in case'. Bloody hell, the child should consider herself extremely blessed to have been raised for the most part in the muggle world. Otherwise he doubted she would have retained her sanity.
"What are you two doing here in my home?" Soren infused his voice with scorn. And Severus noticed with glee, fear.
"You are mistaken Soren, this is OUR home. Ravenshire belongs to the heir, not the steward. I am here to remind you of your place." Hermione had stepped forward and masked her trepidation behind a sneer. Severus hoped she would not become accustomed to that expression, she did it to well.
Soren looked about to argue until he noticed Snape's hand complete with wand. His eyes showed his anger, but the man realized the futility of an argument. Hermione was now in charge and he could not change that. As long as she lived and remained childless she had every right to rule the House, unless of course Severus chose to take over the administration.
"Would you both come into the library? I will get something for us to drink and I'll go over the books with you." Soren ushered them through the door he had entered and into the dungeons. As they descended Snape realized the dungeons in the manner resembled Hogwarts instead of Snape Hall's or Malfoy Manner. They were well lit and warmed by magical fires. The floor was carpeted in spots and the atmosphere was far from uncomfortable.
Hermione shook her head at his obvious surprise. "I told you the living chambers were down here. The above ground section is for guests and entertainment only. It isn't used much at all. This level is strictly for family only."
"Are there real dungeons on the property?" Snape asked quietly.
"Yes," Hermione paused suddenly uncomfortable with the topic, "But I don't go there. Marius..."
"My father used them rather frequently. I have yet to...clean them." Both Penwraths gave a small involuntary shudder.
Severus nodded at Soren. Evidently the dungeons were in working order during Marius' time and had been used. He wondered how many bodies were rotting in their cells. If Soren had not cleaned out the dungeons who knew how many wizards and witches that had disappeared during Grindelwald's reign had found their resting-place beneath his feet. Having the calculating Soren Wales shudder with the thought of the dungeons, Snape was certain they contained more than a few horrors. A chill ran through the professor. It was disturbing to walk so calmly in what was in reality a very large graveyard. Hermione seemed to sense his thoughts and smiled.
"The working dungeons are not under us. They are off to the side of the manner and linked by a tunnel. It seems my family was never keen on sleeping over their victims."
Soren at last lead them into a library of sorts. The walls were filled with books, the titles of questionable intent. It appeared that the Penwraths had as large of a Dark Arts collection as Snape himself, not much of a surprise. Soren purred them both glasses of scotch and then gave himself a rather large goblet full as well. Snape watched as Hermione effortlessly slipped a few drops of her poison into his glass as he passed her. It was obvious that Soren did not consider Hermione to be a threat. He was giving Snape a wide berth however.
Hermione flinched as Soren took a sip of his drink, he appeared not to notice. Severus took it upon himself to start the negotiations. "Hermione has expressed her wish to leave you in place as Steward."
Soren raised his eyebrow. "I had assumed that she would have wanted to replace me after my endeavor failed."
"I thought about it, Soren. But I realized that I do not have the time nor the inclination to run a House. To train a new Steward would take time and expertise I don't have. To hire one with experience would be impossible since the only ones to be trained for such a thing are the illegitimate children of pureblood houses and they stay permanently attached to the one in which their were born, as you have done. And that is not taking into consideration the amount of work it is going to take to successfully reintegrate Penwrath House into wizarding society. The name still carries weight, but it is more the wait of legacy instead of reality. Our presence needs to be made known again, our influence reestablished. We can not relay on our vault size to carry us forever."
Hermione's voice rang with confidence, her eyes however told Severus the truth. She'd rather be anywhere but here, even my potions class during one of Longbottoms accident prone days.
"True my niece, but still I had assumed I had displeased you and lost your trust…" The bastard looked smug. Hermione quickly mended the problem.
"You did both, Soren. But I am not able to cast out my uncle to wander homeless and knutless across the world. This place has been your home and never mine. I won't take it from you unless I have to. And…." Hermione briefly closed her eyes. "And as for not trusting you, you just drank one- half of a two part poison. If you do anything to undermine me I will introduce you to the second half. And don't think you can detect and neutralize the first part or that it will wear off. It is one of Rosemary's recipes and it will stay undetected in your blood stream for up to fifty years."
