Best laid plans
Title: Best laid plans
Rating: G
Word Count: 9x100
Pairing: Severus/Hermione
Team: The Order
Challenge: Elf-made wine, Runaway challenge, Altering Appearances Challenge, Broken Memory Charm, Dialog only, Astronomy tower.
A/N: I hoped I kep within the limits of the challenges. And yes, I have a lot of time to spare tonight, why do you ask?
Summary: Albus had it worked out, but sometimes even a good plan goes awry.
Hermione winced when she got out of bed. Next time, she would not listen to Harry, no matter how much he claimed the elf-made wine was harmless.
Staring into the bathroom mirror, she tried to sort out her thoughts. She hadn’t slept well, not only because of the wine.
For weeks now she kept having the same dream, or rather very similar dreams each night. As if it wasn’t bad enough that she alone believed there was more to the events on the Astronomy Tower than they knew, did she really have to dream about Snape like this as well?
He jumped on the train only seconds before it left the station. The cart was empty, and he allowed himself to sit down for a brief moment, catching his breath. He had been on the run for months. Then he slipped into the disgustingly dirty toilet and reworked his glamour, changing the appearance of a young woman with blond hair into that of an old, feeble man. At the next station, he left the train again, getting onto a bus. He had planned for this moment a long time ago; he knew he could make it, if she would help.
He knew where to find her. The Order had relocated the headquarters, but he wasn’t looking for them. He only needed her, and the tracking charm he had placed on her worked well. Once he knew the road where she had to be, it was simply a matter to find the most likely place. It didn’t take a genius to try the bookshop.
“Miss Granger,” he said.
She let out a small cry, dropping the book she had been reading.
“Mars is bright tonight, as the centaurs would say.”
She stared at him, blankly, and he knew something was wrong.
“Let me go!”
“If I let you go, you would run. I need to talk to you.”
“You’re hurting me.”
“Will you come with me?”
“Why should I?”
“You should know why. Albus said you would. Something must have gone wrong.”
“What has gone wrong is that you killed him!”
“I had to! What else could I have done and not betrayed myself?”
“So you rather betrayed him.”
“I did what needed to be done.”
“And that makes is alright? That it needed to be done to save your arse?”
“Language, Miss Granger! And that is not what I said.”
She finally managed to pull away from his grip. “I’m not going another step with you unless you explain what’s going on!”
Several passers-by stared at the young woman, yelling so loudly at the dark-haired man, a few wondering whether they should get involved.
“Miss Granger, I will explain. But not here.”
She hesitated. “Okay. But I decide where we go.”
He nodded, and she pulled him into a deserted side-street. Before he could ask what she had in mind, she Apparated, taking him along.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself on the remains of the Astronomy Tower.
He flinched at the sight, then turned his back to it, preferring to see the ruins of Hogwarts. It hurt slightly less, but then everything hurt since that day.
“Admiring the handiwork of your friends?” she asked in a tone that shocked him, though he hid it well. Even in those few months, the war had changed her.
“Why did you take me here?”
She was silent, and he turned to face her. She looked at him intently. “I don’t know,” she said slowly. Then she shook her head, and her eyes became hard. “What do you have to say?”
She listened in silence as he explained Albus’s plan. He knew she was not Legilimens enough to get behind his barriers, but still he felt as if she was probing his mind, trying to find out whether it was the truth.
“And you claim that Professor Dumbledore left me with that knowledge, but changed my memory so I wouldn’t remember?”
He nodded. “Mars is bright tonight. That should have triggered it.”
“But it didn’t.”
“It’s in your head! If you just let me-“
She stepped back. “Do you really expect me to let you poke around my memories?” she asked.
He came closer. “Don’t you understand? It’s the only way. I needed to stay within the Dark Lord’s inner circle, no matter the cost. Albus chose you because he thought you would understand.
She stared at him, her mind on her dreams. Him, always him, but much younger. Telling her to trust him. It didn’t make sense! Unless it was true. Unless those were not dreams, but memories, Albus Dumbledore’s memories.
She took a deep breath. “Before I decide, let me see your memories.”
His eyes widened for an instant. Then he nodded, slowly, and opened his mind for her.
An hour later, they were standing within the debris of the former potions classroom, a pensieve between them. Albus had hidden it well, had given each of them some clues, locked up within their minds so they could only find it together. Now they were going through memory after memory, of a multitude of people, trying to find something to help them. They were hunting the horcruxes, searching for their hiding places.
When they were through, they fell asleep on top of their stack of notes, too exhausted to return. They both slept calmly, with no dreams to trouble them.
Rating: G
Word Count: 9x100
Pairing: Severus/Hermione
Team: The Order
Challenge: Elf-made wine, Runaway challenge, Altering Appearances Challenge, Broken Memory Charm, Dialog only, Astronomy tower.
A/N: I hoped I kep within the limits of the challenges. And yes, I have a lot of time to spare tonight, why do you ask?
Summary: Albus had it worked out, but sometimes even a good plan goes awry.
Hermione winced when she got out of bed. Next time, she would not listen to Harry, no matter how much he claimed the elf-made wine was harmless.
Staring into the bathroom mirror, she tried to sort out her thoughts. She hadn’t slept well, not only because of the wine.
For weeks now she kept having the same dream, or rather very similar dreams each night. As if it wasn’t bad enough that she alone believed there was more to the events on the Astronomy Tower than they knew, did she really have to dream about Snape like this as well?
He jumped on the train only seconds before it left the station. The cart was empty, and he allowed himself to sit down for a brief moment, catching his breath. He had been on the run for months. Then he slipped into the disgustingly dirty toilet and reworked his glamour, changing the appearance of a young woman with blond hair into that of an old, feeble man. At the next station, he left the train again, getting onto a bus. He had planned for this moment a long time ago; he knew he could make it, if she would help.
He knew where to find her. The Order had relocated the headquarters, but he wasn’t looking for them. He only needed her, and the tracking charm he had placed on her worked well. Once he knew the road where she had to be, it was simply a matter to find the most likely place. It didn’t take a genius to try the bookshop.
“Miss Granger,” he said.
She let out a small cry, dropping the book she had been reading.
“Mars is bright tonight, as the centaurs would say.”
She stared at him, blankly, and he knew something was wrong.
“Let me go!”
“If I let you go, you would run. I need to talk to you.”
“You’re hurting me.”
“Will you come with me?”
“Why should I?”
“You should know why. Albus said you would. Something must have gone wrong.”
“What has gone wrong is that you killed him!”
“I had to! What else could I have done and not betrayed myself?”
“So you rather betrayed him.”
“I did what needed to be done.”
“And that makes is alright? That it needed to be done to save your arse?”
“Language, Miss Granger! And that is not what I said.”
She finally managed to pull away from his grip. “I’m not going another step with you unless you explain what’s going on!”
Several passers-by stared at the young woman, yelling so loudly at the dark-haired man, a few wondering whether they should get involved.
“Miss Granger, I will explain. But not here.”
She hesitated. “Okay. But I decide where we go.”
He nodded, and she pulled him into a deserted side-street. Before he could ask what she had in mind, she Apparated, taking him along.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself on the remains of the Astronomy Tower.
He flinched at the sight, then turned his back to it, preferring to see the ruins of Hogwarts. It hurt slightly less, but then everything hurt since that day.
“Admiring the handiwork of your friends?” she asked in a tone that shocked him, though he hid it well. Even in those few months, the war had changed her.
“Why did you take me here?”
She was silent, and he turned to face her. She looked at him intently. “I don’t know,” she said slowly. Then she shook her head, and her eyes became hard. “What do you have to say?”
She listened in silence as he explained Albus’s plan. He knew she was not Legilimens enough to get behind his barriers, but still he felt as if she was probing his mind, trying to find out whether it was the truth.
“And you claim that Professor Dumbledore left me with that knowledge, but changed my memory so I wouldn’t remember?”
He nodded. “Mars is bright tonight. That should have triggered it.”
“But it didn’t.”
“It’s in your head! If you just let me-“
She stepped back. “Do you really expect me to let you poke around my memories?” she asked.
He came closer. “Don’t you understand? It’s the only way. I needed to stay within the Dark Lord’s inner circle, no matter the cost. Albus chose you because he thought you would understand.
She stared at him, her mind on her dreams. Him, always him, but much younger. Telling her to trust him. It didn’t make sense! Unless it was true. Unless those were not dreams, but memories, Albus Dumbledore’s memories.
She took a deep breath. “Before I decide, let me see your memories.”
His eyes widened for an instant. Then he nodded, slowly, and opened his mind for her.
An hour later, they were standing within the debris of the former potions classroom, a pensieve between them. Albus had hidden it well, had given each of them some clues, locked up within their minds so they could only find it together. Now they were going through memory after memory, of a multitude of people, trying to find something to help them. They were hunting the horcruxes, searching for their hiding places.
When they were through, they fell asleep on top of their stack of notes, too exhausted to return. They both slept calmly, with no dreams to trouble them.