"Hermione Granger you would poison your own uncle?" fear tinged the man's voice causing it to sound shrill will attempting incredulous.
"You would give your niece over to common thugs, what I do is no worse." Hermione was shaking and Severus took her hand.
"Look Soren, you're safe as long as you leave us alone. If Hermione feels threatened you will have cause for worry. Keep things running smoothly and stay out of our way and you should be fine."
Soren had pushed his glass away from himself and was glaring daggers at the couple. "So is that all you came to do, poison and threaten me?"
Shaking having subsided a bit Hermione gave her grin, the one that reminded Snape of a wild animal about to pounce. "No, Severus wants the rest of Slytherin's missing chronicles. We know you are the one who gave the Dark Lord the parchment. We want the rest of them. And don't deny you have them Soren. We have proof you owned them and Marius before you."
"They will not do you any good. Only four or five are written in a decipherable language. I suspect the rest are in parseltongue." Her uncle was gripping his desk tightly. The chronicles were his life's work. They meant more to him than anything, next to perhaps his father's last command to reestablish Penwrath House.
Severus was suddenly very interested in those parchments. If Slytherin had found the matter so important as to encode his work in parseltongue than the possibilities where mind boggling. And with Potter being a Parselmouth and Hermione's friend…
Disregarding her uncle's loathing of her husband and his obvious attachment to the documents she persisted. "I would like them anyway. If you can not read them then they should not be missed." Soren was about to argue when he noticed Hermione casually twirling a vial. He paled and went to a desk drawer. Unwarding it, he took out a thick bundle and handed it to Snape.
"There are the parchments my father told me where Slytherins. As I said there is not much there of use." Soren's voice conveyed his displeasure at loosing the chronicles and a hint of retribution to come.
Snape carefully examined the bundle. "Is that all?"
"Give him the rest Soren." The Gryffindor employed a commanding tone that was disturbingly familiar. Snape conclude that she had taken to many lessons from Minerva. Soren hesitantly walked to a bookcase and pulled down a thick volume. He opened it up and took out three more sheets and handed them to Snape as if in slow motion.
Soren gritted his teeth as he released his most prized possession to the potion's master. "If that is all Hermione, may I ask if you'll be staying for supper?" He did not sound welcoming.
"No Soren. Is there anything I need to do before I leave?" She had already started for the door.
"I would like your permission to acquire a house-elf or two. If the manor is to be used for entertainment again it will need to be cleaned." Soren carefully kept his tone differential but his eyes told of his hatred.
"You know how I feel about House-elves Soren. It is not right to enslave the creatures, they are thinking feeling beings. You will have to make do with the current staff of paid human servants."
"Two maids, a cook, a gardener, and a butler will not be sufficient when it comes time to..."
"Soren, I have no intention of throwing a gala anytime soon. No one will expect it anyway."
"That is true, Wales. I have never hosted a social function. As my wife Hermione would not be expected to do the normal pureblood posturing. It would not be in character for me to do so." Snape sneered at the man. The idea of dinner parties and balls made his stomach turn. He could see that the child found the idea as distasteful as he did.
"How are we going to reassert the House if we don't socialize? You can't just go to everyone else's parties without having your own. It would be rude."
"I have no desire to go to parties, Soren. I want you to increase the House's exposure without making me dance or make small talk."
"I don't see how that would be possible!" The steward was getting agitated.
"You're the steward, make it possible." Again she flashed her rather rabid grin. Severus had a feeling that facial expression was going to take the same place in his mind as Albus' twinkle. A prelude to pain, for someone.
They continued on in that manner for near an hour, Soren trying to get a house-elf and Hermione arguing to get out of social obligations Soren protested she must partake in. Finally Severus was ready to leave and ordered an end to the discussion. One house-elf, paid monthly and free to leave would be allowed. His wife was stilled but the other man railed on about the impossibility of finding one under those terms until Snape snapped at him and pulled Hermione down the hall and out of the house. He barley managed to not curse the bastard.
As they walked down the lane Hermione stopped him. "Severus, I know we didn't talk about this, but could you take me home for a little while? I haven't talked with mum or dad about any of this. I doubt Soren even told them I married someone else. They probably still think I married Flint!" The child seemed to have just realized how worried the Grangers must be.
"You didn't owl them?"
"When did I have time to do that? The past few days have been rather rushed." Hermione turned her large brown eyes at him and Severus suddenly realized she could pout, and that it worked on him to some degree. He put his head in his hands.
"Oh all right. But we need to eat sometime soon. I am quite hungry. We should have taken Soren up on dinner."
"Oh no we shouldn't have. That cook he mentioned can't make anything halfway decent. Good help has been too afraid to work for the Penwraths since Voldemort put us on the to-kill-list. My mum makes far better food and she'll be more than happy to feed us even without advance notice. She likes to cook."
Severus looked doubtful but apparated them to the Granger's front steps anyway. Hermione's face dropped the mask she had worn to confront Soren as she opened the door.
"Mum, dad?"
"Hermione!" Mr. Granger came out of his study and swept her up into a fierce hug twirling her around. Her mother was more reserved and simply beamed at her child. "We thought we'd never see you again. Soren told us not to send you anymore letters and he wouldn't give us your address…."
"You can send me all the letters you want. I'm still at Hogwarts." Hermione had ushered the group into the living room. "I take it Soren did not owl you about the change in plans." Hermione's voice had gone cold.
"No, the last time we heard from him was the day after you left to go back." The two dentists noticed the dark man behind their daughter. "...is this, Marcus Flint?"
Hermione laughed. "No mum, this is Professor Severus Snape, my husband." Both parents looked shocked. "I told you there was a change in plans."
"But you don't get along with Professor Snape. I've heard you rant for hours…." Mrs. Granger stopped talking as Hermione turned quite red.
"And he's so much..."
"Older, Dr. Granger? I had the same concerns. Trust me when I say I have no intention of taking advantage of your daughter. The marriage to Flint would have been..."
"Disastrous, dad. Severus was willing to marry me to keep us safe." Hermione was somber as she explained.
"So he's a Deatheater." Allan Granger glared at Snape's left arm. Severus stiffened.
Snape drew his wand and the Grangers shrunk back. Hermione's eyes grew large until she heard the beginnings of a silencing and warding spell. He was doing those a lot lately. He put his wand away. "Yes." He waved Hermione silent and went on. "I am a Deatheater, one of the Dark Lord's most trusted in the inner circle. Since I hold such a position I can better guarantee Hermione's safety and she will not be expected to participate in certain activities the lower ranks' wives find compulsory."
"How can you teach under Dumbledore and still bare the Mark?" Snape was impressed at the knowledge Elliania Granger and her husband seemed to have about wizarding society. A glance at his wife confirmed his suspicions. She was fidgeting. She must have broken the rules and explained in detail the happenings of the wizarding world. As a rule muggleborns were told not to tell their parents much of anything that happens to them while in the magical community. The less the muggles know the better. Of course Hermione would not have been able to resist instructing someone on the forbidden. She would have justified her actions on her mother's family history anyway, it would be in keeping with the Golden Trio's way of operating. He was actually amused, which frightened him. Heshould not be amused by the antics of those little...
"Dumbledore is aware of a few things that I can not tell you for all our sakes." He hoped the girl had not told them about his role as a spy. It would put all of them in more danger. The more people that know the more people that can be bought or tortured for information. The grave yet confused looks he was met with made him relax, they didn't know.
The questions kept coming for the next several hours. What was his family like? Did they have money? Did they like Hermione? Could they meet them? The Grangers looked half disappointed half relieved when Severus explained that his relations where all distant to him and his parents rarely saw him. He doubted they would be able to meet anytime in the near future. Alan Granger picked up on the undertone.
"They would not associate with muggles."
"Correct."
"Forgive me Professor, but for a Deatheater you don't seem to have a problem being in a room with two of us." Elliania Granger asked.
"You are hardly a muggle, Dr. Granger. You are a second-generation squib from a proud old House. And both of you have raised my wife and cared for her. I am greatly in you debt." Severus unknowingly clasped Hermione's hand. The movement did not go unnoticed to either of the Grangers. They both relaxed. He might be a Dark Wizard but he was polite and he seemed to care about their daughter. And he was better than the alternative. They weren't sure what 'activities' he had hinted at, but they knew they couldn't be good. The age bothered them but….Soren didn't get his way again, that made Elliania extremely happy.
The next round of questions related to his plans for Hermione. The Grangers knew that in the wizarding world women's liberation was a resent development. Their daughter was accorded few rights beyond her husband. Her position as Lady Penwrath meant she would have more freedom than most, but if Severus so chose he could gain control of the entire House and Hermione would be powerless to stop him.
Severus explained that he had no desire to stifle Hermione. He wanted her to follow whatever life path she chose. He would not dictate to her or order her down a road she did not wish to follow. He mentioned for instance her love of arithmancy. Hermione gasped when he offered to send her to university in the old city of Constantinople, the seat for higher learning in arithmancy. She lunched herself at her husband and hugged him. He resisted hexing her by remembering that she's just a child. Just a child. Just a child. After what seemed like an hour she let go and proceeded to bounce around the house. Dr. Granger chuckled.
"I see you have yet to get use to the perkier side of our Hermione."
"She seems to change moods rather quickly."
Elliania's eyes hardened. "She should be controlling herself better."
Severus immediately was put on guard. "She has been under quite a strain of late. It does not surprise me that her emotions are slightly out of balance. What concerns me is why she would have had such a tight control on them in the past." Elliania drew her lips into a hard line and refused to comment. Alan was quiet until he hesitantly spoke.
"Hermione is a special girl, as you know. When she was in school before Hogwarts she had to be very careful not to do something to give herself away."
The child had settled back down next to Severus and elaborated. "My first use of magic was when I was four and in pre-school. One of the kids said my hair looked like a poodle that was under a dryer for to long. I accidentally set her hair on fire, blue flames. The teacher couldn't put it out either because it's waterproof. The MOM had to send out a team to clean it all up." Severus raised both eyebrows. "So mum started to teach me to control my little impulses. I am sorry I haven't been myself lately." She cast her eyes to the floor and studied the carpeting.
"It's alright child. You have had more then enough reason to be a little off. But don't hug me again." Snape's tone was light and Hermione grinned and hugged him. She ignored his glare.
The Grangers relaxed even more. If the couple could tease one another then there was hope they would not kill each other.
The questions just kept coming. Now satisfied that the Potions Master was not going to lock their daughter in a room and let her out only to have his way with her they wanted to make sure she was provided for. Hermione explained that while Severus had little contact with his parents the Snape's were an old House, as old as the Penwraths and he was sole heir. Not to mention his salary as a Hogwarts professor was more than enough to sustain them considering they lived at the school. Add in Hermione's wealth from the Penwraths and they would not lack for anything, nor would the next thirty generations, even if no one held a single job or earned a sickle.
Eventually they ate dinner. Mrs. Granger had made enough for an army before she even knew her daughter and son-in-law were coming. Normally Snape would not have touched something like spaghetti but he was polite and sampled it. Surpassingly he found it editable. Around nine o'clock he announced that it was time to leave. Hermione had homework and he had lesson plans.
After a tearful hug session during which Snape hid in the shadows, they were ready to leave. Severus promised he would teach Hermione to apparate soon so she could visit her family whenever she wished. He had been expecting the Grangers to be cold or heartless after Soren's little plot. He realized as they were leaving that Elliania Granger was not happy about what her Uncle had done and Alan Granger was more than upset that his adapted daughter had been forced to marry. Not only had Hermione been effected by the bastard's little scheme but the whole family felt betrayed and used. The sadness in the mother's eyes told him enough. The woman regretted following orders sixteen years ago and letting herself be used to further Soren and Marius' machinations. As they left he saw her lean into her husband and a tear run down her check. Snape made a decision then and there. If Soren tried anything else he would not wait for Hermione's permission. The man would pay dearly.